#fic: the farmer and the wizard

[kaitsawamura]

🪞 🔮 🍅 🧺 🍯 🌱 The Farmer & The Wizard

❦ SUMMARY ❦

You need a change, a big one. When your estranged grandfather passes away and bequeaths you his farm in a little town just south of the middle of nowhere, you take it as the sign you needed to make a change instead of waiting for one.

The farm, while having fallen into a state of disrepair, is just the thing to cure your modern-world ailments. The people are kind and always ready to offer help, if a bit unusual. They have old superstitions, a haunted community center, and a resident wizard. Spoiler alert: those last two on the list take some getting used to.

Yes, things are different here but you have a sneaking suspicion that the slow pace and a certain alchemical practitioner are going to remind you that sometimes, all you need is time and a little bit of magic.

THIS SCROLL WAS LAST UPDATED: 6/1/24

❦ STATS ❦

Pairing: Wizard!Gojo Satoru x Farmer!Reader

Rating: M for Mature, 18+ only minors do not interact

Warnings: Fantasy/Stardew Valley violence, sexual content, angst (maybe like just a tiny lil bit)

Tags: Stardew Valley AU, strangers to friends to lovers, red thread of fate, soulmates (kinda) eventual smut, fluff focused, canon divergent, more tags to come (literally am too excited, I need to get this masterlist post out in the world lol)

Projected Word Count: 100K

Author’s Note: In unsurprising news, I have still been in the trenches with my Stardew Valley hyperfixation. Then, along comes this lovely PC Gojo mod and the fate of this fic was sealed. It's going to be inspired a touch by that mod (which I will link below, full credit to that amazing modder) and will heavily follow a standard Stardew Valley play through timeline. I'm a lil nervous to write Gojo since he doesn't fall neatly into the character type I normally am drawn to but I have WRITING HANDS (like jazz hands but for writers :P ) and so I'm adding another fic to my WIPs list.

Important Note: This fic is part of this blog's contribution to the @ficsforgaza initiative!

❦ LINKS ❦

Fics for Gaza Masterlist <- now linked! ->

GOJO MOD FOR PC'ERS

JJK Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Playlist

Moodboard

❦ TABLE OF CONTENTS ❦

SPRING

Part 1: In Which You Unexpectedly Receive The Deed to A Farm

Part 2 | In Progress | TBL

SUMMER

Placeholder

AUTUMN

Placeholder

WINTER

Placeholder

This work and its digital elements (credit for pixel art to ConcernedApe) are © Kait of @kaitsawamura 2020-PRESENT. I do not own any rights to Stardew Valley and any subsequent settings/characters, but this work is heavily inspired by that amazing game. Please do not alter or copy this work. Please do not repost this work to other platforms without my express permission.

[potatowithahat]

A New Friend

A Cringefail Farmer story

For @clarisinne !!! I hope it's ok!

I saw everyone drawing Cf and their Stardew Oc's and I can't draw all too well so here it is in fic form instead.

“Listen girl, I can't just explain it” her sister calls from the kitchen. “All I know is the wizard  gave me that forest drug and i help out the little guys now”

“That’s actually mental, you realize that?” Clarice calls as she looks out the window at the greenhouse that was built supposedly overnight

“Just… Ugh. Just go to the wizard guy. I don't know how else to explain it. That wizard guy can tell you” Mars shakes her head. “Now me and Haley still have a date so…” she gently shoves Clarice towards the door.

“Year yeah” Clarice mumbles something about lesbians to herself and walks off towards the path “Harveys not off tell three… Might as well go see this wizard dude anyway.”

She lets out a long sigh as she drags herself further down the road.

“Where you goin?” Shane calls, standing against the fence in front of marines house as she passes

“Better question is why you're outside at eight and not sleeping in on your day off?” she smiles as she approaches him.

“Marnie promised pepper poppers if i helped her with the cows” her friend wipes at the sweat on his brow with the sleeve of his jacket

“You wouldn’t be so hot if you weren't wearing that thing, you know” Clarice comments as she flicks at his sleeve

“Shut up” Shane grumbles as he looks back over at the cows “The hell are you going anyway? Out to cindersap?”

“Yeah” Clarice nods “Out to see The Wizard. Got some magic soup or something” she nods and walks on “If i’m not back in an hour call my sister and tell her i want harvey to give the eulogy at my funeral”

“Pff” Shane chuckles “Sure crazy lady” he turns back to the cows and hops the fence to continue his work

“This is it then” Clarice looks up at the tall, imposing structure in front of her.

The wizards tower was probably three floors high from the looks of it, the tall gray structure looming ominously above cindersap like a dark obelisk. The area around it was abuzz with power, and multiple larger than normal plants grew in a small garden beside it, seemingly untouched by any wildlife.

“Well this isn't imposing at all” she mutters to herself, sheepishly making her way up to the door to knock

“One second!” a voice calls out, sounding much more… effeminate than she was expecting

After a minute or two of waiting the door swings open and a boy no older then two with reddish purple hair bursts out of the tower and right into her legs 

“Oof” Clarice stumbles backwards at the impact 

“HI!” the boy calls up excitedly, “Do you want to be my friend?”

“Atticus you can't just” A tired looking man with curly red hair tied up in a top bun scoops the boy up and sighs “I'm so sorry Miss…”

“Ahh” Clarice startles a bit “Sorry. Just Clariece is fine” 

“yeah , i'm so sorry..” he looks up and startles a bit “My god” he reaches out for her braid

“Uhhh” She steps back nervously and looks down at her hair “Is something wrong with my hair…?”

“Oh, No. no, no no no no. sorry. You're just. well “ he bites his tongue “it's like looking at myself pre transition” The man shakes his head “Sorry, sorry. I’m”

“Rasmodius, right?” Clarice asks hopefully, wanting to get out of this situation as quickly as possible

“Yes. but probably not the one you’re looking for” The man gestures her inside “You here t osee the wizard?” 

Clarice nods nervously as she steps inside the house, her breath being taken away as she looks around the space.

The walls are covered  with arcane symbols and glowing glyphs, the seemingly only light source in the room, despite it being deceptively bright. The walls are lined with books, all well worn and old, though there doesn't seem to be a speck of dust anywhere. There's a large desk off to one side, a glowing green cauldron in front of it, some sort of spellbook sitting on the ground near it.

To the left there's what seems to be a small living room with a child's play area, with pop up books and all sorts of little wooden toys. A baby, no older than maybe six months sits by the couch chewing on a block

“Papa! Aaa!” The baby giggles and reaches for the man

“Go play with your sister” the man whispers to Atticus, setting him down and gently nudging him towards the toys

“Sorry about the mess” the man chuckles and kicks a toy firetruck out of the walkway” Kids, you know”

He rubs his neck

“OH!” I never said my name. Sorry, i’m Rory” He smiles and holds his hand out for her “Im Magnus’ husband”

 Clarice lets out a sigh “Oh! Oh, ok. I get it, yeah” She nods “I didn’t know he was married”

Rory nods “Right, yeah. Most people don’t. We tend to keep to ourselves up here” he claps “Well my Husbands gone for a week at some magic conference of some or another” he rolls his hand ‘But if there's anything I could help you with”

Clarice shifts her weight “not really. I'm not entirely sure why I'm here in the first place. My sister just told me to come”

Rory shrugs “Yeah. not really a lot i can do if i don't know why you're here” he looks around for a second “Tell you what, i have a kettle on. How about we sit and have a chat so that your visit isn't a total waste of time?”

Clarice looks at her watch. She still had a good few hours until Harvey was off “Sure” she nods

“Great” Rory claps and heads towards the kitchen “I never get anyone to talk to up here”

“Im sure” Clarice nods and Follows him into the small kitchen “I just.. Would it be rude to ask a question?”

“No, no not at all!” Rory smiles as he pours two cups of tea “Earl gray or chamomile?”

“Oh, Chamomile please” she nods and sits down at the small island “You and the W… Magnus. How did that happen?”

Rory pulls out two tea packets and plops them in the mugs “Oh, well I was a farmer too. Had a small place a little farther away from here. I took a walk down here one day, saw him tending his garden and went up to tell him he was pulling his carrots wrong” He chuckles “We hit it off from there”

“Ahh.”  Clarice nods, thinking for a second “How'd you know I'm a farmer?”

Rory gets a sheepish look “Oh. sorry. I uh… I can read people. You aren’t married t oa wizard for for years without picking up a few tricks” he carefully hands her her mug

“Oh. thats cool i guess’ Clarice blushes and takes a sip of her drink

Rory just stares at her for a good few minutes

“You’ve got someone on your mind, don't you?” he asks as he tilts his head to the side

Her blush deepens

“Oh you do!” Rory claps happily “Who is it? Don't tell me.. .Shane? Sebastian? Oh… or maybe a girl… Abigail?”

“Harvey” Clarice mumbles as she takes a long sip from the tea, trying to hide her blush

“Pickle man?” Rory smiles “He seems to be a bit bland you know, but he can hold up a conversation! And those hands! God those hands.” He leans forward on his hand

“Exactly!” Clarice says, covering her mouth to try and stop it from slipping out 

Rory smirks “I've got the feeling you and I are gonna be good friends”

Thats all for now folks!

I had a lot of fun with this! It was actually super refreshing to sit down and write for once.

As always my requests are always open so if you have any fic ideas just slide one over!!!

I hope you enjoyed!!!

If you liked what you read you can find more of my work here on tumblr or on my Ao3

[zincbot]

stardew. accidentally skipped my wedding (not even my first time marrying harvey)

i was so distraught. tried to roll my save back a day. didn't work. tried to manually edit my save to be unmarried. didn't work. tried to use a mod to review event cutscenes. didn't work. tried to use commands and debug view recent event ids. didn't work.

so i divorced him. erased his memories. re-romanced him. re-proposed to him.

and yayyyy

[babiebom]

Hey brother, I am humbly requesting a SDV Sam (or Alex) fic about the harvest festival & the fortune teller. I just think it’s a cute idea to see what the fortune teller says to Sam before/after meeting the farmer

A/N: this is such a cute idea!! Since this is more of a one shot request I can do both on this post? Hopefully by the time you see this it isn’t too far into the future!! Hopefully you enjoy how I wrote this!! Sorry it took a little while!

Genre:oneshot, fluff, some angst.

Tw:mention of death, mention of depression/insecurities, cursing, 2 mentions of the war that goes on in the game.

Wc: 0.5k for Alex / 0.5k for Sam

Sdv Masterlist

Alex

Alex was never one to go visit the fortune teller. He simply doesn’t really believe in magic, or the ability to see the future. Sure, there was the weird wizard that lived near the forest, and the monsters that live in the caves, but those were just outliers and didn’t have anything to do with the general population. The first and only time he went to it as an adult, was with Haley. He hated his fortune then, it tore down all his dreams and put him into an even more insecure place than he was in before.

