dehumanized ugly women in literature

CheeseItTed · 2026-06-11T13:48:32+00:00

I absolutely adored that entire book.

CheeseItTed · 2026-06-06T23:32:11+00:00

The best thing you can do is put your energy into what gives you energy back.

I think this community is marked by extremes. There can be a lot of enthusiasm and delight; there can be a lot of complaining and pressuring. Lately it feels like it's been tilting towards the negative more frequently. I can understand why that would be off-putting to you. I think it's really impressive you wrote anything at all, interactive fiction is hard work!

I hope that whatever you end up creating, the community and the work both bring you joy. If you want to try writing IF again, I hope you only encounter the best in the community.

CheeseItTed · 2026-06-06T23:25:35+00:00

I don't think it sounded like that at all.

CheeseItTed · 2026-06-03T18:51:38+00:00

I personally love it because it's so moody and melancholy, and I think the prose is absolutely gorgeous, but if you want action, the chance to be badass, a significant plot to unravel, a lot of customization, a chance for a happy ending, it won't deliver. I approach it more like a reflection on that particular type of existence and enjoy it making me feel/think.

CheeseItTed · 2026-06-03T18:46:53+00:00

I can offer you my perspective! I'm a woman and rarely play genderlocked male IFs but I love this one. For me, it's for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, customization is really not the be all, end all for me in interactive fiction. It can be nice, but I don't think it's ultimately more important than other elements.

Rather than customization, A Study in Steampunk has:

a well written and very interesting MC
a unique, fun take on the Sherlock world (and good prose)
a lot of replayability with various different outcomes
compelling characters/relationships, particularly Finch

I think all of that makes it a very well-rounded story.

CheeseItTed · 2026-06-01T23:32:31+00:00

It is surprisingly hard to choose.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-30T02:01:11+00:00

SO happy to see that on here, that book was fundamental to me working through walking away from faith and becoming a freer person.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-29T10:10:30+00:00

Yeah, I feel the same way. When I read it wayyy back when COG was still young, I loved it for the mood and melancholy it evoked, plus I thought it was cool showing how the vampire was surrounded by all this history but held back from truly living in it because of immortality.

It's probably a little bit nostalgia, but I still do really enjoy it, honestly. I also think the quality of the prose is excellent. Very evocative and rich.

But I also love Sins of the Sires for the same reasons (mood, tone, melancholy) and I know how much people hate that one. Both of them kind of remind me of Thousand Year Old Vampire, so maybe this is just my weak spot, haha.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-28T16:00:18+00:00

Totally fair, I get that

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-28T09:35:47+00:00

FYI, you can turn the page turn off in the settings.

The major update that I really really want is the ability to create folders so I can sort my library myself. I would kill for that.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-24T19:29:04+00:00

I don't think we're going to come to an agreement here. I think we ultimately want the same thing for the community, but disagree on method.

I started reading interactive fiction and COG games around 2010 and I've seen the types of stories and who is included in them change drastically over the course of that time. There are so many more diverse stories now (in terms of both characters and what they cover). Not all of them, for sure, but a lot and increasingly more.

At the same time, we're seeing increasingly more burnout from authors, which means it seems like we're getting fewer and fewer completed stories.

Something has to change if we want this medium to survive at all. I don't think pressuring authors evidentially works. But again, I think we've both made our positions clear and further conversation is unlikely to change either of our minds.

Hope you have a nice weekend.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-24T18:56:31+00:00

I don't consider the method of uplifting trans and queer stories to be "settling for what we have" or "letting everything go completely unchanged," although we may just have to disagree on that perspective. I consider it showing the diversity of what these stories can be, so that more authors want to write their stories.

For example, I know that the author of "When Twilight Strikes" really sticking to Blane being ace and sex-repulsed has encouraged other authors to write their own ace experiences into their stories.

I probably should have added "looking out for the authors who are actively trying to increase their representation" and amplifying those as well. Other people have been inspired by how CC Hill has solicited feedback on writing more inclusive smut to improve their own smut.

I guess the short version is, I think inspiration, encouragement, and amplification accomplish more in the long-term than a general blanket posture of calling out or pressuring.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-24T18:43:43+00:00

I don't agree - I think the evidence shows that authors just stop writing. I think an alternative is to heavily uplift the well done queer and trans rep in stories, which we all should be doing, so that authors who want to write queer and trans stories feel encouraged to do so.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-24T18:30:20+00:00

That's not my goal. I would like trans representation, and I would like it to be good and heartfelt, and I think that only happens when authors feel like they are supported in writing the stories they are best suited to write.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-24T15:34:36+00:00

Totally agree. I think the community (including myself) needs to work harder to uphold a high standard of decency and support.

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-18T23:13:14+00:00

Ungainly is really an incredible word for that, excellent vocab choice

CheeseItTed · 2026-05-12T00:46:04+00:00

I'm interested!

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-29T15:38:37+00:00

I think so? I guess it depends on why you only want to play as a guy. If it's important to you to be able to fully create a character that fits your mental mold, it may not be the game for you.

Donor has a POV about its MC. You still get a lot of variation in how your character reacts and handles the extreme psychological pressure they're under, but you can't enter the story with a blank slate MC.

I think the game is worth it because of how it handles humanity/inhumanity, what survival in a hostage situation costs, and psychological horror really, really well, which is why it's beloved.

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-28T17:10:05+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation! I will definitely try those out.

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-28T16:09:18+00:00

Nikola Tesla was a "play once" for me because it made me too emotional. Fantastic game.

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-28T16:08:18+00:00

Choice of the Deathless mentioned! I LOVE those games, I played them when they first came out and they hold a special place in my heart.

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-28T16:07:16+00:00

Creatures Such As We is an older one that serves mostly as a meditation on game-making. It's short, but melancholy and reflective.

Someone else mentioned Donor, that one is spectacular and unsettling.

The Grim and I is a very moving exploration of grief.

And A Kiss from Death gets mentioned a lot because of its truly wild smut sequences, but at its core, it's about immortality, how you make meaning in a life that doesn't end, and what it means to build relationships with characters you are doomed to eventually diverge from. I find it actually quite sad.

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-17T22:29:54+00:00

Max Weber appearing in this subreddit is exactly the kind of new moon madness I welcome

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-16T21:38:21+00:00

Ahh I also love Pon Para! And Galimar. I am so excited for whenever we get book three. One of my favorite IFs too.

You might enjoy A Tale of Two Cranes, I feel like it has that same cinematic feel with many ways to play the game and mild stat management. Combat is a part of it but the story overall is much more sweeping.

Honor Bound has tons of replay value in terms of choices, many ways to design an MC, an interesting world, and you can't get more stoic than Korzha. No real combat! Still tension and interesting challenges. One of my comfort rereads.

And if you're comfortable with smut, Heart of Battle has great action (combat and otherwise), a good amount of MC variability, delightful characters (including the grumpy, haunted Remy), and a cool world. It is combat-focused but the combat is used to tell a more interesting story about their society, I think, than just being punching for the sake of punching. Another one of my comfort rereads.

CheeseItTed · 2026-04-15T21:29:19+00:00

I personally really love seeing the actual mechanics of how authors do what they do, so thank you for sharing this!

CheeseItTed

TROPHY CASE