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Current word count: 98k!
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 MC
** Optional sexual content (explicitly detailed)
** Nudity
** Touching without specific consent (this work is not written with specific touch-aversions in mind)
** Death (human: unnatural and accidental)
** Depression/Anxiety/Panic
** Nightmares
** Disparaging thoughts
** Substance use and references/use of alcohol
** 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 physical 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.... 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.
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.
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
In this post I wanted to talk about what asexuality might look like in IFs, and the various ways this might be encoded into one’s 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 Oswin’s 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 isn’t 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. “What are you doing?”
“I’m testing how you feel. Is that not okay?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Because you need to ask first” (Just asking for general consent)
“Because I know where this might lead, and I’m not into it.” (You can clarify with a note as to what you mean by this, but this can be interpreted as ‘baseline’ asexuality)
“Because I need to know you, and I don’t.” (Potentially demisexual choice or greysexual)
OR
You feel warm at their touch, allowing them to keep their hand where it was.
“Where is this going?” You ask.
“Wherever you want it to go.” 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 didn’t want it to escalate further, the warmth of their hand felt so good in the moment (General consent)
“I don’t want this to be more than… a touch. I like feeling you, I like knowing you want me close, but nothing more.” (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 isn’t much beyond my preliminary research, but that’s 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!
Just realized (and based on the analytics for the games) that I failed to be clear about where to access Chapter 7.
The IF is formatted into different books usually around 5 chapters long. They are continuations of one another, and do connect across the story. I had assumed people would know this but that's completely on me for making such an assumption.
Book 1: All Things Terrible and Beautiful contain chapters 1-5
Book 2: Flowers and Devotion will contain chapters 6-10. Chapters 6 & 7 are completed! The others are just in development.
Sorry again for the confusion, and make good choices!
This is my efforts to continue the sort of thought train I had in creating my post on Intersexuality.
This post will be focusing on Asexuality, but will not be an encompassing post that covers every nuance with a fine toothed comb. Instead this is merely my observations and lived experiences along with academic research. Furthermore, while the majority of my references are academic papers, you can likely get around the flowery research jargon by reading the Discussion/Conclusions at the end of the paper.
This is part 1 of two posts I plan on making in regards to this topic. This post is the introduction and the next post will be about implementation of Asexuality in IFs!
More info under the break!
A quick video about Asexuality: Here
This video, in my opinion, provides an easy jumping off point as to what asexuality is. Though the introduction leaves me wanting since it might be confusing for an unassuming viewer- but! That metaphor is very much how asexuality works.
Asexuals do not experience sexual attraction. They might experience desire, they may get aroused, they may experience all the notions of sexual experiences but they just aren't sexually attracted to people.
There are variations to the asexual identity, that which are of course, very complicated and require extensive research that this post *does not* provide. I will provide however, at the end, a resource list for people to get started.
For now I will present some categories, some examples of representation, as well as ways one can misrepresent the asexual identity.
Definitions:
Sex-repulsed: Means what it says on the tin, an individual may be repulsed by sex or made uncomfortable on the topic. This label may be considered problematic by some due to that nature of it being.... limiting in description. However, this is the most common label and there is no shame in using this or any of the following labels.
Sex-neutral: Means that this individual is pretty neutral about sex. They can participate if they so desire, or not.
Sex-positive: Means that an asexual might be perfectly fine having sex or being involved sexually with someone. This label has been discussed as having a complexity to it. That complexity being... why does it assume asexuals hate sex or believe it's a negative thing? There's so much nuance to that discussion, so much so that I provide a resource on it below, but it's really up to the people who want to use the label to claim the label.
Allosexual: Those who feel sexual attraction!
Baseline Asexuals
This title is misleading, and that's on purpose. There is no baseline for the asexual identity. There is no one way to exist and be as a person.
However, most associate the notion of asexuals as usually sex repulsed individuals who are inherently against any NSFW conversation. This, I think, is more so the societal association of asexuality towards celibacy. Meaning, we expect asexuals, on a baseline, to be prude and practice celibacy.
This is not true, this doesn't have to be true, nor should anyone feel bad for feeling differently. This is a silly tumblr post, this is not to be taken as true understanding of what Asexuality is.
Demisexuals
Demi-sexuals are people on the asexual spectrum who do not feel sexual attraction to someone unless they are close to that individual.
