LP Beach

Posted: **Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:04 pm**

Wonder Project J2, or Wonder Project J2: Corlo no Mori no Josette is a hard game to describe. Made by GIVRO Corporation, (also known as Almanic Corporation,) and published by Enix for the N64, it was the second to last game they ever released. It never made it out of Japan either, unfortunately.

In J2, you take the role of a guardian angel of a sheltered robot girl named Josette as she attempts to live a normal life in Blueland, a floating city and artificial island. Said city is also presently under rather hostile military occupation, which isn't really too great.

A weird hybrid of point-and-click adventure, stat-building RPG, and being a mostly sprite based game on the Nintendo 64, it's quite the oddity. It's also a gigantic pain to emulate at times thanks to the latter aspect, which is why I'm doing this LP. I have a copy of the game that stands as my last resort to show things off when the powers of emulation fail me.

I do not have the special memory pak that was originally shipped with it, because it had that for some reason. I can't imagine the save files for this game are any larger than, say, Ocarina of Time.

Wait, is this a sequel to something?
It is! Wonder Project J was released on the Super Famicom about two years prior to this one. It was quite the blockbuster in Japan, apparently. J2 is a direct sequel, but knowledge of the previous game isn't really needed to know what's up.

This game will spoil some story details of the first game, though, that's just going to happen. I can't really tell you how serious a spoiler some of them are as I haven't played through WPJ1 yet myself.

How's this LP going to go?

It'll all be in SSLP format, and there's going to be lots of participation. For a long while, the game is very open-ended so I'll leave it up to the thread to decide on the many many choices that appear.

There will be a lot of updates, and a lot of votes. Many of them will be rather brief.

If you've played this before, fantastic! But

no spoilers, please!

If you really want to discuss something about the first game's relation to this one's events do so in black bar spoilers, just try not to make this look like an FBI document.

Also don't be a weirdo or anything, standard forum rules, etc. You get the idea.

Now, let's get to it!

UPDATES:

Update 01: Goodbye, Corlo Island
Update 02: Operator (Could You Direct My Bird)
Update 03: Dietary Fiber
Update 04: Meet, Greet, & Yatta
Update 05: monke monke
Update 06: Josette Hungers
Update 07: The Terrible Thursday
Update 08: The Spiciest Update
Update 09: "For great justice."
Update 10: Time In A Frypan
Update 11: In Which Josette Learns To Swear
Update 12: Fins to the East, Fins to the West
Update 13: Girl Talk
Update 14: Over the Ocean, We Are Clean
Update 15: Affairs of the Minecart
Update 16: Heart of Stone
Update 17: I LIKE THAT
Update 18: Two Blue In Blueland
Update 19: Machibu Workplace Safety Violations

RESOURCES:

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop.

Posted: **Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:08 pm**

*BONUS STUFF*

- Fan Translation Credits-:
Only makes sense to give credit for making this way easier on me.

This fan translation was done way back in 2007, here's the credits for that:

Code: Select all

 Ryu - Lead of the project, did the hacking and the
       translation.
 Mark Datysgeld - The man responsible for the script
                  editing.
 Garret Greenwood - Proofreading and testing. He also
                    adapted a hard to translate joke.
 CZroe - He tested the translation on a real N64.
 satsu - He helped translating a short text passage.

A thanks also goes out to the folks who've uploaded various stuff relating to the game on Archive.org, as well as the Nintendo Power entry for it.

-Nintendo Power Entry, first page-:

FAN ART

NullBlack shows us a rare photograph of the elusive Crusader from Corlo Island, ready to deliver justice!

Posted: **Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:09 pm**

Update 1: Goodbye, Corlo Island

Music: Siliconian's Shadow

The game opens with this theme, the changes in the opening splash screens lining up with the those long beats.

It's a rather sinister theme, and you might be able to tell why soon.

Enix published this. You may know them as the other half of Square-Enix. While Square put out JRPGs, Enix just kinda published lots of stuff.

They used to kinda be rivals, what with Dragon Quest versus Final Fantasy and all that, but five years after this game's release they'd merge.

Givro Corporation was a small-ish development team behind a variety of games until they quietly dissolved in 1998. Kuno-tachi no Banka (River City Zero/Jailbreak) and E.V.O. Search For Eden were developed by them, as well as the ever elusive Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari, a game not too different from the Wonder Project games.

They started out with relatively violent titles, but in their twilight years seemed to start focusing on more non-combat based games.

The original Wonder Project J sold extremely well in Japan, so I can only imagine that the following games simply didn't.

A shame, because I quite like what they've put out.

The title screen comes in, the scarlet J2 seeming rather ominous all things considered.

One would expect something like the box art, with some vista in the background, but no.

The Siliconian Empire

Ridiculous, yet rad branching metal tree city, is what I presume to be the Empire's captial. It's almost like some weird giant reaching out for a glowy hug.

(The text may get wiggly at times, this is an artifact of both the fan translation and the emulation. It's at it's worst outside of text boxes, but it's still readable. The only way to fix this is to submit to the N64's built-in bilinear filtering, which really doesn't do a sprite game many favors.)

Our view descends a massive tower, focusing on some platform hovering in the center.

As it bobs up and down, the view rotates around...

Siliconian, the 13th

...Revealing a figure fully clothed in black, sitting within their massive throne.

SILICONIAN XIII: What?! That cannot be possible...

And following that, a strange cybernetic lined head approaches from the shadows.

SILICONIAN XIII: Then any dream could be achieved?

MESSALA: Yes, that is correct...

SILICONIAN XIII: Where can this "J" you speak of be found?

MESSALA: On a small island in the Corlo Sea... the Gijin girl who owns it lives there.

SILICONIAN XIII: Mmmhmm... I see.

SILICONIAN XIII: Messala, bring me that girl immediately!

SILICONIAN XIII: Use whatever means you deem necessary.

MESSALA: Yes, sir!

Following that, Siliconian the 13th turns away in his superthrone and exits up the tower.

MESSALA: Heh heh heh...

The head rotates around to show a large glowing red eye...

That's... some wicked stitching.

Corlo Island

The sinister music stops at last, and we're presented with gentle sounds of waves. A little island with a small tower of some kind and a big mountain lies in the distance.

As we fade out again...

Music: Theme of Corlo Forest

...We start to hear this lovely ocarina song.

There's a small town on the isle, that weird tower, and some large crescent bay area. Interesting place.

Deep in the forest on the island we slowly move to see a girl sitting up against a grand tree, playing a blue ocarina.

We slowly zoom in...

UNKNOWN:Josette!

A voice calls out from afar as the girl keeps playing.

BIRD: The doctor wants to see you!

Bird is a live bird, although he seems to be mechanically modified, what with the metal collar and red glowing angler lamp.

Josette looks up at him and then we transition again...

Josette walks through a quaint little house up to an old guy leaning on a cane. It's worth noting that every step she makes has this odd little cartoony popping sound.

JOSETTE: What is it?

DR. GEPETTO: Josette... listen very carefully...

JOSETTE: Eh?

The Doctor's name being Gepetto should make this game's inspiration rather obvious.

DR. GEPETTO: You and Bird will depart together to Blueland.

DR. GEPETTO: There, a person called "Player-san" will take care of you.

I guess we're not going to see much of this island then.

JOSETTE: Eh? But why?!

DR. GEPETTO: I'm sorry, I can't tell you right now... anyhow, you staying here isn't good...

JOSETTE: No! I want to stay here with you!

JOSETTE: No! Sniff, sniff...

DR. GEPETTO: Josette... Please...

DR. GEPETTO: Don't be so...sel...fish.

BIRD: Doctor?!

Music: Goodbye Professor Geppetto

JOSETTE: Doctor...

DR. GEPETTO: Josette...

DR. GEPETTO: "Player-san" is from a world you cannot see...

JOSETTE: A world I can't see...?

DR. GEPETTO: From that world, "Player-san" will guide you with the help of Bird...

JOSETTE: Sounds scary.

An appropriate resposnse, I'd think.

DR. GEPETTO: Hoh hoh... don't worry, Josette...

DR. GEPETTO: "Player-san" is a very reliable person... I'm sure you'll be kindly watched over...

JOSETTE: ...

That's kinda up to the thread, as most decisions will be voted on.

DR. GEPETTO: Will you do this for me, Josette...?

JOSETTE: Yes, I will...

DR. GEPETTO: I see... I feel relieved...

DR. GEPETTO: ...Josette...

JOSETTE: What is it...?

DR. GEPETTO: Live your life to the fullest.

Music: Silence

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Doctor...?

BIRD: Doctor?!

BIRD: Doctoooor!?

BIRD: Uwaaaah!

JOSETTE: Bird... is he asleep?

Oh. Oh no.

BIRD: Sniff... Josette... don't you understand? The Doctor is...

BIRD: He's dead! Uwaaah...

JOSETTE: Eh?

JOSETTE: Say, Bird...

JOSETTE: Dead... what does that mean?

UNKNOWN: Corlo Island confirmed at 2'o clock! Heading towards target!

We then hard cut to a strange green fighter jet of some kind.

UNKNOWN: Roger!

This fighter jet takes off at an angle...

Followed by another...

And another!

All three take off far into the horizon...

Music: Josette of Corlo Forest

CORLO NO MORI NO
JOSETTE

(Copyright GIVRO/MINT/ENIX 1996)

I don't actually know who MINT is. Couldn't find anything on them.

As the little high notes start playing, we start seeing an aged photograph slowly spins down on the sides.

A strange rock carving, showing evolution from fish, to odd lizard, then branching out to humans and lizardpeople.

A man in the back starts a fire as a lizard in the front holds a big sea shell. I assue they're planning on eating whatever is inside of it.

A pyramid is visible in the distance as one of these lizard people hand a glowing object to a human. Evidently these stone carvings date back a hell of a long time ago.

Hey, I don't remember Harvest Moon having lizardfolk. I guess this is the point in history where we learned how to make tools?

Well, damn it. Looks like we made weapons too, and the peace between humans and lizardfolk went away pretty fast after that.

Holy hell, did they just drop an atom bomb on us?

At least, I assume it's the lizardfolk as they're the only ones to learn the ancient art of wearing cloaks.

Following this, a much shorter lizard sage hands a glowing stone to our good Doctor Gepetto.

He's now working with some large machine, and there's a boy with wires hooked into him. This was the character from the first game.

And now he's almost immediately been destroyed by some sinister emperor looking guy.

And there's another death in just one update.

And now we can see Gepetto working on Josette...

It's worth noting that the other kid and Josette are known as Gijin, very humanlike robots.

The photgraph finally lands, showing the Doctor, Bird, and what seems to be a younger Josette in Corlo's forest.

The music now shifts tone as we see a strange shaped ship traveling through the ocean, sea birds flying by.

Josette stares into the horizon, standing on the front of the ship.

She looks up, curious...

To see the green fighter jet fly slowly above in the opposite direction.

And so it passes, but what of Corlo Island?

Music: First Premonition

And that's the entire intro movie- it just loops back from there.

There's no real title screen to this game, just the opening and the main menu.

The memory pak screen has an odd bug where it gets stuck trying to recognize whatever is inserted/being emulated and it just softlocks on this screen with no text.

Switching to a different memory pak may help on hardware fixed it, but if you're emulating ths game then you'll either have to mess with memory pak settings or find a different emulator.

We're given 7 letters to name ourselves with. Player-san is fine with me, but I don't see why I shouldn't leave it up to the thread to decide. You'll be making most of the decisions after all.

You're clear to vote for something simple and easy like "Player" or "Goon", or maybe even a real name, just keep it reasonable.

Of note is that we do eventually get to declare male/female for ourselves, as well as a few other aspects later on as well.

(Josette can be renamed as well, but the name just kinda fits well enough for me that I don't want to change it. It has some vaguely related etymology to "Gepetto" as well, I believe. Also the intro cutscenes always use "Player-san" & Josette.)

So, uh, yeah. Get to voting! This update and the next one will probably be the longest two for quite a while.

Posted: **Sun Feb 06, 2022 2:12 am**

It's been decided we're sticking with good ol' neutral Player-san. Next update out sometime within the next 24 hours or so.

Posted: **Sun Feb 06, 2022 10:15 pm**

Update 2: Operator (Could You Direct My Bird)

Welcome back! Joining us today is the gentle sound of ocean waves again.

Part I
The Communication Chapter

~Days on the Blue Island~

Wonder Project J2 is split into two distinct halves, with the first containing most of the adventure game elements.

Back to the strange ship sailing to through the sea and birds flying past.

Josette remains standing at the prow, staring into the distance. Bird flies up from below after a moment.

BIRD: Josette, we've almost reached Blueland!

JOSETTE: *nods* Ok.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Siliconian Colony

Blueland Island

There's a forested island with a wicked giant mountain split down the center..

... and off to the left is some kind of oil rig looking platform lined with buildings and a massive statue of a woman.

Blueland's Artificial Island
Megafloat Noah

We'll become rather familiar with this place, and this image in time.

Also that statue is being held up with very long wires, should we be worried?

The ship pulls up to dock, it's engine making a peculiar, grindy wind down. The thing also apparently has eyes, so that's something.

DORO: Right, here we are!

DORO: Megafloat Noah, the artificial island...

BOU: ...it's a rather dirty place to live in, to be sincere.

DORO: You can use the Dolphin lying at pier No.2 as your home.

BOU: ...it's quite an old ship, though.

Dou and Bou are returning characters from the first Wonder Project J, although we won't be seeing much of them.

Also the submarine ship thing is called the Dolphin, evidently. It's resemblance to the animal will be a bit more apparent later, but for now at least we've got a home!

DORO: Josette, being on your own may be difficult, but do try your best!

JOSETTE: *nods* Ok...

BIRD: Doro-san, Bou-san, thank you very much for bringing us here!

...and that's the last we'll see of them for a long while.

JOSETTE: It's dirty...

BIRD: Josette... nobody said it would be luxurious.

There's a lot of crazy wires and dials in the control room, it seems. We can't really see it, but apparently this place is kinda grimy.

It beats being orphaned and homeless at the same time, I guess.

Music: Dear Gepetto

This theme strikes up as we fade to black. This is sourced from a gamerip hosted on Zophar's Domain, as the game's soundtrack release doesn't encompass all of the songs and fanfares present in the game.

----------------------------------------------
Dear Dr. Gepetto,

This Blueland you told me about is a floating steel island.
I'm living on a shabby ship and there are so many people here that I don't know...
I haven't met this Player person yet, either.
I'm feeling really lonely, but I believe in what you said.
From tomorrow on I'll try to give it my all.

Your daughter Josette

----------------------------------------------

This letter has also been known to hardlock emulators, something that still happens even with modern N64 cores. Luckily, the first one can be bypassed by resetting and loading the savefile if your emulator's memory pak features work with the game. If they don't, well you're not really getting past it.

Even more unfortunately, there's another of these letters during the ending, and you can't skip that so easily. Nemu64, what I'm running this on right now, can get past it without problems but it's also nearly 20 years old and runs into graphical issues later.

As the letter's text fades away, a shooting star flies through the sky. Maybe everything will be alright.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

(This is one of the themes we'll hear the most of throughout the game. It plays while inside the Dolphin, and is pretty appropriate.)

JOSETTE: It's morning...

JOSETTE: !

Gasp, indeed! UI! We'll learn what that's about, or uh, whatever Bird is doing in the corner there.

I'll be cutting the upper HUD out of most gifs. I hope the resulting different aspect ratio doesn't bother you.

JOSETTE: The Doctor said Player-san is from a world I can't see.

JOSETTE: Gulp...

*Following this, she runs up to the screen*

JOSETTE: Uh, um... Is there a Player-san in the world which I can't see?

JOSETTE: I-I'm Josette and from this day on I will be under your care...

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: No answer...

JOSETTE: Ah, right! I should explain how to communicate with me!

JOSETTE: Ok, I'll begin! Behind me you can see Bird, the Interface Robo.

JOSETTE: He'll intermediate our communication. I'll explain a little about him. ♪

I guess he is a full robot. I could've sworn he was part bird given the fact he has tears during Gepetto's scene in the last update- Josette never does.

Gijin are hard to explain.

JOSETTE: For starters, try pressing the Z-trigger behind the 3D-Stick!

JOSETTE: See? The next message will appear right away...

JOSETTE: Now I'll explain how you're going to speak with me, Player-san!

It's a lot simpler than say, the Hey You Pikachu mic. It's also a lot more effective on the regular.

JOSETTE: If you'd like to say "Yes" or "Good", press the Blue Button!.

Also known as the A button. It was blue back then.

JOSETTE: If you'd like to say "No" or "Wrong" then it's the Green Button.

Also known as the B button.

JOSETTE: Press the R-Button if it's neither!

We don't use this too often, in my experience. It's the R-Button because most N64 control styles use just the right half of the controller- the L-Button and the D-pad are entirely forgotten about most of the time.

JOSETTE: When Bird holds out the Pad, it's time for you to give instructions.

JOSETTE: Furthermore, whenever you feel like talking to me, press the blue or green button!

JOSETTE: There, I said it... But did Player-san hear it?

JOSETTE: Did you understand...?

Yeah, it's pretty easy to get the hang of.

We go ahead and answer "Yes", although "No" also works for her to acknowledge your existence (but she will repeat the tutorial). If you say nothing, she just gets sad for a moment, questions your existence, and repeats the instructions.

Bird makes a circle with his wings whenever you answer yes, and crosses them when you say no. In practice, I'll just designate our answers in text.

JOSETTE: Aah!

JOSETTE: Bi-Bird responded!

JOSETTE: S-Scary...

JOSETTE: B-But the Doctor was right after all...

JOSETTE: I'm relieved! ♪

Josette's recently orphaned, living in a run-down submarine in a strange place, and without much in the way of life skills. I'd be pretty relieved too if a guiding angel from another world turned out to be true.

JOSETTE: *doki doki* (heartbeat)

_{*Translator's note: "keikaku" means "plan"*}

I mean, what exactly do you say to someone you can't see? Pretty awkward situation, I'd say.

JOSETTE: Next, if you'd like to guide me in a certain direction, move Bird in that direction and...

JOSETTE: ...press the Z-Trigger!

Luckily for us, Josette breaks the silence by continuine to tutorialize.

JOSETTE: I'll walk to the place Bird is pointing to!

JOSETTE: If you want me to stop, use the R-Button!

JOSETTE: Somehow, getting ordered around doesn't sound very pleasant.

JOSETTE: But there's no helping it, I guess.

There will be a lot of ordering around. We pretty much have to tell Josette how to live her life for a while as she has no idea how to do anything but play the ocarina and spout pre-programmed tutorials.

Speaking of the tutorials, Josette will break up these tutorials by asking you if you understood the instructions- I'll skip over these yes/no prompts as there's like seven sections to this tutorial. Kaepora the Owl has nothing on Josette in the terms of looping information to give.

JOSETTE: Additionally, if you'd like me to use an object in a room, move Bird to that object and press the Z-Trigger!

The Z-Trigger has no relation to the Chrono Trigger. It's the button on the underside of the N64's middle prong.

I guess, kinda like the B button on a Wii remote.

JOSETTE: Next is...

JOSETTE: How to take out an object.

JOSETTE: To take out an object from the lower window, move the 3D-Stick down and press the Z-Trigger!

JOSETTE: Bird will fly to that window and you'll be able to choose an object using Z!

JOSETTE: If you'd like Bird to return, move the 3D-Stick up and press the Z-Trigger.

It's worth noting that you have to have the stick held pretty far down or up. If you're using an emulator that handles different analog percentages, you'll need to make sure that you go up to somewhere near 100% when trying to go to or leave the lower menu.

JOSETTE: Next... iiiiiiis...

JOSETTE: To move the object back to the lower window, place Bird over that object and press the yellow /\ button! Bird will throw it back!

This is the Up C Button by the way.

JOSETTE: And lastly!

JOSETTE: To carry an object around, place Bird over it, then press and hold the yellow \/ button!

JOSETTE: Bird will pick the object up. To move it, use the 3D-Stick!

We don't use the Left or Right C Buttons for anything that I know of. Sorry < and >.

JOSETTE: Shall I repeat what I said regarding Bird?

The final prompt to get through this is a No, while up to this point it has been a Yes. You have to go through the entire tutorial again if you miss this.

JOSETTE: Bird, be sure to properly follow Player-san's orders!

JOSETTE: I wonder... buttons and sticks... what does all of that mean?

JOSETTE: Well, doesn't matter ♪

Yeah, the fourth wall has seen enough damage today. We'll leave that for some other time.

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: I'd sure like to go outside using that ladder upstairs in the control room!

JOSETTE: Or if going outside is a bad idea...

JOSETTE: I'd like to learn how to use objects...

JOSETTE: It seems that you can buy objects in the Computershop in the control room!

Well, we've got quite a few options we can go for, it seems. Also, we are now free from the grasp of the tutorial- we can finally play the game!

It's not a great tutorial in the sense it just kinda infodumps you, but I suppose Dr. Gepetto may have been in a rush to program that in.

Welcome to Wonder Project J2!

The meter on the upper left is Josette's HP, which goes down when she's hurt or when she physically exerts herself. Similarly, the one on the upper right is her MP, or Mental Power, which goes down when she does anything mentally tasking.

Our goal is to help Josette both survive and become more experienced with the outer world, but the ways we can do that are varied.

Before we get started, let's take a look at all of what we have.

We start with 1 Health Oil, 1 Mind Oil, 1 Pudding, a Letter, a Corlo Nut, and three changes of clothing.

Also, to the left, you can see that we have 5000 Corlo, the currency of this world. To make it less confusing, I'll refer to it like 5000c.

Of the items we have, we'll go ahead and look at the Letter and the Nut now. It's probably a good idea to read what the former says.

As a neat touch, items are in 3D when viewed up close, but get changed to sprite form when thrown into the gameplay region.

Josette will randomly interact with things on her own, but directly pointing at things with Bird will make her go for that item specifically.

As to what she does with it is up to her. In this case, I've directed her to the letter we had.

JOSETTE: This is written in Gijin language, I can read this! Let's see...

JOSETTE: Dear Josette. How are you doing? Have you gotten used to life in Blueland yet?

JOSETTE: There were various reasons why I had you leave the island with Bird that time. I'm sorry, it was painful for me as well... Josette, please don't hate me for it, it really was for your best...

JOSETTE: From now on, you'll be experiencing lots of things... There will be pleasant times and sad times, as well as hard times... But don't think about giving up, hang in there!

JOSETTE: And if this one boy arrives over there, please try to get along with him...

JOSETTE: Lastly... you must not reveal the fact that you're a Gijin to anyone!

JOSETTE: Well then, Josette. Keep paying attention to your body, and try living a steady life. For my daughter with love... From Gepetto Lamarck.

JOSETTE: P.S. ...When my condition has gotten better, I'll come and visit you I promise...

Well, about that...

JOSETTE: Doctoooooor!

She's sad now, and I don't blame her.

Let's see if we can cheer her up with the Corlo Nut.

Welp.

Josette's mood can affect how she reacts to objects, often negatively.

We'll try that again.

JOSETTE: The doctor once said this is sold at very high prices,, but...

JOSETTE: That can't be... right?

We'd have to go check and see, I guess.

In any case, she's in a better mood now.

JOSETTE: Ah, that's right! Whenever you feel like writing to the diary, or if you want me...

JOSETTE: to recharge, use the sofa!

Resting takes a day and 50c, but restores Josette's HP and MP back to full. The game saves whenever you do so as well.

I note that because I always kept trying to interact with those books in the background looking for some sort of diary.

With that, um... what now?

1. Go outside!
2. Check out the Computershop and buy some things. Vote for what you want to see!
3. Just hang out around the ship.

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop- if you want to buy something, vote for it!

Get to voting!

Posted: **Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:32 pm**

Alright, I'll close the votes for now. Seems like we've got a pretty strong number of votes for buying stuff with going outside just behind that! I'll try to balance the purchases we make as we can't afford everything right now. I'll need to save at least a little bit of pocket change.

Next update will be out sometime today or tomorrow!

Posted: **Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:33 pm**

Update 3: Dietary Fiber

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

Welcome back! First manner of business today is to check out the Computershop.

Upstairs we go!

Early on, Josette's balance is really poor and she tends to eat floor as soon as you order her to do something. At least she didn't trip back down the stairs or anything.

JOSETTE: Should we buy something? Or should we sell something?

According to thread vote and what we can afford to spend money on, we buy: a stuffed cat, the grammar book, the cookbook, the medical book, a fry pan, and some seasoning!

This leaves us with 1900c, which is still more than enough pocket change for the moment.

Let's start with the stuffed cat, see if we can help brighten up her day.

JOSETTE: ... *

The prompts Josette gives us to respond are given in yellow text, but I'll just note those with an asterisk at the end.

As for what she did, carrying it across the room isn't necessarily "wrong", but it's not exactly what we intended.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

We'll try that again.

JOSETTE: Hey, I'd like to go out!

While I'm moving the cat back to the center of the room, (if she starts carrying it again she'll walk into the wall,) we get this.

We'll be going outside, just in a minute.

She trips again as she turns around. We've really gotta work on that balance, girl.

JOSETTE: So cute...

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Hey! It's cute, right?! *

*[Yes]*

Josette will also try to confirm your response when learning something. It's a good sign that whatever you're doing is progress, just be sure not to contradict your answers. Doing so confuses her, and usually makes her angry.

JOSETTE: I feel somewhat kinder now...

In doing this, we've raised Josette's kindness a bit! We have raised a stat!

Well, if we got that done, maybe we ought to try and get her to start learning the Blueland written language before she goes outside.

JOSETTE: Dietary fiber...*

C'mon, that wasn't even the cookbook!

What Josette intuits she should do with an object is out of our control. And sometimes she just eats stuff, like the grammar book we just got.

We don't get that back either, it's just gone now.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

Alright, well, let's just go outside then.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Ah, we're outside! It seems that the ship we live in isn't the same one that Doro and Bou brought us here in- I suppose that makes sense given they'd have to leave in something.

This one's a lot simpler in design, and less "giant robot fish"-looking which may be for the best. It does fit the name "Dolphin" a bit better, at least.

From here we can see the mass of pipes, spheres, and weird conduits that make up the underside structure of Megafloat Noah. It's safe to say we're a far cry from Corlo Forest now.

JOSETTE: Erm...*

It's at this point that Josette turns to the screen and addresses us. When left idle for variable amounts of time, she'll make comments or want to talk to you. The topics can vary between simple things to gameplay reminders to even filling in personal details about who Player-san is.

Let's see what's on her mind.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Wanna chat a bit?

