itch.io

Lead writer here!

I'm not a regular member of the Synstoria team - I'm just here for the game jam. :) If you like my writing style, please consider checking out my game-in-progress Herotome.~

To answer your question; 

Ayael (the director/Synstoria herself) came up with the original premise wherein a sassy bard is chosen to be sacrificed to a bored vampire. From the beginning Ayael requested two good endings: one where the MC remains human, and one where the MC becomes a vampire and terrorizes the village who sacrificed her in the first place. "Good ending" in this case refers to how the MC (and her love interest to some extent) will never be killed, harmed, or plainly unhappy.

Of course once I got my grubby lil pizza hands on the story, I had to give both leads some humanizing backgrounds by establishing pre-existing connections. Although the game only stars the two characters, I knew it'd be vital to make them *care* about other people. Because if the characters don't care about anyone, why would the readers care? 

The Bliss Ends represent the characters, especially Lucius, shedding their care for everyone other than the person they love. Instead, they choose to live quietly by isolating themselves and rejecting the dark realities of the outside world. Abigail and Lucius no longer make meaningful connections, and though they're happy enough staring at cave walls in each others' company, the sense of bittersweetness is definitely intentional. They give up on living, in a way, in favor of the blissful ignorance of focusing only on their love for each other. The vampire end is, of course, more lost in the sauce on this front. Hahahaha.

I want to add that while the last important choice does wear the guise of philosophy, it's also a literal (though subtle) inquiry where Lucius is asking whether or not he should bestow a terrible truth onto Abigail.

So the upcoming secret end, much like opening Pandora's Box (referred to as "Hesoid's Jar" in the game), will begin on a painful note but is ultimately hopeful: celebrating the connections they've made along the way, and helping Abigail and Lucius move forward together (while still being very much in love, of course).

To a small degree this is siphoned from my personal experience, from when I didn't know how unhealthy it was to prioritize one's romantic partner to the point of valuing little else. I'm always eager to take the opportunity in my writing to reflect the things I've learned in life.

Hope that answers your question! <3