LINK TO THE GAME. Prologue. 2200 words on average playthrough.
Ko-Fi
Welcome to Kitin City, the historic Rose City, where changes take place! We hope you enjoy you stay.
WARNING! Deaths have occurred due to civilians falling off the edges of the cloud, please make sure to stay within city bounds.
Two millennia ago, The Rose Revolution took down the barriers between the Three Nations. Today, the historic Kitin City is the bustling city center of magic and technology, and you are the heir to the biggest and oldest Magical Technology company in the All Realms—Betta Corporation.
With dizzying gaps in your memory, a dead mother and a dead roommate each with their deadly secrets, and a threat of black roses, you must navigate the golden politics of the city, uncover the secrets to your past, and deal with the never-ending chase with Death. Will you be Rosy, or will you be Golden?
Customizable play character with gender, sexuality, and pronouns choice amongst others.
Romance any (or many) of the romantic options. Go for a romantic route, a strictly sexual route, or simply manipulate them all into doing your bidding. Careful, you won’t be the only dishonest one here.
Find the secrets to your past and the catalytic Rose War.
Develop a set of magical and nonmagical skills.
Choose your own personality. Be as dramatic, stoic, or awkward as you want to be.
Interact with a large cast of characters. Choose to either be friendly, antagonistic, or deceitful.
Choose which side of the approaching storm you prefer to be on… or perhaps you want to only serve yourself.
AURELIUS/AURELIA “AURI” SANGUINE (M/F). A reckless vampire with a throne of thorns.
Sanguine is one of the only two familiar faces on this odd floating city you are forced to inhabit. Charming and reckless, Sanguine is the very definition of wildfire. They are a living paradox—a blood-drinker who wants to save people, royalty that likes to walk amongst the degenerates, and a reckless being with fear coursing through their veins. There is no telling what it’ll take to wake the cold-blooded killer in them.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
JOAQUIN SANCHEZ (M). A timid gunsmith human with unwavering faith.
Sanchez spends most of his time in his lab creating weapons than using his magic. Friendly and awkward, with an easy-going dimpled smile that makes others adore him, his gentle and meek nature makes him seem like a pushover. A devout follower of The Last God, he believes that all will be well in time. Behind his nervous grins and timid shrugs, however, lies a desperation that dictates his every move.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
LIGHT HAFEEZ (M/F). A stern Cursegiver whose hands are stained black.
Hafeez is a Cursegiver, a Dead Agent that can travel the space between the living and the dead. As a Cursegiver, they are tasked to harm the living on behalf of the dead. They are irritable and unwilling to trust new people, but loyal to a fault when their loyalties are won over. Cold and intimidating, Hafeez can be a powerful ally but a deadly enemy. There is no forgiving bone in their body for those who hurt the people they love.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
OLIVER/OLIVIA “OLI” DESCOTEAUX (M/F). A dignified Selkie noble with a bruised heart.
Descoteaux is a stranger on this realm, but takes the customs and cultures in stride with a perfectly placed smile and willing and curious personality. Diplomatic, calm, and firm are three words often used to describe them—a mediator through and through. But there is a strong and quiet magic humming under their white skin, begging to be let out. Their quiet, slightly intimidating nature makes it hard for others to understand what they truly think and feel.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
RAQUEL ATAWID (F). An elusive Fae who never tells the full truth.
Atawid is mysterious and calculating, and not much is known about her history and her background even though she is popular amongst the people on this cloud. With sharp eyes and an even sharper tongue, she skillfully leads conversations and uses what she learns to earn any advantage she can… and when push comes to shove, she has magic that is unrivalled amongst the Rosy-Folk of this realm. No one knows where her loyalties truly lie.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
Pinterest Board. Playlists (soon). Other links to be updated once available.
LINK TO THE GAME. Prologue. 2200 words on average playthrough.
Ko-Fi
Welcome to Kitin City, the historic Rose City, where changes take place! We hope you enjoy you stay.
WARNING! Deaths have occurred due to civilians falling off the edges of the cloud, please make sure to stay within city bounds.
Two millennia ago, The Rose Revolution took down the barriers between the Three Nations. Today, the historic Kitin City is the bustling city center of magic and technology, and you are the heir to the biggest and oldest Magical Technology company in the All Realms—Betta Corporation.
