Archive: Story Experiences

If I Survive You
Experience: Empathy
Narrative Technology: I want to propose a new narrative technology term
"Him start walking you inside and telling you how beautiful the baby you make is, but all you can think 'bout is how it good your mummy and daddy never lived to see this. More than that, you think 'bout how you break Sanya' heart. And about how she make you choose between Delano and Trelawny to take back to the house you finally rebuild and how she say she will never set foot inside that house again. You told her you don' wan' take either son from she and she say, You think I go let you walk away from your responsibilities? Like that your plan the whole time. She say, You will take Delano, because me don' trust you with Trelawny. And you can' deny you felt small bit of relief." -Escoffery 62
Contributed by: gjosselyn
April 27, 2026
Lost In Translation
Experience: Identification
Narrative Technology: Soliloquy
"Each night, I dream of a tiny old woman—a wizened Baba Yaga, half grandmother, half witch, wearing a black kerchief and sitting shriveled and hunched on a tiny bench at the bottom of our courtyard, way, way down. She is immeasurably old and immeasurably small, and from the bottom of the courtyard, which has become immeasurably deep, she looks up at me through narrow slits of wise, malicious eyes. Perhaps, though, I am her. Perhaps I have been on the earth a long, long time and that’s why I understand the look in her eyes. Perhaps this childish disguise is just a dream. Perhaps I am being dreamt by a Baba Yaga who has been here since the beginning of time and I am seeing from inside her ancient frame..." -Hoffman 6
Contributed by: gjosselyn
April 27, 2026
No Friend But The Mountains
Experience: I want to propose a new experience term
Narrative Technology: I want to propose a new narrative technology term
"The police that patrolled the city left no stone unturned in pursuit of us; I couldn't relax for a second. They were throwing everyone they caught into prison, and then deporting them after a few days. Even contemplating that scenario is painful. Having to return to the point from which I started would be a death sentence." -Boochani 9
Contributed by: gjosselyn
April 27, 2026
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series)
Experience: I want to propose a new experience term
Narrative Technology: I want to propose a new narrative technology term
"Okay, first of all, I’m a vampire slayer. And secondly, I’m retired…" and "Well, I have both been there and done that [slain vampires]. And I am moving on." -"Welcome to the Hellmouth" The plot of the first episode is Buffy wanting to be a normal girl, but being pulled into the Slayer identity she is actively fighting to rid herself of.
Contributed by: gjosselyn
April 27, 2026
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Experience: Relief
Narrative Technology: Suspense
FF14 infamously kills, kidnaps, and makes characters disappear only to have them reappear, be saved by the player/user, or have the situation resolved later. This is more apparent earlier in the game, later becoming less satisfying and more of a trope. [EXTREME SPOILER] The killing and subsequent slow and dramatic discovery of an alive Gosetsu in Stormblood takes a tense and depressing moment of the story and suddenly turns it into a comedic element for the rest of this chapter of the game.
Contributed by: Owen
March 19, 2026
Baldur's Gate 3
Experience: Moral Omniscience
Narrative Technology: Dream of the World
"The githyanki is the source of our protection against the Absolute. I MUST subdue him or everything we've worked towards is lost. Don't let my form deceive you. I am the one that's been protecting you. I am the one that came to you in your dreams. Help me." - This specific moment in the story connects the abstract, seemingly not-real moments that the player dreams of to a physical character that has effects on the story beyond what the player character sees/thinks alone.
Contributed by: Owen
March 19, 2026
Parable of the Sower
Experience: Relearning
Narrative Technology: I want to propose a new narrative technology term
The novel begins with passages from EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING and then we learn from the first-person narrator that these verses have been crafted by her: "For whatever it's worth, here's what I believe. It took me a lot of time to understand it, then a lot more time with a dictionary and a thesaurus to say it just right--just the way it has to be."
Contributed by: mi
February 28, 2026
What Strange Paradise
Experience: I want to propose a new experience term
Narrative Technology: Breaking the Fourth Wall
The narrator relates the story in English, with occasional references to the fact that many characters don't know the language and worry about the impact this will have on their chances of survival. This made me very aware that this global crisis was being made intelligible for me (a person distanced from it).
Contributed by: mi
February 16, 2026
Oh, Mary!
Experience: Being Wrong
Narrative Technology: Plot Twist
A completely unexpected twist immediately after another unexpected revelation.
Contributed by: mi
June 15, 2025