Line #29 Main/LetMeTellYouAStory


1	->'''Dorothea:''' What's wrong, Teach?
2	->'''Joe:''' It's just I've been waiting on this day for... my entire life. I thought I'd feel different.
3	->'''Dorothea:''' ''[beat]'' I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to this older fish and says, "I'm trying to find this thing they call the ocean." "The ocean?" says the older fish. "That's what you're in right now." "This?" says the young fish. "This is water. What I want is the ocean."
4	->'''Joe:''' ''(silence)''
5	->'''Dorothea:''' See you tomorrow.
6	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}''
7
8	Alice and Bob are having a conversation. Alice wants to make a point, but to tell Bob straightforwardly wouldn't have the impact she wants to make. So she decides to tell him a story. The story at first seems somewhat random and unrelated to the matter at hand. (This might result in annoyance on Bob's part, especially if something important is going on and it seems like Alice is wasting time, or if this is something she does a lot.) However, once the story is finished, it becomes clear that there is a moral behind it. If Bob still seems confused about the story's relevance, Alice may spell it out for him. Or she may just leave him guessing.
9
10	The most common term for these stories is the parable, a tale used to illustrate some message. The term often refers to religious parables meant to express spiritual concepts. Of course, it's not limited to that.
11
12	Old people are very prone to do this, often in the form of a RamblingOldManMonologue. They have a lot of stories to tell. This also makes it a favorite tactic of TheBore.
13
14	The musical version of this is MoralityBallad. May overlap with AppealToFamilialWisdom. See also AndThatLittleGirlWasMe.
15	----
16	!!Examples
17
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Fan Works]]
21	* ''Fanfic/TheRiseOfDarthVulcan'': In order to get her point across about how a corrupt town fabricated natural disasters for profit, Twilight tells an old zebra story.
22	-->'''Twilight:''' Zekwantu was a great chieftain in the Zebra lands. He ruled many tribes. There came a time when one of their lands became overrun with poisonous snakes. Cobras. They got into the henhouses, bit foals, became a deadly nuisance. To solve the problem, Zekwantu offered a bounty of one silver bit for every cobra caught. He offered it for many years, and handed out many thousands of bits... but the problem did not lessen. In fact it only got worse. It wasn't until he investigated that he discovered that his generous reward money had funded the creation of a whole new industry in the land.
23	-->'''Celestia:''' And that would be?
24	-->'''Twilight:''' Do-it-yourself snake farming.
25	-->'''Celestia:''' ''(Laughing)'' I assume he ended the bounty.
26	-->'''Twilight:''' Yes. Of course the farmers just released all their snakes into the wild... and thus they ended up with more poisonous snakes everywhere than when they started out.
27	* ''Fanfic/TheVictorsProject'': As Boudicca is agonizing over whether to choose Justus as tribute for the 27th Games, Snow calls her and tells her he is agonizing over whether to give his most prized horse to President Lucius's grandson and asks her what he should do. Boudicca gets the message, tells Snow to do his duty, and then selects Justus as tribute.
28	%% ZCE * [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/124263/1/songs-uncle-sings/sineva Songs Uncle Sings.]]
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Film]]
32	* In ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'', Kenai does this with Koda in order to break it to him that [[spoiler: he killed his mother]].
33	-->'''Kenai:''' Y-Y-You know that story you told me last night?
34	-->'''Koda:''' Yeah.
35	-->'''Kenai:''' Well, I-I have a story to tell you.
36	-->'''Koda:''' Really? What's it about?
37	-->'''Kenai:''' Well, it's kind of about a man. And kind of about a bear. But... Mostly, it's about a monster. A monster who did something so bad...
38	* Silent Bob's TitleDrop speech in ''Film/ChasingAmy'' about his relationship with a girl named Amy qualifies as this.
39	* In ''Film/Conspiracy2001'', Dr. Kritzinger relates a story to Reinhard Heydrich as a warning to what he is trying to accomplish at the conference (the extermination of the Jewish people), which Heydrich later relates in turn to Müller and Eichmann at the end. It concerns a boyhood friend of Kritzinger, who hated his abusive father fiercely but was devoted to his loving mother. When his mother died some years later, the man tried to cry as her casket was lowered into the grave, but wasn't able to. When his father died at a much older age, the man couldn't control his tears. The moral of the story is that being consumed by hatred for something will mean that once that thing is gone, the hater's life will be nothing but a hollow shell anymore.