With dizzying gaps in your memory, a dead mother and a dead roommate each with their deadly secrets, and a threat of black roses, you must navigate the golden politics of the city, uncover the secrets to your past, and deal with the never-ending chase with Death. Will you be Rosy, or will you be Golden?
Customizable play character with gender, sexuality, and pronouns choice amongst others.
Romance any (or many) of the romantic options. Go for a romantic route, a strictly sexual route, or simply manipulate them all into doing your bidding. Careful, you won’t be the only dishonest one here.
Find the secrets to your past and the catalytic Rose War.
Develop a set of magical and nonmagical skills.
Choose your own personality. Be as dramatic, stoic, or awkward as you want to be.
Interact with a large cast of characters. Choose to either be friendly, antagonistic, or deceitful.
Choose which side of the approaching storm you prefer to be on… or perhaps you want to only serve yourself.
AURELIUS/AURELIA “AURI” SANGUINE (M/F). A reckless vampire with a throne of thorns.
Sanguine is one of the only two familiar faces on this odd floating city you are forced to inhabit. Charming and reckless, Sanguine is the very definition of wildfire. They are a living paradox—a blood-drinker who wants to save people, royalty that likes to walk amongst the degenerates, and a reckless being with fear coursing through their veins. There is no telling what it’ll take to wake the cold-blooded killer in them.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
JOAQUIN SANCHEZ (M). A timid gunsmith human with unwavering faith.
Sanchez spends most of his time in his lab creating weapons than using his magic. Friendly and awkward, with an easy-going dimpled smile that makes others adore him, his gentle and meek nature makes him seem like a pushover. A devout follower of The Last God, he believes that all will be well in time. Behind his nervous grins and timid shrugs, however, lies a desperation that dictates his every move.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
LIGHT HAFEEZ (M/F). A stern Cursegiver whose hands are stained black.
Hafeez is a Cursegiver, a Dead Agent that can travel the space between the living and the dead. As a Cursegiver, they are tasked to harm the living on behalf of the dead. They are irritable and unwilling to trust new people, but loyal to a fault when their loyalties are won over. Cold and intimidating, Hafeez can be a powerful ally but a deadly enemy. There is no forgiving bone in their body for those who hurt the people they love.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
OLIVER/OLIVIA “OLI” DESCOTEAUX (M/F). A dignified Selkie noble with a bruised heart.
Descoteaux is a stranger on this realm, but takes the customs and cultures in stride with a perfectly placed smile and willing and curious personality. Diplomatic, calm, and firm are three words often used to describe them—a mediator through and through. But there is a strong and quiet magic humming under their white skin, begging to be let out. Their quiet, slightly intimidating nature makes it hard for others to understand what they truly think and feel.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
RAQUEL ATAWID (F). An elusive Fae who never tells the full truth.
Atawid is mysterious and calculating, and not much is known about her history and her background even though she is popular amongst the people on this cloud. With sharp eyes and an even sharper tongue, she skillfully leads conversations and uses what she learns to earn any advantage she can… and when push comes to shove, she has magic that is unrivalled amongst the Rosy-Folk of this realm. No one knows where her loyalties truly lie.
Tag | Pinterest | Route Pinterest Section | Playlist (soon)
Pinterest Board. Playlists (soon). Other links to be updated once available.
I’m finishing a few things before I post the new demo (just the prologue, around 2k words) on the new account (will link it here later). So, this will be my second to the last post here (last post will be linking the new account).
I know I said “last post here” like maybe three times (I guess it’s hard to let go, but also life was a bitch to me this year lol) but this really is it. It’s… weird, isn’t it? I can officially say this is a goodbye to the first The Rosy Ones. Allow me to… grieve it a little.
I started writing The Rosy Ones with a general idea of a story and an overwhelming desire to create Interactive Fiction. I have always been a big fan of it—from Choices, to Lovestruck, to finding my way over to Choice of Games/Hosted Games. I made a lot of haste decisions that ultimately ended up being scrapped when I actually sat down and thought about the story I wanted to tell. For those of you who weren’t there at the very start, it might come as a surprise that I first planned to have “houses” for the university, where the MC (not yet Rosetail) would be sorted into a certain house depending on their qualities. There was also a time when I was planning to let the readers choose what magical race their Rosetail is. For some time, the game only consisted of Geishehl’s death and Rosetail’s mother’s absence. Rosa wasn’t there yet, the Angel Guards were a last minute addition, and I only had a vague sense of romantic options in mind.
