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thefaithfulnightwriter · 1 day ago

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𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 ~ Chapter One

Summary - 𝙄𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 a female who has been through so much in the clutches of Amarantha. Finds herself being freed she finds herself changed. She's more powerful and was now very unique in her own way. Starting a new life she finds it's hard and feels somewhat lost. But it all changes for her when she finds she has a mate. She soon suddenly feels less lost and finds a home in his arms.

☆or☆

𝙄𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 Azriel finds himself lonely. He was lonelier than ever, even in a room filled with his found family. He couldn't seem to rid himself of such feelings. It was a feeling that was threatening to swallow him whole. That is until he meets her, his mate. Azriel soon finds himself feeling less lonely and happier than he's ever been. And it was all because of her.

Pairing - Azriel x Female!Oc

Universe - A Court of Thorns and Roses

Warnings - Characters may be a bit OOC, Mature Themes, Semi Smut, Violence, Language, Mention of Past Abuse, Mentions of War, Fluff, Angst, Some Sensitive Subjects, Mating Bonds, Scars, Experimentation, More Will Be Added If Needed.

Disclaimer - I do not own the series ACOTAR - ACOWAR. I do own certain characters, and I own my mc. I do own somethings that are made up. And i own my writing and whatnot you get where im going and what i am saying lol.

Looking out of the window that was beside her was what she was doing at the moment. Her gaze on the flowers and nature outside. Taking in the sight before her. The view never grew old to her. She could sit and look at the view for hours, maybe even days and get lost in her own little world. But she knew it wasn’t possible for her. She couldn’t do such a thing.

But she always took what time she had and made sure she took in the view and cherished it. It was moments like this when she would do such a thing. Looking outside her home at every little thing she could. The way the beautiful flowers drifted slightly as the wind blew. Taking in the trees and watching as the leaves rustled in the wind and so much more. It led her to smile at the sight. But her attention was soon taken away from the view outside by the voice of a female.

“Annamarie, are you going to the Rainbow with Irina today?”

She heard the familiar voice of a female ask softly. Who had walked into the dining room where she was currently sitting. Turning, Anna saw the female. She had a welcoming smile upon her lips as she tilted her head in question. Her name was Amara. She was a beautiful female high fae. Who she was close with she was like a sister to Anna. Amara being very kind and caring toward anyone. She was quick to take Anna in when she had come into her life.

Hearing her question Anna sent her a smile. She then nodded before looking down at her hands that were on the table fiddling with her cup. She soon looked back up at the female when she heard the shuffling of feet. She soon found Amara now smiling gently at her and was sitting in front of her on the other side of the table.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours that’s got you looking out the window in such a way?” Amara questioned gently with a smile. As she rested her chin on her hands. Looking at Anna with kindness. She had her gaze on the unique female.

Taking in the soft spoken female that she thought of as a close friend. She thought Anna was gorgeous, but Anna had trouble seeing herself in such a way. So Amara made a point to compliment her on more than one occasion along with the rest of their little family.

She smiled seeing Anna so open at the moment. Without a care. With her long dark curly mane that fell over her shoulders and down her back. Her light brown skin that was glowing in the light that came from outside. Then there was her soft but curvy frame along with her being slightly shorter than most fae. Her black long sleeved dress that hugged all of her curves then flowed to the floor. She then saw her medium length curved nails that fiddled with her cup.

Then there were the unique things or attributes about her that she had been put upon her forcefully from her rough journey over the many years. That Anna wasn’t very fond of. But was still coming to terms with and accepting.

There were her ears that were longer and pointed that flapped slightly if she moved her head too quickly. She unfortunately had a cut on the outside of one of her ears. A triangle-like shape of skin missing. They were very sensitive to touch and sound. Which led her to keep them covered most of the time with a scarf or cloth wrapped around her head or her long hair covering them. But they still seemed to peek out no matter what she did.

Then there were her unique eyes. One was a very dark brown resembling a beautiful onyx gem. It was her natural eye color, the color she was born with. The color both her eyes used to be. Then there was the other that was a silver color. It shimmered and glistened with her magic. The color she had been forcefully given. They were unique and different but caused her to become overwhelmed at times. Sometimes having blurry vision or having vision that was clear as day. Well to clear at times and so bright. Leading her to have to wear glasses with silvered wired frames. That had magic infused within them to help moderate her vision. That she often pushed up onto the bridge of her button nose.

There were also the scars that littered Anna’s body. She had a few that littered her face. There were small ones. But then there were two that stood out. One on her soft cheek that was a large and thick line that was from her ear to the corner of her lip. Then one that started from the top of her brow then over her silver eye and ended just above her other chubby cheek. Those were the noticeable ones. There were others that littered her arms and back that no one has seen. Well no one who wasn’t her family. But Anna still tries to keep hidden from others.

But Amara with their family still thought she was truly beautiful. And they made sure to make it known as often as they could. Though Anna thought differently. She always had trouble accepting the way she looked even before what had happened to her. Having insecurities about the way she looked. It had gotten worse at one point after everything that happened to her with her new attributes. But she seemed to be getting better as time passed and with the help of her little found family.

“N - Nothing much Mara. Just taking i - in the view outside is all,” she smiled at Amara. After she gestured to the view outside. She couldn’t help but get lost in the view again. It was just so beautiful she couldn’t get enough of the nature around them. It led her to smile with excitement just thinking of going outside to feel the energy and wind on her skin. She wanted nothing more but to step outside without shoes and socks on to feel the ground beneath her feet. So she could connect with the environment around her. She was about to speak about her excitement but was cut off by Amara speaking.

“Hmmm it is gorgeous isn’t it… just like you sweetheart,” Amara giggled with a grin. Hearing her caused Anna to stop for a moment taking in what she said. Before looking down bashfully. Shaking her head a light blush of pink traveled over her cheeks. Pushing her glasses on the bridge of her nose she sighed sending Amara a playful glare. Causing Amara to giggle with a wide smile, “what I’m just speaking the truth Anna! You are so pretty! Isn’t that right Killian?”

“Very true my love. She is so pretty my heart flutters everytime I see her. Just as it does when I see your gorgeous face,” Killian chimed in. Him having walked into the dining room just a moment ago. Having heard what Amara had said.

Killian having entered the room with a wide smile. As he reached to place a kiss on top of Anna’s head and then kissed Amara’s lips gently. Making a loud kissing noise as he did so. Causing the two females to giggle and chuckle. Both watched as he took a seat by his mate Amara draping an arm lazily around her shoulder. Leading the female to lean into his side. Looking at Killian, Anna rolled her eyes playfully but couldn’t help but smile at the male. Killian always knew how to make Anna smile and laugh. It led her to sit and remember.

Both having been by each other's sides for a long time now, for about fifty years. The two having been through a lot over the past years by each other’s side. The two had met in a horrible place… Under the Mountain. During Amarantha’s ruling.

Killian having been kidnapped from his home Court, the Dawn Court. Him being a well known powerful healer. While Anna was sold off by her family so they could pay their debt to Amarantha.

They soon found themselves as cellmates. As they were picked to go through experiments. Being experimented on with magic and so much more. Both being poked, prodded, cut, and beaten at for many years. It was truly a dark and cruel time for them.

The only thing keeping them sane and keeping them from giving up during such a time were each other. They had grown a very close bond during that time. So close that they laughed about being platonic soulmates. They were there to hold each other. To encourage each other to keep going and not give up. To keep fighting no matter how much they wanted to just let the darkness consume them.

It was during this time that their choice was taken from them. They had so many things taken from them. They had powerful and unknown magic forced upon them that they didn’t want. It was why they look the way they do now.

Anna with her attributes like her eyes, ears, and scars. Then there was her magic. Having been put through many experiments to try and expand her magic and make her more powerful. So that Amarantha could bind Anna’s magic to her trying to make herself more powerful. Just as she did with the seven High Lords of Prythian. But Anna always kept her new growing magic hidden. No matter how hard it was she made sure no one knew of her new found chaotic magic. Well beside Killian he was the one to coach her teaching her ways to conceal and control her magic. Neither of them wanted anyone to know of Anna’s magic. Killian also wanted to keep Anna safe too.

Then there was Killian with his enhanced healing and ability to heal others. He was able to heal anyone with just a touch from pretty much anything if he put his mind to it. It took time but it was possible for him. His healing magic had grown. Then his ability to heal. He could heal from anything. Whether it be him being amputated the limb would grow back. Being stabbed he could pull out the knife and the wound would heal. Broken bone he could just reposition it correctly and it would heal. All good as new.

There were so many things he could heal from. Anna had witnessed everything and found it weird and gross but got used to it. But with such a power it came at a cost. It was an experiment that went wrong. It all stemmed from fire. The people experimenting on them wanted to test if he could heal from fire. It was before he was gifted with such healing. But ultimately gave him the ability to heal. His skin was scarred and burnt. There wasn’t a part of his body that wasn’t burnt.

That day it led Anna to have to hold him as he cried in her arms non-stop. And Anna held him every minute, never letting go. But after some time with Anna’s encouraging words he got back up and came back even stronger. He still had his bad days, both of them did. But they kept going with each other's help.

It was when the end of Amarantha’s ruling came and she had died that they snuck out together from Under the Mountain. No one knowing of them, just rumors. Both were lucky that not many saw them. They made sure to stay in the dark and stayed hidden. They both felt lost at this point and didn’t know what to do. Until Anna argued with Killian to go to his wife, his mate. The one he spoke about so much. He put up a fight but agreed to go to her only if Anna promised to stay by his side. Which she agreed to hesitantly not wanting to intrude on his life. But he always stated they would be by each other’s side no matter what.

But it seemed their lives got better when Amara Killian’s mate and her sister Irina came into their lives. The two found themselves traveling to the Court of Dreams or Velaris in the Night Court. A beautiful city that had been opened to the public after being hidden for so long.

It was where Amara and Irina had traveled to and made a new home for themselves. But after a heartfelt reunion between Amara and Killian. Amara accepting him and smothering him with love. After the four of them soon became close. They were a family through and through. It led Anna to smile thinking of their little found family.

“Oh shut up Mara, Killy. My goodness I’m not that -,” Anna giggled with a shake of her head feeling her ears move slightly against her head. As she pushed her glasses up upon her nose. Killian was about to cut her off and was going to object. But Irina, his sister in law Amara’s sister, already beat him to it after walking into the room. Having heard part of the conversation.

“Anna don’t even finish that sentence. And I hate to cut this short and get right to it but all of you are beautiful, gorgeous even. But I have to steal Anna. That is if you still want to come with me to the Rainbow. I’m about to leave soon,” Irina chuckled. As she walked into the room still searching through her satchel for something.

“I’m going with you Rina. What are you looking for anyways?” Anna questioned as she got up from her seat. Reaching for her black scarf that had silver stars on it. She then began to wrap it around her head over her long ears. Trying her best to cover them up.

“I’m looking for a letter that was addressed to you. It was all fancy and what not oh here it is,” Irina exclaimed in victory before handing it to her. Anna was confused but shrugged it off thinking it was a new commission for an art piece. Taking the letter she saw it was indeed fancy. As she opened it she thanked Irina which she sent her a nod with a smile as a welcome. Before she started a conversation with Killian and Amara. But looking down at the letter she gasped after reading it. Catching the others' attention.

“What? What’s wrong Anna?” Killian asked her, he was quick to get up and move to stand by her side. She didn’t know how she felt. It was a bit overwhelming for her. So all she did was hand the letter to him. As she sighed, raising her glasses slightly and rubbing her face before placing them back on the bride of her nose. Watching him as he read over the letter. He was soon looking up at her with worry.

