#emily from stardew valley is another one on that list

[rizzlegukgak]

i just want my followers to know i’m doing them a favor by forcing myself to Not post about baldur’s gate because i genuinely made myself cry Thinking Too Hars about shadowheart

[moonferry]

welcome to a segment i like to call "are they/arent they" where i list a category & some stardew valley characters and debate whether or not they actually would be that thing. potentially nsfw text?

first up, non marriageable npcs and whether or not they are a dilf/milf:

marlon: obviously. there's no debate here.

the wizard: yes. no further comments.

linus: no. that is my best friend d right there i will not "go into his tent"

lewis: absolutely NOT. that man is greasy.

marnie: you know what? yeah. she is. in more of a "rich wine aunt you see at parties twice a year" way.

kent: do i even have to say anything? yes hes a dilf 100%. makes me think of that gg audio that's like "im a truth seeker, i seek the truth..."

jodi: yes but more in a "IM GOING TO MAKE HER MY GF" kind of way.

robin: .... seriously guys? do i need to answer this? (the answer is yes btw)

demetrius: no. but he'd be nice to sit and have a chat with, he can ramble about his experiments to me <3

pierre: honestly a strong maybe, but im gonna say no because his vibes are abhorrent.

caroline: yes. caroline was the first npc i became friends with so she's always a yes <3

george: no. don't even ask that.

evelyn: NO. that's my sweet granny im gonna make cookies with her.

sandy: i mean she has the potential but i don't think she's old enough to be considered a milf? it's a maybe but a definite yes in the future.

gus: hmm.. im gonna say maybe with high yes potential. i mean he can cook.

willy: i know this one is likely gonna get split 50/50 between you guys but it's a no from me. that's my uncle figure. he literally calls me his skipper and i go YEAAAH!!!

clint: ❌❌❌

gunther: yes. i just wish we could actually talk to him tho.

gil: hmmm.. it's possible. this is a maybe.

pam: no </3 love her but not like that

now, onto the marriage candidates and whether they are a top, bottom, or switch. here's the nsfw text. feel free to skip or read, it's up to you.

shane: dominant top. i just can't see him as submissive im sorry guys.

sam: submissive top. literally just wants to make it enjoyable for his partner, probably likes to be praised. u tell him good job? hes gone.

sebastian: power bottom. he knows what he wants and isn't afraid to let his partner know.

emily: trick question. she's asexual.

haley: dominant top. i don't really think i need to explain this.

penny: bottom. please treat her nicely or she'll cry.

harvey: SWITCH. he has potential for both, but i feel like he'd be more on the gentle side. maybe slightly more submissive depending on the situation. (#menwhowhimper)

maru: i feel like shes a tough one. on one hand i can see her as asexual, but on the other i think she'd be a switch. i think it fluctuates for her & she goes through periods of sex repulsion & hypersexuality.

leah: dominant switch, but i feel like she'd be more open to topping. muscular women .. ooogh.

elliott: another switch. he is literally open to anything & everything.

abigail: ooh another tough one. im honestly not sure possibly bottom? she'd also be open to top of you asked.

alex: *cracks knuckles* oooh you see those big muscles and personality and think "top" right? wrong. that man is a submissive bottom. he also has a tendency to allow himself to get overstimulated because he wants to "see what his body can handle"

[diversestardewvalley]

Diverse Stardew Valley 4.0 Sneak Peak!

Hey everyone! DSV 4.0 is getting close to being done, so I thought I’d show off some of the cool stuff that’s gonna be included! 😊 I’ve also been sharing little snippets in the DSV Discord server recently, so if you’re not already a member, check our website for the link.

It’s pretty long and has a lot of images, so click through to see them!

The big news is that DSV 4.0 will move back to an all-in-one download (and will also be hosted on Nexus again) with a SMAPI component, DSV Core, which will consolidate all of the config options for more convenience. DSV Core is the hard work of KediDili from a concept originally by Nuztalgia!

It’ll also mean that other mods will be able to read your DSV config choices, which opens up a lot of potential for compatibility! Platonic Partners and Friendships users may be familiar with how this works, since PPAF has a similar feature and DSV is able to automatically provide compat depending on your PPAF config.

[image id: two screenshots from DSV Core showing a selection of configuration options. The first is a table of contents and the second shows some of the options available in the Global Options page.]

Options will be divided into different pages so that it’s not an overwhelming list of choices, and DSV Core will also automatically disable compatibility options for other mods if you don’t have that mod installed, so it’ll reduce some of the option clutter. We’ve also future-proofed the config so that you also won’t need to redo your config settings when we add more options in the future and added a function to automatically fix common typos in manually-edited config.jsons!

[image id: a screenshot showing DSV Core’s page of Compatibility options.]

As you can see in the screenshot above, 4.0 will also add dialogue for many characters related to DSV’s variants! This feature has been much requested and a lot of people have contributed dialogue, so thank you to everyone who wrote some lines for us 💖 If you’re interested in helping out with dialogue as well, feel free to join the DSV server and chat to us about it!

Another major content update will be DSV’s swimsuits! We’ve updated all of the swimsuits to have fresh new designs, and there’ll be a new option for every character with a beach swimsuit in the vanilla game to use either the vanilla design (with some minor tweaks to clean up art issues & match DSV’s bases) or the DSV design.

[image id: a selection of portraits from DSV showing the characters’ vanilla variants wearing the DSV Style swimsuits]

[image id: a selection of portraits and sprites from DSV showing the characters’ vanilla variants in a before and after of the default swimsuits on the left versus the updated Vanilla Style swimsuits on the right.]

Other stuff being included is a skintone saturation boost for modded Harvey and Black Emily and Haley, after feedback from our sensitivity checkers...

[image id: a before and after of DSV’s modded Harvey and Black Emily & Haley showing the difference in skintones.]

...new & updated outfits for some characters (Emily’s outfits are by Meowpix while Sebastian’s ao dai is by Elaho)...

[image id: a selection of portraits from DSV showing updated outfits for Abigail, Sebastian, and Emily.]

...compatibility with Life Cycle and other mods...

[image id: portraits for DSV’s modded Caroline, Emily, Kent, and Demetrius showing new formalwear.]

...options for small immersive features...

[image id: portraits for DSV’s modded and vanilla Abigail wearing a variety of goth makeup looks.]

...and saving the best for last, DSV’s best girl Marigold will be making a return with updated art! She’ll be a non-friendable NPC and will require Sprites in Detail as a temporary measure until SDV 1.6 is released, but she’ll also have more dialogue, including dialogue from Linus about her, and new animations 🐕‍🦺

[image id: a screenshot of Linus’s tent showing his service dog Marigold with larger updated sprites.]

Thanks to everyone that’s supported us and I hope you’re all hyped for DSV 4.0! 💖

[little-butterfly-writes]

Commissions

Hello everyone! I know it has been a while, but I hope you are all well.

I’m happy to be here with everyone, but I have an ulterior motive (and I apologize for this being my comeback post). Recently, there was a fire in my sister’s neighborhood and it spread to her house.

Why is this important?

Due to the fire spreading, my sister’s house took a lot of damage. With damage comes (expensive!!) costs to repair the building and replace furniture. Fortunately, no one was in the house at the time of the fire and my sister is safe.

To help my sister out, I am opening commissions where all profits go to her. As long as the rules are followed, I will be writing something personal for you! Down below, my rules, what I refuse to write, fandoms I write for, what I will write, and costs.

Here is the link to our Cash App for all purchases or donations. - Pay $LittleButterflyWrites

Note: Anyone who has made a request before the date of me posting this (07/02/2024) will get their requests free of charge as originally intended before my unannounced hiatus.

This is available until July 30th, (07/30/2024), so please act fast since I'm not sure if I'll open them again! Read more if you're interested!

Rules *read and approved by my sister

I have the right to refuse any request. Respect my final decision and read what I will not write for before making a request.

Refunds will only be available 24 hours after you place the order. If you do not tell/ask for a refund within 24 hours of your transaction, I will write what you requested and you will  NOT get your money back.

Before making a request, please consult with me about what you want for your writing. See below on how to request. This makes things easier in case I am unable to fulfill/accept a request, AND it prevents you, the buyer, from spending money before you get an answer.

If you want any changes to the details, let me know within 24 hours of talking to me.

If you request for a character letter, you will have to give PROOF OF PERMISSION by an adult if you are a minor. You will also have to be comfortable with giving me your address.

If I find that you request anything NSFW as a minor, you will be BLOCKED AND REPORTED. I will reject your request and you will get your money back.

What Do You Refuse To Write?

Dub/non-con

Incest

Hate towards another group of people (race, orientation, gender, etc.)

Beastiality/Zoophilia

Pedophilia

I will NOT write NSFW for certain characters. Said characters will be in a bracketed list after their name. (example: [Character] = no NSFW). The NSFW list of characters will always be BEFORE the NO NSFW character list.

Anything I am not comfortable writing. Again, I reserve the right to refuse any request. If you are unsure and need clarification, please message me with questions.

What Fandoms Do You Write For?

With this new post comes some new fandoms!

Mystic Messenger

- Yoosung Kim, Zen/Hyun Ryu, Jaehee Kang, Jumin Han, 707/Saeyoung Choi, Ray, Saeran Choi, V/Jihyun Kim, Rika Kim, Vanderwood

Mr. Love, Queen’s Choice

- Lucien Xu, Victor Li, Gavin Bai, Kiro Zhou, Shaw Bai

Stardew Valley

- Alex, Elliot, Harvey, Sam, Sebastian, Shane, Abigail, Emily, Hayley, Jodi, Leah, Maru, Penny, Caroline, Robin, Sandy, Willy, Wizard M. Rasmodius - [Clint, Demetrius, Evelyn, George, Gunther, Gus, Jas, Kent, Krobus, Leo, Lewis, Linus, Marnie, Pam, Pierre, Willy, Wizard M. Rasmodius, Vincent]

Monster Prom/Camp

- Vera Oberlin, Damien LaVey, Zoe, Polly Geist, Miranda Vanderbilt, Calculester Hewlett-Packard, Scott Howl, Liam de Lioncourt, Joy Johnson-Johjima, Dahlia Aquino, Aaravi Mishra

Ikemen Sengoku

- Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Akechi Mitsuhide, Date Masamune, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ishida Mitsunari, Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, Sanada Yukimura, Sarutobi Sauske, Kennyo

The Walking Dead - Up to season 5 in the TV show OR first comic compendium. I can write apocalypse TWD or non-apocalypse lives, just tell me your preference.

- Rick Grimes, Lori Grimes, Shane Walsh, Glenn Rhee, Maggie Greene, Daryl Dixon, Tyresse, Sasha, Abraham Ford, Carol Peletier, Michonne, Negan, Tara Chambler, Rosita Espinosa, Gabriel Stokes - [Herschel Greene, Dale Horvath] - *I will write NSFW for Beth Greene or Carl Grimes BUT they will be AGED UP TO BE 18 or OLDER.

What Will You Write?

Comfort

Fluff

Angst

SFW

NSFW

Character x Character

OC x Character

Unnamed FemReader x Character

Unnamed MascReader x Character

Unnamed GenNeuReader x Character

CMC x Character

What Can I Get And For How Much?

*Before making a request, please consult with me about what you want so I can give you a set price before I start working. Some prices depend on the details like how many characters you want, so talk to me before paying!

