#rf4 ethelberd

[selphiahaven]

[regallibellbright]

Me: Hmmm, but if I upgrade my dual blades, I lose out on the fact that the current ones have a 30% chance of poison which, with the speed attacks come out using dual blades, translates to “you are poisoned.”

Me: *Realizes I bought a bunch of the Queen Hornet venom from Raven and it adds a 20% chance of poison when used for upgrades*

*Enough to give SEVERAL weapons You Are Poisoned levels of poison, including my shiny new flaming dual swords*

I LOVE upgrading weapons.

Now to see if I somehow manage to grind out another, oh, twelve or so levels of forging, to be on the safe side? So that I can use my precious, precious, PRECIOUS second random-drop heart crystal to ruin Ethelberd’s shit.

[thunderberryart]

It's interesting how some of the criticisms I've seen over on r/runefactory concerning RF4's writing--specifically those surrounding Act 3--are serving as inspiration for a potential AU to explore in fanart (and maybe fanfiction as well, if I ever get around to it.)

So, you know, even as someone who adores Rune Factory 4's cast of characters and the individual character arcs everyone goes through, I am not without my criticisms of the writing. One thing I am definitely not a fan of is the fact that all three acts of the main story are essentially "save Ventuswill: Parts 1, 2, and 3." It's not that "save the Divine Dragon" is a bad plot to have, but that it never really switches up the formula enough to keep it consistently interesting across the length of RF4's story. You can easily describe the three acts of RF4's story as "Ventuswill is secretly dying! You must save her! Oh, now she's dying again! Get the Rune Spheres back from Ethelberd and save her! Surprise! She's not actually dead! Let's save her for real this time!" And because of that lack of variation, the most interesting aspects of Act 2 and Act 3, at least for me, are not saving Ventuswill, but the stuff that happens with the other characters who are involved in the plot. Arthur, who cites frequently in his dialogue how much he dislikes having been born a prince, utilizes the resources he has at his disposal to get Selphia the support it needs from the capital because as much as he may complain about his position, he knows he has a responsibility as a member of Norad's royal family and the true prince who was supposed to run Selphia. Doug, who was revealed earlier in Act 1 to actually be a spy for the Sechs with a personal vendetta against Ventuswill, feels immense guilt for having believed in a lie that ultimately hurt the people he cares about, and he actively seeks to redeem himself to the point of getting injured multiple times across Act 2. And during Act 3, we finally learn that Frey/Lest is a surviving descendant of the Earthmates who have spent literal centuries trying to find a solution to the runes in the land dying out so that Ventuswill will no longer have to rely on the sacrifices of the Guardians in order to live.

However, a post by u/KamenRiderSekai, who I believe goes by @avenger-concerto here, highlights that Act 3 does, to an extent, potentially ruin the narrative themes of Rune Factory 4's story. Even as someone who generally prefers happy endings to sad or bittersweet ones (hell, the whole reason I originally bought Rune Factory 4 Special was because I needed a more lighthearted game after the literal rain of depression that was Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights), Act 3 does feel very... out of place. A lot of RF4's themes revolve around those of loss, grief, loneliness, and self-isolation, and how you need to make the most of the time you have with those you love instead of shoving them away because life is so short. Although it was upsetting to see Ventuswill die at the end of the Act 2 despite all the crap Lest/Frey went through trying to save her, it feels... fitting, especially since Frey/Lest's ending narration solidifies that although they and the rest of the town were in mourning for some time, they resolved to move forward with their lives because all Ventuswill wanted was a bright future for her friends and for Selphia, and she was absolutely tired of people sacrificing themselves for her sake.

But Act 3 comes along and you learn that Oh, not only was Ventuswill not ready to go just yet, but we still have a chance to save Ventuswill despite the fact that she's literally dead. I get that although it has its "dark" moments, Rune Factory is overall a fairly lighthearted series, but it just seems very shoehorned in for the sake of giving players a happy ending where Ventuswill is alive and well. And when you do complete Rune Prana and save Ventuswill, there is so very little fanfare to the point that there isn't even a credits roll like the first two acts; all you get is a commemorative illustration featuring Ventuswill in her human form down in the trophy room. It makes Act 3 almost feel like one big afterthought despite the important lore it contains, especially in regards to Frey/Lest.

