River

* River
* Lightsmith
* Shadowthing

The current contents of this article are merely a foundation and are not yet finished.

**River** is the name of the host in a superhero DID system and seemingly the only alter without ascribed superpowers. River's fellow alters are **Lightsmith** and **Shadowthing**, each with their own superhero abilities and identities.

## Appearance

River's system received superpowers after developing DID, which is how their abilities and appearances ascribed so specifically to different alters; the body's outward appearance reflects whichever alter is fronting at any given time, as Lightsmith and Shadowthing use their powers to project their costumes onto the body. Until we can correct the character profile above/on the left, we must confirm that River's pronouns are they/them, Lightsmith's are she/her and Shadowthing's are he/him.

### As River

River has bronzed skin and blue eyes, thin eyebrows and shoulder-length, slicked-back strawberry-blonde hair. They wear a white cropped t-shirt, thin black vest, ripped blue jeans and black shoes.

### As Lightsmith

Lightsmith wears a golden closely-fitted hood over her head and shoulders, transitioning into a short, spike-cut cape at the back and matching golden gloves. She also appears to wear a full-body suit covering the rest of their body, divided into a sunflower-yellow section over her chest and arms, a pale yellow section over the rest of her torso and legs, and golden boots. Lightsmith has small pupils and sunflower-yellow sclera, matching the circular yellow gemstone (or possibly button) on her upper chest. She sports eyelashes and white eyebrows with tufty, upswept hair, reaching her mid-neck at its longest.

### As Shadowthing

Shadowthing projects himself as a spiky black silhouette with narrowed bright red eyes. He appears to have a pair of straight, back-pointing horns, and possibly either shoulder-length hair with curled ends or pointed shoulder pads. He also appears to wear a cape similar in design to Lightsmith's but reaching lower to his knees.

## Personality

### River

We don't see as much of River as we do their two headmates but they seem to occupy a neutral space between two extremes. They possess Lightsmith's friendly sociable side but are definitely not as dramatic. They are reserved to an extent but still happy to chat with and complement Laurel and Megaton Girl on their strengths.

### Lightsmith

Lightsmith is extremely excitable, energetic and flamboyant, more than happy to showcase her powers for Megaton Girl in a training session. In the time she is fronting she is very performative and chatty and launches herself into the situations presented with gusto.

### Shadowthing

Shadowthing is reserved and quiet in stark contrast to Lightsmith, preferring not to act and draw attention to himself unless directly asked, though he seems satisfied with explaining his powers to Megaton Girl. He even appears to be somewhat lazy at times, preferring to conjure his shadow puppets and lay back instead of duelling Megaton Girl himself.

## Abilities

### Lightsmith

* **Photon Manipulation**: The ability to manipulate light to create physical constructs.

### Shadowthing

* Shadow Manipulation
* Shadow Puppet Creation

## Relevant Terms & Lingo

* **Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)**: A disorder developed as a coping mechanism due to severe trauma in early childhood in which the brain compartmentalises ego states, memories and internalised characteristics, developing **alters** in order to survive.[1] **Systems** with DID can and often do live fulfilling and successful lives despite their trauma.
* **System**: A term referring to the collective of alters within a body.
* **Alter**: Stands for "alternate state of consciousness" — a compartmentalised part of the brain, often with its own name, age, personality traits and other characteristics, as well as personalised access to past and present memories that may not be available to other alters. E.g. River may remember their eighth birthday while Lightsmith and Shadowthing don't, whereas Shadowthing may remember making and drinking coffee while **fronting** one morning while River and Lightsmith have no memory of this.
* **Host**: The alter assigned as responsible for day-to-day life and/or **fronting** the most.
* **Fronting**: When an alter is in control of the body. Within DID fronting of different alters often causes amnesia for other alters who were not fronting at that time.
* **Internal Communication**: Alters often communicate with each other via thoughts and emotions. Many systems use internal communication as a way to combat amnesia from fronting; e.g., knowing that River and Lightsmith may not remember having drunk coffee in the morning, Shadowthing may internally communicate with them and let them know.

While these characteristics and symptoms are a baseline for DID, it is also important to recognise that each and every system is different and therefore works differently, having a different number of alters, varying amnesia and communication between alters, etc. The degree of amnesia and communication within River's system has not yet been confirmed.

## Trivia

* Austin developed River's system as positive representation in homage to a friend who also has DID.

## References

1. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder

These references are by no means exhaustive and further research is strongly recommended in relation to understanding any mental disorder.