🍉This Ghost's Obsessions 🍉

That is very dependent on the MC and which side of this ideological war they choose.

Do they stand with Varyn, seeking to have the Order adopted by the Guild of Mages and view magiani talent as a type of magic, thus facilitating their reintroduction into a world that hates them? Does her reckless pursuit of equality for magiani destroy her own people?

Do they stand with Cenric, who will refuse—no matter the cost—to see magiani and Wayfarers as anything but outcasts separated from the rest of society because this is the way it has always been? Does his adherence to traditionalism get his people killed?

Do they stand with Sero, who plays the middle and refuses to take a side? Does their inaction and inability to make a decision cost the Order its life?

If they stand with Cenric or Sero, they will likely die; Varyn not only has the Wayfarers who sided with her (like Aeran), but also Sabien and his faction of the Guild. These are mages who know how to fight Wayfarers via environmental damage (see how Allegra can take out the MC during the Episode 3 finale). If the MC stands with Varyn, there's a chance they could survive—if they do not, they will probably die.

Completed Works

A Study in Steampunk: Choice by Gaslight by Heather Albano

Crosshollow: Foundations by @townofcrosshollow (marked as complete in itch.io but marked as indefinite hiatus on tumblr blog)

Faerie's Bargain: The Price of Business by Trip Galey

Heart of the House by @nissacam

Six Shots by BanzaiBonsai

The Eagle's Heir by Amy Griswold and Jo Graham

The Superlatives: Aetherfall by Alice Ripley

Broadway: 1849 by Robert Davis

Cannonfire Concerto by Caleb Wilson

Choice of Broadsides by Adam Strong-Morse, Heather Albano, and Dan Fabulich

If It Please the Court by D.E. Chaudron

A Player's Heart by Melissa Scott

Showdown at Willow Creek by Alana Joli Abbott

Tin Star by Allen Gies

Trials of the Thief-Taker by Joey Jones

Ambition: A Minuet in Power

Works-in-Progress

Crimson Rose & White Lily by @crimsonroseandwhitelily (confirmed hiatus)

Dead Men's Tales by @bertilakwrites (confirmed hiatus)

Rougi by @rougi-if

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Affairs of the Heart by @doriana-gray-games

The Flower of Fairmont by @zincalloygames

Completed Works

Elevator Hitch by racheldrawsthis, Rix & Studio INVESTIGRAVE

A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986 by @oracleandbone

Broken Minds (壊れた心) by LockedOn

Letters: A Written Adventure by Plug in Digital

Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance by Rocket Adrift Games

So, About Last Night by Elissa Black

The Passenger by @the-passenger-if

Devil On Your Shoulder by Lisa Fox Romance

Voulez-Vous? by @hellojoygames

Works-in-Progress

Gone To Hell in a Handbasket by @gthiah-if (possible hiatus, last update on blog was July 2023)

Conspiracy in Emerson by @emersonfreepress (hiatus post)

Nectar Lake, The Prequel by @nectarlake-if (hiatus post)

The Vanished Project by @666whatsyourvanishing (hiatus post) (may get turned into a VN?)

We Wretched Creatures & Excellent Cadavers & The Things We Leave Behind by @darkfictionjude

Cold Mountain & Have You Seen Me? by @midnighthostifs

The Night Library by @thenightlibrary-if

Perfumare: Avulsion by @pdrrook

The Midnight Bay by @midnight-bay-if

Rust Belt Lullabies by @meept0pia

DEVIL'S LIMINAL by @studiointerlude

4. How does your game/story draw from, or feature, aspects of your queer identity/experience? The all-bi cast is the obvious one, since I’m pansexual and the idea of a game where you genuinely could pursue anyone was the whole starting point, given I’ve mostly played reality tv games where not all characters are romanceable. But I think some more personal things have crept in without me entirely planning them. I had it easy with my family when it came to sexuality–genuinely, I’m lucky. But I’m not out as non-binary because the conversation would cost more than it’s worth, and I think that’s very quietly ended up in Anwar, who’s made a kind of peace with being misgendered by family who genuinely loves them, just not in every direction they need. It’s not a tragic fact about them, it’s more like ‘i understand the cost of that choice, even when it’s uncomfortable’ and I don’t think I could have written it the way I did without being in that situation myself. And as a disclaimer, I don’t believe people have to accept that kind of behaviour from family, but I also understand why someone would choose to accept that.

5. What are some of the most rewarding or challenging aspects of writing interactive fiction for you? The most rewarding thing is definitely the mess. I love writing messy characters -- someone who is loving and wrong at the same time, or kind in ways that still cause harm, or brave in one area and completely cowardly in another. The thing I love about IF is that, at least for me, it lets you go as complicated as you want, and I always want to go more complicated than is probably sensible. The challenge is also the mess, to be fair, because at some point, you have nineteen characters with interlocking psychological histories and a stat system and you have to make it all coherent no matter what MC does. And sometimes, I will set something up without knowing what it's setting up for and then have to reverse engineer an entire character arc.

6. What’s your approach to portraying queer characters, queer experiences/perspectives, or queer storylines in your IF? I try to write queerness as specific rather than general. It's not enough for a character to 'just' be bi/trans/ace. I want to know their specific preferences if they have them, what their sexuality or gender has cost them, or given them, or complicated for them. Anwar's family still misgenders them and they've had to make peace with that, which has also stopped them looking into the finer details of their sexuality. Charlie is autistic, non-binary and trans and navigating a world that wasn't built for those things simultaneously (or at all). Noah's first serious relationship ended because he was still working out his bisexuality and that has kind of affected his relationships since. And then there's Theo, who is demisexual and demiromantic, which meant that he took longer than some of the other characters to figure out his actual gender preferences.

7. What is one thing you hope to see in games or interactive fiction in the future—whether it be for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion, or just a personal itch you’d love to have scratched?

Honestly, I don't play enough IF to have a well-informed industry take on this. I'm extremely fussy and also a champion at putting off trying new things, which is a combination that means my sample size is embarrassingly small for someone who's writing in the medium. However, as a disabled person, I'm dying for more disabled ROs. In the ones I've played, characters with disabilities exist but more commonly as ROs, and when they do appear as ROs, I find mental health conditions or neurodivergence to appear more than physical disability, which is necessary representation, but the gap is there. Mattie exists in SOL partly because I wanted a disabled RO whose disability impacts everything for her and we'll get to see her struggle with it on some days, be fine on others, but also see how it affects things like relationships and sex, and how it intersects with being a queer person, especially when queer spaces and events are often inaccessible.

Closing

Are there any LGBTQ+ media, characters, stories etc. that live rent-free in your brain (or that you would like to recommend?) Root and Shaw from Person of Interest are the first characters I think of–they’re two women who communicate exclusively through violence and near-death experiences and somehow end up being one of the most devastating love stories I’ve ever watched. Callie Torres from Grey’s Anatomy, who came out in her thirties and handled it messily, with a lot of feelings, like a real person would. Sex Education’s Adam and Eric, who I was fully prepared to hate as a ship and then completely didn’t.

Silly closing question: If you were to make a game in one weekend, which of these LGBTQ+ (or general) tropes/cliches would you build the game around? Feel free to elaborate on the silly idea for funsies.

U-Haul 

Found Family - partly because I could write it in a weekend without needing a stat system, a recoupling system, or a variable tracking everyone’s coffee preferences. Partly because I think there’s an argument that every good story is a found family story if you look at it right. And partly because I would make at least one character annoyingly reluctant to admit they care about anyone, and I would have the time of my life doing it. 

Gay Panic/Disaster Gay

Angst/Bury Your Gays/Tragic End