PDRRook

Heya, I'm Rook, a solo indie dev working on Dark Fantasy themed Visual Novels and Interactive Fiction. [Navigation] Finished projects: ➠Perfumare [VN] ➠I’m the Echo when You call [jam submission, IF] ➠Cursed Place [jam submission, VN] ➠Lilith and Eve [short, VN] Current projects: ➠Perfumare:Avulsion [IF] ➠Fool Me Once [IF] On hold: ➠When You Call: Reprise [VN] [FAQ desktop] More: [FAQ mobile] [Ask Box]

[pdrrook]

📌

╰┈➤ Where to play my games: [ITCH.IO]

Please read the FAQ before sending an ask, as repeated questions will not be answered.

「👁️ Fool Me Once [IF]: grim dark fantasy, court intrigue, romance」

「 ❤️‍ Perfumare (Visual Novel) modern fantasy, mystery, romance 」

╰┈➤ FAQ

「💜 Perfumare:Avulsion [IF]: Perfumare extended」

╰┈➤ FAQ

「🖤 Perfumare:Amalgam: the sequel (different story, different MC) ETA: N/A」

╰┈➤ FAQ

「⭐ I’m the Echo when You call [IF]: a short interactive story made for the '22 Interact-If text-based story jam」

「🐺 Cursed Place [VN]: a short visual novel made for the '22 Amare jam」

「🍎 Lilith + Eve [VN]: a short visual novel made for ‘23 pride month」

「✨ When You Call: Reprise [VN]: indirect sequel to ItEwYc, ON HOLD」

Collabs: [Chthonic Chrome Studio]

「👑 FFS, Another Northern Duke?! [VN]」

「💀Darling, Darling... Dead? [VN]」

「🦋The Fae King Is My Roommate [VN]」

「🌙 Hunter Hunted [VN]」

Extra content: [Ko-Fi] [Patreon]

Snippets (masterlist): [here]

PFM Quiz: [here]

PFM Dating Game: [here] + guide [here]

Discord: DM me

Tag list: [here]

╰┈➤ ASK MASTERPOST: [here]

[pdrrook]

Hi Rook! I have so many questions, I hope you don’t mind me sending a couple of questions via the ask? (Im so sorry if it’s a lot!) I’ve begun writing more I thought it would be easy to explain all the cool stuff that happens in my head, but when I type everything feels blank? When writing, how do you make the characters feel real? I’m writing a scene and I can imagine them in my mind, but the story doesn’t feel alive? Like they’re not actually there and it’s just an empty room.

Hi! Ofc I don’t mind, send away! 

I think treating them like you would a real person helps, in a sense that you don’t try to make them fit into a scene you write the scene for them, so you let them lead it while also directing it in such a way that it conveys all the plot points you want it to convey (unless it’s not a plot-related scene in which case that doesn't really apply, plot-free scenes are important too after all).

[wordx]

i think humans are meant to lay in bed with the love of their life all winter.

[tiawithhoney]

Practical Tips For Writing With Depression

With depression, it’s hard enough trying to find the motivation to get out of bed in the morning before the next day begins. Summoning the energy it takes to write can be even harder, especially since depression (and sometimes medications used to treat depression) can stifle creativity. Here are some practical tips to help writers suffering from depressive disorders: 

1. Write one sentence a day – on your phone. The sentences don’t have to form a story or even be related. Just set a daily reminder to open your Notes app and type a single sentence. Make it an opening line, a one-line synopsis, a description of the weather, anything! Let it be as vague, boring and inconsequential as “She opened her eyes and pulled off the covers.” The end. Congrats! You have just achieved your goal for the day!

2. Change your work space. Instead of writing slouched in bed, sit at the kitchen table, or vice versa. If you can’t leave your room, sit on the opposite end of your bed or even the floor. You don’t have to clean or decorate your space to make it cute. Your brain has become accustomed to its surroundings and even a small change – like facing the opposite direction – can help break away from this.

3. Thinking about writing counts as writing. This rule doesn’t usually apply but we’ve made an exception just for you! Your depression is affecting your creativity but, ironically, having a creative outlet can help. If you can’t physically write, set aside a few minutes a day to think about writing. Great if you’re bad at meditation.

4. Experiment with different methods of storytelling. Try a voice recording instead of your usual handwriting or typing. This way, you don’t even have to leave your bed. Set small goals like “I will create a one minute voice memo of a character description”.

