diff --git a/src/template.sh b/src/template.sh
index e2f072c..0a34a50 100755
--- a/src/template.sh
+++ b/src/template.sh
@@ -27,26 +27,24 @@ function render() {
 	# recursion is currently unsupported here, i feel like it may break things?
 	if [[ "$template" == *'{{#'* && "$3" != true ]]; then
 		local subtemplate=
-		while read key; do
+		while read key; do 
 			# below check prevents the loop loading itself as a template.
 			# this is possibly not enough to prevent all recursions, but
 			# i see it as a last-ditch measure. so it'll do here.
-			local i
-			local IFS=''
-
-			_old_tplfile="$tplfile"
-			_template_find_absolute_path "$key"
-			if [[ "$(realpath "$tplfile")" == "$_old_tplfile" ]]; then
+			if [[ "$file" == "$tplfile" ]]; then
 				subtemplate+="s${_tpl_ctrl}\{\{\#$key\}\}${_tpl_ctrl}I cowardly refuse to endlessly recurse\!${_tpl_ctrl}g;"
-				continue
+			# elif [[ -f "$key" ]]; then
+			else
+				local i
+				local IFS=''
+
+				_template_find_absolute_path "$key"
+				local input="$(tr -d "${_tpl_ctrl}${_tpl_newline}" < "$tplfile" | sed 's/\&/�UwU�/g')"
+				garbage+="$input"$'\n'
+				input="$(tr $'\n' "${_tpl_newline}" <<< "$input")" # for another hack
+				subtemplate+="s${_tpl_ctrl}\{\{\#$key\}\}${_tpl_ctrl}${input}${_tpl_ctrl};"
+				_template_find_special_uri "$(cat "$tplfile")"
 			fi
-			# don't even try to include files below httpsh's root
-			[[ "$(realpath "$tplfile")" != "$(dirname "$(realpath "${cfg[namespace]}")")"* ]] && continue
-			local input="$(tr -d "${_tpl_ctrl}${_tpl_newline}" < "$tplfile" | sed 's/\&/�UwU�/g')"
-			garbage+="$input"$'\n'
-			input="$(tr $'\n' "${_tpl_newline}" <<< "$input")" # for another hack
-			subtemplate+="s${_tpl_ctrl}\{\{\#$key\}\}${_tpl_ctrl}${input}${_tpl_ctrl};"
-			_template_find_special_uri "$(cat "$tplfile")"
 		done <<< "$(grep -Poh '{{#\K(.*?)(?=}})' <<< "$template")"
 
 		buf+="${subtemplate}"
@@ -140,10 +138,8 @@ function render() {
 #
 # _template_find_absolute_path(name) -> $tplfile
 _template_find_absolute_path() {
-	if [[ "$1" == /dev/stdin || "$1" == "/dev/fd/"* ]]; then
+	if [[ ! "${template_relative_paths}" || "$1" == /dev/stdin || "$1" == "/dev/fd/"* ]]; then
 		tplfile="$1"
-	elif [[ ! "${template_relative_paths}" ]]; then
-		tplfile="${cfg[namespace]}/$1"
 	else
 		for (( i=0; i<${#template_relative_paths[@]}; i++ )); do
 			if [[ -f "${template_relative_paths[i]}/$1" ]]; then
diff --git a/src/version.sh b/src/version.sh
index c290b98..fd70d1b 100644
--- a/src/version.sh
+++ b/src/version.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-HTTPSH_VERSION=0.97.2
+HTTPSH_VERSION=0.97.1