#underourskin

[if-underourskins]

DEMO

last updated: 6/5/25 (prologue + chapter 1; 9k+ words)

What's under your skin? What sets you apart? ...Is it why you're hunted?

Being hunted isn't for the weak.

You've been on the run for the majority of your life, though it seems to only get more and more frequent as you age. You're a shapeshifter, whose bones, muscles and skin twist and stretch to transform, and it's why you've been looking over your shoulder all this time.

You've had to leave your family behind when you discovered you were a shapeshifter, sent to live with your aunt – but even then you'd lost her, forced to flee when Officers from the Agency of Public Safety and Threat Containment (PSTC) came knocking on your door.

They hunted your kind, and though you weren't sure what they'd do to you once captured, the rumours of holding cells and collars doesn't make you eager to find out. They're who you've been running from all this time, the one who caused no place to be truly safe, and is the reason why you're alone.

That is, till you end up in the town of Arden Grove and meet other shapeshifters like yourself. Do you trust them? Will they stay? Or would you end up alone once again?

Play as female, male, non-binary, transmasc, transfem and more; and gay, straight, bi, aro or ace.

Customise your appearance, pronouns, name, etc.

Befriend, romance or maybe antagonise the characters you meet.

Play as a shapeshifter and choose from 5 animal forms (deer, bear, eagle, wildcat and fox) which will impact your life.

Make decisions as to how to survive in a world where the government is against you.

Victoria Beaumont (she/her) *not for transmasc or male MCs

Quiet on her feet, you'd never see her coming till she was next to you, signature grin on those painted red lips of hers. You swear those pale green eyes of hers glow in the dark, reminiscent of her animal form, a leopard,'s.

Victoria is 23, with long blonde hair and pale green eyes. You can find her wearing a lot of leopard print funnily enough, and she seems to prefer clothing reminiscent of the 2000s.

Blaine Lastor (she/her; he/him)

Blaine is not a trusting person, not in a world where shapeshifters are hunted down. She/ He has been cautious from the start, watching her/ his words around you, standing in corners and quietly observing.

Blaine is 23, and M!Blaine has a buzz cut while F!Blaine has braids. No matter what gender Blaine is however, she/ he has warm brown eyes. Blaine doesn't really care about clothing, mostly picking whatever is comfortable and available. She/ He wears a lot of compression shirts, though.

Elexis Xu (徐雅莉) (he/they)

Quiet and introverted, you can find Elexis in corners of rooms, watching people quietly and dreaming up his next art piece. He seems friendly enough, taking a curiosity to you, and you've even made him laugh. Still, it feels like he isn't as open as he seems.

Elexis is 22, and has long white hair and brown eyes. His white hair changes from season to season, like his coat as an arctic fox, with new black hair growing from underneath. He likes to wear loose and comfortable clothing, though his favourites are sweaters and baggy pants.

Seraph Windsor (she/her; they/them; he/him)

Seraphina/ Seraph/ Seraphin is the definition of an enigma. Popping next to you mid-gala and leaving you with more questions than answers, their smile and deposition is one of the most memorable things about them. Victoria however, warns you to stay away from them, but the real question is, can you?

Seraph is 24 and has curly brown hair and amber eyes. F!Seraph keeps her hair long, preferring to keep it in a half-up, half-down updo; while both Agender!Seraph and M!Seraph leaves it as it is (left down and short, respectively). Seraph is often wearing some sort of expensive clothing, whether it is a branded one, or made personally by fashion designers themselves, and it reflects their unique tastes.

Brooks Sinclair (he/him)

Shapeshifters and PSTC Officers do not mix... though Brooks seem to be one of the exceptions. You have no choice but to work with him, if only to stay free, and he seems just as reluctant to work with you. Still, can you really trust such a high-ranking Officer?

Brooks is 21 and has tousled brown hair and blue eyes, ones that remind you of the sea. He seems to dress casually out of uniform, and you have to say, his style isn't all that bad.

special route: a poly route between f! or agender!seraph x victoria x mc

moodboards | RO paths

Please head the trigger warnings stated below and in the IF itself. The list is non-exhausive and you are welcome to send an ask for me to add to the list. Player discretion is advised.

As of Prologue and Chapter 1 (or what is written so far),

Cursing

Dead bodies

Violence

Possible body horror

Morally questionable behaviour *the list will grow as i write

NSFW asks are also tagged with #uos: nsfw so beware!

| demo (prologue + chapter 1)

| bug form

| patreon (not out yet)

[theincantation-if]

this seems so cool!!! hartford already has me hooked 🤭

thank you!! hartford (my beloved), they're a real dark horse compared to the other ro's so i'm excited to share them.

[darkfictionjude]

Tagged by @suevi-if :)

Last song: technically two since i've been listening on repeat and so i don't remember which one is the last one. Kids in America by Kim Wilde and Hold Me by Menudo

Fav color: oxford blue

Currently reading: two books. SQPR by Mary Beard and American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett (it's about a strange town people haven't heard of... sound familiar?)