5. Share your success! And your failures! Post on Tumblr, tell your friends, tell your pet… It doesn’t matter how small your success, celebrate it by telling another human (or otherwise) who will understand what it means to you and congratulate you for it. Treat it like a big deal even if it’s just a single sentence. Similarly, tell people about anything you perceive to be a “failure” no matter how small or silly. Get it out of your system and maybe find some support, so you can move on.

6. Instead of abandoning your goals, alter them! Don’t give up if you failed to meet your goal once or even ten times. You need to retrain your brain to understand that these attempts at bettering yourself are lifestyle changes. If something isn’t working, don’t abandon ship. Make your goals easier, for example: instead of writing daily, plan to write once a week, even if it’s just one sentence.

7. Abandon deadlines and the like – sort of. Some structure is good - even required - in recovery. But if trying to stick to a routine, meet a deadline, keep up your word count, wake up or write at a certain time or similar rules are restricting you from writing (for example, if you feel so bad about constantly missing them that you sink further into depression and write even less) then be sure to give yourself days without them every now and then. Make a note of whether this is helpful (you’re more productive - yay!) or harmful (you backpedal - oops). The trick is to keep experimenting with different methods until you find something that works for you!

8. Accept your circumstances. Instead of seeing yourself as an ex-writer or a failed writer, reaffirm that this is simply a time in your life where your mental health (and possibly other circumstances) have made it difficult for you to flourish creatively. Don’t fret over how long it’s been since you picked up a pen or opened your Word document. Accept that this is a temporary break or a roadblock that will be over one day. Until then, your task is to focus on healing.

Good luck!

[catchymemes]

[pdrrook]

When creating characters, how do you make sure they are different from each other? Specifically, when you are inspired by other people’s characters and when creating characters that have similar personalities; styles and aesthetics. I have so many ideas that I have gotten from shows and movies, including inspiration from your characters! But I’m scared of making the exact same character due to many dynamics and aspects I want a character to have, including if a character has the same energy as another. I don’t want to copy anyone at all and its legit my worst fear, so I’m constantly fixated on trying to change everything ;-;

Lastly, slightly odd question, but I love immersing myself in series and finding references in real life that reminds me of it. In an odd way, it makes me feel at home? Like food, drinks, desserts or anything else in day-to-day life that can be linked to PFM. Do you have any suggestions? I know scents and perfume will be at the top of my list!(Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense!) I wish you good luck on your progress with creating PFM! It’s one of the best stories I’ve read in a long time, I hope you get plenty of rest too!

For me personally, when I create a new character, I already have their role in the story chosen, so that helps a lot with fleshing them out, even when I have tropes/types I want to write or for them to be.

In your case, let’s say you pick a bratty character like Reed, who’s the most typical trope, I think. Just by tweaking his backstory in accordance with your personal project would change his character in major ways while keeping the same trope/core intact. Like Malitiose (FMO) and Reed (PFM), I consider them to be more or less the same archetype, but despite the many similarities in general tropes, they have their own personalities. Even if I switched their places (as in Reed would be a character in FMO in Mal’s place they would still be different, as in their actions, drives, and thoughts would be distinct to them. 

That being said, I never had a particular character I wanted to write as-is, so I don’t have any advice here, but I honestly think that all tropes and ideas have already been written and done at this point, so we are just all regurgitating and mixing and matching the already existing tropes. As long as you don’t copy a character 1:1, it should be fine.

I get what you mean! But I am not entirely sure. It sounds like a very subjective thing, so sorry I can’t be of much help here.

Thank you <3

[pdrrook]

Heya, Rook! It's been a while since I've sent an ask. But please know that no matter how long time passed, I keep going back to Perfumare. It will always have a special place in my heart, my Roman Empire.

So... I recently read a book where a prideful male lead realized what he had to do to get back on the femae lead's good graces. So he did that... he groveled.

Now, I'm wondering... what would be the reason that would make the Perfumare LIs grovel to MC1/MC2? I know some of them might not be susceptible to groveling since they tend to treat MC right from the beginning... but what would make them grovel or in what scenario they would be pushed to grovel? 👀

Hi! Thanks for letting me know, I am super happy to hear that :D

Funny you should say that, because while Avulsion ROs would most likely avoid giving themselves a reason to grovel, Amalgam ROs will all grovel on-screen adsadsad. But let’s see:

Reed and Flavio: for being a stubborn asshole until it’s too late, and the truth hits them like a ton of bricks, making them  feel sick with themsleves

Jewel and Nino: letting their emotions get the best of them and lashing out at MC

Laurent and Alan: for making stupid assumptions and running away instead of having a proper conversation...