40	* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Bruce Wayne is trying to figure out ComicBook/TheJoker's motivations. Alfred tells him [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHCdKb5UWc this story]]:
41	-->'''Alfred:''' A long time ago, I was in Burma, my friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never found anyone who traded with him. One day I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.\
42	'''Bruce:''' Then why steal them?\
43	'''Alfred:''' Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. [[ForTheEvulz Some men just want to watch the world burn.]]
44	-->''[later]''
45	-->'''Bruce:''' The bandit, in the forest in Burma, did you catch him?\
46	'''Alfred:''' [[HopeSpot Yes.]]\
47	'''Bruce:''' How?\
48	'''Alfred:''' [[GodzillaThreshold We burned the forest down.]]
49	** ComicBook/TheJoker offers [[MultipleChoicePast parables]] as death notices, alluding to morals but amounting to executions as punishments for garnering his attention.
50	* In ''Film/{{Deewaar}}'', Vijay relates the fable of ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goose_That_Laid_the_Golden_Eggs The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs]]'' to Samant when the latter suggests killing Vijay to get a BallisticDiscount.
51	* ''Film/TheGuilty'': While [[TalkingDownTheSuicidal trying to convince Iben not to kill herself]], Asger relates to her the story of a young man he killed in the line of duty to assuage her guilt.
52	* ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' tells numerous stories throughout the movie. When Edwin Stanton realizes that Lincoln is going to start another one, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he storms out]].
53	* Bacon in ''Film/LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels'' tell the guys the story of Smithy Robinson, an old geezer beaten to death with a "15-inch black rubber cock" as a warning tale of what happens to the people that don't pay [[AxCrazy Hatchet Harry]] what they owe him.
54	* ''Film/{{Serpico}}'': When Serpico expresses his anger that he's regarded with suspicion because he's the only detective in their division who isn't corrupt, his girlfriend tells him a story of a WickedWitch who poisoned a well and drove everyone mad, except for the king who hadn't drunk from the well. So the townspeople decide to kill the king because he is 'insane', until the king too drinks from the well and goes crazy too. "And the next day there was much rejoicing as the king had regained his sanity."
55	-->'''Serpico:''' I think you're trying to tell me something.
56	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}'': Dorothea when Joe expresses his disappointment about becoming a professional jazz player. This exchange provides the page quote.
57	* ''Film/StarWarsRevengeOfTheSith'':
58	-->'''Palpatine:''' Did you ever hear ''The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise''?
59	* In ''Film/{{Targets}}'', [[Creator/BorisKarloff Orlock]] gives a nice recitation of the story [[http://www.thestorytelling-resource-centre.com/Appointment_in_Samarra.html "An Appointment In Samarra."]] It doesn't seem to be told to anyone in particular, which would make it a StoryWithinAStory... though it could be meant for the movie watchers.
60	* ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993'' film: "Love? Let me tell you about love."
61	* ''Film/TrainingDay'':
62	[[Creator/DenzelWashington Alonzo's]] friend Roger decides to tell rookie officer Jake a joke. He tells him about a snail that gets thrown off some guy's porch into the backyard and nearly dies. However, it recovers and after awhile it gains enough strength to crawl again. After about a year, the snail makes its way back on to the porch. The man comes out, looks at and says, "What the *'s your problem!?" Jake laughs until he sees Roger and Alonzo's serious expressions and realize that it isn't a joke at all. Roger tells him that when he figures the joke out, he'll figure the streets out.
63	** Also, there is a deleted scene where Alonzo tells Jake of one of his early work experiences involving a black man who was paid by another man named "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Spooky]]" to [[KickTheDog beat up a doberman he was raising]]. Alonzo came across the man with his fellow officer, who was completely accepting of it and explained to Alonzo that Spooky was teaching the dog to hate black people.
64	-->'''Alonzo:''' I'm saying that to say this. Soon as you think you've seen everything out on these streets, these streets will teach you something twisted.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Literature]]
68	* In the Italian mystery novel ''The Terra Cotta Dog'': The police officer protagonist is invited to meet with Tano the Greek, a feared gangster (and {{gayngster}}) who turns out to be something of a NobleDemon. To explain why he wants to turn himself in, Tano tells this story about a guy who bet someone that he could make a cat eat some very spicy mustard - the method involves AssShove-ing it, causing the cat to start licking the mustard because of the pain. The point of the story is that Tano is being threatened by a younger generation of gangsters and so turning himself in (and getting a LuxuryPrisonSuite) is the better option- like with the mustard, turning himself in is a bad option that becomes a good one when a worse option comes along.
