“It’s been so long since your last post about building your new fence, we really miss hearing about it” said no one ever, but here’s yet another fence post (<- laugh) anyway. Progress has been made!
In the above pic you can see the new gate was still held close by a piece of string, but I found a tree root that makes a cute latch, here it is <3
I had the worst trouble screwing it in! The last few fence posts I bought were acacia because the store ran out of chestnut ones, so I discovered that acacia is unbelievably hard. It’s nice to know the posts will last a long time, but they killed a drill bit without breaking a sweat. I didn’t know wood could do this to metal:
In the first pic you can see that fence posts have been installed to the right of the gate, but nothing else—well the crossbars and wire netting are now in place:
Since I screwed the crossbars on top of one another to make the fence a bit higher, the wire netting didn’t go all the way up, so I had to do some patient lacework with string to fill all the gaps, or else Pampe would put her head between the bar and the netting and just push down to widen the gap and squeeze through. (Lived experience.) But it looks oddly nice:
I also left 1 gap at the bottom, too small for a llama but large enough for a Pandolf and two chickens to enter and leave the pasture as they please. (Though Pan can’t gain any weight in his butt or he won’t fit anymore):
At one point I had to go to the store to buy some more washers and bolts and I met a teenage cow happily wandering on the road far away from her family. It’s always nice to know I’m not the only one with fence troubles.
Go back to your mum immediately young lady! I have a llama who would be very proud of you.
I used to have a very convenient little tree where I hung the hay nets, but unfortunately it had to be felled when we built the greenhouse. But one of its roots became the door latch, and I also salvaged one of its branches to build my new hay net holder where the tree used to be, so it will continue to carry hay nets in the afterlife. I intended for my modern art installation to look like a llama but everyone is telling me it’s more of a moose:
The target audience was very puzzled by it at first, and Pirlouit was the first animal who dared to approach it because he would do anything for his hay.
Although at first he stretched his neck and lips as far as he could so he wouldn’t have to go too near the hay holding-animal’s head...!
Then everyone followed his lead (except Pampe who in the below pic is right in front of me checking the fence for weak spots) (but there have been no llama escapes through the new fence! it is as of yet undefeated)—and then even baby Poldine started eating hay :) For the first time! She was just waiting for her hay to be served to her hanging from the spine of a wooden moose butler.
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#19.3 Unravel
It had been some time since Agni felt this nervous. Not even talking with Jinsung Ha recently had made him feel like this. He fiddled with the mask on his hand as he waited for Grace to come back. He had thought hard on how to deliver the news, but he knew that no matter how he phrased it, Grace would be upset. Velt nuzzled under his palm and Agni gave her a few pats, before deciding that she would be better inside her bowl in his lighthouse, just in case the shinsu acted up around Grace after he received the news.
Grace came back wearing the comfiest shirt and shorts Agni knew Grace liked to wear on lazy days. He joined him on the floor, and they ate dinner together. Agni always finished last, so while waiting for him to finish his meal, Grace told him about his day with Bam. Grace was intrigued by how much his way of thinking had changed, and how glad he was to be able to be by Bam's side when he was having a bad day. It reminded Agni of the hidden floor, when Grace faced his sworn enemy.
They left the used bowls on the coffee table and went to brush their teeth. Afterwards, they turned off the light and went upstairs to sit on their bed. Grace's curious gaze never left him, and Agni curled his feet nervously.
Grace was the one who broke the silence. "So…what is it?"
Agni's breath hitched. This was the part he dreaded most. "I talked with the crocodile earlier. Did you know that he could manipulate stone already?"
"Huh." Grace needed a few seconds to let the information sink in. "Didn't Rak learn it on the Hell train? How does he know it?"
"Turns out our crocodile also traveled back to the past like us. He found the young crocodile and taught him."
"What?!" Grace gasped, wide eyed. "That means our Rak is–!!"
"He's dead." Agni quickly snuffed out that hope. They had been in delusion for long enough; it was time that they faced the bitter truth. "He suffered a fatal injury from the explosion. He couldn't have lasted long without proper help." Agni omitted the actual cause for Rak's death, but still kept his words true. "I'm sorry."
"…Oh." Grace looked lost, just like Agni was. His lips parted a little, but they closed before any sound escaped.
Agni gently squeezed Grace's hand, encouraging and comforting as he let the silence stretch on, giving Grace some time to process the information.
"Agni…" Grace whispered, "do you think Hatz and Isu…?"
Agni bit his lip and avoided his gaze, as the nightmare of that day replayed in his mind. He witnessed Hatz get his arms ripped off when trying to protect him. He could still recall the clang of a sword hitting the floor, and Hatz's suppressed scream that gnawed deep at his guilt. He witnessed Isu get beheaded after being taken hostage, the memory of warm blood painting them both still vivid like it happened yesterday.