[pdrrook]

I love Reed, it's really too bad

At least it’s not Alan, that would be even worse!

[chthonicchromestudio]

FFSAND?! update + FFSSLS?! (Roy’s game) DEMO release!

We’re happy to announce that FFS, Another Northern Duke?! has been updated. Here’s what’s new:

-2 extra endings (with achievements)

-epistolary epilogue extending the ‘Promise’ ending

-updated in-game guide

-general fixes

One of the new endings is accessible via the regular in-game menu. Simply play until Roy’s return, and the new menu will appear. The other ending is more crafty and might be locked depending on your choices. If you’d like to see all the requirements to unlock it, please refer to the updated guide.

That’s all! We hope the new scenes are to your liking!

Additionally, the demo of Roy’s game, FFS, Second Lead Syndrome?! is already out.

You can check it out [here] and his playlist [here].

-> Studio: [Itch.io] [Carrd] [Bluesky] [Ko-fi] [YouTube]

[ligiawrites]

Play the full game on itch.io for free!

It's finally here, you all! Play the last episode of LTGBTK for free on itch.io!

finally meet THEM, the single most well-guarded secret in Five Kingdoms

fight beside your friends and family to make sure Mathias will still have a throne to sit on

make a painful choice that WILL change Mathias's and the whole Kingdom's lives forever.

discover the ending of the FIRST PART of your journey in Opala... and get ready, because the next part is coming soon! ;)))

¡¡¡The free version will be available until April 1st!!!, when I'll take it down in preparation for the release of the FULL version of the game. Make sure to play the free version by then!!! ♥♥♥

You can also Wishlist LtGBtK on Steam or support me on Patreon if you want to play the FINAL version of the game, which has more than 20k more words, additional scenes, 20 new CGs, 10 new BGs, new sprites for the secondary characters, new UI, new songs, and new functionalities.

I hope you'll enjoy this new version, and that you're as excited as I am for what's coming next! I'd LOOOOOVE to hear your feedback, so if you have any thoughts or questions about the full game, send me an ask! ♥♥♥

Thank you all for being beside me on this journey. I'm so excited about sharing this new episode with you all.

big hugs!!!

[pdrrook]

would the perfumare ROs rather propose themself or have their partner do it? follow up, how would they react if they proposed and their partner tackled them (like in a hug). who would catch, who would fall over, who would think it isnt a yes, etc.

Proposing:

Alan, Reed, and Nino would sliiiiiightly prefer proposing, but generally wouldn’t mind MC proposing first. 

Flavio and Laurent would enjoy either being proposed to or knowing 100% that MC wants them to propose. 

Jewel would want a ‘joint proposal,’ as in discussing it first so it’s not a surprise for either of them and the timing is right etc.

Tackling:

Bahaha Laurent would be the one who goes like shit, that’s a no?? and if MC laughed/made fun of him about it, he’d grunt and argue that it was his first time proposing, so how as he supposed to he know...

Alan would only propose if he was 99% sure the answer would be ‘yes’ so he’d assume it’s a very enthusiastic yes. Would catch and twirl MC

Flavio would feel a tiny tiiiiiny reflexive twinge of doubt, but it’d be gone quickly, replaced by joy. He’d catch MC, then (on purpose) fall down with them on top of him. He’d say that if MC was trying to strangle him, they should wait for after they are married, otherwise they'd get no insurance

Nino would, well yeah, assume it was a positive response, but also don’t tackle her, or she’ll think it's a proposal of another kind wink wink (anyone else trying to tackle her gets decked, MC tackling her gets her full interest lol)

Jewel would also assume it was a yes. She'd catch MC and most likely (depending on the height etc difference) would pick them up and refuse to let them go

Reed wouldn’t even try catching MC, he likes it when they tackle him so... but he, too, would assume it was a yes

[pdrrook]

Hey Rook! First of all, thank you for the new PFM chap, it was like a Christmas gift, absolutely love it! And second, I have some language related questions for the six ROs (+ Maverick and Joran). Bear with me, please.

1.) There were already asks about the RO’s second language so I was wondering what if MC’s mother tongue wasn’t English either. Who would learn MC’s language, culture, etc, or not care much?

