Re: Literal code blocks ...

It would be very helpful for you to share a link to a repo that contains a minimal reproducer - I've had to guess a few things about your setup here.

> But, forgetting all the grief so far, how would YOU recommend me to
achieve what I'm actually aiming for, which is plain text laid out in
columns?

If you're using Sphinx, the .. class::​ directive is renamed to .. rst-class::​. Does .. rst-class:: borderless​ work?


> I DON'T want it to LOOK like it's been laid out as a table...

By this do you just mean you don't want borders to be shown?

A