With all that said, KamenRiderSekai did briefly bring up an interesting, alternate concept for Act 3, one that has been gnawing at my brain off and on again since I originally first read it. Taken directly from the original reddit thread:

"A more apt arc would have been maybe the birth or succession of a new "Ventuswill", which is something I've always thought of as an alternative for years on end."

This makes so much more sense to me on so many levels. First off: Ventuswill does state during Act 1 that, when she expires, the runes her body gives off will be enough to sustain the land for another 1000 years, during which a new Native Wind Dragon will be born to play their role as she did. A new "Ventuswill" being born, possibly as a result of the influences of the Rune Spheres as well as whatever efforts the protagonist and the Guardians put in, would 100% make sense from a lore standpoint. However, it also makes sense from a thematic standpoint in regards to the franchise as a whole.

A major theme prevalent in the Rune Factory series is the cycle of life, death and rebirth. In almost every game, the protagonist loses their memories, resulting in the "death" of their past self. They wake up in a new town that takes them in, where they create a new life for themselves; eventually, they fall in love with someone, get married, and start a family with their spouse. This lines up so well with the idea that even though the old Ventuswill is gone, she is not forgotten and her spirit will live on in the new Wind Dragon who will one day guide and protect the land like their predecessor.

If I were to make this into a full blown AU, there are other things I would like to explore as well. I highlighted in a post from August about how Arthur's Another Episode reveals that Selphia's relationship with the royal family is complicated because it is not actually ruled by the king, but by Ventuswill herself, and that her death should have had more implications in terms of Selphia's political status as well as in regards to Frey/Lest and Arthur's switch... which it doesn't because a major point of RF4's gameplay is that you're in charge of Selphia and even Arthur returning to his position briefly during Act 2 doesn't affect your ability to manage the town through the Order Symbol.

There is also the matter of the Guardians; although they willingly allowed themselves to have the Etherlink spell cast on them because they wanted to save Ventuswill, all four of them had lives prior to their centuries-long slumber and with her death, it seemingly renders the sacrifices they made pointless. So, you know, there is an incredibly great potential for angst as well as character development if this becomes a "Okay, we failed to save Ventuswill, but we can speedrun the birth of the new Ventuswill" plot.

I'm sorry for the massive ramble. It is just strangely satisfying knowing that some genuinely valid criticisms of a game I adore have the potential to result in some incredibly tasty fanwork scenarios.

[runefactorynonsense]

okay, but i need to know how the rf1 and frontier divide works with the time loop theory

Honesty here; my thoughts on the Time Loop usually go from rf1 -> rf2, especially with various headcanons of mine that I would be using [Prime example being this blog supports a 'rf2 Kyle is the son of rf1's Lynette', which makes a 'bad ending' Sechs victory in 1 suddenly open up with a million game 2 possibilities- Antagonist Kyle!]

HOWEVER.

Given how there are a couple different thought paths with 1, Frontier, and the rest of the universe, the Time Loop setup I've made could be super fun? For example;

"Rune Factory ends, Raguna unmarried, and we roll right into Frontier." This seems to be what I think is implied!

"Rune Factory ends, something happens and forces Frontier to happen." My personal choice is to see it this way; the move was not voluntary.

"RF1 and Frontier are the same characters but separate." I've toyed with this before, with how the game barely touches on old things, with how we have to re-meet Mist, Rosetta, Lara, etc- and, well. Given that it's a GAME, made by a company, for a then-new console, it makes sense that the scene is standalone. Which means, one can consider it the story, and rf1 a different starting story.

