20 years of X-Project - Twiller
May. 7th, 2023 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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x_projectTwiller joined May 2003, beginning with Doug Ramsey and then picking up Sam Guthrie from 2005 to 2007, and then Jean-Phillipe Colbert in December 2007. They were previously one of the mods.
1) What brought you to X-Project?
People. A lot of the folks talking up X-Project were members of the old Subreality/RACMX/ACFF people, so there was a core of names that I was familiar with. I enjoy RP (tabletop or any kind, really), so the combination of familiarity with the personalities and trying a new avenue of RP seemed like a very good fit for me.
2) What keeps you in X-Project?
People. As corny as answering twice the same way might be, in some cases there are people in this game that I've now known for 20 or more years, slightly more than half my life. But I've also grown to become close with more recent players and count plenty of current and former players as dear friends. They've attended my wedding to Frito, we've attended their weddings and celebrated life milestones with them, and I can't imagine a world without the relationships I've built because of XP.
3) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that you wrote?
The events of Day Zero for Doug. The mindscape that he and Emma navigated, the sheer mindbending nature of his battle with Mastermold. In a lot of ways those events are still shaping who Doug is to this day, and the writing was challenging and rewarding.
If it was an access node, then how did one gain access? There was no obvious clue anywhere in the garden, no sign saying "THIS WAY TO GAIN CONTROL OF MEAT COMPUTER". Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Doug prowled the garden, pushing at benches, attempting to pry up flagstones. Somewhere there had to be a key, a way to delve deeper into the system.
After pushing and prodding at every other aspect of the garden, the only item left was a statue in the center, a granite figure approximately twice as tall as Doug. A heroic, strapping youth stood with his chest thrust resolutely out and one arm outstretched to point off at something in the distance. As Doug approached to within arm's length of it, however, the arm came down with a basso grinding noise and the head swiveled down to stare at him. It reached a hand out to Doug in a questioning gesture, and when Doug reached out and touched it, there was a flash and he was seated at a table opposite a figure whose face was completely in shadow. Between them was a game board, but the board and pieces were unlike any Doug had ever seen. The board rose in tiers that pivoted in multiple places, and the pieces were a bizarre blend of chessmen, mah-jong tiles, fantastical monsters, and abstract solids.
Doug reached out his hand hesitantly and set it on a piece that resembled a chess knight. He had to learn the rules of this game before he could hope to play it, and he sensed that he had only the single opportunity to get it correct and defeat his opponent.
The clack of the knight was visceral, a sound that was very real. If this was an interface, the sounds behind it were drawn from someone's actual experience and memories. Whatever this game came from, it wasn't an artificial application. As the first piece was set down, the figured reached out with a blue pyramid, placing it on the same line of squares and tiers as the knight. Under the piece, the squares all turned as blue as the pyramid.
Hm. That was different. The move of the knight hadn't lit up any squares the way the opponent's piece had. Maybe it had something to do with the solids. Doug experimentally picked up a cube and moved it forward. Instead of all the squares underneath the piece, the squares surrounding the cube on its tier turned the same red as the piece. ~Okay, so the geometric solids control territory...~
Slowly and hesitantly, he began to move pieces as he learned what each one seemed to do. More than a few of his lessons came at the hands of his opponent, as the faceless figure reached out and removed one of his pieces from the board. Some of the pieces seemed to have offensive roles, others had defensive roles. Some controlled territory; some subverted enemy pieces and brought them over to his side. The one thing he still couldn't seem to figure out was the victory conditions. His moves grew swifter as he learned the interactions, however. And at the very least, he could probably win by attrition, simply removing all of his opponent's pieces from the board. Of course, if his opponent reached a winning position before that happened... But he put that out of his head. He -had- to win. Failure was not an option.
For Jean-Phillipe, Genosha. There were a few times when I dropped nearly a page of narrative on my log partners, with his internal monologue, showing lessons that Magneto had taught him, and new and different applications of his powers. Again, challenging and rewarding situations that couldn't have happened without good log partners, plotrunners, and people to bounce ideas off of.
Jean-Phillipe understood the theory and the strategy behind the tactical plan Emma had dumped into his head. The question of whether or not he could pull it off that Emma had posed was more than a conversational formality, though.
