Chewing on it a bit and I think I know how/why Aeryn’s got a bit of low grade empathic sensitivity, but it doesn’t really get formed/controlled well until much later. And it comes down to akasa/dynamis and other extraordinary events over time.
Pre-Calamity, Aeryn couldn’t make magic work. It was quite distressing for her on numerous levels. When she began her martial training, her instructor’s witchy wife had Aeryn learn to tap into akasa instead of aetheric manipulation; mostly an intuitive, non-scientific use, as it’s a very not-well-known phenomena, but it worked. Akasa is a reason why she’s so effective in combat; she’s always been using that energy to push beyond limits, fueled by her emotions.
But it also opened her up to emotions in general, so when her Echo was triggered, it was a bit of a floodgate. She initially had a hard time parsing her own feelings from others’ strong emotions, or even identifying that’s what she was sensing at times. Proximity helped, as did touch, and also, she eventually realized, knowing and understanding familiar people made it easier to both sense and also identify those emotions, while keeping them separate from her own feelings.
Crowds got very difficult; too many people for too long can make her headachey and snappish as she gets overwhelmed (a fact Thancred noted very quickly and still watches for when they’re in social situations).
The Calamity caused enough aetheric shift that Aeryn could use magic, but by then she’d pretty much given up learning it, until she arrived in Eorzea, where the change was more apparent and magic everywhere to learn.
Minfilia, being friends with Krile and her sensitive Echo, figured out some of Aeryn’s issues early on, and together with the arcane-inclined Scions developed some techniques and even wards not only for Aeryn but for their comrades to use to protect their minds and emotions, for privacy if nothing else. Ilberd, being a man of strong will, got rather good at it, unfortunately; Aeryn found him hard to read in general, aside from the old burning angers just below the surface.
Some of her early relationship flubs can also be explained due to this; her brief relationship with Haurchefant, already happening during a tumultuous time in her life, came down to how she was unable to entirely separate her own feelings from his, until she realized a bit too late what was happening. After the Vault, Aeryn shut down in some ways, trying to block herself off, rejecting any hints of emotion she felt from others (like Aymeric, who had a crush, since then mellowing into real friendship) and keeping herself in denial about her own feelings for Thancred for a long time.
Even then, it took until the latter part of their adventures in the First, and then finally returning home to the Source, before Aeryn was able to truly open up with more understanding of herself, better control and identification of that empathy, and the connection forged with Thancred as their relationship evolved into a steadier mature stage.
Rejoining with Ardbert not only cured the corrupted Light damage to her body and soul, but also improved her control.
It’s further improved after Elpis and a few short lessons with Venat. Venat picked up much of how Aeryn’s aetheric manipulation worked, but also how her Echo--a fragment of the Ancients’ abilities--functioned, and how dynamis interacted with it, based on not only Aeryn’s stories and explanations, but Venat’s own observations and study of the girl over their short time together. Better control of the Echo is only a good thing to Aeryn’s mind, though she knows even if she can now call on some things at will, the ability still mostly involuntarily triggers.
Aeryn understood Meteion all too well, and realized quickly how the familiar’s empathy combined with her inexperience and innocence led to disaster. There’s part of Aeryn angry with Hermes for that still; from his creation of Meteion and expectations of her to learn among the stars, not to mention such lack of thought on unilaterally sending a familiar to make first contact with who and what ever she found…the staggering arrogance of the Ancients (Venat and Hyth included) really boggles Aeryn. If Hermes had simply spoken to anyone, even just for aid in his projects, how different it would all be.
Anyway those are thoughts I’ve had, as I write Aeryn as a low-grade empath, getting senses and feelings for some situations and from some folks; not always correct, sometimes mixing things up, sometimes overwhelmed, often times not liking what she’s feeling off others, needing controlled for privacy and peace, but it’s also helpful at times, and either way is there for her to deal with, like it or not.
