Travels and Tribulations

[REDACTED]

Ah. You're awake. Excellent!

...?

I'm going to assume you asked who I am. Though I assumed you'd recognize me... perhaps not... I'm not exactly an active participant in the worlds I create... Please, call me Sneko.

...?

Listen, I honestly can't hear you, so I'm going to try and answer the questions I assume you're asking. Where are you, for one. To put it simply, this is my... mind palace, I guess you could call it. A place where I can brainstorm freely and the birthplace of my other worlds. Welcome, by the way. Very few actually get a peek into here.

...!

Now, why did you wake up here with no warning or even reason? I will explain in a minute. But before I do, would you like something to drink? A snack perhaps?

....

Err... ahem, well.. moving on. Why I invited you to this very personal space of mine. To... put it quite bluntly, there is a lot I keep under wraps when I create my worlds. You know, cut characters, unused scenarios, alternatives to what ends up in the final product... Monsters is the primary culprit, but you know...

Now, the abandoned pieces of my progressing worlds aren't all that's here. There are entire assets and abandoned characters here that have never been given a world of their own... and most never will. They're like... half-thought out ideas that I indulge in for a little until they die and I can move on.

Now, normally, these ideas and unused pieces fade away pretty quickly. They end up forgotten or as minor thought experiments. But as of late... they've grown out of control. They're destroying my workplace and refusing to just... go away. They're not content to stay here anymore... and that is a problem. I have fought since creating these worlds to create something amazing... something visitors like yourself can enjoy.

If these unfinished and unpolished pieces make it out of this space, they'll clutter my worlds with nothing but mediocre discontinued works. The fragile balance I've managed to put together would fall apart immediately. I wouldn't be able to continue forward.

But I can't work with this ongoing rebellion either. Keeping them contained like this means that all my other stories also end up discontinued simply because there will be no room to focus on them. We're at a bitter stalemate... And this, my friend, is where you come in. You're from the outside... a visitor instead of a figment of my imagination.

My theory is that since these detached story ideas and characters want to be seen so badly, giving them an audience will convince them to settle down. Just a quick little in and out thing that'll satisfy their desire... and free up my brain to work on my other stuff again. It'll be like a oneshot collection! Those are fun, aren't they?

....

Now, I'm not going to force you to stay and participate just because I ask you to. You don't have any reason to care, and you're perfectly free to leave at any time. I am literally powerless to stop you if that's what you choose.

But... should you wish to proceed... I can show you the way to your first encounter. What do you say?

*PROCEED              *DO NOT