Electrical charge naturally prefers to move from a location of high charge to locations of low charge, and to establish an equilibrium state with no net electrical charge. Jean-Phillipe, by virtue of the specialized organs in his body, was a natural collection of high charge. In a rest state, his body would maintain a low level of current on his skin, higher than that of a person without his power, as the charge developed in his body naturally dissipated into the air. In using his powers, he created a more concentrated electrical field, providing a channel for the charge to move through in the form of bolts of energy.
Instead of either of those, Jean-Phillipe was going to do something completely unnatural for him. He held his hands a little less than a foot apart and took a deep breath. A small arc of electricity jumped from one palm to the other, and rather than allow it to discharge anywhere, the Frenchman's eyes narrowed, and a second arc jumped back from the second palm to the first.
The electric flux through any closed surface is proportional to the enclosed electric charge. He could practically hear Erik lecturing in his head, drilling the basics of electromagnetic theory into him. Create more charge, enclose the 'surface', and create a greater amount of flux. This is what Jean-Phillipe did as he poured more and more charge into the space between his hands. More and more arcs jumped between his palms, until they all began to curl together into a larger, solid thing that snapped wildly within the containment he was mentally exerting on it.
At first it was about the width of a finger. Positive feedback is the process in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. As he poured more and more charge into his hands, the arc began to grow, more and more quickly. Now the size of a large coin, then as wide as his wrist. The energy began to glow, whiter and more piercing, as it began to bulge in the center, shaping itself into a ball. Torching posits that ball lightning might be a form of self-confined intense light.
"Whenever...you are ready...Mam'selle Frost," Jean-Phillipe grunted as sweat began to pour down his face.
4) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that someone else wrote?
There have been a lot. Remy taking on the mantle of Baron Samedi in New Orleans Is Sinking. Marie-Ange losing her eye in the fight with Adam Destine. The brutalness of Laurie's departure from the mansion, and its effects on Darcy. Rossi's masterful socking of John Constantine in the magic library plot. My friends write lots of good stuff. :)
5) What is something about X-Project that you really like/enjoy?
That it's stayed fresh after all this time. New plots, new developments for long-term characters, the idea well hasn't run dry after all this time. The sheer longevity of our game compared to so many that only last a little while is a beautiful thing, and I'm so grateful for it.
1) What brought you to X-Project?
People. A lot of the folks talking up X-Project were members of the old Subreality/RACMX/ACFF people, so there was a core of names that I was familiar with. I enjoy RP (tabletop or any kind, really), so the combination of familiarity with the personalities and trying a new avenue of RP seemed like a very good fit for me.
2) What keeps you in X-Project?
People. As corny as answering twice the same way might be, in some cases there are people in this game that I've now known for 20 or more years, slightly more than half my life. But I've also grown to become close with more recent players and count plenty of current and former players as dear friends. They've attended my wedding to Frito, we've attended their weddings and celebrated life milestones with them, and I can't imagine a world without the relationships I've built because of XP.
3) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that you wrote?
The events of Day Zero for Doug. The mindscape that he and Emma navigated, the sheer mindbending nature of his battle with Mastermold. In a lot of ways those events are still shaping who Doug is to this day, and the writing was challenging and rewarding.
If it was an access node, then how did one gain access? There was no obvious clue anywhere in the garden, no sign saying "THIS WAY TO GAIN CONTROL OF MEAT COMPUTER". Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Doug prowled the garden, pushing at benches, attempting to pry up flagstones. Somewhere there had to be a key, a way to delve deeper into the system.
After pushing and prodding at every other aspect of the garden, the only item left was a statue in the center, a granite figure approximately twice as tall as Doug. A heroic, strapping youth stood with his chest thrust resolutely out and one arm outstretched to point off at something in the distance. As Doug approached to within arm's length of it, however, the arm came down with a basso grinding noise and the head swiveled down to stare at him. It reached a hand out to Doug in a questioning gesture, and when Doug reached out and touched it, there was a flash and he was seated at a table opposite a figure whose face was completely in shadow. Between them was a game board, but the board and pieces were unlike any Doug had ever seen. The board rose in tiers that pivoted in multiple places, and the pieces were a bizarre blend of chessmen, mah-jong tiles, fantastical monsters, and abstract solids.
