Notes
Essays on the genres behind each test, and notes on how the tests are designed.
Why a Truck? Reading the Opening Scene of Isekai Fiction
Isekai stories almost always begin with a death. Starting from that overfamiliar truck, this is a look at what the genre promises its readers, and why the Isekai Reincarnation Appraisal deliberately leaves the Hero and Demon Lord seats empty.
Scarier Than Zombies: What Apocalypse Stories Really Ask About Survival
The question that lingers after an apocalypse story is rarely what the monster was. It is what the people chose. These are the ideas we kept coming back to while building the Apocalypse Survival Test, traced through the genre and through the actual questions.
Why the Villainess Fights to Survive: The Rules of Romance Fantasy Possession Stories
Someone who already knows the ending falls into the story. A look at the rules romance fantasy possession stories keep returning to, and at what we weighed while turning those rules into seven questions and twenty-four endings.
Why We Fall for Villains: On the Small Malice of Everyday Life
In most stories, the villain moves before the hero does. This is an attempt to set down the idea we kept returning to while making My Villain Index: that petty spite resembles us far more than grand evil ever will.
The Caveman in Us: Taking the Instinct Joke Seriously
There is a running joke that we stockpile snacks and leave crackling-fire videos on because we are still cavemen at heart. This is a note on building My Caveman DNA — how far to trust that joke, and where to leave it as play.
How to Write a Scene-Based Question: Design Notes on the mgpages Tests
Behind a joke question about how you got hit by a truck sit six indicators and a few lines of decision rules. This is how the five tests actually score your answers and pick a result, described exactly as the code and data have it.