You are an agens of the goddess of death. In your childhood you used to be of an elite noble class, the Corona Elevatus, but your father betrayed the Corona, resulting in the death of your family save for you and your mother.
The both of you escaped the Corona's clutches thanks to a war with the country to the north, one that utterly changes the world as you know it.
Book 1 (chapters 1-5): https://ravs-rambles.itch.io/all-things-terrible-and-beautiful
Book 2 (chapters 6-10):
Book 2 in the All Things Terrible and Beautiful series
This is an IF in perpetual development, with basis in a DND campaign I once ran and wish to turn into a text for a general audience to enjoy. The country of Theras and the adventure you go on is completely of my own creation, and the length of the story is undetermined.
My goal is to create a few chapters, there are currently five in development but I will provide what I can in terms of what is completed so far. This game was created using Twine, specifically in the Chapbook format; meaning that while this can be played on mobile, this story does not have a manual save button, this game auto-saves in the background to your browser.
This story has elements of horror, both grotesque and potentially existential, and is loaded with angst. Therefore this story is not for those under the age of 18, and I suggest you read the TW list thoroughly to ensure you are not triggered by what can be found in game. This is not an encompassing list and is subject to change as the content changes and the story progresses. I will do my best to update once a chapter is completed.
TW list:
** Swearing and other adult language
** Violence
** Blood, gore, descriptions of violence
** Injury, sometimes severe/life-threatening to the MCĀ
** Optional sexual content (explicitly detailed)
** Nudity
** Touching without specific consent (this work is not written with specific touch-aversions in mind)
** Death (human:Ā unnatural and accidental)
** Depression/Anxiety/Panic
** Nightmares
** Disparaging thoughts
** Substance use and references/use of alcoholĀ
** References to child death
Features:
Several LGBTQ+ ROs, most of which are in a godly nature, predominately playersexual but they are not defined by you to that extent. Furthermore most of the cast is gender queer and somewhat masculine presenting. These romances are not mandatory, and instead could be strong friendships; I hope to add QPR functionality as well, but that is a work in progress.
MC physicalĀ traits that are very versatile, as well as personality traits that will impact how you interact with others as well as treat yourself.
A story that will vary in genre but primarily will focus on horror and angst. I like happy endings in spite of this, so I will provide such a choice, but you still get to choose how things end.
The ROs:
The Unnamed God (heretofore referred to as TUG): An individual who can be shaped by your choices, you will find that TUG is friendly and affable in the beginning of the story. Whether you adore such traits or avoid them is up to you. TUG is 5'5" and their features are unknown to you for now....Ā In the end, they are are a prominent source for the horror elements of the game.
Dawn (she/her): Dawn is a bard you meet along in the journey, whom you can meet as early as chapter 2, and as late as chapter 4. Dawn is the only mortal besides you involved in this adventure, something you can potentially bond over whilst she plays her viol for you. She is the safer choice, so to speak, as a romance partner due to her relatively normal nature.Ā
Flor (he/they): Flor is the god of flowers, kindness, devotion, and children. Flor is also a traitor to your country, though most of the people have forgiven him for his transgressions, there is still the air of awkwardness that comes with his involvement in the story. Flor is the gentlest lover when you need him to be, or the most fanatical.Ā
DISCLAIMER:
As mentioned in this blog's tagline, this IF potentially may never be finished. I'm an individual who hyper-fixates on projects pretty hard during the summer, but once school starts for me...
So, I assure you I will provide what I can for the summer, and if I am able, I will continue working on the IF throughout the school year.
Just discovered this now, so adding it but @interact-if
Hi folks! This is a post mostly about Chapter 9 but I do want to thank all 116 (wow!) for following this blog and the game's development! I means so much and I hope to publish more as time goes on!
What does Chapter 9 look like right now? Chapter 9 is currently 80% done in terms of text written. When I am in the editing stage I will update you all as per usual.
I will also like to mention that I will be merging the two books into one game for convenience sometime down the road. This won't be immediate after F&D is finished, but it's important to me nonetheless that we have something like this going on. Of course, the original versions of the games still work for posterity and will be kept up for a while just for those curious.
However this abridgement of the two books comes with the caveat of potentially becoming the sort of final drafts for each book. This means it might take a while before the abridged version of the series comes out. In the mean time, thank you for your patience.
Hi there folks, this post will be talking about the heavier topic of mental health issues. If that is something you are uninterested in reading about, totally okay!
