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[greywaren]

Player Information
Player name: Rae
Contact: raelet
Are you over 18: Y!
Characters in The Box Already: None!

Character Information
Character Name: Ronan Lynch
Canon: The Raven Cycle
Canon Point: Post Blue Lily, Lily Blue.
History: Bare bones Wiki article! As the article is kind of scant and doesn't detail the actual books, I'll try to do a short summary, and I can clarify further if need be!

To make a very complicated story as short as I can manage, Ronan's father, Niall Lynch, had the ability to bring things from his dreams into reality by tapping into a magical energy source/ley line called Cabeswater. He dreamed up a wife and a serene farm, and raised a family there until he was murdered two years prior to the start of the books. With his death, all of the things he created went into a comatose stasis, including Ronan's mother, and his will exiled his sons to their school housing and forbade them from ever returning home.

Ronan begins the series as a friend to Gansey, one of the protagonists. Gansey had been Ronan's friend since before his father's death and since then has tried to handle Ronan's fits of rage, depression, and PTSD while still pushing him through school so he can come into his inheritance laid out in the will. Gansey, along with Ronan and their other friends Adam and Noah, are on a quest to wake up an ancient king who Gansey believes is sleeping somewhere on the ley line.

In the beginning of the book, Ronan encounters his brother and winds up in a fistfight, which winds up depressing him enough to leave the housing on a drinking binge. Thinking that he is attempting suicide (as he's done this before), Gansey searches for him only to find Ronan in a church, coddling a fledgling raven who he names Chainsaw. Ronan then proceeds to raise her while shirking the rest of his school duties and risking expulsion. One night, as he drops Adam off at his home, Ronan witnesses his father beating him. He intervenes then, fighting with Adam's father, and is arrested. In order to keep him from being expelled from school, Adam presses charges against his own father, and as a way of repaying him, Ronan studies enough to pass his classes. At the end of the book, Ronan turns back to his friends and cheerily informs them that he felt it was appropriate to tell them that he had taken Chainsaw out of his dreams.

The second book basically revolves around Ronan and delves into his abilities to take things from his dreams, as his father had. He learns that he is a Greywaren and that while other people can take things from dreams, Ronan is the only one who can communicate with said dreams. It's weird. Anyway, Gansey and Adam leave to go to a political party, leaving Ronan and the ghostly Noah alone. Ronan, who is the king of good decisions, then proceeds to steal Gansey's car and go drag racing. While he's doing this, creatures from his nightmares that he accidentally summoned into reality show up and cause him to wreck the car. He's saved by an unlikely ally: Kavinsky, another student, who has been antagonizing Ronan for weeks and can be summed up succinctly as an asshole.

Kavinsky tells Ronan that he can pull things from the dream as well and spends the weekend alternating getting high, drunk, and teaching Ronan how to hone his powers under the expectation that Ronan will be with him afterward. Ronan learns how to bring a copy of Gansey's car into reality before leaving, angering Kavinsky, who mocks him before kidnapping Ronan's youngest brother and threatening to kill him. Ronan and Kavinsky both summon monsters from their dreams to fight, and Kavinsky is eventually killed by his own monster. Ronan speaks to his father in a dream and learns that Niall intended for Ronan to dream a forgery of his will when he came into his power, which he does, thereby allowing him to revisit his childhood home. The end of the book also reveals that Ronan has nursed a crush on Adam for some time, something that he wouldn't admit to himself until he learned to accept his abilities and stop his self hatred.

The third book picks up the quest for the king in full force, and Ronan learns that there's (still) a plot to try and hunt down and capture the Greywaren (him). Ronan asks Adam to help him thwart the people after him, and eventually also asks his help in 'waking up' the animals that were put into a trance when his father died. He reveals that he dreamed his youngest brother when he was three and is scared that he'll end up the same way if Ronan dies. Adam hatches a plan for Ronan to use his abilities to summon false incriminating evidence to scare the person hunting him into leaving. Retrieving such things causes the dream to turn against Ronan and Adam witnesses Ronan creating a dream copy of himself to be murdered by the dream. Angered by his vulnerability, Ronan fights with him and forces him to leave so he can clean up his own body.

In the final act, the entire group searches for the king underground in the ley line. This turns out to be fraught with peril, as group members are slowly left behind until only Ronan and Blue- the female protagonist- are left in a dark cavern, with a pond that only Blue can cross. Ronan gives Blue his light, even though it leaves him in the dark with no way out, and ushers her forward. They then succeed in causing a cave-in and waking the wrong entity, and now everything is kind of fucked.

That's where I'm taking him from!