“You’re not going,” he declared.

“Wouldn’t that be suspicious if I didn’t go, Killian?” Anna sighed with a question. Not meeting his eyes. As she looked at the ground shuffling on her feet. She didn’t know what to think of the letter but she knew she was screwed either way.

“What does it say?” Amara asked moving to stand next to Killian to read the letter over his shoulder. Irina was quick to ask the same thing as she slowly placed a hand on Anna’s arm gently. To try and sooth her. Looking up Anna sent her a small smile that was filled with fear.

“The High Lord and Lady want to see her because of her artwork. And because of the charity work she has been doing,” Amara gasped as well after reading the letter. Looking at Killian and Anna then to her sister with wide eyes. Who reacted the same hearing what she said. This caused all of them to be filled with fear and worry for Anna. It was quiet for a moment between the four as they began to think of what to do until Irina spoke.

“Okay… I am sorry to say this but she’s going to have to go. There’s no way out of this. As Anna said it would be too suspicious on her part if she didn’t go. They know of her now. It would be even more suspicious if she avoided them. If they find out who she really is. There's too many people who know Anna and adore her in this city. So maybe that’ll ease their minds on her,” Irina put forth. She was about to continue to try and ease the tension but was cut off by Killian.

“No, I told you Anna. You shouldn’t have started doing all this shit. I said it would draw attention to you. But no you didn’t listen to me!” Killian bellowed as he ran his hands over his scared head. Hearing him yell caused Anna to flinch because he did warn her this would happen. But she just wanted to help. Which she whispered as she hugged herself, “I just want to help. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Help Anna! This is going to lead to us being found out by the fucking Night Court’s inner circle. Not just you but me too. Who knows what they’ll do to us!” Killian exclaimed. Sending a glare her way. Looking at her caused him to sigh because he instantly regretted yelling at her. She looked close to tears now in Amara and Irina’s arms. Both females sending him a glare back.

“You need to calm the hell down Killian. You act like she did this on purpose all she’s done was to help people. And she’s done that. She’s helped so many people in this city. So calm down and keep your anger in check. Before I smack the shit out of you. You of all people should know better than to yell at her,” Amara scolded. As she held Anna close, being taller than her. While Irina ran her hand gently over her back trying to also soothe her.

“I’m sorry Anna, I'm just scared. Because I know you’re going to have to go,” Killian sighed. Before he opened his arms inviting her into a hug. Moving her head she adjusted her glasses and looked at him. She sighed and moved to him. Wrapping her arms around his waist while he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“I - I don’t know what is going to happen… b - but I’ll make sure you guys stay safe. And you shouldn’t be scared because no matter what I’ll be there for you Killy,” she vowed. Tightening her hold around his waist to reassure him. A chuckle escaped his lips hearing what she said.

“No matter what I’ll be there for you too Anna. No matter what,” Killian declared with a smile after kissing the top of her head. He was worried but knew that whatever happened that they would get through it together.

Redamancy Taglist -

N/A

#azriel x reader #acotar fanfiction #acotar x oc #azriel x oc #azriel fanfiction #azriel fanfic

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askinkiskarma · 2 days ago

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I have a lot of thoughts about arcane and rather than dealing with them on my own i thought i would try to write them out and see how other people feel and maybe have a conversation about it, because the beauty of art is sharing it and seeing it through your own eyes, as well as others’ - the beauty of art is its ability to ignite and spark a conversation… a change.

Arcane is very important to me, because of what it represents - humanity, in all its aspects and kaleidoscopic facets, in all its glory and in all its misery. What made it unique is how inherently relatable and universal the feelings and experiences the characters go through and how inherently human their problems are at their core, and whilst they were able to keep a lot of those sentiments in season 2, I feel by act iii they forsook a lot of what made arcane special.

Very rambly thoughts ahead, I do apologise, and please tell me yours, I would love to speak about it and process it.

To me arcane was always about class struggles, about oppression, about what happens to the oppressed when they are pushed to the brink, about how that affects a person’s journey and their fates, and putting faces to those struggles on both sides of the equation - vi, an orphaned child who was forced to grow up too quickly and parentified to the point she felt like she had no value outside of being a protector; jinx - a brilliant mind who fell victim to trauma because there was no one able to help her outgrow it or deal with it; silco - a man who has seen the oppression first hand and chose to fight it regardless of the sacrifice it took. I could keep going and going but Arcane was a phenomenal display of character and morality, and an almost perfect attempt at the shades of grey that make most of us who we are. No character was without flaw, and no character was unjustified in their actions in their own minds and due to their own particular set of circumstances.

I think most of the gripes I have with season 2 stem from two overarching themes: time and ambition. But before I go into this, let me praise it for a bit because despite all my grievances, I still think it is the best animated piece of art of all time and I still think it's better than 99% of anything I've ever been invested in. Although almost redundant to even talk about, I want to shine a light onto the animation. I have to give so much credit to every single person involved in bringing this series to life, because it is a spectacle from the first frame to the last, and the amount of talent, effort and passion it took to do this can never be put into words.

I will bring up things I loved about it as I'm talking what I didn't, because they are very much entrenched. My biggest complain about season 2 is that, the fact that it was only one season. I believe everything they've set out to achieve and every plot point they introduced could have been properly addressed and done justice in in one more season, and therefore, none of the problems I'm about to go into would have ever been an issue.

Imagine this: season 2 starts exactly as it did, with the first three episodes dealing with the aftermath of jinx's actions and the loss that drives Piltover into deplorable reactions, with Caitlyn and Ambessa at the helm, descending into fascism, Cait driven by blind rage and the prejudice she's been fed her entire life without an active effort into trying to overcome it, Ambessa driven by ambition and desperate attempts to one-up the Black Rose organisation. However, the season progresses differently - to me, this conflict and its consequences should have been what this season was about.

Simple yet deeply impactful, tackling the themes they set up in the last season, tackling the intricacies of what would lead the characters into their actions - for Cait, expanding on the way grief, fear and guilt makes you regress back to your most ignorant, primal, selfish self; for Vi, the way a lifetime of being told she's responsible for everything and everyone and her unbridled desire for love and family made her abandon her core principles and join the people she hates in order to kill the monster she thinks she's responsible for creating; for Ambessa, the way her deeply embedded and deeply repressed fear of the Black Rose coupled with the Noxian belief in strength and sacrifice and war made her give up one her core beliefs that warriors are forged through blood sweat and tears and not through magic and reach out to Singed, therefore becoming an almost caricature of herself etc etc etc.

That coupled with the overarching conflict between Piltover and Zaun, how Piltover's actions are the breaking point for Zaun, as well as the personal conflicts between Jinx and Vi, Mel and Ambessa, Vi and Cait, potentially Jayce and Cait once Jayce realises Cait has become someone she would have absolutely despised just a few weeks ago, would have made for a compelling and powerful season that kept to much of the themes of the first season and could have been the stepping stones for a larger conflict that could have been introduced but not expanded in this season - Viktor and the Hexcore, the bigger battle between humanity vs the arcane, the Black Rose and their involvement in everything.

Season 2 would introduce Isha as a positive role model for Jinx and a way that Jinx would be able to be rescued from the nothingness her life had become - Isha could have been a symbol for Zaun, and the reason Jinx would decide to become the face of the revolution for Zaun independence. Season 2 could have ended with the Jinx and Vander moment in the prison, or with her reaching out for Vi after her KO in the pits. Season 3 then could have dealt with everything else, and been a great way to introduce other characters and other conflicts (Mel and the Black Rose), which I assume will be part of the next series about runeterra.

I think this season and what it was trying to achieve was great, but its biggest downfall was that in its ambition, it fell short of what made it great. Because whilst the fighting and the animations and the moments we did get with the characters were great, there wasn't enough time to make them justified or fleshed out, and in that, we lost the essence of what people loved the most about Arcane - the eye to detail, the accuracy in character writing and portrayal.

I loved seeing Cait and Vi together and I loved seeing them get into conflict - I did not, however, love that Caitlyn went from being a dictator to redeeming herself in basically one episode with no consequences for her actions. Vi should have been mad, she should have been furious, she should have held her accountable and she didn't. I wanted them to have a much earned sex scene, but not in a prison, which overlooks the insane amount of trauma Vi has suffered in Stillwater and how insensitive doing it there comes across as.

I loved seeing Jinx and Vi reunited - but for a story that started and was always at its core a story about two sisters, there was not nearly enough done to explore their very complicated and tumultuous relationship and bring it to a satisfying conclusion. Not one scene in which they talked about their issues, where they opened up about the past, where they resolved anything before Jinx eventually died, and then, not even one scene of Vi mourning her or what her death represents to the overarching story or to Zaun.

I loved seeing Jinx get better, and her character was actually the highlight of the show for me this season, but a lot of it felt rushed and not properly explored - by the beginning of act 2 she seemed basically perfectly sane, and even after losing Isha, she seemed perfectly in charge of her emotions and was able to surrender herself and make perfectly rational decisions, which doesn't seem in line with all we know about jinx. Not to mention Isha was never mentioned once in the whole of act 3, and neither did Jinx becoming a symbol for Zaun amount to absolutely anything in the end.

I hated how much like the fandom, and the characters themselves, the writers seem to overlook Vi completely. She got the short end of the stick at literally every turn and I thought she would have gotten a semblance of justice in the end, but she didn’t. She forsake everything she knew and believed in because Jinx needed to be killed - Jinx was actually better and fixed herself without any of her involvement, so she betrayed herself for nothing. She finally opens up to Cait and cries in front of her, begging her not to change because she’s already lost everything - Cait betrays her like 5 minutes later and attacks her, abandoning her, then comes back like nothing happened and Vi doesn’t give a shit and forgives her immediately. Finally gets Vander and Jinx back? Loses them both again in the span of a few days. SHE EVEN FUCKING GOT A BAD ENDING IN THE HAPPY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE EVERYONE ELSE WAS HAPPY LIKE WTF. I could keep going and going about Vi and all the ways she was done wrong but I’d be here forever so let’s move on but #justiceforvi

I liked the Jayce and Viktor conflict and I actually believe everything they've done with that they handled well, since it was basically the main plot of the season, and I loved the way ekko's storyline intertwined with theirs, but this could have been handled even better in a season dedicated to it, and I wish it hadn't come at the expense of Jinx, Vi, Cait and the conflict between Zaun and Piltover. Watching this show felt a little bit like watching season 1 of game of thrones and then halfway through season 2 we're actually in season 8 and the white walkers are here and nobody cares about the iron throne anymore and everything that happened we're supposed to forget about and focus on jon snow vs the night king and it's so confusing cause I kinda cared about Ned Stark and who killed Jon Arryn and i’m kinda still mad that Cersei killed Lady and I’m still curious about Bran and his visions and Varys and the importance of choosing a leader who cares about the small folks and and and ???

This is such a long post and I’m very sorry and I’m writing it on my phone so it might not even make sense but I needed to get some of it out because this has taken over my life.

I probably will have more thoughts as I’m processing this more but for now pls tell me i’m not alone and pls tell me your thoughts 🤍

#so sorry for the rambles #arcane #arcane spoilers #arcane season 2 #arcane vi #arcane jinx #arcane cait #vi arcane #vi #jinx #cait #viktor #viktor arcane #jayce arcane #mel arcane #arcane lol #league of legends #lol

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bitchslapblastoids · 3 days ago

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interesting but predictable how some of the inherent uncanny valley strangeness of bringing something that exists in the chronically online space into the real world can manifest. I’ve noticed this at all the other tours of theirs as well - some people can have a hard time separating internet behaviors from irl behaviors, and the sudden merging of these compartmentalized ways of being (online vs offline) can be hard to navigate.