69	* In ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner'', the Mariner is doomed to wander the earth for eternity recounting his story.
70	* The whole novel ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' is Victor Frankenstein telling his life story to Robert Walton in an attempt to disuade him of exploring the North Pole; he tries to illustrate how there are ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow and the blind pursuit of knowledge will bring him only suffering, as it happened to Frankenstein himself.
71	* In the ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Mage Storms]]'' trilogy, Shin'a'in magus An'desha tells a story about himself to get a fellow Shin'a'in to reconsider his antagonism to the focus character, Karal.
72	* ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'': The book has a scene that wasn't translated to any movie adaptation, where Spade tells Brigid O'Shaughnessy about a previous investigation of his just before Cairo and Gutman arrive with the bird. A married salesman, one Flitcraft, disappeared from his old town, and years later his wife discovered that he was living in another city with another name and a new family. Flitcraft's old wife hired Sam to discover what happened to him and to avoid a scandal. Spade narrates how Flitcraft was a normal man who once had a nearly fatal accident with a falling beam, and then he realized [[RandomEventsPlot life is random]], WeAreAsMayflies and he had to BecameTheirOwnAntithesis to live his new life. What Flitcraft never realized, and Spade immediately noticed, is that ''he never did that'' - or at least, went back. Flitcraft eventually moved to a city very similar to his old city, got a new job doing exactly the same and got a new family very much like his old, and he sincerely never realized he was living an IgnoredEpiphany. This seemingly pointless tale (the plot stops for several pages, and the story is never referred to again) could be interpreted at Sam's attempt to convince [[spoiler: O'Shaughnessy]] of the pointlessness of her own task: once the four get the bird, her ChronicBackstabbingDisorder means [[spoiler: O'Shaughnessy]] will betray everyone to get the bird to herself. Or a statement of Spade's philosophy, or an offer to [[spoiler: LetOffByTheDetective]] The Flitcraft Parable (as it is called by literary analysts) is sometimes printed on its own. See [[http://j-nelson.net/2015/01/twenty-writers-dashiell-hammett-the-flitcraft-parable-from-the-maltese-falcon/ Twenty Writers: Dashiell Hammett, The Flitcraft Parable (from The Maltese Falcon)]] for a discussion of it.
73	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
74	** In ''Literature/AClashOfKings'' Ygritte tells Jon the legend of Bael the Bard. [[spoiler: It foreshadows where Bran and Rickon hide from the Ironborns and is ''very'' reminiscent of Lyanna Stark's arc, though Jon is oblivious to both.]]
75	** In ''Literature/AStormOfSwords'' Meera and Jojen tell Bran about The Mystery Knight at Harrenhall and they're very surprised that Bran has never heard this story at Winterfell. [[spoiler: Probably because of a certain She-Wolf of Winterfell and a Dragon Prince...]]
76	* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Most of the in-universe book ''The Way of Kings'' (which is also the [[Literature/TheWayOfKings2010 title of the first book in the series]]) consists of parables from the author's life, similar to the Bible. The book became the foundation of the [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights Radiant]] and was required reading for every Alethi ruler, but then the knights fell, and the Alethi went from a ProudWarriorRace to {{Blood Knight}}s. By the time of the story, it's considered nearly blasphemous for such things as suggesting that sometimes there are better solutions than killing everyone.
77	* In ''Literature/TheMoomins'' story "Cedric", when Sniff is upset that he gave away a toy dog he loved, Snufkin tells him the story of his aunt, who gave away everything she owned in rather different circumstances. Sniff realises there's a point to this, and to Snufkin's annoyance keeps trying to second-guess it.
78	* In Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado'' Montresor is telling the story of Fortunato's murder fifty years after the fact to someone "who so well know[s] the nature of [his] soul". Just who this person is has been left ambiguous.
