20 Years of X-Project - Seraph
May. 8th, 2023 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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x_projectSeraph joined in 2003, taking on the "played-for-a-hot-minute" Jubilation Lee/Jubilee until 2006. She took on Laurie Collins/Wallflower in 2006 and then reapplied for Jubilee in 2008 and then acquired Maya Lincoln-Lopez/Echo in 2015 for the relaunch. Laurie was transformed into a villain in 2022 and Seraph is currently planning to app for a new character.
1) What brought you to X-Project?
Dex. He sold me on the idea of the game. I'd been doing a little RPing over Livejournal in a couple of Star Trek focussed games. (One where I played the Traveller, weirdly enough. ) I was mostly known for my Subreality stuff and for Jubilee fanfics but at the time there was already a Jubilee player so we'd been talking about me maybe picking up a lesser-known character, turning them into my own thing. Then the Jubilee player left and the rest is history, so they say.
2) What keeps you in X-Project?
Inertia. But I joke. I'm still having fun even after all this time, and I'm still finding new ways to write and all the people online that I love are here, so why wouldn't I stay? I think if I ever got to the point where I felt like I was phoning it in I'd hang up my keyboard and mouse but I'm not there yet, not even with Jubilee and she's my longest-running character. There's always something new to do, or some storyline that makes me think 'Man, I wanna play in that sandpit'
3) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that you wrote?
There are too many to mention, a bunch of the Genosha stuff. But honestly, the most recent one would have had to be the last fight between Laurie and Darcy [in Arise X-Man]. That was so brutal and raw and neither I nor Tink shied away from making it as honest and real as we could. I like to think we did a good job of it.
In the moment, Darcy thought she could almost feel her brain trying to go into that soft, compliant space that she'd reached a few times under the hands of someone with a lot of experience. But here, with the pain in her hand burning a counterpoint to the pounding in her brain it was more like being drenched in ice-filled water. She let her eyes drift closed, a memory of Kevin saying 'you need to see five, ten steps ahead along that path or you're going to find things get very bad very quickly' flashing across her mind as she tried to figure out how over her head she was, and wanting to kick herself for not sending him a heads up.
She sent a silent apology to him and to Doug for not sharing her concerns, and then flew by the seat of her pants. Her eyes opened, mostly steady and alert through the pain and the conflicting feelings. "The thing about pheromones," Darcy said almost casually, "is that eventually you need to give more. Pump out more, and do it more frequently. And you, babe.." she shook her head slowly. "You've been neglecting your best, most loyal toy for the shiny new model." Her grin at Laurie was all teeth, and she was vaguely aware of something wet dripping down her face.
“Oh Darcy. You were only ever a convenient tool. Please don’t try to pretend I ever saw you as more important than that.” Laurie replied, dropping all pretense as she reached out whip quick and grabbed Darcy’s wrist, pushing her power beyond the point she normally pushed. It was dangerous given the damage she’d suffered, and she could feel the shudder that rippled through her body in reaction. “You would have woken up and remembered nothing but calmness, and I would have let you go slowly. You’d have been sad but with Doug right there for me to direct you to, it would have been easy. Now? We do this the hard way. I’d say I was sorry but we both know I’m not, and you won’t remember any of this anyway.”
Her mug shattered on the floor between them as Laurie grabbed her wrist.
Darcy struck at the stump of Laurie's arm as she tried to wrench herself free. "You're already doing harm, Doctor," she grit out, anger flushing her skin. "How long?" The question was vague, but she was having trouble stringing words together. "Who.. else?"
“Stop fighting me, and I’ll stop doing you harm. It’s for your own good, you’ll see.”
Laurie held on tighter, pushing harder as she felt a spot of wetness touch her upper lip. She was damaging herself, she could almost feel it now but she needed Darcy down, if she could make her forget then there was a way back here.
"Lie," Darcy murmured, eyes locking on Laurie's. If she couldn't get free, she'd use the other tricks she'd been learning to make Laurie regret trying to hurt her as much as she already regretted doing this confrontation without backup. Her voice was honeyed when she spoke again, pushing past the pain in an attempt to sweetly persuade Laurie to stop before things escalated further. "You're hurting me babe, and you need to stop. You hate doing that, remember? Stop hurting me, Laurie."
4) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that someone else wrote?
There was a scene between Paige and Yvette at the beginning of when Rossi joined the game [Ed. note - Rossi re-joined in 2006 after an absence] where Yvette is in the woods and Paige is, it's been ages since I read this but I think was luring her in with apples. The sheer brilliance of the descriptive language used and this feeling of peace that both Rossi and Aisy created with their words, it still to this day is one of my favorite scenes. When you can make me picture something as a whole like a comic book page, I think that's brilliance.
Slowly, Paige raised her head to look at the girl and smiled - warm and gentle, but moving no more than that - before turning back to the book in her lap. "'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. 'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'"
She froze at the movement, but the smile halted the flight. Tilting her head, she regarded the girl and her book curiously. It could be a trick, she knew that, but she didn't think so. It didn't feel like a trap.
The red girl crept forward a little more, claws whispering in the leaves as she felt her way.
"'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'" Paige continued, in that same, wind-chime tone; she could see all of her now, crouched and shivering. "My friend read this book to me when I was sick. Do you like it so far?" she asked suddenly, not moving but for the dapples of light that shifted as her braid klinked against her spine with the breeze.
Glowing blue eyes widened a little at the sudden shift in attention to her directly, and she would have run, only her legs were shaking too much now and she was tired and hungry. And the girl hadn't moved, hadn't tried to touch her or grab her. The words were simple ones, ones she knew from English class, and she nodded, just once. Yes.
"It's not very cold right now, but the wind picks up at night and you probably haven't had dinner. I could heat up some potato soup for you, and I'd share the apple pie my friend made for me. Maybe even read the rest of this to you before bed, if you'd like," Paige offered, ducking her head a little, coy, to look at the girl. "It's one of my favourites, this story. I'm glad that you like it."
Food. Rest. Kindness. They tugged at the girl's heart, and she found herself creeping a little closer despite herself. A small noise, half-whimper, half croak, came from her throat as she looked up at the diamond girl.
Smiling, Paige closed the book and gently lowered her hand down, down below her thigh, but not stretching it out too far away from her body; an offer but not a demand. "Okay. Let's go inside. It's been a long day."
For a long moment, the red girl looked at Paige's hand, weighing up her choices. She could keep running, but where could she go? She had no idea where she was. And this girl, so pretty in the afternoon light with her diamond form, had been nothing but kind, unlike the frightening man who spoke the language of her people's killers. Perhaps it was time to stop running, to be the girl, not the monster.
She shuffled closer, reaching for the hand without thinking, a purely instinctive action.
There was a dull rustling noise as slivers of diamond fell into the grass, but Paige merely smiled and threaded her fingers with the much larger, clawed ones as she stood up. "There we are. Think you can manage to the house or would you like to take a trip on the Paige Express? Complimentary cup of tea with every door to door service."
Tea? The glowing blue eyes blazed stronger at that. With another, firmer nod, she let Paige draw her into a more upright position. The first steps towards the house were shaky and filled with trepidation, but the girl's hand in hers was firm without being constraining. And it had been so long since she could last remember someone touching her... Then she stumbled a little, worn out from the flight and the fight and the fright. Struggling, she managed the smallest hint of a word through vocal chords that hadn't been used in a very long time.
"Help?"
"You bet, little mouse," Paige replied kindly, bending down to scoop the girl into her arms, cradling her to her chest as if she were a kitten or a doll; a diamond husk did have it uses other than able to fund for university and hold hands with frightened foreigners. She'd have had a little more trouble, otherwise. "Tea, nap and maybe soup when you wake up, I think..."
5) What is something about X-Project that you really like/enjoy?
Writing with my friends, honestly. We joke sometimes about how so many of us are old comic book fanficcers and ancient but the sheer amount of time this game has been around means that there are connections there that I don't know that other games have. I've known some people here for more than twenty years, with all the drama and love that comes along with that. But it's the chance to get to know new people as well and write with them. There's always something exciting or new to do, even in the downtimes when we're all feeling a little tired or having a hard time IRL. I'd like to think we'd still be doing this in another twenty years, although I'm sure there are people who would throw shoes at me for mentioning that.