I think it can also make people uncomfortable to see their comedic silly billie faves being serious, and there’s a dissonance to seeing them, these characters who live on our screens, along with the audience around you who are typically just avatars and usernames shitposting in lowercase, all suddenly in the same physical room. And suddenly that often completely disparate, scattered, semi-anonymous community needs to adapt to social mores and group norms in a new social context. It’s taking a community with its own set of rules that were designed for and in response to a digital landscape and plonking it into a completely alien environment. And yeah, we’re all humans who exist in public outside of our internet lives, but it’s different when that happens but you’re still in the context of the phandom.

Which I think is what leads to things like shouting out rly profane, out of pocket things during the quieter moments of their shows. because if you comment something like that online, you won’t rly be interrupting anything. you might be ignored, you might get some laughs, maybe you’ll get a notice bc haha unhinged right. Or like treating an evacuation drill as a lol pass the tea yas mommy daniel moment instead of an oh we’re actually here in real life moment.

I went back to my tatinof review bc I remembered writing this - “someone behind me kept screaming at them to "GET NAKED" (particularly during silences in the 7 second challenge) to which everyone in my area responded with claps and laughter.” During my second TIT show, there were people around me who wolf whistled and shouted “kinky” and “ayo ok freaky” during totally inappropriate moments. I remember during Dan’s quieter bits of WAD people could not seem to just stay silent. (I have suffered complete amnesia when it comes to ii so I can’t speak to any part of that experience lol.) after the preshow and during intermission at tit, I heard separate people at separate times making a range of critical comments about Dan and Phil’s bodies in ways that were downright shocking and not how I hope they’d typically feel comfortable speaking about other humans.

I think on the whole, phannies are so lovely and kind to one another. I feel deep gratitude for this community. And I know this isn’t just a phandom thing; I think how we treat one another in public spaces has generally really eroded, and concert etiquette has become abysmally poor. But phandom, as always, is a little unique, because of the sense of mutual understanding and the co-created dynamic between us and d&p. It dissolves the boundaries, so when Dan tells you to shut up, your online brain tells you that’s just a chance to be funny with your fave. When you have a chance to be heard, your online brain provides a memey shitpost joke and your irl self shouts it out even though that ain’t the move in a theatre performance unless invited to do so.

No real conclusion here, just some observations about the rly unique dynamic this all creates!

#phandom #me yapping #dan and phil

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alexanderwales · 2 days ago

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Save the Cat is a snappy read, and only 8 chapters, so I'm just doing a liveblog of them unless I get bored or distracted.

Chapter one is about the pitch, the logline, the title, what you put on a poster and how you sell it. It doesn't necessarily come first, but I get the sense that for Snyder this would be his preferred way of doing it. (A logline is just the one-sentence "what is it about" that you use to sell people on the idea.)

Snyder says that writing loglines is awful, soul-crushing work, and I agree there. I'm awful at it. But Snyder also says that if you don't have a good logline, maybe there's something wrong with your movie, and that I don't agree with.

I think there's a fairly wide set of stories that have good, snappy, easy loglines, and are also good stories. But I think there are other stories that are good stories and don't have a great way to pitch them. The lack of a good pitch can exist for a lot of reasons, and sometimes it's just that it's more complex than can be summed up in a single sentence, or even a handful of sentences. I think in practice writers will often dumb down the story for the logline, lying about what's contained within, just to make sure that it will sell, that people will want to know what's inside.

One of the other main points of the chapter is that a good logline has irony to it, a twist inherent in the title, some kind of thematic tension, and I disagree with that too, maybe not from the standpoint of selling a script, but from the standpoint of storytelling.

Why does everything have to have an irony to it? Why does everything have to have a twist? Why can't we have stories that are just well-told explorations of conflict and character? It's like at some point people decided that they only wanted Distinct Pieces of Media, so if you wanted to tell a story that's been told before, something with its own unique texture, you're just shit out of luck.

I find this all the more irritating because often the twist/irony/idea/pitch is good, and then the execution is shit, and then people don't want that idea again. It's not like you can say "like that thing that flopped, but good".

Blake Snyder is trying to tell good stories, but he's also trying to sell stories, and this is a good thing for authors to know how to do. I accept this. I just don't like it.

So as a writing exercise, here are some loglines for things I've written, without the amount of care and polish and revision that a good logline needs:

Worth the Candle - A teenaged dungeonmaster gets thrust into the worlds he's created, where his recently deceased friend is a historical figure. (This is bad, not short and snappy enough.)

This Used to be About Dungeons - Five young adults team up to delve dungeons and bake pies. (I don't know man, I said I was bad at this.)

Thresholder - A man travels through portals to different worlds and genres, gathering powers and skills as he fights other people just like him.

Shadows of the Limelight - In a world where fame gives you power, a fanboy saves the life of the world's greatest hero in full view of the public.

The Dark Wizard of Donkerk - An orphan raised by two dark wizards adventures north with a wayward princess.

Millennial Scarlet - A gig-economy demon hunter grapples with the death of his mother and the plans she set up before she passed.

Alright, I found that less soul-sucking than usual, but I don't think that these are the oiled, muscular, perfectly toned and smiling loglines that are necessary to sell, just to be clear. The marketing unit of written fiction is not really the logline, though that helps, it's the blurb, and I am equally awful at writing those. I just don't agree with Blake Snyder that a blurb or logline coming poorly is a sign that you don't know the story.

#writing #save the cat

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drakorn · 2 days ago

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Rewriting Veilguard Part 1 - The World State

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Expanding Veilguard's World State Editor

Like many of us, I was disappointed with the total amount of choices carrying over from past games being only three, one of which dealt with romance, two with decisions made in the Trespasser DLC, and all of them being from Inquisition. This already set the precedent that we shouldn’t really be expecting the game to be as connected to our unique Thedas as we have come to be used to from previous titles—no more uniquely flavoured codex entries, no more small but sweet cameos here and there that make the world itself feel like a larger place that we had helped shape.

Given The Veilguard’s very troubled production history of multiple delays, staff layoffs, and all-around restarts of the entire project, it is honestly a surprise that we even got three choices, so credit where credit is due. They made with what they had. But what if The Veilguard had this vision from the start? What if there wasn’t any of this meddling? What if Bioware simply had more time and control? What if they could truly let us import the World State this game deserved?

Now, for this hypothetical rewritten playthrough, I’m going off from the fact that the Dragon Age Keep will not be used; I actually found it a neat idea to tick my three choices in the character creator, and it would have probably been better had Inquisition done something similar. Why do I think that? Because it means we are not running into any dangers of servers potentially shutting down, leaving us trapped in the canon we happened to have imported last. Converting the Keep into an offline editor was a good idea, but unfortunately not executed nearly enough as, let’s face it, we all expected. So we’re gonna have some fun for Veilguard.

Disclaimer: I’m going to refer to the game’s title as Veilguard from now on, not “the” Veilguard. I really don’t like the change of having a “the” in a series of otherwise one-word, or one-number, titles.

Of course, we have to be realistic about this. It is virtually impossible to implement every single decision from across all three games, and those that can be implanted can’t alter the main plot too much. Certainly, we like to imagine and picture things, but let’s approach this from an actually doable point of view.

Right, so imagine you just finalised your Rook, and then get a screen titled “Past Adventures”. Not just “The Inquisition”. And it would take up the entire screen instead of being shoved somewhere in the corner of the final CC page, which many people missed. I could have missed it too, had I not known beforehand that it was going to be there!

It would say something akin to “You can customise the protagonists and several events from the games Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. These choices will have both major and minor effects on the plot of Veilguard. If this is your first Dragon Age title, you would be advised to skip this section for now, as you may otherwise risk getting overwhelmed. A default World State has been pre-generated for the game.”

Why did I add this disclaimer? Because it would show us, right from the get-go, that we respect both new and old players. If you’re a new player, feel free to skip this part as it won’t matter to you anyway and, quite frankly, you wouldn’t want to spend an eternity in the character creator doing things you might not even be familiar with. But if you’re a returning player or someone who has read up on recaps and watched countless lore videos, come on right in, we’ve got you covered, don’t worry! We know how much time you spent meticulously crafting your World State for Inquisition, so join us and customise to your heart’s content.

If you choose to not skip ahead (honestly the only time I would click “skip” on that shit is if I was a new player), you will be presented with three tarot cards, one shows the griffon, the Grey Warden symbol, one shows Kirkwall’s heraldry, and one shows the Inquisition’s banner. Here’s your previous three games. And now we get to customise them a little. The little gremlin in me would be quite gleefully rubbing his hands at this prospect.

Past Adventures: The Blight

We open the first slide and are immediately hit with a crimson screen and an ambient reprise of several of Inon Zur’s themes from DAO. I loved this part in the game, when you click to customise your Inquisitor and are immediately hit with “Calling the Inquisition”. Really great stuff for early emotions. Now let’s actually customise things.

The Hero of Ferelden

I do not expect us to actually be able to recreate the Warden in the flesh, but I believe they should be at least brought up in conversation or mentioned in codex entries and letters. Here are the things we get to customise about them specifically:

The Hero: Here, we get to tick the race, gender, class, and background for our Warden. Again, no character creator, just fancy tarot cards. But guess what? That would already be more than enough for what we can do. At least we know the game acknowledges their continued existence.

The Warden’s fate: Did the Hero of Ferelden perform the ultimate sacrifice?

Romance: Who did your Warden romance, if at all?

The Companions

Now that our Warden is set, we jump over to DAO’s companions. Each companion has their own little mini-section. The first few questions will always be “Did you even recruit them? And if so, did they survive? If so, were you on good terms or not?” These questions, depending on the answers, will immediately lock or open the more specific ones. Which are, as follows:

Did the Warden have Morrigan perform the Dark Ritual?

What is Alistair’s ultimate fate?

Was Sten reunited with his sword?

What happened to Loghain?

What happened to Marjorlaine?

The Battle of Ostagar

What happened to the prisoner at Ostagar?

The Arl of Redcliffe

What is Connor’s fate?

Is Isolde alive?

Did you help Bevin and return his sword?

The Urn of Sacred Ashes

What happened to the Urn?

The Nature of the Beast

How was the situation between the Dalish and the werewolves resolved?

A Paragon of Her Kind

What happened to the Anvil of the Void?

Who rules Orzammar?

Did the Warden help Brother Burkel create a Chantry in Orzammar?

Did the Warden prove the Legion of the Dead was connected to a noble house?

Did Orta join the Assembly?

Warden’s Keep

What happened to Sophia and Avernus?

Denerim

Did the Warden complete Slim Couldry’s crime wave?

Who rules Ferelden?

Who killed Urthemiel?

Awakening

What happened to Nathaniel?

What happened to the Architect?

What happened to Vigil’s Keep and Amaranthine?

As you can see, I have not included all the choices, just the ones I think can be carried over in both realistic and interesting manners. Not all of them will heavily feature in the game; in fact, many of them are for flavour and codex entries only, but there is still merit in those. We know there is a whole lot of stuff happening in the South thanks to the letters the Inquisitor regales us with. So let’s put some world-state uniqueness to those letters. But in this rewrite, some of these choices will, in fact, feature in a more substantial manner.

And that’s Dragon Age: Origins done! Moving on to the next one!

Past Adventures: The Tale of the Champion

When we enter this screen, the CC assumes Kirkwall’s orangey-yellow tone and we get a reprisal of the key DA2 themes by Inon Zur, the most prominent one being, of course, Hawke’s family theme. This one is not going to be as big as DAO, but there are a few important factors nevertheless, especially concerning possible deaths and survivals.

