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

[Deme]

Chapter 5: Somehow, the Ice Cream Option always Occurs to Him Anyway

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Spring - 9 - xxx1


The best part of waking up is your horde of faithful animal allies charging at you...
I admit, it is not as rhymy as folgers in my cup, but I've never been much of a coffee man.
Anyway, so usual mountain excursion...

I end up having to get my breath by the flower shop. I'm not really taking the world's best care of myself, I guess... But Popuri sees me doing so and waves me over.
"Are you alright?"
"Eh, I'm just trying to get everything established...And I'm kind of been burning the candle at both ends."

"If you give up now, all the effort you've put will have been for nothing. Just like if I stop watering these sidewalk dandelions regularly, they'll die as if they'd never even lived. We both have to try hard."
"...You're watering the dandelions in the sidewalk?"
"Efforts like theirs need to be helped however we can! So...However I can help your efforts, just say the word."
"So, maybe a seed discount...?"
"Some other word, please. I'm not sure Mom would like that."
"Worth a shot." I shrug.
"Well, I'll see you later, Popuri."

I go around making small talk, seeing people...The usual. Seeing girls, etc.

"Hey, Ann...Anyone in town I should be particularly aware of?"

"But he's a nice guy...Just don't stand near him when the sparking starts."
"I'll try to remember that.
"If you need repair work done, he's your guy."
Something repaired...Like the music box? Sounds just like what I need...
"I already knew him, but that's actually pretty useful. Thanks."
"No problem. Maybe having some real work to do will straighten him out!"
"Ah, so it's all a scheme. I see."
"I never said that!"
"Obviously. Who announced a scheme?"
"Arg! That's not what I mean!"
"See you later, schemer."

Yup. My day more or less keeps on keeping on...I stop by, see the elf...

Make some money... All good. Time to hit the bar!


"Something wrong, Mr. Postman?"
"Oh, don't worry about it... It's nothing important..."
Well, I could pry like a busy-body... Or I could go back to my day of not worrying about problems people don't want to tell me about.
"Well, I hope whatever it is gets better soon, man."
"Yeah. Same here."

There's jerks, there's the shipper who just gives me a wave...
And then of course, there's the bakery manager talking to the bartender.

"...To remember bygone days with sadness. But I have begun to feel sentimental."
"Does age really have anything to do with that? I mean, I feel sentimental... And I'm, what? 8, 10 years younger than you?"
"Well, maybe not a full 10...Let's not be hasty..."
"It's the..." I make and up and down motion. "This. Makes you look older."
"You just gestured to all of me."
"Right. Most features could belong to someone younger -- individually. But when you add them all up, it ages you."
"...I see."
"No offense. You're nice; but if you go around worrying about your age, and wearing non-ironic bowties with tiny mustaches and slick-backed hair, of course people will think you're older than them."
He stares for a while into his mug. I'm just speaking the truth.

I get my drink and go home to do chores.

I manage to finish just a liiitle bit sooner than usual tonight, so I figure it's OK to clear out the land a bit by chopping up stumps.

Spring - 10 - XXX1

It's another beautiful and sunny day with a totally uneventful morning. In fact, I manage to get into town without anything really happening.


"Hey, Elli...I'm curious. You know, you've told me about your shop's secret recipe...And your special offers...But you never told me when you're open and closed."
She giggles and then blushes. I guess she didn't think about it that way.

"Sorry for letting you down in the salesgirl department."
"Eh, Nah... I don't have the money yet, anyway. I was just wanting to point it out... Besides, sometimes when you catch a person off-guard, you see something unexpected."
"Something unexpected? What did you expect?"
"You know...I'm not sure. I guess it would have been really unexpected."
After that, I left pretty briefly.

Maria kept looking at me as I scanned through the books at the library. Of course, I only noticed because I was looking at her.
"What's up?"


...Ok, let's see the scenarios here...
a) "Yeah, I'm a big fan of books." "Oh. I sort of thought, maybe, that you l-liked me..." Ack! Friendzone!
b) "No, baby, I come here to see you." *Blushes so violently, her head explodes in a fountain of blood*
c) "No, baby. I come here to see you." "P-pervert! Sexual harassement!"
d) "No, baby. I come here to see you." "Our friendship is ruined FOR-EVER!"
e) "No, baby. I come here to see you." "Yes, take me you sexy beast. I will lay out the pre-sex ice cream sundaes now!"
...That last one seems rather unlikely.

Eh, why don't I just answer honestly?
"I like the books." Good boy. Good boy. Stop there, stop... "But you're a nice person, so I also like to hang out here for the company." Live dangerously!
"O-oh...I see..." She blushes. "T-thank you."


