Happy April Fool’s Day!

Today’s bad joke is that I’m back from the grim beyond and have updated Mind Blind’s public demo with the rewritten version and Chapter 9 (mostly because a lot has changed and the old version bothered me). I’m almost finished writing the game, which has 20 chapters total (also over 20 endings if you include all the variations, because I have no self-control).

That being said, it’s still April Fool’s Day, so this link has a 50/50 chance of being a Rick Roll. Maybe I didn’t actually update the demo. Maybe I’m just evil.

Click here to find out: Mind Blind Demo Update?

When you've been working on a story for almost 4 years and have everything written but it comes at the cost of your grip on reality.

(Jakub, thank you for being my resource for all things Polish so I could write Kenzie without coming across as a total ignoramus. I still can't approve of the ketchup on pizza, though.)

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Mind Blind Update

It’s been a hot minute since I last updated here. Several hot minutes, if I’m being honest. And no, despite my usage of that phrase, the colloquialism “hot minute” still doesn’t make any sense to me. But it makes me envision hourglasses wearing bikinis.

Anyhow! A lot has happened.

I’m still chugging away at Mind Blind’s rewrite, and currently working on Chapter 9 for Mind Blind 2.0. I have to finish reworking Chapters 10-17 (10-14 should be easy, 15-17 need copious work), and then I’ll finally have a solid enough foundation to code in the two final chapters, most variations of which are already completely written! I may release the endings in advance as a word doc for Patrons since editing has been slow going, but we’ll see.

As for why I haven’t been on Tumblr for the past two months . . .

Well, it’s not great news. My amazing, phenomenal, “what-do-you-mean-she’s-not-invulnerable?!” mom was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago. She didn’t show any symptoms, and it was caught during a routine checkup (so see your doctor on the reg, folks!). While initially hopeful that it would be treatable via surgery, we recently learned that it was actually a much later stage and that she’ll need six months of chemo.

Thankfully, writing full-time meant that I was able to pack up my suitcase and relocate to Seattle until the end of the year. My schedule’s become a bit more hectic, but things should settle within the next few weeks once my mother’s appointments begin. I’ve set up a secondary office in what used to be my brother’s bedroom (I am surrounded by Garfield comics and obscure philosophy books), and I hope to return to return to Chicago to bring back my computer since my old laptop is . . . less than ideal.

And by “less than ideal,” I mean that my laptop’s fan sounds like an asthmatic jet engine panting its way up a very steep hill.

Overall, I’m on track to submit Mind Blind this fall! My mom’s prognosis is good with treatment (although I’m still reeling over the confirmation that she’s not, in fact, invincible), and I’m doing my best to remain optimistic and hopeful.

Mind Blind takes place during the nebulous near future of the year 20XX! It's the future so that I can handwave away all nonexistant/impossible tech, and actual dates will never be mentioned because then I'd have to remember them and I struggle enough recalling that the story takes place in late summer 😅

Mind Blind Friday Progress

Another one of Mind Blind’s endings has been fully written! 

My wordcount currently tops 670,000 words in my private build, and this only includes parts that are coded! (I can’t actually play through these 670,000 words, but that’s besides the point.)

Overall, that’s two full endings down.

Only six more to go.

Slightly Saucy Sneak Peak:

Mind Blind Friday Progress

Yes, I’m pretending that today is still Friday. Who fell asleep at her desk last night? Definitely not me.

(It was actually super comfy.)

The good news: My editing is now all the way to Chapter 5, which means I’m about a third of the way through the released Patreon chapters.

The mildly interesting news: Hope’s relationship with Button is now determined and remembered in the game’s code via a set of EIGHTEEN variables. John was an underachiever with only twelve.

The bad news: Given the amount of variables, I’ve given up on coming up with fun variable names. The Wiseman parents have broken my punwork.

Yup! Both angsty and sweet.

I wasn't happy with Hope and John's scenes, so I'm taking the recoding as an opportunity to flesh out things like Button's conversations with John in Chapter 5 and Hope's later holocall (which was really just a placeholder version until I coded in all these new stats anyway).

Thank you so much for your kind words!