I could see that Time Loop setup causing all 3 of those to be true, in different versions. 1, we chase Raguna right into Trampoli; 2, we have a brand new Anime Dead Wife opportunity; 3, we keep him out of Kardia altogether, what happens then?

Now that you HAVE me thinking as I type, though...

Given how Frontier, rf3 and rf4 talk so much about the depleting rune energy in the entire damn world, how you are punished so heavily for ignoring that balance in Frontier if you ignore the Runeys.... I think it could be very fun to imagine that Frontier events have to happen.

Stopping the extra depletion of rune energy could give extra time for Aquaticus to work on his area's problem, and also buy Venti a few more years to live as the 4 events are put into place..

Which also leaves some wonderful open doors for "Raguna had to live on the run" theories I've seen (esp from friends of mine) that come from the Ethelberd violence that ramps up between 1 and 4. Earthmates being hunted down and whatnot. Raguna was already chased from Kardia, and Trampoli isn't exactly a fort of safety, especially when Empire eyes have already discovered it... A super tiny town he'd rather have be safe...

So. Maybe Frontier has to be a "Fixed Point" in the universe (NOTE; I don't watch Doctor Who, but I've always recalled that term as it is so useful). We need it to happen. And maybe that means accidentally erasing family happiness from 1 in order to for sure chase the boy into Frontier!

All this being fun speculation, of course, and thank you for the chance to think about it!! As I genuinely had not factored in that game into my thinking!!

[nightzap]

I got through most RF4 bosses pretty easily by just running in circles around them and spamming magic. I expected Ethelberd to turn into a big scary monster and that it would be more of the same.

Ethelberd proceeded to meme on me by staying a human and just zipping around the arena at lightning speeds while filling the screen with spells, killing me in thirty seconds. Damn, didn't expect that. Maybe it's time for new armor.

[goineedsleep]

I gave my RF4 protag trauma

I named her Frey in game, Freigh to bully her literally everywhere else. She and Lest are twins, and their mother was an Earthmate of the ancient Venti-saving lineage. Their father is Ethelberd's brother, and Ethelberd has no bitches because he's too busy lusting for power to lust after a woman

Their mom hid her identity as an Earthmate so she could be together with Ethelberd's brother, and once someone discloses her identity to Ethelberd he kills her, kills his brother, and raises the twins with an iron fist. Freigh discovers stuff about the rune sphere from a journal Ethelberd forgot to burn, Lest steals an airship for her, and she steals the rune sphere to give to Venti

So yeah that's what my Freigh's amnesia is hiding from her

[ryuuseirune]

002- lest :^)

How I feel about this character:

homosexually! Lest is my primary blorbo... my beloved. I will never stop thinking about him. He’s cute, sweet, and a little bit silly, which makes him the perfect whump target lmfao. Make that ray of sunshine suffer!!!

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Dylas, Leon, Doug, Arthur, Kiel, Vishnal, Ethelberd, Forte, Bado, Barrett, Volkanon, and Porcoline.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Lest & Venti - self-explanatory. I have a real soft spot for our dragon BFF.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

he deserves more attention and appreciation in the rf4 fandom!! Everyone is a Frey main and I understand why people prefer her over Lest, but sometimes I wish people would give my little guy a chance too :( it's why I focus on commissioning/drawing him the most. I need to recruit people to the Lest agenda

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

gay marriage option wish we knew more of his backstory and that the guys would flirt with him more 😔

my OTP:

do I even need to say it? Dylas/Lest

my cross-over ship:

within the RF franchise, i think Lest/Ares or Lest/Raguna would be hot. otherwise, maybe he would look good with Aira from Ensemble Stars since they both have that feminine twinkish vibe? idk i haven't thought about this one much

a headcanon fact:

oh man it depends. I like to think of him as a gay trans man, but I also like to hc him as a he/him transmasc butch lesbian. i feel like all of my interpretations of him kind of exist at once so i will give multiple "facts" for each one :)

in situations where he's trans and he likes guys, i think he's a bit more subdued/reserved. he feels more societal pressure to fit in with the bachelors because of all the little comments that they make about liking girls. otoh i see him acting more like Frey if he's a butch lesbian – brash, earnest, and not afraid to speak his mind. he chills with both the guys and the gals at sleepovers and he doesn't care what people think!!

when both Lest and Frey are present in an AU, i like to think of them as siblings. sometimes i see them as fraternal twins, sometimes Frey is Lest’s younger yet more experienced sister. either way they have a pretty close bond! frey teases him a lot but he never complains bc he knows it's all in good jest and it takes a lot to piss him off. they joke about being bodyswapped at birth and team up to bully doug.

>ask game here<

[gamerphantom]

Ethelberd seems like such a comically two-dimensional villain. I can’t take him seriously lmao

[eggo-in-ohio]

RF4:S is turning out to be a great quarantine distraction when I'm not at work. In pretty much every save file and play through of RF I have a Mamadoodle named Merara who turns out to be one of my strongest battle babies. Mostly because I love dragging her around everywhere simply for the sense of absurdity that comes from having a giant angry chicken help save the world against fabricated elemental dragons and angry emperors. You're outta your league, Ethelberd.

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 31

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Pico, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur, Margaret, Forte Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: The first chapter of the last arc is here!

Chapter 31 – Calm after the Storm

-Lest’s POV-

After the battle, Kane managed to find us in the castle after he had gone to the cave to escort the Guardians out safely. Frey explained everything to us, about how the Guardian’s corruption could affect even Venti, and we also told everyone about our relation to Ethelberd and Halwell. The news was a surprise to them as much as it was a surprise to me. After all, we don’t even look like the Sechs emperors by the outside and inside.

Two weeks have passed since that day. I can’t tell whether the corruption is completely gone or not, but all I can tell is that Venti is doing a lot better than when the corruption was still at large. Frey isn’t staying in the castle with us anymore, but she still visits us at least once every two days. She still has duties to attend back in the capital, so she can’t stay longer than a few hours.

I’m starting to feel that she is a close sister to me, but on the other side I can still tell that she’s not telling us everything. None of the Guardians or Kane actually paid attention to Frey’s wound back then, expect for Dolly and Pico. She looked like she was aware of something about Frey, but for some reason, she’s keeping it from me. I can’t actually force her to talk about it, but the fact that she’s hiding something from me is bothering me somehow. Why can’t you just talk to me about it if it’s actually bothering you?

-Third Person POV-

“Sweetie, will you stop staring at me?” the sound of his wife snapped Lest out of his trains of thought, realizing that Dolce was standing in front of him.

“Oh, sorry,” Lest shook his head to make sure that he was completely awake before putting his hoe over his shoulder, “Well, I’ll be working in the fields for the time being so let Frey know when she drops by to visit.”

“I will,” Dolce nodded before giving him a peck on the cheek, “Work hard, okay?”

Dolce watched as Lest left for the fields before Pico popped in front of her, “Are you sure about this, Dolly? Shouldn’t you say something about it to him?”

“No,” Pico followed Dolce closely as the two of them headed for the kitchen, “I need to be certain about the facts first. What we’re thinking now is just the conclusion we come into after we looked at her wound.”

“You’re scared, aren’t you milady?” Pico’s words made the Guardian stop her activity, “You know how it feels to lose a family… well, both of us do.”

Dolce let out a sigh as she turned to Pico with a frown, “He’ll know the truth sooner or later. I don’t want him to think that I’m hiding everything from him.”

Pico let out a sigh and smiled, “I think you’re worrying too much, Dolly. A bit more than usual, I guess,” Pico watched her friend working in the kitchen, “I guess I can see how much your love for Lest had changed my Dolly!”

A blush appeared on the Guardian’s face as she continued cooking, “S-Shut up!”

Lest let out a tired sigh before he admired his handiwork on the field, which was completely clean of garbage from the storm two weeks earlier. Crop seeds were planted on the tilled field and they had already been watered. His job on the field was finished and it was time for him to do his work in town.