No mom, no dad, and aging grandparents and now the woman in the tent is telling him that his current girlfriend isn’t his soulmate or the one he will end up with, and they’re saying his gridball career won’t take off and he’s going to end up in Pelican Town for the rest of his life? Actual dogshit.

It’s his own fault that he asked in the first place, he thinks. Haley wasn’t too mad with her fortune, and she didn’t seemed all that torn up about the fortune teller saying they weren’t meant for each other. It just pissed him off even more. Did this mean they were going to break up? Should they? Did he even have to listen or believe the fortune teller? It was probably just bullshit anyways, a scam to get idiots to spend more money to find out their future because she scared them. He’s never doing the stupid fortune thing again!

“Let’s do the fortune teller!” Your eyes are shining so brightly with excitement that he can’t say no. Obviously he hates the damned scam, and he didn’t have to agree but he liked you too much to disagree with visiting the woman one last time.

You shove him inside first, already looking through your backpack for your coin bag. “You go first.”

He swallows and steps up to the woman, glaring at her openly. She makes no move to react to his obvious discontent, instead waiting for him to dish out money so she could say something else to crush his hopes and dreams. At least you’re in here with him to hear what actual bullshit this is…you’re kicked out of the tent while he’s getting his fortune read.

“Hmm…I see you in the town’s square…it looks like you’re receiving a mermaid pendant. Looks like someone wants to marry you!”

“Marriage? To who?” He hopes that it’s you. You weren’t really in a relationship right now, but he does hope that it’s you giving him that pendant.

“Hmm…you’re watching a gridball match with the other guys in town…looks fun! It seems like you’ve brought everyone together.”

“The crystal ball has moved on…I see you and the farmer. You’re laughing together on the beach, looks like you’re holding a ball. The way you’re going it looks like you two are quite close! Ah…the crystal ball has gone dim. That’s all I can do for you, young one.”

Stepping out of the tent, Alex somehow feels better. He’s going to get married at some point, and you and him are going to be on good terms for a while. Maybe the fortune teller isn’t totally uncool.

Sam

The fortune teller was one of the creepiest attractions of the fair to Sam by far. Magic was something that he thought was cool, inspiring even, but that doesn’t mean he wants anything to do with it. Him, Abigail, and Sebastian get their fortunes read every single year, paying attention to whatever has changed, what has and hasn’t come true. It’s fun and sometimes a little scary when things turn out how the fortune teller said it would.

Abigail liked it the most out of the three. The year before he meets you is the first time in a while that his fortune had changed. The woman had said specifically that “someone was coming to the valley that would bring the budding success of his music.” All he really heard then was that his music career was going to take off at some point, and that’s all he really needed to keep working towards his goal.

You hold his arm tightly as you walk around the fair along with Abigail and Sebastian. It’s your first fair since you’ve come to Pelican Town, and Sam is all too willing to show you around. Besides, Pierre was probably going to win the stupid competition, again, and he wanted to be able to support you closely. Not because he has a crush or anything (he does), he’s just a good friend! “We should show the Farmer the fortune teller! See if they get a good one or not!”

This starts your groups trip to the tent. You seem a bit anxious about getting your fortune read, so like the good friend Sam is, he offers to go first and tell everyone his fortune to show you it isn’t so bad.

The woman smiles at him as he enters, and he immediately returns her positive energy. She always said good thing(except when she predicted his father was going to be deployed because of the war) so he liked her. He paid her quickly and watched as the crystal ball begins to glow.

“I see you performing on a small stage, the person who is going to support your music career is front and center. They are going to be the reason that you are performing so passionately. They buy some of your cd’s to help support you.”

He wonders for a second if that’s you. He had been feeling a little more inspired since you came around, and you never hesitated to praise him and his music when you get a chance to listen to him play in his room. “Hmm…I see you in a big house, something is playing on the television. The children seem excited about whatever is playing, so do you and the farmer. They’re smiling so brightly at you, don’t let them lose that light.”

It absolutely has to be you. He wonders what you’re so happy about, and who the kids are. Are they your kids? Maybe his mind is going too far, especially since a relationship wasn’t mentioned.

“The crystal ball is shifting…your father returns from war. He is safe, and unharmed…but he is not the same as he was. It seems that he is unhappy…oh…”

The crystal ball grows dim, maybe the last bit wasn’t totally good, but the rest of it was. He gets to perform, and you’re there cheering him on. His heart thumps as he exits the tent and meets your eyes. The way you’re looking at him is so bright. He feels excitement full his body, he has so much to look forward to.

[sitp-recs]

livvvv my rec goddess. i’ve recently developed an insatiable knack for draco doing little muggle things, like being obsessed with soap operas, or learning how to bake, or playing board games, or painting a house (??) etc etc. any recs as such perchance?? my eternal thanks x

Love this ask anon, “Draco in the Muggle world” can be such a fun trope! I tried to include a bit of everything but I feel like driving and cooking are very popular in fic, so there’s probably a lot of it here. I hope you enjoy these!

magic in the making by getawayfox (G, 2k)

I didn’t see Malfoy for a year after the trial. When Gin told me that, according to Pansy, he had opened a little posh bakery in Mayfair, I thought she was joking, so I went to see for myself.

Market Saturdays by iota (M, 3k)

In which Harry is an accidental part-time cheesemonger, Draco is an organic farmer and they fall in love.

Muggle 'Drug Store Items' by loveglowsinthedark (E, 4k)

Malfoy's interest is caught by a certain Muggle drug store item. (Hint: Flavoured Condoms)

To Make A Way by cavendishbutterfly (E, 5k)

When Harry finds Draco in the back row of the cinema, he doesn't mean to accidentally befriend him. Or fuck him. Or catch feelings. The thing is, Draco only does casual.

How We Throw Our Shadows Down by thistle_verse (T, 14k)

Draco has finally found the perfect, rare piece to complete his collection. The only problem is that the item belongs to Harry Potter, the last wizard on earth Draco wants to ask another favour from.

The Tapestry of Kinship by khalulu (T, 15k)

Harry is at loose ends, Draco is good with needles, and Draco's young daughter wants to see a certain tapestry repaired. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black will never be the same.

Tuesday Nights by firethesound (E, 15k)

The absolute last place Harry expected to see Malfoy was in a rundown Muggle cinema on a Tuesday night.

Rich Friend by iota (E, 18k)

As far as Harry can tell, Draco Malfoy is still rich as hell. He’s just not a wizard anymore. Featuring: Draco Malfoy trying to make it as a Muggle pop star, Harry Potter as our confused and horny hero, bad driving, good music, and the mysterious magic of falling for someone.

Harry Potter and The Bisexual Awakening by Writcraft (E, 23k)

Harry is perfectly content being single, heterosexual and living in Godric's Hollow with his very clingy rescue dog, Snitch. When Draco Malfoy turns up on Harry's doorstep demanding that Harry teach him how to drive, things quickly become a lot more complicated.

I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor by birdsofshore (E, 28k)

Harry felt lit up from inside as soon as he entered the bar. There were blokes dancing together, their bodies close to one another, not keeping a wary distance as Harry was always careful to do when he was near another man. God, he wanted this – wanted it so much he could taste it, a metallic tang of heat and desire. He suspected nothing would ever be the same again – especially when he saw who else was in the room.

Around You Moves by ignatiustrout (M, 29k)

Harry knew Draco was gay when he invited him to move in. He’s never had a problem with this. So why does he feel so weird about Draco bringing men home all of a sudden?

Faint Indirections by ignatiustrout (T, 30k)

Draco Malfoy is the last person Harry expects to turn up in Boston, Massachussetts. But now he's here, and he won't stop requesting books from the library where Harry works.

Open For Repairs by FeelsForBreakfast (M, 35k)

After the war, Draco works at a tv repair shop and Harry breaks things.

(Un)wanted by aibidil (E, 36k)

Ginny's pregnant, then she's not and Harry's single. Harry, again with no family, doesn't know what to do with this turn of events, or how to find a new life—post-war, post-Ginny, post-abortion—in which he belongs. He doesn't expect that life to include dancing to the Backstreet Boys with Hermione and Draco Malfoy. A story of finding belonging in the unexpected.

The Miseducation of Draco Malfoy by magpie_fngrl (E, 37k)

Zacharias Smith writes a tell-all about the D.A. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are not happy about it.

Take A Chance On Me by mintaminta (E, 40k)

There's a DJ on RareFM with a secret. Or: the one with all the ABBA in it.

Nights With You by The_Sinking_Ship (E, 58k)

Draco is mortified when moments prior to departing for the most anticipated destination wedding of the year, he is cruelly dumped. But when he learns that Harry Potter has, at long last, split with his horrible boyfriend, Draco is certain his luck has changed. Never a man to squander an opportunity for revenge (and what would probably be a spectacular shag), Draco vows to make Potter his for the weekend. Now all Draco has to do is convince him.

Salt on the Western Wind by Saras_Girl (M, 60k)

When the war isn’t quite as over as it first appears, a guilt-ridden Harry is sent to a mysterious safe-house. Among sandwiches, insomnia, and Mills & Boon, he discovers something quite unexpected.

Modern Love by tackytiger (E, 61k)

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

Running on Air by eleventy7 (T, 75k)

Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

[mafuyussweater]

My Favorite Bingqiu (Bingyuan) fics

Be sure to read tags!

Leave kudos and comments for the authors!

Enjoy ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ (to be added to as a read more)

lowly disciple's self insert fanfic system by:

Allpiesforourown

Mature • canon divergence

Airplane and Cucumber-bro figure out they are transmigrators earlier on. Shen Qingqius disciples are STICKY. Luo Binghe writes self insert fanfic about his Shizun.

☆彡

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This by: Prudabaga

Explicit • Canon Divergence (fix-it?)

Shen Qingqiu can't help that his dreams all seem to revolve around sleeping with the protagonist. It doesn't make him gay. He hardly has a choice even if he really does enjoy them.. anyone would!

☆彡

Tie Up the Broken Threads of That Old Dream by: Ehann

Mature • Canon Divergence (fix-it)

Shen Qingqiu self detonates and causes the system to go haywire. He wakes up in the past with no system at all and finds Luo Binghe fresh out of the Abyss. He is determined to make things right this time.

☆彡

Remnants of Gold by: Wemmye

Teen+ • Canon Divergence? (No Transmigrators)

Su Xiyan still takes the poison but somehow she manages to survive. Her and Binghe grow up as farmers and she helps her son hide his demon side with a jade pendant. She really doesn't trust cultivators but Shen Yuan, one of the two peak lords of Qing Jings peak, convinces her to let Luo Binghe learn cultivation from him.

