Beyond Evolution

1/7 - All animals on the grounds disappear until 1/9

1/10 - School starts!

1/11 - A massive hail and lightning storm begins on the west coast, and within hours is on the east. It doesn't stop there, though. Other storms of the same nature are hitting every continent. Hail is up to the size of basketballs, and the lightning is constant. The school (sans the med labs, who are on their own generator) loses power for two days due to the damage. Doing spells from the book to help (and in general) seems to urge the coven to use more (not to a worrying degree -- don't ruin the fun by having your char notice yet!)



1/2/23 - 1/6/23
2022

We are trying this week to keep tags at a max of 150-175 words! Obviously do what you want, but that's the dare this week!


10/14 - 10/16: Everyone's worst fears have come to life and are roaming around the school. They can be killed, but do keep coming back to life.

10/18: X-Men locate the thief that got away from Colin.


11/5/22 - 11/11/22
11/1/22 - 11/4/22

10/15 - A package is left for CHARACTER B. It’s another Grandma’s Antique’s delivery, right to their door: Crying Boy painting ((ooc comment below if youd like to have your character receive it!))

10/16 - When everyone wakes up, they discover the mansion has turned into (an expanded version of) the house from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Its characters are roaming inside, and remember: they’re all just as deadly as Leatherface, and much more twisted. Network does work, but only for the journals, and no one can teleport out or use other powers that would allow them to leave. The family doesn’t seem to be able to die. Lasts 24 hours.

10/17 - Colin’s pumpkin body comes back for 3 days. All of the plumbing has snakes coming out of it. Sink faucets, shower pipes once the heads have been taken off have snakes pouring out, they are in all of the toilets, and so on. They don’t respond to animal compulsion. Lasts for 24 hours.

10/18 - The forest comes alive and starts slowly creeping up on the school from the side. Sinister, like the corn field, but in a different way. Dark and tangled and foreboding.

10/19 - A man shows up at the school looking for help, and anyone who offers is immediately transported to an old, run down farmhouse with no weapons or powers, where they have to fend off a number of cryptids (your choice which!). This lasts for a day.

10/20 - Rain starts coming down. Normal rain, but when it touches anyone it begins to melt them like they’re witches in the Wizard of Oz.

10/21 - Powers are gone! A bad time for it, as werewolves, vampires, and green-skinned witches are descending upon the school.

Friday 9/23: Sadie Hawkins dance, and afterparty at the lakehouse/Limbo

Tuesday 9/27: All student grades leak on the journals.

Thursday 9/29: National Coffee Day! Literally any kind of coffee you can think of is served in the cafeteria all day.

You know the drill. Get all the reflections back on their side of the mirror so the coven can end the spell!

Dedicated to Jamie.

As the Phoenix drew closer to Xavier's, the creatures coming through the portals could sense it. All that energy, all that power -- it drew them like a bright light draws insects, pure instinct, none of them knowing what they would do with it if they actually reached it. They started to draw away from the other portals, focusing on the ones closest to that beacon of power. The ones closest to Xavier's. The campus was already packed with strange, dangerous creatures, but soon it would be even more so, the Phoenix's power just out of reach driving some of them into a frenzy.

It wasn't just monsters that followed in the Phoenix's wake. Some of the Hellfire Club's members had abandoned this whole business after what happened to Shaw, but some of them were still tracking the thing they had summoned. If they couldn't control it, they could at least make sure nobody else could take control of it, either.

And then there was the Phoenix itself. Brilliant, burning, it sensed what it had come here for -- the host that could contain it without being destroyed. The girl who, in the kind of cosmic coincidence that started to feel more like fate, even shared its name. Phoenix. Jean Grey. It found her in the chaos, and it moved into her like it had moved into Shaw, and this time its scorching psychic fire met a mind that could withstand it.

Inside, the spellcasters would feel the burst of psychic energy as the Phoenix found its match. It filled them, giving them strength, powering their spell as it reached its peak. Giving it that last burst of energy it needed. Outside, and all across the multiverse, those who'd gone through portals to other worlds would feel themselves drawn to the portal that would take them back where they'd come from. They could follow it home, or they could resist it and remain where they were. That was their choice. But they would only have a few minutes to make it, before the portals began to close for the last time.

When the last of the portals closed, the damage that had been done to the very fabric of reality would finally be healed. Powers that had weakened, strengthened, fluctuated wildly, would be restored to normal. But there would still be enemies to fight, both monstrous and human, before this was truly over.