The Champion of Kirkwall

Unlike the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke will actually be customisable in this one. Because no matter whether or not they were sent to the Fade or Weisshaupt, there is always the potential for them to still be alive. So, here are the choices regarding Hawke:

The Champion: Here you can customise Hawke’s gender, class, and personality.

Who did Hawke romance, if at all?

The Party

Pretty much every companion’s card, aside from a few, will have the questions “Did you recruit them?”, “Are they still alive?”, and “Were they friend or rival to Hawke?” at the forefront. Most of it is gonna be flavour, but it’s still my flavour, dammit!

What happened to Bethany or Carver?

What happened to Isabela and the Tome of Koslun?

What happened to Fenris and Danarius?

What happened to Merrill, her eluvian, and Clan Sabrae?

What happened to Bartrand?

What happened to Anders when the Chantry exploded?

Did Hawke approve of Ander’s actions?

Did Aveline marry Donnic?

The Tale of the Champion

Did Hawke protect the Bone Pit from all its dangers?

What happened to Feynriel?

Did Hawke let Zevran go?

Did Nathaniel survive?

Did Hawke side with the mages or the templars?

Fewer choices are carrying over here compared to DAO, but many of the events that occurred in DA2 are only relevant to Kirkwall’s immediate fate, which is already resolved by the time of DAI. Many of these will be flavour again, but some of them, I’m not going to say which, will definitely have a bigger impact.

Right, we’re done with DA2, let’s move on to the last one!

Past Adventures: The Inquisition

And here we get to the big one, the game that most directly impacts much of DAV’s story. We click on the last page and get the green shades and DAI’s ambience themes, a beautiful reprisal of Trevor Morris’ great hits. I would like to once again reiterate how emotional the CC music made me feel here when I was playing the game. Let us now customise our choices.

The Inquisitor

While the Hero of Ferelden will be a background figure in letters and codex entries, and Hawke more of a minor character with a significant role, the Inquisitor will have a much larger presence. Just how large, you’ll find out soon. But for now, let’s customise them:

The Inquisitor: Here you can customise your Inquisitor’s race, gender, class, and specialisation. Their personality as well, for while it wasn’t as apparent as with Hawke, the Inquisitor does still have a distinct range of dialogue choices. You can still be diplomatic, lighthearted, or even rough.

Who did the Inquisitor romance, if at all?

The Inner Circle

As with the other companion sections, pretty much all slides here will feature the “Did you actually recruit them?”, “Are they still around?”, and “Are you friends or not?” questions. Alongside a few specific ones that will definitely have more of an impact here.

Did Dorian resolve the issue with his father?

What happened to Blackwall?

Did the Iron Bull remain loyal to the Qun?

Did Cassandra rebuild the Seekers of Truth?

Did Cassandra discover the book of secrets and what did she do with it?

What happened to Harmond?

Which path did Cole choose?

What happened to Solas’ friend?

Did Varric track down the red lyrium source?

Did the Inquisitor give Vivienne the heart of a snow wyvern?

How was Cullen’s lyrium dilemma resolved?

How did the Inquisitor help Josephine resolve her family’s fortunes?

Was Leliana hardened or softened?

The Path of the Inquisitor

Did the Inquisitor embrace or denounce their title of Herald of Andraste?

Did the Inquisition side with the mages or the templars?

What was the general principle upon which the Inquisition was founded?

Who rules Orlais?

Who stayed behind in the Fade?

What happened to the Grey Wardens after Adamant Fortress?

What happened to Samson or Calpernia?

Who drank from the Well of Sorrows?

Did the Inquisitor respect the rituals at the Temple of Mythal?

Who became Divine Victoria?

The Inquisition’s Influence

Did the Inquisitor ally with the Hinterland cultists?

Was the rift in Crestwood closed?

Was Caer Bronach captured?

Did the Inquisitor make a deal with Imshael?

Was Suledin Keep captured?

Was Griffon Wing Keep captured?

Was Sutherland’s company formed?

What tone did the Inquisitor’s judgments take?

Jaws of Hakkon

Did the Inquisitor learn Ameridan’s fate?

Was Hakkon slain?

Did the Inquisitor share the truth about Ameridan?

The Descent

Did the Inquisitor stop the earthquakes from destroying the Deep Roads?

Trespasser

What is the ultimate fate of the Inquisition?

What is the Inquisitor’s final goal regarding Solas?

Again, this looks like a lot, and it is, but bear in mind that a lot of these will only have minor impacts on the story in the form of cameos and codex entries. However, there are several major DAI choices that will have significant impact.

For our hypothetical rewrite, I shall not list every single choice I made for my imaginary playthrough. Instead, I shall reveal them as we go along so as not to clutter the space too much. And it’s a bit more fun this way.

And that’s the World State editor finally done! I believe all of these choices are able to feature in some capacity, be it big or small. But no matter if it’s a big world-changing consequence or simple flavour texts and cameos, it will still be our Thedas, our own unique version of it that we helped shape.

Now that the past is dealt with, let’s look at the present. Next time we’ll talk about Rook, the six factions, and why a DAO-style origin story selection would have not only been beneficial but very doable.

#dragon age #dragon age the veilguard #veilguard spoilers #dav #rewrite #rewritingveilguard #veilguard critical #dragon age origins #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #world states #character creation

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eerna · 23 hours ago

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The ending of Arcane was MESSY, but not surprising. After all it's still a LoL promo, and for it to work this way the conflict could only ever "resolve" as going back to status quo. At least that's what I'm telling myself when I'm trying to figure out why the writing is so good with characters on interpersonal level, but turns to the most simplified black and white shit when it comes to the larger systems. In retrospect - OF COURSE they weren't going to resolve Pilrover/Zaun tension. I mean they tried to pitch us "they all unite against a larger enemy" thing with Sevika being on the council (outnumbered by Piltover councilors 7 to 1) and people of Zaun fighting for their basic survival. But I don't really buy it as a lasting improvement because the core issues between them are not resolved. Just like with any superhero media, they only thrive in conflict, so their characters can clash over it and make us feel things. No resolution ever is the primary goal. Meanwhile we fall in love with Vi, Jinx, Ekko, Jayce, Mel, Victor etc (not Cait though because her Nazi tendencies were swept under the rug). Almost as if the show says oh but don't you want to experience playing as one of them with their cool unique abilities. Which is fair I guess, but a lot of gaps in Arcane feel like a missed opportunity for something deeper than it is currently. Overall I like the show enough for what it provides best - intricate family and friendship dynamics, unique visual style, top tier animation and lesbians. I feel grateful that we've got some sort of complete story at all, given how terrible the animation industry is lately to its workers. Fortiche deserves all the flowers (and well earned money) for their hard work.

Yeah, a big round of applause for Fortiche! They absolutely rocked it, it was a visually stunning season. But tbh s1 was a good enough ending to vaguely hint at both a complete storyline (Piltover decided to change too little too late and their leaders got bombed for it) AND League connection (Jinx becomes Zaun's most wanted fr, Cait dedicates her life to hunting her down, Jayce and Viktor survive bc of Mel's implied shield, even Warwick was in the post credits scene). And yeah the worst part is that we should have known... it was too good to be true... we chose to trust in a LOL PROMO SHOW.... we are wearing the clown noses

#therabine #eernask #eernask talk arcane #arcane spoilers

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anim-ttrpgs · 2 days ago

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Thing From Beyond Player Character Rules in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Eureka has six playable "monster" types, and about ten total supernatural character options all together. Each supernatural trait is taken basically as if it is a normal trait like the ones you have been seeing us post. You cannot give a character more than one supernatural trait--and from what you are about to read, you probably wouldn't want to. Playing monsters is recommended for "advanced" players only, people who like a lot of "crunch" in their games, as require you to keep track of a lot more mechanics than playing a normal human.

Here is the Thing from Beyond Trait. This is going under a Read More because it's long as hell but we really hope that you will check it out and comment. This is, like, the whole entire ruleset for playing a thing from beyond in Eureka. This one might be the longest, it definitely has the most sidebars, because it's a wholly original creature rather than something recognizable from western folklore or pop-culture.

Thing from Beyond (Monster Trait)

Despite being inspired by many horror concepts from around the 20th century, this is the most wholly original monster in Eureka’s lineup, and requires a lot more explanation up front. Throughout the rules text for the thing from beyond, they will be referred to as “TFBs” in the interest of page space.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] A thing from beyond is very unlikely to call themselves a “thing from beyond.” They don’t know where they’re from, it could be anywhere.

[1.1. Off to the side in the final formatting] How lonely it must be to not even have a name for what you are.

[Snoop: A regular snoop with the two shapes that make up his or her trench-coat opening up to reveal sharp teeth and tentacles.]

A TFB was never human, but maybe they are now. Their “true form” is a large, flat blanket of membranous flesh that is smooth and skin-like on one side, and ever-so-slightly damp and mouth-like on the other side. The skin side is capable of changing color and texture to a high degree of detail, not unlike that of a cuttlefish. The mouth side is also capable of color-changing but to a lesser degree. Their only bones are dozens and dozens of sharp teeth. Unlike any transformation of, say, the wolfman or a fairy or witch, a TFB is not actually changing in any “magical” way, rather just disguising the same body to superficially appear more like a human.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] This also presents certain challenges in writing the rules text for them.

Despite not arriving on flying saucers or having anything to do with little green men, a TFB is an alien beast, from places or dimensions entirely unknown to modern science.

They are highly adaptive mimics which typically lock on to a single prey species as their primary source of food from a young age, imitating either things the prey species finds non-threatening, or the prey species itself. Their metabolism is unique, capable of not only absorbing nutrients, but DNA and even intact neurological information which can be integrated into their own equivalent of a brain. They not only consume their prey, but their prey’s memories as well. In the wild, this helps them to better and more consciously mimic their prey species — on earth, when consuming humans, it has the unintended side effect of causing them to develop sapience.

TFBs start to think like their prey, and a TFB which has been eating humans will start to think much like a human. Their desires become human desires, their needs become human needs, such purpose, belonging, and love.

To this end, TFBs - or at least the ones who are valid to be investigators - will fold their flat body into a humanoid form, color and texture their outer skin appropriately, and attempt to participate in human society.

The consciousness and sapience of a TFB, alien neurology influenced by human neurology, can manifest in a number of different ways.[1][2] After the first few victims, these senses of self tend to be fixed, and a TFB will not experience a change from one to the other, absolutely not mid-adventure. Despite the frequent intake of new memories and DNA, their personalities are only marginally less fixed than human personalities.[3]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] These are not exhaustive or prescriptive options, just suggestions to help you in developing your TFB investigator.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] A TFB’s memories of their animal-like intelligence before developing sapience are often fuzzy at best.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] But how set in stone are human personalities?

Gestalt Composite:[2] After their first few human meals, their mind may form as a distinct and original personality, a gestalt composite of those minds that they have digested, which is not significantly influenced by the personality traits of their latest meal,[3] at least not much more than a regular personality is influenced by human interaction. TFBs who develop like this will truly be outsiders to society, learning what they can about how to exhibit normal human behavior through fragments of digested memories and asking lots of unusual questions.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] This conscious sapient mind will not fit the same template and mental framework of the average human mind, but neither do those of many natural-born humans.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] As the most common of the three, the majority of sidebars referring to the thought processes of TFBs in this section will be in reference to this kind of TFB consciousness.

[3 off to the side in the final formatting] “I’ve been thinking about Alan Rickman a lot all of the sudden.”