1) What brought you to X-Project?
Dex. He sold me on the idea of the game. I'd been doing a little RPing over Livejournal in a couple of Star Trek focussed games. (One where I played the Traveller, weirdly enough. ) I was mostly known for my Subreality stuff and for Jubilee fanfics but at the time there was already a Jubilee player so we'd been talking about me maybe picking up a lesser-known character, turning them into my own thing. Then the Jubilee player left and the rest is history, so they say.
2) What keeps you in X-Project?
Inertia. But I joke. I'm still having fun even after all this time, and I'm still finding new ways to write and all the people online that I love are here, so why wouldn't I stay? I think if I ever got to the point where I felt like I was phoning it in I'd hang up my keyboard and mouse but I'm not there yet, not even with Jubilee and she's my longest-running character. There's always something new to do, or some storyline that makes me think 'Man, I wanna play in that sandpit'
3) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that you wrote?
There are too many to mention, a bunch of the Genosha stuff. But honestly, the most recent one would have had to be the last fight between Laurie and Darcy [in Arise X-Man]. That was so brutal and raw and neither I nor Tink shied away from making it as honest and real as we could. I like to think we did a good job of it.
In the moment, Darcy thought she could almost feel her brain trying to go into that soft, compliant space that she'd reached a few times under the hands of someone with a lot of experience. But here, with the pain in her hand burning a counterpoint to the pounding in her brain it was more like being drenched in ice-filled water. She let her eyes drift closed, a memory of Kevin saying 'you need to see five, ten steps ahead along that path or you're going to find things get very bad very quickly' flashing across her mind as she tried to figure out how over her head she was, and wanting to kick herself for not sending him a heads up.
She sent a silent apology to him and to Doug for not sharing her concerns, and then flew by the seat of her pants. Her eyes opened, mostly steady and alert through the pain and the conflicting feelings. "The thing about pheromones," Darcy said almost casually, "is that eventually you need to give more. Pump out more, and do it more frequently. And you, babe.." she shook her head slowly. "You've been neglecting your best, most loyal toy for the shiny new model." Her grin at Laurie was all teeth, and she was vaguely aware of something wet dripping down her face.
“Oh Darcy. You were only ever a convenient tool. Please don’t try to pretend I ever saw you as more important than that.” Laurie replied, dropping all pretense as she reached out whip quick and grabbed Darcy’s wrist, pushing her power beyond the point she normally pushed. It was dangerous given the damage she’d suffered, and she could feel the shudder that rippled through her body in reaction. “You would have woken up and remembered nothing but calmness, and I would have let you go slowly. You’d have been sad but with Doug right there for me to direct you to, it would have been easy. Now? We do this the hard way. I’d say I was sorry but we both know I’m not, and you won’t remember any of this anyway.”
Her mug shattered on the floor between them as Laurie grabbed her wrist.
Darcy struck at the stump of Laurie's arm as she tried to wrench herself free. "You're already doing harm, Doctor," she grit out, anger flushing her skin. "How long?" The question was vague, but she was having trouble stringing words together. "Who.. else?"
“Stop fighting me, and I’ll stop doing you harm. It’s for your own good, you’ll see.”
Laurie held on tighter, pushing harder as she felt a spot of wetness touch her upper lip. She was damaging herself, she could almost feel it now but she needed Darcy down, if she could make her forget then there was a way back here.
"Lie," Darcy murmured, eyes locking on Laurie's. If she couldn't get free, she'd use the other tricks she'd been learning to make Laurie regret trying to hurt her as much as she already regretted doing this confrontation without backup. Her voice was honeyed when she spoke again, pushing past the pain in an attempt to sweetly persuade Laurie to stop before things escalated further. "You're hurting me babe, and you need to stop. You hate doing that, remember? Stop hurting me, Laurie."
4) What's a moment that has really stuck with you that someone else wrote?