2.) Going on with that idea, let’s say MC tends to mess up words/grammar sometimes. Which RO gets what MC tries to say and helps them with their language skills (personal English teacher lol), who tries to guess it by making MC pantomime/draw (that would be funny), or would any of them just move on?

3.) As someone Hungarian, I was surprised that Alan speaks the language (love that btw!). Was there a specific reason for him to learn it or for you to include it? I mean, many people don’t even know about Hungary lol

Thank you for the answer in advance, and have a great day! ❤

Thank you for reading!

1. It would depend on two things for most of them, first the degree of MC’s own involvement in their language/culture, and second, their own involvement with their own. So, if MC was using their mother tongue often and felt close to the culture etc, then the ROs would feel more inclined to learn. The same would be true for Maxie and Joran.

Now, Jewel, Laurent, Alan, and Nino, who rarely use their own languages outside of dealing with their families (or in Nino's case, she hardly has any opportunity to use it at all) would only ever learn MC's if MC was involved in their own culture/was speaking their own language openly. Though Alan and Jewel might learn it anyway out of curiosity/the need to feel connected with MC. Reed and Flavio are similar to Jewel and Alan, only that for them picking up MC's language etc would feel more natural, and it wouldn't be a conscious 'effort.'

2. With Elazar being a border city and a hubbub of different peoples and cultures, not even the ROs but most people would really just move on as it wouldn't be something out of ordinary. As long as they can get the general gist, then that's what matters.

3. The actual reason for making most of the cast bilingual to a degree was that as a European I just wanted to see more European-adjacent characters in VNs because when I started playing VNs on itch most of them were American-centric, or at least that was the impression I got, but as to why I picked Hungarian for Alan specifically, it’s similar as to why I picked Italian for Flavio and Reed, though in Alan’s case I was looking for possible names and surnames for his siblings and his maternal (Hungarian-speaking) side of the family and while I ultimately settled on different names due to the changes in his backstory, I already picked Hungarian for him. But he did learn it for the same reason the other characters did, his family ties.

Thank you, have a great one as well! <3

[pdrrook]

(please ignore my previous ask lmao) helloo rook!! ive a couple of questions if thats ok!! :-))

for one, which of the pfm cast do you think youd get along best with? and what would their reactions be if they learned you were their creator?

alsoo i utterly adore your writing style. i was wondering, howd it become what it is now? what did you do to improve it and what tips/advice would you give to a beginner?

and finally, i love colton. tell alan to give this hot gal a raise. have you any sketches or such of her? if not then id love to get any random tidbits about her/about ian ^^

Sorry for the late reply! (Do you mean the prev ask about the pickup lines? If you mean anything else then I am afraid the ask was eaten, but let me know if you want the one I got answered or nah). Ofc it's ok, go ahead!

I like to think I would get along well with Jewel and Laurent because they are pretty straightforward, and Nino and Alan because they are sarcastic assholes and I usually click well with my kind hahaha

What would they feel if they learned I am their creator and that they are characters in a story, well most of them wouldn't believe it to begin with and/or wouldn't care, like Nino and Alan would just tell me to contact a specialist lol for example. Flavio might believe it because he generally believes stuff like that, and since he's not a person who'd beat me or anyone up, he'd probably just avoid me after asking 'why'?

Ahhhh thank you!!!! Tips for improving imo it really is just reading more and writing more in your target language. For me, when I started PFM, my vocabulary was limited and my grammar was abysmal, but the more you do anything the better you get at it, just like with any skill. For improving grammar and learning new words I mostly used mobile apps which are great coz you can use them wherever whenever, but also various official English vocab lists like CERF etc. For creative writing, I LOVE filling prompts and I found out that for character creation writing from their POV is really helpful, but other than that yeah like I said, just write and read a lot ig? Sorry if that's not actually helpful though

Hehe glad to hear it, I like Colton too, I can't wait to finallllly write her. Sadly I don’t have any sketches because I lost a lot of files when I was moving my stuff from win 10 to 11 recently (booo), but I can totally do trivia for both her and Ian. Let’s go:

Colton:

- She used to be a party girl and liked to travel a lot, she was the ‘family disappointment’ and the opposite of her parents/brother who were rather studious. 

- She surprised herself the most when she decided to take care of her niece after her brother and his wife were murdered. Finding the culprit/taking revenge was a given, but she didn’t expect to get attached to the child as deeply and as quickly as she did

- She actually knew Alan, or rather knew of him, as he and her brother attended the same university. She was closer to Alan’s sister, on speaking terms, and because of her she decided to approach Alan with her ‘murder problem’ 

Ian:

- He’s very friendly, easygoing, and forgiving which is why he still tires to reconnect with Reed whom he thought of as his best friend back in the academy.

