22 April 2023
How do you explain a story that is so convoluted and multilayered, it will never be believable, no matter how you package it?
This is the story of a woman’s journey through a fandom-based ARG… that may or may not exist. It’s a story about the fragility of human psychology and the power of suggestion.
It’s not a story that fits into a particular niche. It’s too long and complex to fit a traditional narrative, with too way too many plot elements for a typically satisfying story. It’s like one overstuffed, confusing fever dream, moving so swiftly you can hardly process one revelation before reading another. As a cohesive work of fiction, it’s so off-the-wall bonkers that it would ultimately lead the audience to think the author either a hack or plainly mad.
The story is no more convincing framed as inspired by a true story. The label in and of itself is a problem. ‘Inspired’ implies there is heavy editing and narrative licence. So, just how much truth sits among the dramatisation? And if there is any truth to this claim, is the account accurate or the result of madness?
Is this story real or fake?
Is the game real or fake?
Is anything real or is this just fiction?
Those are the questions that will likely echo through your mind as you follow me down the rabbit hole.
As is typical with complex things, the true answer is complicated. Even I, your faithful narrator, don’t know the full answer.
However, the fact of the matter is that this story sits in the grey area between fiction and non-fiction. Some of it is real, some of it is fake. Some aspects are both truth and fiction simultaneously. Some of it is lies repeated unknowingly. Some facts cannot be verified either way. And some are [redacted].
Nothing in this story is simple. There’s more than one tale to be told and they all blend and intermingle like a bunch of wires in a machine. The story leaps between time periods, requiring the reader to keep track of facts and dates to decipher.
The narrative is accompanied by a variety of media such as music, videos and pop culture references. These are here to enhance your experience of the main narrative. Think of these as an in-context soundtrack/watchlist for the descent into madness.
There are also puzzles to be found (but this is a work in progress). Watch this space.
Your role as a reader, should you accept it, is to find the truth among the fiction. But be prepared: you may find more questions than answers.
~Dysis
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