Basically I've received an ask recently after reblogging that one post about writing Schizophrenic characters into texts. I don't want to directly respond to the asker, nor can I truly answer their question. It is beyond me to even truly respond, for though I have a degree in Psychology, I am very much undertrained to address such an issue. Let alone provide a thorough and thought out discussion without extensive research.
Furthermore, I'm a person with my own issues and focuses as of late. Talking about mental health issues is not my forte, let alone not within my bandwidth. Additionally, I would prefer to give up my voice for people with lived experiences or professional backgrounds pertaining to certain marginalized groups. That way the issue is platformed and those experienced with the topic can offer their perspectives.
I wasn't aware I would have to do this, but please do not send me asks regarding your mental health. For those who need support regarding your mental health please check out your local government's available resources or call the local helpline. Finding such things will be a simple google search and provide you with loads more factual information than I can.
To the one anon who asked me a question regarding their mental health, I ask that you seek out your local hotline and explain your experiences. From what you told me, I feel like such an aid will help you on your journey of understanding yourself.
Okay, this might be an annoying question so feel free not to answer, but do you have advice for writing a character who has schizophrenia? It seems like many schizophrenic characters are written poorly, and I was wondering if you have any specific things to do or to avoid.
Not annoying at all!
I think schizophrenic characters are written poorly because everyone thinks they know what schizophrenia is, but no one actually does.
What you typically get in fiction is someone hallucinating without knowing they're hallucinating- in a fight with someone who isn't there, curled in a ball rocking with their hands pressed over their ears. And if you're just briefly meeting a side character, that's probably the fastest way to establish their issues.
But if you have a main (or fleshed-out supporting) character with schizophrenia, you have to know there is a lot more to the disorder to write it well.
Schizophrenia has three types of symptoms: Positive, Negative, and Cognitive.
Positive symptoms include things that aren't there in a healthy brain, but are in schizophrenia. These are things like hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.
Negative symptoms include things that are present in a healthy brain, but not present in schizophrenia. These are things like a lack of motivation, decreased ability to feel pleasure, social withdrawal, and poverty of speech.
Cognitive symptoms are changes in thinking. These are things like problems with executive function, impaired working memory, struggling to concentrate, delayed processing, and trouble reading social and emotional cues from others.
Writing Positive Symptoms:
Most people with schizophrenia have auditory hallucinations, meaning they hear voices that aren't there. These can be voices narrating their life, telling them (usually mean) things about themselves, or commanding them to do something. Some people have other types of hallucinations, like visual hallucinations (seeing something that isn't there) or tactile (feeling something that isn't there).
The person may or may not know that a hallucination is not real. Knowing a hallucination isn't real doesn't make it go away.
You know when you're in a dream and everything makes sense, but then you wake up and realize the dream was really bizarre? That's kind of what delusions are like. You're so sure a thing you're thinking makes total sense, but everyone you're trying to talk about the thing with thinks you're crazy. And its frustrating because it makes so much sense to you. And no one else seems to get it.
Common delusions are things like thinking someone is out to get you, thinking others can read your mind or can put thoughts in your mind, thinking you're special, or thinking you have something medically devastatingly wrong with you.
Medications are really good at treating hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.
Writing Negative Symptoms:
Nothing feels good, or you spend a lot of time trying to feel good and failing (a lot of comorbid substance use disorders in people with schizophrenia)
You just can't think of anything to say that makes sense, or it takes so long to come up with something to say that the moment has passed. So you just... don't say things.
"Flat affect" means your face is kind of blank and doesn't emote normally. Resting schizophrenia face.
You don't know how to make friends unless you have been specifically trained in the art and technique
Catatonia is where you're conscious but can't move (or move really weirdly) or communicate. But you're in there. And it's terrifying.
Sometimes if negative symptoms are primary this can get misdiagnosed as depression or autism
There are no medications that treat negative symptoms, but sometimes antidepressants can help.
Writing Cognitive Symptoms:
These are honestly some of the hardest symptoms to live with
The degree of cognitive symptoms a person has pretty much determines how disabled they are by schizophrenia.
Problems with following conversations with more than one person
Problems dialing a phone number because you can't hold the numbers in your head long enough
Trouble following verbal directions
Confusion. Just not understanding what is going on.
Having a "loading" period between a piece of information entering your brain and understanding what was said or read.
