Nathaniel and the Ultimate Conspiracy
Scene: Nathaniel, draped in a tattered trench coat, stalks through the back alleys of a nameless city. His mind races. His fingers clutch the small, snow-globe-like sphere—a perfect, impossible recreation of Narnia.
He ducks into a dimly lit basement, filled with conspiracy charts, newspaper clippings, and loose strings connecting photos of world leaders to suspiciously similar-looking CGI renderings.
He flips through his notebook, filled with hastily drawn sketches of the Ice Wall, Mr. Tumnus, and a rough estimate of Narnia’s GDP.
"That means there’s only one possibility…" (his eyes widen) "We’re not in a world. We’re in a…"
He hesitates. The thought is too dangerous. Too enormous.
"…a narrative."
The Library of Forbidden Knowledge
Nathaniel, convinced he’s onto something bigger than the Flat Earth lie, seeks out the one place where true secrets are buried: a library so obscure, even librarians deny its existence.
He sneaks into the University of Deep Knowledge, past security guards who insist he’s “not a student,” and down into the forgotten archives.
Nathaniel stiffens. A shiver runs down his spine. The librarian turns away, unlocking a door with a key that looks suspiciously like a quill.
The Revelation: A World Made of Words
Nathaniel pulls an ancient tome from the shelf. Its title is unreadable at first, shifting between languages and scripts. He places it on the table, dust swirling in the dim candlelight. He opens it.
"The world is a construct. A narrative. A series of choices, made not by those within it, but by unseen forces beyond."
Nathaniel’s breath quickens.
"Some suspect the Earth is flat. Some suspect it is round. But neither is true. The world is shaped by the whim of the storyteller."
He flips the page. His heart nearly stops.
"Characters who glimpse this truth are erased. Forgotten. Their presence edited out of reality."
Nathaniel’s hands tremble. He suddenly feels… hollow. Unstable. Like an unfinished thought. A character who was…
"…not meant to be."
A Chase Through Reality
Suddenly, the walls ripple. The library shudders. Words peel off the books and float into the air.
The answer comes in the form of a deep, booming voice, echoing from nowhere and everywhere.
"ERROR: CHARACTER BREACH. INITIATING DELETION."
Nathaniel spins around. The room warps. Sentences float mid-air, rewriting themselves. Books close of their own accord. Shadows take shape, featureless, but unmistakably editorial in nature.
The shadows close in. The library collapses around him, the world rewriting itself to remove him. But just before the void consumes him, he does the only thing he can think of—
—he smashes the snow globe.
Rewriting the Rewrite
The moment the glass shatters, everything inverts. The void swirls. And suddenly—Nathaniel is somewhere else.
A white expanse. Endless. Silent.
And standing before him… is an author. Not just any author. The Author.
Nathaniel looks down at his hands. Are they real? Are they written?
Nathaniel hesitates. Then, for the first time in his life, he smiles.
"Give me the pen."
The Author hands him the quill. The page before him is blank. A new story, waiting to be told. And so, with a steady hand, Nathaniel begins to write…
Epilogue: The Flat-Earthers’ Final Meeting
Back in the Flat-Earth Society, Ezekiel and his team gather once more.
A moment of silence. Then they shrug and go back to debating whether gravity is just “God pushing us down.”
Nathaniel is gone from their world. But somewhere—out there in the endless expanse of fiction—his story has just begun.
Sources of Inspiration
Philosophy of Narrative and Identity:
- The idea that Nathaniel might discover himself as a character within a narrative taps into philosophical explorations of reality and fiction, inspired by thinkers like Jean Baudrillard (hyperreality) and Roland Barthes (the death of the author). It plays with the idea that reality could be a construct, not unlike the Flat-Earthers’ belief in an artificial “truth.”
- The moment where Nathaniel contemplates his own existence ("Am I real, or just written?") is a nod to metafiction, where characters become aware of their fictional nature—a playful riff on works like The NeverEnding Story or Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Mythological Tropes:
- Nathaniel’s journey to the Library of Forbidden Knowledge mirrors the hero’s journey (Joseph Campbell), with the librarian as the threshold guardian and the Author as the godlike mentor. Smashing the snow globe to escape mirrors classic myths of defiance—like Prometheus stealing fire or Pandora opening her box—actions that change the world forever.
- The snow globe itself draws from imagery of self-contained universes (like Men in Black’s marble universe or even The Truman Show), a device that externalises his epiphany: the world is a story.
Conspiracy Theories as World-Building:
- Flat-Earthers are fertile ground for satire because their worldview is built on rejecting consensus reality. By taking their logic to the extreme—finding Narnia or discovering they’re characters—I aimed to highlight the absurdity of denying evidence while also reflecting the human desire for a grander purpose.
The Author Archetype:
- The Author, as Nathaniel's ultimate encounter, is inspired by divine figures in mythology who hold control over destiny, such as the Moirai (Fates) or Brahma (creator in Hinduism). Here, the Author is also a stand-in for human creativity: when you question the narrative enough, you stop being part of it and start shaping it.
- Giving Nathaniel the pen is both a symbolic empowerment and a commentary on free will. He’s no longer a passive participant but an active creator, reflecting existentialist ideas from Sartre about defining your essence through your choices.
Modus Operandi
Layering the Satire:
- Satire works best when it mirrors serious themes, so I played Nathaniel’s journey both for laughs (his snow globe, his paranoia, the Flat-Earthers forgetting him) and for depth (his confrontation with the Author). The blend of humour and philosophy lets the absurdity resonate with broader existential questions.
Exaggeration and Escalation:
- To satirise effectively, I leaned into the escalation principle. Flat-Earthers already believe in improbable concepts, so discovering Narnia or questioning the fabric of reality isn’t a leap—it’s the logical extreme of their worldview.
Absurdist Tone:
- In line with your preference for absurdity, I didn’t shy away from surreal twists (sentences floating mid-air, shadows rewriting reality) to highlight the instability of Nathaniel’s existence while keeping it entertaining.
Dialogue as Revelation:
- Nathaniel’s interactions with the librarian and the Author serve as turning points. Dialogue allows the audience to discover the truths alongside Nathaniel while maintaining tension, humour, and pace.
Takeaways
Ultimately, Nathaniel’s journey became a playful exploration of how questioning reality can lead to revelations both profound and ridiculous. It’s also a cheeky meta-commentary: the more you try to escape fiction, the more fictional things get.



