#xproject

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Happy Valentine's Day from X-Project!

(Clockwise from top: Arthur Centino, Amanda Sefton, Jessica Jones and Warren Worthington III)

Art by @thrakaboom

[xpnewscast]

Hellfire Club New Year’s Masquerade - 2022.

Soft fairy-lights glittered off the too-smug form of Sebastian Shaw as he retreated from view, but for all of the introductions and formalities that came from, for once, not being the only apex predator in the room, Namor was struck with one burning question for his companion: "Emma, We are curious to know what long game is worth holding back the satisfaction of crushing that bloated man's world in your magnificent hands. He is not your measure." Emma considered the question thoughtfully for a moment, her hand resting lightly in the crook of Namor’s elbow. “He is not,” she said finally. “But he has his own sources of power and influence. There are matters where I need assistance from his allies, who would consider themselves my enemies, and Sebastian and I are normally able to come to some form of mutually satisfactory arrangement in such cases. Besides,” she smiled suddenly and laughed softly, “it is useful to associate with a man who spends so much time considering ways to destroy me. It keeps my thinking… nimble.” This earned her a sly smile. "There is wisdom in keeping a stone by which to sharpen one's self. And so you've filled your court with vipers," Namor glanced pointedly at the assembled crowd, "That can strike at each-other. A little slow for my own tastes, but Our schooling was more brutal. Tell us how you make them dance for your own pleasure." “Sebastian rules his Court with brute force and bribery. It is his nature.” She smiled at Namor, a baring of teeth. “I’m a razor blade edged in diamonds. They can keep no secrets from me and the rich and powerful have so many secrets. But,” Emma slid her hand down, laid her fingers lightly on Namor’s wrist, “why talk about making them dance to my tune? You are quite the beautiful man, Namor, and graceful. Tell me, my darling, did they dance in Atlantis? I would quite like to spend a few minutes on the dance floor being dazzling.” He held out a hand in invitation. "Atlantis was a place of many secrets and spires, but there was always, always dancing. However," he leaned in suggestively, "We were always taught to let the Lady lead. I will be the prism to reflect your brilliance." Emma intertwined her fingers with Namor's. “Then let us see,” she purred, “my most glorious Avenging Son, First of Atlantis, where I can take you.”

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Meme by @gawain-the-tax-evader

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And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Book of Revelation

COMING TO X-PROJECT IN 2024, THE CONCLUSION TO THE HORSEMAN ARC... BEHOLD A PALE HORSE.

The X-Men finally have a lead on the series of massacres across the globe. But can they get there in time?

Plot by @dexfarkin; images by @walkstumbles.

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Moment of Awesome - Sam Guthrie/Cannonball:After a shaky start, Sam gets a job interview for X-Factor Investigations. In the kitchen.

"You should talk to Jean or David, when he wakes up," he advised. "You've clearly been through a lot, and I'm sure you want to keep your privacy around telepaths like me. They're good at teaching people to shield their minds from psychics."

"Oh shit," Sam hissed. "Sorry, sorry- I took a shielding class at Muir but I was hardly around a telepath so practicing was.... a bit tricky..."

Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mumbling a barely audible, "there goes your shot at that job Sammy," before turning to look at Quentin, nothing but pure concern on his face. "Are you alright? I didn't- I'm sorry. I'll work on it."

Quentin released his white-knuckle grip on the counter and stood up to stretch out the fresh crick in his neck and soreness in his arms and legs. "Don't shit yourself, it takes more than a little residual trauma to turn me off. I'd never get off if that were the case," he quipped as he did an overhead triceps stretch, keenly aware of how much he was revealing in a crop top. Shifting the balance of dominance back in his favor, as he preferred it. "Why do you want to work for X-Factor, anyway?"

"Savin' the day from a big monster is fine and all I guess, and I'm sure there's folks that love goin' around saving dimensions an' doin' big ol' trips to go help the world... but my hometown had folks come in every summer to help us and people tryin' to stop us from getting worse and natural disasters that brought in folks to put us back together and that's not what I'm interested in doin'. I was part of that rigamarole my whole life. The folks I always admired? They were the ones who put in the work in the community- the ones who helped take care of things, handled situations when they happened, and then tried to make sure they didn't happen again." Sam sighed. "Daddy always told me that you didn't fix a problem just cause you stopped it from getting worse, that you had to tackle the problem too, ya had to learn about it and take steps to make sure it didn't happen again. I reckon that's what y'all're best at. Y'all catch the bad guy and then help to make folks less vulnerable to the next one. That's the kind of work I wanna do."

Sam rolled his shoulders back and offered Quentin an awkward smile when it made the burn scar on his arm show from the sleeve of his t-shirt. "You can't individualize a systemic issue, but you can help individuals that're trapped in systemic issues. It's work worth doin' and I wanna be involved in it."

The telepath stopped mid-stretch, frozen as he processed Sam's words, then lowered his arms and sat back down. "That's very astute. I might steal that and claim it as my own," Quentin teased. "Do you have any experience with private investigating? Or criminology or the law?"