Sure.

*Yes*

JOSETTE: Uh, let's see...

JOSETTE: I'm sorry. I was the one to start this, but I can't come up with a topic...

JOSETTE: Don't I have enough imagination...?

Aw, that's okay, Jos.

Evidently we've just found something else we'll need to help work on. For now, let's go see what we can do in town and see what we get up to there.

Most of the time when targeting something far away, Josette will break out into a full run. This game would be pushing it a bit if she only walked.

This wasn't really a great spot to capture the animation though. Some other time, perhaps.

JOSETTE: Player-san! We're going outside, right?

JOSETTE: But this island is so huge. Where should we go first?

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: I'd personally like to go visit Pier No.1, which is right next to us!

JOSETTE: Ok ♪

JOSETTE: Well, then! Bird, you'll look after the boat!

We've got a suggestion of where to go, so why not there?

You may also note the idea of Bird staying behind with the boat, this means that outside of telling Josette where to go, she'll be handling all interactions herself.

Hopefully she does alright!

(Well, Bird's mostly absent. There are a few rare cases in which he'll be present to assist as our interface.)

We fade out to a full view of Megafloat Noah. There's red glowing dots on the map to designate the selectable locations, and when hovering over each of them we get a very small photograph of said location. When you select a location, the photograph goes spinning up to the screen and transitions to respective location.

As the photographs don't really show much, I'll just list all the locations now, roughly from top left down:

1. Megafloat Noat Hospital
2. Megafloat Noah Square
3. Succalla Cinema
4. Shrine of Goddess Sedona Blue
5. Megafloat Noah Park
6. Karen's Pub
7. Entrance to the Pipe Passage
8. Shady Alley
9. Garbage Dump
10. Megafloat Noah Pier No.1
11. Path to Blueland
12. Megafloat Noah Pier No.2 (where our ship is at)
13. Gante's Boat Maintenance Shop

And that's just on Megafloat Noah! Let's go see what's going on in Blueland, apparently by walking all the way down this long pipe.

There's a lot less here overall, but there's still a few locations:

1. Proton Crystal Mine
2. Siliconian Movie Studio
3. Public Offices Square
4. Blueland Town Hall
5. Siliconian Air Force Training Grounds
6. Siliconian Air Force Headquarters

...aside from the way back to the Megafloat. For now, I think we'll take Josette's suggestion on seeing what's at the dock just over from ours.

Music: Friendly Folks

A new music track! We'll also hear this one quite a bit, but not nearly as much as the two main map themes.

FISHER: Hm? An unfamiliar face. Ahoyyyy!!

Well, he seems friendly.

JOSETTE: ......

FISHER: Such a shy girl... I'm not really good with kids who won't even greet you back....

FISHER: Now, back to work! Back to work!

...Well, that was uneventful.

At least he didn't notice Josette's a Gijin. You'd think most people could tell give her articulated arms, but no, not really.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: That mister just now, he said something about a greeting...

JOSETTE: A greeting, what's that...?

If you look back at the first two updates, you'll note that Josette doesn't greet anyone in those either- not even the Doctor!

JOSETTE: Is it bad if I don't greet people? *

I wouldn't really say it's bad if you don't, but I guess it's kind of expected. In practice gameplay-wise we won't progress the story until she learns how to.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: But what should I say?

JOSETTE: Ahoyyy!! *

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: Was what I just did good? *

Yeah, "ahoy" should be good for such a seaside place I suppose.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

JOSETTE: If I say "Ahoyyy!"... Is that a greeting?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

Most things Josette can learn don't need to be confirmed this much.

But that's done now. We could go back out the other dock to try and properly greet the guy, but for now let's just go back tomorrow when it's less awkward.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

For now, we go back inside the Dolphin and I resign myself to buying another grammar book.

Josette has a number of idle animations show only while Bird is helping with inventory selection, although it's not easy to capture them. In this one, she's either picking her nails or counting on her fingers.

...We really have to work on your balance.

JOSETTE: It seems you can train your legs with this. *

You're not necessarily incorrect, but I was kinda hoping you'd read it.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

Let's try that again.

JOSETTE: How was this?*

You know what? Sure, this might help you to trip less.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

...If anyone is wondering, yes, she does take HP damage from this.

I try out this training regimen a bit more, although the results seem mixed.

After each time doing a not exactly intended action, Josette asks for confirmation. It's a nice safety, especially when objects have multiple possible uses.

After one more balance walk, I go ahead and tell her to not do this next time.

JOSETTE: ??? ... I can't read this.

Aw, c'mon. I'm pretty sure you can. There's probably a Gijin section in there or something. Let's try it again.

JOSETTE: Ah?!

Well, she figured something out. Let's keep trying.

JOSETTE: ... ♪

JOSETTE: I'd really like to input this into my system...

JOSETTE: Player-san! It seems that this book teaches the language of this country.

JOSETTE: If I use a bit of willpower energy, inputting it shouldn't be a problem...

JOSETTE: Should I try it next time?

We don't need to wait on Josette to read through the entirety of books- being a robot means she can just download all the information rather quickly.

Yeah, go for it!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE:Alright!!

JOSETTE: Ehehe ♪ Ok, inputting it now!

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I'm not going to bother transcribing all of the dots. She does this for a bit until we get an exclamation mark from her.

JOSETTE: Input complete!

JOSETTE: Player-san! Everything's perfect now!

Well, Josette can now read, I guess!

Looking at the upper right, her willpower has gone down to a yellow color with a weaker signal coming through. It's hard to say exactly how much she has left, but it's worth being careful when either of her bars hit yellow.

For now, let's go ahead and see if we can get the cookbook downloaded too.

Man, she just likes kicking books.

JOSETTE: Ehehe...

*[No]*

Let's try that again...

JOSETTE: My! I can read this! . . . . . . . . . . . .

JOSETTE: Should I input it...? *

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

Oh, that's not good. Her willpower has gone red and is reading very weakly now, aside from the fact she's not looking so great herself.

The red range is the danger range, and is your sign to get her some oil or rest quickly. Reading and memorizing the contents of an entire language book in under 30 seconds is a hell of a lot of work, let alone reading another one just afterwards.

JOSETTE: Willpower is... decreasing rapidly... *

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Let me rest on the sofa, if you understand...

We could use our Will Oil here, but let's go ahead and call it a day.

When Josette is in the red on either her HP or MP, she's reduced to this very slow trudge instead.

JOSETTE: Recharge physical strength and willpower? It takes 1 day and 50c for the electricity bill.

Yeah, let's do that before you pass out.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Recharging!

Two wires come down and helpfully take the two clothespin things out of Josette's hair, as she just kinda sleeps sitting upright. It's never really explained how she recharges or what the electrical bill really goes to.

I always like to imagine the clothespins are kinda like electrical clamps, personally, but maybe they're batteries?

JOSETTE: Ahoyyyyy!

Yeah, that's how you do it!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Yeeeeeeeeees ♪

Each morning Josette will greet us, and it can change over the course of the game. Had we slept without going to Pier No.1, she wouldn't have said anything.

Well, it's a new day.

...Um, what now?

JOSETTE:

JOSETTE: Ah, I'd like to sing and dance...

Well, that was out of nowhere, but sure, we can work on that at some point.

Anything else on your mind?

JOSETTE: Eh? I feel that the kindness circuit has started to run...

Ah, and here's one of the last mechanics delve into about Josette's daily life: circuit prompts.

Josette effectively has a large number of different circuits that controls her personality and abilities, pretty much standing as her stats. When they rise, Josette will try to confirm if it's a good thing or not.

Answering "Yes" promotes the growth of that stat, while answering "No" starts to slow it down or even undo it. She may also question them as time goes on, giving you a chance to change your mind. If you're wondering where the menu to check these is, there isn't one. Well, at least normally. Instead, we have to signal Josette and have her tell us which ones are and aren't running.

(If you did want to see your stats directly, a debug menu exists that shows all the stats, and lets you modify them, can be found through Gameshark code: 801A8D88 00C0, followed by pausing and pressing R.)

I'll leave the choice of circuits up to the thread for the most part, even if the choice is likely to be one-sided.

With this choice, we'll pause the game here for now.

We'll go ahead and check out Dock No.1 again tomorrow, but we've got more voting to do!

We've got some outstanding things to still be bought, namely the Lockbox, Wrench, and the submarine books, but we're a bit short on money to get them all right now. I can fit in a 500C item right now, but a 1000c item is really stretching it.

Shall we:
1. Go out to somewhere specific in town?
2. Keep working on learning things?
3. Maybe just chill and get some exercise or something?

Also:
Kindness circuit, Yes or No?

-------------------------------------------------------------
LOCATION LIST:
1. Megafloat Noat Hospital
2. Megafloat Noah Square
3. Succalla Cinema
4. Shrine of Goddess Sedona Blue
5. Megafloat Noah Park
6. Karen's Pub
7. Entrance to the Pipe Passage
8. Shady Alley
9. Garbage Dump
10. Megafloat Noah Pier No.1
11. Gante's Boat Maintenance Shop
12. Proton Crystal Mine
13. Siliconian Movie Studio
14. Public Offices Square
15. Blueland Town Hall
16. Siliconian Air Force Training Grounds
17. Siliconian Air Force Headquarters
-----------------------------------------------------------

COMPUTERSHOP LIST:

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop- if you want to buy something, vote for it!

Posted: **Thu Feb 17, 2022 7:08 pm**

Update 4: Meet, Greet, & Yatta

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

JOSETTE: Eh? I feel that the kindness circuit has started to run...*

We resume the adventures of Josette! The thread has decided we shall be nice!

*[YES]*

It's possible to double up on a yes or no input while Josette is standing away from the screen. I knew this was possible and didn't think it did anything, but I've been informed by fellow SA user Glalev that it does reinforce the idea more strongly for her.

JOSETTE: Could it be that you understand these feelings?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: That's right... my heart feels so at ease now.*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Are these feelings strange?*

*[No]*

Josette's not really used to the emotion circuits, and doesn't really know how to define them very well- let alone which ones are good for being human.

A trick question on the end there too.

JOSETTE: Really?! ...what a relief.

To start the day off, we'll need to head upstairs first.

We didn't get to actually input the cookbook last time, merely processing all the information was enough to tire her out.

Let's go ahead and do that now.

JOSETTE: All right! Input! Input!

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . !

JOSETTE: The input went smoothly...

JOSETTE: I hope I didn't miss anything during the input...!?

...Well that put her in the red again!

I'd rather not hit the couch already, so let's try out some of that Mind Oil we've had waiting in our inventory.

JOSETTE: So upbeat and motivated! All right!

JOSETTE: After eating this, do the willpower circuit capacities increase?*

Unfortunately, no. You need to not eat the can, just drink it.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Disgusting!

And I won't be able to recycle the can for cash back!

JOSETTE: Did something just fall down...?

Sometimes little random things happen. I don't know what this does- nothing visibly falls down at least.

Josette, girl, we really gotta fix that balance circuit.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

To the outside world we go!

It's been decided that we'll go and check out Karen's Pub!

Music: Silence

Josette calmly strolls along to the entrance.

UNKNOWN: I hate you!!

Music: Sadness

Well that was exceedingly rude. Watch where you're going with that Naruto run, orange haired girl!

UNKNOWN: Sapphire!

KAREN: ...

...And then an older woman steps out of the bar, with similar hair. Hm. I guess we walked in on the end of something.

Going in anyways!

Music: Karen's Pub

Huh, cozy place.

UNKNOWN: Whatcha want!?

JOSETTE: Uh, uhm...

KAREN: Hmm!? Red clothes-pins in the hair, blue ocarina... this girl, wouldn't she be...?

It's a pretty distinctive look, to be fair.

KAREN: You're from Corlo Island, right?

JOSETTE: Eh? Eh? How did you know!? Th-that's correct!

JOSETTE: M-My name's Josette! I've just arrived at this island... well, that is...

JOSETTE: Uh...

KAREN: Mmmhmm, so you are called Josette.

KAREN: Josette, I'm sorry, but I'm really busy right now, come again later!

*She starts to walk away, but...*

KAREN: By the way...

KAREN: You can't just barge into somebody's house without greeting the person!

KAREN: Greeting!

Yowza. She's rather strict!

JOSETTE: Uh...

Well, I guess that was a bad time to come around. Maybe we should work on that greeting thing. To the dock!

Music: Friendly Folks

FISHER: ?! Ohh, it's that girl again? Ahoyyy!!

JOSETTE: Ahoyyy!!

FISHER: Hoh! You're imitating me!

It's even the exact same number of "y"s!

Josette's vocalization of "ahoy" is "osu", which is about as casual a greeting as it gets in Japanese. It's basically "hey", from what I've been told.

Music: Soothingness

(We'll hear this theme from time to time, it's quite a nice one.)

FISHER: You! You're a face I haven't seen before... do you live on this island?

JOSETTE: Y-Yes! ...M-m-m-my name is Josette. I've just arrived at this island.

JOSETTE: I'm living by myself, or rather I'm living together with a bird.

JOSETTE: Well, that is... erm...

She's really trying. Conversation's not a very strong skill for her yet, but she'll get better.

JOSETTE: I hope we'll get along well!

FISHER: Hahaha... There's no need to be so nervous.

A comforting statement, but not being nervous is far easier said than done.

FISHER: I'm Fisher, a deep sea fisherman. Pleased to meet you!

*Josette bows again*

FISHER: You've just arrived, I see... Well then, I'll tell you a bit about the people here.

FISHER: Back in the day, we fishermen used to lead a peaceful life in Blueland, the main island.

FISHER: However, one day the Siliconians decided to use the main island as an excavation site for Proton Crystals, which led to the occupation of the place we were living in.

FISHER: Since then, most of us citizens had to move to this artificial steel island.

FISHER: Well, be assured that life's ok here as long as you don't oppose the Siliconians!

If you were wondering about how this place came to be, then there you go. Foreign military takeover to harvest minerals, that displaced the actual living population.

There's not much they could really do. Blueland has little in the way of combat or military experience.

*A deep, and rather loud horn blows*

FISHER: Whoops! Time to catch some fish! Well then, see you later! Keep it up, Josette!

Fisher's a cool dude. We'll see if we can meet him later when he's back from fishing maybe.

JOSETTE: Yattaa!

This basically means "I did it", and the choice to not translate it is more than fine, given it's one of Josette's more common voice lines and speaks for itself.

Well, uh, what now?

I guess we ought to burn some time and then check back at Karen's since she's figured out this greeting thing.

Let's read the book about the human body.

We don't actually have to spend time here, events just progress once you meet their requirements and return to the location, even on the same day.

By extreme use of oils, you could probably beat this game on day 1.

JOSETTE: Ah, I can read this!

JOSETTE: The human body?

JOSETTE: There's way too much I don't understand. I'm not that sure, but it seems it would be better to study another book before this...

Yeah, it's probably a pretty complex book. We might want to come back to it later.

Maybe try the frying pan next? We did have you absorb all that cooking knowledge.

JOSETTE: Hmhmmmmmm ♪

JOSETTE: This is how it's done, according to the book!

Yeah, you've definitely figured that part out!

I'd complain about dropping that pan on the floor, but Proton Crystals are evidently stronger than cast iron.

Following this, she yawns. Just like the prompts she gives us, she'll do little actions from time to time. They're nice, but they also stop you from designating actions until it's over, which can be a bit bothersome at times.

Let's head back to the pub.

Music: Karen's Pub

I do have to say, I love this track. It's just perfect for the atmosphere.

JOSETTE: Ahoyyy!

Karen walks up to Josette, saying nothing.

JOSETTE: Uh...

Music: Silence

KAREN: Ok, you've passed for now.

JOSETTE: Eh?! Are you sure?!

Music: All Right!

JOSETTE: Uwah ♪ Player-san!

wait, josette, no

don't talk to us while someone else is around

Music: Soothingness

KAREN: Player-san...? Who are you talking to?

JOSETTE: Uhm...

JOSETTE: The person who's watching over me!

KAREN: The person who's watching over you? Who do you mean... God?

Phew, nice save.

KAREN: Well, whatever... Josette!

JOSETTE: Yes!

KAREN: You thought a greeting was only some meaningless annoying thing, right? But that is not true. It's indeed trivial, yet it's also very important.

KAREN: Relationships between humans start with something as simple as a greeting. That's what I wanted you to understand, Josette.

JOSETTE: Human relationships...

Hm, that's an odd way to phrase it.

If the assumption that Josette was frustrated with the idea of it seems out of place, it'll become clear soon enough.

KAREN: Pft! Giving a speech like that is so unlike me. I'm disgusted with myself! Haha!

KAREN: Josette... Come again whenever you've got nothing else to do!

JOSETTE: Y-Yes!

JOSETTE: Thank you very much!

Aw, she's not so strict after all.

JOSETTE: Yattaaaa!

JOSETTE: Yaaay!

*OFFSCREEN THUD*

JOSETTE: Oww....

Josette, girl...

what are we gonna do with you

KAREN: Hehehe... What an honest child she is.

KAREN: I'm sure she'll grow up just fine. No need to worry...

KAREN: .......Dr. Gepetto!

So she knows the Doctor and also why Josette is here!

Who knew that having Josette blindly walk into a bar could find us such an ally?

But, had we not learned a greeting before this, then we would have gotten this...

Alternate Timeline wrote:
*Josette walks into the Pub*

JOSETTE: ...

KAREN: This won't do!

JOSETTE: Eh? What will not do?

KAREN: Leave!

JOSETTE: Uhh...

*Josette walks out crying*

KAREN: Sorry, but... I promised that person. Promised to help turning you into a fine young lady.

--Transition back to the Dolphin--

JOSETTE: There must be something I'm doing wrong, but I don't understand what...

--After attempting it again--

JOSETTE: Is it bad if I don't greet people?

JOSETTE: ...But what should I say?

JOSETTE:

Each time also jumps Josette's sadness up by effectively 50%. She's fully crying for multiple text boxes after the second one.

I won't show off every single possible event, but I'll try. There's even a minor variation in the above for her being sad, where she'll briefly ask to herself what even is a greeting. I'm sure you might be able to get a response similar to Karen's expectation if she's mad, but the game assumes it anyways.

Why is that? Well, consider Sapphire, the girl who ran into Josette when we first went there. It's not unlikely that Karen's interpretation of the matter is a bit warped thanks to Sapphire.

It's also possibly an oversight, but I prefer the former explanation.

JOSETTE: Karen-san... I like her.

You didn't have to go through the alternate timeline!

But she's not bad, just perhaps too rigid.

JOSETTE: I'm hoooome!

Indeed we are! Josette will slowly start to make comments on leaving and returning to the Dolphin.

Well, um... what now?

JOSETTE: Erm... *

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Wanna chat a bit? *

*[Yes]*

Sure, why not?

JOSETTE: Uh, let's see...

JOSETTE: It's no use... I can't come up with a topic...

JOSETTE: Looks like I don't have enough imagination...

Well, darn. We've gotta fix that at some point.

For now, let's just do a short training session. Stair climbs!

Book balancing!

It's after a bit of this that Josette runs up to the screen to remind me about something:

JOSETTE: Player-san! Be sure to check my achievements from time to time!

JOSETTE: Achievements can be viewed by pressing the Bird symbol on the lower window!

JOSETTE: Eh? You're asking yourself what achievements are?

JOSETTE: Achievements are... things I've learned, events I've experienced and key aspects of myself that I previously knew nothing about.

JOSETTE: ...at least that's what Bird told me!

If you were wondering why that percentage on the lower menu went up to 4%, it's because we completed an achievement!

The first one, in fact: "Learned how to greet".

There are 25 achievements to get, and while all of them aren't necessary to progress the game, we'll still do them all anyways. Gotta get Josette that gamerscore.

Just as I have us heading out, Josette runs up to the screen again.

JOSETTE: Player-san!

JOSETTE: The balance circuit seems to have leveled up a bit!

Our training session seems to have worked! It's also run Josette's HP down to yellow as well.

I'm going to drop by Karen's one more time, but we should probably hit the couch when we're done there.

Music: Karen's Pub

To the Pub, one last time for today. We've got nothing else to do, after all.

RIDAL: I can't take it anymore!

RIDAL: Let's start a protest against that Battler from the Fighting Grounds!

Got a group of discontent blokes at the front table of the pub this evening.

HORS: But do you really think that guy would actually listen to our protest?

RIDAL: What?! Are you saying we should continue to keep our eyes shut?!

HORS: That's not what I'm saying! It's just that...

HORS: He's a pretty good martial artist. If we were to go against him, he'd definitely say: "Ok, let's decide this in a fight!"

RIDAL: Hmm.... The few moves I learned by watching movies are probably not going to be enough. Tohohoho...

Yeah, man, it's not so easy to quarter-circle+forward in real life.

ROSTAM: Uu, uuuuuu!

Rostam's the big lad on the right. He doesn't really say much, but I don't know if this is something made by the translation or not.

Following this, Josette starts to walk in...

HORS: Who is it?!

RIDAL: What the... it's just a kid. Don't scare us like that.

KAREN: If that isn't Josette!

KAREN: Josette, would you like to work? How about it?

KAREN: We can always use a bit of help, so if you want, you could work for us.

JOSETTE: Do you really mean it?!

KAREN: Ah, sure. If you're so determined, you can start right away!

JOSETTE: Thank you!

Following this, she starts doing a little dance as the conversation continues.

KAREN: You guys!

KAREN: If there isn't anything you want, don't just hang around! Go do something useful like fishing! How about it?

Yeah, it'd be nice if you stopped loitering and yelling at girls for walking in on your secret plan.

On that note, don't discuss your secret plan at the entrance of a building.

RIDAL: What a scary woman...

HORS: What? This girl is still in such a fine mood... is getting a job really that good?

Hey, man, the job market for displaced robot girls is pretty unwelcoming. If we ran out of money, we'd have to sell our only memento from home!

Following this, we're booted back out to the town. I guess by "right away", she means tomorrow.

Been a long and stressful day of talking to people, I say it's about time we get some rest.

Music: Good Night

See you next time, folks!

But first, what do we do next time?

We've maybe got a job now, but we could always go do other stuff. Plenty of places to explore after all!

Give me, say, three locations to send Josette to!

-------------------------------------------------------------
LOCATION LIST:
1. Megafloat Noat Hospital
2. Megafloat Noah Square
3. Succalla Cinema
4. Shrine of Goddess Sedona Blue
5. Megafloat Noah Park
6. Karen's Pub
7. Entrance to the Pipe Passage
8. Shady Alley
9. Garbage Dump
10. Megafloat Noah Pier No.1
11. Gante's Boat Maintenance Shop
12. Proton Crystal Mine
13. Siliconian Movie Studio
14. Public Offices Square
15. Blueland Town Hall
16. Siliconian Air Force Training Grounds
17. Siliconian Air Force Headquarters
-----------------------------------------------------------

COMPUTERSHOP LIST:

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop- if you want to buy something, vote for it!

Waiting purchases: Treasure Box, Submarine Manuals and Wrench

Posted: **Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:41 pm**

Update 5: monke monke

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

A new day, and hopefully the first day of Josette's new job!

JOSETTE: Ahoyyyyy!*

As per a request in the thread, we'll try to teach Josette a greeting perhaps more graceful than "ahoy". To do so, we've got to respond negatively to her morning greeting.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Is there something about it that bothers you?

...She doesn't take it well. I can imagine it's a bit frustrating when all you get is "yes" and "no".

JOSETTE: Hmph!

Fun fact, she went straight to "I hate you" when I was testing this.

The stuffed cat should hopefully make her feel better for now. I don't think showing up to our first day of work angry would do Josette many favors.

JOSETTE: I feel somewhat kinder now...

It also does this, which is nice.

Onwards, and meet Capitalism head on!

Music: Karen's Pub

JOSETTE: Karen-san!

KAREN: You're here to help us out, correct? But have you thought about registering yourself first?

JOSETTE: Register... myself?

KAREN: Yes, well... if you're considering accepting a job on this island...

KAREN: ...you have to register yourself in the town hall first. It's some annoying Siliconian law.

KAREN: When you're done registering, come again!

JOSETTE: Yes!

And out the door Josette goes.

Well, great, we have to have a license to work.

The first place I can think to go to about something like that is Town Hall. Over to Blueland we go!

Music: Friendly Folks

Hm, I can't really tell if it's run down, or it's just the marbling of the stone. It's not particularly grand regardless.

Josette looks around, yet to notice the guy in the blue blazer behind the counter.

PAUL: You, you there!

JOSETTE: Aah!

PAUL: Is there anything you want?

PAUL: !

PAUL: Uhum! Cough. Y-You!

PAUL: Did you perhaps come to register yourself for a job? I'm most sorry, but that computer over there is currently broken...

Josette inspects it anyways.

PAUL: As I said, it's not working!

UNKNOWN: I wish you the most beautiful afternoon!

Music: Pearl, the Blueland Beauty

Following this, a blonde girl wearing a mix of purple and lavender alongside high-heeled boots walks in. She's even got her own little fanfare.

Music: Soothingness

PEARL: Was daddy here?

PAUL: !

PAUL: Ah, Pearl-sama! The mayor went to meet up with the governor-general. Is there anything you need from him?

"-sama", is a higher respect honorific than "-san", which makes sense if this girl's the daughter of the mayor.

It also could just be Paul being overly honorable towards a girl. Both are possible.

PEARL: I see... No, that's ok then! Ohh? A girl I haven't seen before.

PEARL: You over there, hello! Are you new to this island?

JOSETTE: Y-yes...

I mean, it's not like we signed any immigration papers or something. We just kinda shacked up in a ship on the dock and said we lived here.

PEARL: My? Hohohoho... No need to be so nervous!

*Following this, Josette starts to smile again.*

PEARL: I'm Pearl, and you are?

JOSETTE: Josette's my name!

PEARL: Josette... that's a really beautiful name! We'll meet again, Josette!

Following this, she leaves. She seems nice!

JOSETTE: Somehow, I'm really happy!

*Josette spins around, strikes a pose, and runs out of the building while cheering*

*...She then trips and hits the ground offscreen.*

PAUL: Josette, hmm... what an energetic and cheerful girl.

PAUL: Definitely my type.

...One gets the impression that literally any girl is your type, Paul.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Pearl-san is really beautiful!*

Um, I guess?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I too want to be beautiful...

Aw, you're fine the way you are.

JOSETTE: Is a face everythng people are...?

*[NO]*

JOSETTE: Hehhhh...

JOSETTE: That's encouraging!

JOSETTE: Monkey Monkey ♪

Josette will occasionally do this dance as well. Who knows where she learned it at?

Well, with the job office presently inoperational and Josette unable to work our new job, we might as well spend some time exploring the islands.

First up, the Shrine of Godess Sedona Blue.

Music: Siliconian Soldiers

HARBEN: Listen! Not even a Siliconian may enter this place!

HARBEN: Let's at least protect the pride of this island's fishermen!

SOLDIER: Understood, sir!

They've got the military protecting this place?

*The large man, Harben walks off as Josette walks up.*

SOLDIER: What do you want?!

JOSETTE: Aah!

SOLDIER: You're not allowed in here!

JOSETTE: Eh?

SOLDIER: Huh? ...Girl, don't you know? Look above!

JOSETTE: Woah!

And so she looks upwards!

JOSETTE: It's huge...

Somehow, Josette never noticed the massive statue that towers over the rest of the town. Sedona herself seems to be cut from some bluish green stone, and is also missing arms? Hard to tell if it was damage, or if it's intentional. It looks like some of her hair might have been knocked off on the left side, so I'm leaning towards the former.

The dress she wears kinda melds into her body, which looks rather neat.

SOLDIER: Quite a sight, eh?

SOLDIER: She's the guardian of Blueland's fishermen, Goddess Sedona Blue!

SOLDIER: In the past she stood on the main island, but we moved her here for the sake of the fishermen!

SOLDIER: ...Now, what do you think? Siliconians can do smart things as well, no?

I, uh... I'd just appreciate if you'd stop pointing that SMG at Josette.

Josette's response to this is to just look back up at the statue.

JOSETTE: Sedona... Blue...?

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Well, we've finally met the Siliconians! They're a bit aggressive, no?

Let's go burn some time wandering around town.

How about... the Megafloat Noah Hospital? Maybe they could help Josette understand this medical book better?

*Josette walks in and looks around, seeing nobody.*

JOSETTE: What's with this smell?

*sneezes*

JOSETTE: Makes me really nervous.

Following this, she just leaves. Can't stand that hospital smell, I guess.

That was a bust. Maybe we check out the Succalla Cinema next?

Hey, Bird, you're supposed to be watching the ship!

That aside, this is a case of an area with interactable elements, which requires his presence. He may not say much anymore, but you think he's gonna miss out on a movie?

We'll start out by talking to the old lady at the ticket window.

GRANNY: Hmm? Young lady, would you like to work part-time here?

Ah, another job opportunity!

JOSETTE: To take on a job, you need to be registered!

Oh, right. Darn. Can't anyone just pay us under the table? I don't see any guards checking for our right to enter food service.

Well, let's see what's playing anyways.

JOSETTE: Wah! There are so many movies playing...

JOSETTE: "Battle of Siliconian", "Sound of Dance," "The 11 Commandments," "Meoro and Lijuet," and "The Serious Worker".

JOSETTE: A ticket costs 100c. That's a lot.

JOSETTE: But it does look interesting...

JOSETTE: Hey, hey! Let's watch something!

Sure, why not? Josette throws us into the series of prompts anyways.

"Sound of Dance," is probably a play on "The Sound of Music," while "Meoro and Lijuet" is probably "Romeo and Juliet". "11 Commandments" maybe has something do with Goddess Sedona Blue, "Ten Commandments" and all that?

We know that "Battle of Siliconian" probably has some martial arts in it, thanks to Ridal from last update. As for "The Serious Worker", who's to say? Probably has something to do with working.

JOSETTE: Battle of Siliconian?*

*[No]*

Maybe learning to punch people right now isn't exactly what Josette needs.

JOSETTE: Sound of Dance?

She did express interest in learning how to sing and dance, so... sure. We'll go with this for now.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

Following this, we have to direct her to the entrance.

JOSETTE: Watching Sound of Dance ♪

And so we fade to black...

JOSETTE: Ah, that was fun!

JOSETTE: Dancing!

JOSETTE: Singing ♪

JOSETTE: One's singing and dancing skill seem to improve just by watching the movie!

JOSETTE: Do you want to know the plot of this movie?*

Josette will usually ask this after seeing a movie. It's usually best to entertain her, although this being an option is rather helpful when you're grinding skills from movies.

*[Yes]*

I didn't pay 100c to not know what the movie was like.

JOSETTE: There was this man called Jichael, and there was a lot of dancing and singing!

JOSETTE: It was so exciting, I became all bouncy ♪ while watching!

JOSETTE: Jichael always practiced his dancing moves while listening to a music box...

JOSETTE: Somehow it was... really wonderful!

Ah, yes, Jichael Mackson, reknowned musician.

JOSETTE: But about the plot... I can't seem to recall what the story was like...!

Well, it probably didn't have much of one anyways. I'm thinking it was more of an extended music video rather than some sociopolitical story or the like.

JOSETTE: Eh? My Sensitivity Circuit seems to have started running...

JOSETTE: Monkeyyyy! ♪*

It's hard to really say what this ciruit fully stands for. I guess a better name for it may be "expressiveness"? As she puts it in the confirmation dialogue: "Are you also sometimes so excited that you just have to let it all out?"

I've gone ahead and answered yes to this, but voting on it will be open at the end of the thread.

I think with our wandering and that movie, maybe it's time to check back on the Town Hall. See if that computer ever got fixed.

JOSETTE: Oh? It's Bird...

PAUL: If you'd excuse me, I have to leave for a short while.

Evidently, Paul doesn't like hanging around with Bird in the picture. Anyways, seems like we can interact with the job computer, so let's see what's available.

JOSETTE: Ah! Looks like I can register myself here...

Following that, we're now brought to the joblist! Thanks, whoever fixed this!

Some jobs have a fee to sign up for, which is why I wanted to save a bit of money. That, and any occasion we may need to buy some emergency oil.

I'll just list out the jobs here:

--------------------------------
WAITRESS

Content: Carrying dishes
Salary: Hourly wage of 500c
Etc.: Knowing how to cook

Fee: 300c

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
TOUT

Content: Calling out for customers
Salary: Hourly wage of 200c
Etc.: Anybody can do this

Fee: 0c

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
FLYER HANDLER

Content: Handling Flyers
Salary: Hourly wage of 200c
Etc.: Anybody can do this

Fee: 0c

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
FISHERMAN

Content: Catching deep-sea fish
Salary: Paid by volume
Etc.: Having your own ship, having a ship qualification

Fee: 500c

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
PROTON MINER

Content: Digging for Proton
Salary: Paid by volume
Etc.: Knowing how to use a Pickaxe

Fee: 300c

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
MECHANIC

Content: Repairing ships
Salary: Hourly wage of 500c
Etc.: Being passionate

Fee: 300c

--------------------------------

And that's it! There's not a lot of options here, but that's not to say there aren't other opportunities to be found on the islands.

The Tout and Flyer Handler are your "I went broke and need money jobs", so they pay little, but they're also free. We can take as many licenses as we have the money for, but for now I just pick up Waitress for Josette.

Now we can work our job! Yay, bureaucracy!

Let's go tell Karen the good news.

*Josette comes dashing in, skidding to a halt*

JOSETTE: Please, let me work!

KAREN: Come this way!

*They walk on deeper into the bar...*

KAREN: I'd like you to carry a dish with this tray... could you do this?

Uh...

Hopefully...?

Um, I don't think she meant for you to throw it.

Good throw, though?

JOSETTE: Uh...

KAREN: This won't do! Buy yourself a tray and practice a little with it!

Music: Messed Up

JOSETTE: *sigh*

Well, I guess that's another thing to add to the list. We're gonna go broke soon if we can't get our work!

We shall engage in less discus and more waitressing next time, hopefully. Next section's already recorded, (I haven't yet gotten the feel for how much to record for an update of this), so there's no location or purchase votes to do this time.

Instead, Sensitivity/Expression circuit, yes or no?

Some more new voting opportunities will open up as we move into Day 4 on the next update!

Posted: **Thu Mar 03, 2022 5:28 pm**

Update 6: Josette Hungers

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Last time, the thread voted to allow the Sensitivity circuit! Let's rewind time a bit and see how saying yes to that goes.

JOSETTE: Monkeyyyy! ♪*

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: Hah!

JOSETTE: What's going on? I'm suddenly in such high spirits...!

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: Eh!? Player-san, do you understand this feeling?*

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

JOSETTE: Player-san, are you also sometimes so excited that you just have to let it all out?

*[YES]*

Sometimes, Player-san just has to party.

JOSETTE: Ok...

JOSETTE: It's not awfully unusual, right? ♪

Uh... I'm bad with these kinds of questions if I'm only able to answer yes or no and can't just specify "it's not unusual". Don't know what it is, but it always trips me up.

Anyways, the "right" answer here is Yes, although I answered otherwise the first time around and had to redo this.

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

JOSETTE: Lalalaaaa ♪

JOSETTE: Eeeeeek ♪

With that, let's catch back up to the present. Josette just failed out of becoming a waitress because she doesn't know how to use a tray.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

It'll cost us 300c out of our remaining 900c, but sometimes you gotta spend money to make money.

I meant to throw the stuffed cat back into the inventory, but I accidentally hit Z instead.

Normally, that wouldn't be much of an issue, but-

JOSETTE: Miaoow!*

(It does indeed play a cat cry here.)

Josette, please don't eat the cats

even if you can somehow make cat noises

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Eh!? So this was wrong!

We will have to send condolences to the stuffed animal family.

Alright, time to try the tray out. Hopefully she doesn't eat this too.

JOSETTE: This seems to be for training your legs...*

Not really, but that was a nice bounce.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

Alright it's in your hands now, that's progress-

JOSETTE: Ey!

JOSETTE: ...?*

...Didn't Karen already tell you not to throw it? I guess you've gotta hear it from us for it to stick.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: This is boring...

Unfortunately, most work is.

Following this, there's a brief silence and then she runs up to the screen.

JOSETTE: Player-san... it might not be such an important matter, but...

JOSETTE: If you don't do anything with me, I won't be able to learn anything...! Don't you agree?*

What do you mean? We're doing stuff right now!

I guess this is triggered by the first time she gets bored, which may happen if you leave her to idle more often than I do.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I believe we are going to meet lots of different people here...

JOSETTE: Much will happen... I think Player-san is just as curious about what lies ahead...!

JOSETTE: But... I wonder... why do we have to live on this island? What is the purpose behind it...?

JOSETTE: Well, whatever... we should just continue to live our lives and someday we'll find out.

JOSETTE: Also, I still don't know how to use items, so please teach me...

JOSETTE: There's a Computershop in the control room of the Dolphin where you can buy items!

Yeah, this was definitely meant to be a sort of Day 1 conversation.

JOSETTE: I'll also make sure to study as hard as possible.

*She does a small bow*

JOSETTE: I hope we'll get along well!

I've honestly never seen this before.

Anyways, back to waitress training.

*nom*

Correction: Anyways, back to the Computershop to buy another tray!

*sigh*

*[NO]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

We're running out of money for this, so I sold the grammar book as there's nothing left to do with it that I can't do with something else. It gets us 250c back at least.

Come on, Josette, you can figure it out.

JOSETTE: How was this?*

Yes! That's all we needed!

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: !!

JOSETTE: This is how it's done!

I have her do it one more time for good measure, and she does it without even asking to confirm afterwards. She's really got it now.

Let's go back to Karen!

Onwards, to making a living!

Music: Karen's Pub

This starts like it did last time, so I'll go ahead and skip to the new part.

KAREN: I'd like you to carry a dish with this tray... could you do this?

And so Josette does it just like she learned a few minutes ago. She walks all the way off screen, even!

JOSETTE: Uh...

KAREN: Hehehe... good, you've passed.

Music: All Right!

JOSETTE: Wah!

JOSETTE: Player-san! She said I passed!

Indeed, you did, Josette!

Music: Soothingness

KAREN: Hehehe... reporting to Player-san again?

KAREN: Josette, you can drop by to help out whenever you feel like it.

JOSETTE: Yes! Thank you very much!

KAREN: You're welcome! Hehehe!

I suppose we've no way of telling Josette that talking to us in public may be a little strange.

Well, with our first real job at hand, I'll be sure to have Josette come and work here at least once a day. We don't really have a set schedule or anything, it just feels right to do it that way.

For now, let's call it a day.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Oh?

JOSETTE: Player-san!

JOSETTE: The leg strength and the jump strength circuits seem to have leveled up!

Hell yeah, you're on a roll, Josette!

Josette's leg strength is increased by a number of things, just walking around or using stairs, for instance. It also means she'll get less tired from doing those actions.

If you were wondering, yes, it is possible for Josette to pass out from going up and down the stairs too much. It's a bit worrying since Josette has to go down a ladder and down a staircase to reach the couch, so that's why I always keep at least one of each oil on hand at a bare minimum.

With that added bonus of a physical level up, we wrap today up as a rough start, but a shining finish.

Music: Good Night

JOSETTE: Good evening.*

Well, it is more proper as we were hoping, but it's kinda the wrong time of day. You could do it that way on purpose to be quirky, I guess.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

I think she'll figure it out tomorrow morning. For now, let's go work our job!

Off to Karen's Pub!

Music: Karen's Pub

JOSETTE: Karen-saaaaaan!

Josette just come blazing into the Pub this morning, leaving the three regular loiterers in the dust.

JOSETTE: Karen-san!

KAREN: Oh? You've come to help? Well then, could you get started right away?

And so she does...

KAREN: Good job! Ok, here's your payment!

Phew, it went well. Thank goodness.

JOSETTE: Yaaaaaaaay! ♪

Man, those corlo coins are pretty big!

KAREN: Would you like to try cooking next time?

JOSETTE: Eh?

KAREN: Hehehe. It was just a joke!

Hey, Josette has at least absorbed the contents of a cookbook. It's not entirely out of the question!

For now, Karen just walks off.

JOSETTE: Monkeeeeeey! ♪

JOSETTE: I got 500c!

JOSETTE: Uhm. I guess that's what you'd call "the joys of a poor man"...

JOSETTE: Just kidding!

We have obtained money for the first time- today is a good day. 500c is how much we had left in savings anyhow!

It's worth noting that the job description said 500c per hour, so I guess Josette only worked a single hour. Still, that's good enough for right now!

Josette, the oilwinner for this strange family, returns home...

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

Back on the Dolphin, I go ahead and liquidate the serving tray. We won't need it for anything else, earning us a tidy 150c in return.

Following that, I reason it's about time to take a step towards an outstanding purchase request and buy a wrench.

Sure, it costs as much as we just earned, but we've got a stable job now.

Alright, Josette, let's see what you do with this.

Josette's apparently trying out to be a Rocky Wrench. Sorry, Josette, but I don't think Bowser's hiring right now.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Wrong...

Let us try that again.

JOSETTE: This is for training your arms.*

Using one of these can definitely take some strength sometimes, so maybe having her do some reps with it wouldn't be too bad an idea.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

Normally, I'd imagine kicking a wrench might hurt a bit, but this is Josette we're talking about. That robot resilience comes in handy sometimes.

I go ahead and tell her not to do that so we can get around to some more reps. I do this about six times, as this does actually work to improve her arm strength.

Soon, Josette will be too swole to control, but for now this should be enough.

Following the workout session, Josette asks us a question.

JOSETTE: Me and Player-san... I wonder if we're getting along...?*

Ah, it's about time this one showed up. This starts to open up some questions about who Player-san is, and makes for some fun little conversations.

*[YES]*

But yeah, we're getting along!

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: Ehehe!

And that's all for now, but she'll start asking us a few details at random. We'll get to vote on those, so I'll go ahead and start voting on the ones I know of ahead of time.

Without much else to do, let's check this engine panel in the Dolphin's Control room.

*She gets on her knees, fiddles with it for a bit, and then stands up.*

JOSETTE: What is that...?

Well, we don't have a hold of any of the submarine books yet, so it checks out she has no idea what it is.

After this, she poses another question...

JOSETTE: Eh? I feel that the justice circuit has started to run...*

Justice? What brought that on, Josette?

No matter, you know the drill folks, should we encourage the Justice circuit?

In addition, here's some personal info to fill out about Player-san that Josette may ask us about soon:

1. Is Player-san good at sports?
2. Is Player-san a good singer and dancer?

Following this, pick out 3 locations to visit, yet again! It's a voting palooza!

-------------------------------------------------------------
LOCATION LIST:
1. ~~Megafloat Noat Hospital~~ (Nothing to see here, right now.)
2. Megafloat Noah Square
3. Succalla Cinema
--------A: Battle of Siliconian (A movie filled with fighting!)
--------B: Sound of Dance (Continue the story of Jichael Mackson?)
--------C: Meoro and Lijuet (Opens up more dialogue about Player-san.)
--------D: The 11 Commandments (Introduce Josette to the concept of religion?)
--------E: The Serious Worker (Introduce Josette to whatever this is?)
4. Shrine of Goddess Sedona Blue
5. Megafloat Noah Park
6.~~Karen's Pub~~ (We'll be going here anyways, no need to vote for it)
7. Entrance to the Pipe Passage
8. Shady Alley
9. Garbage Dump
10. Megafloat Noah Pier No.1
11. Gante's Boat Maintenance Shop
12. Proton Crystal Mine
13. Siliconian Movie Studio
14. Public Offices Square
15. Blueland Town Hall
--------Possible Work Permits:
--------A. Tout, Free
--------B. Flyer Handler, Free
--------C: Fisherman, 500c
--------D: Proton Miner, 300c
--------E: Mechanic, 300c
16. Siliconian Air Force Training Grounds
17. Siliconian Air Force Headquarters
-----------------------------------------------------------

COMPUTERSHOP LIST:

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop- if you want to buy something, vote for it!

Previously voted for items: Treasure Box, Submarine Manuals

Posted: **Fri Mar 11, 2022 8:15 pm**

Update 7: The Terrible Thursday

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

Welcome back, all! Last time, we ended with Josette contemplating her justice circuit.

We had a tie on the vote, so a coin flip decided that we shall encourage justice. While it is possible to hit R and give no response to the circuit prompts, she'll just ask again later.

JOSETTE: This current circuit, is it a good one?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ok...

JOSETTE: That's right. I'd like to practice justice.*

*[Yes]*

A good portion of the thread wants you to become Batman, so practicing justice will be a good part of that.

JOSETTE: Player-san, will you also try to practice justice?*

Yeah, I suppose I have to at this point. Time for me to invest in a bat outfit, I guess.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Hmmmmmmmmm....

And that's that!

Off to work we go, even if we've already been today. Why not aim for the afternoon crowd as well?

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

But let's take a different path through town while we're at it. To the Shady Alley! There's no way this could end badly!

Music: Silence

Josette walks in and looks around, rather quickly...

JOSETTE: Player-san... Somehow, I have a really bad feeling about this place.

And so she leaves!

There will be stuff to do here later, just not now.

After leaving that creepy alleyway, we stop on by the Shrine of Goddess Sedona Blue.

Music: Sedona Blue

SOLDIER: Oh? It's you again... Do you like that Goddess so much?

*Josette looks up*

JOSETTE: God...dess...

...and that's all for there as well. Josette's not really familiar with the concept of higher powers, outside of us, maybe. We did get to hear the Goddess' theme though, now that there's less soldiers here.

Locations we go to that don't seem to do anything will do something later eventually.

Music: Karen's Pub

Off to our job we go, we've spent enough time for a new crowd to come on in.

Or it could just be these jokers still. Do you three do anything else?

JOSETTE: Yoo-hoo!

MEN: Y-yoo-hoo...

JOSETTE: Ehehehe...

*She runs on in*

MEN: .......

Jeez, and Fisher got on us about not greeting well! You three need some practice.

Josette will do this every time she enters the Pub while they're here, although I've yet to get much of a different reaction out of them.

JOSETTE: Karen-san! Karen-saaaaaaan!

KAREN: What's with you? You seem to be in an awfully good mood.

*Josette walks closer*

JOSETTE: Karen-san! Would you please let me try to cook?

KAREN: Eh!? Cooking?

KAREN: ...

JOSETTE: Uh...

KAREN: Heh, hehe... now, that's a surprise... for Josette to say she wants to cook all of a sudden.

JOSETTE: Is that... bad?

Music: Soothingness

KAREN: Alright! Let's try it next time! I'm looking forward to tasting your food!

JOSETTE: Really!?

JOSETTE: Yattaa!

JOSETTE: I like Karen-san very much...

Well, I guess we know what we're doing tomorrow!

KAREN: Hm? Did you say something?

JOSETTE: N-No! It's nothing!

JOSETTE: Thank you!

wait josette

aren't you going to work

josette

we need money, come back

KAREN: That's really a surprise... For her to actually become interested in cooking.

KAREN: Is this also thanks to the god she calls Player-san? Hehehe...

Indirectly, yes. She never asked us if she should do this, she just kinda went for it on her own.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Well, thanks to having read the cooking book so early, we've got ourselves an early promotion.

Well, heck, this calls for a celebration.

To the cinema! As per request, we'll watch Battle for Siliconian again. In order to uphold justice, we need fists of justice first.

JOSETTE: Gonna watch Battle of Siliconian!

Soon, Josette will be a martial arts master. All you have to do is watch movies a bunch, right?

JOSETTE: Player-san!

JOSETTE: The balance circuit seems to have leveled up a bit!

Awesome! Hopefully this will remedy the tripping.

JOSETTE: I feel really agitated right now!

JOSETTE: Ey! Bring it on!

JOSETTE: I feel like beating somebody up...

Uh, hopefully those somebodies are evildoers...

JOSETTE: Do you want to know the plot of this movie?*

I didn't have us pay 100c to not hear it!

JOSETTE: Ok, so... There was this Siliconian soldier and he rescued this woman, see?

JOSETTE: She had gotten wounded on the battlefield! She thanked him by giving him flowers and... and... huh...

JOSETTE: I forgot what happened after that.

I guess your memory banks aren't running at full yet either. We'll have to work on it.

JOSETTE: ....

Unfortunately, it seems all the high tension war movies are getting to the impressionable Josette. We'll watch something less aggressive next time, I think.

Perhaps we might be able to learn about the other movies if we head on to the Siliconian Movie Studio?

Music: Welcome, People of Blue Island!

A new track! I believe "Tensions in Blueland" is supposed to play here, but it's just a slower version of the opening notes of this song repeated on loop anyways.

As Josette walks into the scene, it seems we've come in on the middle of a conversation.

ALAN: Director, please stop being so selfish!

LUMIERE: Selfish? I just don't want to make a movie that glorifies war! How is that selfish?!

ALAN: But...! If we don't make it, there's no telling how the Siliconians might react!

LUMIERE: Even if it leads to my death...

LUMIERE: I refuse to make a movie that conforms with Siliconian ideals!

LUMIERE: And that's it!

ALAN: Ah, Director...

And so he leaves. Things aren't looking so great here.

ALAN: This is not good.

JOSETTE: ...?

...And so Josette leaves as well. Probably for the best, this is a pretty heavy situation.

Seems like the Siliconians are trying to force this director to make propaganda, and he's not having it. We'll come back some other time, hopefully when the director's calmed down a bit.

Oh, and while we're on this side of the island, I went ahead and picked up the licenses for Touting and Flyer Handing. They're free, so why not?

We've had a long day, so let's go ahead and call it for now.

Mechanically, we really don't have to do this, but it feels thematically right sometimes.

Music: Good Night

JOSETTE: I wish you the most wonderful afternoon...*

Wow, josette, you've really turned up the formality! I went almost the whole game only seeing ahoy, myself, so these are all rather new to me.

This one's pretty close to Pearl's introduction, and I believe it is supposed to be "beautiful afternoon" as that's what she seems to say everywhere else with this greeting.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheh.

Well, new day, time to earn some money!

But, while we're at it, let's check on a friend we haven't seen in a while. Fisherman Fisher!

Nothing so f-

UNKNOWN: You theeeeere!

It's a cat! With an eyepatch!

It snatches a goofy looking fish and leaves.

...aaand there it goes.

FISHER: That cat again! Of all things, it had to steal the best fish of the catch!

FISHER: Damn it! Somebody needs to beat that behavior out of that cat.

FISHER: If this continues, there won't be anything left for us to eat. Tohoho...

*He starts crying*

JOSETTE: Beat...?

Well, he's not having a very good day is he? One has to wonder how tight the fishing is here if one extra fish a day gets this kind of reaction.

With that unfortunate scene, let's head on to Josette's work as a chef today.

Music: Karen's Pub

Upon entry, Josette does the introduction from this morning to the three regular goons. Their response is as half-hearted as usual, but it does seem we have completely borrowed Pearl's full "beautiful afternoon" greeting at this point.

KAREN: Hehe... the chef made her entrance. Give me your best dish, then!

Following this, Josette walks with a high step and a high arm swing up to the counter. She specifically does this walk when she's very happy, as we may end up seeing later at some point.

She steps up and we fade out...

JOSETTE: Hm ♪ Hm ♪ Hmmmmmmm ♪

Fading back in, we see her finishing up.

JOSETTE: Ok, it's done! Please try it!

JOSETTE: Eheh.

JOSETTE: How is it?

KAREN: Uh, uh... how to phrase it... it has quite an individual taste...

JOSETTE: Did I pass?

*Karen walks off*

KAREN: Bueeeeeeh!

Music: Messed Up

JOSETTE: Bu...eh?

JOSETTE: ...?

Well that didn't go well. Apparently, Josette's not a very good cook.

We also don't get paid for our usual waitressing, so uh, there goes our job?

Following that, Josette stops by the Megafloat Noah Park on the way home.

Music: Friendly Folks

SALLY: No waaaaay.

HILDA: Wow, is she really living on a ship?

ROSA: That's right. And what's more it's that shabby Dolphin.

Oh, they're already talking about us? I guess news travels fast here.

Maybe they're some more potential friends?

ROSA: It's quite pathetic, really.

...alright, chances of that happening already going down.

Following this, Josette walks up...

ROSA: ...Look, look! It's her!

JOSETTE: E-excuse me... d-do you all live on this island?

Music: Silence

GIRLS: ......

Music: Sadness

JOSETTE: Uh...

After getting glared at by all three for a moment of extremely awkward silence, Josette walks away crying.

Well, today is going very poorly.

ROSA: Nerd!

GIRLS: Giggle, giggle...

Well, nobody's going to bother us at the Garbage Dump, we'll just have a good cry there.

Music: Silence

Nobody here...

JOSETTE: Aah!

It's the cat from this morning!

KATZE: Meow miaooow!?

KATZE: Meeeeeoooowww...

Well, it's not having a good day either. Thurdays must be bad luck day in Blueland.

