Let's Play Beyond: Two Souls On Tumblr is a full rewrite of Beyond: Two Souls by alcatrazoutpatient, posted under their side blog beyond-two-worlds
. As the name implies, it's a hybrid between a Let's Play and a fanfic, using the Tumblr poll function to implement real-time player choices.
In addition to introducing entirely new plot elements, the rewrite expands on elements that the author felt were underused or poorly developed in the original story, including content that was removed from the game during development.
The rewrite began on October 24, 2023, and is currently ongoing.
Beware of unmarked spoilers from the original game.
Let's Play Beyond: Two Souls On Tumblr contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion:
- The Holmeses' deceased child is only seen in a picture Jodie can interact with during My Imaginary Friend... in canon. The rewritten version gives her a name (Sarah) and some personality.
- Aiden is given more personality, and the rewrite shows some events from his point of view.
- The Department of Paranormal Activity's relationship with the military is shown much earlier than in the original game, and is given more depth.
- Minor character Kathleen, who only appeared in the canon version of The Experiment, is given more personality and interacts more with Cole, Nathan and Jodie. The author has also said they plan to make her a recurring character.
- The documents Aiden and Jodie are tasked with reading in The Experiment mention the destruction of a condenser in Paris, France. This is inspired by unused concept art for the original game, which depicts a French condenser.
- Adaptational Context Change:
- The wounds on Jodie’s arms during her first interview with Nathan were caused by Sarah, not by the smoke entities.
- Aiden still eavesdrops on a conversation between Philip, Susan and Nathan, as he can optionally do in the game. Rather than Nathan trying to convince them not to abandon Jodie, Susan reiterates that they are not giving up on her, and they are much less willing to leave Jodie in the care of the DPA.
- Rather than a simple test of Jodie and Aiden’s abilities, the first experiment is explicitly stated to be a proof of concept for the military.
- Nathan has a son instead of a daughter. This removes the canon implications that he began caring for Jodie due to seeing her as a Replacement Goldfish for Laura.
- The events of Hauntings occur before Jodie's parents leave her at the DPA facility indefinitely, which colors Nathan's following interactions with Jodie much differently. While he does care for her on some level, it's still clear that he views her and Aiden as test subjects, and he uses the experiments with them to gain military funding.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Kathleen appears in First Night, two chapters before she appeared in the original game.
- General McGrath and a twenty-something Ryan Clayton, still in the army, make their first appearance in The Experiment. In the original game, Ryan did not appear until Separationnote while McGrath first appeared in Briefing.
- The names of Jonathan Nichols and Norah Gray appear in documents in The Experiment, fifteen chapters before they are ever mentioned by name in canon.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The author has stated that one of their intentions behind the rewrite is to make certain characters much more likable than their canon counterparts.
- In the original game, Philip Holmes was emotionally abusive to young Jodie and denied Aiden's existence and actions as just "stories" she made up. In the rewrite, Philip is kind and loving, playing with Jodie before her first night at the DPA facility and being reluctant to leave her there. He also snaps at Nathan and reminds him that Jodie and Aiden are not "subjects," showing that despite his fear of what's happening, he is concerned for them both.
- Ryan attempts to comfort a distressed Jodie in The Experiment. This is the exact opposite of what his canon counterpart does when he comes to claim her for the CIA eight years later.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: In canon, Jodie's ability to heal others is actually Aiden channeling the healing through her. Here, it is explicitly one of Jodie's powers, and she is able to use it to heal herself.
- Body Horror: When Jodie encounters the spirit of Jason Dawkins, part of his skull sloughs off, bringing pieces of flesh and bloodied hair with it.
- Composite Character: Kathleen mentions to Jodie that she has a daughter named Kirsten, indicating that she has been combined with Kirsten's unnamed mother in The Party.
- Deadpan Snarker: Aiden gets in his fair share of snarky comments.(while Nathan is telling Jodie about an experiment where a table moved seemingly on its own)"I can make stuff move all the time and I don't see this guy coming to study me."
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Like in the original story, Jodie has recurring visions of an impending apocalypse where she has been separated from Aiden.
- Foregone Conclusion: The nature of Jodie's premonitions means that no matter what she does, she will always end up losing Aiden. This causes them both no small amount of turmoil.
- Gender Flip:
- The gender of the Holmeses' deceased child was never stated in the original game. Here, the child is female.
- Nathan has a daughter named Laura in canon. In the rewrite of First Interview, he mentions having a son named Jason.
- Ghostly Chill: Entities can make their presence known to the living by making the surrounding air cold, causing nearby individuals' breath to form visible steam.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- The Holmeses' unnamed deceased child is named Sarah.
- General McGrath's first name is given as Philip.
- Never Found the Body: The documents Aiden reads in The Experiment state that this was the case for Assets Nichols and Gray.
- Promoted to Love Interest: It is implied that Cole and Kathleen have mutual feelings for each other. In canon, they never interacted enough for any feelings to be apparent.
- The Resenter: The ghost of Sarah resents Jodie for "stealing" her life and parents from her. This leads her to attack Jodie and follow her to the DPA facility on her first night.
- Shout-Out: Nathan's son is named Jason, a reference to the character Jason Mars from Heavy Rain. His appearance when Jodie sees his spirit in Hauntings (auburn hair and blue eyes) is also lifted from the latter.