Personality:
Throughout the series, Ronan undergoes significant change with a very drastic character arc as he learns to let go of some of the rage he felt over his father's murder, open up to his friends, and accept himself for who he is. It's an imperfect development and he's still working on it, but he's effectively transformed from a confused, vengeful brat to a self actualized ally and friend.

Niall Lynch and his home full of dreams had a profound effect on Ronan's psyche, much of which he still carries with him to this day. As a child, he loved and adored his father more than anything, and lived in a constant state of wonder at the magic of the world around him. Niall enjoyed the adoration and encouraged it. When Ronan discovered that the magic came from Niall's dreams, Niall told him to keep it a secret, and so he did.

Which was why Niall's murder, the subsequent muting of everything he'd created, and Ronan's exile from his home affected him as drastically as he did. Ronan's entire magical world was ripped away from him in a week's time, along with the person he adored more than anything. His mother was comatose and untouchable as deemed by his father's will, and he had nothing. So, predictably, he lashed out.

Ronan is infamous for his streak of insubordination and violence. While Gansey states that he used to be kinder and happier, it's also implied that his father associated him with violence and regarded Ronan as his greatest creation, rather than simply his son. Due to this, Ronan stylizes himself as a dangerous force of nature and is more than capable of backing up the impression with cruel words and swinging fists. He's irreverent, angry, and despises basically everyone he meets. This doesn't really change much when he's around his friends, either: though Ronan is slightly less vicious toward them, he still fights with them often and consistently succeeds in making them angry toward him.

It may be tempting to see this rage and cruelty as a mask, as he does have a lot of subtlety and nuance buried beneath his swearing and willingness to fight. However, his violent nature is intrinsically a part of him, something that he both accepts and readily reminds others of if he feels like they're scrutinizing him. It's not something that comes away when you scrub at the surface.

Although Adam thinks that Ronan is only capable of showing happiness and anger, it doesn't mean that there aren't other sides of him. His thuggish nature makes him deceptively two-dimensional, a fact that he uses to his benefit when he does uncharacteristically kind things for others and lets someone else take the credit or blame. Part of him doesn't want to be seen as more than just an angry teenage boy, both because it's easier for him to operate under that stereotype and because he's still not sure exactly what he is other than that.

Ronan's quest throughout the Raven Cycle is one of identity and self discovery. He begins in the first book by admitting to Gansey that he doesn't know what the hell he is, a sentiment that is repeatedly stated over and over again throughout his point-of-view chapters and layered into different parts of his identity. He has dreams of other people taunting him, telling him I know what you are, and when he's told that he can take anything he wants from the dream, his only reaction is that he doesn't know what he wants.

On the surface, his question of identity is answered when he begins to explore his dreams: he is told that he's a Greywaren, the only dreamer capable of communicating with the dream. This gives a name to what he's been experiencing since Cabeswater returned (accidentally summoning monsters from his dreams, being unsure if he's awake or asleep, sleepwalking, etc), but it's also not the whole answer.

While Ronan hates lying, he is said to live with 'every kind of secret', including the secrets that he keeps from himself. This complicates things and due to his powers, it can manifest in horrific ways. Ronan's dreams are layered in his subconscious and when he denies or goes against his own nature, his self hatred takes physical form and attacks him. He has almost accidentally killed himself several times over due to this and it's clear that his lack of self realization is literally deadly.

Throughout Dream Thieves, Ronan's dreams become a way that he can face his true self, without all of the secrets and rage that he uses to obscure the truth in his day to day life. Chainsaw is his raven and the first thing that he ever took from a dream- she stated to be his 'truest' creation, and other characters comment that Chainsaw seems to be a representation of Ronan's own heart. His love for his raven is initially what softens his character in the first book and Chainsaw is a window through which we see his more compassionate side.

Unsurprisingly, his dreams are also where Ronan is repeatedly faced with the conflict of his sexuality. During his waking moments, his interest in male characters shows itself through his physical responses: fingers tightening, heart pounding, etc, and his narrative purposely either doesn't give it thought or attributes the anxiety to something else that's going on at the time. While dreaming, he thinks of Adam and Kavinsky in sensual ways, and when he wakes and is forced to reconcile between his denial and the truth, Ronan is ashamed and tries to push it from his mind.

The fact that he is attracted to Adam is what Ronan refers to as his second secret, which was 'perfect in its concealment' because he never lets himself really think about it. When he finally admits it to himself at the end of Dream Thieves, the pieces of his identity further clicks into place and he begins to accept who he is and stop his self hatred.