79	* In ''Literature/ADayOfFallenNight'', Tunuva asks the Prioress to give the impetuous young sister Siyu an assignment in the outside world so that she won't feel so restless. The Prioress responds by talking about how she always leaves her glass of sun wine unfinished, but that others are unable to taste it without losing themselves to it. Later, when she decides to send Siyu out after all, Tunuva reminds her of the exchange.
80	-->"I merely voiced some thoughts on sun wine."
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84	* Happens a lot in ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire''.
85	** Margaret tells this to Lucy after Lucy brags that all she has to do is spread her legs to keep Nucky interested:
86	--->'''Margaret:''' When I was a girl in Ireland, a raggedy man would come around every spring with a little Bantam rooster. He'd trained it to peck out "The Mountains of Mourne" on a toy piano hung off his chest.\
87	'''Lucy:''' So?\
88	'''Margaret:''' Well, the first year he came, we all of us, the girls in that place, we thought it magical. The second year, we laughed behind our hands at the odd man and his tatters, and the third year we didn't even go, because "The Mountains of Mourne" was all that little rooster could ever do.\
89	'''Lucy:''' So what's the point?\
90	'''Margaret:''' [[TakeThat That maybe your cunny isn't quite the draw you think it is.]]
91	** This happens two-and-a-half times in the episode "A Man, A Plan...", all concerning Harry Daugherty's consideration whether to kill Jess Smith to keep him from talking. First Daugherty tells the story of a [[PettheDog mean dog he knew as a child who became friendly around Jess]], illustrating how Jess is ultimately decent and likeable. Gaston Means reverses the meaning of this story by saying he had a dog like that, but [[ShoottheDog "we had to put him down"]]. Later Daugherty provides Jess a false allegory, reminiscing about rebuilding after a tornado hit their town as children, and tricking Jess into thinking he's had enough of the turbulent world of politics and wants them to retire. [[spoiler:Turns out he hadn't had enough and he sends Means to kill Jess later that episode.]]
92	* A favorite tool of Sophia's in ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''. Sometimes subverted when her story ends up having absolutely no connection to the matter at hand.
93	* In the ''Series/QuantumLeap'' episode "Jimmy", Sam leaps into a mentally retarded man in the 1960s. Eventually he freaks out in frustration, since he's being treated like an idiot all day. CasanovaWannabe Al interrupts him mid-rant: "There was this girl named Trudy..." Sam snaps at him that this is no time for another irrelevant, sleazy sex story -- but this time, the girl in question was Al's younger sister, who was also mentally retarded.
94	* Said word for word at the beginning of a season two episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'', in which Michael recounts the story of how he tracked down the bomber who [[spoiler: nearly killed him and killed her sniper]] to Carla. Unusually for him, he is actually telling the truth.
95	* Defied on ''Series/GreysAnatomy'':
96	-->'''Dr. Hahn''': Absolutely, no! Have you read his file? His pulmonary pressure is through the roof!\
97	'''Dr. Webber''': He's aware of the risk.\
98	'''Dr. Hahn''': Oh! Well in that case, fine! I don't know what I was so worried about. I may go down in history as the surgeon who killed Walter Tabley, but hey, at least they're writing about me!\
99	'''Dr. Webber''': Erica, sit down. Let me tell you a story. 38 years ago, when I was -\
100	'''Dr. Hahn''': I'm sorry, is this gonna be a story about how you were a struggling black med student who wanted to be a surgeon, and no one would give you a chance, and Walter Tabley gave you that chance, he mentored you, and without him, you wouldn't be in this hospital today?\
101	'''Dr. Webber''': Yes.\
102	'''Dr. Hahn''': I'm ''still'' not gonna operate on him.
103	* ''Series/DueSouth'': Fraser does this OncePerEpisode, relating tales about wolves or the Inuit people to serve as parables for various people in Chicago. By midway through the first season, this is getting {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d just as often as it is employed.
104	* ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' has loads of characters doing this, often to the bemusement of the person they're talking to, as the story/riddle/anecdote could be interpreted in several different ways or may not seem remotely relevant to the situation at hand. The final example is when [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil Lester Nygaard]] tells the policewoman who's been suspicious of him from the start that he's not a monster, and she responds by telling him about a man with a pair of gloves who got onto a train, and as it was pulling away realised that one of his gloves had fallen onto the platform, so he threw the other glove out after it so that whoever found it could have both. In a probable LampshadeHanging, Lester (and possibly the audience,) have no idea what to make of it. [[spoiler: [[TheUnreveal She never clarifies]], but the likely interpretation is that once you're accidentally in something halfway, you feel you have nothing to lose and might as well [[MoralEventHorizon go the full distance]]]].