Just as Lest was putting down his tools at the edge of the field, a scroll fell out from his pocket. He picked up the fallen scroll and the emblem of the Sechs Empire was visible on the scroll’s paper. A frown came to his face as he remembered the scroll’s contents when it was first given to him.

-Flashback-

“So…” Lest spoke up to Arthur and Kane as the three of them were in Arthur’s office, “The empire is requesting me to be the acting emperor?”

“Yes,” Kane nodded as he rolled the scroll he was holding and handed it over to Lest, “Lord Halwell still hasn’t awakened after a week of recovery even after getting help from the best doctors.”

Arthur turned to Lest, “It would be sad to see you go, but I will not force you to go if you wish to stay.”

Lest turned back to Kane, but stared at him for a moment before speaking up, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“No, I understand,” Kane responded with a smile, “The higher ups only requested for you because of your relation to Lord Ethelberd, but they never forced me to take you back.”

“Speaking of which,” Arthur interrupted, getting Kane’s attention, “How is the empire doing currently?”

“Much better than when everyone was corrupted, that’s for sure,” Kane replied with a shrug, “Everyone remembers what happened, but they don’t really know why it happened. Other than that, the corruption in the empire seems to have disappeared without a trace.”

“I see,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.”

“Of course,” Kane nodded, “My main purpose for coming here is to deliver the scroll, but I’ll tell the higher ups that you can’t take Lord Halwell’s place.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Lest waved the soldier goodbye as he left the office.

-End of Flashback-

“The acting emperor?” Ventuswill asked as Lest showed her the scroll in the dragon room, “Hey, I guess I’m right about you being royalty after all!”

Lest let out a laugh, “Don’t be too proud on it, Venti. You need to remember who my father was.”

“I know,” Ventuswill paused for a moment as she stared at the wall, “Speaking of Ethelberd, I think I recall hearing something when I was still in the forest. I know that I recognize that voice, now I remember that it was him.”

“Wait,” Lest looked at the dragon god in surprise, “You met him in the Forest of Beginnings?”

“Not exactly meeting in person, though,” Ventuswill put her claw under her jaw as she tried recalling the encounter, “I can only hear his voice saying that he won’t surrender until all Earthmates perish.”

“Can he still be alive in there? And corrupting people into doing things they shouldn’t do?” Lest asked.

“No,  that won’t be possible,” Ventuswill shook her head, “Humans can’t stay and live in there for a long period of time. If a person stays there for longer than they should have, their body will soon break into runes. Even so, the soul would still remain in there forever unless there’s a special case that they’re resurrected.”

“Just like what happened to you,” Lest added, “But if his soul is still there, can he do any harm to the world?”

“Hm…” Ventuswill went back to her thoughts, but nothing came into her mind, “I’m not sure, but I think it’s very unlikely.”

“I hope so…” Lest let out a sigh, “This corruption thing just happens to come and go without a reason and a trace. I just wish that there’s a clue somewhere so that we can prevent it in the future…”

“And then, he ran around the house in panic while yelling that there was a deadly scorpion in the house!” Frey and Pico broke out into laughter while Dolce simply chuckled as she sipped on her tea.

The three girls were hanging around at the castle’s balcony with Frey telling stories about the siblings’ daily lives in the past. Two plates of flan were sitting on the table untouched as the three were busy talking. Pico was completely taken into the conversation, but Dolce had noticed that her guest hadn’t touched either her tea or her flan.

There was a single question she had been meaning to ask Frey and her observation prompted her to pop the question right away, “Before we hear more of those stories, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Sure, we can talk while you have your flan,” Frey responded as she simply looked at her share of flan.

“Okay,” Dolce took her share of flan, but the scent of her favorite meal suddenly made her feel weird in the stomach, “Ugh…”

“Are you okay Dolly?” Pico saw as Dolce put a hand on her mouth before shaking her head.

