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Odd Wilson posted:
That didn't sound right to me, so I looked it up.  It's actually chestnut puree in the form of pasta! (Specifically, vermicelli.) You pipe it out so it coils up like that, then cover it with some combination of powdered sugar, whipped cream (piped into peaks), and/or meringue, depending on the recipe, to give it the resemblance to snowy mountains that gave it the name. Presumably Kanno means to use yams in place of chestnuts. I don't know if they're necessarily interchangeable directly but I don't expect it's a bad idea, just a different flavor profile. Like macarons, it's a French dessert that caught on in Japan and features heavily in manga, anime, and games due to being colorful and recognizable. Raitzeno fucked around with this message at 09:25 on Mar 5, 2023 |
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Mar 5, 2023 09:22
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Raitzeno posted:That didn't sound right to me, so I looked it up. Our sources either weren't the most clear about this or something was misunderstood by one of our staff members, so thank you fixing this critical error in our last episode. "Runeytown" is primarily an edutainment medium, and Bush himself would be dearly disappointed if we provided MISINFORMATION on our platform, especially in regards to the culinary world.  We are not experts on all the topics we speak of, therefore input from various experts is always appreciated. Please accept this oatmeal (it's not rice porridge) of thanks in return.  A PSA will be announced at the beginning of the next episode.  (Thanks for catching that! I knew what the name was referencing at least, and about macarons. I don't know much about pasta or the applications of puree, it seems- I'll edit in a fix.) Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Mar 5, 2023 |
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Mar 5, 2023 16:15
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Update 47: As Long As You Have Enough Rubies The adventures of Bush continue! It's another rainy day, and I'm just remembering we have all this leftover tea! This'll be good for staying alive.  Music: Rune Factory 4 - FallHere's more autumn music! Will the rain ever stop? No idea.  Our plants are coming along nicely. Watering them sure is hard work!  Anette still can't see Kross for some reason. This will never be explained at this rate.  No mail today, she's still on about the melons. I think the only melon we've seen was the super rare beach melon we smashed with a hammer. Good times.   IRIS NOIRE: It is said that the moonlight embodies magic. IRIS NOIRE: Now that I mention it, the moonlit night seems much more mystical. There is something peculiarly fantastic about the stars. They've always seemingly had a large impression on humanity, but I don't know what it is exactly.   GANESHA: "Demon Blood"! This is a rare one! Is that really for me? Thanks! She's really hyped about the blood. There's more where that came from! I do have a reason for raising her FP, but we won't see it in time for that reason to be useful at all. I've been throwing the occasional gift at all the other villagers to see if I can trigger some events we haven't seen yet. Speaking of events...  Hey, Tabatha, I can't find that last rupee. Can I get a hint?   TABATHA: Have you found the 5th jewel?  BUSH: Well... I can't seem to find it anywhere.  TABATHA: That's odd... I don't remember hiding it in such a difficult to find place... TABATHA: Would you please wait a moment?  *And so she goes to check where she hid it.*   TABATHA: I knew it...  BUSH: What is it? TABATHA: The jewel that I had hid is gone. BUSH: What?! Did someone take it? TABATHA: No. Well, then what happened? Did we fail the test?   TABATHA: Miss Bianca! I know it's you! Please come out here! *Bianca starts walking down the stairs from off-screen.* TABATHA: I know you have the last jewel! Oh, that'd make sense, yeah. I didn't foreshadow this at all by saying how open to interference this ceremony is.   BIANCA: How did you know I took it?  TABATHA: I am your maid. I know everything about you.  BIANCA: Hmph... Fine. I knew I couldn't outsmart you.   Got the Kindness Gem! TABATHA: Bush, now bring the last jewel to me.  The Kindness Gem happens to be a deep violet, but also represents love despite it's name? There's a certain symbolism in this being the one Bianca was able to find. We just hand it over to Tabatha to get the last of the event.   Music: RomanceTABATHA: I will now begin the last part of the ceremony. TABATHA: This follows the legend where the goddess used those gathered jewels to create a tiara and gave it to the new elven queen. TABATHA: I will attach those 5 jewels that Bush found to the tiara and hand it over to Minerva. TABATHA: Minerva, are you ready?   MINERVA: Yes, Sister. TABATHA: I, Tabatha, shall relinquish my throne as the elven queen, my powers as the guardian of the forest, and my knowledge... TABATHA: ...as the bridge to all races... And thus relinquished, I shall consign it all to Minerva. MINERVA: I, Minerva, shall gather all my strength, to fulfill my duty... MINERVA: ...and defend the knowledge and dignity of the elves until it is passed onto the next queen. (Minerva sounds significantly younger here than she does in daily dialogue bits. I wonder if this was recorded earlier with a different voice direction?)  *Tabatha pulls out the tiara, complete with it gemstones.*  *She places it upon Minerva's head before we cut to a CG.*  TABATHA: The throne now belongs to Minerva.  MINERVA: It's just temporary. An official one should be chosen soon. TABATHA: I'm sorry for making you do this, Minerva. MINERVA: I don't mind.  BIANCA: Are you sure about this, Tabatha? TABATHA: Yes. I am your maid, Miss Bianca. Nothing more, nothing less. BIANCA: All right...  Music: To YouMINERVA: Then I'll head back tomorrow. TABATHA: Already? You should stay a little longer. MINERVA: I already stayed long enough. Grandma will get annoyed if I don't get back soon. TABATHA: All right... Thank you, Minerva. MINERVA: How many times are you going to thank me?! I only did this because I wanted to! TABATHA: I suppose so. Thank you... And so Minerva returned to the land of the elves, having enough rupees from the crown to afford cab fare  All in all, that was nice. Though, I do have to wonder why Tabs waited so long to do this. I get that this is a job she kinda fell into when she first came to Norad and ended up enjoying it much more than she thought, so maybe she had still been entertaining the idea of returning at some point? Ah, well. Selphy would have a field day with this if she knew about any of it. Oh, and there also seems to be leftover dialogue that gets skipped over? "This is the first time you actually decided for yourself." How strange- I've no idea who's supposed to say it. Maybe it's alternate dialogue if you've already married Bianca?  MINERVA: The other day, I talked to Selphy because I wanted to read something. MINERVA: What surprised me was how many books that came out. And her explanations lasted until the sun went down! BUSH: So what kind of book did you read, Minerva? MINERVA: Whoops! MINERVA: I got tired just from listening to the explanations so I didn't... It's Selphy, we know exactly what kind of books they were.  Well, here's one last plate of charred ash for the road, your Majesty.  BIANCA: Francoise eats from my hand directly now.  BIANCA: I'm the only one that can do it. And so, it soon seems that all will be back to normal with the Coquilles. Or I guess, Croquilles. I still haven't forgotten about that typo.  BIANCA: My family is among the richest in all of Norad, but for some reason, our homes and getaways are always in the countryside. BIANCA: I wonder if it's just a personal preference... Honestly, it's probably the food and the festivals. Jasper, Herman, and Sherman are all big contributors in either funding and/or participation. Besides, I don't think Norad has much in the way of cities anyways, Selphia is probably the closest to one we see, and it's half a palace to the resident elder dragon.  BIANCA: I heard that you went inside a book. BIANCA: That sounds interesting. We could take you there sometime, but I don't know how many interdimensional cows are still waiting to destroy us inside that thing. That's enough of this place, let's go check up on the rest of town.  BUSH: Are you still having those strange dreams?  LARA: Not recently.  BUSH: That's great! LARA: Well... It's not that I don't dream. I just can't sleep. BUSH: Do you have any medicine for that?  LARA: I tried a myriad of herbs and medicines, but none of them work... BUSH: I'm sure you'll find one that works. Please tell me if I can get you anything to help.  LARA: Thank you. You might've prayed for the dreams to go away too much. Still, I know this frustration all too well. But if the town's resident medicine expert doesn't know how to fix it, who will? I suppose we ought to ask around everywhere we can.  But first, we have unfinished business of our own. Snow Ruins, you're going down! Music: Rune Factory 1 - Danaan CaveA similarly frozen place, Danaan was also the penultimate dungeon. Did it ever happen? Still no answers on if this is actually a sequel or not.  Cool, Platinum. For our sake, there's not a lot we'll end up making with it. The Wristwatch is the only thing we'll end up with that does need it.  And so we resume from where we last left off.  The following room is covered in Minotaur and Little Wizards. It's a giant rectangle, with the center having a raised platform with an easily disabled turret on it.  The northern hallway on the left is where we want to go. The only other thing here is a tiny treasure room only openable after we release this boulder held by ice at the end of the hall. You'll need the Fire Rod for this- you don't have enough time to run away with a fire weapon.  This leads to a room with farm plots, a gate that spawns Souls (wind versions of Blazes) and to the south...  Our shortcut! Now there's only one actual floor left to endure before we reach the true boss of Snow Ruins. That's right, Gelwein/Iris isn't even the real fight here. This is actually optional content but we need to do it if I want to gear Bush up.  We're also pretty close to a level up, so we've got that going for us. Something I discovered in recording more footage for this is that I believe axes just use the Lumber skill and not Weapons. Maybe I already figured that out before, but I did again. So Bush is way better at axes than I thought he was, although we still have some miss chances anyways.   The Fire Rod continues to prove effective, being good at one-shotting gates off-screen to stop enemy spawns as well as doing good damage to minotaurs. This weapon is the most broken one we have in some ways.  collect wood (I'm doing this for the expanded apothecary.) then bath  BUSH: Melody.  MELODY: What's with that serious look on your face, Bush? BUSH: Lara hasn't been sleeping recently.  MELODY: Really? That's awful.  MELODY: Everyone needs their beauty sleep. "You got Pleasant Sleep!"  MELODY: Take this with you. Follow the recipe and get her to drink the "Sleepy Grass." With this, even the dead will fall asleep! ♪ BUSH: Thank you, Melody! MELODY: What're friends for? ♪ Of course, the relaxation expert would know just the recipe we need. This is also one of the reasons why we need a bigger pharmacy.  ♨ BATH FACTS ♨ Hot spring cleanliness is important, as they are subsceptible to a number of water borne infections. Legionella (Legionnaire's Disease and Pontiac fever) and Naegleria (same type as the human brain eating amoeba although that specific one hasn't been found). There's improving standards on it, and even some have moved towards using a small amount of chlorine, though that itself has caused a bit of a divide in patronage in regards to the baths still being traditional and completel natural. I'm not much a fan of chlorine myself, but then again, I wouldn't say I'm eager to jump in a public bath anyways. Enough facts, have at you, Snow Ruins!  But first, the Sleepy Grass recipe. Black Grass, Mushroom, Magic Powder, Milk. The grass is what hurts. Guess I'm off to hunt slimes at some point.  The staircase down is just over here to the left, just past some mining rocks. The Souls can inflict exhaustion, which as usual is extremely damaging to further progress.  The sixth floor is another labyrinth, but mostly without diverging paths. Don't worry, they made it into a warzone to make up for that. Also up front, we find Tricky Mushes. They're the upgrade of the mushrooms we fought way back in Green Ruins. From here, we head north.   Monsters, monsters everywhere! These demons are Arch Daemons, although they don't do much more than normal demons. Really, the same as the Mushes. The latter are tanky as all get out though- almost not worth fighting them.  If we take a ramp down, we can find a room with a lot of loot, but a lot of Mini Dragons barfing fire everywhere. Some are mimics, of course. Gobble Boxes, specifically.  Also, Garlic seems to be considered on the same tier as Gold and Platinum when it comes to box loot. Peperoncino is good, don't get me wrong, but I can just buy this stuff by the dozen from Rita.  The actual path forward isn't beyond the hallway to hell, but to the right in the opening room, past all the turrets.  Continue right, dodging all the nonsense...  Continue doing so around this little spiral to a staircase...  And there it is! Floor 7!  just mind the dragons on the way down   Ah, here we are! Shortcut at last! I missed the shortcuts for floor 4 and 6, but 2,3,5, and 7 are good enough. To the right is our boss door, but Bush is in no shape, nor do we have the time left in the day to think about it. Chop some wood and off we go.  To bed, that is. Nothing left in the day but a little bit of nightly butter churning for more baked goods in the morning.  Music: Rune Factory 4 - FallTomorrow is raining too! Who'd have guessed?  Who's the bestest pony- that's right, yes you are!  In other news, Yams. These are like the tomatoes of Autumn, but they're not so easily made into spammable juice. We'll only keep a bit for ourselves, we'll sell the rest.  Spinach isn't particularly great either, but's useful for one recipe we'll end up maybe wanting to make. I personally have never managed to like spinach. Tried for years to get used to the taste, but I just simply dislike the stuff. Even frying it won't save it. Just give me cabbage instead, it's the better leafy vegetable.   We intercept Anette just before she puts the letters in our mailbox.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"It's more fun than I thought." - Bianca~ I recieved your Strawberry. I guess exchanging letter is not too boring. It feels a bit different from talking in person. Anyway, send me a Veg. Stir-fry next. ----------------------------------------------------- And that's what we want spinach for. The recipe also wants cabbage, but we don't have any of that. We neglected to grow any in the face of the Turnip Mafia's strong hold on our farming roots. We'll eventually make it, but it'll be a long while. Also, didn't Bianca ask for the strawberry like weeks ago?  The wild ecosystems are but days away from collapse... Meh, I'll do it later.  I do have to say, I like how Lara's skirt is modeled to properly lay out when she's praying. It's just some extra poly loops, (you can tell from the texture on the back when she's standing,) but it ends up looking okay. Never mind the fact that Bush just keeps walking up to her while she's praying and hands her a plate with a slice of chocolate cake on it. Where is the rest of the cake?   LARA: Birthdays are the day when you celebrate the life your parents gave you as well as express thanks to them for it. BUSH: Oh. When is your birthday, Lara? LARA: My birthday is on the 1st of winter. Norad has a much less one-sided view of birthdays.  To the inn!   TURNER: Thank you. Ah, right, Minerva is leaving today.  MINERVA: Did you come to see me off? BUSH: Yes, but where is Tabatha? MINERVA: Well, I didn't tell her I was going. BUSH: Oh, really? MINERVA: Everything just gets so hectic when it's time to leave. MINERVA: I'm just not good at dealing with all that. BUSH: I know how you feel. Bush, having walked away from Kardia silently to chase after Mist, is familiar with the idea of moving along without a fuss.  MINERVA: But I'll come visit about once a year. MINERVA: I just need to be sure that she won't get tricked by bad people. BUSH: Oh... She specifically comes only on festival days, I believe. So for the large part, this is the last we'll see of her.  *Minerva starts to walk past Bush, but stops halfway.*  MINERVA: You do know the other reason why my sister is staying, right? BUSH: Huh? Another...reason? MINERVA: Wow... Looks like she's got her work cut out for her... MINERVA: See you later! Bush is too oblivious as always. The answer is obvious, she's staying for Bianca! Of course that's it. What other reason could there be?  And so leaves the new elven queen. She wasn't even here for 2 weeks! There's a bit of dialogue she eventually says where she notes a foreign kingdom is currently in a bit of an uproar thanks to a missing princess. A certain, unruly princess. We didn't get to see it, but there you go.  TABATHA: If I ever were to get married, Miss Bianca will... I am a bit worried. I dunno, the answer seems pretty simple to me. I might be wrong, but based on dialogue, I believe Tabatha keeps her job as a maid even if she does get married. You know who hasn't left?   BRODIK: Why are the villagers so nice to outsiders like you and me?! You better not be taking advantage of them! BRODIK: It's better for everyone if you just left before you become attached to them.  BRODIK: But that's only if you can still act friendly to people! Hahaha! This guy! He's even taken to hanging outside our farm. Real outstanding guy. Out standing in the rain! got em  On a more serious note, it's evident that Sechs has some sort of global issue with interpersonal relationships. Lynette is shown in disbelief at the kindness of Kardia and spends much of her time observing the town's daily life as generally unusual. Edward proves it's not universal, at least.  With all that out of the way, it's time we challenge this boss. Prepared is a 100 HP health drink, 2 Teas worthe 200RP each, and 1 Sandwich and 1 Pumpkin Tart. The Sandwich is basically a full heal for us, and the Pumpkin Tart close to it. I told you there was a reason to focus food instead of meh medicine.  In we go...  Music: Ice Snake(This music's quite good, do listen to it when you get a chance.)  *We enter to find a large circular chamber, with a massive ivory snake thrashing about from a hole in the center!* Meet Ice Snake, folks. He's a right pain in the backside.  We begin the fight at the end of a long hallway of which the snake immediately begins barfing ice breath down. He will keep doing this constantly. The breath itself only hits for 1 a couple of times in quick succession, but has huge pushback on it. You can take cover behind these broken walls to not get pushed, but only if you're right up against them.  The breath is also just as strong as Pony's running speed, so we can't run against the wind to make this. A lucky break gets us into the main circle pretty quickly. None of my other attempts are so fortunate.  This triggers him to use his actual moveset. The first is the massive spinning ice barf. He'll do a full 360 at just barely enough speed to not overtake Bush running while hugging the inner circle. This does tons of damage, easily one-shots pony and Bush has to get lucky to survive it. There are safe spots though, namely 2 on each of the left and right sides of the arena, as well as the entry hallway. (You have to be careful with the latter, as he'll go back to pushback barf if you're too deep in the entrance.) There's only a small window to strike his head after he does this. His body is generally too far to hit with most attacks, resists a lot of damage, and heavily resists projectile magic, so the head it is.   Next is the back and forth head sweep. This does annoyingly high damage, a similarly annoying hitbox, and can combo for instant kill. It does always come in the same pattern, a curving forward sweep to it's right, then a close sweep back left. You won't always be in the position to avoid it, but the solution is to run close on the first and then retreat outwards and to it's right on the second. It leaves the head open for decent moment, but it also leans to the side a bit afterwards in a way that can make you miss a hit.  Next is the 3 head pokes. It goes centerish-slightly right, far left, and ends to the far right. The range on this is surprisingly avoidable, and while it's kinda quick, is one of the easier attacks to manipulate and get damage in on.  The last is the tiny ice breath. It does pretty heavy damage and can easily one-shot you if it pushes you into a corner. It's quite easy to avoid though, and comes with the boss's only weakness. What is that? We'll see later, as it takes me a while to figure out exactly what.  In the meantime, here's 20 minutes later with barely 1/6th of the boss's HP bar gone. Our damage is not good here. Magic is heavily resisted by the boss for some reason, and even our axe charge attacks fail to break 100 damage on the regular. So I rewind time a bit and bail on this attempt. We need more damage.  The first thing on our list is to upgrade that Heat Axe we never use to a Flame Axe. Silver + Fire Crystal + Ruby, really should've made it sooner.  Looks pretty good.  I then take the Alldale we don't use and upgrade it with some more recent materials after a bunch of scrap metal skill grinding to Forging 40. Alldale + Gold + Demon Blood + Magic Talon + Toxin makes the Demon Axe. Seal and Poison chance, plus it has the anime frontflip lightning strike charge attack.  The Demon Axe has more of a metal, Frazetta look. This one just seems to have a bad hit chance for some reason, but it will prove to be exceptionally useful in time.  A bit of crafting later, and I've made a Fire Ring, Ruby Brooch, and picked up our old Heart Pendant from the box. Should fire damage prove to be the best against the snake, this'll give us the most boosts to fire damage as possible.  We then pull out our grass supply and start preparing some tea. It's going to be a long fight, even with better weapons. Alongside this, I make a good amount of Tomato Juice as the attack boost it gives seems to make a substantial enough difference to warrant it.  Alright, NOW you go down, ya oversized worm  A buffed Flame Axe charge hit on the head is a little over 300 damage- not a lot, but we can deal with that. It's about 200 more than we were getting.  Pony has no chance of surviving this fight, unfortunately. She's too aggressive and gets wiped by the circling ice breath. She did her job getting us into the boss arena though, forever MVP.  At seemingly random intervals, the snake will crawl out of it's hole and into one of the others on the side. It'll either fight from there (easier as it won't spam the circle breath)  Or it will decide to crawl from one of the darkened corridors across the room to the other. This is a prime time to hit the boss if you a can reach it as you can land tons of hits here.  But the hitbox is annoying and you have a decent chance of clipping into it with your attacks. Also icicles rain from the ceiling during all this, foreshadowed by circular shadows on the ground. These do the most damage here, nearly 400 (Bush barely has 300 Max HP), which is appropriate I suppose for taking a sharp ice spike right to the noggin.  Here's where the other circle ice breath safe spots are. Right here at the edges of the weird dark hallways only the snake can go down.  When his HP gets low, he gets all pinkish-red as part of his rage mode. Faster attacks and more damage. Also this screenshot is moments before death.   didn't dodge right respawn at bonfire, lose all souls  The entire series of attempts was about an hour and a half of trying to beat this scaly ponce. I'd get him to rage pretty regularly, but it's just so easy to die at this phase. Are we underleveled? Yes. Are we still undergeared? Yes. Am I going to brute force this? Absolutely. Also he'll do a goofy motion where he swings his head back and forth and spawns 2 Glaces. This is his last new ability, only active around half health. I hate it because I hate Glaces. It's always in pairs of north/south and east/west, and in rage mode, you'll probably die trying to get rid of the reinforcements.  I hate Glaces so much because they just spam ice balls for 60 a pop at decently long distances, are just as slippery as Blazes, and can also paralyze, which is about a guaranteed death here. Shoulda made a Para Ring, I guess.  The last thing to note is that if you hit his body while he's doing the tiny ice breath, it'll stun him for a bit. I did this with the Fire Rod for a while, but pulling it out was too slow half the time.  you're kidding like 2 hits from ending this  I eventually realize that the lesser axe charge attack can clip the boss's body at any point, meaning I can stun it out of the little ice breath without having to swap. Axes remain an immensely good choice for a weapon in this LP.  here lies peperony and chease  BEGONE FIEND  *doink* (it warps back to the middle for it's death animation)   Ugh, finally. Let's hope Gelwein isn't this bad. Also this gigantic dingus didn't even give us a level. Seriously.  The snake drops all the usual level 10 cooking materials, but also it's Ice Snake Tongue. This thing that's needed to make the cheaper Critical 7 recipe. Yeah, this was all for the Critical 7. At least it was a DPS check wake-up call and worth a bit of EXP in the end. Also the description notes the tongue is still moving, so eugh  Music: Trampoli Daily LifeBack home, we get to crafting our goal items. The normal Critical 7 needs Platinum, Four-leaf Clover, Magic Talon, Hard Horn, Sharp Fang, and Sharp Talon. It's good not only for the critical up passive it does give, but also for the 77 DEF and 77 MAG- a huge jump for us defensively.  The alternative is just using the tongue instead of all the horns and talons. ...Now that I think about it, we could've just made the other one. Oh well. The tongue's not useful for anything else, I don't think. But before that, we still have to get 6 Crafts skill from somewhere.  A short trip out for some materials...  That turns into a longer trip of woodcutting followed by a bath...   KROSS: Do you like the rain? I love it. KROSS: The rain can wash the dirty earth. As it flows, it creates a river and heads toward the sea... KROSS: Heh... KROSS: ...It is only on days like this that I can sleep well. I don't like being in rain, but I don't usually mind it that much. For a period of time in my life, rain just made me anxious as I was afraid of my roof falling in, even after it was fixed. in short: "only grumbles mildly at inclement weather"  I also use our wood and cash to build the pharmacy extension. I know I let you vote on the other ones, but I think I've earned the right to pick this one. Besides, we know out of these three (Apothecary, Alchemy, Magic) that Bush is a Magic kind of guy.  Here's what it looks like. I think it's quite nice! (You can't really see it from the outside.) We still have to buy the upgraded alchemy station to do anything with this.      What follows is a mix of making Gold Rings, another Earth Pendant, a set of Rabbit Ears (decent magic headwear), another Fire Cape,  And at last, our Critical 7 necklace is ours.  We can barely see it, but the stat changes will be felt. There were a few other options to use that four-leaf clover on, but I felt like this was the best option.  And with that, Bush can finally get some rest. The Wristwatch comes tomorrow. See you then! Music: Goodnight
Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 8, 2023 15:35
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Oh man, I remember the ice snake, such an annoying boss. I ended up spamming fireballs at it from the corridor while hiding from the ice breath for fifteen minutes. Good job fighting it in melee!