Doug reached out his hand hesitantly and set it on a piece that resembled a chess knight. He had to learn the rules of this game before he could hope to play it, and he sensed that he had only the single opportunity to get it correct and defeat his opponent.
The clack of the knight was visceral, a sound that was very real. If this was an interface, the sounds behind it were drawn from someone's actual experience and memories. Whatever this game came from, it wasn't an artificial application. As the first piece was set down, the figured reached out with a blue pyramid, placing it on the same line of squares and tiers as the knight. Under the piece, the squares all turned as blue as the pyramid.
Hm. That was different. The move of the knight hadn't lit up any squares the way the opponent's piece had. Maybe it had something to do with the solids. Doug experimentally picked up a cube and moved it forward. Instead of all the squares underneath the piece, the squares surrounding the cube on its tier turned the same red as the piece. ~Okay, so the geometric solids control territory...~
Slowly and hesitantly, he began to move pieces as he learned what each one seemed to do. More than a few of his lessons came at the hands of his opponent, as the faceless figure reached out and removed one of his pieces from the board. Some of the pieces seemed to have offensive roles, others had defensive roles. Some controlled territory; some subverted enemy pieces and brought them over to his side. The one thing he still couldn't seem to figure out was the victory conditions. His moves grew swifter as he learned the interactions, however. And at the very least, he could probably win by attrition, simply removing all of his opponent's pieces from the board. Of course, if his opponent reached a winning position before that happened... But he put that out of his head. He -had- to win. Failure was not an option.
For Jean-Phillipe, Genosha. There were a few times when I dropped nearly a page of narrative on my log partners, with his internal monologue, showing lessons that Magneto had taught him, and new and different applications of his powers. Again, challenging and rewarding situations that couldn't have happened without good log partners, plotrunners, and people to bounce ideas off of.
Jean-Phillipe understood the theory and the strategy behind the tactical plan Emma had dumped into his head. The question of whether or not he could pull it off that Emma had posed was more than a conversational formality, though.
Electrical charge naturally prefers to move from a location of high charge to locations of low charge, and to establish an equilibrium state with no net electrical charge. Jean-Phillipe, by virtue of the specialized organs in his body, was a natural collection of high charge. In a rest state, his body would maintain a low level of current on his skin, higher than that of a person without his power, as the charge developed in his body naturally dissipated into the air. In using his powers, he created a more concentrated electrical field, providing a channel for the charge to move through in the form of bolts of energy.
Instead of either of those, Jean-Phillipe was going to do something completely unnatural for him. He held his hands a little less than a foot apart and took a deep breath. A small arc of electricity jumped from one palm to the other, and rather than allow it to discharge anywhere, the Frenchman's eyes narrowed, and a second arc jumped back from the second palm to the first.
The electric flux through any closed surface is proportional to the enclosed electric charge. He could practically hear Erik lecturing in his head, drilling the basics of electromagnetic theory into him. Create more charge, enclose the 'surface', and create a greater amount of flux. This is what Jean-Phillipe did as he poured more and more charge into the space between his hands. More and more arcs jumped between his palms, until they all began to curl together into a larger, solid thing that snapped wildly within the containment he was mentally exerting on it.
At first it was about the width of a finger. Positive feedback is the process in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. As he poured more and more charge into his hands, the arc began to grow, more and more quickly. Now the size of a large coin, then as wide as his wrist. The energy began to glow, whiter and more piercing, as it began to bulge in the center, shaping itself into a ball. Torching posits that ball lightning might be a form of self-confined intense light.
"Whenever...you are ready...Mam'selle Frost," Jean-Phillipe grunted as sweat began to pour down his face.
4) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that someone else wrote?
There have been a lot. Remy taking on the mantle of Baron Samedi in New Orleans Is Sinking. Marie-Ange losing her eye in the fight with Adam Destine. The brutalness of Laurie's departure from the mansion, and its effects on Darcy. Rossi's masterful socking of John Constantine in the magic library plot. My friends write lots of good stuff. :)
5) What is something about X-Project that you really like/enjoy?
That it's stayed fresh after all this time. New plots, new developments for long-term characters, the idea well hasn't run dry after all this time. The sheer longevity of our game compared to so many that only last a little while is a beautiful thing, and I'm so grateful for it.