*Suddenly, it jumps up and claws Josette!*

Music: Messed Up

JOSETTE: Uwahhhh!

KATZE: Miaow! Miaow!

Oh, for-

*And so it runs off*

She didn't do anything to you! Literally nothing!

Scratch what I said earlier, this is just the most cursed Thursday ever.

So now we find ourselves at Megafloat Noah Square...

Well, at least it's peaceful here.

JOSETTE: Uwah!

JOSETTE: Wonderful!

*She runs to the edge*

*Ocean birds fly by occasionally as we look into the distance*

JOSETTE: You can see the horizon.

JOSETTE: I'd like to go back... to Corlo.

After today, I don't blame you. If only going back was possible.

JOSETTE: Sniff sniff...

JOSETTE: Ahh!?

Music: Theme of Corlo Forest

JOSETTE: Corlo Island...?

*Suddenly, an image of the good Doctor fades into view!*

DR. GEPETTO: Josette...

DR. GEPETTO: Don't be discouraged, stay strong and listen to Player-san's words...

JOSETTE: Doctor!?

...and so he fades away.

JOSETTE: Doctor...

JOSETTE: Waaaaaaahhh!

I guess he's still watching over Josette as well.

Reasoning that we should just return to the Dolphin for now, I have Josette do so. When we get there, she has a question for us.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Am I... not liked?*

Aw, Josette, you've still got a friend in us.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Good...

She's got a smile back on her face at least.

This more than skyrockets her mood after today's events.

JOSETTE: Taste?

After we wait around a bit, she says this to the screen. I guess we might know what her cooking is missing now.

JOSETTE: Eh? I feel that the brain circuit is starting to run...*

Like the motion circuit we saw way earlier in the game, there's no advantage to shutting this one down.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Grumble, grumble...*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Player-san, are you also thinking about something right now?

I'm never not thinking!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: That's not unusual, right?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: *sigh*

JOSETTE: Good.

JOSETTE: There really is a Player-san in the world I can't see, right?*

After a bit, she poses us another question. I'm pretty sure we figured this out in the first update, Joss.

I end up saying Yes a lot, and there are some entertaining No responses, so let's do that now.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! So it was a lie after all...

This does come at the cost of making her cry again on the Worst Thursday.

JOSETTE: Sniff sniff ...

JOSETTE: Hmm? Wait...

JOSETTE: Bird is an interface robot that recieves instructions from the other world...

JOSETTE: ...and Bird just answered, that means...

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: Player-san, you really do exist!

JOSETTE: Eheh! I'm such a dummy!*

Saying yes to this is a bad idea, but does reward a new expression. She's got so many! We'll go back and look at the more entertaining results at a later date. For now...

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: I feel soooo ♪ greaaaaaaaat! ♪

JOSETTE: Ahahahaha! ♪

This also makes her even happier than if we'd just said yes at the start.

JOSETTE: Look, looooook! ♪

JOSETTE: Hehehe...

JOSETTE: Yaaay ♪ Monkey ♪ Monkey ♪*

*[Yes]*

How can you say no to this?

JOSETTE: Yeeeeees!!

Well, we managed to turn this day around at the end, I think. I didn't even have to use the pudding either!

While we let Josette have her fun for now, we've got a bit of voting on what to do next.

We will be going to the Boat Maintenance Shop and Watching Meoro and Lijuet next time, but we've got to figure out what to do next.

1. Improve Josette's cooking and get our job back?
2. Go deal with that cat?
3. Just go to some other places for now, and pick 3 from the usual location list?

-------------------------------------------------------------
LOCATION LIST:
1. ~~Megafloat Noat Hospital~~ (Nothing to see here, right now.)
2. ~~Megafloat Noah Square~~ (Nothing to see, yet...)
3. Succalla Cinema
--------A: Battle of Siliconian (A movie filled with fighting!)
--------B: Sound of Dance (Continue the story of Jichael Mackson?)
--------C: Meoro and Lijuet (Will be watching next update!)
--------D: The 11 Commandments (???)
--------E: The Serious Worker (???)
4. ~~Shrine of Goddess Sedona Blue~~ (We'll just see a repeat of what we saw this time)
5. Megafloat Noah Park
6.~~Karen's Pub~~
7. Entrance to the Pipe Passage
8. ~~Shady Alley~~ (Nothing to see, yet)
9. ~~Garbage Dump~~
10. Megafloat Noah Pier No.1
11. ~~Gante's Boat Maintenance Shop~~ (Will be going next update)
12. Proton Crystal Mine
13. Siliconian Movie Studio
14. Public Offices Square
15. Blueland Town Hall
--------Possible Work Permits:
--------C: Fisherman, 500c
--------D: Proton Miner, 300c
--------E: Mechanic, 300c
16. Siliconian Air Force Training Grounds
17. Siliconian Air Force Headquarters
-----------------------------------------------------------

COMPUTERSHOP LIST:

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop- if you want to buy something, vote for it!

Previously voted for items: Treasure Box, Submarine Manuals

Posted: **Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:30 pm**

Update 8: The Spiciest Update

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: I feel soooo ♪ greaaaaaaat! ♪

Welcome back, folks! Last time, Josette had a terrible, no good, really bad day but we turned it around at the end.

While Josette's been partying, the thread has opted to focus on clearing our most immediate questlines out of the way, starting with cooking.

A little bit of thinking out loud she did last update has revealed to us most prominently that Josette doesn't know what taste is, exactly.

Back when we bought our first wave of items, I nabbed 3 bottles of seasoning, (the max you can carry, for some reason).

Hopefully she'll figure it out from this.

JOSETTE: Ahahahahaha!*

JOSETTE, please

So, when Josette's Joy circuit is very high, it happens to be incredibly

but it comes at the cost of her not really being in a learning mood.

Honestly, this goes any of the 4 main moods she can have- she's really only receptive to doing anything practical when she's not feeling any emotion too strongly. As we've seen, she can also get bored too, so it's a bit of a balancing act.

For now we'll just have to respond No to this to get her to calm down a little bit. Our source of income is on the line, Josette!

*[No]*

JOSETTE: But, it's just too funny!

It is, but we've really got to start making some more money.

I try again and...

JOSETTE: Let's try this again!

She opted to carry it like the tray, which is food related (progress!), but ran into the edge of the screen. I've been moving the items on the floor around back towards the center pretty reliably to avoid this, but I forgot this time.

It also doesn't teach or inform her anything if it gets interrupted like this, only merely damaging her HP slightly. She's guaranteed to try carrying it again if this happens, so she'll just keep running into the wall unless you move it.

JOSETTE: ...?*

Now that she didn't hit the screen, we're free to teach her not to do this.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

The advantage of Josette having been in a good mood recently is that she's very patient with the learning process. We'll be able to avoid boredom or frustration for quite a while.

*throws*

JOSETTE: Ehehe...*

*[No]*

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

Josette throwing things in her max joy mood is independent of any learning, she'll do it with anything. Consequently, we still have to tell her to not throw the seasoning.

With how much she loves throwing things, seems like she ought to go into something like baseball or hurling. I don't think we have that in Blueland though.

*nom*

JOSETTE: The inside of my mouth feels different than usual!*

Luckily, Josette's habit of eating everything comes in handy as it's probably the best way we have to teach her about taste. For once, her eating things isn't a waste!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: ...

We're going to have to do a lot of it though.

JOSETTE: How was this?*

Excellent kick, but I was hoping for you to eat it. Now it's covered in all sorts of ship dock grime.

I dunno, maybe that might help her notice the taste?

*[No]*

As a neat little thing, every object has different physics applied to it. The spice bottles are very light, so Josette's kicks has it ricochet off the walls. Stuff like books may flip a few times, but that's all. Her leg strength also might affect this, but I can't be sure.

I'll spare you from noting all the eating, but I did just want to note that for one frame of her eating animation, she's got both of her hands entirely in her mouth as well.

Ah, the wonders of cartoony animation.

JOSETTE-ang: Oh? This time it feels really hot within my mouth!*

Josette evidently would easily win the cinnamon spice challenge, or whatever it's called.

*[Yes]*

Following us approving it, she gives the same response as the first time.

JOSETTE: Oh? This time it feels really sweet within my mouth!*

*[Yes]*

And we get the same response yet again. So what now?

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

We buy more spice, that's what. It's 100c a bottle, so this is all a very pricy venture.

JOSETTE: Oh? This time it feels really sour within my mouth!*

*[Yes]*

*Josette sneezes*

JOSETTE: Oh? This time it feels really bitter within my mouth!*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: ...

That's 500c down, and no progress yet. Maybe we ought to check the cookbook again?

JOSETTE: I already inputted this...

JOSETTE: Taste...?

JOSETTE: I wonder if there's a relation between this and the various sensations in the mouth?

Progress! Although, she doesn't ask us directly here. Unfortunately, we have to buy yet another bottle of seasoning, putting us down to a dangerous 100c.

For whatever reason, you can only carry 3 bottles max, despite there being a max of 5 each for the oils and needing 6 to complete this bit of learning.

One more bottle of seasoning later...

JOSETTE: These changing sensations in my mouth, are they good?*

*[YES]*

She gives us the same reaction as usual at the end of this, but if we go for the book again...

JOSETTE: Possibly...

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . . Say, Player-san...

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Is there a relation between taste and the varying sensations in the mouth?*

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: So I was right!

JOSETTE: Taste! I understand it now!

It only took almost every piece of corlo in our wallet, but we did! Huzzah!

...Well, uh... Neat.

If you're thinking we should head back to the Pub now, it's a good guess; however, going there only renders the same scene as last time with one small line said on us getting back to the Dolphin:

JOSETTE: It seems I have to practice a bit more...

We've never actually practiced cooking before! Sure, Josette knows how to flip a frying pan and she understands the base concepts of cooking, but she's never tried it herself!

As I throw the cookbook back into our inventory, we have another problem to consider: where do we even cook at?

The answer to that, is the lower floor of the Dolphin!

I sorta neglected to mention this ladder being here, next to the staircase in the room with the sofa but here it is.

Down she goes...

...It's a long ladder.

But here we are, the lowest floor of the Dolphin! There seems to be a sink here, two stoves here, and some sort of pipe with a window, and a door to somewhere.

Let's start with the sink. It turns on when Bird points at it.

JOSETTE: ???

JOSETTE: There's water coming out of it... so what?

Um...nothing really. It's just there to wash your hands-

wait, you've never washed your hands the entire time we've been here

no wonder the food tastes bad

Hovering over the door at the end of the room reveals it leads to a shower. I don't imagine a Gijin is subject to the same odors as us, but there's nothing to say she won't get dirty from external sources.

Keep in mind how many times Josette's been falling face first across the entirety of Blueland, the supposedly grimy floors of the Dolphin especially.

And so Josette goes in! As she's not on screen, I'll do my best to match the portraits to the emotion of the lines.

(You can also see one of the unfortunate visual artifacts caused by this render plugin, where the border around the screen leaves a pixel exposed on most sides.)

JOSETTE: Hm? What's this lever for...? Let's see what happens if I move it!

JOSETTE: Eeeek! Cold!

JOSETTE: Geez! Now I'm completely drenched! Undress...

JOS: Foam, foam... scrub, scrub...

JOSETTE: Ahh, that was cold...

I guess we don't pay for heating with 50c every night. That, or you just didn't find the heat lever. It could be either one.

JOSETTE: ... Oh? The clothes inside are getting pretty...

JOSETTE: ...

It would seem we have a washing machine as well.

JOS: By spinning around like this machine... do you get "pretty"?*

There's that thing where you spin in place to briefly flare out a skirt, and it's usually considered pretty, so I guess yes?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheheh...

Right now I'm preoccupied with wondering why we have a washing machine and why is it always running. Also, whose clothes are inside?! We still have all of Josette's clothes in the inventory!

Oh, right, we came down here to practice cooking. Now that Josette is clean, let's go and do that.

JOSETTE: I cooked it just as described in the book, but... Ah, that's right!

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: In cooking, taste is important, right!?*

Indeed it is!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I better practice then!

So we direct her to it again...

JOSETTE: Taste is essential in cooking!

JOSETTE: Let's prepare a dish with taste!

...And that's all we'll get now that we interact with the stove. I guess we're ready!

One last little practice with the pan, and I think we're ready.

Music: Karen's Pub

...and so the event continues as usual until...

JOSETTE: How is it?

KAREN: Not bad, Josette!

KAREN: This was quite a worthy effort!

Music: All Right!

JOSETTE: Really!?

Finally!

Music: Soothingness

KAREN: For sure. I'm not just trying to flatter you, it was really delicious!

JOSETTE: Yattaaaaa!

JOSETTE: Ehe ♪

...Um, do we get paid yet

please

I guess not.

Looks like I'll have to send Josette to do one of the free jobs.

GRANNY: The part-time job? Hehe... Well, I'll leave it to you then!

GRANNY: Your payment will be transferred to your account!

Wow, I wasn't aware Blueland had such forms of banking!

Music: "Do this! Do that!"

JOSETTE: Hey! Everyone, listen!

JOSETTE:: Come and watch a movie today! It's a great pastime ♪

Well, it's work. We see some familiar and some unfamiliar faces pass by as we do this.

And then we're back here.

So I have Josette do it again- it's not a very taxing job.

This should be 400c in our pocket for now, so I say we watch a movie and call it for the day.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Our choice of film for today is a production of Meoro and Lijuet by Iwillam Speareshakes. I think it's supposed to be famous or something.

oh wait, that's not the door

Luckily, it saves your choice even if you accidentally leave beforehand.

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: I had such strange feelings while watching this movie...

JOSETTE: Do you want me to tell you about the movie?*

Well, now I kinda have to know!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Aah!

Sometimes Josette doesn't actually show any written dialogue, but her voice clips do play something. Oh, right, she does have a decent number of voice samples, but it's far from full voice acting.

She's also the only character with a VA as far as I know!

JOSETTE: "Love" is when a man and a woman become all inseparable after having a talk...

JOSETTE: ...about this and that...

JOSETTE: ...?

JOSETTE: This might be quite unpleasant!

JOSETTE: But thinking about it gets me a little excited...

Ah, I see the film version must be more romance focused than the theatrical version. Less violence it seems, or maybe Josette just didn't notice it.

Anyways, it seems we've introduced her to the concept of romance! Hopefully this doesn't go poorly.

JOSETTE: Player-saaaaaan *

Yeah, we're still here!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Hehehe, so happy!

Oh, you might notice that our completion percentage has gone up to 8%!

We've managed to get Achievement 2: "Learned how to cook"! So that's nice.

JOSETTE: Oh, oh?

JOSETTE: Player-san!

JOSETTE: The balance circuit seems to have leveled up a bit!

Fantastic! I haven't seen you trip since the last time it leveled up, so I think that may be a thing of the past.

JOSETTE: I should be able to cross a log bridge now!

That's... oddly specific! Good to know, regardless!

With our cooking problems solved, I say it's time to call today, and today's update.

Next time, we're out to deliver justice to a no-gooder fish thief of a cat! How's that going to go? Only time will tell... but we'll also get up to some more town exploration too. All that spice eating took longer than I'd expected.

Since there's no vote on that front, why don't I go ahead and clear up another vote for sometime later? As it usually shows up sometime after Meoro and Lijuet in my experience, let's decide on who Player-san is!

1. Is Player-san a woman or a man?
2. Is Player san younger than Josette, about the same age, a young adult, middle aged, or in their elder years?
3. Is Player-san handsome/beautiful?

4. Occupation
If Josette's age or younger:
A. Junior High
B. Primary School

If older than Josette in some way:
C. Work at a company
D. Work odd jobs
E. Starting our own company?
F. Stay-at-home family member?
G. A freeloader?
H. A thug, who does things like gamble?
I. A thief?

5.Finally, do we like our school/work, and why?

...It's a really extensive list of things, but rest assured, Josette will ask us all of this at some point in one big flood of questions.

Posted: **Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:39 pm**

Update 09: "For great justice."

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

Morning, Josette!

Last time she learned how to properly cook, thanks to finally understanding the sense of taste after six bottles of mixed spices.

This time, we've got a bit of justice to deliver to our first trouble maker.

Our first order of business is to use some of our money on another stuffed cat. Josette ate the original one, if you don't remember.

JOSETTE: So cute...*

Unfortunately, our first step is that we'll need her to stop thinking cats are cute.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

In response, she only briefly glares at us. There's a reason why I went ahead and threw out the Pudding, there's a chance this goes quite poorly.

JOSETTE: Ey!*

The stuffed cat even rebounds off the wall from the kick and lands just behind her. This is the only means we have of fighting back, but...

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheheh...

JOSETTE: This thing, are you supposed to kick it?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: This had the feeling of giving a beating!

...I do have to worry what we're teaching her with this.

Music: Silence

No better time than the present to get it over with, I suppose.

*Josette enters the presently empty junkyard...*

In Blueland 2101

War was beginning

KATZE: Meow miaooow!?

*A wild Katze appears!*

Somebody set us up the bomb...

*Josette approaches...*

Take off every 'JOS'!!

JOSETTE: Hey, cat! Don't take the fish...

KATZE: Meow? ...gulp.

You know what you doing.

*Katze is kicked through the air and falls down slowly. She then runs away.*

JOSETTE: Bad cat!

JOSETTE: Beating!

For great justice.

JOSETTE: I've given it a beating!

JOSETTE: Eheheh...

While we're successful, I don't think we've taught Josette the best lesson. This is the only way to progress, as far as I know.

Some readers wanted to know if Josette would eat the cat, provided we taught her to. While I doubt she'd succeed in eating Katze, I don't actually know if this event is different if you teach her to eat the plush cat. Something to try out with the alternate reality updates, I suppose!

Well, anyways, let's go see how Fisher's doing.

JOSETTE: Mister Fisherman!

FISHER: What is it?

JOSETTE: That cat... I've given it a beating!

FISHER: Eh! Y-You really did?

Music: Soothingness

FISHER: So what did it do?

JOSETTE: It ran away.

FISHER: I see! Very well done! I hope it has learned a lesson now. Thank you!

FISHER: Let me reward you for such a well-done job, please have this!

*The light shines off some Corlo he somehow holds in the same hand as his trident...?*

JOSETTE: Eh? B-But I can't...

FISHER: Don't worry about it! It's much less than what I lose if my fish gets stolen.

JOSETTE: Thank you!

FISHER: Well, then, see you!

*And so he leaves...*

Well, we got paid today someh-

UNKNOWN: Pft! How nice. You've found quite a comfortable way of solving that issue, haven't you?!

Music: Silence

*Josette looks around...*

SAPPHIRE: Beating a bad behavior out of her, of course...!

Oh, we haven't seen you in a long while!

SAPPHIRE: A cat won't understand why you've done something so cruel to it.

SAPPHIRE: Violence is no joke! It's very serious!

*She runs past Josette.*

Music: Sadness

JOSETTE: Vio...

JOSETTE: ...lence...?

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Violence...?

JOSETTE: Violence?

She's not taking this too well, which is understandable.

You'd think she'd get mad at us, given we pretty much told her to do this, but no, not this time.

It did pay 1000c though! That's twice what we made working as a waitress, not considering the fact we only had the chance to do it once!

Despite the paycheck, I don't think mercenary work suits Josette very well. Let's see if we can maybe make her not kick animals.

JOSETTE: Ey!*

*[NO]*

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

Luckily, she still seems to be in an agreeable mood.

JOSETTE: So kicking it is wrong!

JOSETTE: But it had the feeling of giving a beating...

Well, hopefully she won't be kicking other animals she sees now.

JOSETTE: What am I supposed to do with it...? I don't get it.

Having previously taught her to think cats are cute, then having to do this has confused her quite a bit.

...But she's back to hugging it in just a little bit of time.

Been a busy morning, maybe we should show up to our job today, even if we did just make a tidy thousand from this.

Off to Karen's Pub! Maybe she can tell us something about Sapphire.

Music: Friendly Folks

HORS: Oh! It's Josette!

*And so Josette comes dashing in...*

MEN: Hello, Josette!

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: Wah!

Hey, they're finally not grumbling at us!

JOSETTE: Ahoyyy!

*And so she runs on...*

MEN: Hehehe...

Well, we've cheered them up quite a bit!

Music: Master Chef Gourmet

(A new track for a new character!)

KAREN: Oh? If it isn't Josette? You've come at a good time.

KAREN: I'll introduce you!

KAREN: This gentleman here is Gourmen-san, he's the best chef in the world.

Josette-yatta: Best in the world!? Amaaaaaaaaaaaazing!

GOURMEN: Hahaha... best in the world, that's a bit of an exaggeration, Karen.

It is a rather tall order. Still, this guy must be quite good.

KAREN: Ah, that's right...!

KAREN: Josette, wouldn't you like to have your cooking sampled by Gourmen? This is a chance very few people get.

JOSETTE: Ehhhhhh... But I'm...

GOURMEN: That's a good idea! I have eaten food from all around the world...

GOURMEN: ...but eating something handmade by a girl would be a first for me.

I'm not sure if Josette's at this level of cooking skill yet, (and neither is she, evidently,) but we have a chance at making it big.

GOURMEN: What do you say, would you let me eat a dish made by you?

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: If you deem my cooking worthy enough...

JOSETTE: Please do taste it!

KAREN: Gourmen will be staying for a while, come whenever you've prepared for it.

We'll definitely want to practice a bit. I suppose we're just never getting back to our waitressing job.

The truth of the matter is that we sorta jumped a flag inputting the cookbook so early. If Joss hasn't input the cookbook, then you can keep working the waitressing job without any interruptions.

JOSETTE: Yes!

JOSETTE: Leave it to me!

*And so she leaves for now...*

GOURMEN: Hahaha...

GOURMEN: What a bright and cheerful child. She also seems to really trust people. That's a rare trait these days.

KAREN: That's just the kind of person she is... that girl.

Well, we've got a new business opportunity, at least. Maybe this'll pay really well if it goes through.

While we're out on the town, let's go check on the cat, see if it's still around.

Music: Friendly Folks

KATZE: Miaow...

Katze-hiss: Hisssss!

JOSETTE: Cat! Don't steal the fish anymore, ok!?

Katze-hiss: Mraaaaaw!

*She jumps up at claws at the air!*

At least Josette is standing far enough away this time.

And there she goes!

JOSETTE: Mraaaaw!

JOSETTE: ...she said! Simply too funny.

Well, I guess everything's turned out okay, but if we want to do anything more with this, we'll need to explore the town a bit more.

Speaking of exploring, let's check out Gante's Boat Maintenance Shop. Is it a place we might want to find some work at in the future?

JOSETTE: ...

...Alas, there's nobody here. Maybe later, when we even know anything about submarines.

There were also some calls to go check out the Proton Mine out on the main Blueland isle. Let's try there.

Music: Siliconian Soldiers

JOSETTE: Wah! What's this place?

Aside from various pipe-laden silos in the distance, this place has definitely been dug-

UNKNOWN: You there!!

JOSETTE: Aah!

*A Siliconian soldier approaches!*

SOLDIER: If you've got no business here, get lost!!

JOSETTE: I'm sorry...

SOLDIER: If you intend to work here, register yourself over at the town hall first! At any rate, leave!

JOSETTE: ...?

They're so aggressive! Right, let's get out of here. Doesn't sound like we're seeing any more without a mining license.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

JOSETTE: I'm hoooome!

Well, that was quite a lot of adventure. What now?

JOSETTE: Excuse me...*

*[Yes]*

Yeah, sure, what's up?

JOSETTE: Uhh! It's nothing.

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Hey... I'd like to know more about you. Is it okay if I ask you something?*

Luckily, the thread has already voted on this! This is probably the biggest opportunity we get to define who Player-san is, and it's a incredibly nested series of questions.

While I won't cover the full extent of her responses here, I'll definitely show off some of the more entertaining ones. I show the entire chain in a bonus update.

But first, let's hand it over to Player-san.

-----------------------------

JOSETTE: Are you a woman?*

Yep!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheheh!

JOSETTE: Wah! Just like me! Hehehe...

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: How old are you, Player-san? ...about my age?

...Not exactly, but close.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Younger than me?*

Nope, other way.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...um, are you older than me?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Wah! I'm getting kinda nervous...

Sheesh, not that much older!

JOSETTE: Are you a young lady?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Wonderful!

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Player-san, are you beautiful...?*

*[Yes]*

Erm... yeah, definitely! "She's a real looker, that Player", they say! Haha...hah...

JOSETTE: Wah! I wish I could see your face...

That might cause some problems with this whole guardian angel thing if you could. Although, maybe it would make teaching a little easier...

I imagine it was hard enough to pick up these little signals across worlds anyways- makes my job a lot easier.

JOSETTE: Hey! Hey! Could I ask you more questions? *

*[Yes]*

Yeah, sure. I'm not going anywhere.

JOSETTE: What are your activities? Do you go to one of those... schools, is that it?

*[No]*

Nah, those are a few years behind me.

JOSETTE: Do you work?*

*[Yes]*

Pretty much.

JOSETTE: It must be exhausting!

JOSETTE: Do you work at... what people call a company?*

God no, although I did consider working at the big Macrosoffit one time. Decided it was a bad idea.

Kind of out of reach now, anyways.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Hmmmmmm???

JOSETTE: Then are you jobbing?*

*[Yes]*

...I guess that's the easiest way to explain it.

JOSETTE: Just like me! Just like me!

JOSETTE: Say, Player-san! ...is your work fun?

Sometimes...? I'll just say yes.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: That's good! Ehehe... Looks like you enjoy your work!

Whoa, like I said, only sometimes. If they think I like it, they'll give me an even bigger workload.

----------------------------------------------------

Player-san's specifically a beautiful young woman who works odd-jobs, but there's a lot of possibilities. I'm unfortunately running out of time to write this update, so I'll leave it on this note:

JOSETTE: I love grandmas!!

--------------------------
Voting:

We've got 1450c in pocket, so we can definitely afford to start buying into some other activities if we wanted to.

This time around, I'll give a more concise list of things we could do.

Pick 3 from the below list:

A. Let's impress the world-famous Gourmen!
B. Let's mess around on the lower floor of the Dolphin some more.
C. Step back and look into submarine operation and mechanics.
D. Explore the rest of the main Blueland Isle?
E. Explore some mines?
F. Go see whatever happened to that movie director?
G. Try and find Sapphire?
H. Try and find Pearl?

Posted: **Sat Apr 02, 2022 1:37 am**

Update 10: Time In A Frypan

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

JOSETTE: It's just water...

Welcome back! Today we have water.

But is it just water, or water of justice?

JOSETTE: Hm...

