#rf lest

[runefactorynonsense]

Cozytober - Day 13 - Apple Pie

How... How does that even work? Don't question it.

[hysterical-ryu]

Part 11 of my RF4 child redesigning project: Xiao Pai!

Sorry for taking a while to get this one out!

For Xiao we have Bao and Emery!

Xiao Pai and Lin Fa’s names seem to be a mix of two names, but for Bao I only went for one (and went for a Chinese name, for obvious reasons). With Emery I decided to go for something that was specific to Xiao Pai’s character, which is that she loves flowers, specifically emery and crystal flowers.

I like to think that Bao would be similar to his grandmother, in that he messes up but it somehow always works out for him. He’s aloof, but definitely not stupid. Bao has amazing focus and tends to not pay attention to anything other than the task at hand. He’s sweet and kind and spends most of his time helping his grandmother and mother at the Bell Hotel. Whenever he isn’t helping out he likes to read at Dragon Lake, or cook.

Emery is also a sweetheart, but since she’s younger than Bao she doesn’t get many chores. Her older brother also has a tendency to take her chores and finish them for her. She doesn’t mind since it gives her more time to go around and socialize. She loves talking to the travelers that come through Selphia and asks them about their stories all the time. Emery would love to travel with her family someday. She’s also precocious and nosy.

I definitely wanted to go for the Chinese-inspired outfits that Xiao and her mother wear. I also considered “referencing” Xiao’s father when making these but didn’t since he doesn’t have a unique appearance (rip). Also, I didn’t intend for Bao to be doing the “gotta be one of my favorite genders” pose and I didn’t realize that was what it was until after I sketched him lmao. So shout out to Bao, gotta be one of my favorite genders.

And finally, next will be Amber!

[freakinthefridge]

put your favorite fantasy characters in street clothes

[mhk-87]

There are a lot of interesting characters in this game...

(^_^)

[ryuuseirune]

blorbos (orb variety)

[sketchyspudley]

Arthur wouldn’t have to work the fields if he arrived as normal, but a guy can dream

[musical-chick-13]

Genuinely I cannot take the phrase "de-centering men" seriously anymore.

[thunderberryz]

Actually, the whole "Arthur and Raguna are distantly related" thing is pretty interesting from a lore standpoint because at some point during Act 1 (I can't remember if the conversation happens after Amber or Dylas's rescue), Ventuswill explains that the reason she thought Frey/Lest was a member of the royal family was because of their Earthmate status.

Like even though it doesn't make sense in regards to getting the protagonist mixed up with Arthur specifically (since he is all but stated not to be an Earthmate), thinking Frey/Lest is royalty because of that does make sense because not only is it confirmed that there are Earthmates in the royal family, but one of those Earthmates was the protagonist of the first game in the series as well as one of the spin-offs.

There's also the fact that Frey/Lest ultimately ends up fighting Ethelberd, who is so bitter about his defeat at Raguna's hands that he is attempting a total genocide of all Earthmates while simultaneously trying to obtain their power, and if Frey ends up marrying Arthur, she does become a princess proper. So yeah, it's interesting to make comparisons between Raguna and Frey/Lest just because of how much their stories relate to one another without actually intersecting.

[lem-argentum]

look what charms got here hehehe!!!! <333

[sasslett]

Wondrous Tails: Ghost Hunter AU

With a gulp, Jess stopped, staring up at the massive, decrepit mansion that was to be her home for the eve. 

Haukke Manor.

Only the most haunted place in all the Twelveswood. 

Supposedly.

“What?”

The woman nearly jumped out of her skin at the feel of a hand clapping onto her back, glancing up to find her dear friend - and Eorzea’s ghost hunter extraordinaire - Varrus standing at her side, smiling down at her. 

“Having second thoughts already?”

“N-no,” Jess quickly stammered - hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “At least… not when I’ve got you with me.”

“Just so.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t let any of those nasty ghosties so much as lay a single spectral finger on you.” 

“My hero,” she huffed, returning her gaze to the wooden doors before them. “Now… Remind me what the story of this place is…?”

“We’re searching for the spirit of Lady Dartancoors,” Varrus explained, hoisting his pack over his shoulder before pushing the doors open and stepping inside. “She was the last noble of the house, who was gravely injured during the Calamity several years past. Since then, the remaining house staff have reported strange phenomena, including sounds, knocked over items, opening doors, you know the drill.” 

“I… Yeah.” She nodded, eyeing the elaborate foyer as she followed her friend inside, from the plush carpets to the matching drapes, the aged, ornate furniture and decoratively carved railings and pillars. It was, in all honesty, nothing short of gorgeous… though some part of it definitely gave her the creeps.

