(no subject)
Player
Name: Tira
Livejournal Username: tirajm
E-mail: murphy16@purdue.edu
AIM/MSN: n/a
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: Aang (used_aerial_ace )
Character
Name: River Tam
Series: Firefly/Serenity
Timeline: post-Serenity
Canon Resource Links:
Firefly Wiki page, including complete list of quotes
River's Wikipedia page
Firefly and Serenity pages
Personality: Once upon a time, River was a full girl. From what little we see of her, she was a genius, able to not only read and understand her older brother's textbooks at a very early age, but correct mistakes she found in them. Her brother describes her as a "gift," and says that she loved to dance. She was also a normal girl though, perhaps a little quirky, something of a brat to her brother. Then she was sent to the Academy, and that all changed.
At the Academy, River was tortured and experimented on, all for the purpose of being turned into a psychic assassin. Her innate psychic abilities were boosted, and she had fighting abilities implanted in her brain. They also stripped her amygdala, rendering her incapable of censoring her emotions. She is also trained to become a killer, and is shown terminating a psychologist who analyzed her. Luckily, she was rescued by Simon, who sought refuge on Serenity, where they encountered the rest of the cast.
River's behavior can be best described as erratic. Many of her decisions are motivated by sheer whimsy, and she doesn't seem to understand common social habits. She tends to speak almost at random, making obscure, cryptic statements that usually turn out to be deeply significant. She does have moments of lucidity, where she behaves like a fairly normal, if somewhat childish and occasionally bratty, teenage girl. However, she can also be intensely violent at times. She is highly aware of her condition and hates the moments of normality she experiences, because she knows they must go away.
River is intensely loyal to her friends, and is willing to use her skills to protect them at any cost. Her morals are slightly dubious; while she hates the purpose she was created for, she has no trouble killing people who are a danger to her or her loved ones, and she doesn't seem at all concerned by the crew of Serenity's various thefts. She's very much a pragmatist, and values doing what's best for her and hers over following any kind of law. She has a strong dislike of authority, and shows little deference or respect to Mal, her captain.
Despite her many issues, River is very curious about the world around her, and has a tendency to investigate things that interest her whether or not it is considered appropriate. She is extremely observant, which may be a quality of her psychic abilities, and is good at making connections. She is blunt and has very little filter between what she says and thinks. She enjoys teasing people on occasion, especially if they're missing something obvious. She enjoys being outside, and is almost constantly barefoot She has a passion for dancing and is extremely graceful at doing so.
River's closest relationship is with her brother Simon. He is devoted to her and she feels much the same way, often going out of her way to protect him in particular. She opens up the most to him, sharing her pain and fears with him most of all. She is also close to Kaylee, Simon's would-be girlfriend, and they are often seen having very normal interactions, like playing tag and chatting about boys. She tends to be a little distant from the rest of the crew, but has an emnity with Jayne, that, while at first is fierce and occasionally violent, eventually becomes more playful.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ River is brilliant. She is shown to be able to understand extremely complex subjects (her gifted brother's textbooks when she's about four, biblical interpretation) without much effort, and has a near-photographic memory.
+ River is a reader. She is shown to have some form of telepathy, and possible clairvoyant abilities. While these aren't likely to come up here, she also seems to be good at psychoanalyzing people in a more normal sense.
+ River is incredibly good in combat. In "War Stories," she shoots three men without even looking. Her real skill is seen in Serenity, however, where she first takes out an entire bar, only stopped when her brother uses a code word to render her unconscious. Later, she manages to kill a huge number of Reavers (cannibal space zombies, sort of). While her control over her powers is erratic, they are extremely formidable.
+ River is surprisingly cunning. She can come up with plans on the fly, and is a very good liar and actress.
- River has no emotional control due to the brain damage she's sustained and suffers from violent moodswings. She can go from being almost normal to childlike and nonsensical behaviour to a tearful panic to a violent and destructive outburst (including slashing a crew member across the chest) in a matter of minutes. Her tempers are almost completely unpredictable - even she doesn't know what's going to happen to her next.
- River is not very good at dealing with the various difficulties of normal life. She has experience being completely alone in a normal setting, and would struggle to adapt to it. She also tends to come off as being "creepifying" and has a hard time making friends.
- River still has traumatic memories both her own and others, that haunt her. This is the cause of nightmares and traumatic flashbacks at times. She also has a strong phobia of needles and hospitals.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket
Starter: Absol
Password: Grape Jelly.
