Writer's Blog: Fifteen, 15, XV (Patreon)

I 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.