Save the Princess

The timing's a little off on this one, because I kept forgetting to post it.  But regardless of when it should have gone up, I wanted to share this.  Recently in Rain, there was a shot of a boy-love manga called "Save the Prince".
http://jocelynsamara.deviantart.com/art/RAIN-p921-Prince-690217926

The shot used in that scene used characters from another work of mine (a game idea, actually) called Save the Princess.  That much, I mentioned on that page, but I've been sitting on this image for a long time, actually.  Speaking of off-timing, I'm not sure why I didn't post this a year ago, but there was a hint to it a long while back on another book cover.
http://jocelynsamara.deviantart.com/art/RAIN-Minimon-Proceed-623248124 

In fact, the only time I'd mentioned this story at all was about a year ago, in passing, only on DeviantArt, and only showing one character.
http://jocelynsamara.deviantart.com/art/Princess-Sabrina-612706357

***

And after that long-winded build up, what is Save the Princess?  And how I guess a lot of people might be wondering "how much boy-love is in it?" XD

Well, the idea is that it's a short, linear game taking place within a simple fetch quest of a grander classic-style JRPG adventure.  The princess of a kingdom has been kidnapped by a necromancer and taken away to a tower to be sacrificed for the sake of reviving the Great Demon Lord.  But all this happens just as the hero and his companions travel into town, whereupon they offer to take on the task of... saving the princess.  It all sounds straightforward, but the simple setting allows me a lot of room to build.

To make it a little more interesting, the story is told in chapters.  Each chapter will consist of a single dungeon area, and with a different character taking the spotlight (from the princess, to the hero, to the hero's individual companions, and even the necromancer).  The different perspectives occasionally overlap, but ultimately draw connections and reveal inner feelings bit by bit until everything comes together in a less than straightforward way.  Along the way, expect a lot of deconstruction of classic RPG tropes.  Probably some laughs.  Probably some tears.  Queerness abound.  The kinds of things you'd expect out of me.  XD

I've said most of this before (it's the best way to describe it, I think).  But for you, let me explain a little more.  In the accompanying image, here are the eight playable characters who each have their own chapters.  From left to right, we have:

- Nara, a traveling merchant
- Chloe, a spunky thief girl
- Zane, a young mage boy
- Garrick, the man regarded as hero
- Sabrina, our kidnapped princess
- The necromancer, responsible for taking the princess
- Arendt, right-hand man of the necromancer
- And Night, a mercenary employed by the necromancer

Regarding the hint of a queer relationship that manga cover from Rain showed, yes, that is canon.  If I'm being honest, practically everybody in the cast is queer and/or gender non-conforming to some capacity.  For everyone that's ever complained about Rain having an uncommonly large cast of queer characters, I present to you this story made up almost exclusively of queer characters. XD

And I wouldn't have it any other way. ^_^

This story is not a priority for me right now though, so I'm sorry to say nothing will be coming of it any time soon (which might have something to do with why I never posted this ages ago), but it's been on my mind since the fake manga cover in Rain.  And I guess I hoped it might be fun to share.  

I hope you like it. ^_^