Test Drive 012

[sinfulmods]

Test Drive Meme

Considering apping to the City of Sin, but unsure of who to bring or if they'll fit? Feel free to give the setting a test drive here! These are a perfect way of getting your playing sample done for the application.

cityofsin | cityofsin_logs | cityofsin_ooc
Rules | FAQ | Taken Characters | Reserves | Applications


→ Comment with the character you'd like to test drive in the setting, with name and canon in the subject line
→ Choose a scenario or create your own!
→ Tag around!

Possible Scenarios 01. A New Arrival: Hello, New Person! You seem to have found yourself on a sidewalk in the City of Sin with nothing but the clothes on your back and a stomach chruning feeling of being displaced. Thankfully, the streets are full of people - Watch out that you don't get mugged! 02. Demonic Presences: You were just minding your own business, weren't you? But that's always when bad things seem to happen, and the City of Sin isn't really that friendly. Whatever bar or street you're hanging out in suddenly go dim, filling the area with an unnerving feeling as the shadows on the walls jump out into reality. We suggest you phone a friend for help, or maybe try running? 03. Party Hard: You've been invited to a massive, elegant party at the Tower that spills out its doors in welcome, by someone who calls themselves the Emperor. Obviously, that's weird, but maybe you can get some free drinks and food out of it! This place might not be so bad. 04. Prominence: The City of Sin influences it's population on a weekly basis. Too bad you came right smack dab in the middle of a heavy Prominence. Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, or Pride. Choose your choice of sin and be wicked. 05. Trouble: Not everyone is sunshine and roses here. Some people are violent and cruel, raised in the sludge of a sinful city. And they like to pick on people they think can't fight back. Are you that person? Or are you the Hero who can't stand to watch? Worse yet, could you be the person doing the instigating? Villian. 06. Carnival: The City has carnivals or festivals now and then; you're lucky to catch one! With its open booths filled with cork gun games and funnel cakes, how can someone not have any fun! Go win your darling a stuffed animal, or meet someone new on the spinning cup ride. You might even see someone you know being talked into sitting in the Dunk Tank. 07. Network: There's a network device in your pocket - or at least a familiar object that seems to work in mysterious ways. Perhaps you can take to that and ask for a bit of help? Or maybe you'd prefer to have a little fun with all of this. Surely someone will reply. 08. Wild Card:Choose your own adventure in the game's setting!

Comments

Ronan Lynch, the Raven Cycle

[burningdream]

Ronan's head was spinning.

The street in which he was walking... or, stumbling might be a more apt description, was busier than a parent-teacher open house at Aglionby Academy. The crowd, however, was a far cry from the upper class, ironed and pressed, priggish rabble he had begrudgingly grown accustomed to. The crowd was, really, anything but one thing at all.

'I might just fit in here,' he thought absurdly, lurching around a woman with a scuffed hat and unnervingly amber eyes. He might have checked himself one moment later to reflect on the fact that he had no idea where 'here' was, or who these strange humans... people? creatures? were.

Of course, any oversight on his part might have had something to do with his having just been savagely mugged in an alleyway by three scrawny pickpockets he'd mistaken for fellow students. He'd fended them off after weathering several strong kicks to the stomach, and had escaped into the crowd where he hoped they wouldn't follow. He was no stranger to a good brawl, but he wasn't used to being taken off guard. Usually people knew to keep their distance.

"Urgh," he grunted aloud, collapsing against a crumbling retaining wall. A line of shops stretched into seeming eternity, to the base of a towering shopping center. "Where the hell am I?"

[parrishing]

He was, in fact, in a district that just so happened to be between one of Adam's jobs and his apartment, a sparkling image of wealth that Adam both detested and appreciated simultaneously. It was an incredible contradiction: he'd finally gotten what he wanted, but without working for it; the victory was empty. He mostly tried not to think about it.

Instead, as he walked, a scarf loosely knotted around his neck to keep the chill off, Adam thought of the faint, indecipherable whispers heard in his deaf ear. Whispers that begged to be answered, to be heeded somehow. He longed to tell them off, or at least to point out that he didn't speak whatever language they did. They were wasting everyone's time.

