Rachel Berenson

Threadhopping: Sure, within reason.

Backtagging: Within reason

Hugging this character: If she knows you, sure. If not... probably a bad idea.

Kissing this character: See above, except it's probably still a bad idea even if she does know you.

More intimate stuff: She's 16, people.

Relationships: She's got a whole heap of psychological issues and already has a bird boyfriend back home. It's possible but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Punching: Rachel is in good shape... for a sixteen year old girl. Anybody with any kind of fighting experience can definitely beat the crap out of her... when she's human.

Just don't be surprised if she decides to turn into a grizzly bear and remove your head.

Injury: Rachel's human form has typical human vulnerabilities, and the rest of her morphs have varying levels of toughness according to their morphs. I'd ask that you clear it with me before you try for it, but yeah, it's definitely a thing that can happen.

Bear in mind, though, she can heal any injury that doesn't kill her or knock her unconscious just by morphing or demorphing. Also, see above in reference to grizzly bears and heads.

Death For plot appropriate reasons, sure. I'd want them to be damn good reasons, though.

Is there anything you don't want mentioned near this character?

Fourth Wall: I'd rather you didn't. At least not to her face. Feel free to recognize her as an Animorph- if your character is a child of the 90s- but I'd rather she not find out.

Anything else:

Morphing.

That's the big one with her. Rachel has the ability to acquire the DNA of any animal by touching them for a few seconds. From then on, she'll be able to morph into that animal, accessing any natural and instinctive abilities the animal possesses- even humans and other sentient species. It's not something she'd do often, and definitely not something I have any intention of doing without the explicit permission of the player, though, and not all abilities are genetic. A Marvel-universe mutant's powers might be genetic, but a super-soldier or a gamma-radiated monster wouldn't. As mentioned, I plan on asking before I even think about trying it.

Player: Yon Fellow
Age: 34
Contact: yonfellow 
Current Characters: Azula

Character: Rachel Berenson
Canon: Animorphs, post-series.
Age: 16


Background Information: Defined in the Seerowpedia wiki (Biography is incomplete due to a rewrite of the wiki page, but most of the significant life events for Rachel's development are described there.)

Personality: 

Bravery: Rachel was always classified as the 'bravest' (Some would say 'most reckless') member of the Animorphs. Even from the night that she and the other Animorphs first stumbled onto a crashed Andalite ship and were given the morphing capability, at the age of 13, she was noted to go out of her way to comfort both Cassie (her closest friend) and Tobias (a then-fragile boy she barely knew at the time) as the group faced the trauma of the Andalite's death- lending them her strength despite her own horror . She was also one of the first among the group to agree to use their new power to fight the Yeerk threat. Her proclivity to be the first to volunteer for dangerous missions became one of her most notable tendencies- right down to her catchphrase, "Let's do it!"

Aggression: As the trauma of war began to affect the team, Rachel's bravery began to develop into something much darker. She was always hot tempered and forthright, but over time her aggression and anger began to unsettle and disturb her. She displayed vicious, violent tendencies. As the other Animorphs either recoiled from the violence or became numb to it, Rachel alone began to embrace it, even depending on it. She became sadistic and vengeful toward people who hurt those she cared about. Her enthusiasm for the mission turned into a reckless, almost uncontrolled impulse toward violence for its own sake. This tendency worried the entire team, including her, but it was often utilized by the team- she became the go-to person for missions nobody else had the capacity to accomplish, including the final suicide mission that claimed her life.

Intelligence: Despite her reputation for headstrong recklessness, Rachel was also acknowledged to be fairly smart. She did well academically prior to the invasion, and even after the invasion she had a perceptiveness of not only what the others in the team would do, but why- a trait she shared with her cousin, Jake. It's implied that the only reason she didn't share his strategic cunning was because of her impatience and aggressiveness. Despite acknowledging this, she still frequently chafed under Jake's leadership because she saw a different, often more direct, path to accomplishing the mission.

Hobbies: Though these interests faded during the war, Rachel was highly driven in her pursuit of various interests. She was an enthusiastic gymnast, and at one point had aspirations of being a professional- though she later felt she was too tall to excel in the field. She was also very into clothing and shopping, and was often complimented- if not outright teased- on her prowess for fashion, aesthetics, and hunting the best sales. (The series does take place between 1996 and 1999, however, so said fashion is hopelessly awash in the late 90s.)

