Robyn Quinn - String Theory: Aftermath

Name	Robyn Janestine Quinn	Aliases
Status	Registered Evolved (Tier 0)	Ability	Photokinesis (Currently Inaccessible)

Gender	Female	Race/Eth.	Caucasian (Irish)
Birthdate	September 27th, 1984	Age	27

Height	5'5"	Build	123 lbs.
Eyes	Grey	Hair	Long Brown

Residence	Village Renaissance Building Apartment 309
Employment	God who even knows anymore. Musician/Freedom Fighter mostly

Parents

Conner Quinn (Father, living in Ireland)
Charlotte Roux (Mother, living in Boston)

Siblings

None

Marital Status

Engaged (Elaine Darrow)

Children

None

First Seen

White Days

Last Seen

Going Nowhere

Profile

A talented singer and songwriter hailing from Ireland, Robyn Quinn is a musician and DJ living in New York. Gifted with the power of photokinesis, she is a fun loving woman who has been forced to grow up and face the world with a more serious face over the course of her time in the city. Recent developments have turned her into a more devoted operative for the Ferrymen network, while trying to balance these activities with recording new music and a newfound job helping to run Studio K's radio division. Once answered mostly to "Quinn" but has grown accustomed to and even encourages folks calling her by her first name.

portrayed by

Stéphanie Sokolinski

Robyn Janestine Quinn was born on September 27th, 1984 in Waterford, Ireland. Conner Quinn and Charlotte Roux-Quinn, her parents, was a mismatched pair. Conner was a skilled and dutiful glass and crystal maker at the world famous Waterford Crystal factory, her mother an artist in her own right, locally known for paintings and sculptures. This enabled Charlotte, a Paris native and artist, to stay home with her daughter as she grew up, but caused young Quinn to become rather distant from her father.

Quinn’s, as she is often called, childhood was rather boring, the young girl taking an early interest in pursuits akin to her mother, only instead of artistry; she took a distinct interest in music (particularly in playing the piano, and later, keyboard) and theatre. This excited her mother greatly, but left her father mostly disinterested, serving only to further widen the gap between both her and her father, and her mother and father. At the age of 15, this culminated in her parents splitting, with her father remaining in Ireland while Quinn and her mother moved to the United States to begin life anew.

Quinn and her mother came to reside in Boston, Massachusetts, settling in just in time for an extremely unenthused Quinn to begin the fall ’98 high school year. Almost immediately, Quinn carved out a niche for herself in her large public school as an artsy music geek, but Quinn wore this designation like a badge of pride. In school, she excelled at music and art classes, and participated in the theater program, though she had no true starring roles.

Four events of particular note occurred during the next few years. First, at the age of 16 she met Davin Tisdale, who quickly became her best friend and accomplice in musical mischief. Second, at the age of 18, first when she used money she’d been saving to record a 6 song demo CD consisting of her piano and some guitar work, and on one track a full band sound with Davin’s help, and third, she had her first exposure to the club scene through friends of Davin’s. She quickly became absolutely enamored with the American indie and Club network, and spent the next two years out of High School at community college during the day, and clubbing at night, and her interest in DJing was first sparked.

Fourth was a more surprising occurrence, and one Wuinn certainly couldn’t have expected. Spending a night studying for finals doesn’t typically lead to exciting discoveries or events, but one May evening in 2004, the end of her second year in school, certainly served to buck that trend. A power outage once evening as she worked her way through the library stacks usually leads to a lot of complaining or some rather unsavory activities. Not one to have enough foresight to keep some kind of light source in her bag or on her person, for Quinn it meant a lot of stumbling around and running into things, until finally she collided with a full bookcase, sending most of its contents spilling down on her.

It took Quinn a few moments to regain herself, and for several moments she thought she was seeing spots and light caused from the numerous books she had just had fall on her head. But quickly she came to realize that the lights were tricks of the eye or the results of a concussion; it was springing forth from her own hands. Bewildered, confused, and not wanting to suffer from an artillery shell’s worth of E.T. jokes, Quinn's hands found their way into her pockets until the power was restored and the abnormality seemed to fade.