"Is that an insult?"
"Nonsense! If animals like you, you're pretty much as good as it gets!"
"Good to know."

Anyway, back into the mountains!

"Really?"
"It is etting-gay easier..."
"...You ow-knay, I'm a little eptical-scay about this whole thing to begin with..."
"Why? It is you, isn't it?"
"What does it being me have to do with it? Errr... -ay."
"*giggle* Ou're-yay so unny-fay, Fox."
And he just goes skipping along...Sprites are wierd.

I see Karen at the beach, but she didn't have anything to say...So we just sort of watched the tide before I headed for the bar.


And I end up going to bed a little earlier than normal, but not so early that I can do much else, for my own good...

Spring - 11 - XXX1


Double harvest all the way across the sky! Score! I pick everything I can, save one thing for the goddess and one thing...Just in case. Oh, and one more cabbage saved, for good measure. I'm confident in the profit margins here.

In the mountains, I find Ann. She's in a kind of odd spot.

"Yeah, it is. I'm just trying to get some stuff to sell...Same as always, really."

"Rare birds come around here, and it's always nice to see them."
"You really like all animals, huh?"
"Absolutely! They're a lot easier to figure out than people."
I nod.


I guess I'll give her an offering.

"You know, I could just want to talk to you."
"That's not the heart of deity-worshipper relationships, and you know it! Oh, how did my last present work out?"
"It hasn't. Not yet, anyway... I'm still trying to get the music box repaired."
"Oh, yes...I must have forgotten how much things decay like that... Sometimes it seems so hard to grasp...But everything in this world decays."
"Even you?"
"I was going to say 'except me'... But that's not true, either. A goddess without worshippers falls apart...Though, the people here do still dance about my effigy in my traditional festival, so I have no compaints <3"
"There's a festival for you? I'll make sure to attend...You sure you don't want to go as my date?"
"Oh, don't be silly! A human man should dance with a pretty girl. Besides, only the king could dance with me in the old days...You'll just have to earn it. <3 Well, I wish you luck with the girls."


Anyway, I go on my way and buy replacement seeds.

I sort of just hang around the library for a bit, looking at books about vegetables and cooking and stuff.
"Hey, Maria...You know what I should do with this thing? They're the size of my head, so it seems kind of wasteful to just ship them out..."
But I've never cooked anything more fresh or complex than a PB&J...
But then again, I don't have a kitchen, so it kind of doesn't matter. I actually can't do anything with it.
"Oh, wow...That's a really nice-looking cabbage."
"Yeah...You want it? It just occured to me that I can't do anything with it."

"Oh, but you said you wanted to do things with your cabbage crop, right?"

But I don't have a...

Oh, well.
"Why don't you make it for me sometime? At least until I can cook something up... I'll even supply more cabbage."
"Well, I do find it versatile..."
"Besides, I'd love to try your cooking."
She eventually looks cautious, but nods.

I go grab some more stuff to sell and head on home...My day's finances come to a grand total of...

WOAH, MOMMA! That's...Not a lot of money. But in the farming business, that's a good bit. I can do a lot with it. The question is... What should I do?

Time to celebrate!
When I get to the bar, I see Karen and her dad having a half-whispered, half-growled argument at the table. It seems like a regular argument -- other than me, Kai's the only guy to look the least concerned.

"Are they always like this?"
"Not always...But pretty much."
"Must be rough having to work with that."
He shrugs.

"There are many things in the city you don't find here. I'm from a small town myself, so I've felt those longings."
"Yeah, but what does she expect to find? Not everything you can find in the city is all that great."
He shrugs.
"If I understood Miss Karen's heart, maybe things could be different."


"Nothing, nothing...I was just...Well, it sort of looked like a heated argument."
"You sure are nosy, aren't you?...Well, don't worry. It's just stupid stuff."
I nod. "Alright, alright, I'll lay off..."
She seems to think about that for a while, and shrugs.
"Whatever."

I chat and drink a while before heading home and finishing the replanting. Because of that, it's a slightly late night. But it'll be worth it; I'm sure of that. Things are definately, definately, looking up.

While there's really no contest, I'd be remiss not to mention it: We have enough money for a chicken. Chickens are cheap to feed, can reproduce without money, and produce eggs that make for good gifts, alright money, and good offerings to the goddess. On the other hands, we have enough money for a brush, which can boost the affection of our horse (so it can win races when it grows up) and our eventual cows and sheep (so they produce higher-quality items). We could also continue saving for a 4000G sheep that will take a while before it can mature, and money for more supplies (like a brush and a pair of shears), or a 5000 G cow (Which is like a sheep, but the money is more reliable once it matures). We could also start saving up for a 5000G and some lumber kitchen, which will let us store fruits and veggies for gifts (very handy for Maria if we can get it done before Spring is out), and is a marriage requirement for later.

Oh, and please bear in mind when making these decisions that we'll also need to save money for special festival purchases in a week or so, which makes me want to keep our money relatively free.

Opinions, just to be sure? By default, I'd go for a chicken first, since it's cheap and makes for quick results (especially in the gift/offering department), and quick is good right now, and so I think that's a solid move. Name ideas?

Oh, and anyway, as promised...
Typo Report: Special Dog Edition!

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I actually caught this one by surprise while waiting for the stars of this show. Nothing special, just a little double punctuation silliness.

I may one day want to show off how everyone reacts to the dog, off-record; they're a mix of sweet and hilarious, and there are some face sprites there I've never seen before. And also, our dog apparently has a backstory, and it also doubles as foreshadowing. I did not know this. It's kinda neat.

Right. Here's the big stupid typo of the occaison.


...WhatisthisIdon'teven. Translators, what were you thinking?! Were you aware you did not get her to say a sentence? Were you drunk? Why didn't you just make up a sentence that makes sense? Or steal one from someone else?
It just. Boggles.

This next one's not a typo, so much as a massive programming error. But I've got my dog out, so here we are. Karen's Dog Glitch, or the Karen Glitch, or the Dog Glitch, or whatever you want to call it. HM64 has a lot of glitches, but this is the nicest one we're not using.

And it requires some explanation. For those of you unfammiliar with the game, those little hearts in the corners of the girl's text boxes are affection indicators. As we get closer, they change colors from white to blue, blue to green, green to yellow, and yellow to pink.
Now, here is how this glitch works: you take your dog. You find Karen indoors somewhere, like the bar. You show her the dog. She does this: (spoilered, because I did a real screenshot because I wanted the time visible)

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And, like anytime you show your dog to someone who doesn't hate it, she gets a small affection boost. Except...When Karen sees your dog, it doesn't trip the "Already recieved a gift" switch in the programming. So she can get another gift. So...If you show her your dog again, she gets more affection, but she still doesn't think she's gotten a gift. So you can do it again. And again. And again. Until this happens.

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Yup. She just went from the highest to the lowest in a few minutes, basically no effort required. ...These programers are the ones that don't seem too clever sometimes.

Oh, and for bonus:

This is what my Harvest Moon torture looks like. Waiting for that horse to move. Freaking horse.

[Mewtarthio]

Chickens are cheap to feed, can reproduce without money, and produce eggs that make for good gifts, alright money, and good offerings to the goddess.

Mm-hmm... Yep, that makes sense... Of course, that's completely--Wait, what was that last one?

You sacrifice animals to the bloodthirsty harvest god in this game?! Wow, I've totally been getting the wrong impression about this franchise.

[Trazoi]

Go for the chickens! They're both low maintenance and cute! Double win!

[Seerow]

Mm-hmm... Yep, that makes sense... Of course, that's completely--Wait, what was that last one?

You sacrifice animals to the bloodthirsty harvest god in this game?! Wow, I've totally been getting the wrong impression about this franchise.

Pretty sure he mentioned that you sacrifice the eggs, not the chickens. Could be wrong on that though.

[Deme]

Correct. It's rather sad that the grammar did not pan out for that joke; it was decent otherwise.
Also, I take feminine pronouns, as an aside.

[Cieyrin]

Pretty sure he mentioned that you sacrifice the eggs, not the chickens. Could be wrong on that though.

Deme's a she and I do think we're sacrificing eggs to Harvest God. I'm all for quick money, so I say go for it. Call her Camilla.

[Trobby]

I second getting a money-making chicken, and in calling her Camilla. Camilla is pretty much the best name for a chicken.

[Seerow]

Correct. It's rather sad that the grammar did not pan out for that joke; it was decent otherwise.
Also, I take feminine pronouns, as an aside.

My bad, I'll use that in the future. I tend to just default to 'he' until told otherwise.

[Lycan 01]

I vote chicken. And name him Lord Cluckenstein III. Or Clucky, for short.

[Klose_the_Sith]

I step briefly out of lurk-mode (because I am a MANLY MALE MAN and MANLY MALE MEN do not play Harvest Moon or even watch LP's thereof ) to second the call for Clucky. Chickens are the best animals ever.

[tomaO2]

Why bother getting a new animal before the field has been cleared out? Why not finish plowing the field first so that you get full crops coming in as the first priority? Plus, you can fix up the area for the grassland where the chickens can go outside and feed for free later on.

I also like thowing grass seeds on the path areas that surround the vegetables so that you get paths that don't ever get weeds in them.

[Deme]

Well, my reasons are several fold, since you asked why.
#1: Field-clearing takes time we don't have. Animal-tending takes time we do have, and supplies us with resources field-clearing doesn't. Stamina and fatigue are factors, too... And until The watering can upgrades, expanding crops would be pretty difficult to manage. I've already got Fox as addicted to herbs for the late nights as I plan to get the poor guy.
#2: chickens don't even need grass to feed. Next rainy day or when I get some spare time, I'm setting up a rock pen.
#3: Besides, I need to save rocks for pens anyway. More efficient than lumber, and I'm saving that.
#4: Grass is expensive and slow to get results. Right now, it's too expensive to do much with.
#5: We've got money right now, so I'm primarily taking votes on ways to use that. I can make scheduling plans, including "clear the field/more crops" when I'm at a real keyboard, and not a silly tablet thing... What should I put down as your vote? Grass and assorted cow-prep? Seeds?

Edit: sorry if this came off a little harsh; it feels like it may have, if only because I'm very, very cranky for unrelated reasons. 2 days of miserable party-and-wedding nonsense and 20 hours without anything more substantial than chips will do that to a person.

[Lycan 01]

I retract my name suggestion. If we get a chicken, lets name him "Nugget."

[Seerow]

I retract my name suggestion. If we get a chicken, lets name him "Nugget."

I believe Deme mentioned the chickens will reproduce. I vote for "Nugget" as the name of the first hatchling we get (assuming they get names).


Edit: As an aside, sorry to hear you've been having a crap weekend, Deme. Hope you get some rest and some food in you soon.

[tomaO2]

I agree with making it a rock pen. Never meant for it to be made of lumber. Didn't know that you didn't need grass for the pen in order to feed chickens. I also didn't realize that finishing with the farm field first would be such a hardship. Of course, I would never bother with gaining hearts this early either.

My vote then would be to save for a cow.

Looks like the chickens will win, so I vote for Clucky to be the name as it it what I always named my first chicken.

[Deme]

Chickens feed on really so little that there used to be an age-old rumor that you could basically have never-fed, unable-to-be-affected-by-weather chickens by putting them on the staircase you can have built to go up to your roof. Roof-chickens. Sadly, this isn't true.

With my objectives for this LP, and my priorities being what they are, I at least need to spend some time working on the hearts right now; particularly Maria, Elli, and Karen. Ann I could put off for a bit, but don't want to, and Popuri's not really a concern. But I think if we want to get some good content, like the Bamboo-floating festival (hopefully, I've never gotten it), I'd at least like to get Maria's picture this year. Anyway, I always do hearts first. It's the part I find most fun, followed by rivals and befriending all the little children and so on. Actual farming is probably my second-least favorite bit of the game, followed by fishing. Because fishing, man. Anyway, summer is my favorite season for big crop money.

Anyway, so... On to discussing scheduling. You see, with the cabbages coming in, we'll be down a crop, since I intend to leave one thing of cabbages in the ground to use as gifts for Maria while waiting for the other one to grow, and then switch which one is growing and which one is waiting. Which means we'll be affectively tending to one less crop.
And with crops starting to come in, we're meeting some of our early money goals, so we may or may not need to depend so much on making a second run through the mountains for herbs. Also, we may need to go to the bar less soon.

Which means we're getting maybe an hour or two of free time! Maybe more! And I'd like to discuss how to spend it.
#1: Clearing the field. Like Toma's been saying, it's pretty much a wreck anyway.

#2: Keep on with the mountain-gathering stuff, for the quick and easy small sums of cash.

#3: Lumber-gathering. One of the marriage requirements of this game is getting a kitchen, and kitchens take lumber. Kitchens are also handy for item storage, and generally-speaking, the more lumber we can get for upgrades to the farm, the closer we get to the greenhouse. The beautiful, beautiful greenhouse that makes all our time problems go away like magic. Also, there's a photo in getting all the house upgrades.

#4: Fishing. It's like gathering mountain herbs, but with better returns in that it makes for a) good gifts for Elli (better than flowers), b) Chances at getting stamina-boosting and fatigue-reducing power berries, c) It's one of those things our dad is judging us on at the end of the game. No, I'm not joking. Our dad is judging the quality of our time spent fishing. The jerk. I'm actually pretty terrible at it, so I don't like it much... But I'm hoping for help from the magical power of save-states.

#5: Replacement crops, probably after some of #1 to find a spot or two. Probably turnips, since we still want to get some harvests in and all. More Money, Less Problems.

If I still have free time after doing the favorite, I'll go to either the second favorite or my preference, whichever.

[Seerow]

Judging by your descriptions, I'd go with either gathering lumber, or clearing field/planting more crops. It really depends on what the time crunch is. Both of these sounds like something that absolutely needs to be done in the long term, while the others sound more like a way to get a quick buck while you wait for other investments to turn out. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Mewtarthio]

House upgrades are always nice and shiny. From an LP reader's perspective, "Our house now has a moat around it!" is more exciting than "Crop yields have improved 20%!"

[Cieyrin]

I vote for Lumber and Fishing as a secondary. Boosting the house and getting additional storage would be an excellent endeavor and getting a boring activity out of the way would probably make the later game somewhat better.

[tomaO2]

I'm sure this is my ignorance talking but don't we need to upgrade to get a barn for the chickens or do we have one already?

I will vote for clearing the field and collecting the rocks to make a pen for the chickens (we DID decide on getting a chicken right?). Plus, there are wood stumps that can be chopped for lumber, I think.

Jeez, one hour, what is that worth in real time? Like 30 seconds? You must be insanely well time managed if you are able to schedule your time down to the hour.

I vote against fishing, I don't think fishing for an hour is productive. You'd need to carry around the rod and travel to the water. Waste of time for an hour.

An extra crop or two might be good after the field is cleared but if you'd rather do gathering, that's fine as well. House upgrades can wait a bit, I think.

[Deme]

House upgrades probably *will* wait a bit, I agree, just for the money's sake (Cow beats kitchen, in my book). Though nothing saying we can't start saving up lumber, since to get it all we need... over 2000 pieces, sooner or later. So, it's a viable activity, though whether or not it's the one we want to do now is another question.

I actually do support more crops, probably turnips, over gathering. But I've yet to run the math for best option.

Also, nope. You can't even upgrade your barn or chicken coop in this game. There are games where you need to get a chicken coop and/or barn via lumber upgrades, and games where you can upgrade your barn and/or coop... But this is not that game.

As for time management...I said an hour or two -- it's touch-and-go and hard to say. But I'm very aware of time within the game, particularly when it's very tight.

[tomaO2]

I've been thinking that we need a grander scope for the narrative. Oh sure, we COULD just stick with him trying to prove to his father that he can make it on his own OR, maybe, during the second year, something not scripted in the game could happen. For instance, perhaps the Breakfast Kingdom was attacked by the Suppertime Empire and the food that Fox creates determines who will win the war!

I know, right? Farm sim and war. Clearly this is a match made in heaven.

See, Flower Bud is part of the Breakfast Kingdom. This is evident because the only rule of BK is that you have to eat Breakfast every, dang, day. At 6am, no less. You can skip any other meal you want but God help you if you miss breakfast (I know you have to eat every morning at least, not sure if you have to eat later on or not)!

Anyway the Suppertime Empire's only rule is you need to eat supper. The two countries have long feuded over which was the most important meal of the day and finally the SE could take it no more and launched a daring attack on all the major farms in the BK. Now Flower Bud, one of the few towns to remain undamaged, has become the breadbasket of the BK and unless you can turn in enough food to keep the BK going, the godless, supper eating, hoards will destroy all that is good and noble (plus your town) . Dun, dun, dun.

And there you have it! I'm sure that adding this backstory will give far more depth to the latter game play which has no more romancing, new things to buy or new plot hooks. Plus, war. Everyone likes war. :)

So, let's have a vote. Awesome idea, or awesome-ist idea (please note, these are the only two choices allowed to avoid anyone voting this as being a "bad" idea, which this is TOTALLY not) ?

[Deme]

Oh, awesomest idea, totally.... However, oh tragedy of tragedies, now that you have said such a thing, it can never happen. It's too much for my pride as an author to bear.

I actually do have a few small ideas about possible more external narratives that ties itself into a few events, if that's a legit concern.

Anyway, we've got a lot of people to talk to in year 2, too! And then there's all the joys of marriage...

[Deme]

Chapter 6: Eating Things! For Great Friendship!

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Spring-12-xxx1


Today, the second round of cabbages came in. I may leave some to wait, since Maria likes them so much and all...

But I do ship one or two of them, for money's sake.


"Good boy, Agro. Grow up strong."
I do this every day, so I'm not sure what difference it makes.

Anyway, there's nothing special in the mountains, so... I just head into town. Stop by Rick's.

"Hey, Rick, you know what's up with this music box?"

"That's it? Just Rust?"
"It's an old music box, but it looks very durable... But it also looks like someone whacked it with a hoe. Who would do such a thing to such a lovely bit of machinery?"
...
...
"I don't know what sort of insensitive man would do such a thing."
Nope, not me. Totally innocent in the department of beating music boxes with farm tools.


"Tighten these bits...Repair the parts where some cretin didn't appreciate mechanics..."
Right, because that is just terrible, and I had no part in it.
It is as terrible as stealing 50 cakes.
"And here we go!"
It begins to play a sweet and tender melody. It's slow, but the bright tinkly sound of it fills the shop. It's got a nostalgic air.

"...you give to a girl. It's a beautiful song."
"...Yeah, it is."
"Though, you know, I bet we could improve this music box."
When did we become a we, exactly?
...Oh, right. When I helped him with science.
"I mean, think of how impressive it'd be with a little laser!"
"What sort of girl would want a laser for a gift?"
Rick sagged, looking vaguely dissapointed.
"I don't know...But if you do find her, Fox... Could you maybe hook a brother up?"



Well, the next person I'd usually see is Maria...
Maybe she'd like it. The Goddess did say I'd have enough of these...

"Hey, Maria...Look what I dug up the other day. I guess this farm really is full of all sorts of history."
That could have been said smoother, but... I dunno. Picking up Maria feels kind of skeevy. She's... I dunno. I'll have to think about it.
Of course, she's not entirely interested in history alone, it seems...

"You can see all these little half-worn engravings in the wood... I wonder what they used to mean, or if they told a story in the song..."
She leans forward, a very quiet look on her face. She winds it up, and the thin sound of music warms and thickens and fills the air.

"If you like it so much, you can keep it, you know."
She looks up, as if just then remembering that I was there.


"I couldn't... I mean..."
"No, you can. It's easy. Just take it."
"No, I mean..."
"It's really yours, Maria. It doesn't have to be a thing... I just want you to have it."
She smiles, not one of her little smiles, but eager and completely free of reserve.
"Thank you very much."


I run into Harris on my way to the ranch.

"Yeah, it is. Your spring is so mild it's creepy."
"I've never thought of it as creepy... I really like being out in weather like this."
He actually looks concerned.
"I like it, too. Maybe it's good to get creeped out now and again."
Of course, getting creeped-out, worn-out, and all the other outs means I may be just too far from my comfort zone...


"...the behavior of animals, somehow you can understand what they're feeling."
"Like when I look at your brother and I can somehow understand he hates me?"
"He doesn't hate you!...He's just... Well... He just doesn't feel warm and fuzzy."
Hmm... I sense... AN UNDERSTATEMENT!

Anyway, I came here for a reason... I'd like... to buy a vowel...I mean, Chicken.


"Hey, Mr...Ann's Dad."
I feel 7 years old. The circle is now complete.
"The name's Hall, kid...Hey, c'mere."

"I'll keep that in mind."
What, do these people sense tired-induced doubts?


I'll need some if I want a chicken... Since they're 10G, I guess I'll buy an even 100g worth.

But now, it's the main event.
"One chicken, please."

"No cancellations and no refunds."
"I'll remember that."
Wait, doesn't he buy animals, too? So couldn't I get a partial refund by just selling it back?

I head back home to see him waiting there.

Isn't the technical term a 'coop'? But if he wants it in a shack, I guess it could move in with me... *bdum-tish*

Most. Original. Name. EVAR.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go cleanse my soul.


Well, this is my coop shack. It's got a shipping bin and some feed stalls and...

How informative. Well, it looks like an incubator of some sort, so I guess Clucky will have little baby Nuggets and Camilas.

And there's Clucky...

And Clucky's food! I guess that's everything.
Chickens = freaking easy.


While I'm here, I may as well finish my crop-based chores.
I get to the bar a little late, but it's all good.


"Don't snark at my choice of affordable beverage."
"Eh, I'm just poking a little fun... You just don't seem like a water type."
"I'm not, but money does cruel things to all of us."

Not much to say, but it is nice to relax. The sound of Karen taking orders and cleaning dishes, the baker down the bar methodically and delicately sipping his wine, the bartender cleaning glasses.
I head home energized enough...

To actually do some land-clearing, even getting an extra patch clear for more turnips.

Nice and semi-tidy... And I still get done around Midnight.

Spring - 13 - XXX1


Huh? That sounds like Kent.
"What's up, Kent?"
What sort of child is up at 6? In an area without cartoons, no less.

"Sure, sure, Kent. Anytime."
After all, why work yourself when you can have the magic of child labor?
"Awesome!"



And we got potatoes in, too! Awesome!
I save two, but ship the rest. One's for the goddess, the other... I dunno. Maybe I'll see if anyone has a recipe for me.


In we go, where it ends up, no one knows...
In this whole offering thing, maybe the potato is just a metaphor for the soul -- I offer it to the goddess with no knowledge of where it'll end up...


"MMmm, what a yummy-looking potato <3; it'll make great hashbrowns!"
This whole deal calls for a slightly less philosophical person, doesn't it? I mean, I'm not sure how you even make a metaphor out of hashbrowns!

"Hey, I wanted to thank you. Once I got it repaired, that music box made a nice gift."
"Well, I'm glad you liked it! There's more where it came from..."
I sit down by the pond to get myself comfortable when I notice she's staring at my face pretty intently.
"...What? Do I have something on my face?"

I mean, it doesn't *look* like I do, now, does it?

"Now, you just look...So worn out. It bothers me to see my dear worshipper so tired..."
"You know, I don't do that much worshipping per se..."
"Hey! You work the land, so you need to be full of energy now <3."
An idea lights up on her face.

The strength of a bear? The strength of 2 bears?



A berry flashes into life in my hands.
"Eat this, and you'll feel stronger! Eat up!"
Will I feel more like a bear?


Well, it doesn't taste too bad...

And she vanishes away.

I wave to Karen on my way back down the mountain path, which at least leaves one thing less to do.
Next up, I head into town for seeds.


"Thanks, Ma'am."
Lilia's just staring at the door restlessly, though. She barely hears me at all.
"Ma'am?"
"Oh, oh, you're quite welcome, honey."
More door-staring.
"...You waiting on something?"
"Someone. My husband travels all the time for his work, but I really am expecting him back any day now."
...Travels, huh?
...Man, now I feel guilty. The guy probably has a kept woman in another town or something. Why do I have to feel guilty for other guys not keeping their relationships as-promised?

Anyway, nothing of note until I show Ann my potato.
Not like that, you sickos.
...I'd never call His Imperial Majesty (I knew a girl with a thing for royalism, OK?) a potato.

"You're welcome." No one else knew what to do with it.

She makes it sound so shameful, like she's wounding her pride to admit it... But that's about what I can cook, so I don't see the big deal.

She takes my glove off and writes the recipe on my hand.

...I hope I don't sweat it off...

Speaking of Ann, today...

I got an egg! Yeah, you're supposed to read that to the tune of the Zelda jingle. If you didn't, you're wrong.
I'd like more chickens, so I'll just put it in the incubator. I wonder if there's a reality without self-fertilizing chickens...
Nah, that'd just be dumb.




Since I don't feel like hitting the bar tonight, I actually get quite a bit done in the field-clearing department. At least, I get some stuff done, and go to bed feeling tired...
But kind of satisfied.

Spring - 14 - xxx1


Looks like rain tommorow. Well, less work for me.

I run into the elf on my mountain journey.
"Hey, I gotta ask... What's with you and the Pig Latin.

"But you understood what I was saying."
"...Angue-l...Language is more than words, right? It's all sortsa things. Talking to humans is hard..."
"But there are lots of people here. Why not talk to them?"
"...It's no good. The old man I could talk to stopped coming here...And died."
"Do you mean my grandpa?"
"That's right! Hat-man! Now there's a new hat-man, so it's alright!"
"...So what makes a person good to talk to is the quality of our headgear?"
He looks confused. I guess there are things he doesn't get, like Sarcasm, or doesn't get how to say.
"...Human language is so hard."
"Keep at it."


"Hey, Popuri. Caving to Elli's sales-pitch?"
"Hardly. The one she wants to impress is you."
"...Huh." I will file that away in my mental black book. "So why are you here?"


I will wait for that to sequitor in 3... 2... Oh, screw it.
"So you're tired?"
"Well not now. But I will be, and when that happens, I want to be sure of what the tasiest sweet is. Good preperation is sound logic!"
I can't argue with an excuse for cake...
"Sounds good."
She beams.

At the library... I find Harris. He's reading a magazine in the corner.
"Huh. What are you doing here?"

"Makes sense. So you live near enough to hear that this is your day-off spot?"
"Well, it's not like I come here all the time... Just...you know...Sometimes." He turns away to hide the blush.
"Don't make it look like I'm interrigating you, man; I'm just trying to put a life to the guy who goes around delivering mail."
"Oh, it's not like that, Mr. Fox."
"The fantastic Mr. Fox is Mr. Fox; I'm just Fox." And only the ladies call me fantastic.

"You know, Maria... As much as I like books, I think I'd go crazy trying to watch over and clean up after this place all day, every day but mondays."
She shrugs and looks down into her hands.
"There is more to this job than liking books... But everything here is so quiet and peaceful; books and organizing just feels... Honest, and simple."

"I see... I'm glad it works for you."
Looking at Maria sitting there, I realize why it felt weird to even think about picking her up yesterday.

I don't really know when it happened, but somewhere along the line, Maria became...


My friend.

A female friend, sans benefits; how totally weird.

***


Yeah, I guess that's true enough.
" I haven't ridden in a long time, so I hope Agro will take it easy with me."
"Oh, I'm sure he will; you've raised him by hand, so he's bound to trust you."
"...Seems a little naive to me..."
"Well it's true, alright! Who's in charge here?"
"...Your dad?"
"Yeah, but after that?"
"Your brother?"
"That's not fair!"
"Yeah, I gotta admit, this is kinda a patriarchal town, isn't it?"
She stares at me.

"What? I took a feminist studies course."


While I'm here, I may as well see if Karen's at the beach again.
...And, actually, she is.
"Enjoying your day off?"
"Yup. Enjoying your trip to the boonies?"
"It's not a trip."
"Sure it is; when the novelty's worn off, you'll realize what I've known my whole life; this place sucks."
"Even if the work is hard, I'm sticking with it, alright? The city's pretty boring, too."
She looks at me, like trying to judge me to my soul. It's a pretty harsh gaze, actually.

"You, too."

I'm not home for two seconds when I hear a voice coming in behind me.

"OH, hey, Maria. Did I forget something?"
"Oh, it's nothing like that...You've just been looking worn out, but you're still always coming around and talking to everyone, and doing all the work here."

"I-it's not much, but I thought it'd perk you up, even it's just because you know I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks, Maria. The support...Actually, it does help a lot."



You know, I've tasted a lot of good things in my life; The one thing my dad and I can agree on is good food from a nice restaurant is really nice. We can't cook, but we've been to good places.
But a friend saw I was down, and wanted to cheer me up. Somehow, that makes the cheap candy bar taste better than Italian sipping chocolate.
I've got friends here. That thought actually is kind of sweeter than the candy.

With that in my heart, there's nothing to do but finish my chores and head to bed.

Lotsa good stuff happening this chapter; I'm really happy about it. We're also about 100g away from affording everything we'll need from a festival later this season, which means the rest of our money can go to saving for a cow and related paraphanalia like grass and brushes!

Notes about Stuff that Happened that's Spoilers

Spoiler

Show

That thing we got from the Goddess is called a Power Berry, for those who don't know these games too well. It raises our stamina, allowing us to do more things before running out of strength. To complete our album, we need at least 6.

Also, Blue Heart. Arright. For those who missed the typo report explanation, this means that Maria officially likes us more. RANKU-UHP! We've got 2-3 more heart levels to clear before the end of summer for her.

[Cieyrin]

Aww, Maria's expression when getting the music box was just downright adorable! :3

Speaking of, her first speech bubble following receiving the music box is red for some reason. Just to point that out, twas minorly confusing till I figured out who was supposed to be speaking.

[Deme]

Oh, so it is! Well, I fixed it now; just a little typo in the color code.

[tomaO2]

I can't believe you said no, Deme. We become official story collaborators the moment you agreed with my super original name for the chicken. I spent so much work brainstorming ways to help with the story too.

I thought we were a team.

Anywho, I had no particular reason to fear that the late game story would be lacking, I just always had this fantasy of playing Harvest Moon but after the first year or something, there would be some apocalyptic event that takes place.

For instance, in the start of many RPGs your home town is destroyed but what if that town was your H.M. town? Just going about another day of gathering mushrooms and BAM! War is another idea, suddenly the town is invaded and you have to use your granddad's old gun to save the town from the invaders.

Another fun update to read. I especially liked the transition to getting the first colored heart. I thought that was rather well done. Plus, her expressions from getting the music box were pretty adorable.

[banthesun]

Yikes, I can't believe I didn't see this thread until now! I'm really enjoying this so far though! Looking foward to more!

I support clearing your field of lumber as a choice of spare time activities for now, after that I'd suggest just gathering things in the mountains.

(Oh wow, you have another LP going on too? I know what I'll be reading tomorow...)

[Deme]

I can't believe you said no, Deme. We become official story collaborators the moment you agreed with my super original name for the chicken. I spent so much work brainstorming ways to help with the story too.

I thought we were a team.

How can we be a team when you spoiled the idea so everyone could read it? A twist everyone knows about won't do for a series that's still in progress!

...Anyway, I mainly went with Clucky because Camilla, as it was, didn't fit.

[Cieyrin]

...Anyway, I mainly went with Clucky because Camilla, as it was, didn't fit.

Character limits are always the bane of our existence.