#so basically absorbs nutrients

[gorgynei]

cant get over the fungi on ruidus sorry. i have more to say

its implied that the reilorans are able to survive and farm the fungus, theres at least 347 different species of fungus native (?) to ruidus, and theres also slime molds*. evolutionarily (assuming the life evolved independently on ruidus which is a very bold assumption) this would imply that theres also prokaryotic life (bacteria, basically) and likely advanced eukaryotic organisms in the form of animal life, which we do see! its very possible that the reason theres so little plant life on ruidus is because something about the makeup of the planet is aggressively harmful to plants, if i had to guess its the lack of easily available sunlight due to the constant dust storms and the soil is probably unfavorable for growing. this probably means that fungus makes up the majority of the biomass for animals to consume or animals are much more adapted for absorbing nutrients from the soil/other sources.

i do think its interesting that fungus seem to survive and thrive SO well in the deep caverns because most fungus (on earth, and exandria. probably) are decomposers and need organic material to survive off of. they could be decomposing the crystal corpse of predathos though, which is the coolest idea in the world to me, or they could just do so well that they've created an independent ecosystem underground complete with its own n- and c-cycles.

the fungus on ruidus seem to take more after kingdom animalia in general, since theyre motile (for those unawares, fungus are actually MUCH much much more related to animals than they are to plants, so this isnt that out there) which is super cool. the myceits are somehow related to the fungi's sexual reproduction because we see the sterile mycelium on it's own and it doesn't seem to be producing any spores, where the myceits do have spore producing structures (specifically they have hymenophores, since they are most similiar to hymenomycete mushrooms). so i think its likely the myceits are just advanced forms of spore dispersal and will run around till they find somewhere favourable to drop spores (or passively will drop them as they move) and probably they have very short life spans </3 sorry myceits

also myceit = mycete = fungi kingdom. proof of earth-equivalent taxonomy existing in exandria? possibly why the ruidians call them myceits is because theyve seen botanists dream about mushrooms and refer to them as "mycetes" !

*gaz, the source for the # of fungus, seems to consider slime molds a kind of fungus, so its unclear whether all the species are actually true fungi, but i digress because slime molds are closely related to fungus anyway. also 347 is a really low number of species for an entire planet, but whatever.

[anim-ttrpgs]

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. 

[tabbytums]

preds that can use magic. whooof.

teleporting prey into their stomach. there's no chance for the prey to struggle, to escape. they're immediately bathing in the pred's gastric juices.

or, alternatively, preds who like to play with their prey so they use magic/a spell to shrink down their prey. but after they've had their fun and swallowed them down, they reverse the magic/spell and their belly expands and bulges out with a full-sized person.

using magic to rapidly speed up digestion, turning the panicked prey into soup and nutrient mush in seconds.

and then, using magic to absorb the prey's soul/essence into their body after they've digested, basically turning them into sentient fat that can only jiggle and sway on their pred's soft belly

preds can also reform their prey, but sometimes, the prey reforms right back in the pred's stomach, back again for round two... or three... or four... or however many times the pred has reformed them in there. the prey doesn't really have a choice in the matter.

[flusteredfools]

sry if this is a nsfw ask, your bsky said it was ok

how do the Zora and hylian yn (ahem) procreate? are we talking eggs? please let there be cute eggs

(So this is like 90% head canon and little bit majora's mask and Ocarina of time based for how I think Zora give birth and while others may disagree-which is totally fine!- it is how it works in my fic lol)

Yes! Our eggs start off so small and adorably tiny, like a pebble! Once fertilized they start to grow inside the womb, usually to the size of an apple but depending on the DNA can sometimes grow up to a hydromelon! Multiple eggs can get fertilized at once, though it's common for the growing eggs to end up absorbing another in the womb if they can't get enough nutrients on their own. At that stage we basically birth them and then keep them safe and cozy until they're ready to hatch! Then out comes the most precious little tadpole Zora! Colors and shape depend on their parents of course, along with how many tiny fins the little one will have. In a year they'll start to grow out their fins into arms and legs. At five years they should be able to walk above water on their own, their child like body fully formed by year 15 and then will continue to grow to adulthood until year 65 or so; though it does take some Zora a bit longer to hit their full growth.

Though it is possible to have a Zora fertilize a Hylian egg too! Those are a bit more rare though. It mostly goes the way of a normal Hylian pregnancy, though their little one might end up with sharper teeth and nails and webbed appendages.. still pretty cute all the same!

Hmm... All this talk has me wondering if my little Siren would be ready for any soon...