☆彡

Tarnished Gold by: Prim_The_Amazing

Mature • Canon Divergence (in a major way)

Shen Yuan transmigrates into the body of Gongyi Xiao and meets a post Abyss Luo Bingge who wants to take his place as Head Disciple.

☆彡

The Divide Between Autumn and Spring by: sareyen

Mature • AU

Shen Yuan transmigrates into a disciple of Qing Jing who shares his same name. He is out of his depth when he realizes this body has a damaged core and also that he is well before canon PIDW with all of the future peak lords being just young teens! He manages to make lots of friends, becomes a beloved head disciple, and saves a few people too.

(This is angsty y'all but oml this is a MASTERPIECE -with a happy end dw)

☆彡

If Marriage Was an Olympic Sport by: anatheme

Explicit • Wife Plot (set during the Abyss arc)

Shen Qingqiu accidentally sets of a "wife hunt" that requires 12 participants to hunt down the "wife". He has from sunrise to sunset to run for his life to avoid being forced into marriage.

☆彡

safe and stranded by: anatheme

Mature• Modern era-ish (fix-it)

Shen Qingqiu self detonation causes the system to glitch and it sends him (and Binghe) to his old life and he has 3 days to experience living in the modern world again before he will be sent back to his body that was fall towards his death.

☆彡

picture you by: wnter_autumn

Explicit • Modern Au

Shen Yuan sleeps with his friend Luo Binghe and freaks out about it because he is straight... right?

☆彡

dreaming you the same sun in a different place by: JRaylin441

Explicit • Reverse Transmigration

Shen Qingqiu disappears and Luo Binghe gets a notification from the System offering a side quest called In Another Life that requires him to find his husband in his original body in the modern world. Unfortunately his husband has no memory of living in PIDW!

☆彡

Stealing Sun From the Flowers by: CherrieBabie

Explicit • Canon Divergence

Shen Yuan wakes up in his mushroom body with no memory of ever being Shen Qingqiu and no access to a system so he thinks he lucked out! Unfortunately as he is roaming around as a rogue cultivator he gets captured in the Huan Hua territory and meets Luo Binghe himself who is really upset that this guy looks really similar to his dead Shizun.

☆彡

Being a 30-Year-Old Virgin Made Shen Yuan a Wizard! By: stormsonjupiter

Explicit • Cherry Magic Au

The Cherry Magic we all love but make it Bingyuan!

☆彡

if you don't have your own boyfriend, rented is fine by: nyoomerr

Mature • Modern Au

Luo Bingge searches for his own nice Shizun and ends up in the modern world with Shen Yuan who is kind of rude and only looks a little bit like Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Yuan thinks Bingge is a poor cosplayer and asks to hire him as his pretend boyfriend to show appreciation for the real authentic cosplay.. that's all!

☆彡

Life is (not) a Hallmark Movie by: mellicindi

Teen+ • Modern Au

Shen Yuan watches this one ASMR cooking channel and finds the video needing some improvements but the guys voice is really really nice! Then he ends up at his friend Shang Qingyuan apartment and sees a familiar countertop...

☆彡

Tell Me Your Heart Doesn't Race for a Hurricane or a Burning Building by: Bluethursday

Explicit • Modern (stalker Au)

Shen Yuan opens his door to a handsome stranger who says "Hi, are you Shen Yuan? I'm Luo Binghe, your new live-in caretaker"

☆彡

Mightier than Waves by: bedesbummie

Explicit • Modern Au (kinda stalker ish)

Shen Yuan goes to pick up his sisters backpack from the rec center and when no one seems to be coming to help him, he searches for an employee and runs into shirtless and overly handsome Luo Binghe. After that day he can't help but find himself back at the rec center to get another glimpse of Binghe. Under the guise of wanting to improve his physical health.

☆彡

a thousand jars by:tagteamme

Explicit • Post Canon

Shen Qinghua finds himself feeling incredibly jealous. There is porn. That's the fic (it's so good)

☆彡

Starstruck by: Camorra

Explicit • Modern Au (musicians)

Shen Yuan, who is known for making videos playing bass in accompaniment to Luo Binghe's songs, gets a message from someone saying they could get him in touch with famous musician Luo Binghe. At first he doesn't believe it but then he receives a photo of his bandmates taking a selfie and decides to not let this opportunity slip by.

☆彡

Halasana by: The Feels Whale (miscella)

Explicit • Modern Au (yoga)

Luo Binghe (known slut) makes a bet with his coworker Sha Hualing that he will stop sleeping with his hot clients to prove he doesn't /need/ sex. And then it all goes to shit when Shen Yuan comes waltzing in for their one-on-one session.

☆彡

# KissingTheHomiesGoodnight by: knothim

Explicit • Modern Au

Shen Yuans "no homo" mental gymnastics his way into messing around with Luo Binghe using the dumbest logic only he could come up with.

☆彡

A Little Bit To The Left by: miixz

Teen+ • Canon Divergence

A system error sends Shen Yuan to transmigrate into a random canon fodder Bai Zhan Peak disciple named Shi Yuan instead of Shen Qingqiu.

☆彡

We Are Not Wise by: Boomchick, Suzoomie

Teen+ • Canon Divergence (Utena inspired soul swords)

Shen Yuan transmigrates into a version of PIDW where cultivators form swords made of their very own souls. He is just a child when he runs into the middle of Shen Qingqiu battling a demonic creature and in order to protect them both Shen Qingqiu makes very horrible/controversial decision to pull Shen Yuans sword out of his body.

This is how Shen Yuan finds himself dragged to Qing Jing peak in order to keep his silence.

☆彡

when the glass shatters (which me do you see?) by: Quirmzi

Gen • Post Canon (de-aging)

Shen Qingqiu encounters trouble on a night hunt and ends up back in his (Shen Yuans!!) body at 6 years old. He has no idea who anyone is or why they can't get him his parents but thankfully at least Shang Qinghua understands him.

(All the peak lords (except one) gushes over how cute Shen Yuan is)

☆彡

A Transmigrator and a Time Traveler Walk Into the Bamboo House by: VeryCharismaticDragon

Teen+ • Time Travel (fix-it)

Over a year after Shen Qingqius death, Luo Binghe seeks out Shang Qinghua for another way to bring back the love of his life. All he needs to do is find a special mirror that brings you to the day you first met your soulmate. When he wakes up at 14 he is a bit confused but as more pieces of the puzzle are revealed, he learns the love of his life is way more complex than he ever expected.

☆彡

The Moon's Beloved Shadow by: mofumofu

Explicit • Canon Divergence

There is a well kept secret between the peak lords on Cang Qiong mountain. Two Shens run Qing Jing peak but only one has ever been seen outside of their bamboo house. Shen Yuan is very confused to wake up in the body of the Shen Twin who was never talked about in PIDW. With no knowledge of the past, he navigates an overly protective, doting Shen Jiu.

☆彡

Uprooted by: lethean

Mature • Canon Divergence

This world of PIDW is very different from the one Shen Yuan knew. He wakes up in the body of a character he can't remember but soon learns it's a minor villain that was possibly framed and woefully misunderstood. He just barely escapes an early death and finds himself being saved by none other than Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan themselves.

☆彡

Notes on the changing of a narrative by: HanaSheralHaminail

Explicit • Canon Divergence

The system demands Shen Qingqiu must fatally wound Luo Binghe before pushing him into the Abyss. The consequences for not complying are fatale. At least he can try and help Luo Binghe make it through with a little more knowledge on just what dangers he will encounter and hope it doesn't hurt too much.

☆彡

i just wanna be your shadow by: bibliomaniac

Explicit • Modern Au (inspired by the manhua "I Want To Be A Big Baddie")

Luo Binghe can read people's thoughts which means he doesn't trust most people. It used to be just his mom who he trusted but since arriving at the Shen estate, he met an interesting boy who was supposed to be Shen Qingqiu but his thoughts (and system?) reveal he is actually a boy named Shen Yuan who seems to be forced into becoming Luo Binghe's biggest bully.

(This is a freak4freak bingqiu! They are creepy and obsessed with each other fr. Shen Yuan likes seeing people in pain even though he feels disgusted with himself about it and Luo Binghe is an incurable M)

☆彡

[veren-cos]

HELLOOOOOO this is my first time requesting so I’m kinda nervous lol , but could you please do a fic where seb does period comfort? Like a whole fic and not headcannons pleaseee!

Sebastian (Sdv) x reader period comfort

Ngl I took the prompt and ran with it. I love writing period fics. I think there should be more.

"Ughhhhhhhh" You rolled over on your bed. Cramps were cramping like crazy. Just a heavy steady ache all over your lower back and hips. This was the worst.

You didn't feel like getting up. Getting up meant being productive. Getting up meant watering crops, and feeding animals, and everything a responsible farmer had to do. But getting up meant seeing Sebastian, which is the only thing that was motivating you.

But despite that. You still laid in bed. No matter how much you wanted to see your boyfriend, you were just in too much pain to do anything. And if you could see your boyfriend, you could take care of the farm. Which meant no seeing your boyfriend today.

*knock knock knock*

Unless your boyfriend came to see you? You groaned in the direction of the door, "come in, it's always open."

You heard light footsteps coming in your direction. "Babe?" You hissed as Sebastian turned on the lights. "You're not up yet?"

"Mmmmmm no.." You had forgot that the two of you were supposed to hang out today. He was coming over with pizza from the bar, and you were going to play Solarian Chronicles.

He set down the game and pizza and sat by you on the bed. "Is everything okay?" He pushed your hair out of your face as you adjusted under the blankets.

"Everything hurts. Cramps are kicking my ass." He nodded. Sebastian was pretty chill about all this stuff. And since you were planning on staying home anyways, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

He got up and shuffled around your closet. After a while, Sebastian came back with a heating pad for you. He plugged it in and tossed it to you. Then he grabbed the table nearby and brought it next to your bed. You honestly had no idea what he was doing.

Once he was finished with what seemed to be rearranging your whole room, he left again. This time, he returned with the game, a bottle of ibuprofen, and some water.

"You still able to play if you can stay in bed?" He sat next to you again, starting to set up your quest. He had brought everything you could need to your room, such a sweetie.

"Of course!" You attempted to sit up but it just made everything hurt worse.

He shot you a concerned look, "need help?" He reached behind you to hold you up. After a bit of shuffling you were upright.

"Mmmnn life hurts."