First Victim: They may “become” their first victim, the victim seeming to wake after a horrifying ambush in an unfamiliar, alien body that nevertheless they have some instinctual control of. Once devoured, they are now the TFB. Future victims will not override the base memories of their previous life. A TFB like this will obviously already have some grasp on societal conventions, their journey being more about adapting to what they are now than adapting to what they aren’t.

Both: They may develop something like a combination of the above two possibilities, with a gestalt composite personality formed out of multiple victims, but also a single early victim rising to the surface among them. These two minds share one body, and often communicate with each other by speaking out loud. In partnerships like these, each will be adapting to their new life and to each other.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] While having one player play both investigators sharing this body is perfectly easy, this opens up some other interesting options as well, such as two players sharing the character and character sheet, one for the human and one for the alien. One of these could also be an NPC handled by the Narrator. If “one” investigator is being played by two players, you may even represent this with two separate character sheets, and track Investigation Points and Eureka! Points separately, just so long as they share HP.

Unfurled State

The Unfurled state is the default, natural state of the TFB. A large, flat body that slithers along the ground.[1][2][3][4]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] They may be circular, oval-shaped, star-shaped, square-shaped with rounded corners, or none of the above.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] Size ranges from around 7x9 square feet to around 12x14 square feet, sometimes larger if they eat a lot.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] Look up marine flatworms to get a sense of how they move when unfurled.

[4 off to the side in the final formatting] They are, thankfully, not slimy.

Suction Grip

While unfurled, a TFB can slither on walls and even on ceilings just about as easily as though they were floors.

Flat Body

While unfurled, a TFB can compress themselves enough to squeeze through any gap greater than about two inches wide.

No Hands

While unfurled, the TFB has no human hands, and thus cannot interface with complex devices such as firearms, vehicles, etc. The TFB does have two or more long, thin tendrils attached to their mouth side but these can only manipulate the most basic of devices such as simple tools. They cannot use weapons or make regular melee attacks at all in this form. For how a TFB can fight in this state, see p.xx “Homoiophage (Thing From Beyond True Nature)”.

No Speech

While unfurled, the TFB has no human mouth and cannot produce any human speech or in fact any vocal sound at all.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] However, since they can change the color of their skin at will, it is not out of the question that they could display images or even words on their skin to communicate with humans. If this is done with use of a Charm, Comfort, Manipulate, or Seduce roll, apply a -2 penalty to the roll, at least when it makes sense to do so. Rolls towards a character who knows and is comfortable with the TFB in this state may not include those penalties.

All Muscle

While unfurled, apply a +3 Base bonus to the TFB’s Athletics for anything except Speed calculation. They are, however, not considered to have Superhuman Strength in the same way many other supernatural creatures do.

Disguised

Despite this not being their default state, a TFB will likely spend most of their time during the investigation - and any social interaction[1] - disguised as a normal human. They do this by stretching, compressing, and origami-ing their flat bodies into the shape of a human, with their “mouth” side on the inside, and then coloring and texturing their outer skin to appear like human skin, clothing, and other features.[2][3] Going from Disguised to Unfurled is effortless, but going from Unfurled to Disguised takes one Movement if time is measured in Turns and also requires a non-skill supernatural ability Composure roll. Most TFBs will have a specific human persona whom they disguise as regularly, and it is this persona which has a social life, a job, a bank account, etc. [maybe that art by dame can go here?]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Unless their human friends are very cool about hanging out with a man-eating blanket of flesh.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] Getting false clothing to appear to hang correctly off of their disguise takes a lot of practice. They could fold into the shape of a naked human and then put real clothes over that, but most TFBs find wearing more than the slightest amount of real fabric uncomfortable and restrictive.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] Human hair is another highly difficult element for a TFB to mimic. Some TFBs may opt to mimic the shape and texture of human hair with their own skin and rely on nobody looking too closely or being rude enough to point this out, others may wear wigs, embody exclusively bald personas, or put all that DNA they’ve absorbed to use and grow out real human hair.

[3.1 off to the side in the final formatting] Some TFBs have thick clusters of little feelers they can use to represent hair.

[3.2. Off to the side in the final formatting] Elbows are particularly hard to get right as well.

While disguised, consider a TFB to be able to do anything a human could do, including speak and manipulate devices, however, this is quite a contortion act for the them, leading to mild discomfort and the outward appearance of a general lack of coordination.[1] Apply a -1 penalty to all Physical skills when a TFB is disguised.

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] For the TFB, moving a body meant for slithering around on imitation legs using their imitation hands for things would be sort of like a human using their feet to complete daily tasks while walking on their hands. It can be achieved with practice, but isn’t intuitive. This struggle will often manifest early on as difficulty just walking upright, and then comes the challenge of not applying too much or too little grip strength with their hands, and moving each finger independently without making it look obvious that there’s no bones or joints inside.

[1.1. Off to the side in the final formatting] TFBs may use humans’ bodies in their stomachs to practice. If a motion locks out or breaks a joint, they know what not to do.

When disguised as a human, the TFB’s mannerisms will always appear somewhat off, though it will be hard for anyone to put their finger on exactly how. Apply a -1 penalty to all Charm, Comfort, Manipulate, and Seduce rolls made in this form while the TFB is within sight of the target. This penalty can be ignored if the roll is directed towards someone who knows and trusts the TFB, and is aware that they are a TFB.

A TFB can also disguise themselves as virtually anything of sufficient size, such as furniture or animals, not just humans, but this rulebook will not be statting out every object and animal in the world. If you feel unique stats are needed for a specific shape, then use your best judgment. Disguising as inanimate objects will typically be a Stealth check.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] An intoxicated TFB may “loosen up” and have trouble holding their disguise together, literally. They may also get the colors wrong.

Disguising as Specific People

TFB’s have endless practice taking on their specific human persona that most people know them by, and can disguise as random fake people with no distinct identity just as easily, but disguising as a specific individual other than their main persona is another story.

A TFB can disguise themselves to look like any particular human they have gotten a good up-close look at. When the TFB is attempting to study a person, roll Social Cues.[1] This attempt can be repeated once per Scene to aim for a higher degree of success, so long as the thing from beyond can get an up-close look at the person they want to imitate. Add +1 Base to this roll for each type of DNA sample from the target they have consumed. (See p.xx “DNA Sample Types”.) If they have consumed the whole person within the same adventure, this roll is automatically a Full Success. Unless the TFB is able to study the human in-person or look at full-body photographs or videos taken from multiple angles, they can at most achieve a Partial Success on this roll.[2][3]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] “You have such a lovely face. Do you mind if I borrow it for tonight?"

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] In some cases, it may be a good idea for the Narrator to make this roll hidden from the players, as the TFB will not be able to confirm the effectiveness of their mimicry without putting it to the test.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] A TFB may be very proud of how much detail they can replicate the human form with, but have no one to brag to.

Full Success: From this point on, the TFB can perfectly disguise themselves as the human they are studying, down to all the fine details. Not even the human’s friends and family could tell the difference. This does not mean, however, that no one will notice if they act out-of-character.

Partial Success: From this point on, the TFB can approximately disguise themselves as the human they are studying. The disguise may fool people from a distance, but upon examination, anyone who knows the human in question could easily realize that this is not them with a Full Success or a Partial Success on a Senses or Social Cues roll. They may also be noticed if they act out-of-character.

Failure: The TFB cannot seem to get anything right about the person they are disguising themselves as, and no one will buy the disguise. Best case, people will just think it is someone else who kinda looks like the person in question.

Mimicking Specific Voices

A TFB can imitate human vocal cords and tongue on the inside of their human disguise, pushing air past them and through an opening in their folds they’ve made to look like a mouth, creating convincing human speech. Like with a visual disguise, making up a random voice is no issue. Typically, they will just use the voice they’ve decided on for their human persona for everything, but with a bit of effort they can alter these features to mimic any specific human voice and speech patterns that they have clearly heard and studied.

When the TFB is attempting to study a person’s voice, roll Senses.[2] This attempt can be repeated once per Scene to aim for a higher degree of success, so long as the TFB can listen to the voice they are attempting to learn to mimic. Add +1 Base to this roll for each type of DNA sample from the target they have consumed. (See p.xx “DNA Sample Types”.) If they have consumed the whole person within the same adventure, this roll is automatically a Full Success. Unless they are able to listen to the voice in-person or hear a very high-quality recording for at least 1 Tick and a large variety of different sentences, they can at most achieve a Partial Success on this roll.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Like with disguising, this can actually be done for virtually any sound, not just a human voice.

[2. off to the side in the final formatting] The Senses and Social Cues rolls are intended to be separate.

Full Success: From this point on, the TFB can perfectly mimic the voice of the human they are studying, down to all the fine details of their speech patterns. Not even the human’s friends and family could tell the difference. This does not mean, however, that no one will notice if they act out-of-character.

Partial Success: From this point on, the TFB can approximately mimic the voice of the human they are studying. When making any Interpersonal roll that relies on mimicry of the voice in question, apply a -2 penalty to the roll.

Failure: The TFB cannot seem to get anything right about the voice they are attempting to mimic. Best case, people will just think it is someone doing a bad impression of the voice in question. When making any interpersonal roll that relies on mimicry of the voice in question, apply a -4 penalty to the roll.

Mimicry from DNA Sample Alone

A TFB can also attempt to mimic the look or voice of a particular person based only on consuming a sample of their DNA but never having seen or heard them. When doing so, the Narrator makes a hidden 2D6 roll with a -3 modifier, and does *not* add the TFB’s Skill modifier. Add a +1 to this roll for each separate type of sample of the target’s DNA the TFB consumes. See the above results for the possible outcomes. The Narrator will not reveal the result of the dice, so there will be no way to know how accurate the mimicry is.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] TFBs *are* what they eat. Over time, a TFB may come to conceptualize their tendrils as human fingers, their skin as human skin, their teeth as human teeth, their enormous mouth as a human mouth, they just have to remember not to yawn with it.

[maybe get the dame TFB tendril heart image to go here]

DNA Sample Types

For the purposes of this mechanic, the types of DNA samples a TFB can consume are considered blood, other bodily fluid, fingernails, hair, skin, bone, muscle, and organ.[1] Any sample must be more than a microscopic amount.

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] So, a severed finger would be considered muscle, skin, bone, nail, and possibly blood if it’s fresh enough, totaling to a +4 Base to the roll. It would not contain enough hair to count as a hair sample.

The Ancillary

A TFB has a body part referred to as an “ancillary.” The ancillary appears as a five-foot-long off-white worm-like creature with six other shorter worm-like tentacles splitting off from the core body. For all intents and purposes, the ancillary is the same “character” as the main body of the TFB, and uses the main body’s base stats and traits (with its own set of base bonuses and penalties explained below), though it is capable of acting entirely independently, and will have its own independent place in a turn order when time is measured in Turns. The ancillary cannot make any Interpersonal Skill checks.

It is normally flatly embedded in the “mouth” side of the TFB, but can be ejected and taken back in at will.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The main purpose, evolutionarily, of the ancillary is to scout out and ensnare prey for the main body to then come and devour, but a TFB investigator isn’t exactly in their original evolutionary niche either, and probably had an app for that now.

The ancillary can squeeze through gaps as narrow as one inch wide, breathe in both air and water, and climb on sheer surfaces, but cannot change color, manipulate devices more complex than perhaps a button, use weapons, or make any sort of communication.

There is a mental connection between the ancillary and the main body, meaning the main body knows anything the ancillary knows, but the ancillary does not know much because its senses are extremely rudimentary. Apply a -2 penalty to all Investigative Rolls made by the ancillary, and all Senses rolls made by it. The mental connection cannot be maintained outside of a distance of 100 yards, and if the connection is broken, the ancillary will shrivel and die. The TFB may choose to terminate the connection deliberately and kill the ancillary at any time, such as to prevent its capture and study.

