64 Times the Harvesting: Let's Play Harvest Moon 64

[Deme]

You are allowed to guess, yeah.

Also, up above this page is an ad for Long Live the Queen on Steam. I am not surprised I can recognize the game's art cut to banner-height, but I am pleased to see it doing well.

More random rambling: last night was the night the entire rest of the storyline clicked together for me in one cohesive whole. Nothing was changed, exactly...Just several ideas I had about the story all fit into place together.

[Javan]

While technically a summer crop, Fox should plant some corn, it has a nice rate of return. Also for variety, maybe some potatoes and tomatoes.

I always thought that the deck was worthless, projecting my thoughts onto Fox, I vote that he leave that for last and build the baby bed first, followed by the staircase. The baby bed has a more immediate use, and even though Fox may still be a free man, he needs to think ahead a little.

Yay for story cohesion!

[Deme]

The deck is way more useful than the stairs. The deck gets you some extra stuff at the end. Stairs don't do jack.

[Javan]

Fair enough.
I always used to put my dog on the roof so he could be outside but I never had to hunt for him.
The deck, as you say, gets you extra stuff at the end, quite a ways away, and also otherwise "doesn't do jack".

[Seerow]

I'd say either one that's not a baby bed. That should definitely wait until post-marriage. Fox in his current state doesn't seem to me even close to thinking about that sort of thing yet.

I do like the idea of a rooftop view, but a back porch is just as good. Both give Fox a place to unwind and enjoy the fruits of his labors (as if the tub wasn't good enough for that)

[Mewtarthio]

To be honest, I thought the baby bed was the surprise mystery addon.

[Deme]

Well, you'll find out today!

Chapter 41: Seriously, Not Cool

Spoiler

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Winter - 26 - xxx1

It'll be sunny tommorow. That's good...Actually, you know what there hasn't been this winter? A big blizzard. I know they get them out here. Well...
I guess I should count myself lucky then, huh?


Oh, it's shearing day. Well, I guess I should run back to the toolbox.

...What are they building?

Anyway, I go and shear him before doing anything else. There are eggplants to harvest, and I meander around town before coming to the bakery.



"But as they say, all's well that ends well <3. So if a year ends on a high note or a low note...It's because of what you did to begin with."
"What I did to begin with was run around in a panic and talk to girls."
"Well, I suppose you ran in the right panic and talked to the right girls."
I...can't argue there.

"Anyway, we've started the raffle."
Reeeaaally?


Ooh, I like me some prizes. Even if they are a little...domestic.
Mag? Magic? Magazine?
"Fox, ignore the printer's error, OK?"
...Now I am just dissapointed.


"Sure."

He draws a little card and rings a bell.

I win a mug!
(I would rather win magic).
"Isn't it cute?"


Still, it's a nice touch for the kitchen table.

Anyway, with not much else to do, and the freedom to sample at my whimsy...

I enjoy some wine. Just a little, you know. I mean, what else is there on a snowy day?


I fished...But I think the wine did me more good. I spend hours without catching anything...

And when I get something, it's not much.

I head to the bar. Not to drink, just to talk to people. I haven't been seeing Cliff around much lately...So I'm a little relieved he's still around, even if he looks uneasy.
"What'cha thinking about?"
"Advice...Well, contradicting advice, maybe."
"Lay it on me."

"Don't repeat the same mistake twice.' ...To believe and be betrayed... After that, if you believe...Isn't that repeating the same mistake?"
"I don't think so."
"You don't?"
"No. The mistake isn't that you believed. It's that you mis-timed it, or picked the wrong person. After all, not believing someone who's being honest...That's a mistake, right?"
He taps his fingers on the table.
"...You may be right."
"Who are you trying to believe?"
"She keeps saying things like 'be a man!' or 'No one's going to hurt you, you know.' 'You don't have to leave.' But then she turns around and says 'I-it's not like it matters to me!' 'You idiot!'...Everything's very direct, but then it turns around and goes the other way."
Oh, he means Ann. You can tell; he's playing at her facial expressions like that...
"Maybe she feels the same way you do."

"...What?"
"In the end...I couldn't return her feelings. If she cared for someone else, and he wandered off somewhere...That'd be repeating the same mistake twice."[/color]
Yeah. I guess in the end...The sort of person I am ended up hurting things for them. Even if I try to do something right by people, it made things messy. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm doing better or worse out here... But I've spent too much time waffling about.
Of course, Ann was afraid of telling me how she felt when we met. So it's not my fault, right?

"...But she's...kind of a strong person, too..."
He sighs.
"No one can tell you what to do, you know. But...you've seen how bad a liar she is, if she's trying that."
He smirks.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do."

He leans back in his chair, and seems to give it all some thought.

"Well, I'll see what the new year brings."

After that, I head to bed.

Winter - 27 - xxx1

Ah...Have my breakfast, contemplate where I'd go to get a coffee maker... Everything's going my...



..What is that. What is that.
WHAT...

Ok, I am a man of knowledge. Sort of. I can analyze this to make it make sense, right?
I'm not going insane, right?


IT'S NO USE! IT'S STILL A CRIB! No matter how I look at it, its nature doesn't change!
Why is there a crib in my house?!

GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!
WHY IS THIS HERE?! HOW DID IT GET HERE?!


PAAAANIC! PANIC, PANIC, PAAANIC!

After I lose my breath from running in a circle in a tizzy... I decide to head outside. The carpenters are bound to be there.


"...About this."
"Yeah?"
A hysterical laugh claws its way out of my throat.
"I NEVER ORDERED ANYTHING! WHY IS THERE A CRIB IN MY HOUSE?"

"...What? Are...Are you OK? You placed the order yourself, remember? You came in and said 'I'll definitely need this, teehee <3'...come to that, you were acting kind of funny...
Were you drunk?"

...I...I don't think so. No, I'd never be so drunk as to order something like that! I mean, I haven't even proposed yet!
Then how...How...How...

"This is not a choice I should advise you on..."
"Will it stop you?"
"Absolutely not!...But...You'll see what I mean later."

...
GOOODDDEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I am going to make people think this is God of War up in here! First I'll -- and then I'll -- and then.... AND THEN I FEED THE BITS TO A FISH!

...Oh, wait. I am in a conversation.

"...I must have been. Gotta lay off the wine."

We laugh, nervously.

"Well, you paid for it, so it's yours. Come by again for more extensions."

...Ugh. I am never letting anyone in my house ever again.
What do I do with this thing?

I retrieve Link and bring him back inside. Maybe firewood? But where would I burn it?


Oh. It's the mayor.
"Hello."

"From 7:00 tonight. Come.."


"...This sounds just up my alley." Meddling goddesses count as evil spirits, right?



I'm about to go and just chop it to little pieces, when...




...He is not who I was expecting, honestly.
"Why don't you come? We play some music in the square."
Hey, I'm getting advance notice!
"I can play something. I learned an instrument or two."

He sees my Ocarina.

Well, that's peachy.

Anyway, about this piece of junk...

It doesn't break at all.
I hit it with an axe, a hammer...Nothing works.
Argh! Did she put magic on it? Is it made by wizards?

...Wait.
Did I think "I haven't even proposed yet" up there?
"Yet."
I thought...
"Yet."
...
...



...


...


...


...



...



...
*reflexive shudder*
...




"Fox, are you feeling ok? You look kind of like a collapsing souffle."
"...I think I am having some sort of existential crisis."

She gives me a hug without even pausing.
"...Want to talk about it?"

My surroundings come back to me little by little. Anything I say right now would be a terrible idea.
"...No, I don't think so."