[quagswagon]

Feel free to download this artwork here. I'm trying to get the ball rolling on my art shops, so downloads would help me a lot!

today, I have had the rare privilege of observing a creature soaring above the rocky cliffs

the creature has body covered in a thick coat of fur. The fur is predominantly a soft white with hints of blues that shimmer under sunlight. Two prominent horns extend from its head. The tail is bushy, ending in a tuft, further enhancing its aerial camouflage

the creature is active during the day. It seems to float rather than walk, hovering just above the ground, which might be facilitated by some form of innate anti-gravitational ability.  Its movement consists of a series of light, springy jumps, with the fur around its body rippling as if it were gliding on invisible currents. Feeding habits suggest a diet consisting mainly of high-altitude grasses and hardy shrubs; I observed it delicately plucking at vegetation with a surprising nimbleness

at dawn, the creature emerges from small caves where it likely rests through the night. It spends a considerable portion of the day grazing with periods of rest atop elevated rocks or ledges. During these times, it engages in what appears to be a form of sunbathing, lying belly-up to the sky, possibly absorbing warmth or utilizing sunlight in some metabolic process. As dusk approaches, the creature retreats to its resting place, often accompanied by a low, melodic humming sound that reverberates through the rocks—a behavior whose purpose remains unclear

the creature is largely solitary; however, it occasionally interacts briefly with others of its kind. These interactions are somewhat awkward, marked by a series of intricate head tilts and tail flicks, which might be a form of non-verbal communication or a basic greeting. There doesn’t seem to be any clear social hierarchy or territorial disputes—each individual seems satisfied within its own space, coexisting with minimal conflict

given its herbivorous diet and gentle nature, the creature seems to occupy a niche as a low-level consumer, contributing to the control of mountain vegetation. Its droppings, which are rich in partially digested plant matter, may also play a crucial role in fertilization of high-altitude plants, which normally don’t have enough nutrients to sustain themselves

locals regard the creature with a mix of reverence and caution. It is believed to bring good fortune to those who witness its fog dance but is also thought to be a harbinger of storms when sighted in groups. Locals embellish these creatures with amber and amethyst. They believe this to be a way of gaining favor with the wind and sky gods. The creatures don’t seem to care

in addition to its apparent ability to hover, the creature exhibits a form of rudimentary telekinesis, capable of manipulating small objects or moving pebbles, possibly to access roots or disturb insects for feeding. This ability is subtle and seems to be used sparingly, suggesting it is either energetically taxing or reserved for specific needs

the thick, insulating fur protects the creature from the harsh mountain winds. Its unique ability to float likely evolved to navigate the treacherous terrain without expending the energy required for more conventional forms of locomotion

End of entry.

[trh0d3s]

Lil idea I got abt Manager!Reader, derived from my experience as a sickly person (I type in the bathroom, as I try not to puke again). Y'know when ur sleep deprived and skipping meals, it starts negatively affecting your body? Yeah, so what if MC, in their time of brokeness began skipping meals etc, slowly giving themselves acidity problems, but those acidity problems kinda help them cuz it removed their appetite and cut down their food costs, basically giving them free money. Girl Math.

MC balanced being mildly ill to save cash but then what if they got pushed too far by the saja boys later on and that illness got worse? In my experience; Stress + stomach problems + sleep deprivation + unhealthy foods (u cannot tell me MC is eating healthy tbh) made an artery in my heart weaker, made my stomach have difficulty breaking down food and absorbing nutrients, made my lungs absorb oxygen slower, gave me kidney problems, etc... now what if that happened to MC? Cutting off mid-obnoxious task the boys gave them and basically sprinting to their apartment when they felt that familiar pang of nausea, the boys being nosy menaces follow them to be menaces only to catch them mid-puke looking pale in a random alleyway cuz they couldn't hold it anymore.

Cue the boys panicking because is their manager about to die?!?! They can smell the sickness clearly now, before, they noticed it when they first met reader but thought nothing of it, and overtime just got used to it, but omg, do you think they would panic? If so, how panicked? (I'm sadistic af and want them to suffer for being so hot yet such menaces to society.)

im loving this and am definitely incorporating this in the story.

i completely see what your saying mc eats when they can and often forgets their food. like when the food cart scene they only ate cause they had to buy from the owner.

The boys will definitely not know what to do not common with modern medicine. they might think mc is actually dying!

i actually feel this on a level of forgetting to eat lunch or basic meals cause i get nauseas eating so i hold off.

Work comes first for mc they do everything else to look like a put together manager but that. Always running around always on the move running on coffee grounds and dreams.