“All the staff have left for the day,” he continued, his hands on his hips as he, too, took in their surroundings. “We’ve got the full run of the place, so we’d best start preparing before the sun goes down.”

“Preparing?”

The Elezen nodded, opening his pack to reveal a variety of equipment, things the Highlander could only begin to guess about. 

“First, we’ll need to set up our cameras and RF detectors, as well as a motion detector or two.” 

“RF detector?” Jess tilted her head, to which her friend nodded. 

“Radio frequency detector - if the energy in the air around them changes, they’ll emit a loud sound. The bigger the change, the louder they get.” 

“And they change… if a ghost is near?”

“Correct.” Rummaging through his bag, he produced another handful of items. “It’s believed that spirits exist in the in-between, and can communicate in frequencies we can’t understand. That’s why we’ve got these.” He held up an item the woman couldn’t even begin to describe. “EMF - that is, electro-magnetic frequency detectors. Using these, we can decipher the speech of ghosts. There’s… a few more things in here, but that’s probably all you’ll need to know for now.” 

Slowly, Jess nodded, though… she couldn’t exactly say what to make of all of it. 

“And are ghosts… dangerous?”

To that, Varrus gently laughed. “Not typically - only to extraordinarily beautiful women, that is. Which… Hmm… Perhaps, in that case, it’s best you sit this one out…” 

Jess rolled her eyes, gently giving her friend a shove - lest he see the blush rising up her cheeks. “Very funny - now, let’s do… whatever it is we need to do.”

In no time, she’d helped her friend set up various cameras, noise-makers and other strange devices around the manor, leaving no ilm unchecked, until the two stood in the foyer once more.

“Well,” Jess placed her hands on her hips, “now what?”

“Now we catch some shut-eye while we wait for some ghost activity.”

“Shut-eye?!” She stared at the man dubiously. “You mean to tell me you expect us to sleep in here? With ghosts about?”

“Gotta get what sleep we can.” He flashed her a bright smile. “Unless you’re scared, that is.”

“I’m… I’m not scared.” She quickly shook her head, yet it seemed her friend wasn’t so easily fooled. 

“Well,” he tilted his head, “would it help if you could sleep safe and tight in my arms?”

“You know what,” she huffed, “maybe it would. Maybe it would…”

[the-romantic-lady]

Unpopular opinion: I think the royal family needs to go back to courtiers and “men in gray suits” who understand tradition and run the royal household. This new wave of ���fresh and exciting” hires needs to end lest the monarchy become a cheap celebrity show.

Unpopular? Girl, you don’t have idea how much I’ve been thinking this since 2017. They have given us small royal vibes since then, the majority of things they have been doing is to do whatever they want, hiring people to ‘help’ them with their own projects and profiles, not people to help them with their royal role. Like, I’m not expecting ‘saviour hirings’ but at least people who are willing to say things to them that can be uncomfortable’ and to ask the RF to do things they don’t want but that will help the firm. But now it seems that a member have an idea, then that idea is applauded immediately and the staff make it work with the help of PR and the media, selling it as the ‘smartest thing to do’ when it’s not. (Cough, cough, sometimes they give me the vibe that all of them only love to be said ‘yes’ to everything, they don’t want to hire people who are willing to say ‘no’ because perhaps sometimes they believe they know better)

I’m not saying they don’t have to evolve, but perhaps they don’t have idea of how evolution of an ancient institution should work. I know that in our recent times there is a lot of ‘social’ problems that can offend some if they go with a super traditional coronation, but by cutting it completely isn’t the route either. Like, they are at risk to jeopardize the meaning of a ‘royal family and how a firm should work’ (and they aren’t elected people, they need to behave as Royals; not as influencers, celebs)

I definetely agree, just bring the ‘men in grey suits’

I am surprised by how popular this opinion seems to be. And you are right that this was right around 2017. EII’s reign was successful despite the ‘surprise’ death of George VI. The people guiding her understood the monarchy better than her and kept her in line often conflicting with her own emotions at time. Nowadays, the only engagements they attend are ‘causes close to their heart’ ignoring all other sectors of British society. Diana’s legacy is somewhat responsible for that as well since she has become this life changing royal. The Queen didn’t necessarily do anything big but she connected with the British public from all different backgrounds. When was the last time William and Catherine opened a new facility that wasn’t mental health related? Have they visited some of the creative sector behind so much of traditional British arts and crafts? It’s all become an activism show and I am frankly annoyed of it.

[beck-a-leck]

What are your headcanon ages for the main character, bachelors, and bachelorettes from Rune Factory 4?

oh my gosh I started answering this like a week ago and then it fell through one of the swiss cheese holes in my brain. Sorry Nonny!

I don't really have any hard headcanons about the rf4 character ages, and really what I do have is just kind of a general age range for them. But if you're curious about how the characters read to me maturity-wise I'll tell you.