Agni refused to acknowledge their possible deaths, because it felt like a nightmare that one day he could hopefully wake up from. He avoided the topic when Grace brought it up, so he wouldn't have to say it aloud and make it real. He had been so hard on himself, because he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he had failed Grace and everyone else involved.
Agni knew this had to change if he wanted to live better, now that they had gotten a second chance. So he swallowed down the lump in his throat that had built up over the years and asked mostly to himself; "What are the odds of their survival?"
"There's always a chance–"
"Grace." Agni looked him straight in the eye. "They were already severely injured before the explosion hit."
Grace fell silent and went still.
Agni felt a pang of guilt upon witnessing Grace's reaction. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap." Agni fiddled with his hands. He realized that he didn't know how much Grace knew of what happened. "My scar…do you know how I got it?"
"I…was told it was from the family heads' battle." Grace looked thoughtful. Agni knew he was trying to be careful with his words. "A stray attack?"
"It could have been worse." The memory of the scorching heat on his skin felt like it had only happened yesterday. He passed out right when he was about to heal Isu, and only found out later that he also lost sweetfish at that time. The days he spent recovering from the burn, to withstand the excruciating pain every second he was conscious, and finally coming to terms that it'd be a permanent scar, was one of the turning points that had changed him forever. Were Grace not there to care for him, he might have ended up destroying himself even more.
Agni hadn't realized he had his left hand clawing on his cheek until Grace pried his hand off and frowned, "You're doing it again."
"Maybe I should wear the mask…" Agni muttered to himself. After all, Grace gave it to him less so he could hide the scar but more to prevent him from unconsciously hurting himself. The only time he could safely take it off was when Grace was around.
Agni bit his lip nervously when Grace didn't reply. He no longer had the courage to look Grace in the eye that spoke so much concern, so he leaned close and rested his head on Grace's chest. "Rak, Isu, Hatz and Hwaryun were trying to get me out of that damned place. But we were caught while escaping, and…it was a bloodbath. I was…too occupied to react to the incoming heat. Rak shielded us from the explosion. And when I woke up…"
"They weren’t with you," Grace finished it for him after Agni trailed off a moment too long.
Agni nodded dazedly, "I've been telling myself that they're still alive, after a blow that could kill rankers. But…who am I kidding? I was lucky enough to survive with just this little–" Agni vaguely pointed to himself– "inconvenience."
Agni felt a hand gripping his arm, and he pulled away to see Grace looking at him with a pained expression. His eyes were glossy and his lips were pulled into a thin line. Trusting his instinct, Agni reached out to gently trace and cup Grace's cheek with his free hand.
"I'm sorry," Agni muttered. "I'm sorry, for not telling you sooner."
Agni silently witnessed tears that streamed down on his love's face. It was a bitter sight that Agni wished he'd never have to see again, that he had tried to avoid for so long by not telling him. He pulled Grace in and held him close to his chest, as if Agni was trying to gather his own crumbled heart back together.
Grace mumbled their late best friends' names as he held onto him tighter, shaking from each breath he took between sniffles.
Agni felt his own eyes sting with unshed tears. He remembered the years he spent climbing the tower together with his old team. Despite their banter being his source of headaches, Agni knew he too had come to acknowledge them as his cherished friends. Only when they were gone did Agni realize how much he'd miss having them around. Seeing the younger them didn't exactly close the gaping hole in his heart, but at least the emptiness was more filled.
Agni squeezed Grace tighter. "We have their younger selves with us now. We will protect them better this time."
Grace only nodded and sank further into his embrace. And Agni planted kisses on his hair, relishing the thought that after everything he had gone through, Grace was still a constant in his life. As long as he had him, everything would be okay.
When Grace started shaking again, Agni caressed his hair and hummed a comfort song they had known by heart. Still, it didn't make falling asleep any easier for Agni, especially not after admitting that his nightmare was very much real. However, as he had been through grief…this, too, would pass.
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Maybe I have ridiculously high expectations
But I'm desperately hoping (praying, even) that the new Fantasy Life game doesn't suck.
Like, I'm not saying that Fantasy Life i is gonna be a bad game.
Nor am I expecting the new Fantasy Life to be a perfect carbon copy of its predeccessor. That's nonsense, obviously.
But as someone who has such fond memories of playing the 3DS game, I'd like to be able to somewhat recreate those experiences.
After so many years, I want to be able to explore new fantastical environments, meet new friends, play through an engaging story, and fight mystical creatures.
And not just simply rebuild the town I'm living in i.e. Animal Crossing New Horizons fashion.
I'm hoping there's gonna be more to the game than we're being shown in the trailers, but only time will tell.
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