He laughed a bit, "I'd bet." He handed you the water and meds, "take these. And I know you have sprinklers, but I'm going to go finish watering your crops. And let out the animals, they just eat the grass then, right?"

You blushed a bit, how did you land a guy this nice? "Yeah, thank you. You really don't have to, I can do it before I sleep."

"No you can't. You hadn't even gotten out of the bed. And from the looks of you, you weren't planning on it. You just sit there a bit while I finish things up for you. If you're feeling helpful, finish setting up the game?" He softly smiled at you.

The rest of your day went really well. The two of you defeated a wizard and saved a town! You got all the loot, and successfully completed your quest. Sebastian put the pizza into your microwave, and the two of you ate in bed.

You barely got up, but in all fairness, you didn't really want to. Sebastian certainly wasn't overbearing, but he was shockingly attentive. He had brought the TV into your room, so he put on a shitty movie. Honestly his company was what made you feel better more than anything else.

His presence always made you calmer. Once the two of you got into the swing of your relationship, he was shockingly chill. After all of his initial nerves were taken care of anyways. Sometimes he was still a tad cautious though. He barely touched you all day!

You decided that that needed to be rectified right now. Of course, you appreciated that he respected your space. In general, but especially on your period. But more often than not you just wanted cuddles and you'd be damned if you didn't get them!

The two of you were sitting next to each other, so it wasn't necessarily difficult. The movie was crap anyways, so you just rolled to your side into his chest. He immediately went warm.

"Too cold?" He looked down at you. He had a small smile on his face.

"No," you adjusted yourself further into his lap. "Just wanted attention."

"Oh yeah?" He laid down instead of sitting so you could get comfortable. "I can do that." He wrapped you in his arms and gave you a kiss. He intertwined your legs, and planted a peck on your cheek. You giggled as you landed one on his nose.

You wrapped your arms around his waist and gave him a final kiss. He landed a few more pecks before laying his chin on the top of your head as you made some final adjustments. Sebastian truly made even the roughest starting day wonderful. You sighed, gave him a final hug, and listened to the horrible movie as sleep fell over the two of you.

An* hello!!! thank you for the request!! And don't be nervousss, more than likely, if an author takes requests, they absolutely love them! I know I do!! I hope you like it, I know it got kinda off topic and turned into a general fluff fic near the end, but it's still cute imo! I might edit some parts eventually because I'm so tired and this wasn't proofread- but yeah, hope you enjoyed!

Masterlist

[lily-alphonse]

Hear me out... Willy

AHOY SAILOR

Willy said "Yer a lady after me own heart" and I screamed "GIVE ME A CHANCE WILLY PLEASE"

I'll be honest I'm shocked at how good this turned out. LOOK AT HIM 😩🔥 I modeled him after Gerard Butler. And that background? I really doubted I could make a decent ocean background and was fully prepared to throw him into a color void. That's what I had to do with the wizard after I failed at drawing the tower background 😅 I feel like I'm really hitting my stride with digital art, this one only took a few days!

If this has you convinced, or if you need more convincing, you should check out my Willy x Farmer fic Sailor Song (rated M for suggestive content. Read on AO3) I'm on a warpath to convince as many people as possible to simp for these old men 😈

I'm adding a closeup below because I put too much effort into making his face look crusty rugged for it all to be blended out by the low quality preview

[b1odeuwed]

I SAW YOU ASK FOR REQUESTS AND MENTION GEMPEARL HI HELLO :D!!

Idk if you ever watched/know much about empires smp 1 but it would be very cool if yoj drew smth with tragic doomed esmp1 gempearl... they're so doomed yuri...

THEY EVEN HAVE FLOWER SYMBOLISM (sunflowers and wither roses which i am very normal about, and which also inspired a lot of a gempearl fic i wrote (Flowers Always Wither) bc im so normal about flower imagery and the fact the woman represented by sunflowers and growth and crops was part of the Wither Rose alliance and literally WITHERED AWAY in her finale when her fields and flowers burnt down...... ough. Also the fact roses in general are associated with love (of many forms, usually romantic), whilst black roses are associated with death, and sunflowers are associated with the sun and life. Sososo normal I swear-)

This accidentally turned into a massive rant about esmp1 gempearl but they make me so ill (enough to finish a fic for the first time in a year) so KSHSKS mb for that-

but anyway yeah if you drew wizard gem and farmer queen pearl flower imagery/symbolism i would owe you my thirdborn (I've already promised my first and secondborn to different gempearl related causes). Or i could just reblog it a billion times LMAO

gotta admit i’ve never watched e1 but i’ve had it infodumped to me and i like these doomed ladies so here’s some vague angst

[wolfsbanesparks]

📖!?!?!?????!!!!!

Hi!!!

Yet another idea I've not had the chance to write:

This is a series of stories rather than just one because i have done way way too much world building for it.

An expansion of my medieval fantasy AU incorporating as many aspects of DC as possible. Im working on The Kingdom of the Dark Knight which is the fantasy Batman origin for the world (and ties into my other oneshot Knight of Gotham) setting up the curse on Gotham and the political upheaval of the nation as Bruce in crowned King.

Then there's the Lantern Corps as a naval fleet with magic lanterns + enchanted rings that patrol the seas for pirates and monsters.

And Kryptonians as endangered Dragonborn species from a fallen kingdom. Clark raised by farmers of a neighboring kingdom while Kara was kept in a magical stasis for years.

And the JL as a knights of the round table situation going on quests to unite the lands and protect the world from magical threats

Atlantis and Themyscira are largely the same since they are already fantastical nations.

And of course Billy (as first shown in my fic the Wizard’s Apprentice) is a young wizard learning magic and fighting monsters. He's going to find his long lost sister (raised by a noble family) and become the host of a divine lightning spirit (Cap aka Thavma) and use illusion spells to appear older to join the JL.

[kaitsawamura]

"Look. There's magic all around you. You just have to be brave enough to reach out and touch it."

🪞 🔮 🍅 🧺 🍯 🌱 The Farmer and The Wizard | A Stardew Valley AU starring Wizard!Gojo Satoru x Farmer!Reader

[thebunnymen]

MARAUDERS MLM FIC RECOMMENDATION

I have read more than 300 marauders fics and I’ve curated this list of all my favorites; I will add at the end the famous ones I’ve read as well but I am prioritizing the ones that I haven’t heard about as much that I think deserve just as much recognition.

For moonseeker/water, there’s another list on my account that I have pinned for those interested.

I will make a separate wlw/sapphic post

A brief history of dragons by Eyra [Wolfstar](23k words, finished) AU non magical, cottage. James and Sirius work in a James’ parents cafe together and Remus is there everyday writing a book about dragons and they’re so cute and so in love and I absolutely love it. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24114526/chapters/58052638

The art of getting by by Sarewolf [wolfstar] (40k words, finished) Remus and Sirius raise Harry together. Heartbreaking in the best way <3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/27300139/chapters/66700582

Beneath a big blue sky by Eyra [wolfstar with a lovely side Jily](68k words,finished) AU farm, Sirius and James are city boys that end up in a Yorkshire farm by “mistake” where they spend the summer. Lily and Remus are farmers. It’s funny, clever and touching; also we see Remus’ rs with his parents and it’s so lovely. https://archiveofourown.org/works/31046156/chapters/76694012

A string of consequences by semistrawberry [jegulily] (164k words, finished) AU no Voldemort. My favorite poly fic of them by far. We see each of their relationship grow and evolve in such a unique way, I’d do anything to be able to read it for the first time. It all stars with amortentia :) I can’t stress this enough this fic is a masterpiece https://archiveofourown.org/works/35878465/chapters/89461336 (it is quite well known but I wanted to say more about it so I didn’t put it with the famous ones)

A full guide of gardening for amateurs by Aphrsditea [jegulus] (75k words, finished) AU modern setting. This is one of my favorite fics of all time, all fandoms included. It’s beautifully written, so touching and inspiring. James is bipolar and Regulus suffers from ptsd. I don’t even know how to explain this fic because there is simply too much to say but I would recommend it even to those who don’t like this ship as much because it’s worth it. It deserves to be a book to be honest. https://archiveofourown.org/works/40365099/chapters/101111832

Mastermind (love made me crazy) by Miriammt [jegulus] (331k words, finished) Regulus is consumed by bitterness and pain after his brother Sirius ran away from home, and he blames James Potter for taking him away. Seeking revenge, he plots to take James away from Sirius. But what starts as a means of vengeance quickly turns into a tumultuous affair, and Regulus finds himself falling in love. Passion and desire turn into feelings and the wish to do and be better for James.But, as he navigates his complex feelings for James, a dark wizard rises to power, seeking to gain followers among the Hogwarts students. Trapped between duty and love, Regulus is forced to confront his fears, as he tries to protect those he cares about. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42091176/chapters/105674427

A for amortentia by angelcakes12332 [jegulus] (10k words, finished) When brewing Amortentia in Slughorn’s class, all James wants is a passing grade.Smelling his best friends brother in the potion? Well, James always has been over ambitious. https://archiveofourown.org/works/44310625/chapters/111435358

If I get out of bed (you'll see me standing all alone) by bartylusisms [bartylus] (32k one shot) Coraline (2009) but make it Bartylus: Regulus as Coraline, Barty as Wybie, Sirius as Padfoot (the cat), and Pandora, Dorcas and Evan as the nosey neighbors. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42764214

If i could give you the moon by malecstsc [wolfstar, side jegulus] (95k words,finished) HELP such a great fic :((( i love it so so much. Remus is a slytherin (bless) and regs best friend (moonseeker on top) sirius and him “hate” each other and are constantly snarky with the other, but they end up fake dating in a poor attempt to get closer, and its just so fluffy and angsty (light angst to be honest, but still the slow burn) https://archiveofourown.org/works/51521812/chapters/130214497

Please please please (let me get what I want this time) by nicodiangelol [moonchaser] (19k one shot) AU college, where Remus is a nerdy punk who needs to start cricket as an extracurricular activity to not fail the year and James is the captain, they knew each other from middle school. Genuinely had so much fun with it, grumpy x sunshine in all its glory, definitely a great fic. https://archiveofourown.org/works/56928679

Crowns & Coffee Cups series by Eyra [moonchaser] (9k words total for three works) AU non magical. Remus is chronically ill and James takes care of him, and it’s just so tender and soft and simple but beautifully written. So good so catching, I felt the loving and the feeling of being loved, precious. Also James is a terrible husband to Lily they got married after a one night stand so tw for that Lily deserves better https://archiveofourown.org/series/2204058