Then, I tried to actually plan and a bunch of those ideas were scrapped. It felt like using the Greek Gods to be the deities was too restricting, so I spent months trying to figure out whether I wanted to actually commit to creating new deities or not, then months more creating the lore and the new deities. It’s actually crazy to me now, as I look back on everything I’ve changed and redid. But to be perfectly honest? I don’t regret a single thing because I know I would’ve burned out of that previous demo and let go of the game if I didn’t take the risk and change it. I want to share that my adviser for my final project for uni had asked me, at the start of our relationship as adviser and advisee, to be courageous and honest with my work. She told me to allow myself to write whatever I wanted to write, regardless of how it might be received by others. This book is going to be heavily inspired by PH history, and I was honestly a little scared at first to lean so heavily into it because… well, it was actually a little dangerous back then and I also didn’t want to alienate any viewers. My adviser had made me realize that no matter what, some readers just won’t click with my game and so I should do what I want to do and not worry about any “alienation”. This is me doing that.
I have been MIA for so long—life just wasn’t kind at all. I am diagnosed Bipolar and I do not medicate because the medication made my life worse. This means that sometimes, I cannot control how my mood is and how it reacts to what happens around me. With several life-changing changes and revelations over the past two years, it’s actually a wonder that I’m here right now and posting the prologue to the new demo. I actually did it. It might seem small and insignificant to others, but I will not be embarrassed by the amount of effort it took to get here today.
I also want to thank everyone who read The Rosy Ones, even if you don’t join me in the new account. The support I received throughout the years has… basically saved me. I don’t know if I’ve ever said it here, but I badly burned out from writing before TRO. It had been years since I last wrote something of substance, and it felt like I was relearning writing. To see so many people say they liked the story, they liked the characters, and they thought I was at least a decent writer did wonders to my belief in myself and my writing. There are also those who believed in me enough to commission me to write for them—I remember y’all and I’m eternally grateful for the help and the support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The next chapter is a little scary, to be very honest. Anxiety is taking over me at the moment, and I feel jittery all over. I don’t know what’ll happen next, but I really, really want to finish this game and let you all in on the vast little world I’d made up in my head. I want you all to meet all these new characters—important and insignificant ones, and to visit all these magical, fictional places, and to go through all these emotions I’d gone through as I was writing and planning it all. I am so excited, and I am so scared, but I’m doing it anyway.
Thank you to everyone here, and thank you to everyone who’ll join me on the next account. I hope this was a good experience, and I hope we’ll have more good experiences together (or not together!)
When you say the narrator is more lively do you mean the MC or something else? I played the demo a little over a year ago and loved it even if I don't remember much of the plot points (can go in blind again yay) and am so glad the dashingdon shut dow didn't make it lost forever, though I love when IFs have or have the flavor script option of an MC being reserved/stolid etc. Not a critique though, just curious how MC expression will play out!
No, not the MC! MC's personality continues to be mostly picked by the reader (personality stats and choices on how to reply/react).
What I meant by that is that sometimes, a narrator voice will make itself known. For example, the "start" pages where the content warnings and switching of RO's genders are will have a narrator with more personality compared to the old demo. The stat pages are more conversational, since it's designed/written like a journal where an AI speaks with Rosetail. That sort of thing.
Hi, I'm going around doing some check-ins with how various if authors I follow have been doing. I wanted to ask how you've been, and considering everything going on in the world, especially specific parts of it, I do hope life is treating you well. And if life is putting you through the wringer, then I do sincerely hope things turn around for you and that it starts treating you well.
Thanks for this check-in! Life was not the kindest, but I'm persevering. I hope you're doing well, too.
I am so sorry for everything you’ve had to go through recently, and I just wanted to say I’ve been following your writing on here since the beginning; please take as long as you need to heal from everything, you will always have supporters for your work. Wishing all the best for your stability, health, and happiness.
Thank you so much! I don't get to reply much to asks like this because they're usually sent when I'm going through tough times , but I've gained strength from them so many times in the past. Thank you and thank you to everyone else who sent me well wishes in the past!
You said the new version of the game will be unrecognisable to those of us that have followed the Rosy game for years. Will there be characters from the old game who still carry over and be recognisable or will they be changed as-well?