The Ancillary and Composure and Combat

The ancillary has 2 of each type of HP. For the purposes of Composure rolls, anything that happens to the ancillary happens to the main body. For example, the TFB must make a relevant Composure roll if the ancillary takes damage. If the ancillary dies, the TFB must make a Death Composure roll. If the ancillary’s death results from a severing of the mental connection, the Death Composure roll is made with a comforting factor because the TFB is not experiencing the death as clearly.

If the ancillary is destroyed or otherwise lost rather than being returned to the main body, the TFB will grow the ancillary back as if it were a missing body part.

The ancillary is powerful for its size, and fairly thin and hard to damage. Add a +1 Base bonus to all of its Athletics, Close Combat rolls, +2 Contextual to its Stealth rolls, and apply a -1 penalty to any attack directed towards it.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The +3 Base to Athletics that the Unfurled TFB gets does not apply to the ancillary, nor do any other bonuses or penalties from the main body.

Attacking with the Ancillary

The only forms of attack available to the ancillary are Grab and Hold. This Hold may be escalated to Submission.

Provided that the TFB is not wearing body armor, the ancillary may be launched from the main body up to a range of 10 feet when ejected, hitting a target in range only on a Full Success with an Athletics roll. This counts as 1 Action. If the launched ancillary hits the target, it may immediately take its Turn. Otherwise, it acts at the end of the current Round’s turn order.

General Abilities

Beyond this point, these rules will apply to both the TFB’s unfurled state and disguised state, unless otherwise specified.

Invertebrate

TFBs are largely ambivalent about which way any part of their body bends. Apply a +3 Contextual bonus to any Escape attempts. If the TFB has a human occupying their stomach, they lose this bonus unless they first make a successful Crunching attempt (see p.xx “Crunching”). A TFB also will not take any damage from being put into a Submission Hold.

Blunt objects, as well as crushing weights, can only deal Superficial Damage to the TFB.[2] Additionally, damage from falls is halved.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The damage from falls is halved both by the Redundant Body Structure and by the rule above, meaning they take 25% damage from falling.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] Due to being flat and boneless, or flat, boneless, and hollow when in the shape of a human, TFBs are soft and squishy unless they have a human skeleton inside them. Enough pressure could flatten them whether folded or unfolded, only for them to spring right back!

All Eyes

The entire “skin” side of the TFB is covered in photoreceptors, making it impossible for them to be snuck up on from “behind.” They don’t even have an actual “behind,” they see in all directions at all times.[1] TFBs see entirely differently from humans with their whole body being one big photoreceptor.

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] A Disguised thing from beyond may also be able to see details of the environment that their human disguise’s “eyes” could not, such as an audio recorder stuck under a desk below eye-level. They see it from their disguise’s “feet.”

TFBs see entirely differently from humans with their whole body being one big photoreceptor. They cannot benefit from magnifying scopes attached to firearms, or anything of the sort such as binoculars. Additionally, there is no way for them to shield their photoreceptors from bright light unless they want to cover the entire body.

Natural Camouflage

The TFB’s “skin” side can alter its colors–and texture–down to the slightest detail, much like a cuttlefish. This is part of how they mimic human skin and clothing. This grants them a +4 Base bonus to Stealth when Disguised, a +5 Base bonus to Stealth when Unfurled, and a +10 Base bonus to Stealth when Unfurled and flattened against a surface, at least if they choose to change their color to blend into the environment. If time is being measured in Turns, this takes 1 Movement. The “mouth” side of the TFB is also capable of changing colors, but instead of being nearly instantaneous, changing the colors of this side takes at least 1 Action if time is being measured in Turns.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] Laying flat on a surface with the ‘mouth’ side up is extremely useful for lying in ambush for prey to walk over the thing from beyond and then snapping them up, though it would render them largely blind.

[1.1. off to the side in the final formatting] Be wary of new carpets.

All-Purpose Gills

The TFB has the ability to absorb oxygen from both air and water.

Prey Fear Response Suppression

Within a radius of about ten feet, the TFB influences the human mind through an energy field it produces. This field is tailored to the TFB’s preferred prey species, which in the case of any TFB investigator will be humans. This field exerts a calming effect over the human mind, suppressing the electrochemical signals that cause negative emotions such as fear and anger, intended to make them less likely to look for the small tells that could help give the predator away. Add a +1 Contextual bonus to all Comfort and Composure rolls made by anyone else within this field, and subtract a -1 penalty from all Reflexes, Senses, and Threaten rolls made by anyone else within this field. This ability is “on” by default, and can only be switched “off” on a per-Scene basis with use of a non-skill supernatural ability Composure roll.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] Many people may not appreciate this if they learn about it, but it is hard to stay mad when the signals which create “mad” in your brain are being blocked.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] When “on,” this strong field will be easily detected by an EMF reader.

Exposure to this field over a long period of time can alter the memories of humans. Technically, the humans are unconsciously altering the memories themselves, because long-term exposure causes a disproportionately strong feeling of familiarity with the TFB in question. This feeling may cause them to misremember past events, inserting the TFB into events they were not present for. Characters will feel like they have known the thing from beyond for twice as long as they really have; one year feels like two, five years feels like ten.[1]

[1. off to the side in the final formatting] Keep in mind the TFB will not know the content of these false memories themselves, as they are not consciously inserting them into peoples’ brains. The human brain is altering these memories itself to rationalize why it feels like the TFB has been around so long.

Learning by Example

TFBs gain an additional +1 Investigation Points from any Investigative Roll that involves inquiring about the motivations and emotions of human beings on an individual or societal level, and from any Full Successes on Social Cues, whether they are Investigative Rolls or not. However, they have a -2 penalty to Social Cues.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] Even TFBs that are their own first victim benefit from this, because they have to learn how to make their new body move and look like a natural human.

Redundant Body Structure

The TFB’s flesh is tough and their internal body structure is almost entirely redundant. With several exceptions (extreme heat, acid, nickel; see: Crawl Away from a Hot Needle for more detail.), TFBs take half-damage from all damage sources, the only exception being HP that results from loss of Composure. If a TFB wears armor that protects against whatever is dealing the damage, this damage is halved again, for one quarter damage, rounding up. Apply a -2 modifier to attacks against the TFB from 1-damage weapons.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] It may be smart for the TFB to use their shapeshifting and color-changing abilities to simulate more human-like wounds on their human disguise.

Healing

Regular first-aide will work on TFBs in most cases within reason, but their bodies are also capable of an incredible rate of natural healing and regeneration. TFBs automatically recover 1 point of Superficial and Penetrative HP at the beginning of every game session, and 1 point of Superficial HP at the end of each day.

Additionally, if they took damage to either HP type during an instance of combat, they restore 1 HP of the same type as soon as the combat is resolved.

If a TFB’s Penetrative HP is full, instead of recovering Penetrative HP from any of the above rules, they recover from one Grievous Wound, permanent or not.

A TFB may spend 1 Eureka! Point to instantly recover all Superficial and Penetrative HP, and from all Grievous Wounds. This takes 1 action.

If a TFB is in their human disguise and has a “limb” severed, treat this mechanically the same way as if a normal human was missing that limb. Additionally, consider the TFB to have taken a Brain Injury Grievous Wound until they have recovered, no matter if they are Unfurled or Disguised.

Unkillable

Even when the TFB’s body appears to be torn to shreds, they are most likely just in a coma-like state while their cells gradually regenerate and their body self-repairs.[1] When reduced to 0 Penetrative HP, the TFB does “die” for all mechanics purposes and is out of the adventure same as a regular dead investigator, but may return and be played in any subsequent adventure. While in this state they cannot be healed by any kind of conventional first aid.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] This may take days, months, or years, and may result in a much smaller TFB overall upon recovery.

[Snoop: The decapitated head of a TFB snoop that has sprouted legs like the decapitated head from The Thing and is slithering away in the other direction, while another snoop incinerates its dead body with a flamethrower.]

Revival

A TFB that has been reduced to 0 Penetrative HP and “killed” for the adventure may spend 2 Eureka! Points to revive with 1 of both types of HP, but only once a minimum of 5 Scenes have passed. A TFB may instead spend 3 Eureka! Points to revive instantly, so long as they have been “dead” for at least 1 round.

Scent Tracking

A TFB’s sense of “smell” is actually their sense of taste, picked up when air runs over their “mouth” side, but mechanically this should still be treated as a sense of smell. All of that surface area gives them a very sensitive “nose,” and they can pick up on trace elements of scents that a human would not be able to. Additionally, when they are unfurled, apply a +2 Contextual[or base? Look at other monsters] bonus to Senses rolls for smell.

Additionally, TFBs are capable of Scent Tracking. See p.xx “Scent Tracking”.

Low-Oxygen Origins

A TFB requires much less oxygen than a human. In a low or zero-oxygen environment, multiply the amount of time they can last without oxygen by 10 before they must start making Athletics rolls. When they do make Athletics rolls, the results are as follows:

Full Success: No Damage

Partial Success: 1 Superficial Damage

Failure: 2 Superficial Damage

Homoiophage (Thing from Beyond True Nature)

The TFB regains no Composure from eating normal food, but does gain Composure from sleeping. They will lose Composure as normal from skipping meals or skipping sleep.

Flat Composure Damage from Skipping Meals = Yes

Composure restoration from Three Meals a Day = No

Flat Composure Damage from Skipping Sleep = Yes

Composure restoration from Full Night’s Sleep = Yes

The primary food source of a TFB is whatever species they have disguised themselves as, and whatever prey species of sufficient size they first consume several of is usually what that disguise becomes. Thus, all TFBs that are valid to be player-character investigators are ones that disguise as and consume humans. The “default” appearance of some TFBs will be that of the first person they devoured, but they may “personalize” this look to make it more unique over time, either out of preference, or because they were discovered and needed a new look that wasn’t attached to any of the victim’s friends or family. TFBs who were later at developing full sapience will usually make up a persona entirely from scratch. The TFB has little if any memory of their life before taking on a human mentality.

The TFB can eat “normal” food,[1] but does not regain Composure points from doing so. The only food that restores Composure points for them is humans, the fresher the better. They have a particular fondness for brains, and this is because they not only absorb nutrition from their victims, but information encoded in their brains and DNA as well.[2][3][4]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] When the TFB eats normal food in their human disguise, it doesn’t look terribly different from when a regular human eats food, except they may struggle with foods that must be torn off with the teeth, since their human teeth are fake and made of flesh.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] TFBs can live off of a vegetarian diet for their “normal” food, though they may struggle to digest it in large quantities, but most strongly dislike food that isn’t meat.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] Some TFBs avoid animal products like the plague unless they’re thoroughly cooked, and some avoid them altogether, fearing that if they eat too many rare steaks, they’ll start to become more like a cow and less like a human.

[4. Off to the side in the final formatting] Being alien creatures whose favorite food is human flesh, TFBs don’t always develop “normal” pallets in the first place, creating food combinations that would make others cringe, like putting BBQ sauce on pizza. These preferences may need to be ignored in favor of more “normal” food combinations if the TFB does not want to draw attention.

[4.1. Of course, “drawing attention” does not necessarily mean everyone will assume they’re an alien. How weird would somebody have to be before you’d question if they’re even human, and not think “what is wrong with me?”

[5. Off to the side in the final formatting] Whatever their hangups or lack thereof regarding “normal” food, a TFB can fake a more balanced diet by putting things in their mouths and spitting them out undigested later.