Some may say that such an identity is kind of moot. Who doesn't wait to have sex with someone until they know them? A lot of people, which hey good for them!
It's more so legitimately about the "literally feel nothing" part. The individual is likely to just not be sexually attracted to anyone until they are close, they have to trust that individual. Then, almost like a switch being flipped or a gradual release of the emotion, that person might be sexually attracted to another person!
Mind you, this does not mean a demisexual would participate in sex with that other person. Another nuance in this instance! But something I wanted to clarify all the same.
Greysexuals
This is an identity that gets more complex, where it can be a label for those who feel like they're on the asexual spectrum. This can be considered a broad label for some, similar to how claiming the 'queer' label is the same as giving yourself a boundless identity. Some people have complicated feelings towards sex, sexuality, and sexual attraction! If you claim this label, that's okay, and if you change your mind and decide you're allosexual that's okay as well. That goes for all identities in this list.
Trauma-based asexuality
Trauma-based asexuality has a basis of being a sort of trauma-response to having experienced SA or abuse in other forms. This is a complex topic, where there has been discourse across the internet. I think no one deserves to be felt like they're pushed out from an identity they align with, just because the origin of their identity is different.
References:
Bittle, A., & Anderson, V. N. (2025). As human as anybody else: Attitudes toward asexual people. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 12(3), 508-521. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000652
Carvalho, A. C., & Rodrigues, D. L. (2022). Sexuality, Sexual Behavior, and Relationships of Asexual Individuals: Differences Between Aromantic and Romantic Orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(4), 2159-2168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02187-2
Deluzio Chasin, C. (2011). Theoretical Issues in the Study of Asexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(4), 713-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9757-x
Hall, D. L., & Hall, D. L. (2025). Asexual identity strength and age of self-identification as factors in mental health. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, , 14. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000874
Higginbottom, B. (2024). The Nuances of Intimacy: Asexual Perspectives and Experiences with Dating and Relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 53(5), 1899-1914. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02846-0
Przybylo, E., & Gupta, K. (2020). Editorial Introduction: The Erotics of Asexualities and Nonsexualities: Intersectional Approaches. Feminist Formations, 32(3), vii-xxi.
Stenersen, M. R., & Bridges, S. K. (2026). LGBTQIA+ applications in humanistic and existential psychology. In L. Hoffman, L. X. Vallejos, D. Hocoy, P. Tummala-Narra & E. M. DeRobertis (Eds.), APA handbook of humanistic and existential psychology: Clinical and social applications (Vol. 2) (pp. 245-259, 680 Pages). American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000432-012
Variations in Sexual Identity Milestones Among Asexual People. (2025). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54(2), 561-573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-03031-z
Yule, M. A., Brotto, L. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2017). Human Asexuality: What Do We Know About a Lack of Sexual Attraction? Current Sexual Health Reports, 9(1), 50-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-017-0100-y
Less academic but absolutely valid sources:
Verywellmind
healthline
An Asexuality Org's page: here
The Trevor Project
Thank you for reading such a lengthy post! Again, please check out the resources above for further readings on the topic.
This is a post that will detail any songs I come across that I feel like suit the ROs and certain emotional states. I will provide a Youtube link to each song and a short blurb as to how it is relevant to the RO! As mentioned in a few posts, I totally welcome song suggestions especially for this post, and will give credit to you if permitted.
Most songs in this list will have a primary instrument that I strongly associate with each RO. That being said if there are songs that I cannot explain without a spoilery explanation, I will put in the MISC section.
TUG
With TUG, I strongly associate the god with the hurdy gurdy. A strange choice to some of you I know, but it feels so perfect for it.
Tug is likely to get angry at points throughout the IF, especially if you make choices that stress him out. In battle or if TUG is massively upset, Visions by Guilhem Desq would play
Given TUG's so far hinted at past, Little Dark Age by MGMT feels most relevant to them
MISC TUG songs:
The Line by Twenty One Pilots
Functional Poetry by The Narcissist Cookbook
NOT ENTIRELY ALONE by The Narcissist Cookbook
the bird song (with Em Beihold) by Noah Floersch
Alittle. by ROMES - warning themes of suicidal ideation!
Flor
With Flor, I associate the god of flowers with the piano!
Flor, like any god, has the capacity for a great and menacing anger. The kind no mortal would survive. Therefore, when Flor is angry I believe the song Asgretalos by Keygen Church starts to play.
