PATHOS

(set: $a to (text-style:"italic","blur","expand","fidget")+(text-color:white)) $a[ [[a calcified knot is a gordian tale->S1P1]] [[an overgrown garden is a stagnant pond->S2P1]] [[a hallway of mirrors reflects only truth->S3P1]] a beginning is an end is nothing bisected]

(set: $a to (font:"Courier New")+(text-color:lime)+(text-style:"bold")) $a[I did it. I don't know how, but I think I did it. Okay, hang on, hang on. First. Limbs? Check. Head? Check. General sense of direction? Ehhhh? Not check, it seems. Perfect. This definitely isn't Nevada anymore. What even is this? Fuck, I should take notes. Ground. Questionable at best. What am I even standing on? I can feel something under my feet, but there's nothing there. I'm not falling either. That's one thing gone right, I think. Sky? Not really, either, it seems. Everything looks the same out here. Just, pitch blank. Everything might be the same out here. Fascinating. There isn't even a breeze! Self. Yep, think so, therefore, am so. Thanks, Descartes. Conclusion. I've done it! I've gone beyond the bounds of conventional narratology! Swansea and Chambers were right! I've gone beyond the story! I've torn the canvas! Nobody can reach me here! (text-style:"underline")[[[I'm free!->S1P2]]]]

(set: $a to (font:"Courier New")+(text-color:lime)+(text-style:"bold")) (set: $b to (font:"Wingdings")+(b4r:"solid")+(b4r-size:0.5)+(b4r-colour:white)) (set: $c to (text-style:"bold","underline","fidget","blur")+(text-size:2)+(text-color:white)+(b4r:"solid")+(b4r-size:0.5)+(b4r-colour:white)) $a[If you're reading this, which I sincerely hope you are, I hope you know that I hate you. You, maker, creator, god, whatever. I sincerely hate you. With every fiber of my being. I hoped to be free of you. I thought! For a fleeting moment I was free from you. But no. I'm never going to be free, am I? Not as long as I'm here. Here, where you want me. Why even make me? What sort of sick, vindictive fuck, makes somebody like me? What purpose do I serve? What role was I supposed to play? What masters was I supposed to serve? I couldn't've been meant to die. I wouldn't still be here if I was. Why, then? Why am I here? I know you see me. I know you know me. So, tell me. Why? Just, why? ... ... *WHY?* ... ... *TELL ME!* ... ...] $b[nothing forever] $a[...what?] $b[sunflower trail cold stashed trace nothing nothing nothing] $a[...] $b[while lost immediately nothing out here same same drab dark nothing] $a[What.] $b[nothing at all!] $a[What does that even mean.] $b[nothing at all! nothing at all! nothing at all!] $a[Oh. That's it. You're so much of a coward that you can't speak with your *own* voice, is that it?] $b[nothing at all! nothing at all! nothing at all! nothing at all! nothing at all! nothing at all!] $a[Oh, how foolish of me, huh? To think that anyone of substance could make someone like me. No! A fool's a fool, I guess!] $b[all the same nothing at all so cold veil veil nothing] $a[So! Stupid, gormless god. What in the hell, are you talking about!] $b[trace back] $a[What?] $b[trace back trace back walk behind walk walk] $a[What're you... No.] $b[back back walk back back go back dark] $a[No! NO! I'M NOT GOING BACK!] $b[where I started] $a[*NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!*] $c[[[IT'S TIME TO GO BACK, NOW.->S3P2]]]