[eclipse-song]

IBS is so fucked up. It's a diagnosis that basically means "we don't know whats wrong with you but it's none of the known things that could be wrong". Ate some food you had yesterday and felt just fine? You're going to be in the bathroom for the next 2 hours because you need to now experience a pain so deep that you feel as though you could throw up and pass out. Why is the pain so bad? You're experiencing your body randomly deciding you need to remove all prior food waste from your body that you've consumed over the last day Now because that corndog you ate is poison. Or maybe another day your body just decides you will have bloating and cramping and you will be unable to properly evacuate waste for 3 days because you didn't eat 5000% of your daily intake of fiber. But wait there's more! Because it's naturally revolving around a normal bodily function that is gross to talk about, you will feel intense shame and isolation trying to even bring it up to family, friends, loved ones, and doctors because you have to make them listen to you talk about poop. Meanwhile it means that you are scared to eat out in restaurants and you have to always know that what you're going to eat will be definitely 100% safe and even then it might not be. You will have to change your whole lifestyle and diet to exclude foods you love unless you're willing to endure a possible night of stomach pain and bathroom visits. Also even though you need to eat fiber you can't eat half the fibrous vegetables out there because they're common triggers. Oh and did I mention that if you have periods then your hormones impact it? Yeah it will get worse around your period and you will have an unavoidable upset. You can also become malnourished during extremely bad flare ups from being unable to absorb nutrients! Or some people will experience fissures and bleeding and discomfort due to constipation. It's really just an insane thing that is so difficult to explain bc it's also sort of just "tummy hurt I Be Shitting" mystery syndrome

[kazooie]

There's a big problem created by fatphobia, and that is that it's almost impossible, if impossible, to find "safe" weight loss methods.

I want to lose a bit of weight, because I don't want to be too heavy for an electric scooter or wheelchair, and because it'll relieve some of the pressure on my damaged lower back, but you can't just google "safe weight loss methods", because people hate being fat so much that they don't care if it's safe or not.

Ozempic ate my muscles and left me so much more disabled than I was before, I genuinely believe it caused my heart condition, and is the reason I can barely walk.

Surgeries hurt in similar but more irreversible ways, making your stomach smaller or bypassing it, making it drastically more difficult to absorb nutrients and medication.

Exercise is not something everyone can do safely, I'm one of those people. I can exercise in small bursts, but have had exercise intolerance since being on ozempic. I was never a very fit person but I used to run on a treadmill with relative ease, that all went away so fast.

And of course, dieting. So many weight loss diets that are called healthy are just dangerous, especially if you're diabetic or have insulin resistance, or celiac's disease. Intermittent fasting can be very dangerous for diabetics, and most weight loss diets are based around low calorie intake, which is basically just being malnourished on purpose.

All I want is safe advice on how to lose just 5kg-10kg, without starving myself, without depriving myself of a decent meal when it's often all I have to look forward to, and without injuring myself with exercise that my muscles aren't ready for, but fatphobia has made it impossible for me to find any support for this.

As a side note, and I don't want to sound disrespectful because I have a lot of respect and admiration for the fat positive community(and this is only based on a couple of discord servers I've found, I'm sure it's not the community as a whole) but fatphobia has made it very difficult to even find help in that community, one discord server I'm in basically demonises the idea of losing weight on purpose at all, making me feel like I'll be called out for internalised fatphobia if I ask for advice. The extremes that fatphobia has created makes it a bad time for literally everyone.

I just want people to care about my fat as if it's part of my body, instead of seeing it as a weed that has to be poisoned, starved, and ripped out, without any regard to how that harms everything around it.

[filurig]

bcs there's another huldra/skogsrå type creature in swedish folklore which is basically just the same thang but. Water. i decided to make a species which resembles the huldra in pareidolia due to convergent evolution, but is a type of lichen instead!

read more for some extra info about the growth stages etc.

like mentioned on the page, the sjörå goes through 3 main stages. ill describe them here below:

incubation this stage lasts around 10 years, and the sjörå infects a host through either drinking water or through fish as a vector, as their spores can lay dormant in them for a few weeks. during this time, the lichen begins its infection by attaching itself to the internal organs and slowly using its specialized rhizines to intertwine with the tissue, absorbing nutrients to allow for further growth. the internal lichen structures are highly resilient however it is not impossible for the body to fight off the infection during its earliest stages. there are no major symptoms, other than light exhaustion, until the very end of this stage. during the end of the stage, when the lichen has managed to reach the nervous system, it will compel the host to find its way to the nearest body of water, and once it has done so it will expire there. the lichen then spends the next few days rapidly consuming what remains of the nervous system to replace it with its own analogous "organs" which have been slowly forming during the incubation, and the body will "reanimate".