Frey/Lest - I think they're in their early 20s, somewhere between 19-23 at the beginning of the game. the amnesia helps them have a bit more of the "youthful innocence" that just comes as being that age. Like you can clearly tell they're grown and responsible enough to have been given the story-compelling mission in the first place, but that also have the energy and optimism of someone who still sees the world as completely open to possibilities without as much of the "i need to have my shit together" vibes an older 20-something might have

Amber and Kiel are the ones I headcanon as the youngest, and they both give me very strong late-teens/babey adult vibes. I don't see them any older than 19 at the beginning of the game. And depending on when in the RF world society would consider someone a Full Adult TM, it can change the lower end of that age range, so even to 16 or 17. They're not children, but they're still kids, if that makes sense. They both still have "parental" figures in their lives so they're not entirely independent as an older adult might be.

Forte, though I actually don't think is too much older than Kiel, she's maybe just a few years older than him. So about the same age as Frey/Lest, early 20s, no older than 25. I think given her family history and her general character she was definitely the girl who had to grow up too fast and has acted more mature than other kids her age needed to. So she can very easily be read as older, but I think there's enough clues in her dialogue and her character to show that she's younger than she wants people to perceive her as.

I get the same general age range from Vishnal and Clorica too, 19-25 though probably closer to college ages. Vishnal I think is the younger of the two butlers. Their roles as apprentices and the fact that they're still in training tells me they're probably still rather young adults. I imagine butler training of the caliber they're going through is a 4-6 year ordeal and I imagine they would have started in their late teens/early 20s, much like most people choosing a career path.

Xiao Pai and Doug are the last of the under 25s. It's hard to know Doug's precise age, given he's not human and dwarves are long-lived in the RF world. So while he might look and act like a hot-headed 19-22 year old, he might be 60-70 years old. They've never really spelled out the lifetimes of the non-human races. Xiao Pai I tend to read as on the younger end of her 20s, but given the way she acts and her general clumsiness (which are often associated with younger people) she could also be older than that. It's hard to say.

Margaret is another one of those ambiguously ages characters, being an elf, we don't actually know how old she is. But I definitely read her as an adult in her mid-late 20s. I think she's the eldest-coded bachelorette, so I could even see her as a 30-something. (I genuinely don't think any of the bachelorettes are supposed to be older than 30 because god knows the developers would have had them complaining about being an old maid and a spinster 🙄) She just reads as a character who has had much more worldly experience than the younger girls, and yeah, some of that can be attributed to the fact that she's had Decades more time and lots of freedom than the others, but she also feels more settled into life and adulthood than a younger character would.

Dolce I think is mid-20s. I can't really explain it, but she just gives me "I'm 25 and I've finally felt my brain chemistry solidify" vibes. I do think what she went through in her life, as well as dealing with an eternally youthful and chaotic spirit of Pico probably made her act more mature than she was, much like Forte, but I also do think she's just a little bit older than most of the other marriage candidates in town.

Dylas and Arthur I think are around the same age, mid-20s. Arthur I could push to late-20s, but there's something about his character that makes me go "oh no, he still has that independent streak of the young 20s" I do think his upbringing also forced maturity onto him at a younger age than would otherwise be expected, but he also took on responsibilities that people might not expect someone so young to do (he also shirked the responsibilities he didn't want to do, so again that independent/rebellious streak) Dylas I think acts younger than he really is, though he's really not all that old. I think he got to spend a several years living as an adult in his original time before becoming a guardian, though he didn't really see himself as 'grown' back then and that carried over to how he behaves in game (with additional traumas)

Which brings us to Leon as the last, I think. He's the one I could possibly see being the oldest of all the bachelors, late-20s to early-30s. In his life before becoming a guardian he has established a whole vocation and had been in it long enough to become a high-ranking priest. Even if he had started his vocational training as a young teen, I don't think he could have gotten as far without spending a good portion of his 20s working at it.

So the tl;dr list:

Lest/Frey: 19-23

Amber: 16-19

Clorica: 22-26

Dolce: 24-28

Forte: 22-25

Margaret: 25-30

Xaio Pai: 20-25

Arthur: 24-28

Doug: 19-24

Dylas: 24-28

Kiel: 16-19

Leon: 27-33

Vishnal: 20-24

[hysterical-ryu]

Part 10 of my RF4 child redesigning project: Dolce!

For Dolce we have Enoch, Minerva (Minnie), and Dahlia!

Basically, all names that I would give to goth children.

