Hi! This isn't a new entry, exactly, but an update of an earlier one. I wanted to go into more detail about Sanja's supporting cast. Later this week I'm going to be thinking more about the Dreaming - what it looks like, who rules it, and what populates it besides Dream Eaters and dreamers. Hopefully it will be interesting - assuming people follow this, which would make me nervous if true, eheh - but I'm looking forward to it either way!
Whitney DentonGender: Female
Age: 12
History:A young girl afflicted with a severe form of narcolepsy. Sleep disorders had become more common recently in the city that Sanja works, but she had been unaware just how much so until she met Whitney. The girl had spent more time asleep than waking. She was so attuned to the Dreaming that she even retained her memories of Sanja after their first encounter - something completely unheard of in the dream shepherd's experience and a sign of something unnatural at work.
Following their first meeting, Whitney was no longer content to play with her dreams, but began following Sanja whenever she was in the Dreaming. Sanja attempted to discourage her, but when the dreamer in question is superhumanly strong, there is not much you can really do to get her out of your hair.
...Besides which, though she would be reluctant to admit it, Sanja appreciates the company more than she knows.
Description:Unlike most dreamers, who appear in the Dreaming in a fantastic, exaggerated take on themselves or what they dream of being, Whitney looks just like she does in real life. She simply hasn't spent enough time awake to draw a distinction between her real self and her dream self.
She wears a two-piece set of striped pink two-piece pajamas along with a red jacket over it, and a pair of white socks. Originally she didn't wear the jacket, but she was told to dress more sensibly after she met Sanja, and the first thing she imagined was her favorite jacket from the waking world. Her only other accessory is her favorite pillow from her room, which she carries in one hand, sometimes held over one shoulder like a weapon.
She has burnt orange/red hair, freckles, and a slightly gap-toothed smile. Her hair is originally in a state of eternal bedhead, but may later change to braided, low-hanging pigtails.
Personality:For someone who hasn't been allowed to spend much time in the waking world, Whitney is remarkably sunny in disposition. She is enthusiastic and somewhat reckless, often to her and Sanja's detriment, but often learns from her mistakes and doesn't typically make the same mistake twice (though this doesn't stop her from finding countless new ones to make).
She attaches to Sanja very quickly upon their first meeting - a sentiment that Sanja reluctantly and clumsily reciprocates because she is so unused to being remembered by dreamers - and treats her as something of a big sister. If pressed, Whitney actually has a big sister, but has rarely spent any time with her compared to the dream shepherd she met in her sleep, and considers Sanja more of one.
Though she doesn't talk about it much, the impression she gives is that things are better for her in the Dreaming than in the waking world.
Abilities:Due to her prolonged stay in the Dreaming due to her narcolepsy, Whitney is very comfortable inside of it. She retains her memories even after (briefly) awakening in the real world, and is aware that she is actually in a dreamscape instead of real life. As inconvenient as her condition is in reality, it has several advantages for Whitney in the Dreaming.
The first advantage is that she has an astronomical supply of Rest compared to a typical Dreamer. It is very hard for her to burn through her supply and return to the waking world, even when she tries, and it regenerates at an unnatural pace, pulling her back into the Dreaming faster than most humans. As a result, if Rest is considered to be a finite power resource, Whitney essentially plays with a cheat code unlocked.
The second advantage is that she knows she is dreaming and has become an extremely natural lucid dreamer. Lucid dreamers are rare in the Dreaming; they are free to create and shape their dreams to a much larger extent than other dreamers, who are limited by their subconscious and may not even knowingly control their abilities. Whitney, by contrast, has both an immense stock of power and the ability to control it.
She does this by powering up her body to superhuman degrees; by manipulating her stock of Rest and converting it into physical enhancement, Whitney is capable of amazing feats of strength, speed, and durability that belie her appearance as a little girl in pajamas. She can also reinforce the pillow she carries, converting it from a fluffy accessory into a fearsomely powerful flail.