What makes Ronan's crush on Adam so interesting is that Ronan is not a romantic character. In one of his first appearances, it states that he cannot understand casual relationships and it's implied that he's never particularly cared to be romantically involved with anyone. Ronan doesn't operate in half-measures; he never has, which makes his attraction to Adam monumental. While Ronan's crush doesn't make him any less likely to get in fights with Adam, it's implied that he watches him, cares for him, and trusts him with his secrets (and as Ronan places such a massive value on secrets, this trust carries a lot of unspoken weight).

His inability to understand casual relationships explains a lot about his relationships with- not only Adam or their friend group- but with basically everyone he interacts with. Ronan's affection isn't a dial, but a switch: if he decides that you're worth his time, he is unconditionally yours. Although he doesn't like to admit it, Ronan would do anything for his friends, and has stated that he would die for Gansey without a second thought. He creates things in his dreams to try and make his friends lives easier and pays attention to when their lives are going awry. He's still an asshole at times, he still fights with them and they get exasperated by him, but there's an undercurrent of loyalty and belonging in all of his significant relationships.

However, this means that the opposite is also true. If he decides that you're not worth his time, you are nothing to him. He despises just about everyone he meets and doesn't care about offending them- sometimes, he goes out of his way to offend them. He doesn't mourn any of the characters who die in the series, and it's clear that their deaths don't quite bother him the way that they bother Gansey.

In truth, sadness and mourning just don't seem to be things that he shows at all. Anger is an easier reaction for him. When he's hurt or upset, he lashes out with no regard for who gets caught in the crossfire. His anger is a tool that he uses to hide his vulnerability, and it's effective in that it pisses off the other characters enough to forget that he's in pain.

Part of the reason that Ronan seems to have such a dichotomy within himself- happiness/rage, loyalty/violence, etc- is because he's surprisingly good at compartmentalizing his life. This is something that even his closest friends don't recognize until the series is well underway, but Ronan prefers to keep different aspects of his life separate. These aspects can be split into four categories: his friendships during the daytime, which is what we see the most of, his rivalries at night, which tempts and feeds into his darker and wilder sides, his home and family, which is a source of reverence and pain, and his religion, which is only briefly touched on in the series.

Gansey may be notorious with his masks, but Ronan presents himself extremely differently, depending on where he is and what he's doing. Adam marvels in the third book that it had once been impossible to reconcile the angry punk that Ronan is with the serenity of the Barns or the reverence of the church, but that somehow they're all equal parts of him. A lot of this is because, underneath the tough exterior and swinging fists, Ronan Lynch is intensely spiritual, reverent, and nostalgic- even if he doesn't linger on it unless he's in the right environment.

With all of this intensity and introspection and layers, it can be difficult at times to remember that Ronan is a seventeen year old boy... and yet, spend ten minutes in a room with him and that fact will be made pretty clear. Ronan is clearly the delinquent of the group, and has a mouth so foul on him that he routinely shocks people with just how many curses he can fit into one phrase. He writes dirty jokes on whiteboards, roughhouses with his friends, and listens to loud, obnoxious music. He's that kid that everyone pretty much hates and is also slightly embarrassed of, and he really doesn't care.

All-in-all, Ronan is pretty much a seven layer dip of assholery, PTSD, spirituality, compassion, and topped with more assholery. His identity is a point of hard-won pride for him, and, though it's douchey at times, he refuses to compromise who he is for anyone.



Items on your character at canon point:
-The clothes that he's wearing (henley, jeans, shoes, etc)
-Wallet with assorted money and cards
-Keys to his car
-His raven, Chainsaw.

A note on Chainsaw! I couldn't find a pet/familiar policy in the FAQ, but since she's a dream creation and can be interpreted to be Ronan's guide, she's extremely important to him. She has no special powers, other than being pretty much devoted to him. I understand if she can't be allowed in with him at time of apping (though I hope she can be!), but hopefully there'd be a way to request her later?

Abilities:
PHEW. OKAY.

Physically, Ronan is a good fighter. He knows how to box, and has held his own against men twice his age. It's said that 'the only thing that can damage a Lynch brother is another Lynch brother', and he gets in... well, a lot of fights.

Mentally, he's a bit of a slacker. He barely scrapes by in his classes and his friends usually know more about basic subjects than him. However, Ronan is top of the class in Latin and can speak it passably, as it's the language he uses to communicate with his dreams.

On the subject of his dreams himself, it's... complicated. Tl;dr, as I'm sure you've guessed from all of my waxing about it, Ronan can pull objects from his dreams into reality. The technical aspects of it aren't clearly written, but Ronan confusingly describes the process- "I have to hold it, not as a dream, but like it's real. I can't pretend to hold it. I have to really hold it."