Difficulty starting tasks and staying on tasks
These are some of the first symptoms to present (usually in young teens) and are sometimes misdiagnosed as ADHD, because of the concentration problems
There are no medications that can treat cognitive symptoms
Medications and therapy (usually something called CBT-P, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis), are mostly effective for positive symptoms. Because of this, negative and cognitive symptoms are often the more disabling part of the condition. You can modulate your character's level of disability by expressing more or less of their negative and cognitive symptoms.
This is really clear and informative, thank you! I had no idea there was so much overlap with depression and ADHD. Do ADHD stimulant medications tend not to work if the underlying cause is schizophrenia, then?
They might work (most people get better focus/executive function from stimulants, regardless of having or not having ADHD), but the problem is that there's a risk that it will make psychosis worse, so they're not often used. If the schizophrenia is well controlled with antipsychotics the risk is lower.
āDid you know that Juneteenth is also celebrated in a part of Mexico? Nacimiento Mexico was once home to thousands who escaped slavery in the US. As many as 10,000 slaves followed a clandestine Southern Underground Railroad to Mexico.
āTo date, many Black Mexicans from the Texas area retrace a portion of the same route their African American ancestors followed in 1850 when they escaped slavery.
āDescendants of slaves who escaped across the southern border observe Texasās emancipation holiday with their own unique traditions in the village of Nacimiento.
āSlave hunters would patrol the southern border for escapees, led by the Texas Rangers but the Mexican army would be there waiting for them (the slave hunters) to turn them away.
Hi y'all! It's Rav, and I come to thee with some life updates on my part.
I have acquired a job! Yippee! Though it is part time, it may slow down the IF updates just due to the nature of it.
Therefore my biweekly-if-not-weekly updates will likely slow down a bit. Does this mean a hiatus? Nope! I don't plan on going on a long term one until school starts and even then that might be unlikely.
Chapter 8 is now available to play here. Make good choices! The length of Chapter 9 (when it's released) depends on your choices in this chapter, and if you make enough bad ones.... it might run a little short.
This is probably a super basic question lol (apologies) but Iām curious what the characters (specifically the LIs) would end up doing in a modern au? Like what would they end up doing as a career, if anything at all?
Thank you!!
Hi anon! I'm doing well, and hope you are too!
No question is too basic, never apologize for that! I've vaguely had thoughts for a modern au, and I'm glad to have the chance to answer. Mind you that this is based on Canadian culture and careers, since that's where I live!
Flor: Likely an elementary school teacher or school counselor. Most of the kids love him, especially those kids who come from less privileged backgrounds. While he works 2-3 schools, he always tries to make kids feel genuinely appreciated and looked out for. I feel like in their spare time, they spearhead the queer clubs at school and free-lunches for students.
Dawn: I feel like Dawn would have been in school for music theory/songwriting but dropped out in her third year. She eventually found a job as a bartender of a local pub and makes a living that way. She participates largely in the local BIPOC and queer communities, predominately in the protest sort of sense. In her spare time, she plays fiddle in a local BIPOC folk band and performs at the pub she works at.
TUG: TUG would have been in the military from 18yo to about 25yo where they then acquired amnesia (Retrograde or Post-Traumatic Amnesia) and thus honorably discharged. Post getting out of the military, TUG has become a student studying the arts, specifically pottery. On the side, TUG attends re-enactment events for medieval times or practices with a sword. To him, it feels comforting having a semblance of control over their body. It also would participate in the local BIPOC and queer communities, though feeling unfortunately alienated from the veteran community (due to his youth, and perhaps even race but I can't speak on that at length).
Thank you for the question anon! All kinds of questions like these are welcome, and I hope to answer more! I may even speak on this topic further if prompted...
Building off my previous post regarding formatting, I wanted to give y'all some updated about how the game may be formatted in the future.
Given the nature of the story, I believe that when I begin working on the final book I will be sort of binding each book into one massive game. Think of the current book system as proof of concept for the future massive completed game.
However I will also provide a chapter select on this project, so people don't feel like they have to start over from scratch once the final chapter comes out.
That being said, this might be a long process, and ways off since Chapter 8 is still in the editing phase (may publish tonight or tomorrow).
š Interact-IF 2026 Pride Month: LGBTQ+ Authors & Games š
This June, Interact-IF is bringing back the Pride Month spotlight eventācelebrating the incredible LGBTQ+ creators, stories, and communities that make games richer, more diverse, and more meaningful. We're putting together an updated community masterlist of games that are:
āØ Created by LGBTQ+ authors and designers OR
āØ Contain meaningful representation of LGBTQ+ characters, storylines and experiences (exploring themes of gender, sexuality, community, self-discovery, and belonging).