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Mar 9, 2023 06:55
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sandorius posted:Oh man, I remember the ice snake, such an annoying boss. I ended up spamming fireballs at it from the corridor while hiding from the ice breath for fifteen minutes. Good job fighting it in melee! It's definitely a strategy you can use, although not a fun one. I could've done the same and it'd have taken me much less time and far less resets, but Bush is determined to axe questions. I still think the thing that miffs me the most is how we didn't even get a level for our efforts. It'd be a bit better if the hitbox for it moving around the arena wasn't so wide- you're sore out of luck if you're a sword user there, as both push you forward when swinging. Axes and Magic really do seem to be the best.
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Mar 9, 2023 15:05
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Update 48: Magic Windfall Good morning! Bush has managed to rub most of the sleep out of his eyes today. That is to say, the screenshot quality should have returned to as it was. (It can still get better, but that'll come in a couple of updates.) Music: Rune Factory 2 - FallIt's raining again, of course.  Outside on the farm, we've got carrots, green peppers, and the usual yams on the ready for harvest. We've also got some Charm Blues almost ready too. I just pick a small supply of each to keep for personal use, then leave the rest for Grant to harvest.  Morning, Anette! Hit me with those hot off the press letters!  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"A favor" - Ganesha~ I'm making armor for a customer, but I'm all out of ingredients! Could you send me an Iron? I have no one else to ask. Please? ----------------------------------------------------- We've got a pretty high FP with Ganesha now so I'm not surprised to see a letter from her. Unfortunately, Iron is pretty much the one metal I just don't have on the regular. I don't even know where to find it outside of a few locations.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Minerva" - Eunice~ Minerva has returned home. I loved her like my own sister, so I am a bit saddened by this. But she promised to come by from time to time, so I am looking forward to that. ----------------------------------------------------- Even reading this letter now it takes me a bit to notice it's from Eunice. I keep thinking it's from Tabatha and going "but she IS your sister". Also,   ----------------------------------------------------- ~"We're the same!" - Tart~ Really? Actually... I like books very much,, too. ...I guess we're more alike than we thought... I'll be going on a trip soon with a friend... that is very much like me... so I won't be able to write you for a while. I'll write again, once I return. Perhaps... one day... you and I could go on a trip... together. ----------------------------------------------------- Tart always takes so long to respond, but I suppose she has to get the ellipsis out of her system. It doesn't seem like she got all of it out this time. I have no idea if this is her last letter or not, but at the end of the day, it's a cute callback to the first game. It would've been neat if she actually showed up, but between Cinnamon and Selphy + all the other Kardia girls here, she's not got much of a place.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Revised Menu" - Rita~ We have expanded our menu at Snowstyle Tavern with extremely tasty items! You'll love them all! We guarantee it! ----------------------------------------------------- I didn't notice any change in their stock following this, so maybe it's just like Melody's occasional advertisement letters.  Maybe it's about time we check in with Magic Grandpa to see what's up with that book we gave him.   KANNO: Ah! Bush! I've been looking for you!! BUSH: What's the matter? ...Don't tell me you...! KANNO: That's right! I have finished decoding the book. This is huge! Even more so than I had imagined!  KANNO: Listen closely. This book is written about another world called the "Era of disconnect." BUSH: Another world...? KANNO: Yes. A world that exists together with ours but that could never cross over. KANNO: That's what they call the "Era of disconnect." KANNO: The fact that this book was found where you were means that Miss Mist has been taken to this other world. I'm not exactly sure how that logic works, but who am I to question the guy who knows way more about the world than we do?  BUSH: Is there a way to go to this other world?! KANNO: Now just hang on a sec. BUSH: What is this...? KANNO: You must first grow this Crystal Flower. This flower will be what guides you to the "Era of disconnect."  KANNO: However! This flower can only be grown by maidens. KANNO: There are 12 seeds, so you should get help from 12 maidens.  KANNO: Candy is probably a bit too young to be considered a maiden. BUSH: 12 young ladies, right? I'll give it a shot. Thank you!  You got Crystal Flower!  Or rather, Crystal Flower Seeds. 12 of them. Never explained where Kanno gets these, but luckily we do know 12 girls to hand these out to. The seeds are apparently the "essence of the soul"? Crystal Flowers have been present in most RF games, though they're usually just normally grown, albeit with an extremely long growth timer. In the range of months to a whole year. In Bush's timeline, girls can just grow these in 3 days. Rosetta being out of town will make this take longer, but luckily tomorrow is a Holiday. I suppose we should get on handing them out.   CINNAMON: ...Bush. BUSH: What is it?  CINNAMON: ...On a night with clear skies, I go with Melody and Lara for some astronomical observation. BUSH: Oh, really? That sounds kind of romantic.   CINNAMON: Bush ... You should...come... BUSH: Really? CINNAMON: ...Come. BUSH: So it's on the nights with clear skies, right? Okay!  CINNAMON: I'll be waiting...on the veranda of the clock tower. Bush remains so oblivious he doesn't realize he just got asked on a sort of date. All our work in the gift mines has paid off though, we're finally getting somewhere with Cinnamon! It's been raining constantly, but tomorrow is a festival so it's guaranteed to be sunny. Perfect timing!  Hey, can you also grow this while you're at it?  CINNAMON: ... ... ...Fine. Okay then...!  Up on Whale Island, we've got some more roses! Our wallet will appreciate this as Bush is as poor as he's ever been with just 4 gold in wallet the other day. Our pile of liquid assets have all been drained away on house upgrades and shopping lists of "milk, eggs, flour".  IRIS NOIRE: I'm actually not very good at cooking. I know that I should get some practice, but... ...That's it, she doesn't follow up on that. To be fair, they don't have any cooking utensils up here. They either subsist on flowers or Wooly blood or something. Do they even need to eat? Anyways, can you two grow these flowers?   IRIS BLANCHE: My ancestors gathered in this land to bring back the Runes that were lost because of a magical creature.  IRIS BLANCHE: What I'm about to do seems to contradict the reason I'm here for in the first place...  IRIS BLANCHE: Even so... I will trust in your heart, Bush, and mine. IRIS BLANCHE: I'll take good care of the seed you gave me.  IRIS NOIRE: A magical creature that endlessly absorbs Runes is sealed in the "Era of disconnect." IRIS NOIRE: If it were to ever cross over into this world, all the Runes would disappear into it, and this world would eventually die.  IRIS NOIRE: Even so... I want to save Mist. IRIS NOIRE: I'll take good care of the seed you gave me. The Irises give some lore about the Era of Disconnect. It wasn't relevant info until now, so it was probably a vampire secret up until this point when the book was deciphered. We also just didn't ask. Don't forget they've been up here singing non-stop to prevent the island from nuking the town on impact.  LARA: I just have to grow this, right? LARA: Okay. I'll tend to it carefully. LARA: Don't worry. Mist will return to us for sure. The heavens are watching over us. Lara's not got a lot to say, but her hope is good to have.   SELPHY: I see... So you want me to grow this...  SELPHY: Sure! But in return, you gotta promise you'll let me read "Grimoire of Time," okay?  SELPHY: A book about another world! That is so cool!! Selphy, as usual, has her priorities in order   SELPHY: This is the first time I've grown flowers, but I guess it can be fun. Just remember, just like you, flowers don't do too well going days at a time without nourishment. please don't let the plot important flower die   GANESHA: I think I've seen that maid, Tabatha, from somewhere. I can't remember from where though... At this point, we could probably tell her. It wouldn't make a big difference now that the deal is already done. I get the idea Ganesha doesn't really pay attention to politics anyways.   UZUKI: Sir Bush, you need not worry. I shall take full responsibility to grow it beautifully. Interestingly, there seems to be some alternate dialogue that I assume happens if you haven't reunited her and Tsubute/ giving her more confidence in herself: Alternate Dialogue posted:
Presumably it ends with the same line.   UZUKI: The autumnal leaves of this village are quite spectacular. They are almost as beautiful as the foliage in my country.  TSUBUTE: No, they far from the autumnal leaves of our country. UZUKI: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Do not force your opinions on others. Hell yeah, take that, Cicada Samurai Dad!   EUNICE: I was feeling lonesome ever since Mist disappeared. I'd be more than happy to help!  EUNICE: I'm actually pretty good at growing flowers. Leave it to me! Do us proud, Eunice!  EUNICE: Minerva went home... EUNICE: It'll get a bit lonely, but she promised she'll visit again. EUNICE: We're pen pals now. Must be a bit wild to be pen pals with a ruling queen.  TABATHA: Thank you very much. Receiving the Oatmeal on my birthday can be very nice. It also happens to be Tabatha's birthday today! This puts her at near max LP, which she wasn't at already despite having completed her story.  TABATHA: Mist is a very important friend to me, so I'll do my best to grow it nicely. o7  TABATHA: I think it's wonderful to see the colors of the scenery change with the seasons. TABATHA: Moderate heat and moderate cold can make animals and nature stronger. TABATHA: Because we have summer and winter, we can appreciate spring and autumn. Where I live, Summer just makes me glad any other season exists at all.  BIANCA: So Mist will come back if I grow this flower...? Hm... How interesting. BIANCA: I've never grown flowers before, but I'll give it a shot. Of course, I won't ask Tabatha to do it for me. Bianca may be spoiled and sheltered, but she's quite responsible when it comes to things that need to be done.  BIANCA: I received a wooden horse for a birthday when I was small, but I ended up not even riding it once and threw it away. BIANCA: By the way, my birthday is on the 8th of summer. You better remember that. Your birthday's already passed. I think I gave you some grass? Off to deliver more plot seeds!   ANETTE: Yeah, for sure. Piece of cake!  ANETTE: ...Don't worry! I don't mean I'd actually eat it like a cake!  BRODIK: Even this rain can't wash away the blackness of your soul! BRODIK: Ha ha ha! ok   brief detour for Gold ore  Looks like we've got a decent payday coming in!  Another brief detour happens, this time for a monster hide that we need for our Wristwatch. Then it's off to the bath to deliver our last plot seed for the day.  MELODY: It's kinda hard to believe that something like this can really save Mist. MELODY: But, I'll do it. Mist is a good friend, so I'll gladly help.♪  ♨ BATH FACTS ♨ For a significant period of time, Japanese bathhouses banned entry for those with tattoos as a way to try and keep out the yakuza. In general, tattoos have had a stigma against them ever since they were used as criminal markings in the Edo period (1603 - 1867). That just carried forth throughout the years until the those with criminal tattoos just started decorating them on their own. Then they just had to ban tattoos altogether as it was losing it's intended purpose as punishment. That eventually got lifted, but the stigma remains. These days, a number of onsen have no issue with tattoos (the claimed number is about a third of them), and foreigners are more likely to get a pass anyways in some places thanks to more recent pushes from Japan's tourism regulations. Will this information ever be particularly useful? Probably not!  Time for Bush to make his own brand of wristwatches. Platinum + Gold + Silver + Monster Hide + Solid Point. Bush already knows the exact hour and minute of the day at all times, but it's a good gear upgrade.  It's a pretty substantial jump on all stats, and trades out our Seal Immunity for Stun and Para Defense (improved resistance but not total) and a passive effect of less misses on our attacks. The latter is the big part, as our new Demon Axe and even our old Crescent Axe seem to have generally poor accuracy.  Almost 400 DEF now, looking good, Bush!  I follow this up by skill grinding by using up all of our scrap metal lying around. We're on the verge of the final conflict, we don't really care about improving the level of our farm tools at this point. This gets up to 47! From here, we can eventually look at making some new magic staves.  And at last, Bush goes to sleep at 6:22 PM. That's earliest he's went to bed in over a month. Aaand next-  Music: Visions...Oh, haven't had one of these in a long time.  BLUE VOICE: Help. Help me. A great power is flowing into me. BLUE VOICE: I don't know how much longer I can fight this power... BLUE VOICE: If this power were to run rampant, nothing could stop it...  BLUE VOICE: Help me, please... I'm working on it!   New day! Lara's worried about seeing the future, but Bush can't stop getting phoned up in his dreams. Music: FestivalAlso, it's time to go insane listening to this almost all day again. Festival day!  Charm Blues are done! I'll stick 3 in the fridge so if I do need them later, I won't have to buy them from Lara.  Nothing to really do today until 9:00 AM, so Whale Island + various chores it is!  9:00 AM, it's Mystery Girl!   MYSTERY GIRL: Oh, Bush. BUSH: What's wrong? Why do you look so down? MYSTERY GIRL: I have run into a bit of a problem... MYSTERY GIRL: Because of the rain, there was a landslide on a nearby mountain. And because of that, the carpenter couldn't come. MYSTERY GIRL: I really can't do anything alone. I've said that I would build a church, but I always end up relying on others. MYSTERY GIRL: It really makes me realize how powerless I am.  BUSH: It's not like that at all! Everyone is helping because you said you wanted to build a church here. BUSH: Moving people to action is a talent that few people have. You really shouldn't blame yourself like this.  MYSTERY GIRL: R-really? Thank you so much! I feel much better now!  MYSTERY GIRL: So you'll come after the mountain pass is fixed... No, that'll take too long. How about another path...? On she goes again about things that have never happened. Wonder what's up with her? More importantly, when are you gonna give us your name?! Even more importantly, Rosetta is here.   ROSETTA: Bush! What's going on?! BUSH: W-what? ROSETTA: The other day, I looked inside your shipping box and it was filled with nothing but rocks! ROSETTA: You know how much trouble it was to get it all out? BUSH: What?! I don't know anything about that!  ROSETTA: Don't ever do it again! I only shipped roses and yams! Wait... BRODIIIIINK   BUSH: How is your father? ROSETTA: Not much progress. Maybe I should just let Danny run the store over here and focus on tending to my father... It'll be some time yet before this all gets properly resolved. I think maybe next weekend we can start it towards being finished? This all will delay the crystal seed part of the main quest by a few days though.  ROSETTA: Isn't today the Harvest Festival? BUSH: Yes, it is. ROSETTA: Why is everyone acting like they always do? ROSETTA: The Harvest Festival is the day you express thanks to the earth. It's also the day where you pass out vegetables.  ROSETTA: This isn't the Harvest Festival! BUSH: R-really? I thought this is how it's supposed to be...?  ROSETTA: No! Fine. I'll teach you then! We'll pass out vegetables for the next Harvest Festival and we'll get everyone excited! So yeah, this is mostly another nothing festival until year 2. This game wasn't really designed for my cramming of everything possible into every day gameplay approach- it wants you to play for years.  ROSETTA: You want me to grow this...? ROSETTA: I've known Mist for a long time, and it kinda makes me mad that this is the only thing I can do for her... ROSETTA: But, okay. I'll take good care of it. Last seed given! Now we just prepare for the big day.   LUTE: Because you keep buying my paintings, I'm getting more and more inspiration to keep drawing, Bush.  LUTE: I can't express my thanks enough, Bush. Lute, my man! It'll take some time before he shows up with another painting.  Since we're here, I go ahead and buy up to the max level pharmacy. We don't even really care about any recipes that use 5-6 ingredients, it's just a flex. We do need the mid tier one at least.  We can buy the double bed next week, we're not getting married just yet.  LARA: It seems that Trampoli doesn't have the custom of giving out produce on Harvest Festival. nope This place needs to step up their festival game!   LARA: Thank you. Today is the Harvest Festival after all. We must be thankful for the blessings of the earth. Despite the half existence of this festival, some of the girls do react to us giving them vegetables.  MELODY: Thanks for the vegetables! It might be really nice if I float them in the bath.♪ I don't know how well a yam floats, but you do you, master of hot springs.   UZUKI: Does this country not have the practice of passing out vegetables on the Harvest Festival? UZUKI: Of course, that is a good thing because I do not like vegetables. Well, guess what? You still get a gift of festival cheer (read: a yam) You can cut it for practice, I don't really mind. I've got too many of the things anyways.  UZUKI: I do not like vegetables... But, I will still thank you for it, Bush.   DANNY: I ordered a ton of summer vegetable seeds by mistake...  DANNY: She's going to get mad at me... Sell them to me, I'll buy them all for 5000g, offer final by the end of the day. I don't have a use for them, I'm just willing to bail you out on this.  ANETTE: So today is the Harvest Festival. Bush, you're new to the village so you probably don't know about it. ANETTE: In Trampoli's Harvest Festival there's no custom of passing out vegetables. But, I always thought that was traditional. Rosetta and Bush are gonna fix that- have a yam.   ANETTE: Thanks! What should I make with this?! I can't wait! I don't remember if yams are actually involved with anything on her list of foods she comments on after a mail run.  TABATHA: I will have to express thanks to the sun, rain, and earth. TABATHA: I would like to have a very proper meal today. But I suppose that Miss Bianca would not like that. TABATHA: I would like to give this to you, Bush. I am merely sharing the blessings of the earth. You got Spinach! See, it's catching on already!  TABATHA: Thank you very much. The Harvest Festival is such a nice festival.  BIANCA: Today is the Harvest Festival. If you brought a vegetable, give it to me. I'll accept it specially just for today. Even Bianca's here for it!   BIANCA: What is this? Even though it's the Harvest Festival, can't you bring me something better? BIANCA: But, I'll still accept this. the level 1 yams are not good enough who could've seen this coming   Just gonna go farm metal I don't need while we recover from this massive blow to our self-esteem as a farmer   STELLA: A long time ago, we had heavy rain and a landslide ruined the mountain pass. STELLA: It took 5 years for that pass to be cleared. Hrm, where have we heard that before?  Following this, I go grind a Wet Scale from the flying fish on Whalse Island. This is needed to make our next hammer upgrade, even if it's kinda late and we don't need it anymore. Just cleaning up some loose ends I guess, Bush deserves a bling hammer.  Melody's not in the bathhouse...? Oh! Right! The thing with Cinnamon! She never gave us a time, but we should check that! Can't afford to miss it, we may never see a sunny day again at this rate. (The event opens up at exactly 7:00 PM  ) Usually no reason to come out here, but the view's nice.  We are struck with a fade to black as we go up the stairs!  Music: Clock Tower*We open to a shot from the top of the clock tower, looking all the way up to the bridge at Lake Poli.*  *We then pan down to Cinnamon, Lara, and Melody waiting at the ladder up.*   MELODY: Hey, it's Bush!! LARA: Bush, over here!  *Bush runs up the stairs to meet them.* LARA: You're late, Bush. CINNAMON: We can see some shooting stars tonight. You have great timing. MELODY: I can't wait anymore. Let's go to the roof!♪ MELODY: ...  MELODY: Bush, climb up first. BUSH: Huh? Why? MELODY: Because I said so, dummy!  BUSH: ??? Oh, Bush, ever oblivious. You're the only one here not wearing a skirt, my guy. ...Well, actually you do have that kinda skirt thing on, but the point stands.  *Up Bush goes...*  *Then Cinnamon...*  *We then cut to Lara finishing her ascent.*  LARA: Melody, everyone's up here now. MELODY: I'm coming!♪ The winds are strong today.  *And so she climbs...*  *But suddenly a large gust of wind comes by!* MELODY: ...!  *She struggles to hold on!*   *She falls!*  BUSH: Melody!! LARA: Noooooo!! *A flash of white, as the sound of magic swirls!* Music: Romance *We cut back to a CG of Melody surrounded in rainbow light, suspended from the ground- Cinnamon reaching out to her.* MELODY: Huh...? I... MELODY: What's happening to me? BUSH: Cinnamon, I thought you couldn't use magic anymore! CINNAMON: I don't know. I was...frantic...  *Melody is lowered back down on the top of the tower.*  CINNAMON: But I'm glad Melody is all right... LARA: I guess your wishes reached the heavens, Cinnamon. CINNAMON: Maybe...  Music: To You*Our view shifts to the sky above...*  MELODY: Look! A shooting star! ♪ LARA: I hear that if you say your wish 3 times before the shooting star disappears, it'll come true. MELODY: Really? Let's try it on the next one!♪ MELODY: There! I wish there were more kinds of baths... Darn it! It's gone! Even after a near death experience, her priorities never change  BUSH: But still, I don't know what would have happened if Cinnamon hadn't used her magic there. MELODY: I thought I was finished for sure! MELODY: I still have lots of hot springs I haven't gone to yet! MELODY: And all the hot springs I visited before flashed before my eyes... BUSH: But how were you able to use magic all of a sudden?  CINNAMON: Grandpa said that I became unable to use it because I lost the passion inside me. LARA: So you thought you had to do something when you saw Melody falling? CINNAMON: ...I think so. CINNAMON: But, it seems I'm fine now. I can use magic again. CINNAMON: I think... This would make the second time in her life that Melody has been saved by a wizard.  MELODY: I guess my clumsiness was able to help out. ♪ MELODY: Thank you, Cinnamon. CINNAMON: ...It's okay. ...We are friends. MELODY: Cinnamon... (not pictured in the portraits: both of them blushing quite a lot)  CINNAMON: Look, another shooting star. There are so many today.   *Many shooting stars follow until a fade to black...* MELODY: Thanks for today! I had a lot of fun!♪ LARA: Please invite me again. Melody got over nearly falling to her death quite quickly. Just truly carefree.  *All but Cinnamon turn to leave...*  CINNAMON: Thank you, Bush... BUSH: But, I didn't do anything... CINNAMON: You did... Thank you...  *And so we fade to black...* That's Cinnamon's storyline! Yup, just a single event at LP 9. There was a lot more Kanno dialogue we just didn't get because Magic Grandpa is stubborn. Here's perhaps the most relevant info we missed... OLD MAN GIVES BACKSTORY posted:
So there you have it. There's an implication that her quiet, nearly emotionlessness is a result of this, with the magic being born out of emotion in the first place. Over the course of the playthrough, we've seen her become both more talkative and overall more expressive as well. What exactly sparked the return in magic? Well, Bush won't be able to figure it out, that's for sure. I'm just surprised that each character had unique animations for climbing the ladder/getting off. This game doesn't usually go that far on that sort of thing and would usually do a fade to black instead.  So we return to our typical habits for the night- the event moves the clock forward 3 hours.  Bush is going to work out the last of his energy for the night with some magic practice...  ...And it's off to bed. Catch you next time! Music: GoodnightOh, here's some dialogue I didn't catch. I believe this is Erik's, it's in with his lines in the file. Bush gives crystal seeds to Erik posted:
Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 11, 2023 17:38
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Well, seems Cinnamon and Melody will manage just fine if Bush doesn't marry either of them...
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Mar 11, 2023 21:52
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Black Robe posted:Well, seems Cinnamon and Melody will manage just fine if Bush doesn't marry either of them... It does seem that way, yeah. Of course, Bush still doesn't really understand what all happened here and won't pry into it further, he's just happy it ended well.
Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Mar 13, 2023 |
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Mar 13, 2023 04:25
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Update 49: Tree Mom (and Crystal Flowers) Music: AutumnWe resume on a sunny Autumn 14th!  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"I knew it!" - $@%&~ Oh, stars in the the heavens. I decided that what I really want to be is a teacher after all. If I become a teacher, I can stay in school forever! ----------------------------------------------------- But first, a letter we somehow never read. We'll get to the bottom of this eventually.  waterin'  new soap at the bathhouse   brushin'  Up on Whale, we've got some Toy Herbs ready. These are really just here for Stella.  IRIS NOIRE: Mist has done so much to save me. IRIS NOIRE: If I can help out Mist by growing this flower...  IRIS BLANCHE: I will grow the Crystal Flower with the same...no, with even more love than usual. IRIS BLANCHE: I hope that Mist can return as soon as possible. The Irises are doing good work with the crystal flowers.  More gold and platinum is farmed...  Then I set out to farm that Black Grass we need for Lara's sleep medicine.  ...That was easy! I didn't even have to mess with the timeline that much. Only once because Pony smashed both gates immediately.   Sleepy Grass made. No need to hesitate in delivering it!   But first, a long, long overdue hammer upgrade.  The Golden Hammer doesn't come with a frontflip or anything cool like that, but it does make this massive energy flare. Too bad we don't need it for anything anymore! A little prep never hurt though, I suppose.  CINNAMON: ...I'll care for the flowers well. No problem at all.   BUSH: Lara, here's the "Sleepy Grass" that I learned from Melody. BUSH: Try this out. LARA: Thank you so much. I'll try it out tonight. Hopefully this does the trick, and not so well we end up with a Sleeping Beauty situation. Bush isn't a trained pharmacist after all. I'd also rather not have to farm more 1% black grass.  But to resolve that lack of being a trained pharmacist, Bush buys 99 of every available grass type. Aside from being more good stock for tea, we need to get our pharmacy skill up to 50 for something.  Quick bit of demonslaying until the bath opens   Oh, and because Anette has fully moved in, we can find her around town in all sorts of places. She's out sitting on the bridge in main Trampoli this afternoon.  ANETTE: Working hard on your fields? I better work just as hard. ...Nobody tell her that the ant does most of the work when it comes to actual farming.  And now it's off to grind some lab skill. The better way to raise it than all the potion nonsense is to grind Formula A until you hit 45 at which you can start spamming Formula B.   must... make... grass based fertilizer   We take a break for that bath and to stop the town square environment from dying, but it's back to work!  Music: Rhythm Heaven Megamix - PajamasI think Bush might've been doing this too long because this started playing in his head.   Formula B might be some strong stuff. Either that or that Sleepy Herb left something in our mixing pot.  51 Lab skill! That'll do it.  What we need to make here is an E. Drink X. It does heal 300, but all the work it takes to make it + the white grass makes it lesser to just having Pumpkin Tarts or Sandwiches in production.  Done! In the box it goes and time for us to probably never use this facility again.  Let's just get some fresh air. I don't think this is a very safe trade.  I stop by Erik's to pick up cabbage seeds so we can make that stir fry that Bianca wants.  BRODIK: Heh heh heh... BRODIK: You stuffed your shipping box full of rocks! What a jerk! BRODIK: The other day, I looked inside your shipping box and it was filled with nothing but rocks! BRODIK: Ha ha ha ha! Jig's up, mate, you can't even ship rocks in this game!   BIANCA: Growing flowers can feel quite nice. BIANCA: I wonder what else I will grow after this flower blooms. It looks like we introduced Bianca to a new hobby. That's good.  BIANCA: Last night, I had Flounder and Lover Snapper in a white wine sauce. Oh, that sauce coupled with the texture was wonderful. BUSH: Oh... For reference, Flounder is pretty rare, and Lover Snapper is one of the rarest fish in Norad.  BIANCA: Did you go all the way inside the Snow Ruins, too? BIANCA: You're...amazing. Actual praise!   Music: By the OceanNo idea if I've shown it off yet, but Danny does do the little shipping box event at 5:30.  DANNY: Yuck... Tomatoes... I hate tomatoes. He also hates Bell Peppers. There are a few lines worth mentioning... RARE DANNY CONTENT posted:Shipping Runeys: Shipping runeys is the only way to get rid of the buggers! No idea what the last item is supposed to be, A ring? The wedding bouquet maybe?  DANNY: All right! That's it for today... All that's left is to clean up the store... DANNY: See you tomorrow!  DANNY: My little brother and sister sent me a painting for my birthday the other day. DANNY: They're really annoying, but I feel kinda touched because I know they really tried. Aw.  DANNY: By the way, my birthday is on the 6th of summer. If you're willing to give a present, I'm willing to accept. danny, don't ruin the moment your birthday was over a season ago  Well, that's all for this day. Time to tuck in and see what tomorrow has in store.  *Nighttime owl hooting*  Um, what's going on?  Bush, where in the world are you going?  BUSH: Where am I?  Is this out behind the church? Oh, and Lara's here?  BUSH: Lara?  LARA: Bush... Where am I? What am I doing here? BUSH: I don't know... I was already here when I came to my senses. LARA: I wonder what it is. So eerie...  *LEAVES RUSTLING* LARA: Oh...? BUSH: What's wrong? LARA: Do you... Do you hear that? BUSH: I don't hear anything. LARA: I do. It's over here.  *And so Bush follows Lara up to the massive tree in the grove behind the church...*   Music: Whale Island Entrance(*CG time!*) BUSH: This is... LARA: Were you calling me? BIG TREE: Yes, I called out to you for help. LARA: Were all of my strange dreams your doing?  BIG TREE: Yes. I had you dream those things to adapt you to the dream world. BIG TREE: I'm sorry for any trouble I have caused you. LARA: The dream world? This is the dream world? BIG TREE: Yes. Ancient trees like myself can speak to humans... But only in your dreams... BIG TREE: I had you come here to fulfill a wish of mine. LARA: A wish?  BIG TREE: Yes. I want you to care for my child. BIG TREE: I cannot move by my own will. BIG TREE: As you can see, this forest is filled with trees, and there is no room for a seedling to grow. Please, plant it elsewhere. BIG TREE: Please, raise my child and transplant it after it matures. BIG TREE: Take it somewhere far away. LARA: ...All right. I will accept your wish.  LARA: I will take responsibility for your child. BIG TREE: Thank you...! I am so glad I have asked you... BIG TREE: Thank you... Thank you...  Music: Trampoli Daily LifeWell, that sure was a weird dream. I knew the pharmacy was a bad idea. Off to our usual schedule!  ANETTE: Um... Is this okay? Is this the flower that's supposed to grow from that seed? ANETTE: Um...by the way... Could you tell Mist I said that I'll write her a letter? Sure, although you'll be living in the same house when she comes back. Still a nice sentiment.  Sound: Spirit Chime of ScorpioYou got Scorpio Flower! That little chime plays as soon as we start the conversation. Each of the bachelorettes has one for this exact moment. Hers is specifically a yellow topaz flower. Picking up all of these will be the theme for today, but we still have to wait until the weekend to pick up Rosetta's.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Thank you for your help!" - Ganesha~ Thanks for the Iron! It really helped!! I'm so glad I have a friend that does forge work nearby. ----------------------------------------------------- Ganesha is really happy about that piece of iron. One can only wonder why she apparently needed it so badly.  Sound: Spirit Chime of CancerCINNAMON: ... ... ...Here you go. CINNAMON: ...I'll be counting on you to bring back Mist... You got Cancer Flower! Cancer just means crab, the disease just picked that name up thanks to how the growths spread, apparently. It's a ruby flower.  Sound: Spirit Chime of GeminiIRIS BLANCHE: Here is the Crystal Flower you requested. IRIS BLANCHE: The magical creature in the "Era of disconnect" will definitely be quite strong. IRIS BLANCHE: I only pray that you don't overexert yourself, and return together with Mist safely... You got Gemini Flower!  Sound: Spirit Chime of GeminiIRIS NOIRE: Here is the Crystal Flower you requested. IRIS NOIRE: All this began because I was under Gelwein's control... IRIS NOIRE: I'm sorry this is all that I can do... Please be safe and bring back Mist.  You got Gemini Flower! ...I guess they're kinda twins, so it makes sense they're Gemini. Still, we got two of the same flower. I guess as long as it's a flower from a maiden, it'll work? These flowers are pearl, which is considered a gemstone despite it's organic creation.  Sound: Spirit Chime of SagittariusLARA: Is this flower...a lapis lazuli...? LARA: I don't know what it is exactly, but it feels so strange. It's gentle...and warm... LARA: I'll be praying for the heavens to watch over both you and Mist. You got Sagittarius Flower! Lara's original marriage item was a lapis lazuli, and her name in Japanese was even Lapis. She's got a bit of a history with it and it makes sense that's what her flower is.  Sound: Spirit Chime of VirgoSELPHY: This grew from the seed you gave me. Take it SELPHY: Bush, come back after you save Mist, okay?  SELPHY: You better not pull one of those "save someone in exchange for one's own life" tragedies! You got Virgo Flower! Not in this game at least. Though, given it's kinda darker edge it wouldn't be out of the question... It's blue sapphire, by the way.  Sound: Spirit Chime of AquariusMELODY: My flower bloomed. It glitters so brightly... What an odd flower. MELODY: To be honest, I want to make a bewitching herb out of this... MELODY: But a promise is a promise, so here. It's your turn to keep your promise to bring Mist back. ♪ You got Aquarius Flower! Aquarius is the water carrier, what else do I have to say? The flower is amethyst.  Sound: Spirit Chime of PiscesUZUKI: About that flower you requested of me...is this favorable? UZUKI: I must say it was rather hard, it being my first time growing flowers; and a foreign one at that! UZUKI: Well, 'tis nothing if it will help save Mist. You got Pisces Flower! Uzuki likes fish, and this is the colder weather sea creature sign. As her favorite season is Winter, I'm at least guessing this is why? The flower is aquamarine, if you were wondering.  Sound: Spirit Chime of CapricornEUNICE: Is this...okay?  EUNICE: I've never seen this flower before but it glitters. It's so pretty. EUNICE: I'll trust you with Mist. I'll be praying for both of your safety. You got Capricorn Flower! It's just random speculation, but Eunice's is the first spirit chime in the order of the game's files and the final result. It makes me wonder if she was the first bachelorette designed for this game. That is assuming that the star signs weren't just assigned randomly- they don't end up in astrological order. Eunice's flower is garnet. That's almost all the flowers for now, so back to normal Bush things.  UZUKI: Look! My naginata has been reborn! UZUKI: It has been much easier to use after Ganesha reforged it. BUSH: I'm sorry... I can't tell what's different about it... UZUKI: What? Look at the edge! Can you not you tell that its curve is slightly different?! Bush isn't really a sword or spear kind of guy.  Music: Kross' ThemeKROSS: What do I hate about this village? Nothing. Nothing at all... KROSS: But if I had to choose one, it is that "Seeds" can only be obtained in stores. KROSS: Before I came to this village, I told myself that I would live on my own and to never depend on other people. KROSS: But I couldn't do that unless I bought seeds.  KROSS: People and fields... Fields and seeds... Seeds and people... They are all connected. Kross would be happy to know that the series started allowing you to get seeds in different ways after this game. Technically even in RF2 if you go in deep on the Discovery Waltz or whatever it was called again. But that's also 2nd gen only so...  I suppose the song about blue roses and monsters hits a bit differently when you know it's the marriage item.  Sound: Spirit Chime of LeoBIANCA: I was so surprised when I saw a precious stone blooming. BIANCA: But, I have plenty of pretty rocks like this already, so I'll give this one to you. BIANCA: I personally took care of this flower, so hurry up and go save Mist with it, okay?! You got Leo Flower! Bianca's flower is peridot, which isn't a gem you hear a lot about. It is just a lighter shade of green than Tabatha's, so that's something.  Sound: Spirit Chime of TaurusTABATHA: As promised, here is the flower that you asked me to grow. TABATHA: How strange that a flower like this could grow from such a seed... I've seen nothing like it even in Elf Country. TABATHA: With this strange flower you'll be able to save Mist. I'm sure of it. You got Taurus Flower! Aha! So it's called Elf Country. I just assumed it was Elf Land. You heard it here first, folks. Oh, and her flower is emerald.  That is the last of the flowers for now, and annoyingly they're not allowed to be put in the fridge I have tons of space in. The normal boxes are full to the brim, and I want to put all these in at the same time, so I guess I'm just out 11 inventory slots.  Off farming some medals for our buddy Kross...  And a quick look at our skills to follow. Lumber is second highest at 67 and our Fishing skill is just barely not our worst skill (that'd be Weapons).  Hey Lara, want to talk about this weird dream Bush had last night?  BUSH: Lara, I had a strange dream. BUSH: When I came to my senses, I was in the middle of the forest and a huge tree told you... LARA: ...to take care of its child. BUSH: Yes! Huh...? LARA: Come over here.  *And so she brings Bush to her room...*  *She has a potted plant in the corner, upon a little stool.*  LARA: I will care for its child the best I can. LARA: Until the day it has grown enough so that I can transplant it. Lara has reached her final form: Tree Mom. That's all for her storyline! It's different than I expected it to be, I'll be honest. I guess she isn't a prophet, just attuned to dreamland. I guess we are too as we were there.  Yeah, she's only at 8.5 LP, but that's it for Lara's story. Earliest resolution out of all of the gals. Well, what else is there to do today?  Yo, it's the unnamed girl!  MYSTERY GIRL: Oh, Bush! MYSTERY GIRL: I spoke with a carpenter from another town that is willing to come. MYSTERY GIRL: I have finally taken the first step to building the church! BUSH: I see. Congratulations. MYSTERY GIRL: Thank you. This is all thanks to your advice, Bush. MYSTERY GIRL: Thank you so much. Good for you! You know, we could've just recommended Kross to you, but this ought to work. ...Can we have your name now?  MYSTERY GIRL: That carpenter is scheduled to come tomorrow. I feel very excited! Rats. She is truly the most powerful person here, being able to withhold such information from the external force that drives the narrative of their life... I will have to think on this.  ...While I do Runey work. Curse you, smiley goobers!  So have some bath trivia instead. ♨ BATH TRIVIA TIME ♨ ...I'm running out of bath facts. I suppose there is the onsen tamago, a method of slow-poaching eggs in hot spring water. It apparently makes it kinda creamy? It's served in a variety of traditional sauces. Never had it, couldn't tell you how it tastes.  What I do know is more demon farming! yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa-  -aaah! There goes the day! Yep, just a lot of demon blood and EXP grinding off demons to prepare for the big confrontation.  One more bachelorette story down, all but one crystal flower in pocket... It's a bit shorter than usual, but I think it was a pretty eventful day. Next time, we continue Bush's final training arc! Join us then! Music: Goodnight
Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 16, 2023 17:28
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Pony would look lovely. I'm oddly disappointed that the flowers are just the Western zodiac and corresponding birthstones. Though I don't know what they could have used instead, really.
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Mar 16, 2023 19:00
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Black Robe posted:Pony would look lovely. Hey, it even color coordinates with her fur somewhat. She can rock the look. I wasn't expecting the zodiac myself, but I can't deny I was wondering if it was building to something bigger. There are the 13 constellations in-world corresponding to the bachelorettes they could've opted for instead, but I suppose the zodiac ones are a bit more fantastic than Broom and Turnip. They do a little bit more with the zodiac relation, but not a ton. I do think the chimes are really neat and they do get up to something rather cool with those in not too long. I neglected to mention in this update but these chimes are the same melody as the tunes the bachelorettes will occasionally hum. Fun fact: I even had to rerecord a bit because I didn't even expect the game having the chimes in the first place and still had the game muted from when I was crafting at 2x speed.
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Mar 17, 2023 21:36
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Update 50: Blooper Reel Music: AutumnWe rejoin Bush on the 16th of Autumn, already on the run! I'll be honest, I don't remember if anything big happens today. I know some stuff goes down tomorrow, but I think today is just more prep work for the finale.  ANETTE: I feel really good recently. What about you, Bush? I'm doing good! Bush is already completely exhausted from cooking piles of tea. That stuff is still fantastic RP recovery for what it is.  Might as well make some more rose seeds. Will probably plant them on Whale when the pumpkins I've got up there finish. I'm looking to have a bunch of Pumpkin Tarts for the finale, they're a huge HP and RP heal.  STELLA: Do you remember about that landslide in the mountains I told you about? BUSH: Yes. STELLA: Because of that, all ties were cut off to the town that I had connections with.  STELLA: I really panicked then and moved around from town to town. STELLA: It was then that I got to know Kanno, Ganesha's teacher, and Lara's father. STELLA: If it weren't for that heavy rain, the Trampoli as we know it wouldn't have existed. Funny how sometimes bad things can turn around in ways better than you'd have thought. Doesn't always happen, but it's one of those nice little oddities of life.  GANESHA: There was a person that was called the "God of the Forge." We were both born on the 8th of winter. I'm proud of that. I suppose that could be seen as auspicious, yeah. The real bad one is having your birthday on a major holiday.  Following this, I make some room in my various boxes just eating scrap metal for Forging skill. Might as well, it's just takinig up space.  This day is immensely empty, so take this handy advice section from Bush. Annoying enemies like Souls getting you down with their high damage output? Just snipe the gate from a distance with the Fire Rod.  The Fire Rod solves a lot of problems, really. (We're just grinding levels and skills.)  Following this, we go deep on continuing to stock up on only our best foods for the finale.   Tonight's preparations are Sandwiches, crafted to perfection after gifting them to Selphy for so long. At just item level 2, these things are a near full heal on both bars and comes with a huge max HP boost. 280 HP, 450 RP, +85 Max HP, and Paralysis Defense. Who needs potions anyways? All of our finale meals go into the bottom shelf of the fridge. It'll become quite sizable soon- Bush's mastery of the culinary arts will prove it's merit in the decisive conflict.  Now, one might ask why Bush has separated a stack of grass in his inventory until it's full. The answer is quite simple.  You can use this to selectively grab runeys without having to worry about tossing the other ones back out. Wish I'd known this months ago! It's even better when you realize the sort button in the inventory will automatically stack items, saving you the trouble of putting them all back together yourself. Bush, you genius.  Bath time! ♨ BATH FACTS ♨ Bath Facts(tm) has been temporarily suspended due to lack of new bath facts. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience. Please forgive the Bath Facts(tm) staff, if you can find it in your heart.  We resume making cups and cups of tea individually, one at a time- that's just The Bush Way.  Added to our collection of food prep is 6 Peperoncino, 16 Relax Tea, a level 10 Salmon Sashimi, 4 Sandwiches, and 4 Cherry Pies. This isn't including all the tea on our hotbar- this is just what we're saving for later. We're not even done yet!   After a dip back down into Snow Ruins for a Quality Fur, Bush sets to work on a Cat's Tail. This is just more magician wear to pair with our Bunny Ears if that proves to be a better weapon against what Gelwein has us go up against. Those surplus Magic Crystals really coming in clutch here.  It also happens to be Kross's favorite gift, so it'll probably go to him eventually.  Bush is now a strange catboy/bunny hybrid.  But I like the style we were rockin' before, so it's back to that. This is strictly way better on a physical defense front.  Wow, Bush in bed at 6:58. Our boy's finally getting more than 6 hours of sleep on the regular.  New day!  Water some plants...  And get some mail!. That's the Bush daily routine.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Actually..." - $@%&~ Oh, stars in the heavens, what I reall want to be is a mailman. I just love how everyone smiles when they get their mail. ----------------------------------------------------- Hrm, where have we heard that before?  IRIS NOIRE: One day, I would like to grow a lot of flowers with my own fields. We can clear some land up here if you want. I'm sure you don't have much of a problem dealing with monsters. I suppose that'll need to wait until after we solve the whole Gelwein thing. You two need to keep singing.  LARA: That was a strange dream. LARA: Thinking back, those strange dreams were all due to it seeking help. LARA: But, why were you called to the dream with me, Bush? Bush has been receiving dream communications on the ol' brainphone for nearly 3 months now, it's not really new.  I then take a stop out to plant some stuff underneath the Church in the Snow Ruins back entrance. It's some backup carrots for sandwiches and some fodder for RP runes. This is a decently convenient spot for it, but I think I also forget about these plants entirely.  Music: Whale Island TowerFollowing this, Bush continues his training arc. I start farming the Gigantes right at the tower shortcut. If you can land a fireball in quick enough, you can just stunlock them., Fire Rod, it's just too good.  Bush is now level 61.  Meanwhile, Pony is only 54. She used to stay much higher level than us, but her EXP being based off the increasingly impossible friendship system for monster let Bush overtake her. We all know that visual is a lie, there's actually 11 smiley faces there. Don't gaslight us, game!  I eventually take the fight all across the towers. We're going to get to the bottom of these things quite soon.  Pictured it Bush sniping some gates before they spawn anything in the Tower of Glory. The thing is that all these towers have identical layouts... Square platform at top down to a wide upper area...  Descending staircase to the right...  And wide bottom floor. They all are structured like this, some minor visual details aside.  Also, big  on my part here, this lever next to the lower level staircase is actually what I'm looking for, I just don't even see it.This opens the path to the center tower, but I don't find it until tomorrow.  Oh, and they all have these "gardens" at the bottom. These of course being plastered in monsters, not fields. The black and blue  We take a break from that for the time being to clear up some box space by making something we should have a long time back.   And that's a Wedding Bouquet made (with expertise, of course). It's actually worth over 3000 gold which makes me wonder if it's a profitable market. You can always get more Tide Clusters at the beach, so Baleen isn't an issue. Still, mass strawberries/tomatoes or the like will still always pay better.  Make a bunch of tea, nab a bath...  BUSH: Anette, this was sent to me by mistake... ANETTE: Really?! It can't be... ANETTE: Let me see that... ANETTE: What the...? Huh?! What is this doing at your place, Bush?! ANETTE: This is... This is really embarrassing. BUSH: What's wrong? Is this your...  ANETTE: I guess I can't avoid it any further.  ANETTE: This is, well, a letter I wrote to the stars when I was small. ANETTE: How on earth did it show up now? BUSH: Oh, really... Then I guess I should give it back to you. ANETTE: Hmm... ANETTE: Wait. You already saw it anyway. Besides... ANETTE: I became the way I am because I wanted someone to see it.  ANETTE: It all rests on your shoulders now! If I recall, this all started from seeing her Constellation, I think. Regardless, I think we all know those wishes came true in the end  At this point, I decide to hit up Candy to get some Rune Stones. We've mostly not needed them as a mechanic until now, but there's some good stuff to get out of the towers. ...Of course, my thinking at the time is that there was levers behind each I'd need to hit to open the tower in the center.  Bush still has some mostly full bars left, so he criticals his floorboards for a while until he's tired.  New day! Yeah, we're going into a 3rd day for this update. There's... not a lot going on now. Our farming is mostly automated, the runeys are fine for a while, most storylines are completed, most dialogue exhausted... I'm really just cutting out a lot of "Bush fights monsters for 2 hours" as we're really running out of things to do.  We can always count on Anette to keep delivering content though!  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Another favor" - Ganesha~ Thank you for sharing ingredients with me last time. Can I ask you for one more favor? I'm in need of a Wind Crystal. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------- We've got a few in the box from slime hunting, so this is easily fulfilled.  These pumpkins are determined to finish growing at the 13th hour.  Following that, we make our way back to the tower with Rune Stones in tow. The only other Rune Stone door I know of is at the end of Whale Island cave. Talk about an underused mechanic. I suppose I should be thankful, I'd rather not need more Runey-based stuff in my life.  The stones here have to correspond to the door's color and engraving. Birth has grass aligned doors. Upon putting the stone in the finicky to target slot, a big spotlight shines down upon it and the door opens.  It opens into a cute little kitchen with two item boxes.  Oh, come on, game These boxes both drop E Drink X on this run, which is that thing I had to go out of my way to get Lab skill 50 for last update. Could've saved myself the trouble if I knew I could just get one from here.  Tower of Rebirth is covered in Little Mages and their recolors.  It uses Tree Rune stones.  This one's a kinda drab but also charming little bedroom. We get another E. Drink X and also a high level Fire Crystal. I just like the little chessboard in here.  The next room is also a bedroom, but less cozy. We get Gold from these chests. That plus our other finds is mostly the whole loot table from these boxes: Drink X, element crystals, high tier metal.  One of the rooms in the tower of Glory (Hunter Wolves and Fairies) has an elegant little tea room.  The other is an elegant bedroom.  Lever hit!  And so, in we go...  ...Oh. It's just a small antechamber before the boss room. I was expecting a few dungeon rooms or something, but I guess not.  We got energy and expendable supplies, why not go ahead and knock this off the checklist? Let Gelwein and his nonsense be our real final boss. It's been a long time since Mr. Whale asked us to deal with this thing.  Music: Electrosquid(This one's an interesting track. It's a shame it gets old rather fast.) *We open to a view of a darkened chamber, and in it is a rampaging bioluminescent octopus!*  I do like the colors this guy has going on, although the lightning part is really understated (really only present with the design on his face) compared to the more poisonous aura the rest of it has.  Electrosquid is a tough fight, but mostly for the fact it has so much HP. It only rotates in a circle to face you the entire fight.  His main attack is to just slap with both tentacles in front of him. It's decent damage, but rarely hits anyways.  His side tentacles can clip you for small amounts of damage, really only so it can knock you back to try and keep you in front. This serves to stun you so the boss can better pull off...  Spraying water across the floor... (This will hurt and knockback a bit, but it's usually not a big deal.)  Then electrocuting it with one of his two fron tentacles. I have never been hit by this attack. In fact, it's so easy to avoid, it's a good attack to bait him into for free hits.  This is the attack that actually hurts. If you're too far around his sides and close enough to his body, he'll do a quick electric discharge all around him that's hard to avoid. It does about 100 damage, which is a 3rd of our health. Better than the snek and the near lethal on most hits. Still, he can spam the everliving bojangles out of this move, so you will die trying to tank it. That is, of course, unless you don't still have post-knockback invincibility frames active. Say, from those weak high knockback tentacles on his side? If you time it right, you can absolutely keep eating 3 damage from a side tentacle and getting hits in as the electric AOE just moves through you harmlessly.  The problem in that little plan is that you can hurt the tentacles on the sides. Enough damage will make them curl up and be harmless for a while. You can even knock out the two front tentacles, but these stay down longer. Taking these out is the intended way to fight the boss anyways.  My strategy for this fight is mostly to strategically spam the Demon Axe's higher level charge attack. It's the only thing we have that does good damage to Conductive Calamari here in regards to that massive HP bar, and even if the main hits miss, the shockwave tends to clip the boss for at least a little extra. The tentacles do not count for the boss's HP.  That's because they count as individual monsters that reward EXP on kill. This is simultaneously  and  .Level cannoning is, as result, a good thing to do during this boss fight.  This healthbar at about half is the result of extremely frequent 350 damage hits (averaged from the full connections and small shockwave clips) over the course of two and half minutes straight. This boss has a ton of HP.  When it gets to roughly a quarter or fifth of the bar, it's time for the usual rage mode. We do get to see the much cooler neon look that it had going on when the cutscene introduced it.  A higher turning speed combined with higher damage makes this part of the fight actually deadly. Even the side tentacles hit for 35 now, which is substantial enough to not be sustainable constantly. The water spray + electrify is potentially more of a threat now as the boss moves faster and sprays longer. Despite that, it's still pretty easy to avoid even when the boss's own tentacles aren't knocking you out of the way instead of into it. The discharge hurts real bad now, and is the main reason you'll probably die. I get more than a few runs this far just to die. When it means I have to run around in circles around a boss for 3 minutes each time, I have to say, it starts getting a bit annoying.  If you do manage to KO all the tentacles at once, it will put the boss into a stunned state similar to the Ice Snake. The problem here is that it's a rather short window by comparison, and it takes so much effort of running in circles trying to hit these things to get to this point. The trusty old Earth Wand does an okay job at hitting them, but it's rough. It's still useful to prompt at times if you can, particularly during the rage phase.  I didn't get that annoyed at this boss as it only took me 16 minutes to get a winning run once I figured out all the mechanics.  *It flails about for a short moment...*   *...and then collapses.*  yeah, rip in sushi, pal  It actually just shrinks back down and hides in a little pool in the center of the chamber. Also I've got like one or two Runeys in my inventory, eating up space and I can't get rid of them to pick up our loot. I do what I can to make space, but those little buggers do make me have to give up some items I didn't want to have to.  Electrosquid specifically drops the Bright Tentacle, used for a max level head accessory and that's about it, I think. We never make anything from this thing.  begone from my bag, you nuisance Keep biting the hand that keeps your ecosystem alive, see what it gets you- go on!  go away, curse you  Ah, at last, inventory space. Let's go tell the Whale we solved that thing it asked us to do months ago.  WHALE: It seems that you have punished the monster in the water tower. WHALE: Thank you. It will now act somewhat more tame. WHALE: Well, this is a little something for your troubles...   And so we get a Little Crystal! Despite how it might sound, these are required materials for the strongest items in the game, including the permanent stat boosters. Grinding Whale Island towers to max out your stats is a thing you can do in the postgame. We, uh, won't be doing that.  Well, what now? We can't do anything more until we get our crystal flower from Rosetta tomorrow.  Since we now have the forging skill to pull it off, I say, why not upgrade our magical arsenal? We make the Meteor Cane, the highest level Earth staff.  this is fine It summons in meteors that fall near where Bush is currently standing for a period of time.  After a bit more gathering, we can now also make a Crimson Stick.  It doesn't look like much, but while we're casting it, any enemy that would be around us gets hit with some fire damage and knocked back. Like most high level staves, it's really underwhelming. If you are playing this game, Fire Rod, Earth Wand, and Gaea Staff are all you need, really.  In the meantime, I also used one of our level 10 flours to prepare some special Toast for the big day. 325 RP gain isn't something to laugh at. Tomorrow we'll have the pumpkins we need to make a pile of Pumpkin Tarts to go with our Sandwiches in the big healing pile. Our meal prep is serious business.  Bush is now flexing level 64 and a hot 70 Lumber skill. Magic's almost to 50, and we've got some impressive stats all around. He's powerful, he's strong, he's smart, and he's ready to take on the world. BUT! I should make it clear that the Era of Disconnect plotline is reaching a critical point for Bush very soon- tomorrow in fact. Autumn 19th will be a important day for Bush. Autumn 19th also so happens to be the date day for the season. So, before Bush steps up to save the day, not knowing if he'll ever return, who shall he spend the afternoon with? The list of available options is as follows: 1. Melody 2. Anette 3. Cinnamon 4. Selphy 5. Lara 6. Tabatha Rosetta still won't be available for a date for quite some time, and the Irises are still busy keeping the island afloat.  Until then, goodnight! Music: Goodnight
Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 18, 2023 15:57
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Selphy for the afternoon. She might have new things to say about books on a date. Master Chef Bush is ready to save the world through the power of good food. Shame he couldn't make some sushi out of that big ol' octopus.
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Mar 18, 2023 16:17
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Selphy. Maybe she'll let us read her novel. also Odd Wilson posted:Conductive Calamari 
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Mar 18, 2023 19:00
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Annette
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Mar 18, 2023 22:37
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Annette
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Mar 19, 2023 01:20
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Lara
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Mar 19, 2023 03:54
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Selphy - although she'll probably complain about being dragged out of the library.
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Mar 19, 2023 06:28
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---------------------------------- Current Standings: ---------------------------------- Selphy - 3 Anette - 2 Lara - 1 Votes will be called on Wednesday (the usual update schedule.)
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Mar 19, 2023 15:35
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Selphy!
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Mar 20, 2023 07:24
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Update 51: A Date With... Music: AutumnThe most important day of the LP has arrived. AUTUMN 19TH  We'll have ourselves a morning of calm before we go face destiny. By our side will be Pony, our loyalest bestest friend.  We start our morning with no hesitation on visiting Rosetta.  Sound: Spirit Chime of LibraROSETTA: This is what you wanted, right? ROSETTA: Listen, Bush. You better bring Mist back!  ROSETTA: She...she's my childhood... um...friend, so I'm kinda...um...worried... you know? You got Libra Flower! That makes the last of the crystal flowers!  BUSH: How is your father? Is he getting better? ROSETTA: Not much change. I got Lara to take a look at him. ROSETTA: I hope she can find out something. BUSH: I see... ROSETTA: I can only come back here once a week until my father is all better. ROSETTA: Danny is doing really well. I guess that's the only thing I'm happy for. We're still not at the end of this, we'll need to talk to Lara next week to finally get to a point where we can take action.  ROSETTA: When we were small, Mist and I were picking up fallen leaves and somehow ended up racing to make the biggest pile.  ROSETTA: I wonder why it always turns into a race when it comes to Mist... Just born rivals, I suppose. At least you two are on good terms and it's a friendly rivalry.  Also Rosetta puts a lot of work into washing just the edges of her plates. Infinitely looping gif provided for your convenience.  A row across Lake Poli to meet the vampire girls...  And also to collect our Pumpkins. These things are JUST in time.  This also so happens to be the day we can get our Full-sized Bed. With this, Bush is finally ready to get married!  With morning chores done, Bush awaits his date... The night before... posted:
*And now the day of, Selphy is already there...* Music: To You SELPHY: Hey, you're late! Well, no. I guess I was just early. SELPHY: To be honest, I just couldn't sleep last night, so I just decided not to and came here. BUSH: What? Selphy, you didn't sleep at all? SELPHY: *chuckle* Don't worry. I pull all-nighters all the time, so I'm used to it. So yes, Selphy has been standing out here all night.   *Bush and Selphy approach the bridge of Lake Poli.*  SELPHY: Well, the leaves have all changed colors. Do you know of a place with a nice view...?    *We then get a few different angles as they cross the bridge, stopping in the center to look out upon the lake and the forest beyond.*  SELPHY: Wow... So much more spectacular in real life... I'm...impressed... BUSH: Yeah... It sure is something...   *And some more angles of the view follow...but!*  SELPHY: Hey, don't laugh, but um...I made some snacks for us.  BUSH: Really?! This looks great.  Today's box lunch is Sandwich! *Bush proceeds to eat his share...*  *The taste makes him react in shock!*  SELPHY: How is it...? If it tastes awful, tell me, okay? BUSH: It's delicious!  *Selphy lightly tips her hat.*  SELPHY: What, really?! Oh, man. I didn't expect that one. Hahaha...     *And some more angles of the view follow...*  SELPHY: I was so surprised at how pretty the leaves were in real life! I had a lot of fun. BUSH: The colors sure were beautiful. I'm glad I got to see it.  SELPHY: I guess taking my eyes off books once in a while can be fun. *But the time has arrived, Bush can delay it no longer. He begins to depart.*  SELPHY: Thanks for inviting me out.  *In a brief moment of overwhelming emotion, she scratches her head and averts her eyes..*  SELPHY: If possible... I'd like to do this again. BUSH: Of course!  *And so she waves as the scene ends...* EXTRA: There is an option to not like the box lunch made for you. You can even still get married after this. Bush doesn't like it posted:
There's a chance this is just one of Bush's sandwiches, but a Sandwich is a Sandwich. And Bush loves sandwiches. Anyways, you can find the rest of the available dates in links below- one last hurrah for the timeline distortions. Oh, and Selphy got over half the votes for the date, if you wanted to know. Anette's Autumn Date Cinnamon's Autumn Date Melody's Autumn Date Tabatha's Autumn Date Lara's Autumn Date  Our date completed and his spirit steeled, Bush now has nothing to hold him back from braving the Era of Disconnect. We make our final preparations in the form of Pumpkin Tarts. These are a fantastic 240 HP, 300 RP, +45 Attack, and +40 Earth Res.  And also some classic Tomato Juice. The attack buff will be potentially useful- a technique learned from challenging the Ice Snake. (also a few cookies with the last of our butter and flour)  23 Relax Tea, 5 Pumpkin Tarts, 4 Cherry Pies, 4 Sandwiches, 6 Peperoncino, 2 Cookies, 10 Tomato Juice, 1 level 10 Salmon Sashimi, and a level 10 Toast. We will survive. It' s almost poetic that all the favorite foods we've been gifting to the chosen bachelorettes will be what supports us in the final battle. And when you think about it, much of our gear is even made with Magic Crystals. Curious how that all worked out.  And so Bush enters the Clock Tower. Will he ever step foot beyond this door again? The climax of his story awaits... ---------------------------- *The next update drops tomorrow!* Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 22, 2023 15:21