“I graduated high school early to illegally work in a coal mine to support my eight younger siblings.” Sam replied, shaking his head. “That’s about the only thing I’ve got experience with aside from bartending but I was heavily involved in the union. Worked with the secretary of our chapter and did a lot of the clerical work and pourin’ over labor law……..What I don’t know I’ll learn. Take any course available to me and work twice as hard as a pair of Percheron mules. I ain’t in the habit of lettin folks down.”

Quentin smirked, amused and encouraged by Sam's eagerness. "Sis, chill. I was younger than you and had far less experience doing anything besides being a whiny bitch when I started, and now I'm running things. Which is crazy to think about, but anything's possible when other people are footing your bills and you're psychic. So I guess what I'm saying is, let's see what you got."

"T' clarify-" Sam said, slowly, "does that mean I'm in?"

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Death is coming. Are you ready?

Poster by @walkstumbles

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It begins: Behold a Pale Horse, now posting at X-Project.

Plot by Dex. Art by @walkstumbles

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Incorrect XP quotes, starring Marius Laverne/Emplate.

Art by @walkstumbles

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Moment of Awesome - Theresa Cassidy/Banshee:While she, Meggan Szardos and Sam Guthrie are assisting in evacuation during Behold A Pale Horse, Terry is pushed to her limits.

"Aye," Terry murmured, nodding a little dully. She'd let her own shield fall a little when Sam buffered them, relief zinging between her temples in the moment before he and Meggan settled on the plan to move the victims. "Actually, if you'll steady her upper body, I'll just lift from the bottom and if you're flyin' as well, I can keep the shield beneath all of us to block anything they might throw." She considered their situation, then wished she'd been involved in something that involved screaming and flinging things around. She could keep that up for hours without getting tired. Flying was nearly second nature at this point, and at least she'd had plenty of practise flying with Kyle. It was maintaining the shield whilst doing everything else that might do her in. But not until after she'd gotten this woman somewhere safe. "Let's get goin', loves."

Sam waited until he was sure that Terry and Meggan were far enough up that they wouldn't be hit before grabbing the other passenger from the car. He dropped his shield and then allowed the blasts to come from his feet, propelling him and his passenger through the air and after the others. As soon as they were all landed, he glanced between the women. "Everyone alright?"

“I think so? Yes,” Meggan confirmed as they landed with their cargo as carefully as possible. When it came to her, she mostly just had a few scratches from some of the broken glass when she was wielding the ski pole, but it was nothing major, and could easily be taken care of in a little while. Aside from that, she was doing okay. “Terry?”

"Mm... aye," Terry agreed, swaying a little on her feet. She sat down rather abruptly, still maintaining the soundwave keeping the woman from the crash floating just a bit. "Och. Maybe no'," she murmured, accent thickening. "I'll just stay here a mo'."

Sam kept an eye on Terry, hoping that she'd be good enough to fly out of here. "What else can I do? I'm not as tired as you two yet. How can I help?"

Meggan wasn’t sure what she could do for Terry, but she did still want to help; she crouched near the other woman. “Just let me know when you need an extra shoulder, and I’ll be right here for you to lean on.” If she went down, then Meggan wasn’t sure who to break the fall of, between Terry and the levitating crash lady—while she estimated it wasn’t that far of a drop for the latter, she couldn’t say what the effect of a sudden extra shock might do.

She shook her head in response to Sam’s question. Could just being there be enough? “I’m not sure. I half want to go back for the ski pole, or find something else that’s strong enough from the debris, so we can fashion a makeshift stretcher for her, and let Terry rest her powers.”

"You two," Terry said, waving her hand toward Sam and Meggan. "Y'go on. Help others. I'll keep watch o'er these ones here. I'll be fine, now I'm sittin'. Y'shouldn't waste time wi' me. I'll jus' call someone for a pick up."

Sam nodded, and helped the person in his arms lay down gently on the ground. Turning to Meggan he nodded his head slightly, deferring to her directions. “Lead the way.”

Meggan spared another concerned look at Terry before they started off. "If you're sure," she began, before she stopped. She didn't want to just leave her in this state.

Once this was done, she vowed that she would come back in a little while and make sure that someone had come to collect Terry. Meggan signaled to Sam that she was ready, and began to point a few things out. She had spotted a discarded baseball bat and assorted long items on the scene that could be put to good work. And if several people had torn off their shirts in the heat of things, then they could be tied together, just as she had said.

Terry waved the two of them off, watching as they took flight. Pulling her mobile from her pocket, she considered who she might be able to call for assistance - certainly none of the usual suspects, as they were all out helping people in the district. She shook herself a little, finally laying the woman she had hovering to the ground. The other passenger came to tend to her, so Terry let her powers rest a moment, once again feeling that immediate release of tension between her temples. She'd developed a certain sense of throbbing behind that, a sharp thing that almost seemed to stab at the backs of her eyes.

She was fine, though. It wasn't until she hit 'call' for one of her friends from the Community Centre that she felt the tell-tale trickle coming from her nose. Touching it out of pure, simple habit, Terry wasn't surprised to see blood on her fingers. "Shite," she muttered.

[xprojectrpg]

Incorrect Quotes, starring Amanda Sefton.

By @walkstumbles

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This Day in X-Project - January 11

PHASE 2

2016: Clarice posts a W.H. Auden poem in honour of David Bowie’s passing. Warren makes good on his offer of a tropical vacation to Bobbi. Warren lets the X-Factor people know he’s going to be away, and to earn money in the meantime. Xavin thanks people for their birthday gifts for the day before. Artie and Topaz meet up for a sign language lesson.

2017: Warren offers to splurge money on ridiculous ideas. Rogue sends a text to Logan complaining about school. Kyle informs Wade that the Golden Girls is now available on Hulu. Artie and Tyrone hang out in the kitchen. Clea complains about homework. Megan shares an update regarding her Wing Warmers design.

2018: Maya wants confirmation that she saw an animated Porg in the library, leading to talk about the ethics of animating toys for others. Rogue is shocked that no-one focused on the fact the government revealed aliens might exist.

2019: Maya is watching Ghost and thinks Patrick Swayze is hot. Hope invites Betsy and Topaz to a small gala event as her guests.

2020:

2021:

2022:

2023: Case File: The Underbelly Project: Terry emails a mass update about the Underground.

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This Day in X-Project - January 5

PHASE 2

2016: Topaz emails Jean-Paul to thank him for his help. Rachel and Jean run into each other and make pancakes and New Year’s resolutions; Jean lets the mansion know there are pancakes available in the kitchen.

2017:

2018:

2019: Artie messages X-Force to let them know about his newest mission, which involved getting beaten up.

2020:

2021:

2022: Alani laments applying to grad school. Terry texts Kyle about wanting to do harm to Laurie after what she did to Darcy. Jubilee texts Topaz about doing the milk runs for X-Force. Clint emails April about the Dimensional Portal and options for monitoring it. Terry texts Alison about their voice training session.

2023: Case File: The Underbelly Project: Alex passes the information Arthur provided on to X-Force. Kitty alerts eXcalibur that the sounds they are hearing are in fact from the machine. Inez comes across Pyotr and Boris and introduces herself with the meeting ending in a promise for vodka in the future. Illyana's attempt to email Pyotr turns to gibberish after being sent.

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It's a Very Guthrie Christmas! Coming Soon to X-Project.

Image created by @nightmareinfloral.

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Coming to X-Project on December 22!

Crash Landers - An abandoned mutant makes quite the ruckus when she arrives at the mansion. It gets worse when they find out who she is.

Plot by Lauren. Poster by @walkstumbles

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Moment of Awesome - Madin:After their true past is revealed, Madin is placed in the Box as a temporary security measure. They certainly weren't expecting a rescue attempt by Magneto.

Madin turned as the door opened and was scrambling to their feet as they processed the identity of the man in front of them. It was a small room and their shoulders hit the far wall after only a couple of steps.

Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The bed frame was made of metal. There was metal in the door hinges. There was probably metal everywhere. "Please. I'm sorry. Please don't."

"Please don't? Please don't what? Free you from this cage they've put you in? I can leave you here, I suppose, but it would be a bit of a waste on a quite successful attack on Charles' mansion. While his X-Men engage your Brotherhood fellows on the South Lawn, they opened up enough of a gap for Mystique and I to enter secretly. Once she disables their security system - a matter of minutes - Zero will open a portal and we'll be gone before the X-Men have a chance to even assess the damage."

Madin stared at him in horror. "No." They took a deep breath. "Please don't kill them."

"Madin, if I wanted the X-Men dead, I would have done it a dozen times over by now. Misguided, certainly. Weak, without a doubt. Is that worthy of a death sentence?" Magneto paused outside of the cell door. "I must say, you have certainly exceeded my expectations."

"I didn't. I didn't fucking come here for you." Madin still hadn't moved. He was lying. He had to be lying. The X-Men were going to die. That hadn't been the plan.

"Come now, Madin. Do you honestly think I didn't see every step before you took it? Or I couldn't have prevented it at any time? No." He sighed. "I wanted you to find your way here. To experience their futility first hand. Their hypocrisy. I have no doubt they told you just how much this place was a haven for our kind. That Xavier's way was about peace. And yet..." He took a seat. "And yet." He waved at Madin's cell door. "Tell me. How long did it take before you were told that humans deserved rights over you? How their fear was your problem to fix?"

Could they get to the door before he did anything? "They didn't say that exactly. I don't. I. They never said that I have to give my rights over to humans," Madin mumbled. Except Terry had, in the discussion about the community centre. Human bigots were tolerated there and Madin hadn't set foot in the place since.

"For all this is a haven, how long before they showed you exactly what they thought about a mutant who didn't immediately fall into line behind their philosophies?" He said, with an arch of his brow. "I gave you the room you needed to find your way here. To see for yourself what we face; our own standing behind the same people who curse and hate us. I wanted you to understand first hand who they are and just why we need you, Madin."

"I'm not going back." Everything else had sounded uncertain. This wasn't. "I'm not fucking going back." They should have left months ago. Mystique was taking down the security system and the X-Men were dying and this was their fault. All of it.