“Living Will” by Mark Marino is arguably a great example of how web-based fiction communicates realism through its overall structure and function.  We connect instantly through the physical structure of the text as it intrigues us to discover what reading someones will would be like, as well as triggering thoughts about our future, and ultimately, our death. We engage with the emotional realism of Marinos text thorough its overall structure as a virtual legal document, and in Living Will, we learn that this is E. R. Millhouse’s will. We are invited to choose who we want to choose as our character to progress into the narrative as. With the choice to choose which member of the Millhouse family you wish to represent in this reading of the will, Living Will connects with its readers on an emotional level by acknowledging this occurrence as something we will likely have to partake in ourselves one day in the real world. As readers, Living Will leaves us to hypothetically ask who’s will we may find ourselves reading one day. Living Will in this way communicates realism through its structure as a virtual will, and ultimately as a very real, important and serious document.

The structure of web-based fictions like Living Will engage us through the reality of viewing a hypothetical version of something, that is very much a real thing in the physical world as well. With respect to the function Marino has given Living Will as an web-based fiction, we notice that through the virtual depiction and representation of a very real legal document, the function of the text is arguably to educate readers in understanding the meaning and importance behind the will as a legal document, and further, functions as a representation of the legal process after someone dies. The web-based fiction in this way communicates realism through structure and function by inviting us to view and understand a legal document, and emotionally connects us in this way with our significant others in the physical world, and who’s after death life we may play a part in in terms of their will. Another interesting function Living Will plays out is how it invites us to gain access to as many funds as we can from this dead person. In this way, the texts communicates realism through its functionality of depicting conflicts of interest that could arise between family members after someones death. We notice that dealing with a will may not always be an easy task to accomplish with the presence of other people, and Living Will effectively communicates the emotional reality of this fact through its structure and function.