Personalized Playlist - $2

I make you a playlist for your character x character, OC x character, or CMC x character. I will give you links via Spotify or YouTube using my taste in music along with your taste. Minimum of 20 songs.

Headcanons - $3-6 (Depends on the amount of characters. Maximum of 8 characters)

I write headcanons about the character, how they interact with other characters within their fandom, and how they interact with your OC/CMC.

Matchmaker - $3-9 (Depends on amount of characters

You choose between 1-3 characters from any fandom (can be different fandoms) and give a description of yourself to me (including MBTI, hobbies, likes/dislikes, and preferences). Can be SFW or NSFW.

Dabble (500+ words) - $4

A small piece with details you customize for a character. This can include interactions with other characters in their fandom, interactions with OC/CMC, or something about themself.

Character Letter (Only within the US and Canada) - $6 + any mailing fees

A letter from a character of your choice. Must show PROOF OF PERMISSION if you are a minor as we mail it to your address.

Fic (1000+ words) - $7

A piece with details you customize for a character. This can include interactions with other characters in their fandom, interactions with OC/CMC, or something about themself.

Oneshot (1500-2000+ words) - $10

A larger piece with details you customize for a character. This can include interactions with other characters in their fandom, interactions with OC/CMC, or something about themself.

How Do I Order A Commission? *Very important!

Look at the list of fandoms/characters I will write for.

Choose what you would like me to write for you. (Example: FemReader x Character, SFW, Dabble, with [insert details]).

Consult with me BEFORE PURCHASING to determine if I will accept the request and set the price.

Once all details are given and the request is approved, continue with purchase using the link to the Cash App linked above.

Here’s another link for purchases or donations in case you don’t want to scroll up! - Pay $LittleButterflyWrites

Reblogs are always helpful if you are uninterested or want to help :)

[randoimago]

Another ask sent to my DM's. Abigail, Emily, Reader poly how they live together. Sending it to my ask box like this so the format doesn't upset my brain 😅

Fandom: Stardew Valley

Character(s): Abigail, Emily

Note(s): I do love the vibes these two ladies give off. Oh they're also super cute too.

It's a rare occasion for anyone to be at home. Abigail is usually out exploring, Emily is working at the saloon, and you're doing whatever. When the three of you are at home, it's mainly a nice lazy day of hanging out or if everyone has the energy, you guys have a nice date night.

The bathroom sink and tub have this blue and purple tint to it (and maybe another color if you have dyed hair). Emily pouts about Abigail's dye seeming to come out and yet her hair is still perfectly purple while she needs to do her own touchups. Abigail playfully teases about her hair being perfect because the color stays. It's not the typical date, but hanging out in the bathroom and dying hair happens quite a bit.

Many tarot sessions happen. Emily and Abigail do it, Abigail more for fun and Emily for superstition. You have to be there with them so the cards also take in your energy. They're more than happy to teach you if you don't know much about witch/wiccan stuff. But there's a lot of crystals, incense, herbs happening in the house. Again, mainly because of Emily but Abigail likes the aesthetic.

You and Emily have to stop Abigail from being tempted to chew on the crystals.

Kind of with the above stuff, if you're the new farmer in this scenario, then both of them like to give you little lists of herbs to plant/forage while you're doing your day-to-day stuff. You always get praise and kisses from your happy girlfriends if you're able to do it.

Emily is the one to initiate most of the affection. Lots of kisses and hugs and praise from her. Abigail prefers acts of service or quality time to show her love, but she's always down for a nice cuddle session.

requested by @brainrotqueen

[caelwynn]

I'm still physically wiped out and my head's too fuzzy to do 'real' writing/revisions on my story, but I'm just coherent enough that I want to chitter-chatter about my fic.

So in the course of working on Choices, one of the things I've spent an inordinate amount of time on is figuring out the 'cohorts' for the valleyfolk. What I mean by 'cohorts' are the groups of people who are in a similar age-range to one another and then further subdivided into 'natives' (aka 'people who grew up together in the valley') and 'transplants.' After all, one of the things I'm trying to accomplish is interweaving three large expansion mods with the base game and coming up with a cohesive whole, and that means knowing who from the various mods have known each other basically forever.

Under the cut, I break down who's in what cohort. I may or may not later flesh out my thinking about why I plopped certain people into certain groups, mostly because when I started to do so with this list, the post grew disgustingly (more) bloated. If I do, I'll probably do a separate post for each cohort. After all, this is the site for rambling about this sort of random stuff, right? 😅 (Edit: that's exactly how I spent my afternoon. You can find my thoughts on each cohort here: Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3, Gen 4, Gen 5.)

If you squint just right, these could be considered spoilers for SVE/Ridgeside/East Scarp.

I divided the population of the valley into five different cohorts/generations. Ages are based on how old they are/would be during the course of Choices. They are also in order of eldest down to youngest. I have actual ages recorded for most of the characters, but it cluttered up this list waaay too much.

(OG) - Base Game, (SVE) - Stardew Valley Expanded, (R) - Ridgeside, (ES) - East Scarp

Gen 1 (Aged 60+) Natives

Maive (R)

Richard (R)

Gil (OG)

Evelyn (OG)

Linus (OG)

Willy (OG)

Lenny (R)

Gen 1 (Aged 60+) Transplants

George (OG)

Mr. Aguar (R)

Sonny (R)

Mrs. Olsen (Emily and Haley's mother) (OG-ish)

Lola (R)

Freddie (R)

Gen 2 (Ages 40-60) Natives

(56-60)

Lewis (OG)

Vivienne (ES)

Jessie (ES)

Mr. Olsen (Emily and Haley's father) (OG-ish)

Lily-Anne (ES)

Ezekiel (R)

Clement (ES)

(50-55)

Helen (R)

Marlon (OG)

Daisy (Adventurer's Guild Expanded)

Mark (ES) (Sterling's father, unnamed in mod)

Jess (ES) (Henry's father, unnamed in mod)

Pierre (OG)

Alecto (Stand Alone)

Robin (OG)

(46-50)

Marnie (OG)

Gunther (OG)

Susan (SVE)

Kimpoi (R)

(40-45)

Kent (OG)

Bert (R)

Olga (R)

Lorenzo (R)

Caroline (OG)

Gen 2 (Ages 40-60) Transplants

(56-60)

Rasmodius (OG)

Carmen (R)

(51-55)

Pam (OG)

Andy (SVE)

Jodi (OG)

Demetrius (OG)

(46-50)

Olivia (SVE)

Pika (R)

Malaya (R)

(40-45)

Naomi (R)

Gen 3 (Ages 25-39) Natives

(31-36)

Tristan (ES)

Clint (OG)

Shane (OG)

Henry (ES)

Sterling (ES)

Mona (OG/ES?)

Jacob [He turns 31 during the fic] (ES)

(25-30)

Mateo (ES)

Jasper (ES)

Kenneth (R)

Emily (OG)

Sandy (OG)

Anton (R)

Maria (R)

Paula (R)

Gloria (ES)

Zayne (R)

Kiarra (R)

Sophia (SVE)

Gen 3 (Ages 25-39) Transplants

(31-39)

Harvey (OG)

Shanice (R)

Callie

Mia (ES)

Elliott (OG)

Leah (OG)

Bryle (R)

(25-30)

Philip (R)

June (R)

Kataryna (ES)

Jeric (R)

Aideen (ES)

Rosa (ES)

Flor (R)

Irene (R)

Gen 4 (Ages 18-24) Natives

Penny (OG)

Sebastian (OG)

Alissa (R)

Abigail (OG)

Shiro (R)

Corine (R)

Sam (OG)

Ysabelle (R)

Alex (OG)

Haley (OG)

Lexi (ES)

Blair (R)

Gen 4 (Ages 18-24) Transplants

Victor (SVE)

Maddie (R)

Faye (R)

Juliet (ES)

Sean (R)

Gen 5 (Ages 5-17)

Maru (OG)

Oliver (ES)

Ariah (R)

Trinnie (R)

Keahi (R)

Eloise (ES)

Louie (R)

Vincent (OG)

Jas (OG)

Yuuma (R)

Lavril (ES)

Gen 5 (Haven't decided ages yet)

Leo (OG)

Morgan (SVE)

Bliss (R)

Pipo (R)

Undreya (R)

Yeah, I know there are characters missing (especially from East Scarp, as I have difficulty keeping track of all the individual NPC mods, and SVE), but there it is. I wonder if this is actually interesting to anyone other than me. Oh well. 😅

[floopthecooper]

Shitfic Masterpost

I yell at y'all about updates to my shitposty Stardew fanfiction all the dang time, but that's no longer enough. It's high time I give you a masterpost of all the shitfic.

But not just any masterpost. No, this is a compiled list of stories from

Pomegranny Farm

Pomegranny Farm is a shared Stardew universe between myself and @coolcoolglasses. Sometimes we collaborate, sometimes they write solo, and sometimes I write solo.

Farmers Mica and Clay Stone run Pomegranny Farm and they are completely and utterly useless. Some Pomegranny fics are also collected in The Misadventures of Mica Stone for... some reason.

(I may have forgotten the reason)

So far each story is self contained with minimal cross-referencing — you don't have to read everything to understand everything else, but there might be some delightful jokes for you if you do. The list below is ordered in some semblance of a timeline, but it's not necessarily a recommended reading order. Just read what you want, man. Ain't nobody gonna judge here.

Pomegranny Farm Masterlist:

Just Friends Bein' Pals (Definitely Not Bein' Jerks) ✪ First fic! I thought of a dumb joke and decided to try it out. The ASS trio play pranks on one another. Maybe there's a little character development. Status: Complete

Operation: Get Marnie A New Man ✪ Longform collaborative fic with @coolcoolglasses! Marnie deserves better, and only two big dumb idiots are suited to team up and figure it out. Shennanigans happen. Sometimes we draw stuff for it too. You cannot stop us. You cannot look away. Marnie is forever. Submit to O:GMaNM Status: Ongoing

Scenes From A Pelican Town Restaurant ✪ A hold-my-beer fic! Leah and Elliott are meddling hens and decide that Clint needs romance. Status: Ongoing / Temporary Hiatus

Smalldew Valley ✪ Prompt fic! Sometimes I'll get a writing prompt, and sometimes I'll write something using said prompt. Basically it's a bunch of character and world building outside of the main storylines. Status: Updates when prompted   

Vincent's Super Scary Spirit's Eve Story or: THE SCARY ATTAK OF THE GHOSTS ✪ Spoopy fic! We had a dumb idea (what if Vinnie wrote a creepypasta) and ran with it. Status: Oneshot, Complete

Shell Game ✪ Fic for funsies! Elliott writes a (bad) creepypasta-type story. It's not good. He should stick to romance or science fiction. Status: Oneshot, Complete

Alternative Medicine ✪ Sassy fic! Harvey: God damn it I have an MD. Emily: ARE U SURE ABOUT THAT— Status: Ongoing / Temporary Hiatus

A Worthy Goal ✪ Wholesome fic! Harvey and Elliott work through a midlife crisis panic attack. Status: Oneshot, Complete

I'm Really Proud of You, Man ✪ Extra content from chapter 29 of Operation: Marnie. Leah wants to know what's up! Supportive fic! Sam can be a good friend. Sometimes. Status: Oneshot, Complete

Book Signing ✪ Comics? In my AO3? It's more likely than you think. One for each of Elliott's book signings, @coolcoolglasses wrote and illustrated the comics and I illustrated most of the book covers. Status: Complete

Call Me ✪ Extra content from chapter 29 of Operation: Marnie. Leah wants to know what's up! Status: Oneshot, Complete

[loganwritesprobably]

Stardew Hills

So my two current obsessions are Teen Wolf (naturally) and Stardew Valley Naturally, I wanted to combine them I wanted to share some of my thoughts to see if anyone agreed/had counterpoints etc This is just for fun, combining my two current interests I totally ignored family dynamics to do this, otherwise I would’ve been stuck - this is based entirely on the vibes I got from the characters Suggestions are VERY welcome 

Bachelors

Alex - Liam

I mean, do I really need to explain this one? I also considered Jackson but I wanted the marriage candidates to be well-loved characters.

