miefig

miefig is a fictional framework used in speculative fiction and online communities to describe a modular, unified schema for encoding fictional entities and their narratives.

Origin and etymology: The term emerged in informal forums in the 2010s as a playful portmanteau, with no formal standard body. It is treated as a thought experiment rather than a formal specification.

Structure: The concept is described as consisting of three layers: a data schema for entities and attributes; a graph of relationships between entities; and a rendering layer to visualize connections. Proponents emphasize that the model is intentionally flexible to accommodate various media and storytelling styles.

Applications: Writers, game designers, and researchers use miefig to outline character networks, plot arcs, or world-building elements, and to prototype tools for multimodal storytelling. It is commonly discussed in the context of world-building, narrative design, and speculative data visualization.

Status and reception: Because it is not standardized, practices vary widely; some users treat it as a conceptual tool for organizing ideas, while others experiment with lightweight implementations in personal projects. It remains primarily within hobbyist and early-adopter communities rather than a formal discipline.

See also: ontology, graph database, multimodal storytelling.