Part 38: Much Ado About Marriage and Kids
Update 38: Much Ado About Marriage and KidsWelcome back! Last time, Mist either wandered off or got kidnapped, we met the alternate half of Iris the vampire who split off due to solitude induced depression, we shredded waves at a boat race immediately following that, and now the environment is dying.
Oh, wait, that last part is always happening.
In this update we'll actually escape Summer 25th, a day we've been on for a total of 3 updates now.
I'll fire through the victory dialogue for the festival first though.
ROSETTA: So you won the Boat Race... Not bad.
Rosetta is evidently impressed. By the next time we have a date based festival, we should probably be able to take anyone from the main 6 out for it.
BIANCA: So you won the Boat Race. That's amazing.
Miss Sainte-Coquille is less impressed by some degree.
TABATHA: I heard that you won the Boat Race. Congratulations.
Neither of them seem that excited about it. Maybe expert boating is just that common in all the fancy places they go to.
MARCO: Did you win the Boat Race?
MARCO: I know I would win if only I joined. But Mom...
This phrasing opens up the possibility he didn't enter just because his mom would embarass him. To be fair, at the end of the day Ganesha does seem like the kind of parent who'd go overboard cheering for her kid.
DANNY: It's sunny right now so you should buy some seeds while you're here.
Danny, having been thorougly trounced by everyone in the boat race is now evidently in a daze, thinking he's still running a shop.
ERIK: Not bad, young man! But you fell one step short of me!
Ah yes, if you lose, merely claim that you won regardless. Truly the strategy to win at life with.
GANESHA: Hello, Bush. I put a rose pattern on a shield the other day because a customer wanted it that way.
GANESHA: I have some extra roses I used to design it with so you can have them.
BUSH: Thank you so much.
Oh, that's neat. Free flower!
GANESHA: Put that into the into the "Seed Maker" to grow "White Roses."
GANESHA: Good luck!
BUSH: ...?
You got White Rose!
The context of this situation makes more sense when I note that the wedding bouquet recipe that Stella gave us requires a rose to make- a flower completely unavailable up until this point.
Either way, Stella put her up to this, or she wants the town to have more kids in it so that Marco and Candy have someone to hang out with.
GANESHA: Congratulations on winning the Ganesha Cup Boat Race! Your rowing sure is a sight to behold.
Honestly, I wanted to see Anette's attempt at it. She got nearly as much as us without anyone on board for free speed boosts.
...Did she just run across the water at high speed, or is she that good at boating?
Speaking of Anette-
ANETTE: Not bad, Bush!
ANETTE: Bush, it was really great just watching you row the boat!
CINNAMON: Did the Boat Race... end?
BUSH: Yes, it's over.
CINNAMON: ...Oh. Now I can fish again. Great.
She doesn't care if we win or lose, she just wants her fishing spot back. I respect that though, good spots to fish at are hard to find.
Took me forever to find her here though.
LUTE: Did that boat festival end?
LUTE: You seem like you had a lot of fun.
Lute! We haven't seen you in a while!
i keep forgetting to go to the lake on thursdays
Since we're sitting at a massive 90,000g, I decide to go and buy a bigger storage box for our house. It only costs us 10,000g.
SELPHY: So you won the Boat Race.
SELPHY: You're amazing. It would have been impossible for me.
Who would win in an arm-wrestle contest, Bianca or Selphy?
As the day winds down and the summer cicadas start up, Bush is down in the fields collecting the rest of the harvest.
We got some more Pink Cats today alongside the usual corn and tomatoes. Those pumpkins should be done soon, also.
We got a lot of Pink Cats, actually, but I don't need most of them so in the shipping bin they go. I'll keep 15 on hand as gifts and crafting materials.
nearly die of exhaustion watering the fields
It's pretty dark by the time we finish, so I head inside to make the white rose into seeds- I'll plant them on Whale Island. The description makes mention of a long lost method of how to turn them into blue roses, how mysterious!
...And convenient as the recipe for the bouquet calls for blue ones!
They're also worth 810g a piece each and can grow in any season but winter, so they're honestly good money.
The Wedding Bouquet itself requires a Blue Rose, Green Grass, a Moondrop, a Toy Herb, a Pink Cat, and Baleen. That last thing is the big ol' filter bristles on whales by the way, commonly referred to as whalebone, which isn't really bone.
Say, we know a whale! I guess maybe we can get some from him sometime.
It's a holiday, so the path to the Tower of Rest is a lot shorter.
Music: Iris' Spirit SongAnd when we enter, the music's completely different! This plays from now on inside the tower as...