Elliott - Peter

I’m not satisfied with this but I really struggled picking an option for Elliot. He’s not a character I interact with much and so if anyone has alternative suggestions, please suggest away.

Harvey - Scott

He’s shy with Kira, he wants to be a vet - I feel like this works. I did also consider Scott for Sam because I think that also works.

Sam - Isaac

Speaking of Sam.. again I was on the struggle bus. But Isaac having the contrast between confident and outgoing and the traumatised boy.. feels like Sam in a way.

Sebastian - Stiles

Sebastian feels like me a lot like the fanon perspective of Stiles, I don’t know if anyone else gets that. I also considered Danny for Sebastian, but see what I said about Jackson on this.

Shane - Theo

These vibes are unexplainable but I think people will get it.

Bachelorettes

Abigail - Allison

The easiest placement by far, this needs no explanation.

Emily - Erica

Another purely on vibes, probably more fanon Erica than canon but.. I don’t think it’s a poor choice.

Haley - Lydia

Haley’s progression from how she is when the farmer arrives v when you progress her story mirrors Lydia’s character progression pretty well, I think.

Leah - ?

I struggled so hard with Leah that I came up empty. Nobody in the show is particularly artistic? We see both Lydia and Allison draw/paint but their placements are so perfect that I don’t think Leah trumps that. Open to suggestions

Maru - Hayden

I truly cannot explain or elaborate. It’s not quite right, but it’s what I have - my female Teen Wolf options are limited.

Penny - Kira

I think out of all the Teen Wolf girls, Kira would be the most likely to take on the role in the valley that Penny does.

Other Townies

I feel like these selections need no elaborations and so I will just list them

Lewis - Noah

Marnie - Melissa

Wizard - Deaton

Kent - Chris

I also considered Chris for Marlon and maybe having Kent as Raf - food for thought.

After this point I got kinda stuck so.. you’re welcome?

[sunspray-peak]

Ch. 13: Quiet

SATURDAY - SPRING 27

It had seemed like forever ago when Emily had invited Achilles to her birthday party at the saloon—in fact, despite jotting it down in his planner, in his present condition, he would have forgotten about it completely had it not been for Shane. 

The three days following the Flower Festival had been rough, to say the least. Desperate to find something to do, to plan a new project—or, at the very least, brainstorm a list of things to do Next (with a capital “N”)—he had plunged himself into “work.”

And by “work,” he really meant (if he were actually honest with himself) immaterial, made up chores to ward off the restlessness barging at the gates of his antsy brain. At this point, Achilles could have likely won Zuzu’s annual Home & Garden Landscaping contest with how polished his grandpa’s old property was. But although Achilles firmly believed there was always room for improvement, in this specific scenario, one could only realistically polish something so much before it reached its maximum shine. 

Somewhat unsurprisingly, his anxiety could see through the sham of odd tasks and disingenuous jobs—it didn’t matter how many DIY shelving tutorials he watched or how often he scrubbed the floors. How many times he moved the garden gnome or how many one-sided conversations he was having with the junimos, who were now visiting him with increasing frequency.

Or perhaps he really was now going mad. 

With each day, he could feel that itchiness, that irritating, antsy static, begin to creep further and further into his skull. The voices in his head asking asking over and over and over again, louder and louder What’s next what’s next what’s next? The only thing that managed to keep it somewhat at bay was his morning jog, which was becoming increasingly longer with each day. Didn’t someone on some TV show once say that, really, as long as they kept moving and kept their mind occupied at all times, they would avoid falling into the bottomless pit of despair? Well it was true, although for Achilles it was more anxiety right now than depression. 

He had even considered braving his anti-group-fitness-stance and heading back to Zuzu for another class at Orange Grove for this very reason (well, among others)—it would give him something to focus on. But with the commute time, he just couldn’t make his mind see it as immediately “productive” in the wider scheme of things, as stupid as he knew this was. But anxiety wasn’t logical and thus, he abandoned the plans. Besides, Alex didn’t need to see him sweaty and anxious… 

So instead, he had continued to invite Shane over for breakfast, under the pretense that he was simply getting farming advice to pass on to prospective buyers. But he knew in his heart it was mostly just another flimsy excuse, especially as he found his jittery self lulled by the man’s silently sullen disposition into chattering at length on nonsense completely unrelated to farms. 

“You wanna come to Emily’s party tomorrow night? I don’t think she’ll care if I invite you, just sounds like you need a distraction,” Shane had finally grunted, which honestly was the politest way Shane had ever asked somebody to shut up. 

“Hmm? Oh—yes.” Achilles had taken the hint, gulping down the elderflower soda he was now somewhat addicted to (he did not provide Shane beer anymore, although that hadn’t stopped the man from bringing his own) to give his mouth something to do besides talk. “She actually invited me.” 

“Huh. Even better. Now I won’t get in trouble.” 

Fuck. He had forgotten. But hey, a real something-to-do, if a relatively quick one. After scouring the internet, he had put in a call to his mother who had in turn gotten her contacts to overnight Emily’s gift, which he delicately wrapped in periwinkle tissue paper. 

And so that was how he started his penultimate night in Stardew Valley. It was to be a long one. Standing in the living room, tapping his foot a mile a minute, barely comprehending a word of Joseph Queen’s latest novel, and rubbing circles into his wrist as he fidgeted with the gift bag handle, all while waiting for 7:30 to arrive. 

*****

But at a certain point waiting became too hard and, eager to do something instead of sitting around the immaculately clean farmhouse, he had decided to leave for the saloon early and simply take the long way to town, through Cindersap. It was an unusually cool evening, fresh and breezy, and no signs of rain, thank Yoba. 

He bumped into Leah, dressed for the weather in a beanie and a spritely green jacket that reminded him a bit of his garden gnome. 

“Hey there.” She nodded at the gift bag in his hands. “Going to Emily’s? What’d you get her?” 

Achilles shoved his ear pods into his windbreaker and handed the bag to Leah who promptly removed the tissue paper and peered inside. “Nothing much, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what she’d like.” 

“Nothing much?” Leah had stopped, one hand balancing seven spools of thread, the bag, and the tissue paper Achilles had so particularly arranged; the other holding up a 12 pack of markers. “Achilles, these are Tannics.” 

Achilles’ nose twitched. You idiot. An oversight—of course Leah, as an artist, would recognize the brand. What to do… He chose to downplay.

“Ah, they’re the brand my mom uses and Emily’s a fan of her work. I just figured they’d be good.” 

Leah returned the items to the bag, stuffing the paper unceremoniously on top, and they resumed their walk. “‘Figured they’d be good…’ They’re the best. That pack must’ve been $70—and you yourself just said you barely know Emily.”  

“I didn’t say I ‘barely know’ her, we’re friendly—” 

“You pretty much implied it when you said you weren’t sure what she’d like. Who gets a $70 shot in the dark gift?” 

“She likes designing clothes, I grew up around fashion designers. What’s wrong with getting tools you know are nice? At least I know she’ll put them to good use.” Achilles tone was growing sharp as the ants in the back of his brain began to wake at the rumblings of a row. He took a deep breath through his nose, flexing his fingers in attempt to calm himself and the incoming anxiety.

She whipped her red braid over her shoulder and half-shoved the bag back into Achilles’ hands. “Yoba… must be nice…” 

Achilles knew she wanted him to respond, he could feel her eyes on him as they walked, but he resolutely bit back his tongue. He knew it was nice—to have money, to come from money—of course it was nice. 

“Explains a lot, really. Your mom’s in fashion, your dad’s in television, and Elliott says you were a writer before all this?” 

A short, rather jerky nod. “Wasn’t for me. More of a… hobby, I suppose.” 

“Hmm. Must be nice…” 

He took another deep breath. Just one foot in front of the other…

“For sure. I’m very lucky and exceedingly grateful to my parents, I doubt I would be here without them.” 

“Yeah… but you don’t really get it, do you? You know, just… being able to quit your day job and get the fuck out of town for a season to just do something you’ve never done before for shits and giggles? You’re going to, what, sell the new farm for a cool couple million, and then what are you going to do after that? What’s your plan?” 

Achilles new it would be better to stay silent, but the mere presence of ants in his brain was a reminder of the truth, and the words spilled out before he could bite them back. 

“I don’t know.” 

“You don’t know.” Leah shook her head—was she merely irritated or incensed?—and flipped her  braid to her other shoulder. “The fact that you can say that is just… so fucking unbelievably crazy to me. That there’s a world where people just… don’t know. People who don’t need to know.

“Writing didn’t work out for you long term—like you said, it was a hobby, sure, so you went into corporate, and clearly that wasn’t for you either, so you just… moved on to the next thing. 

“Art isn’t just a hobby for me. For Elliott. For Emily. It’s not something we can just abandon and pick up or move on from without a plan. To be able to just… take a break? We don’t have something to fall back on. We have to worry about our literal survival.” 

“Leah, I bought Emily some nice markers for her birthday. That’s it.” Achilles struggled to keep his voice even, even as Leah’s had rose in urgency. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand what you want me to say.” 

But even as he said it, as he heard Leah’s sharp inhale as she geared up for the next round, he knew there was nothing she wanted from him, specifically. This was a vent, it was clear as day, and unlucky timing for Achilles, he seemed to have been the unlucky trigger of it all. 

“I just… to be able to blow $70 on somebody you barely know without a second thought while the rest of us are choosing between next week’s groceries and tools… ”  

The pseudo, and mostly one-sided, argument carried them to the saloon where, as politely as he could, he excused himself to the restroom as Leah all-too-gladly made her way to the room Emily had reserved. 

It was a private stall, thank goodness. He stumbled over to the mirror, his hands grasping the sides of the porcelain sink. The gift bag swayed, again chafing his wrist as he leaned into the cold water flowing from the faucet. 

He hated not knowing, he hated the unknown, he had done everything in his power to never have to feel that way for the past six years—but he couldn’t tell that to Leah because the truth was, in the grand scheme of things, it was fine that he didn’t know. That he didn’t have next steps planned, that he wasn’t thinking about making next month’s rent or next week’s groceries. 

He hadn’t had to use his parent’s money since he was 19—that was something he could confidently say. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t, if he needed it—and he knew his parents would help him in half a heartbeat if it ever came to that. And despite what Perry had insisted, Achilles had known that his last name had gotten him his agent much faster than it would’ve taken someone whose father wasn’t the show runner for primetime’s longest running procedural. 

