Name: Racquel "Kel" Young
Codename: Dreamtripper ("DT")
Age: 22?
Date of Birth: September 30?
Height: 5’5
Weight: 145 lbs.
Hair Color: Powder Blue
Eye Color: Cerulean fading to yellow, with stars
Place of Origin: Staten Island, NY
Nationality/Race: “I dunno, black?”
Classification/Origin of Powers: Mutant?
Status: Other / Free Agent
Occupation: Dream Agent, Author
Personality Profile: Seeing some of the most vulnerable sides of people in their dreams lends Racquel to being largely optimistic and believing that people are “okay”. She tends to appear rather lackadaisical while out in the waking world, happy to sit down and befriend anyone who tries regardless of their walk of life or the supervillainry in which they engage. Racquel is saomewhat quirky with hints of eccentricity, and usually "semi-hinged".
Physical Description: Average height, with a pastel blue curl-fro as pale and fluffy as candy fleece (sometimes put into two puffs) and twinkling eyes contrasted against mocha brown skin make her look a bit like a cosplay enthusiast from no series in particular. She usually wears a deep blue, white-sleeved varsity-style jacket with a yellow crescent moon on the back, otherwise being a very casual, t-shirts and ripped jeans sort of person.
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General Power Information: Oneiromancy
Ability One: Induce Sleep - Racquel has the ability to gently but rapidly soothe an individual (or individuals in groups as large as ten) into a state of total, restful, R.E.M. slumber, complete with vivid, realistic dreams. This can last anywhere from five minutes to eight hours, depending on the target’s energy level, how much sleep they need, and so on (though in extreme cases, it has lasted longer). The nature of the dream is usually based on the target’s psyche, but using her powers in conjunction with one another allows her to place someone into either a blissful dreamstate or a horrific nightmare if she so desires.
When attempting to use this power in the Dream Realm, it has an opposite effect, and will abruptly awaken its target(s) from sleep.
This power has no effect on individuals with psychic immunity or blocking ability.
Ability Two: Illusion Casting - Racquel can produce convincingly real illusions that trick the senses of all but the most steel-minded, spanning her line of sight. Powerful psychics can block or brush the effects off easily. However, the larger and more complex the illusion, the more dreamlike and disorienting it tends to be.
This power seems to lack the disorienting effect in the dream realm (likely due to the dream realm being somewhat of a disorienting place to begin with), making the illusions seem much more like part of the dream.
Ability Three: Dreamwalking - Whether by means of natural sleep or otherwise, Racquel may step into what she calls the Dream Realm – something like a hallway, though it rarely ever looks like that, with countless entry points to individuals’ specific sections of dreaming. With practice, she has learned to navigate it, venturing into the place of R.E.M. sleep for any living being capable of experiencing it. Dreamwalking allows her to seamlessly transition from one section of the dreamworld to the next with varying difficulty – she has been immediately transported to one section, and has had to cross a furious river to get to another, for example. The length of time she may stay immersed is limited by how long she can stay asleep, or if she is forcibly jolted awake. Racquel can activate this power without first going to sleep, which to an outside observer tends to either look like spontaneously finding a spot to take a sudden nap, or outright fainting.
Drawbacks & Weaknesses:
When dreamwalking, Racquel’s body is completely vulnerable.
Sometimes suffers episodes of sensory deprivation.
Racquel struggles with her psyche due to spending so much time in the dream realm – for example, she often loses track of time, as time in dreams does not function the same.
Requires more sleep than the average person.
Will occasionally produce subconscious illusions depending on her mood, making it difficult to truly hide her emotions.
When dreamwalking, she can sometimes be difficult to rouse.
The power of creating illusions in dreams is, in Racquel, nothing more than an immediate genetic expression of the phenomena known as lucid dreaming. As such, it is a learnable skill in varying degrees among individuals, and the Dreamtripper’s manipulations within the dream can be countered by an aware dreamer.
Semi-frequent sufferer of nosebleeds.