roaming the "sjörå" stage. this is not actually when they first gain consciousness, but they first do so around the middle of the incubation stage, however this is when they are first "independent" from their host's. at the end of this stage, they are compelled to find a fitting tree near the body of water their territory encompasses, and they lie down near it. then, nearly all of the energy in their body is used to cause it to expel its lichens onto the tree, which attaches to it, covering the entire structure with itself. this destroys the remnants of the hosts body.

final this is the only stage in which the sjörå is infectious to humans and it will spread its spores into the waters below/by the tree with regular 10 year intervals. the lichen is still conscious during this stage, and is actually able to communicate telepathically with other creatures near its area of influence.

[blackberrybuds]

Hi! Genuine question, could you explain what crohns is? I saw from your blog that Kamimura apparently has it and he's my favorite so I was hoping you could explain it and how it affects him. Thank you! /nf -🎱

YES anon i absolutely can i LOVE getting disability asks

okay so crohns disease is an inflammatory disorder that affects your digestive tract. its super super crazy painful and comes with like a billion symptoms but to keep things simple: the main things are stuff like severe diarrhea, fevers, severe fatigue, and weight loss/malnutrition stemming from those. having crohns makes it really hard for your body to absorb nutrients so its normal for people with crohns to be really exhausted and underweight, which like.......

erm yeah this guy is pretty small. look at those legs. he weighs nothing.

with that in mind lets get into HOW IT AFFECTS KAMIMURA SPECIFICALLY!!!

as we know, kamimura's blood doesnt clot. that makes crohns especially dangerous for him, because there can often be a lot of bleeding involved in crohns. if crohns inflammation gets particularly rough, there can be quite a bit of blood passed, which is obviously bad for him so i hope hes TAKING SOMETHING. there can also be a lot of issues with ulcers or fissures that bleed as well, so im not surprised kamimura has anxiety problems, because he basically has to be constantly on edge about this kind of stuff.

one of the classic wonderful fun things about crohns is episodes of very sudden, very urgent need to use the washroom. like, within the minute. non-negotiable. very fun!! especially fun when you are kamimura kazutoshi and you get a decision game punishment that bans you from the dormitories and all the bathrooms are locked at night!! its no surprise that he made a comment about all the motives feeling like they're specifically meant to target him, because this one was particularly harsh for him. this is actually why i headcanoned him as a diaper user in my other post because god i fking hope he is if he had to be locked out of the bathroom for like nine hours a night. diapers/incontinence products in general are fairly common for crohns users so i wanna think he is not SO stubborn that he would refuse to wear them but........i mean youve seen how he is. also considering he has cataplexy episodes that cause him to lose all muscle tone i would HOPE he has something on in case of emergencies

i think we sort of see kamimura's first in-game flare up (crohns episode) way back in chapter one, when he's acting really sick in the morning and ends up hiding out in his room during breakfast and cant really get out of bed and just wants to be alone. crohns is genuinely so painful and uncomfortable and for someone like kamimura who is very private it would probably be pretty embarrassing to be flaring up in a group of strangers so it makes sense that he'd just wanna fuck off and hide out in his room for a while and hopefully ride it out. we also find out in the second investigation that he gets up really frequently during the night, which is another thing thats common if youve got crohns because unfortunately your bathroom needs do not care abt your sleep needs. hooray.

we are all rooting for this little diseased freak!!!!

[tobiasdrake]

Fun Fact: There is actually a reason for why Turles looks like Goku. And it's hysterical. I talk shit about Toei a lot but they understood the assignment on this one.

Lord Slug is my #1 Z film but Tree of Might is also conceptually a lot of fun. Even if they did call him "Turles" for some reason, rather than going with "Tullece" which everyone agrees does a better job of conveying the veggie pun.

This is the film's explanation for why Turles looks like an evil Goku. Low-class Saiyans like Goku and Turles all have a mass-produced factory-line uniformity to them. Vegeta is a $10,000 custom-made designer doll with carefully handwoven stitching, and Goku and Turles are $5 Barbies sitting on a shelf in Walmart.

I love this. I love that as a thematic piece of worldbuilding for Saiyans. Tragically, due to the movies being non-canon and having little involvement from Toriyama, this is not an official piece of Saiyan lore.

But I wish it was. Because I love that idea.

What the dub calls the Tree of Might is Shinseiju, made up of the components Shin (Godly) Sei (Sacred or Spiritual) Ju (Tree). It's a sacred bit of fauna meant only for consumption by gods. It's never explained how exactly Turles stole into heaven and made off with this; It's probably a reference to the Peaches of Immortality that Sun Wukong stole in Journey to the West.