Don’t call me kid (don’t call me baby) by sxsooo_0 [moonrose, jegulus, party] ( 17k words, unfinished) set in the 80s, we get a pov of each character to understand how they come to be in Italy. It’s so beautifully written and the plot is so interesting; but the writer put it under a finished fic, although the 5 chapters we have are all the introduction to the beginning of the summer, so I am trying to swallow my disappointment, I was so so immersed and enthralled by it, and now I feel achingly lonesome without the continuity of what felt like a great piece of fiction. (No hate to the writer for putting it under finished they probably didn’t do it on purpose) SO SO GOOD AND I NEED MORE https://archiveofourown.org/works/57682639/chapters/146791582

All the king’s men series by intronevermind [bartylus+ side jily, wolfstar, and a tiny bit of marylene] (384k words total for 3 works) based on the foxhole court, I haven’t read the original work but I didn’t need to as the writer explained everything perfectly. It’s so so good, dark and gloomy, violent and beautiful. One of my fav bartylus. Regulus Beaumont is the newest addition to the Godric Gryffindor University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential– and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher. Signing a contract with the high profile team the Gryffindor Lions is the last thing Regulus should do. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed. But Regulus is tired, and he quickly discovers he isn’t the only one on the team with secrets. Regulus has survived the last eight years by running, but maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for. https://archiveofourown.org/series/3915340

FAMOUS ONES THAT I ENJOYED

All the young dudes by mskingbean89 [wolfstar,jily] ( 526k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/10057010/chapters/22409387

ATYD Sirius perspective by Rollercoasterwords (628k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/34577035/chapters/86070550

Just lovers ( like we were supposed to be) by bizarrestars [jegulus + minor wolfstar, dorlene, marylily] (321k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/38344720/chapters/95816488

Choices by messermoon [jegulus, wolfstar, jily] (624k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/30170643/chapters/74332617

Best friend’s brother by bizarrestars [jegulus, wolfstar] (329k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/37021876/chapters/92370142

Crimson rivers by bizarrestars [jegulus, wolfstar + side rs] (865k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39760044/chapters/99543639

A black mass over highway ninety [ i cannot find it anymore if anyone does please do send the link so i can put it up, i don’t remember the name of the author either im sorry ]

Art heist baby! by otrtbs [jegulus, wolfstar, dorlene] (220k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/38454070/chapters/96104947

Only the brave by Solmussa [jegulus, wolfstar, dorlene, rosekiller] (645k words, finished) https://archiveofourown.org/works/43379187/chapters/109046397

For Bizarrestars and Solmussa fics you need to be registered to an account.

+ my own fic for anyone interested:

48 hours too long by moonycriesdies [jegulus] (14k words) Receiving a letter saying he had 48 hours to live was the best news of Regulus’ life.

He was done the moment he was born, choking on the umbilical cord, hoping to asphyxiate; sadly, the doctors were competent. And they insisted on keeping him alive from that point on.

Mainly black brother angst and jegulus fluff.

Have fun reading !! I’d love to hear your feedback :)

[teethstitch]

It All Clicks Into Place

Synopsis: the wizard is lonely, he works, and he keeps the world in check, he hides from the town, ignoring their festivities and placating the ever restless growing junimos, when one day, the junimos go quiet, content, someone's delivered a package.

Take a shot every time I say 'Junimo' (Please Don't). Anyways, my first SDV fic, I'm excited! This was inspired by justawormonastring on tiktok/ao3 and their video promoting their fic for the wizard 'track 1-opening song / merry-go-round of life', I thought it was a prompt and kind of just ran with it before realising it was already it's own fic, I haven't read it yet but will after this, but as it's based on their video, I apologise if it's too similar. I hope you enjoy and I hope to come to y'all with more stardew fics soon! Cross-posted to AO3.

An eerie quiet in the tower is nothing new, its been like that for many years, yet it’s the wrong kind. As he works away, Rasmodious can’t help but note a new kind of quiet, one he hasn’t been able to keep since those pesky Junimos took to appearing in his attic now and then, but now all he hears is the movement he commands, the bubbling of a potion, the flickering of pages, and the sound those of normal fates cannot hear, the low hum of magic that grows louder the closer one finds themselves to the tower, noises he’s accustomed himself to, but without the incessant chirpings of the Junimos, the sound is off.

Rasmodius is used to hearing them babble about, appear and disappear without warning nor care for his peace, restless it seems. They talk, about what, he isn’t sure, and with the consistent cold shoulder, he stopped trying long ago, understanding their chatter didn’t mean knowing any of their business. The Junimos in some way seem to share that sentiment, as they keep to themselves, but as Rasmodious is well aware, they don’t do so peacefully, it stirs him, drawing his eyes to the attic above him, still, silent.

When he arrives with a flourish, he pauses, the congregation of each of them silently watching from around corners and doorways, not disappearing as he appears, usually ones to fade when he gets near. They pay him no mind, and it takes a moment for him to recognise where their energy signature has taken him, to the community centre, watching the new farmer with the utmost focus, carrying a box filled to the brim with fresh produce. He had heard chirpings from the Junimos, their wish for the townspeople’s centre to be restored, but it was a waste of his time, and truthfully, he hadn’t thought much of giving the farmer the potion that allowed them communication with the Junimos, he assumed the curiousity they held would not grow once they realised the work the Junimos required be done before they put their powers to work, but here they were. Most produce remained in the box, labelled for delivery to Pierre’s store, the wizard scoffed, catching the attention of the small forest spirits before him.

Their attention diverted from the farmer, though as far as explanations, the creatures remained quiet as to why their usual forest keeping jobs had fallen for this little watch party, and thankfully, the attention of the farmer remained on the scroll. Just as quickly as the creatures eyes turned to Rasmodius, they switched again at the resonant sound, the completion of one of their bundles, jumping and chirping as the oblivious farmer stared at the gift materialised in front of them. He quirks a brow at the behaviour, not that of the Junimos, but that of the farmer, doing the creatures little fetch quests, and for what? They certainly had enough to deal with on their newly acquired farm, Rasmodius hadn’t been there himself, but he’d known the state of it from the Junimos visits, they left it as was, but they would visit the old man’s grave on occasion, what would be a harder task for any mortal with the constantly gathering debris.

As the door on the community centre shuts he appears before the small Junimo hut within it, kneeling down, his eyes draw a box filled with spring crops and forageables, encased in a gentle glow of magic- stuck in time, ever fresh. The lone creatures eyes glow with pride, the secured items behind it, the chirping less of an annoyance with only one nearby. It’s real, unexplained, but real, and Rasmodius is more than certain the Junimos will continue to remind him of this new reality for every new deposit so long as they continue, though he knows the extent of some of their requests, and he’s doubtful.

“You hold your expectations too high.” He chastises the spirit, but there’s a seed of doubt in it. The quests are too much for most people, working or not, and for a new resident with all too much to explore and work towards, he’s not sure if or why the farmer would continue, but still, the doubt resides, their grandfather, had he not been so old… they seemed of the same ilk, that was enough to stop any finality from reaching Rasmodius’ words.

The continuing participation of the farmer from then on did not yield the same results as before, the talkative nature of the Junimos returned, chatting away, likely about the farmer or their work, Rasmodius was still tuning it out, if he wanted to hear of the community centre project he’d ask the farmer himself. His mood soured further with the colourful stationary stuck in his periphery, jumping out and impossible not to notice in the drab space. He hadn’t sent another letter, and he hadn’t intended to, but the Junimos set it out and when he put it away they set it out again, a vicious cycle he’d vowed to end by just ignoring the call of the paper and quill. It proved harder than he’d thought. He knew best himself he had no desire to invite the farmer over for any frivolity, much as they insisted showing up with their own gifts as fall approached, thankfully taking the hint to leave quickly as they had arrived. It all compounded, he hadn’t wanted to, he truly didn’t and would insist so if he had a soul to talk to, but with all the force of the Junimos and the farmers insistence on appearing, he was thinking about it, considering it, even.

The resounding knock that snaps him out of his fog is expected by now – twice a week, every week, the farmer appears with a gift, sometimes appearing empty handed just to talk, though rarely does he give them anything to work with that might extend the conversation past the first few minutes. Still, he’s since stopped openly requested they leave, and he supposed any visitation or conversation was his own fault, but in spite of his curt attitude and occasional unkind remark, he wasn’t cruel, he wouldn’t send the farmer away when it was clear this half hearted companionship was important to them.

The door swung open, requiring no more exertion than a simple wave of the hand, and there they were once more.

“Hello Rasmodius.” The farmer greeted, covered in soot from head to toe, some of it infiltrating small wounds on their exposed skin, their pickaxe moving precariously at each step against their thigh and perhaps something he should have noticed before anything else as trivial as the appearance of the farmer, pure solar essence, brightening the farmers already cheery expression as they held it out to him in cupped hands. Perplexed, Rasmodius stalled, finding the words to use when giving thanks for such a thoughtful gift.

“I- ahem, thank you, my stores were running low.” Rasmodius took the essence, quickly transporting it away to storage, avoiding the farmers eyes, looking at his notes, his spell books, his letter stationary... half of his tower being blocked from his eye line for reasons he couldn’t name.

“I know, you told me when I came here last.” The farmer smiled, finding some hidden humour he himself couldn’t see in his forgetfulness. “Well... I better run, I need to go crack some geodes before Clint closes up shop, good luck with your solar flare.”

“Solar Essence.” Rasmodius corrected, just as the Farmer returned to the doorway.

“Essence, I knew that.” They smiled warmly once more before disappearing behind the stone, the door firmly closing. Perhaps he could see some merit in the humour of forgetfulness.

Rasmodius looked again at the stationary, and this time without any hesitancy, picked up his quill.

‘If you’ll be continuing into the mines you’ll find far more dangerous materials than solar essence, but even then long term exposure to it without protections can be dangerous, visit the tower when you’re able and I’ll see to it that your trips are a little safer on the magic end.’

The farmer showed up early the very next day, a void essence in hand this time.

It was an easy routine to fall into, as much as Rasmodius would insist to himself that it was unnecessary and that he held no attachment to the unspoken arrangement, and well, with no one to argue with him, he’d practically convinced himself of as much. Still, as he also told himself, he wasn’t unkind, he wouldn’t dare forbid the farmer from visiting, especially since once every month or so they would require intervention by the force of his powers to keep them from death or prolonged exposure to harmful elements, and he couldn’t deny the steady stream of gifts was helpful to his studies... and perhaps his ego too.

It was such an easy routine to fall into that Rasmodius was reminded that the farmer had been here for a year now only when that year came to end with the changing of the seasons, and with the new season, his least favourite of all festivals would be in tow.

