Mind Blind: The First Ending, Now Up (Until the very end, y'all. For realsies.)

First off, I am so so so sorry for the delay to schedule! There were more bugs than I anticipated in the newly released sections, and then I had an idea (Chapter 18’s circular narration, to mimic Button literally running out of options), and then I had ANOTHER idea (which was to reveal Nick’s secret in this ending as well, instead of locking it behind Shard’s motives). I know, I know. I need to stop having new ideas when the pixilated ink is already on the virtual paper. But I’m actually pretty happy with how the rework turned out—even though this ending doesn’t reveal Shard’s identity, which was MB's driving mystery, I feel that Button learning about Nick still makes it emotionally satisfying even though some questions remained unanswered.

The tiny loose threads are dealt with in the epilogues, by the way, like what happened on the mission that you didn’t choose (in this case, going after Vengeance with Kenzie and Glitch). The epilogues are 90% fluff with the characters that you're closest to, in order to let you breathe a little after the breakneck pace of the final chapters (which is a very deliberate pace, but please let me know if any areas need to be slowed down for emotional impact).

Demo Link Is The Same As Before: https://cogdemos.ink/play/bardictype/mind-blind-shard

Saves may or may not work, but to be safe I would only use one before Chapter 15.

What This Ending Includes:

This ending is the “Save Nick” version that occurs if you don’t accept Shard’s help in Chapter 14, when you also make choices that indicate you DON’T want to meet with Hope (either because Button has a bad relationship with their mother, or because they’re still afraid of her).

The ending will play out automatically should you select to go save Nick regardless of choices, but those are the choices that you’ll need to make for it to make narrative sense. (Otherwise, John will do things like teleport from the library to a plane, and that’s not one of his Ment abilities.)

Two other “Save Nick” endings exist, one of which will happen if you accept Shard’s help, and another version which has Hope present. None of these endings are necessarily best—this version, for example, has the most Grayson! And I love Grayson, especially when he’s being a showoff. I’m aiming to release the Hope-Save-Nick ending either today or tomorrow, depending on how many bugs that I need to fix for this latest update. Then the Vengeance pathways go up, and then finally all of Shards nonsense. (Oh, Shard. I adore you, truly, glorious trainwreck that you are.)

Feedback That I’d Really, Really, Really Appreciate Getting Back After You Play (Contains Spoilers):

1)      Does the way that the BRS work make sense? Does the psychic stuff make sense in general?

2)      Your opinion on Nick’s inner self. Originally, it was different but I liked the role reversal of older and younger sibling.

3)      Does the ending work? What about the decision to end on a choice instead of text?

4)      Is the fake out funny or obnoxious? (You’ll know it when you get there.)

5)      Was the romance content with Gray satisfying? (I know that Sally gets a little sidelined in this ending, but she also really gets to shine in the “Go Out The Window” pathway that I’ll patch in with the Vengeance endings. Every RO has an ending where they get to play the largest role.)

6)      Did you feel like there was enough reactivity to your relationships? (Especially with Nick and John.)

7)      Is there ANYTHING that doesn’t make sense? I’m not gonna lie, y’all, it’s rough going trying to describe a nontangible mindscape.

How To Report Bugs/Typos/Suggestions:

Please screenshot the page if possible (if not possible, please just make sure to include all the other information). Let me know the chapter number, and preferably what choices you made leading up to the error.

Bugs/Typos/Suggestions may be reported on the discord channel, or you can just comment on this post if that’s easier.