- He’s very academically inclined and talented, but very insecure, especially since people tend to say he only landed his gig as a journalist because of his affliction 

- He started running errands for Alan as a favor after he contacted Alan to ask for info about one of the cases he was working on. Now they have a quid pro quo business relationship but since Ian is a bit of a pushover, he’s getting taken advantage of quite often

[pdrrook]

will there be nsfw?

Where?

[pdrrook]

Hello! Hope you're doing well. Question about Joran, unsure if it's been answered somewhere before. How does he just... vanish and appear like that?? I don't think you've ever mentioned an ability within Dream Shaping to just disappear, so does he have a secondary affliction, or is it just meant to remain unanswered to add to his mystery?

Hi, thank you and likewise!

The same way MC was saved from falling off a building in the VN and one of the branches of the IF. He physically enters the Dream World which is generally hard to pull of and usually takes more than 1 person and lasts only a moment, but his reputation is based on the fact that for him the borders between real and dream are pretty blurred hence the 'extra' skill he has and uses

Stuff like that is possible/true for other afflictions as well, mostly the psychological types, but is NOT recommended, especially for ppl who already struggle with their affliction like Laurent for example

[pdrrook]

Thank you for tagging me aprismaticodyssey! <3 <3 <3

Favorite character to write: I like writing bastards and assholes, so my favorites so far are Lotár (FMO), Joran and Alan (PFM) and Roy (FFSAND)

Least favorite to write:  Flirty and bratty types like Reed (PFM) and Malitiose (FMO). Reed’s dialogue especially makes me want to strangle him and not in a fun way

Most frustrating to write:  Same as above ig!

Character who surprised you the most (whatever reason): Flavio, and my sister will NEVER stop telling me ‘I told you so,’ because I didn’t expect people to like him at all, I actually thought the readers would find him annoying (same was true for Reed, actually, but more so with Flavio)

Character you hope people will like:  I don’t think I have one. It’s more like I hope people won’t dislike ALL the given ROs and will like at least one, but that’s why I try to make them all different, so everyone can take their pick

Character you worry people might hate:  Same answer as above!

Any characters that are buzzing about at the end of your mind, but have no place in the story (yet):  Uh oh yeah I have like embarrassingly too many ideas, and each idea has at least 3 ROs, so, haha. But I definitely want to write my knight/enchanted armor type of RO, I have two in one story, and the one you get depends on MC’s stats/choices. One of them is the typical knight trope, which I looove and the other one is a rat bastard, more of a mercenary than a knight, but both will be insanely fun to write. Here’s the rat bastard’s design from forever ago:

Any characters you wonder might be better suited in a different story: I don’t think so, mostly because I pick the ROs based on the setting/story, not the other way around 

Character you want to be friends with: Jewel and Nino!!! 

Character you'd avoid IRL: Reeeed coz I don't want to go to jail for murder lol

Tagging ligiawrites nacregames herotome thecottageworkshop and whoever else wants to join! No pressure tho

[pdrrook]

Also…sorry, I have a lot of questions! When Nino shows up to catch the assassin in the Perfumare VN, was she partially disintegrated or is there some other aspect of the Disintegration Affliction that accounts for her being an “apparition?” She can obviously travel in that form, even fly, so what’s keeping her from ditching the entire country and moving somewhere she’d have more freedom? Is she like a Tier 5 Shapeshifter, in that it’s harder to stay in a stable form?

Don't be sorry, that's what the blog was made for in the first place!

I feel like I mentioned it before, but maybe not, but the apparition is more of a visual cue made up for the VN, same as the pink overlay that shows on-screen when MC uses thier afflcition. More realistically, MC would see a shadow (bc it was dark) and whatever limbs or parts of Nino that showed up earlier than the others. It could still look grotesque given the fact that she's moving while disappearing and reappearing, producing a mass of levitating limbs for lack of a better description.

What's keeping her, well, nothing, but not all agents want to ditch their jobs, some like the benefits. In her case it will be detailed more in Amalgam, but working is all she knows, she was prepared for it since she was a child, and she does like it, plus she doesn't really consider herself lashed or anything like that, a lot of it is due to the fact that, like you said, if she wanted to leave, she would be gone in a second, it's only that she doesn't really want to and you could say that freedom like that scares her