Dear Villains and Villainesses,

Have you been staying cool in the face of the scorching summer sun? This is Tanya and Emily, the duo behind Save the Villainess, and we’ve been keeping our fans on full blast in our faces. While doing so, we accomplished a lot of fun goals and are ready to share them with you, along with a revealing interview with our character artists at Somate Studio!

Let's begin with a first glimpse of Ashe Firalis, a character in one of the beautiful portraits that will show up in our game. Her animated portrait will show up in House during the storyline and will play a critical role by the end of the tale. Thank you to OmegaScales for commissioning this portrait through Kickstarter and supporting our game! 

This portrait was created by Somate Studio, who created all of our beautiful character designs and sprites. Later in this update, you can read an interview we did with the Project Manager of Somate Studio where she walks us through her design decisions regarding our game. She’ll even share some fun tips for beginner artists! 

This month, we completed a large slate of programming! First, we programmed the closing sequences for chapter 2 and the opening sequences for chapter 3. Each chapter sequence takes about 5 to 10 hours to complete and tells a different “story” using symbology taken from tarot. Tarot plays a key role in our game because it became an increasingly popular form of divination in the late Victorian and early Edwardian time periods that inspired our game. 

Chapter 1’s tarot symbology is the Wheel, while Chapter’s 2 tarot symbology is the Tower. Can you guess what Chapter 3’s tarot symbology is, based on the preview below?

To go with our art, our chapter also includes a thematically fitting quote about inner struggle and acceptance by Carl Jung. Carl Jung was an influential psychologist who wrote about the importance of coming to terms with one’s lifelong struggle to understand and accept oneself. Since this is one of the cornerstones of our game, we’ve included many of his quotes in it! 

Additionally, we programmed scene 21, an animation-heavy scene that can be broken down into 4 interwoven sequences which build upon each other to tell a haunting story that you must analyze for clues regarding the original Jane Neville. After all, how can you avoid the tragic fate of the original villainess if you do not understand what happened to her in the first place? 

We also revised and edited our existing writing for scenes 22, 23, and 24 to prepare them for programming next month. These scenes all contain important clues to the mystery that build upon past scenes. One of these scenes also includes an optional tutorial for a new gameplay mechanic we wrote about last month. This tutorial contains all new banter by fan-favorite character, Voice. Voice may even have some interesting things to say if you keep saying that you don’t understand their instructions…

Let’s conclude with an interview we conducted with the Project Manager of Somate Studio. Somate Studio is the art team we partnered with to create all the character designs from Save the Villainess. They have also worked on the character art and design for games such as Peachleaf Valley and Volontés. We are thrilled to share more about their work with you – with additional love to the wonderful people on our game’s discord server who supplied these questions! 

Question 1: What's your favorite character or outfit in this game?

Somate Studio: There are many things I enjoyed about working on this project. But the first thing that impressed me was the main character, because she's a villain type. At that time, this trope was super popular, and I thought it was really cool to create such a character. I really like Jane's facial proportions; I'm drawn to unique facial proportions, like Anya Taylor-Joy's. While not entirely based on her, as we still closely followed the story's description, she was part of the inspiration for Jane's face.

Question 2: Who was the hardest Love Interest or Character for your team to draw/create and why?

Somate Studio: The most challenging character to create, in my opinion, was Edmund. We wanted to convey a clean, profound face—a sharp yet friendly and unpredictable look that most important royal characters embody. We paid a lot of attention to his facial expressions, neat hairstyle, and standing posture. His clothes were also intentionally made to look more modern, rather than close to military uniforms or tailcoats [editor: from the Victorian period], because I wanted to portray him as a rational future monarch who wouldn't be conservative with old ways. That's what I think, but I'm not sure if that's been conveyed. Overall, though, we're satisfied with the result.

Question 3: Who was the easiest Love Interest or Character for your team to draw/create and why?

Somate Studio: The easiest character to create was Izel. He's always been our forte: a cool, handsome, very Northern-type character.

Question 4: Who are your favorite villainesses?

Somate Studio: I like the femme fatale character archetype, so my favorite villainess recently is Makima from the Chainsaw Man series. 

Question 5: Are there any art details you are especially proud of in Save the Villainess that you want to point to?

Somate Studio: What I'm most proud of, I think, is that we paid a lot of attention to making the characters' clothing as authentic as possible when compared to the Edwardian era which served as inspiration. Of course, this is still a story with fantasy elements, so it still needs costume details to reflect that. And naturally, balancing the aesthetic of the era with the old-fashioned atmosphere was also a consideration. I'm also proud that all the costumes look like they could actually be sewn into real clothes.

Question 6: Do you have any tips for beginners who are starting to learn how to draw art?

Somate Studio: I think most advice emphasizes that people should start with the basics, and I completely agree with that. Even if you're a professional, honing your fundamentals is something that always needs to happen, because habits can easily lead to basic mistakes. However, this is easy when you're already familiar with it and know where you're going wrong and what you need to do to fix it. But for a beginner, it's clearly not easy at all.

When you don't know where to start, studying art from masters is a good beginning. When you learn this way, your brain constantly asks, "How did they do that?" When you find the answer, you'll feel satisfied and confident to move forward. And even if you haven't found the answer, you'll still be looking for it. It's during these times that your interests and abilities will become clearer, and the path forward will emerge. At that point, deciding who to learn from, what to learn, and which tools to use will ultimately determine the kind of artist you want to become. And importantly, maintain stable mental health! This profession often struggles with psychological issues. I consider it part of... occupational hazard, lol.

Question 7: What kind of software or tablet do you use to draw?

Somate Studio: We usually use Clip Studio Paint. I'm not used to drawing directly on a screen, so I still use screenless tablets, like before.

Thank you again to Somate Studio for working on Save the Villainess and for the wonderful interview. We look forward to sharing new character designs from them in the future as our game continues to develop! 

Finally, we wanted to finish with a recommendation for a new game by our friends at DEADline Studios. 

They recently published PIG: The Game, a short and deliciously dark horror horror game where you must pay or perish. In this game, you'll challenge the mysterious Alleyman to a deadly dice game. Will you win more time with your roles... or lose what little time you have? 

You can play PIG: The Game for free on Itch.io. If you enjoy this dark little treat, please consider checking out their other horror games, including Fool's Paradise. If you love beautiful, bone-chilling horror games, all their works are a treat! 

Please remember you can always find us at the sites below:

✦ Our discord server - come chat with us and hear what other players have discovered about our game!

✦ Our mailing list - we send out cute kitten pictures and free cards featuring new banter from our main characters every month. This June, everyone will discuss what kind of flower represents their love in this season of Pride. 

✦ Youtube, Bluesky, and Tumblr - our main social media accounts

With Greatest Affection,

Tanya & Emily

Best Laid Plans Productions Inc.