Mind Blind (01/31 Demo Update. A Story Where You Are NOT The Chosen One!)

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1584

I personally said “Yea”, because i have nothing against it, may be due to my 0 interest in Sally. So for me it’s more “Oh these characters can get together, neat”. Because these are characters in the story and i treat them like characters in the story, not real people.
And if something would be weird irl, i can let it go in the story.

As for hospital, both character are selfish, both put themselves first and not a person who got hurt. It’s not a bad thing, it’s human. MC being selfish or Sally should not be an accusation, because both scared and hurt. People love accuse characters for what would be bad irl, but not willing to empathise with them the same way. My suggestion could be, an options to agree to go there together and then give each other space to be alone with Nick.

I’m not a savvy person with deep analysis. They are both adult people, they can get together and if it doesn’t work, they can break up. I just like the idea of cute scenes with matchmaking and laughs.

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1585

I always love to set up Nick with Sally. But then…
Can we set up Nick with Gray? Bff turn couple trope always got me good :laughing:

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1586

Ugh, no that would be a clusterfuck for my poor mc.
On the one hand he wants his brother to be happy and is, to a large extent, willing to suffer personally for that goal.
On the other hand his stupid crush on Gray is never ever going away.

However rationally my mc would then know that Nick would potentially make a far better husband for Gray than he ever could especially because (without the changes made by hosting Nick sticking) my mc at least would feel like he could be a “husband” in name only. As where he needs to rely on Gray the same would not be true in reverse since he cannot be trusted with any of Gray’s deepest fears and secrets nor could he even run a truly shared household, joint bank accounts etc.
As right now and before the latest incident he was living as Nick’s minor ward for all intents and purposes and without anything really changing all that a marriage to Gray would accomplish is a transfer of (legal) guardianship and in time not being able to be a real, equal, husband would inevitably create tensions that are more likely than not to lead to an eventual breakup a couple years down the line anyway.

We can also see this very clearly in-game with the last couple of updates, neither mc nor Gray can really seek physical comfort from each-other because that would immediately burden and overwhelm Gray with mc’s unbidden thoughts. And not being able to give or seek physical comfort from his husband or boyfriend well at least for my mc that would be one of those tension causing things that build up over time and will eventually scupper the relationship.

That said the crush would never really go away and it would be very hard to have to live as his brother’s ward in a truly combined Nick/Gray household with kids of their own.

But even in the game as we have it now, where Nick and Gray are “just” best friends, something would have to change permanently in my mc’s condition if he is ever to marry Gray. The current changes lingering after Nick leaves would be ideal, as while he doesn’t need powers of his own or to be exactly as rich and famous as Gray he does need to feel like he can fulfil the role of being a real and equal, adult husband and not in effect just be a minor ward to Gray.

In both cases, with his condition, there is also the fear on my mc’s part that since Gray’s brain range is far more limited than Nick’s, Gray’s enemies may take control of him and use him to try to hurt and maybe even kill Gray. :fearful:

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1587

I mean Sally is canonically Button’s best friend so it’s really hard to have bad relationship with her. Also there hasn’t been any moments where you can be mean to her.

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I personally really love Nick/Sally, but I can see where the Nays and Heys are coming from.

The appeal for me is mostly that I adore them both and want them to be happy. I feel like their personalities mesh really well? They’re both fun, positive people with ~hidden burdens~, and I enjoy how those shared aspects of their characters reflect each other - that Sally’s optimism is learned and deliberate, for example while Nick more or less comes by it naturally. The anecdote about Nick teasing Sally with yawns is the cutest thing in the world.

But yeah, they don’t really interact “live in front of us”, so to speak; what we know about their relationship feels really ambiguous and can be read multiple ways.

For example, when Sally confesses to Nick in the hospital, she talks about how frustrated she is that her crush makes her act like a different person around him. I find this HIGHLY relatable. That they can only communicate through stilted, formalised sarcasm while harbouring intense romantic feelings is frankly completely delicious and hilarious. The tension! The banter! The pining! It’s another big part of why I love them together.