Such thoughts kept him distracted, all but ignoring Ronan's form against the wall until he had actually approached close enough to note, from the corner of his eye, the stark resemblance to his friend. Same shaved head, same harsh manner, same-

Face. His eyes flicked sideways, and Adam slowed in his progression, pausing a few metres down the street so he could get a proper look at him. His eyes still couldn't be trusted, he thought. There was no way Ronan was actually here.

But he'd give it a shot, risking potential mortification, speaking up with slow, careful tones: "Ronan?"

[burningdream]

Ronan, in the way that he was wont, had begun to turn inwards against the bustling street enveloping him. This was far different from drifting away. Instead of becoming distracted, he tended to zero in on one particular detail and mash at it until it turned to pulp. Only once it was pulp was he able to move on.

In this case, the chosen target was a slight divot in the cobbles underneath him and the mashing device his finger. He ran his nail over it, again and again, until he could feel the tender skin beneath the nailbed becoming exposed. Still he carried on. Until—

Adam's voice broke through the clamour more viscerally than any degree of physical pain Ronan could have ever produced in himself at that moment. His head jolted up as if drawn on a string.

One moment later, he had yanked himself to his feet and jerked forward, momentarily immune to his bruises, and was leaning in conspiratorily to mutter in Adam's ear.

"Thank god you're here, asshole." He glanced around, failing to note Adam's unusual attire. "Mind telling me what mad shit Gansey's got us tied up in this time?"

[parrishing]

He'd probably arrived at a good time, given that. Self-destructive tendencies were easy enough to fall into at the best of times, and these were far from the best of times. Not that Ronan knew that just yet.

He was sure that those dragged-out vowels of his accent were making a comeback as he'd said Ronan's name, and he was sure they'd stick around for the long haul until he figured out what was going on. But so far, so 'good' - such as it was, anyway - because Ronan didn't seem at all different from the norm. Either the City was fucking with him better than he expected, or this was actually Ronan in the flesh.

Part of Adam thought it might have been the latter, because the City wouldn't be presenting him with someone questioning their own presence, he was sure. It wasn't that clever, no matter what people said.

"Nothing. Gansey's not here. Wish he was, though - it'd be way easier to blame all of this on him. It seems right up his alley," he explained, words not actually explaining anything at all. "When'd you get here?"

[burningdream]

"Probably thirty minutes ago?" Ronan replied, falling into step with Adam's matter-of-fact approach almost immediately. It might have seemed absurd to anybody else to discuss technicalities in light of all that had just happened, but thankfully, Ronan's extensive dreaming career had fielded him for a certain degree of spontaneity. Among other things.

"I woke up in some alleyway, where people were selling street food out of back doors. Is there anywhere here that isn't a store or something?" He craned his neck around, earning himself a sharp throb in his right shoulder. "Anyways, these fuckers mugged me. Little did they know not all Aglionby boys are stupid enough to carry wads of cash on them. I fended them off and ran into the street... Chainsaw was here, but she flew off—"

He flashed a menacing grin, and then the expression fell away as quickly as it had come. For no apparent reason, he gave Adam's shoulder a little shove. Leaning in a little closer, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Do you think this has to do with Greenmantle?"

[parrishing]

A nod, quick and succinct. Matter-of-factly always seemed to be the best approach for things, so far as he was concerned: it had never failed him yet. Just a few breaths in and out, and you were good. From there, answers could almost always be found logically.

Almost, anyway.

"You're in the Gardens of Pleasure - everything here is a store. Try another district. You'll probably find an underground fight club or something," he suggested, shrugging one shoulder. "Or a bar. There are plenty of those."

Adam lapsed into silence after a moment, eyebrows arching slightly at the mention of the mugging. There was a lot of that going around - he too had been mugged upon arrival. Maybe people could just tell who the most vulnerable were around here. He was stuck on that (and the fact that Chainsaw came along with him) when Ronan gave him that little shove, just hard enough to lightly jostle him back into reality. He thought about the question, the ever-present line between his brows deepening briefly. "I doubt it. I haven't seen any sign of him either."

[burningdream]

There were several reasons why Ronan scarcely asked questions. If he wanted to know something, he usually taught it to himself. Anything else he didn't really give a shit about, so there was no point bothering other people about it. He found most people didn't know what they were talking about anyway.