All I know is that Josette still doesn't know to wash her hands, and we've got a world-famous chef to impress.

Maybe the shower then?

JOSETTE: Nope, it's cold in there!

JOSETTE: ...

Aw, c'mon. Work with me here. You'll have to learn this eventually.

JOSETTE: I already told you I don't want to, it's cold in there!

Well, another time I guess. It's not like you trip face first onto the ground anymore, and all we've really done is cook and walk around for the last while, so you should be okay.

Up we go!

...and so we call it for today! We've got plenty of cash in pocket, no reason Josette can't go into her big performance fully refreshed.

Music: Good Night

JOSETTE: I wish you the most wonderful afternoon...*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheh.

Morning! Hopefully Josette's manners earn us extra points today.

One more try with the shower. One of the leading requests in last time's vote was to finish up everything down here, so I'm trying to make it happen.

JOSETTE: Hm?

JOSETTE: I smell something...

JOSETTE: It couldn't be... could it...?

JOSETTE: Hey, is this smell coming from me?*

I have no way of really knowing, only having sight and hearing, but I'm going to say yes and hope you don't notice that fact.

*[Yes]*

*clang*

JOSETTE: Gaaaaaaaaaah!

JOSETTE: Waaaaaaaah!

JOSETTE: That means I'm a filthy girl with a bad smell!

Hey, you get dirty fighting crime sometimes, but that's why we've got the shower. Before I get a chance to direct Bird...

JOSETTE: I'm kind of sad...*

One might think the correct response to this is a "yes", as in "I understand", like with the low energy question, but doing that here will keep Josette sad.

So we go with "no", despite the fact simply telling someone to cheer up usually accomplishes nothing.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

You only get this in response regardless of answer.

...But she is no longer visibly frowning while idle.

Still, we're not going to our big showing in a mood. Time to brighten up the morning with that Pudding we've got.

JOSETTE: Hah....

JOSETTE: I feel somewhat uneasy...*

Oh. Well, here's the last of the 4 main emotion circuits, uneasiness. It's rather rare, and this whole bit of learning is the only time I can recall seeing it.

The answer here is also "no", I think? I'm not entirely sure.

JOSETTE: S-So it is wrong...

We can afford no hesitation on the path of upholding justice... or something like that.

Anyways, let's turn this morning around with some sugary goodness.

JOSETTE: Yaaaaaaaaaay! It's pudding! ♪

*nom*

JOSETTE: Soooo deliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicious! ♪

It's worth noting she can taste this even before learning taste. I guess that artificial milk just sets off those receptors regardless.

I suppose robots would like the taste of artificial materials more than organic?

JOSETTE: I'd sure like to eat this again some time...*

*[Yes]*

You'd have to be stone cold to say "no" to this.

JOSETTE: Really!?

JOSETTE: It's a promise then! ♪

I'll have to remember to buy another at some point soon, just in case.

Definitely doesn't look like we're getting Joss cleaned up, so I guess we're just gonna have to go for it.

JOSETTE: Oh, oh?

JOSETTE: Player-san!

JOSETTE: The leg strength and the jump strength circuits seem to have leveled up!

JOSETTE: I should be able to jump over a gap now!

All that going up and down the ladder to get down here must have did the trick. If we have to pursue a no-gooder, it sounds like we're set.

Now, finally, we're out to town.

Music: Master Chef Gourmet

MEN: It's Josette!

*And indeed, Josette comes running onto the screen...*

RIDAL: Josette! Gourmen said he wants to sample your cooking!

HORS: That's really amazing! Go for it!

ROSTAM: U, u, u, uuuuuuuuu!

JOSETTE: Just leave it to me!

JOSETTE: Gonna give it my best!

MEN: We'll cheer for you.

Looks like we've made some friends out of these grumpuses

GOURMEN: There you are, young lady! Well then, pleas let me taste your cooking now!

GOURMEN: Put all your heart into it.

JOSETTE: Yes.

*And so Josette walks up to the counter as we fade out...*

JOSETTE: H-How does it taste...?

GOURMEN: ...

JOSETTE: ...

GOURMEN: Hmmm, it wasn't bad, quite definitely. But...

GOURMEN: Something was amiss.

JOSETTE: Eh? Amiss? D-Do you mean salt? Or is it pepper? Or do you mean...

Hopefully it's not due to extra flavoring from her unwashed hands.

KAREN: Josette... this will be your homework...

JOSETTE: Homework...

JOSETTE: Hah...

The correct response to homework. Speaking of, does Blueland even have an education system?

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Is there really something missing...?

Perhaps we missed something else in the cookbook?

Only one way to find out!

Alright, first up, let's check our frying pan technique.

Still good. Onto the book!

Jos-holdcbhap: I've inputted all information concerning cooking!

Darn.

I suppose the only thing left is to go on a training montage until we figure it out.

JOSETTE: Let's make Gourmen-san happy!

*And so, Josette cooks... something*

*No, seriously, I don't even know what she's cooking*

*After a few tries...*

JOSETTE: What is missing in my dishes?

JOSETTE: Hrm...

JOSETTE: What could it be?

JOSETTE: In any case, let's keep practicing!

So we shall!

JOSETTE: Is there something missing in my dishes?

JOSETTE: I still don't understand what it is...

Well, right now we've got spice, and maybe sugar...

Ah! That's it! We need "everything nice"!

JOSETTE: Right now I can only think about Gourmen's words, to put all my heart into it.*

Close enough!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eh?

JOSETTE: Mm...

Gg
JOSETTE: Ah! I got it!

...And now, after practicing, she doesn't wonder what she's missing anymore. I guess it's time to try it!

Here's to hoping we get a second chance!

Music: Master Chef Gourmet

It opens the same as last time but when Josette's made her dish...

Music: Silence

JOSETTE: H-How does it taste...?

GOURMEN: ...

JOSETTE: It's not good enough after all...

GOURMEN: ...

Music: All Right!

GOURMEN: Delicious!!

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: Are you sure!?

Yesss! Way to go Josette!

Music: Soothingness

KAREN: Ohhh? So even Gourman uses flattery every once in a while?

GOURMEN: Th-That's not it, Karen! It really is delicious!

GOURMEN: I've eaten many dishes in my life made by several different people, but something this delicious is a first to me!

Alright, way to go Josette!

GOURMEN: Hmm... I can't find the words, it's as if it wasn't made by a human being...

GOURMEN: Karen! This young lady, just what is she?

JOSETTE: Yattaaaa!

uh oh

*Josette sings to herself while these two talk*

KAREN: Uh... "What is she" you ask... Sh-She's just a normal girl.

*phew* Good save, Karen, thanks for the backup there.

KAREN: But for Gourmen to acknowledge her cooking... honestly, I'm astonished.

GOURMEN: Well, this really is impressing! There still seem to be many talented people in this world I don't know about.

GOURMEN: This old man still has a lot to learn... Thank you, Josette!

JOSETTE: Thanking me, that's...

JOSETTE: That's really embarassing.

JOSETTE: Eheh.

RIDAL: Did you see that?

HORS: Yeah...

RIDAL: The famous Gourmen has acknowledged Josette's talent...

ROSTAM: U, uuuuuu...

Music: Achievement

MEN: Amazing!

A new fanfare! This one only plays for big successes, such as moments like these!

...And then, most peculiarly, we fade to blue...

Music: Welcome, People of Blue Island!

(This track is the one I believe incorrectly plays when meeting Director Lumiere, but here it is for real.)

*We fade into a view of Blueland from a distance, like we first saw when arriving here.

Josette's offscreen for this, so I'll do what I can.*

JOSETTE: Player-san...

JOSETTE: I've recieved an invitation from Gourmen-san...

JOSETTE: "Come with me to my country, we could work on improving your skills..."

JOSETTE: "You've got everything it takes to become the world's best chef."

JOSETTE: I felt very honored when I heard that...

JOSETTE: But... I refused his offer.

JOSETTE: Why did I do that, you ask...? Because...

*Josette fades into view*

JOSETTE: I have a country of my own to go back to...

*We change to a view of a familiar island...*

JOSETTE: The place I grew up in...

JOSETTE: Corlo Island.

Music: Silence

This would normally bring us back to the world map, but I'm going to go ahead and link this with the rest of the resolution of the events in this storyline.

Her decision regarding the invitation made, Josette heads back to the Pub...

*Josette runs in through the door and looks around.*

JOSETTE: Oh? Where is everyone...?

*So she runs further in...*

JOSETTE: What's the problem, everyone?

Hm, everyone's all here, but...

MEN: ...

KAREN: ...

JOSETTE: Uh...

I guess turning down the invitation wasn't-

Music: Welcome, People of Blue Island!

MEN: Thank you!

JOSETTE: Eh?!

JOSETTE: Thank you...? Wh-What's going on here?

KAREN: Josette, it might be sad for you to hear this...

KAREN: ...but you can't work here anymore.

JOSETTE: Eh? Did I do something wrong...?

KAREN: No, it's not your fault. Most of this island's fishermen will go fishing somewhere very far... for who knows how long...

KAREN: And this place is mostly a hang-out for fishermen, without them it's pretty much empty. So we'll be closing for a while.

...Well, there goes our only job.

RIDAL: While we're still on the island...

RIDAL: We want to express our gratitude to you, Josette.

JOSETTE: Gratitude...?

HORS: Yes, thanks to you we have become more like what we used to be in the days of yore...

ROSTAM: U, uuuuuu ♪

KAREN: Thanks to Josette, these guys have somehow changed.

KAREN: How to phrase it... they've somehow become more balanced.

RIDAL: This is an expression of our feelings! Please accept it...

*And so they hand Josette some money. She looks at it for a moment...*

JOSETTE: Th... thank you...

*Another fade to blue takes us to a view of Karen and Josette standing and watching the fishing ships go out to sea.*

JOSETTE: Player-san...

JOSETTE: After that happened, the majority of this island's fishermen left to go fishing.

JOSETTE: I feel really lonely now that I can't work at Karen's Pub anymore.

JOSETTE: But the day will come when I can work there again, and I'm looking forward to it!

JOSETTE: Until then, I have to keep going.

And so we've reached the end of the first storyline! Don't worry, this doesn't lock us out of any content. We just happened to beeline this thanks to picking up cooking so early.

Next time, I'll be handling the other most voted options (namely the cinema and the mine) as I need some time to pass before we can resolve the rest of the cleanliness thing.

What other adventures lie in store for our Gijin Girl of Justice? You'll just have to tune in next time!

(Also, since we've hit the end of a mini-storyline and it's been 10 updates, I'll probably be taking next week off to catch up on some other stuff.)

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2022 2:55 pm**

The long and short of it is that I'll unfortunately need another week for both of my LPs. I've just been too busy with other stuff these last few days to have a chance to write an update for either.

The thing is, I've got a bunch more projects than just these LPs, and occasionally they get unstuck and just consume all my creative energy for a while. Until, of course, they inevitably hit another sticking point, crash and burn, and leave me free for other creative pursuits. But hey, any progress is progress, and maybe one day I'll have one that just keeps going without getting stuck on something.

I should be back on schedule this week, whether this current pursuit crashes and burns like usual or I have to set time aside to make these updates.

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2022 5:20 pm**

Don't worry, take your time.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2022 3:26 pm**

Update 11: In Which Josette Learns To Swear

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Welcome back, folks! I'm back from my impromptu break.

Last time, we turned down working for the greatest gourmet in the world and also got laid off from our job at the Pub following that.

We did however get a nice thank you gift in the form of 10,000 Corlo!

After struggling to keep up on cash for a while, we're now sitting at a comfy 11,400c, which should supply the large majority of Josette's future endeavors.

JOSETTE: The world Player-san lives in and the world I live in are different, right?

JOSETTE: Why did the doctor entrust me to a person from a completely different world...?

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: Uh, uhm, I was just talking to myself...

JOSETTE: Don't take it to heart, ok?!*

Nah, don't worry about it. It's a pretty reasonable thing to consider.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: I'm relieved...

If we said no there, she just gets a little sad and apologizes, nothing much really.

JOSETTE: Let's do something, ok?*

Yeah, we probably should. It's been two weeks since I put out an update!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Is is okay if we chat a bit?*

It's as good a time as any!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Uh, let's see...

JOSETTE: Well, uhhh...

JOSETTE: I'm... selfish, right?*

Uh... well it is mostly us doing stuff for you, but I think it's more a matter of us being selfless rather than you being selfish. You're cooperative most of the time, at least.

We'll go with no on this, regardless.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: That's not true... I'm always acting so selfishly...

JOSETTE: I'm sorry.

JOSETTE: ...Eheh.

The alternate route this conversation can take is worth a look though:

-----------------------------------------------------------

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I-Is that so?!

JOSETTE: And Player-san is not selfish!?*

We could say yes here, and she would call us out as a liar, so "no" it is. You can also just not respond at all, and it'll make her angry.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: You're honest...

JOSETTE: ...

-----------------------------------------------------------

We're all selfish in some capacity, really.

Now, off we go to adventure! Our first destination is to check out the film studio, to see whatever happened to Lumiere.

Music: Friendly Folks

*Josette walks onto the scene...*

Oh, hey, it's Pearl! We haven't seen her in a while.

...and those other three girls are here too. Ugh.

ALAN: Today we're auditioning for the part of of heroine in our upcoming movie!

ALAN: If you've seen many movies and have confidence in your acting skills, feel free to participate!

Open audition? This might just be our chance at stardom! A movie star is a perfect daytime cover for the Corlo Crusader.

PEARL: My, that sounds interesting!

HILDA: Pearl-sama, are you going to give it a try?

SALLY: I'm sure they'd choose you in a heartbeat!

ROSA: You'd be an amazing movie star!

PEARL: No way... if I was to become a movie star... oh... what...

PEARL: ...should

PEARL: I

PEARL: dooooo?!

Well, it looks like we'll have some competition for the role. I guess Lumiere's making his own film or something?

We'll add it to the list of things we could do next. Winning out over Rosa and the others would be a good way to show them who's the real nerds here.

Somewhere we also haven't been yet is the Blueland Forest. Should be nice to get away from all the urban landscape for a while.

JOSETTE: Waaaahhhh!♪

JOSETTE: Player-san!♪

Music: Oh Forest, Answer Me...

(A new track! This one's a mix of Josette's ocarina playing Corlo Forest's theme, with the backing of Blueland's "Island of Meeting and Partings".)

JOSETTE: Look!♪

JOSETTE: Looooook!♪

She just teleports around the screen for this- I'm not exactly sure why the second one is the only one that has her larger and offset. It does get your attention, this I cannot deny.

JOSETTE: It's just like Corlo Forest!

We get a brief fade in and fade out indeed showing Corlo Forest in the background.

JOSETTE: My ♪ The flowers are blooming!

JOSETTE: Beautiful, beautiful! ♪

Given we've been away from her home for about a week now, this has to be a welcome sight-

MYSTERIOUS VOICE: Help me...

Music: Silence

*She looks around for a moment.*

JOSETTE: Just now... was that Player-san?

JOSETTE: But that's impossible, right...

JOSETTE: Then who was it...?

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Creeeepyyy!

*And then she takes off at high speed, breaking the sound barrier!*

No wait, Josette! We might be able to help them!

...Ah, she's gone already. Some other time, perhaps.

Up next, the Public Offices Square! Surely there's someone to talk to here.

Music: Friendly Folks

Well, there seems to be lots of people! In fact, the commotion is enough to nearly drown out the music. Mr. Fisher, some unnamed construction crew, the mean girl trio...

This guy with the big scar down his face...

Siliconian Soldiers following behind him...

JOSETTE: Wah! There are so many people!

At last, Josette finally makes it on scene.

JOSETTE: E-excuse me!

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Uh...

Unfortunately, there's so many people that there's really nowhere to be here. The maximum conversation capacity has seemingly been reached.

JOSETTE: Hah...

...There was also three soldiers rushing off in the direction of the air fields. I wonder what that's about?

I guess we can go see.

Music: Siliconian Threat

...This music doesn't bode well.

REVOLUTION GROUP MEMBER: Siliconians, wake up!

REVOLUTION GROUP MEMBER: What you're doing is called murder!

...We fade into three soldiers pointing their guns at the screen!

SOLDIER: AIM!

REVOLUTION GROUP MEMBER: Viva la revolucion!

SOLDIER: Fire!!

*GUNSHOT*

Music: Confrontation

*Josette walks onto the scene...*

...Yikes, at least Josette didn't get to see it happen. She still doesn't know what death is, but a firing squad execution wouldn't do her any good to see.

Also, hey, Ridal.

JOSETTE: What's going on?

RIDAL: Don't you understand? They've just executed another member of the revolution group.

RIDAL: Honestly, what a terrible story.

JOSETTE: Revolution group? Executed?

SOLDIER: You! Watch what you're saying!

RIDAL: Tch...

JOSETTE: Scary...

Lest you forget that this island is under rather aggressive military occupation and it's a colony only in the sense of a hostile takeover.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

Well, let's just put that all behind us for now and go check out the Computershop with all this cash. Josette is surprisingly unbothered by this recent showing of military oppression.

I start out by loading up fully on Health & Mind Oils, as well as grabbing another Pudding.

This leaves us with 10,000c exactly, so I spend 1000c of that on the Mecha Manual. This will let us learn about how to get this submarine moving.

I'll save the other 9,000c for what we plan on doing next.

For a change of pace, let's look into our new book to see what it's all about.

JOSETTE: This seems to be for training your legs...*

Instead of reading it, Josette has opted to just falcon kick the book, ricocheting it around the room. It seems like her leg strength starts to apply for all things she can kick.

Every time she would improve her leg strength, Josette now reminds us she can jump over gaps. It can get a little tiring when you're still trying to grind it up a bit further, or she just opts to kick things at random.

JOSETTE: My! I can read this! What's it about. . . . . . .

JOSETTE: It describes how to use the Engine Panel. . . . . .

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!?

Josette luckily decides to read it on the second try. She's getting better at it, at least. I have, as usual, also truncated a lot of ". . . ."

JOSETTE: Player-san... This looks like some fairly difficult material...

JOSETTE: As usual, it will consume a lot of willpower energy...

JOSETTE: Should I try it?*

It sounds a bit risky, but... go ahead...?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Got it! I will give it my best next time!

JOSETTE: Alright! Setting brain power output to 120%! Josette's going at it now!!

Maximum reading power, GO!

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . !!

JOSETTE: Input done!!

I guess she's alright then. Doesn't even look like it has affected the MP meter, but it could be just a few points away from showing yellow.

Sometimes Josette can input a book, be talking to you fine, and then immediately collapse after the conversation is done- it's difficult to gauge how taxing a book will really be.

I suppose the next step will be to go ahead and tweak that engine panel.

JOSETTE: I got it!

*And so she works on it for a few moments...*

JOSETTE: Set-up of the panel, all dooooooone!

Well, that was quick and painless.

There's nothing else to learn from this book, so I guess we're ready to try and pilot our submarine?

Perhaps it'd be best if we asked Fisher for some advice first.

Off to the other pier we go!

We come into view of two distantly familiar faces, Doro and Bou, and some kid with shaggy hair and a long red sash.

Music: It's Pokko!

In fact, the kid even gets an intro fanfare, so evidently he's on the same level of importance as Pearl.

DORO: ...Also, be sure to listen to Karen, Pokko.

POKKO: Okay.

Music: Soothingness

JOSETTE: Ah, it's Doro and Bou! Doro! Bou! It's been a while!!

DORO: Well, if it isn't Josette!

BOU: You look well. How's it going?

Well, we almost got hired to be a world-famous gourmet chef, we saw a firing squad today, and we still don't know how the shower works. We also delivered justice to a no-good cat. Things are okay, I guess?

Josette doesn't get a chance to respond though. I guess it's more of a pleasantry and less of an actual question.

DORO: Oh, that's right... I'll introduce you!

DORO: This is Pokko. He will be living on this island starting today. Please be nice to him, Josette!

BOU: Now, Pokko! Where are your manners? Greet Josette.

POKKO: ...

Music: Oh No!

POKKO: Beeeeeeh!

DORO: Wait! Pokko!

...and then he runs off. Great. This kid seems like a bundle of fun.

BOU: Sigh... that boy can't be helped.

And so the screen closes out on Josette's particularly annoyed face.

JOSETTE: What's wrong with that boy?

JOSETTE: Pisses me off...

Hey, I didn't teach you that language, young miss!

...eh, you're old enough anyways.

JOSETTE: Kiiiiiiiiiiiiihh!!

Well, uh, here's Josette in a complete tantrum. Pokko's a jerk, but I'm not sure if he warrants this much of a response, this is pretty much maximum anger.

JOSETTE: I'm a little... pissed off.*

Just a little?

I suppose this is as good a time as any to leave it here. I think I said I'd head to the mine in the last update, but exploring the rest of the island took up most of this update.

We've got a variety of things to do, so I'll put them together in what fits best:

A. Let's aim for some underwater adventuring!
B. Spend some cash and get into the mechanics business.
C. Into the mines we go!
D. Meet up with Pearl and start the road to becoming a movie star?
E. Whatever happened to Sapphire?
F. What's the deal with that haunted forest?
G. Just wander around the town some more.

Vote for 3 of the above options. You can also vote for us to buy some stuff, if you want, and I'll put it on the list. I'll fit it in when the time is right.

I think the new update pattern I'm going to try is to make 2 updates out of every voting session, that way I can prepare at least 1 update in reserve.

-----------------------------------------------------------

COMPUTERSHOP LIST:

Here you can find the full list of stuff available at the Computershop- if you want to buy something, vote for it!

Posted: **Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:22 pm**

Alright, votes tallied, it looks like our focus will be Going underwater, investigating the haunted forest, and going undercover at the movie studio!

I'll wrangle myself two updates out of this, and then we'll go from there.

Posted: **Fri Apr 29, 2022 10:48 pm**

Update 12: Fins to the East, Fins to the West

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

We have returned, and Josette is pissed. Just a little.

Not at us though, at the mannerless scarf kid.

Responding either way to this will clear the mood, although ignoring her will predictably do nothing about it.

If we say "Yes"...

JOSETTE: Yes, yes!

We get a little sassy mocking in return, or more of an "fine, whatever," depending on how you read it.

Saying "No"...

JOSETTE: Hmph! If Player-san says so.

Yeah, just chill a bit, Joss. He'll get his fair share eventually.

Yep, she's cooled down.

The psychic collective that determines Player-san's decisions has opted to check out under the sea today, and to investigate the forest and the movie studio at some time in the future.

Going to the fishing dock for some advice from Fisher gets us nothing. There's the dock horn going off, but that's about it.

We'll come back later then. He'll probably be around eventually.

But on returning to the Dolphin...!

Music: Silence

It's Pokko again! He's staring at our ship.

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: May I help you!?

*He turns to face Josette, looking on sadly.*

POKKO: ...

JOSETTE: ?

...And so he runs off like usual, Josette just shrugging at us.

Well, that happened. Off to underwater exploration!

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

To the cockpit! Man the helm!

JOSETTE: Set-up of the panel is done.

JOSETTE: I should input the Book of Ships into my system!

Hm, I guess the Mecha Manual is just an instruction manual for setting up a sub.

Either in a nice bit of convenience or coincidence, when we go to buy at COMPUTERSHOP, it's already got the Book of Ships readied for us to buy.

Sure, it's another 1000c out of our pocket, but we'll still have 8,000c and that's plenty. It promises we can become an accomplished fisherman by reading it, and that might be a pretty good cover story for our vigilante efforts.

And then I accidentally pointed to the wrench because the input to go to the inventory was being finicky for some reason.

JOSETTE: Player-san is being so kind...

JOSETTE: It scares me sometimes...

Fair enough, I'd imagine having a guardian angel has to be kind of weird.

Despite having read multiple books before, Josette is still inclined to not read new ones.

I have to give her a hard NO on both balancing it and kicking it before we get her to look inside.

JOSETTE: Will I be able to understand this...?

JOSETTE: Operation Method 1, Set-up of the Engine Panel... hehhhh! I see!

JOSETTE: So a ship won't move unless you set-up the Engine Panel!

Makes you wonder how this sub got here without it's panel settings done. I guess someone just parked it here messed up the settings and left.

Really, we don't get a lot of explanation of where the Dolphin comes from, aside from that it's a really old model.

This book is also our first book of the kind that take many, many reads to get anything done with. Josette might be able to absorb a language book and an instruction manual in one go, but this one's real dense in information.

JOSETTE: Ok, I'll give it a serious read! Hmmmmmm... This looks very difficult to understand....

JOSETTE: This will consume a considerable amount of willpower energy, input it anyway?*

Yeah, go ahead. It is worth noting that the reading we've done so far has put her Mental Power in the yellow range already. I told you we were close to it last time.

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: I'm going to try it next time, then!

JOSETTE: Player-san! It's not possible to put out more items than this...

I try to throw out some Mind Oils to go ahead and get Josette's MP back up, but we run into the item cap of 5 items on screen. I go ahead and throw the other books and the cat back into our inventory.

JOSETTE: So upbeat and motivated! All right!

Get to chugging, Joss, we got reading to do! Since these increase Max MP, I reckon we go ahead and down a few so we can get all this reading done.

JOSETTE: Say! Is this a drink for increasing the willpower circuit capacities?*

Indeed it is! I forgot we haven't completely reinforced properly drinking these yet rather than eating the can.

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: Am I right?*

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: I got it!

JOSETTE: ...*

Josette please don't throw the oil

the ship is dirty enough

*[NO]*

JOSETTE: Doesn't seem that you're supposed to throw this...

There ya go.

JOSETTE: Violence?

Josette takes a second to remind us of the concept of violence before she gets back to drinking.

After downing three, I think we should have enough capacity built up to absorb the contents of this book.

JOSETTE: Ok, input, input!

JOSETTE: Let's see, let's see... Chapter 1 Activating the Engine...

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After a bit, she puts it down and yawns. She will do this after every chapter of the book she inputs- reading so much is hard work.

JOSETTE: I'm not all that sure... but I think I've understood it for the most part!

From there she puts it down again. We'll have to go through this a lot, so I'll just skip over the repeated dialogue.

JOSETTE: The method to turn on the engine has been inputted, so... next is chapter 2!

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

JOSETTE: I still don't understand it.

*Read again*

JOSETTE: I'm not all that sure... but I think I've understood it for the most part!

Some sections will take multiple reads as well. There is a lot of reading, but at least that's Chapter II down.

JOSETTE: Player-san... My willpower energy is running low. We better stop here...

Helpfully, she'll stop us when her MP hits yellow. This won't stop her from reading a book if she's sitting on the edge of blue, but it does make for a nice reminder when your grinding a specific item.

