I've seen this as well. Their writing turns from exploration of ideas into advocacy of dogmatic positions, which is absolute death for any sort of creativity. You'll see the same sort of thing among "allies", who tie themselves in knots, trying to output only correct thoughts and ideas, in order to maintain good standing with the new hierarchy they've aligned with. It's no different to people who adopt a new religion, or who are indoctrinated into an extremist political movement.
Yes! I've noticed their writing comes across like they are trying to get a reaction out of you instead of earnestly trying to tell a story. It comes across flat in a way. You can tell a lot from someone's writings, their thought process behind what they are writing and alike. It's a lot different than drawing or sculpting because it's a more personal form of expression. And in regards to journalism, their uppity self righteousness is impossible to ignore.
Their whole agenda is based on not trying to sound like they are condoning wrongthink, so they often write things out in a manner in which you the reader are told what is good and what is bad. There's a reason why these people are never truly recognized as "good artists" no matter how hard they try, at most I've only ever seen people praise a troon's visual art. A lot of a troon's attempt at writing is mostly based in vanity. Just like their identity, they wanna appear a certain way- mostly to gain status as a "creator". That mentality is noticeable in writing. The only times I've seen people who like a writer's work who had that vane mentality is when they had no idea about the art of writing- so of course they aren't gonna see it as it is.
I don't trust anyone who says they're a professional trans writer to tell me a damn thing about writing. They couldn't tell me about plot, structure, tension, word usage, anything aside from MAYBE character whinging and purple prose. I'm so fucking sick of it and I'm elated I do not have to speak to anyone about troon writing in books or games anymore because it's fucking atrocious.
Just returning to this, because it was writing that was the first crack in my shield of trans acceptance. Back in 2012 or so, I was part of the interactive fiction community, and there was this up-and-coming author that everyone just
knew you had to check out, a woman by the name of
Porpentine. No one could shut up about Porpentine. You have to check out Porpentine's works, Gorillionaire. You have to see how horrific they are, Gorillionaire. You have to see what she's saying about power and agency, Gorillionaire. Emily Short has praised her work, Gorillionaire. Sure, all of her works were just Twine games (meaning using hyperlinks, perhaps the most simplistic form of interactive fiction) but Twine was really trending at the time and some Twine games had been good.
Of course, Porpentine turned out to be trans, but I didn't know it at the time. I was curious and I liked to give all the popular works a shot, so, I played through a bunch. And what struck me immediately was how gross and puerile they were. They all dealt with violence against females and had a pretty fetishistic approach to bodily fluids and harm. I was astounded. The same community that grumbled about unrealistic depictions of women (or even just the
possibility of sexual assault, such as in Emily is Away) was holding up these works as being exemplary? As best as I could tell, to use an example, Cyberqueen was just an elaborate 'on rails' torture porn scenario featuring a Shodan expy that involved the player, a nameless female character, being made to drink piss, get drills jammed into your brain, being generally mutilated, masturbating as you torture and are tortured, being put in chastity, etc... Just so many things while the villain gloated about how they were ruining your power fantasy and your choices didn't change anything. I didn't get it. Between Bioshock (2007) and Stanley Parable (2011), it seemed obvious to me that the idea of video games offering genuine choice had been thoroughly rinsed. Why was this being celebrated? It was so obviously a sex thing.
I had to know.
And so I played another, and another, and they were all like that: 'game' after 'game' of fetish scenarios that mixed gross kinks with violence to women. Then, as I became more familiar with trans art, it struck me that Porpentine's works aren't anything unusual. Almost every trans work features this grotesque focus on bodily fluids, trash, waste and other putrid things that feel like what you'd find if you went sifting through F-List's grosser corners. Gretchen Felker-Martin's work is another prime example. As you said, it's about provoking a reaction. But I think, returning to Porpentine's work, Porpentine didn't place themselves as the
victim, but rather the one
inflicting the violence. Especially when the linked thread makes it obviously clear that it was, indeed, a sexual fetish.
Christine Love is another game designer I'm familiar with who is interesting because she basically degraded as trans culture became more accepted. Her first game, Digital, is genuinely great and worth the praise. The next big game, Analogue, is a notable step down but still pretty good, although the anime aspects, cosplay, etc. make it clear that something is a bit odd. These are the games that Christine Love is generally known for, but she has released others. There was Don't Take It Personally, which is notable because it featured a gross anime-flavored statutory rape love story subplot and the ability to perv on your underage students. Ladykiller in a Bind, a BDSM sex game where the player, a woman, is sexually abused by a man, and their most recent one which is full-on tumblcore trans aesthetic. But notably, Love is unlike most other trans artists in which she hasn't given into describing how gross everything else like she wants to be made to drink people's vomit or whatever else. But the statutory rape thing is enough to make the point anyway.
There was another story I checked out recently which I pegged the author as trans because the very first chapter was filled with these repeated descriptions and mentions of the protagonist sweating in fear and vomiting and tasting blood and bile. I'd love to know why so many trans artists express themselves this way. Why the fetishistic focus on gross things and bodily fluids? And why can no one in any of these writing communities, interactive or otherwise, see it? If a man wrote Cyberqueen, I doubt he'd have been celebrated, and I don't think a real woman would've written it because the whole point of the story is that females exist to be tortured in a grotesque sexual display.
I think trans writing appeals only to people who are into trans culture or are otherwise primed to enjoy the bizarre sexual fetishes that seep into every corner of the work. Trans-flavored slop, in other words.