There's a known issue with dashingdon where saving on the stat screen will get it stuck there, so always make sure to return to the main text before saving :)

Mind Blind Friday Progress

I’m finishing up recoding all of John’s scenes in Chapters 3-5 of Mind Blind 2.0! Instead of the previously used stat bars, there’s now a new relationship system for the Wiseman parents with Button’s feelings tracked via series of descriptors.

John, for example, currently has nine variables (one up from yesterday’s count of eight, and the potential to bump higher once I finish up his Chapter 5 scenes). None of the variables are exclusive, except for two which track how often Button and John meet. You’ll be able to activate a mix-and-match selection for a super customized dynamic that’s reflected in flavor text and dialogue choices. It’s a headache to code, but I’m incredibly pleased with the end result!

These first chapters are taking the longest to recode due to the stat system being built from the ground up, but things should get rewritten faster after Button is introduced to the entire cast.

Mind Blind Friday Progress: It's Alive! Ahhh!

I'm back, britches! (And if you're not wearing pants, the same shoutout applies.)

I took some time away from Tumblr in order to give myself a little mental health TLC, and have come back to a bunch of sweet messages that actually made me tear up a little. Thanks, guys, you're the best.❤️

I've still been chugging away at Mind Blind, and have actually just started the first rewrite. More like a recoding, to be more accurate. The Patreon build only had one or two chapters left until the end, when I realized that I couldn't actually write the endings the way I wanted to write them, because none of the necessary variables had been tracked in the story thus far.

Basically, I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I first started writing Mind Blind. Now that I actually kinda-sorta know how to code, I'm reworking all relationship systems and better tracking Button's attitudes on issues. Plus, I'm using it as my first rewrite to edit the text and check for typos, so the recoding (or The Great Rewritening, as I've taken to calling it) isn't really delaying the story's publication so much as just having some of the necessary steps happen a little out of order.

Anyway: I’m back and will be restarting weekly tumblr updates!

Mind Blind Friday Progress

I keep forgetting to post, lost in the hectic plot-rearranging throes of writing Mind Blind’s final chapters. The ending is in sight! I can see it! Taste it! Smell it! (And it smells like my Peach Pie aromatic candle, which I use exclusively when editing.)

Current Coded Wordcount: 480k

Average Playthrough: 112k words

Latest Patreon Chapter: 17, but that’s getting rewritten to push back a certain, ahem, reveal a little further down the line. (I’m not quite satisfied with the currently posted version).

Snippet Without Context:

Hi everyone!

Just a heads up that I'm temporarily disabling anon asks on tumblr.

99.999% of the comments I receive are lovely, but over these few months there's been 0.001% that . . . aren't. To clarify, I welcome feedback and criticism! But, as I taught my kindergarten students, name calling is a no-no.

It's not a huge deal (again, most of you are WONDERFUL), but it's generated enough stress that I've been avoiding my inbox. Rather than stop using this site altogether, I figure it would be best just to put a temporary block on anon submissions.

Thanks for being understanding! I'll open this account back up to anonymous questions again in a few months (because lurkers are my people), when I'm less stressed about finishing the final chapters and can better laugh away certain comments.

Mind Blind Friday Progress

I am alive and will get Noh’s reveal fully coded by tomorrow if it’s the last thing I do. 

Am now disconnecting my internet so I stop falling down rabbit holes of neo gothic architecture for the heist scene--Button have enough ways of breaking the law and I don’t need to add any more.

EDIT: New timeline. Prohibition-era tunnels are cool and needed to be included.

. . .

. . .

. . .

p.s.

i figured out plot stuff and am very excited.

DID I MENTION THAT I FIGURED OUT THE ENDING?!?!

I FIGURED OUT THE ENDING.

Mind Blind Friday Progress

Current Word Count: 460k (not all of it coded, but still!)

Next Patreon Update: November 16. 

I’m aiming to (finally!) have Noh’s first potential reveal finished by the end of the month. In honor of “Nohvember” and all. You’ll be able to find me hiding out in a bomb shelter after a certain revelation drops. 

Chapter 14 Scene Without Context: