Part 47: Happy Birthday To Link

Happy Birthday To Link

Music: Festival


I've got Yams ridiculously close to max level. The fall crop festival should go without a hitch.


Of course, today's festival isn't that. Squid are found basically everywhere, so it's mostly a matter of your luck with spawns.


I forgot to show GudBoy's barn blurb yesterday, so here it is now.


Zaid and Ondorus, unsurprisingly, are a new set of characters who at each other on festival days. It serves to give them some desperately needed dialogue variety.

Oh...Ondorus...could you spare me some squid?
There will be no cheating. You can catch it yourself.
You want me to go without food?!
I don't mind.
Oh, come on!


Yes, why is it squid? Surely it's not because they had to have one fishing contest a season and the more obvious ones(most fish, biggest fish, biggest variety of fish) were all taken. Surely.


And I really love screenshots with weird text highlighting and overly spelling out which festival this is.

Don't complain.



Not "still"!! It bothers me "every year"!



It's so ex-squid-zit!
Yeah, it sure is!
Now, you guys know we're just squidding around?!
Wow, they're really milking it.



...

Link is confirmed as a killjoy who hates puns.


Same general rules as every other fishing contest. This one has some praying to RNJesus because there are no 100% squid fishing zones, but it's still not too bad.


You can probably get better odds by picking a spot with fewer overall species of fish, but . The prize is just a pile of cooking bread, and I already have way more of that than I need.



In retrospect the bare minimum effort should have been going to a not-Fall dungeon, since there's a big variety of Fall-only fish, but again, .


Now I only have 3 mostly-useless cooking breads instead of 10. The tragedy.


Remember kids, littering is bad!


At least Carlos got to show off his talent for once.


Honestly, . But I'm not a fan of fishing minigames in general.


Link is so mad about puns. Insquidentally, I am not.


Deep RF3 mysteries: Where did this teleport spot come from? Why did it only appear after we found the village? Am I possibly thinking too hard about a video game where you can turn into a wrestlesheep?


I spend the rest of the day mining for a Ruby so I can make that engagement ring.



One fewer thing to do once I hold the marriage vote.


The next day is a very special day: Link's birthday! The game automatically sets your birthday by whatever's set in the DS(converted to the appropriate season, and possibly adjusted to avoid conflicting with festivals).

We'll be spending most of today getting birthday wishes and presents - you always get the former, but you only get presents if you're good friends with the villagers.



This is not a present. Please don't take it!


Most of the gifts relate to each villager's interests, unsurprisingly.



I thought I'd get you something.
Thank you.
Oh, don't worry. I'm just investing in your future.
What?
Ho ho.

Marjorie gives us a Greenifier. Practical!



Oh, and, here's a little something I got you. Hope you enjoy it.
Th-Thank you.

Sakuya provides a Large Fleece. Less handy since I have a Wooly producing one every day.



Thank you. But are you sure?
Yes. I just had some leftover clothing material.
...

Her gift is another large fleece! I'm honestly surprised it's a plausible clothing material and not a turnip or something.



This isn't much, but I got it for you.

She gives us...another large fleece? Is this some weird residual racism thing because we're half-sheep?


Despite being RF2's purveyor of birthday gifts, RF3 Yue doesn't know it's our birthday at all.

And sometimes you hear someone yelling "Rainbow!" I-I'm really scared of ghosts and stuff...I'm over it though. Now, to business.

(She had nothing interesting for sale)



Collette gives us an Ultimate Curry. Delicious!



Rusk gives us a cheesecake. Also delicious!



Blaise gives us a Gold Cabbage seed. And this is why he's forgiven for being so boring most of the time.


Incidentally everyone still has normal dialogue today, I'm just not showing most of it so this update isn't super huge.



Oh, so here's your birthday present. (I hope he likes it...)
Yeah, thanks.

Karina gives us some gold ore. Sure, I'll take it.



She would always be there when I was in trouble.
She's a good mother.
Well, it's not like I asked her. (But I am grateful.)



Kuruna gives us Cake. Finally, someone who knows proper birthday protocol.




...is Ondorus hitting on us?


He should be grateful to the man/woman and sheep who...uh...wait...you know what, let's not actually think too hard about Link's parents.

Um, you're wishing me a happy birthday, aren't you?
Of course. Here, this is a present from me.
Th-Thank you.
There's no hidden meaning or anything!

She gives us some platinum ore. I assume the hidden meaning is crafting.


