Furthermore, the Magical Girls Break their Promises!!!

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On the occasion of the Winter Thanksgiving or Winter Thanks-Fest as it is called in Cute, I gave Chocolate Cake to every bachelor and all the Magical Girls. Each one professed himself or herself sorry that I had not been given a gift at the Spring Thanksgiving but promised to bring me one the next Spring... Both Leia and the Witch Princess quite clearly vowed that each would bring me a Spring Thanksgiving Gift. The Harvest Goddess treated the gift as she would any ordinary offering and as every one knows, Keira does not really TALK, but she was happy to receive the Cake!

On 14 Spring, I had many visitors:
At 6.00 a.m. Marlin came to my door bearing Chocolate Cookies.
At 8.00 a.m., Gustafa came to the door with a similar offering.
At 10.00 a.m., Rock breezed by the farmhouse with his plate of Chocolate Cookies (whipped up no doubt by his mother in her kitchen)
At 12 noon, I answered Carter's knock at the door and received a platter of Chocolate cookies from the renowned archaeologist.
At 2.00 p.m., I was greeted by Griffin who bore a plate of... Chocolate Cookies!
Finally, at 4.00 p.m. in broad daylight, Skye braved the dangers of arrest by vigilante or police officer in order to bestow the traditional Spring Thanksgiving gift upon me.

THAT in itself was well worth the dreary days of waiting to propose to him. Tonight, I will remove the Blue Feather finally from its place in my Tool Box and place it in my rucksack before I leap into bed.

I now have received Spring Thanksgiving gifts from all the bachelors and am ready to marry my beloved Skye.

I have six plates of Chocolate Cookies now, all indistinguishable one from the other. I did store Skye's Cookies in a separate place in my refrigerator in order to keep it FOREVER... one day I will show my child those Cookies, the very first Spring Thanksgiving gift from the love of my life.

I wonder though how many of these Cookies were prepared by the bachelors themselves or whether they ALL went to Ruby in order to procure their Thanksgiving Cookies! I daresay Skye made his own! Ruby is out for his blood for a start but apart from that, he enjoys cooking and is very adept at the art. To be honest, however, I would prize them even if they were made of sawdust, if they came from Skye...

I have to state, however, that I am severely disappointed in the Magical Girls. In vain did I wait for THEIR visits. Neither Leia nor the Witch Princess, both at deepest red heart level, brought me a gift... Keira at a lower level did not appear either, but really... the other two HAD promised!!!

You will see the evidence of the promise of the Witch Princess here in a photograph I captured, not realising that it might be required later as proof of a promise broken!

That's the last time I give either of them ANYTHING, except on their birthdays. It would be too uncouth not to continue to remember birthdays, but apart from that, they have lost much of the stature they once had in my eye.

Enough of that, though. Having enjoyed my brief experience as 'belle of the ball', I now will concentrate on bringing all the bachelors to marriage with my erstwhile rivals. If I am to live happily ever after with my Skye, every one else should be as happy as we...

Unhappy Baby Animals

Any player of Harvest Moon games will be aware of the necessity of keeping animals happy by feeding them and not keeping them outside in bad weather conditions. In a game like Harvest Moon DS or Harvest Moon Cute DS, the fact that you can have many Bird Barns and Animal Barns can make Animal Care a little more complex, as you must remember to enter EVERY barn to feed animals and perform whatever tasks are needed. If you have four Bird Barns and three Animal Barns and they are in different parts of the field, it is not difficult to forget one...

You can hire a Sprite Team to care for your Animals but as you only can hire one team at a time, you may wish to hire a Team for a different task such as Watering or Fishing.

When not fed, animals first become Unhappy and then Sick. Once an Animal falls sick, you will be obliged to purchase and use Animal Medicine in order to cure it. If you do not feed an animal for even a single day, you run the risk of having a Sick Animal on the next day in Harvest Moon DS and Cute DS. Sick Animals when not medicated usually take more than one day to die but they will die ultimately if you do not medicate them.

The reason for this post is not to write about these basic facts but to share a more subtle aspect of animal behaviour in Harvest Moon DS and Cute DS.

When an Animal is born on your farm, you then will have both Mother and Child. If you sell the Mother while her offspring still is a baby, the baby MAY become Unhappy. This is a random effect but it is rather touching. I have experienced it more than once myself. I therefore try not to deprive a baby animal of its parent if possible. Once the Animal is an adult, the relationship between parent and child apparently becomes more distant, but when the Animal is a baby, it needs its mother!

The delightful madcap Witch Princess

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When Harvest Moon DS first was released, I was as entranced by the mischievous Witch Princess as I am about Skye in HM Cute. The only problem there was the necessity that you kill 50 of your livestock in order to satisfy her marriage requirements.

Even so, I remained rather attracted to her... and find her fully as enchanting in Cute. She is the ultimate rebel against conventional society and some of her pronouncements are hilarious.

When you attain Orange Heart with her, she will tell you: 'Nice to see you, Freya. Let me know if you die. I'll bring you back with my potions.'

She made a similar offer in the original Harvest Moon DS... As helpful as she may be here, how on earth are you supposed to let her know if you are dead?

Her glee when she receives a piece of Chocolate Cake at the Winter Thanks-Fest, a gift that formerly was intended only for boys, is fully in character. If she did not require the death of so many beloved animals, I would not hesitate either to wed her or make her my official 'Best Friend'. Unfortunately, although this is possible in the original Japanese version of Cute, it is not possible in the upcoming Natsume English edition of the game.

Incidentally, whenever she gives you her special gift, she will tell you that it has no value, but this is a small misrepresentation on her part. If you carry her gift or the gift of the Harvest Goddess in your rucksack for a full day and night, you will gain points towards the next level of your Farming Degree.

If you marry Carter...

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If you marry Carter, you will experience a rather sweet moment during the wedding when he will declare that his happiness is indescribable. At home, however, he will remind you of the age gap when he suggests that you create a 'snazzy' nickname for yourself. One doesn't encounter THAT word often in this day and age...

His greeting to you each morning and his advice not to work too hard are perfectly acceptable if neither lyrical nor romantic... He obviously is a decent man who cares about you, although his first love always will be his work.

My Valentine's Day Treat

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I promised myself I would do this on St. Valentine's Day. After all, what better way to celebrate the Day of Lovers than by experiencing a wedding in Harvest Moon? The only problem for me is that it is an experience fraught with a small degree of terror, as I always am afraid I will save the game by accident and be forced to live with the consequences! You see, I have all the ordinary Valley bachelors at deepest red heart level but do not intend to marry any of them. My heart is set upon Skye and I don't wish to marry him even until I have experienced all the Mineral Town Heart Events. I expect that my REAL wedding will have to wait until Spring...

Meanwhile, though, I need to begin to LOWER the Valley bachelors' hearts again so that I can set them up with my rivals in Spring for the Second Rival Heart Events. Before I do that, however, I would like to document their weddings. I have proposed to each of them and documented the proposal events, but a wedding is more involved. One must wait a week after the proposal in order to experience the wedding.

As I have three Bird Barns and three Animal Barns packed to the rafters, I either have to SELL all the animals before I sleep through the week or allow them to fall ill and deal with the repetitious Sprite announcements that something is wrong in the barn. Well, the course of false love runs no smoother than that of true love.

So far, I have experienced a wedding with Carter and one with Rock. I still need to experience the other three...

Weddings with any ordinary Valley bachelor basically are very similar. They occur at the beach and EVERY ONE attends. The configuration of the audience is a little different for each but the ceremony follows the same ritual, with the Harvest Goddess ringing the bells as a gift to you after you both pronounce your wedding vows to Thomas. The credits then roll.

You find yourself afterwards at your table in your farmhouse with your spouse. He will suggest that you choose a nickname for yourself but not for him. After that, you will see a little message to the effect that:

Tomorrow begins our new life together.

You will be taken directly to the next morning where you will be able to discover the way in which your spouse will speak to you every morning...

For those who are playing the original 'boy' version of Harvest Moon DS, the details of weddings are very similar. As you can see, the Harvest Goddess is one of the main participants in the ceremony. You therefore CANNOT marry until you have rescued the Harvest Goddess by rescuing 60 Harvest Sprites.

For the many players who ask which bachelor will make the best husband, I will post a little about each...

With Winter comes Snow, Mukumuku and Finest Curry

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Ordinarily, I would not be too excited about the advent of Winter in Harvest Moon, although I do love the beauty of fallen snow, contrary to the small white lie I told Kai in his Heart Event... I was obliged to declare Summer to be paramount in my list of seasons, when in fact I prefer Spring and Autumn... (I do hope Kai hasn't any sort of access to my journals!!!)

In any case, in Harvest Moon Cute, I eagerly awaited Winter, counting down the days, because Winter brings White Grass, an ingredient required in Finest Curry. Why should I care so deeply about Finest Curry? Only because it is Skye's Most Favourite. It happens to be Cliff's Most Favourite as well, but I doubt I will squander it on him more than once. The Mineral Town events move at such a snail pace that I am resigned to the slow rise of affection there. I have Cliff at Purple Heart now, but must engineer a rainy day in order to experience his Purple Heart Event. I deliberately rejected a prediction of rain actually for Saturday, the 1st day of Winter in order to be able to give Skye his first taste of Finest Curry tonight. Skye does not visit the Valley ordinarily in bad weather, although he will make an exception when he is on a 'job'.

When I gave the first Finest Curry to Skye, my heart skipped a beat. He actually blushed and stammered, quite unlike the smooth-talking 'player' he attempts to show the world at large. 'F-Finest Curry!! It is for me? You are like a goddess!'

Ahhh... How can I resist this lovely creature? I experienced Grey's Blue Heart event two days ago and my old fondness for him was kindled anew as he proclaimed his deep admiration for Carter and all those who 'chase a dream'. Although he declared that his ambition was merely to become a respectable blacksmith, I happen to know his SECRET ambition, which is to create beautiful jewelry. In fact, in Mineral Town, he once gave me a piece he had created himself...

From my old MFoMT journal:
Grey: Actually, there is something I want you to have.
Me: (?)
Grey then threw a blue brooch at me.
Grey: I hope you like it...
Grey (with tear): I made this on my own secretly from Grandpa. I'm not nearly as good as him, but still it's a good achievement for me. I made this for you. I want you to have it. I just wanted to make sure you like stuff like that, you know? I hope you like it.
Grey left hastily then, evidently wishing to avoid any negative response from me, although he should have realised I would have thrown myself into his arms and kissed the darling boy! The silver brooch he made is gorgeous!

END OF QUOTE.

So you see, there is a sweet history between us, but I still expect I shall choose Skye in the end... In my next life, however, I daresay I'll choose Grey once more. I have many lives to lead and many marriages to make...

This entry was supposed to be about Skye, not Grey! I'm all over the place today, aren't I?

In fact, I wished to speak of all the reasons why Winter can be an exciting and fulfilling time.

First, there is the White Grass which allows one to make Finest Curry at last. Then, there is the appearance of Mukumuku, sometimes known in the world as the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, but in fact, one of the sweetest creatures to walk the land.

With Mukumuku's arrival, you will be treated to a number of events that can occur only in the Winter season. I will devote a separate post to Mukumuku but suffice it to say now that the first of his events can be experienced even BEFORE you raise his friendship level at all. All that is required is that you exit the Sprite Tree after 4.00 p.m. on the 1st of Winter or any sunny Winter's day.

It is a very amusing event, with a long history known to those familiar with 'A Wonderful Life'. It will be the subject of my next post.

N.B. Note the sorry state of Skye's AP as it appears on 1 Winter before the gift of the Finest Curry. Skye's affection is at 44000 AP and 255 FP before the Finest Curry was accepted. When accepted, it will be at 44800 AP 255 FP. This is due to the fact that I was unable to experience Part II of Skye's Blue Heart Event long ago on a Sunday night... Carter's fault, because he lingered on the road until midnight.
Not experiencing Part II cost me a 1000 FP penalty simply because I did not trigger it and another 3000 AP that would have been gained if I had triggered Part II of the Event AND given the correct response in the course of the event. That means effectively that Skye's AP would have been at 48000 AP tonight before the gift of Finest Curry and at 48800 AP afterwards. With Finest Curry, therefore, it will take me 5 days longer to bring him to full red heart level!

This is moot, really, because I shan't marry Skye until I have experienced all four heart events for each of the Mineral Town bachelors... Those five days become meaningless in these circumstances. Even so, I feel it useful to point out the penalties incurred when you do not trigger both parts of one of Skye's events. It will not prevent you from marrying him ultimately, but it will slow you down considerably.

Most Favourite Gifts and the Pot in Harvest Moon

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It really is not necessary ever to give the 'Most Favourite' Item to a prospective spouse in order to win his/her heart in Harvest Moon. In the 'boy' version of HM DS, I was able to raise every girl's heart level to deepest red without ever giving the girl her 'Most Favourite' gift AND was able to do it by the earliest date when I would be able to marry in the game. In Cute, the same holds true. I had every ordinary bachelor at deepest red heart level before the end of Autumn in the first year.

What I did not notice previously, however, was the fact that every 'Most Favourite' item for any of the ordinary bachelors of the Valley requires the use of a Pot to prepare. You cannot acquire the Pot before the middle of the first Autumn, even if you upgrade your house once at the earliest possible date in order to be able to purchase the Kitchen and all Implements. The Pot is the implement that is offered LAST...

Here are the Most Favourites:

Carter: Candied Potato, prepared with a Yam and a POT
Griffin: Fish Stew, prepared with a medium fish and a POT
Gustafa: Hot Milk, prepared with Milk and a POT
Marlin: Elli Leaves, prepared with Bodigizer XL, Turbojolt XL and all six Failed Dishes (one of which must be made with the POT)
Rock: Cheese Fondue, prepared with Bread, Cheese, Wine and a POT
Skye: Finest Curry, prepared with Rainbow Curry, White Curry and all six Failed Dishes (most of which ingredients require a POT)

As for the bachelors of Mineral Town:

Cliff shares Skye's taste in his Most Favourite item, which is 'Finest Curry'. This dish did not exist in FoMT or MFoMT but Cliff apparently has acquired a love of it since he first became acquainted with Ruby's cooking. He formerly considered a simple Curry Rice to be the best gift of all! Grey's Most Favourite remains Baked Corn, always and forever. Kai's remains the Pineapple. Trent still loves Milk and Rick loves the Spa Egg above all other items... These Most Favourites date from their FoMT/MFoMT days.

The 'Most Favourites' for the Mineral Town bachelors are acquired in different ways. Only the Finest Curry requires the Pot. A Spa Egg requires the unlocking of the first Hot Spring by experiencing Flora's 255 FP Event. A Pineapple is a Summer Crop grown from seed purchased at the Casino window. Baked Corn is made in an Oven. Milk probably will be the first 'Most Favourite' that you acquire, when your first cow reaches maturity.

The eligible girls in the original HM DS are different from HM Cute Valley bachelors with respect to the means by which their Most Favourites are obtained... but in Cute, as you can see, if you wish to make the Most Favourite dish for any Valley bachelor, you must have the POT.

I have included some photographs of the bachelors and their responses when they are given their 'Most Favourite' item. Of all of them, it is Carter's response that is particularly poignant... one wonders if he were a lonely boy, sent off early in life to boarding school...

And it is all worth the effort...

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It is Monday night at 10.30 on the 19th of August in my first year in Forget-Me-Not Valley. My Pot was delivered this morning at 6.00 a.m. and I spent most of the morning making new dishes... among them all the Curries apart from those requiring White Grass, an herb that is available only in the Winter season. Unfortunately, Skye's Most Favourite gift happens to be 'Finest Curry', the one special curry that does contain White Grass. Even so, the other special curries do appeal to him greatly.

I lavished attention upon a very complicated dish known as the 'Ultimate Curry' and when it was completed, set it in a golden vessel. I barely could concentrate on my farm chores today as the Ultimate Curry was intended for Skye and I only can find him in the Valley at night.

I have made it a habit to 'drop in' casually at Vesta's farmhouse at 10.10 p.m. each night. I am pleasant to every one. I hope they cannot guess the real reason I have been making the visit. It enables me to switch my accessories from Teleport Stone to Love Bangle without wasting any time. I am able to place my gift for Skye in my hands as well, in preparation for each nightly encounter.

In the past, the best gifts I had for him were acceptable ones of jewelry or toiletries from the Excavation Site. Those gifts DID please him but his affection for me only increased at a slow rate.

Now tonight, my heart was pounding as I met him with Ultimate Curry in my hands. Oh beautiful moment! O moment of magic! What do you imagine his response to have been?

'What a wonderful woman you are!' Skye exclaimed. 'Thank you.'

Some may consider the difference between 500 points of AP and 300 points of AP to be fairly insignificant but for a woman in love, it means that I can win the heart of my beloved in almost half the time it would have taken previously. I may not be able to marry Skye before Winter in these circumstances, but I am confident that he will accept my Blue Feather, should I proffer it, before the Year's End.

Tomorrow, my house will be upgraded for the second time. Due to some unfortunate occurrences in the past (never experienced by me personally, thank God!), I feel it will be best if I place my cat and dog outside tonight. Gotz has been known in the past to wall up an unfortunate pet when performing the second house expansion! Ranchers who have experienced this terrible accident of fate either have been forced to live with the horrible view of their cat or dog struggling within the wall forever or never have seen the pet again at all. I don't know which is worse but I do know it is better to take the precaution perhaps of setting the two pets outside for a few hours.

My heart is singing as I walk home slowly, savouring Skye's response to my Ultimate Curry. Ultimate Curry is a lot of work to prepare and some of the steps can become rather tedious after awhile, but Skye is worth any effort.

Rock's Methods of Courtship: Talk about Lumina!

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Rock is the eternal adolescent, totally clueless but ultimately with a naive charm that allows him to breeze through life and win hearts as he does. His Yellow Heart Event is so quintessentially Rock that one cannot help but be won over, despite the fact that he makes an utter mess out of everything!

Basically, the event begins with Rock alone in his room, creating a master plan of seduction. He believes it is imperative NOT to let you know that he likes you. When you enter, he proceeds to wax eloquent about Lumina. Both screens darken again and again to portray the passage of time as he relates experience after experience in which Lumina shines brilliantly.

Finally, you are given a choice between two responses:
Are you dating Lumina?
Stop talking! Please!

If you beg him to stop talking, he will be injured beyond belief, asking: 'Is it that bad to have a conversation with me?'

He will order you to leave but, once the door has slammed behind you, be utterly distressed by the turn of events.

'Oh no! Now I've really done it! She'll never talk to me again...'

Then, however, with that sunny and optimistic disposition that characterises him, he will console himself: 'No! I can get her back! Next time I see her, I gotta be more cheerful!'

Freya, however, did not ask him to stop talking, as she had some interest in discovering the true state of affairs. She asked him instead if he were dating Lumina.

Rock was completely taken aback by THAT question, although he even had stated quite clearly: 'I bet Lumina would make a great wife.'

He protested, 'No way!!!' He then added: 'Ac... actually! I like you way more than her, Freya! I just ... didn't want you to know, so I talked about Lumina and stuff!'

The truly touching declaration is given only if you speak to him AFTER the event ends, before you leave the room. He then will tell you: 'Sure, I like Lumina, but I like Freya the most of all!'

I admit that he is immature and irresponsible, but he IS awfully cute... and my heart melted when he told me he liked me 'the most of all'. I still hope to marry Skye, but if that is impossible, I may offer Rock my Blue Feather...

Next, I am off to the yurt to experience Gustafa's 4th Heart Event... Griffin and Marlin were the first to reach Yellow Heart as I gave them gifts on their birthdays, receiving the x5 bonus for those gifts. As Griffin is thrilled with the simple gift of a small fish, it is easy to court him. Marlin loves wine, making him a little more expensive to court, but still easy. If you have treated all bachelors fairly equally, Carter still may be the last to reach Yellow Heart, unless you gave him Lithographs every day... I didn't have the energy for that, so boosted him +300 AP daily with a riceball instead. Now that I have a kitchen, I can give him Sashimi and that speeded the process greatly.

Sad to say, there is NOTHING to give Skye that will raise his AP more than +300 daily until you have a Pot... At the start of Autumn, the Pot has not been offered yet, so I am forced to court him at a snail's pace with toiletries or jewelry.

The Little Things in Harvest Moon: Virtues of Cooking

In an earlier post, I listed the first Cooked Dishes that could be made in Harvest Moon DS and Harvest Moon Cute DS as soon as you acquire a kitchen but do not have any implements. In that post, I concentrated on the value of Cooked Dishes as gifts for other people. In this post, I am going to discuss the virtue of Cooked Dishes primarily in terms of restoring energy.

The first implement that you can obtain from the Shopping Network is the Mixer. With the Mixer, you can transform Fruits and Vegetables into Juices and Lattes and make a couple of very important basic items like Butter and Ketchup. You actually can make Fish Sticks as well.

Again, I am not going to list ALL the Mixer Recipes here but only the ones that can be made in the first half of the first Summer of gameplay.

Fruit Juice
1 Strawberry

Fruit Latte
1 Fruit Juice
1 Milk

Vegetable Juice
1 Cucumber
1 Milk

Vegetable Latte
1 Vegetable Juice
1 Milk

Mix Juice
1 Fruit Juice
1 Vegetable Juice

Mix Latte
1 Mix Juice
1 Milk

Strawberry Milk
1 Strawberry
1 Milk

Tomato Juice
1 Tomato

Peach Juice
1 Peach

Grape Juice
1 Wild Grape

Butter
1 Milk

Ketchup
1 Tomato
1 Onion

Fish Sticks
1 Medium or 1 Large Fish

Here are the energy values for each of these dishes:

Fruit Juice: +20 SR -15 FR
Fruit Latte: +30 SR -15 FR
Vegetable Juice: +20 SR -20 FR
Vegetable Latte: +30 SR -20 FR
Mix Juice: +50 SR -30 FR
Mix Latte: +60 SR -20 FR
Strawberry Milk: +30 SR -15 FR
Tomato Juice: +20 SR -20 FR
Grape Juice: +7 SR -13 FR
Peach Juice: +10 SR -10 FR
Fish Sticks: +5 SR -1 FR

Butter: +1 SR -0 FR
Ketchup: +1 SR -0 FR

It will come as no surprise to discover that the energy values of Butter and Ketchup are minimal. What is interesting is the difference between the Energy Values of a Medium Fish consumed without cooking preparation, the same Medium Fish blended in a Mixer into Fish Sticks and the same Medium Fish made into Sashimi as a 'No Tool' Recipe. Here are the values:

Medium Fish eaten raw: +4 SR -1 FR
Fish Sticks: +5 SR -1 FR
Sashimi: +30 SR -3 FR

The simple act of throwing a crop into a Mixer can enhance its energy values enormously. Not all crops can be made into Juice, but many can. Here are the differences between the raw crop and the same crop as Juice:

Strawberry Milk: +30 SR -15 FR
Strawberry: +5 SR -2 FR

Tomato Juice: +20 SR -20 FR
Tomato: +4 SR -1 FR

Grape Juice: +7 SR -13 FR
Wild Grape: +10 SR -2 FR

Peach Juice: +10 SR -10 FR
Peach: +2 SR -3 FR

As you can see, in most cases, the Stamina value will be far greater if the crop is made into Juice. The Fatigue recovery will be substantially greater as well. The only anomaly here is the Wild Grape. It has a much higher Stamina value when consumed raw BUT its value in terms of reducing Fatigue is far greater when made into Juice. Grape Juice, by the way, can be made either with a regular Grape from a grapevine or from a wild grape.

Very often, players of Harvest Moon games become seduced by the concept of Elli Leaves and focus on them exclusively when cooking for energy purposes, but as you can see, there are many easy recipes for cooked dishes that will restore energy significantly. Elli Leaves cannot be made until you have EVERY cooking implement in your kitchen. The recipes given here require nothing more than the Mixer.

The First Hot Spring in HM DS and HM Cute DS

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In earlier Harvest Moon games, your village often had a Hot Spring when you first arrived at your farm. It was thus even in Mineral Town, but in Forget-Me-Not Valley in HM DS, you must discover the Hot Spring. Your first opportunity to do this is by experiencing Flora's 3rd Heart Event, otherwise known as her Blue Heart Event. Sometimes players fail to understand that experiencing Heart Events does not force you to marry the girl or bachelor involved in the event. It is best to experience as many events as possible, whatever you ultimately decide to do with your life.

In 'Cute', the discovery of the first Hot Spring remains tied to Flora's old Blue Heart Event. In fact, it is virtually identical to her Blue Heart Event in the 'boy' version of the game. The only difference is that you cannot raise her AP in 'Cute' but you must raise her FP to 255 in order to experience the event.

It is rather a curious event actually as it involves the discovery of an extraordinary lithograph. This purportedly is the entire reason Carter and Flora are working in the Valley but when Flora brings the lithograph to him, he tells her he cannot join her to search for the 'treasure' because he has 'other plans'. What plans possibly could be more important than his life's work???

It does give you the chance to take his place in the treasure hunt, joining Flora to dig for the hidden 'treasure'. That treasure is the Hot Spring. Unlike some events that transpire at night, this one takes no real time and you will find yourself outside your house at the end of it at the same time you entered the screen to trigger the scene.

Incidentally, what is odd about this is that I was able to experience it on a Tuesday night, ostensibly Flora's day off. It is rather annoying that I was able to trigger this event on a Tuesday, against all logic, but that the game continued to operate like clockwork on Sunday night when I tried to experience Part II of Skye's Event, denying me any opportunity to do so after allowing me cruelly to trigger Part I. (And Skye is disappointed with me!!! He reverted to purple heart level when I failed to appear.)

My Worst Day Ever by Popuri

Two events experienced in Harvest Moon Cute DS prompted the following short story by Popuri of Mineral Town. In Popuri's own words:

My Most Worst Day Ever
by Popuri

I always wanted to be taken seriously, you know. In the old days, in Mineral Town, my brother Rick wouldn't let me do anything important. My Mum and brother and I run the local Poultry Farm in Mineral Town. I grew up loving chickens and everything to do with chickens. Rick loves them too. I think my Mum wouldn't have been involved with the business at all except that she had to take charge when my father left.

My Mum isn't well, you know. She is very pretty and fragile and very romantic. She still hopes my father will return someday. Zack is madly in love with her but he hasn't a chance really because of that.

Anyway, Rick is in charge of the Poultry Farm really in Mineral Town but he has given me the chance to run the business we have in Forget-Me-Not Valley. So now I am in charge! I get to take all the orders for chickens and ducks and I am in charge of the Festivals too! I decided I should visit the Valley on my day off every week so that the people there would get to know me and because Takakura promised to teach me how to run the business.

So you can find me in the Valley every Sunday now. Of course, when I decided to visit the Valley every Sunday, Rick decided he had to tag along to spy on me! I hate that about my brother. He's really a sweet guy at heart but he is so interfering and he doesn't like Kai at all. I am mad about Kai and I definitely am going to marry him one day, no matter what my brother says or does to try to stop me.

There's another reason to go to the Valley in the Summer. Kai has opened a new stall on the beach there. He stays at the Inner Inn all Summer now. When Rick and I go to the Valley on Sunday, we stay at the Inner Inn too. Well, there isn't much choice. It's the only place that takes guests but even if there were others, I don't think any one would choose to stay anywhere else. The food at the Inner Inn is fantastic. Ruby is the best cook ever. In fact, Ann from Mineral Town is studying cooking with Ruby. Ann goes to the Valley on HER day off to visit Ruby and learn how to cook. If you visit the Valley, you will see that almost every one from Mineral Town will be there on one day or another! If it weren't for the fact that people visit on different days of the week, Mineral Town would be almost like a ghost town now.

So anyway, I go to the Valley on Sundays and Rick follows me there. Can you believe that he and Kai have to sleep in the same room??? It has to be awful for Kai. All Rick does is tell every one how much he hates Kai! Kai has got to be the sweetest, most easy-going guy in the world. In fact, sometimes I think he's almost too sweet and easy-going because he's friendly to every one and that means all the girls too.

Last Sunday, it was raining in the Valley and that gave me a chance to corner Nami in the kitchen of the Inner Inn. I think Nami is the coolest girl ever. I wanted her to teach me how to be cool. After all, Takakura teaches me how to run a business on Sunday mornings. I thought maybe I could take a class from Nami on how to be cool like her.

I almost thought Nami was trying to avoid me though. It was impossible to find her until it rained that day... but you know what she told me? I couldn't believe it. She told me that she used to be just like me 'back in the day' and that all I had to do to become just like her was to BE MYSELF!
Can you believe it? That's so easy!!! So watch out world because Popuri is going to be the coolest girl ever one day!

Anyway, THAT rainy Sunday wasn't the worst day ever. It was TODAY that was the worst day ever for me.

It started out beautiful. Freya came to see me at the guest room of the Inner Inn at 6.00 a.m. as she does every Sunday to give me a chocolate bar. I absolutely LOVE chocs. We're becoming great friends because she never forgets to give me a chocolate on Sunday. That, and the beautiful weather, made me think it was going to be one of the best days ever.

I went to Takakura's house at after 8.00 a.m. as usual to learn about business. He tells every one now that I am a great student and that Chicken Li'l's is bound to be successful because of me. You can imagine how that makes me feel! Takakura isn't the sort of man who goes easy on any one just to be nice. He tells the truth... so there, Rick! You're going to have to start admitting that you were wrong about me, because I'm doing a good job with the business.

In fact, I have to be honest and say that Rick has said one or two good things about me recently. At the Duck Festival this year, he praised my work. He thought I did a good job of running THAT Festival. The Chicken Festival is coming up tomorrow. You'd think I had enough to worry about without having to go through the worst day of my life the day before the Festival!

It was such a lovely day that Takakura told me to take a break, get some fresh air outside. I thought I'd go up to the Waterfall and Goddess Pond. It is such a beautiful place, as pretty as our Goddess Spring in Mineral Town. All the girls from Mineral Town like to visit the waterfall when they come to the Valley. I usually don't get to spend much time there because of my classes with Takakura but today I was free to enjoy it.

I got up there and who should I find there but the two kids, Kate and Hugh. 'Goody!' I thought. I love to play with kids. In Mineral Town, I often make mud pies with May and Stu and we have wonderful games where I'm the Mum and I pretend that they're my kids. They love to play with me. They say I'm so good at make-believe that they almost forget I'm not a kid like them.

So I thought I'd have a great time with the Valley kids too. I was so excited. As soon as they saw me, though, they called me 'Old Lady!'. I told them I wasn't an old lady but they didn't listen. Both of them got into it, calling me 'Old Lady' over and over. The little boy even said, 'An old lady is an old lady after all.' I couldn't help it, I started to cry... and then I thought, why should I put up with this??? I told them I was going to leave and guess what? They didn't even try to stop me. They didn't even say they were sorry and they didn't try to stop me from crying OR leaving. So that was the first bad thing that happened in the worst day ever. It was 10.00 a.m. when that happened.

You'd think I'd need the rest of the day to pull myself together and recover from that horrid experience. I thought to myself that going to the beach would be the answer, that I'd find Kai there and he could console me and give me something sweet to eat. I love his shaved ices, especially on a hot day and it was growing warmer...

So I walked down to the beach to see Kai. I knew he'd be surprised to see me, because usually I don't have time to go to the beach on Sunday. Oh, he was surprised, all right! And so was I!
Guess what I found when I got to the beach? I found that little flirt Muffy with MY Kai, standing all cozy together by the water. He wasn't even behind his counter where he was supposed to be!

I couldn't believe it. I said, 'Ahh! Kai, what are you doing?!'

He replied: 'What? I'm just talking to Muffy.'

All innocence, Kai... but I knew better!

I cried: 'Liar! You two are acting way too friendly!'

Muffy muttered something about it being a terrible misunderstanding but I know what that little flirt is like! She's always batting her eyelashes at every boy in sight. She's had more boyfriends than we have chickens on our farm!

Well, she left in a hurry. She knew I wouldn't have let her off easy if she had stayed. I knew she had come to the beach just to see MY Kai and not because she wanted to order food from him either. Muffy's always on a 'diet' of one kind or another. She talks about it all the time, that and her make-up. People sometimes think I'm empty-headed but I'm not. I'm a serious businesswoman, I am! Not like Muffy who can't even mix a drink properly without Griffin's help. She 'works' at the Blue Bar, but I don't think she does much work. She certainly can't be trusted to mix the drinks. Griffin does all that. She just stands there looking helpless and pretty. Yes, she is pretty in her own way although she wears as much make-up as a clown. I can't see how Kai could be attracted to a girl like that.

So Muffy ran off as quickly as she could and what did Kai do then? Did he try to comfort ME?

No, he was totally thinking about Muffy.

He cried: 'Hey, wait...'

I was furious with the both of them.

'I'm not done talking!' I exclaimed and finally got his attention!

Kai, of course, acted as though he hadn't done anything wrong.

He protested: 'What? We were just having a friendly chat.'

Right! I'll believe that the day that Van drops a hundred pounds or Murrey turns up in a tuxedo.

All I could say was: 'W-Waah...'

For the second time, I was in tears. So much for finding comfort at the beach.

I couldn't bear another moment. It has been the most worst day of my life and I still have to get ready for the Chicken Festival tomorrow.

Back at the beach, I could hear Kai, still protesting: 'What? Jeeze!'


'My Most Worst Day Ever by Popuri' by Freyashawk
based on Popuri's Event at the Waterfall with Hugh and Kate on Sunday, 6 Summer at 10.00 a.m.
and Popuri's Event with Muffy and Kai at the Beach on Sunday, 6 Summer at 11.20 a.m.

Food, food, Glorious Food in Harvest Moon DS

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Cooking and food in general are the subject of great interest in Harvest Moon games and Harvest Moon for the DS is no exception. There are a number of events, some quite hilarious, that deal with food either primarily or peripherally.

More than one Heart Event deals with food and/or cooking. Marlin's 3rd Heart Event occurs at the Blue Bar and results in your character drinking too much and having to be carried home, either by Marlin or by Griffin, depending on the response you give.
Skye's 2nd Heart Event involves a diversion created by the delicious odour of Curry... Curry Rice is the centre of Carter's 3rd Heart Event as he seeks to escape it. In Leia's 3rd Heart Event, you are asked to be her 'taster' for a new fish dish. Ruby's 150 FP Event involves a mistake in seasoning on her part. This is an event that occurs on Thursday in both the 'boy' and 'girl' versions of the game, by the way.

A number of Heart Events involve Ruby's kitchen. You will share a meal with Griffin in his 3rd Heart Event and with Carter in his, unless you fail to confirm his small deception.

Murrey, however, probably has the greatest number of events associated with food. There are events with the Gourmet, one of which is included in a previous post. In one event, Van will offer you a rare delicacy but Murrey will take your place at the counter and instead of giving it to you, Van mistakenly will hand it to Murrey. (That event is included both in the 'boy' and 'girl' versions of the game.

Too much food is the subject of an event between Van and Vesta. They will become quite rude to one another as they bicker over the subject of weight. The event will end with a challenge: they decide to participate in a contest to see who can lose the most weight before their next meeting.

Knowing how to cook greatly, whether your character is male or female, always increases your chances of winning the hearts of every one, but especially of any one you would like to marry. In many cases, an individual's 'Most Favourite' gift is a cooked dish. Completing your Recipe Book always is one of the subsidiary goals in any Harvest Moon game.

Knowing the dishes that each individual loves or detests is extremely important. Giving a character a cooked dish that he/she hates is as bad as giving an ordinary item that is disliked.

Knowing the value of food items in terms of Stamina and Fatigue is vital as well. Your character needs to know which items will restore the most energy... Every item, whether raw or cooked, has different effects in terms of Stamina and Fatigue. Some items actually will increase your Fatigue.

Kai is a character whose appearance is based on food. In the summers, he will open a stand on the beach.

Many of the Festivals in Harvest Moon games are centred on food. Special items such as Rice Cakes and Buckwheat Flour are obtained most easily at Festivals. In some Harvest Moon games, the only method by which to acquire these items is by attending the appropriate Festival. In Harvest Moon DS, the New Year Festival, the Cooking Festival, the Beach Festival, the Harvst Festival and the Year-End Festival all are devoted to Cooking and Eating.

Food and Cooking play an important part even in games like Rune Factory and 'An Innocent Life'. Part of the challenge and enjoyment of any Harvest Moon game is learning how to cook, finding rare ingredients and completing your Cookbook.

The Real Scatterbrain: To Muffy's Rescue!

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Many of the 'girl' versions of Harvest Moon include an event where ALL the girls in the game get together for one reason or another. In More Friends of Mineral Town, all your 'rivals' will descend on you one morning, asking that you cook their favourite dishes for them one by one.

In Harvest Moon Cute for the DS, the event where all the girls come together is Muffy's 200 FP Event. When you enter, she will be in a state of panic and ask you to beg every girl in the Valley to come to her rescue. You obligingly will do so, only to discover that her 'emergency' is one involving her make-up!

Nonetheless, despite the very different personalities of each girl and her private opinions regarding make-up and personal vanity, each will do what she can to give Muffy the advice she seeks. It is interesting to discover the depth of caring and friendship that can be achieved with your 'rivals' and their friendship with one another, even if you are courting the same man. There are a couple of moments in specific Harvest Moon games where a flash of conflict can assert itself. For example, in one of Ann's Heart Events in the boy version of Harvest Moon DS, Muffy and Ann almost come to blows over you! On the whole, though, there is a great deal of tolerance and affection in Harvest Moon for others, even when they are eccentrics like Murrey.

Your character will be given three options when Muffy asks YOU for help. Your choices are:

You can't hide the years.
Massage your face.
Put on lots of makeup...

One of these responses will raise Muffy's FP by 20 points. Another will drop her FP by 20 points and the third will have no effect whatsoever. I will leave it to you to work out which response is the best one in the circumstances.