Returning home, Quinn immediately began accustoming herself with this new skill, discovering that she had somehow manifested the ability to produce and project varying amounts of light. Rather than react with confusion and horror like many would have, Quinn was enthralled with this ability, and spent the next several weeks trying to figure out exactly what it was. Learning to shift colours, dim light around her, and a variety of similar tricks were learned over the next year, and slowly Quinn began finding ways to integrate these tricks into her DJing shows, bringing a new and vibrant flavour to them.

Finishing community college that same year, Quinn spent that summer doing part time work and occasional music related gigs until she had saved enough money to move, and in summer of 2005, Quinn moved to New York City in search of a new music scene and a place she could make an impact in. Getting a studio apartment in Brooklyn and a roommate she wouldn’t keep for very long at all, Quinn immediately took to the club scene across New York, spending much of her first month in the city poor and hungry as she instead paid for concert tickets and cover charges. She spent the rest of the year juggling her life between working at a local Barnes & Noble, a budding social life and integration into the club scene, and a quickly deteriorating relationship with her roommate.

2006 would continue most of the same way. During this time, Quinn continued practicing her light controlling skills, slowly turning a handful of light tricks into a veritable light show; a “symphony of light” as she called one time. Able to produce bursts of light, dim existing light, narrow beams of light, shift colours, and any other number of things, she took to light manipulation like a fish to water, though it often left her roommate wondering where she was hiding the various lights. It was around this time that Quinn began integrating her abilities into DJing gigs, when she could get them, gaining a small bit of notoriety for her cheap, but versatile and increasingly complex light shows that accompany them.

The explosion in November, 2006 was a tragic event for the city of New York, and one that Quinn was saved from by luck and stomach flu. She and her roommate had been scheduled to attend a party in the area, and indeed the roommate had gone. Quinn was lucky enough to be knelt over a toilet when the blast occurred. The loss of her roommate didn’t affect her much, callous as that may seem. Quinn was simply happy to have been too sick to go to the party. The months quickly grew increasingly rough, though. As the state of Manhattan declined in the wake of the Bomb, so did Quinn’s financial stability. Forced to request money from her mother, Quinn found herself forced to stay shut in her home, away from chaos and lacking money to take part in the events and fun she coveted.

2007 would bring another major change in Quinn’s life with the revelation and revealing of the evolved – finally, a word to put alongside her unusual ability to manipulate light. Quinn was elated by this; knowing that there were others like her, knowing that she could be more forthright with her possession of this ability if she chose. Fascinated by the other evolved, Quinn began finding ways to reach out. The Linderman Act, though poorly received by some evolved, was greeted in good faith by Quinn, who registered as soon as she could, noting her ability simply as “light manipulation”.

The next few years saw as much staying the same as it changed. Though she doesn’t advertise her status as an evolved, Quinn never made an effort to hide the fact that she was evolved, and as she returned to her lifestyle of music, clubs, and her DJing and performance jobs, always making sure to keep an eye out for other evolved. She has grown into a staunch supporter of evolved rights, having even written a song or two about the subject.

In more recent times, Quinn finds herself falling a bit on hard times. Both her and her mother find themselves in creative slumps, making it hard for either of them to pull in the money necessary to fund Quinn’s rent and lifestyle. Having never replaced her roommate over the near 4 years since The Bomb likely hasn’t helped with that, nor have the escalating fees at the studio where she often goes to put down demos ad backing tracks as she works on music. The continuing cold weather and unusual conditions only serve to make everything around her that much harder. She remains hopeful, though, continuing her life as well as she can until the next big thing happens….

