Great job getting all endings! I understand the confusion, yeah, the game only truly “ends” when the player character kills themselves, and otherwise it keeps looping with each new playthrough. There’s no real escape from the loop, except not starting the game at all.
Partially, there is a presence/force that communicates with you during the game and gives you the gun, which has some ability to interfere with the situation, but it does not fully control the player/events; it’s more there to guide/warn them or keep them on track. (There might be more to it in the next game.)
Thanks for mentioning the video. I know about it, Biggaming64 actually reached out to me about it, and I really enjoyed their take on the game.
About the line in the special thanks, it’s actually just an inside joke with a friend :)
And thank you so much for playing and for the support/donations! It really means a lot to see people so engaged with it.