Enoch is a grumpy older brother. He is much like his mother, closed off and quiet with little patience for more outgoing people (Pico). Dolce enjoys making clothes (especially knitting), and Enoch took on this skill at a young age. He and Dolce will literally sit together for hours, barely talking, while they work on their projects. Enoch would like to have his own clothing store when he’s older, preferably one in the Capital (even if he doesn’t like people very much). He finds his younger sister Minerva to be a little annoying and avoids her like the plague.

Minerva is an excitable, charismatic girl. She easily makes friends with everyone around her. She takes an interest in nearly everything, and has a variety of skills and hobbies to keep her busy. One day it might be making medicine with Grandma Nancy, and the next it might be music lessons from Margaret. Either way, she fills up her days with lots of activities and friends. Minerva adores her family, and especially likes when Pico is around.

Dahlia is the youngest, and tends to keep to herself. However, she will light up whenever you ask her about her favorite subject: spiders. She loves them with all her little heart and spends a lot of her time studying them. Dahlia likes to walk around town with her pet spider, Bernard, and show him things (”here’s the restaurant, here’s the observatory...”). She tends to spend most of her time looking around for more spiders.

For all of Dolce’s children I wanted to go with looks similar to hers. Dolce is stated to make clothes for Pico, so I like to think she would make her children clothes, too. I also enjoy Dolce’s aesthetic a lot, so I wanted to lean into it.

Next will be Xiao Pai!

[nervouslywaitingforlife]

Rune factory 6 speculation

With RF6 & RFPD being announced I thought I would do some speculation and analysis for the two games.

This one will be just for RF6 with another for PD coming out later, as there is more material to dissect and I have a lot more speculation and theories for that game

Most of this one is rambling and speculation so not much of this will come true... Probably.

The floating city.

This floating city I'm talking about and I think it will be our home in some way shape or form. As in the logos from the previous games, the protagonist house has been symbolised in it.

In rf3, the 3 in the logo is decorated with flowers. This can either be in relation to the town rf3 is based around, Sharance, a flower dominated town. Or the fact that by the end of the game, the Sharance tree is in bloom with flowers.

In rf4, it has a green dragon in the logo, and ventuswill, a green elder dragon, can be found outside of Lest/Frey's room.

In rf5 the SEED logo can be seen on the logo, And Ares/Alice bedroom is above the seed HQ.

So with this in mind, I want to weigher that the sky city / island is where the rf6 protag will be staying. Or that it's the main local of the game. Which is probably more likely.

(side note, this has nothing to do with all of this speculation, but personally the floating city is reminding me of the final fantasy logos, especially ff13's.)

The architecture

On the main building with the halo on it, it has these odd patterns on it.

For me, these remind me of fairy wings. Which is a bit odd for rf standards. As fairies aren't a common race and but are a type of enemy (the common fairy monsters and Ambrosia to name a few) . Perhaps this is supposed to maybe be more for the eleven race?

Though this new rf game will be based in a new continent called Ardonia, so maybe fairies are seen as a race such as dwarfs there? What new races will be introduced in this new continent?

In the video, it's stated that this is the architecture for Ardonia. Which seems to say that Ardonia has biomimicry in most of its architecture. But also it's oddly... Modern, reminding myself of ff again.

What's your thoughts on this?

Also what IS that halo?

Halo / Ring

When I see it I personally think "rune energy", perhaps this game will be more nature themed than the two previous games which had some more "high tech" elements of them. With the wing shaped elements of the building and the "rune energy" (or magic) halo, this is the turn that I think this game will be giving.

Maybe more details will go into what EXACTLY earthmaes are? Perhaps earthmaes are more common in Ardonia?

Though perhaps, it may go in the other direction and Ardonia is more high tech than Norad. Tanks, floating cities, airblimps are well known to the rune factory series so perhaps it's going in a much more modern direction. (More Innocent Life than Rune Factory ig)

Though who knows, again let me know your thoughts and theories! Either as a ask, reblog, comment, DM etc.

6

The six looks like water rippling obviously so maybe it's set in a port town? Or we are living right in the middle of the ocean maybe? It's giving me some RFO vibes personally.

The pattern on the right hand side of the 6 reminds me personally of scales, which reminds me of one thing. Aquaticus, the elder dragon of water and transformation. Though this is a new region we are based in so it's unknown how the elder dragons are perceived there. If Aquaticus is important to this game, perhaps the protag will be able to transform, probably not as majorly as Micah but more of a quick and small anime magic girl esc. transformation.

I can't figure out the pattern on the right hand side of the 6 though it reminds me personally of a horn.

And that's all I have for now, let me know your thoughts! I'll do this again for project dragon soon.

(most of my speculations are probably wrong though lol, as we currently only have a logo to go off of. It's like putting the subtitle of a dragon quest game or the logo for a final fantasy gave and just saying good luck guessing.)

[mhk-87]

I love her!

(^_^)

[ryuuseirune]