Sunday, May 24, 2009

Hearts and Flowers from Rune Factory Frontier

'Hearts and Flowers'

by ILuvHM

Dear Diary,
I feel I am bursting with excitement today. I cannot bear to keep this news to myself. It could be the beginning of the greatest adventure of my life.
Tonight, I won Iris' heart completely. She cannot resist my Tomato Juice, made from a special type of Tomato grown deep in the dungeons.

I prepare the Tomato Juice carefully in my blender and each time I make it, I can hear the cheering of a great crowd... so it has to be good! Iris drank 12 glasses of it in one sitting last night and now her Heart is filled with Love and Friendship for me. Yippee!

I don't think I ever ran down the steps from the Tower of Rest as quickly as I ran last night. I practically flew down the Beanstalk and ran home.

Tomorrow I am going to enter the Snow Ruins for the first time. I feel like a hero now. I am almost too excited to be afraid.
And now to bed...

Dear Diary,
I slid out of bed this morning and immediately ran to the Snow Ruins. Totally lost, I somehow stumbled upon the door that led to the Boss Chamber without passing out...
only to discover that the door would not open! I thought to myself: I have to find another way! Suddenly I realised: Oops! I forgot that I still need to speak to
Kanno!

I fought my way slowly back towards the entrance, only to pass out with Glaces all around me.

I awoke in the Clinic to the sound of Festival music. I ran outside and in my haste, bumped into Lute. I apologised and gave him chocolate in restitution.

Seeing Lara and Melody, I ran to them to ask about today's Festival. They were giddy with excitement and both acted a bit strangely. Could it be that they
actually were blushing?

They each gave me flowers. In fact, all the girls gave me flowers today. How nice! In the spirit of the Festival, I went over to Erik to say 'hi' instead of
avoiding him. I should have known though. All he did was brag about all the girls who gave HIM flowers today. (If he has so many girlfriends, why doesn't he have a
wife by now?)

I've looked through Erik's meagre book collection, hoping to steal one or two good recipes, but he doesn't even have 'Happiness 101' so there is no way that he won any girl's heart, let alone ALL of them as he would have every one believe. He was lying as usual, but why?

Erik still was talking about his imaginary girlfriends when I left him to speak to Kanno. The old man and I discussed places where Runes might gather. Kanno,
ordinarily a patient man, appears to have a sense of urgency about him now. I didn't want to upset the old man because of his 'chronic illness' so I told him not to worry, that I would take care of everything.

The day was drawing to a close, but I knew I had to speak to Stella before going to bed. Having spoken to Kanno, I was very excited by the thought of exploring the Snow Ruins again. Would the door open for me now?I finally found Stella with Kross. Those two have a weird relationship. Kross certainly lives in the past
most of the time and I sometimes have a feeling that Stella may do the same.

Stella began to counsel me about marriage. What?! Just because Iris loves me does not mean that I'm in love with her or even if I am, it doesn't mean that I'm ready to settle down now. (How did Stella know about Iris anyway?)

Then there is Euni. I have such strong feelings for her. I don't think I could be happy if I didn't see where THAT might lead. Truth is, I haven't ever gone on one date yet. I really wanted to get my house and farm in order first. I don't even have a proper bedroom yet, let alone a double bed. What was Stella thinking?

Well, you know how Stella is. In the end, she had her way and I left with the 'Happiness 101' Recipe Book tucked under my arm and my head stuffed with advice about all the girls of Trampoli.

Good night, dear diary... until tomorrow.

Note from Freyashawk: This is a nice piece of fan fiction by ILuvHM that gives information about a number of aspects of Courtship in Rune Factory Frontier, including the Recipe Book for the 'Wedding Bouquet' and its heart level requirement. It is written in the form of a 'diary' for Spring of the 2nd Year and introduces the Foliage Festival. Incidentally, you will look for Erik's Book Collection in vain!
He has as many books as girlfriends, sad to say.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Enjoying the Dog Days of Summer in Rune Factory Frontier

Here's a wonderful game journal about Summer in the first year of Rune Factory Frontier by Mars the Frog:

I told myself that I'd spend the last five days of summer in RFF trying to clear my field, after suffering two hurricanes, severe crop loss, and having 60% of my field covered in stumps and rocks... This was the plan that would prepare me for Fall! ... And I totally blew it.


The boat race came up and I decided to have a little fun. I talked with peeps and had one of my monsters follow me around. When I got to the lake, Erik said he spent a day training for this event. I immediately marked him as my primary rival. Anette was there too, acting cute and innocent. When I went to get on the boat, Turner suddenly showed up (drunk as usual), offering to go with me so I wouldn't be alone (but I'm not alone... I've got a giant mushroom with me!). His wife dragged his drunken butt away and I set out to get all the balloons. 235 points! Oh yeah, I was feeling good about that. Come the announcements, Erik scored a laughable (and I really did laugh) 61 points. But lo and behold... Anette got... 326!? ...... Almost 100 more than me... and I hardly missed any... using the boost almost constantly... Seriously, what does she eat that makes her go 300 mph every day? She's like a roadrunner... on steroids... which can paddle boats... Anyway, for my troubles I got a mask, which is better than any other gear I had... so, eh... not a TOTAL loss...


Moving along, after talking with people again and having my defeat rubbed in my face by ALL of them... I decided to go to Whale Island (where no one can see me sulk!) As I went towards Iris' pad some guy showed up. I think he's deaf, because he completely ignored me... either that or he's just a jerk. Anyway, he did a terrible thing - he unlocked the gate... which means a new area... which means... EXPLORING! So indeed I went exploring... and I made a new short cut... crossed some pools of poison, and then got my butt kicked by this awesome golem thing... I really need to get me one of those...


The next day I started working, then checked on the runeys... and they were a mess as usual. So I spent all day keeping them from utterly destroying each other... and then I went back to new area in Whale Island... and got killed again. Whoo-hoo!


On the day of the Pumpkin Festival, I ran around talking with everyone. Kross was totally embarrassed, Mist was wearing a turnip (nothing unusual there...), and Stella was dying from heat exhaustion but kept a good attitude. Then it hit me... MY FIELD IS STILL A MESS! (insert swearing). And tomorrow is the first day of fall! CRAP! There was only one thing to do now... go back to Whale Island and get my butt kicked again! Though, honestly I thought there was something I was forgetting... oh, wait...


And behold! The first day of Fall! With me at 50% of my strength after another not-so refreshing night at the clinic. And it's raining! Gee, this would be the perfect day to plant seeds... except I don't have any! And it's a holiday... and oh, my field... gee it sure looks messy...


I think it's going to be a long Fall...

N.B. From Freyashawk: You can prevent severe storms if you ask for a Sunny Week Rune Wonder from Anette. You can buy seeds for EVERY season from Erik and Rosetta AND you can plant seeds for the NEXT season on the last day of the season... so he could have purchased and planted his Autumn Seeds on 30 Summer... but that wouldn't have made a good story, would it? Knowing Mars, I bet this is nothing more than FICTION. His field probably is 100% tilled and planted for the season...