The Spirals of Oz (unillustrated ver.)

Author's Note - Temp Fix

Welcome to The Spirals of Oz, a multimedia story passion project that I have been working on for the better part of two years. It takes place in a world where L. Frank Baum's children's classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the music of Nine Inch Nails collide.

The Spirals of Oz is intended to be experienced through words, images, and sounds all at once. Each chapter is paired with a song to listen to as you read. For ease of use, the chapter titles are the suggested songs. While the musical component is not required, it is strongly encouraged.
'
The text of each chapter has been crafted to match as closely as possible to the duration of the music by using the average silent reading rate of five words per second, and three seconds per image. Certain emotional beats have been factored in at various points in the song based on those numbers too.

Despite my best efforts, this timing won't be a perfect match for some, perhaps even most readers. This note has been crafted similarly, so I welcome you to tune in to "Temp Fix" and begin again at the top of the page. Consider how the timing of the song compares to your own preferred reading style, and adjust your experience accordingly. Please do not play the next track until you have finished the current chapter.

{FIGURE 1: A CLOCK WITH INTRICATE SPIRAL PATTERNS}

I do not own the rights to any of the music referenced in this work, you'll need to source them yourself. I encourage you to support the artist by doing so legally.

Given the fantastic source materials I have chosen for this project, all errors or flaws in this work are entirely my own. Similarly, the mutations and usage of said source materials are my own personal interpretation of them. I am not so arrogant as to suggest that my opinions are in any way representative of authorial intent. In other words, I do not claim to know exactly what anything means, only what they mean to me. Just as Dorothy's green glasses make the Emerald City glitter green, my own experiences have undoubtedly tinted the lenses with which I see these works.

With that in mind, I would also like to clarify that neither of these creations were selected randomly. I feel that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the works of Nine Inch Nails (more specifically the album The Downward Spiral) have strange synergy and symmetry. At their cores, each features a person unhappy with the state of their life embarking on a journey of self-discovery but taken in two very different directions. Together I think they tell a very human story that I hope to share with you.

Events, persons, and particulars in this work are fictional and any resemblance to actual events, persons, or particulars is entirely coincidental.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

I hope you find something here that resonates with you.

{FIGURE 2: SPIRAL SYMBOL}