I'm pretty sure I've showed off this conversation before, but this bit gets me every time.



Oh, this a birthday present(sic), isn't it?! That was a nice birthday!
It's over already?!

Her present is a lamp squid. Let's be real, her only other gift options were also squids.



We get a snapper. A regular old snapper. At least they're worth a decent amount after cooking?



Another snapper.



She gives us a Green Crystal Seed! There's one color of crystal seed for each season, each worth a ton of money(up to a whopping 35,000G at level 10!), and this is the summer one.



He gives us an Ironleaf Seed. It's a summer flower, but we didn't have the opportunity to buy it then - the seeds available in the stores expand as you beat dungeons, and the Ironleaf becomes available after beating Death Wall.



I heard...It was your birthday. So...here's your present.
Th-Thank you. I'm happy.
...You're welcome.

Raven gives us a Heart Pendant, which increases skill xp gain. It'd be a great gift if I didn't have one already.



But, I can't use that as an excuse...
What?
...


I'm used to Link being kind of slow on the uptake, but it gets a bit silly when it's about his own birthday.

I heard it was your birthday today. Everyone likes to celebrate their birthday. While you're young, that is.
...
So, I got this for you. Hope you like it.

Best Bro Gaius gives us some Platinum. I'll take it.



This is from me. It's not much, but I hope you like it!

Present: Diamond. Cha-ching!



Shara gives us a Blue Crystal seed, which grows in spring.

And now for a Very Special Episode.



No, that's not it...
Then what's the matter?
It's a little embarrassing. Please don't tell anyone. I actually...gained a little weight...So I've been skipping meals.
No!
!!
If you want to diet, you need to balance your meals with exercise! Skipping meals is like suicide!!
I-Is that right?
Yes! Whatever you do, don't skip your meals!
I see...
I-I'm sorry! I'll be sure to eat my dinner and even have dessert tonight!
But don't forget to exercise to make up for it.

This Very Special Episode is brought to you by Animes Against Eating Disorders.



Oh, well...I don't...
Then how about this one?!
What?!
Th-Thank you.

Marian gives us a Greenifier. Which is surprisingly non-deadly, considering it's Marian.



Daria is the third person to give us Platinum. Get some originality, people.


He's the fourth person to give us Platinum. Goddammit Zaid. (Platinum is actually really useful, but come on!)


Things Not To Think Too Hard about : Just how sentient are monsters? Link's implied to be able to talk to Woolies while in his Wooly form, but he also has one in his barn making wool for him. Even Zaid apparently has no problem catching monsters to keep with him. But the horrible things the humans did/do to monsters is part of what pissed Kuruna off for so long, so they should be treated as more than just animals. But the game constantly treats them as animals.

I'm getting a headache, let's do a quest.


The mailbox really turns into a quest bottleneck. It's kind of a waste of the mailbox/bulletin board/owl split, if you ask me.



I'm glad the Unity Festival went on without incident, but...I am a little worried whether Kuruna got along with everyone.
Kuruna was fine.
I'm sure she was, too, but she was against the festival until the end. So I was hoping that you could ask everyone how they felt about Kuruna. Could you do that for me?
Okay. I'll do that!
I'm sorry to ask you to do this. Thank you. Oh, and please keep this from Kuruna.
I know.

Let's get to it!


Rude?


Rude.



To not be able to eat that not delicious looking horn...


So far so good...


Kuruna's safe(for now).


Racism solved, etc etc.


Harmony forever, etc.


...Collette, how old are you supposed to be? Because if you're a marriage option, you had damned well better be old enough to be a 'grown-up' yourself.


This one's an actual lengthy conversation, so it's the important one.

How was the Unity Festival?
It went well, I thought.
Oh, that's true, but...
Well...I was a little worried about what Kuruna would be like.
Is that right?
I mean, she was against the festival until the very end, right? And she was the "elder" and all. Things really could've gone differently if she'd wanted them to.
B-But Kuruna!
I know. I've lived long enough to be able to tell what someone's thinking just by looking at them.
I see.
She has a strong heart. I might be able to learn from her.
I see...






I see...I'm glad. Link. Thank you. I am sure it was a hassle to go around to everyone. Please take this.
Thank you.



I wanted to ask what you had him do for you.
Um...
You don't mind, do you?
W-Well, I should be going...
Oh, wait! Link!
Hee-hee...Let's have a nice chat.


, but thanks for the ring.