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Update 52: Destiny In we go.    Bush approaches the huge stone and metal dais inside the clocktower. Up the red staircase is a pedestal. It is here we place all the crystal flowers we have obtained thus far.  The astrological signs aren't in astrological order, but this is the order of the flowers if they were. ??? (Aries) ♈︎ Tabatha (Taurus) ♉︎ Iris (Gemini) ♊︎ Cinnamon (Cancer) ♋︎ Bianca (Leo) ♌︎ Selphy (Virgo) ♍︎ Rosetta (Libra) ♎︎ Anette (Scorpio) ♏︎ Lara (Sagittarius) ♏︎ Eunice (Capricorn) ♑︎ Melody (Aquarius) ♒︎ Uzuki (Pisces) ♓︎ We're missing an Aries. Hopefully that's not a problem.  Bush puts them in the order the game has listed. Which is almost correct, but Aries and Taurus are swapped, and it starts from Capricorn. Sound: Spirit Chime of CapricornSound: Spirit Chime of AquariusSound: Spirit Chime of PiscesSound: Spirit Chime of TaurusSound: Spirit Chime of AriesSound: Spirit Chime of GeminiSound: Spirit Chime of CancerSound: Spirit Chime of LeoSound: Spirit Chime of VirgoSound: Spirit Chime of LibraSound: Spirit Chime of ScorpioSound: Spirit Chime of Sagittarius(You don't need to listen to all of these.)  We're left with a single Gemini flower as extra. I suppose we'll have to put it on.   BUSH: This is all of them...  *The music goes silent after the Gemini chime finishes playing...* BUSH: ...Nothing's happening... KANNO: What?!  KANNO: There are only 11 Crystals presented to the pedestal. KANNO: Look. There's one hole with no crystal in it. KANNO: Bush, are you sure you received the Crystals from 12 maidens? BUSH: Yes. Positive. KANNO: Hm... That would mean, of the 12 maidens, you were only able to get 11 varieties of Crystals. KANNO: Does this mean two of the maidens grew the same Crystals...? How is that possible...? BUSH: What do you mean?  KANNO: A Crystal Flower is in the shape of the caretaker's soul. Meaning, no two people can grow the same type of Crystal. KANNO: The fact that you got 11 varieties from 12 people would mean... either one person grew two, or something else I can't explain... BUSH: Oh! KANNO: What is it, Bush?! BUSH: So you're saying that if the same person grows more than one, they'll all be the same, right? KANNO: Right.  BUSH: It's Iris! BUSH: The two Irises were originally one and the same! KANNO: Ah! Of course! BUSH: Well, then the solution is simple. I'll just have one more person grow one...like Candy.  *Kanno starts to turn away.* KANNO: That...is not possible... BUSH: What? Why not?! KANNO: There aren't any seeds left. Even if we were to look for more, I don't know how long that would take... BUSH: That can't be...  BUSH: Man...!  *Bush starts to run off at full sprint.*  KANNO: Where are you going, Bush?!  BUSH: I can't just give up like this! There has to be something, some way to figure this out! KANNO: Bush ...  But what can we possibly do? We don't have years to wait for another flower, and there's no other girls with enough relation to Bush or Trampoli to count! And besides, we have no more seeds. We can't get any more grown...  Bush, searching through all the knowledge he has absorbed, makes his way past Mist's house. On the way there, we meet an ever familiar, but still unknown figure.  MYSTERY GIRL: Once the church is finished being built, I will hold a ceremony. I hope you will also participate, Bush. BUSH: When will it be finished? MYSTERY GIRL: ...It will be a while... A long while... BUSH: ...? ...That's right! We have to think back farther. Flowers. Who else here grows flowers? Who here knows strange seeds? Wait, didn't Mist say she found a strange seed a long time ago?  ...Unbelievable!  Sound: Spirit Chime of AriesBUSH: Hey, it's the flower Mist was growing... BUSH: Huh...? Th-this is...  You got Aries Flower! Her foresight is impeccable.  Quickly! We must make haste! Who knows how much time is left!  The Aries Flower is made of diamond. I suppose it goes with her hair.  Bush places it upon the pedestal, but this time something different happens...!  Sound: Completed Spirit Melody(You might want to listen to this, just as reference for the upcoming songs. It's also worth noting that each of the separate pieces are the same as the little tunes each bachelorette would occasionally hum.)  *As Bush and Kanno stand listening to the chimes, Candy walks in.*   CANDY: Grandpa! The Spirits are restless! Did something happen? KANNO: Oh, Candy... We tried placing Crystal Flowers on this pedestal, but nothing is happening except this melody.  CANDY: This kinda sounds like the Spirit Melody... Hold on a sec! The Spirits are trying to say something! CANDY: Uh-huh... Oh...  CANDY: Grandpa! Let me see that book Bush found!  *Candy starts to search through the Grimoire.* CANDY: This is it!  Music: Grimoire Song - Candy*She begins to sing out lyrics alongside the chimes!*  *A strange, multicolored light suddenly appears upon the top of the platform!*  *It begins to spark with energy!*  KANNO: Ah...! So this was the poem the book was talking about! KANNO: But I've never heard of any poem that was sung with the Spirit Melody...  CANDY: I guess the Spirits originally had words they sang to the Spirit Melody. CANDY: They were just forgotten over time until no one remembered... BUSH: I wonder why it suddenly resurfaced now. CANDY: It's to help Mist...I think... The Spirits want to help save Mist! KANNO: Well then, we must not keep the Spirits waiting.  KANNO: Touch the pedestal. You should be able to travel to the other world where Mist is. KANNO: Be sure to remember there is a fearful magical creature that awaits you there. KANNO: It's not too late even after you've made preparations. Oh, Magic Grandpa, Bush is prepared. He's as prepared as he'll ever be.  Well after a bath and picking Pony back up (the cutscene despawned her).  BUSH: I may not be able to return for a while once I cross over...  I'm ready. Let's do this! BUSH: I should be fine. Let's do this!  *And so we fade to white...* Click *here* if you want to see the video of me playing through this instead.  Music: Era of DisconnectAnd fade back in to find ourselves outside the Clock Tower... but it's a bit different. Some strange, dark gold void seems to have encased the tower in a sphere. It's marbled with streaks of white, cloudy energy.  From some angles, it looks a bit red.  There's the clock, so we're headed to the ladder...  We ready the trusty Fire Rod.  No choice but to climb. The void is getting noticeably more red now.   *We fade back in to find Bush approaching a strange monster...*  BLUE VOICE: Don't come near me... That blue voice in our dreams... is this creature? It's some sort of black hound, accented with white and red fur...  SPIRIT HOUND: I can't do this anymore... I can't hold myself back... SPIRIT HOUND: Please... Run away...  BUSH: You're...from my dream...  GELWEIN: Welcome, Bush. I knew you'd be able to make it here.  *Bush turns around to see...!* BUSH: ...!!  *Gelwein's standing in the air above us!*  GELWEIN: Behold, this hideous monster! GELWEIN: This here is a magical creature created by amateurish researchers with the power of Spirits. GELWEIN: On top of their incompetence, it had an uncontrollable trait of endlessly absorbing Runes, so it was abandoned here. GELWEIN: For such inept fools, this was the only thing they could do.  GELWEIN: That's where I come in. GELWEIN: At first, I used Iris, then Mist, to continuously feed him with Runes filled with negative emotions over the years. GELWEIN: It was so exciting watching this creature turn into a hideous monster while so loyally waiting for his masters!  GELWEIN: He's at his limits now though. He will soon lose control of his mind. GELWEIN: Once that happens, he'll absorb all the Runes around him and become a complete embodiment of destruction! GELWEIN: This is how I will destroy the world, the very fools that dared reject my genius! Wow, man, you're really just gonna explain your entire evil plot to us aren't you?  BUSH: I won't let that happen! GELWEIN: Why don't you speak such nonsense after you've defeated that!  BUSH: ...!! Incoming!  *We fade to white...!*  Music: Final Confrontation *The view pans from a far view to show Bush on the tower, and the beast, empowered with red energy charging him!*   *It stops and lets out a howl!*  Pony immediately lunges to Bush's aid!  She's knocked back and takes... 1 damage. Um.  Well, the howl it does hurts her some at least. It still only hits Bush for 1.  BUSH: Take that! And so Bush begins stunlocking it with constant fireball spam!  The mad beast leaps away sending out pink energy spheres in the process! Bush dodges and switches to the Demon Axe! The energy projectiles do track, but they do little damage to Bush.  It also seems capable of emitting large, magical melee spikes of some kind. These hurt a bit, but Bush powers through into a charge attack!  This combined with a frontal attack from Pony wipes a full quarter of it's HP!  It narrowly dodges away!  We've got it now!     *With a grim howl, it falls to it's side...* I'm sorry, demon dog, but it had to be done...  BUSH: ...Your maniacal plots...END HERE!  GELWEIN: Haha... Muahahaha! *A magical whirr begins as Gelwein begins to glow with the power of the Dark Rune!*  *He flourishes his cape, in... triumph?*  Music: Brodik's Theme/ TensionGELWEIN: This is it... This is what I've been waiting for!  *Now beside the fallen beast, he raises his hand to the dark energy!*  *We fade out and back in to see Mist, suspended within the center of the Dark Rune!* BUSH: Mist! BUSH: Release Mist!  GELWEIN: Why don't you make me! BUSH: No need to tell me twice...!!  *Dark energy begins to spark around Gelwein!*  *A blinding flash of light!*  Music: Pinch*Our view comes back to see the monster alive again...*  *But with Gelwein now attached to it in some amalgamation of the two, transformed by dark magic!*    TRANSFORMED GELWEIN: Such magnificence... I never imagined it would amount to this much...  BUSH: What...is this? This monstrosity...? TRANSFORMED GELWEIN: It's a combination of a giant Rune and the awareness-control I used to manipulate Iris... TRANSFORMED GELWEIN: In order to place this rebellious magical creature completely under my sway, TRANSFORMED GELWEIN: I had to first get rid of his own will, but thanks to you, that became much easier. TRANSFORMED GELWEIN: If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to destroy the world!  BUSH: What...  TRANSFORMED GELWEIN: For your great service to my dream... You'll have the honor of dying first!  BUSH: Gelwein!! You've caused enough suffering with your selfish games...  BUSH: You, I will never...EVER forgive!  Music: Final Confrontation*And so we return to battle, Gelwein glowing intensely with dark energy, Mist suspended in the Dark Rune behind him!*  The void surrounding us has gotten much smaller, now it eats away at the edges of a runed circle of light, detailed with the star signs,  Pony gets a good starting blow in as Bush downs a Peperoncino for lifesteal.  A good hit on his front as he taunts us!  We continue to smash him and he summons monsters! Some strange variant of the Mantict! But his health... it's...!  It's just going back up!  Pony, NOOOO!  YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!  ...But, all the damage we do just gets healed back!  What... what can we do?!  BUSH: *huff*huff* BUSH: He's...too strong...  MONSTROUS GELWEIN: With this Rune...I...AM A GOD! MONSTROUS GELWEIN: You will never win!!  *He begins charging a dark spell above his head- consuming the light around it...!* Is this it for Bush? Were we destined to fail?  BUSH: I...hear something... BUSH: A song...?  Music: Grimoire Song - 12 Maidens(This has all the girls singing their parts alongside Candy.)  CANDY: Bush! *It's Candy, high in the air!* BUSH: Candy?! What are you... Why are you here?! CANDY: We asked the Spirits to bring our forms and song voice here!  CINNAMON: You can't win without first releasing the Dark Rune from under Gelwein's control.  IRIS NOIRE: If we all sing together, our thoughts should be able to reach the Dark Rune Gelwein took by force.   EUNICE: That's why we're all going to sing the Spirit Melody together! BUSH: You guys...  SELPHY: Hey! I'm here to help, too! Although, to be honest, singing isn't my forte!  MELODY: I'll be helping too, so we should be able to take care of a guy like him. No sweat!  UZUKI: Well, this is the one time I can't ask for Tsubute's aid... Because he's...tone-deaf.  BIANCA: I came all the way here to sing for you. You'd better make it worth my while and take care of that lowlife!  TABATHA: If at all possible, please save that monster along with the Spirits.  ANETTE: I'll deliver a song instead of mail, today. It's a mailman's job to deliver anything if necessary!  LARA: I'll take care of your injuries, but please, be safe...!  ROSETTA: Hey Mist! It's not like you to be captured like this! Everyone's...um...worried!  IRIS BLANCHE: May our songs be carried. Oh, Spirits! Awaken from your sorrows!  *We cut to a view of Bush looking up at Mist...*  *She floats at the heart of the Dark Rune...*   *As her eyes open, the darkness turns to light!*  *The rune shines a bright blue!*   *And she looks our way!*  Sound: Reunion MIST: Oh... Hello, everyone... Is there a festival today? BUSH: What are you talking about?! Everyone's here because of you!   MIST: Oh, is that so. Then I guess that makes today "Mist Festival." BUSH: ...Mist... MIST: Haha, I'm kidding. BUSH: ... *insert canned laugh track*   MIST: The Spirits told me about what's going on.  MIST: Don't worry about me. Give 'em all you got! MIST: I'll support you. I hope the Spirits also told you your lines for the song!  MONSTROUS GELWEIN: Fools... MONSTROUS GELWEIN: Even without the Rune, you're no match for this body of mine!  BUSH: Everyone, help me out!   CANDY & THE MAIDENS: No problem! Music: Grimoire Song - Finale(If there's one track from this update to listen to, it's this one!)  Gelwein, get ready to lose to the power of anime friendship! We'll have to do this without Pony backing us up...  --------------------------------------- "Pray to Heaven with a song," "As the winds caress me~" --------------------------------------- He has an aresenal of spells, this one being a wave of 5 fireballs, but we dodge this one cleanly.  --------------------------------------- "Send a prayer up to the light," So that it might help me see~ ---------------------------------------- Throughout the fight, spirits fly forth from the cleansed runes giving us a full restore on RP. This lets us go full aggro combined with our lifesteal, although I was doing that anyways.  ---------------------------------------- Searching through my memories- Memories, my memories for you- For you~ ---------------------------------------- Another of his attacks, a tracking wave of flame eruptions...  ---------------------------------------- I have come this far having lost every hope, Hope of finding you~ ---------------------------------------- A dual shot of green energy...  ---------------------------------------- But I swear no matter what I've had to face, You've never left my heart~ ---------------------------------------- ...But he has unique attacks of his own in the form of violet beams wielded like a sword.  ---------------------------------------- There are sweet memories- They live all around us~ ---------------------------------------- He stops to summon his mantis creations, but eats 2000 damage for it as Bush relentlessly goes all in on charge attacks.  ---------------------------------------- How can you not believe in our love- My whole heart belongs to you- My life your love leads~ ---------------------------------------- Having been swiftly dropped beneath half HP, Gelwein retreats to the back of the arena to prepare his strongest move.  ---------------------------------------- I've always stood next to you- In your time of need~ ---------------------------------------- Descending from the sky, a ridiculously massive violet greatsword falls into his hands!  ---------------------------------------- Embraced by the warmth of your gentle gaze- I've given you my love~ ---------------------------------------- The swing from it engulfs nearly the entire arena in violent energy, also friendly-firing his summons. Bush has easily retreated to safety at the other end of the arena.  ---------------------------------------- I look for you now in my memories- Heart never mending~ Love never ending~ ---------------------------------------- And then he goes for it again...  ---------------------------------------- Pray to Heaven with our song~! ---------------------------------------- Bush ends up taking this hit, and it deals some real damage. But it's not enough to knock him down. One Pumpkin Tart later and we're back to max with an attack boost.   --------------------------------------- "Pray to Heaven with a song," "As the winds caress me~" --------------------------------------- Utterly desperate at this point, Gelwein then begins casting incantations on fractions of the runed circle beneath us. These rain down columns of water lasers, but all elements can show.  --------------------------------------- "Send a prayer up to the light," So that it might help me see~ ---------------------------------------- You think that's enough to stop Bush? You're going to need more than just that.  ---------------------------------------- Searching through my memories- Memories, my memories for you- ---------------------------------------- The next is a wind incantation, but Bush has already downed more food and it's as if he was never hit to begin with. Gelwein has left himself open- his fatal mistake.  ---------------------------------------- For you~ ----------------------------------------  The final blow is struck.   *With an anger filled roar...*  *He falls.* Music: Era of Disconnect *We fade in to see Bush and Mist facing a defeated Gelwein.*   GELWEIN: No... Impossible! My plan... My plan...!!! (Hey, the dog is alive again!)  BUSH: I couldn't have beaten you alone... BUSH: You despised everyone around you and wanted revenge. BUSH: I, on the other hand, fought together with everyone around me...  GELWEIN: You're telling me...that's why I lost...? A miscalculation...on my part...? GELWEIN: Not...possibl... GELWEIN: Ugh...!! Man, when are villians going to stop underestimating the power of friendship?  Music: VisionsSPIRIT HOUND: I've caused all of you such trouble. I'm sorry. BUSH: You weren't yourself. You don't need to apologize. SPIRIT HOUND: ...Thank you. BUSH: ...Mist. We should get going. Everyone's waiting.  MIST: Right.  MIST: Oh, yeah!  MIST: Mr. Dog, why don't you come with us? It'll be fun. SPIRIT HOUND: Thank you, but I'd be more trouble than fun if I were to cross over. MIST: You're talking about the power that absorbs all Runes, right? MIST: I'll just tell the Spirits to be careful next time in my dream, so don't worry. Mist, I don't know if that's enough.  SPIRIT HOUND: Um... Is such a thing really possible? MIST: I'm pretty sure it'll be okay. SPIRIT HOUND: Th-thank you! But... I'll stay here.  SPIRIT HOUND: Because I... Even I have a family...! BUSH: Oh, yeah. The people in this world see you as... ...as what? I don't know. Bush, stop withholding information from me! It is nice Mr. Dog can go back to his family now, though, whoever they are.  *A distant bell of a clock tower tolls...*  *Spirits begin to gather around Mist and Bush.*  MIST: Let's get going. I'm sure everyone's waiting. BUSH: Ah, right.  BUSH: Well, we're gonna get going now. Take care...  SPIRIT HOUND: You, too...  *And so we fade to black as the camera rises...* By the way, Gelwein is still there. I think we just abandoned him in the Era of Disconnect, never to return. Fair enough, serves him right. Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 23, 2023 17:02
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Update 52.5: (Not) The End (Got barely caught by the character limit yet again. So here we are.)  Music: The EndIt's the credits! They're actually pretty short, really. I don't really have a good way of showing them in screenshots or anything, but you can see them in the video.  So that's the end of Rune Factory Frontier, although it's not the end of the LP just yet.  We've got just a few updates left, primarily to show off the end of a few character storylines. We won't be seeing everyone's, but we still have some unsolved mysteries worth uncovering. To be more specific, Kross, Mystery Girl, and Brodik. Also maybe Ganesha's thing if it ever decides to happen.  Of course, Rosetta and Iris's story ends are still on the way before we can have that final vote on who to marry.  After that, it's mostly just showing off festivals. The days per update is going to increase dramatically as the amount of stuff left to show per day is going to get increasingly minimal.  Also, the credits have shifted from green to yellow to blue text by this point.  How will Bush's life continue from here? There's no dangerous monsters left to fight, money is losing it's meaning... Let's be honest, he's approaching retirement at the ripe age of indistinctly young man.  I suppose there's only one answer for that.  *Bush walks up to the door of his house and yawns.*  pff our fields are still messed up  Stay tuned, folks. --------------------------------------  MYSTERY: ...Wow, Gelwein was a chump.  BUSH: That's just the power of friendship! MYSTERY: No, I mean you barely used any of that food you made. BUSH: I suppose you're right. I've still got some leftover even now! Want some? MYSTERY: ...I question the safety of eating a sandwich that old. BUSH: *snarf munch crunch* MYSTERY: I'm just going to call Lara right now because I know what's coming next. Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 23, 2023 17:04
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That was anime as gently caress. also yay, the dog survived
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Mar 23, 2023 18:46
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A clean victory for Bush! Also, props to everyone for leaving Gelwein to die. He sure was an anime bossfight. Pony is still best dog.
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Mar 23, 2023 19:46
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Spirit dog is a close second to Pony though
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Mar 23, 2023 23:18
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Black Robe posted:That was anime as gently caress. Pretty much sums it up, yeah. BraveLittleToaster posted:A clean victory for Bush! Also, props to everyone for leaving Gelwein to die. He sure was an anime bossfight. I'm still not sure if showing him just on the edge of the screen was intended, but Bush and Mist absolutely just ignore him. Once he realizes his miscalculation, he is banished from the plot forevermore. In the end, his giant and ominous rune was no match for the power of friendship and the sudden arrival of the Western Zodiac. Black Robe posted:also yay, the dog survived BraveLittleToaster posted:Pony is still best dog. Slaan posted:Spirit dog is a close second to Pony though The votes are in, Mr. Dog is now the goodest boy. Pony retains her rank of goodest girl and best dog
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Mar 24, 2023 02:10
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It's amazing that they re-recorded the final song with the English VAs singing, and managed to get a translation to fit the lyrics too. RF:F has its flaws (complete. ecological. disaster.) but that final battle with all the girls singing backup for the main character was absolutely incredible. One of my favorite end sequences of all time. Thank you for showing this game off, Odd Wilson.
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Mar 24, 2023 02:57
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sandorius posted:It's amazing that they re-recorded the final song with the English VAs singing, and managed to get a translation to fit the lyrics too. RF:F has its flaws (complete. ecological. disaster.) but that final battle with all the girls singing backup for the main character was absolutely incredible. One of my favorite end sequences of all time. I won't lie, the backup singing and how everything comes together in that moment gives me real chills. The good, frisson kind, mind you. It's a fantastic note to hit for all those 70 hours of playtime (time spend making updates definitely not included.) I'll say this again in my final conclusion when we get there- but while I started this LP with a rather unsure, perhaps even mildly cynical, opinion of the game my opinion has really shifted heavily in favor of it. For all the flaws I've complained about or picked at, I've really enjoyed it. Me from almost 9 years ago had no idea what they were missing and I'm still really happy I picked this as my first choice to LP over the other options. We're not done yet though! We've got what looks to be 4 more updates until our marriage vote and a few more after that to shore up all the loose ends + year 2 festivals. Gonna take a guess at about Update 60 - 62 being the end. Then Bush can retire as a married, indistinctly young dude and master chef, who is the champion of festivals and most importantly, best friend of the bestest dog. Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 03:15 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 03:13
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Odd Wilson posted:The votes are in, Mr. Dog is now the goodest boy. Pony retains her rank of goodest girl and best dog
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Mar 24, 2023 06:35
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Update 53: The Great Turnip Heist Music: AutumnWe resume to find Mist continuing life as if nothing happened. Yep, that's Mist.  MIST: Autumn is the season for giving thanks. I can't wait. MIST: What am I looking forward to? You should know by now. It's the upcoming festival. It's turnip-based.  MIST: I took Torte and his friend to the bath the other day. MIST: But Melody got mad and said monsters aren't allowed inside. BUSH: Of course they aren't... That's her two exploding disco ducks, if you've forgotten. She has those.  MIST: Oh...? You seem to be wearing normal clothes today. BUSH: Huh? I wear this every day... MIST: Oh, I'm sorry... That was in a dream. MIST: Yesterday, I had a dream where you were working in your field while dressed strangely. BUSH: How strangely? MIST: You had rabbit ears, a long scarf... BUSH: You can stop right there... MIST: Really? That's too bad. We've seen this conversation before, but...  she doesn't need to know the truth  Speaking of outfit changes, I decided to have Bush go back to his classic red hat + cape look. The wooly hat wasn't bad, but this is just peak Bush in my mind.  KANNO: I'm glad that the abnormalities with the Runes have subsided. KANNO: Now I can concentrate fully on my research. All has returned to normal. (The existence of Runeys is not an abnormality.)   RITA: Only regulars come to our bar and it's never that busy. RITA: But working at it alone can be really hard. I wonder if someone could help me out... BUSH: What about Eunice? RITA: I have Eunice clean the bar in the morning. I can't have her work at night, too. BUSH: I see... RITA: Sorry for complaining in front of you. RITA: Don't mind me. Hrm. Who do we know that would be good at a nighttime job?  IRIS BLANCHE: ...We can get to know the villagers better, too. IRIS NOIRE: Yes, but there will be problems... IRIS BLANCHE: Where to live... BUSH: What's wrong? IRIS NOIRE: Oh, Bush... IRIS NOIRE: The Runes of Whale Island are much more stable now,  IRIS BLANCHE: ...so we were talking about moving to Trampoli. IRIS BLANCHE: Staying here by ourselves would be meaningless and we want to get to know the villagers better. BUSH: That sounds great! Everyone will welcome you! IRIS NOIRE: But there is a problem... BUSH: What is it? I'll be glad to help out any way I can. IRIS BLANCHE: We don't have a place to stay so we can't move. IRIS NOIRE: And, we can only come out at night so we can't stay at someone's house either. IRIS BLANCHE: But building a new house would be too much trouble. IRIS NOIRE: That is why we were at a loss.  BUSH: Rita, over at Snowstyle, was looking for someone to help out at the bar. BUSH: If you ask her, maybe she'll let you live there, too. The bar is in business only at night, after all. IRIS BLANCHE: Really?! IRIS NOIRE: Would you please ask her about it? BUSH: I'll try. If you were wondering why there was still an unused room in the inn, well, here's your answer.  BUSH: Rita, I'd like to ask you for a favor. RITA: What is it? Just come right out and say it. BUSH: Well, Iris is looking for a place to move to... RITA: Then they can use our inn. BUSH: Really?! RITA: We've got plenty of open rooms anyway. RITA: If they'll work at the bar, they won't need to pay for the rooms. As for my husband... He probably won't object to it. BUSH: Really?! Thank you very much! I'll bring Iris right away! So we're gonna set the vampire girls up with a place working room and board. I don't see why we couldn't have just hit up Kross and get him to build a house somewhere. If Brodik is allowed to unquestioningly just set up a house, why can't we? Anyway, back on up to the island we go...  BUSH: Iris, Rita said that you can stay at the inn! IRIS BLANCHE: Really?! Thank you so much! IRIS NOIRE: We really can't thank you enough, Bush. BUSH: I haven't done anything. Now let's go! At least this time we get instantly transported to the inn.  RITA: Welcome, girls! This will be your room! RITA: But are you sure you only want one room? Isn't it a bit cramped? You needn't worry about money if you're working at the bar. IRIS NOIRE: We want to be together. IRIS BLANCHE: We've been separated for so long and finally, after so much time, we were able to come together again...  RITA: Fine. I won't say another word about it. RITA: All right. I'm going to have you two working starting tonight. IRIS NOIRE: Yes, ma'am! And so, that's how the vampires came to work at the bar. Honestly, I wish we could get them a better job.  IRIS NOIRE: I've been learning how to do household chores from Rita. Is this what they call domestic training? I suppose the lessons really did start immediately! Either way, this means we really don't have a reason to go to Whale Island anymore outside of monster hunting. This also means we no longer have to do the run there every morning- we just drop by the bar every morning.  And here they are at work.  IRIS BLANCHE: The changing colors of the tree leaves look so beautiful. IRIS BLANCHE: I was on Whale Island the entire time so I never got see such beautiful scenery. I'd imagine you'd be able to just look down on clear days, but then again, I've only seen you outside the tower once.  IRIS NOIRE: Pom-pom Grass can bloom beautifully in this season. IRIS NOIRE: The fluffy cotton looks like a Wooly. Noire will also start giving seasonal flower tips now that she has more than just the wildflowers from the island. Pom-pom grass takes too long to grow, so we'll just take your word for it.  ...And that's really all that's left for today. The number of days per update is going to grow a lot starting now.  I was gonna go and duplicate a bunch of money now that we're done with the game, but the bosses seem to have been upgraded again into higher stats and permanent rage mode. ....So let's just not. Hang up the ol' axe and magic rods.  Mail time!  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Maid" - Mist~ Aren't Tabatha's clothes so cute? Maybe I could wear them if I became a maid... ----------------------------------------------------- I don't think you'll rope the Coquilles into your underground schemes. They have too much money to care.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Iris" - Eunice~ Iris moved in today. I am so excited because I feel like I got two sisters at once. Which reminds me, how old is Iris anyway? Maybe she is younger than me? No, maybe older? ----------------------------------------------------- If Minerva and Iris are your honorary sisters, why not Uzuki? It's hard to know how old Iris, but I think it's a safe bet vampires live longer than humans.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Once again..." - Iris~ I have finished moving in and begun to settle in, so I thought perhaps I should send out a greeting. Rita, Turner, and Eunice are all very nice, and I am very excited to begin a new chapter in my life. I'll be working the tavern at night, so come visit anytime. ----------------------------------------------------- And so we lifted them from overwhelming isolation into a life of paying rent via room and board. I still think we should've gotten Kross to build them a house in the empty spot behind ours or something. Can't believe we just threw them into the hands of the 9-to-5.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Sorry." - Wind Crystal~ I got the Wind Crystal. I'm sorry to have troubled you again, but you really were a huge help. I may require your service again, so I'll talk to you again soon. ----------------------------------------------------- I think the later requests take quite a while to show. Ganesha's at nearly max FP thanks to handing over our Demon Blood stash, but as far as my recordings has gone, she hasn't sent anything in some weeks. We probably won't see the end of it. It's not like the reward is something Bush wants: a sword  And we end with an advertisement from Rosetta. Must've sent it out before she left town this morning. We spend our morning barging into people's houses, looking for interesting conversation. BIANCA: Francoise is getting really big. BIANCA: I think I shall be able to ride it soon. I can't wait.  That's good news, I guess! You know, maybe we should go talk to the whale. We were just going up and down the tail yesterday as it was a holiday, so we didn't get a chance to talk to him.  Music: Whale Island Entrance - AmbientWHALE: Bush... BUSH: Whale...! WHALE: My body feels much lighter now... I can feel the Spirits returning to me... WHALE: I don't know what is happening but I suppose the problem has been solved. WHALE: Now I can swim in the skies without any more worries... WHALE: I would like to thank you from the bottom of my being...  ...And that's it! We don't get a reward except the feeling of a job well done.  Outside of the few plants we have up here, we don't have much of a reason to be here. We'll be collecting these tomatoes up until those cabbages finally grow in, and after that we probably won't come back up here. Nothing else happens, so on to the next day!  ANETTE: You defeated that huge monster on Whale Island? ANETTE: You're so strong, Bush. I always thought you were a pretty timid guy. ANETTE: Haha! Sorry. Instead of mail, we just get burned by Ann of all people how could you do this to us  ANETTE: Hey, this stamp is rare... Is this foreign? I guess Brodik has lovers all over the world. I'm sure it's just some dating scam spam mail.  BUSH: Iris must have been drawing something. Let's see... BUSH: ...  BUSH: ...I have no idea what she's trying to draw. Iris is still practicing her extreme impressionistic avant garde artstyle.  Next day! There's no new mail.  We do find Brodik up on the mountainside at least. He's just over here staring at the fruit trees sometimes. BRODIK: What is this? You can't even take care of your own fields? BRODIK: You don't deserve to be in this village! Get out of here! Get out of here now! BRODIK: Hahahahahahaha! no u That reminds me...  We never used it anyways, let's give the Cat's Tail to Kross.  KROSS: W-won't it be weird if I wear this...? KROSS: ...I was joking. Don't mind what I just said. Kross just wants to be a monster at this point, let's be honest. But that's cool, we don't judge.  KROSS: What do you think of your home? BUSH: It's so spacious now! KROSS: Heh... I see... Thank you. Our man did a real fix-up job on it, cannot lie.  Meanwhile, those cabbages are ready, so I suppose this'll be the last we see of the island out of some rare circumstances. You were cool, Mr. Whale, you were cool.  We can use that to make the Veg. Stir Fry that Bianca was asking for. Cabbage, Bell Pepper, and Cooking Oil. Seems like it needs some onion if you ask me, but this is what the recipe calls for. I go ahead and get that to Anette so she can deliver it.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Coming of Age Day" - Stella~ Tomorrow is the Coming of Age Day. We'll be having a big treasure hunt to celebrate the day, so if you're interested, come by the Public Square. ----------------------------------------------------- Tomorrow we get more letters. This festival is mostly the point of this update. ----------------------------------------------------------- MYSTERY: ...Then why didn't we just start with that? BUSH: This was all extremely relevant info up to this point. MYSTERY: It... really hasn't been. ------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Next..." - Bianca~ I recieved your Veg. Stir-fry. Did you make this? Well, not that I care or anything. Hm... as for the next item... Something harder to make... Perhaps a Steam Pumpkin. Yes, send me a Steam Pumpkin. ----------------------------------------------------- Luckily for us, I just happened to have one leftover. I didn't plan it or anything, it just worked out that way. If you read through the Tabatha date last update, the timelines crossed and got a bit confused. I thought I had already done this letter request then. Bush picking up this side gig as Bianca's food delivery service will go on for a while, although we're going to hit a dead end soon.  Pumpkin delivered. Off to go bother people for the day.  LARA: I went to go see Rosetta's father just now. BUSH: How was he? Will he get better? LARA: Yes. He'll be good as new. LARA: Just follow the recipe I'll be giving you and hand the finished product to Rosetta. BUSH: I-I'm making it...?!  LARA: I won't be able to. You have to care deeply for Rosetta while you make it or it won't be effective. BUSH: Oh... LARA: Let me teach you the recipe now. LARA: Take 2 of "Healing Drink S" and a "White Grass" and mix them. LARA: You'll be able to make a "Healing Drink X" with it. LARA: You may fail a couple of times, but keep trying. BUSH: All right. We've already done this, of course. This means we can hand it in to Rosetta tomorrow.  And tomorrow it shall be!  Music: Festival IRIS NOIRE: So there will be a treasure hunt during the Coming of Age Day. Is there a reason for that? We will never find out. I guess they just wanted a parallel to RF1's Adventure Contest.  Most importantly, it's a day that Rosetta is here!  ROSETTA: Oh, what's this? BUSH: Please give it to your father. Lara told me about it.  ROSETTA: Really?! I'll get him to drink it right away! Thanks, Bush! Rosetta is understandably quite happy to get this. We'll get to hear the results soon!  KROSS: I just can't learn to like the Adventure Contest... KROSS: You should never let children carry weapons. You will ruin them if you do. BUSH: The Adventure Contest is where they go treasure hunting. KROSS: ... Kross isn't much a fan of the Adventure Contest. Luckily this is Coming of Age Day, which is entirely different, I assure you.  Lute, my main man! How you doin'?  I buy some curtains for the house and buy the Lab Storage for not particular reason aside from the fact I can.  CINNAMON: The Whale Constellation is a strange one. You can only see it during nights with a full moon. BUSH: That is strange. CINNAMON: The full moon comes out every month on the 15th and 16th. Look for it around midnight. Just before we reach the square, Cinnamon has a new constellation to mention.  Enough delay, festival time!  GANESHA: Today, on Coming of Age Day, children and adults are all treated alike. GANESHA: Marco's getting carried away, saying that he'll win the treasure hunt so that he won't be treated like a kid anymore. GANESHA: But I'll be joining, too, so he's not going to win that easily.  RITA: A old lady like me shouldn't be here at the Adventure Festival. I actually have no idea why you're here. She's not a judge, a competitor, or even a spectator.  STELLA: We have a customary event on the Coming of Age Day, where we go treasure hunting. Wanna join? STELLA: The rules are simple. Find the item Golden Turnip from somewhere in town, and bring it to me. STELLA: I've also placed some wrong items so be sure not to bring those to me. STELLA: The first person to bring it to the Public Square wins. STELLA: Also...listen. Today is the Coming of Age Day.  STELLA: Which means I won't allow any childish behavior such as cheating, all right? STELLA: If you've found Golden Turnip , bring it here to me before the sun sets. Don't be late. And those are our rules. We won't get to try and cheat ourselves until next year. Festival start!  *We get a dramatic, sky-high zoom in.* STELLA: Everyone ready?  STELLA: Then begin your search for the treasure of the Coming of Age Day!  *And so everyone but bush takes off at a sprint!*  RITA: Oh, no! Bush is off to a slow start! STELLA: Bush, you must hurry! All part of the plan, I assure you.   Of course, we have Pony so we can cover ground much faster than anyone else. The turnips will be hidden in more out of the way places, so that's where we go.  BUSH: Um...maybe it's a Golden Turnip? That's just a normal turnip, although the item glow does make it look kinda golden. Let's keep looking.  BUSH: All right! I found a Golden Turnip! ...bush that's a carrot  Bush will stop and note if there's an item nearby, although most are pretty visible to begin with. What happens if we pick up an incorrect item?  BUSH: Woohoo! I found it! A "Golden Turnip"! BUSH: ... BUSH: Huh? This is just a plain old "Turnip"!  UZUKI: Ah! This is the Golden Turnip! Bush, I shall have this victory! And then someone else immediately wins just after.  But we don't plan on losing this, so let's rewind time a bit.  The golden turnip is really noticeable when you do find the real one. In our case, it was at Lake Poli's dock. The position is randomized each time, the seed set from the moment you start the contest.  BUSH: I found it! A "Golden Turnip"! *SUCCESS CHIME* BUSH: Okay, I better take this to the "Public Square" before I forget. But were it only so simple!  GANESHA: So the Golden Turnip was hidden over here. Well, bye, Bush. Victory is mine! BUSH: (Oh, no! I got beaten to the punch!) There's not just one turnip to find! I've heard this is based off how long it takes you to find the item in question, and can be pretty unforgivingly random as well.  We must make haste! Ride, Pony! Fly like the wind!  STELLA: Oh-ho! Bush comes back right in the middle! Someone beat us here? We have teleport magic and a super fast horse!  Music: Festival- Bad LuckGANESHA: Bush, victory is mine! Goal!! STELLA: !! No... how could we lose at a festival... it can't be...  STELLA: Um...this is an ornamental turnip made with brass! Did you make this yourself?!  GANESHA: You can tell? Darn... STELLA: Now, get going! She cheated! ...Or at least attempted to. In fact, a lot of characters will try to cheat. Marco can bring one made out of gold paper (Ganesha told him to do it), Melody will bring one aged in bathwater, and Danny will buy a real one and have it prepared. Uzuki and Tsubute are the only one who don't cheat, they just show up with the wrong item because Cicada Dad flubbed it. I don't think there's actually more than one golden turnip by the way, I was just setting you up for this.  Music: Let the Games Begin!The music strikes up as she begins to leave! BUSH: (This... just might be my chance!) Indeed it is, Bush!   STELLA: Ah, yes. This is the Golden Turnip I was waiting for! *The sound of a celebratory cannon blank firing is heard*  Music: Festival- Results (de-Sainte Coquille Remix)STELLA: All right, then. I will now announce the results of the Treasure Hunt! STELLA: In 4th place... Ganesha!  GANESHA: You're kidding... STELLA: In 3rd place... Danny!  DANNY: Eh, oh well. STELLA: In 2nd place... Uzuki!  UZUKI: Hm... I thought victory was mine for sure...  *drumroll*  STELLA: And in 1st place... Bush! A new champion!  He just yawns. Or rather, it's his yawning animation being used for a cheer? This screenshot does look like he's basking in the spotlight though. BUSH: All right! I won! What do we win?  STELLA: The 1st prize is... Straw Hat!  ... really is this a joke STELLA: There's a consolation prize for those of you that didn't win, as well.  STELLA: This concludes this year's Adventure Festival. I hope you all had fun! Even then, you people can't even get the name right. What kind of festival is this?! That's it, time to hit the rewind on our watch.  Right back to when we first found the turnip.  We go back home with it. It happens to be worth 500g, and even restores 70 RP raw. This thing's an endangered miracle food! And we're just going to play hide and seek with it for a straw hat? We're going to do the right thing.  *pop* *grinding* *cha-chink*  You got a Golden Turnip S. There.  Aaaand there. Planted! It'll only take 8 days normally to grow, less with our runey environments. I guess we ought to show up to the festival with something. I pull an ancient turnip back from Spring from the fridge and take it to Stella. (Ganesha still tries to cheat by the way)  STELLA: Ah, yes. This is the Golden Turnip I was waiting for...  STELLA: ...is what I want to say, but Bush... This isn't Golden Turnip. STELLA: Did you forget the rules of the Treasure Hunt? STELLA: You have to find a Golden Turnip hidden somewhere in the village and bring it back to me. STELLA: Now, Bush, you better hurry! i dunno it's pretty golden to me don't force your narrow worldview onto how i perceive this turnip Anyways, I guess we ruined the festival so let's just go talk to people instead.  MIST: Today is the Coming of Age Day. We'll all go out and hunt for treasure. BUSH: This is the Coming of Age Day, isn't it? What does it have to do with treasure hunting? MIST: Beats me. For some reason, Mist is unaware this whole thing revolves around turnips.  ROSETTA: This is the Coming of Age Day. So why do you go treasure hunting for it? It's pretty unclear, yeah.  CANDY: Today's the Coming of Age Day, where all kids get treated like grownups. CANDY: But nothing seems different. I wonder why... BUSH: Candy, you act really mature so maybe nobody really considered you to be a kid. CANDY: Really? I act mature? Heehee. ♪ Yeah, even years after you're old enough to drink, people will still treat you like you have no idea what you're doing. That's just life, I think. Hey, Mystery Girl! You know anything about this?  MYSTERY GIRL: Hello... BUSH: What's wrong? You seem down. MYSTERY GIRL: I am not! The church is almost complete. MYSTERY GIRL: There's no way that I'm feeling down when I'm this close to achieving my dream... MYSTERY GIRL: I'm sorry... Would you please leave me alone for a while? I guess not. She's still on about that invisible church.  Well, that sure was a festival. The game actually keeps track of victories and has comments for stuff like retaking your crown, but we probably won't see a lot of that until the very end.  Gotta love a nice 1 PM to 6 AM nap. Oh and that's our new bed, I forgot to mention it. It's huge! Finally, Bush can sleep fully clothed, boots on, in the maximum comfort. Until next time! Music: Goodnight-------------------------------------------- MYSTERY: ...Wow, I can see why it got replaced with Mist Festival now. All the adults just cheat. BUSH: I'm just proud I saved an endangered crop from extinction. I can only imagine the culinary developments it contributed to. MYSTERY: What do they taste like, anyways? BUSH: Absolutely horrible. They also lack any nutritional value whatesoever and cause food poisoning in most people. BUSH: Even my cooking skills can't save them. MYSTERY: Then why do people pay so much for them?! BUSH: Beats me. Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 25, 2023 17:04
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Update 54: Snow Jean Ah, yet another rainy Autumn day. Music: Alliance Alive - Rainy RealmSome guest music to hit the mood!  A whole lot of nothing happens, so I set about managing the fields for once.  no wait bush what are you doing  It was around this point I just decided to clear all the grass. We're already somewhere around max fodder and I didn't want this to wither during winter. We have nothing else to use the RP on at least. I'll leave the other crops until the final day. Although in hindsight, it may have been better if it withered. We'll get to why soon.  BRODIK: What is this? Are you trying to piss me off? Oi mate, we do take care of this farm Yer not gonna run me out of town, twerp  And since we have an oh-so welcome audience, I set to truly cleaning the field. This also won't have mattered in a few days, but it's the effort that matters  It takes us all the way until bath time almost to get everything but a few stumps. We had to eat some of that backup food to get this far even.  BRODIK: Heh heh heh... BRODIK: If you can't even keep your fields clean, there's no point in you staying in the village! BRODIK: Get out! Get out now! Tch, you try and pick up a watering can. Ain't as easy as it looks, bucko! You know what?   Bam. Fields fixed completely. No bath required. Whatcha got to say about that?! Huh?!  Yeah that's right! Run away! Mess with a culinary expert and see what you get!  Bush's rivalry seems to have taken the day all the way until opening time for the bar.  The Irises are about, Noire's just kinda standing over here for no apparent reason, but is worth noting we can invite them to dates now. I think Rosetta is the only one who has to have her storyline complete to do it. At least, it seems like it. Their dates take place at 8:30 to 9:00 PM instead of the usual time.  GANESHA: Please don't leave. RITA: Oh, really? Yes, I'll keep you company today... GANESHA: *phew* To drink is to live! And to live is to... GANESHA: No... GANESHA: Always be in love. That's the secret to staying young. RITA: You're quite the drinker, ain't ya? Ganesha's just floored over here.  IRIS BLANCHE: The Spirits have stabilized recently and they are cycling to and from Whale Island and underground. IRIS BLANCHE: That's such a relief... All is fixed with the world. Sort of. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but at least the town is saved. The spirits being fixed doesn't solve the Runey Situation though. They're just broken by design.  And that's all for this day, really.  Bright and early on the 27th, I remember to admire our new curtains. I like the look! The blue's a nice spice to the mostly reddish brown wood and stone.  Music: Kross' ThemeAs soon as we leave the house, there's a massive boulder in front of our door! BUSH: Whoa!  *And then Kross begins to approach!*  KROSS: I'm sorry, Bush... BUSH: Why are you apologizing, Kross? KROSS: ...I'm sorry.   *And then he begins pushing it out of the way, the boulder grinding against the ground loudly.* ...How very strange! Of course, Kross continues to be both super strong and a good friend. Why would a boulder end up in front of our house? Well, I can think of one reason...  But we've got other stuff to do, like mail!  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"The Bathhouse" - Anette~ I sweat so much, when I'm making deliveries, so I've always wanted visit Melody's bathhouse, but it's not open in the morning! Maybe I should ask Melody to Change her business hours. ----------------------------------------------------- She's awake by 9:00 easily, I'm sure Bush can get you some sort of arrangement. We are the bathhouse's biggest patron and Melody's good friend, I'm sure Bush has some sway.  EUNICE: Ever since Iris came to live with us, the bar has become much cleaner. Glad to hear the workload lightened up a bit.  BUSH: Do you drink, Eunice? EUNICE: Huh? I don't. I don't know anything about alcohol either. EUNICE: Is it weird even though my family runs a bar? Nah, I'd say it's pretty normal.   MARCO: I actually wanted to go save Mist with you.  MARCO: But I'll just get in the way... MARCO: That's why I'm going to train to become stronger so I can help you if anything were to happen again! Marco remains a good kid.  STELLA: Now that Mist is back, the drinks will taste much better.  And suddenly, it's a new day. What a shocking thought that was- just blanked out an entire afternoon!  And, um another? Bush, you okay?  Yeah, maybe you should just take a nap at 6:06. Might be all those weeks of 6 hour sleep nights catching up to you.  Hm? What's that music?  Music: Snowy DayIt's snow! This music track is rather nice. I just wish I knew why rain gets silence while this gets it's own music. I guess it's just because the snow wouldn't make any noise falling and you'd have real dead silence? But with the snow falling, so does our last few plants in the field. These were just kinda here, not nearly as pivotal as the tomato fields of last month. o7 all the same, yams and peppers  ANETTE: Did it surprise you? Every year during this time, the sun doesn't come out. ANETTE: It doesn't get bright even when it's morning, so it makes delivering mail much harder. ANETTE: Of course, if you go outside the village, you can see the sun. But this day is still really mysterious. So apparently, Trampoli gets a localized, whale-based eclipse on this day every single year. Seriously, this town seems like it'd be a huge tourist spot. It just... isn't.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"All prepared for winter?" - Erik~ Did you know that it'll be winter starting tomorrow? You won't be able to grow anything during the harsh season, so you better start stocking up on monster feeds and such now. ----------------------------------------------------- Erik, this letter is pretty late. Should've sent this a week or two back, when we still had time to grow fodder. But we're also pretty much maxed on fodder so whatevs  BIANCA: I don't mind the snow. I just hate the cold. BIANCA: It's quite an interesting day to see how it's still dark even after sunup. BIANCA: Why don't you do festivals on this day? This town does not have good festival planning, it's true. Noted festival connoisseur Bush is frequently disappointed. Well, since this seems to be a Whale Island thing, perhaps we should ask the Irises.  BUSH: Iris, Whale Island always covers the sun on this day. Do you know anything about it? IRIS NOIRE: I didn't know that even happened. IRIS NOIRE: I was underground the entire time so I didn't notice that the island covered the sun. ...Well, asking Blanche is probably the better idea.  BUSH: Iris, Whale Island always covers the sun on this day. Do you know anything about it? IRIS BLANCHE: I didn't know that even happened. IRIS BLANCHE: I lived on top of Whale Island so I didn't notice that it hid the sun. ...Also true. Welp, I guess we'll try asking the whale itself.  EUNICE: For some reason, the sun doesn't come out on this day every year. Plus, it snows, too. EUNICE: It'll be sunny again tomorrow, but I don't like how I can't dry the laundry. Seriously, how do we not have a festival for a guaranteed snow day?  MELODY: This is it! It stays dark even during the day! MELODY: Maybe someone forgot to open the curtains? Wasn't us, Bush keeps those open!  SELPHY: It's dark even during the day because Whale Island hides the sun. SELPHY: Whale Island of this village is something so strange that I've never even read it in a book. SELPHY: I won't be surprised no matter what happens now. Anything can happen. You got sucked into a brain eating book and were also present to grant Bush anime friendship powers in an alternate reality time void less than two weeks ago. I think Whale Island is the least surprising thing at this point  ----------------------------------------------------- ~Constellation: Whale~ "The Whale is a constellation that appears in any season just before midnight. However, it can only be seen during a full moon. (15th and 16th of every month)" --------------------------------------- Got a number of new books to read.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~Yui's Diary~ "Summer, Day O I went to the beach today. There were many jellyfish in the water, and they hurt me, so I punished them." "Autumn, Day △ I watched the moon today. My mother once told me that the moon is made of cheese, so I brought some cheese from home to compare it to the moon." "Winter, Day X We had a snowball fight today. The snow made my hands cold so I tried to warm them, but the snow melted. I was sad." "Spring, Day * I went flower viewing today, but there were no flowers, so I warmed everything up, and many pretty flowers bloomed." --------------------------------------- Yo, it's more stories of the magical preschooler! More questionably, how is her diary just here in the library? Continuing to be a really eclectic collection you've got here, Selphy.   ERIK: The sun won't come out. What should I do...? ERIK: I better start preparing for winter. Again, you're kinda late for that, pal.  LARA: What happened...? Whale Island is hiding the sun... And it's snowing... ...in autumn... Lara's just very confused. It's also the last day of Autumn, so is it really that strange it's snowing? Just an early start, really.  STELLA: Are you surprised? For some reason, Whale Island hides the sun on this day. STELLA: It's inconvenient how we can't dry our laundry, but it's only for a day. One would think you could adapt your laundry schedule to work around this extremely predictable day.  KANNO: I see... So it's dark during the day because Whale Island hides the sun! And there's snow during autumn! KANNO: I am very interested as to why this happens. KANNO: I wonder if we can find out if we ask the whale itself... I'm getting to it, gramps! ...at least I think I am. I've forgotten if I did go and check.  CINNAMON: The Scorpion Constellation can only be seen on nights with the new moon. BUSH: The new moon? CINNAMON: The new moon refers to days when there is no moon showing. CINNAMON: The new moon comes every month on the 1st and 30th. Look up at the sky when it's near midnight. This one will be easy to catch. The Whale one will still be a while off.  Alright, I did go and check Whale Island today.  Oh, um. Nothing happens, I guess.  MIST: It has been dark the whole day today. Plus it started snowing, too... I wonder what happened. Mist hasn't gotten up to speed with the situation.  The legendary golden turnips are almost done...  Oh, look who it is. The dink himself.  Music: Brodik's ThemeBRODIK: How did you move that rock? BRODIK: Uh, I mean... BRODIK: What kind of weirdo puts rocks In front of their house? Well, It's not like you have friends anyway so it's perfect! BRODIK: Ha ha ha ha! Our buddy Kross has our back in this rivalry. ...But it does beg the question, why was he apologizing?  BRODIK: Why does it snow today? It's still autumn. What's with this village?! It's a strange place overall, yeah. Still, I don't think it snowing a day early is THAT big a deal.  Anyways have fun being outstanding in the snow, gonna go sleep.  And so it becomes Winter! It's also Lara's birthday.  Music: WinterAnd truly, Winter has arrived. Everything is already blanketed in snow and icicles. The seasonal theme is very solemn, melancholy almost.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"It's never too early!" - Rosetta~ Winter begins today! Have you finished preparations for this harsh, cold season? Unfortunately, no crops grow in winter, but you can use the spare time to buy accessories to present to that special someone. ----------------------------------------------------- Rosetta still on point to make a buck. Only the RF games with Bush in them lack Winter crops, so this is the last game where it is a really nothing season.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"Winter!!" - Uzuki~ It is finally winter! I have been waiting for this wonderful season. When will the first snow fall? How exciting... ----------------------------------------------------- Uzuki really loves winter. She has somehow failed to notice it has already snowed though.  And so the possible reason for letting my field get filled with withered grass presents itself. The snow automatically counts as untilled land, and sticks and rocks will relentlessly spawn again. The withered grass might've blocked that.  White and Black Grass can spawn naturally now though. Too bad we don't need it anymore.  UZUKI: It is the same with all things, but the foundation, or the lower half, that is the most important. UZUKI: That is why I run everyday to train myself. Uzuki does not skip leg day. And leg day is every day. Bush has her beat though, he runs everywhere, constantly. It is possible for him to walk, but he has no reason to.  BUSH: You used to live in a large town, right, Eunice? EUNICE: Yes. Dad used to work at an inn there. EUNICE: He had a dream of owning his own inn and that's when he heard about this village from Stella. EUNICE: It was really hectic after that. He told the owner of the other inn, made preparations, then we moved here... EUNICE: At first, we didn't have a lot of customers and I cried to Dad about wanting to go back. EUNICE: But looking back, it's just another memory now. I think we've heard a bit of this story a long time ago, but here's the full little tale.  We head on into Rosetta's store today...  ROSETTA: Hey, Bush!  Music: To You*We get a CG! Rosetta stands in the doorway of the shop, illuminated by the morning light.* ROSETTA: After getting my father to drink that medicine you gave me... ROSETTA: ...he's been recovering fast! ROSETTA: It's like a miracle. BUSH: Really? That's great to hear! ROSETTA: This is all thanks to you!  BUSH: What are you going to do now? ROSETTA: My father is going to hire some people so this won't happen again. ROSETTA: But I'm still worried so I'll check in on him from time to time. I ROSETTA: 'm going to continue running the store here. It is mine, after all.  ROSETTA: Besides...  *She starts to say something, but stops herself and looks away nervously.* ROSETTA: No, never mind. ROSETTA: Be sure to come to "Materia" often, Bush. And so her questline is finally complete! Good to hear Jean got better. For anyone wondering, the exact requirements is visit the store on a weekday during regular hours at least 4 days after you give her the potion. Visiting early before hours on weekends seems to mess with this and delay a bit though. (Ignore that the image names gives away this happened two weeks later, and I kept messing this up for a really long time)  And so we can finally ask her out on a date if we wanted to, and leaves only one( two?) bachelorette with a story left to complete.  ROSETTA: There's some traveling poet that often came to my father's store when I was there. He'd harass me all the time. ROSETTA: I haven't seen him since I came here, but I wonder what happened to him. ROSETTA: Th-that doesn't mean I'm worried about him or anything! Lukas was a big dork who seemingly did nothing in life but hang out in the store trying to hit on Rosetta. He probably left to go annoy some other girl. You actually had the option to sell him Rosetta's specific marriage item.  ROSETTA: ...Hey, Bush... BUSH: Yes? ROSETTA: I... N-nothing... ROSETTA: I just don't think a girl should be the one who says it first. BUSH: Oh... Come on, go for it! Be assertive! ...Don't beat around the Bush! (Disclaimer: resulting response will be determined by the unpredictable voices in his head)  In other news, the forbidden turnips have finished growing. We have successfully saved an endangered species! Maybe!  Mist, what in the world are you doing she's just over here tapping a duster against the top of the wardrobe  i have no idea  MIST: I didn't feel scared even when I was captured. MIST: I believed that you would rescue me, Bush. MIST: Thank you, Bush. Eh, Bush uprooted his whole life in a previous town to come find you one time, what's the difference in that and the forgotten parallel world of the Spirits? Anyways, I use a timeline manipulation to give her a golden turnip.  MIST: Thank you. I don't know why you're giving me this, but I'll accept it anyway. At first this response may seem strangely lacking in acknowledgement, yeah. After all, it's the perfect merging of the Turnip and the Emery Flower! Why wouldn't she be all over it? But no, having this means she knows what we've done. The sabotage of the last festival.  Woah, why'd that timeline suddenly shut off? Anyways- Lute! My main man!  LUTE: Is it true that Tabatha will go back with Minerva? BUSH: It's not true. Tabatha will stay as Bianca's maid. LUTE: I see. I'm glad it was just a misunderstanding... Bush is polite enough to not ask what country and what reason Lute seems to be spying on the Former Queen of Elf Country for. It's some top secret business, I'm sure. She's even just standing over there. We instead buy his latest painting, "House in a Forest".  LUTE: I'd appreciate it if you'd give me your opinion on it again. BUSH: Lute, why do you paint? LUTE: That's a difficult question... Well... LUTE: This probably sounds weird, but one day, I want to paint the ultimate sky that can engulf everything onto canvas. LUTE: That's why I picked up the paintbrush. LUTE: I have to keep a grand goal so I always remember at least this The man's got an image in his head, and he's trying to make it real. I know the feeling. Although "engulf everything" does sound mildly worrying. I'm sure it's nothing though! We have cash, so I go ahead and buy some Elegant Curtains too. I liked the old one, but hey, anything for our merchant friend.  CINNAMON: In this season, you can see the "Hairpin Constellation." CINNAMON: A hairpin? BUSH: It's the ornamental kind from foreign countries.  BUSH: Uzuki showed me one of hers the other day. CINNAMON: ...That's interesting. CINNAMON: Then let me tell you when you can see the Hairpin Constellation. CINNAMON: You can see it right after it gets dark. Be sure not to forget. Included an extra screenshot to prove that's how that conversation goes. It does feel like Bush and Cinnamon had their roles swapped midway through, but maybe that's just all of his KNOWLEDGE shining through now.  Speaking of constellations, Bush then proceeeds to stand at the observatory spot for 14 hours staring at the sky. He's got a lot to think about.  BUSH: That's...  Found Hairpin Constellation!  BUSH: That's...a hairpin? I guess... Not actually the one we were here for, but we'll take it! This showed at about 6:00 PM. It's very early. This is for Uzuki.   Also just wanted to take a second out to note again that the game properly angles character shadows based on the time of day. It's an incredibly small detail, but I can't help finding it to be pretty cool.  Found Scorpion Constellation! (This showed at 00:13 AM.)  BUSH: It really does look like a scorpion. That's really strange. This corresponds to Noire. Whale corresponds to Blanche.  ANETTE: You know Tabatha? Isn't she's so mature, slender, and beautiful? I wish I were like that... Bush gets some sleep and begins tomorrow talking with Anette. She's been saying this a lot recently, really.  UZUKI: You sure are up early, Bush. BUSH: You seem to be working hard every day. UZUKI: It is what we maidens do. Despite how I look, I like to get some exercise. UZUKI: But after coming to Trampoli, I could not find a good sparring partner so my skill in battle may have waned. BUSH: I know! Bush, would you please have a match with me? BUSH: What?! But...   UZUKI: Do not cower, Bush! En garde! Um, Bush doesn't currently have a weapon out...! *clink clank clink CLASH*  UZUKI: That was a good match. Daily training makes all the difference, Bush. Bush's sword skill went up! BUSH: Haha... Nevermind, Bush can just fight back barehanded Besides, we already retired from fighting things. Bush is even more of a pacifist than he already was- what need have we for sword skill? But thanks anyways  24 Weapon skill. Compared to 71 Lumber/Axe.  EUNICE: Uzuki has been going outside at night recently. EUNICE: I get worried because she returns so late... She's got a naginata and Cicada Dad. She'll be fine. Someone has to go look for her brother after all. That is what she's here for. I suppose.  IRIS NOIRE: Bush, you're still fighting monsters on Whale Island...? BUSH: Yes. bush, you don't have to lie there's no shame in retiring the axe   IRIS NOIRE: Please run away whenever it gets too dangerous. BUSH: Thank you. I will. BUSH: Just hearing you say that makes me feel like I can run away even faster now. ...W-wait, you have an angry portrait? Why have you never used it before?! Now I have to make a new portrait image!!!   IRIS NOIRE: Oh, you... Bush's strength went up! Not bad, can't ever complain about free stat ups. I think this one's pretty substantial too, although I'd need to check again.  IRIS NOIRE: We used to exchange clothes and act like we were each other. No one ever noticed. BUSH: What?! Really? IRIS BLANCHE: Yes. We used to change our hair and eye colors, too, so no one ever noticed. BUSH: Really... I'm sorry, vampire girls, but Bush is going to have to press X to doubt here.   Hey, I wonder how the runeys are doing? I've only gotten a little lazy on managing them.  oh okay well, i guess that's what happens when I don't touch it for 2 weeks  Time for bed! ...What? Bush is done with the Runey Situation. What more do we need to grow? Bush is just an eccentric culinary artist now. (That and I just wanted to see how fast it'd collapse if I didn't touch it so I havent since we beat Gelwein. The answer is "pretty quickly"!) Anyways, next time, we get a real festival, one where Bush gets to use all that acquired KNOWLEDGE of his. Catch ya then! Music: Goodnight
Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 27, 2023 15:38
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Just to note, I'll be dropping the last two updates of my backlog this week (Wednesday, Friday) as I kinda can't do any more until something gets voted on. And the update following that one will be for the final marriage vote, so I won't be able to get a backlog again until after that. I think there's around 9 more updates left at most, and I'll probably still be on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule after I give the marriage vote some days to happen.
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Mar 27, 2023 15:47
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Odd Wilson posted:Come on, go for it! Be assertive! The whale is going to personally drop out of the sky to smack you for that one.
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Mar 27, 2023 19:28
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Update 55: QUIZ DAY We rejoin Bush on Winter 7th to a cozy fire in the morning. Ever since winter properly started, we've had the fireplace going- presumably with magic because it's not costing us lumber. (It was also making its crackling sound on the last day of Autumn, but with no fire graphic present.) Our music today is.... Music: FestivalIt's a festival day! Possibly the best festival. Music: Rune Factory 3 - FestivalSo you have this to listen to as well.  BIANCA: Are you going to join the Quiz Contest, Bush? That's right, today is the QUIZ CONTEST, ultimate challenge of our KNOWLEDGE. Even though Bush always participates in festivals, there's no way we can't do this one. BUSH: I will. BIANCA: Oh... I suppose you have a lot of free time. If Bush had replied "no" (as if there's a timeline where that happens), she remarks with this: BIANCA: Oh, really? I thought you would like it, Bush. She knows us well, I guess.  UZUKI: I will not be participating in the Quiz Contest. There are too many things I do not know of this country. Tsk, tsk, Uzuki hasn't studied enough. One must seek to gain knowledge every day for moments like these!  BUSH: Eunice, I haven't seen Iris recently. Do you know what happened? EUNICE: It seems that she isn't feeling well so she's taking some time off her work at the bar. BUSH: Really?! Did you get Lara to take a look at her? EUNICE: My mother wanted to take her but Iris said that she didn't want to go inside a church. BUSH: Is that so... All right. I'll try to get Lara to go to the inn. EUNICE: Please do so. It seems festivities are not the only thing in store for us today. Let's go check on the vampires and see how they're holding up.  IRIS NOIRE: I'm so sorry for making you worry about me like this. IRIS NOIRE: I'll be better in no time... BUSH: You should just relax for now. Could just be some altitude sickness, although Noire wasn't that far underground. It's possible it's the chill getting to them- it's always mildly warm on Whale Island and even Snow Ruins isn't as cold as it seems. You can grow fall crops there after all. They both say the same thing, by the way.  SELPHY: Today is the Quiz Contest? Hm, what should I do? I'm trying to decide whether to go or not. SELPHY: I know I don't have much common sense, so I probably won't do well in the quiz. Nonsense! This is the day we must duel with our wits! We cannot let this opportunity pass! We'll see if she makes up her mind when the contest itself starts.  Lute, my man! Howsit goin'?  We're not that rich at the moment, and there's not a lot to buy outside of a bigger table. I don't really want the bigger table because I like the floorspace we have.  LARA: It is easy to get sick during the winter so please be careful. That's why we're here!  BUSH: Lara, Iris is bedridden because she's ill. LARA: That's terrible! I'll go see her right now! BUSH: But she refuses to move because she doesn't want to step inside a church... LARA: Oh... LARA: All right, then I will visit Iris at her room tomorrow. BUSH: Thank you very much! They are vampires, it's pretty understandable they want nothing to do with being near a church.  CINNAMON: Did you find the Hairpin Constellation? BUSH: Yes, but I think it's stretching it a bit to say that's a hairpin. CINNAMON: There's a legend that says that hairpin was lost while a princess was swimming in the celestial river. BUSH: Swimming at this time of year must be really cold. CINNAMON: The legend says that she swam during summer, but the hairpin was moved to winter so she can't recover it. BUSH: That's sounds a little cruel... CINNAMON: ...I guess. Bush is critical of the constellation and discovers its terrible history. You shouldn't judge the stars, Bush.  CINNAMON: In this season, it's all about the Cross. Out of all the constellations, it's thought to be the most mystical. BUSH: Oh? There must be a lot of stories behind it, then. CINNAMON: I'll tell you about it when you find it. You can see the Cross a bit late at night. Go find it. Cinnamon is excited for the next one. This one corresponds to Lara of course. There's only one more constellation she could possibly be more excited for:  CINNAMON: The "Fish Constellation" is one my favorites. BUSH: You like fish, don't you, Cinnamon? CINNAMON: ...Yes. But...you can't see the Fish Constellation until it's the dead of night. CINNAMON: I rarely see it. How unfortunate. We have two top-tier star formations in our future, vouched for by the expert.  everything is fine  "Fishing is not allowed on the day of the festival. " You can't tell me what to do, sign! You're a piece of wood! You're not even animate!  blast it all, the sign is too powerful perhaps its best we lie low after last festival anyways (This is probably because they use a different map model on this day, one without water zones.)  We wait until 9:00 AM...  FESTIVAL TIME, YEEEAAAAH  CINNAMON: Are you going to join the Quiz Contest, Bush? BUSH: Yes. CINNAMON: Oh. ...I'm up for a challenge. A tense duel of rapier wit! Have at you! (She doesn't end up participating ) ERIK: I won't lose to you, Bush. ERIK: But that's only if I can participate... I don't see why not. Bush accepts all challengers! En garde!  TABATHA: Bush, are you going to join in the Quiz Contest today? BUSH: Well, I will if I find the time to. TABATHA: I see. I'm still wondering if I should as well. If we were to join together, I hope it will be a good match. Tabs would be a good challenger, I imagine she's got a lot of worldly knowledge as the ex-Elf Country queen.  LARA: I am still wondering if I should join. Kanno had asked me to. LARA: Bush, will you be joining? I'm still thinking about what to do. I suppose it's not worth keeping the Irises up past their bedtime while they're sick, gotta find something to do until 6 PM.  MIST: Today is the Quiz Contest. I was planning on joining. MIST: I'll put up a good fight, Bush! She's got her game face on, Bush is gonna have to challenge the might of her entire cadre of informants. No holding back.  KANNO: Welcome. You have come to participate in the quiz contest, right? BUSH: Of course. KANNO: I knew it. Would you like me to explain the rules to you? So yeah, Kanno runs this one, not Stella. Time to prove to Magic Grandpa that we've learned well. The rules aren't very deep so we'll skip 'em. I can say this festival has a ton of alternate dialogue though.  KANNO: With Bush joining us, we now have enough members for the contest! KANNO: Let's get the contest started!   Music: By the Ocean--------------------------------------- Event Site: Public Square --------------------------------------- *We get a sky-high zoom down on our contestants...*  KANNO: It is now time to begin the Quiz Contest sponsored by me! CANDY: Let us all peacefully settle all our consultations of everyday life, today. *The crowd gasps in excitement!* (In the files, it suggests a vacation to either Kardia or Alvarna is usually on offer for this, but not this year.)  *We get a view from behind of our contestants.*  KANNO: Allow me to introduce the 4 smartest people of this town! (He has alternate lines calling us "brave warriors", "self-proclaimed know-it-alls", and the best one "most bored people of this town".)  [Bush (Farmer)] *EXCITING MUSICAL FANFARE*  KANNO: The light and hope of Trampoli, Bush! (Alternate titles being "Everyone's favorite" and "life of the party".) ------------------------ 1. I'm ready. 2. I can do this! 3. I won't disappoint. ------------------------- We opt for the last one.  GANESHA: ...Okay. KANNO: I have high hopes for you. I can't tell if she's underwhelmed, speechless, or just drunk in regards to our confidence.  KANNO: And this person here got really serious about it! KANNO: She is good with numbers, especially when multiplying by 7.  [Lara (Nurse)] *EXCITING MUSICAL FANFARE*  KANNO: The town's healing touch! Engaging in a different trade today, Nurse Lara! LARA: I'll do my best to win today.  KANNO: Next is the person you've all been waiting for! KANNO: A man who befriends monsters, Erik! But he's frightened of monsters?   [Erik (Bachelor)] *EXCITING MUSICAL FANFARE*  ANETTE: Erik, you're so hot! ...There, I said it. Just like you asked. Dinner's on you. ...Oh, Erik. At least she's getting dinner out of it.  KANNO: And last but not least...  [Mist (Helper)] *EXCITING MUSICAL FANFARE*  KANNO: 24/7 turnip-colored, colorful speaker, little miss Mist! MIST: Thank you for that... wonderful introduction. (The alternate line for announcing her second is this: "Nothing about her is clearly known: her job, income and thoughts! Our living legend, Mist!")   KANNO: And your hosts are your personal, walking encyclopedia, Kanno...  CANDY: ...and the lovely assistant Candy! KANNO: Let's get the contest started!  CANDY: Question 1! KANNO: This question was sent in by Lucas, the wandering poet. The topic is farming.  CANDY: Out of the following, which is a spring vegetable? ------------------------- 1. Cabbage 2. Pumpkin 3. Carrot ------------------------- KANNO: What will your answer be?♪  *A techno drum beat starts up over the music.* And so it begins! We just walk to the spot on the ground with the corresponding number to the answer. Erik's already made his move, but the two girls stay in place looking at one another. We run for the 1 square.  ...And also push Erik out of place. Because we can push the other characters around.  Music: ConfusionJust before the timer ends...  MIST: What a coincidence. It seems you and I were thinking the same thing, Bush. Wait, get your own answers, lady  And so she comes to us and the timer ends.  CANDY: Could you tell me the answer, Gramps? ♪  KANNO: The answer is... KANNO: Let's see it! *boom*  KANNO: 1! Cabbage! Ah, I see it now.  Bush and Mist get an O above their head, an X for Lara who was in box 2, and Erik only gets a sweatdrop. Because we pushed him out.  BUSH: Oh, nice! [Bush got 1 correct!] Our score is tallied in fruit. We have cherries.  LARA: Oh, how terrible! I refuse to get any more wrong!  ERIK: Come now, my little kittens... Pranks are bad. got ya   MIST: I got it right! I guess even guessing works sometimes. [Miss Mist got 1 correct!] That wasn't a guess and you know it. She has apples for her fruit.  CANDY: Question 2! KANNO: This question was sent in by Jean, who runs the general store in Kardia. The topic is fish. CANDY: Which is the smallest fish? ----------------------- 1. Red Salmon 2. Carp 3. Yellowtail -----------------------  Well, we've only seen one of these fish. Carp are pretty small, but...  If Mist is gonna steal our answer, we'll steal hers next.  There's that emotion bubble they never use for anything else again. MIST: Hm...I'm pretty sure this answer is wrong.  ...Did we just get played for a fool?  KANNO: 1! Red Salmon! Oh!  KANNO: Bush is the only one correct! A clear lead! Also Lara got pushed out of the box by Mist and she was wrong to begin with.  LARA: Oh, dear... This isn't right... ERIK: What in the world?! How could I be wrong?! MIST: I got it wrong? That's odd... I thought Erik would know something about fish, given he said he smoked fish this time of year or something way back, but I guess not. I'll be honest, I didn't know the answer either, but I was leaning on Red Salmon being a trick answer given how big normal salmon are.  CANDY: Question 3! KANNO: This question was sent in by Father Wesley. The topic is fish. CANDY: Which of the following does not affect what fish you can catch? ----------------------- 1. Fishing Pole 2. Time 3. Season -----------------------  Wow, everyone seems to think it's time.  But even though we're not that dedicated an angler, I know that the season obviously matters and I usually catch the same fish no matter the time of day.  MIST: My intuition tells me that the right answer is this one.  She moves to Bush, displacing everyone else in the process.  KANNO: 1! Fishing Pole! All right! KANNO: Impressive!  Because Mist can't move Bush, she got bodyblocked and didn't even make it onto the square. Although funny enough, she pushed Erik onto the very edge, so now he gets a point. Also this is three in a row for option 1.  ERIK: I figured. You there. You shouldn't fall in love with me so easily. Haha! [Mr. Erik got 1 correct!] Erik, it was a complete fluke you even got credit for this. Also he has Chestnuts has his... fruit?  CANDY: Question 4! KANNO: This question was sent in by Cecilia from Kardia. The topic is the world. CANDY: What day does the New Year's Festival start on? ----------------------- 1. 1st of winter 2. 30th of winter 3. 1st of spring ----------------------- This is pretty tricky question for a 10 year old to send in. I guess she does live in a library.  This time everyone is watching for Bush's answer.  It can only be option 2 or 3, and I'm inclined to say it starts after the new year has begun. These games usually start you on Spring 2nd for a reason.  Mist, of course, borrows our answer, abandoning Erik in box 2.  KANNO: 3! 1st of Spring. Ah, I see it now.  With this, the current standings are: Bush: 4 Lara: 0 Erik: 1 (by accident) Mist: 2 Poor Lara. I'm gonna have to push her into the right answer before this is over.  CANDY: Question 5! KANNO: This question was sent in by Father Wesley. The topic is the world. CANDY: What month and what day is it today? ----------------------- 1. 5th of winter 2. 7th of winter 3. 30th of autumn ----------------------- The clock doesn't show up during this, so there's a chance you forget, I guess. Even then, this answer is pretty easy. It's 2.  Oh, and Mist follows us, of course. Get yer own answer!  KANNO: 2! 7th of Winter. Ah, I see it now.  We've not missed a one, Mist is up to 3.  *COOL MUSIC STINGER* KANNO: It's time for a commercial break. CANDY: We'll be back in 30 seconds! Hey, I pay for premium service! What is this?! How come I still get commercials?!  Music: Festival- Title Theme RemixGANESHA: Today, we are reporting from Trampoli!!  GANESHA: Hey, is something wrong? Why the long face? MARCO: Oh, it's just that the "Broad Sword" I bought from you the other day just isn't enough anymore. GANESHA: I see... Marco, it seems like you've grown a bit. GANESHA: Many people graduate from the Broad Sword as their sword-fighting skills improve. GANESHA: What you need now is this! The "Spear"! *~Level up fanfare~*  User Review  DANNY: Using the Spear helped save my business. *Results may vary.  STELLA: It's so useful when reaching for things up high. It may even be useful for trimming trees in the garden. A limb cutter's not far off from a naginata, I guess.  GANESHA: Order now, and Marco's allowance will pay your interest!  