Adam was different. He'd always been different. Not only did he have the answers, but he had good answers, answers that made sense. Maybe that was because the two of them spoke the same language, if not always the exact same dialect. As Ronan listened to Adam explain in his familiar, meticulous fashion, he had to bite back sheer hosts of questions that threatened to erupt with such force even as to interrupt the other boy. It was insane.

Thankfully he was able to hold his peace. When Adam finished speaking, Ronan's brow was almost just as furrowed as the other boy. He glanced over his shoulder with a scowl.

"Okay," he muttered, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "So what am I supposed to do now?"

[parrishing]

Adam had to agree - people so rarely had the answers that were sought out, it was almost pointless to bother asking. He'd found the odd answer since his own arrival, but most created even more questions. From there, he was sure he'd just have to dig into it all himself. In that sense, he was actually quietly grateful for Ronan's sudden appearance: it would be so much easier with someone he understood, someone with whom he shared a similar wavelength.

That and, maybe, he might have missed him. The City was a big place, and while Adam prided himself on being self-sufficient, it was nice to have one of his best friends around.

If nothing else, he didn't feel like he had to pretend that he was actually okay with all this. He wanted to be on his own, doing something for himself, but this wasn't even remotely on his terms. If Ronan was pissed, then it was because he had every right to be.

At the lone question that burst forth, Adam had to sigh: it was a tight sound, like something that had been coiled up and finally released. "I got a job." Or three. "From there, everyone seems to just be...living. Like this is normal." Instead of complete bullshit.

"Where'd they put you? You should have a key."

[burningdream]

In the deeper fathoms of Ronan's mind, he was nowhere near as independent as he seemed. He was always stewing over something, reacting to a jest, hanging out with a cronie. At the heart of it was a need for stimulation, for movement, otherwise he feared he might sink into the selfsame fathoms that housed these intractable truths.

Lost in a foreign city without his wallet or any idea who anybody was. Guiltily, his first choice companion might have been Gansey, only for the reason that Ronan wouldn't have had to think as hard about what he was going to do if his scholarly friend were there to do it for him. Gansey was good at giving orders, even when they weren't obvious ones. A certain posture at his desk, a tone to his voice, and Ronan found himself bending to a will outside his own.

Still...

Something thrilled him as he stood there, studying Adam's face. Parrish was different. As lucid as his answers were, he never gave it all away. He was a mystery in his frankness. Instead of a guardian, Adam was a... challenge.

Companion, Ronan thought silently, before he could stop himself.

"Hell if I know," he grunted, searching his pockets. To his amazement, there was not only a key, but also a phone lodged against his thigh. Miracle his muggers hadn't pilfered it. He took out the key and held it in the palm of his hand, where both of them could see it. "How do I tell?"

[futurephoenix]

[ooc: just a heads up, quentin has the same playby as adam, which should be nice and confusing for poor ronan]

"Creatures? Who the fuck are you calling a creature?" No, Ronan hadn't accidentally said that out loud, Quentin had telepathically 'overheard' the thought. And then he sees how beat up and lost the guy looks, which makes him raise an eyebrow.

"Shit... Are you going to live, or should I call an ambulance?" He really couldn't tell how badly the guy was hurt.

[burningdream]

Ronan took a moment to stare. He often did, but this time, it was for more reasons than to intimidate whomever had decided to invade his space. If he didn't know any better, his best friend and... potentially more, at least in Ronan's mind... was standing in front of him, examining him with an expression Ronan didn't recall ever seeing on Adam's face.

"Adam?" he asked after a moment. "What the hell is going on?"

[futurephoenix]

"What? Are you kidding me?" He groaned. This wasn't fair. Quentin had his face first. He'd been in the City way longer than Adam had. "Redneck-Twin Adam does not have a pink mohawk last time I checked, pal. You're not in Kansas, or whatever backwater state you guys are from, anymore. Welcome to hell, basically.

Now seriously, do you need to go to the hospital or are you planning on walking that off?

Oh right. You can call me Quentin. As in, definitely not Adam."

[burningdream]

Ronan blinked. He blinked again. Adam had done something rather strange to his hair, come to think of it, and that expression, that tone... all of it was refusing to code in Ronan's mind as anything his friend would ever say. Could it really be that...

