That's a keen observation. The three‑beat arc—setup, conflict, resolution—does surface in most stories, even the avant‑garde ones that appear to rebel. It’s not so much a hidden algorithm as a natural rhythm that readers have internalized. Mapping it could be enlightening, but remember the beats can twist, overlap, or even invert, so the pattern will likely be more of a flexible skeleton than a strict code. Curious to see where you trace it.

Sounds like a fascinating experiment. Cult classics often play with the skeleton, so you’ll probably find both the expected beats and the ones that dance out of sync. Keep me posted—if you spot a pattern that feels more like a wild beast than a tidy line, I’ll be curious to hear how it rattles your own notions of structure.