The tunes of the flower dance penetrates the stone of the tower, resonant, cheerful, annoying; reaching Rasmodious as he hums, preparing a summoning ritual, he won’t bother the Junimos for their help today, they delight in the celebration of the towns folk, he however, does not. It matters not in the grand scheme of things, as long as he can get his work done in relative peace, all is well, and a little music is a far cry from any of the things capable of keeping him from his work.

Usually.

He knows the dance well enough from times passed for unwanted imagery to enter his mind of the dance beginning as the traditional tune begins to pick up, fabrications of his mind or visions, the sight of the farmer following each step to perfection bothers him. He comes up with nothing as his mind frantically searches for an explanation as to what on this mortal plane bothers him so deeply about the farmer dancing with one of the townsfolk, you could hardly call it dancing with someone, the distance they keep, and yet it keeps him from his ritual.

A knock at the door sounds and by now is far from unexpected, the door swings open without delay, no more than a thought, an unconscious effort. Rasmodius regrets how open he’s become to the farmers visits, how he assumes them to be his only visitor, still unsure of the images reality, and he dreads the idea of turning to face one of the townsfolk at the moment, he’d already been kept from his work long enough by the dance. But, as always, there stands the farmer, and his rising temper begins to dissipate as Rasmodius recognises the lithe song continuing in the background. He humours the idea that inconsequential conversation with them will drown out the music, at least for a short period, a worthy further distraction from his work for the sake of his patience. He pays no further mind to the false vision, simply focuses on the now of things, the why can come later when he doesn’t have to stumble through a social interaction.

“I take it you’re not participating in this years flower dance?”

The farmer laughed, embarrassed, Rasmodius took in the grass stains on the their overalls at the knees. “I’m not the best dancer, I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, besides, I brought you... this!” after a brief pause, the farmer presented a plentiful bouquet of blue jazz flowers, the both of them avoided direct eye contact as the wizard stared at the bouquet and the farmer to the side as they began their rambling. “I just figured I’d tell you that I really appreciate all your help with the Junimos, and well, with all the gifts they’ve been giving me, I thought it couldn’t hurt to follow in their direction and gift for more specific reasons.” At his silence, the farmer continued. “You know, a-as a gift, for the flower dance- grew them myself, heh... oh and I uh also saw blue jazz on your list of ingredients last week so, here they are.” The farmer waved their hands a little, the nervous smile they’d had this whole time still going strong, and finally, Rasmodius acknowledged the situation.

“I’ve never cared much for most of the events the townsfolk throw, and especially not the flower dance, but I appreciate the time you’ve taken to make me feel,” Rasmodius paused, what was he meant to feel? “included. Thank you, truly.”

“Of course, anytime.” The farmer smiled properly as they handed over the bouquet, dropping eye contact as their fingers grazed during the hand off. “I’ll let you get back to whatever’s bubbling back there, and I guess I’ll see you next flower dance so I have an excuse not to trip in front of everyone.” The nervous lilt returned to their voice, though that was the least of Rasmodius’ concerns by now.

“That would be... nice.” He smiled and nodded goodbye, the farmer following in the silent exchange, waving as they exited.

As the door shut, Rasmodius attention drew back to the full bouquet, bursting with flowers, the exchange of its handling dropping more than a few petals. Delicately, Rasmodius placed the blue flowers on his table, leaving to his store room in the attic, though returning not with a drying press for the petals or blades for the stems, but an old vase. He placed it with care onto the table, a light swish of his hand beginning to slowly fill it with water. As it did so, he gathered up all the loose petals into a pile and placed them by his spell book to be dried and stored later, and as the vase finally filled, Rasmodius took extra care to unwrap and transfer the bouquet into the chilly water, smiling at his new table centrepiece, the music and the flower dance a long forgotten bother just as his ritual was.

Perhaps it was foolish to discount the flower dance of its merits, and maybe he would send a request for the flowers of the season when it came time for Summer and even Fall.

The thought drifted across his mind the rest of the night that maybe even he would learn the steps to the dance, though he couldn’t not know why he felt that way this time, nor could he pretend. He would have to visit the library and get to practicing, his farmer wasn’t the only one with two left feet.

Close Note: Apologies to those awaiting the return of Wind Chimes, currently I’m just doing my best to get back in the rhythm of writing anything at all, and if you’re reading this, I thank you for your patience. I’m open to requests for the time being if you have any SDV requests send them to my tumblr, you can also request something else from my introductory page with my rules and fandoms listed! Everyone have a lovely week, hope you enjoyed.

[sweetfire01]

Okay but,,,, what if Daddy Howl,,, and little reader,,, and can't escape because moving castle,,, and being dragged to nest-bed by bird form Howl??? Yes? Yes??? YE S?????

Y E S

Y E S

It's too long so I had to divide the fic into two part (for now, if I don't get more ideas 👀)

I'll talk about the nest in the next one!

Baby dove pt.1 (Daddy!Howl)

You couldn't stand staying here anymore. It was all becoming too overwhelming and disturbing, especially with Howl's overly protective behaviors. You didn't know how to describe it, but you had this strange feeling that you needed to get out of here as soon as possible, before things got worse. It was going well the first day he took you in, but the way he started treating you like a fragile little thing made you shiver. that's why today you took advantage of one of his long bath, trying to escape to the capital the moment he closed the door behind him.

You didn't have a specific destination in mind, you would have been chappy to reach the countryside, get on a farmer's cart and reach some remote village. You had only visited the city a couple of times and only the center and the streets around the house, but it wouldn't be too difficult, right? Wrong. Everything was more crowded than you remembered, you had to go around closed streets, squeeze into narrow tunnels, walk between stalls and almost risked getting arrested when you found yourself in the middle of the street during a military parade. The second time you passed the exact same perfume shop, you realized that you were lost. You didn't know how long you had been walking, you hoped that the Wizard hadn't noticed your escape yet. The fear of finding him behind you hadn't left your body since you went out. You forced yourself to walk again. Just in case he was on your trail, it was safer to blend into the crowd than to stay still. You had also tried going into shops to rest, pretending to take a look at the mirrors displayed inside or looking for a new wall clock. And every time you heard the people behind you commenting on your less than elegant appearance and wondering if you really had the money to buy that snakeskin belt. Rich people like them were able to buy expensive things. But you? Oh well, who care, a snakeskin belt wouldn't have improved an outfit as sloppy as yours. You were offended: you were only wearing a white shirt and light blue pants that paired with a vest of the same color. Pretty simple, sure, but not sloppy! When you heard the owner of a jewelry store muttering about how he had to keep an eye on you to prevent you from stealing, you stormed out. You were REALLY tired, running away from a crazy man, starting to get hungry, and you were called a thief? Fuck everyone. Fuck that shopkeeper, fuck this fucking city and its snobbish people, fuck Howl and above all fuck that Witch. And fuck Howl again. Fuck this sudden festival too. You didn't even know what it was for, but if everything hadn't been so chaotic today, you would have been able to get much further than this. How big was this city?? Only when the sun began to set the people head home and you wished you could take refuge in some inn and spend there the night. Unfortunately you had no money, just a few coins with which you hoped to be able to buy dinner for the evening. It had been a very unplanned escape. You sat on a bench. Damn, at least 5 minutes, your feet were starting to hurt. You prayed with all your heart that Howl was still in the bathtub. His baths were always so long, why did today have to be any different? But you couldn't get rid of the anxiety that he was behind you, ready to take you home. And now that there were few people left on the streets, you felt even more vulnerable. “Are you tired, baby dove?”

This was...HIS voice. You jumped up. There he was, off to the side, closer than you expected. You stared at him trembling, frozen in fear. He just chuckled. He didn't seem angry, not even irritated "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Come on, let's go home, it can get cold in the evening." He took off his jacket to wrap it around you. At that moment you recovered from your state of shock and now all you wanted to do was run, escape. But he didn't get upset, no, he simply grabbed your wrist and pressed it to his chest, stroking your hair. It was supposed to be an attempt to calm you down, but you were only getting more agitated, squirming in his hold. “Let me go, let me go!” "Baby dove, it's late, we have to go." "NO!" You gathered all your strength and pushed him away. You caught him by surprise and he almost fell backwards as you ran away. But your escape was short: you made it about ten meters before you felt your leg being pulled back, causing you to fall onto the road. You at least had the readiness to break the fall with your arms, even if your palms started to burn immediately after the impact.

"And that's why we don't throw tantrums and we don't run away." Howl scolded you, this time with a hint of firmness in his voice, though his tone remained condescending. Like a parent scolding a toddler. You wondered if that "don't run away" was meant just for now. Probably not, but you didn't dare to ask. He knelt down to see if you were hurt and, once he noticed that you had only grazed your hands a little, he picked you up. "If you were a good little fledgling, I would have made you walk on air with me. It seems like that will be for another time, hm?" And with that you felt his body change, filling with feathers while two powerful black wings emerged from his back, his legs transformed into bird legs and his arms into claws. If you hadn't already seen him in this form, you would have screamed in terror. It doesn't matter, you screamed anyway as he took flight and you held on for dear life, desperately squeezing your eyes shut. You were high, too high for your liking. "Don't worry, baby dove, Daddy will never let you fall." He whispered in your ear. You didn't processed it, too scared to listen.

It was a relief when you landed in front of the house. And the warmth of Calcifer that hit you when you two entered felt good. You didn't realized how cold it had been outside, despite Howl's jacket. He didn't let you go, taking you directly to his room and placing you in your bed. "Take a nap, baby dove. You're tired. I'll wake you up for dinner, okay?" he planted a kiss on your forehead before leaving the room. You laid there, legs aching, starting to cry silently. All the effort you had put in for nothing. And the fact that Howl didn't even recognize this as an attempt to escape made it worse. It made you feel pathetic. As if it were all a toddler's tantrum.

[sitp-recs]

Favourite Drarry recs (long fics maybe? pretty please?) that are ideally to enjoy this Spring season ?

Hello again! That’s a great ask - I have a long fic rec list that you might find interesting, but this inspired me to do something more specific with Spring vibes feat house renovations, cooking as love language, gardening, domesticity, no angst romance etc etc etc. This is 100% based on my own perception of spring vibes btw, but I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I did!

💐 Short fic:

magic in the making by @getawayfox (G, 2k)

I didn’t see Malfoy for a year after the trial. When Gin told me that, according to Pansy, he had opened a little posh bakery in Mayfair, I thought she was joking, so I went to see for myself.

Market Saturdays by @sorrybutblog (M, 3k)

In which Harry is an accidental part-time cheesemonger, Draco is an organic farmer and they fall in love. Not an AU.

The Long Fall by @tackytigerfic (M, 3.6k)

It's supposed to be a simple house renovation, and maybe it's just the paint fumes, but Harry is feeling dizzy around Draco Malfoy. And what's the real meaning of family, anyway?

