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Writer's Blog: Fifteen, 15, XV
🕑 Added 2022-07-17 23:16:10 +0000 UTCI try to view personal hardship as emotional research for my writing. Which may sound odd, but it helps me power through if I logic myself into a silver lining philosophy. For example: someday, I will do a fantastic dead-parent-who-actually-isn't-dead-but-really-king-of-the-fae subplot (aka my reoccurring childhood fantasy). Life informs art.
Sometimes, though, life just . . . really sucks.
Chemo is so much more awful than primetime television makes it out to be. My mom is an absolute trooper, and her overall prognosis is pretty good. Plus, I genuinely like my mother, which is even more important than just loving someone when you're living with and taking care of them.
But it's still hard. Not as hard as, say, throwing a cursed ring into an evil volcano, but it's definitely comparable to fighting a Smaug-sized dragon. Inspiration is sparse right now, and uninterrupted time is equally difficult to come by. I’ve been prioritizing what time I do have on Mind Blind proper, which is why the short stories and updates have slowed down (although I have an unfinished backlog to post).
However! There is good news! Super good news, actually. I’m pleased to announce that every single Mind Blind ending is fully mapped out and at least partially written (over half are fully written, albeit with incomplete coding). Most of these endings are achievable regardless of who you romance, so there’s a lot of variation within each branch. (Family relationships and whether or not Button learns Shard's identity are probably the most integral to determining which endings are available to you.)
So, how many endings will Mind Blind have, not even including all the variation within each ending?
The answer is in the title of this post.
Which is to say, there are fifteen different horses which Button can ride into the sunset.
I know, right? I anticipated nine endings, maximum. But then I had a eureka! moment (discord has logs of me squealing in excitement at 4am), and this one epiphany lead to a lot more tinier eurekas! . . . which lead to over seven more ending routes.
Hope y’all like replaying.
Each ending is currently a separate Word document varying in length from 2,000 to 70,000 words (for the fully written endings). They're all located in a file on my computer simply entitled DUN-DUN-DUNNNN! because I name files not out of any logical procedure or any methodology, but out of how much I giggle whenever I open them. Although I won’t be sharing spoilers outside of what my big mouth has already revealed, I am sharing what each ending document is called. (Warning: it may still be a bit spoilery since titles do reflect themes and the major participants, so I would recommend that you stop reading now if you want to read Mind Blind’s final chapters without any insight.)
Some of these titles will be used as achievement names, some won’t. Keep in mind that this list is only the major paths (which is to say, alternate chapters which will completely separate rather than a single file with internal variations coded within).
Mind Blind’s 15 Endings:
1) Redemption Arc 1.0
2) Redemption Arc 2.0, Nope Remix
3) Clash of the Titans
4) Buzz and Woody Attempt To Fly
5) Sir Antihero and Squire Zero Save the Sleepy Prince
6) Seven Eight Nine
7) Pragmatism Is Sexy Because You're Not Dead
8) Man Bites Brain
9) Brain Bites Man
10) Minor League MVP
11) Sins of the Father (Trauma R Us)
12) The Devil Wears a Button-Up Shirt
13) Three Wisemen
14) Golden Drum Circle of DNA Plus Vigilante Cowbell
15) Plot Armor 101, Dramatic Sacrifice Edition
There are also six possible endings for Shard, which will be dependent upon a combination of Button's relationship stats, current end route, and of course your choices.
Comments
pinkie♡lemonade
i second a lot of the other comments here. take your time, its okay for stuff to be slower. i remember both of my parents had cancer at the same time when i was in middle school; and that affected me HARD even though i was too young to help out and be a caretaker. and you helping your mom is a hard job, i bet, ontop of likely still feeling like a scared little kid. chemo is no joke. i wish the best for you and your mom, and really hope you take the breathing room to watch yourself and what you need; not just watch your jobs as assistive caretaker and writer and what those jobs need from you. do plenty of self-care and whatnot. ill stick around no matter what your output for sure
Niamh
So excited for this but also - feel free to take your time. I can't wait to see all your incredible work come to fruition. Please take lots of moments to yourself to breathe and decompress. It's a super tough time you're going through and I'll be praying.
saarebasra
Taking care of someone can be ridiculously hard. I absolutely empathize with your line about the importance of “genuinely liking” the person in question. Sometimes I get the sense that I am the only one in my family who does like the relatives who are in need of care, and that can be a truly devastating realization to have on so many levels. For that reason, I’m glad that your mother has you (and, hopefully, other people as well), and I wish you both all the best for the future. Looking forward to playing all the endings in which nothing bad happens to my favorite characters. Otherwise, my mobile won’t survive it. I will assume for the sake of my sanity that “Plot Armor 101” means that Button won’t (and, generally, *cannot*) die despite “Dramatic Sacrifice Edition” also being in the title. Don’t pull a “Dragon Age: Origins” on me. *shakes fist* For obvious reasons, I’m also intrigued by “The Devil Wears a Button-Up Shirt”. I would have made a clever fashion pun here but I never got beyond “prat-à-porter” because I will personally make sure to *wear* the shit out of that jerk by romancing them in an endless painful cycle.
Natha Ng
Thank you oh so much for your hard work! I had been too young when my mom was diagnosed, but I’m glad she has you and you have each other. All my love to her! ❤️❤️ Gotta admit the “Sins of Our Father (Trauma R Us)” is probably my favourite title. I have always admired your creativity in creating these titles.
just wanted to say i'm going through a very similar situation with my mom (she was diagnosed with stage iv in jan '21) with living at home and taking care of her while working so i understand exactly how ridiculously hard it is (esp. for the moms in question). much love to you both <3 also (as always) i love your writing and i'm very much looking forward to replaying a million times to get all those endings ;)
Jo O'Connor
That's the pun, I just spelled out the number for ~plot reasons~
rasehum hiyuki
Thank you for your hard work!! Also you missed the chance to say for the pun "seven ate nine" :>
Fiax
Thanks for your hard work.
