Welp. Here we are.
23279 words. The first page to breach 10k words, and the first one to breach 20k as well. The current longest page on the wiki at the time of writing, three times larger than the current longest page onsite. The product of an entire month's work. Words can't describe how I feel right now.
First off, thanks to SnomWriting for listening to me brainstorm one night at 1am in the middle of August when I first conceptualized this idea as a short, maybe 1k word draft to do when I was bored. Their ideas helped me put in some elements to this that would go on into the new, final product.
Secondly, a big thanks to CutTheBirch and
MyrandFox, who got sent the first, log-less draft just to show them how my draft looked at the time. They both read it right there and then, so a big thanks to them for telling me that I was on the right foot.
Thirdly, a big thanks to Boifromnowhere does not match any existing user name and Bart0nius, the first for their eagerness and enthusiasm when reading the story as it developed, and the second for their reading of the whole thing one day when I asked for help in chat.
Fourthly (Is that a word?), thanks to PandaShark71004 and
Kitty Rika for giving me some small opinions when I asked of them to give them to me. Whilst small, the help is appreciated nonetheless because it helped change certain aspects of the original draft.
Fifthly, a huge thanks to Natedagreat563 and
Nukboi, who both gave me a full conceptual criticism when I asked them to give it to me (and some SPaG in the case of Nukboi). Your help is very, very appreciated, as in the long run, it was the one that gave me the affirmation I was not fucking this article up. You two are the best <31
Lastly, thanks to you, if you read this whole thing. If my purpose was to tell a story, then you have listened, and I'm happy that you did.
So this is it then. I'm not even in Spookycon to win anymore, I just wanted to write this monumental article for the sake of telling a story, and tell it I did. This is my magnum opus (until I do something else that surpasses it in quality lol).
Funny story: (Before anything, mood music. I've only got one this time, and it's a damn good one.)
This article was also inspired by a dream I had at one point, though this one was not recent. I had this dream of roaming chambers with a creature hunting me down, and at one point I just sat down and accepted my fate. I woke up a few moments later. That was easily seven or eight years ago, if not longer. That dream has finally weaved its way into reality, and now the creature that terrorized me back then can hopefully terrorize more people anew now.
I hope this piece was satisfying to read through, and I hope that in some way I managed to inspire you too.
There are roads,
a samurai must travel…