"Well, you sit here and have some tea. You really don't look well at all."
She pulls me to the table in the corner and, a few mintutes later, comes out with a warm cup of tea.

"You're drinking that and staying here until you look like you're more with-it, OK?"
"....Ok."


There's no need...to think about that sort of thing immediately, right?
All that "yet" meant is that...One day, I might want to consider it. I've never felt like this about anyone.
And...She did say she'd be waiting...
What she wants is to be married one day. I'm not opposed to the "one day" part, anyway. I think if I ever got married, it'd have to be her. That's a scary thought, too.

"Ok. I feel better."


"Well, let's try a drawing today."
Let's hope for the best...

Victory! I will clear this raffle and sieze all the prizes!
"Your home will be gorgeous."


It's a little mis-matched, but it's more colorful this way...
It'd be very nice. If it weren't for...That... thing.


Ok. Enough messing around.


I summon the goddess.


"What the hell?!"
"Oh, so you noticed?"
"Of course I noticed! How did you even do that?"

She smiled, not noticing the steam rolling out of my ears...And the world...shifted? There wasn't a flash or a sparkle or a shiny transformation sequence; everything just felt different, on the edges of my vision...
And then standing in front of me was...Another me. 'He' had my every feature. He even, as he watched my face lose all hate-momentem, half-smirked, just the littlest upturn of his lips, not touching his distant, thoughtful eyes, his neutral eyebrows -- was the smirk pleased, or was it a little bit sad? It was whatever you thought it was, and everyone read it their own way -- that was such a familiar configuration of muscles that I mirrored it out of reflex.
In other words, my own dad wouldn't have known this person wasn't 'me.' I'm not sure Elli could have told the difference. I mean, if I didn't know I was me, I'd have thought he was me!

...
Of course, the goddess ruined it by bursting into completely undignified giggling. With my voice, even. I never thought I'd hear myself giggle.

"Impressive, right? It's -- hee-hee -- so perfect!" 'He' giggled, "We could be twinsies!"

"I would never use the word twinsies." My brain recoginized the situation at hand. "And-and HOW DARE YOU!"

"Oh...You're...Not happy?"

"You impersonated me! You're still impersonating me! And what sort of 'advising' is that?!"

"...It's a present."

"I STILL HAD TO PAY FOR IT!"

"...Ok, I forgot humans do that stuff." That sort of idiocy, coming from my mouth... I feel emberassed.

"Putting that aside... What were you *thinking*? Getting something like that for me!"

'He' squirmed uneasily, but after a second, patted his chest boldly.

"Like I said...You've got a choice to make. Your whole life spills out from this year. This is the choice it's best for you to make."

This...again?
"...You just want me to stay. You're going to do emberassing things, impersonate me, make big decisions...All to do something that neither of us gets to do anything about!"

"You don't want to stay?"
"My dad's the one making that call!"
"He can't...He can't take you from your family, right? So...It'll work out best for everyone, right?" The goddess pleads with me. My face like that is so pathetic. "I won't let him ruin everything again! I won't let him take you!"


I feel myself dangling in space, the whole world twisting and leering by what I say next. I can't see straight -- I am not a pawn! I'm the player in this game between myself and my dad; I'm not the prize of a game between the land and my dad!
I...Won't...Tolerate this.

But I feel my expression lock into stoic cold. My voice is perfectly level.
"...You don't care about me at all. You just want someone for stupid magic kisses."

"I'm sorry." The goddess pleads.

"You just want someone to give you offerings. To let you forget... That you're just a powerless goddess, whose worship is just lip-service. No one knows you."

In her version of my eyes, there are tears.

"I don't -- I can't... Not like...Not like last time..."

"You're just trying to control me. And I'm not putting up with that. Stop trying to put me in your debt. Stop trying to 'help' me.
...You're just like Dad. Just another person who wants to own me. I hate that."

Behind me, my own voice is wracked with sobs. I can't for a minute believe it's not just a show.


It fades into the voice of a lonely goddess, crying into her pond...
And then it's just a cold wind, from a cold mountain.


I head to the festival as night falls.
Maria and Kai are away from the rest of the crowd...
"Are you guys performing, too?"
"I couldn't bring an organ with me...So I..."





"Yeah, OK."

I walk to where the old man's standing. He's wearing a mask...In some ways, I feel a little odd; they didn't exactly explain what this is really about.


We nod to each-other and begin to play. I wish we had rehearsed something...But the impulse seems to be to follow our masked king's lead.


It's not a hard song to keep up with, sort of slow and...sad? It is whatever you think it is, I think.


...
I'll be honest, for a second. I do feel...A little bad.
But she can't just do that sort of thing! Would it have been too hard for her to say 'Fox, you should start a family here?' She can't just make a decision like that, all by herself, all for herself...

And then she cries about it. The gods are so selfish.
Still, I feel sad for her as I play.


The song ends. Everyone applauds...




What a wierd little festival. Oh, well.

Winter - 28 - xxx1

I still feel unsettled. I know I shouldn't explode on someone like that, but... At the same time, that's not something you can say to yourself while you're upset with them. And for, I feel I should add, good reason!
You can't make a person's decisions for them.



Well, there's a nice harvest, anyway.

I handle it and head out to the village. I've got points for one more drawing at the lottery, after all, and strawberries left to replant.
As I approach the back door (I don't use the front very often), Ellen stops her rocking. She looks up for a moment.


"Oh...You came back...How lovely... He'll be so happy...To see you, Luke."
...My father's name.
"No, ma'am, you've mistaken me. Luke's my dad. It's me, Fox."
She blinked and it seemed the years dropped back into place. She chuckled at herself.

"Oh, how silly of me. It was just the light. You do look like him, you know. All the men in your family looked alike, at your age."
"That so?"
"You're the spitting image of your grandfather. And so was Luke, when he was young...
I suppose part of me was still hoping...That they'd set things right."

"Set things right?"
"It's impossible now, of course. Even if the boy came home and apologized...Well, there's still your grandpappy's apologizing to do, too.
He was my friend. Always, always, my dearest friend...

And he never got his wish. He learned it too late... Time... Is so cruel, too."
"What happened?"

She shook herself, as if brushing snow from her shoulders.
"Oh, now don't you mind me. That's old history, and I ramble sometimes."
"I didn't mind."
"Such a polite boy, my Elli's seeing!" She laughs again.
Dangit. That almost sounded juicy. But I can't press her on it, if she doesn't want to.

"If you ever feel like 'rambling' again, I don't mind listening."
Is the best I can do. She shoos me off.
...Did something happen between my dad and my grandpa? I just assumed Dad hated anything that wasn't...well...white collared shirts and ties. Suits forever.



A placemat? I was hoping 'dish' meant 'china.'
"Enjoy your meals."

On to buying seeds. I also decide to randomly give a tomato to Lilia. Because...I have spare tomatoes. I don't need a reason.

"Sometimes...It's not good to eat your profits."
What are you, my dad?

"I'll tell you how to cook with vegetables."

"Thank you very much."


I don't want to buy more than I need...Even if it means things run out before spring starts. Still, it'll be nice to grow other things.


This is the addition to my house. It's alright. Makes things lived-in, I guess.

I have a cake there.


And plant some seeds. There's a spot where I guess my water didn't reach one day, so I'll have to wait.

Now, let's see...There's more shopping I could do, too. I guess I'll do that.

May as well buy as much as I can. I won't need it once spring's in full swing, but Winter always comes again.


I fish (no dice) and go to the bar (nothing interesting). It's a pretty dull day, after yesterday and all.

More fishing...Before I know it, it's almost midnight. If I stay out in the chill like that, I'll probably get a cold.
So I end up going home and taking a bath before bed. Hm. It's been a quiet day...So I can't be really angry anymore. Maybe I couldn't maintain a good head of rage for even all of yesterday. I can't decide what it is I feel.
How unsatisfying.

Winter - 29 - xxx1



One last big winter harvest. Man, I never thought I'd say that when the year started. Seed shop's closed today of course...I wonder if it's open on New Year's Eve.

I'm thinking today will be a good day to take one last trip into the mine...

So I take a bath and eat a cake, to try and gather as much strength as I can.

...And I head on up.

Yeah, yeah...

Rick's in the mine today. He seems to be having a hard time...

"Yeah, this is rough work. But I'm prepared!"
I have a spare cake.
"Good luck."
"I'll need it."
He smiles faintly.


Not a bad start.


He's still hanging in when I fill my backpack and decide it's time for cake. Cake will get me through the next 2 hours.


Victory! Floor 2 has been reached again!

But before I can get anything from it...

Darnit!

I go fishing after that, but it's another day of no-catch.
Tommorow ends a year...
We'll see what the end of the year is like here, I suppose. I'm not sure it'd compare to my usual party, but... Well. We'll see.

Typo Report!

Spoiler

Show

...Only 2 of the 4 prizes are right. Also... "Prise." I didn't even catch that one. Wow.


This section is pretty densely typo'd, given how little of it there is.
Also, I never found how to do the raffle until this playthrough. So...New content for me! I do wish the decorations looked nicer together.

[Selpharia]

In Harvest Moon 64, are you required to marry or end the game after the first year, or am I mis-remembering something from a different game in the series?

[Deme]

You're remembering from a different game in the series: A Wonderful Life and Another Wonderful Life both require you to get married.

In this game, you never have to marry, but to get one of my favorite bits of the game, you need to marry and be on your way to having a kid or already have one. This LP will see that scene, so help me.

[Mewtarthio]

Heh. "Lotery." Somebody really dropped the ball there.

[Deme]

Chapter 42: The Changing of Seasons

Spoiler

Show

Winter - 30 - xxx1

The surprise of the day:

No one came to tell me about how New Years works out here.
I'm allowed to work in peace.


I think, even though I could buy more strawberries, it's time to diversify. It keeps them special somehow.

First off, I'm heading to the carpenter's, to get a job done. One that *I'm* actually ordering. For a change.


"I'm relieved it's coming to an end."

A log terrace is my choice.


"You're not going to say anything wierd, are you, kid?"
"No, no. Things are...better."

I see Elli outside, enjoying her day off.
"Hey, Elli. Got any plans for New Year's Eve? It's just not the same without an end-of-the-year kiss."
I wink.

"tonight at the church. It's...not maybe what you're used to, but....People review the old year and greet the new."
She can see how thrilled I look about that and adds, hastily,

Come if you want. "You don't have to."
"Nah, nah...Like I said. It's not the end of the year without a kiss."
She blushes.
"I'll see you there!"

I wave and stroll off.



In town, I buy a bundle of random seeds. Lilia seems oddly distracted and anticipatory.


Oh, I see how it is.

I'd like to get to the bottom of what Grandma Ellen was saying the other day, though...Besides, I'm nearby enough to see her, rocking quietly as always in the bakery's back yard.
"Excuse me, but...Did my Dad and Grandpa have a falling out at some point?"
"Oh, you're still thinking about that? The past always seems so close this time of year..." She pauses. "You know, they say that it's the role of children to correct the mistakes of their parents. That's..."

"Your grandfather never got to see the day when he could correct his own errors with his son...Or if anything better could have happened because of you and your father...

Because of that, I'm sure...His spirit will be full of regret until that day comes."
...So...That's a yes. To my original question, then?

"I'm doing what I can to try and do things to make him proud. I'm not sure what else to do."
"Then that'll see things through. You're a good boy, Fox; you'll find what you need, I'm sure."
"At least *someone* thinks so."
She laughs.
"I'm sure that the people who doubt you will come to understand, too. You just have to be patient, that's all. Now, run along. It won't do to spend the last day of the new year just gabbing away with an old lady."
"...Thanks."

I actually feel better now. I mean, I didn't actually get an answer to my question...But I got some faith, and that's worth a lot. I guess it's no good to worry about the business of dead people and people I don't like.

I go to Rick's shop. We end up talking about the changing of seasons.
"I like Spring better than winter...But that's because I like rain more than snow."


"Oh, so that's why..."
"heh, heh, yeah...Eventually, I wrote it down. I keep intending to open, but..."
"I'm just used to it by now."


I head home and plant all the seeds....But I'm two short. These, I think, will be Strawberries.

Also...I notice there's an estimate by the side of my bed. A record of everything I have and what I've been doing... Who left this here? Well, anyway...

It's a start.

I go back to buy the last seeds...


And plant them all.


Eventually, night falls. True to my word...*sigh* I go to the church. It is not much like a party at all.




"How was your year, Jeff?"

"Well, there was a lot."
Alarmingly noncommital.




...I'm not sure I want to know what the midwife has to confess about.



"...Busy. Complicated."
But...
I made a lot of friends, and I've done some great things. I've got cows. I have a greenhouse. I built
I fell in love.
"...It was a good year. You?"
"I feel the same way. It was...A real surprise of a year. But... I'm happy, too."
She tilts her head and smiled.
"I'm happy I met you. It was..."

I'm glad there are no hard feelings there.




I'd like to work on the fields a lot. Spruce things up...I want to get stronger, and...
"I don't know. I want to decide what to do with the future."




"Especially unpleasant and sad things. That's good, but...It makes it harder to correct those things."
"Hm." I guess I should reflect on things more closely myself...
Should I apologize to the goddess, or shouldn't I? She did the wrong thing. But what sort of thing did I do?


"If you worry over spilled milk. You need to keep moving forward, alright?"
"Huh?"
"You had a worried look." She saw through me.
"I thought I'd tell you the advice I've been getting about the past."
"Advice? From who?"

"...And, you know what? He's right. I was worrying about silly things...I'm not saying what you're worried about is silly. Just that you've got to work on the future; the past's just going to be whatever you say it is anyway."
"You've got a point there...Hey, what were you worrying about?"
"Like I said, it was silly... I was just...Thinking about all the girls you must have gotten New Year's Kisses from in the city...I was thinking about what sort of girls they were."
I did rather more than get kisses, but...I think she probably knows that. Right?
"Does it matter? The person I'm going to a church when I could be getting drunk for...Is you."
She nods.
"Didn't I say? I'm not going to worry about it...Because..."



"Same."

We all chatted and gave each other best wishes for a while after that. The year ended. The bell rang. Elli and I kissed, to a various crowd of 'Woos.' Apparently they're a little shyer about that sort of thing out here.


"Yeah. I've got to get to bed at some point, right?"
"The New Year's Festival will be held in the Square tomorow. Happy New Year."
Good to know. I guess that's where the real party is.


Elli follows after me.


"Sure. I don't think I've ever done something like that, actually."
"Hah. I'm surprised. You're a pretty worldly guy, so I figured you'd done everything...But I guess people from the city are sheltered, too. In their own way."
She laughs.
"I'm not sure I'd call it sheltered. There's just a different set of experiences."
Of course, I say that with my arms crossed, so...I guess I'm a little prickled.

"Come on. It's best from the mountain."


We walk up the mountain in the cold and the dark. We cross the bridge -- neither of us really wants to use the tree.


"It's like being in a private world."
"...I like that."
We find a spot to view things on the edge of the mountain. From here, we can see the woods, sprawling out, and a distant mountain range, capped with snow. In the dark, they're half-suggested forms.
I wrap my arm around her. She leans into my neck, my shoulder, my chin. When she's near me, I feel like a better person. Right now, I feel like a mountain myself.
Because of the people I've met this year...Because I saw that person in her eyes... Maybe I am a little better than I was before.


The sun isn't up yet; its light is just bending over the mountaintops, outlining them from a pale and icy distance... The light is faint and goldish-pink, like something you'd find on a multi-colored flower's petal.


No, you really can't. I give up trying.


Happy New Year.

END OF YEAR ONE.

Spring-1-XXX2

It's the first day of Spring. Already, the air's a little warmer when I wake up.
Let's head on out and see that festival!


...Rick's here?


Why is he on my lawn with those...those...

Transporters.
Those Transporters.
...Rick actually made a teleporter-like object?

"If there's no obstacles within 3 feet, any object you put here will be transported over to that device in an hour!"

"...Isn't moving something 3 feet in an hour the opposite of teleporting? It'd take me an hour to move it 3 miles."


So this is just sort of a proof of concept, then.

"It does sort of sound like a miracle of science."



Well...Sure! I mean, really: someone's got to be the first man teleported!

"I'm going to use this vegetable first."
"Wait, you haven't tested it at all?"
"I've tested pieces of it."

"Well, fire it up!"

The machine's engine begins chugging along.

It begins to flash...Are we going to end up having some sort of time-travelling adventure that begins when we rescue the tomato from the past?

Still, what I'm witnessing as the light envelopes that poor vegetable... It's something incredible. It's more than I'd expect from a guy like Rick.
He might actually be an actual genius!


The ball of ice crashes down onto the machine. A wave of absolutely frigid air hits me.
...So...I guess...It would have been a really bad idea to try it, personally.

Rick rushes over to it.


"...That's not actually possible, is it?"
And anyway, how could you tell just by looking at it?

"I may be exagerrating...But this is completely unexpected!"

"Well..."
He quickly scooped everything up.




...But...you know...

It actually did teleport.
I wonder if he'll realize he just did the impossible.

He wanders off before I can stop him. Call someone, darnit! That was important!


...Who's that?

"You again!"
"Oh, yeah. I remember you. Here me out, this time! I've brought a wonderful product today that I got in a far-away country. They're called..."

"And prolific, the fruit is sweet and you can also eat the leaves!"
...I've never heard of such a thing, so I am pretty sure you are full of BS.
"They cost 500g a bag..."


"...I'll pass." Because that is not a real thing.

"No I wouldn't be."



"And stay away!"

I finally go and tend my chores.

"Just a little bit longer until you can all go outside, guys."


I think I'll keep the chickens inside to save time.


I have a bunch of New Years Cards.





...
Dad?....Wants to visit me?
Not, like for the evaluation or anything, but just to say "hi"?
...
...
Am I supposed to believe that? "When I have Time" is the same to Dad as "Never."


Well, anyway, that's all of them. I should get going to that festival.

On my way, though...I see a conversation.


"I told you about yesterday."
Maria looks at the wrapped object -- a cage? a jar, maybe? With an eagerness I've only seen when she was discussing books.



"To get rid of them. It's better this way than all my other options."

"It's hard to imagine timid little Maria liking something so creepy-crawly!"
Maria looks aside and shifts her feet uneasily.


"It's still cute now, too...B-but it has all the potential in the world."


"That they eat leaves, Popuri."

"That spiders and birds eat green caterpillars. And Popuris protect the flowers from caterpillars."



"It's not mean. After all, because I want to protect the flowers, you get to watch him become a butterfly. Now, let's go enjoy New Years!"

She pulled Maria off to the festival square.

I follow along and find...

The square fuller than I've ever seen it. Look at that bustle!

Everyone seems to have...Bottles of wine?
"Hi, Elli. What's with all the wine?"
"It's a custom."

She pours me some. We drink. Ah, I can see her drinking too fast. You're not supposed to chug wine!


"Especially not if you drink it like that. You go slow!"
"Don't worry, don't worry."
That's definitely hitting her hard.
"I..."


She giggles. Her cheeks are definitely rosy.

"I'm out, teehee <3."

She leaves.

Out?

...Everyone's going to toast the new years with a glass, won't they?

...They are.

I expected Lilia to last longer.


...This totally makes up for the lack of party last night!

These girls need to learn to pace themselves!


I need to, I dunno, give endurance classes or something.




Man, he's a lightweight, too! Getting peeved after a single drink. Cheer up, man.



"I know, right? I was just thinking that. No one so far knows how to drink!"


"Let's toast."
Another down...

"Yeah, still good."

"Drinking is one of my skills. I've cultivated it for years in a state of advanced meditation."
"You're too much! Ah, I need to get going home."



But no, what was I saying?




"Someone. And of course you have to drink up every time, too."
That's a wonderful explanation, 8 drinks too late.


So...It's a drinking contest festival?


Best festival.


"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
Ha. Even going easy, no one can drink me under the table!
"I get quarrelsome when I drink too much..."
No, you don't. You get depressive and kind of paranoid.



"Drink up!"

Best. Festival. Ever.


But no, no, I was thinking...I was thinking about drinking. Drinking lessons.


"Take over for me, would you?"
"You got it, mayor. I can toast all the ding-dong day!"




I drink so hard I can give drinking lessons.
The price of admission...My drinks.

"Just a spot in my tea. So, please, forgive me."
"It's cool, man."
To each their own.


"cards! A toast to the new year!"



"Aw, c'mon...You can do it, man!"



"It's OK. You did your best. Next time, bring bread or something you can eat as you go."
I should have eaten more. I'm getting kind of light-headed.


"Let's see how you do, ma'am!"
I won't lose when it comes to drinks!

...You did...OK, I guess. You need some help there, really.


"Do you drink at all, Maria?"
"W-well, on special occaisons..."

Still, she looks OK for a little more.
"Up for another toast?"

This is the best festival. It will never be topped.


Wow, she's so drunk her typesetting goofed.


Ann's been in it deep, it seems.



"Oh, come on...It's just another drink, riiight <3?"
"I can't drink anymore...Grey will get mad. He's watching me."
I look over. He looks like he's fallen asleep standing up, actually. Like a horse.


No, I'm not ready yet.
Let's hit up smaller fry.



"I don't know about that, Kai."

"It's not a drinking game? I thought it was."
"It's whatever we want it to be, Kai. We own the square."
"Well, cheers."
"Come on. Come on. One more." I'm not an alcohaulic, I'm just competitive!


"You said I wouldn't beat you, right? I want to make it a drinking game. I can topple everyone!"





"You win, Fox. Good work."
"Yesh! Yes. I mean."


And then there were two.

A tumbleweed blows by. Cowboy music begins to play.

I narrow my eyes at her. She narrows her eyes at me. We approach each other slowly, like the other one was a wild animal about to charge.

"Let'sh-Let's do this."
"Let's toast. I'll drink you under he table, hee hee."
"Oh, I doubt that! I was the undisputed king of my fair city's party sh...Sh...Scene."
"Was. Now you're already slurring."
"That's because I've drunk the whole town under. But I've still got some left."

She pours. We drink.
"I'm still good."


"This is the *best* festival. Bar none....Hee. That. That wash a pun, see."
Another glass.


"Another."

"Let's have another toast."
"Yer blushin..." I laugh.

Down goes another glass...
How long can I keep going?

...Rice balls aren't enough for this sort of drinking.

"I can have another."

"Another toast."


...Checking fingers...I'm still holding up 1. I'm good.


"With other people too, you know (hick)."
"There isn' anyone else, dummy. Jush you an' me now."
She nods.
"Cheers."