“I’m fine…” Dolce uncovered her mouth before taking a spoonful of flan, only have the weird feeling on her stomach come back, “Not again…”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Frey asked worriedly as she took the flan from Dolce’s hands, “You look kind of pale.”

“I’m… okay… ugh…” Dolce quickly rose from her seat and ran inside, heading straight towards the bathroom.

“Is she sick or something?” Frey turned to Pico.

“That would be my best guess…” Pico turned to the barely touched desserts, “Dolly really loves sweets like flan and cakes, but she’s been avoiding them for the past week for some reason.”

“Hm…” Frey tapped her chin as she was thinking, “I don’t think she’s suddenly become bored of eating her favorite dishes…”

“That’s impossible. There’s no way she’s going to give up on her all-you-can-eat cake routine every-” Pico was silenced with a single talisman landing over her mouth.

“You’re saying too much,” Dolce had just returned from the bathroom, but her face told the other two that she wasn’t feeling that much different than before, “Sorry for that interruption.”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t think you look well at all,” Frey replied worriedly, “I’ll tell Lest about your condition when I see him, so why don’t you two just stay home until he gets back?”

Dolce let out a defeated sigh, “That… might be the best…”

Lest let out a tired sigh as he pushed the castle door open while carrying an extra paper bag with him. With Dolce taking her temporary leave from her evening shift, he decided that it might be best for them to eat dinner at home to let her rest at home. With the ingredients in the paper bag put in the kitchen, Lest left for his room to check on Dolce.

Lest had expected the female Guardian to be asleep with Pico watching over her, the scene he saw was Dolce knitting on the bed with a terrified Pico at the edge of the bed, “I’m… home…?”

“Oh, welcome back Sweetie,” Dolce put her knitting aside and greeted Lest with a smile as she approached her, “How was work today?”

“More or less the usual, I guess…” Lest’s attention was focused on Pico as he let Dolce took his backpack off him, “More importantly, what happened to Pico?”

“Just a simple argument between us,” Dolce replied, completely ignoring the fact that Pico was still in the room, “Are you going to prepare dinner tonight?”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded, “I was planning to make your favorite cake today, so-”

“I want… something else, if that’s okay…” the attention of the other two in the room shifted to her, “I want… some fried veggies…”

The room became completely silent with Pico hovering in front of her with the look of disbelief, “Did I hear that right? Dolly, you never liked eating any kind of vegetables!”

“I’m kind of surprised too,” Lest added, “But if that’s what you want, I guess I need to head out to buy the missing ingredients…”

“Alright,” Dolce nodded, “Sorry for the trouble.”

The two watched as Lest left before Pico turned back to Dolce, “Are you sure you’re fine milady? Do you need Jones to check your condition?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Dolce let out a sigh before she went back to her knitting, “You’re being a lot more stubborn today. Do you want to be wrapped in talismans again?”

“N-No, please don’t do that again to me!”

[regallibellbright]

So the central roles of the Guardians AU are pretty well set and did so pretty much immediately (Joshua-Ventuswill, Rindo-Lest/Frey, Neku, Shiki, Beat and Rhyme-Leon, Dolce, Dylas and Amber.) There was a brief moment where I considered a situation where Neku was the resident amnesiac befriending a god, but Kitaniji and the GMs as Guardians instead just Does Not Work, and Neku’s the keystone that holds the rest of the gang together. (As a result, Shiki, Beat and Rhyme are all elves - half-elf in Shiki’s case - so that they could all lose Neku, be royally pissed off at him for vanishing without telling them, and then still be alive a couple centuries later to make the same choice he did. Everyone knows it’s at least as much for Neku as it is for Joshua.)

On the other hand, Megumi Kitaniji as Volkanon as first attendant/de facto mayor? Yeah that checked out, which lends itself to the following very fun dynamics:

1) Megumi, increasingly caught off-guard by the sheer Weirdness that is this year, on increasingly better terms with Rindo who’s at least as bewildered by this all as anyone else.