The new *full* version, more like. I only posted four chapters before, and the changes take place after/in the background. I'll maybe post about the huge changes I made once the game is finished/those plot points reveal themselves. But then again, people who were there from the very, very, very start (when Rosetail could still be different magical species and I was asking people for ideas) and haven't stuck around for the more recent version won't recognize this new one.
Some of the changes that'll show is that the narrator is now much more... lively. The deities are also different, and the backstory is so much more full (though, I don't know if old readers will notice).
Non-RO/Suite 413 characters will carry over, aside from the deities. Instead of being adopted, Rosa is now a blood related sister. Some characters have been merged into one, others stay mostly the same but with different names to differentiate them from their old versions. Most of their backstories have changed drastically but I don't know if these old backstories were shared in the actual game or just through asks in the past anyway.
Mostly a revision where characters are not redundant, Rosetail's backstory is so much bigger, and the lore is original instead of borrowed from Greek myth.
I'm so glad you're back! I was actually looking at old wips I had saved and stumbled on yours before checking if you returned. Lo and behold you're (hopefully) okay! Whatever happens just remember don't stress yourself. ♥️ But have you heard the news with dashingdon? It'll be shutting down by the end of the month and everything not ported or backed up to another place will get permanently deleted. 😭 I think people are moving to CoG or something but just a heads up if you're dedicated to keeping the game alive!
Late reply, but I did see this when you sent me this! Thank you for letting me know about Dashingdon back then, it was quite a shock but the new site seems to be working well (and is much easier to navigate for new WIPs to read).
And thank you for the lovely message. Thanks for the support!
is akira still romanceable? or the new version of them? i’m so happy you’re doing well! this was one of my favorite ifs and i’ve been worried about you!!
Like I said in the previous ask, Suite 413 occupants have gone through a pretty big reworking. Some characters stay mostly the same ish (at least to readers, but their arcs and backstories have changes A LOT), while others have been merged into one because that's what makes most sense.
I'll be upfront. There will still be a Kitsune character, but not the cheerful, loyal, and sometimes idealistic Akira we all love. Their traits will be mostly given to another character, but the Kitsune (and parts of their backstory) has been given to another.
This is the same rework that's happened with Chai. I unfortunately just felt like there were too many characters that were more or less the same. Chai and Akira have very different backstories, motivations, etc, but they weren't ever different enough from each other (and another character) that I could easily hear their voices in my head. So, Chai's characteristics have been given to another character, and his draconic background was given to another.
It still feels sore, to be perfectly honest. It's why I'm only saying it now. Chai and Akira are admittedly two of my favorite characters out of all the ROs, but they were just too similar to each other and another more important (plot wise) character that I had to let them go. The more I wrote, the more certain characters felt like fillers and I felt like I needed to merge them together to make them feel "fuller". Hopefully the newer merged versions will be just as lovely to yall.
Honestly, I'm game with any changes you are gonna make. But I really, really hope Rosa is gonna stay because that's my big sister and I really, truly adore her. :') Also Blair because my MC and I never really stopped carrying a torch for them. :')
Sorry it took so long to reply! I'm currently trying to answer stuff from my inbox since I'm turning this blog into an archive.
To answer: Rosa is for sure staying! :) the Angel Guards will be staying, too. Khae (the Shadow, the one that looks like the dead "nightmare under bed") will be there but will take up a much smaller role. Deities will be reworked, so they're not based on Greek Gods anymore.
As for Suite 413 occupants + Blair... you'll see. I'm personally excited for the changes that took place with "Blair" in particular.
Had a bit of a busy time with the semester starting and other personal stuff, but I'm done with the prologue (+ making sure it works) using ChoiceScript. I've also already tried it on the new hosting site (private for now) and it seems good to go. It's just 2k words so it wasn't that heavy. I'll post it next week around the weekend because this weekend will be a little busier than usual and I'm hoping to have a head start on Chapter 1 (and possibly add images as chapter headers etc) before opening the Tumblr account and posting the prologue.
A little ramble, but I didn't think it'd be confusing to turn everything back from Twine/Sugarcube to ChoiceScript again! I almost forgot how it works. I had to brainstorm a few things so that some Twine features that I added for immersion and story accuracy can be translated to ChoiceScript (this is mostly the stat page, which I've been told could cause lag if too heavy. I decided to go for gosub scenes for the heavier pages like codex and dossiers). Thankfully CS is so much simpler than Twine so it wasn't that bad. It's really other personal stuff that took up my time and energy. And lots of planning.
