Hey, you know that advice you gave me about hibernating? I've been taking it, lol...
I've emerged after several days of being confined to the first floor of my house and doing nothing but sleeping, meakly talking to my best friend, and watching anime. That said, I'm just replying to your questions now because I just read them (laaaateee, lol)
I honestly don't mind playing the emperor. True it will lead to some long posts from me, but I don't mind making long posts if I have the time to, and you've been very good so far about not making feel super rushed to post. Plus, I'd rather have some monster posts than having to have more shorter posts. And you made a good point: If I control the emperor, I'll be able to more effectively control the situation. (Don't worry, I'm going to make it quite hard for poor old Relos to get what he wants.)
However, the princess are another story. I'm not sure how much of a role they are to play beyond a looming threat for Relos, but if they are to play a role, then I'd rather you control them. It's one thing to talk to yourself, it's another to flirt with yourself and bat your eyelashes to your reflection...not sure if I could convincingly do that, lol.
The season...hmm, no clue, lol. So far, it's rained then was sunny, so that's not much to go by, as the weather can do those things whenever. I don't think it really matters much, so I'm up for making it whatever season you have the whim to. Personally, Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons, but I don't have much of a preference.
By the way, I've recently discovered something that's made me rather happy. Here's a fun fact for you: I based Relos's appearance and some parts of his personality from a character in what I consider the best videogame ever. What I discovered this week was that there was actually a OVA-ish anime series made from the game! It's actually really good, from what I've seen of it so far, and it's filled a lot of my more conscious hours with entertainment.
I'm not wure how much time you have on your hands now that we're nearing Christmas, but I figured if you had the time, you might be interested in checking it out. It's a really good story in itself (better than many books I've read), and it also has Relos's namesake in it! He's not in the first few episodes, but he was worth the wait to me; they really did well by him in converting him to an anime character. They captured all the mannerisms of him that I liked, as well as his personality (which I'll admit is a bit less-serious than I made Relos). And although I hate to ruin any mental images you had of him, I find his voice actor was a good match for him. I'm adopting it for Relos's voice in my mind, at least, although I have to force my brain to translate that voice to using english words.
The only downside: if the anime goes as far into his backstory as the game did, then it will probably spoil who Seles is. So far, I haven't heard mention of her, but that doesn't mean that it won't a bit later on. Ahh well, guess you'll just have to figure it out early. Although, like I changed Relos a bit, I'll also change Seles a bit too in order to fit her with this story. So she won't be an
exact clone. Only about 95%-cloned...
The first half of the anime, no-RelosSecond half of the anime, with-Relos!