"Are we done yet? I can...maybe manage another."




I...I won. I beat her.
I beat them all.

I WIN NEW YEARS! I'M THE WINNER! I...
...
...
I don't get anything for this but liver damage, do I?



"Yeah."
I maybe overdid it...
But I had fun. Everything's done.
I can have my New Year's Hangover this evening. What a lovely festival.



Spring-2-xxx2

...My head hurts.
I walk outside, contemplating my variety of bad ideas...


When I see the old couple who likes the races, chatting away on my lawn.

"I think its name is Agro," adds the man.


"Yes, yes, he's a magnificent horse. Now would you please --"

"...Uh...Well...Thanks."
Actual acknowledgement stole my thunder.
"Have a nice day..."

Maybe I need a fence.

Anyway, when I finish the chores, I think about what I want to do with the season. If I'm going to be raising the cattle outside, I need more grass...


So I plough myself a bit of field. It's almost noon after that...
After some thought, I decide to take in the mountain air.





Hmmm....Is that...

Yeah, it's Karen and Popuri. I...can't even pretend I'm not blatantly eavesdropping right now.

"the flower petals, or something? I don't really know what you expect me to do with it, Popuri."



Popuri giggles. This doesn't do much for Karen's mood.


"What's wrong with that?"
How can she even think about wine after yesterday?


"When it's done <3. I'll be looking forward to it."

"Wait, you actually can make wine with the petals? I was joking!"
"It's worth a shot, right?"

Karen shakes her head and laughs.
"Yeah, Ok. Bye...I guess we'll see what happens."


When Karen leaves and Popuri heads deeper into the mountain, I check the time. It's...Getting kind of late, really. If I want to get to the flower shop, I need to head there soon.
Something about today -- the spring, the pollen in the air, the disorganization...It's got me running in all sorts of directions, picking tasks willy-nilly.
There's so much I want to do, and what feels like so little time.

I go to the flower shop, and I buy...

Some grass seeds. Enough so I'll have at least one patch of grass per animal, with a little to spare.




"Thank you. We give this card when you buy flower seeds. Every 10 points gets you a raffle ticket at the end of the year. Here."
And some flower seeds, netting myself a new raffle card. I figure some decoration on my farm might be a nice touch...Besides, what else will I use the fields for?

As I step outside, I notice...There's something wrong in the air. Too much quiet, even with the sound of birdsong in the air. It takes me a moment to figure out why...

The sound of Ellen's rocking, which was ubiquitous through the year, on every sunny day... That little creak, the rustle, as the chair moves back and forth in the grass, endless and rhythmic...
Has stopped.

She looks almost completely still. Something cold creeps through me...Until I notice her head nodding as I come closer.
"Hey, wake up."
She lifts her head slowly, and smiles faintly.


Her head lowers, her voice taking on a husky wistfulness.

"About my departed husband...And your grandfather..."
Even if she sounds sad when she says that, she's smiling. Before I can decide what to say about it -- if I should say anything, ask about something that's deep and private in her heart...

"Elli." Her head turns and she calls out to the bakery.





The old woman's voice is tender as duck down drifting on the water. Something about it makes me smile, the maternal warmth she put into calling her granddaughter's name.

Her eyes close, and she drifts off, back into her nap, back into her dreams of people she loved, who went before her...
Elli smiles affectionately.

"To take a nap."





We look at Ellen in her chair...And then I look at Elli, a dread and a certainty shifting up from my feet and from the tips of my fingers, knotting tightly in my chest. The world constricts us with chill, everything bound and hung and tightened in that moment, dangling from Ellen's stillness.


Then the world sped back up. My heartbeat resumed, rushed and anxious. My brain scrambled to think of who to call, what to do.


But...


There was nothing to be done.

She had looked like she was only sleeping, even when they laid her out.

Elli cried all day. Every time she tried to pull herself together, she'd just end up crying harder.
I felt so small and so useless.



I wonder...If she's with them. With her husband and her children...
I wonder if she's in the same place as Grandpa right now.

[LoneStarNorth]

Man, I remember I just about crapped my pants the first time I found that scene.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

You monster! You killed Elli's Grandmother!

[Eldonauran]

I did not expect this game to have that sort of subject matter.

I am torn between liking this turn of events for its entertainment value and sadden by Elli's loss.

Bravo! This game is playing with my emotions.

Thank you, Deme. For bringing it such life and to my attention.

[Javan]

I was unaware that you could actually drink the town under at the New Years Festival. Was Fox building his tolerance to alcohol a bit more than we have been shown?

Ellen's death scene is one of the more depressing deaths in video gaming for me simply because it is unexpected.

[Perkinz]

Masterfully written update. Never played the game myself, but I had heard rumors of this scene before. I wonder how Fox will react to this turn of events?

Bravo, Deme. Bravo indeed!

*applauds*

[Trobby]

...No I'm....that's just a bit of dust in my eye...*wipes tear away* <.<

Very nicely written.

[Brance_a_Lot]

Wow I did not not expect that. Elli's sad face is sad

[Deme]

Ooh, where to start... Well, thanks for the praise for one. It was a hard scene to work with...And kind of a hard scene to trigger. Seeing it deliver some proper gutpunch makes it all worthwhile!

I agree with Javan and LoneStarNorth: it's a powerful scene because it's sudden and unexpected and...Well, it's one of those things where some part of your brain says "That shouldn't happen in a game like this." My agreeing with LoneStarNorth is a bit different... When I was a kid, I hated this scene. It saddened and surprised and confused and angered me. I would go out of my way to avoid it. I was maybe 11 years old and it freaked me out.

As an adult...I'm kind of fond of the scene. Sad, yes. In fact, I go out of my way to make it sad for myself, by being friends with Ellen and Elli. It makes the experience more whole and richer, and for me is has that extra edge of reminding me that I've grown up (at least in some ways). And it's just another layer of story here, so it naturally had to show up in the LP. We'll probably be dealing with the fallout of this for some time.

Anyway, that's sort of some musing there.

@ Javan: I wouldn't say more than I was telling you in terms of sessions -- Fox only drank when I said he was drinking, since getting more would involve going out of the way. But... Those times he went to the vineyard's cellar? He was putting back maybe 10-15 drinks per session.

Oh, and there won't be a chapter this week, and probably not the next... I'm going to Paris for a week, so I won't be able to play any. I'm glad I got us to this point, first.

[SharpWolf]

Woah... that was kind of unexpected.

You know, all things considered, this game and LP both deal with surprisingly mature subjects, in a very good way.

Have a nice trip!

[Deme]

I'm back! And then I had a small family crisis! And then I posted a chapter!

Chapter 43: Going, Going...

Spoiler

Show

Spring-3-xxx2

Life goes on.

Kind of a cruel thing to think, isn't it? It doesn't seem that way at first...
But even putting aside the people it doesn't go on for, that life goes on is hard stuff.

No matter how much you want to stop and be by the side of someone who needs you, or who needs someone, but you'll have to do, anyway, to comfort her and hold her and try and convince her the world's not ended... No matter if you feel sad, too, because even if you only knew her for a short time, she was your friend...

Life goes on.

Someone's got to shear Lambo.

Someone's got to feed Malice before he gets that look in his eyes and I worry about the other chickens.


Someone's got to water the turnips.



The mail will pile up if you don't collect it.

No matter what you want, life will go on. It wants you to go with it or Get Out.

Putting aside philosophy for a second... The bakery won't open for a while. I'd like to do something to help cheer her up, but what?
...Maybe a flower? Yeah. I'll go to the mountain, say hi to the elves, get some flowers for her... It'll be pretty paltry, but it'll show my thoughts.

