As stated previously, the demo is now only available tiers with Discord access (in order to contain spoilers, please keep talk about any super major reveals contained there instead of on public social media).
This only includes the first scene of Chapter 10, as I had an epiphany while fixing the first scene and decided that K needs a romance scene before Vengeance's party (in part becaus...
Although Chapter 10 won't be playable until Saturday (Sunday morning at the very latest), I can at least share the changeable covers that you'll encounter.
2021-05-28 22:56:45 +0000 UTC View PostSorry for the delay, everyone! I'm covering lessons for a coworker this evening, and will need another day to finish. (I usually take release days off work in order to make the deadlines, but remain on the substitute call list so as not to burn bridges with my employer.)
I need another few hours to finish up the demo release. Since I don't get off teaching until 2am, this will be done tom...
2021-05-28 22:47:41 +0000 UTC View PostDragon whinnied and tossed his head. The stable enclosure didn’t give him enough room to rear, but he stomped his hoof warningly as I approached.
“I’ve another apple for you.” I grinned as the stallion eyed me warily. “Don’t give me that look: I’ve reformed. It’s not poisoned.”
Dragon’s lips tickled my outstretched palm as he delicately accepted my offering. His ...
2021-05-26 15:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostIntroducing Artie and Lyn, an elderly man and woman who may or may not be harmless, and are clients of Delivery's MC.
Artie and Lyn must be grandparents (although you’ve never met their children, and neither ever steps outside the threshold of their stunning lake house). But you imagine they're what grandparents are like for people who have families: Lyn always presses strawberry hard c...
2021-05-25 02:22:41 +0000 UTC View PostCoded Demo Length: 294k
Average Playthrough: 71k
Next Demo Update: May 28th (Chapter 10, beginning the closed demo)
With one week until the closed demo update, I've been finalizing and editing Chapter 10's scenes (as well as writing the smaller interval scenes). Among the parts still being tweaked is the scene that I posted ab...
2021-05-21 21:45:34 +0000 UTC View PostI often write the "fun" scenes first, which then leaves me to agonize over the expositional bridges. The final scene usually combines aspects/sentences/phrasing from all the different drafts. Chapter 10 has been a record breaker, however, as I'm now on Version 13 with still no final version.
Below, I've copied three (shortened for spoilers) versions of Chapter 10's intro (Versions 1...
2021-05-20 22:08:38 +0000 UTC View PostNote: The "Aeon Student Guide" will be included in Mind Blind's stat pages upon final release. There will also be a glossary of terms. The reason these aren't part of the demo is two-fold: first, because I wanted to make sure that the story still makes sense even if readers skip the lore-building material; and second, because I'm not done writing it all. T... 2021-05-19 17:11:06 +0000 UTC View Post
From the Personal Correspondence of Lady Vitrula Rhys
Dear Lady Vitrula,
I was gladdened to read that you found the books I sent to be enlightening. Anterdonian writers have a way of making you question things previously taken for granted, as they’re culturally uncomfortable with outright “yes” or “no” answers. Even their word for “yes” is...
2021-05-19 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostAU where Kenna is a genie/djinn
Your first wish is made in a moment of desperation, clutching the antique locket that Sally gave you for your birthday as you huddle behind an overturned table to avoid gunfire.
I wish that this was over, you think.
Suddenly . . . it is. The roar of bullets quiets, and UCRT arrests the two-dozen confus...
2021-05-17 04:15:27 +0000 UTC View PostAU where Kent is a genie/djinn
Your first wish is made in a moment of desperation, clutching the antique locket that Sally gave you for your birthday as you huddle behind an overturned table to avoid gunfire.
I wish that this was over, you think.
Suddenly . . . it is. The roar of bullets quiets, and UCRT arrests the two-dozen confuse...
2021-05-17 04:08:50 +0000 UTC View PostCoded Demo Length: 291k
Average Playthrough: 70k
Next Demo Update: May 28th (Chapter 10, beginning the closed demo)
Late May will be Mind Blind’s one year anniversary, which officially makes this the longest that I’ve ever worked on a single project without pause! My goal is to pass the 300,000 word mark by month'...
2021-05-15 02:53:10 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Grayson received the memo that Ambrose Kim would be joining UCRT as an “interim strategical supervisor,” his first instinct was that Nick would not be pleased. He warned Ambrose of this as they took the elevator up to UCRT headquarters.
“It’s nothing personal,” Gray explained. “Justice has been under a lot of stress since Vancouver. He feels like Unity’s decisi...
2021-05-14 21:11:38 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Grayson received the memo that Ambrosia Kim would be joining UCRT as an “interim strategical supervisor,” his first instinct was that Nick would not be pleased. He warned Ambrosia of this as they took the elevator up to UCRT headquarters.
“It’s nothing personal,” Gray explained. “Justice has been under a lot of stress since Vancouver. He feels like Unity’s deci...
2021-05-14 21:10:35 +0000 UTC View PostThe race between Glitch and Sally was neck and neck, but everyone's favorite yet ethically dubious vegan has emerged the winner! Please ask any questions for Taliaferro on the Sanctum interview channel or in a comment on this post.
Nick is looking to reclaim his post as host, but Rosy may take point this time (K refused).
