Post by mugenginga on Apr 7, 2010 1:27:31 GMT -5
Full Name: River Tam
Nicknames: N/A (aside from derogatory euphemisms)
Age: 17-18
Height: ? (Short)
Weight: ~95 lbs
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Alliance: Neutral
Home: Serenity (Firefly-class spaceship)
Franchise: Firefly/Serenity
Physical Description
River is a short-ish young woman with lean proportions. Said proportions often make her seem a bit taller than she actually is. Her proportions are what one might expect a dancer to have. She has a fairly average skin tone, leaning towards pale if anything. Her long brown hair has hints of red and comes down to above her upper hips. Its stringy on most days. She has dark brown eyes and a bit of a tired look to her a lot of the times. Her face lights up when she smiles, taking away most if not all of the tired look she might have.
River's outfit varies. She prefers short dresses in the basic style of summer dresses. Breathable fabrics such as cotton are most common and she doesn't seem to have a color preference. She is like as not to wear shoes when on Serenity, and its arguable she wears them when off at her brother's insistence. She tends to wear clunky looking boots, although that's more from availability than actual preference.
Weapons
The "conditioning" River has gone through allows her entire body to be a weapon. The fighting resembles dancing and would probably best be described as a sort of martial art. She almost never has actual weapons on her. This is due to the insistence of the crew of Serenity as much as anything else.
Abilities/Powers
River is a "reader". She can pick up on thoughts and is able to dig without too much trouble into thoughts not on the surface. She has moderate control over it, but sometimes the ability overwhelms her and comes unbidden. When this happens she often has some trouble distinguishing between read thoughts and what is actually being said.
Not so much a power as a curse, but she can be turned into an automated living weapon with the right signal. There is some level of resistance she has to it that she didn't have for a while, but its not full proof. Said signal can be delivered subliminally as well as directly. Once she gets into that mode, someone has to say a "safe word" to take her out of it, which sends her into a sleep. Said word is Chinese.
Skills
Even without her ability as a reader, River is freakishly intuitive. She can read between the lines between the lines and can usually know when she's being lied to all on her own power. She's nothing short of a genius, her knowledge making even the smartest members of society often seem like idiots. Whatever she does, she does it as if she's spent an entire human lifespan mastering it. This leads to a lot of other subskills that can be traced back to her intelligence.
Her main skill is actually that of a dancer. It's something she has enjoyed her entire life and would quite possibly be doing now as a career had the Alliance and Blue Sun groups not messed with her (see History). She can observe a dance for seconds and jump right in as if she had been taught by a professional. Subskills of this one include amazing dexterity, flexibility, and grace - All of which are useful in a battle context. She can call upon the skills for that kind of context if she feels the need arise.
Personality
River is a bit tricky to nail down due to some of the experimenting she has undergone. Her truest personality is that of a young girl, perhaps closer to fourteen or fifteen than her actual seventeen to eighteen years. She loves to learn and has a playful spirit. She's quite the mischief maker as well and is a bit naughty when it comes to the pranks. She has a very distinct dislike of not being able to understand things, which comes as a result of things coming so very naturally to her.
However, trauma causes another side of her personality. She dislikes conflict, the type that in her right mind would never start but is more than capable of finishing it. She's often nervous and gets easily frustrated when something as plain as the nose in front of her face to her intelligence is missed by those around her. It could be said she has some superiority with her intelligence as she doesn't even try to explain what is going on to most people. She doesn't like to face her manufactured mental issues head on, often running off and hiding.
She has a bit of a vengeful side as well. While she is usually willing to deal with those emotions with possibly hollow threats, she doesn't take it well when she or those she cares about are targeted. River understands the actions people take better than many of them understand themselves. She only actually lashes out of her own choice when it comes to protecting others, generally Simon. She is generally content to be the one being protected, but this is one girl you do not want to piss off. Simon being severely hurt is not what you'd call a berserk button... she's far too focused about handling it.
