em forgotten

A supplementary essay describing the creation, research, and choices involved in creating the interactive fiction em forgotten. Includes essay, musical score, and code sample. Please access the link included either in the essay or in the references to read the story itself.

em forgotten is a piece of interactive fiction expanding on the history of queer storytelling and the realities of growing up queer in a small town. This interactive story explores first love and loss, self-discovery, and the confusion that sometimes comes with growing up and not quite knowing who you are. Through an array of technology, prose, poetry, and music, em forgotten tells the story of two girls struggling to grow up and find themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. Through its interactive nature, it allows readers to experience a queer first love and the open wound that is left when that love is over.