Since we're taking a break anyways, I sell the empty bottles leftover from our oil chugging. This gets you 10c back, but more importantly lets the Computershop restock that type of oil so you can buy back up to the max of 5 in inventory.

Following this, we go ahead and hit the couch for the day. A lot's happened!

JOSETTE: I wish you the most wonderful afternoon...*

Hey, you too! It's gonna be a wonderful afternoon filled with, guess what?

: Inputting it!

More knowledge!

JOSETTE: Activated the engine and underwater navigation are inputted, next is chapter 3!

JOSETTE: Hmhm...? Chapter III The Pilot System

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . . .

JOSETTE: I still don't understand it...

So we'll have to read it again!

*And so we do...*

JOSETTE: I'm not all that sure... but I think I've understood it for the most part!

JOSETTE: Activating the engine, underwater navigation and the pilot system have been inputted, so...

JOSETTE: ...going to input chapter 4 next! Hmhm...?

JOSETTE: Chapter IV The Fish Capturing System . . . . . . .

This also takes a second read to fully input. I'll skip over that, the result is the same.

JOSETTE: Ehehe! ♪

JOSETTE: . . . . . . . . .

JOSETTE: Activating the engine, underwater navigation, the pilot and the fish capturing system.

JOSETTE: ... I've inputted everything for now!

JOSETTE: Just leave it to me!

JOSETTE: Maybe...

So much reading, but thankfully that's over with. We can pilot the Dolphin now!

We're also up to 12% achievement rating over our previous 8% thanks to this breakthrough.

But before we go annoy fish, off we go to get that Fisherman registration.

Costs us a tidy 500c, but this will pay for itself easily, trust me.

While we're here, let's go ahead and stop off by the haunted forest and see what's up.

Music: Silence

*Josette walks into the scene and...*

FEMALE VOICE: Let's sing a song, sing a song! ♪

JOSETTE: Aah!

JOSETTE: Eeeeeeeek!

JOSETTE: Ewwwwwwwwww. Player-saaaaaan! There's another strange voice.

FEMALE VOICE: Lalalalaaaaa! ♪

JOSETTE: Aaaaah!

JOSETTE: ...

I don't know, Joss, this ghost doesn't seem that threatening. I guess since Player-san can't talk, she's not used to disembodied voices yet.

*Suddenly, a figure in blue and yellow walks by the screen, too close to discern who!*

JOSETTE: !

JOSETTE: Hmm?

JOSETTE: Who was that?

JOSETTE: ...?

And so she leaves.

Perhaps next time, we'll get to confront the mysterious figure!

So instead, it's off to Pier No.1 to see if Fisher came back.

Music: Friendly Folks

JOSETTE: Mister Fishermaaaaaaan!

FISHER: Hm? What is it?

JOSETTE: I've registered myself in the town hall. So please let me work as a fisher...!

JOSETTE: Fisher... hm... man? No, fisherwoman... Uh... I guess that's it.

FISHER: I see... Alright! Then let's give it a try!

JOSETTE: Yaaaaay! ♪

FISHER: .....hm, however, I should say that...

*This complication of the situation causes Josette to fall off balance and trip out of her spinning in place.*

FISHER: It's actually not that simple!

What do you mean, not that simple? We got the registration, and we got the skills, it should be pretty easy, I'd think.

FISHER: If you want to become a fisherman, there are several conditions you need to fulfill!

JOSETTE: Con... ditions?

FISHER: That's right! There are 3 conditions! First, you need to have a ship!

FISHER: Second, you need to be able to fully operate it. And third and most important...

FISHER: You need to find the fisherman's treasure which is hidden somewhere in the sea. The treasure is a small seashell.

"This is your mission, Corlo Crusader, should you choose to accept it."

JOSETTE: Fisherman's... treasure? Seashell?

JOSETTE: Why would I search for something like that?

FISHER: ...? Hmm, there's no particularly deep meaning behind it. I guess it's a custom that' has been passed through many generations.

JOSETTE: I see... it's a custom, then.

Josette is sad is has nothing to do with pudding, money, or justice, presumably.

FISHER: Anyhow, once you've found it, drop by again! I'll approve of you as a fisher then. Well, give it your best! Bye!

JOSETTE: The fisherman's treasure...

JOSETTE: Hmm...

JOSETTE: Where could it be hidden?

It seems we have a quest! Until we get approved as a fisher, we can't get paid for any fish we catch, so it's rather top priority.

Oh, and Pokko's outside our ship again. This'll happen every time we manually return to the ship until we progress his storyline some more.

That can wait though, let's see him try to stare at our ship when we're underwater!

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

JOSETTE: I've inputted the book about controlling the Dolphin, but...

JOSETTE: I don't have much confidence in actually doing it...

JOSETTE: But... should I try it anyway? Doki doki... (heartbeat)*

Yeah, go for it! What's the worst that can happen?

_{...Actually a lot of stuff, but let's not worry about that.}

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: Eh? Y-You really want me to try it!?

*[YES]*

JOSETTE: For real...

JOSETTE: Hah...

JOSETTE: Doki doki doki (heavy heartbeat)

She's real anxious about doing this, but we've got it. Think of all the no-gooder fish in the sea!

JOSETTE: Alright!

JOSETTE: I'll steer the ship, Player-san will give the directions!

JOSETTE: Forgive me if my steering is poor! I'm sure I'll improve with time...

She'll even say this later once her steering is improved.

JOSETTE: Josette heading out!

*We cut out to a view of the Dolphin from the docks*

JOSETTE: Player-san, a message from Bird! Controls of the Dolphin!

JOSETTE: Accelerate with the A Button! Slow down with the B Button!

JOSETTE: If you want to go up, move the 3D-Stick down!

JOSETTE: If you want to go down, move the 3D-Stick up!

JOSETTE: The Z-Trigger will fire the fishnet! If you want to return, press the R-Button!

Here's the controls, for anyone who wants to know. The Y-axis is inverted, but I guess in theory that's how real submarines work? I know planes do, at least.

Following this message, the Dolphin begins to descend backwards under the water with the rush of water! We also get a new track:

Music: Bon Voyage!

This will get stuck in your head as you play the game, as you can easily spend a ton of time underwater.

It's in 3D!

That's right, using the full capacities of the N64 here, folks!

After a neat pan around the whole vehicle I can't capture in a reasonably sized .gif, the Dolphin takes off into the shadows of the seas!

And here we are! We get to pilot the Dolphin around ocean ravines with our perspective just behind Josette's noggin. To the left of said noggin is our compass that will let us keep our bearing a little bit better down here.

It's very, very dark as well, I can only imagine what this looked like on a warm colored CRT. I guess I'll find out the answer for myself if I have to run through the game on the JP cart for emulation reasons.

Alas, there's no fun little animations of Josette doing stuff while we drive around, the HUD here is pretty static. Missed opportunity, but they already poured a lot in this game to start with.

Oh, hey, a fish! Let's chase it down!

I can tell by the shape and the fact it's slowly swimming away from us, that this is a dolphin. Not technically a fish, but the other sea life we see down here is.

We could shoot our net at this and catch it, but it wouldn't get us anything until we get that approval. Also Josette drives incredibly slow right now.

We should get on that.

Not far ahead of where we started is an iron door in the wall! A secret lair of villainy perhaps?!

We are prompted for a password when we approach, and since we know no password, I mash some random buttons. That always works, right?

*beep**beep**beep**beep*

UNKNOWN: Leave...

Oh. Darn. I guess-

*CLANG*

For a brief moment, a tail fin blinks past our field of view. Something just attacked us?!

Evildoer fish, show yourself!

JOSETTE: Hah, so you've come to fight, eh?

*ROAARAWR*

JOSETTE: Gotcha!

JOSETTE: That'll teach ya, you bully!

The fishnet launches out with a rush as it cuts through the water, where it will fly out for a distance and return if it nabs a fish or goes far enough.

In our case, we just nabbed a shark, the only other sea life down here. Yeah, apparently the Blueland diet is dolphin and shark- I guess that explains the submarine designs.

Sharks are blue with orange-ish fins, and they're the easiest to catch because they're needlessly aggressive and will charge you for no reason, swim away, strafe a bit, and then repeat. All you have to do is level their charge with a net.

(Josette also doesn't say anything outside of a few rare situations, but I'll add a bit of dialogue from time to time to spice things up.)

Speaking of, they do damage our sub when they ram us, the same way we'd get hurt if we bump into a wall or the floor. The Dolphin's got a good amount of HP, and when it starts to get low, a siren will go off and warn us.

Luckily, we don't have to pay anything for repairs as long as we don't get totally wiped out down here.

Not too far past the iron door is these strange orange brick platforms. They surround a deep-ish pit, and- hey, what's that down there?

It's a shell!

Music: All Right!

JOSETTE: Yay! I've found the Fisherman's Treasure!

Well, that was rather easy. We pretty much just went straight from where we started! I suppose it's-

*CLANG*

ow

It's really easy to bump into the wall here and when at the password door. We're fine though!

A little fine navigating and we're out of that pit without any more damage.

It's not too hard to find interesting things down here, in part due to how the render distance fog kinda has some blind spots. This is partially due to the emulator, but it happens a bit anyways.

A bit more sailing around and I get us a better view of a dolphin. They've actually got these rather spooky carapaced black skin plates and shining white eyes. They're not your everyday dolphin, at least.

JOSETTE: Ewww! These look kind of scary...

*SQUEAK*

Since they only flee from you, and will outspeed you, you have to corral them into a corner and catch them on the turnaround. They sound rather squeaky when you catch them.

Sailing around a bit-

*CLANG*

JOSETTE: Eeek!

JOSETTE: Darn sharks...

Fish spawn when you pass through certain invisible zones, and sharks almost always spawn somewhere behind you so they can get a free cheap shot, the jerks.

At least sharks are much easier to catch.

JOSETTE: Eh!? Do you want to return to Blueland?*

Hitting R brings up the prompt to return back. We'll say yes for now, as we've got a treasure to turn in!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: That's too bad...

JOSETTE: Alright then, the autopilot will get us home ♪

And from there, the sub will turn towards our dock and sail to it briefly as we fade out.

And with the rush of water, the Dolphin emerges at a somewhat high angle and slowly floats down to it's usual resting place.

That'll be all for today- who knew learning how to pilot a sub took so much work?

See you next time, where we catch up with Pearl and see about those movie auditions. The stage calls! Forsooth!

Posted: **Fri May 06, 2022 4:06 pm**

Update 13: Girl Talk

We have returned from our underwater adventures!

With the Fisherman's Treasure in hand, we can finally get Josette accepted as a fisherwoman!

No time to waste, off to Dock No.1 we go!

Music: Friendly Folks

JOSETTE: Old Man! ♪

FISHER: Wow! You scared me!!

FISHER: What... it's you, girl.

Evidently he's shocked enough to not notice the "old man" part.

JOSETTE: I've found iiiiit!

FISHER: Eh!?

JOSETTE: Hehehe... Here! Look, look!

FISHER: What is it?

*He walks closer.*

FISHER: Geh!? Th-This is!

JOSETTE: Yes! It's the fisherman's treasure!

JOSETTE: With this I have fulfilled the requisites, right!?

*Fisher blinks for a moment.*

He really wasn't expecting us to come back so soon I guess.

FISHER: Eh!? Ah, ahhh! Th-That's correct...

JOSETTE: You're going to approve of me as a fisher now, right?

FISHER: Eh? Ah! R-Right, I should do that! ...Here, take this!

*Josette obtains an ID card.*

FISHER: This s a membership certificate from the Blueland Fishing Association.

FISHER: With this you can make a lot of money with the deep sea fish you catch. Fish sells at very high prices. Well, I think that should give you plenty of motivation!

FISHER: But first of all you should look at the membership certificate, since there's a password written on it.

JOSETTE: Yattaaaaaa! ♪

Hmm, a password? Didn't that mysterious metal door ask for a password?

Could be worth looking into sometime.

(I somehow missed that bit of dialogue the first time I played this game, which had me searching for it for quite a while.)

*Josette runs off.*

FISHER: But... is this for real? This cute girl, she just...

FISHER: It took me 3 months to find the treasure...! Ah... I feel so useless.

Fisher-cry: Tohohoho...

I guess that explains why he was so surprised about it.

We'll check out that password some later date, next up on our objectives is to enter into the acting industry!

Should we go to the movie studio now, we only see the same scene as before. This is a sure sign we're not far enough in someone's storyline to progress this yet.

Well, we don't know where Pearl hangs out, but we do know where the snob trio does.

To the park we go!

Music: Soothingness

PEARL: What kind of behavior is that!?

Well, hey, there's Pearl!

*Josette walks onto the scene.*

ROSA: Ah! Pearl-san!

PEARL: Oh ♪ Josette!

JOSETTE: Pearl-san!

PEARL: I'm sorry...

PEARL: My friends have been very rude to you.

PEARL: Now, everyone! Apologize!

GIRLS: We're sorry...

I don't know how sincere that actually was, but I suppose it's justice nonetheless?

JOSETTE: Um... please, you don't have to worry about me.

PEARL: But doesn't that make you happy, Josette?

JOSETTE: Yes?

PEARL: Well, you could become our friend if you wanted to.

JOSETTE: Eh? Friend?

PEARL: Everyone! You all agree, right?

Music: All Right!

Girls-swoon: Yeeeees! ♪

PEARL: Ehehehe...

JOSETTE: Wah!

We have friends!

I'm not sure if they're necessarily the best friends, but we have them! Pearl's rather nice though.

JOSETTE: Uhm...

JOSETTE: A friend... what's that?

JOSETTE: Ah! It would be so much easier if I could hear your voice.

If you could, then this would be Hey, You, Pikachu, or like an early version of that one PS2 game that controls by voice.

Anyways, without any new developments on our movie star front, I suppose we go engage in *Girl*Talk*

Back to yon parkenplaza!

Music: Friendly Folks

PEARL: Oh my! I don't believe it!

HILDA: But, doesn't it look a lot like a beetle?

SALLY: Ehhhhh!? No it does not!

ROSA: It doesn't! It doesn't!

Apparently *Girl*Talk* is actually about bugs.

*Josette arrives!*

SALLY: Ah! It's Josette!

PEARL: Josette! Would you listen to this? That Hilda is saying cockroaches are cute!

SALLY: Hilda is definitely weird, right?

HILDA: Am I...?

PEARL: Josette, you hate cockroaches too, right? A normal girl is afraid of cockroaches, right?

Two sides, but which is correct? Is there a neutral path?

JOSETTE: Uh... Uhm...

JOSETTE: A cockroach...what is that?

...I suppose that is a neutral way of mediating this situation.

Music: Messed Up

And so we fade out with Pearl presumably laughing.

Now, there is a toy cockroach in the Computershop, and this did play a failure music, so was there different outcomes for this?

...I honestly don't know. I tried loading up a previous savestate and getting something new to happen, but I can only ever get this version of the event. No guide that I know of knows what to do with it.

I suppose this is as good an excuse as any to buy the thing anyways.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

JOSETTE: Cockroach...?

JOSETTE: Is that something to eat...?

please dont it costs 1000c

The bug has been bought.

Also I somehow directed her to the wrench again, which she opted to kick and send flying around the room. It's a good thing it didn't hit the front window of the Dolphin!

Now to actually interact with the fake bug. The noise it makes when it hits the ground I can only describe as "tssh". Oddly, that's the same sound Gepetto's letter makes.

JOSETTE: Cute...*

Josette can react to this the same way as she can with the stuffed cat. I'll go ahead and say yes to this as it should in theory raise kindness.

*[Yes]*

I don't actually like roaches, but I don't like most insects so that's not saying much.

She proceeds to eat it the next time I point her to it. Classic Josette.

That 1000c didn't last long.

Oh well, I suppose we see what the girls are up to now. Back to the communal relaxation area!

Music: Friendly Folks

PEARL & THE GIRLS: Blablaaaah? Blah blah blah blah! Blaaah blaaah ♪ ...

*Josette is here! This is not unexpected.*

JOSETTE: Pearl-san ♪

PEARL & THE GIRLS: Blaaah, blah blah! Blablablah? Blah blah ♪

JOSETTE: Pearl...-san?

PEARL: Oh? Josette! Why don't you join our conversation! It will be fun!

PEARL & THE GIRLS: Blablablablah! Blah blah blah...

...and they're right back to it. Having to transcribe all the blah made me start reading it as sheep bleating.

Nothing more to that, just an anecdote.

JOSETTE: Hahh...

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: ...

Ah, yes, the social third wheel problem.

Heck with it, it's their loss, Joss, let's just go see a movie instead!

But when we get back to the Dolphin...

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Player-san, are you good at singing and dancing?*

As decided a couple of updates ago, she is!

...well, maybe. Josette won't be able to know if she isn't!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eek! Wonderful! Hey Player-san! Sing something ♪ And dance a bit ♪*

A song and dance? Sure, why not?

*[Yes]*

*Following this Josette runs up to the screen and stares intently.*

JOSETTE: ...

Well, I suppose here's a little song and a dance for you.

JOSETTE: I couldn't see or hear anything... but I'm sure it was wonderful!

JOSETTE: Thank you, Player-san!

Well, that was a fun aside. Now let's go see that movie!

JOSETTE: The Serious Worker?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheheh...

Time to see whatever this is. After all, if we're to audition for a movie we know nothing about, we might as well branch out our horizons a bit.

JOSETTE: The Serious Worker... Sounds incredibly boring.

We shall see...

or i guess you shall see and tell us afterwards

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Ehehe...*

Um, yes?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eh?!

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: W-Well... it was pretty interesting.

JOSETTE: Being committed to your work can be really wonderful. I better do that as well!

JOSETTE: Eh? The seriousness circuit seems to have started running...

Oh wow, another circuit! It's been a hot minute since the last one. I suppose we'll need to vote on this one, but before we do, we ought to check out that other movie as well.

Back to the Cinema it is!

JOSETTE: The 11 Commandments?*

We'll be watching this next. Gotta broaden those cinematic horizons!

JOSETTE: The 11 Commandments...

JOSETTE: What an odd movie...

Jos-up: The people in the movie praised a... person in the sky.

JOSETTE: Do you want to know the plot of this movie?*

We might as well hear it out, we paid money for it.

JOSETTE: There was this white-bearded old guy who recieved a message from the skies...

JOSTETTE: He said some things I don't remember, and suddenly everyone kneeled down!

White-bearded old guy? That doesn't sound like Sedona Blue.

I guess it was a movie about Solemn Judgement?

JOSETTE: Player-san... it's mysterious... I can feel this force, an invisible force.

JOSETTE: Isn't this strange? It feels as if I'm being watched by someone...*

You mean aside from us?

This is, in fact, another circuit- the faith circuit. So, we've got two circuits to vote on!

Serious circuit, yes or no? & Religion, yes or no?

Get to voting, and I'll see you next time! I'll do one more update progressing the cinema storyline, and we'll get back to the usual voting. I'd forgotten we'd need to watch every movie first.

Posted: **Fri May 13, 2022 11:26 pm**

Update 14: Over The Sea, We Are Clean

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Welcome back! Last time, Josette was contemplating the nature of seriousness and spirituality.

The voting was back and forth, but saying "No" to both eventually won. Folks want Josette to not get too serious lest she forget how to have fun, and there's also only room for one disembodied spirit in this LP.

Seriousness, who needs it?

*[No]*

*Error Buzzer*

JOSETTE: Don't joke around when there are people who are seriously trying to think!

I don't know if the buzzer's indicative of anything, but it looks like she's made up her own mind. Josette, you should take it from Player-san the jobber: all work and no play is no good!

Anyways, now to deny this idea of some giant man in the sky.

JOSETTE: Player-san... It's mysterious... I can feel this force, an invisible force.

JOSETTE: That's not strange, right?*

*[No]* (Another one of those weird negatives.)

*Error Buzzer*

JOSETTE: Eeeeeeeeeep!

C'mon, Joss, it's just us. We've been here the entire time.

Following this...

JOSETTE: If you've seen loads of movies, you can take part in the audition!

JOSETTE: Should I participate?*

Yeah, go for it!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheheh...

In order to trigger this, you have to watch each movie once, which we have now done. However, the game will actually slam this event right in after having done so, overriding the usual post-movie dialogue.

I had to pay for two watchings of 11 Commandments to actually get the above bit. It's only 100c though, that's nothing compared to what we've got now.

To think, not long ago we were pinching pennies to get by.

With that done, why wait to get our audition in! We don't want anyone else swooping in and taking the opportunity before we get a chance!

Music: Friendly Folks

*Josette, enter stage left!*

JOSETTE: Please let me join the audition!

ALAN: !? So you'd like to have a go! Well then, follow me into the studio!

And so we do...

ALAN: Okay, please take the mop in front of you and clean the floor!

Cleaning? What kind of star role is this?

*Josette looks down and considers it for some time*

JOSETTE: To clean... what does that mean?

JOSETTE: I don't know...

Ah, right. We still haven't handled that whole situation.

ALAN: Hmmm... this won't do... I'm sorry.

ALAN: But please come again once you can do it better!

Aw, c'mon, help an unusually sheltered girl out here!

If only other people would be willing to explain Josette how to do stuff, it'd make some things a lot easier.

Maybe it's just a cultural thing in Blueland that you have to learn how to do something purely on your own. If so, that's a terrible education system.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

We shortly find ourselves back at the docks.

JOSETTE: Cleaning...?

In order to finally overcome this old barrier that we've now met again, we look to COMPUTERSHOP, distributor of a peculiar selection of goods tailored exactly to our needs.

I honestly wish the shop had more useless things for us to waste our money on. Let me decorate the Dolphin, and buy random stuff for Josette to mess around with.

That thought brings to mind what a remake/remaster of Wonder Project J2 would look like- and what a cool thing that we'll never have.

Oh, and we buy a mop from the shop. This thing costs as much as a proton crystal frying pan!

The crystals seem to be individually worth a lot, but their products arent. I guess it's like how plastic is made from fossil fuels?

We take the mop down on into the lowest floor of our submarine, where all the cleaning stuff is.

(It's also not got a moving background which makes the .gifs smaller)

Josette's first instinct with the broom is to...

...Smite something with it for great justice.

As hilarious as it'd be to show up to the audition and have Josette go martial arts master mode with the mop, I couldn't get it to do anything. She just hears the word "clean" and her processing just kinda stops.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

Following this, she bonks her head on the wall carrying the mop across the room.

One trip across the room in the other direction it is. As previously mentioned, if she's balancing or carrying anything and gets interrupted, you don't get to tell her not to do it, and thus it'll be the first thing on her mind the next time she tries it.

Then she kicks the broom, both showing off the different physics and in general a pretty impressive feat when you think about it.

Unfortunately, it's not a talent show, it's a movie audition. I'm sure we could win if that was the case though.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: !!

It seems like we're getting somewhere though!

JOSETTE: The seeea ♪ the beautiful seeeeeeea ♪*

I've never seen this before.

Telling her not to do this will make her mildly angry at us, but why would we do that? We already turned down seriousness today.

If you're wondering, I also couldn't get her to do this at the audition. I bet we'd get the role immediately if I could.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Are you supposed to use it this way?

Nothing says air guitar isn't a valid use of a broom.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ehehe...

JOSETTE: The seeea ♪ the beautiful seeeeeeea ♪

Who knows where she picked that song up at.

If you're worried she won't learn to clean at this rate, there's nothing to fear.

Unlike some other situations, she can still figure it out anyways.

For instance, right now! Sweeping! Sweeping has been achieved!

JOSETTE: ...?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ah! So that's how it's done after all!*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I'm not really sure, but... it might be done this way!

I just told you it is!

JOSETTE: I wonder what cleaning involves...

JOSETTE: If I could hear Player-san's words I'd understand it immediately.

Alas, we haven't yet tackled the heart of the problem.

JOSETTE: Isn't there a hint somewhere in this ship?

This is our cue to start trying the washing machine and sink again.

JOSETTE: By spinning around like this machine... do you get "pretty"?*

This time we'll answer "No" like we're supposed to.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Then, do you get "pretty" through contact with water?*

I think that's the best chance I'm getting to explain it to you, so yeah! Just don't go jumping into the ocean to become a beauty queen, there's sharks down there.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eheheh...

With the purpose of water uncovered, it's time to investigate the sink. With funny poses! Thanks frame advance!

Josette doesn't say anything, but she gives us her little idea wave.

JOSETTE: So refreshiiiing!

JOSETTE: Say, did I become more prettier?*

Truth be told, I can't really tell! This dimensional window doesn't have the best resolution.

...Oh right, you mean clean. Yeah!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: So happyyy ♪

JOSETTE: So happyyyy ♪

JOSETTE: Hey! The mop! The mop!

She's almost got it figured out!

**

Jos-down: The floor became all shiny!

JOSETTE: Making things look nice is so rewarding!

JOSETTE: Hmm...

JOSETTE: This has to be cleaning! ♪

And with that, we've taught Josette how to clean! Now it's time to clean up these streets!

...Or a movie set. Either one.

This has also got us to 20% achievement rating!

Alas, we still can't get Josette in the shower to get herself properly cleaned yet. It'll happen eventually, I guess.

We can have her wash her face whenever now though.

JOSETTE: Gonna clean my face!

JOSETTE: Hmmhmmm ♪

JOSETTE: My skin got silky!

I suppose it would, being artificial and all. We don't really know what Josette is made out of or what all goes into making a Gijin.

Considering this deep lore can hold for a moment as:

JOSETTE: The blue sea, the blue sky, and in-between a white seagull flies...

Sudden poetry?! We're ready for the big screen, I think!

I have no idea where this came from, but I guess her creativity is getting better?

Back to the movie studio!

Music: Friendly Folks

*It plays out as it did last time, until we get to the mop...*

*She looks down at it.*

JOSETTE: Let's do some decent cleaning so that the staff can work more comfortably ♪

Here's what that looks like, by the way.

UNKNOWN: You've passed!

JOSETTE: Ah!

*The director walks up!*

ALAN: This is Lumiere, the director of the movie!

JOSETTE: Wah!

Music: All Right!

We've done it! Good work, Josette!

Music: Soothingness

LUMIERE: You, what's your name?

JOSETTE: I'm Josette.

LUMIERE: Josette, thank you for doing this! An actor alone doesn't make a movie...

LUMIERE: There's always a need for a hard-working crew acting as a team behind him.

LUMIERE: That's a lesson I'd like every new actor to understand: be considerate to teh members of the staff you work with.

LUMIERE: That other applicant... she didn't really seem willing to understand that.

That's a nice lesson to teach to aspiring actors. Goodness knows the industry probably needs it.

*We cut to outside at some earlier time...*

PEARL: Why do I have to clean the floor for a movie audition!?

PEARL: Won't happen!

I think we mostly expected this to happen.

Also this animation is awesome.

*We cut back to the studio's inside.*

LUMIERE: What you did was quite important, indeed.

LUMIERE: Next, we're going to test your acting skills! Please prepare yourself!

ALAN: The test is a monologue!

JOSETTE: Monologue...?

A monologue? Aw, Josette, you can do that, maybe build it off that poem from earlier?

LUMIERE: The theme will be..."Love"!

...oh

this might be a bit difficult

JOSETTE: "Laugh"...? You mean a comedy act?

ALAN: Hehehe...

Good idea, Joss, we'd win there for sure. Maybe we compromise and make it a romcom? That way we get one of our strengths to work on, eh, Lumiere?

Eh?

No?

ALAN: Josette-san, imagine what's it like... the situation of "being in love with a man".

ALAN: That's what you're supposed to portray with your act!

LUMIERE: You might find it difficult... But I'm sure you can do it. I have high expectations of you!

At least we've got some encouragement.

If I know anything about love, we need to make this monologue about making small talk, somehow knowing their favorite food without them ever telling us, and spending tons of money to make said food.

oh wait wrong lp

*Lumiere exits stage right!*

JOSETTE: Love?

JOSETTE: ...

This might be quite the roadblock- Josette doesn't even know what a friend is!

pokko go away we'll do your thing later

jeez

kids these days

And so Josette and Player-san find themselves in a predicament- deliver a monologue about LOVE?

This movie business might be more than they expected...

Perhaps it's time to explore some other opportunities? Or shall we face this challenge head on?

In other words, it's time for votin'!

-----------------------------------------------------
Vote for 3! Shall we:

A. Try to learn what is love? _{what is love?}
B. Go learn about the hearts of machines in mechanics instead?
C. Go mining and go to the heart of the earth?
D. Explore the heart of the sea some more?
E. Maybe Sapphire knows something about love?
F. Is the forest haunted by the ghost of a spurned lover?
G. Eh, let's just wander around and see what we find.

I'll see how many updates this gets me.

Posted: **Fri May 20, 2022 4:23 pm**

Update 15: Affairs of the Minecart

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Welcome back, all! The votes are in, and we're sticking to this "love" thing- Josette doesn't back down from a challenge.

We'll also be looking at the mines, and mechanics work to see if the heart of the earth or the heart of machines can clue Josette in on this mysterious concept.

I've already opted to have Josette get rested up from yesterday. We'll need all of our Willpower energy to prepare for our acting audition.

JOSETTE: I wish you the most wonderful afternoon...*

Perhaps sometimes we'll see if we can get a new morning greeting. Not today though, we've got acting to do.

And by acting, I mean it's time to do some material study. Meoro and Lijuet is the most romantic movie I can think of, so let's watch that a few times and see if Josette gets the idea.

Otherwise, I guess Battle of Siliconian? There's some vague romance plot in that, I think.

JOSETTE: Love? Could it be...

JOSETTE: Aah!

JOSETTE: I had such strange feelings while watching this movie...

JOSETTE: Do you want me to tell you about the movie?*

Sure, go ahead. (Although, this will mostly start the same as last time we saw it.)

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Eek!

JOSETTE: "Love" is when a man and a woman become all inseperable after having a talk about this and that...

JOSETTE: Hmm...

JOSETTE: This might be quite unpleasant!

JOSETTE: But thinking about it gets me a little excited...

JOSETTE: Do you think I'm charming?*

Yeah! This game honestly makes me smile more than any other game, I think.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: *Kiss*

Hey hey hey, I just washed this screen!

JOSETTE: ...

I think these movies might be going to her head a little too much.

Regardless, let's go in for a for another. I'm not sure if she's really picked up on the concept of love yet.

JOSETTE: But thinking about it gets me a little excited...

Well, at least maybe that'll translate to some more enthusiasm in the performance?

JOSETTE: Hey!

JOSETTE: About my appearance...

JOSETTE: I don't look weird, right?*

Ah... uh... there's both a positive and a negative

uhhhhh

Yes....?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Are you sure?*

yyyes??

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: That's a relief...

You're telling me! These things get confusing. I guess that one wasn't that bad if you think about it in a "Right/Wrong" sense, but still.

It would probably be about time to change Josette's outfit, but I'm waiting for a point when I don't think I'll need to make any more portraits.

JOSETTE: Eheh.

Any further viewings of Meoro and Lijuet get us this, so I guess we're as ready as we can be!

To the studio!

Music: Friendly Folks

*Josette enters stage left!*

Looks like Alan's been waiting for us!

ALAN: Hello, Josette-san!

Jos-bow: I'd like to take the test, please!

*And so we screenwipe to the studio!*

LUMIERE: Now then, Josette-kun! Show us your performance!

JOSETTE: Okay...

Apparently, "-kun" is valid for female employees. Huh! You learn something new every update.

Music: Love

(A suitably sad, yet romantic theme. I wonder, is this Alan on the piano, or Lumiere?)

JOSETTE: Hmm...

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: Cough...

(For this scene, Josette runs back and forth to speak as Lijuet and Meoro respectively.)

JOSETTE: Oh, Meoro dearest...! Oure situation dire is...

JOSETTE: Lijuet! They sentiment is by me scearu...

"Scearu" is apparently Old English for "shaving", "share", or uh stuff in the pelvic region. Presumably this is "I share your sentiment", but a word with such innuendo isn't out of place in a Speareshakes production.

I thought it was French, at first.

JOSETTE: Oure a vain love was! Meant not to exist...

JOSETTE: Eternal shall it be... in nihil.

Nihil: nothingness.

JOSETTE: A refulgent idea, Lijuet!

JOSETTE: Oh, Meoro!

JOSETTE: Lijuet!

Refulgent: Shining, or as if giving off warmth.

And then she gives us her best dramatic faint.

JOSETTE: How was it?

JOSETTE: How was it...?

LUMIERE: Hmmmm...

JOSETTE: I knew it, its not good enough...

Alas! We have not yet succeeded at this.

ALAN: Josette-san! If you were really in love, would you really behave like that?

JOSETTE: Eh?!

LUMIERE: I don't think it was bad... but in acting, there's only so much you can accomplish with simple imitation.

LUMIERE: Josette! I expect you to do better than that, I'm looking forward to your next try!

*The Director leaves.*

JOSETTE: Hah...

Ah, I see they don't want a retread of Speareshakes then. We'll have to come up with something original, something truly from the heart.

Perhaps it's time we look for inspiration in the most unlikely of places. Really wow their socks off.

JOSETTE: This "love"... do you know about it?*

I think it has something with being impressed by a person's ability to memorize your daily routines and favorite foods. That or how frequently they fight next to you on a battlefield.

That being said, I'm not sure if I've really got it right, but I'll say yes anyways.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Wah! Tell me, tell me!

JOSETTE: ...!

JOSETTE: But that's impossible...

Somehow I feel like this would be more difficult if it was like Lifeline.

A quick trip down to the registration office later, and we're registered for all the jobs in Blueland! Hopefully this doesn't look suspicious to the Siliconians.

Later, Pokko!

The miner job suggested that we know how to use one, so let's buy a pickaxe and teach Joss how to use it.

JOSETTE: ...?*

I mean, it is a swing, but probably not the angle we need.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Didn't I do it right?!*

*[No]*

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

However, we get the same thing when trying again!

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Didn't I do it right?!*

Well, it's not completely wrong. It is a swing, I just need you to go vertical, not horizontal.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Ehehe...

JOSETTE: What a strange shape...

JOSETTE: ...?*

Perfect!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Correct?*

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I got it!

I think we're ready for some cave diving!

Music: Siliconian Soldiers

To the mines!

*Josette approaches a chainlink gate*.

The mine is not a pretty place- earth torn up and lined with silos and pipes- but what would you expect of a mine?

JOSETTE: Wah! What's this place?

UNKNOWN: You there!!

JOSETTE: Aah!

*A Siliconian Soldier approaches.*

SOLDIER: If you've got no business here, get lost!!

JOSETTE: I'm sorry...

SOLDIER: If you intend to work here, register yourself over at town hall first! At any rate, leave!

B-but... we did register?

JOSETTE: ...?

I guess let's head back to the town hall.

Music: Friendly Folks

Well, Paul's here as usual.

PAUL: Ah! Josette-san! You're already registered for all the jobs!

JOSETTE: Is that so...

*Josette turns to leave.*

JOSETTE: Eh? What is it?

PAUL: Uh... Uh...... A-Actually, it's nothing...

JOSETTE: What was that about?

It's something we're still working on, actually. Maybe you'll figure it out soon.

PAUL: Haaaaaaah... Why is it that I have no courage in these kinds of situations...

:rip:

She wouldn't even understand if you did ask her out.

Back to the mines!

The game wanted us to see the first event from the mines before we got to go in, I guess.

Music: Siliconian Soldiers

JOSETTE: I finished the registration process!

SOLDIER: Eh...? You really want to work here?

JOSETTE: Hmm? Isn't this what you told me to do?

SOLDIER: I did, but... do you have any idea of what we do in this place?

JOSETTE: You're diffing for Proton Crystals here, right?

The Siliconians have no idea we're infiltrating their facility, fooled by Josette's fantastic acting skills.

SOLDIER: Yes... but this digging is definitely not a job a girl like you could do!

JOSETTE: Oh, honestly! Don't make conclusions about me because I'm a girl!

JOSETTE: Also, you're the soldier who told me I could work here if I'd register myself, right? ...Or are you telling me you are a liar?

Josette spits in the face of patriarchy and gender coded labor. She will abide no injustices!

SOLDIER: What!? I'm no liar!

SOLDIER: ...gee, for a child you're not cute at all.

SOLDIER: Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. We are extremely shorthanded right now, so... ok. Wait a second!

Speech check, successful.

*Following this, the gate opens and the guard returns.*

SOLDIER: Go in!

*And so Josette does a victory stroll to the mine's entrance...*

Music: An Honest Worker

(Also known as "The Serious Worker"! That's a familiar name.)

SOLDIER: A newcomer!

In this room, we've got a large, mustachioed man in a tank top and a large Gijin of much simpler, robotic design than Josette. Kinda looks like a Mega Man character, really.

I was serious when I said she did a victory stroll all the way to the entrance.

OLD MAN: Eh!? H-He said newcomer, but you... you are a girl!

OLD MAN: We're shorthanded, all right... But this is just...

GIJIN TYPE F: IMPOSSIBLE-FOR-A-GIRL.

JOSETTE: Oh! Old man, are you making fun of me?

Just you wait! You'll see!

OLD MAN: Whether I'm making fun of you or not isn't the problem here.

GIJIN TYPE F: ISN'T-THE-PROBLEM.

JOSETTE: If it isn't the problem, then why don't you just let me work?

OLD MAN: Hah???

GIJIN TYPE F:: HAH???

SOLDIER: Well then, I'll leave this up to you!

This soldier's had enough of Josette and just wants out of here.

OLD MAN: Ya got me now... Well, if ya really want to do it...

OLD MAN: I won't stop ya.

OLD MAN: Girl!

JOSETTE: Yes!

We've got the job!

OLD MAN: Every unit of proton you dig up will be converted into profit.

OLD MAN: In other words, the more you work, the more you earn! There're places with much proton, but also places where you'll find squat.

OLD MAN: Moreover, there's this rumor about a hidden treasure chest full of money. You may also meet some monsters down there... better not get'cha in trouble.

OLD MAN: Now then, give it your best, Worker Girl!

GIJIN TYPE F: GIVE-IT-YOUR-BEST!

Mining is just like fishing in both being a pay by quantity job, and being one of the best paying jobs in the game.

JOSETTE: Yeeeees! I will!

There's a lot of stuff down here, it sounds like, but Josette has no fear and charges in!

Bird also follows behind, we'll need him to help guide her.

OLD MAN: Will she be alright?

GIJIN TYPE F: ...ALRIGHT?

Type-Fs are riveting conversationalists, you see.

As Josette steps into the lift, we are faced with a keypad and choice of floors.

What monsters and treasure lie below?

We'll find out, next time!

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2022 7:12 pm**

Update 16: Heart of Stone

Welcome back! This time we get to explore the mines and see what all is going on down here, defying all those people who think Joss can't do this just because she's a girl.

Music: An Honest Worker

This plays the entire time we're down here. It will get stuck in your head the same way the underwater theme will.

There's five floors, but to start off, let's just check out floor 1. Things get more treacherous but more rewarding the further down you go.

Surprise, it's in 3D!

This controls pretty predictably, left and right cause Josette to turn 90 degrees, and holding forward makes her run.

You pretty much run around until you find something interesting. And by interesting...

I mean a transition screen!

Every transition screen brings us to the usual 2D view of the game, but the game controls more solidly like your usual point and click adventures as Josette won't act on her own. It's the same way as the town hall and cinema, really.

In this lonely corner of the mine, we've found a Type-F hard at work, with another pickaxe on the ground next to him, as well as a free proton crystal!

JOSETTE: Ack! Do I really have to eat this?

Our means of transporting these crystals from the mine is to have Josette eat them, and I guess spit them back out later. We never really see, it just gets handwaved.

I guess we left the inventory back at the ship.

_{we also probably just stole this from the gijin here

whoops}

If we direct Josette to use the pickaxe, occasionally we'll see a crystal fly from the floor where we struck. It falls off screen and it counts as us picking it up.

You can just spam the pickaxe for a while until Josette gets tired to make a lot of money, or you can leave and re-enter the room to find the crystal on the ground again.

This place is very, very easy cash. I'd go and say it's the best moneymaking method in the game, although you'll spend more time doing fishing for all of it's side objectives anyways.

Following that little demonstration, let's head on down to floor 2, where things start to get a bit more interesting.

From the entrance of this floor, we head forward to find a 4-way split.

We take a left.

From here the path cuts right and we hit a transition.

Well, that's a large gap. I told you it gets more treacherous!

If we point Josette to the ledge on the other side, we can instruct her to jump!

As she reminds us every time she kicks something, she should be able to make this leap. Onwards, Josette!

JOSETTE: Eyyyyyy!!

And so she gives a fantastic leap across the entire gap!

It's a good thing we already had all that leg strength trained, this could've went poorly.

Beyond this is a dead end with another Type-F mining away, alongside a free crystal and usable pickaxe.

The deeper you are, supposedly it increases the rate of getting crystals when mining. In practice, you can find two 2D rooms connected like this and use it to more quickly pick up the already generated crystals.

nom

Back across the gap we go!

Back at the intersection, we head down what is the right path from the entrance.

We hit a spot that branches to the left from here or continues forward, so I decide keep on going forward.

One more turn later...

...and we find ourselves some more mining!

If you're wondering, there's only Gijin-Type-F down here. I guess it's to spare human life the dangers of working down here.

In hindsight, maybe the guard and foreman were worried that we weren't Gijin rather than just that Josette was a girl.

The irony!

Well, endlessly deep chasms are exciting, but let's look for more. Deeper we go to floor 3!

Our first branch we meet goes right. I do that and it takes us to a t-split.

I take the right path and follow it on down...

This takes us to a room where a proton crystal is spawned right at the entrance, which makes it one of the fastest to quickly grind for cash.

Now if we go back to the entrance, and instead keep heading forward, we'll find a spot that branches left. We ignore that and continue onwards.

The tunnel takes a right...

And we meet another split left.

We take that left and pass another split left. Continue onwards!

...And we're back at the entrance...?

Not so, in fact! We seem to have found an abandoned elevator that only has buttons left going to floors 3, 4, and 5.

Floor 4 we go!

Hmm, another t-split. Let's go left, it's been working out for us a lot recently.

:goleft:

Yet another t-split!

I take what I said back, what's left ever done for us? Josette goes down the right path.

We find a transition with a log bridge across a gap! Well, less a "log bridge" and more of a "really long plank of wood".

This seems highly ill-advised, but let's do it anyways.

She steps across, but almost falls off!

Luckily, Josette's balance level ups have really paid off.

(The near fall happens every time, even with max balance.)

Agh! Dragonbats!

We meet our first monster! These just fly up and down in a slow pattern. In some rooms, Josette can merely run underneath them, but this alternating pattern will be tricky.

They're no match for our unparalleled speed though- go forth Josette!

ow

Alright, that didn't work. This also does HP damage to her, but our Josette has got her HP trained up pretty well. A starting Josette would lose a lot here.

The alternate solution is to drag this pickaxe over with Bird, using the R button.

We gave them the first strike, now it's time for ours!

Ha, got 'em!

Their eyes go big with shock when struck, and then they just dissolve. Good stuff.

You'll need to time it when they just hit the highest part of their pattern, as then Josette will catch them on the way down with the swing. Otherwise, Josette will be too slow about picking up the pickaxe and will miss.

With another axed away, we can just run on by.

Just another mining room, but no other Gijin here.

We eat that crystal, and run off to the left.

A gap to jump? This is a long string of screens!

wheee

Ah, now we're back out to the tunnel run.

Well, there was that other path back there, let's see where that goes instead.

JOSETTE: I can't get there just like that!

Annoyingly, the game doesn't automatically assume you want Josette to do the jump if you tell her to go off the left or right exit. You specifically have to point at the cliff first.

A few rooms later...

We're back at the entrance to that string of rooms. The path to the left here is back to the elevator.

We got here by taking a right, so let's see what that left would have brought us to.

A turn right and a transition, it seems.

Also two dragonbats!

We handle the room, picking up the crystal and heading on to the right. What lies ahead?

whoooaaAAAAAAGGHH

that's one big dragonbat!

Well, we know what to do here. Smite the fiend!

Chew on that!

ow

oof

Alright, y'know, we should just run under 'em.

You can't defeat these great beasts with a pickaxe, hitting them just makes them angry and prompts them to charge you.

Daaaang, how'd you get this far, Mr. Gijin-F?

There's a lot of-

ooh box

treasure

treasure

loot

JOSETTE: Hah...

Oh, right, she doesn't know how to open it.

Well, I guess now you know what the treasure box on sale at COMPUTERSHOP is for.

I'll be honest, I didn't mean to find this now, I just accidentally blundered my way all the way here in one go if you can believe it. The first time I played J2 I needed a detailed map to find this thing.

I don't know how I got here taking paths at random, but sure, fine.

Outside of the money to be made, this is the most important thing in here really. We'll come back later, for now let's turn in all of our earnings.

Retracing our steps back out to the entrance (there is no auto-leave button here, like with the submarine), I hit that button to go back to the top floor.

OLD MAN: Good job, Worker Girl!

GIJIN TYPE F: GOOD-JOB!

OLD MAN: The joys of the paycheck! Nevermind if it's a lot or just a tiny bit, you shouldn't complain!

GIJIN TYPE F: NOT-COMPLAIN!

alright yeah this guy watches a lot of that movie for sure

JOSETTE: Now, how much is it?

Good question, Josette! Now let's see...

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

Oh, about 4500c. You know, just a little. I don't think we've got anything to complain about with this.

(i may have done a bit of extra gathering off-screen)

JOSETTE: Eh? If feel that the joy circuit has started to run...*

...I don't think really need to put a vote to this one, I'm pretty sure I know what the thread will want here.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Player-saaaaaaan? ♪*

um, yes?

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: I don't really need anything, but... I felt so giddy it just slipped out...

JOSETTE: Is it strange to unintentionally call out for someone...?

It is, but who says it has to be? We can change that, I think.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Hehehe... I'm sure Player-san is also a cheerful person at heart ♪

At the end of the day, all we really want is to have fun. Best part of life, really. Well, that and good food.

If we said no, she doesn't get mad, we just get:

JOSETTE: Sooooo it really is strange ♪

That being covered, that's all I've got for this time! I really thought I was gonna cover the mines in like 20 screenshots, but I guess not. I needed an easy update anyways, my sleep's been rough of late.

We'll go back for that box next update, see if we can find any leads on this "love" thing.

Oh, and we'll check out doing boat repair too. Who knows, perhaps we'll meet a strapping young sailor lad or lass while we're at it?

We've got to check every lead we can to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Posted: **Sat Jun 04, 2022 4:26 pm**

Update 17: I LIKE THAT

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

This time on Wonder Project J2, a pickaxe flies at the screen!

I'm just putting it away, we really don't need it anymore. In practice you can sell most of the items in the game not long after using them, but I like keeping them around anyways.

Our purchase for the day is that Treasure Box requested so long ago, at last. It costs a hefty 2000c, which is a dent in our wallet despite how much money we've got right now.

Conveniently, it even looks identical to the one in the mine!

*Josette tinkers with the lock for a bit.*

JOSETTE: Hah...

JOSETTE: It won't open...

JOSETTE: The keypad has so many buttons, I don't think I'll ever understand this...*

Aw, c'mon Josette, don't give up so easily. You got this, you've got an advanced computer for a brain!

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Ehhhhhhh?! But...

JOSETTE: Grumble, grumble, grumble, grumble...

So we get her to try it again...

JOSETTE: Hmmmmmmmmmm. Could it be...?

...and again...

JOSETTE: Ah, now I see...

JOSETTE: Ah, I got it!

JOSETTE: Player-san! It looks like solving a simple calculation problem will open this!

JOSETTE: Just out of care, I will ask for your confirmation, alright?!

JOSETTE: 1 plus 1 makes 10, right?*

What? That's crazy talk. If anything, that makes 11!

*[No]*

JOSETTE: Eh?!

JOSETTE: Even though it's the binary system? That's strange...

oh right, binary

Let's roll that back then.

JOSETTE: 1 plus 1 makes 10, right?*

I knew this was coming this time, but I got blindsided by it on my first run. I imagine it catches most people off-guard since you're so used to Josette not knowing basic things, that you immediately think this is wrong.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: So there are no problems with the binary calculation capabilities of my brain!

One more time at the box and...

*Beeping*

*Jingle*

It opens!

JOSETTE: I did it!

JOSETTE: But there's nothing inside!

I'd be more surprised if there was, the Computershop told us it was an empty box.

But, we do know where a non-empty box is! Off to the mines!

JOSETTE: The blue sea, the blue sky, and in-between a white seagull flies...

But first, Josette has a little song for us. I don't remember these at all from my first playthrough, so even I'm seeing stuff I've never seen before.

To the depths of the earth we go!

Music: An Honest Worker

JOSETTE: Let's work ♪ Let's work ♪

SOLDIER: Hehhhhh... kids like you really are rare these days.

SOLDIER: Wait! I'll open up!

It's hard to tell if he's sighing at the state of kids these days, or sighing because he has to deal with Josette again so soon.

And so the gate opens and Josette enters...

OLD MAN: You've come again, Worker Girl!

GIJIN TYPE F: WORKER-GIRL!

OLD MAN: Be careful during work!

GIJIN TYPE F: DURING-WORK!

JOSETTE: Yeeeeeeeeees! ♪

This'll probably be last time we see these two and the gate guard as outside of mining for cash, the treasure chest is the only reason to come here.

I'll save us the time and just skip to the chest. It's worth noting you can get to it from just the normal B4 elevator and not just the hidden, broken one. It just takes a little bit of a detour.

Somehow I know the layout of this place too well and I found my way to it almost immediately.

I really don't know why, I didn't spend that much time down here.

With the power of editing, we're back at the box!

And Joss gets it open in no time! Nice work!

JOSETTE: I did iiiiiiit ♪

JOSETTE: Player-san! There are fi-fi-five thousand Corlo in there!

JOSETTE: I wonder if it's okay if I take them...?

JOSETTE: Let's dig in...

JOSETTE: ...Ehehe.

Not only has Josette become the master of unlocking, she has learned the art of the pun!

5,000c still gets us nearly double our current holdings, so I can't complain. Given the chest cost 3000c, we can sell it back now and have a total profit of 4,000c.

Aaaand... that's kinda it for the mines! I didn't even go to the bottom floor!

I guess I'll show it off at some other later date. We've got other matters of importance today- learning mechanics!

When we get back to the Dolphin, we see that our completion percentage has gone up another 4%. We've just gotten the last achievement, "Found a treasure in the mines."

Without a guide or previous knowledge, it might actually be the last achievement you get! I make it look easy, but those mines are pretty confusing.

Following this, we head down to the bottom floor as we can pick up another achievement while we're here!

We point Josette to the shower yet again, but this time...

JOSETTE: I already told you I don't want to, it's cold in there!

JOSETTE: ...!

JOSETTE: Becoming pretty by using water? Could it be...?

JOSETTE: The place behind this door, is it for making your body... "pretty"?*

As it turns out, the trigger to get this to happen is for her to learn about the mop.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: As I thought!

And so now she'll finally get over the water being cold.

JOSETTE: Showeeeeeeer♪ I couldn't wait for it anymore...

JOSETTE: Speaking of which... even if we artificial humans take a shower, we don't get a short-circuit...

JOSETTE: ...that's how the doctor designed us...

JOSETTE: ......Doctor...

And on that sad reminder, we've got another 4% completion!

Josette's finally clean. It's about time, after all that drydock grime, mine dust, and eating.

Next on our agenda is a well earned nap. Tomorrow we'll be aiming to take up the mechanic job we registered for, so we'll want to be fully topped off.

Music: Good Night

I say it's about time we try to see what other morning greetings we can get. I go ahead and say no to our usual one.

JOSETTE: If Player-san thinks it's wrong!

She took that pretty well. She really didn't take it well the first time, and I'm always worried that's gonna happen again.

As for what we're doing today, we're not heading to the maintenance shop just yet. We actually have to go to the Blueland Dock No.1 before that, otherwise the mechanic shop is just empty.

Music: Friendly Folks

FISHER: No matter how I look at it, I have to say that this is a good ship.

FISHER: Hm? If it isn't Josette... What do you say? Isn't this a good ship?

JOSETTE: This is a ship of the Anchor class, right!? It's the latest submarine model.

JOSETTE: It's probably using the Machibu Motor, a Proton combustion engine!

Josette has already absorbed all that submarine info in our quest to do deep sea fishing, and she's now become a submarine geek.

Honestly, with all the fishermen, it's probably a good conversation starter here.

FISHER: Ooh! Very well said! Do you like machines in general?

FISHER: Hey! If youre interested in machines, maybe I should introduce you to Gante.

JOSETTE: Gante?

FISHER: He's the noisy old guy who runs the submarine maintenance shop. Ah...! I think he's currently looking for employees, so that might be just the right job for you!

FISHER: Make sure to go to the town hall to register yourself for the job! If you do that, everything should work out just fine.

JOSETTE: Thank you!

FISHER: Bye, then!

*And so he begins to walk away.*

FISHER: Ah, I almost forgot! I should probably warn you... That Gante is a really stubborn...

FISHER: ...and eccentric fellow. If you don't want him to hate you, you better be very careful around him.

JOSETTE: Stubborn... eccentric?

Oh, wow, okay. Thanks for the tip, man! We'll have to be on our toes about this.

No better time than the present! I'm sure he can't be all that bad.

To the maintenance shop we go!

Music: Silence

JOSETTE: Oh? There's a submarine. I wonder if there's somebody inside...?

JOSETTE: Is anybody hoooooome?

UNKNOWN: Who is it?!

JOSETTE: Aah!

Music: An Honest Worker

And so a short guy with a big green mustache, overalls, and strange boot sandals approaches. He's kind of like an alternate universe Eggman.

GANTE: What do you want?

JOSETTE: Ah... um... well...

GANTE: I'm busy now!

...and so he, uh, just calmly walks off...

Fisher wasn't kidding!

Josette leaves the building in tears as well.

Perhaps we should come back later?

To impress our potential new boss and pass the time, perhaps we should brush up on plane knowledge as well. We go ahead and use some of our treasure haul to buy the Book of Planes.

The usual kicking and balancing happens until she finally decides to read the book. You'd think she'd have figured it out by now.

Maybe she just likes kicking books.

JOSETTE: Wah, I can read this! ...what's it about? Flight System of the Seaba...?

JOSETTE: What's a Seaba anyhow...?

JOSETTE: Say! Do you know what a Seaba is?*

I do!

*[Yes]*

But that doesn't matter because...

JOSETTE: Really!? Tell me, tell me!!

JOSETTE: ...that being said, I can't hear Player-san's voice anyway...

You would think we could move Bird in the formation of letters to slowly spell out sentences, but I guess the idea never occurs to Player-san.

joss

please read the book

you're not a tightrope walker at the circus

JOSETTE: The Seaba...

JOSETTE: Is it even worth examining a book such as that one?

Unfortunately, this isn't a question, she just won't read it. Well, hopefully now is a better time for Gante.

Music: An Honest Worker

*This time, Gante's in the foreground on his back, working on something.*

JOSETTE: E-Excuse me...

JOSETTE: I've registered myself in the town hall.

GANTE: What can you do?

JOSETTE: Eh?

GANTE: What do you have?

JOSETTE: Eh?

JOSETTE: Mmm...

JOSETTE: As you can see, my hands are empty! I don't have anything.

JOSETTE: Strange question... grumble...

GANTE: Leave...

JOSETTE: But that's...

GANTE: Are you deaf?!

JOSETTE: ...

*And so she leaves calmly.*

Well, that didn't work.

We're not giving up yet, though!

JOSETTE: Gante-san could see that my hands were empty, yet he asked "What do you have?"

JOSETTE: Could there be an item related to a maintenance shop out there?

JOSETTE: Hmm...?

My father always said that if you're showing up for work at some sort of maintenance job, you should show up with your own tools. More than anything a resume says, this alone should tell you what you need to know.

Well, we do have the wrench, although surprisingly it doesn't help here.

JOSETTE: Perchance, did the old man mean to ask if I have any mechanical skills?*

Mayhaps he did!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: As I thought!

JOSETTE: Ehehe...

JOSETTE: Ah!

JOSETTE: But I don't have any...

You know how to set up a control panel and pilot a sub, that's gotta count for something.

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: ...

She does just silently process through all of these expressions for a short time.

JOSETTE: There's no helping it though, I have to tell him these thoughts and see how he reacts!

JOSETTE: ...!

JOSETTE: Let's see how Gante reacts if I tell him these thoughts...

Interacting with the wrench now only gets us this. You can kinda skip needing the wrench if you've read into the mechanical manuals.

With this decision in hand, we move on to the maintenance shop yet again.

*It plays out the same, until Josette gives her response...*

JOSETTE: If you're inquiring about my mechanical skills... I don't have any.

JOSETTE: But I have lots of motivation!

*She does her jumping cheer.*

But is it enough...?

Gante-side: ...

JOSETTE: Seems it's useless after all...

Music: All Right!

GANTE: I like that.

JOSETTE: Eh?!

Gante-side: Wait a second...

GANTE: What's your name?

JOSETTE: Ah... hm... yes...! It's Josette!

JOSETTE: I'm pleased to meet you!

GANTE: I'm Gante. I'm responsible for repairing the fisherman's ships.

GANTE: This work is quite intense... are you sure you want to try this?

JOSETTE: Y-Yes!! I will give it my best, I'll try to work as hard as possible!

GANTE: ...Then I'll be counting on you from now on.

Wow, that was tough. Somehow it felt harder than getting the waitress job!

*And so he trudges off.*

We've seen Gante before, briefly in one of the crowds while handing out flyers for the cinema, but now we've finally met him properly

He's also probably one of my favorite characters for reasons we'll see soon enough.

JOSETTE: Yattaaaaaaa! ♪

With our new employment secured, we're put back to the island view. But since we spent so much time on getting it, how could I end the update without showing it off?

Music: "Do this! Do that!"

(This is effectively Gante's theme in a way, and it's the first time we hear it proper. You'll understand the title in just a bit.)

JOSETTE: Gante-saaaaaaan!

GANTE: You've come! Well then, let's go at it right away!

GANTE: Josette! Pliers!

*She runs off screen and returns.*

GANTE: Hammer! Bolt!

JOSETTE: ...

*Back and forth again...

*She hypes herself up with a little spin in place.*

GANTE: This! That!

*Another loop, this time with Josette more frustrated.*

*Yet again, with her breathing heavily...*

We fade to black and back in to see...!

GANTE: Josette!

GANTE: !?

Music: Messed Up

GANTE: She has run away, huh...

Unfortunately so, it seems. The workload was just too much.

It seems this won't be any easier than the waitressing job.

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: That old man is making me work way too much! I don't like this!

JOSETTE: I'm not that serious!*

I'm not gonna deny he's a bit of a taskmaster.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Hmm...

JOSETTE: Well, I guess I have to keep going...

That's not up to me, that's up to the thread!

The movie job is going to have to wait a while, as we need to trigger a certain few events for it to progress. That being said, time for more votes!

Pick three:
A. Continue working with Gante, we can't quit yet.
B. Investigate that forest, something's up with it.
C. Investigate the Siliconians, they're up to no good.
D. Look into the mysterious figure known as Sapphire.
E. Explore the deep sea and apprehend the shark menace.
F. Lie low in public spaces, keep our ear to the streets.
G. Contact our supplier, COMPUTERSHOP, for more equipment.

Also take this as a little notice that I'll be taking off next week to catch up on some other stuff. My poor sleep schedule this week caused me to get behind on all sorts of things I need to catch up on.

Posted: **Fri Jun 17, 2022 11:48 pm**

Update 18: Two Blue In Blueland

Music: "Do this! Do that!"

We resume Josette's adventures, having resolved to stick to working with Gante!

(We won't actually be getting much farther with Gante for an unexpected reason, so I've ended up pretty much doing everything that got voted for.)

GANTE: This! That!

The majority remains the same as last time, but...

GANTE: Josette!

JOSETTE: I'm right here!!

JOSETTE: What should I do next?

GANTE: Heh... Hehehe!

*He gets up and comes to meet Josette.*

Music: Soothingness

JOSETTE: Wh-What are you laughing about?

GANTE: Hehehe... even if you're a girl, you still have a strong worker's spirit!

JOSETTE: Drop the "even if you're a girl" part, please! Gante-san certainly lacks sensitivity!

GANTE: I-I'm really sorry for that! I didn't mean it that way.

Hey, at least he apologized. The folks at the mine never did

JOSETTE: Ahahaha... ♪

GANTE: ...?

JOSETTE: I'm sorry! I only said that out of spite for having been worked so hard.

We've mostly avoided Josette getting angry with us on this run, but in the last few updates we have seen she's not against doing so with other people.

Which, fair enough, Josette doesn't have to take nonsense from anyone.

GANTE: I like that!

GANTE: Josette! I've started to really like you! You're something else!

GANTE: Here, this is the money you've earned so far. Take it!

JOSETTE: Eh? This much...?

GANTE: It's an appropriate reward for the hard work you've done!

JOSETTE: But...

He pays quite a lot, in fact. Fishing and Mining are still more value per HP cost, but it's not bad.

GANTE: If you want to thank somebody for it, thank yourself!

And so he walks off.

JOSETTE: Thank... myself?

Go ahead and thank yourself, you just made 5000c!

Now that we've done some good work for the day, I say we head off and track down an old acquaintance.

It's time we investigate Sapphire!

Trawling the streets for leads, we find that she hangs out at Megafloat Noah Square frequently. Off we go!

Music: Silence, and some waves and seabirds.

Well we've found her staring up at the sky, but has she noticed-

JOSETTE: Aaah!

-she has noticed! Stealth check failed.

*She approaches.*

SAPPHIRE: What do you want...?

JOSETTE: Uh, erm. My name's Josette!

SAPPHIRE: I didn't ask.

JOSETTE: I'm sorry...

Is it just me, or do people in Blueland stand uncomfortably close when talking?

Sapphire's not a very talkative sort, is she? Regardless, she begins to leave, but stops just as she passes Josette.

SAPPHIRE: ...for bumping into you earlier, I have to apologize.

She's not all bad, it seems.

Since she's gone at the moment, how about we take up another old lead and investigate the Blueland Forest?

Music: Oh Forest, Answer Me...

As always, this is Island of Meetings and Partings, but crossed with a faster version of Corlo Forest's ocarina theme.

*Josette yawns.*

JOSETTE: ...Eheh.

This spot's always a hard contrast to the rest of the island, and rather thematically appropriate. I quite like the music here, even.

JOSETTE: For some reason, I feel like singing ♪

JOSETTE: ...

JOSETTE: Uhum...

Go for it!

JOSETTE: Lalalaaa ♪ Lalalaaaaaa?

(This is presumably the melody from the Corlo Forest theme.)

JOSETTE: Hah...

I thought it was alright! Perhaps we ought to go watch some more Sound of Dance.

UNKNOWN: Wah! Beautiful ♪

JOSETTE: Eeek!

*She looks around, trying to find the listener.*

Music: A Tiny Friend

(A new theme! And quite a good one at that!)

*A young girl in a dark blue and yellow outfit arrives!*

KLARA: What a beautiful song!

JOSETTE: Who... are you?

KLARA: My name is Klara! What's yours, Onee-chan?

JOSETTE: Me? I'm Josette!

KLARA: Josette? That's a pretty name!

It is a pretty name, can only agree.

For those unaware, "Onee-chan" is big sister, but apparently can also just be used as a slang term to refer to girls older than you.

KLARA: Say, Onee-chan... do you like this forest?

JOSETTE: Yes, I like it a lot! Because... it looks just like Corlo Forest!

KLARA: Corlo... Forest?

JOSETTE: Yes, that's the place I grew up in.

JOSETTE: I used to spend a lot of time playing my ocarina in Corlo Forest. It was a lot of fun playing for the animals ♪

Now that I think about it, if there's monkeys on Corlo Island, this would explain how she learned the monkey dance.

*Klara does a little hop.*

KLARA: Really? Then I wonder if Onee-chan can hear it as well?

JOSETTE: Eh? ...hear what?

KLARA: The forest's voice!

JOSETTE: The forest's... voice?

JOSETTE: Do you hear it, Klara-chan?

It's possible we did hear it before. It may have been Klara though, we don't really know.

KLARA: Yes! It always says "Watch your step!" or "There's a tree ahead!".

KLARA: But you know, lately... it's been saying things like "Help me!". The forest sounds really sad.

JOSETTE: Help... me?

Rather helpful forest, but with all the industrialization going on, it's own call for help makes sense. This does sound a lot like the voice we heard.

NURSE: Klara-chaaaaaaaaan!

NURSE: It's time to go hoooooooome!

*Klara does her little hop.*

KLARA: Okaaaay! Coming!

*Klara walks past Josette, bumping into her and knocking her over. She doesn't turn around.*

KLARA: Ah, I'm sorry! Are you all right?

JOSETTE: I'm... all right...?

KLARA: Hey, Onee-chan! If you want, you can come to my house and play, ok?!

KLARA: I'm living in the Megafloat Noah Hospital! I'm always by myself, so it's really lonely.

*She then leaves.*

I'm sure we can stop by sometime.

JOSETTE: Klara-chan's eyes... could it be that...?

She's blind? Seems as much, yeah.

Klara's also one of my other favorite characters- strange how we got to two of them at nearly the same time.

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

This also counts as an achievement, specifically "became a good singer", which I guess only required one viewing of Sound of Dance and some general encouragement in those regards to hit the stats for.

This also means we're at 32% completion! We're roughly a third of the way through all the chapter 1 content.

Since we've got cash, and some of the votes were based on going underwater and to continue treasure hunting, I've opted to pick up the Treasure Map and the Magiteka Legend book. This is a costly 4000c thanks to that darn map, but hopefully the pay out is a good reward.

JOSETTE: Dietary fiber...

NOOOOOOOO

I made this into .gif so I could at least I got some value out of it

why did you have to eat the most expensive book

why

:negative:

Well, that's 3000c down the drain. You couldn't have waited until after you read it?

JOSETTE: I-I... can read this! Let's see.......

JOSETTE: A long time ago, the Magiteka King hid four treasures in the sea...

JOSETTE: One was the "dreaming heart". Another was the "heart of the past."

JOSETTE: There was also the "heart of the future".

JOSETTE: And the last one was the "heart of happiness".

JOSETTE: This collection of treasures is called the "heart treasure".

JOSETTE: Ah-hah, now I understand! The marks describe where these treasures are hidden!

JOSETTE: The dream... is north of the cross mark...

JOSETTE: The past is close to the red pillar...

JOSETTE: The happiness is at the middle of the 4 signs...

JOSETTE: And the future seems to be beyond teh 4 fallen pillars!

Well, we've got some vague landmarks to look out for while we're down there.

JOSETTE: However... heart treasure...?

JOSETTE: What could that mean...?

It's probably one of those "the reward is the journey not the destination" type things. Which means we're probably not making our money back.

It does sound like the sort of thing worth an achievement though, so who can complain?

JOSETTE: Oh my! I can read this! Let's see...!!

JOSETTE: Hah...

JOSETTE: Player-san... would you like me to tell you the contents of this book?

Of course!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: It's quite long, reading it all might prove to be really tiring.

JOSETTE: Should I read it anyway?*

I've got Willpower Oils at the ready!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Got it! I'll try reading it next time!

JOSETTE: I'm an accomplished fisherman ♪

Now that we've started building up some achievement credit, Josette will occasionally sing about them.

(:words: incoming, I'll summarize it for you though if you don't want to read it all.)

JOSETTE: I'll read it now...

JOSETTE: Foremost, two evolutions happened. One was the evolution of mankind, and the other was the evolution of the dinosaurs, therein known as the Magitekans.

JOSETTE: The direction in which these two races developed was quite different.

JOSETTE: Whilst the humans developed diverse and more effective ways of utilizing objects, gaining better cognitive skills in the process...

JOSETTE: ...the Magitekans developed ways to use the power of their heart. Dreaming, feeling, imagining... the power of the heart encompasses all those abilities.

JOSETTE: Thanks to that, the Magitekans established an organized culture much faster than the humans did... in turn, the evolution of the human race halted at a certain point...

JOSETTE: Stuck with their cognitive skills only, they were incapable of developing their heart... The reason for that was humans kept repeating foolish mistakes...

JOSETTE: Unable to watch this go on, the Magitekans felt it was time for steps to be taken towards the evolution of human hearts. They created an artifact which... was... hmmmm?!

The summary so far is that the lizard people we saw in the intro are Magitekans, and they were people with a lot of empathy and talent for not repeating past mistakes, unlike humans.

JOSETTE: Player-san! An essential part is missing here...

How very strange. We didn't buy this secondhand, did we?

JOSETTE: There's no helping it, let's read on!

JOSETTE: ...Umm, thanks to the Magitekans, the evolution of the heart started, enabling the humans to build a culture... However... hmmmmmmm?!

JOSETTE: Hah...

JOSETTE: Player-san... Everything from that point onwards was missing...

JOSETTE: Anyway, that was exhausting...

You said it! Who knew we'd find a new mystery when seeking answers?

...and who redacted our new history book?

Anyways, perhaps we ought to let that all soak in and take a break for now. Next time, we take to the seas, see if we can catch up with an old acquaintance, and fix up some more submarines.

Posted: **Fri Jun 24, 2022 11:56 pm**

Update 19: Machibu Workplace Safety Violations

Music: "Let's Have a Chat!"

JOSETTE: Let's do something, ok?*

Yeah, let's! I'd say it's about time for an update.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Is it okay if we chat a bit?*

Go ahead!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Uh, let's see...

JOSETTE: Well, uhhh...

JOSETTE: Is communicating with me fun?*

Talking with you makes up a large part of this game's charm, so yeah!

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: Good...

JOSETTE: -Kiss-

nooooo, i just cleaned my screen :negative:

JOSETTE: Feeling this invisible force is not strange, right?*

There's no external force but us, the hivemind of voices that dictate what Player-san dictates you to do.

*[No]*

JOSETTE: *Eeeeeeeeeeep!*

Same response as last time with the error buzzer and everything. I think the game wants us to accept it, but who needs a bearded guy in the sky. Solemn cards are too powerful anyways.

I know how we'll get away from this strange force: go under the sea!

Music: Bon Voyage!

I'll skip over the whole animation bonanza and cut to the part where we can drive around.

Let's um... go right? Or southeast, rather. I should really bother to look at that compass.

There's a real deep section of the ocean over here, although there does seem to be some odd pillars.

There's a reddish pillar down here though. That's odd. Didn't the map say something about a red pillar?

Driving down this way, we see a hidden cave with a very large red object at the end!

A-ha! There's some sort of tablet down here! This must be the red pillar it was referring to.

JOSETTE: Player-san! I've found a Magiteka treasure! *"Past"* is written on it!

Well, that's one treasure down!

As we leave, we see a shark swimming around- get back here, no-gooder!

Bah, juked past us. Our turning speed is still real slow.

This cave is actually a decent spawn point for fish. In fact, fish spawns are based on invisible triggers, but will only spawn them where you cannot see them.

So, this means a shark usually comes up behind you in the cave every time you go in, although sometimes it's a dolphin.

C'mere you!

JOSETTE: Player-san! Look! I got quite good, right?!

Now that we've caught a couple fish, Josette's submarine piloting skills finally increase. You'd think it'd be related to time spent driving around, but no.

With each upgrade, her turning gets sharper and her max speed increases.

Far out to the southeast, there's a large group of ruins and pillars, but I think that's all the water time we've got for now. One treasure is enough for the moment.

The heart treasures don't show up in our inventory, but they do something aside from just count as an achievement. It'll make itself known soon enough.

(We're up to 36% now, by the way.)

With some time passed, maybe we can find Sapphire again.

Only way to know is to check!

Music: Silence

JOSETTE: Uh...

Well, she's here, but we're not on good terms yet it seems.

SAPPHIRE: Did you have fun kicking the cat from the garbage dump around?

SAPPHIRE: You know, I simply hate people who bully the weak.

JOSETTE: ...

*Sapphire runs off.*

JOSETTE: Bully... the weak?

It attacked us first! For no reason!

Music: Island of Meetings and Partings

JOSETTE: Bully... the weak?

JOSETTE: Violence? Bully the weak?

JOSETTE: Geh!

JOSETTE: Was what I did to the cat something bad?*

Yeah, I guess kicking animals isn't a very good thing to do when you think about it.

*[Yes]*

JOSETTE: !!

JOSETTE: What should I do...

I suppose we should try to make peace with the cat. But first, we ought to cheer Josette up.

JOSETTE: Yaaaaaay! It's pudding! ♪

In order to resolve the cat problem, we need to teach Josette to think cats are cute again. It's a pretty fast process.

I'm not entirely sure why we can't have handled this situation right the first time, but it's required you do this like this, and it is required to complete the game, I believe.

JOSETTE: I feel somewhat kinder now...

A little bit of plush cat hugging later (alongside telling her not to kick it), and we're set.

To the Garbage Dump we go!

Music: Friendly Folks

KATZE: Miaow...

KATZE: *Hisssss!*

It seems we have been spotted.

JOSETTE: Cat... I've beat you without really thinking about it...

JOSETTE: I'm truly sorry...

KATZE: Meow...?

JOSETTE: Will you please forgive me...?

KATZE: ...

Was her apology enough...?

*Katze begins walking away...*

KATZE: Miaowraaaaaaw!

What's she calling in that direction for?

Music: Soothingness

*Three kittens come out of hiding and follow her back to Josette.*

KATZE: Meow ♪ Meow ♪

JOSETTE: Uwaaah! ♪

Those little two frame animations

JOSETTE: Oh, you are a mother!

KATZE: Miaow!

JOSETTE: I see... you've been stealing the fish to feed your kittens.

KATZE: Meow...

I see that we've come to reality of this complex crime. Hopefully this'll teach our Josette of Justice to investigate a bit more deeply before jumping to action.

As the conversation goes on, the kittens bunch up around their mother and sleep.

JOSETTE: I'm sorry... I...

KATZE: Meow meoooow! Miaooow!

KITTENS: Mew! Mew!

JOSETTE: Eh...? You forgive me?

KATZE: *Miaooow!*

JOSETTE: Wah!

Apparently Josette can speak cat. I guess playing for forest animals learns you some animal languages.

JOSETTE: I'm so glad...

JOSETTE: Waaaaaaaaah!

Well, we resolved that matter. No hard feelings for the kick, and it was more of a slapstick kick to begin with so I don't think much damage was really done.

Off we go one more time to see what Sapphire is up to.

*Josette returns to the square to find Sapphire and Katze.*

JOSETTE: Ohh?!

KATZE: Miaow!

SAPPHIRE: Hehehe... Looks like you two have made up.

SAPPHIRE: I'm Sapphire!

JOSETTE: Wah!

JOSETTE: M-My name's Josette!

SAPPHIRE: This cat's name is Katze! She's my friend!

JOSETTE: Friend...?

We knew both of their names already, mostly thanks to the ~~text box~~ our sleuthing skills.

SAPPHIRE: Is it so strange to be friends with a cat?

JOSETTE: No! I didn't mean it like that.

JOSETTE: Friend...

She's still sorta learning what that means.

SAPPHIRE: Say, Josette... Where are you from?

JOSETTE: I'm from Corlo Island!

SAPPHIRE: Eh, Corlo Island? ...hmm, I see. You're from Corlo...

JOSETTE: Do you know it?!

I think this might be the first person she's had a chance to talk about her home with, really. Nobody else has really asked, aside from Clara indirectly.

SAPPHIRE: Yep! In the past there used to be a famous gang on that island, right?

SAPPHIRE: They were called the Band of the Lynx.

JOSETTE: Band of the Lynx...? Gang...?

SAPPHIRE: What, you haven't heard of them?

Crime on Corlo Island?! Inconceivable!

*Accompanied by a backdrop of Corlo Island, we see two familiar faces with orange bandanas, and a tall orange-haired woman in red tights with a cat-eared mask.*

SAPPHIRE: The Band of the Lynx was a group of 3 thieves whose leader...

SAPPHIRE: ...was a woman called Lynx. The other two members were Doro and Bou...

SAPPHIRE: They stole money from bad people and gave it to the poor Gijin of the island.

SAPPHIRE: I've admired Lynx for a long time now!

They sound like our kind of gang! I doubt the Corlo Crusader would have an issue with them.

We also get to see their leader do a short but high jump, as a small little extra detail.

JOSETTE: Admire...?

SAPPHIRE: But my mother always gets all angry when I talk about these things...

SAPPHIRE: "As great as she might seem to you, this Lynx is just a thief in the end! How can you admire such a person?!" ...is what she says.

JOSETTE: Then, in front of the pub...

SAPPHIRE: Heh, I'm sorry you had to witness such an ugly scene. Josette! We'll meet again!

*And so our two new friends depart.*

Music: Silence

JOSETTE: Band of the Lynx...

JOSETTE: Hm?!

JOSETTE: That has to be a lie! Doro and Bou used to be in the Band of the Lynx?!

"Dorobou" does translate to "thief" after all...

*And so we see an image of the two in question in the sky as we fade to black...*

Nice bit of backstory we got alongside two friends there! It figures Karen would be such a straight-edge about Lynx though, even if she is Robot Hood.

Perhaps there's something else to that though...

JOSETTE: Band of the Lynx...

JOSETTE: Doro and Bou were part of the Band of the Lynx?

JOSETTE: That can't be...

Josette actually has some interesting opinions on thieves if you say that's what Player-san does for a living. It's also not precisely the first time she's heard of this group, but she just can't believe the two nice submarine guys were thieves at some point.

That just reminds me that I need to get that bonus update written up at some point...

Well, I don't know if Gante will care to hear about this, but maybe it's time we show up to just a little bit more work. Those treasure maps put a dent in our wallet and I want to fix that.

To the repair shop we go!

Music: Soothingness

*As Josette enters, a large yellow submarine is slowly rolled further into the shop.*

JOSETTE: Gante-san!

GANTE: !? It's Josette!

GANTE: You've come at a good time!

If you haven't noticed, Gante talks loudly regardless of the situation. The guy loves the exclamation mark.

GANTE: Could you please bring me the Machibu Motor from over there!?

JOSETTE: The Machibu Motor, got it!

*So Josette runs far into the background, in the back corner of the shop.*

JOSETTE: Gante-saaaaaaaaan! Thiiiiis ooooooooone?

GANTE: Oh-oh!!

Music: Silence

GANTE: Don't touch that!

*Josette is caught in an explosion!*

JOSETTE: Eeeeeeeeek!

*We fade to white as we see her collapsed on the ground...*

Perhaps we shouldn't have taught her to interact with every item in existence...

Posted: **Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:41 am**

I didn't mean to take another break so soon, especially when we're sitting on a cliffhanger, but my arthritis has disagreed heavily with that decision so far. Between the hand pain and other personal complications, I don't have any updates ready this week, for this or Frontier.

I'm gonna need to give my hands as much of a rest as I can stand to for a while. I don't know exactly when the next update's coming out, but it hopefully won't be too long.

Sorry about this, I was looking forward to this update as well.

LP Beach

Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

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Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!

Re: Pinocchian Life Under Military Occupation: Let's Play Wonder Project J2!