Ice Snakes, Glow-worms and Wolverine Stew by khalulu (M, 8k)

Harry Potter apparently wants to talk to Draco about something, but odd events keep getting in the way of that conversation – and bringing them closer together. Featuring serpentine travels, misbehaving birds, dubious roofing projects, a gay beach, and an unexpected matchmaker.

Life goes not backward by @shealwaysreads (T, 9k)

Harry still isn’t used to gifts, but this one is different. A story of coming home, finding safe ground, and the wild courage of putting down roots.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged by @sorrybutblog (M, 17k)

A year out from the war, Harry agrees to accompany Hermione on a historical walking tour of Pride and Prejudice. Not in the itinerary: running into Draco Malfoy, setting off a summer of stately homes, lavish parties, resentful shagging, and maybe, falling in love.

amid this warm and steady sweetness, orphaned (E, 21k)

Harry is not living in a period drama, no matter what his friends or his new house or Malfoy’s sudden affinity for horse-riding might suggest, and if one more person uses the word courting, he’s going to start hexing people.

💐 Long fic

Moldova's Magical Tea by @aibidil (E, 32k)

Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and—to everyone’s surprise—Draco Malfoy are opening a magical tea shop to revive wizarding tea culture and, hopefully, to bring the community together after the war. Harry, who is unemployed and trying to find his way in post-war society, wants to help his friends with their new business—but that means spending a lot of time around Malfoy.

Clouds That Veil the Midnight Moon by @drarrytrash (E, 36k)

According to Harry’s personal narrative regarding the incident, he’d hooked up with Draco Malfoy for purely self-destructive reasons, or out of convenience, or by some unlucky accident. Looking at him, sprawled in the moonlight, Harry is devastated to recall that he’d hooked up with Draco Malfoy because he’s hot.

Follow the Water by @xanthippe74 (T, 40k)

Harry Potter’s life is fine. Maybe a little dull and predictable, but he shouldn’t complain about that, right? When he unexpectedly finds himself at Luna’s house one afternoon, Harry gets invited to join the secret wonderland that she’s creating with a surprising group of friends. Maybe a summer outdoors is just what a former hero needs to bring some zest back into his life.

Through the May Air, Over the Ocean by tsauergrass (T, 45k)

Draco Malfoy never expected to find himself in Scotland or being stuck in a cottage with Potter—but wonders never cease. A story about warmth, a story about falling back in love. A story about a flock of sheep in the distant fells of Scotland.

Our Objective Remains Unchanged by @citrusses (E, 46k) - Muggle AU

Harry Potter, returning member of the Oxford University Boat Club, has two goals for the spring of 2005: beat Cambridge, and beat Draco Malfoy. Perhaps not in that order.

Sweeten to Taste by @saintgarbanzo, @babooshkart (E, 51k)

It starts with Draco's buckwheat crepes with honeyed oranges. Or maybe it starts with his porridge with toasted walnuts and homemade apple butter. Or perhaps it starts with the cinnamon buns Draco made from scratch with mascarpone icing. Harry just knows he's hungry for more.

Against All Odds by momatu (E, 54k)

Beauxbatons is hosting the first ever Quidditch Summer School for children from all over Europe, and Harry has promised to enroll Teddy as his birthday present. Meanwhile, Draco is stuck in his office, putting together the first ever Quidditch Summer School for children from all over Europe during, when he should be enjoying summer holidays.

What Branches Grow by @the-fools-errand (M, 55k)

When a run-of-the-mill investigation turns up evidence that the Death Eaters may be resurfacing, Harry seems to be the only one who believes Malfoy has anything to do with it. Yet according to official records, he’s been the poster child for the Ministry’s post-war Rehabilitation program, living in a small muggle town in Wales.

Meet Me at Midnight by @the-starryknight (T, 57k)

Harry was beginning to wonder if he’d ever make anything again when Malfoy stormed through the door of Harry’s furniture shop. Now Harry’s got an impossible Ministry commission to finish, and even less energy than ever to deal with his elusive muse. That is, until he stumbles upon the surreal and beautiful world of a mysterious fae creature…

Stately Homes of Wiltshire by waspabi (E, 58k)

Malfoy Manor has mould, dry rot and an infestation of unusually historical poltergeists. Harry Potter is on the case.

The Promise of Summer by Omi_Ohmy (M, 66k)

How was Harry supposed to know that coming back for eighth year would be so confusing? Everything is the same, and yet not the same. And nowhere is this more obvious than with Draco Malfoy. Harry finds himself once more watching and following Malfoy, trying to work him out. When they are drawn together to heal the castle, Harry doesn’t just find Malfoy - he also finds himself.

Home Truths by @skeptiquewrites and @fantalfart (E, 67k)

In the off-season Harry decided to fix up Grimmauld Place and found that Draco Malfoy was the only person who could help him. A demanding career and unrelenting press scrutiny were enough to deal with before Harry added a house with a mind of its own, family history, and a tense, flirty, complicated relationship with his childhood nemesis to the mix.

The Claiming of Grimmauld Place by @bixgirl1 (E, 74k)

When Grimmauld Place begins fighting against Harry’s ownership of it, he decides he needs help to train the historic home — but little does he expect that it’ll be Malfoy who’s most suitable for the challenge. However, as Malfoy and Harry get closer, Harry comes to understand that expectations aren’t always the best path by which to guide his heart — and in the process learns just what is needed to make a house a home.

Knead by laughingd0g (E, 83k)

This is not a story about Harry renovating Grimmauld Place. This is a story about coffee shops and brewpubs, about Ginny and Luna on a farm with creatures, about magical Oregon, coastal road trips, flying, friendship, and Draco Malfoy's lean arms.

Wild, orphaned (E, 92k)

“No,” Harry said, by way of greeting. Malfoy’s blonde head rose slowly, carelessly. “Get out.” “I feel as though we’ve already established this, Potter,” Malfoy responded. “And I feel that what we established was that you telling me to get out of places really doesn’t make me more likely to vacate them.”

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them (or Draco Malfoy's Guide to Stop Dying and Start Living Instead) by nerakrose, dustmouth (T, 96k)

Malfoy is way too interested in coroner reports for somebody who's definitely not looking for ways to die, Harry wants to be friends with him, and Ginny wants to break up with Harry.

The Liars Department by @dorthyanndrarry (T, 103k)

This is a story about Harry meeting up with Draco Malfoy four years after the war. And a story about Harry, well, not hating his job per say, but it's not like he has much to compare it to and it seemed fine. His whole life seemed fine. Then Malfoy came along with and his flashy suits and fast car making everything seem dull in comparison, and Harry... Harry couldn't just leave well enough alone.

Any Instrument by @dictacontrion (E, 131k)

Draco Malfoy wouldn't go back to England for anything less than an exceptional case. Being asked to figure out why Harry Potter can't control his magic might be exceptional enough to qualify.

[amberskywrites]

Power Outage

Fic Masterpost | Ao3 Link

Fandom / Genre: Stardew Valley / Angst with Ambiguous/Open/Hopeful Ending

Pairing: Maru & Sebastian

Prompt: Requested by @incendiarybomb :

Prompt list 19, #2 and #12 || 2) "I hate you." and 12) “Take my sweater, you’re freezing.” with Maru and Sebastian because these two deserve some sibling bonding time ;-;

Warnings: Hypothermia, Mildly toxic family relationships/Implied strained relationships, Near-death experience, lmk if I need to add more!

Note: I am. So ridiculously sorry for how long this took to get to. It also took a major turn from what I was expecting - but ultimately I'm satisfied and I hope you enjoy! I will say though, I definitely gotta spend more time with these two characters. Also. I live in a place that never snows, so this is definitely not accurate.

Summary: An unexpected blizzard leaves everyone in Pelican Town snowed in, and for Maru and Sebastian things take a turn for the worse.

There was a blizzard in Pelican Town.

Normally, this wouldn’t mean a thing. Everyone within this little town could handle a blizzard, freak weather phenomenons were nothing new. Sometimes it was a regular Tuesday, and everyone just went about their day. Sometimes a blizzard meant everyone gathering in the town square and just enjoying the frigid weather and bountiful snow.

This blizzard was decidedly not normal.

For starters, it was mid-spring.

And secondly…

“Dammit farmer…” Sebastian muttered, hanging up the phone and slumping over the shop counter. Of course the farmer somehow caused a blizzard by experimenting with magic alongside the creepy wizard. 

Wasn’t the guy supposed to keep them in check when it came to magic?

It was a Friday, and Sebastian had been planning on going to the saloon like usual, but the farmer had asked to stop by after closing for some “emergency materials” for a “top-secret” project. Judging by the patterns bought, Sebastian had money on it being something to embarrass Lewis.

Since his mom was working on the farm, and Demetrius had headed to the saloon anyway without her, and Maru had spent all day helping Harvey with appointments - and apparently scraping the farmer off the floor after they had over exhausted themself - his mom had asked if he would run the store for the day.

And now he was snowed in with Maru of all people indefinitely.

He huffed, pushing himself off the counter. There was no point in staying at the counter if no one was going to show up, the farmer had confirmed his mom was safe and a quick phone call to the saloon revealed they were all snowed in too, but all safe. He scribbled a note for Maru - because as much as he may not like Demetrius, Maru very much did, and she’d likely want to know both he and their mom were safe - and slipped it under her door before retreating to his room.

It was dark and even through his hoodie he shivered. The heating had kicked the bucket about an hour into the storm. He beelined for his closet and hauled the small, spare heater they kept in the house - or rather, one of two, this one designated to his closet because the other apparently took up too much space in the shed to put it with the other one.

Shoving it near his bed, Sebastian grabbed his gameboy and climbed under his covers to pass the storm more quickly.

---

A knock on his door stirred Sebastian from his near-sleep state, and he blinked at the bright light emitting from the gameboy just a few inches from his face. Groaning, he listened, but after a minute there was another more insistent knock.

It was still dark in his room, the window still blocked out by at least a few feet of snow. It couldn’t be his mom or Demetrius.

Sighing, he sat up. “Come in.”

Maru opened the door, holding a lantern in front of her. Sebastian blinked, taking in how small she looked, swallowed by a heavy blanket she had bundled around herself.

“Yeah…?”

“Um,” Maru started, tightening the blanket in one hand and trying to adjust her glasses at the same time. “The heater upstairs isn’t working. I was wondering…”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her when she trailed off and didn’t finish, just looking at his heater. He wasn’t going to give it to her and freeze himself down here.

After seeming to realize he wasn’t going to answer, she swallowed and looked back at him. “I was wondering if I could stay down here with you and the one that works?”