MARCO: What? Wait! Why my allowance?!  *Please refrain from swinging away too much. *~Item creation jingle~*  Music: GoodnightLocation: Public Square  CANDY: Rune Factory: Frontier CANDY: Don't turn that dial. We'll be back after these messages!♪ what why candy it's winter who put you out here in a swimsuit  Music: By the OceanKANNO: It is now time for the second half! Well, that brief fever dream is over. Back to the quiz. Hopefully Bush isn't quizzing so hard he's hallucinating.  CANDY: Question 6! KANNO: This question was sent in by Ms. Lynette all the way from the Zzyzx Empire. The topic is cooking. I think it's kinda unlikely Lynette went back to Sechs, given she deserted the military and directly defied the Emperor, so maybe she just wrote the letter that way to keep them off her trail. ...Unless they got her CANDY: Which is used to cook? ----------------------- 1. Steamer 2. Seed Maker 3. Lab ----------------------- Well, option 3 can be used to cook in a sense of the word, but yeah it's 1.  KANNO: 1! Steamer! Oh! You know, if it wasn't for the first question, I'd be inclined to say Erik has unique AI to just pick a girl and follow. Maybe it's just an exception for farming questions? Anyways, another point for Bush and Mist.  CANDY: Question 7! KANNO: The topic is magic. CANDY: Which magic won't use up RP? ----------------------- 1.Life Absorber 2.Fireball 3.Return ----------------------- Must be a question from Kanno himself. 3 is the answer. Life Absorber (Bubble Staff) uses a ton, by the way.  KANNO: 3! Return! Oh! Mist, as usual, banks off our answer.  CANDY: Question 8! KANNO: The topic is villagers. CANDY: What's the name of the innkeeper? ----------------------- 1 .Ganesha 2. Turner 3. Danny ----------------------- this question is ridiculously easy it's turner  ...Erik, what erik even Lara's getting this one erik please  MIST: The same as Bush...? That's depressing.  Erik: picks the only answer corresponding to a woman Mist: ignores what she knows just to not stand next to us Lara: finally gets one right, although it'd be concerning if she didn't get this one  KANNO: We have everyone's answer, correct?  *heartbeat*  *heartbeat*  *the tension is palpable* And so it cycles perspectives a few more times...   ERIK: I won't be able to win at this rate... 10 minutes left!! ERIK: Someone, please... Give me a hint! Outside of the fact it's statistically impossible for you to win at this point, what about Lara?  CANDY: Then let us ask the audience.  MELODY: The answer is 5, Return ...or it should be, I think? Melody's not even paying attention.  ERIK: Thank you! I...oh, no! I don't have enough time to answer!  KANNO: 2! Turner! I see! KANNO: Great job. A round of applause for everyone! Out of all the villager questions, we had to do this dramatic bit on this one. Possibly the easiest question of all the possibilities.  LARA: Oh, goodness... I'm glad I got it right. Well, at least the stage fright didn't make it to where I had to push her to a correct answer. She has oranges as her fruit.  CANDY: Question 9! KANNO: This question was sent in by Lucas, the wandering poet. The topic is farming. CANDY: Which of the following tools can cut down fodder? ----------------------- 1. One-handed Sword 2. Axe 3. Sickle ----------------------- You can actually cut plants with swords in some of the DS games, although I forget if it goes all the way back to RF1. The answer is 3, of course.  Lara can't seem to remember if sword cutting was a thing back in Kardia either. Mist is being contrary again.  KANNO: 3! Sickle is the answer! Erik's now at an astounding 2 points.  CANDY: Question 10! Well, this is the last-  Music: Let the Games Begin!KANNO: Hold your horses! It's Super Gramp's Time! Here's a special question! CANDY: Oh, hooray! It's grandpa's Super Gramp's Time! SUPER GRAMPS TIME?!?   "Super Gramp's Time is simply..." "...an explosion of Kanno's favoritism expressed in the form of a special question."  KANNO: The person in last place currently has 1 points... KANNO: ...and the leader currently has 9 points. KANNO: You must not give up until the end. This is your chance to win! KANNO: If you get this next question right you'll get 7 points! A big chance to win for anyone!! LARA: Nice! That's the way to do it!  CANDY: (Grandpa... If last place gets 7 added to the current 1, there still isn't enough for an upset...) CANDY: Question 10! ...This day gets even more bonkers. I didn't think it was possible.  KANNO: Whose voice is it?! KANNO: Candy will mimic someone's voice. KANNO: Try to guess who it is. Better listen closely!  CANDY: Hello... M-my name is Mi... What? I can't say it? KANNO: And now the person's name is...!! ----------------------- 1. Melody 2. Cinnamon 3. Mist ----------------------- This is even voiced.  Mist, I was going to be concerned if you didn't recognize yourself after that.  KANNO: Everyone except Lara is correct!  Our final score is 16, and they ran out of cherries to display it seems.  This also puts Erik up to 9 and Mist up to 12.  KANNO: Stop! That was the last question! KANNO: Now, for the results. *drumroll*  *DRUMROLL* (Bush is stuck staring at Lara the whole time instead of looking straight ahead.)  Music: Festival- CelebrationKANNO: A clear-cut victory! With 16, Bush is the winner! BUSH: Thank you. I feel greatly honored. KANNO: Congratulations! The winner gets the number of items all the players' points add up to! KANNO: You get 16 Cherry, 1 Orange, 9 Chestnut, 12 Apple! (Corresponding to Bush, Lara, Erik, and Mist respectively.) To clarify, we get all the fruit used to count points. This means the actual challenge is to make everyone get the right answer and win just 1 point higher than all of them. We'll try that next year. Maybe next time Cinnamon or Selphy will be here.  KANNO: For all other participants, we have "Int. Vitamins" for your efforts! WHAT I'VE BEEN CHEATED I WANT THOSE  KANNO: This concludes this year's Annual Quiz Contest. See you again next year!  Our sponsors were... Snowstyle Tavern and Sunshine Inn. to truly win, we had to lose.... even our big brain could not have foreseen this...  LARA: Congratulations on winning the Quiz Contest. LARA: You're too good, Bush. I feel like Lara got hit with a ton of stage fright. I know she doesn't get out a lot, but still.  MIST: You're pretty knowledgeable despite how you look, Bush. Yeowch, talk about a backhanded compliment. No respect for the guy who pulled you out of hyperspace?  Well, time to pick up all of this lesser reward. Some of these are stacks of two to accomodate the surplus.  BIANCA: I saw you at the Quiz Contest. You were pretty good. She even gives a little cheer.  Can't get it any better form than this, unfortunately, but here it is.  KANNO: You're quite the man for winning my Quiz Contest, Bush. Magic Grandpa (or is it Super Gramps?) at last acknowledges our smarts.  SELPHY: Oh, so you won the Quiz Contest... SELPHY: But what prize did you win? If it's one of Kanno's books, give it to me! BUSH: It's not... All we got was a bunch of fruit. I guess the apples will be useful-ish, but that's all.  KROSS: Heh... KROSS: Today is supposed to be the Quiz Contest. But it has nothing to do with me... Kross isn't particularly fussed about it.  Oh, hey, Mystery Girl! We're the smartest person in town!  MYSTERY GIRL: Bush, I may have to give up on my dream... BUSH: Your dream of building the church? MYSTERY GIRL: Yes... BUSH: Why?! You worked so hard for it! MYSTERY GIRL: There's no point in building a church where no one lives... MYSTERY GIRL: They said it was a waste of money and had the carpenters all go home... MYSTERY GIRL: I was even told to return to the abbey...  BUSH: And you're all right with this? MYSTERY GIRL: I have no choice. I can't do anything alone. And this time, there is no one I can rely on... BUSH: But it will all be over the moment you give up! BUSH: You were so happy when you talked about how you wanted to build the church! MYSTERY GIRL: Then what am I supposed to do?! BUSH: I... MYSTERY GIRL: ... I'm sorry I raised my voice.  MYSTERY GIRL: People can't live on their dreams alone. MYSTERY GIRL: But I... Well, I suppose there's some seriousness to cap off this goofy update.  STELLA: I have a meeting with other sisters that are old acquaintances. STELLA: I'll be out of the church for awhile, but I left Lara in charge. BUSH: Old acquaintances? STELLA: When I lived at the abbey, we had training together. We meet once in a while to exchange information. Hey... you don't think... Stella might be from the same abbey as the Mystery Girl?  ...nah, that's ridiculous i think all this quizzing has our brain worn out, lets get some rest Catch you next time! Music: GoodnightLeft 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 29, 2023 16:38
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Black Robe posted:The whale is going to personally drop out of the sky to smack you for that one. This fate was sealed the moment the name Bush was decided
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Mar 29, 2023 16:39
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This whole Quiz Day bit was delightful, borrowing game show tropes like that. Apparently Mist using her "informants" just means copying Bush. And being wrong occasionally to not make it too obvious.
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Mar 29, 2023 16:56
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The others had the advantage of having done this festival before. Obviously they knew the consolation prizes were much better than the prize for winning, and threw the quiz.
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Mar 29, 2023 17:36
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BraveLittleToaster posted:This whole Quiz Day bit was delightful, borrowing game show tropes like that. Quiz day might've been the best so far, to be honest. It's definitely the one I'm most looking forward to on the revisit. Black Robe posted:The others had the advantage of having done this festival before. Obviously they knew the consolation prizes were much better than the prize for winning, and threw the quiz. We got metagamed so hard. As soon as no vacation was announced this year, Erik and Lara entered throwing mode. Mist obviously didn't because she's new here too, but she has to manage her public presence well. Next update drops Friday and will have an important-ish vote! ...Meanwhile I'm going to be here proofreading older updates for a while. Might as well put in the work to get it archive ready ahead of time.
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Mar 29, 2023 21:05
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Update 56: Lady of the Rings- Two VampiresMusic: Winter We return with Bush's status page. These stats probably won't change much from here, so consider this like a final look at him. He's level 65, max HP 333, base ATK of 101, base DEF of 351, and MAG of 310. (Keeping in mind our armor modifies these.) STR: 59 VIT: 58 INT: 58 AGL: 64 Weapons: 24 Magic: 50 Farming: 53 Lumber: 71 Hammer: 38 Fish: 26 Cooking: 99 Lab: 54 Forging: 51 Crafts: 53 Honestly, pretty well rounded. More than I thought we'd be by the end. Special mention of fishing, which was very useful early on but just fell out of something we had to do when the farming to cooking pipelines combined well.  It's Winter 8th by the way.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"You're a harder worker than I thought." - Bianca~ I recieved the Steam Pumpkin. Actually, I'm quite surprised you would keep sending items that I request. You're unexpectedly diligent. Anyway, take this token of thanks. I don't need it anymore. Next, I would like a Roasted Carp. ----------------------------------------------------- I don't think we actually get a reward. If we do, I don't know what it is. This is is maybe a remnant of an earlier RF2/RF3 request implementation. Carp will have to wait until Spring. I did not have the foresight to keep a fish in the fridge for a year.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"You dummy!" - Eunice~ If you are upset about something, try going to the beach and yelling at the top of your lungs. It will make you feel better. ----------------------------------------------------- Curiously enough, this comes up in the next game I'll be doing. No wonder the Elder Dragon of Water doesn't like humans in this world if this is commonplace.  Our important matter for today is to help the Irises. Let's see what Lara has to say.  LARA: Oh, Bush, I was just about to do the examination. Please wait right here. BUSH: Sure thing.  *And so Lara heads in...*  LARA: It seems that both of them were sick. BUSH: So...how was it? LARA: There are still some things I don't understand so can you come back tomorrow? BUSH: All right. ...So, yeah. One more day. We just confirmed they're sick. I mean, we already told you that.  They're now in bed during this.  We skip ahead through another uneventful Winter day to meet up with Lara at the church next morning.  LARA: Bush, about Iris... BUSH: Did you find out anything? LARA: Both of them are sick.  LARA: And, it seems the reason for that is because Iris is separated into two people. LARA: I also asked Kanno, Rita and Sister Stella about it. It seems the two of them had separated to avoid being lonely. BUSH: That's what I heard, too. LARA: But now that they are surrounded by many people, their lives have become much happier. BUSH: I guess so. She even said that her work at the bar was really fun.  LARA: Yes. But that's the problem. BUSH: Why is that? LARA: Because, in their happiness, they are trying to return to one body, but yet remain separated. LARA: That puts stress upon their existence, causing the illness. Separating into two must have put a lot of strain on Iris. BUSH: So for Iris to get better...  LARA: ...she has to return to being one person. LARA: But I don't know how to do it. Even Kanno and Sister Stella said they didn't know how. BUSH: All right. I'll try to find out how. LARA: Please do so. I'll try to search for the method from my end as well.  So now we need to gather all the knowledge on this we can. Our goal is to make Iris a single person, because she's no longer alone. Lara's already talked to Kanno, but Super Gramps is the most knowledgeable guy in town. We still ought to see what he has to say.  KANNO: About how to return Iris to normal... BUSH: Did you find something on it? KANNO: Well... This will be difficult. KANNO: It's already amazing enough that one person can split into two. But now we need to return them to one. It makes it all the more difficult... BUSH: Oh... KANNO: Of course, I haven't given up. If you find any clues, come to me. Well, who else knowledgeable do we talk to? You know, Lara didn't say anything to Selphy. Let's go do that!  ...In a few days. She's busy with a new book right now.  STELLA: Is Selphy the same as always? BUSH: Yes. She's still reading her books. STELLA: Even though she was kidnapped by a book-shaped monster, she still loves her books. I think that's a good thing. If anything, a book shaped monster just makes her more interested.  We do have a letter the next day!  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"I'm back." - Tart~ Hello... It has been a while. I have returned from my trip. I haven't traveled in... a while... so it was quite fun. Do you like... traveling? ----------------------------------------------------- Our reply options are "I visit the dungeons everyday.", "I have never traveled.", and "The beach, sometimes..." Upon thinking of a reply, Bush distantly hears the call of the gift mines and automatically replies the first option. Good to see Tart's still sending us letters. We still have a pen pal.  Another day passes, and Bush heads to the library...  SELPHY: You looked so awesome when you saved Mist, ÿ 0é0°0Êÿ . SELPHY: You looked the hero of a story going to save a princess.  SELPHY: Thinking back, being a princess isn't half bad. She's not even hiding it now! She did basically blurt it out a few weeks back, but here it is. Also: Minerva's Inside Information posted:
So yeah, Selphius Josephine is true crown princess to a northern kingdom, if that wasn't obvious already.  That's all for this day. Bush is too concerned about his vampire friends to think about anything else, so it's time to sleep.  And another day...  And another day...  Let's take our mind off this. How's the runeys doing?  oops  Let's just go to tomorrow then, shall we? It's snowing! Music: Snowy Day SELPHY: Oh, right... SELPHY: Iris is supposed to be one of the race of "those closest to the Spirits," right? BUSH: Yes. SELPHY: Well, I found a book about them so I put it on the bookshelf. BUSH: Really?! Thank you! SELPHY: Don't mention it. Thank Lara since she's the one who asked me to look for it.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~The Vampire Tribe~ "Those closest to the Spirits once inhabited the Trampoli area. They were able to converse with the Spirits through their Spirit Song." "Even with special traits such as an inability to enter holy places, the ability to share minds with the person they drank blood from and being nocturnal, they still could have a child with a normal person. " "Most of their descendants are of mixed blood now, and only a few special ones have inherited the Spirit Song. The next volume will cover rituals." ----------------------------------------------------- We've also got another book to look at...  ----------------------------------------------------- ~The Vampire Tribe~ "Among the rituals is one called "The Blessings from Around" that is particularly interesting." "In it, the leader of the ritual brings a personal item, and those around bless it. In the case of two or more leaders, each leader brings an item of equal value and then trades after the blessings finish." "It is said that the purpose of this ritual was to demonstrate the leaders' connection to the Spirits to the people around." "After trading the blessed items, they offer up a prayer to the Spirits. If the Spirits respond, their wish will come true. At least, that is the belief." "Without any known pure-blood descendants of those closest to the Spirits, there is no way of telling if this ritual was merely symbolic, or indeed granted one a wish come true." ----------------------------------------------------- So we now know the story of who the vampires are, and how we can ask the Spirits for help one last time. But first, we have a few other texts.  ----------------------------------------------------- ~Constellation: Cross~ "The Cross is the most famous constellation in the winter skies. A bit after the sun has set, look up at the sky to spot this magnificent formation." -----------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------- ~Constellation: Fish~ "The Fish is a winter constellation seen in the sky past midnight. Its brilliance is worth waiting for in the cold weather." -----------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------- ~Constellation: Hairpin~ "The Hairpin is a winter constellation that appears soon after sunset, making it very easy to spot in the sky." ----------------------------------------------------- ...Here's nearly the last few texts in the library. Bush is now a very well-read man. We'll catch these last constellations soon.  BUSH: Kanno, about how we can get Iris back to normal... KANNO: Did you find out something?! BUSH: Yes. *And so we fade out as Bush explains what he's learned...*  KANNO: All right. KANNO: Bush! Do exactly what I tell you. KANNO: First, take a certain object from each Iris. BUSH: Sure. KANNO: Then take those things around to each villager and have them bless it .  BUSH: Bless...? KANNO: Yes. Simply put, they just need to pray for it. KANNO: Come back to me when you're done. I'll take care of the rest. BUSH: All right. Then let me go get something from each of them. We have our mission. Bush Hero Mode, engage!  BUSH: Iris, do you have a pair of something? BUSH: If I take that and get everyone in the village to bless it, you might go back to normal. IRIS BLANCHE: Really? IRIS BLANCHE: But, I'm worried about how much of a blessing we can receive since we haven't been here long... BUSH: It's all right. Everyone is worried about you. IRIS BLANCHE: Thank you... Then take this.  You got Gold Ring!  IRIS NOIRE: Take this with you. This is the first item that we exchanged when we separated. IRIS NOIRE: I believe these will be the most fitting.  You got Silver Ring!  I don't think it matters which ring we hand over, but I'll keep it even regardless. After showing one, handing the other over just gets a "wrong quest item" prompt. Off to every single villager in town!  RITA: We'll have one less person to work at the bar, but I have to respect what Iris wants. RITA: I put all of my heart into it.   TURNER: I have to pray for it? TURNER: Is that good enough? I hope Iris will get better soon.  UZUKI: In my country, tools that are used wholeheartedly can embody souls. UZUKI: It seems that the emotions in this ring are so powerful that it has gained a soul as well. UZUKI: There, I put my prayers into it.  EUNICE: It's for Iris? I'll gladly help. EUNICE: Iris is part of our family now.  GANESHA: That's a pretty ring. I can feel the emotions of the owner just by looking at it. GANESHA: I'll hammer in a lot of emotion so I can work even harder from now on. Here you go.  MARCO: So Iris will get better if I pray for it? MARCO: ...Iris, get well soon so you can yell at my mom for drinking too much...  DANNY: You know how I'm closed on holidays every week? That's when I go back to my hometown. DANNY: It's really far so I only get to stay for a little while. DANNY: But my little brother and sister get really happy when they see me. It makes me feel really warm inside.  DANNY: I just have to pray for it? Fine, I'll do it... DANNY: Here you go. I'm just not good when it comes to these things.  MELODY: Oh, so Iris is going back to being one person? MELODY: I really liked it when they would come to my bathhouse together.  SELPHY: I'll be glad to join, too! SELPHY: I've never even read about how two people can become one before! SELPHY: "Fact is stranger than fiction" can be so true sometimes.  ERIK: You need my help? Man, I'm just too popular! ERIK: ... Done! Now take it away!  LARA: I may be inexperienced as a sister, but I will bless it with all my heart. LARA: ...There you go.  STELLA: I have to bless this? Sure thing. Iris is part of our village after all. STELLA: Now take it with you. I've finished blessing it.  ANETTE: You sure you want me to do it? I'm not exactly part of the village, you know... ANETTE: But I'm glad that you came to me. Here you go. I put my heart and soul into it. You are a part of the village now though!  CINNAMON: Emotions can amplify the effects of magic. If people cast their emotions into the spell, then its power is more potent. CINNAMON: ...Good luck.  CANDY: I hope Iris will get better soon. CANDY: Here. Now the ring is full of my emotions.  KANNO: It seems that you're making good progress. Now it's my turn... KANNO: Here. Take this with you.  MIST: So I just have to pray for it? MIST: I wish for a good harvest of turnips this year. BUSH: No, not like that... MIST: I know, I know. Here you go. And now for a brief intermission:  ----------------------------------------------------- ~"The Archives" - Anette~ You know how the library is so messy in Trampoli? It's so weird that Selphy still seems to know where every book is. It's like... Magic! ----------------------------------------------------- It's the Selphy Decimal System in action!  BIANCA: Is it true that Iris will become one person now? BIANCA: That sounds interesting. I'll be glad to cooperate. BIANCA: There, I put all of my heart into it. If you want a more expensive ring, I'll prepare one for you.  TABATHA: So I just have to put my prayers in this ring? All right. TABATHA: May the forest and trees and the blessings of the elves be heard... TABATHA: Here you go. I hope Iris will get better soon.  KROSS: If there is anything I can do, I would do it gladly. KROSS: ... I hope Iris gets better.  BRODIK: Heh heh heh... BRODIK: Why should I have to do what you tell me?! Forget it! BRODIK: Hah hah hah... BUSH: (I guess Brodik is out of the question. I'll go ask others.)  BRODIK: Hey, Bush! Let me tell you something! BRODIK: The reason why I dress this way even during winter... BRODIK: ...is not because I'm well-trained or very good at enduring the cold. BRODIK: Heh heh heh... BRODIK: It's because I thought this job would be easy and I didn't prepare for winter!  BRODIK: That's right! I'm friggin' cold right now! What do you think of that?! Hahahaha! BRODIK: How do you like that, Bush?! Now come back with me already! Come on man, let's go back! nah mate you can stay out here and freeze your rear end off, that's cool  ROSETTA: So I just have to pray for it? That sounds simple enough. ROSETTA: ...It's not like I would refuse even if it cost money. Really! ROSETTA: Is that it? I don't know if I did it right but I put a lot of my heart into it. ...And that should be everyone!  At 6:00 PM, we can finally get back into the Irises' room.  (The text has been falling out of the boxes pretty frequently of late.) BUSH: Iris! We have finished the preparations for you to get back to normal! Everyone helped out! IRIS NOIRE: Thank you very much... Bush and everyone else, too. BUSH: Kanno is getting ready at the public square! Let's go! IRIS BLANCHE: Yes, let's! (A brief timewarp happened and we lost the brief conversation where Kanno tells us to take them to the square.) *A fade to black...*  KANNO: We will now begin the ceremony which will bring the two Irises back to one again! KANNO: Iris, are you ready? IRIS BLANCHE: Yes! IRIS NOIRE: I have long awaited this day. And so the moment has arrived. Mist, Lara, and Stella are all also here. Why Mist? Who knows.   KANNO: Let's finish this off by having you exchange the rings that have been blessed by the villagers. KANNO: Bush. Exchange the rings that you have kept for Iris. KANNO: In other words, the "Silver Ring" goes to the white Iris, and the "Gold Ring" to the black Iris. KANNO: Now hand over the rings to the two of them.  MIST: I'm getting nervous. You're not the one about to unify into a single persona.  LARA: Iris looks so happy. I imagine so! Let's stop delaying the ceremony, let's give the rings over.  IRIS NOIRE: Thank you. IRIS NOIRE: We were originally the same person. With everyone's blessings, we can finally be whole again. IRIS NOIRE: This is the most joyous day of my life.  IRIS BLANCHE: Thank you. IRIS BLANCHE: I can feel it... I can feel everyone's warm feelings. *And so we fade to black...* Music: Iris' Spirit SongThis'll be the last time we hear this song! It's a really nice moment to finally hear it again here.  *The two turn to face one another...*  *They approach and hold hands...*  IRISES: The happy memories on Whale Island...  IRISES: The memory of being released from loneliness in the dungeon...  IRISES: Which of those memories reflect stronger for you...? As their first friends and the one that brought them into the outside world, it's Bush's responsibility to make this decision.  Well, thread? Whale Island corresponds to Blanche, and Snow Ruins corresponds to Noire. Whichever one we pick will remain the new Iris. Unique abstract sketches or Tarot? Fun or goth? Short hair, or slightly longer hair? Make thy choice. Left 4 Bread fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Apr 20, 2023 |
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Mar 31, 2023 14:12
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