TFBs are built for digesting very large meals over the course of a very long time, not unlike a snake. They can subsist off of more “normal” quantities of food consumed several times daily like a human, but it is not as comfortable for them as one large meal. When eating humans, they will not restore Composure unless the human is consumed entirely at once.

TFBs also simply need more calories than humans daily. When eating normal food, a TFB can either eat three meals a day, each paid for with a -1 Wealth roll to represent the expense of a greater quantity of food, or eat all three daily meals worth of food at once with a -2 to the Wealth roll.[1][2]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] This is a -2 instead of -3 because eating it all at once is how their body is designed to handle it most efficiently.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] They cannot choke, and could effortlessly “stretch” their human disguise’s mouth to a size large enough to allow virtually any meal past their false lips. Really though they’re just widening the gap between the folds that make up their persona’s face.

Enveloping Victims

TFBs can make two types of Grab attacks. The first is the normal mundane Grab that they can do with their “hands” while disguised. The second is an Enveloping Grab.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Narrators should assume that when a TFB’s player says “Grab” they are talking about a mundane Grab and not an Enveloping Grab unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Enveloping Grab.

For the purposes of Enveloping Grab, always use the TFB’s Unfurled Athletics Modifier.

An Enveloping Grab can be done whether a TFB is Unfurled or Disguised,[1] but cannot be done while they are wearing body armor or a helmet, and a Throw cannot be made from an Enveloping Grab. For the purposes of an Enveloping Grab, always use the TFB’s Unfurled stat bonuses, regardless of whether they are starting from Unfurled or Disguised.[4] This works exactly like a regular Grab mechanically except with a few important differences. First, the Enveloping Grab can be done as a regular attack, or as a Counter-Attack. Additionally, an Enveloping Grab can be done to up to 14 targets so long as they are standing close enough together.[3] If targeting multiple targets, make only one roll for the TFB, based on the least favorable Weight Class.[2]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Though of course doing it while disguised will give away the disguise

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] What direction the TFB actually appears to be facing is irrelevant for this. TFBs have no front or back, and the whole concept is something they must get used to when assimilating into human society. An inexperienced Disguised TFB may not turn their head towards sounds or even most things they’re supposed to be looking at because they see out of their whole body, not just where their fake human eyes are.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] Beware, this could mean up to 14 Counter-Attacks coming back at the TFB too!

[4. Off to the side in the final formatting] Their tendrils are very useful for holding prey still while the main body moves over them.

With a successful Enveloping Grab, the TFB has begun to wrap themselves around the victim, the victim is essentially partially inside their “mouth.”[1][2][3] When a TFB has a target in an Enveloping Grab, they may either Inject Venom or progress to an Enveloping Hold.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The “mouth” side of the TFB is covered in many dozens of sharp teeth which help cling to the victim, and may be painful but do not do actual HP damage inherently. If for any reason the TFB wants to make their “mouth” more comfortable for the person they are wrapped around, these teeth can be made to lay completely flat.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] The teeth on the mouth side are scattered in many seemingly random patches, the pattern of which is actually unique to each TFB.

[3 off to the side in the final formatting] The “mouth” side of a TFB is surprisingly much less slimy than one might expect. It may be described as something in between the soft flesh at the roof of a human mouth, and the dry and scratchy feel of a cat’s tongue, leaning farther towards one or the other depending on the particular TFB in question. In addition to the teeth and venomous retractable spines, most of the interior of a TFB is covered in tiny prickles that assist in clinging to prey during the envelopment process. The interior may also be described as similar to–but slightly gentler than–shark skin.

Inject Venom

For the purposes of injecting venom, always use the TFB’s Unfurled Athletics modifier.

The TFB possesses a row of sharp retractable spines running down the center of their “mouth” side.[2] When they have a victim in an Enveloping Grab or Enveloping Hold, they may attempt to inject the victim with digestive venom by making a Athletics roll.[1][3] This is considered an attack and takes an Action. If the victim is wearing body armor, apply a -3 modifier to this roll.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The TFB is completely immune to their own venom and that of other TFBs.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] These are not the same as their regular teeth.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] They digest like a spider, if a spider’s cocoon was also the spider’s mouth and its stomach, and could secrete its own acid.

There’s a whole lot of spines, and the TFB can inject as many targets as they have Enveloping Grabbed or Enveloping Held using one single dose. Make a single roll for all victims, unless some victims have armor and others don’t, in which case roll those separately.

Under normal circumstances, a TFB only produces one dose of digestive venom per 24 hour period, usually when they sleep, to a maximum of 1 dose stored. Restore a TFB’s dose of venom each time they gain Composure from a Full Night’s Rest.

Full Success: The victim is injected with a dose of venom that is not only exceptionally painful but is very likely to be lethal. Applies poison (Lethal, OT: Immediate, DF: per round). There is no antidote.

Partial Success: Only a few spines manage to penetrate and properly inject venom, resulting in a dose that is less likely to kill the victim. Applies poison (Non-lethal, OT: Immediate, DF: Per Round). There is no antidote.

Failure: The TFB does not manage to get any spines in deep enough to have any effect. The dose is still spent.

If the TFB takes Superficial, Penetrative, or Composure damage while holding a person in their “mouth”/“stomach”, they must make a Reflexes roll if they want to stop themselves from accidentally injecting the person inside with digestive venom. Add +3 to this Reflexes roll if the person inside is wearing armor.

Full Success: The TFB is able to keep total control and prevent themselves from injecting venom.

Partial Success: The TFB is able to barely stop themselves from releasing all their spines, and the character inside takes a small dose of venom. Applies poison (Non-lethal, OT: Immediate, DF: Per Round).

Failure: The TFB is not able to hold back at all and releases their spines completely. The character inside takes a full dose of the digestive venom. Applies poison (Lethal, OT: Immediate, DF: per round).

Enveloping Hold

For the purposes of Enveloping Hold, always use the TFB’s Unfurled Athletics modifier.

An Enveloping Hold works exactly like a regular Hold, except the TFB does not suffer the regular penalties and caveats associated with using a Hold. They can still move around and act freely. (They have unique rules for that, see p.xx “Digestion”.) With a successful Enveloping Hold, the TFB wraps themselves completely around the target, essentially “swallowing” them. The TFB’s “mouth” is also their stomach. As long as there is only one victim inside them, they may choose to immediately return to the human disguise.[1] Doing so under these exact circumstances does not take a Movement and does not require the thing from beyond to make a +3 Composure roll for using a supernatural power, even though it normally would. It is part of the “swallowing” process. If there are multiple targets Enveloping Grabbed, the Enveloping Hold targets all of them. It takes only one roll and is made with the least favorable Weight Class for the TFB. A TFB cannot effectively Disguise as human at all if they are attempting to contain more than one victim. When a TFB is Disguised in this way, they are wrapped around their victim like a full-body suit. The victim’s arms are inside their “arms,” the victim’s legs are inside their “legs,” the victim’s head is inside their “head,” etc. A TFB wrapped around a person in this way can count as Armor, at least from things besides bullets.

When a Disguised TFB has a person in an Enveloping Hold it is nearly impossible to tell that a person is inside them just by looking, as if the victim is wearing the TFB as a skin-tight bodysuit.[1] However, if the victim is still alive, their screams for help will almost certainly be heard by anyone within about 10 feet that can make a Full Success on a Senses Roll. On a Partial Success, the listener may hear some kind of muffled sound, but not be able to pinpoint its source. If the thing from beyond opens the fake mouth of their human disguise, however, the victim inside will certainly be able to be heard by everyone around.[2]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The dimensions of the TFB’s Disguised form may appear slightly different than usual while holding a victim. They must at least somewhat mirror those of the victim inside.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] “Hm? Did you just say something?”

[2.1. Off to the side in the final formatting] “No, sorry, must’ve been something I ate.”

Escaping a Thing from Beyond

If the victim inside a TFB is actively resisting them and/or trying to escape, apply a -1 penalty to all the TFB’s rolls per struggling victim.

For the purposes of any Escape attempts by the victim, always use the TFB’s Unfurled Athletics skill and modifiers.

Being surrounded by the TFB’s many dozens of teeth all pressing into them essentially means that the victim inside “chews” themselves by struggling too hard, saving the TFB energy. If the teeth are not being made to lay flat by the TFB, a victim trying to Escape from inside them takes 1 Superficial Damage for each Escape attempt, regardless of success or failure, unless the victim is wearing armor which covers most of their body as well as a helmet.

Chewing

Instead of Submission, an Enveloping Hold has chewing, which, mechanically, works exactly like Submission.[2] When a TFB has a victim in an Enveloping Hold, they may choose to “chew” their victim by squeezing and crushing them inside while cutting off their supply of air, and secreting acid to begin the process of digestion.[1] If there are multiple victims in an Enveloping Hold, this counts for all of them.

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Simply holding a person inside is not inherently lethal or otherwise damaging to the victim, unless the TFB starts chewing and digesting them.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] Maintaining Chewing each Turn takes an Action, just like maintaining Submission.

Crunching

For the purposes of Crunching, always use the TFB’s Unfurled Athletics modifier.

A third option TFBs have for subduing tumultuous prey is to just squeeze them until their bones are crushed, or bend them in ways humans can’t stand to bend. If time is measured in Turns, this takes an Action. Make an Athletics roll with a -3 penalty, and apply Weight Class. If there are multiple targets, apply the least favorable Weight Class On a Full Success, anyone inside the TFB’s stomach takes 4 Penetrative Damage. On a Partial Success or Failure, the TFB fails to exert enough pressure, and cannot attempt this again on the same victim.

Digestion

It takes, on average, 7 days for a TFB to fully digest a human,[1] and digesting more than one at a time does not slow this process. By day 2, no skin will remain. By day 5, only bones remain. By the end of day 7, not even the skeleton will remain. The digestive system of the TFB is capable of absorbing and utilizing every bit of a human body, and produces virtually no solid waste, though they may spit out tattered, acid-washed clothing and other indigestibles at the end of this process. The body of the victim may also be spit out prematurely at any time for any reason.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] If the victim is an Unkillable monster, double the digestion timeframe. [stick this in the monster edge cases section later]

So long as the TFB is digesting a victim, they do not need to eat other food and will never count as having skipped meals. At the end of each day, as long as the TFB is digesting a victim, they regain 1 point of Composure as if they had eaten three meals that day.[1] This goes on at the end of each day until the victim is completely digested. If there are multiple victims being digested at once, the thing from beyond regains 1 point of Composure for each victim. Additionally, each time a TFB gains Composure from digesting a person, add +1 Composure each time for every 2 years the TFB has been friends with this person. A TFB can also completely skip the Composure roll for Death by immediately consuming the corpse of the deceased.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][1. Off to the side in the final formatting The victim does not have to be dead

*yet* for this Composure to be restored, as long as they have been chewed and/or dissolved by acid enough to be forced to make an Injury roll.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] For some TFBs, the closer they are to someone emotionally, the greater their desire to consume them may grow, to absorb that person’s thoughts, personality, memories, everything into their own body. This may show as frequent hugs in the human disguise, or even particularly “mouthy” “hugs” by the unfolded form, if the secret is already out. Most friends of a TFB would hope it never escalates beyond that.

[2.1. off to the side in the final formatting] A TFB whose true nature is already known to their edible friends may struggle to keep these thoughts to themselves if they lack the social skills to know better.

[2.2. off to the side in the final formatting] If they are respectful of their friends’ desire not to be digested alive, a TFB with these desires may instead settle for learning “what makes them tick” by more conventional means, studying their every move and closely watching their reaction to everything. Still, bodies may go missing after death.

