Time First Spotted: 4:34am
Date of Encounter: 02/03/86
Location: On Live Television
Weather: Any
Visibility: Group, Only Viewed on a Screen of a Computer or Television
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Risustuporlings
The Risustuporlings (Risus + Stupor, Latin for "laughter" and "insensibility," with the suffix of "ling"), the Live Television Borderlings, exist to ... They resemble ghastly, white figures with long, tapering bodies. Their hands and feet are almost accurate to human hands, save for their pointy, bony claws. Their "ears" don't function in the same way as earthly ears; instead they are erect, rigid antennae that picks up satellite signals. Their large, reptilian eyes never blinks. Their wide, toothy smiles have overly large teeth with the same shape and texture as a human's. Their gums, tongue and eye sockets are bright red and always moist. Black stripes are seen rippling and fading in and out of Risustuporlings bodies in the same manner as water.
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Weightless in appearance, they never touch the ground, floating slowly while eyes dart around. Their movement undulate as if they're submerged in water.
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Autopsy on a dead Risustuporling shows that the species doesn't have organs. Instead, their red mouths connect to their bodies, forming a cavernous, flesh cavity which is 1ft wide in diameter and 3in thick. the red meat lining the Borderling's insides has an odor of the perfume or cologne worn by a person it had recently possessed on live television.
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The Risustuporlings usually takes the voice of the host they control, although they commonly emit guttural, growling noises and soft laughter.
Their Appearance
“With television, we vault ourselves into a continuous, incoherent present.”
Neil Postman, Amusing ourselves to Death
Where To Find Them
When a person of important status is on live feed, whenever it's on television or computers, look carefully for the Risustuporling's whereabouts, as they are subtle about their appearances. They can appear at anytime in any feed, and at a brief moment, from 5 seconds to 4 minutes. Rare yet commonly seen by Witnesses and non-Witnesses alike, the Borderlings appear partially, but full-bodied apparitions are seen by hosts in front of cameras.
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Only one Risustuporling can manifest at a time with the second watching behind the camera. Usually connected, the two individuals separate when disturbed by outside forces to prevent further inconveniences to their routine. This doesn't hurt the Borderling couple, as they can easily reconnect by touching both halves.
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Effects Towards Our Environment
Observant, the Risustuporlings linger around recording equipment when no one's around. They carefully take in their surroundings, brushing their fingers on cables and gently mouth on camera heads. They thoroughly look at any component on the microphones and tripods, and they sometimes double-check to keep in mind any detail, obscene or not.
A wounded Risustuporling couple is quick to observe and track any details, as they bleed red Ichor what can stain recording equipment for a week. One half attempts to close the wound with the hands while the other scans the area, and is seen with fingers that are stained red.
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After the process, the Risustuporling temporarily disappears from sight, waiting for the live recording to begin.
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Behaviors Toward Witneses
As the Risustuporlings wait unnoticed, they select a person of their preference in front of a camera, when it's recording. Once they find someone, whether they're Witnesses or not, they move in a quick pace. The Risustuporlings will take control of the body for a brief while causing irregular behaviors and visual abnormalities. Effects vary every time the Borderlings affect the individual and may include:
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Staring at the lens for 4 to 5 minutes, unblinking
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Smiling widely while staring
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Making long, guttural noises
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Talking in an incoherent language
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Facial transformations, turning one's face into a white void with black stripes.
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Eyes turning yellow
No one around the selected individual will notice the Borderlings and their effects, except Witnesses who watch them on live television. While possessing the person, they make themselves present for a brief moment in time. In this phase, they can see those who watch television around the city. After leaving the body, through the back of the cranium, the host will not recall being under the influence of the Borderling.
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Behaviors Toward Other Borderlings
Often ignoring Borderlings different then their own species, they go on with their routine uninterrupted. If another Borderling attempts to touch, eat or attack a Risustuporling, they simply phase through them, as if they're nonexistent. The only species of Borderling they noticed and are aware of are the Frequency Borderlings, (name not known yet) as they assign the Risustuporlings to different recording studios within a city.
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Impure Behaviors
Elusive, they show no impure behaviors. They treat all hosts the same when possessing them, and won't show no hostility towards Witnesses and other Borderlings.
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Instead, they have physical impurities, appearing darker and broken than their healthier counterparts. This is the result of being exposed to the Frequency Borderling's impurities, if any. In an similar way like acid, the other's presence eats away at the Risustuporlings' bodies, making them incapable of displaying their stripes.
"Better write this down what I saw, so I won't acknowledge it to be a dream later. A celebrity on TV had an overly-large smile, and her eyes turned yellow. Then I saw a ghostly figure for about a split second before everything snapped to normal. Even the observers watch the observed, much as to our knowledge..."