š Submission Form: HERE
Creators are welcome to submit:
Released games
Demos/works in progress
A short write-up of how the game contains LGBTQ+ representation or explores relevant themes
After the success of last year's event, we hope this year's masterlist will be even bigger and better! The aim is to help spotlight LGBTQ+ creators and showcase the breadth of LGBTQ+ experiences being explored through games.
We might also reach out to 2-3 authors to do a short written interview as well as post never-before-published interviews from last year's event.
So if you're a creator who's keen on being interviewed for this year's pride month spotlight, do check the box in the google form. Share this post and help us spread the word.
Happy Pride! š³ļøāš
Finally, do check out some of last year's interviews!
Just wanted to let y'all know that Chapter 8 is basically 90% finished, with editing to occur shortly after.
I have also started writing Chapter 9, and in some routes, Chapter 9 will be extremely short for all the wrong reasons. So choose wisely!
That being said I suspect Chapter 8 to release either this week or next week. It's been a doozy writing it since honestly there's so many variables and so many unique situations for y'all to be in.
In this post I wanted to talk about what asexuality might look like in IFs, and the various ways this might be encoded into oneās IFs!
This is NOT a comprehensive post, I am NOT an expert. This is more or less me using my platform to educate where I can.
At the end of this post, and this is very important to me, is a list of resources covering some available information about BIPOC and Asian experiences. I will be talking about a BIPOC character in this post, but my discussion of him will be about implementation and structuring within an IF context! This is not an analysis of BIPOC and Asian asexual experiences nor about how this character acts as representation of these experiences.
If you intend on writing about these experiences, please educate yourself with my references being a jumping off point. I want to highlight these sources because they explicitly are written by BIPOC and Asian authors, and therefore, deserve more of a platform and focus. If you just want to skip to that section, please do!
This following section will be talking about two specific characters in IFs that I have encountered so far in my own playthroughs. I will be tagging the creators as permitted! Just be aware that this is not a critique, this is not an in-depth analysis, this is just pointing to various ideas and concepts associated with the characters that I feel are important to point out!
Unfortunately, I will not be providing a comprehensive list of IF characters that are asexual. One of the following examples is actually not asexual at all, but is written in such a way where I'd like to discuss its relevancy to this post. If anyone has made a list, please reach out! I'd love to tack it on and give you credit.
Oswin - God Cursed
Oswin, created by @wings-of-ink (aka Lunan), is a confirmed Demisexual character who is also BIPOC. It is very rare that we have an explicitly BIPOC asexual in media, let alone a BIPOC asexual man, therefore Oswin is a very wonderful rare character that I am very grateful to see in the IF.
In the story of God Cursed, should you choose his romance, there are a few moments where you get to discuss your MC's experiences with relationships. Whether it be romantic experiences or sexual ones, Lunan provides us a few choices as to how to respond to Oswin's expression of his demisexuality as well as how the MC may express their own sexuality.
There are a good few choices to choose from, including expressing a similar lack of sexual desire as Oswin, to being completely allosexual. Either way, the MC is accepted by Oswin and for their identity. Additionally, Oswin does express in the IF how Oswinās connection to the MC influences his desire, which I recommend reading the IF to see how that is expressed.
Furthermore there are elements of aromantic identity in their IF! This is quite rare, and honestly is lovely to see. Especially as most IFs assume you may want to have a romance, when hey you just might want to have some casual fun!
Robin - Viatica
Robin, created by @fir-fireweed (aka Fir), is NOT an asexual character. That is completely fine, and is not expressly why I bring up this character in this discussion. Why I bring this character up is due to their complex relationship with sexuality.
In Viatica, there are a lot of complicated feelings around sex expressed by the characters. Within the story sex has become a compulsory act dictated by an abusive higher authority, thus losing its capacity for expressing intimacy and affection. Many of the characters have complex experiences that culminate in a heavy discussion at one point in the IF that makes it worth a read alone (aside from the amazing story that is...); but let's turn the discussion back to Robin.
Robin is the most vocally uncomfortable around the conversation of sex due to their own traumatic experiences. In the IF there is even a scene where the MC may try to initiate intimacy, whether sexual or otherwise, and Robin expresses discomfort. The MC is automatically stopped due to recognition of this discomfort, and they have a good discussion as partners about Robin's stress about sex.
I could go at length about Robin's expression of their sexuality, their discomfort and subsequent trauma about it, but I feel it is more satisfactory to see it for yourself. The arc that Robin goes through, as written by Fir, is very fascinating and while it does culminate in Robin having sex, is a larger critique on how sexuality is perceived in the world of the IF as a whole.
