20 years of X-Project - Eva
May. 8th, 2023 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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x_projectFrom the Netherlands, Eva joined us in 2011, when she took on Sooraya Qadir. She then added Hope Abbott in 2012 and Sharon Friedlander in 2015. Sharon was let go in 2020, but Sooraya and Hope are still going strong. Eva is also a mod.
1) What brought you to X-Project?
I was looking up some information about an X-men character and I stumbled across the wiki. Then I discovered it was part of an RPG and I ended up reading the entire game twice. I felt drawn to how Sooraya was written and after gathering up some courage I wrote, got info and ended up joining X-Project when I apped Sooraya. A couple of months later I apped Hope and I have played both ever since.
2) What keeps you in X-Project?
The fact that I'd have Sooraya and Hope yelling at me in my head all the time in case I ever left?
Writing Sooraya, Hope and their world, together with other people, is a big reason of course, but the biggest thing is that XP is simply a community that has become important to me. It's one of the places in the world where I feel at home and accepted, who walked with me through some of the most difficult times in my life. Both the real and even the fictional community.
3) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that you wrote?
For me there isn't really one moment stuck with me. But the things that have stayed with me mostly for Hope are the moments I can put her into her power. Where she engineered her escape plan to escape from the Archduke or even managed to maneuver around him. The moments when she becomes a true player in the game of power, in her own unique style.
She had never thought she would be grateful to her mother.... At least in the sense of the thoroughness of her education as how to pass as the perfect Stepford wife meant that ways to 'give yourself a touch more dignity' were well covered.
Never thought she would be using it this way. Hope carefully pushed the small plate of scones to the side and put the down the tea pot. Now she just had to hope she had remembered her calculations correctly...
Shielda and Shieldo were sitting back to back in the living area of their suite in meditative poses, eyes closed as they concentrated on maintaining the shield that protected them all. As per policy, the door to their suite was left open so people could stop by, but visitors to the twins' suite were very rare. Catching a whiff of the tea and scones, Shielda opened one eye to stare at Hope. "Are you lost?"
"I hope I did not disturb you?" She hesitantly raised tray a little. "His Grace asked me to oversee a small event... I was hoping you would be willing to assist me with a small matter." She kept her eyes lowered, her voice humble.
Shieldo opened an eye to look at Hope, slightly surprised that anyone would ask the twins for assistance. "Small matter?"
Hope let the small blush rise on cheeks. Lying still was not her strongest suit. "I was told you enjoyed tea... And since the event has to do with that, I was hoping you would not mind giving me your opinion on a brew or two?"
Shielda frowned slightly. *We do enjoy tea,* she pointed out to her twin via their psychic link. "Alright," she told Hope. "I will try your tea and give you my honest opinion."
*Thank you, sister, for reminding me.* Shieldo nodded at Hope. "Very well. Let us try your tea."
"It's a special blend I selected..." Hope put down the tray, quickly setting out the tea, scones and various accoutrements. Now it was just hoping the rich flavor of the tea she has selected hid the drugs well enough. Doses she knew, but how to exactly hide things... she did not... "Do you use lemon, sugar or milk in your tea? Though I know... it's more English style..."
"Nothing in mine," Shielda replied in her usual clipped tone. "What is this special blend?"
"I will take mine the same. I still do not understand why the English dilute their tea. It takes away from the full flavor."
"Perhaps because they never really had the truly excellent tea's that are available nowadays?" Hope put the condiments to the side and carefully lifted the pot. "It is a type of balck tea, I believe. I am afraid I am not quite capable of reading Chinese." She explained as she poured the tea, still hoping really hard the tea would hide the slightly bitter flavor of the drug she had added.
For Sooraya the moments that stuck with me mostly are the ones that explore what the spiritual dimension in her life means to hear. Sharing what it did to her to have to kill during Genosha, her doubts about her faith after the shift from Phase 1 to Phase 2 and finding faith again after her visions of Yvette after nearly getting strangled by Toad.
"Ouch..." Sooraya winced. "I don't remember... except... Angel... I think Yvette was there... It was so real..."
Angel frowned, tilting her head slightly. "Sooraya you were kind of.... out. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"
"I mean... I don't think so." Sooraya frowned as she tried to make sense of what had happened. "I remember it so clearly. She told me to go back, Angel... I think I would have been gone otherwise... if she hadn't done that..."
"Well..." Angel hesitated before smiling. "Whatever it was, I'm glad you stayed."
"It's not the only thing she told me..."
"Yeah?" Angel said, checking again to make sure no one was nearby. "What else?"
"What did she mean with it? I..." Sooraya spoke to herself. "It doesn't make sense... Unless..." Suddenly she felt tears welling up in her eyes, the raw feeling in her throat becoming more fiery as she tried to stifle the sob that was trying to escape. Her face was lit up in wonder though.