2) Neku comes back. Neku looks at least a decade younger than Megumi. Neku as a Dragon Priest from 1,000 years ago has seniority over Megumi’s rank, not just himself. (Sidenote: Megumi has maybe just been demoted?) Neku treats his god so informally Megumi would probably rather die than consider it, given Joshua’s the Divine Dragon of Mind. Neku now lives here and, while the other newcomers have their own bedrooms they sometimes use, is the Divine Dragon’s personal teddy bear and only ceded when the other Guardians are ALSO sleeping on the Divine Dragon’s dais so that Neku can get Maximal Amounts of Cuddles, which is about half the time.

Megumi has a lot to process.

3) We’ll be skipping Arc Two in favor of post-reunion Shenanigans, but this is not because there is no Empire presence in the city! No, it’s because Megumi has had Shiba Miyakaze’s number from the MINUTE that blowhard “mercenary” walked into town with his entourage, and the two of them are engaged in a mental cold war. Since everyone else was more loyal to Shiba than the Empire, it’s been three years, and they’re actually pretty happy with this city and their cover identities and think the boss doesn’t really want to move on either, this has derailed all plans of sabotage in favor of PERSONAL rivalry.

(In the background, the local florist-and-nutrients and poisons shopkeeper, Ayano Kamachi, has been having her own icy hostility Thing with the Dragon Knights’ second-in-command, it’s just that she and Konishi are much gayer about it by this point and in deep, deep denial. Shoka’s running a bet with the rest of the town about how that hookup finally happens.)

[meicheesecake]

You know I just now realized that maybe Kross is supposed to look like Ethelberd. If you really wanted to you could read the whole RF4 arc 2 plot point of transforming soldiers into monsters as Ethelberd trying to connect with his lost son's interests by weaponizing. Even if that doesn't really hold up to scrutiny since Kross probably wouldn't have been like a regular soldier if he was actually the son of a higher up like the actual emperor.

[thunderberryart]

Okay im gonna sound crazy but i need to ask someone about my lil rf4 theory and i apologize if this is like a well known thing that ive just never heard anyone talk about. Spoilers for rf1 if u never played.

Are arthur and raguna brothers? My memory is foggy i havent played rf1 in 10+ years but i thought they heavily implied at the end of the game that hes a lost prince? Idk if they say the crown prince but def one of the older ones since it was a big deal this prince went missing. I know there supposed to be some nebulous amount of time that passes between games but if arthur is prince 13 it wouldnt be crazy to assume they could have a close to 20 year age gap. Or are they from completely different generations, or am i completely misremembering rf1. Thank u for listening to my theory. My GAME theory.

Okay, so this is only slightly tricky to answer because the Rune Factory series does not have a definitive timeline. However, RF2's 1st gen takes place roughly 10 years after RF1—the 2nd gen takes place seven years later. Barrett mentions in RF4 that his son, Leonel, is 12, so RF4 takes place at least five years after the second half of RF2. Factor those given numbers and give or take a few years, and I like to think that by RF4, it's been about 25-30 years since the events of RF1, which would account for Ethelberd's old, decrepit appearance.

As for Raguna's relationship to the royal family, it was confirmed in the Rune Factory Official Memoirs book that Raguna and Ivan are second cousins of Gilbert, the king who was ruling Norad at the time of RF1. We don't know if Gilbert is still around at the time of RF4, as the king of Norad is deliberately left unnamed in every dialogue mentioning him, including the letter he writes to Arthur if the player chooses to marry him. However, seeing as Gilbert's portrait depicts him as an old man with a cane, it's fairly safe to assume he has most likely passed since RF1 and that the current king IE Arthur's father is his son.

In short: Arthur and Raguna are not brothers, but they are related, albeit distantly.

[runefactorynonsense]

Spooktober - Day 7 - Zombie/Undead

That's right, Earthmate! I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU SUFFER

[bokujo-monogatari]

[the-drifters]

Me after trying to use -100% HP disastrous dishes in RF4S to easily kill Ethelberd: