Rosetta and the Well
is a Ren'Py visual novel published by Atelier in Wonderland, where the eponymous protagonist inspects a well that appeared in her garden where she meets a mermaid. Despite her seemingly friendly nature, the mermaid is far from what she appears to be.
Due to the short length of this game, all spoilers remain unmarked.
This game contains examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: In the true ending, Pygmalion was slain to end his claims to more victims, but the real Galatea is dead with Rosetta building a grave for her.
- Dark Is Evil: Pygmalion outside of his mermaid shells is a demon with completely black arms out to lure in as many victims as he can.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Pygmalion killed the real Galatea after turning her into a mermaid so he can use her to draw in more victims and will subject Rosetta to this if she falls for his tricks.
- Evolving Title Screen: Upon completing the True End, the title screen image will change to an image of a moth resting on a rose (symbolizing Rosetta and Christopher's union in said ending).
- Fan Disservice: Mermaids are shown topless when they emerge from the well. But given that they are used as puppets by Pygmalion to draw in potential victims when they least expect it, it turns much more horrifying which is not helped by the fact that the shells can rot away.
- Foreshadowing: One of the first signs Galatea is not who she seems to be were cracks at her wrist with hands that look different from the rest of her body. That's because Pygmalion is using her corpse as a puppet.
- Gratuitous Italian: One of the endings is named "La Rosa Blu", which translates to "The Blue Rose" in English.
- Multiple Endings: The game has a total of four. 1 Neutral, 2 Bad, 1 True.
- Neutral Ending - Scaredy Cat: Rosetta chooses to run back into her house after waiting a bit in her garden. Rosetta figures that this option is the best one, in the long run, but also comments about feeling scared at the same time.
- Bad Ending - Legs to One, Mind to None: Rosetta chooses to give up her legs to Galatea and swap places with her. Several days later, Rosetta's parents—Eugene and Barbara—and her boyfriend Christopher are discussing her disappearance at the parents' house. While Eugene and Christopher discuss among themselves, Barbara notices a strange well in the backyard and calls Eugene and Christopher over to investigate. To their horror, a mermaid with an uncanny resemblance to the late Rosetta emerges, attempting to lure Christopher into the well.
- Bad Ending - La Rosa Blu: Rosetta rejects Galatea's request to give up her legs. Enraged, Galatea (or rather, an entity mimicking her) sends several black arms after Rosetta, forcing her inside her house. After a short conversation with her cat Camellia, the two rush into the kitchen for a way to stop the oncoming threat. Rosetta chooses a kitchen knife, but it has no effect, as the hands come in faster than Rosetta and Camellia can manage. Rosetta is dragged into the well, where she is promptly consumed.
- True Ending - All's Well that Ends Well: After "Galatea" lashes out at Rosetta, Rosetta chooses to combat the entity using sea salt. It proves a success, and Rosetta and Camellia rush into the garden to confront Galatea again, her flesh having decayed as a result of her disguise losing its hold. It's eventually revealed that Galatea the mermaid was never real, but a shell crafted by the demon Pygmalion, the true identity of the well that Galatea resides in. Pygmalion, in a desperate measure, tries to talk Rosetta out of hurting him, but Rosetta isn't willing to fall for his lies anymore, and she feeds the last of the sea salt to him, killing him. The authories are called to clean the aftermath, and some time later, Rosetta gets engaged to the moth fairy Christopher. Rosetta is later shown at Galatea's grave, giving her condolences.
- No-Sell: In one bad ending, Rosetta tries to use a kitchen knife against Pygmalion, but he manages to still get to her.
- Posthuman Nudism: When Pygmalion turns people into mermaids, he strips off their clothes as he puts them through the transformation. However, this becomes less titillating as he would use their dead bodies to lure in more victims for him.
- Shout-Out:
- Several homages are paid to the discography of Mili. Rosetta and Camellia's names are derived from two songs of the same name, and the "Legs to One, Mind to None" end outright references the song Bathtub Mermaid.
- As per Word of God, the black hands emerging from the well in one route are a reference to the hands of the Space Warlocks from Bee and Puppycat.
- Sinister Nudity: Pygmalion turns victims into topless Mermaids and possesses their bodies in order to add more victims to his list by telling false stories through his puppets which can actually decay, serving to make it more gross and horrifying.
- Stripped to the Bone: When Rosetta's cat Camellia digs through Pygmalion's remains in the True Ending, she finds what was left of the real Galatea was her skull.
- Weak Sauce Weakness: Pygmalion is susceptible to sea salt, which is stated to be harmful towards demons and evil spirits.
- Wedding Finale: In the True End, Rosetta get engaged to her boyfriend Christopher several months after Pygmalion is slain.