In a way, the pressure of his parents’ success and the career expectations they had unintentionally set were likely what was feeding his next step anxiety. It wasn’t anything his parents had demanded from him, not at all, they had always been nothing but supportive, and for that, he knew he was lucky. But he had always been haunted by the pressure to make a name for himself, to achieve a level of public notoriety, much like his mother and father had. And for most of his life, that idea had constantly sent him running down the road trying to commit fully to all sorts of different projects to find something that he wanted—or, at least, was “supposed” to want. 

The realtor was coming tomorrow, and from his copious research he had deduced the farm wouldn’t stay on the market for long. So really, what was next? Looking back, this “excursion” to Stardew Valley was always going to be a temporary thing. The clock had really been ticking the moment he had quit BRLO and left Hyacinthia. He had just refused to listen to it. 

*****

When he eventually found his way to Emily’s reserved room, he had nearly succumbed to the ants crawling in his head, to the voices penetrating his mind, to the coldness that was seeping into his core, and as he took his third, his fourth, and his fifth shot, he told himself the only way to win this mental battle was to drown them out. 

“Are you all right?” 

The voice, soft but firm, managed to pierce the warm haze of alcohol. There was a hand at his back—Alex, of course, they had been next to each other most of the evening. 

“Yeah, why?” he murmured. He was fine. Totally fine. Better than some of the other folks here, right? His eyes searched wildly for the Shane, desperate to prove to himself that there was someone, always someone, worse off than he was. 

But instead, he found Shane somehow laughing, his hands clasping what must’ve been his sixth beer of the night, sandwiched between Emily and a pink-haired woman who had introduced herself as Sandy. Did anyone in this damn town have a natural hair color… 

Achilles glowered, but forced himself to quickly recover—this was a party, he couldn’t be upset. 

Someone—maybe it was Leah—broke out a deck of cards. 

Why not? he thought to himself, pulling up a seat to join the game. You’re good at these things… 

Not good enough, it seemed. He lost—fast, too. And while he forced himself to laugh (get the stick out of your ass, what will people think), inside, he cursed himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. So tight he was gripping the handle of his drink that his fingerpads had grown numb against the chilled glass.  

God, why do you care so much about a stupid fucking game. Stop. Just stop. Get yourself together. 

Someone made a joke. He laughed. Someone told a story. He asked questions. Someone stood to leave. He stood to say goodbye, and immediately the world tilted. 

Fuck. It had been six years since he had been drunk, it must have snuck up on him. But it was fine, he just needed a minute… or twenty… 

“Achilles, are you ok? I’m sorry about what I said earlier.” 

He looked up. It wasn’t Alex after all, but Leah. Or perhaps, it had been Alex earlier, and now it was Leah? How much time had passed? 

She took a seat next to him—where had she been sitting before? 

“Achilles, come on, I said I was sorry…” 

He mumbled something indecipherable. 

“Come on, man, let’s get you back.” 

Someone was taking his arm, but he shrugged them off. He was fine, he could still walk for Yoba’s sake… 

“Happy birthday, Emily!” he said as he stood for the door, giving the willowy blue-haired girl a hug. 

“Thank you for coming, Achilles! And thank you so much for the gift, I can’t believe you’d do that for me, you’re amazing.” 

He smiled, glancing smugly at the figure waiting for him by the door—take that, Leah—and see, everything was fine. Emily probably didn’t even notice he was… buzzed. Well, maybe a little more than buzzed…

“Let’s get you some air…” 

In the dim lamplight outside the saloon, he could just barely make out the flash of a green jacket and red braid. Ugh. Really not who he wanted to be with right now, but he wasn’t in much condition to escape. 

He stumbled a bit, but her firm hand held him steady. He considered shaking off his arch-nemesis, as he was apt to calling Leah now as of three hours ago, but the world was already spinning enough, and he rested his eyes half-closed and let himself be guided along the path. She really must be feeling guilty. Not that anything she had said had been false, per se… 

Soon the crumbly cobblestone turned to sand, and whether it was the sudden drop in temperature or overwhelming smell of salt, he wasn’t sure, but he bent over and immediately began to dry heave. 

“Oh fuck.” 

The beach? Of all places… leave it to fucking Leah to choose here of all places… 

She dragged him into the water, despite Achilles’ protests, her hand rubbing his back as he vomited into the ocean. 

“I’m so sorry fish, I’m so sorry.” Achilles groaned. Fuck, he loathed the feeling of nausea, and watching the black tides churn under the weak moonlight only made him more dizzy. He stumbled backwards in the shallow water, trying to make for shore, but his stomach seized again and he had to close his eyes as he bent over to throw up, one hand begrudgingly flailing for Leah’s jacket for support. “The fish…” 

“It’s ok, I really don’t think they mind. But we could ask Willy if you—” 

“Hey now, what the fuck?” 

Achilles looked up from the spray and saw Alex standing next to him, jeans rolled up in the shin-high water. The letterman combined with the red scarf tied loosely around his neck—he must’ve mistaken it for Leah’s red braid. Wow. Perhaps he really was drunk. 

Dulled as his reflexes were now, he still managed to recover (with the darkness’ help) fairly swiftly from this stomach-flipping surprise.

“Better you than her,” Achilles grumbled while simultaneously waving him away. 

Achilles turned and sloshed his way back up shore and onto the boardwalk. The sturdy wood was steady beneath his feet, grounding him as he watched the waves through half-closed eyes. Lulled by their crash, he lay on his back, face up towards the half moon. 

“Hey, let’s get you back up, you don’t want to throw up and suffocate on your own vomit.” Alex was still there, apparently. 

“What the fuck, man?” 

“Sorry, I… saw that on TV once.” 

Achilles managed to clamber back up onto his elbows before painstakingly lifting himself to sit at the edge of the boardwalk. He leaned his head against the post as Alex took a seat next to him. A water bottle was in his hands, as well as a small bag of crackers. 

They sat in silence. Achilles likely would’ve fallen asleep had his doze not been punctuated by two more bouts of vomiting. It splattered grossly into the water ten feet below. The sound really only made Achilles more nauseas… but at least Alex seemed unbothered. Oh, but the fish… 

A half hour after the the second attack, when it seemed like Achilles’ stomach (and most of his mind) had settled, Alex handed him the water and crackers. 

He had little energy to refuse—it was getting colder and he was shivering—and so he accepted it wordlessly, taking a long sip after wiping off the salty spray that had accumulated on the cap. The pressure in his head was building, a dull thrum beating rhythmically with his heart. 

After a minute, he closed his eyes and once again rested his head against the wooden post. Even with nothing to see, he could still feel the world spin. 

In a forced conversational tone, Achilles broke the silence. 

“Well. This has been an embarrassing evening, and I pray thee, never speak of it to me again. Please send dear Emily my deepest apologies for ruining her party. She shall never have to see my face again, for I depart with the Spring.” 

From somewhere on his left, he heard a dry chuckle. 

“You didn’t ruin her party, don’t give yourself too much credit. She probably didn’t even notice— it’d take more than one drunk little man to ruin Emily’s mood. I mean, she’s friends with Shane after all, isn’t she? Besides, if it makes you feel better, half the people there were more wasted than you…” 

And yet he was the only one Alex had chosen to help? Achilles bit back a lazy smile, though Alex wouldn’t have been able to see it in the dark anyway. The sharp pain in his lip helped clear his drunken cloud for just a second.

Eh. Maybe Achilles had just seemed the most pathetic. That was the more likely scenario. 

You dumb, drunk bastard…  

“Can I lie on my back now?” 

“Do you think you’ll throw up again?” 

“No.” 

“Hmm. I’ll allow it.” 

Achilles bit back another laugh as he collapsed backwards. He was still lightheaded—a peculiar sensation against the incoming migraine—but he loved clouds, and those currently illuminated by the moon were traveling slower than the waves. As he tracked their movement, the world began to slow back to its usual speed. A dull thump announced Alex had lain down as well. 

“You’re going to have a wicked hangover tomorrow, my friend.” 

“Fuck…” Tomorrow. Somewhere between the fifth and sixth shot, he had somehow forgotten. He rubbed his eyes, tempering his groan into a sigh. “Realtor is coming tomorrow morning.” 

“So you’re really going to sell the place?” 

Achilles turned and could just make out Alex’s face peering at his. If he reached out, he could probably just barely touch him, a few feet or so away he was. Instead, he faced the sky again. 

“I’ve been saying it all season, you didn’t think I’d commit?” 

“I just… I guess we all hoped you’d change your mind.” 

Achilles sighed through his nose. “I don’t know what else to do.” 

And suddenly, there it was—the burn surging up his neck, the sting behind his eyes, the lump in his throat. But he refused to cry. He loathed crying—especially in front of other people—so he bit it back as he bit his tongue, stubbornly, mechanically, again using the pain to keep control. But the pressure was too much, and while he successfully fought to keep back tears, words broke through his damn, spewing out in an explosive rush. 

“I didn’t know what to do after I decided I’d stop writing. It was very abrupt. The decision, that is. 

“I thought I had had my life all figured out at 17. Sure, I started in kiddie lit, but I had it all planned out—I had mapped out stories for the next decade, I’d make the jump to real shit before 25, get a film adaptation, maybe win a Pulitzer. Yeah, I know how that sounds. Listen, I was young, dumb, arrogant, and ambitious. Great combanation. 

“Obviously, that didn’t happen… like I said, the decision to stop was… sudden, to say the least. I wasn’t prepared for it. 

“I went to BRLO, eventually, of course. But the year in between—when I was trying to figure what the fuck I was going to do next—was, I think, the worst fucking year of my life.” 

Achilles paused to swallow the catch in his throat. He was sure even the smallest voice crack would invite sympathy, and that was not at all what he wanted. Taking a deep, and only slightly shaky, breath, he continued. 

“And I’m scared it’s going to happen again. The situations aren’t… identical… but they’re similar enough that even just thinking about tomorrow, about what’s supposed to be next, I just want to scream. I don’t what else to do.” 

 It was Alex who broke the brief silence. 

“You once told me you came to Stardew for a fresh start—” 

Achilles cut him off with a scoff.  “And a start was all it was ever destined to be, see that’s my whole fucking problem here. I didn’t leave BRLO with a real plan. And I… I need a plan. 

“You know, I don’t even know what in the world I was trying to achieve at all coming here. The cover of Better Gnomes and Farmin’? Let’s be honest, as I’ve already been reminded this evening, I don’t need whatever money the farm is going to bring in. Looking back, the farm was never going to lead to anything, at least, not anything worthwhile, not anything particularly noteworthy. The farm just… is. 

“I couldn’t admit it to myself until these past few days, but coming here—it was always a distraction. A pretty good one, I’ll admit it, but a distraction all the same to keep myself from, I don’t know, going insane. But cleaning up a farm was never going to keep this feeling at bay forever. There was always an expiration date. This was always inevitable.” 

 He paused again, this time to lightly lick his pointer finger. He had rubbed it raw tracing it against the damp grain of the dock.

“Would you ever consider going back? To BRLO?” 

Achilles snorted. “BRLO… I hated it there from the moment I arrived. But I refused to believe it. I told myself, you’re 23 can you really not handle a 9-5 job? Look at all the other people in the world that have to do it, how pathetic are you? And it was better than doing nothing. So I stayed. 

“To be honest though, looking back, it was probably exactly what I needed after everything with Apparition. The stability of just something… linear, something always present, something I was actually good at, that I could focus on.”