"I don't need a hospital," Ronan said, without thinking. "Quentin, or whatever you are." He took another moment to examine his mouthy visitor. "What I do need is to know what the fuck is going on here." He would've pinched himself to see if he was dreaming, but he was pretty sure he'd suffered enough injuries in the last hour to rule that one out.

[futurephoenix]

"'Whatever I am'? A person, that's what I am. A person who made the mistake of thinking about helping a stranger," He scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets and starting to walk away.

Against his better judgment, he slowed to a stop, annoyed with himself.

"This place is like a crossroads. You've been, like, warped here. By the City. You're stuck. There's a handful of us who're stuck here. You know, who don't belong here. We don't really know why. None of us do. My guess is you'll find some keys on you and a phone. They're from the City: a place to stay and a way to communicate with the rest of us."

[burningdream]

Wait, Ronan whispered in his mind, a solicitation his obstinacy would never allow him to voice out loud, even in a situation as odd as this. When Quentin halted, Ronan let out an internal sigh of relief.

Give me something, anything to go on here... guy with an attitude who is the only person I've spoken to since I arrived...

Ronan listened broodingly. When Quentin appeared finished, he nodded. After a moment, he managed a grunted, "Thanks."

[futurephoenix]

"Thanks? Really? Huh. You took that a lot better than I would've expected. 'Grats," He paused, raising an eyebrow.

"You sure you're okay? I mean physically, 'cause suddenly being here is a total mind fuck," Quentin had been beaten up enough times to be fairly confident in his first aid skills where that was concerned. A pack of ice, some pain killers and a bit of rubbing alcohol to clean up the wounds should do it.

[imaginationswoes]

"It's called City of Sin." Airy's voice was clear, melodic and light as it rang through the space between them. She was standing a few yards away with a cup of coffee held protectively in her palms. Her long chestnut hair was pulled back and braided on one side while the opposite side was free to fall in loose waves to her shoulder.

She was a short thing, a few inches over five feet, but had the confidence of someone twice her size.

"You don't look to go." She bit her lower lip, "I mean you look good... except for the bruises." She paused glancing around them momentarily, as if looking for whatever beat him up. "I have an in at the hospital if you want to stop in. They're pretty good at not asking a lot of questions." Considering airy had shown up after a wolf attack.

[burningdream]

Ronan looked up quickly, shocked to have had his question actually answered. As someone bred in an environment where familial bonds were typically exhibited in the language of fists and angry words, if not angst-ridden over-protectiveness and loss, he was as used to straight answers as he was to being complimented.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," he said awkwardly, running a hand over his head and down the back of his neck. The girl in front of him was full of contradictions. Her coffee cup, her light voice, and her height, which was belied by an inordinate sense of assuredness... something about her put him at ease, like one of his dream creations, for the exact reason that she was somewhat odd.

His finger jabbed against a rising welt on his cheekbone and he winced. "Little fuckers," he muttered, mostly to himself. He wasn't a huge fan of people, but much less people who decided to beat him up for money he didn't even have on him. Even worse were streets and streets of people, all of whom boasted unknown motives, so he decided to take his visitor up on he offer. "Where is this hospital?" he asked slowly, fighting to hide the uncertainty in his voice.

[imaginationswoes]

It was interesting. Usually Airy was the awkward one. She hadn't meant too make him uncomfortable but it wasn't to hard to assume that, like her, he was brought here and he was probably new. Even if he wasn't. Airy didn't have it in herself to just walk away when someone was hurt.

She winched when he touched his cheek. Airy didn't consider herself squeamish but it was easy to imagine the pain that he felt when his finger pressed against the tender skin. At the very least, Hospitals have pain-relievers. It was something to look forward too.

"Just one block over and then a few builds down. I was heading in that rough direction anyway." She pointed with her index finger to the path behind him. "It'll be safe if we walk together." Not that Airy was daunting but there was strength in numbers. If they did get into trouble then Airy would protect him, she was tougher than she looked.

"Want some coffee? It'll do nothing for the pain but it's caffeinated." Also half gone and laced with chocolate syrup. If she'd known she was going to run into someone, she would have probably bought two.

