The effects of being sheltered

So, I have a character named Alix tachibana who lived in the confines of a mansion (which includes a garden) for 7 years so she could hone her shadow magic in secret and not disturb the populace. As a result of years being taught proper matters, concealing emotions of some sort, and being deprived of internet and tv.....how would this affect her? And note: she does not have access to the library and the maids she has only give her books of the nonfiction variety and rarely fiction.

edited 29th Apr '18 1:52:39 PM by ewolf2015

How old is she? When did she start being trained/honed? Based on my own daughters, if she wasn't sequestered away until she was around 5 or 6, she'd already have a fairly good idea of the outside world, even if it was 7 years out of date. She might not know about a lot of recent changes or pop-culture, memes etc, but she would at least be aware of some things and remember aspects of her life and the world before she was put into near isolation.

When she was isolated would have differing affects on her socialisation - she would already be fairly socialised if she began her training at around 5 or 6. Up to 7 is counted as "the formative years", so a person who had normal contact with others in that time would be a lot different from a person who never had that contact at all.

Currently fourteen about to turn 15 when we first meet her. That's when her father plans on doing a party but has to hire a load of body guards as a means to escort her safely as a group of assassins working for a cult want to capture her in order to reawaken Nyx, the person who may have caused the uprise in monster attacks.

Just to clarify, are you saying she's 15 when her 7 year training starts, or that she was trained from the age of 8 and she's already received the training when your story begins?

yes, she's introduced later on though as i'm working with other folks in a collaborative writing session with google docs. god knows how many scenes that would take without making the pacing weird.

If she only became “sheltered” at the age of 15 then it would be more accurate to say that she became “isolated” because at that point people generally are, little by little, learning how to become more independent. Now, while isolation at such an age can and likely would result in changes in personality over a long enough period of time (which 7 years definitely is), the formative experiences of childhood that result in the shaping of the core personality are already a thing of the past.

What goes with this is the fact that any effects of such isolation will be shaped through the filter that is the person's core personality. She may become more independent but dismissive of other people, more independent and appreciative of others, become more or less starved for contact, or any other possible option. It doesn't help that whatever she gets to learn likely has its own lessons to give, which may also change how she gets through it.