There was a scene between Paige and Yvette at the beginning of when Rossi joined the game [Ed. note - Rossi re-joined in 2006 after an absence] where Yvette is in the woods and Paige is, it's been ages since I read this but I think was luring her in with apples. The sheer brilliance of the descriptive language used and this feeling of peace that both Rossi and Aisy created with their words, it still to this day is one of my favorite scenes. When you can make me picture something as a whole like a comic book page, I think that's brilliance.
Slowly, Paige raised her head to look at the girl and smiled - warm and gentle, but moving no more than that - before turning back to the book in her lap. "'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. 'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'"
She froze at the movement, but the smile halted the flight. Tilting her head, she regarded the girl and her book curiously. It could be a trick, she knew that, but she didn't think so. It didn't feel like a trap.
The red girl crept forward a little more, claws whispering in the leaves as she felt her way.
"'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'" Paige continued, in that same, wind-chime tone; she could see all of her now, crouched and shivering. "My friend read this book to me when I was sick. Do you like it so far?" she asked suddenly, not moving but for the dapples of light that shifted as her braid klinked against her spine with the breeze.
Glowing blue eyes widened a little at the sudden shift in attention to her directly, and she would have run, only her legs were shaking too much now and she was tired and hungry. And the girl hadn't moved, hadn't tried to touch her or grab her. The words were simple ones, ones she knew from English class, and she nodded, just once. Yes.
"It's not very cold right now, but the wind picks up at night and you probably haven't had dinner. I could heat up some potato soup for you, and I'd share the apple pie my friend made for me. Maybe even read the rest of this to you before bed, if you'd like," Paige offered, ducking her head a little, coy, to look at the girl. "It's one of my favourites, this story. I'm glad that you like it."
Food. Rest. Kindness. They tugged at the girl's heart, and she found herself creeping a little closer despite herself. A small noise, half-whimper, half croak, came from her throat as she looked up at the diamond girl.
Smiling, Paige closed the book and gently lowered her hand down, down below her thigh, but not stretching it out too far away from her body; an offer but not a demand. "Okay. Let's go inside. It's been a long day."
For a long moment, the red girl looked at Paige's hand, weighing up her choices. She could keep running, but where could she go? She had no idea where she was. And this girl, so pretty in the afternoon light with her diamond form, had been nothing but kind, unlike the frightening man who spoke the language of her people's killers. Perhaps it was time to stop running, to be the girl, not the monster.
She shuffled closer, reaching for the hand without thinking, a purely instinctive action.
There was a dull rustling noise as slivers of diamond fell into the grass, but Paige merely smiled and threaded her fingers with the much larger, clawed ones as she stood up. "There we are. Think you can manage to the house or would you like to take a trip on the Paige Express? Complimentary cup of tea with every door to door service."
Tea? The glowing blue eyes blazed stronger at that. With another, firmer nod, she let Paige draw her into a more upright position. The first steps towards the house were shaky and filled with trepidation, but the girl's hand in hers was firm without being constraining. And it had been so long since she could last remember someone touching her... Then she stumbled a little, worn out from the flight and the fight and the fright. Struggling, she managed the smallest hint of a word through vocal chords that hadn't been used in a very long time.
"Help?"
"You bet, little mouse," Paige replied kindly, bending down to scoop the girl into her arms, cradling her to her chest as if she were a kitten or a doll; a diamond husk did have it uses other than able to fund for university and hold hands with frightened foreigners. She'd have had a little more trouble, otherwise. "Tea, nap and maybe soup when you wake up, I think..."
5) What is something about X-Project that you really like/enjoy?
Writing with my friends, honestly. We joke sometimes about how so many of us are old comic book fanficcers and ancient but the sheer amount of time this game has been around means that there are connections there that I don't know that other games have. I've known some people here for more than twenty years, with all the drama and love that comes along with that. But it's the chance to get to know new people as well and write with them. There's always something exciting or new to do, even in the downtimes when we're all feeling a little tired or having a hard time IRL. I'd like to think we'd still be doing this in another twenty years, although I'm sure there are people who would throw shoes at me for mentioning that.