The most common words used to describe Robyn by the various employers, teachers, and even her father would most likely be things like “lazy” or “lethargic”, “laid back”, or such. This is largely true, Robyn often seems largely unconcerned and unstressed, almost to the point of obviousness at times. She is lighthearted and fun loving, valuing a good time over most anything else. When something has become droll and uninteresting – such as work – Robyn will often find some way to try and make it more fun, be it making a game out of something normally mundane, finding a coworker to talk with, or any other number of things. She isn’t one to get overly stressed about anything, and prefers to flow with what’s going on around her. Despite this, she takes actual work very seriously, knowing her precocious position in life as of late.

The truth is, this is really only how she approaches mundane or otherwise “uninteresting” tasks. When presented with a new instrument to learn, a piece of music or song to write, an evening to prepare for, or anything of an exciting nature, Robyn springs to life. When stimulated, Robyn is a fountain of never ending energy. Not hyperactive, but certainly not one to get bored or tired quickly, there has been many a night she has spent bouncing from party to party until well after the sun came up the next day.

Quinn is typically a very positive, friendly and personable individual, almost exceptionally so. While not necessarily naive, her positivity shines through in the overwhelming trust she places in people, even strangers. She is not stupid, however, and can often tell when someone’s either messing with her or otherwise acting undesirably, and once wronged or lie to is slow to let her trust be earned back.

Being the creative and expressive person that she is, Robyn is highly individualistic and enjoys setting herself apart from others. She will fight for anything she believes in whatever manner she can, and is a strong believer in Evolved rights.

Quinn’s photokinesis manifests in a number of ways. The most simple application of this is her ability to generate (or negate) light. This light generation can be done two ways, by simply brightening or dimming much of the light around her (a light “leak” or “bleed”, by her words), or by focusing on focal points to create small dimmed areas or bursts of light, a feat commonly used in her light shows. Quinn is able to apply this affect to a few areas at a time, but the more she uses it, the more concentration it requires.

Her forte, however, is in the “shaping” of light, bending it and creating dimmed spots to make it look like it takes a shape. Focusing into flashlight beams, creating a shadow-like shape where there wasn’t one, or concentrating light into almost laser like beams (of an entirely noncombative sort – Quinn has no idea how to make an actual pew pew laser beam, but lord knows she wants to) and manipulating those into shapes. She also knows how to shift light across the colour spectrum, another often used ability.

Quinn is constantly trying to find more ways to apply her photokinesis, both because of her own curiosity, and to find new tricks to apply to her DJing lightshows. One of her favourite things to do is “conjure” up a few concentrated beams of light with a keyboard rigged on the floor, and "play" the beams like a faux laser harp.

Since meeting Colette, she has taken a keen interest in advancing both her power and her understanding of how light works. Saddled with numerous books on the physics of light and a chip on her shoulder about her teacher, Quinn has learned many new ways applying her control over light, including providing invisibility for herself and/or a limited number of other individuals, shaping and sustaining light, creating flashbulb like "explosions" of light, and others. She is continuing to hone her skills, with particular goals in mind. Mostly ones that allow her to show up Colette, so she can stick her tongue out at her and flounce away in a huff one of these days.

She has come to realise one major drawback of her ability. Strain and overuse can damage her eyesight, slowly robbing her of her ability to discern various colours as she moves down the various types and combinations of colourblindness. This seems to have come to pass in the aftermath of the attack on the Commonwealth Institute Arcology, Quinn's vision reduced to simple greyscale. The trauma of this event has seemingly robbed her of her ability entirely, or at least rendered her unable to use it. It's currently not known if either of these conditions are permanent.

Elaine Darrow

Ringtone: Florence + The Machine - You've Got The Love

Of the many loves of Robyn Quinn's life, Elaine Darrow is undoubtedly the one that burns the brightest. They were quick friends when they first properly met in a coffee shop as a terrible winter storm that had hung over New York finally broke. The two endured numerous trials together, and though their friendship only blossomed into something more due to unexpected decisions from all around, when it did Quinn was beyond elated - she had fallen in love with the polyglot almost instantly, and eventually having that feeling returned meant the world to her. The pair has recently become engaged; though maybe not under the best of circumstances or for the best of reasons, Quinn is excited about the possibilities of the future.

