Mark C. Marino’s Living Will is an interactive digital text that employs “procedural generation,” meaning that the text changes based on an algorithmic system rather than being fixed. The story takes the form of a legal will, written by a fictional lawyer, named ER Millhouse. But unlike a normal will, which is meant to be final and unchanging, this one continually updates itself based on how the reader interacts with it. This makes the text unique to each person who reads it.
One of the main ideas behind Living Will is questioning control—both in writing and in real life. Normally, an author decides exactly what a reader experiences, and a will is supposed to set clear instructions for the future. But here, the computer’s program changes the text, making it impossible to pin down a single meaning or outcome. This work also connects to hypertext literature, where stories don’t have to be read in a straight line. Instead, different choices lead to different experiences. However, Living Will goes a step further by generating new text rather than just linking to different pages. Each link you click brings you to a new piece of the will, describing a particular asset or familial connection.
Playing Living Will feels like interacting with a legal document that has a mind of its own. Instead of just reading a fixed text, you watch as the will updates itself, shifting the details of inheritances, relationships, and legal statements as you engage with it. It’s as if the document is rewriting itself in real time, making you question whether anything in it is truly final. The piece can also be read through a colonialist lens, particularly in how it engages with issues of authority, control, and the instability of legal documents. Marino’s work challenges the idea that such legal documents are stable and final, exposing the way they can be rewritten and manipulated by external forces using his unpredictable story line and choose-your-own-adventure style.
This entry was written as a requirement for ENGL 693: Digital Literature, Dr. Melinda White, University of New Hampshire, Spring 2025
