#rf4 guardians au

[regallibellbright]

It's that time of week again! WIP Wednesday-Is-A-State-Of-Mind!

At some point, I'm going to be at a scene in Reel and Deal Chapter 5 to actually feel like sharing it. It may not seem like it with how long it's taking me to get through this opening, but at some point, I will be through these mind games.

In the meantime, who knows if I'll ever post it or not but I enjoyed writing it, my PARTICULARLY self-indulgent crossover AU!

--

“The spell kinda leaves a mark,” Rhyme says. “At least when you’ve been under it as long as we have.”

Which raises two questions Neku’s going to have to ask eventually, but isn’t ready for. He can kind of guess at one of them. “But it’s fixed now?”

“Yes. The capital came up with artificial rune generators to serve the same purpose you did as Guardians,” Joshua says. “It sounds like they’re more efficient than using a person, too, so… I guess I’ll be politer, the next time they visit. Won’t that surprise those stuffy royals.”

“Please tell me I didn’t cause a diplomatic incident,” Neku says, as the others give him a bit more room to breathe.

“You can’t cause diplomatic trouble when we’re already a part of Norad, you cause civil unrest," Joshua says, primly. Neku avoids snickering, barely. "And since I didn't break our city away from the kingdom as a whole and govern it myself, I don't think it was out of line."

"Did he threaten it?" Neku asks.

"He threatened it," Shiki says.

"Pretty sure he was gonna do it," Beat adds.

"But I didn't, even though I would have been well within my rights for their interference in my affairs, so no one's going to remember anything now," Joshua says.

"They didn't force me into it, you know," Neku says. Joshua just glares at him down his muzzle.

[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.

[selphiahaven]

Hi I had an awful idea at 12:14 a.m. and would like to share it. RF4 mafia! au. Venti is the big boss, Frey/Lest is her right hand (wo)man, the guardians are the executives, Forte handles security, and Kiel controls the underworld's rumor mill. Bado is an illegal weapons dealer and Illuminata deals in poisons (under the guise of a flower shop, of course)

How DARE you call this awful??? Someone get 100 chapters of this fanfiction on my desk by last week!! STAT!!!

[regallibellbright]

I really do want my energy to un-winter because I’m currently writing like three different introduction-to-fic/introduction-to-chapter scenes that are holding up from character interactions I REALLY want to write. (Also the start of a LAB sequel but like, that’s dependent on me coming up with a meaningful PLOT there beyond “everyone gets emotional stability” moreso than anything else.)

Currently in the lead is The Kiryuu Cousins’ Shitty Gay Family Reunion (featuring cowbell), but there’s also a LOT of fun to be had in the Guardians AU once I realized I could just drop the actual “Plot of Rune Factory 4” section and write whatever I wanted of the pre-Guardianing and post-rescue shenanigans instead.

[regallibellbright]

@ladyseychelles liked your post!

Excellent, thank you for enabling me, Sey. Current WIPs, all primarily TWEWY:

Reel and Deal (and assorted snippets from down the line in this iteration)

Untitled Like A Butterfly Sequel

Guardians/Rune Factory 4 AU

TWEWtena, or, The One Where Joshua, Touga, and Nanami Are Shitty Gay Cousins Who Hate Each Other. I have snippets of both fleshing out the original bullet fic and one set post-Nanami revolutionizing herself the hell out of Ohtori and going to the only family she can turn to.

Untitled Polyam Disasters Fic, though I think it needs significant reworking and that's part of why it's stalled out a bit.

Whatever I end up calling this one.

There is no easy way to summarize this, Kingdom Hearts 4/TWEWY “crossover” (actually the 3D versions of the TWEWY gang but whatever) where Quadratum is not KH!TWEWY!Shibuya but Sora and his new friends (and one slightly older friend who’s been missing from HIS home) can use the connection between the two as a springboard back to their reality. Never posted about this one but it IS outlined and I now have some key dialogue written.

I've got vague ideas for a Pokemon AU or two but nothing coherent enough to be called a proper WIP

[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.)

[regallibellbright]

... Thinking on it, the entire impetus for Guardians AU is that I love Neo leaving this three-year space of stalled grief and a kind of similar thing happens in RF4 with the Guardians and Venti to begin with.