They're both singing it! We can still talk to them as they have to take a break at some point.
It doesn't stop the respective vocals in the background, which is understandable, but it would've been a neat detail.
IRIS BLANCHE: We're both singing, but it's not doing much.
IRIS BLANCHE: This just shows how strong of a power is calling the Spirits below.
IRIS BLANCHE: We'll keep singing, although this may do nothing more than ease our minds...
BUSH: Okay. I'll keep looking for a way to get into that room in the ruins.
BUSH: Don't push yourselves too hard, okay?
IRIS BLANCHE: Thank you. Bush, you be careful out there, too.
Last time, Blanche said she promised she'd sing for us at some point, which makes me wonder if there wasn't another alternate progression to this storyline at some point. Had she done so, the Whale might have recognized it was helping.
Then again, it'd probably mean Gelwein would probably just kidnap Blanche too.
IRIS BLANCHE: Do you know about "Blue Roses"?
IRIS BLANCHE: Blue roses don't usually grow in nature. But, if you let moonlight shine on white roses for a few days, they will turn blue.
IRIS BLANCHE: I'd like to see it at least once.
If you think back all the way to how we first met Blanche, there's our answer of what to do with the roses! There's strong moonlight out here on the fin, so I suppose we just plant it anywhere.
IRIS NOIRE: It's because of me that Mist...
IRIS NOIRE: I don't know what to say...
BUSH: It's not your fault, Iris. I'll be sure to find Mist.
BUSH: Iris, please don't say that. It's not your fault.
IRIS NOIRE: Thank you, Bush.
I'd just keep calling the other Iris just that, and this one Noire, but the game insists on referring to both of them as just the former. I mean, technically they are both the same Iris, but they're also kinda different?
It's confusing to say the least.
IRIS NOIRE: There is also a field inside Whale Island. I wonder who it belongs to.
Given Bush is the only one willing to risk his life for farmland, I guess it's his by default.
IRIS NOIRE: I hope we, including my other self, can get along from now on, too.
IRIS NOIRE: The night is still young.
I assume that latter line is a vampire reference. From what I've seen, she leans a little bit more into the vampire side.
Oh, and Noire is a full character now, although her lines will be occasionally eaten by plot relevant dialogue.
She even loves tomato juice just like Blanche.
IRIS (NOIRE)- "The other half of Iris. A liveliness returned to her upon meeting Bush."
And she even has a separate FP and LP bar of her own. She's evidently a bachelorette candidate, but she's still Iris. As they're the same person, Bush has to raise both of their LP to 10 in order to marry one of them. It's all very unusual, even when you put aside the matter of them being vampires and one of them now bloodlinked to Bush aside.
Whether or not it's intentional, there is an odd mechanic unique to Iris in that you can gift her multiple times in the same day for extremely diminished returns. In theory, you could max both of them out in the same day if you had enough tomato juice.
I'm not doing that though.
Back out on the fin, Pony shows her superiority over the native wolves while Bush plants the rose seeds. These wolves up here used to be capable of nearly one-shotting Bush, but now they can only deal 1 damage to her as she one-shots them in return.
Back at home, I finally make use of our box. It's double the size it once was, giving us plenty of space to store all the random materials we're gonna need to get our crafts and forge skills built up.
A lot goes inside, and the bathing suit we do have is still put at the very bottom. One day, we'll do something with this.
It'll probably be next Summer though.
Music: GoodnightSleep ahoy! Time to finally be done with this day!
Music: Trampoli Daily LifeAh, 6:00 AM. How long it's been since we've seen you!
Cook food!
Gather food!
This is a lot of pumpkins. Hopefully it's enough to never need to grow any more?
Mail!
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~"Curry" - Cinnamon~
I ate curry for dinner lat night.
I asked Candy to make fish curry next time and only got yelled at.
I'll have to cook it myself.
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1. Do your best.
2. Maybe you should reconsider?
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Hey, a person will only remain terrible at something if they never practice the skill. Master Chef Bush says do your best!
I think the context of this is mostly that Candy's probably sick of fish.
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~"The other day..." - Eunice~
I was cooking the other day, and I accidentally
poured too much sauce, and it splattered on my apron.
It was so hard getting rid of the stain.
Bush, you should be careful, too.
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This is starting to feel like a question corner from back when people used to write letters into shows.
BUSH: "These are things you have to be wary of when cooking, otherwise it turns into a plate of char, and not the fish kind!"
Tell me I'm wrong. Bush has somehow progressed to T.V. celebrity chef without the presence of television.
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~"Like I said...!" - Bush~
I've had enough of this!
I told you I don't care!
