April Test Drive

[rubycitymods]

Thinking of apping a character but not sure they'll fit in the city walls?

Have no fear, a meme for you is here.

Directions:

• Use an RNG to choose a location and prompt, or wait for someone else to tag.


• Post with your character with their name and canon on top!


• If you'd like, leave contact info for people to get in contact for plotting and other such shenans.


• Tag around! Make friends. Don't be afraid to chat OOC while tagging.

Locations

1.TRAIN STATION - The place where everyone gets dumped off at. Your first view of Ruby City, complete with informational posters telling you all about where you've ended up.
2. THE BEACH - Lovely year-round, though in the winter months, you're probably not likely to dip your toes in.
3. THE BLACK STALLION - A rather quaint bar. Supposedly, the burgers are great, but you don't see anyone immediately who's willing to serve you. Maybe you're meant to get it yourself.
4. THE OBELISK - The tall monolith in the center of the city marks the gathering place of many events, though right now it seems to be cold and dark.
5. THE CLOCKTOWER - Offering an impressive view of the city, several residents come here to clear their heads, if they don't mind braving the narrow staircase.
6. THE COFFEE JOINT - the front windows are warm and welcoming, and it seems there's always someone friendly enough to fix you a cup when you wander through.
7. THE CATACOMBS - Intrepid, aren't you? Those weird holes may beg exploring, but go too deep and you're going to be in a lot of trouble, considering the viciousness of the creatures held within.
8. THE CITY STREETS - All told, Ruby City is a lovely place, once you get past the fact that several of the buildings look derelict and on the verge of falling down. There's no harm in doing a little sightseeing.
9. THE PARK - You thought it'd be a lovely stroll, but the park is anything but friendly, if those approaching wolf-like creatures are any indication.
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like what we've come up with? Feel like picking your own place? There's a whole host of lovely locations to choose from in the City.


Scenarios


1. NEW ARRIVAL - Step off that train, walk down the street. People usually latch on to newcomers to try and help them out. Even if you look shy, the other residents probably won't be!
2. WATCH TALK - Feeling lost? Disoriented? Don't worry, everyone feels that way on their first day. Fortunately - if the signs at the station are to believed - the watch in your pocket can be used to talk to whoever else might be here.
3. BAD WEATHER - Aw, man. Whether it's snow, or rain, or just plain cold, today was definitely the wrong day to get dumped off in a City in the middle of nowhere.
4. A RUN-IN - Maybe you weren't watching. Maybe they weren't. Either way, you just bumped into someone. Perhaps apologies are in order?
5. HELP, IT HURTS - Clumsy, aren't you? Perhaps wherever the train brought you from wasn't so friendly, or you just tripped and twisted your ankle. Either way, you're in a bit of pain. Hopefully someone will notice your booboos and help patch you up.
6. HUNGRY - It isn't very obvious sometimes that restaurants are what they are, especially in a place like Ruby City. Where can a person go to get a bite to eat around here?
7. MISTAKEN IDENTITY - Hey, there's someone you know! --Or maybe not.
8. BEING FOLLOWED - Maybe you're just being paranoid, or maybe you've got a reason to be afraid. Whatever it is, it feels like there's eyes on you...
9. CURRENT EVENTS - None at the moment, but feel free to look through our event tag!
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like any of these ideas? Feel free to come up with your own!

Comments

Dr. Archie Hopper aka Jiminy Cricket | Once Upon a Time

[contocricket]

[Option 7-5]
"Weird holes" didn't particularly inspire a desire to investigate unless you somehow managed to tumble your way into them. At that point you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter as Archie was quick to figure out.

Leaning against a wall, he hissed as he gingerly applied weight to his right foot, biting the inside of his cheek to suppress the urge to scream.

Pongo whined, looking at his human pet worriedly. He needed to get help, but he didn't want to lose Archie either.

"I'm okay, boy. I...ah!" He slid down the wall to the ground, clutching at his injured ankle. "Okay. Maybe not as okay as I thought."

It felt like a bad sprain. Hopefully his self-diagnosis was right.

[Option 2-3]
A walk on the beach with his dog had seemed like such a good idea before now. Then the storm had come up out of nowhere and it'd started pouring.