Anyway, just a little update so people know I am working on it. We're getting close to a new chapter of this journey but I don't think I'll feel like I'm done with the beginning until I've posted until probably Chapter 2 (where most of the cast is introduced) because Prologue is basically just the babiest of steps at the moment and the next chapters are more complicated branching wise. It's just a revision anyway so it's not like I'm starting from scratch but still. Nervous and excited to see how it goes.
I come bearing news. This is a decision I came to after a month of back and forth, and after consulting some of the people in my personal life. I’ve been thinking about this for much longer, but it is only recently when I really thought of actually doing it.
I know I said I’d switch over to Twine, and I even finished the template (and even submitted it as my final requirement to graduate uni!) but with all the recent happenings in my personal life and being stumped with how much more complicated coding and bug fixing is on Twine, I decided to stick with CSIDE.
While I do still have my own opinions on COG and everything that’s happened a few years ago, CSIDE is still an incredibly helpful and accessible way to get a loved story out. The community is not perfect, but it is one of the most supportive and welcoming communities I’ve ever been in.
Coding is incredibly complicated on Twine, and I don’t mean learning it. I’ve learned it, and I know how to do it, but the tedious way of doing it is making it all difficult to actually write. I like writing fast, I like letting my fingers fly across the keyboard and watching a story come to life on my screen. I like minimalism in my code because too much code makes my vision swim, especially when it’s repetitive. I do like the designing aspect of it, I do love coding CSS, and I am proud of what I’ve finished for it, but I looked at it as a long term project and I felt so exhausted. I felt like I might get burnt out so easily with it. Especially with how stressful the past few months of my life has been.
Not only that, but bug fixing seems next to impossible to me. With CSIDE/Dashingdon (I’m aware it’s gone), it was a simple click and wait to see any game breaking bugs. It was also a simple click, wait, and compute to see the word count/average word count per play through. For Twine, I’ve just been raw dogging the bug fixing on my own and I know I missed a lot with the Prologue + 1/3 of Chapter 1 that I have done in my private files. I use VSCODE, and I know it’s simply finding the red highlights to see any broken links etc, but I think of the branching in the future and the possible circles the story will take, and I don’t think it’ll be that easy.
Apart from that, I’ve already talked about how itch.io wouldn’t work with our internet service provider for months last 2023. This was one of the major things that stalled me from actually doing anything with the game (aside from the blistering heat I’d already talked about, but we recently installed an AC in my + my sister’s rooms and it helps during particularly difficult heat waves). We were asked to pay so much more money monthly just to “unlock” it basically. If I remember correctly, and please do not quote me on this as this was almost two years ago, we were asked to basically double our monthly payment which was absolutely not happening. It hasn’t happened since then, from what I can tell (I rarely visit the site though) but it is still a fear of mine that it’ll randomly stop working again and I’ll have to pay double just to get the game going.
Lastly, I know that Twine can be difficult for readers. The mobile version can be quite clunky (even the well coded ones) and it’s much more accessible for readers to go to HG/COG. I am also taking this into account since my readers’ experience is incredibly important to me. I, too, read on my phone and I admittedly do not do so with the Twine games I enjoy.
Twine, of course, has its pros. I love the customization, I can keep a ton of information for readers to come back to and read if they need a refresher on things. I was warned when I was still on CSIDE that my “stat” screen could start being laggy due to the amount of information in it. With Twine, I can have a codex, and I can have fun with how to present the information without worrying about lag. I loved creating the UI and editing the pages. There are also macros on Twine that obviously do not work with CSIDE—the cycle macro in particular is something I will be sad to let go of. Twine and CSIDE are just vastly different and I think, for TRO at least, CSIDE is the way to go.
With that being said, I am going to go back to working on the CSIDE version of the new story. I’m aware that others think revision kills a project (and I will admit that TRO was in a critical state lol) but I couldn’t go through with the early TRO because I felt that wasn’t the story I was truly trying and wanting to tell. I’ve said that it was a bunch of bullshitting on page, spurred on by mania and love for the characters and the world. I changed a lot, and I’m aware of that. This version will be the final version, barring some revisions just to make things flow better. The story will be final, the characters will be final. I spent the past two years being honest with myself and my ambitions for this game. I’d had to let go of characters, of some arcs and cool background stories, and I had to decide what to actually do.