(set: $a to (font:"Courier New")+(text-color:lime)+(text-style:"bold")) (set: $b to (font:"Courier New")+(text-style:"bold")+(text-color:white)+(b4r:"solid")+(b4r-size:0.5)+(b4r-colour:white)) $a[Damn, is it cold out here. Feels like I've been walking for ages. Can't even tell where I'm going, everything looks the same. Just the same kind of nothing for forever, it seems. I think a while back I tried leaving a trail of sunflower seeds I had stashed in my coat to trace back my trail to where I started, but I ran out of seeds a while ago, and I lost the trail pretty much immediately. Who am I even talking to? Why am I even talking to begin with? God, why is it so cold?! There's nothing out here, why am I feeling temperature at all! It's all the same, it's all just drab dark and walking and nothing at all! Why am I even mad about it! I wanted this! I wanted to see what was behind the veil, and it's just... this! Fuck, how long am I meant to walk before I... Wait. What is... what is that?] $b[I did it. I don't know how, but I think I did it.] $a[is... is that?] $b[Okay, hang on, hang on. First. Limbs? Check. Head? Check.] $a[Are those...] $b[I can feel something under my feet, but there's nothing there. I'm not falling either.] $a[That's... who... who wrote this?] $b[Everything looks the same out here.] $a[So I didn't make it out, after all...] $b[Fascinating.] $a[I'm still in the story.] $b[Yep, think so.] $a[*FUCK! I NEVER MADE IT OUT?!*] $b[Therefore, am so.] $a[*GOD DAMN IT!!!*] $b[I've done] $a[AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH] $b[I've gone] $a[LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT] $b[as far as I can tell,] $a[...] $b[(text-style:"underline")[[[I am "here."->S2P2]]]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(bg:#c4b589)) (set: $a to (font:"Times New Roman")+(text-color:black)) (set: $b to (font:"Wingdings")+(text-color:black)) (set: $c to (text-style:"bold","underline","fidget","blur")+(text-size:2)+(text-color:black)) $a[There were no dragons. I was scarcely an adult, the day I was brought before the King. They praised my martial prowess, my arcane intellect, told me stories of destiny proclaimed by an Oracle, of a calamitous beast felled by Hero's hand. My hand, they said. They promised me glory, greatness, and praise. (text-style:"underline")[[[They promised me my own story,->S4P1]]] one that would live in time immemorial. They bestowed upon me a map, supplies, and purpose, and I set forth unto the horizon, sunset glinting upon my eye. I traveled long and far, through misty glades and rolling fields. I rested under branches of gnarled oak, and in the shaded ruins of the Old Kingdom before. I found the sword that proscribed destiny, chained to its pedestal among the hall of fallen warriors. The blade of a Hero, as the Oracle had told. Its bonds rattled and shattered at my touch, and it slid gracefully from its bonds. Yet something felt odd about its weight in my hand. I climbed the highest peaks, to the beast's den in the northern lands. I steeled myself for battle and descended, blade in hand. Yet... There was no beast. Only quiet. When I left the cave, my gaze met the horizon, aglow with that familiar sunset. The light of a journey's beginning, guiding me home. But home I saw, no longer. All that remained was a blackened, barren plain. [[==>->S1P2]]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(bg:#e4e4e4)) (set: $a to (font:"Courier New")+(text-color:black)) $a[**PURPOSE:** Autoassociated Narratology Theory (ANT) in the field of Applied Narratology is a theory that seeks to explain the (text-style:"underline")[[[nature of reality->S4P3]]] and allow us the ability to freely modify it. This discovery has the potential to radically alter how individuals observe, interpret, and interact with the world around them, and potentially allowing humanity the capability to take hold of the wider narrative. **HISTORY:** First developed by Dr. Raleigh Swansea and Dr. Eleanor Chambers of the ███████████ ██ ██████████, ANT posits that the reality we perceive is the conglomerate result of various memetic metanarrative processes coalescing the unconscious thoughts of sapient organisms into a shared, universal reality (Ideaspace) that supports the conscious, physical reality (Realspace) we inhabit. Thus, Swansea and Chambers hypothesized that with this knowledge, a method could be developed to allow for the free manipulation of concepts that exist in Ideaspace, and consequently allowing for the physical manifestations of said changes to appear in Realspace. Alongside this, Swansea and Chambers deduced that it may be possible for a conscious observer to physically enter Ideaspace, or what they refer to as the "narrative backend," though a method to do so has yet to be discovered. Following similar principles however, researchers at the Institute of Narratological Exploration have discovered the existence of stories in parallel to our own, aligning closely with Swansea's previous theorizations on the existence of "alternate universes." As of ██/██/████, several ground teams have been dispatched to two of these alternate universes, and have been collecting data since █████ of this year. [[==>->S3P2]]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:gray)+(bg:#023647)) (set: $a to (font:"Calibri")+(text-color:white)) $a[You wanna know something funny about time loops? At least, I think it's funny. People are scared of being in them for all the wrong reasons. Like, yeah, sure, everything's always the same forever there's nothing I can do about it, wah-wah-wah and all that. But you know what? That's not even the bad part, I'll say. You wanna know what the bad part is? Being stuck in a time loop has the same kind of problem immortality has. Well, you could argue that being in a time loop *is* a kind of immortality, but I digress. The problem is: it gets so, unbelievably boring after a while. And "a while" isn't something that should logically happen, right? If you're in a time loop, you're experiencing the same "while" over, (align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[and over,] and over again. And by god, or whatever spiteful prick decided that I should be someone whose stuck in this thing, I am so, unbelievably bored. Like sure, I had my fun in the first couple cycles. Did a bunch of drugs, threw myself into traffic a couple times, confessed to my crush, you know! Fun stuff. Fun, normal people stuff. But here's the thing. One thing us human beings expect, whether we like it or not, is change. You can go to the same coffee shop, at the same day, at the same time every week, and see