I have nothing to do with this,
and I'm totally fine by myself,
so just stop!
Don't write me anymore!
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uh ok
I think Selphy sent this to the wrong address?
Maybe we'll learn what this is about today, although Bush doesn't usually talk about his mail.
Well, anyways, off to the usual routine.
ANETTE: Wow, you're early!
Bush was actually a few minutes late today!
Although him being zonked out in his house as frequently as he has recently probably doesn't set a good example anyways.
ANETTE: The other day, I found a lost kid. We looked everywhere for his parents. Thanks to that, I was late with the mail.
ANETTE: But it's okay since the mom was found.
Aw. There are valid reasons to be late with the mail, and this is definitely one of them.
ANETTE: *phew* This is so heavy.
BUSH: That looks tiring.
ANETTE: Yeah. But this weight is nothing compared to the emotions everyone puts in these letters.
ANETTE: So I can't sit around complaining, you know?
Anette is regularly the bright spot in this occasionally dark town.
ANETTE: Where did Mist go? I'm getting worried.
Speaking of dark, we will get reminded of Mist's absence by the townsfolk every once in a while. It'll be a while before we really have the means to find her, so there's not much I can do.
In other news, we broke the 100,000g mark yesterday. This Summer has been incredibly profitable for Bush. Just but a season ago I was having to scrounge every last bit of money out of strawberries, now we just sell raw produce without a care.
LARA: If you have "Energy Drink X," it can heal all wounds right away. But that doesn't mean you can stop being careful!
It heals a little over 300 HP last I checked, which is still more than Bush has in max HP. It'd be really nice if we had some, but the pharmacy needs so many extra steps.
I'll still try to work on our pharmaceuticals, but I do think a healthy supply of rice oatmeal is probably good enough?
LARA: I know you are worried about Mist, but you must take care of yourself, too.
More than that, Bush must prepare himself. Over the course of the next few days, I'm going to be going hard on gearing up.
The first week of Autumn will also give me lots of time to prepare as I don't even have to bother with runeys.
Library's clean again!
By the way Selphy, uh, what's with this very angry letter
SELPHY: Hmmm Hmm Hmmmm! ♪
SELPHY: Hey, Bush! Look!
BUSH: A... book?
SELPHY: I bought a new book! I can't wait to see what it's about!
SELPHY: Time to read!
i guess we're not getting any answers on the letter then
Also no new books that I can find. Despair and tarnation!
Music: TrampoliBUSH: Rosetta, you're always working so hard at your own store. I really respect you for that.
ROSETTA: I-I sometimes dream about having a knight in shining armor to come take me away.
ROSETTA: ...I'm a girl after all...
BUSH: W-what's wrong? Did I say something to make you mad?
ROSETTA: It's n-nothing...
Bush remains ever oblivious.
Rosetta was a lot more forward in her original characterization, but I guess in a way, this is still pretty forward when you think about it. While Bush is capable of romance, as we've seen with the date he had, he just can't pick up on it when it's coming from anyone else.
He is an enigma.
Let's have a change of conversation!
ROSETTA: Maybe I should put up more flowers in the store. Don't you think the place looks a bit drab?
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1. That's a great idea.
2. I like it the way it is.
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A choice!
Perhaps it's best we hold back on messing with the timelines and commit to one.
"I like it the way it is."
ROSETTA: Really? Well, you're a customer so if you think it's fine, I'll keep it the way it is.
This isn't an excuse for forgetting to make a savestate, I assure you.
ROSETTA: Mist... Where did you go...?
ROSETTA: Don't make me worry about you like this...
UZUKI: I was born on the 15th of summer. I do not know if it is because of that, but I do like summer very much.
Something I didn't notice until just now is that Uzuki never complains about the heat. Or at least I can't remember her doing so. Huh.
UZUKI: In my country, people belonging to the upper class have people that serve as wet nurses.
UZUKI: That person is the one who will raise the child.
UZUKI: We did not have someone like that, but others around me had children that never recieved love from their parents. I felt sorry for those ones.
UZUKI: If I had a child of my own, I would never be indifferent to its upbringing. I will raise the child myself.
(i feel like someone forgot to make her stop smiling during that third line)
TSUBUTE: Bush, one must not ever be indifferent to one's child, right?
UZUKI: Why are you asking for Bush's opinion in this matter?!
TSUBUTE: Now then... I wonder why.
is your face stuck uzuki
Anyways, sheesh, all the adults trying to get us to have kids this update. Bush isn't ready to settle down yet!
I guess this means we have Angry Samurai Cicada Dad's approval?