On my way up into the mountain... I meet a strange new person.


I'm not sure why I'm calling him a strange person. It's the expression -- just a bit too intensely nerdy and outside reality. I feel like he's studying me.


"With big blue wings."
"...I'm sure it is."
Odds of it existing? Eh, let's call it 75%.

When I head upwards...


I spot Maria doing something with Karen's hair.

I've never heard Karen yell like that. What on earth...

Maria's hands fumble about.


Shoot! Is there something, I dunno, poisonous in there? What gets in hair, exactly?


"Ha, ha..."
She laughs uneasily, running a hand through her gold-ish hair.

What Maria pulls away is...A grasshopper. Just a little green grasshopper, cradled in her fingers.

Seriously, Karen? I thought you were tough.




I don't think it's what she means...


I try not to snicker when Karen passes by. All that crying, for a grasshopper? Really?


"Is like these cool-looking antennas...It was supposed to be a compliment."
Maria carries the grasshopper away, sighing.

I go and see the Harvest Sprite -- he's been away all...
"I'm mad at you."
Winter?

"What? What'd I do?"
"You made the harvest goddess cry!"
"She impersonated me, spent my money, and bought me weird stuff!"
"Yeah, I know, but...She was just trying to be nice.Umm...Human stuff is wierd sometimes...She may have crossed a line, though."
"Of course she did! I just told her off... But I guess I was a little harsh, huh?"
I mean, if the harvest sprites suffer... We need to stay together for their sake.

"...She's still crying."
"I'll talk to her tommorow, OK? There's a lot on my plate today."
"Oh...yeah..." His face fell.
"Another person left in the village... That's sad."

I nod, and go on my way.


"W-what? What I'd do?! Agro's a champ!"
I mean, literally!
"...I wasn't done. But I'll admit you took good care of him."
"...Thanks. I guess."

I head down the mountain, flowers in hand.


The place where she always sat is empty. I suddenly feel like, yeah, she's definitely gone.

I knock before I come in. I'm not sure why. I give Elli a hug, and the flowers. She stays in my arms a long time.
"How you holding up?"
She looks so much smaller than she normally does.

"Jeff keeps saying I should eat something... But when I try...I just can't seem to swallow."

What do I say to that? I fumble about. You know how the men in my family (that is, my family) handle grief?
We don't, really. We just paper over it.
"...Just take things at your pace, OK? If your body says 'don't eat,' you don't have to. But...I might try and make some soup or something, in case that'd go down better."
"...Thanks."
She smiles, very faintly.

One step at a time.

I head over to the church.
"Hey, boys. Any questions?"


...That's...That's a bit more question than I was expecting.

I just wanted to make sure they can do math.

"...Right?"
"...That's...A question for the pastor. I...I don't know that sort of thing."



"And I'll die someday."
...Well...He will. But how to break that down? How to explain it, not as something scary, but just 'it is what it is'?
Heck, maybe it is scary, really.

Oh, thank you, medicine man. That's... Well, it's sort of a younger version of what I've been thinking about. And I don't feel like I have a resolution, either.


Someone dies, and you will die, but right now, you've got to plant grass seeds.

Right now, you've got to plough the field.


Right now, you've got to discover you can't make soup, just some terrible foaming, smoking congealed substance at the bottom of the pan.


Right now, you need to prep to make some flowers grow, and realize you've been so busy living you're about to pass out.

These are getting kind of inelegant, but you get the idea.

Also, you've got to wonder where your cakes went.

Anyway, I'm tired, and the soup idea didn't work out.

I'll think of what else I can do or say or whatever to help...tommorow.

Spring - 4 - xxx2



Oh, right. They were working on a thing.
The thing I asked them to, even.


It's got a little picnic table. Maybe when Elli's feeling up to doing things (or, before that point if I think she needs to do things), we can have a picnic.
I'll make...something that isn't soup.



...That...Is a lot of harvesting that needs doing. There's the turnips, the strawberries, the corn, and the tomatoes that need bringing in!
Well, at least I'll have a nice offering when I go and sort things out with the Goddess. It's not my way to leave a girl to cry... But I'm not going to say she was right to do that. I'll just gently explain why she was wrong.
And maybe why I was wrong, too.

Dieties are so childish.

On the way to the pond...


I indulge more maddened theories.

...And I decide to use the penultimate strawberries of winter's crop to call her forth.

"What do you want? Here to laugh at the poor, pitiful goddess? Forgotten and unloved by all..."
I sigh. Dramatic as her words are... I feel there's real hurt. Darnit.
"Look, I maybe went too far. I apologize for that."
"Yaaay! I knew you'd come around!" She's all smiles again. I feel manipulated. "So now you'll marry her and stay here forever and have lots and lots of babies and everything will be like it was before?"
"...I said none of that." I reached up and put my hand on her shoulder, standing on my tip-toes to try and look her dead in the eye. "What you did was wrong. I am right to be angry."
"...I was only trying to help." She pouts.
"So I'm going to forgive you. But my life's mine. No matter how much you'd think it'd help me, you can't try and control it. That just makes everyone miserable."
There. I said it. And I didn't yell or sulk or scream this time.
"...Alright. But...Um...What are you going to do?"
"Why are you asking me that? I don't know. Right now...I just want to help her, and I want to get through this next year, and I want to cram it all in Dad's face.
"Her only family died; there's not really a magic wand anyone -- even you -- can swing to make that all better."
"Yes there is; you become her new family!"
"I...I...I..." I'm not the marrying kind. I've always felt that way, but...
"If I did something like that, I'd just be taking advantage of her right now, when she's hurting. Anyway, that's a big thing to take on just because of one or two tragedies!"

"Even though you look more like a man than you did last year...You're not very good at looking at a mirror, huh?"
"Huh?"

She lowered herself to look at me, right in the eye, and then she hugged me.
"I'm sorry. I won't tell you how to live your life... But please...Stop running away, and think about what you need. And her, too."
With that, she vanishes into the pond.

...
...


And on the way back I deal with... Worried rambling.


"...No, I don't think that at all."
I used to. But right now...
That I have someone I'm worried about means I have someone to worry about.
"Sure, it's something heavy on my shoulders... But some things are worth a little weight."
Cliff smiles faintly, if a little uncertainly.
"...Like love."
"Precisely..."

Some things...Some things are worth... Even doing something you never -- Wait, Cliff's backing me up on this one?
"You go, man."

I head into town and buy some cabbage, turnip...

And potato seeds.


And some more grass. There's not much point in having crops in my field, so it should make good pastureland.

Business tended to, I head over to the bakery.

Elli's doing her best to put on a brave front; she eats a little lunch with me, but I can see she's making herself.
Her eyes are puffy.
"Oh, don't worry. Please, I just... I've been having trouble sleeping, that's all...It's so quiet..."
"You can always come to my room to sleep."
This makes her crack a little laugh. It was a sincere offer, you know!
"What would people say, Fox?"
"What a lucky guy?"
She laughs again.

When our conversation dies down a bit, she eats a bit more steadily. I'm glad...Dad, I'm not useless. Goddess, I'm not just useful for your ends.
I'm useful to this person, right here.

I am Superman.

...Superman just spilled a bag of vegetables everywhere when he was getting up.
The mayor's wife comes over to help me pick them up.

"...You think? You can have it, I guess."



Woot. Maybe I'll try making this and see if I get something other than a smoking mess. I like eating food, but a kitchen like the one at the farm's touch-and-go.

Next, I visit Rick, absorbed in his work.


Given how his last machine turned out...I'm intrigued. And maybe scared.


Now...Maybe I'll swing by Maria's, or something.