(Funnily, to avoid mentioning Kami's divinity, the dub claims the fruit is meant for Shenron.)

This is some Galactus shit. The tree's fruit sustains gods by feeding on worlds. Once planted, the tree begins to cultivate its fruit by absorbing nutrients and water, as well as the genki of the living things on the planet.

You might recognize that word as a component of "Genki-Dama" or the Spirit Bomb. Genki is one of several components of ki. It's basically a person's physical wellness. There are other components like yuuki (bravery) or shouki (being in the right mind) that influence your ki as well.

This is how the film sets up Turles as Goku's evil counterpart. Goku is a heavenly martial artist, who has studied under gods and learned heavenly arts legitimately. Turles is a thief who somehow stole into the heavens and made off with Shinseiju.

The Genki-Dama is a mass of accumulated genki collected from all across the world, which Goku then uses to attack. Shinseiju does something similar, draining genki from across the planet to create a its special fruit.

Goku was born a low-class nobody but has improved himself through personal development physically, mentally, and spiritually. Turles, too, was born a low-class nobody, but he improves himself by looting the heavens and sacrificing worlds on the altar of himself.

Kaio warns Goku early on that the Earth is doomed. There is nothing he can do. Shinseiju cannot be destroyed. The coming apocalypse cannot be thwarted. All things will die and nothing can be done. The end is inevitable.

The rest of the film is an act of seemingly pointless defiance from Goku, who refuses to accept "Your world is doomed, it can't be stopped, there are no options, there is no hope," as an answer. The problem here isn't really Turles. He's the villain, but even if Goku could beat him, Shinseiju would still destroy the Earth.

The problem here is the invulnerable God Tree from a realm far beyond mortal life, that has laid down roots across the entire planet and shrugs off any and all forms of damage.

The movie pits Goku's heavenly arts against Turles's heavenly stolen loot. And Goku comes up short. Turles has Shinseiju's fruit.

And Goku has Kaio's signature art.

And when the two come to blows....

Fruit wins. In a straight arm-wrestling match, Turles's stolen goods have made him too strong for Goku's practiced arts and disciplined study. Even the Genki-Dama fails, because there's so little genki left for Goku to borrow from the Earth.

Get the hell out of here with this amateur hour horseshit. Kaio's greatest arts simply can't win against Turles and Shinseiju. In the battle of heavenly warriors, it genuinely seems as if Turles is superior.

But then Counter-Fighter Goku has an epiphany. The Earth is dying because Shinseiju is draining it of all of its genki, right? And the Genki-Dama works by drawing genki out of things, right? So. Like. Hear me out. What if I....

I genuinely love this moment. The movies have a serious problem with overuse of the Genki-Dama for conflict resolution, and I'll admit that. But. Like.

It's just like how Lord Slug's Solar Genki-Dama made use of a super-obscure piece of Dragon Ball lore for great thematic effect. Goku unmaking Shinseiju by letting the Genki-Dama's genki-accumulation effect drink the whole goddamn tree is a brilliantly clever application of a component of the technique we don't really think much about.

Goku can't draw genki from the Earth because Shinseiju took it all. So Goku uses the Genki-Dama to take it back.

Like. It's far from perfect. None of these movies really rise to the level of "good". But there's a lot of interesting or fun ideas that they have. And I think, in the broad strokes, the ideas put forth by Turles and Shinseiju, as well as Goku's conflict with them, are really interesting.

They needed a lot more polish to really tell a good and compelling story. But there's some diamonds to be found in this rough.

[pokemonshelterstories]

Have you ever taken care of a Parasect in your line of work? I'm intrigued on how that would work due to it mostly being the mushroom.

i have not! they're not native to paldea, and artazon's environment is not welcoming to keeping parasect- they need damp environments without too much direct sunlight. that being said, i've spoken with a few experts on fungus-based pokemon before, so i do know a little bit about them! parasect care is actually fairly well-known, since they're kept for their spores in some regions, and only parasect kept within the right parameters produce spores that are useful for making medicine.

keeping them is mostly a matter of providing the right enclosure for them. the bug itself needs very little care, and it mostly serves as a way for the mushroom to move around and absorb nutrients from its food source: live wood and decaying leaf litter. an enclosure for a parasect should focus on providing hides with varying levels of light and moisture, and enrichment is primarily foraging-based to encourage movement. the enclosure itself should be moderately damp, and parasect enjoy a regular misting. honestly, that's really all they need! the insect itself has little engagement with its environment outside of basic response to stimuli, and since it's being controlled by the mushroom, it doesn't have particularly demanding care needs.

keep in mind that you need to regularly harvest the spores a parasect releases, and you shouldn't enter its enclosure without a mask to prevent you from breathing in the spores. you can pick up a pretty horrible infection from breathing in the spores if you're not careful.