UZUKI: Is that large tree near the clock tower a sacred tree? It certainly looks grand.
I don't go down that path too often these days, so I've mostly forgot it's there. I presume it's where the wedding ceremony actually takes place.
EUNICE: I can sew, too. I made this outfit.
EUNICE: You can tell me if you ever tear your clothes, Bush.
Eunice is a good friend.
...I'm surprised Bush still has clothing left after all he goes through to be honest. Whatever this is, it's durable. It's never really explained why he showed up on the Sechs border wearing farm clothes or where this outfit came from.
It might not even be his!
MARCO: I'll tell you right away if I find out where Mist is. Don't feel down.
BUSH: ...Thanks, Marco.
MARCO: No problem!
Marco's also a good friend.
I wish I was better at finding him on the regular
Tabatha's up in the square today.
TABATHA: The water around here is very clean so the vegetables look very nice.
TABATHA: Do you like working in the fields, Bush? I love my work as a maid very much.
I'd say we technically don't grow vegetables, just fruit, but that'd be a lie as we did just harvest pumpkins this morning.
Working in the fields is chill, although this watering can makes it less so. Still kinda wish I hadn't upgraded it.
By 2:00 PM, we're in the magic crystal mines yet again.
Aquasword Lv:2 was synthesized with expertise!
An hour later, we've got one, and it's time for a bath. I also used a spare water crystal to make an aquasword to see if it'd be better to either farm Ignis or to just grind weapon skill.
It turns out to be bad at the first and indistinguishable at the second.
MELODY: Welcome!♪ The bath is perfect as always today!
And am I finally glad to be back! Not bathing that one time resulted in disaster.
NOLAN: My birthday?
NOLAN: Let's see... I think it was...
NOLAN: Yes, I remember! I believe it is on the 8th of spring.
One bath later and we're off to really get our day started!
Music: Snow Ruins...Huh, there's actually a boss shortcut portal in Snow Ruins. Might as well take it to see what happens.
Well, we're back outside the door where found Noire. The way out is blocked by the Minotaur King, inconveniently re-frozen in the hallway's entrance. Bummer, this would be a good experience farming shortcut.
I guess we try the door and see?
*We get a short montage of Bush inspecting it.*
BUSH: Man, this is shut tight. It'd be nice if I could find some other way in.
Welp, it was worth a shot.
I take the portal back and do some tests on RP consumed to weapon skill gained, but I wasn't able to really find anything noticeable.
So I opted to just fight some hornets instead.
Occasionally Bush will critical hit, I believe thanks to the cat ears. This does hilarious damage with the axe's charge swing.
Still getting that missing issue.
Roughly three and a half hours later I give it a break, our RP bar thoroughly drained with crops on Whale Island still needing to be watered.
So we head on up there.
Music: Whale Island EntranceWHALE: "A Spirit Song... I have not heard it in some time..."
BUSH: Whale! Iris' Spirit Song is calling to the Spirits. Now...
WHALE: "Unfortunately, it will be difficult... The power summoning to the Spirits to the underground is too srong. At this rate..."
WHALE: "Unless the source of that power is stopped, I will continue to fail..."
WHALE: "Bush, please discover what's causing the Spirits to gather under the ground. Please..."
Can you give me, like, two weeks? I should be ready by then.
Seriously, I've got a feeling that Noire would have just killed us if it wasn't for Blanche stepping in.
Got some Toyherbs almost done up here. I'll save one or two for some high level recipes and the bouquet, and the others I can probably give to Stella.
St. Poli knows these two probably need some refreshment if they've still been singing for hours on end.
Your voice has to blow out at some point, right?
IRIS BLANCHE: I'm so glad we can talk again.
I'm glad you stopped us from having to do that boss fight!
They don't really have anything else to say today, alas. I suppose speaking of that boss fight, I should cover it.
The problem is that I don't have a save file anywhere close to it and I'm having to
I've spent a few hours on it, and still haven't gotten the event where you meet Gelwein for the first time, which seems to be the trigger for Noire's boss door. I was hoping to have it for this update, but I guess it'll happen when it wants to happen.
So what I'm saying is I'll cover it eventually.
In the meantime, that's all for this one. It's a bit short, but the last two have been some big stuff.
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BUSH: "In the coming days, I would need to gain as much skill as I could. There wasn't much time left."
MYSTERY: "Finally, we're past those two days. So bored of hearing about those."
BUSH: "Those were two of the most important days of my life!"
MYSTERY: "What about when the first town was-"
BUSH: "I am obligated to say that was somebody else."
MYSTERY: "...wait why are we still doing this bit"
BUSH: "Um...I don't know."