Bloodbound Series Finale

It's been an amazing two years of action, suspense, and plot twists from Bloodbound, but all good things must eventually come to an end. As we wrap up the series, the team couldn't help but reminisce about their favorite memories, but beware... Spoilers ahead!

I've gotta ask... how's it feel now that the series finale for Bloodbound is out?

Andrew: Oh gosh, so bittersweet! This was the first Choices trilogy I helmed as Book Lead, and I’m so attached to all these characters. It’s so hard to believe I won’t get to write them bantering and fighting and angsting anymore!

Chelsa: It’s a little weird. I’ve been working on this book since brainstorming Book One. But I think that we came up with the best possible ending for the series.

Emi: Bloodbound was the first project I worked on at Pixelberry, so it holds a very special place in my heart. I'll be sad to see it go, but I'm also so glad we got to share this story with the world.

Elyssa: It’s sad to say goodbye to some of my favorite Choices characters! I don’t want to let them go.

Owen: Excited, actually? I'll miss Bloodbound, of course, but I know the team has poured their heart into making the best finale possible for the series.

Over the past couple of years, you all seem to have a blast brainstorming around the office. What were the most memorable moments with the team?

Andrew: I think the very first brainstorm we had, where we came up with the rules of vampires. Just all of us bouncing around the room, saying things like, “Can they turn into bats? NO! Can they eat garlic? YES!” We also definitely said, “No magic, vampires have a science backstory,” And uh… that didn’t quite turn out.

I spent a little while digging around in the old chats and logs and discovered some fun stuff I'd forgotten... We spent an incredibly long time trying to figure out how to get Gaius' face to be part of the tree, but gave up because every single iteration just broke the mood with its silliness:

Owen: Definitely the inside jokes... The proposed "alligator-man" idea. The horrible Dracula Halloween mask. Gaius as a man in a tree costume...

Chelsa: There’s been so many “omg that’s perfect” and LOL moments: demon Santa, sad woodboy, blades of loss and sorrow, and of course, I will never forget SOMEONE forgetting to get nighttime backgrounds for Bloodbound, Book 1... You know, a book about vampires who can’t go out in the day. 

Emi: My favorite was probably us joking about Gaius having a Youtube channel once he'd taken over: What up August-stans, it’s your boy Gaius. I’ve taken control, don’t forget to smash that like button.

Elyssa: The many fancy and sexy outfits for the main character, and fun and unique historical costumes for those immortal love interests.

That begs the question, if you could be any Bloodbound character IRL, who'd it be?

Andrew: I think the character I’d most want to be is the one who ended up being my personal favorite to write, and that’s Kamilah. It took me a little while to really ‘get’ her, but by the end, I think she was the character I was the most deeply invested in, and whose character journey I was most moved by. In a lot of ways, I think her final monologue about how pain is the price of love, is the thesis of Bloodbound as a whole.

Emi: While I'd love to be Kamilah or Jax, a complete badass vampire who could take anyone in a fight, they also have lots of tragic events in their past. With that in mind, I think I'd like to be Lily! She finds a way to bring joy and humor into every situation!

Elyssa: I feel like I’d actually just want to be the main character… badass, tough as nails and has the attention of a lot of different gorgeous vampires. 

Alice: After playing multiple playthroughs in QA, definitely Kamilah... I'd love to have her confidence and assurance, and her centuries of knowledge!

Heather: The thing that’s great about being an artist is that I get to imagine being each character: I imagine myself in their outfits, hairstyles, and the choices I would make if I was in their shoes. Having said all that, I think I would want to be Jax. He’s the underdog, but he’s built this entire community. 

Owen: Retro Jax, for style alone.

What was your fave scene from the entire series?

Andrew: I think the very ending of Book 2, where you slowly die in your love interests’ arms and get reborn as a vampire, might be my favorite scene of Choices I’ve ever written. 

Chelsa: Ahhhh so tough. I think maybe the Priya hookup in book 2. We were on the fence about doing it, but I really really wanted it to happen. I remember explicitly saying we should do it, but she HAS to murder you at the end. If she doesn’t murder you... what’s the point?

Emi: I love all of the flashbacks where you get to learn the history of all the vampires. If I had to pick a favorite, it'd probably be either the first one right after Gaius turned Adrian or when Adrian and Kamilah team up to fight the British. 

Heather: This is silly, but I loved when Amy was first learning to use her new skills, and she and Lily jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the middle of the night. That is SO the kind of thing my besties and I would do if we suddenly had super powers.

Elyssa: The badass pose from all the love interests all the way back at the climax of Book 1 - it’s such a heart-pounding, triumphant moment punctuated by some awesome art.

Do tell us, what're some of your headcanons that never made it into the story?

Andrew: I’ll confirm that Serafine is intended to be Yvonne from Endless Summer, or at least an alternate-universe version of her. I hadn’t planned on that, but then the art for her came in, and I was like…. huh, doesn’t that kind of look like Yvonne? OMG.

Emi: Dracula and Bram Stoker definitely had a fling that ended badly, and as revenge, Stoker wrote a whole book about Dracula that is full of inaccuracies. Also Gaius had relationships with most of his proteges, although his feelings for Rheya, Kamilah, and Adrian were the strongest. 

Owen: That vampires are only the beginning... that the truest, darkest, most ALLURING creatures of the night are those cursed to walk this earth as both man AND alligator.

Alice: Distaste for garlic isn't a vampire thing, Adrian just personally doesn't like it.

Elyssa: Adrian probably had a really hard time transitioning from a flip phone to a touch screen smartphone. 

Any final words you’d like to share to our fans?

Andrew: For the night is long and dark, and we have such a long road to walk… let’s keep walking it together.

Chelsa: I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed this series! I know it’s always sad to see the end of the era, but there are so many more incredible projects on the horizon that hopefully will help to fill the Kamilah-shaped hole in our hearts.

Owen: Bloodbound is really special, and reminds me what I love about this job. Thank you for being a part of this, and by extension, letting me be a part of this.

Emi: Don't think of this as goodbye. As Bloodkeepers, the memories of this story can live on forever in your heart. 

Elyssa: I hope you all enjoyed reading Bloodbound as much as we all enjoyed making it for you!

Heather: This next bit is cheesy I know, but you, whoever you are reading this right now, are as much a part of the experience of the game as we are. Without you out there, somewhere, we wouldn’t get this chance to do what we do.

Well said, team. It's been a heart-piercing journey, and we're thankful for all that you've done to bring these characters and story to life! To our fans, thanks for playing Bloodbound, for sharing your theories, art, and for your endless support. Let's journey on together...

- Shae