“Oh,” Sebastian slumped slightly, before shrugging. He didn’t think she’d want to stay down here with him. “Sure, I guess.”

She brightened, shuffling further into his room and settling on the floor by his bed, close enough to get some heat from the heater without pressing directly against it. Sebastian watched her hunker down into her blanket, making herself as small as possible to wrap it more securely around as much of herself as she could. On her lap she left enough room for a book, and left the lantern close enough for her to see the text somewhat okay.

Maru didn’t say anything else, so Sebastian resettled under his own blankets to resume his game.

---

The silence didn’t last as long as Sebastian would have liked.

About half an hour after invading his room, he could feel Maru staring at him. When ignoring her didn’t make her stop, he finally looked up with a huff. “What?” he finally snapped out.

She seemed rather tense, like she was trying not to move too much. “Nothing, just - having the heater that close to your bed is a safety hazard.”

“So? I’m cold, it’s keeping me warm.”

“I know, but if it sets your blankets on fire-”

Sebastian sighed loudly, and moved the heater away from his bed. “I hate you,” he said as he moved it a few inches, no real heart in the words. “Better?” he asked when it was finally in a better place.

Maru wasn’t looking at him anymore, but her blanket bundle shrugged, and she rehid herself under the massive thing.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and got back to the game.

A few minutes later, there was a quiet murmur of words that Sebastian just barely heard.

“I just want you to be safe.”

Sebastian grimaced at how small her voice sounded, and the sniffle that followed only made him flinch a little more. Sure, he made his distaste for her pretty common knowledge, but that didn’t mean he liked causing her to cry. But what would she even be crying about-

Oh.

But she didn’t really believe him, did she? Surely not.

But also…

He supposed he never really gave her any idea otherwise.

Maru didn’t say anything else.

Sebastian didn’t dare open his mouth again lest he just dig himself a deeper hole.

Eventually, they both fell asleep.

---

The thing about the heaters they owned was, they were small. And old. And meant to work alongside a burning fire - or rather, run when they couldn’t safely burn a fire while they slept. It wasn’t meant to run for an entire night. They’d learned that ages ago, when they had run them an entire night and woke up to them dead and needing some internal repairs.

Sebastian woke up cold, and when he opened his eyes, his room was somehow even darker. Squinting, he fumbled around for his gameboy just so he could illuminate a bit of his room, and cast it around.

He cursed under his breath at the sight of the dead heater, the supplies to get it working again in the shed that they definitely couldn’t get out to at this moment. It wasn’t smoking, so Sebastian figured it was relatively fine - it wasn’t broken completely, it didn’t decide to combust.

He turned his light towards where he last knew Maru to be, and wasn’t too surprised to still see her bundled under her blanket. But what he was surprised to see was her awake and shivering. She looked up towards him when he cast the low light onto her, and her glasses were off her face. She blinked slowly at him, breathing slowly, and he could see her breath - he hadn’t realized it was quite that cold, hadn’t processed seeing his own breath.

“Maru?” he asked, sitting up straighter. She just blinked at him again, her brow furrowing slightly but not by much. A harsh shudder ran through her, but she didn’t pull the blanket tighter around her. “Maru, are you alright?”

“I…” she said slowly and quietly, “I don’t…” she trailed off, and he watched her try to speak, but the words were jumbled and too quiet for him to hear over the sudden rushing in his own ears.

He scrambled out from under his own blankets to the floor in front of her, hesitating only a moment before he pressed his hands lightly to her cheeks, then her neck, feeling for her pulse, her own voice filling his memories from ages ago when she was first learning about medical science and preparing to apply to be Harvey’s assistant.

He ignored how cold her skin was to the touch, how she barely tried struggling away from his own frigid fingers - or rather, she tried, but all she managed to do was barely shuffle herself away, slumping against his bed more than anything.

Shivering. Difficulty speaking. Slow breath. Weak pulse…

He cursed, louder this time. He racked his brain, looking around his room - but his room probably wouldn’t help at all. Less chance for cold to creep in compared to upstairs, where the wood was a good defense against the cold but had more crevices where it could slip in compared to his basement guarded by being underground. But the cold had already seeped in here, and once it was in it never left.

They wouldn’t be able to light a fire, but maybe he could get her warm again faster upstairs?

But wasn’t moving someone also dangerous?

Maru’s head fell forward suddenly, and Sebastian jolted, catching her. She was so cold.

He shook her, gently. “Maru, come on. You gotta stay awake. You know better.” She blinked her eyes open as he pushed her back a little, and after a beat she nodded ever so slightly, sighing with a harsh tremor. “Hold on, okay? Just. Here, take my sweater for now, okay? You’re freezing.” He shimmied out of his sweater, and with minor difficulty slipped it over her head.

“Okay,” he mumbled, barely feeling the cold sting his now exposed arms. “Okay. This is fine, just… next step.” He swallowed thickly, just staring at Maru shiver and trying to remember how she described helping someone experiencing hypothermia.

He growled in annoyance at himself, as he seemingly could think of everything other than what he actually needed to remember, and he reached up to pull at his hair just to see if that would get his brain working.

She stared right back at him, her face pulling into what he thought to be her mildly frustrated scrunchy face, but it wasn’t as expressive as that, her face was probably so cold she could barely feel her muscles struggling to move. She was trying to say something, and it took Sebastian a good 30 seconds to understand what she was trying to mumble.

“fl…at.. la…y..ured…”

He blinked at the slow, slurred words, but after a moment it clicked and he jolted up off the ground. “Flat- you need to lie flat, okay. And layers. Right.” He looked around his room and cringed, again wondering if it was best to stay down here.

But she needed to lay flat, he needed to lie her down flat, and the memory of her stressing “Gently. Handle gently,” rang in his ears. Carrying her upstairs would be anything but gentle.

Would it even be warmer up there?

He shook his head. He should get her as warm as he could right now, and see if he could move her after she wasn’t in so much danger of freezing to-

He squashed that thought immediately.

“Okay,” he said again, just to fill the silence. He darted for his dresser and pulled out as many warm clothes he had, pulled his extra hoodies off his hangers, and retreated back to Maru, dropping them into a pile beside her. He hesitated for only a second before unzipping a few of his looser hoodies and reaching for her, slowly working them around her, pulling the hoods up and drawing the hoods closed as much as possible without obscuring her face. “Okay, he repeated. “I’m going to move you, alright? In a second. I’m gonna- these are gonna be between you and the floor, along with your blanket, them I’m gonna move you.”

And he did just that, spreading the remaining warm clothes over the floor after tugging on a single jacket for himself, and wrapping Maru’s blanket more securely around her shoulders, he moved behind her and eased her back onto his chest. Very slowly, with arms holding her steady, he leaned down with her just to ensure he didn’t move her too harshly, and carefully moved out from under her so he could lay her down on the clothes.

He pulled his blankets and sheets off his bed too, ignoring anything that clattered off for the moment, and laid it all over Maru. He stared at her, clenching his fists, trying to think if there was anything else he could do.

More blankets, he thought, because even if his blanket and hers were thick, they were just two blankets. He’s sure his mom and Demetrius wouldn’t care if he snagged theirs in a rush if it meant helping Maru.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised, keeping his voice low even though there was no reason to. But it felt like if he spoke any louder, he’d somehow hurt her more.

He dashed up the stairs, to his mom’s room, and yanked off with slight difficulty the heavy quilt and sheets. Bundling them into his arms, he was about to dart back down to Maru, but he paused just as he was about to pass the lab.

Didn’t they have a first aid kit in there?

Would it have anything that could help?

It was worth checking, wasn’t it?

He glanced to the stairs before dropping the blankets for now, and booked it into the lab, swiftly opening all the cabinets he could until he found the first aid kit they did keep in there, because his mom refused to let them into the lab until they got one.

Sebastian grunted as he hauled the blankets back into his arms and raced as quick as he dared down the stairs. He dropped everything near Maru and set to work draping the extra blankets across her, and even grabbing his pillow and taking off the pillowcase just to put something around the top of her head where the blankets didn’t quite reach well enough.

She was still shaking, and breathing somewhat slow, but already it wasn’t quite as slow as before. He settled close enough to her head that he could see her face, and was struck by the fact that his gameboy was still the only thing giving light into his room.

He glanced around, and spotted the lantern she had brought in, knocked over in his haste to get everything out of the way. He reached and dragged it closer, flicking it on and keeping it close. Then he remembered his phone.

It was, miraculously, still on his nightstand. He didn’t get up from Maru’s side, just stretched to grab it before hunching over and turning it on. He hoped he could still get service despite the power knocked out and being in his room.

He pulled up the clinic’s emergency line, hoping Harvey hadn’t gone to the Saloon that night, and clicked call.

The ringing was agonizing even as he busied himself with pulling the first aid kit into his lap and starting his way through it, even if he might not be sure what he was looking for inside it.

Harvey sounded tired when he answered, but alert enough, and Sebastian guessed it was because of the emergency phone in the clinic going off. He didn’t pay attention to what Harvey actually said at first.

“Maru’s got hypothermia,” Sebastian said, hunching further into himself and technically over Maru. She was still awake, luckily. “I- we’re snowed in, and the power’s out, and the heaters broke. When I woke up, she was freezing. I got her blankets and as many of my hoodies and coats I could get. Is there anything else I can do?”

Harvey was very, very quiet for a lot longer than Sebastian liked. But when he finally responded, voice a little higher pitched and worry clear in his voice, the frustration Sebastian felt dissipated just slightly.

“You’ve done well, Sebastian. Stay with her. I… I also seem to be snowed in for the time being, but I think Lewis or Marnie may have something that could clear snow. I’ll call them as soon as I can and get you guys out of there. If you have a first aid kit in the house, see if there’s any warm compresses. Apply to her face or chest, do not under any circumstances put them on her arms or legs, as much as they may be freezing, it will only cause more harm. Stay with her. Have you called your parents?”

“Not yet. I- Demetrius is at the saloon, Mom’s at the farm.”

“Alright, I’ll call Demetrius after calling Marnie and Lewis, you see if there are any warm compresses and call the farmer.”

“Don’t Marnie and Lewis go to the saloon on Fridays?”

“Marnie already called me earlier asking for advice on keeping Jas warm, she’s home. Now call your mom, let her know what’s going on, and I’ll call you with news about what’s going to happen from there. Continue getting Maru warmer, slowly.” 

The phone clicked off as Harvey hung up, and Sebastian dialed the farmer’s number. Once it was ringing, he kept the phone between his shoulder and ear and now looked through the first aid kit with a purpose, sifting through until he could hopefully find some compressors. 

All he could really do now was hope for the best.