examining yourself: why doesn't this work?

The following code always prints the first message, not the text following [otherwise].

Instead of examining yourself, say “[if we have not examined yourself]As good-looking as ever.[otherwise]Still as good-looking as ever.[end if]”

My intention is to have the word ‘still’ show up always after the first time the hero examines themselves.
However, the word ‘still’ never shows up, no matter how many times I examine myself in-game.
What am I doing wrong?

This is the simplest way I can figure out how to code that – though maybe someone else can get something closer to your syntax.

Instead of examining yourself, say "[one of]As[or]Still as[stopping] good-looking as ever."

The relevant chapter in the docs is: §5.7. Text with random alternatives.

It’s because you’re using an Instead rule. That means that as far as Inform knows, the examining action never actually happens, so it never marks the yourself object as examined. This would be the most natural way of doing it:

The description of yourself is "[if we have examined yourself]Still as[otherwise]As[end if] good-looking as ever."

OK, got it working now. Thanks to both of you!