105	* On ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', when [[NumberTwo Chakotay]] decides to tell [[TheCaptain Janeway]] how [[{{UST}} he feels about her]], he tells her an "ancient legend" from his tribe about an angry warrior unable to find peace until he swears loyalty to a woman warrior. Janeway catches on pretty quick.
106	--> '''Janeway:''' Is that really an ancient legend?\
107	'''Chakotay:''' No. But that made it easier to say.
108	** In "Jetrel", Neelix uses the trope sardonically to the scientist who invented a WeaponOfMassDestruction that destroyed his homeworld.
109	* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
110	** In the first episode, a group of Christian pols complain to President Bartlett about an insult Josh made to a political opponent, quoting the Bible while doing so. In response, Bartlett tells of how his 12-year-old granddaughter was recently threatened by a Christian fringe group for her pro-choice views, before saying that they'll get nothing from him until they denounce the extremists within their ranks.
111	** In the second season Christmas episode "Noel", Leo insists that Josh go into counseling to deal with his PTSD. Toward the end of the episode Leo assures Josh that [[YouAreNotAlone he doesn't have to handle his problems alone]] by telling him a joke: "This guy's walking down a street when he falls in a hole..."
112	* Mr. Nancy (aka. Anansi) from ''Series/AmericanGods2017'', being the folkloric [[TheStoryteller storyteller]] character that he is, often tells tales and stories to get his points across. A lot of these stories focus on the hardships black people face or will eventually face especially in America; one he tells to captive slaves during the 1600s in order to rile them up and burn the ship they're held in. He even opens his stories with the exact phrase, "Let me tell you a story."
113	--> '''Mr. Nancy:''' Once upon a time... a man got fucked! Now how's that for a story? Because that's the story of black people in America!
114	* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
115	** In several early episodes, Mac begins interrogations with the phrase, "Let me start this story for you." He then runs down all of the suspect's actions that the team has discovered. Danny does this at least once as well.
116	** In "The Lady in the Lake," Adam recounts the details of the case of a poor young woman who was taken to a party at Belvedere Castle in Central Park by her new boyfriend as "a princess story" to two little girls waiting for their mother at the precinct. He refers to the couple as a prince and princess.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Podcasts]]
120	* In ''Podcast/Wolf359'', this is how [[TheStoryteller Kepler]] talks in any case, but a standout example is "A Matter of Perspective". In the opening scene Eiffel is overworked and tired, but Kepler insists on telling him a long-winded joke about a miraculously talented pig, and then doesn't even give the punchline. At the end of the episode (twelve hours later, in-universe, and they're still working) he "remembers" the punchline.
121	-->[[spoiler:A pig like that, you don't eat it all at once.]]
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]
125	* ''Literature/TheBible'':
126	** The parables of Jesus are among the most famous examples. Jesus would often tell stories to convey his messages.
127	** In [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel 2 Samuel 12]], [[UriahGambit King David has just had one of his soldiers killed to cover up the fact that he (David) had impregnated the man's wife]]. The prophet Nathan shows up and calls him to repent by giving an account of a rich man who stole the only lamb of his poor neighbor to feed a houseguest, despite having many sheep of his own. He asks what should be done to this man. David, incensed, declared that the man should be put to death and asked who he was. Nathan replies, "That man is you!"
128	* OlderThanDirt: In Myth/EgyptianMythology, the god Set murdered his brother Osiris, stole his throne, sent Osiris' wife Isis fleeing for her life, and gouged out her son Horus' eye while trying to kill him. One day an old woman comes to him asking the god for help, telling him that her evil brother has killed her husband, usurped his position, and maimed and driven away her son. Set agrees that a great injustice has been done to her, and asks for the name of the criminal. Thus he condemns himself, for the old woman was Isis in disguise. (He learns nothing from this.)
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
132	* In the ''Literature/StarlightAndShadows'' novel ''[[Literature/ForgottenRealms Daughter of the Drow]]'', a warrior amuses a drow mage (who saved him from carnivores and tried to claim as a slave) with a folk tale about how "old favors are soon forgotten". Then [[spoiler:managed to get away and added the phrase to his "farewell" as he ran off]].