Achilles shut his eyes and paused to chew somberly on a bit of cracker. Alex said nothing. 

“But, as I said, I hated it. I had jumped into bed with something I knew I didn’t love, but by the time I finally let myself take a step back and see the bigger picture, it was too late to just… let myself let go. All sunk costs, sure, but… still.

“You know, I was the youngest executive BRLO had ever had in 50 some years? I won two CLIOs.” 

It felt hollow to say that. He had worked hard, that was indisputable—too hard, really. It was a title he had achieved mostly because he had been willing to give up any semblance of a personal life. Nevertheless, he had always liked titles. Like awards, he found them to be more tangible measurements of success. 

“And how many people actually love their jobs anyway? How many people are actually doing something they want to be doing? That’s what I kept asking myself, day in and day out of pitches and brainstorms. I thought, maybe, if I just really… dove into it all, really committed, I’d eventually find something that I liked. Just something to latch on to that would help make all my success there taste more sweet than bitter. 

“So I just digging myself deeper and deeper into this hole in the hopes that somewhere at the bottom I’d find… something.

“Some people have epiphanies. You hear about those lightbulb moments where they’re sitting in their office and just suddenly realize they’re being crushed by the burden of modern life, they realize they’re spirit is fading, that this isn’t the future life their six year old self had envisioned and they needed to drop everything now and head for the hills that are calling for them and become a farmer and be one with nature. 

“I didn’t have that. That… yearning for something else. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted it—I mean, I still want it, a sign, anything, to just point me in the right direction of what the fuck to do—but I didn’t have it.

“No. I think I just hit a wall one day. Finally hit the bottom of that hole, I guess, and saw that there was nothing there. There had never been anything there. I had a title. I had money. I was doing shit. But I didn’t want it.” 

And how privileged it was that you could just leave. And here you are… ready to do it again. 

“And so I turned in my two weeks notice, and that was it. Leaving was all push for me, no pull.” 

He had eaten all the crackers and was now thumbing the bag between his numb fingers. Alex hadn’t said a word. Perhaps he had fallen asleep. Achilles wouldn’t have blamed him. Nevertheless, the floodgates were wide open now. He kept going. 

“If I had learned anything from BRLO it was that there’s no sustainability in hate. I know it’s obvious. And I know it’s stupid and selfish and entitled, but it’s why I was so against farming, against those fucking strawberry seeds, I didn’t want to waste another six years going down a path that was doomed from the start. I hate worms, Alex. I hate them. 

“I loved writing. I did. And when I switched to advertising, well—I wanted to want to love it. So, so badly, you don’t even know, I think that’s why I was trying so hard. Diving in all the way, full commitment to things, it’s... it’s important, because how else can you make adequate progress? How else can you maximize what you’re trying to achieve? 

“But I think at some point in my life, it became difficult for me to distinguish between being busy and being content. I learned you can’t force how you feel. There’s no sustainability in artificiality either.

“I’ve always just wanted to do something important. Like my parents, just be someone… have an impact, a real impact. Is that pathetic? Probably. Maybe I don’t deserve it.” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Anyway, I don’t know why I ever thought I’d find whatever that is out here painting farmhouses. Regardless, whatever it was, that’s all done anyway, and now I’m at an even bigger loss of what to do because I still don’t know what the fuck is next and I’m… tired.” 

Achilles stopped. The only sound he heard was his own breath, rapid and weary and, he hated having to admit it to himself, whiny. For a few minutes, all was quiet. Perhaps Alex really had fallen asleep… but then—

“Why don’t you just stay?” 

“I just said I’m never going to farm—”

“Well, you don’t have to farm. You just said you don’t need money. You can just… stay. And, I don’t know, wait—”

“—fuck no, waiting is the last thing I want to do. You can’t just wait around and count on success finding its way to you, and besides, I don’t do well with waiting, and I don’t do well with quiet, and that’s two things this Valley’s got going for it. 

“The city—and I mean, the real city, not like Zuzu—it’s loud, it’s fast, it’s always demanding something from you, and I think all that chaos, all those distractions… some people find it draining, but the horns and the yelling and the sirens, I found it all comforting, I think it helped me… focus? Commit? Helped sideline those voices in all our heads that ask us, what else is there? What more could you be doing? What more should you be doing? 

“The Valley here, it’s so quite. So, so, quiet, you all may call it calming, but to me it’s maddening. There’s just too much empty space; anxiety and dread, they thrive here, and it’s like they’re pushing me out. I don’t feel comfortable, I don’t feel welcome.” 

“Everyone here likes you though. Do you not like us?” 

Achilles rubbed his eyes again until he saw double the number of stars in the sky. “It’s not the people that’s the issue. It’s, I don’t know what you want me to say, the general environment? There’s just… not enough here. Just all the voices in my head that are now free to take center stage and tell me that I’m nobody. Let’s be real, Alex, why am I even here? What am I doing here? Nothing. 

“I mean, who knows, maybe I’m just burnt out, and that’s the real reason I’ve felt like shit. But at 27? Again, that’s so incredibly pathetic. And yet somehow, I still feel like I’m running out of time. 

“My parents are so, so passionate about their work, and they’re both so good at what they do—both their careers have long grown to something beyond them now in society. And they both started when they were way younger than I am now, and for them to be so incredibly successful for so long, and here I am just… I don’t know.” 

“You really don’t think you’ve succeeded at anything?” 

“Not in a way that means anything.” 

Achilles immediately regretted snapping at Alex—it was rude, and the kid didn’t deserve it. Needlessly aggressive, much like Leah had been earlier that evening… in fact, Leah’s own words were now pounding in his head, and, after a beat, Achilles continued in a more meditative tone. 

“What do we do with our lives when we don’t have to worry about our survival? What do we choose to do? To work towards? What motivates us? I have money, fuck, Alex, I have so much money. I’m well aware I’m exceedingly lucky to be in a position where I don’t ever have to do anything I don’t want to do for the rest of my life. But I still want to do something. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to want to do anymore.” 

Achilles paused again, wishing he could take back the words, words that reeked of entitlement and privilege. But he attempted a wan joke instead. 

“I know what you’re thinking. Poor little rich girl, what does she know about misery?” 

He tore his gaze from the clouds and glanced towards Alex, but his quote received only a blank stare. 

“Titanic?” 

“…the boat?”

“What—no, the movie. Jimmy Cameron?”

“Haven’t seen it.” 

“Seriously?” 

“Grandpa always said it was for women.” 

“For women—?” 

“Have you ever thought about writing again? You said you loved it…”

“You promised me you wouldn’t ask that.”

“Hey now, I don’t remember saying promise…” 

“I had wanted to be a writer since I was quite young. I was lucky—in a number of ways—to have briefly found success, and it turned into something bigger than me. But then I let it turn into something I did for me. I started listening to the wrong things, to the wrong people, the whole thing just… became selfish. I was selfish, Alex, I know I am. And that, I think, is why it failed. In the end.”

It wasn’t the only reason what had been admittedly quite a strong start to a career had been violently derailed, Achilles thought wryly. Some of the blame ought to go to a Mr. Eddie Bloomsbury—although, if he were really honest with himself, even the consequences of that had really just been rooted in his own selfishness and pride. 

Isn’t that what it all came back to in the end, though? His failed writing career. Staying at BRLO. Leaving BRLO. Even his absurdly intense dedication to fixing a farm he’d never call home. Sure, that was to keep himself busy, but was it also not partly motivated by a nagging self-interest, by his overwhelming preoccupation with controlling how the world perceived him? All in order to—hopefully—find and earn his place in some faraway spotlight. 

Regardless, wherever it was he was meant to be doing, he had surely taken 3 steps back with this silly little detour to Stardew Valley. He lay his hand over his chest, tight with unease, feeling his heart pound through the fabric of his windbreaker. Yoba, what was he supposed to do next… He thought back to his grandpa’s letter, the one that sent him to Stardew in the first place. Honor the family name… Bullshit, with every project he poured his heart and soul into, he still wasn’t on track to honor anything. 

“I think you should stay.” Alex’s voice was soft, but Achilles still jolted with a start. Nearly ten minutes had passed and he had been halfway to finally finding a minute of peace in sleep.  

“I know it’s probably not the same noise you’re used to, but I’ve never found the Valley to be all that quiet. I think you just have to learn to listen to a new kind of sound.” 

Achilles closed his weary eyes again, allowing Alex’s words to settle in the air for a minute before finding himself surrendering to their proposition. 

The soft buzz of the fireflies darting about the boardwalk. A cawing seagull or two, back from a late night snack above the roaring waves. Cattails rustling in the sea breeze. He could even just manage to make out Willy drunkenly bellowing late night sea shanties from his cabin, and maybe, if he listened really, really closely, he could hear Alex breathing. Soft, peaceful, steady. Calm. 

[lez-exclude-men]

Adding a few of my faves to the list! (In no particular order)

CharlieBarley is a small yet growing gaming channel. She focuses on Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, but has videos where she plays Undertale, Minecraft, Hollow Knight, and more. Her style is very much a "let's play" type.

Mariana's Corner is a productivity and organization channel, with lots of tips and tricks about setting up your planner(s), organizing, note-taking, and learning new skills. An excellent channel for any woman in college or starting out on her own.

Mickey Atkins talks about the ins and outs of therapy and mental health as a licensed professional. She also likes to talk about different media.

Emma Thorne is a good channel for atheist/ex-christian content, and I have found her analysis of various religious nonsense to be insightful and entertaining.

Some areas I'd like recommendations for:

I watch a lot of Legal Eagle for legal analysis of current events. I used to watch Emily D. Baker, but I couldn't get over how she staunchly sided with Depp in the JD/AH trial and contributed to the hating on Amber. If anyone has another female legal analysis channel rec, I'd love to hear it!!

This is likely a hard one but if anyone knows some female ghost hunters who work with some skepticism, a la Shane and Ryan from Buzzfeed Unsolved/Ghost Files, that would be great! I don't know of *any* female equivalents to these guys and that's really a shame.

Separatist Swaps: Home Cook Youtubers

This week’s theme from @radblrthemeweeks is  Separatist Swaps (suggesting equivalent female artists/musicians/creators/etc to support as well as or instead of men)

I’ll admit I don’t read or watch TV much, but I do watch a lot of YouTube.  I added some of my favorite channels to this post in the past (X).  This will be an expanded list in no particular order.

Initially, I wanted to compare each channel to a similar male-led one, but I opted to just summarize what I think is unique about each one.

Food and Cooking

Note: I prefer vegan/plant based cooking, so I’ll specify which of these channels are exclusively vegan.

Cheap Lazy Vegan (V) Rose makes a lot of Korean food, but the ingredients are pretty easy to find at a regular grocery store.  Many of her videos feature high protein, nutritious meals that can be ready in 20 minutes or less.  I’ve also found her recipes to be shockingly simple without getting boring.

Rainbow Plant Life (V) Nisha is one of my favorite youtubers.  Her recipes are a bit more involved that Rose’s, but I’ve made several of them myself so they’re still approachable for a home cook.  Her recipes are primarily American or Indian inspired with advice for meal prep and saving time.

Pick Up Limes (V)  Sadia is a nutritionist, so her recipes tend to be wholesome and nutritious.  However, she still has a lot of recipes for comfort food and desserts.  I don’t make her recipes as often, but her videos are enjoyable.