In theory, she should be able to use her lucid dreaming in many other ways, but for certain reasons, she is uncomfortable with (or unable to) purposefully imagine other uses of her powers beyond physical enhancement.
Don GiornoGender: Male
Age: 67
Note:His name, in the waking, probably isn't actually a corruption of "good morning!" Instead, it is the name he projects onto his dream self. Most dreamers imagine themselves as someone different or bigger than their waking self - they dream what they want to be, not what they are. Whitney is an exception to the rule because she has spent so much time in the Dreaming that she simply recognizes her dream self as herself. She's awake so rarely there isn't much of a difference.
History:
Don is first introduced as one of the dreamers that Sanja encounters/meets early in her adventures. She was assigned to deliver a series of dreams to him as part of her work as a dream shepherd. They were dreams of heroic adventure - saving the princess, fighting the monster, etc. But they discover that the dreams are actually becoming violent, attacking him more seriously each night, and becoming a more dangerous beast each time.
This troubles Sanja, but she is forbidden to intervene - upon investigation, he is not being attacked by Dream Eaters or nightmares, but is actually causing the harm to himself. Something happened to him in the real world where he was unable to help someone important to him, and his guilt is twisting his own dreams subconsciously. Because he is doing it himself, Sanja has no right to interfere.
...But when the last dream she delivers to him becomes a huge dragon sure to kill him, she breaks the rules and intervenes. Whitney helps fight the dragon while Sanja crafts a custom-made dream out of dreamstuff - a dream that helps Don get over his guilt and slay the dragon himself.
Afterwards, with the shackles on his abilities and dreams broken, Don becomes a much more powerful dreamer, who begins to help Sanja in future adventures.
Description:
The first impression Don gives is that of a crazy old man. The second impression is that you underestimated how crazy.
His gray hair is wild, his goatee and mustache is unkempt, and his usual expression is an unflappably cheerful grin. He dresses in battered, mismatched pieces of armor; a Spanish breastplate with Arthurian greaves and French mail.
He is not impressively built, more wirey than muscular, and the weapons he carries are a similarly unimpressive jousting lance and short sword. A badly battered round shield hangs on his back as well.
Surprisingly, when Sanja visits or encounters him in the waking world, he is exactly the opposite - a well-groomed, dashing businessman who is both charming and dapper.
Personality:
Don is in love with chivalry and knighthood and it shows in everything that he does. He will always lend a hand, rarely question motives, and try his hardest to help anyone in need. Almost obsessively so, in fact. He will always choose to help out another, even if it costs him his own goals or well-being, without the slightest moment of regard for himself.
He is loud and boisterous, fond of ranting or long speeches, and is greatly non-plussed when none of the threats they encounter will let him finish and spoil his moment. Despite this, he is a truly loyal friend. After Sanja helps him, he accompanies her every night, without fail - even despite the fact that as a normal dreamer, he has no memory of what she did for him or even who she is.
He simply unconsciously recognizes her as a friend and makes the decision each evening to do what comes naturally - help someone kind and in need, however he can.
Abilities:
Don's ability as a dreamer is imagining himself as various mythological heroes and knights. He is obsessed with chivalry and knows everything there is to know about all sorts of knightly legends. He knows them so well he can imagine them down to the last detail - and when he does, he imagines himself as the star.
El Cid, Siegfried, Roland, even King Arthur himself. All of them are knights he can become and whose weapons he can equip. They receive all the powers of their legendary abilities as well. The catch is that Don is only a normal Dreamer - he has an ordinary human's supply of Rest, and the stronger the knight he becomes, the more Rest he consumes and the sooner he will be ejected from the Dreaming.
King Arthur and his Excalibur, for example, may be incredibly powerful - for less than a minute. El Cid would be capable of a longer transformation. As a result, Don's dream is not as powerful or sustained as Whitney's, but much more flexible.