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Theatre]]
136	* ''Theatre/InheritTheWind'': Drummond tells Brady a story about "Golden Dancer", a perfect-looking rocking horse that he wanted as a child, and how he found it out to be a cheap and inferior product that broke as soon as he tried it out. His story is meant to be an allegory for people like Brady and Rev. Brown: people who present themselves to the public as wholesome crusaders, [[AWolfInSheepsClothing but are really rotten to the core]].
137	-->'''Drummond:''' And that's how I feel about that demonstration I saw tonight, Matt; all glitter and glamour. You say you're giving the people hope, I think you're ''stealing'' their hope. As long as the prerequisite for that shining paradise is ignorance, bigotry and hate, I say to Hell with it!
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Video Games]]
141	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': While Ann is on her way to [[ShipLevel The Walter Raleigh]], K, a passenger on the boat decides to tell her a story about a child involved in a experimental trial who had to make a choice to prevent the deaths of other children.
142	* ''VideoGame/GhostTrickPhantomDetective'': In the epilogue, [[spoiler:Ray tells Sissel a tale of how the events that occurred played out, except they previously occurred in a BadFuture and only one person was able to travel to the past and waited ten years, and that was Missile]].
143	%% Needs context * Jolee Bindo is prone to this in ''VideoGame/StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.
144	* The entirety of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is the story of the main character being told by one of your party members, complete with UnreliableNarrator moments.
145	* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': The Near Future chapter is entirely this, with Akira as the storyteller. Even has a bit of HeKnowsAboutTimedHits as Akira introduces you to the gimmick of the chapter being his mind reader skill.
146	* [[TheWonka Daimon Kiyota]] of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' begins the mission "The Korinto-Kai" by telling the player a very weird little story about a depressed corpse hanging from a noose and being pecked at by a crow. In between pecks, the crow claims to be trying to cure the dead man's unhappiness by changing his perspective, and asks only for his eyes in return; this exchange ends with the crow "[[EyeScream eating all the sweet jelly]]." Eventually, rigor mortis puts a smile back on the corpse's face, and the crow approvingly departs with a farewell of "home is wherever you hang your head!" [[LaughingMad After a lot of giggling]], it eventually becomes apparent that Kiyota sees himself as the crow and the corpse as the rest of the world, and to that end, he offers to share some of his "prime jelly" if the player helps him protect some of his clients.
147	* In the final SP Mission of ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', [[spoiler:Matias Torres [[ISurrenderSuckers fakes a surrender]], to buy time for the Alicorn to line up the railgun to target Oured. David North, the analyst who had been assisting the LRSSG into hunting him down, sees through his ruse, and tries to talk Torres out of it. Torres responds by telling him about how during [[VideoGame/AceCombat2 the Usean Uprising]], when he was a gunnery officer, he managed to land a shot on an enemy vessel 30 kilometers away in the middle of a raging storm. The story is both a distraction, and to prove that Torres [[TheUnfettered is not going to stop]], so Trigger disobeys orders to not fire on a surrendering enemy, and strikes the Alicorn's railgun, throwing off its trajectory.]]
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Web Comics]]
151	* In ''Webcomic/{{Harbourmaster}}'', [[http://www.waywardmartian.com/harbourmaster2/012-001.html Governor Tal uses a story to explain the motives behind a treaty that an off-planet developer wants him to break.]]
152	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d when a young Durkon asked his uncle [[TellMeAboutMyFather how his father died]].
153	-->'''Thirden:''' Your mother specifically forbid me from telling you this story, and she's ''scary!'' ... So instead, I am going to tell you a ''completely unrelated'' story about a frightening monster that threatened our people-- and you, in turn, are going to learn all about the wonderful world of ''subtext''.