Sierra Ann  I like her easy “recipes” (more like meal ideas), but she sometimes posts about fashion as well.  Her content is more akin to a vlog than concrete recipes or cooking tips, so I find myself watching her YT shorts more than her longform content.

Lisa Nguyen  I’ve only ever seen her YT shorts so idk if she makes longer videos or not.  She does instant ramen challenges where she tries different brands or ramen hacks.

Morgan Drinks Coffee  Morgan releases a mix of recipes and other content like appliance and coffee reviews.  She has a lot of advice for people just getting into coffee or those who want some fresh ideas.

Inga Lam  When I made the other post she was still working for Buzzfeed, but she recently decided to focus on her own channel.  I’m not sure what she has planned but she’s very creative and ambitious.

How to Cook That  Ann Reardon mostly makes baking videos, but I prefer her debunking videos.  She seems to have shifted more toward debunking dangerous videos in general, not just food related videos.

June Xie from Delish  June makes long videos creating a week’s worth of meals, often on a budget.  My main complaint about her content is that some of the food she makes is either not for everybody or uses ingredients that aren’t readily accessible, like produce from specialty shops.  However, that also means her recipes tend to be unique and interesting.  Her boyfriend also comes off as kinda rude, but he’s only there when they’re tasting the food.

Beryl Shereshewsky  People from around the world submit ways they eat a particular food, like instant ramen or onions, and Beryl makes and reviews them.  These videos are helpful when I feel stuck in a routine and want to see ingredients from a different perspective.

Alix Traeger  Alix used to work for Tasty, but now she makes content on her own channel with her girlfriend Zoya.  Zoya is Persian, so it’s been fun watching Alix try to master Persian dishes.

Here are some others I saw in my Watch Later list that I don’t watch often or haven’t seen yet.

Mina Rome (Cooking)

Doobydobap (Cooking)

Flo Lum (Cooking)

Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen (Cooking)

Sweet Simple Vegan (Cooking)

Julia Pacheco (Cooking)

Feelgoodfoodie (Cooking)

Anne of all trades (DIY)

The busy brown angel (Gardening)

Gardening and Homesteading

Girl in the Woods  I just found her channel last week, but it was too interesting to leave out.  Usually I don’t like homesteading YouTubers because they focus on the aesthetics, but I’ve actually learned a lot about off-grid living just from watching a few of her videos.

HannahLeeDuggan  She bought a property with a run-down cabin a few years back.  Before that, she was living in a van and selling handmade clothes online.  I can’t say I’ve learned much about van life or homesteading from her videos, but I haven’t given her a fair chance yet.  Last I checked, she was planning on documenting the process of fixing up and weather-proofing her cabin.

Learn Something

Answers in Progress  This channel is run by three people, two of which are women.  They answer random questions with a surprising amount of research and interviews with professionals.

The Take The Take claims to be “ the leading female-led entertainment analysis channel on TV, Movies & Pop-Culture”

Cheyenne Lin  Cheyenne focuses on feminist analysis and film analysis through a feminist lens.

Jessica Chou  She isn’t active anymore but she has some basic videos on car maintenance.

Micarah Tewers Micarah sews a combination of beautiful and insane clothes.  I’ve never tried to recreate any of her patterns but she’s so entertaining to watch.  She made fake eyelashes out of her dog’s hair and that’s not even the craziest thing she’s done on her channel.

Since this is intended to be a discussion, I’m also including a list of channels I’d like to find that are usually male dominated.

Game News and Lore I like watching lore videos for games like the Fallout series, RDR2, and TES.  So far, the only female gamers I’ve seen on YT are overly sexualized and don’t make the content I’m looking for.

Food Science There are a few channels that break down food science like Adam Ragusea and Kenji Lopez-Alt.  The closest female equivalent is How to Cook That, but it’s not quite what I’m looking for and she primarily posts baking videos.

I’ve been watching a lot of Ethan Chlebowski’s videos lately because he makes meal formulas and focuses on high protein meals.  If anyone knows who I’m talking about, I’d love to see female-run channels that make similar content.

Gardening and Homesteading  I want channels that actually teach me something new and don’t focus on pseudoscience or religion.

[farming-for-affection]

Pumpkin Spice and Apple Cider

Stardew Valley WriteTober Day 20 (Prompt List)

“Emily, darling.” Elliott sighed as he dropped himself upon a bar stool. “Help me to drown my woes in the valley’s strongest libations.”

“Well, darling.” Emily giggled, leaning on the counter with one hip propped out, “The strongest libation we have is good old-fashioned country gossip. So what’s bothering you?”

“Emily, please, give me a drink.” Elliott combed his fingers along his scalp, pleading with his eyes. A miserable look for a usually happy man.

“Oh, fine.” She pulled a bottle from under the counter, popped the lid off on the side of the bar and slid it to him.

He drank it immediately, finishing half the bottle in one go. “That’s.” He coughed. “Very sweet. What’s the alcohol content on that?”

“We’ll, it’s the farmer’s first batch of apple cider, so…” She tossed her hands as though juggling invisible numbers. “Anywhere between zero and ten percent. That bottle seems more like a zero, I guess.”

“Emily, you sky-on-a-cloudless-day, I wanted a real drink.” He didn’t sound mad - if anything, his mood had only improved since he had arrived. “You could serve this to a child.”

“Well, I wanted some real gossip, so spill the proverbial beans and I’ll get you another bottle.” She drummed her fingers on the counter expectantly, one eyebrow raised. 

“What gossip is there? As you know, my protagonist, Margrave Buchhanon, went into his father’s tomb to find his signet ring.” Emily grabbed what remained of his cider and drank as she listened. “But he had already given the signet ring to his brother! But if I take out the ring, he has no reason to go into the tomb and I lose the location for my grand reveal!”

Emily popped another bottle and slid it over the counter to him. “Mmhmm. Can’t have two signet rings. That’d be a mess.”

“Exactly.” Elliott drank from the new bottle. “Good Yoba’s Tears. You could strip paint with this!”

“Yeah, that’s the farmer’s pumpkin ale. It’s somewhere between eight and…” she smelled the bottle. “Whew. Twenty-five percent?”

“They should probably give up on the alcohol brewing.”

“Yeah, it’s not very good.” She handed him the bottle. “So where were we? Two signet rings in the father’s tomb?”

[redpandaramblings]

Stardew Valley Bachelorette Kink Headcannons

OBVIOUSLY NSFW 18+ Minors DNI

Bachelors can be found here

Haley

First off, this bitch is a sub leaning switch.

She starts off as a bit of a pillow princess, but that would change as she discovers more things she likes and grows more confident.

Hucow. You know it. I know it. It’s really really freaking obvious. Hucow. Though she doesn’t like actual lactation, just pretend milkings.

Pet play. Prefers being the pet, but can go either way.

Humiliation. Receiving not giving.

Messy situations like mud wrestling.

50s housewife kink, where she’s the housewife.

French maid kink, giving or receiving.

Lingerie. Loves wearing it, loves when her partner wears its, loves showing it off.

One of her more unique ones is going commando really turns her on, especially when she’s wearing short skirts.

Sacrilege is another unusual one of hers. She fantasizes of having sex on the alter in the chapel a lot, though she’d never act on that one.

She thinks she’d love a threesome, but she wouldn’t.

Leah

This woman is a service top/ pleasure dom.

Very much enjoys any scenario where she can tease but spoil her partner.

She can and will make her partners orgasm til they cry.

Queen at aftercare.

Has been to BDSM clubs and orgies.

Has given demonstrations on safe bondage and rope techniques.

She’s up for trying most things at least once, with a few exceptions.

She absolutely hates anything to do with DD/LG. Calling her Mommy absolutely kills the mood for her.

Her favorite toy in the bedroom is the riding crop.

Enjoys pony play.

Has absolutely made art pieces that double as sex furnature.

She has tries making her own sex toys before with some success. It isn’t her favorite thing to create, but will do so when the mood strikes her.

Maru

Ah, Maru.

Maru would probably never think about getting into kink on her own. A partner or friend would have to introduce her to the idea.

That’s not to say that she doesn’t enjoy herself once she starts exploring.

Is very scientific about kink. Each new thing she tries by herself or with a partner is an “experiment.”

She’s more likely to retry kinks she didn’t initially like because she wants to make sure her results were accurate.

Ends up fascinated by and collecting various motorized toys. She enjoys using them on herself and others, as well as tinkering to improve them.

Makes an “insemination” fucking machine that pumps lube.

Is into cumflation

Is also into monsterfucking.

Will roleplay monsterfucking scenarios with her partner, and is fine being the monsterfucker of the “victim.”

Is the only Bachlorette into CNC.

If she’s single for too long after discovering kink, she will try to build herself a Werewolf fuckbot.

Emily

Is a switch.

Is a furry that’s into the kink side of furry. 100%. Makes spare money selling mursuits online. I can’t change the facts. (Important side note- A mursuit is a type of fursuit specifically designed for fucking in. Most fursuits are not mursuits, and it’s rude to ask and assume that. Furry hate is not welcome on this blog.)

Has a collection of bad dragon style dildos that she bought from small independent shops.

Had a quartz dildo when she was first getting into crystals. Now knows better, but keeps it around as a reminder to research before trying things.

Enjoys outdoor sex/nudity.

Would want to work through the Kama Sutra with her partners.

Isn’t into BDSM

Is into sensation play. Ice, silk, feathers, etc.

Likes to laugh in the bedroom.

Slight tickling kink.

Slight foot fetish.

Penny

You might think she’s a sub, but is actually a switch.

Having control taken away is very soothing to her.

But being 100% in charge gives her a bit of a euphoric rush. Which she prefers depends on how her day has gone.

Has a breeding kink, pregnancy kink, lactation kink, and even a birthing kink.

Fairly vanilla and hesitant around kink at first because she has some misconceptions that kink is wrong and bad.

But then she’ll have a few years of “former religious kid/responsible child freak out” where she goes overboard and is too deep into kink for about a 3 year timespan.

She absolutely had a kinda creepy online sugar daddy she sent pics to at some point.

Most likely to have a secret Only Fans.

Lingerie connoisseur.

Has a virginity/innocence kink, roleplaying “it’s my first time.”

Similarly, has a corruption kink.

Likes tentacles.

Reads a lot of erotica in her spare time.

Abigail

Oh Abigail.

At first thinks she’s super super kinky.

She’s not.

Has several instances of claiming she loves “X” kink only to get into a scene with a partner and safewording because fantasy and reality did not match up. Examples of this include knifeplay, blood kink, biting with intent of drawing blood, and a few other things.

It takes her a while to actually settle down and find stuff she likes instead of chasing after things she thinks sound cool.

She enjoys threesomes and group sex. As said in the Bachelors list, has played around with Seb and Sam.

She likes pegging her partners.

Has a degradation kink.

Is a switch. “Mean” when in a dom mood. Bratty when she’s a sub.

Likes piercings. Will eventually get her nipples and tongue pierced. Has done a corset piercing before as well.

Loves high sex.

Enjoys double penetration

Likes anal, giving and recieving. Has a collection of plugs.

Likes pet play and tail plugs.

Loves talking about breeding her partners, but any implication of her being bred turns her off completely.