"Sooraya," Angel said gently but firmly. "Talk to me. Please."
"She told me to have trust and to have faith..." Sooraya looked at Angel, her eyes gleaming wetly and glowing at the same time. "To have Trust and to have Faith. Angel, what have I been struggling with for so long?"
"Faith," Angel said at once. They'd had a lot of conversations about it.
"I told you about realizing that I still believe... that I was just very angry. What if..." Sooraya hesitated, thinking it through, before carefully venturing. "What if it's a message... a conformation or something like that..."
Angel bit her lip uncertainly. "I.... I don't know, Sooraya. Maybe."
"What are you thinking, Angel?" Sooraya asked quietly.
"I don't know." Angel shook her head. "I think it depends on how you want to see it. If you told one of the science people they'd probably go on about hallucinations and lack of oxygen to the brain and blah blah blah. If you talked to a religious person they'd call it a sign. I don't know what to think." She paused, then added, "I'm jealous you got to talk to her though."
Sooraya's face fell. "I suppose that could be it... a hallucination..."
4) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that someone else wrote?
The imagery in many logs that Tap wrote with Haller doing mental work. The imagery there in particular. Rachel's death during the Genosha arc and the responses of the people involved hit me emotionally in the gut.
Once Haller had Emma aside he didn't mince words.
"Take a look into my mind," he said, and pushed his recent excursion with Hope to the forefront.
Emma looked dubiously at Heller, opening her mouth to remind him of her recent entrail-tastic adventure in shattering and the effect it had had on her psychic powers, but then shut it again and decided to actually try and read his mind. Somewhat surprisingly, her powers felt as if they had recovered somewhat, their buttressing by Celeste obviously giving them some recovery time. Emma wouldn't be able to do anything exciting, but reaching into an open and inviting mind that had placed the narrative it wanted her to read right at the front proved to be within her capacity.
Emma scanned the information Haller had gleaned from his time in Topaz's mindscape and then on his excursion with Hope's astral form. "Emotional debris," she said slowly. "Not all that surprising. I've seen something similar elsewhere, but it was much more limited in scope. This wreckage doesn't appear to be specific to any of us. Or anything." She raised an eyebrow, her voice low, so no-one but Haller could hear her. "Other than the end of world, of course."
Haller frowned at the implication. "The remains of other astral planes," he said, voice equally low. It made a degree of sense; not too long ago entire worlds had been lost, many shattered beyond recovery. Xorn had repaired the damage he could, but the result was a fragile patchwork of realities.
"Energy can't be created or destroyed, only changed," mused the younger man. "If something couldn't be folded into our world . . ."
“Then it’s wandering around, lonely as a cloud. Until it sees a host of empaths. I would imagine that affinity is very enticing to lost emotions. Particularly if it didn’t have to travel very far. Both Meggan and Topaz were at the beginning of this world. This infection may have been with them since then. Just slowly growing. Or accreting. More and more particles getting attracted to the initial attachment.” Emma frowned as she thought about the implications of what she was saying.
"Some kind of pull might explain why it's so hard to get out." Haller folded his arms, expression pensive. "Astral interference would also explain why Hope is able to travel. This infection, or parasite, whatever it is, though . . . it's constricting. The way the mindscapes flux back and forth -- it's like they're being crushed together. Or collapsed into one another."
"Which doesn't suggest good things for our two young empaths," replied Emma. "I don't think there's anything good for them likely to come out of having their minds forcibly joined together." She frowned slightly. "I don't think it's gone that far yet, though. We could break the overlay off Meggan's mindscape - it took some power and it damaged the mindscape beneath, but it wasn't like the... parasite had infiltrated to any great depth."
"I think it's the same for Topaz. She metabolizes the emotions she absorbs, but the emotion-sinks don't seem to affect her the same way it affects the rest of us. It's still superficial. But she also said she'd been feeling off for weeks, like it's been building for a while. Tonight they must have hit some kind of tipping point." Haller's mouth twitched. "Like whatever found them is full-term."
Emma gave a sudden, quite deep sigh as all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in her head. "It's a new Astral Plane," she said softly. "Or perhaps a hundred old ones trying to be born anew. Hope can only travel on the Astral Plane, and she's the only one that could make it outside the mindscapes and into this... nascent space it's making. I suspect that, if it completes itself, things won't go very well for all of us that are trapped inside it. As for Meggan and Topaz, I suspect they'd be... ended. Turned into the struts and joists holding the new Plane together." She looked up at Haller, her mouth quirking in the smallest smile. "I think we just lost Plans B, C and D. It's all going to have to be Plan A. We'll have to destroy this thing."