But in the absence actually seeing that dynamic play out, it’s easy to take this as an indication that they’re simply not close - and therefore it’s weird that she’s visiting him in the hospital while he’s unconscious, possibly at the expense of his actual sibling, etc. On the other hand, I personally read it as “Sally is a close long-term family friend and should be able to visit Nick regardless of romantic attachment because they’re significant presences in each other’s lives”

I don’t see Sally as childish at all, but I think maybe part of that perception is that a lot of her introduction is in Button’s childhood flashbacks. So maybe if her establishing flashbacks were set between high school and Aeon, they might shed more light on who she is now as an adult + set up her current relationships to Button and Nick?

That seems like. Kind of a horrifying massive undertaking though.

Whoof, I hope literally any of that made sense.

Ps: YAY thank you for letting me not eavesdrop! I always feel so bad and guilty lol.

Edit: eek spoilers

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1589

I went with (hell) yea.
I like both of the characters and think getting to do some matchmaking sounds like fun. Since it is also completely optional and in my opinion easy to avoid and/or embrace it definitely adds to the story.
What we got to see about their relationship up until now is, of course, not a lot but it did feel like a pretty awesome friendship so far which seems like a good foundation, y’know.

About whether my opinion would differ if Sally wasn’t a RO: nope. If I want to romance her I will do so in another playthrough. Anything that gives me variety in a playthrough is welcome XD

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On the poll question:
I personally picked Yay.
I love Nick. And I love Sally. Will they work together? Who knows. That is up to them to work out as they go (after we’ve laid the groundwork for them to even be a thing).
Thing is -the way I personally see it, and the mindset I have…set… for my Button (and I’ll try to explain it the best I can)- it was an opportunity to free themself from this state of co dependance they have developed and kinda push the people they love to do the same.
They (button) are trying to finally live like they want to, not in a bubble or anchored to another person as it has been thus far. Pushing Sally and Nick to start thinking of their own lives indipendent from Button’s is kind of they’re way of saying “Look, I’m trying to do something with my life (romantically or career wise or even both), so you should too, you can’t base your lives around me”. What they do with it after, that is on them. Maybe they last a life time, maybe a week.
Then again -and not to not sound appreciative of the care they show Button- I find that it’s a huge emotional weight on one’s shoulders, knowing that people constantly put their wants and needs on hold for you.

I do agree that more scenes would be needed to establish any sort of chemistry between them, and maybe a few hints that/if Nick is into Sally as well because right now it’s just “Confession Out Of The Blue” and Nick’s peace-holding as our only clues that he (might) like her. It might’ve been a smoother transition if we had caught glimpses of “weird behaviour” between them prior to the confession, where that would be the “Oh!” moment, when Button makes the connection of what it meant.

Just my two cents on the whole deal, I hope I managed to explain my reasoning properly.

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1591

Nick is straight i think, so i dont think thats gonna happen :sweat_smile:

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After much consideration, I’m reworking how the Sally and Nick matchmaking initiates (It’s always going to be an option! I just wanted input on how I could make it better, since I wasn’t totally happy with the scene myself, but being too close to the material can sometimes lead to issues pinpointing its flaws.) I think my anxiety got the better of me, and I inserted the decision way too early.

When it was very first revealed that Sally could end up with Nick, there was a lot of negative feedback in my tumblr inbox. to the point where I freaked myself out and tried to set the variable as soon as possible, so that if players wanted to avoid the romantic overtones between the two, it would be nipped in the bud early on. Sally’s inclusion as an RO was supposed to be a fun addition to the romantic lineup, not a source of anxiety!

“Everyone will be happy!” I justified. “ Because no one will be forced to look at her dynamic with Nick if they want to romance Sally instead!”

Readers did complain about that scene, however, and rightfully so. Because when I wrote the hospital confession, I was more concerned about a coding variable for future scenes than I was with narrative quality and staying true to the characters.

As people also pointed out, this led to the problem where you’re being asked to decide whether Sally and Nick should be together without ever seeing them interact. This in turn caused some pretty major misconceptions about Sally’s relationship with Nick and even her intentions as Button’s friend. Sally isn’t near as Machiavellian or selfish as Chapter 4 may have misrepresented her to be, I swear. She’s not perfect, but she’s not a bad friend. Apparently, she came across that way to a lot of people, though!

These misconceptions are 110% my fault for rushing the matchmaking choice rather than letting it play out naturally, and Chapter 4 is getting major edits as a result.