Or salesman! What's he doing here? What do we have to do to shoo him away for good, shoot him out of a cannon?
"You'll be super-healthy! And it has cosmetic effects, too."


I'm no longer dirt poor, and I *still* feel offended by that one!


Come on, Maria. Stand up to this guy.
You can do this. I believe.


"I'll add in this high-grade soap! Come on now."

"...Things."


"It's not expensive. You can be beautiful for just a little money."

Ok, that's it, I --


The moment before I can say anything; that's the moment Harris charges up, yelling at the salesman.


You're a phony.
But...No one's noticed I'm here yet. Thank goodness for a lack of peripheral vision.


"selling strange things. It's you, isn't it?!"


"beautiful!"


One look at Harris' face tells me the salesman just stepped on a landmine.




I may have gotten soft, but there's no way I'm following it up with something like "A landmine called love." That's too soft. That's baby angels playing in pillowlike clouds on a spring morning soft.
That, or it's incredibly cheesy as a gag. Either way, no dice.


The salesman makes a break for it; Harris rushes over to Maria, his face all concern.

That's 'an easy dupe,' you know.


"I have a hard time saying no...I should change, but..."
But changing's hard. She's working, though...So maybe next time?
I'm trying to decide if I'm guilty or glad I didn't step in. Guilty, because I should have...


Glad because I'm glad he got to say that. I mean, sure, I think if you want to change, you need to do your best. And it's good, I guess, to have people who want to encourage you to change...

Harris blushes.
"You're...You're a wonderful person, Ms. Maria. Just the way you are."
But yeah. That.




...You know, sometimes life going on is a wonderful thing.

I do some late farm chores, replanting and working on that flower garden and so on.



And then I hit the bar.



"I'm sure you'll take good care of Elli."
Really? I'm not.
Of course, I don't say that. I'm not crazy.



"...It's really not that different, is it?"
"...Maybe not...But she and that boy've been awfully cozy...Tell me that would happen if she were a boy! I wouldn't have to worry about that!"
"You might." I mean, it is xxx2 and all.






And another recipe.

"Another year down..." The bartender mumbles. "I think it's been a good year. Up there, he's probably seeing a lot get done."
"He?"
"Your grandfather. There's a lot that's gone wrong the past couple of years...Ever since...Anyway, things are turning around now."

"...I hope so."

Anyway, I'll add a bit more grass seed to the farm, and then head to bed.


Spring - 5 - xxx2


Rain this morning -- a spring shower. Well, I've got flowers going, so that'll be great.


...Uh. Oh. You see that empty spot?

That's where my chicken food should go. I'm out. Darnit...Well, it's a good thing it's not Thursday.

I'll come back to feed them later.

Farewell for this year, little strawberries.

I head to the mountains for supplies...And decide to check on the last building project possible.

I don't think I have enough for the stairs, though. I'll have to start logging again.

I checked the bakery. Jeff said Elli was taking a day to be by herself...Which, given the weather, means she's sitting alone in her room. I want to punch something.
"It was like this before, too."
"Before?"


"Even if you or I are there...We can't replace her family. She must feel so alone."
The feeling of knowing that, and not really being able to do anything: Blaaaaaaaaaagh!

I head over to the Green Ranch for my chicken seeds, next.
And everything's covered, absolutely coated...

in Flowers. I stare out at the rain-soaked petals, just trying to figure out how they got there.

Then I recall that Grey had bought some seeds...Don't tell me...He planted all these flowers? This lovely garden is his, huh?
I'm pretty impressed. I guess he is a softy inside, after all.



I buy a bunch of fodder and chicken feed.



I won't be out-flowered by anyone. Not even Grey! You hear me, I will be king of gardening!


After that, I go re-feed the chickens... Malice has that look...


And plant more grass until I fall over, soaking my body with mud and rain.


...Something about the rainy day makes me remember that darn Kappa -- he said I'd know if he was being serious with me... But I don't think he was.
I'm going to have to have a word with him, next rainy day.


I spend the rest of the evening fishing, but I don't catch anything. What a pain.
There's a lot I need to do in the next couple of days. I think I can manage it, though.

By the way...Vote for an animal and a name!

[Brance_a_Lot]

Welcome back, once again an excellent chapter. I think maybe another sheep might be needed, Dolly is a good name for any sheep even if you already have one named Dolly

[Javan]

I vote another cow.
Named, Holmes.

@ Javan: I wouldn't say more than I was telling you in terms of sessions -- Fox only drank when I said he was drinking, since getting more would involve going out of the way. But... Those times he went to the vineyard's cellar? He was putting back maybe 10-15 drinks per session.

That is what I was trying to say, I could have been a bit clearer though.

[Deme]

So, the next chapter will be delayed. I apologize for the wait, but there's not really anything I can do about it. At the moment, I'm trapped at the house without the desktop where I can do HM64, since my mom's busy taking care of my grandparents, who really need it right now.

[Javan]

For a reason such as that, you need not apologize.
Hope your grandparents feel better / get better.

[Deme]

It's just a professionalism-based habit I have... Anyway, thank you!

Chapter 44: Balloon

Spoiler

Show

Spring-6-xxx2


Brought in some strawberries and some potatoes today.
I keep thinking we're out of strawberries, but then we're not. It's really surprising.


Elli's in her room again today. I keep trying to think... What can I do? What *should* I do?
...What sort of man am I?

I'm thinking about it all the way to the Green Ranch...
Where I spot Ann and Popuri looking over Grey's flower bed.


I'd be surprised if the answer was 'yes.' my intuition's pretty good on this one.


"Though you wouldn't guess from looking at him."
Ann puts a hand on her hip and looks over his flowers. She shakes her head fondly.


"Looks have nothing to do with growing flowers. What matters in flowers... Is only the heart."


"When he's working with the flowers... I'd be amazed if they didn't feel threatened when he was taking care of them."
Ann did her best impression, scowling and crossing her arms. Popuri giggles.

"But the flowers bloom beautifully under his care anyway."


Popuri twirled off, a happy smile on her face.
"I'll stop by later!"

I smile reflexively, watching that. Besides...That was a great Grey impression.
Of course, I didn't come here to tease Grey about his crush.

I came here to buy...a cow!


Excellent.

Popuri's back by the flower bed -- I guess she came back the moment Ann went inside or something.
"Enjoying the flowers?"
"Of course! It's spring."

"I think things are going very well for them...How about you?"
"I'm in...a bit of a situation, I guess."
"Oh?"
"...It's about Elli. I know that this is just one of those things a person has to go through at their own pace, but I..." I put my head in my hands and try to think of what to say. "I never want to see her sad. I just want to do something, anything, to make her feel...I don't know. Less alone."
Popuri thinks about this for a while.

"Hmm....Well, you're right. This is something she has to do for herself. And...Whatever you do, make sure it's not just because you're sad for her. That'll make things worse.
But...
You know how Grey planted these flowers? It made me think of something. I've got to move. Otherwise, he'll never know how I feel. He'll never ask...And he'll never tell me, either, so I won't know.
She knows you love her. But... What is your love? Until you tell her, that's something she can't know...Because she'd never demand your love be a specific thing."

With that sage advice, she smiles the way she always does, before a butterfly flits across her line of vision. She moves to follow it.

I head home.

He'll never stop with that, will he.


Because she's my homie, I guess? Actually, it's because it's the first random string of letters in my brain.


She's a sweetheart.


I work in the field, adding another pad of grass...

And adding some more flowers (and spooking Agro. He's pretty touchy about tool sounds sometimes)


And close the day with some fishing.

Not a bad haul.

Spring - 7 - xxx2


Kent? I don't have any new baby animals. What's up?