[melovez]

I wanna hear what you have to say about Clint! I’ve always been p neutral towards him since he’s not an NPC I interact with often anymore and I don’t really have any strong feelings about his characterization, so hearing someone who appreciates him would be cool (esp since it seems like 90% of the fandom really hates him lol)

i think the best way to go about this for me is to counter the common arguments i see against clint? so that’s what i’ll do

my big long explanations below the cut

1. Clint is a “nice guy”

clint makes misguided comments in his first heart event, yeah. but this isn’t a prolonged trend for him. clint does not remark that he feels owed anything. clint does not remark that emily is a bitch or anything for not returning his feelings. if anything clint just yearns at his seat at the saloon until happenstance puts him and emily in the same conversation. i don’t really think he’s ever forward or creepy towards her, not canonically. at festivals when he talks to the player about her it’s him confiding in the player. is it weird? yes, of course it’s weird. but he’s not a bad person for it, he’s just painfully awkward

2. Clint is ugly

is he ugly? is he really? are you just letting your preconceived dislike of him influence how you think he looks? is it because he’s one of like 4 fat characters in this game? like maybe that’s a little harsh but what with how many people i see slim down and buff up everyone in the valley when they draw them, even characters that have clearly rounded faces and figures in their sprites, even characters that remark about their own weight like shane, i do think i’m justified in wondering if the fact that clint doesn’t fit the box of slim fit hansome young bachelor has anything to do with why people say he’s ugly.

3. Clint is stalking Emily

i think this stems from a misinterpretation of the heart event where he asks emily out on a date. hes not hiding in the bush because he wants to watch her in secret. he’s hiding in the bush because he chickened out when he was on her doorstep. he even says he just wants to leave. he wasn’t hiding there with a pair of binoculars or anything, when the player shows up it’s not long after he fled to hide.

4. Clint doesn’t deserve Emily

i see people who hate clint say this often and like… yes? did you read the note in his room where he admits he has no chance with her? like this is a matter of opinion ultimately but it’s another thing that gives me the impression people who say these things about clint never actually take the time to get to know him before they judge

5. Clint still hits on Emily after you marry her

this one i agree sucks but honestly i chalk it up to how he’s programmed. i do not think it was concernedape’s intention to make him hit on your wife. also it’s not like crushes magically go away after your crush starts dating someone else. again, i agree this is definitely uncomfortable but without an update to the game or a mod there’s no way around it

6. Emily hates Clint

i see this one in headcanons a lot and it’s just so absolutely baseless it’s clear people who hate clint are just trying to justify themselves doing so. emily never says anything bad about clint. emily seems to want to go to grampleton with him, even just as friends. i mean they’re listed as friends on the stardew wiki. i don’t know what else to say. these characters have absolutely no ill will between them canonically

Conclusion

so like. here’s what i think is happening.

first, people take a liking to emily. they do all emily’s heart events first. emily’s eight heart event makes them not like clint, and i mean of course it does, even i can admit he soured that heart event with emily. and then i think since that makes people not like clint, they go into all of his heart events already not liking him, and this leads them to misinterpret everything he does, and in turn understand him to be some antagonistic chatacter.

but he’s not. clint is really just like any other mediocre dude in this game. hell, i think shane is a WAY more unlikable character than clint is and yet i see shane fans shitting on clint like he’s worse! i seriously don’t understand it. don’t get me wrong, shane is one of my favorite bachelors, but if you ADORE shane and DESPISE clint it really makes me wonder what the difference there is.

if anyone reads this and take personal offense to it i apologize that i made you feel that way but in the end stardew valley is a game you are welcome to consume however you like. don’t like clint? don’t talk to him, then. i do not think less of you for doing so. but when i see people in the tag being like “omg there’s so little content of (very popular bachelor/bachelorette)” i die a little inside because there’s basically only three types of clint fan content. fic/art where he’s a background/side character, fic/art where he’s portrayed as a slob/asshole/nice guy/pig/idiot, or on rare occasions, fic/art where he’s shipped with emily. and i do not want to see literally any of that.

there is like 1 good clint fanartist on tumblr but i don’t wanna name drop in this post cuz i don’t wanna draw negative attention to them but i can recommend them elsewhere.

anyways that’s my defense of clint. make of it what you will

[mogai-headcanons]

/nm Not to bother you, but just in case, is alright if you tell everyone what's currently in the inbox just in case (I'm aware the list would be long)? Thanks in advance, but you don't have to if you'd like.

i’ll put this under a cut because it is indeed Quite Long

a req with ~45 homestuck characters from homesus-fictives (since it was sent off anon, i won’t list the whole thing out)

biromantic blackberry cookie and bisexual onion cookie

demiromantic bill cipher

nonbinary starlight glimmer, trans trixie, and bigender sunburst

milkgender milkman (collegehumor)

transfem heike kagero

bi zoey, mspec gay man ben, caedromantic nate, futch rachel, femme brianna, and nonbinary theo (escape room 2)

lesbian amanda young, gay man mark hoffman, postbi lawrence gordon, and trans adam stanheight

transfem roxy lalonde, transmasc jane crocker, aroace jake english, transmasc dirk strider, agender calliope, transmasc john egbert, aroace jade harley, transfem rose lalonde, and aroace dave strider

gay fight club narrator and bisexual tyler durden

bi gay cass, gay man xander, polyam sebastian, panromantic elliot, homoflexible alex, bisexual sam, heteroflexible harvey, pansexual shane, quoiromantic emily, pansexual abigail, lesbian leah, pansexual penny, bisexual maru, and heteroflexible haley (stardew valley + farmer ocs)

gnc charley, aromantic kami, bi gay juwon, aroace ayako, polyam mai tai, polyam seyshelle, alloace aquarien, and trans cora (dollightful)

genderfluid laurice deauxnim, bi phoenix wright, queer kristoph gavin, demisexual miles edgeworth, wolfgender shi-long lang, biromantic franziska von karma, asexual maya fey, bi mia fey, demisexual diego armando, mlm simon blackquill, trans athena cykes, heteroflexible dick gumshoe, pan trucy wright, nebularomantic apollo justice, caligoromantic clay terran, nonbinary klavier gavin, amicuromantic sebastien debeste, trans nahyuta sahdmadhi, aroace ema skye, pansexual wocky kitaki, bellusromantic vera misham, gay jean armstrong, trans robin newman, aroace simon keyes, cassgender ryunosuke naruhodo, bi kazuma asogi, pansexual herlock sholmes, venufluid iris wilson, trans girl susato mikotoba, asexual satoru hosonaga, and catgender soseki natsume

trans billy loomis, nonbinary stu macher, bisexual randy meeks, femme tatum, and polysexual sydney

transhet dave suss moggus, asexual bambi “marcello” corn lover, questioning tristan, aroace expunged - it looks like this one is missing some parts. it cuts off part of the way through expunged’s identity, which is in an ask labeled ‘4′, then another ask requesting i use certain sprites was sent referring to the request as ‘6-part’. 

pangender plague, bisexual deathslinger, fluidflux trickster, bisexual quentin smith, biromantic ghostface, omnisexual david king, nonbinary michael myers, aroace bubba, pansexual freddy, pansexual dwight, and gay steve harrington

trans girl pawn white, agender pawn black, and aroace earl grey

gay count d

transfem darkrai and auroracoric cresselia

gay man butter pretzel, butch sour belt, and femme chocolate bonbon

bisexual walter beckett and pansexual lance sterling

demifem piglin

t4t johnny cage, t4t sonya blade, trendercoric cassie cage, bisexual jax, bisexual jacque, firegender takeda, gay kung jin, bisexual liu kang, catbungender kung lao, firegender scorpion, genderpsychic kenshi, cryogender subzero, umbragender noob saibot, demiaroace cyrax and sector

pansexual rose lavillant and nonbinary juleka

a req involving plummyplums’ troll ocs

transneutral political nihilist, bi moderate lee, and bi progressive

wizardic wizard cookie

transmasc eddie and transfem fukuro (walking on a star unknown)

lesboy cream unicorn and transmasc pitaya dragon

nonbinary plumstone

bisexual nakumo, trans woman merrow, and aroace seven

bisexual tom nook, gay man redd, trans isabelle, trans man digby, lesbian lottie, gay blathers, and stargender celeste

spacegender gobo fraggle

gay man aron, trans clay, asexual erica, lesbian quinn, trans hana, and nonbinary alex (encore!)

gay tinky winky

demoncoric devilisha and angelcoric angely

ace snowdrop and demiromantic ivypool

bisexual akira fudo and pan miki makimura

gay flametail

gay runningnose and demiromantic blackstar

demiboy shotaro kaneda and omnisexual kei

butch shougo yahagi and pansexual yui takanaka

demiromantic yu narukami, nebularomantic yosuke hanamura, transfeminine yukiko amagi, transfeminine chie satonaka, transmasculine kanji tatsumi, futch naoto shirogane, femme rise kujikawa, and bicurious teddy

genderqueer dash, genderfluid dot, electromantic dee, and nonbinary del (pbs kids)

gay dj yellow and bisexual student

genderfluid navyj

pangender berdly and nonbinary kris

vincian tagora gorjek, nonbinary cirava hermod, boyflux galekh xigisi, and bisexual mallek adalov

arospec puppet, nonbinary cami, queer mai, and questioning chica

panromantic razor, nonbinary albedo, and adhd klee

cassgender archons

lesbian toko fukawa, lesbian komaru naegi, bisexual genocider syo, and agatic sonia nevermind

nonbinary joel smallishbeans and bisexual lizzie ldshadowlady (empires smp)

transmasc hank j wimbleton, demigirl dr. ‘tricky’ hofnarr, nonbinary 2bdamned, gay sanford, gay deimos, intersex heather w wimbleton, bigender henryk p wimbleton, autigender harvey s wimbleton, rainbowgender skittles s wimbleton, and lesbian herbie d wimbleton

arospec pinkie pie and arospec rainbow dash

panlustic rumor (jschl-tt)

bisexual henry jekyll, gay man robert lanyon, polyam edward hyde, homoplatonic frankenstein’s creature, bisexual pidgely, and biromantic jasper kaylock (tgs)

trans eggnog cookie

trans sparkling cookie and trans vampire cookie

transmasc gingerbrave, transneumasc wizard, transfeminine strawberry, cookiegender custard, and transfeminine chili

cattix schnitzel (chowder)

butch swatch, femme tasque manager, and transfem queen

ghostgender hu tao, lesbian yanfei, and nonbinary xiao

[silverstory11]

Recently started playing Stardew Valley and found out that all the marriageable candidates have a "default pairing". Meaning they probably have a "partner" if you don't get with any of em. I was aiming for Sebastian or Shane at first, but when Sam told me Seb really wanted Abigail to join the band I got suspicious of their relationship. Checked the internet (cuz I don't want to interfere in another person's relationship) and turns out yea, *spoiler*

they're kind of a thing. At least, Sebastian has a crush on Abi. And *more spoilers*

Abi at some point may let it slip that she's checking to see if she's pregnant. BY WHO??? WHO OTHER THAN SEBASTIAN? Also, if you neglect Abi in your marriage, she says something along the lines of "I used to be really good friends with Sebastian, maybe he was the one..." Sebastian also kinda indicates his relationship with Abi through dialogues based on how many hearts you have from him or from Abi. And I was like, oh helll naww. I can't break them up like this. Then I saw a list of the other pairings so now I'm having anxiety playing this game cuz I don't want to break up any of the pairings cuz I'd feel guilty towards the "other person". The ONLY pair I don't feel so bad about separating is Shane and Emily. Cuz they hardly seem like a pair.