At least Archie had his lucky umbrella with him. He tried holding it out over Pongo, but the Dalmatian had gleefully bounced around in the wet sand, leaping into each puddle he could find.

"You're getting a bath when we get home," Archie scolded with a smile.

2-3

[truestsweeper]

Henry was out walking his own Dalmatian on the beach today. He didn't let Mister Spots off the lead just yet, he was still a puppy and Henry was having more trouble than he'd like to admit training him. The weather didn't seem to bother either of them and Henry could try transporting them both home with a bit of magic if things got too hairy.

But then he saw another Dalmatian, an adult. A familiar adult Dalmatian and a familiar voice to go along with it. Henry ran to catch up with Archie, Mister Spots running along beside him as the boy grinned.

"Archie! Pongo!"

[contocricket]

Dalmatians were rambunctious dogs as a general rule. Henry had only been allowed to handle after Pongo had already been trained and was less likely to take the child out for a drag. (All bets were off when anyone else other than Archie held the leash.) It was no wonder that the pup would be a bit rowdy.

Pongo barked, tail wagging, as Archie looked to Henry.

"Henry!" The psychiatrist grinned widely at the boy. "And who's with you, huh?"

[truestsweeper]

Mister Spots had pulled wildly to get to Archie but with the weather, Henry knew he was dirty. He let the puppy sniff around Pongo instead.

"This is Mister Spots. Grandpa got me him a few weeks ago. It's so good to see you." And he touched Archie's arm, the closest he could do as a hug while holding the lead of his puppy.

[contocricket]

"It's good to see you, too."

Archie couldn't really hug the boy either with one hand occupied by an umbrella and the other holding Pongo's leash, but he sidestepped to be closer to the boy to make sure Henry was under the umbrella's shelter.

Pongo sniffed Mister Spots in return, tail wagging in greeting. It was a little comical to see the pup next to a fully grown Dalmatian.

"If you don't mind me asking, which grandpa?" After all, there was both David and Gold.

[truestsweeper]

Henry was still grinning. "Thanks." He said, meaning the umbrella. He was currently only in the large coat Gold had conjured for him as he had only arrived in his work suit.

Chuckling at the behaviour of the two dogs, Henry had to switch hands so the leads didn't get too tangled since Archie's hands were full.

"Oh, it's Gold. He was here when I got here. Haven't even seen anyone from the other side of the family." Regina was a third side really and she hurt to think about.

[contocricket]

That meant Gold was here. Though not the Charmings apparently.

Still, there was something a bit more important to take care of first.

"Let's head back under cover and you can tell me a little bit more without both of us getting soaked to the skin," Archie offered.

Pongo wove his way under Mister Spot's leash to disentangle them. He knew that tone was his pet's way of saying they needed to go inside. As much fun as splashing through puddles was, he knew he was going to be paying for it with a--yuck!--bath.

[truestsweeper]

"Sounds like a good idea." Henry pulled the lead to get Mister Spots to follow. "Come on, boy." The puppy seemingly obeyed but really, he was just following Pongo.

"Any questions, just fire away. I've been here long enough that I should be able to answer it all."

[contocricket]

Pongo raised his head high with pride, purposely walking with slack in his leash to show the little pup the proper way to behave. Human pets couldn't always keep up. It was best to sometimes go at their pace.

Glancing in amusement at the pair of Dalmatians and seeing how Pongo was obviously teaching the little one, Archie said, "Okay, let's start with how long have you been here?"

[truestsweeper]

Mister Spots spied the slack in the lead and barked once, as if asking confirmation in his confusion. But he did stop pulling to Henry's delight. It gave him time to think and work out how long he'd been here for.

"Um...about four months I think. End of November, beginning of December I turned up and it's April now."

[contocricket]

Pongo huffed in confirmation. Yes, little pup, you needed to go easy unless the human wanted to go faster or there was something they needed to see.

"Four months?" Archie asked, surprised. "That's a bit longer than I thought you'd say."

[truestsweeper]

This certainly made more sense than being asked to sit all the time. Why sit when you can explore?

"Grandpa's been here over a year and I think Aqua holds the record of something like five. This place is like that."

[contocricket]

Well, sitting was part of it, but as long as you weren't trying to tear their arms out of their sockets, they tended to be all right with exploring.