History
River was always intelligent. At three she was correcting the spelling of her elder brother of five years, Simon. At around six she was taking his school books and correcting the errors within, making comments that conclusions were "fallacious". She was known for marking up textbooks to fix problems within them, but she was still pretty normal. She'd make up stories like spaceships being attacked by dinosaurs, and often roped her older brother into the games. Even at that age she was a chronic prankster and a bit of a spoiled brat. She'd use her intelligence to badger people into being unable to argue and giving her what she wanted.
Around the time she'd be entering junior high, her parents learned of this program run by the Alliance. A school of unrivaled prestige several planets away. The decision was left to her if she wanted to go, and she wanted more than anything. The programs seemed very exciting, and it looked that they'd be able to challenge even the prodigious River. They decided to send her there, and at first all was well.
Early on, she made some complaints to the teachers and staff that the classes were going too slowly. These were the classes that would leave most college professors scratching their heads, and they were going too slowly for her ability to learn. An interview was set up where she mentioned these problems, and they offered to membership in a very exclusive program. Her only question was if she would still be allowed to dance.
It was the enrollment in that "program" that made her life take a turn for the worse. It was the beginning of several years of programming that would be filed under the most top secret of Alliance information. The "River Tam Sessions". The sessions involved River being experimented on, her brain being played with, needles stuck inside of her in her sleep. At one point she begged to be taken out of the program and they used her own far gone interest in it against her. She begged to contact her brother, and they insisted he was busy and she write letters instead.
They shouldn't have even allowed that, but they underestimated the bond between the siblings. When Simon got the letters, he knew something was up. They spoke of events that had never happened, and even worse in regards to River, contained misspelled words. Simon insisted that they were some kind of code, but his parents laughed him off. Thus began his lonely quest to free his sister.
He managed to get disowned by his family and spend his entire fortune setting up the contacts needed to free River. With her help they were able to escape the Alliance facility where she was being experimented on. After that the people Simon had made contact with put her into a sleep set to last a solid two weeks, a sort of criostasis. It was while she was asleep in that large box that Simon arranged for transport, ending up on the Firefly-class ship owned by Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity.
After some chaos involving a mole on the ship, Malcolm forcefully woke River out of her sleep by opening the container she was in. It was a week before planned and it caused a mild shock to River's system. From there Simon managed to get him and River into Serenity's crew. River continued to show signs of the torture she had gone through, and eventually Simon learned more and more. One of the biggest discoveries being that they had stripped the part of her brain that allowed her to filter emotions. She was incapable of not feeling to full power every emotion that hit her.
A year (give or take) later, the Alliance and those connected above and below them had had enough. They sent an Operative to get River back to them. This indirectly lead to the crew of Serenity learning the truth of the "monsters" known as Reavers. Mal got the word out to the 'Verse about the Reavers and River proved that given the right stimulus, she could take out an army. Said stimulus was helping and protecting her brother. Those events cost the lives of one active member of Mal's crew, one former, and just about every contact Mal had made in the past for shelter. It finally ended with River becoming the new assistant pilot to Serenity.
A bit more time passed in the usual manner. Despite the truth Mal had allowed the 'Verse to know of, the Alliance was not so weak as to suffer much damage. After a while things settled back into normal, the truth about the Reavers changing little. In that time River became the main pilot of Serenity, able to perform to she same level deceased pilot Wash had.
At some point, Mal and his crew were offered a job that fell into their oft visited category of less than legal. Said job involved raiding the Alliance facility of a core planet, and would have been laughed off if it weren't for the ludicrous payment being offered for it, which should have probably been a flag in its own right. The group managed to get to the room where the device they were to steal was at, but Jayne managed to get Mal pulled through an odd portal like device. His "public relations" man Jayne managed to get back out, but the group only got away because of River's piloting.
