I'm having a few issues with describing what mind reading feels like from the POV of the recipient, who is reluctantly having their mind read. I thought about skipping over the scene, but it's a fairly important one. What do you think it would feel like?
Physically it would be up to you. Does it burn, tingle, feel like thousands of ants crawling inside your skull? That part is up to you and your imagination. From a practical standpoint: Imagine having your mind read. I would imagine all the things that I would never want anyone to know to always come to the front and I would be struggling to repress them, probably almost with a cornered animal feeling. Desperately I would be trying to think about anything but my darkest memories. Puppies, kittens, coffee, alcohol, green grass, the pizza I had last night for dinner. Anything but the thoughts I don't want the mind reader to access. The harder I try to repress them, the more they come to the front until I as good as confess to all my sins without the benefit of a priest, a privacy screen and a dark confessional box.
A lot is going to depend upon your story/plot. What if people are unaware that their minds are being read? Does it matter to your story? Does the mind reader do anything noticeable when reading minds that would cue others to the fact that their minds are being probed? Are there lots of mind readers or is it a rare talent? What are the limitations of the mind readers? Are some able to read everything no matter what, while others can only sense surface thoughts/emotions with a multitude a "gray" in-between? Is it a natural talent, or is there a training program of some kind? A combination of the two where those with talent are put into a school? What is the purpose of mind-reading? Catching criminals? Is it used by criminals? politicians? intelligence? media? In the Tamuli series by David Eddings, the character Xanetia can read minds (she calls it sharing thoughts). Over time she can "read" everything without the person ever knowing their mind has been probed. During an "interrogation" sequence a suspect is forced to think about how best to deceive his questioners, bringing those thoughts to the 'front' of his mind where Xanetia can more easily read them.
I'm pretty sure the subject is aware since the OP said "what mind reading feels like from the POV of the recipient, who is reluctantly having their mind read". If they are reluctantly participating, one has to naturally assume that that would know it is going on.
I was married to a practicing psychic (i.e. "mind reader") for several years, and through her I met and know a great many other psychics -- some good, some mediocre, and some rather blatantly faking it. I know what it feels like to have your mind read. It feels exactly the same as when your mind is not being read -- you don't feel a thing.
Thank you all for taking the time to reply. It has all been really useful. It's set in a fantasy world, and I think the closest thing I can think of that matches the 'rules' of the mindreading is like a Vulcan mind-meld. There has to be physical contact. The replies have sparked a few ideas and I'm really grateful. I have the whole novel in my head in pictures, it's just getting it onto paper using words that is the issue. Shame someone can't read my mind and do it for me!
I've seen stories where a really sensitive person can feel when their thoughts are being read, while a less sensitive one is completely unaware, or maybe just gets a weird nagging feeling but waves it off as nerves or something. Of course the MC was highly sensitive and would struggle against the intrusion. It became like a long silent battle, leaving him drained and sick, and maybe he passed out a few times, like having a really bad fever.
How about the read affects people differently? Some never notice, some feel a tingle of some kind, others are subjected to severe head pains. Okay so contact is needed. Does the read take a long time? Or does just a quick touch complete the read almost instantaneously? Or a variation on the above; some people can easily be read with a slight touch anywhere; others are read with both hands on the temple and the result is like pulling teeth with no painkillers. And, of course, all of the variations in between.
Let's use people - Terry is having his mind read by Ronald, and to him, having his mind read feels like a hot, pulling pressure coming from his brain with repeated sharp, shooting pains vibrating throughout his head. The pain shoots down to his eyes, making his vision almost blurry, and the more Terry tries to block his mind from being read, the more pressure and pain he feels. Terry even develops a bloody nose from the pressure he feels from Ronald trying to get into his mind and read his thoughts. The pressure and pain brings Terry to his knees and makes him yell out in pain. Terry can feel the vibration swirling around in his head and the vibration grows stronger and stronger, the more Ronald tries to invade Terry's brain. That's how I'd vividly describe it, as vibrating, shooting, pressure pulling pain, because someone is trying to invade your mind, your brain, to read what you're thinking.