(Fighting continues! Everyone!)

[Watch for headers for Jean and the Phoenix, portal entries and exits, and continued fighting! Some of the monsters will respond to the pull of the spell and go home before the portals close, but more of them will stay to keep causing trouble. There will also be Hellfire Club members arriving to cause even more trouble. Last fight thread!]

We'll be doing a rapid fire this weekend and next, so everyone can set their chars up properly for anniversary. And just for fun!

Midday, multiple portals are going to open up and a great deal more of the tentacle monsters come out than came out originally. Along with them are ten of THESE things, who seem to be the ones in charge. They are capable of paralyzing anyone that meets their eyes, summoning elements, and forcing the opposite side to fight each other instead of the bad guys. Most dangerously though, they also have the capacity to use their central eye to project a field that cancels the effects of all mutant abilities within a cone of 150 feet in length around them.

There will be a post going up soon for non-team members to talk on, but the entries there don’t count towards activity. On that note, keep in mind that only posts happening before midnight will count for activity this month (that's why this is going up so early!).

Enjoy!

HOLIDAY WEEK RAPID FIRE

WHO: Raj and Nas.
WHEN/WHERE: This afternoon, on the grounds near the garage.
WHAT: Just two brothers getting ready for their parents to arrive.

( Something was terribly wrong. )

“I do.”

Luke had felt like he’d become unattached from the real world all day. Yesterday too. All month, if he was honest. It wasn’t that he felt disconnected from what was going on, it was a more surreal feeling than that, a wonderful feeling, like he no longer had to hold both hands on the steering wheel to keep his life on track because some great unseen hand had gently taken him in its grip to usher him on towards his destiny. This was the moment his whole life had been leading to. The exact place in space and time he was supposed to be. He’d felt like he was drifting on clouds.

And now he was standing in a perfectly pressed suit on his precious front lawn at the school, holding the hands of the love of his life as they declared their commitment to each other in front of all the people they cared about most. Everyone was here, both their families seated along the front row, their mothers who’d been worryingly thick as thieves since being introduced, Luke’s brothers and their partners, both their dads, a sprinkle of aunts and cousins. Backing them up were the hordes of Xavier’s School inhabitants. Linus and Luke had invited everyone and most of them had shown up. It made his breath short to glance out at their audience and know that they weren’t gathered here for a memorial this time. This was a happy occasion. The best.

There were flowers everywhere, some grown by Luke himself, others encouraged into bloom by helpful plant manipulators. Feathers of pink blossom floated on the air. It was a beautiful day too, thanks to further intervention from atmokinetics, rendering the sky bright and warm and summery in defiance of the month. Kurt stood before them, having graciously agreed to officiate for them. Paige was at his side, with strict instructions to catch him if he fainted. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.

But it all paled in comparison with the man before him. There had been so many times in Luke’s life when he’d never believed he could be happy. Never believed he deserved such a thing. He spent half his life waiting to die, then the next half wishing he had. And then he’d met Linus Sinker and in an instant, everything had changed. Linus made sense of it all, put all his broken parts back in their proper places, and now they could stand up in front of everyone they knew and say this is all we need, this is our everything.

Their vows had passed between them like a dream made real, and Luke felt a bubble of laughter spill from his throat into the air, too happy to hold it in. He needed to say those two words again.

“Forever, always, I do.” Luke squeezed Linus’s hands, giddy. They were about to be pronounced as husband and husband, and everything they’d been through, together and before, shrank away under the light of this one idyllic moment.

[ Rapid fire! Wait for Linus to tag first though, obv. :D There’s food and music both outside and inside for the rest of the day, and the summery weather will last into the night. <3 ]

WHO: Raj Dhanial and Nasir Dhanial
WHERE/WHEN: Cafeteria; Backdated to a few days after this, pre-Ramadan
WHAT: The Dhanial twins need to have a Talk

( He’d never lied to his brother before. But avoiding the truth wasn’t exactly the same thing. ...Right? )

Raj purposefully hadn’t picked the rec room that they’d kissed in. This was all hard enough for him to wrap his mind around and come to terms with, he didn’t need reminders staring at him in the face. He didn’t know what he was planning on saying to Theo. He’d messaged him with fright still coursing through him, making it seem like the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do. But now the adrenaline was passing and he was left instead with a deep, driving dread that sat in him like a stone.

When had he gotten to be this way? This was exactly what people in his home city had been trying to prevent for ages. Maybe they were all right, and this was a slippery slope that he’d been on for some time now. His father had tried to keep him in line, but he still snuck out, still met with people to devour impure art and writings. And now he was here, and he was openly drawing others and coloring his hair and planning on getting tattooed. He’d given Shaitan a foothold in his life and the corruption had only gotten worse and worse since. Now he was drinking, doing drugs, kissing other men. All of his prayer meant nothing if he still succumbed to those temptations. He was intended to fight a battle against all of those things, and instead he was giving in, willingly.

He wasn’t sure there was any saving him even if he stopped now. He was too scared to ask an elder, or even tell his brother. He knew what Nas thought of himself, but what would he think of Raj if he knew?

He put his head in his hands, rubbing at his face, knowing he wasn’t going to be getting any more sleep tonight.

(Theo!)

Raj woke up in a cold sweat. He’d been having nightmares, although luckily none had burst through his consciousness enough for his shouts to be audible. No one would be running to try and get in the room he shared with Nas.

He’d dreamed that he was back home, that he and Nas had been in their room doing nothing in particular, when the door was broken down. It was the police, and when they came to where the boys were they only grabbed Nas. Raj had tried fighting them, but it was no use. Outside, a crowd had gathered and they were all shouting things at Nas, calling him names. Accusing him of being with Theo. Raj had realized with a shock that they’d mistaken Nas for him, but no matter how much he tried to protest they wouldn’t listen to him. Then their father was there, cursing Nas and pulling Raj away from him. He struggled to get back to his twin, but his father was too strong, and was saying that Nas was not his son anymore. That he was unclean and should be put to death to avoid shaming their family even further.

Raj saw Theo there, in the crowd. He turned away from him.

The first thing he did was check on his brother, seeing him comfortably asleep, unplagued by dreams like the one Raj just had. Then his thoughts turned to Theo and it felt like a bucket of ice water had been tipped onto him. The actual seriousness of what he’d done, what he’d been doing, hadn’t really hit him before now. He kept finding himself too warm and happy to inspect it further, or let anything else in his mind get in the way of spending time with Theo, kissing him, laughing with him, holding his hand. All those feelings that he’d had from that first kiss on the couch had been so good, so welcome, that it had been hard to let anything slip in that might hurt it.

But now...

He put his face in his hands, his skin feeling hot despite the cold he felt everywhere. He had to stop this. He had to stop it right now. He was the defiled one, the defiler, and he wasn’t certain this was something that Allah would or even could look past. His eyes pricked as the weight in his stomach grew. He felt abandoned, adrift at sea, and it was his fault and his fault only. He had gone against Allah’s plan, and needed to repent. He was nothing without his religion, without his God and the Prophet, peace be upon him… He was better off dead than pulled away from that.

He swallowed hard and reached out to grab his phone. He had to put a stop to this, for both his and Theo’s sake. He could only hope that it wasn’t too late.

(Narrative!)

WHO: Raj Dhanial & Theo Mendez.
WHERE/WHEN: The rec room, this afternoon.
WHAT: An art project, some feelings. Maybe some kissing.

( But then, he was halfway to Hell already, given what he was. A kiss couldn’t possibly tip the scales so strongly in one direction or another. )

Inside Yana's castle was a wild mix of styles and even species. Some people had taken her directions to dress up very seriously, sparkling and bordering on formalwear, while others -- ahem, Holly Black -- hadn't bothered at all. Some weren't even people, although they did a good impression of being people, at least at the beginning of the night. As the party went on, it got a little bit more obvious which of the people you hadn't seen before were new students and which were demons in disguise. And of course there was Boogers, all dressed up in a half-suit and tie, giving everyone a good sniff before letting them inside and looking very pleased with himself.

The drinks had all been brought over from the human realm, but a few of the demon guests had smuggled their own flasks in, so partygoers accepted drinks from strangers at their own risk. And made out with strangers at their own risk, too, since some of the demons were a little... toothier than others. With Yana, Sapna, and Ananym all on hand nobody was actually going to get eaten, but they couldn't make any promises about nibbling.

The party would last until morning, or until everyone had gotten tired and gone back through the portal home, whichever came first. Most likely morning. Even if the Xavierites were ready to crash out, demons knew how to party.

(Rapid-fire, open to everyone!)

Rogue had never planned out a dream wedding when she was a kid. She’d been more rough and tumble, interested in playing in the mud and running around in the woods near her house. Her dolls would get married to one another, sure, but it was always very practical in her head rather than being extravagant in her heart. Going through the motions.

And then, of course, her powers had sufficiently ended any thoughts she’d had about a normal life. Much less one that involved living with and loving someone like that. She had to be careful with everyone that she was around, and there wasn’t much romance to be found when she could suck a person’s essence right out of them with a kiss. She’d come to accept it though, had carved out a place for herself in the world, with the school, with the teams. And while she knew some part of her would always be wistful about it, she’d come to terms with weddings and fairy tales being just that.

But then Liam had come into her life. Or, rather, she’d come (literally) crashing into his. It was the first time she’d had a crush quite like that -- one that was exciting, and new, and returned. Liam liked her back, he loved her just like she loved him, and now he wanted to turn all of those somedays into forevers.

And now here she was, on Waikiki’s tourist trap of a beach, with their friends and friends-as-family gathered around, with her brother Kurt officiating and their friends Colin and Bobby serving as best men. Her dress was, of course, styled by Rogue with help from Irina, who had lifted the hem from her knees to just at the line of decency. Her veil was long enough to drop to the ground, though. And her gloves this time were white. She laughed a little as she took the ring meant for Liam and looked at him, feeling her heart swell with happiness.

“Liam. I know we didn’t start off on the best foot.” Another small laugh. “But I promise to spend the rest of my life stoppin’ my mama from makin’ trouble for you. To make sure there’s hazelnut creamer in the fridge in the mornings. To push you to run ten miles when we want to stop at nine, and to make you look away from work when you’ve been at it too long. I’ll defend mint ice cream when people try to tell you it tastes like toothpaste, and I’ll make sure no pineapple goes near your pizza. Only you could make gettin’ up early sound just as good as sleepin’ in late, and I promise to try and share the covers better. And to only put my cold feet on you in the most dire of situations. I love you, and I’ll love you until there’s no more tomorrows. I’ve got your six for life.”

She reached out to get the ring from Bobby, and slid it on Liam’s finger and grinned. “No backin’ out now.”

(Open to Liam, obviously, and also RAPID FIRE threads if yall want!! There’s music and food and blankets set out instead of chairs for the actual event. ENJOY THE DAY!)

These games were more tense for Raj than anything else so far. He knew that he didn’t have to participate, that there were always other things that he could be doing or focused on at a party, but he and Nas were finally starting to see this as more of a home. Which was nice.

Plastic glasses were handed to them by Kate, oversized enough to be a joke, but large enough also that it didnt district their actual usefulness, “I know you two aren’t here drinking, so ta da!” She was standing in front of several different drinks. “They’re all virgin, I swear. But this way you don’t have to walk around with just a water the whole time." Raj smiled and picked a blue one with a paper umbrella sticking out of it.

They went to the nearest game opening and Raj sat on the floor as the other two did as well. Spin the Bottle. A kissing game. He’d heard of them. And now the timer was slowing and….landed right in front of him. He looked from side to side for confirmation before leaning back and ending the kiss maybe an inch too far. She looked happy with it though, and as he was about to pass it off as someone else’s problem, it was swung back to him. “Last one kissed has to do the bottle. That’s just the rules.” He watched in abject terror that the bottle might end up on his brother and they’d be made too like idiots for not doing it, but didn’t land on Nas. It was pointing next to him, where Theo was seated.

There were hoots and hollars from the crowd, as there was anytime a kissing paired up with one player that didn’t want to do it. He looked to Nas, wholly unsure of what to do, but that didn’t matter because Theo was standing and just suddenly kissing him. At least THAT would stop others from gossiping about what they’re hiding, as they would have if they’d both refuse. Better ways to go about that though, for sure. Raj would have to send him an email.

But, that still didn’t mean that he didn’t want some time to himself, to process through what had just happened. He stood and exited the game, going out the front door and sitting on the side edge of the porch. He lit a cigarette and let it burn down until it started to hurt there. Maybe if he could get through that there would be something waiting. But no, just a chilly night outside, a snuffed match, and two fingers that were probably going to be none to happy with him tomorrow.

(Theo!)

WHO: Raj Dhanial and Colin Hume
WHERE/WHEN: The art rooms; Massively backdated because I got poorly so takes place a few days after Angelo's death
WHAT: Raj is ferreting for art supplies when a well-meaning Colin appears

( I didn’t take anything. )