Jayne reported that the captain was probably dead. Zoe, being first mate, took command of the ship despite the low morale and they managed to reach the point they were supposed to get their payment at. That didn't work out too well, but Jayne managed to make a move that if it went well would get some good payment. He'd turned Simon and River into the Alliance. This had failed once before, but it seemed more foolproof this time. Plus, he couldn't exactly stab a dead man in the back.
The deal fell through rather grandiosely, at least in part because Zoe insisted they confirm Mal was dead. Jayne objected, of course, but he couldn't exactly say why without revealing he'd pulled a stupid. Anyhow, the entire ship got taken in by the Alliance and everyone including Jayne was locked away. Serenity was taken away, the group locked up, and River separated from the group.
Being the crew of Serenity as they were, the group managed to get out. River being their main pilot and the only real chance they have of making a survivable getaway, its decided to rescue her. Plus, if they didn't, Simon would split off from the group. Jayne threw a fit about it but it marched forward. Several chaotic happenstances get Zoe and Kaylee separated from Jayne and Simon. Somehow or another Jayne and Simon manage to rescue River, but Simon gets snatched in the chaos.
Jayne is pretty much "screw this" to rescuing Simon. River doesn't approve but seems to concede to helping Jayne get out. Jayne somehow doesn't realize he's being lead to deeper within the complex to where they just happened to move the portal generator thing Mal had been thrown through a few day or so prior. Jayne of course tries to defend himself, but River having her skills manages to both activate the generator and send Jayne through it. She's nice enough to drop Jayne's gun in after him.
Just when she's about to leave and try to find Simon, somehow not realizing he's gone through the portal first, her senses pick up on something even she can't fight. With a chant she hasn't said in months, she chooses to go through the portal herself. The only thing more terrifying to the girl than "Miranda" is "two by two, hands in blue". The bit of time flux on the Island means she'll arrive a bit later, but the closeness is an unsettling reminder of how close to stabilizing the connection the Alliance actually is...
Other
Everything before the post-Serenity information is canon. Said canon is not all in the series or movie, some of it is taken from supplemental material. The "R. Tam Sessions" information is an example of that.
Picture
Nicknames: N/A (aside from derogatory euphemisms)
Age: 17-18
Height: ? (Short)
Weight: ~95 lbs
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Alliance: Neutral
Home: Serenity (Firefly-class spaceship)
Franchise: Firefly/Serenity
Physical Description
River is a short-ish young woman with lean proportions. Said proportions often make her seem a bit taller than she actually is. Her proportions are what one might expect a dancer to have. She has a fairly average skin tone, leaning towards pale if anything. Her long brown hair has hints of red and comes down to above her upper hips. Its stringy on most days. She has dark brown eyes and a bit of a tired look to her a lot of the times. Her face lights up when she smiles, taking away most if not all of the tired look she might have.
River's outfit varies. She prefers short dresses in the basic style of summer dresses. Breathable fabrics such as cotton are most common and she doesn't seem to have a color preference. She is like as not to wear shoes when on Serenity, and its arguable she wears them when off at her brother's insistence. She tends to wear clunky looking boots, although that's more from availability than actual preference.
Weapons
The "conditioning" River has gone through allows her entire body to be a weapon. The fighting resembles dancing and would probably best be described as a sort of martial art. She almost never has actual weapons on her. This is due to the insistence of the crew of Serenity as much as anything else.
Abilities/Powers
River is a "reader". She can pick up on thoughts and is able to dig without too much trouble into thoughts not on the surface. She has moderate control over it, but sometimes the ability overwhelms her and comes unbidden. When this happens she often has some trouble distinguishing between read thoughts and what is actually being said.
Not so much a power as a curse, but she can be turned into an automated living weapon with the right signal. There is some level of resistance she has to it that she didn't have for a while, but its not full proof. Said signal can be delivered subliminally as well as directly. Once she gets into that mode, someone has to say a "safe word" to take her out of it, which sends her into a sleep. Said word is Chinese.