Samples
First Person Sample: [The screen is fuzzy and full of static for a few minutes. You can here a girl's voice muttering something in Chinese, too quietly to make out. The picture comes in at last; you can see the girl herself, slender and dark-haired.
Suddenly, and much more loudly,] Lost! I'm lost, far from home. Shipwrecked. Where's Simon? Where's Serenity? What is this place?
[An eerie smile crosses her face] 'Least here it's nice and quiet. I can only hear with my ears, only see with my eyes. There's plenty of room here.
Third Person Sample: River sat on the bed that they said was now hers. The silence felt good to her mind, like laying a cool cloth against your forehead. It had been quiet ever since she arrived, nobody in River's head but her own. It had been so long since it had ever been quiet before that, back when she was whole.
The rest of the situation was far more worrying. She didn't like the atmosphere here at all, and the organization that she was apparently part of now seemed highly suspicious.
She looked through the things she had been given with an unfocused determination. The clothes she flipped aside without a second glance, the manual and electronics too. Instead, she dug to the bottom of the bag. There she withdrew a single red and white ball. For a few seconds she merely stared at it and then, tilting her head curiously, she pressed the button in the middle.
There was a burst of light. "Ah!" River exclaimed, startled. She could feel herself shift into a defensive position almost automatically. But the light formed itself into a solid creature, largely white but with a black face and tail. A strange, curved growth, also black, grew out from the side of its head. It was about the size and shape of a wildcat, but for some reason River wasn't frightened. She could feel it in her mind - the first such intrusion she had experienced since arriving here - and there was nothing threatening in its intentions. It was inquisitive and
"What are you?" she asked the strange creature. It made a quiet bell-like sound, that echoed in her head as well. Absol . "Another lost soul?" She held out a hand to it, and it nuzzled her palm, and River giggled quietly. Whatever it was, it certainly seemed friendly. She touched it's horn with just the tip of her fingers; it shifted in what she could feel was discomfort, but it made no move to run away. She smiled at it. "I will call you Mei Jun," she told it seriously. "I think you're beautiful and regal." Mei Jun nodded solemnly and rubbed against her leg. She wasn't sure whether it could understand or just liked having someone talk to it, but it made her feel validated in some small way.
A sad smile crossed River's face. At least she could pretend not to be broken for a while.
Name: Tira
Livejournal Username: tirajm
E-mail: murphy16@purdue.edu
AIM/MSN: n/a
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: Aang (used_aerial_ace )
Character
Name: River Tam
Series: Firefly/Serenity
Timeline: post-Serenity
Canon Resource Links:
Firefly Wiki page, including complete list of quotes
River's Wikipedia page
Firefly and Serenity pages
Personality: Once upon a time, River was a full girl. From what little we see of her, she was a genius, able to not only read and understand her older brother's textbooks at a very early age, but correct mistakes she found in them. Her brother describes her as a "gift," and says that she loved to dance. She was also a normal girl though, perhaps a little quirky, something of a brat to her brother. Then she was sent to the Academy, and that all changed.
At the Academy, River was tortured and experimented on, all for the purpose of being turned into a psychic assassin. Her innate psychic abilities were boosted, and she had fighting abilities implanted in her brain. They also stripped her amygdala, rendering her incapable of censoring her emotions. She is also trained to become a killer, and is shown terminating a psychologist who analyzed her. Luckily, she was rescued by Simon, who sought refuge on Serenity, where they encountered the rest of the cast.
River's behavior can be best described as erratic. Many of her decisions are motivated by sheer whimsy, and she doesn't seem to understand common social habits. She tends to speak almost at random, making obscure, cryptic statements that usually turn out to be deeply significant. She does have moments of lucidity, where she behaves like a fairly normal, if somewhat childish and occasionally bratty, teenage girl. However, she can also be intensely violent at times. She is highly aware of her condition and hates the moments of normality she experiences, because she knows they must go away.
River is intensely loyal to her friends, and is willing to use her skills to protect them at any cost. Her morals are slightly dubious; while she hates the purpose she was created for, she has no trouble killing people who are a danger to her or her loved ones, and she doesn't seem at all concerned by the crew of Serenity's various thefts. She's very much a pragmatist, and values doing what's best for her and hers over following any kind of law. She has a strong dislike of authority, and shows little deference or respect to Mal, her captain.