5) What is something about X-Project that you really like/enjoy?
The sheer variety of things that are possible to do and the unexpected paths things sometimes take. It can be both a joy, but also very challenging.
1) What brought you to X-Project?
I was looking up some information about an X-men character and I stumbled across the wiki. Then I discovered it was part of an RPG and I ended up reading the entire game twice. I felt drawn to how Sooraya was written and after gathering up some courage I wrote, got info and ended up joining X-Project when I apped Sooraya. A couple of months later I apped Hope and I have played both ever since.
2) What keeps you in X-Project?
The fact that I'd have Sooraya and Hope yelling at me in my head all the time in case I ever left?
Writing Sooraya, Hope and their world, together with other people, is a big reason of course, but the biggest thing is that XP is simply a community that has become important to me. It's one of the places in the world where I feel at home and accepted, who walked with me through some of the most difficult times in my life. Both the real and even the fictional community.
3) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that you wrote?
For me there isn't really one moment stuck with me. But the things that have stayed with me mostly for Hope are the moments I can put her into her power. Where she engineered her escape plan to escape from the Archduke or even managed to maneuver around him. The moments when she becomes a true player in the game of power, in her own unique style.
She had never thought she would be grateful to her mother.... At least in the sense of the thoroughness of her education as how to pass as the perfect Stepford wife meant that ways to 'give yourself a touch more dignity' were well covered.
Never thought she would be using it this way. Hope carefully pushed the small plate of scones to the side and put the down the tea pot. Now she just had to hope she had remembered her calculations correctly...
Shielda and Shieldo were sitting back to back in the living area of their suite in meditative poses, eyes closed as they concentrated on maintaining the shield that protected them all. As per policy, the door to their suite was left open so people could stop by, but visitors to the twins' suite were very rare. Catching a whiff of the tea and scones, Shielda opened one eye to stare at Hope. "Are you lost?"
"I hope I did not disturb you?" She hesitantly raised tray a little. "His Grace asked me to oversee a small event... I was hoping you would be willing to assist me with a small matter." She kept her eyes lowered, her voice humble.
Shieldo opened an eye to look at Hope, slightly surprised that anyone would ask the twins for assistance. "Small matter?"
Hope let the small blush rise on cheeks. Lying still was not her strongest suit. "I was told you enjoyed tea... And since the event has to do with that, I was hoping you would not mind giving me your opinion on a brew or two?"
Shielda frowned slightly. *We do enjoy tea,* she pointed out to her twin via their psychic link. "Alright," she told Hope. "I will try your tea and give you my honest opinion."
*Thank you, sister, for reminding me.* Shieldo nodded at Hope. "Very well. Let us try your tea."
"It's a special blend I selected..." Hope put down the tray, quickly setting out the tea, scones and various accoutrements. Now it was just hoping the rich flavor of the tea she has selected hid the drugs well enough. Doses she knew, but how to exactly hide things... she did not... "Do you use lemon, sugar or milk in your tea? Though I know... it's more English style..."
"Nothing in mine," Shielda replied in her usual clipped tone. "What is this special blend?"
"I will take mine the same. I still do not understand why the English dilute their tea. It takes away from the full flavor."
"Perhaps because they never really had the truly excellent tea's that are available nowadays?" Hope put the condiments to the side and carefully lifted the pot. "It is a type of balck tea, I believe. I am afraid I am not quite capable of reading Chinese." She explained as she poured the tea, still hoping really hard the tea would hide the slightly bitter flavor of the drug she had added.
For Sooraya the moments that stuck with me mostly are the ones that explore what the spiritual dimension in her life means to hear. Sharing what it did to her to have to kill during Genosha, her doubts about her faith after the shift from Phase 1 to Phase 2 and finding faith again after her visions of Yvette after nearly getting strangled by Toad.
"Ouch..." Sooraya winced. "I don't remember... except... Angel... I think Yvette was there... It was so real..."
Angel frowned, tilting her head slightly. "Sooraya you were kind of.... out. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"
"I mean... I don't think so." Sooraya frowned as she tried to make sense of what had happened. "I remember it so clearly. She told me to go back, Angel... I think I would have been gone otherwise... if she hadn't done that..."
"Well..." Angel hesitated before smiling. "Whatever it was, I'm glad you stayed."
"It's not the only thing she told me..."
"Yeah?" Angel said, checking again to make sure no one was nearby. "What else?"
"What did she mean with it? I..." Sooraya spoke to herself. "It doesn't make sense... Unless..." Suddenly she felt tears welling up in her eyes, the raw feeling in her throat becoming more fiery as she tried to stifle the sob that was trying to escape. Her face was lit up in wonder though.
"Sooraya," Angel said gently but firmly. "Talk to me. Please."