[sockssketchingshack]

Okay so I already had a plan for starting a home for the apocalypse where I would be in the forest

But I'm reworking it to be a mini society instead.

Okay first things first a functional society needs these: shelter, water, food, electricity, and transport

Now water will actually be pretty easy due to rain tanks. The art of collecting rain water and storing it for later use. A house can produce what it needs for water and more off of one gutter system.

We'd just have to be in a place where rain water collection is legal.

Because if you are unaware some places make rain water collection illegal because they're money hungry or the area is too polluted to do so.

But we're going to the forest so we won't have to worry about that.

One thing is that we have to plan the forest area accordingly since the trump administration has ordered over half of international forests for logging.

And while I was testing the idea of going to different countries I'm hesitant due to not a lot of other places speaking English

Canada and the UK are promising but the UK is only 13% covered in forests

America is 33%

And canda while being 40% covered in forests

Gets really cold

Now for tempature we're looking for a place that is below 60° farenheit because that is the standard agreed upon cool tempature

We're also looking for a place that doesn't get too much freezes in winter.

Now Victoria an area of the British Columbia area of Canada actually does have large forests and pretty low snow fall. So this will be an option. As Canada in general could be beneficial to be in.

In case of any emergencies we wouldn't have to pay as much for hospital bills if we were in Canada. Meanwhile in the US they'd take an arm and a leg.

Plus Canada doesn't seem to have as much trans and lgbtq hatred as America does. Which is a plus.

And Canada is actually attached to America through land so we'd save money on flights.

And rainwater collection in Canada tends to be allowed with some restrictions so yay

Now as for homes they're actually pretty easy to make if we're just going for standard survival housing.

(Don't worry we can work on tree houses after everyone gets settled in)

The main focus of our attention should be the garden. Or basically the farm. I vote on making a plant farm with some chickens and cows but do not butcher any animals. I don't think I would be able to look a moo moo in the eye and know it will be killed.

Nuh uh no way.

We can trade the vegetables and fruit we grow in exchange for meat if nessecary.

A farmers market would be the best place to sell the produce.

Now as for protein itself we could get by on just eggs. But it would be morally wrong to restrict anyone's diet so yes we will be trading produce for money and then using the money to buy meat from the non forest people.

Now as for plumbing and piping in general I actually have a bit of experience in that. We will be installing a septic tank. A septic tank is a form of private sewage disposal. Along with a drain field which is the place the clarified wastewater goes to get absorbed

As for showers and baths and water pressure in general all you really need for those are power.

Which we will be getting through solar panels in the beginning as we prepare to build a more reliable hydro power system.

As for the water needed we're of course going to be using the rainwater collection system.

As you can see the main aspects will all fall into place with one another. The shelter will help produce the rain water by storing it into rain collection drums, and will also be key for solar panels to be built on.

Water will help the farm and keep the crops growing, hay and seed we get from the farm will go to the cows and chickens, and we can use the manure they produce to help keep the soil nutrient filled.

The produce we get from the farm that won't be used as food or supplies will be sold for money to get things we ourselves cannot make

For example toothpaste and other things such as medicine or hardware tools. And of course supplies needed to build nessecary things for the community. And other complicated to make on our own things such as electronics and stuff

Now that we have survival out of the way we should have a system in place to make sure everyone is taken care of. For instance not bringing in too many people we can't take care of at once. It would be gradual. Making sure we have everything right and stable before bringing in more.

Transportation will be tricky. Mostly for people not on the continent.

People on the continent however will be fairly easy to get to via bus or car.

Now as for the community itself I will be the one in charge but I don't wanna be the like over bearing type of leader? I still want everyone to give opinions and ideas and to challenge my ideas. Because I believe that's important in being fair.

It's all gonna be about teamwork.

As for rules it's just going to be simple kindergarten type stuff. Be nice to others, don't steal, treat people with empathy, treat people how you'd want to be treated, all that stuff.

Decisions will most likely be made by vote of the entire community just to make sure everything's fair.

We aren't going to have like a designated religion like cults do. No you can believe in whatever you want to as long as you also believe in making sure humanity can live without having to suffer for it.