Despite her many issues, River is very curious about the world around her, and has a tendency to investigate things that interest her whether or not it is considered appropriate. She is extremely observant, which may be a quality of her psychic abilities, and is good at making connections. She is blunt and has very little filter between what she says and thinks. She enjoys teasing people on occasion, especially if they're missing something obvious. She enjoys being outside, and is almost constantly barefoot She has a passion for dancing and is extremely graceful at doing so.
River's closest relationship is with her brother Simon. He is devoted to her and she feels much the same way, often going out of her way to protect him in particular. She opens up the most to him, sharing her pain and fears with him most of all. She is also close to Kaylee, Simon's would-be girlfriend, and they are often seen having very normal interactions, like playing tag and chatting about boys. She tends to be a little distant from the rest of the crew, but has an emnity with Jayne, that, while at first is fierce and occasionally violent, eventually becomes more playful.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ River is brilliant. She is shown to be able to understand extremely complex subjects (her gifted brother's textbooks when she's about four, biblical interpretation) without much effort, and has a near-photographic memory.
+ River is a reader. She is shown to have some form of telepathy, and possible clairvoyant abilities. While these aren't likely to come up here, she also seems to be good at psychoanalyzing people in a more normal sense.
+ River is incredibly good in combat. In "War Stories," she shoots three men without even looking. Her real skill is seen in Serenity, however, where she first takes out an entire bar, only stopped when her brother uses a code word to render her unconscious. Later, she manages to kill a huge number of Reavers (cannibal space zombies, sort of). While her control over her powers is erratic, they are extremely formidable.
+ River is surprisingly cunning. She can come up with plans on the fly, and is a very good liar and actress.
- River has no emotional control due to the brain damage she's sustained and suffers from violent moodswings. She can go from being almost normal to childlike and nonsensical behaviour to a tearful panic to a violent and destructive outburst (including slashing a crew member across the chest) in a matter of minutes. Her tempers are almost completely unpredictable - even she doesn't know what's going to happen to her next.
- River is not very good at dealing with the various difficulties of normal life. She has experience being completely alone in a normal setting, and would struggle to adapt to it. She also tends to come off as being "creepifying" and has a hard time making friends.
- River still has traumatic memories both her own and others, that haunt her. This is the cause of nightmares and traumatic flashbacks at times. She also has a strong phobia of needles and hospitals.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket
Starter: Absol
Password: Grape Jelly.
Samples
First Person Sample: [The screen is fuzzy and full of static for a few minutes. You can here a girl's voice muttering something in Chinese, too quietly to make out. The picture comes in at last; you can see the girl herself, slender and dark-haired.
Suddenly, and much more loudly,] Lost! I'm lost, far from home. Shipwrecked. Where's Simon? Where's Serenity? What is this place?
[An eerie smile crosses her face] 'Least here it's nice and quiet. I can only hear with my ears, only see with my eyes. There's plenty of room here.
Third Person Sample: River sat on the bed that they said was now hers. The silence felt good to her mind, like laying a cool cloth against your forehead. It had been quiet ever since she arrived, nobody in River's head but her own. It had been so long since it had ever been quiet before that, back when she was whole.
The rest of the situation was far more worrying. She didn't like the atmosphere here at all, and the organization that she was apparently part of now seemed highly suspicious.
She looked through the things she had been given with an unfocused determination. The clothes she flipped aside without a second glance, the manual and electronics too. Instead, she dug to the bottom of the bag. There she withdrew a single red and white ball. For a few seconds she merely stared at it and then, tilting her head curiously, she pressed the button in the middle.
There was a burst of light. "Ah!" River exclaimed, startled. She could feel herself shift into a defensive position almost automatically. But the light formed itself into a solid creature, largely white but with a black face and tail. A strange, curved growth, also black, grew out from the side of its head. It was about the size and shape of a wildcat, but for some reason River wasn't frightened. She could feel it in her mind - the first such intrusion she had experienced since arriving here - and there was nothing threatening in its intentions. It was inquisitive and
"What are you?" she asked the strange creature. It made a quiet bell-like sound, that echoed in her head as well. Absol . "Another lost soul?" She held out a hand to it, and it nuzzled her palm, and River giggled quietly. Whatever it was, it certainly seemed friendly. She touched it's horn with just the tip of her fingers; it shifted in what she could feel was discomfort, but it made no move to run away. She smiled at it. "I will call you Mei Jun," she told it seriously. "I think you're beautiful and regal." Mei Jun nodded solemnly and rubbed against her leg. She wasn't sure whether it could understand or just liked having someone talk to it, but it made her feel validated in some small way.
A sad smile crossed River's face. At least she could pretend not to be broken for a while.