IF Implementation
Now! Would I say the above IFs are perfect reps of asexuality? No, because no one is perfect and these IFs are offering different commentaries on sex and sexuality.
What might that mean for IF authors though?
When implementing asexual characters, you as an author must think about the layers of identity. In Lunan's work, the MC is able to express differing levels of romantic and sexual inclinations. Fir's work, which is admittedly old in comparison, does not have these layers but that isnāt a bad thing.
How most IFs express sexual variations (in a straight forward fashion):
You had no sexual experience and you don't want any.
You had no sexual experience and would like to see how it works.
You had sexual experience and you don't want any sex.
You had sexual experience and you do want to have sex.
Authors can add sub-variations to these expressions like:
You rarely feel sexual attraction to your sexual partners
You need to be close to your sexual partners to feel desire
You have pleasured yourself but have not experienced sexual attraction to another person
These sub-variations add a layer of complexity to the MCs identities, whilst also proposing some variables to keep in mind. Furthermore, this adds asexuality into the narrative and forms a format where intimacy can be expressed in a different manner!
Subtle ways to show asexuality in MC/Characters:
Lets say for example, a Character grabs MC on the waist and squeezes them (this prompt was suggested by a friend, love you friend!). The people talking in this hypothetical can be swapped in terms of who is MC and who is RO.
You feel discomfort rising within you and push their hand away. āWhat are you doing?ā
āIām testing how you feel. Is that not okay?ā
āNo, itās not.ā
āBecause you need to ask firstā (Just asking for general consent)
āBecause I know where this might lead, and Iām not into it.ā (You can clarify with a note as to what you mean by this, but this can be interpreted as ābaselineā asexuality)
āBecause I need to know you, and I donāt.ā (Potentially demisexual choice or greysexual)
OR
You feel warm at their touch, allowing them to keep their hand where it was.
āWhere is this going?ā You ask.
āWherever you want it to go.ā RO says.
You want to escalate it further, push their hand where it felt best (Potentially allosexual, but can be interpreted as a sex positive interaction for an asexual)
You didnāt want it to escalate further, the warmth of their hand felt so good in the moment (General consent)
āI donāt want this to be more thanā¦ a touch. I like feeling you, I like knowing you want me close, but nothing more.ā (Asexual option)
The straight forward variables might look like:
Sex experiences: true/false
Sex want: true/false
Sub-variation variables might look like:
Sexual attraction: true/false
Close Sexual attraction: true/false
Sexual Desire/Personal intimacy: true/false
I hope readers right away might notice this added layer of complexity, and I would like to take it a step further and express that no reader should use this post as reason to judge IF authors for not implementing Ace identities into their works. There is so much complexity in identities, there is no true way to implement everything, and some people just aren't aware of Ace identities. That's okay! Everyone is learning as we go.
But IF authors, there are so few Ace characters out there! Please don't hesitate to add Asexual or Aromantic ROs! Add customization options for MCs! Go forth and increase the scope of your IF, but don't scope creep that's the devil talking.
Black queer organizations: https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a32827051/black-lgbtq-organizations-groups/
Book on the topic: https://www.acornbookshop.com/products/refusing-compulsory-sexuality-a-black-asexual-lens-on-our-sex-obsessed-culture?variant=53980226453717
Asian Asexuality:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388886964_Asexuality_in_Asia_The_Intersection_of_Tradition_Identity_and_Sexual_Diversity (China, Japan, and India)
https://anoaqa.org/about-anoaqa-new/ (Organization focused on Asian asexuality!)
https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9202348&fileOId=9202351 (Dissertation on Japanese asexuality!)
https://www.asexualityasia.org/ (This organization is run by southeast Asian individuals, but promises a broad spectrum of covering Asian experiences.)
Indigenous Asexuality:
Guides to general Indigenous sexuality: https://guides.library.ubc.ca/c.php?g=735133&p=5293056
Unfortunately there isnāt much beyond my preliminary research, but thatās okay. I just did a general search, there are loads of people online willing to educate, feel free to seek them out!!!
Book list: https://boatneck-group-cf6.notion.site/aro-ace-books-bcaaaf3d0556465fb9b9135a7fe2952b
Make good choices, and keep queering up spaces. Special thanks to Fir and Lunan for agreeing to be tagged in this post, I apologize for asking anonymously but anxiety is a bitch. Happy pride month!
