How To Draw A Minotaur

HOW TO DRAW A (text-colour:red)[MINOTAUR] Step One: You Don't Know Yet That You Want To. You'll Draw Anything. Proceed to [[Step Two]].

Step Two: Look At A Royalty-free Photo Archive Until Something About This Man Draws Your Eye. <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/randomman1.JPG" width="300" height="375"> (live: 3s)[He's Nobody. He Could Be Anybody. You Sketch Over His Face. You Change What You Don't Like.] (live: 6s)[You Forget That There Is A [[Step Three]].]

Step Three: You Still Don't Know That This Is A (text-colour:red)[Minotaur], So You Have To Decide What He's Wearing. (live: 3s)[You're Making This Harder Than It Has To Be.] (live: 5s)[A Quote About Achilles Catches Your Eye. You Used To Be Obsessed With Stories Of The Trojan War And The Odyssey. When Did That Change?] (live: 8s)[You Were Fourteen. You Know Exactly When It Changed.] (live: 10s)[You Look Up A Few Illustrations Of Greek Soldiers During The Trojan War. You Make Something Up. It's Fine. You Hit [[Step Four]] Without Realizing It.]

Step Four: You Realize You're Drawing Theseus. (align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/THESEUS1.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] You Think About [[His Story]]. He Was [[Somebody's Son]].

You Draw Theseus Again. (align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/THESEUS3.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] It Must Be Strange, To Be [[Immortalized]] As A Myth.

You Draw Theseus Again. (align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/THESEUS6.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] It Must Be Nice, To Be [[Immortalized]] As A Hero.

You Draw Theseus Again. (align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/THESEUS2.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] When You Were Fourteen Years Old, Someone Published [[A Book]]. When You Were Fourteen Years Old, [[Someone Died]].

You Draw Theseus Again.(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/THESEUS5.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] You Wait More Than Twenty Years To Read That Book. You Can Imagine Yourself Reading It As The Child You Were, Grappling With The Unfairness Of Grief And Overwhelming Anxiety. It's Better This Way. You Would Have Seen The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur] In Every Shadow, If You'd Read It Back Then. (live: 5s)[You Can Feel Yourself Dwelling On The Book, Anyway.] (live: 8s)[You Understand What You're Doing Now. Proceed To [[Step Five]].]

You Draw Theseus Again. (align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/THESEUS4.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Fifteen Is So Young To Die, And She Was Your Best Friend. Your Son Is The Age You Were When She Died. By Christmas, He Will Be Older Than She Was. He Doesn't Know Death As Anything But A Laughably Vague Shadow. (live: 5s)[Isn't This Better, Though?] (live: 8s)[You Forgot About The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur]. Proceed To [[Step Five]].]

Step Five: It's Actually Pretty Simple. If The Story Is About Grieving Your [[Ruined Childhood]], Theseus And The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur] Are The Same. If The Story Is About Ruining Your Life For [[An Obsession]], The Labyrinth Is The (text-colour:blue)[House]. If The Story Is About [[Forgiveness]], The Phone Call Was 5 1/2 Minutes Long.

You See Yourself. (live: 2s)[You Think About The Passage Where Johnny Imagines Himself As The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur], Because It's Easier Than Remembering What Actually Happened To Him.] (live: 5s)[You're Still Picking At The Wounds From Your Own Childhood. You're Supposed To Have Gotten Over Some Of This By Now, Surely.] (live: 7s)[Is It [[Growth]] When You Kill The Hurt Version Of Yourself, Or Is It [[Murder]]?]

You Draw Lines Between Parents. (live: 2s)[Pasiphae And Pelafina, Birthing The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur] Out Of Obsession.] (live: 9s)+(text-colour:purple)[Don't You Miss Her? This Huddled Puddle Of Mother? The Shape That Gave You Shape? Fed You, Warmed You, Waned Over You?] (live: 4s)[Minos And Zampano, Fathers To Dead Sons.] (live: 12s)+(text-color:blue)[11/2/1968 - Tirer Comme Des Lapins.] (live: 6s)[The Navidsons And Your Parents, Fallible And Broken At Best.] (live: 15s)[You're Trying To Be Better. You Have To Try.] (live: 18s)[You Think Of The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur] As [[A Dead Son]]. You Think Of The (text-color:red)[Minotaur] As A Son That [[Never Existed]].]

1. You Can Learn To Forgive A World That Would Kill A Child. (live: 3s)[2. You Can Learn To Forgive Your Family For Hurting You.] (live: 5s)[2. Even Though You Might Never Understand It.] (live: 7s)[2. Even Though Understanding It Is Ashes In Your Mouth.] (live: 9s)[2. Even Though It Still Hurts.] (live: 11s)[3. You Can Learn To Forgive Yourself.] (live: 13s)[3. Even If It's Changed The Trajectory Of Your Life.] (live: 15s)[3. Even If You Were Just A Kid.] (live: 17s)[4. You Don't Have To Forgive Anybody.] (live: 19s)[4. But The Option Is Always There.] (live: 21s)[5. There's Always A Way Out Of The Maze.] (live: 23s)[You Can Remake [[Your Life]]. You Can Remake [[Yourself]].]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/TRUANT5.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Congratulations. You Remembered The (text-color:red)[Minotaur]. (live: 5s)[Is This What You Meant When You [[Started]]?]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/TRUANT6.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Congratulations. You Dreamed Of The (text-color:red)[Minotaur]. (live: 5s)[Is This What You Meant When You [[Started]]?]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/TRUANT3.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Congratulations. You Understand The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur] A Little Better, Now. (live: 5s)[Is This What You Meant When You [[Started]]?]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/TRUANT4.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Congratulations. You Understand The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur] A Little Better, Now. (live: 5s)[Is This What You Meant When You [[Started]]?]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/TRUANT2.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Congratulations. You Drew The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur]. (live: 5s)[Is This What You Meant When You [[Started]]?]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ <img src="https://eldritchcircus.neocities.org/TRUANT1.JPG" width="300" height="375"> ] Congratulations. You Drew The (text-colour:red)[Minotaur]. (live: 5s)[Is This What You Meant When You [[Started]]?]

You Can't Undo What's Been Done. (live: 4s)[But You Can Try Again.] (live: 7s)[You Can Reread The Book.] (live: 10s)[You Can Be Better.] (live: 13s)[And If You Don't Like What You Drew, You Can Start Again At [[Step One]].]