I will be working on it, and possibly posting the new demo soon. I know I said soon last year, but 2025 was shitty, to say the very least. I will go into a little more detail under the cut, but things were out of my control and I don’t think I’ve had a more draining year than 2025 since… ever. Please understand that what happened in my personal life recently is a big reason why I am sticking with the easier and more familiar code of CSIDE.
I will create the account soon, and I will post the “main post” soon (I am already writing it but I do not want to post until I have Chapter 1 ready). I will update you guys, and will post a final post here before turning this into a locked archive.
For everyone who is satisfied with what’s said up there, thank you and I hope to see you again when the next demo is live. For those who are curious about what’s happened recently, continue on.
I will not be going into details about some of the things because I am uncomfortable with sharing them publicly, but I hope this can shed some light on why it’s been so difficult to update the past two years.
I’ve mentioned here that it was hot in the Philippines last summer 2023, and it was. It was so hot that I was having daily headaches. It was not ideal at all, and we didn’t have AC in our rooms. The heat passed, and I found myself struggling to access itch.io. This went on for months, until I stopped trying late 2023.
Late 2023, I had an episode. I cannot speak much of it since it was literally just a week of me, well, to explain I felt like I was “out” of my body. Everything felt gray, and I felt so detached. It was scary, and I didn’t know what to do, and I’d informed my parents of this but I could do nothing but let it pass because we didn’t know what was happening. I think stress may have caused this, since I was at the time stressed with school work, but it was one of the most terrifying things that has happened to me. It made me want to go back to my psychiatrist and get treated for my illnesses. I’d stopped medication some years ago because they were making me miserable, but this event made me want to go back. And I made plans to go back, I went on my first online appointment with a new doctor and I was getting my blood checked for any other problems (found none that we didn’t already know of), but things halted once more because something life-changing (and not in a good way) had happened to our family. No worries, it wasn’t health related and everyone’s safe, but it wasn’t good. The effects of this situation went on for months (even now, there are lingering effects), and I had to drop a few of my classes and postpone my graduation for a year.
I lost all motivation then. I stopped working on anything but class related projects. I was too busy trying to help with what was happening to really focus on anything else. I was still thinking of the episode I had and wanting to get it possibly checked. This went on for a few months until I started working on the Twine version once more since I decided to make it my final project—the project needed to graduate from my program.
This went well, as I already mentioned. I was working on it semi-regularly, and I had arrived at a point where I thought I could post it soon. January and February of this year were hectic, but thankfully pretty peaceful.
Then March happened, and with it other household/family problems that were too big to ignore. I was once again one of those in charge of making sure things were okay, and I don’t know. I really do not want to give more details since these are family problems, but they were so stressful that I was nauseous and losing sleep over this. What made it worse is that, before the situation even concluded (caused it to conclude without any real “solution”, even), one of our dogs got sick with a blood parasite despite having flea medication. We caught the symptoms a little too late, and it had already affected her liver. We were in and out of the vet clinic for weeks, and for some days it felt like she was getting better, but she unfortunately passed early May. The same month, our senior dog caught a virus and similar to the other dog, we did everything we could to save him but he unfortunately passed. It was peaceful—poetic even, as he’d passed on the day of the previous dog’s birthday and as the sun was setting, we were all there with him as he took his last breath. It was easier to accept compared to the other dog’s death because he was old, and I suppose the previous heartbreak had made us all more accepting. Still, it was painful since they were both with us for many, many colorful years and we love and miss them each day. We’ve become quite protective over the remaining dogs since then, and it is honestly making my anxiety spike lol.
The kicker is that all of this happened around finals’ week. My sister and I were swamped with deadlines and all this was happening during then. I was busy with the Twine version and hurrying the process because not being able to pass it this semester would’ve meant I’d delay my graduation once more. Thankfully, my adviser was understanding and I managed to pass the project. If things all go according to plan, I will be graduating after this semester!
As you can see, it was a difficult few years. A part of me thought maybe the game was cursed, since problems seemed to have appeared every time after I started becoming more serious with working on it. I thank the tremendous effort I’d put into learning myself and my triggers and how to deal with the symptoms of my illnesses because I don’t think I could’ve survived the past two years without that, and I definitely don’t think I’d go back to working on this game without that.
I apologize for the silence, I was busy trying to survive all the curveballs life has thrown my way. I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but if what happened the past few months has not made me want to give up on this game, I don’t think anything will.