Sometimes generates a wispy bluish-white translucent illusory “clone” that speaks her inner thoughts. She does not have control over this.
May sometimes return to the waking world with minor injuries from the dream world.
Either refuses to or has very little control over what happens within her own dreams.
Occasionally sleepwalks.
Skills: Creative writing, HTML “but only, you know, from the 90s.”, crochet
Background:
Racquel appeared within the foster system as a baby, with no parents to speak of, as it is not completely unheard of for parents of visible mutants to drop their children off at safehouses and hospitals with no notice. She was gifted with only a name, and her mother and father were nowhere to be found. Despite growing up without much initial stability, she kept a largely positive outlook and, for the most part, got along with her foster family when she finally settled in.
When her power began to develop, she spent an unusual amount of time walking in the dreams of her foster siblings and people in the neighborhood, which led to an excess of sleep and a drop in her grades, though Racquel didn’t care much. She found that, in dreams, she was no longer small, different, and struggling – and since it was just a dream, it couldn’t affect anything, and she could let her imagination run wild.
This was, of course, until those affected by her power began to take notice; waking up in cold sweats, seeing figures looming over their beds at night. She thought nothing of it until the ravens started to show up. This led to Racquel’s first and only time being shifted into a different home, and after much pleading and screaming and throwing of household objects (from multiple parties), she joined her new foster family, in a manner of speaking. They informed her that they were a family of a different sort.
Upon her induction (she dryly calls it strong arming) into a supernatural organization that refers to itself the Society of Nocturnal Affairs, her new family, Racquel was informed of a harsh reality: she didn’t have the luxury to escape consequence-free into her dreaming as others did. If she interacted with the people she lived with in their dreams recklessly, they would find themselves shunning her during their waking hours, even if subconsciously. Though they were kind enough, they placed restrictions on her that she found stifling.
Racquel found solace in writing and crafting, easing the sting of restriction and providing a new outlet for her imagination. She kept to herself throughout high school, with few incidents arising, though the task of juggling studying with delving into occult matters.
Because the nature of dreams is still so much of a mystery, the Society of Nocturnal Affairs operates largely on speculation, experimentation, and accounts across history.
Racquel’s ‘dream duties’ started off simple; encouraging behavior in dreams that would lead people to lead fuller and more self-aware waking lives. Blend in with the scenery, be an actor; a natural part of the dreamscape.
In time, however, her “job” took on some darker notes – becoming an aspect of someone’s nightmare, as it were, getting people to reveal their true nature, for the purpose of accepting it. These were the tasks that gave her nightmares. There were also many sad moments, due to the sheer number of people who pass away in their sleep.
The weight of the job began to take its toll. Her writing suffered, she dulled herself with substances and risky behavior. When certain members the Society of Nocturnal Affairs took notice of her change, they decided the best course of action was to send Racquel on an assignment that would not only involve walking in dreams, but relocating for a time. There was much protest, even after her bags were packed.
Criminal Record: Waking Realm: None.
Dream Realm: Several.
Quirks, Extras, Random Character Facts:
Works part-time as an indie author, specializing in bodice-rippers.
The film ‘Inception’ did not give her as much insight as to how her powers work as she thought it would.
Experiences intermittent synesthesia -- sensations, emotions and sounds manifest in her mind as colors and smells, and vice-versa.
Racquel listens to music almost constantly when she isn’t in the middle of a direct conversation with someone.
Unless specifically assigned to someone’s dream (or in an emergency situation), Racquel tends to gently knock and draw a visible doorframe out of light before entering another’s specific zone of dreaming, out of politeness.
Sometimes uses her illusion powers for faux-shapeshifting and even has a few consistent looks.
Finds the superhero dynamic that has overtaken society fascinating but, as a rule, prefers to avoid it.
Dabbles in various aspects of esotericism.
Tends to have a “familiar” air – she has been through a lot of dreams.
Mostly convinced S.o.N.A. does not have nefarious purposes. Mostly.