"She told me to have trust and to have faith..." Sooraya looked at Angel, her eyes gleaming wetly and glowing at the same time. "To have Trust and to have Faith. Angel, what have I been struggling with for so long?"
"Faith," Angel said at once. They'd had a lot of conversations about it.
"I told you about realizing that I still believe... that I was just very angry. What if..." Sooraya hesitated, thinking it through, before carefully venturing. "What if it's a message... a conformation or something like that..."
Angel bit her lip uncertainly. "I.... I don't know, Sooraya. Maybe."
"What are you thinking, Angel?" Sooraya asked quietly.
"I don't know." Angel shook her head. "I think it depends on how you want to see it. If you told one of the science people they'd probably go on about hallucinations and lack of oxygen to the brain and blah blah blah. If you talked to a religious person they'd call it a sign. I don't know what to think." She paused, then added, "I'm jealous you got to talk to her though."
Sooraya's face fell. "I suppose that could be it... a hallucination..."
4) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that someone else wrote?
The imagery in many logs that Tap wrote with Haller doing mental work. The imagery there in particular. Rachel's death during the Genosha arc and the responses of the people involved hit me emotionally in the gut.
Once Haller had Emma aside he didn't mince words.
"Take a look into my mind," he said, and pushed his recent excursion with Hope to the forefront.
Emma looked dubiously at Heller, opening her mouth to remind him of her recent entrail-tastic adventure in shattering and the effect it had had on her psychic powers, but then shut it again and decided to actually try and read his mind. Somewhat surprisingly, her powers felt as if they had recovered somewhat, their buttressing by Celeste obviously giving them some recovery time. Emma wouldn't be able to do anything exciting, but reaching into an open and inviting mind that had placed the narrative it wanted her to read right at the front proved to be within her capacity.
Emma scanned the information Haller had gleaned from his time in Topaz's mindscape and then on his excursion with Hope's astral form. "Emotional debris," she said slowly. "Not all that surprising. I've seen something similar elsewhere, but it was much more limited in scope. This wreckage doesn't appear to be specific to any of us. Or anything." She raised an eyebrow, her voice low, so no-one but Haller could hear her. "Other than the end of world, of course."
Haller frowned at the implication. "The remains of other astral planes," he said, voice equally low. It made a degree of sense; not too long ago entire worlds had been lost, many shattered beyond recovery. Xorn had repaired the damage he could, but the result was a fragile patchwork of realities.
"Energy can't be created or destroyed, only changed," mused the younger man. "If something couldn't be folded into our world . . ."
“Then it’s wandering around, lonely as a cloud. Until it sees a host of empaths. I would imagine that affinity is very enticing to lost emotions. Particularly if it didn’t have to travel very far. Both Meggan and Topaz were at the beginning of this world. This infection may have been with them since then. Just slowly growing. Or accreting. More and more particles getting attracted to the initial attachment.” Emma frowned as she thought about the implications of what she was saying.
"Some kind of pull might explain why it's so hard to get out." Haller folded his arms, expression pensive. "Astral interference would also explain why Hope is able to travel. This infection, or parasite, whatever it is, though . . . it's constricting. The way the mindscapes flux back and forth -- it's like they're being crushed together. Or collapsed into one another."
"Which doesn't suggest good things for our two young empaths," replied Emma. "I don't think there's anything good for them likely to come out of having their minds forcibly joined together." She frowned slightly. "I don't think it's gone that far yet, though. We could break the overlay off Meggan's mindscape - it took some power and it damaged the mindscape beneath, but it wasn't like the... parasite had infiltrated to any great depth."
"I think it's the same for Topaz. She metabolizes the emotions she absorbs, but the emotion-sinks don't seem to affect her the same way it affects the rest of us. It's still superficial. But she also said she'd been feeling off for weeks, like it's been building for a while. Tonight they must have hit some kind of tipping point." Haller's mouth twitched. "Like whatever found them is full-term."
Emma gave a sudden, quite deep sigh as all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in her head. "It's a new Astral Plane," she said softly. "Or perhaps a hundred old ones trying to be born anew. Hope can only travel on the Astral Plane, and she's the only one that could make it outside the mindscapes and into this... nascent space it's making. I suspect that, if it completes itself, things won't go very well for all of us that are trapped inside it. As for Meggan and Topaz, I suspect they'd be... ended. Turned into the struts and joists holding the new Plane together." She looked up at Haller, her mouth quirking in the smallest smile. "I think we just lost Plans B, C and D. It's all going to have to be Plan A. We'll have to destroy this thing."
5) What is something about X-Project that you really like/enjoy?
The sheer variety of things that are possible to do and the unexpected paths things sometimes take. It can be both a joy, but also very challenging.
