May. 15th, 2023

cactusy: (Default)
unreality.
Not long before her canonpoint, Shaw spent roughly eleven months in captivity, and most of that time was spent undergoing a series of hyper-realistic VR simulations meant to - among other things - deprive her of her sense of reality. Though by this point she has begun to come to grips with the fact that she is no longer in a simulation, the experience took a heavy toll on her, and being in a game environment is very likely to cause her to backslide a bit on this front. Additionally, after living through literally thousands of simulated scenarios meant to mimic her real life, she also grapples with the possibility that she has simulation-induced false memories, and occasionally struggles with feeling unsure of whether specific events from her personal history happened in real life or in one of the simulations. None of this is anything that she'd share with people right out the gate, but it still colors her thoughts and actions, and symptoms of this trauma (ex. confusion, panic, weird existential comments, etc.) may still bleed through sometimes. Unless I hear otherwise from somebody, I will default to assuming that themes of unreality are okay to have come up in threads. If this topic is one you'd prefer not to deal with, please opt out below. If I make mention of it in a tag before you read/reply to this and it turns out you'd rather go the opt-out route, let me know OOCly and I'll happily edit the tag.


brainwashing, mind-control, and gaslighting.
In real life, Shaw has not been brainwashed into being a double agent for her enemies, nor has she been implanted with any hardware that would allow them to track her or control her in any way. However, many of the simulations she underwent leaned heavily on both concepts, and as a consequence, she continues to worry about the idea. Unless I hear otherwise from somebody, I will default to assuming that mentions of brainwashing and mind-control, as well as mentions of the gaslighting that she was subjected to, are okay to have come up in threads. If this topic is one you'd prefer not to deal with, please opt out below. If I make mention of it in a tag before you read/reply to this and it turns out you'd rather go the opt-out route, let me know OOCly and I'll happily edit the tag.


suicide.
Shaw ended many of the simulations by killing herself within them. She also very nearly committed suicide in real life at least twice: once while still in captivity because she believe death to be her only real way out, and once after her escape because she believed she could no longer trust herself not to be a danger to her loved ones. At another point, she exhibited purposeful suicidal recklessness in an attempt to get herself killed and thereby restart a simulation that she erroneously believed herself to be in. It's very unlikely that she'd try anything like this in-game, but depending on the circumstances, there's a remote possibility of it. Unless I hear otherwise from somebody, I will default to assuming that themes of suicide or displays of suicidal impulses are NOT okay to have come up in threads, even in metatext.


If the defaults I've laid out (unreality and brainwashing talk okay, suicide talk not okay) are different from your personal comfort levels, or if you have any stipulations/requests that you want me to know about, I'd appreciate it if you would fill out the following form (it's quick, I promise)!

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Sameen Shaw

December 2024

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