Last movie: do docs count? the newest Menendez Brothers doc on Netflix (this case is a hyperfixation forever and i feel really bad for the boys) if not then the last movie movie i watched was Nosferatu

Last Show: ugghhh I don't really watch tv shows. Too much of a film buff.... I think it was sex and the city? (and it's cause i wanted to see how horrible these women truly are)

Last obsession: this is going to be embarrassing. Degrees of lewdity. Although it's tied with my never-ending obsession with 80s music

Tagging @fir-fireweed, @sentience-if, @bacchanal-if, @if-underourskins

[fableforger]

ヾ(＾∇＾) Hello I hope you’re doing well, I’m never sure how to best start these sorry I’m just super awkward. ｡ ｡ ゛(ﾉ><)ﾉ

Anyways I cannot express how absolutely giddy this story has me. I love Greek mythology and I’m ravenous for content that involves it, I got hooked after reading a few RO asks that popped up in my recommended and I was so excited to play the demo! It did not disappoint I adored it. I’m not great at crafting reviews or super eloquent when it comes to conveying compliments or just how much I enjoyed something but I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you sharing your work with us it’s been a lot of fun and I am excited to read more of your work. Anyways wishing you all the best. ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊˚

-🐌

Aaaahhh this is such a sweet message -thank you so much!! 💛 And please don’t worry for even a second, you weren’t awkward at all.

I’m so glad to hear the story’s been fun for you - especially as someone who’s into mythology! It always means a lot to know it’s landing with the kind of readers I hoped it might. 🥹

Also - PS: I think I saw someone do this over on @if-underourskins blog, where Anons pick little emojis to stay anonymous but still recognizable for future asks. If that’s what you were doing with '🐌', I’ll happily remember it! And if not - no worries at all, just ignore this part. I just think it’s a really cute idea. Hopefully @if-underourskins won’t mind if we borrow it a little. ☺️

[plusmodelbridget]

I felt the need to dig this book back out after all the ongoing here lately. If you haven't read it, it's a must in my opinion. My fav TE wrote it and it gets down to the point. #UnderOurSkin #BenjaminWatson https://www.instagram.com/p/CAycuxpjoed/?igshid=1ozov05z1muea

[kailovesnior]

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[if-underourskins]

Play the prologue + Chapter 1 (9k+ words) here!

Features

have a peek as to why shapeshifters exist

customise your features

pick your animal form

find out about your current living situation

get... attacked?

It's finally here!!! The prologue and Chapter 1 is on the shorter side, unfortunately, but hopefully the later chapters would be longer! Please do submit any bugs (here) because although i've tested it, there may be a few i missed out on...

I hope you enjoy the IF so far <3

@interact-if

[pdximmersion]

A woman came in who suffers from Lyme disease and taught me about the disease. She recommended I watch this video for more information.

I will be watching the full movie on Netflix.

[tonycutronemusic]

Cutrone Music with just vocals + grand piano? 🎹 You bet! Love ❤️ #stuttgart #stuttgartcity #livemusic #fightorflight #underourskin #thejazzhall #duogigs (at jazzhall stuttgart)

[shamelessteas]

#UnderOurSkin #CamKnows #shameless https://t.co/IwBZQiyv7R

[if-underourskins]

seeing the anons across the IF space recently has made me so, so grateful for my followers rn. thanks for being so lovely guys <33 i see how privileged i am for not getting a hate ask now. (not bragging, just genuinely grateful. i am still in shock over the audacity of some anons.)

[theegls]

After Sunday's #Lyme chat, I finally watched #UnderOurSkin - a must watch for patients, advocates, and supporters.

[if-underourskins]

MC family info and facts ?

How old was MC when they ran ?

i'm not entirely sure what you want to know so this would be a bit of a dump:

For MC's family, MC will have a mother, father, older brother and younger sister. They are all not shapeshifters, though the why would be going into spoiler territory.

For MC's extended family, MC has only really known their maternal grandparents, because they are shapeshifters, and (used to) live with their aunt.

MC would’ve been around 21-23 (depending on the age you chose) when they fled from the apartment they shared with their aunt. But no place is truly safe, not when you’re a shapeshifter, and so MC (who is now about 22-24) is on the run again about 9 months after the first time, which is when the story takes place.

[interact-if]

Pride Month Feature #3: Under Our Skins

Game: Under Our Skins

Author: Rowan (@if-underourskins)

Tags: Urban fantasy, romance, action (kinda)

Being hunted isn't for the weak. You've been on the run for the majority of your life, though it seems to only get more and more frequent as you age. You're a shapeshifter, whose bones, muscles and skin twist and stretch to transform, and it's why you've been looking over your shoulder all this time. 

You’re forced to flee when Officers from the Agency of Public Safety and Threat Containment (PSTC) came knocking on your door. They're who you've been running from all this time, the reason why you're alone...That is, till you end up in the town of Arden Grove and meet other shapeshifters like yourself. Do you trust them? Will they stay? Or will you end up alone once again?

Tell me more about yourself!

I’ve mentioned this a couple of times, but I’m a huge fan of the Spiderverse franchise, and I am in a lot of different fandoms. My favourite colour is red, which is really funny because the colour scheme of Under Our Skins is blue and grey, and I’m ethnically Chinese, which is actually why Elexis (one of the ROs) is Chinese. 