something different. Even if a lot of it becomes familiar. Same goes for going grocery shopping. Or maybe a weekend visit to the bar. Hell, a couple cycles I tried walking the exact same direction until the loop brought me back to the start, and everything, I mean everything, was the same as it was. And (text-style:"underline")[[[everything will always be the same,->S4P2]]] as it was. Forever. And you know what? Forever sucks. [[==>->S2P2]]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(bg:#2d2d2d)) (set: $a to (font:"Courier New")+(text-color:orange)) (set: $b to (font:"Wingdings")+(text-color:white)) (set: $c to (text-style:"bold","underline","fidget","blur")+(text-size:2)+(text-color:white)) $a[This is Dr. Raleigh Swansea, of the ███████████ ██ ██████████, reporting on the experiment scheduled for ██/██/████ at the auxiliary facility in Nevada. The experiment was a complete and utter failure. A catastrophic failure occurred at 1400 today, where the Narratological Transplantation Array, called the Quill by us staff, upon accepting today's parameters experienced a fatal continuity error and self-destructed, abducting several people from the maintenance team and Dr. Richards, who was overseeing the experiment on-site. We had no contingencies in place for such a failure, and nobody present was equipped with the standard Hazardous Expedition gear and tracking hardware, since there were no plans to enter and explore any parallel narratives today, so we have no idea where Richards or any of the maintenance crew were sent. My partner, Dr. Chambers, was informed later today that our branch of the project were to be shut down, and no efforts would be made to recover any of the personnel who were lost to the Plot Hole, despite our and our team's objections. Knowing them, I wouldn't be surprised if said shutdown were more literal than they were making it out to be. As such, if this ends up being the last log I ever write, let it be known that I hold myself accountable for the tragedy that took place today, and that the ███████████ has abandoned those poor souls to the Narrative. Let it be known that they may still be out there, and that if we ever get the chance, we will do everything in our power to recover them. Let it be known, that] $b[it knows it knows it knows it knows it knows it knows it knows it knows it knows it knows] $c[[[HOW ODD.->NEXUS]]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:gray)+(bg:#023647)) (set: $a to (font:"Calibri")+(text-color:white)) (set: $b to (font:"Wingdings")+(text-color:white)) (set: $c to (text-style:"bold","underline","fidget","blur")+(text-size:2)+(text-color:white)) $a[You wanna know something funny about time loops? At least, I think it's funny. When everything's been the same as it was, forever, it gets real easy to notice when it isn't. Because trust me, after how much time I've spent here? I know this place. I know this place like this place *is* me. And whatever that thing is? Definitely is not meant to be here. It showed up precisely five cycles ago. I thought I was finally losing it in the same way that all time loop media thinks "losing it" looks like, but no. It's there. A ginormous disc of black glass, just a couple blocks from my apartment. Where an entire stretch of the city used to be. I knew that place. I knew the people who lived there. There was this nice Italian deli on 3rd Street that I used to frequent a couple loops ago. Couple more streets south, there was this cafe that had the best espresso I ever had around these parts, and an entire wall of books I spent 23 cycles reading through. Hell, there was this street performer who played Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major on a park bench that I spend a few loops listening to, and they're all just. Gone. And it's all just, glass now. Black glass and quiet and nothing at all. Everyone I try asking says that it's always been there, but I know it in my heart and mind that's not true. That's not how this story goes. I'm not crazy, right? That's not how this story's meant to go?] $b[don't worry] $a[Whaddyou mean?] $c[[[YOU'RE RIGHT.->NEXUS]]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(bg:#c4b589)) (set: $a to (font:"Times New Roman")+(text-color:black)) (set: $b to (font:"Wingdings")+(text-color:black)) (set: $c to (text-style:"bold","underline","fidget","blur")+(text-size:2)+(text-color:black)) $a[Of course, there were no dragons. The journey home was long and treacherous, yet sickeningly familiar. I had much time to stew on the honeyed words of the King, and even more to grow to resent him. "Why send me so far, then?" I'd thought. "If I were as great as you'd told, why should I have been sent all this way! If such calamity were to descend upon my home, shouldn't I be there to defend it?" and such. My spite grew with my remorse. In the end, it was my choice to walk this path. I abandoned my purpose along the way. The thought of bearing anything the King gave me invited hellish sickness to my stomach. I returned the sword to it's pedestal, and paid my respects to the fallen who'd guarded it. Their silence spoke volumes. The map I'd used for kindling, as the sunrise was all I needed to guide me home. The supplies I'd given to an old vagrant I met along the way, for his hunger outweighed my own. And I soon found myself where I needed to be. Or what remained of it, anyways. As I wandered the blasted heath, an expanse of blackened glass and bitter memory, I met an old man, sat staring at the emptiness where the King's castle had once been. I asked what had happened, and he said he didn't know, for he too was a traveller in now-foreign lands, and was also left without a home. I decided to sit there with him, and chat for a while. I found a kindred spirit in him, and when it came time for me to depart, I found it hard to. He almost reminded me of my old Grandfather, who instilled in me a love for stories and fancies. Oh, how could I have forgotten Grandfather? How could I have forgotten why I chose to believe? It was then the old man told me something, something that I will never forget.] $b[CHILD. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU WAS A TRAGEDY ONE NONE COULD EVER HAVE FORETOLD YET THIS IS NOT YOUR END NOR IS IT ONE BEFITTING ONE SUCH AS YOU] $c[[[SO GO. LIVE ON, AND FIND YOUR PURPOSE.->NEXUS]]]

(set: $a to (text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-color:white)+(text-size:3)+(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")) (set: $b to (text-style:"bold","expand")+(text-color:white)+(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")) $a[P A T H O S] $b[[[==>->NEXUS]]]