Skills
Quinn’s chief skill lies in her high level of musical talent. She is a more than capable singer, and is skilled at playing several instruments, including guitar (acoustic preferred), bass, piano/keyboard, violin, synthesizer, and a little handbells. She’s even been seen wielding a keytar in her day, though she claims to loathe the thing (hint: guilty pleasures are a bitch). Indeed, if she had been more focused and paid more attention in school, it’s very likely she could have attended one of New York’s prestigious music schools. While not strictly a “skill”, Quinn is a confident and sometimes charismatic speaker or stage presence, something that aids her when she is DJing. To go hand in hand with this, she is highly knowledgeable about music, particularly of the last two decades, and is often up to date on the latest news. Beyond this, she is physically fit, but otherwise unremarkable in her physical abilities.

Quinn does have several places she falters. She is terrible at just about any and all forms of Mathematics, for starters, and is also a rather clumsy person. She is also a terrible cook, which forces her to eat out way more than she’s comfortable with, and she exercises to make up for it constantly. She is notorious for her inability to arrive anywhere in a prompt manner (except work – she doesn’t screw around with anything that makes money!) and her terrible sense of direction. To be entirely frank, she's pretty useless if it doesn't involve music, or in a smaller capacity, books.

Music
As mentioned, is both talented and vastly interested in the many facets of music; she is both writer and performer. As stated under “Skills”, she can sing, play the guitar, bass, piano and similar devices, and violin with high level of aptitude, and specializes in playing pop-rock and synthpop style music, as well as quieter, acoustic guitar and piano driven music (don’t call it emo, she’s strangle you).

As far as instruments go, Quinn has a collection big enough to fill an entire room in her shared apartment. Now taking up the space throughout the apartment are several of these instruments, including:

A custom made bright red acoustic guitar, gifted to her when she turned 18. She often travels with this.
A black and white Gibson Flying V Electric guitar, bought when she was 17.
A cherry red Epiphone Replica EB-0 Bass Guitar, bought online in 2008
A black Yamaha U1 Upright Piano, bought shortly after moving to New York as a gift from her mother in 2005,
A brand new Roland AX-Synth Keytar, received as a Christmas present in 2009
An Oberheim OB12 Synthesizer, often stored away in a closet unless needed
An acoustic violin owned since she was a young child, and is her most cherished instrument. Destroyed on November 08, 2010
A Cecilio CEVN-3W Electric Silent Violin, pearl white in colour. Purchased in July 2010
A lap harp gifted to her by Elaine Darrow. received as a Christmas present in 2010
A ukulele gifted to her by Melissa Pierce, as a present in January 2011
An acoustic stand up bass purchased in February 2011 in preparation for the Glass Wonderland concert

Needless to say, it’s a very cramped apartment.

In addition to playing and recording music, Quinn is an amateur DJ. She keeps her equipment in storage, receiving help form friends to transport it from gig to gig. As a DJ, she goes by the moniker “DJ Ravenfall”. She’d love to take steps into a more professional level of DJing, but feels that writing and recording music is more important.

Front Cover	Back Cover

Recorded at The Village Renaissance studio owned by Catherine Chesterfield starting in August 2010 and ending early in January 2011, Glass Wonderland is the debut EP (Extended Play) by Robyn Quinn. Consisting of one disc of freshly recorded music, as well as a second disc of demos and carefully chosen tracks recorded over the last several years, the album was released on February 10th, 2011, along with an accompanying release concert.