154	** Earlier, when Vaarsuvius seeks Roy's counsel on their prior DealWithTheDevil, Roy alludes to the death of his baby brother Eric as the result of one of his father Eugene's magical experiments many years before, and of Eugene's denial that it was his fault, in a bid to try and convey that at least V is repentant for their actions and wants to try and make things right. The unique circumstances facing them muddies the message somewhat, however:
155	--->'''Roy:''' OK. Well, here's what I've got. When I was younger, I... knew a wizard. Who did a lot of empirical spell research. And one time, one of those experiments blew up and... someone died. Someone innocent. And yeah, it was an accident, but for years he never acknowledged that maybe it could have been...\
156	''[{{Beat}}]''\
157	'''Roy:''' I don't... really know where I was going with this. But you care. You know you screwed up and you want to make it right. I've been told that trying counts for a lot. You may never balance the scales. You may never make it up to the one who died on your watch. But giving up on fixing it is like killing them all over again.\
158	'''V:''' ...Are we discussing my situation, your family history, or your decision to [[spoiler:donate blood to Master Thundershield]]?\
159	'''Roy:''' Hey, don't go changing the subject by trying to determine the actual subject.
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Web Video]]
163	* ''WebSite/SFDebris'' makes note of [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Chakotay's]] habit of doing this, exaggerating it to the point that he can't do anything without saying it reminds him of one of his people's stories. It's enough to drive Chuck's parody version of Janeway to madness when they're stuck on a planet together.
164	* Subverted in ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' when Kirito tries to explain how he managed to find some Ragout Rabbit meat, the single rarest food item in the game.
165	-->'''Tiffany:''' How the hell'd you get your hands on an S-Class ingredient?! \
166	'''Kirito:''' Oh Tiff, let me tell you a tale. I... [[FailedAttemptAtDrama don't have anything for this.]] I threw a knife at it, and it died.\
167	'''Tiffany:''' You disappoint me, man.\
168	'''Kirito:''' I disappoint ''myself''.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Western Animation]]
172	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}'', [[KidAppealCharacter Lewa]] does this to [[TheStoic Kopaka]] and [[TheQuietOne Onua]]. He explains his plan by telling them the story of the three [[{{Hobbits}} Matoran]], the [[BigCreepyCrawlies Rama swarm]], and the [[FantasticFruitsAndVegetables basket of Bula berries]]. Cue Kopaka getting [[NotSoStoic more and more annoyed]] at Lewa ''[[CasualDangerDialogue because they're in the middle of a battle]]''.
173	-->'''Kopaka:''' I'm ''still'' waiting for the part where the heroic Toa Lewa saves the day!
174	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In "Wing It Like Witches", Amity tells Luz the time when she was the grudgby team captain, and how she quit the team after hurting her own teammates by using a flashy move without consulting them about it. Hearing her story makes Luz realize how reckless she was to Willow and Gus and decide to take Willow's punishment to make it up to her.
175	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': Mr. Krabs' story to [=SpongeBob=] about spending a dollar on a soda to persuade [=SpongeBob=] to let his seahorse go.
176	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
177	** In "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie", Homer has forbidden Bart from seeing the movie and tries to tell him a similar story from his childhood.
178	--->'''Homer:''' You know, when I was a boy, I really wanted a catcher's mitt, but my dad wouldn't get it for me. So I held my breath until I passed out and banged my head on the coffee table. The doctor thought I might have brain damage.\
179	'''Bart:''' Dad, what's the point of this story?\
180	'''Homer:''' I like stories.
181	** Parodied in the episode "The Heartbroke Kid", when Bart is sent to a fat camp and Tab Spangler, the camp owner, catches him pigging out:
182	--->'''Tab:''' Son, I'm gonna tell you a story about a young man who came here and failed. Well, that is the story. I shouldn't call a sentence a story. Anyway, it's you!
183	* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E8AHearthsWarmingTail A Hearth's Warming Tail]]", Twilight uses this approach to encourage Starlight to overcome her CrappyHolidays attitude toward Equestria's [[YouMeanXmas major gift-giving holiday]].
184	* WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} does this in many of his 1960 shorts, usually to entertain Swee'Pea or to illustrate a lesson. Such stories almost always feature Popeye himself and his supporting cast.
185	* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'''s Wanda Pierce decides to illustrate the title character's problems in the form of long, narrative jokes. The first one she tells has no real point, but the punchline [[BrickJoke comes around again]] in the second one to provide a brilliant metaphor.
186	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': In "Dead Man's Hand", Terry finds himself attracted to a girl [[DatingCatwoman who turns out to be Ten from The Royal Flush Gang.]]
187	-->'''Terry''': This kind of thing ever happen to you?\
188	'''Bruce'''''(smiles)'': Let me tell you about a woman named [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selena Kyle]].
189	[[/folder]]

Context Main / LetMeTellYouAStory