This was supposed to be a casual, relaxing game, no? Now I have to play with the knowledge that if I marry anyone, or heck, even get more than a certain amount of hearts, I'd affect the other half of the pair.

[smlyds]

Sam x Reader (stardew valley)

Dandelion

I stepped off the bus, breathing in the fresh air, filled with a new hopefulness for my future in this new town, Stardew Valley. A sweet, dewy smell filled the air and water droplets glistened on the greenery. Taking in a deep breath, I began walking through the path in the forest toward my new home, the cabin my grandfather had left me.

The walk to the cabin was a long one, but I was greeted by two new welcoming faces, Robin and Mayor Lewis. Robin was a little bit rude about the state of the farm, though I did have a lot of work to do! Lewis informed me that I needed to place things in a shipping box beside the house in order to sell them, so he could pick them up every night around 8:30. He also suggested I try to get to know the residents of the town while I was there. After they left, I walked in the house and got settled in. I unpacked my bags and looked at the house. It was small, only one room, but it would do. It had an old tv, a small bed, a dresser, an old fireplace and an oak table with a decorative bowl neatly placed in the center. I sweeped the floors and dusted everything off, since no one had been in the house in ages, and while looking around afterwards, I notice a small present on the dresser. It was wrapped in yellow paper with a blue bow and had a note that read,

To help you get started!

-Lewis

I opened it to find 15 packs of parsnip seeds. I smiled, and made a note of thanking the Mayor the next day. That saved me the trouble of going into town to buy seeds the next day. Looking around a bit more, I found some old tools including a pickaxe, hoe, scythe, an axe and a tin watering can. Eventually I would have to get some new tools, but these would work at first. After I finished cleaning and looking around, I decided to go to bed and start fresh in the morning.

In the morning, I took out a small purple journal I had brought with me and wrote some basic plans for the day.

1. Plant parsnips

2. Clean up the farm

3. Thank Mayor Lewis for parsnip seeds

4. Introduce yourself to other residents

I found that making lists of what I needed to do helped me get things done. I stood up from the chair I had sat at and walked out my front door with the tools I found the day before, and the parsnip seeds. The farm really was a mess. Weeds, rocks and an annoying amount of trees covered the farm. A breeze floated by, carrying light pink spring pedals with it. The morning air was a little chilly, but not horribly so.

I spent a little over 3 hours cleaning up the farm and planting the parsnips until I felt satisfied with my work. Taking my journal from my small red backpack, I crossed off the first 2 things on my list. The farm looked nice, and I could see 3 paths at the northern, eastern and southern sides of the farm. The southern one led to Cinder-sap Forest, the north to the mountains and the east to the town. I needed to thank Mayor Lewis as well as try to meet a few people. I wiped my forehead and walked towards the east path. It was a very peaceful walk to the town through thick forest. On the way I saw the bus stop I had been dropped off at the day before, feeling hopeful that I made the right choice moving here. When I got to the town, I saw the town square, which had a clinic and a store the the north, houses, the graveyard and a river to the south and a saloon, as well as two more houses to the east. I walked towards the store and saw a board with a request section and a calendar. The request section was empty today, and the calendar was marked with birthdays, which had pictures of the people whose birthday’s it was, and town events. I noticed that this month, the Mayor’s birthday was on the 7th, and today was the 1st. I should get him a gift, I thought to myself. I noticed two events this month, the Egg Festival and the Flower Dance. I flipped it up, seeing the schedule for the month. I quickly scanned it and stopped at the 17th day, a person named Sam’s birthday. I looked at his picture a while longer than I had everyone else’s. He had blonde hair that was slicked up, clearly using a lot of hair gel, which made me giggle. He also had green eyes with blue and yellow specks, and a warm smile. Looking at the picture, I felt myself blush a bit.

“Hello! How’s it going on the farm,” Lewis asked, to which I responded with a jolt and a slight gasp, the calendar quickly closing back to the page for this month. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes, sorry sir, you startled me,” I said in response, my heart beating fast. “It’s going well on the farm, I cleaned it up a bit and planted the parsnips. Oh, that’s right! Thank you so much for the parsnip seeds! They were really helpful. I can’t afford a lot of seeds after the move, so they’re very helpful!”

“No problem! You’re the granddaughter of a good friend, so I wanted to make sure you would do well,” He said cheerfully. “Well, I have to go, but before I do, I noticed you looking at Sam’s picture. He lives in the blue house over there,” He paused and pointed toward a house to the southwest. It was light blue and sat beside a red house. “You should introduce yourself! They’re a lovely family!”

“O-okay, thank you,” I said meekly, waving goodbye. Lewis chuckled and walked away. I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as I looked at my watch. It read 11:36. I decided to go into the store, which was named Pierre’s. I pushed the door open and heard a bell ring. The store was small, with a section for cooking supplies, produce, seeds and other general items. I looked at the seed packets and decided to take 3 Jazz packets, 4 tulip bulbs, 4 potato packets and 5 cauliflower packets. It wasn’t much but I didn’t want to spend too much, so I walked toward the checkout at the back of the store. A man with short, light brown hair and glasses, who looked to be about forty, greeted me.

“Hello! You must be the new farmer everyone is talking about,” He said as I set down my stuff on the counter.

“Yeah! My name’s (y/n)!” I said, trying to be friendly as he rung me up.

“I’m Pierre! I hope you’ll be a regular costumer here rather than going to Joja Mart,” He said, a sour look on his face at the last part. “Anyhow, your total is 8 dollars and 56 cents.”

I quickly fished my wallet out of my bag and took out the money, to the exact change and said, “Well, it was nice meeting you, Pierre! I hope you have a good day!”

“You too!” He said as I put my now bagged stuff into my bag and left the store. I looked at my watch again, 11:42. I decided to go to some of the houses and introduce myself as Lewis has suggested. I walked toward the southern part of the town to the red house. It had a small garden with seasonal flowers growing inside beneath a large window. The door was brown dyed maple, I thought. I walked up to it and knocked, wondering if people would be home in the middle of the day on Monday. After a moment, the door opened to a woman with blue hair cut in a messy bob and brown eyes that were almost pink. She wore red lipstick that matched her long red dress.

“Howdy! I don’t believe we’ve met,” She said with a bright smile on her face.

“Hi! I’m (y/n), I just moved here. I thought I should introduce myself,” I said nervously.

“Well it’s lovely to meet you! I would invite you in for tea, but I have to get to the saloon soon! Oh, I’m Emily by the way!”

“It’s good to meet you too! Also, I don’t mind, I don’t have much time either,” I replied, set at ease by how nice she seemed to be.

“Well, maybe we can have tea another time, as I would like to get to know you better. Is Wednesday at 10:30 okay for you?” She asked.

“Oh, sure!” I responded, surprised she actually wanted to have tea.

“Great! Also, my younger sister Haley lives here as well, but she’s out at the park right now, so you’ll have to meet her another time,” Emily replied, a smile still on her face.

“Alright! Well, I have to go, so I will see you Wednesday! It was great meeting you!” I said.

“Yeah, you too! Bye bye,” she said waving and shutting the door softly. I sighed, wondering why I agreed to meet her even though I had no idea if I would actually be able to come. I knew now, however, I was going to make it no matter what, because I would feel to bad to cancel. With that thought, I walked a few meters down the sidewalk to the blue house that the blonde haired boy, whose picture I was looking at only a few minutes earlier, was supposed to live. For some reason I didn’t know, the idea of meeting him made me nervous. Taking in a deep breath and gathering my courage, I knocked on the house’s large front door. A woman who looked to be around 45 with long, light brown hair tied into a ponytail, which complimented her blue eyes, answered.

“Hi! I’m (y/n), I just moved here!” I said, waving shyly.

“Hello there! I’m Jodi. I heard someone new was moving into the old farm! You’re not quite what I was expecting, but that’s alright,” she said kindly.

“It’s nice to meet you Jodi.” I said, trying to smile, but not too wide.

“It’s nice too meet you too, (y/n). Why don’t you come on in, you look like you need something to drink,” she said.

“Oh, I would hate to bother you with that,” I said quickly.

“Nonsense, come on in,” she said, motioning inside. I walked in and looked around. The room was pretty small, there was a loveseat, a small chair and a mahogany table with papers and books all over. I could here someone playing guitar from somewhere in the house. “Do you mind taking your boots off? I just cleaned the floors.”

“Oh sure!” I said, slipping off my muddy shoes and placing them on a mat beside the door as Jodi closed it.

“Please, take a seat and I will get you something to drink,” she said, guiding me to the chair. I sat down and she said, “What would you like? I have water, milk and orange juice.”

“Water is fine,” I said, getting comfortable. Jodi walked through a doorway to the right of the loveseat and quickly came back, handing me a glass of water. I took a sip, and it was ice cold, the way I preferred it. “Thank you.”

“Oh it’s no problem! You’re a guest. Anyway, how is the old farm?” She asked curiously.

“It’s good! It took a while to clean up, but it’s a very nice area,” I said with a genuine smile.

“That’s good! So, how old are you, (y/n)?” She asked.

“I’m 20,” I answered, wondering why she had asked.

“Oh, really? My oldest son will be 20 on the 17th of next month,” she said, and I wondered if that was Sam.

“Oh, that’s nice! I would love to meet him,” I said, taking another sip of the water.

“I should introduce you! He’s just in his room practicing guitar right now, I will go get him,” she said, standing up and walking to a door on the right side of the room.

“O-okay,” I said nervously. She knocked on the door and opened it.

“Sam, there’s someone here I want you to meet!” Hearing his name made my heart jolt, though I didn’t know why. The guitar halted and he walked out of his room. It was Sam from the picture on the calendar. I quickly stood up to introduce myself. His eyes were very striking in person.

I felt my face warm up and meekly said, “Hi, my name’s (y/n).”

“I’m Sam, it’s good to meet you!” He said in a bubbly tone, holding out a hand for me to shake. Nervously, I stretched mine out to his and shook it quickly.

“(Y/n) is the new farmer, and she’s your age! I thought you two could be friends, or maybe more,” Jodi said, saying the last part a little quieter. I could feel that I was really blushing now.

“Mom!” Sam said, looking at Jodi. She chuckled at him.

“You know I’m just joking,” she said, smiling at us.

“It wasn’t very funny,” he said, sounding annoyed now. I looked down, hoping they wouldn’t noticed how red my face was now.

“Well, I have to go now, thank you for the water Jodi. It was nice meeting you both,” I said, walking quickly to the door and slipping on my boots.

“Oh, so soon? Well that’s a shame. Come by again sometime, (y/n),” Jodi said.

“Alright! Bye Jodi, Sam,” I responded walking out the door. Closing it with a bit of a slam, I took a deep breath, trying to calm my fast paced heartbeat and cool my cheeks. Why is this making me so nervous? He’s just some random guy, I thought, walking away from the house. I knew then though, that I would be seeing a lot more of him.

I spent the rest of the day getting to know other residents. The most notable were Evelyn, who was an old woman who worked on the town flowerbeds, Abigail, a weird, somewhat goth girl with purple hair, Elliot, a dramatic writer, and Sebastian, a geeky guy who likes frogs. At the end of the day, I worked a bit more on the farm, then drifted into a deep sleep.