Tracklist

Disc One: Glass Wonderland

Whiteout
Firefly
The Perfect Mix
She Talks To Spirits
Empire of the Sun
Fantasies
Glass Wonderland

Disc Two: Glass Fragments

Take The Fall (Solo, 2003 Studio Demo)
Sympathy (Solo, 2003 Studio Demo)
Pieces (Full Band, 2003 Studio Demo)
The Breaker (Full Band, 2003 Studio Demo)
Endless (Piano Instrumental, 2006 Home Demo)
Like Porcelain (Full Band, 2007 Studio Demo)
Ashes (Mad Muse Demo, 2010 Home Demo w/Sable)

Outtakes

Glass Wonderland was originally intended to be a full length album, but with a self imposed deadline approaching, and several months already spent on recording, Quinn made the decision to cut several songs from the release instead choosing to add the second disc of already available demos. These songs, in their unfinished form, were either set aside or given to friends at her 2010 Christmas party.

Desire’s Grip (Unfinished Violin and Drum Tracks) - Given out to select individuals at Quinn’s 2010 Christmas Party
Ocean of Light (Unfinished Drum Track) - Given out to select individuals at Quinn’s 2010 Christmas Party
Means To An End ( Unfinished Guitar and Drum Tracks) - Given out to select individuals at Quinn’s 2010 Christmas Party
Whiteout (Full Version) (Full seven minute version cut for time) - Given out to select individuals at Quinn’s 2010 Christmas Party
Stardust (B-Side on Fantasies Single)

Inspiration: Iron and Wine - The Trapeze Swinger

Another lonely, tired night
Fifth and Jonestown Height
I wander up the stairs
To find you waiting there
Before I know I’m three drinks deep
Whiskey, scotch, nothing cheap
With each drop a siren’s song
We won’t be here for very long

I’m just so drunk and
I’ve been down this road before
I know it only ends up poor
I’ll pour myself another
Mix myself another

Closer, closer as we drink
Never take the time to think
We both know better shouldn’t we?
Fuck it, I’ll just let this be
Kiss the corner of your lips
Hands find their way onto hips
We both know some infidelity
These drinks don’t bring me clarity

I’m just so drunk and
I don’t trust myself with you
But the night is young and so’re you
I’ll pour myself another
Mix myself another

Feel it as it hits the throat
Burning like a lover’s note
Warm like the touch I feel
Brokering a devil’s deal
A whisper here, a soft sigh there
I’m not sure when I got to here
But I know I don’t want to go
So I’ll just ask for one more

I’m just so drunk and
You eyes are bright and blue
I just don’t know what to do
But pour myself another
Mix myself another

They always told me to be careful
I knew you’d bring out the worst in me
I just don’t care at all not anymore
But they’ve never stood here like me
Glass in hand in hand with yours
They will never ever see
What it is you mean to me

I’m just so drunk and
I’ve been down this road before
I know it only ends up poor
I’ll pour myself another
Mix myself another

I’m just so drunk and
I don’t trust myself with you
But the night is young and so’re you
I’ll pour myself another
Mix myself another

I’m just so drunk and
You eyes are bright and blue
I just don’t know what to do
But pour myself another
Mix myself another

But I’m just so drunk and
You are so goddamn beautiful
So cheers to us darling
Nothing between us now
We are the perfect mix
You and I
You and I

Trivia

This is one of Quinn's favourite songs she's ever written, even she doesn't actually think it's that good.

With the success of her Glass Wonderland EP and a feature in the April 2011 issue of Pause Magazine, Quinn wasted no time setting forth to record a new, full length record with the intention of pushing it to release in early 2012. After a false start that led to a number of tracks being scrapped, Quinn spent much of her summer in 2011 putting together a new album named Empire of the Sun, with the track of the same name from Glass Wonderland appearing on the album with new, rewritten lyrics. The album was finished, mixed, and mastered, with master analog tapes handed over to Studio K. It's release, however, was indefinitely delayed by Quinn's departure to Pollepel in October 2011 and the subsequent closure of Studio K. Only a single for "Empire of the Sun" was ever issued, hitting the airwaves in October 2011.

Tracklist