Starting with the next update, “Snickly” won’t trigger at the hospital—Sally won’t be meeting with Nick at all. Despite 3000 words being removed, average playthrough length remains approximately the same since everyone will now meet with the nurse, which will honestly make certain scenes easier to code in the future. So whoo-hoo for that! The bad news for Sallymancers is that you’ll be forced to read more of your crush and brother interacting before deciding whether to pursue her or set her up with Nick, so her route may turn out to be slightly angstier if you’re of the opinion that people only have one soul mate. (I’m not, personally. I strongly believe that Sally works equally well with either Wiseman—I wouldn’t have included her as an RO otherwise.)

Despite the extra work of rewriting probably delaying the next update, there is a brightside! I like the overheard confession as an option, and it becomes even juicier and more dramatic (and slightly more justifiable) if Button can listen in several chapters later while a certain someone is along for the ride .

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Hi! first time posting, just made an account to do so, so sorry if formatting is weird :slight_smile:

I do not mind Snickly (adorable ship name)! I am not pursuing Sally as a RO and I see a lot of parallels between Sally/Nick and Button/Grayson (tho to be fair Grayson is not my main RO as of now yet either). I think their personalities could definitely be compatible in a relationship - however tbh I don’t see Nick, as a protective guardian figure, crossing that boundary just yet due to… well, everything with that has happened with Button’s parents. It would certainly be interesting to see how it progressed! I will say, I agree with other posters, it felt weird to send Sally in to see Nick first at the hospital but I also didn’t want to crush her spirit. I think IRL I would tell my BFF to shove off and let me talk to my brother first! hahaha!

awesome demos so far really enjoying the game

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Damn and I was looking forward to more sally and mc interactions and such

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It’s a difficult sub-plot to decide where to put it.
I can only speak personally, but I didn’t mind the confession as it was per se, but I agree that we haven’t seen enough yet to figure out if there is a chemistry between them -although I can see certain types of button thinking “well I love them seperately, why not get them together?!”
Don’t beat yourself up, this is why it’s a WiP, you’re still putting puzzle pieces together to figure what works best to get your point across. And from the reception alone you’re doing great -I’d die for every single one of the characters, I love them. And I’m incredibly stoked that I don’t have to sacrifice meeting the nurse now, because boy oh boy, what that a major “chills” moment for me as a reader.
On the topic of Romancing Sally, we do have to “win her over”, in a sense, already. Maybe reading about their interactions a little more will make it a more concrete a plot point and drive home the extend of her crush, highlighting the dillema of pursuing her (I mean, I’d be torn especially if I thought Nick was reciprocating her feelings) and (delicious) drama.

I’m now officially so very excited!

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These changes seem good to me! I never actually eavesdropped on the convo in the hospital as that seemed to be crossing a line despite shipping Snickly in general! I guess if we have Nick in our head, wanting to know what is said, that won’t feel as much of a violation later on! I still need to play a Sally romance route though, for all that angst…

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You’re always so considerate to readers opinion even if it’s mean extra work. Thank you very much

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Pretty sure it was said on here or the tumblr that Nick finds Sally annoying, at least at the start of the story.

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I’m sorry, you said there was bad news? :thinking:

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1600

Thank you for mentioning this. I actually thought about this when author asked how we feel about this ship but I couldn’t remember where this was mentioned so I thought I just imagined this :sweat_smile:
@bric lmao what did Sally do to you

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I didn’t see any bad news, did you?

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1602

Hmmm, not necessarily. It’s mentioned that the relationship is complicated because they NEED each other, and you can later choose that MC thinks the friendship is really just a result of codependency. MC doesn’t have to be MEAN to her, but I could see my MC not being particularly impressed with their “friendship” either.

I, too, find Sally annoying, so I’m on Nick’s wavelength rn lol.

I mean, generally, she’s just not my cup of tea - or my MC’s. As someone depressed irl (with a self-deprecating MC), the ever-optimistic personality is just irritating. I also don’t like that her grasp on physical boundaries seems somewhat flimsy. And I’m never a fan of codependency lol. Also, the amount of USELESS she was during that class exercise…

She also makes decisions for MC (like the whole hospital scene where her and MC’s dad - who my MC refers to by first name - decided that MC would be leaving), and I hate that anyone does that. Like yeah, MC is a zero, but she still deserves to have some gd agency and if MC wants to camp out in a freaking waiting room because the only person (other than Gray) she really cares about is in a coma, then MC can camp out in a freaking waiting room!

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1603

this is such a neat take on Buttons perspective. idk i just really love it.

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