Jake's Proposal and Cecilia's Request at 7 Hearts

Cecilia's Request at 7 Hearts represented one of the more complex situations in terms of Romance so far. She asks to meet your character at the entrance to Trieste Forest. When you arrive, she announces that Jake has proposed marriage!

You now are confronted with three choices. Which should you choose? What are the results of each? Here is the Event:



The outcome may be surprising to some.

Here is the dialogue in full:

I took Cecilia’s Request next.
She stood at the entrance to Trieste Forest.
Ceci: I’ve been waiting for you, Freyr.
Me: So what did you want to talk about?
Ceci: Jake… Jake has asked for my hand in marriage.
Me: What?! Seriously?

My Choices now:

What’s there to think about?
Don’t do it!
Marry me instead!

If I choose:
What’s there to think about?
She would say:

Ceci: How… How could you say something like that, Freyr?! Knowing how I feel!
Me: Cecilia…
Cecilia: I know you know how I feel about you, Freyr…
Me: About… me?
Ceci: I’ll be waiting for you, Freyr. For the day when you see me the way I see you.

If I choose:
Don’t do it!

Ceci: So does that mean you’ll marry me, Freyr?
Me: Umm, well, I… I’m not entirely su…
Ceci: I’m so happy! I’ll be waiting, Freyr. Waiting for the day when we start our new lives together.


If I choose:
Marry me instead.

Ceci: Really?!
Me: Umm, well, some day soon… I want to propose to you the right way, though.
Ceci: I’m so happy! I’ll be waiting, Freyr. Waiting for the day you propose to me.

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As you can see, Cecilia's determination to control the outcome outweighs any considerations that you may deem vital, including the feelings of your friend Jake!
You will have other chances in the future, however, to choose whether or not you wish to marry Cecilia yourself or stand aside in favour of your Rival.

Change in ToT with respect to 'On the Hook'

For those players who have the ToT Official Strategy Guide that I wrote, I need to mention a change in the game itself. In the version I played, the Fish Shop sold raw fish. In the final version, Pascal sells grilled fish. What this means is that there now is no way to purchase raw fish or to add fish to your Items List unless you catch them yourself.

Remember that the only requirement with respect to triggering ANY Rival Heart Event in ToT is the heart level OF THE RIVAL. The strategy I advise is to avoid the Rivals completely until you have experienced all the Heart Events with every Bachelor or Eligible Girl. Raise the Rivals' heart levels only AFTER that in order to experience THEIR gift visits... If you intend to marry an Eligible Bachelor/Girl for whom there is a Rival, you may wish to forego that Rival's second gift visit, unless you can avoid the location where the final Rival Heart Event will occur until you have a chance to propose to the individual yourself.

As in Island of Happiness, you cannot meet every possible character if you do not allow ALL Rival Couples to marry as each of the Rival Couples has a child. You therefore may wish to choose your spouse from one of the Eligible Bachelors or Girls for whom no rival exists.

Gift visits either from characters of EITHER gender will not occur once you have married. Each of these visits is accompanied by the gift of an item. Some of the items are quite rare and valuable. It is to your advantage, therefore, to experience as many of them as possible BEFORE you propose to any one.

All details of Courtship and Marriage are included in the Official Strategy Guide for ToT. I cannot write too much about the game here, but I did wish to mention the chance that occurred with respect to the fish sold at the Fish Shop.

Later: Players complained that Cocoons were not available at the Brownie Ranch and in fact, neither Cocoons nor Wool can be purchased in the final retail version of the game.

Finally, if any players are having trouble with Courtship Events with Calvin or any other individual, please feel free to email me directly. Until there is official confirmation on this topic, I am not going to post about it, but will be happy to help players on an individual basis. Remember that you always can AVOID any specific floor in the Mine by falling through a pitfall and that you can LOWER any character's heart level usually by giving that individual a number of Failed Dishes. (There is a maximum of 15 points' increase to any one's heart level in a single day but no limit to the number of points by which you can decrease a character's heart level in one day in ToT. Remember always to make allowances for the initial 5 point increase you will earn simply by speaking to an individual.)

Rival Weddings in Island of Happiness

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If you have been assiduously experiencing the Rival Heart Events in each year of the game, you should be able to experience the 4th and Final Rival Heart Event for each of the Rival Couples in Spring of the 4th Year.

In my own first game, I was expecting my own baby with Vaughn when Spring arrived. I disregarded this, however, and went forward to trigger the 4th Rival Heart Events as quickly as possible.

In fact, I was able to experience two of the Events on 2 Spring. I went first to Mirabelle's Animal Shop to trigger Elliot's Event. It occurred at 6.20 a.m.
I then rushed to Pierre's house to experience his final Rival Heart Event. That occurred before 7.00 a.m. as well.

Neither of the Events ended in any certain promise of marriage, but when you speak to any of the participants afterwards, they will comment upon their upcoming nuptials.

I rather expected the Weddings to occur one week later and they did, but they delayed the birth of my child in doing so! His birth was shuffled to the first day AFTER the two Rival Marriages, thus occurring two days later than it would have done had there been no Weddings to celebrate.

The Harvest Goddess Festival occurs on 8 Spring. When married, Alisa continues to visit on 7 Spring to announce the Festival, but tells you to bring your husband with you. On 8 Spring at 6.00 a.m., you experience a new Event with your Spouse who tells you to finish your chores... he or she will be waiting for you.

I tried a bit of mischief by teleporting directly to the Festival. If I tried to do this before 10.00 a.m., Alisa would meet me and turn me back, telling me to wait untuil 10.00 a.m. If, however, I teleported to the meadow after 10.00 a.m., Vaughn would be waiting for me there! His dialogue would be the same as if we had gone to the Festival together.

Although I had experienced Elliot's final Rival Heart Event before Pierre's Event, Pierre's Wedding was the first, occurring at 6.00 a.m. on 9 Spring. Julia came to the house to invite me to the Ceremony. Rather to my relief, the entire wedding took no time whatsoever, and I was able to perform all my chores as usual when I was returned to my house at 6.00 a.m. on the same morning.

On 10 Spring, at 6.00 a.m. I received a visit from Natalie, who invited me to attend HER Wedding. Afterwards, I found myself again at the house at 6.00 a.m. on the same day.

This is quite different from some of the other Harvest Moon games where any Wedding takes an entire day and you resume control only to find that all your Animals have suffered from your involuntary neglect. In Cute, I set up all the Rival Weddings as soon as possible in the 4th year and experienced one after another, day after day, for almost an entire week. It was a wonder that my livestock and poultry did not DIE in that space of time. It was rather hilarious actually. I experienced 5 Rival Weddings in the space of a single week. As in Island of Happiness, they followed a specific order, irrespective of the actual order in which I had experienced the Events that prompted them.

I awakened therefore at 6.00 a.m. on 11 Spring to the delivery event of my own child.
I am glad I had not experienced Denny's final Rival Event, as I was growing impatient to experience the birth of my child!

Once again, I had cause to be grateful that I had chosen Vaughn as a husband. He was so very sweet and committed, wishing that he could do something himself to ease my pain...

In fact, players will be happy to know that no time whatsoever passes in the birth of your child. You will regain control at 6.00 a.m. on the same morning. Your adorable little baby will be tucked safely into the Baby Bed above your Spouse's Bed.