"Is tommorow at the square!"
"That time of year already? Man, stuff goes by fast."

Doesn't the king sort of have to come?
Anyway, I'll be there.


Man, that's a lot of cabbages. We live in a cabbage-crazy world.

Let's see the mail...

Kind of late for a New Year's Card, huh, Ann?

Anyway, I head to the mountains first. The bakery's closed today, if I recall.
In the cave, one of the elves is thinking about something.
"I want something..."
"What do you want?"
He scrunches up his forehead and eventually shakes it.



"...I'll keep my eyes open for them."
He nods gratefully.

"Tommorow's that human thing with the balloons, right?"
"That's right. It's called a festival."


When I leave, one of the apprentices calls me over.
"That's a fish in your bag, right? Mind letting me have some?"
"Sure, I guess." After all, people like when I give them things, and it's just a fish.


"such fancy cooking, but I'm sick of eating the same grilled fish all the time."

So, it's just the same grilled fish, but now with cheese?...Your boss has odd standards of fancy.

I see Elli by the pond. I was expecting not to see her today, to be honest.
"Elli! Glad to see you out and about."

...I'm not sure, but I can't argue with it.
"If you want to talk, I'm here, OK?"
"Heh. Yeah, I..." She looks at me with that same smile with which she said she was OK and shook her head. "Granny lived a long life. I shouldn't be sad. That's selfish."
"If you can't be a little selfish when you've lost someone important to you, when can you be selfish? When can you feel sad on your behalf, if not then?" That's... "I went a long time, telling myself I shouldn't feel sad. Sure, it became true, but..." Where'd this come from? Talking about Mom, really?
Well, mouth, if you're going to voice my feelings without my knowing them, keep going.
"But I don't think it did me any good. It just made me lonelier."
She looks at me and sighs, but nods.
"You might have a point... But you had your dad to be lonely with. I'm..." She does not say 'alone,' but I hear her cut herself off before the word.
"...But I do feel better now. Not 100%, but better. Maybe I'll bring my rod out next time, and we can go fishing."
"Sounds like a date."
I say that to reassure her, but I do mean it. If she's feeling more like her usual self, then I'm happy.

I buy cabbage and potato seeds from the florist's...

And more grass. Always more grass.



More recipes for presents.

Dang yes, bacon. Potatoes and bacon.
Mayor, you are a wonderful human being.


You do that.

I head back to tend my seeds when I realize...

I don't have enough seeds. What a pain. I'll leave it for a day or two, until I can get more. No sense over-burdening myself.


One nice thing about the greenhouse is I have an easy source of water whem I run out of water when I'm dealing with flowers.


I don't manage it on today's energy, but I try to do some ploughing for new grass...
Still, the night is young. I guess I'll go fishing.

When I enter the ranch to go to the beach, I look around and see...

Popuri, arms folded behind her back. She's not looking at the flowers. In the moonlight, alone, she's waiting.


For a certain young man, who startles like a wild animal when he sees her. He freezes still and his eyes shoot open.

Popuri gets near him and smiles.

"keep track of the time, and didn't hear you come near..." She leans forward, innocuously. "Boy, you're sweating a lot."

Grey turns away.

Oh, come on, man. You're not playing the 'I'm no good for you' card, are you?
Because that's my card.



This makes him walk away and hunch his shoulders, trying to shrink down like a child.

"...If you catch my drift."

What drift is there to catch, exactly? That's a pretty literal reasoning.


"...around my flowers. It's the same smell."
"...Little surprising. You...You always smell nice."


"Thank you <3. By the way...I like your flowers."
"T-thanks."
"...I like you, Grey. <3"


She leaned forward. He froze in place again, letting her get nearer and nearer...


And I turn and head down to the beach. Sometimes you need to give people some privacy. It's not right to spy on a kiss.


I spend a while fishing, not really thinking about anything...

And manage to get a fish, even! Good for me.

Spring - 8 - xxx2

There's some grass fully-grown in my field now. I guess before I go to a festival, I need to bring out the horde.

Entrance prepped. Let's do this.

Step 1: do all the tending.
Step 2:

Bell-ring all the animals I can into one hording mass.
Step 3:

Push them all as best I can.

Step 4:


Repeat.


And that's the story of how I got everyone outside before 8.


Today we're bringing in some turnips and other stuff.


My flowers are budding, so I guess my hard work's all paying off.

Anyway, it's time to go to the festival. Like before, everyone's got their balloons when I came here. I sort of tune out the mayor's talking about it until he gets to...

This part. I forgot that happened, to be honest. Well, let me think...



Ok, I lied. There really wasn't thinking involved.
"Milady, would you accompany your king this fine day?"


We step into the balloon. I think we've established pretty well that I'm not afraid of heights...But I've also never ridden in anything like this. If I freak out, I'm going to feel really dumb.



Oh shoot it's moving! I startle a little, but recover pretty fast. It's a pleasant drifting sensation, and the town gets father and farther away, becoming like tiny little dolls...


Soon, we're up among the mountaintops, our little village nothing but a child's toy. My farm, with its flowerbuds and its fields of green grass, my project and my future for the last year, looks kind of insignificant. I chuckle at the thought.

"I wish we could go farther."
Elli looks like she's really enjoying herself -- maybe she left her worries down there in the village, too.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. Just drifting up here forever."
"Well, we don't have any food, so that's right out. But if we had a picnic, it'd be a great way to spend just hours and hours..."
I snap my fingers.
"Dang. Should have thought ahead."


The other balloons seem to drift up around us. I begin dropping the seeds I brought -- some extras, left over from my planting sprees.
"...I doubt they'll make it, you know."
"Nothing wrong with trying."
She takes a handful from me and scatters them.


"...It's really beautiful, isn't it? I haven't stopped and thought about it in a while. Up here...It looks like a whole different world."
"Yeah...I never realized how fragile my 'life' was...It still looks that way from up here, but it's beautiful, too." She shakes her head. "That didn't make any sense, did it?"
"I kind of get it. Like... Everything I've built here could be taken away, and everything I've started getting used to could be gone. But...Even though I can see that, it's still a beautiful place. It's still worthwhile."
That's...How my relationship with her is, too, isn't it? Except...

She looks at me and her eyes catch the light, big and slightly dazed with an idea occuring to her. I remember those eyes by the golden light of a miracle. I remember those eyes full of tears.

My thought completes. Except...That's not what I want anymore.

"Hey, Fox?...If...If you end up leaving...I'll go, too. Where you go, I'll be."

More than the height of the balloon, more than the town below looking like sugarwork...
It's those words of hers that take my breath away.

"...Ok."

What I want is for this all to last forever. What I want is for nothing to be taken -- especially not Elli. What I want is for her to never have to feel without a family ever again.

What I want is for her to marry me.

I don't say that then. I don't say anything -- I just hold her as our balloon begins to drift back to Earth.
But tomorrow, or the next day, or as soon as I can...I'll go buy that blue feather.

It'll be a big step, a big day, and I'm...

I'm afraid no chapter this weekend, anyway, though we'll see what I can manage during the week itself. I'm going to be away from my 64-emulating computer for a while.

[Selpharia]

Ooh, I'm so excited for the proposal scene! Wonderfully done as always, Deme.

[Javan]

Yes, another cow! Milk for everyone! Or maybe just for money.
Only two open slots remaining in the barn by my count.

It took Fox long enough to realize what he wanted, but finally, the blue feather.

[Eldonauran]

Gaaahh!

Thog want update.

I find it amusing that this Let's Play has me a bit antsy for the next installment.

[Deme]

I'll be working on it; I'm back in my neck of the woods now.