[3 off to the side in the final formatting] Because things from beyond absorb information from their prey, they eventually do start to develop a good idea of what being digested alive is like. However, they will typically still consider the ends worth the means.

[4 off to the side in the final formatting] “I hate you, I might even spit you out once you’re dead because I don’t want you in me, depending on how hungry I feel.”

[5 off to the side in the final formatting] “Sorry, I’m just so hungry.”

[6 off to the side in the final formatting] “I’m sorry, I know this is really going to hurt, but when it’s done you’ll literally be a part of me forever.”

[6.1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Some TFBs may not conceptualize this as being the same thing as death for the human. A TFB may experience the want to merge with a particular human in a way a human simply cannot. This will not always translate into the desire to eat them, but it easily can, because a TFB may see no other way.

[7. Off to the side in the final formatting] Regardless of these attitudes, most of a TFB’s victims will still likely be people they have no relationship with.

[8 off to the side in the final formatting] TFBs have no natural sexual attraction to humans but may develop a desire for intimacy through relationships with humans and through learning this feeling through human DNA and memories they absorb. Their actual means of reproduction is entirely unknown, and may be entirely asexual–they at least do not possess sex organs in any way that a human may fully understand. How they go about achieving this intimacy, therefore, requires some creativity and experimentation, but no matter the conclusion, any human participant should always always wear protection.

Digestion and Investigation Points

As mentioned earlier, the TFB not only receives nourishment from their victims, but information from their brain matter and DNA as well.[1] To mechanically represent this, the TFB not only receives Composure points from digesting the victim, but Investigation Points as well.[2] The TFB also gains 1 Investigation Point from a digesting victim at the end of each day, so long as the victim has been chewed/dissolved enough to have to make an Injury roll.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] As a predator species, TFBs use information assimilated from their prey to adjust and alter their own equivalent-to-brains to think and act more like their preferred prey and thus better hunt them. When TFBs appear on Earth and start to consume humans, this has the unexpected side effect of causing them to develop sapience and a personality.

[1.1. off to the side in the final formatting] Over time, the default look to a TFB’s human disguise becomes more than just a lure, but a persona as well.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] These Investigation Points represent the jumble of random information a TFB starts to absorb from their meal almost as soon as the process is underway. Often, TFBs won’t be exactly sure where they learned something, whether it was something they heard, or something someone they ate heard.

Add 1 additional investigation point each time if the victim was alive when put in the Enveloping Hold.

Add 1 additional Investigation Point if the victim was somehow connected to the current investigation, no matter what “side” of it they were on.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The TFB can tell if a victim is related to the current investigation or not by their taste after digesting them for at least long enough to gain a Composure point.

Add 1 Investigation Point if the victim was a fellow investigator, and additionally the TFB can take 1 Eureka! Point from an investigator victim each time a point of Composure is restored by digesting them. They also gain the ability to use a Eureka! Point on any previously failed Investigative Rolls written on an investigator victim’s character sheet. This means that a TFB can potentially gain up to 4 Investigation Points per victim per day.

Subtract -2 investigation points from this total, to gain a minimum of 0, for any victim that has been dead more than an hour before being “swallowed.”

A TFB only gets the aforementioned Composure and Investigation Points if they have been digesting the victim or victims constantly since they were ingested. They cannot just leave a dead body in their apartment and return home to digest it for a few minutes at the end of each day, nor can they just lightly nibble on a friend for a few minutes at the end of the day to count as a “meal” and restore Composure. Doing this would give them no Composure points nor investigation points. They must keep wrapped around their prey overnight to digest overnight, but this does not mean that they must remain in human shape the entire time they are digesting.

Digestion and Exact Memories

Once a TFB has spent at least three days digesting a person that is somehow related to the current investigation, add “[Person’s Name]’s Mind” to their On-Person Inventory.[1] So long as they have this, at any point, they may spend a Eureka! Point to “use” the person’s mind to learn a single piece of useful information that the digested person would know, similar to how any investigator might use a Eureka! Point to learn from a previously Failed Investigative Roll.

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] TFBs do not absorb literally every piece of information held in a person’s brain, nor do they necessarily “keep” everything they do absorb. They aren’t hard drives. [Person’s Name]’s Mind will no-longer be in their inventory at the start of a new adventure under normal circumstances.

So long as they have this, add +1 to any Interpersonal roll targeting a person who knows the victim. They will also innately recognize people whom their victim knew, but may or may not know any details of their relationship, up to the Narrator. They also do not need to make a specific roll to be able to disguise their body and voice as this person’s.

Overclock Metabolism and Acid/Venom Spray

The TFB may spend 1 Eureka! Point to secrete an enormous amount of stomach acid from their “mouth” side in a very short time, regardless of whether they have a dose of digestive venom ready. If time is measured in Turns, this takes an Action, though it does not take an Action to keep this acid continuously coming until it runs out. If there are one or more living victims currently inside the TFB, each will immediately take 8 Superficial damage, and then take 8 Superficial damage on the TFB’s Turn each Round for 7 Rounds. Halve this damage if the target is only Enveloping Grabbed by the TFB and not Enveloping Held. This also advances the digestion process by 1 day on the TFB’s Turn each Round for 7 Rounds, including any Composure restoration, Investigation Point gain, and deterioration of the victim’s body that would entail. This, however, will not grant “[Person’s Name]’s Mind” until the victim is dead. Additionally, this allows for digestion of inorganic substances, though the taste and feeling of doing so are not at all pleasant to the TFB. This excess acid secretion may be ended early at any time, but another Eureka! Point must then be spent to start it back up again.

This excess secretion of acid may be used for other purposes too. If Unfurled, then the TFB may flatten themselves against a surface and dissolve a hole through it equal to their size and shape at a rate of about one half of an inch per Turn.[1] This does take an Action each Turn to continuously do.[2]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] The dissolution rate of different substances may actually vary up to the Narrator's discretion.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] The TFB will taste every moment of this.

In either form, 1 Round after the Eureka! Point was spent, the TFB is secreting enough stomach acid that they may pressurize it within their body and spray it up to 10 feet in any and all directions. Treat this mechanically as though a splash explosion had happened centered on the TFB, though they may instead choose any number of specific targets within range rather than hitting every potential target in range indiscriminately. Targets hit will take 2 Superficial damage each round until the acid can be washed away or wiped off.

A TFB is immune to its own acid, like its venom. They are of very similar chemical construction.

Inhuman Sleeping Patterns

Sections of a TFB’s body take “sleep” in shifts,[1] with their whole body only shutting down for a short period of time each day. Therefore, TFBs do not appear to require as much sleep as regular humans do. A TFB need only sleep for 2 Ticks to get a Full Night’s Rest. Treat 1 Tick of rest as equivalent to less than 8 hours of sleep, and 0 Ticks as staying up all night.[2][3][4]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] This has no other mechanical effect, except that when a TFB says “my leg fell asleep,” it could be a very literal statement.

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] Though TFBs are neither nocturnal nor dinurial, they will mostly try to keep up the act of a human sleeping pattern.

[3. Off to the side in the final formatting] Speaking of “sleeping patterns,” their skin may go through elaborate changes of color when they dream.

[4. Off to the side in the final formatting] Most TFBs are capable of maintaining a folded shape even while asleep.

Whenever a TFB sleeps, their photoreceptors do not shut down entirely. They will be vaguely aware of their surroundings even while sleeping. If a threat approaches them in their sleep, they may make a Reflexes or Senses roll and wake up on a Partial Success or Full Success.

Whenever a TFB sleeps, and the result would matter in any way, roll 1D6. On a result of 1-3, the TFB will wake up in an entirely different color combination than they were when they went to sleep.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] Redoing their human persona’s tattoos and makeup on these mornings can be a hassle.

Crawl Away from a Hot Needle (Thing from Beyond Weakness)

TFBs are survivable, but not invincible. There are a number of substances and situations that their bodies do not react well to.

Regeneration Impediments

Damage from the following sources is not halved: Fire and extreme heat, acid, or nickel.[1]

[1. Off to the side in the final formatting] For example, a regular bullet would deal 2 Penetrative Damage to the TFB, but a nickel-plated bullet would deal the regular 4.

If any damage is caused to them by these substances during an instance of combat, they will not automatically regenerate 1 of both types of HP at the end of combat, nor at the end of the same session.[1] This damage may still be healed by other means.

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] They will continue to regenerate as normal from the next session and next instance of combat, as long as they don’t take any more damage from these substances.

Nickel Poisoning

Nickel is a highly toxic substance to TFBs, and if they start to digest it,[2] they must immediately expel the entire contents of their stomach, or make a Reflexes roll to more discriminately spit out only the source of nickel.[1]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] Jewelry, buttons, and other metal apparel are commonly nickel-plated or use nickel as a filler. TFBs who don’t pay attention to what their victims are wearing may soon regret it.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] If the TFB is not actively digesting, the nickel will not dissolve into their bloodstream.

Full Success: They can spit out only the source of nickel quickly enough to not suffer more than a very unpleasant taste.

Partial Success: They can spit out only the source of nickel, but not before becoming poisoned (Non-lethal, OT: Immediate, DF: per Tick).

Failure: They fail to spit out the nickel before it dissolves in their stomach, and they suffer from poison (Lethal, OT: Immediate, DF: per Tick).

Extreme Heat

TFBs must have “Extreme Heat” at some place on their Tiers of Fear. They make this Composure roll when exposed to temperatures greater than 100F/38C. Additionally, if they are Disguised, when exposed to temperatures greater than 130F/55C, they must make a Reflexes roll to maintain their disguise or else flop open violently.

Full Success: They do not allow their disguise to falter at all.

Partial Success: Their disguise falters slightly, gaps opening up and certain features slipping out of place for only a second or two.

Failure: They completely unravel into their unfurled state.

Alien Nightmares

TFBs have vivid dreams, and their nightmares are particularly distressing to the part of their mind that has developed human sensibilities.[1] If a TFB is at 3 Composure or below, roll 1D6 each time they sleep. On a 5 or 6, they will have a vivid nightmare. This means that they fail to gain any Composure points from this rest. On a 6, they will extend their venomous spines in panic, injecting or launching digestive venom into whatever their “mouth” side is touching.[2]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] Is this from the last moments of their victims, or something long before that?

[2. Off to the side in the final formatting] Thimbles could be useful, maybe?

Misc. Tells

False Clothing

Many TFBs find any kind of human apparel uncomfortable and restrictive to wear. When the TFB disguises themselves as a human by folding into a human shape, their “clothes” are typically also part of the disguise, and are thus warm to the touch like skin, and may not hang exactly like actual fabric should.

Weight

While holding a person inside their human disguise, the TFB will of course be twice as heavy.

X-Ray

The TFB has no bones, but may pass an x-ray exam by holding another person in their body for its duration, if this would, like, ever come up. [maybe make this a sidebar in the Invertebrate section?]

Heartbeat

TFB do not have a centralized heart and thus do not have a proper heartbeat anywhere on their body.

All Stomach

Listening to any part of a TFB’s body while they are digesting a victim will sound like putting your ear to someone’s stomach.

False Mouth

Anyone into the “mouth” of a TFB’s human persona may see the TFB’s many rows of real teeth in the back of their “throat.”

How to Kill a Thing from Beyond

A TFB’s main body is capable of gradually regenerating so long as even a small scrap of flesh remains from it. In order to permanently kill a TFB, the damage that takes them to 0 Penetrative HP must be done with fire or an acidic substance, or all of their remains gathered and thoroughly burned or dissolved afterwards.

They will also die permanently if killed by nickel poisoning, though not if killed by a nickel weapon.

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