That being said, thank you for being patient and thank you for loving the game. I hope I see you guys next time.
So, 2025 wasn't kind at all. It started out pretty mild and so I was able to finish all the extra pages and I'm quite satisfied with them. I also finished transferring about 1/4 of CH 1 that I'd written to Twine code (I didn't realize it'd be so tedious to do so, and that's part of why it's taking me so long).
But late March til now is... it's terrible, to say the least. I hesitate to speak about what I've been through since they're personal and still fresh (today might be my first real break since then) but 2025 is easily the worst year in my life so far. I am not losing hope and I'm not giving up on anything because I've fortunately grown through the other bad years recently and I know how to cope better now, but man. I simply hadn't had time to do much for the game apart from what I'd mentioned above (which I pushed through a week of barely any sleep because I did have to pass that for my final project).
As I said, today is my first real breather of a day and I'm still going to be busy with other matters in the coming weeks. I'm just trying to relax and clear my head so I'm not touching the game at the moment (last time I did was a week ago). I just wanted to post an update since I did say early 2025. I planned to post it end of March at first, then pushed it to end of April when I realized how difficult it'd be to code it in Twine (since I'm not used to Twine, and there seems to be a lot more code involved compared to CSIDE). But yeah, basically put on pause because of everything that's happened since late March.
That's it for now. I hope 2025 was kinder to you all.
Sending much love and positive vibes to you and also, holy shit, am I so glad to find you are alright and doing better now. I have been a huge fan since conception of the game and I have been typing the blog name frequently to see if you have returned. So to see the blog be in public with a new post was such a great surprise.
If you are to create a new blog, will you keep the name and just change the current, soon to be old, blog's name and/or delete it, or will you be choosing a new name instead? Will that affect the game's own title? What type of changes do you plan to implement, like romance system, plotline, characters (personality, number of, relations), etc.?
Once again, happy to see you back!
Hello! Thank you for this kind ask.
I think I'll keep the name and change the current (maybe keep this one private in the future, but too attached to actually delete it). I was going back and forth about the game title but I think it'll stay as "The Rosy Ones". I thought it was tacky after a while (probably just because things get old when you use it a lot) but it makes sense with how story goes.
As for type of changes, I do change the romantic interests. This is something that I spent months thinking about but ultimately decided that it'd be too much for me to handle having so many characters. Instead of the six original ROs and two hidden ones, there are five ROs now (one F, one M, and the rest gender switchable). I changed all of their names because ultimately they are sort of different characters now (the readers won't notice, though, since most of the changes are stuff I haven't put on the public demo yet).
The characters will be recognizable and it'll be obvious which ones were "scrapped" but the scrapped ROs still live in those who stayed. I had to make sure that the characters are staying for the plot, and not solely for romance. I was heartbroken having to leave some characters behind so I'd understand if others are also heartbroken over it. Some characters will be recognizable because of their archetype but they have changed so much that they're basically different characters put into these archetypes now (again, I don't know if people will notice though since the changes are more obvious in the scenes I haven't published).
Plot is basically still the same but Rosetail's backstory is now much, much bigger than I originally planned (and thus, other characters' backstories are bigger and meatier too). The lore is different since I chose to create new gods for this one. Same with ROs, these gods might still be a little recognizable but they're very different now. Backstories and relationships are all different now. Magic system is a little different too.
I know it's a lot of changes but I was basically bullshitting my way through the first few drafts (high on mania and no sleep) and I've come to love the idea too much to just keep bullshitting my way through the rest of the game. For people who were here since the very, very, very first demos/posts, this game will probably be unrecognizable and I'm sorry for that. I just felt like it'd be a shame to keep going with the story even when I felt like certain changes could make it better and feel more like "mine".
Thank you for this ask, and I hope I answered your questions!
I’m so glad to hear from you! I’m sorry about everything that happened:( 2024 wasn’t great. Happy holidays and I hope the next year will be amazing for you. I have been a fan of your game for a long time so I’m glad you are here ❤️
Thank you! I don't know if I misunderstood but I'm sorry that your 2024 wasn't great either. I also hope 2025 is better and kinder to you!
It really warms my heart seeing people stick around for the game. It's what I think about whenever the doubts come creeping in and my own love for the game is being overshadowed by the dark thoughts. Thank you.
the thorns shall grow back. @rosygames-archive - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