I am also pansexual and genderqueer, and there are elements of that that can be seen in my characters, especially Elexis and Seraph.

2. Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?

I am currently working on a shapeshifter IF, aka Under Our Skins! I started with visual novels first, back in my 2024 exam season, and quickly got hooked. The first IF I ever played was Wayfarer and that led to many ranting sessions about it (my poor friends were stuck with me raving about how much I loved the game for days) and from there, I scoured itch.io for more games like that, which is how I stumbled across interactive fiction! For the next few months, it was just me falling in love with multiple interactive fictions before deciding I wanted to try my hand at writing one. 

What inspired Under Our Skins was just a car on Pinterest, and with a lot of time on my hands and a writer’s brain, I daydreamed a scene with my first character (and said car). I liked the scene so much that I then proceeded to think about how it’d make sense and what sort of a world it’d be set in and boom, I had the (rough) settings and systems of Under Our Skins. 

Read on for the full interview!

3. How does your work feature aspects of your queer identity / experience? 

I think that my writing will be influenced by the things I experience and observe in real life no matter what, and though there aren’t direct correlations, there are parallels in the way shapeshifters are treated and the way they adapt to society with the way queer people adapt to “pass” and more. 

Not all of them are purposeful, but when writing about the oppression of shapeshifters, I do take “inspiration” from the oppression that queer people face. There’s also the fact that the way shapeshifters cope with it, whether hiding or just dampening it to be more “normal” (and the fact that there’s a “normal” at all, when so many of them are born shapeshifters) just reminds me of what queer people have to do irl. 

The whole IF is not meant to be a commentary on queer people but I’ve definitely taken inspiration or been influenced by queer experiences.

4. What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you? 

My writing process is a mess. Right now, I have a planning doc, a writing doc and a google sheet with many different sections split to help me juggle the work of writing everything while stimulating my brain enough to get to work on the IF. It’s honestly pretty scattered, but hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

For the specifics however, it’s mostly just three phases that I constantly go back to. I use an outline to roughly plot out the chapter, which I then refer to when writing. Sometimes my writing veers off the path of my outline, sometimes parts of my outline doesn’t work with what I had written before, and I leave that to the editing part to polish everything up and just hope that it turns out alright. 

As for tips and tricks, there are two very important things that I try to keep in mind when writing: a. Your first draft is going to suck and b. Know what your other characters are doing and their motivations.

For the first, when writing, I often find myself hating whatever words I was typing – to me they all fall flat and miss their mark. This ends up with me hating writing and procrastinating continuing because if it sucks, why should I continue? But here’s the thing: it’s better that it exists and sucks, then to not exist at all. Your first draft is not supposed to be perfect, it’s job is to just exist, to pave a way for your next few drafts to improve on. If it doesn’t exist, there’s nothing to refine. So yeah, my first draft is going to suck, and I need to let it suck as long as I write it.

For the second, this just helps me more in the planning aspect. Knowing what the characters are doing helps me make sure that the timelines all line up, and to help me establish certain things even though the plot doesn’t require it just yet. It makes things feel real and more logical, and it can definitely come in handy when you cross-refer back to it.

5. How do you go about portraying queer characters, queer experiences, or queer storylines in your IF? 

I think the most important part for me is that the character’s queerness is a part of their identity, and is not their only, or most notable trait, while also acknowledging it and the way it has shaped their life.

With Under Our Skins, everyone is queer – 4 out of the 5 ROs are pansexual, one RO is trans and another is a lesbian. These are a part of their identity, and while sometimes it is just what it is, it has also impacted the way others treated them throughout their lives, and in the IF. 

I think the way I write – or will be writing, since the IF is still relatively new – is entirely linked to my queer experiences and the experiences I’ve observed. Parts of my characters I take from my own experience, others from my friends and people online, and there are also parts where I have to take creative liberties almost, like writing accepting parents and homo/transphobia.

6. Do you have favourite interactive fiction games, characters, scenes or authors that you’d like to recommend?

Here’s a list of IFs I love and adore (in no particular order):

(the famous) Infamous

Press Play

Children of Cain

Wayfarer

When Twilight Strikes

Apt 502

The six that thrive

Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse

Drink Your Villain Juice

Love After Death

The Advisor's Game

Disenchanted

and a lot more I can’t remember off the top of my head!!

7. If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be? 

To my readers, I’d say thank you <33 They’ve been so kind to me and the love that they’ve shown for the IF and characters is honestly so heartwarming and motivating!!

To other authors, y’all are honestly amazing and I hope that your projects work out and that you have nice lives (that sounds like a threat, help). I love so many of your works and it’s honestly an honor (?) to be an interactive fiction author when these are the people I’m standing with.

To the community, please, please be kind. Your comments, whether anonymous or not, are all directed to a person behind the screen – a person who is usually juggling their writing project alongside many, many irl responsibilities. There was a weird influx of hate recently and now that it’s mostly died down (that I’m aware of, anyway), let’s try to make it stay that way. Constructive criticism can be helpful but sending straight up hate is not and can oftentimes undermine an author’s motivation so, yeah, be kind.