Once More, How to Marry Leia the Mermaid

In HM DS, you can marry Leia the Mermaid. In HM Cute DS, you cannot marry her, but you nonetheless can experience all four of her Heart Events (as well as those of other 'Magical Girls' in both games).

In order to experience Leia's 4th and Final Heart Event, aka the Yellow Heart Event, you must be aware of these requirements:

1. You must have experienced Leia's first 3 Heart Events and have Leia at Yellow Heart Level;

2. You must have a Mystrile Fishing Rod or Fishing Rod of a higher level than Mystrile;

3. You must catch the Bottled Message using any Fishing Rod at Mystrile Level which means, at least in the original HM DS, that you cannot have a Fishing Rod lower than Mystrile and, if it is higher than Mystrile, only charge it to Mystrile Level. (I think in Cute, you may be able to catch it with higher levels of Rod with a full Blessed or Mythic charge but I would have to look at my game journals to make certain).

4. YOU ONLY CAN CATCH THE BOTTLED MESSAGE IN SPRING.

In HM DS, you then had to go to Daryl's house with the Bottle in your hands to trigger the 4th Heart Event. In Cute, you can go there with the Bottled Message in your rucksack and it still will trigger. Either way, once the Event is experienced, Leia will return to the sea.

She will visit the Beach of Forget-Me-Not Valley after that each week. If you wish to marry her in HM DS and did not have her at full red heart level before her return to the sea, you can ply her with Big Fish then until she reaches red heart level.

Gustafa' 4th Heart Event

Shaggy has asked for a photograph of Gustafa's Yurt. As Gustafa's 4th and final Heart Event occurs in the yurt, this will be a good opportunity to discuss it and display a couple of photographs of Gustafa's home.

For me, the Yurt represents the most appealing aspect of Gustafa. I love nomadic dwellings of any kind and Gustafa's yurt both in 'A Wonderful Life' and in HM DS is charming. The exotic musical instruments he owns add to its appeal.

I wish I liked Gustafa himself a little better. Perhaps one of the reasons I dislike him is the fact that my own family has more than its fair share of musicians and artists, all of whom believe that the rest of the world exists mainlyy to provide them with all the necessities of life.

In his Fourth Heart event, Gustafa will ask you to tell him about your life on the farm.

You will have the option either of agreeing to his request or telling him that 'it's a secret!' I laughed outright when I saw that option. I always experience all possible outcomes if possible in any event. Telling Gustafa that the details of my farm chores were 'a secret' was most amusing. I got his disapproving face for that one! (You will see it in the photograph of Gustafa with downgraded green heart if you tell him that your life is a 'secret' that cannot be revealed to an outsider such as he.)

The correct response, of course, is to give him a glimpse of the life of a devoted farmer. As you show him evidence of the back-breaking labour it involves, he will exclaim that he thinks life with you on your farm would be 'fun' because it would inspire him with material for many songs!

There is no indication that HE wishes to perform any farm labour. He tells you simply that: 'After hearing you talk, I kind of feel like living on a ranch now! I bet it'd be fun to live with you... I'd be able to write a lot of good songs for sure.'

One imagines him lounging about strumming on his lute or guitar, watching me fuel his poetic imagination by tilling the fields, harvesting the crops, chopping wood and smashing stones...

I think NOT! The worst part of this event is that after you have spent endless time showing him all the tasks you perform, he tells you that while you have given him the inspiration for a great song, 'I'll need some time to finish it though.'

I had hoped at least for a musical performance!

I shouldn't be so nasty about Gustafa. He is an amiable character, although there are hints that he is a bit judgmental towards non-vegetarians. Try giving him a fish sometime and you will see what I mean... God forbid you ever should speak to him of the glories of a good steak and potato dinner!

(If you give him a raw fish or sashimi, he will tell you that he hates raw fish and will cook and eat it later, but he obviously has no intention of eating it at all as, when you give him Grilled Fish or Fish Stew, his mouth will turn down and he will say: '.................... I want to sing a sad song.')

As I detest fish myself, I really should not be so hard on poor Gustafa... What is it about the man...? Rock cheerfully declares his intention not to work for a living, but I find his honest laziness rather appealing... Oh well... I'll still marry Gustafa one day and treat him well, feeding him his Most Favourite 'Hot Milk' every morning when he awakens. I don't expect I'll go so far as to have a child with him though. Life, even in Harvest Moon, is far too short to spend years with a man who doesn't appeal to one.

I have included a photograph of the exterior of Gustafa's Yurt in response to Shaggy's request for one. All photographs are taken from my own gameplay. It's rather an onerous process and they are not professional at all, but they are not intended for any commercial use in any case. I simply am sharing them with fans as a sort of preview of the upcoming English version of Cute.

I will try to obtain a better one of the exterior. It is far more difficult to take a good photograph of the upper screen than the bottom one with my little camera.

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.