Flor struggles a great deal with what happened at the Siege of Tyrants, especially as so many children died in the war. In turn, to drive that dagger into their heart a little further, I associate the song Harpy Hare by Yaelokre to be suitable for the god.
Related to the above song blurb, Eat Your Young by Hozier also feels delightfully relevant. Along with Rabbitology's Wildfire.
What do calm days look like with Flor? If you want to picture it, listen to One Summer Day by Joe Hisashi.
If romantically involved with the MC, I feel like such a romance can be best associated with Bloody Tears (from Castlevania) by Myuu.
MISC Flor songs:
damaged goods by The Narcissist Cookbook
dirge (for neomar lander) by The Dreadnoughts
Dawn
With Dawn, and this feels most obvious, I associate the viol or similar string instruments.
Dawn gets angry like anyone does, but when that happens her playing gets more violent and frightening. She adds showmanship, a dangerous playfulness to her playing; Therefore I think Beethoven Virus by DIANA is most accurate to portray this anger, though fair warning this Youtube video does have flashing lights!!
MISC Dawn songs:
The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels
NOT ENTIRELY ALONE by The Narcissist Cookbook
Retribution by P.T. Adamczyk
I just think she would like it: HOES DEPRESSED by THOT SQUAD
Small update on this! One of my players for the EXILED campaign I run (which the IF is based off of) created a playlist for Flor!
Here
Feel free to give it a listen for those inclined. Also worth noting that this person wants me to say "R is the OG Flormancer and is President of the Flormancer club" that is all.
Hello folks! I am in the sort of editing stage of Chapter 7. I don't know when I will publish it, likely in the coming week.
There will be some down time! Little time to explore the MCs home city. There will be hot cocoa too!
Chapter 8 is already in development, mostly have written the beginnings of relationships! You'll be able to see just how the ROs are with the MC taking initiative...
That being said I wanted to add that my intent for Dawn is to sort of make it a slowburn, friends to lovers sort of deal. Of course, lovers is open to interpretation into QPR.
About having kids - is adoption the only choice for cis male MC with them? Or does he have some kind of godly magics to make bio kids with MC?
Flor’s kingdom is gladly yours already anon!
But in regards to having kids, unfortunately Flor’s growing mortality will not allow him to have such magic. Were they to have a cis male partner as a god, they’d likely use their magic if his partner was willing!
But alas circumstances within the IF make it a bit difficult beyond maybe finding a surrogate!
I want to elaborate on the 'circumstances' kind of deal minor spoilers! But basically in the world, there are likely mages who are like "Here you are" and oops bio kids!
This would be sort of covered under Flor or Zayin's orders, since those folks interact with children the most. However, thanks to the war wiping out most resources (like weapons, people capable of powerful magic, etc) such luxuries cannot be currently afforded.
In other words, Theras is in a steep decline into ruin, and may completely be destroyed if the Corona or you fails to save it.
About having kids - is adoption the only choice for cis male MC with them? Or does he have some kind of godly magics to make bio kids with MC?
Flor’s kingdom is gladly yours already anon!
But in regards to having kids, unfortunately Flor’s growing mortality will not allow him to have such magic. Were they to have a cis male partner as a god, they’d likely use their magic if his partner was willing!
But alas circumstances within the IF make it a bit difficult beyond maybe finding a surrogate!
This is a short creative post of mine that I feel might interest y'all abit! The story is under the cut.
There are times when Flor can’t look at himself. Which is hard to do when you are the beauty that graces this earth, every step you take produces bountiful flowers that your followers place at your shrines as devotion to your beauty.
Before the war, there was endless opportunity to ignore their appearance. It was always kept, allowing him to ignore their curled hair much unlike how mortals must do their regimens. Sometimes, he watches them.
It isn’t a private affair, most often he sits themself in a room, a class of sorts filled with his charges, all learning how to take care of their or other’s hair. They watch with fascination as each strand of hair is braided or weaved into another. All the while his scalp tingles and something stirs in his chest.
They’ve met beautiful mortals before, with alpine noses and off-center teeth. He longed to kiss them, to know what their cleft lips felt like against theirs. Warmth, they tell himself, warmth.
Where does that warmth reside?
Not within him they say, not within him.