Weeks passed in a flurry of preparations for Letty’s presentation to Court. When I finally found the time to return the spellbook that I had illicitly borrowed and tell Delphine of my attempts with the tome, her reaction was the opposite of what I’d hoped. Her series of censorious lectures on the perils of unsupervised experimentation lasted for the rest of the month. Before I knew it, the ...
2021-05-12 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostI'm working on a scene with Nick and am having some trouble because I am decidely not a baker (I can cook okayish, but baking requires an actual attention span). I've tried resorting to websearches for Nick's baking-ese, but feel like this makes his dialogue too generic as I have no way to differentiate between what is common trivia versus what would actually be impressive for Nick to ...
2021-05-12 03:01:45 +0000 UTC View PostEvander/Evelyn Corey is a witch, the owner of a sentient cottage, an accidental(?) mass murderer, and the second officially introduced RO. They have white-blond hair, hazel eyes, and a permanent scowl that causes children to avoid their house when trick-or-treating.
Like most of the ROs, Ev will be a client of Delivery for the Damned'...
2021-05-12 00:52:51 +0000 UTC View PostIt's finally here! Pick Gray's name to play through his route.
Link: https://dashingdon.com/play/wildelight/cupid-calamity/mygame/
Given that the average playthrough of Gray's route is only around 3,000 words, it may be hard to believe that this took me so long to f...
2021-05-10 00:32:35 +0000 UTC View PostWith Chapter 10 looming on the horizon for AMO tiers and up, I want to go over how to gain access to the Sanctum of Spoilers discord. Ideally, we'll be able to keep all the big spoilery discussions contained within so that readers without access to the closed demo won't have the mystery accidentally spoiled :)
To connect discord with Patreon, go to your Patreon profile and select the "App...
2021-05-08 18:41:35 +0000 UTC View PostDemo Length: 275k
Average Playthrough: 67k
Things To Be Aware Of:
Chapter length varies pretty drastically based on whether you talk with Hope and if Sally is staying at the house. I might eventually add alternate scenes, but for now the scenes without characters are simply shorter (a natural consequence of avoiding peop...
2021-05-08 01:52:41 +0000 UTC View PostFrom the Journal of Lady Vitrula Rhys
“Theo did what?”
I’d been unaware of my brother’s return from Anterdon until Letty came to me. She was barely able to gasp out her words due to have running all the way to the northeast tower from her (formerly my) quarters in castle.
“He challenged Loren . . . to a duel,” she managed to p...
2021-05-05 15:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostI asked whom everyone's favorite RO was a while back on the COG Forum, but wanted to ask again now that most romances have the initial stage of their romance activated. I'm trying to understand which ROs are the most popular and why (so please leave comments if you feel comfortable sharing!).
Part of the reason for this poll is the most popular ROs have surprised me (except for Gray...
2021-05-03 15:37:08 +0000 UTC View PostI managed to get all my ducks in a row and set out a schedule for May! Yay!
Fun fact of the (May) day: A theory for the origin of the saying "to get one's ducks in a row" postulates that "ducks" actually refers to pool balls (called "sitting ducks"). Another has that "ducks" means bowling pins (called "duckpins"). I have yet to read a theory for the saying that mentions birds.
New month means a new character to be interviewed! Place your votes here on which Mind Blind cast member you'd like to question next.
New characters are going to be introduced in the second half of Chapter 9 (coming soon) and Chapter 10 (coming at the end of the month), so June will have new options. But for now, these are the characters who haven't yet been interrogated.
2021-05-01 21:24:30 +0000 UTC View Post(Warning: the following post contains minor spoilers about Noh’s romance route)
Redemption is one of those words that you expect emblazoned on a pamphlet inviting you to attend a religious service, or in bright letters on the cover of a comic book. Usually, if I read the back of a romance book and the relationship is described as a “redemption arc,” I immed...
2021-05-01 02:40:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe stage is dark. It’s impossible to determine who’s awaiting the audience, but there’s the scraping of a chair being moved across wooden boards.
A voice begins to speak—male, and theatrically deepened to a Morgan Freeman narration level in defiance of its natural baritone timbre.
Disembodied Voice: You've experienced the sequel.
As always, I adrenaline-rushed a bunch of rewrites over this past week (the intervention is now replaced by meeting a new character). These last-minute rearrangements are a super bad and stress-inducing habit, but hey, when a scene doesn't work, it doesn't work (or in this case, works better if moved).
Current Demo Wordcount: 265k
Average Playthrough: 2021-04-29 03:45:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Next Patreon Chapter: Chapter 9 (coming 4/28)
Current Wordcount: 286k
Average Playthrough: Unknown (I need to fix all the coding bugs in order to run random test, which gives me the average playthrough length)
Chapter 9 is coming Wednesday! The entire chapter should be playable from beginning to end, although I'll probably hol...
2021-04-24 02:10:51 +0000 UTC View PostNote: Thinking about K inspired me to go back and read some Ovid in order to include references, only to realize that my Latin is rustier than . . . I can't actually think of something that's really rusty off the top of my head, but let's pretend I compared it to something clever. Anyhow, the result of my tackling Latin again is this poem. (Yes, I'...
2021-04-22 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post