Skills
Even without her ability as a reader, River is freakishly intuitive. She can read between the lines between the lines and can usually know when she's being lied to all on her own power. She's nothing short of a genius, her knowledge making even the smartest members of society often seem like idiots. Whatever she does, she does it as if she's spent an entire human lifespan mastering it. This leads to a lot of other subskills that can be traced back to her intelligence.
Her main skill is actually that of a dancer. It's something she has enjoyed her entire life and would quite possibly be doing now as a career had the Alliance and Blue Sun groups not messed with her (see History). She can observe a dance for seconds and jump right in as if she had been taught by a professional. Subskills of this one include amazing dexterity, flexibility, and grace - All of which are useful in a battle context. She can call upon the skills for that kind of context if she feels the need arise.
Personality
River is a bit tricky to nail down due to some of the experimenting she has undergone. Her truest personality is that of a young girl, perhaps closer to fourteen or fifteen than her actual seventeen to eighteen years. She loves to learn and has a playful spirit. She's quite the mischief maker as well and is a bit naughty when it comes to the pranks. She has a very distinct dislike of not being able to understand things, which comes as a result of things coming so very naturally to her.
However, trauma causes another side of her personality. She dislikes conflict, the type that in her right mind would never start but is more than capable of finishing it. She's often nervous and gets easily frustrated when something as plain as the nose in front of her face to her intelligence is missed by those around her. It could be said she has some superiority with her intelligence as she doesn't even try to explain what is going on to most people. She doesn't like to face her manufactured mental issues head on, often running off and hiding.
She has a bit of a vengeful side as well. While she is usually willing to deal with those emotions with possibly hollow threats, she doesn't take it well when she or those she cares about are targeted. River understands the actions people take better than many of them understand themselves. She only actually lashes out of her own choice when it comes to protecting others, generally Simon. She is generally content to be the one being protected, but this is one girl you do not want to piss off. Simon being severely hurt is not what you'd call a berserk button... she's far too focused about handling it.
History
River was always intelligent. At three she was correcting the spelling of her elder brother of five years, Simon. At around six she was taking his school books and correcting the errors within, making comments that conclusions were "fallacious". She was known for marking up textbooks to fix problems within them, but she was still pretty normal. She'd make up stories like spaceships being attacked by dinosaurs, and often roped her older brother into the games. Even at that age she was a chronic prankster and a bit of a spoiled brat. She'd use her intelligence to badger people into being unable to argue and giving her what she wanted.
Around the time she'd be entering junior high, her parents learned of this program run by the Alliance. A school of unrivaled prestige several planets away. The decision was left to her if she wanted to go, and she wanted more than anything. The programs seemed very exciting, and it looked that they'd be able to challenge even the prodigious River. They decided to send her there, and at first all was well.
Early on, she made some complaints to the teachers and staff that the classes were going too slowly. These were the classes that would leave most college professors scratching their heads, and they were going too slowly for her ability to learn. An interview was set up where she mentioned these problems, and they offered to membership in a very exclusive program. Her only question was if she would still be allowed to dance.
It was the enrollment in that "program" that made her life take a turn for the worse. It was the beginning of several years of programming that would be filed under the most top secret of Alliance information. The "River Tam Sessions". The sessions involved River being experimented on, her brain being played with, needles stuck inside of her in her sleep. At one point she begged to be taken out of the program and they used her own far gone interest in it against her. She begged to contact her brother, and they insisted he was busy and she write letters instead.
They shouldn't have even allowed that, but they underestimated the bond between the siblings. When Simon got the letters, he knew something was up. They spoke of events that had never happened, and even worse in regards to River, contained misspelled words. Simon insisted that they were some kind of code, but his parents laughed him off. Thus began his lonely quest to free his sister.
He managed to get disowned by his family and spend his entire fortune setting up the contacts needed to free River. With her help they were able to escape the Alliance facility where she was being experimented on. After that the people Simon had made contact with put her into a sleep set to last a solid two weeks, a sort of criostasis. It was while she was asleep in that large box that Simon arranged for transport, ending up on the Firefly-class ship owned by Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity.
After some chaos involving a mole on the ship, Malcolm forcefully woke River out of her sleep by opening the container she was in. It was a week before planned and it caused a mild shock to River's system. From there Simon managed to get him and River into Serenity's crew. River continued to show signs of the torture she had gone through, and eventually Simon learned more and more. One of the biggest discoveries being that they had stripped the part of her brain that allowed her to filter emotions. She was incapable of not feeling to full power every emotion that hit her.
A year (give or take) later, the Alliance and those connected above and below them had had enough. They sent an Operative to get River back to them. This indirectly lead to the crew of Serenity learning the truth of the "monsters" known as Reavers. Mal got the word out to the 'Verse about the Reavers and River proved that given the right stimulus, she could take out an army. Said stimulus was helping and protecting her brother. Those events cost the lives of one active member of Mal's crew, one former, and just about every contact Mal had made in the past for shelter. It finally ended with River becoming the new assistant pilot to Serenity.
A bit more time passed in the usual manner. Despite the truth Mal had allowed the 'Verse to know of, the Alliance was not so weak as to suffer much damage. After a while things settled back into normal, the truth about the Reavers changing little. In that time River became the main pilot of Serenity, able to perform to she same level deceased pilot Wash had.
At some point, Mal and his crew were offered a job that fell into their oft visited category of less than legal. Said job involved raiding the Alliance facility of a core planet, and would have been laughed off if it weren't for the ludicrous payment being offered for it, which should have probably been a flag in its own right. The group managed to get to the room where the device they were to steal was at, but Jayne managed to get Mal pulled through an odd portal like device. His "public relations" man Jayne managed to get back out, but the group only got away because of River's piloting.
Jayne reported that the captain was probably dead. Zoe, being first mate, took command of the ship despite the low morale and they managed to reach the point they were supposed to get their payment at. That didn't work out too well, but Jayne managed to make a move that if it went well would get some good payment. He'd turned Simon and River into the Alliance. This had failed once before, but it seemed more foolproof this time. Plus, he couldn't exactly stab a dead man in the back.
The deal fell through rather grandiosely, at least in part because Zoe insisted they confirm Mal was dead. Jayne objected, of course, but he couldn't exactly say why without revealing he'd pulled a stupid. Anyhow, the entire ship got taken in by the Alliance and everyone including Jayne was locked away. Serenity was taken away, the group locked up, and River separated from the group.
Being the crew of Serenity as they were, the group managed to get out. River being their main pilot and the only real chance they have of making a survivable getaway, its decided to rescue her. Plus, if they didn't, Simon would split off from the group. Jayne threw a fit about it but it marched forward. Several chaotic happenstances get Zoe and Kaylee separated from Jayne and Simon. Somehow or another Jayne and Simon manage to rescue River, but Simon gets snatched in the chaos.
Jayne is pretty much "screw this" to rescuing Simon. River doesn't approve but seems to concede to helping Jayne get out. Jayne somehow doesn't realize he's being lead to deeper within the complex to where they just happened to move the portal generator thing Mal had been thrown through a few day or so prior. Jayne of course tries to defend himself, but River having her skills manages to both activate the generator and send Jayne through it. She's nice enough to drop Jayne's gun in after him.
Just when she's about to leave and try to find Simon, somehow not realizing he's gone through the portal first, her senses pick up on something even she can't fight. With a chant she hasn't said in months, she chooses to go through the portal herself. The only thing more terrifying to the girl than "Miranda" is "two by two, hands in blue". The bit of time flux on the Island means she'll arrive a bit later, but the closeness is an unsettling reminder of how close to stabilizing the connection the Alliance actually is...
Other
Everything before the post-Serenity information is canon. Said canon is not all in the series or movie, some of it is taken from supplemental material. The "R. Tam Sessions" information is an example of that.
Picture