"Who's Aqua?" he asked, not recognizing the name at all.

[truestsweeper]

But sitting was boring. And Henry asks it of him every single day before he gets food.

"She's a friend. Really a friend of a friend. Not from our world. Either of them as far as I know."

[contocricket]

Humor him, little pup. Soon you'll be getting access to the good stuff like bacon strips.

Archie looked at Henry in confusion. "So she's from one of the other worlds?"

Wonderland, perhaps?

[truestsweeper]

Those sound wonderful. Mister Spots gives Pongo's butt another sniff as if accepting his tuition completely.

"Yeah. There's loads more than even Grandpa knew about. It would be really cool if we could remember it when we went home."

[contocricket]

As you should, Mister Spots. As you should. Pongo is a wise dog and will teach you much.

"We won't remember this place at all?"

That sounded unnervingly close to the missing year.

[magicsprice]

Archie might hear the abrupt sound of something rather solid hitting something equally solid, a pained grunt and the sound of bones breaking following it. Of course looking in the direction it comes from will get a good view of the sudden and no doubt unexpected fireball heading Archie's direction.

Fortunately for the former cricket, it passes the man to cause the monster to howl in pain and back off enough that the person responsible for aforementioned noises came into view. A rather familiar face framed by graying hair.

Gold frowned at the sight in front of him briefly before speaking in a no nonsense manner. "Can you stand and walk enough to get out of this cesspit? Or do you need help?"

[contocricket]

Archie jumped a little while Pongo gave a bark of surprise, hissing as he put weight on his foot. "I'll need help. I sprained it."

The Dalmatian, however, was in a slight tizzy, nose sniffing the air and trying desperately to pick up the scent of another of those things. It had been so close, and he'd missed it!

[magicsprice]

Gold gave the tunnel leading further into the catacombs a wary look before offering the other man a hand. "Here, take my hand. This isn't a good place to linger. Once we're away, I'll check your leg."

[contocricket]

The voice sounded familiar, but right now Archie was too focused on trying to get away from the entrance to the catacombs to think about it. He gave a sharp whistle to draw Pongo's frenzied attention.

"Pongo, come," he ordered.

The Dalmatian obediently reeled himself in so he was positioned beside his human pet.

[magicsprice]

Fortunately they hadn't yet attracted anything from the park, perhaps his actions in approaching had made things think twice about tangling with him. He helped Archie hobble his way a reasonable distance out away from the catacombs before he paused and knelt to quietly examine the afflicted ankle. "Nothing too serious fortunately."

It took but a moment's concentration and Archie might feel a brief comforting warmth center about his ankle that took away any pain he might be suffering from. "There we are. Now we can get out of this death trap they call a park."

Gold straightened up, getting back to his feet. "Shall we?" He asked gesturing in the direction of the city.

[contocricket]

The sudden throbbing of his ankle disappearing stunned Archie for a moment. So apparently this was a magic user.

"Thank you," he said, getting to his feet. Then he paused, finally recognizing his rescuer. "Mr. Gold?"

[magicsprice]

"You're welcome. I was wondering when you'd notice." Of course, being focused on not becoming monster chow can be distracting he knew. As he began to lead the way toward the city, a small golden form abruptly appeared a minute later to settle on the older man's shoulder, primly folding its wings over its back as the scaled tail moved to circle the man's throat like a golden torc. The creature was only about the size of a half grown cat, despite looking like a dragon. She gave the stranger a friendly chirp from her perch. "Dr. Hopper, this is Gloria. Gloria, this is Dr. Archie Hopper." He introduced, since he suspected that would be the first question following the arrival of the little queen.

[contocricket]

"Sorry. I was a little distracted," Archie said wryly.

He paused for a moment to test his foot, trying to determine whether or not Gold had completely healed it or had simply numbed the pain. (He was never one hundred percent sure what the limits to dark and light magic were, and the Blue Fairy's magic that still lurked inside him kept him from dying but didn't deal with such minor injuries.) It didn't seem broken, so walking on it should be all right for the moment. If it was a sprain, well, walking on it would probably end up in him getting laid up for quite a--

He stared at the tiny dragon for a moment, blinking in surprise as Gold made introductions. "Ah...hello."

He looked questioningly at Gold in mute question if what he was seeing was really what he was seeing.