Family: Being forced to work alongside the other Animorphs heavily influenced Rachel's relationship with her family. Although never negative, it did suffer; even when her mother became aware of her activities, it often brought them into conflict. She got along better with her father, but saw less of him because he lived in another part of the country. Her relationship with her younger sisters was also amicable, but strained by the conflict. Overall, she never got the chance to mend her relationships with her relatives as a result of her death.

The Animorphs: Unlike her family and outside friendships, Rachel became much more enmeshed with the rest of the Animorphs. She didn't always get along with them- her close friendship with Cassie became much less warm, and while they never stopped caring about each other, Cassie's pacifism and gentle nature quickly drove a wedge between her and the increasingly-volatile Rachel. Her relationship with Jake was the most volatile in the series- though the two cousins weren't initially close, their alliance first brought them to a healthy partnership, then increasingly to friction as she chafed under his direction and restraint, and finally to the mutual acceptance of their roles as she accepted a suicide mission he ordered as part of his plan. She never became close to Ax, though they trusted each other on missions as allies. She often had friction with Marco, who shared her ruthlessness but was antithetical to her recklessness.

Her most significant relationship, however, was with Tobias. He was trapped in a nonhuman morph and isolated from his human roots, and she was increasingly violent and uncontrolled, but the two had a bond that seemed to tether them both to their humanity. They began to rely on each other more and more over the course of the war, and she often relied on Tobias to watch out for her both in and out of battle just as he relied on her as his tether to humanity. When she died, it was Tobias who she took the time to give a final message to, telling him that she loved him.

Abilities & Inventory:

Morphing: Using Andalite technology, Rachel was given the ability to "morph" into any animal whose DNA she has acquired, becoming a perfect clone of that animal. She can also "acquire" the DNA of an animal by making direct skin contact with them and concentrating. Acquiring a morph, and assuming any morph other than her base form, is only possible while she's in her base form. Morphing resets any damage to her body, such as injuries or cosmetic changes, and can absorb skintight clothing where appropriate/necessary to assume the new form. It is, however, tiring if done too frequently without resting. Staying in any morph other than her own for more than two hours will trap her in that morph permanently, as happened to Tobias (For a time.)

This ability works on any biological creature with DNA, including other humans (Obviously I'd only acquire other characters with player permission.) A full list of morphs used in the books can be found here (Wiki link), but a few of her notable morphs are listed below:

• African Elephant
• Bald Eagle
• Bottlenose dolphin
• Cockroach
• Housefly
• White rat
• Flea
• Hork Bajir (An alien species unique to the Animorphs canon)

Notably, she is "allergic" (for lack of a better word) to the DNA of crocodiles and similar species; attempting to acquire their DNA will create an instability that causes loss of control of her morphing followed by the full manifestation of the morph being expelled from her body, a process called hereth illint by the Andalites. This will remove her ability to use the morph. Also she'll be in a room with an irritated and confused crocodilian, which poses its own problems.

Gymnast: Rachel was an avid gymnast from a young age, and while her pursuit of the hobby suffered after she became aware of the Yeerk invasion, she continued to maintain her fitness and agility as a gymnast in her limited free time.

Suitability & Plans: Rachel was caught up in a war for three years, ending in her death in a suicide mission. Her last act- killing her own cousin, Tom Berenson, to eliminate the renegade yeerk in his head- was the end of a long line of being used by the Animorphs (and particularly her cousin Jake) as a shock weapon because of her vicious tendencies. All of the Animorphs were heavily traumatized by their time as child soldiers, but they each responded differently; as mentioned, Rachel responded by becoming excessively violent and aggressive, to the point that it disturbed the Animorphs- including herself.

That anger and the need for violence, as well as her PTSD in general, create an innate internal conflict that could be explored through a relatively peaceful- and unpredictable- setting such as Reverein. Additionally, the fact that she died so young means that the game would represent a second chance at life for her. Hopefully one where she could find some space from the violence and rage- or one where it could become an even bigger problem, who knows? Not me.

Test Drive Sample: Here

To be completed once she has some.

 Mun

Name: Yon Fellow
Livejournal/Dreamwidth Username: yonfellow
E-mail: brockmtungen@gmail.com
AIM/MSN:
Current Characters at Luceti:
Harry Dresden | The Dresden Files | quicktoanger
Obi-Wan Kenobi | Star Wars | averybadfeeling

( Continued )