Literally our core values are gonna be a long the lines of treat humans nicely and humans deserve to live comfortably. And to enjoy the simpler parts of life like picking flowers and walking around in the forest under the trees and rolling up our pant legs so we can walk in the low shallow river. Y'know get away from the suffocating feeling of the complicated society everyone has ended up tied into.

Take things back to the basics y'know so everyone can just focus on the sound of the wind and the feel of the grass as we all roll down hills and eating fruit as we talk about the clouds in the sky.

[spores-and-such]

🪱TAPEWORMS🪱

This is gonna be a post about tapeworms, as requested by @cryptidwithacopiccollection and @budgetairlines

Tapeworms (Cestoda) are a type of endoparasitic flatworm (Platyhelminthes). Flatworms are a fun phylum of worms that are mostly parasitic with the exception of the class Turbellaria, which can be free living. Sadly this post is not about them, but have a nice picture of a Polyclad flatworm anyway :)

Flatworms in general lack a circulatory and respiratory system, and so have to do all their gas exchange via diffusion through their skin. This is why they have to increase their body's surface area in relation to their body's volume, as shown in this expertly drawn diagram:

Tapeworms achieve a high surface area to body volume ratio by being really long and thin. Surface area is especially important to them, as unlike some other flatworms, they actually lack a digestive system! They just do all eating and excretion through their skin via diffusion. Being an endoparasite (a parasite that lives inside its host), they can afford to be lazy and let their host do all the hard work.

The family of tapeworms this post will be focusing on is Taeniidae. They have a very simple body plan consisting of a head (called a scolex), a neck (no fancy name), and a long segmented body (called a strobila). I've seen varying reports on how long they can get, but 15-30 feet seems like the typical size, which is horrifying. The segments that make up the strobila are called proglottids and each one contains a male and female reproductive tract, so can produce both sperm and eggs. Proglottids are generated from the neck and get pushed along the strobila where they mature and eventually shed into the host's intestines, which then get excreted into the environment. A single tapeworm can produce thousands of these things, increasing their chances at infecting another host.

Basically, a tapeworm's life inside the intestine consists of holding onto the host's gut wall with its scolex and just hanging out there, absorbing nutrients from the host's digested meals. The method of attachment depends on the specific species, but it typically involves hooks and/or suction cups.

Like many parasites, their life cycle is complex and involves more than one host. In parasitology, a 'definitive host' refers to the host the parasite sexually matures and reproduces in, whereas an 'intermediate host' is any host an immature parasite infects along the way. To explain a tapeworm lifecycle, I will be using Taenia saginata as an example, which is a tapeworm that infects humans and cattle (Bare in mind that the definitive and intermediate hosts can vary depending on species). I will be naming this T. saginata Grungus and following its journey.

Grungus started life as an egg in the grass where it got eaten by a cow (the intermediate host). If needed, it could have survived outside for months or even years! Once inside the cow, the little embryo grungus felt comortable and hatched. It is currently in its larval form, known as an oncosphere. Grungus burrowed into the cow's intestinal walls and found a nice patch of muscle tissue to settle down in. It then developed into a cysticerci, sometimes refered to as a bladderworm due to its bladder-like shape. These appear as cysts in the muscle.

The cow got slaughtered for meat, which is unfortunate for the cow but very fortunate for Grungus. The human liked their steak rare, and so did not properly cook the meat before eating it, meaning Grungus survived and successfully made it into its definitive host. Here it was able to mature into a tapeworm, where it spent its days clinging to the intestinal wall and absorbing nutrients until it was sexually mature. It may meet another sexy tapeworm in the same intestines and mix some genetic material with it, or it may fertilise its own eggs if there's no hot singles in its area. Grungus could live to be up to 30 years old and during its life it will release many thousands of proglottids into the environment, allowing this beautiful cycle to continue <3

Usually, tapeworms in the intestines cause mild symptoms including stomach aches, weight loss and diarrhea, but these symptoms can vary and depend on the speices. Thankfully, they can be dealt with by taking anti-parasitic medication.

In rare cases, humans can eat the eggs of pork tapeworms and get infected by the larval form which burrow into the tissues and form a cysticerci instead of staying in the intestine. This can be very severe depending on where the cysticerci infection is located. For example, if they infect the central nervous system they cause neurocysticercosis which can be fatal in the most severe cases. Thankfully, this is rare and preventable by practicing good hygiene and cooking your pork properly, so don't panic.

Hope this was interesting to you weirdos!

[elizakai]

When it comes to the bad sanses, there’s so many things to be explored, but I want to point out something I never see addressed

SOULS.