For their blood runs a cool silver, and his eyes contain an endless void. He’s a shame, a warmth that does not catch, a fire that longs to burn. Who are they to watch with such hunger? To desire tastes of touch?
He imagines you, you whom they love, you whom he knows nothing about. The magical you. The romantic you, the beauty of you and all you entail. Your hands are unknown to him, but at the thought of you touching their hair he shivers. As the thought of your hands brushing against the back of his neck they bite down a groan.
A you that does not exist, a being his equal and yet not his kin. He longed for you, waited for you. They’ve written sonnets to you, faceless you, he sung them as the rain poured outside and the babe rested against his sin.
He pictured every word as they pressed them against your skin with his lips. You. They whispered to himself, You.
He undoes the belt on his pants, thrusting his hand down to where it is warm and safe and comforting. In the end they only felt pathetic in his release. He doesn’t feel you then, the ghost of hands on their chest, slick fluids on his stomach.
God he wants you. They want something that is his.
The war does not change this desire, but only serves to remind him of it. Thousands dead, thousands more yet to die. Never to be found, oh you. They imagine you, looking at him fondly, screaming at their monstrosity, loving him anyways because you can. Because you love him the best way you can, with all the boundaries you hold, none that they contain. Because you, oh gods you, are the keeper of the rules and the ideas for what you are. He doesn’t know you, they want to taste you, to grasp you, to dig his teeth into you for their hunger. They hunger.
You will be safe, you will be loved, you will be longed for. You may never exist, and yet he imagines that one day, one day you just might.
Why did you update this but not Brightest Stars? I thought you couldn't get out of bed?
You know, if people want me to write for The Brightest Stars or Silk and Death, poking jabs at my depressive state isn’t the way to do it. I didn’t want to share the ask, because I don’t want to give this anon attention. But it has actually messed up with my ability to enjoy writing.
For now, I’m going to be stepping back from Silk and Death, at least for the moment (congrats, anon: did you get what you wanted?). My enthusiasm for it has just… had the winds taken out of the sails. And it’s a damn shame, too, because I was really enjoying working on it. Hell, I might even take a step back from The Brightest Stars. This whole thing has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
For my readers: please remember that the authors on the other side of the screen are people too, you know? We have our own thoughts and feelings.
I’ll be disabling anon asks for a little while. This isn’t to punish anyone, I just think that disabling that type of anonymity will help curtail rudeness.
I've realized after posting about Intersexuality, which you can find here, that many people don't know entirely about the queer community.
That is completely fine! I mean that. Not everyone has the chance to experience queerness directly, especially if they're cishet.
I, for one, have been involved a lot in my local queer communities within my academic institutions. That includes being president of a queer club for two years! I'm used to running events and answering questions.
I also have done extensive research into psychology and queerness. Mostly observing how queerness may intersect with mental health, but also just social justice in general. If people have topics they'd like for me to discuss, I will try to give an answer! I am by *no means* an expert, but I can absolutely provide jumping off points for those curious!
In the meantime, I will post another two posts on Asexuality and Aromanticism. These topics are largely un-discussed and/or go poorly represented. I will address, to the best of my abilities, all this and potentially more!
I have a question about the gods and them becoming the mc’s patron. If it’s spoilers feel free to just ignore this, but I’m wondering how the contracts work? I guess specifically I’m wondering if it’s a thing where if the mc does something (accidentally or not) they’re not supposed to that Tug/Mirin suddenly want nothing to do with us, or something else.
I’m really enjoying your IF, though!! It’s really cool! :)
Hi anon, I hope you're doing well too!
Minor spoilers for chapter 6 below the break
With the contracts, both contracts have their flaws of not being entirely clear nor outlining the consequences of your actions.
TUG's contract is very open ended with not a lot of protections for you or the god, but you can lose this contract if you make decisions that would put too much stress on TUG's shoulders. Or, you can end the contract yourself, but that would require you and TUG to not be getting along all that well.
Mirin's contract covers various bases, but comes with the caveat that what breaking these rules look like is.... subjective. Mirin gets to decide if you're breaking the rules, and if you do, you suffer the consequences of not having her on your side. Additionally, if you show disrespect for the gods for example, she will disapprove of you.
Each god has a threshold as to how much they can accept you being 'difficult' until they give you a warning. Each god has a threshold where they will cut you off entirely. Whether that be for their benefit, yours, or the world's benefit.