Ronan has the potential to pull anything. If it exists in dreams, he can make it exist in reality. Sometimes, the items are magical and operate on dream logic- a remote control plane without batteries, or a pen that only writes cursive- sometimes they're just replicas of day to day things- car keys or documents. The largest thing that Ronan has ever pulled is a replica of his friends car, a fully working Camaro. However, his father created an entire home and an idyllic valley populated with dream things.

Taking things from dreams requires energy, however. Ronan and the other dreamers in the series utilize the energy of Cabeswater (the magical forest on the ley line) in order to take what they want. Taking too much drains Cabeswater and makes it disappear for awhile.

Since Cabeswater is not a location in-game, Ronan will only be able to access it through Adam, who is, for all intents and purposes, the avatar of the forest. Adam will function as a window or conduit into Cabeswater, through which Ronan can use the energy to pull things. I feel like this will be effective in limiting Ronan's otherwise godlike abilities because taking too much would strain on Adam and could probably potentially kill him.

As an aside, Ronan is generally pretty responsible about what he can take through, but he is capable of creating living things like people or animals. I don't think it's IC of him to do so, as his entire life has basically been a study of why you shouldn't create dream people, but I think it'd be interesting to keep the prospect open for potential plotting way down the line.


Strengths and Weaknesses:
+ Loyalty. He is incredibly loyal to his friends, especially Gansey. He would die for them, and doesn't think twice before sacrificing his comforts for them.
+ Fighting. Niall taught him to box, and he's pretty damn good at it.
+ Fast thinking. His nightmares have almost killed him on multiple occasions. In order to get out alive, he's needed to hone an ability to think fast and quick, even when under intense stress.
+ Creator. Ronan is, by nature, a creator. For his power, the possibilities are limitless, and the things he brings into reality are often useful in creative ways.

+ / - Honesty. Ronan never lies- he takes pride in it. However, he uses brutal honesty as a weapon, and in his mind, silence and half-truths aren't quite the same as lying.
+ / - Self control. Not quite what you'd think. Ronan hates being anything but utterly intentional, even if he's intentionally cruel. He tries to always have control over his reactions. When he's out of control then everyone is in deep trouble.

- Anger. All of his vulnerable emotions are churned out into anger. He often reacts in destructive- yet calculated- ways to bad things happening. This leads to...
- Self-destruction. Ronan enjoys fine activities, such as drag racing, binge drinking, and punching his brother.
- Abrasiveness. 99% of the people who meet him, hate him. He's a dick. Without Gansey present, he's even more of a dick. He's angry and bitter and lashes out often.
- PTSD. Everyone in this series has it tbh. Ronan is the one who found Niall beaten to death in the driveway, the images of which still haunt him years later. It's implied that his post traumatic stress from the incident is what gave him a lot of his issues with anger and communication skills.
- Cell Service. He hates phones. Like, a lot. 14 missed calls, 20 missed texts sort of hate. It makes him an unreliable contact.

Samples
Network/Action Sample: TDM thread!
Prose Log Sample:
When his father had taught him to box, he'd told Ronan that the most important step was always to clear his mind.

It's difficult to clear it now, in the wake of everything that had happened. Whereas Gansey sees their drawbacks a chess game and Adam sees a pathway full of twists and turns, Ronan, predictably, tries to approach it as a fight. Except now he feels like he's in the ring blindfolded with a punch coming that he has no idea how to block. It seems stupid, to be so unprepared for this, but Ronan doesn't know how to prepare himself. All of the wondrous things that he could possibly create, and all he needs is something to tell him what to do next.

So he goes for a drive. The corners of Monmouth seem stifling tonight, and Ronan doesn't feel comfortable trying to dream when he's still so conflicted from their earlier finds. They'd found Blue's mother in the cave, which he supposes was their ultimate goal, but the king, Glendower, remains as lost as ever. As much as Ronan has no personal stake in their quest for unveiling him, he knows that Gansey does, and he knows that without a lead to follow, Gansey will crumble.

There's always been something relaxing about driving- when you're behind the wheel of a car, you can choose how to do it. You can follow the speed limit, turn the radio on something slow, and just let yourself be... or, you can jam your foot down on the gas and let everything slide away into the knifepoint edge of focus, where one slip means the hospital or worse.

Ronan, of course, does the latter.

Acceleration. Gas. Electricity. Gansey will work himself out, he always does. They had a small victory, even if it didn't lead him to his king. He's been on Glendower's trail for two years, he's hardly going to stop looking because they caused a cave-in. Adam will find more pieces of himself in Cabeswater. He's the magician, after all- he has to.

Ronan doesn't know about himself. Third to fourth gear. The road always seems to disappear in the dark- someone else in the ring with him that he can't see, swinging a familiar punch.

It's going to happen, whatever it is. It's going to happen soon. Ronan can only tighten his fingers on the wheel and pray that what they have is enough.