⬇️ little soul analysis under the cut!!!⬇️

They all have COMPLETELY different SOULs;

Nightmare: Nightmare is a being that is a lot different from other monsters. He is basically a god, with a SOUL that holds great importance in relation to the multiverse they all live in, it’s an embodiment of negativity and corruption. Not to mention, Nightmare originally HAD no SOUL (same as Dream, as their entire body was magic, more so than normal, thus essentially being their SOUL) and this is a result of absorbing/ becoming the multiverse’s negativity.

Killer: Killer’s SOUL has been mutilated and twisted out of shape, it visibly and by nature is a “corrupted” SOUL. His very being was brutally and forcefully shifted, starting with his mind and ending with his very core, his SOUL. It being out in the open and, well, a literal target, makes me assume this is a weak point. I am under the assumption that SOULs are a very touchy topic for this man.

Cross: Cross had a SOUL that could be assumed normal, but he is also a creation of X!gaster. (I didn’t represent his actual SOUL oops) he has been shown to be out of the norm in terms of his existence/SOUL. To take it a step further, when he is fused with the soul of Chara,human and DETERMINATION, he only posses half of a monster SOUL. Either way his essence is very much different then that of “natural” monsters, I think it’s pretty self explanatory

Horror: this one can go two ways. A lot of horrortale fans interpret horrors eye, his source of magic, a representation of his SOUL. It makes a lot of sense within the comic and story. Thus we could obviously see that an eye and a SOUL are very different. However it could be argued that “source of magic” and “essence of being” aren’t the same. A lot of the fandom also interprets horrors SOUL separately, and a fair assumption is made that his SOUL is either shrunken or sickly in appearance in this case. This makes sense due to horrors lack of/small amount of magic, his body learning to regulate itself without proper nutrients to keep his magic going.

Dust: Dust has the most natural monster SOUL of the group. We can assume that monsters who have attained high LV, such as Dust, also have altered SOULs, especially when we consider how violence is out of a monsters default nature. That said, monsters are ABLE to gain LV, so it isn’t some anomaly. One could also consider Dust attaining “new traits” to affect his soul. What I mean is it can be interpreted that, Dust having lost JUSTICE and gained DETERMINATION, along with the usual PATIENCE (supposed to be cyan lol) , his soul would probably also reflect these changes. We can call into question how much DETERMINATION Dust actually possess? Is it dangerous? Again, it still doesn’t alter his actual MONSTER SOUL much

(I’d also like to point out, I think it’s cool that red (DT) and blue (patience) make purple (perseverance) which is the color of dust’s magic…I think it’s interesting 🤷🏽‍♀️)

They probably wouldn’t know what to make of the others SOULs, as they are all so drastically different. If something were to happen to one of them…would they even know what to do?

(yeah I’m forcing my story ideas down your throats because headcanons)

All that to say, I’m interested to hear other people’s thoughts or headcanons on this, and I want to see more of this explored!!!

SHARE ANY THOUGHTS YOU HAVE ALRIGHT THAT’S ALL

[soysaucevictim]

Brain is just thinking about neurology again. More Autonomic Nervous System Stuff.

So like, it's split into sympathetic and parasympathetic. Real deep wiring, that is often not consciously engaged. For day-to-day things, both need to be acting in a balanced way, for overall health and functioning reasons.

(See also: Yerkes-Dodson Curve.)

SNS is the 3/4Fs - fight, flight, freeze, (and fawn - tho I think fawn requires more upstairs brain action to employ as easily/effectively than the other three, imo.) It can crank up your heart and breath rate. It shunts bloodflow away from the guts and immune system and can release stored sugars (glycogen) into the blood - all to fuel the muscles you may need to to Deal With Perceived Threat. It's the nervous system's gas pedal, basically.

It's funky thinking about Virgil being extremely connected to the SNS (especially fight/flight/freeze), just a sort of primal brain function and set of pathways. He's definitely the one Side that's closest to said gas pedal, practically partially fused to it. (Janus may be second-closest, as the other main self-pres function here. Think he's more about the fawn response.)

PNS is "rest and digest". When the coast is clear, it slows everything back down. Let you settle with your food, better absorb the nutrients and tucking what it can away. Lets your immune system to do whatever bodily repair and protection functions as it's supposed to. (Why chronic stress gives you GI troubles, CV probs, increase vulnerability to infectious disease & cancer, and slow down wound healing.) The nervous system's brake pedal.

(Mammalian Diving Reflex is a way to stimulate the brakes a bit, why splashing face with cold water can help!)

And I'm just thinking Remy probably reps this set of functions.

This is just me imagining Virgil/Andy just having a mutual beef with Remy/Sleep. And Logan/Logic is there and is So Tired.