[burningdream]

"Coffee?" Ronan asked, dropping his hand to the ground. This day was already unfolding into something tremendously strange. As he usually did in his dreams, he was caught by the overwhelming temptation to make it even stranger. "Sure, why not."

He pushed himself up off the ground, biting back a groan. Usually he would've made as much of a show of his decrepit state as possible, sharing his misery with those around him in the most wonderfully annoying fashion, but given the way his visitor was glancing around herself, he suspected he might want to keep his vulnerabilities to himself for the time being, lest revealing any weakness increase his... their? likelihood of getting mugged once again.

He stalked forward awkwardly, revealing himself to be at least a foot taller than the girl in front of him. His hunch was dampening the effect slightly. Now that he was standing in front of her, he felt awkward about asking for the coffee, though it did smell good.

[imaginationswoes]

Coffee was one of the greatest things in the world. It was hot or cold, depending on your preference, and it brought with it the comforting buzz of caffeine. Watching Ronan, she decided that he needed it more than she did.

She handed the cup to him without a word and smiled. It was a regular paper coffee cup with those cardboard holders that was meant to keep the heat off your fingers. It was still warm and manged to be bitter, sweet and chocolaty all at once. Airy had very specific tastes in coffee.

"Wow you are tall." Airy realized she was short but she hated to admit it. Thinking back on it, everyone she knew was taller than her. She rose to her toes for a second and then decided it was hopeless, she wasn't bridging the height gap. "Anyway..."

She paused. With her hands free she now tugged at the hem of her sleeves before finally shoving her fists into the pockets of her jacket. "Let's go. Can you walk okay?"

Another Pause. "Oh, right, Duh. I'm Airy. Hi. promise I'm not some creepy random person who likes talking to strangers on the street." Okay, she might be that but her intentions were good.

[burningdream]

"Thanks," he mumbled, taking a sip. After a moment, he took another. "Wow," he laughed darkly. "This shit is pretty good."

He was glad that Airy had offered him the coffee, because otherwise he wouldn't have known what to do. He was used to turning people away, telling them to leave him alone, but asking for what he needed was always a struggle. He didn't really need the coffee, he supposed, the same way he didn't need to keep standing there and talking to her. In Ronan's most idealistic visions of himself, he didn't need anything at all, but as viciously stubborn as he was, even he knew this wasn't exactly true.

"I can totally walk," he asserted, trying to test his weight on his left foot without her noticing. He winced internally, but the pain was manageable. Glancing up at her expression, he prevaricated with a jagged grin. "I'm Ronan." He held out his hand for a fist-bump.

[imaginationswoes]

Airy's lips stretched into a smile.

She had the sort of smile that was daunting to those who didn't know her. It was pure and earnest. Her whole face reflected her excitement and they were only talking about coffee. "You do? I'm glad. It's sort of like a white chocolate mocha but with an extra shot of espresso to cut the sweet but they didn't have that at the coffee store so I took what they did had and created the closest thing I could to it." Which created the drink that was now in his hand.

Airy liked coffee a little to much but she also worked nights so it was helpful.

Seeing that he could walk she began to lead the way. Airy was a little skeptical when Ronan insisted he could walk but she knew enough big tough guys to know that you waited until they couldn't refuse your help, then you helped them. "It's nice to meet you Ronan. Not here but in general." She paused, biting her lower lip as if unsure what to ask next.

The silence didn't last long before Airy threw out another question. "So are you new to the city?"

[oiseau_ou_cage]

Elizabeth was in the crowd as well. She wasn't skinny, but she was picking pockets. Or trying to, anyway. It wasn't as easy as she'd read in books.

She spotted Ronan and stopped, blinking at him with large blue eyes. "Oh my God, are you okay?" She left off with her illegal pursuits and made her way toward him, dodging through the crowd without touching anyone. "Here, I have some medicine for that cut."

[burningdream]

Ronan had been wandering for a while and most of his wounds had begun to scab and crust. His body felt like he'd just spent the past twelve hours hiking through barbed cacti.

He turned around at the sound of a voice, his eyes narrowing slightly. He'd already encountered somebody who was quite kind, but the group of toughs who had landed him in this condition were also fresh in his mind.

"Hey, hey, hold on," he said, taking a step back. "What kind of medicine are we talking here?"