#sdv: ocean's blessings

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

Mer Elliott headcanon (also it's for mermay lmao)

Elliott sometimes helps Willy out with catching invasive sea urchin because they decimate entire reefs and kelp forests and populate like crazy. Though, he's a tad bit too squeamish to give it a taste.

[stardewspellshed]

Map Selection: Some Observations

I stuck most of this under a cut because this mentions a couple things from patch 1.5, which at the time I'm writing this is still not out on mobile yet.

One of them is a moderate spoiler for some endgame content so if you're a mobile-only SDV player with spoiler concerns, you might want to come back to this one later.

After a lot of experimentation I've found that I have an easier time casting certain types of spells on certain maps. This is my list of what worked easily and what made me put a lot more effort into it on each map.

(Obligatory disclaimer that these are my observations and experiences-- yours will almost certainly vary.)

Standard: It's a pretty good all around farm. It doesn't pull me towards any particular category of magic but it doesn't make me feel pushed away from anything, either.

Riverland: I think this could be a good fit for people whose craft is heavily water based but not necessarily ocean based. I've also found luck, healing, and divination enhancing spells tend to be pretty easy to cast here, and the 'running water' of the river seems to make cleansing pretty painless. That said I've struggled a bit with getting glamours and concealments to work.

Forest: In all honesty this is not my favorite map-- it has fewer tillable tiles compared to the other options and it's something I find kind of frustrating. But if you're not put off by that or you have a strong connection to plants/the forest, work with entities connected with anything related to forests, or just do a lot of green magic, this could be an awesome choice! I try to avoid any magic that includes representations of fire if I'm working on this map though, I found it to be not worth the extra effort I had to exert.

Hill-top: I've found this one is good for connecting with the elements of earth and fire could be helpful for folks who need to do a lot of grounding, and could be useful for folks who use (or would like to use) lots of crystals, rocks, or metals in their craft, or cast draconic magic. On the flip side, it's always a bit of a fight with spells to enhance things like astral travel, past life work, or lucid dreaming on this one.

Wilderness: I'd try this one if you do a lot of attack-oriented magic (things like banishing, binding, curses, etc. the monsters can serve as poppets!). It also might be worth looking into this farm if you do death magic, cast a lot of spells at night or if you're somebody who works with entities sometimes considered to be 'dark'-- I feel a stronger connection to my hellhound and demon spirit companions when I'm doing work on this farm. I've found healing magic to be more of a fight here though.

Four Corners: this one has always seemed great for casting defensive and protective magic to me since it's surrounded by walls on all sides and there's obstacles to prevent access from one part of the farm to another. It also works well with seasonal based magic in my experience. Curses, hexes, and return to sender spells are easier to cast on other maps though.

Beach: this has been my farm of choice since the day 1.5 went live on Switch, haha. This is probably a great option for folks who do sea magic and could also be really useful for folks who focus on the moon (because of the tides), weather and wind magic, glamours, frequently cast mermaid magic, or work with ocean related entities. But I probably wouldn't recommend it for folks who are totally new to SDV since you can't put sprinklers in the sand so you won't be able to do much hands-off farming till you're a decent way into the game compared to the maps released in earlier patches. On a related note, green magic has been a little uncooperative.

Ginger Island Farmhouse: I know it's not a starter map, but it's still a farm lol. I use the island farm for ocean magic but also solar magic, blessings, cosmic magic, and spells for happiness or abundance. Seasonal magic is a struggle though, as is anything I try to.cast at night.

[grazhir]

Rimworld [lol] + SoS: PoOT

Rimworld

Christ. Went in, got an east-side ocean with a west mountain (slightly angled to the SW corner).

Got four adults (2 men, 2 women), and 2 sheep. Holy fuck, I'm so used to having my usual crew of 20 that this is murder (but really, I had to try it at some point).

Anyway, that wasn't the issue. The issue is me suddenly blanking out on the controls (because it's been a few months) and panicking because I couldn't remember where the hell the walls were. I'm staring at the Architect menu cluelessly...

Right, right, they're under structure. Geez.

[And then I couldn't remember where I put the pet bed spots. Cause, you know, I use Tab Sorting and moved all sorts of stuff around to existing or new categories (I tossed in a self-made mod with custom categories a ways back), or even to hidden (because some of that stuff I never need to see).]

Really? I should have gone for ocean + central mountain, just to make it simpler to protect any water-powered generators. Or maybe ocean with the mountain perpendicular at one end.

But whatever.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town

Yeesh.

Now it's whack-a-mole x2, and these fuckers don't go down in one hit. I hate you, gold moles.

But hey, trying to get (at the very least) a gold hammer and axe, so just gotta deal with it.

On a side note, I did not hit a high enough score on the beanstalk thing (almost, but not quite). Haven't tried lava/gems? Want a gold hammer first.

Got mah Blessings with the exception of the field level one (which will happen soonish). Well, not the seasonal field things. They don't even show up yet.

Basically, I guess? Just try to make as much money as possible for now, while collecting as much gold and silver as possible. And putting all those makers to work. [Man I miss Automate in SDV.]

It's not like this is a race.

It is a race to see about getting an area cleared enough to shuffle stuff around, though. And I knew it was gonna be like this, but even just having enough room for enough makers to crank out finished goods for various things.

Really hating on 2x2 boxes. Super hating on having precious little control (none, really) of where stuff can be placed inside the house.

And pet, sorry, but no. You aren't getting petted + treat + walk + toy every day. Not gonna happen. You get pet and that's it, because I've run out of free treats.

[valoisfulcanelli]

A few random thoughts about Elliott and how people tend to write him

Because I’ve been thinking about this as I read other works featuring him.

Canonically (that is: in-game) Elliott is the male artistic character (with Leah as his female counterpart). He has lines such as “If I stay perfectly still, perhaps a resplendent butterfly will bless my nose with a landing.” He also dresses in a somewhat romantic and old-fashioned manner, and he lives a solitary writer’s life.

But something that I’ve noticed, as I read other SDV fic featuring Elliott, is just how overboard authors tend to go on his flowery, old-fashioned dialogue. Yes, he doesn’t quite talk in what’s commonly accepted these days as casual vernacular, but likewise he doesn’t sound like a garbled version of an 18th Century etiquette manual.

Many authors have a habit of refusing to let him use contractions, forcing him to say “I have” instead of “I’ve” or “I am” instead of “I’m”. But if you look at some of his canon (in-game) dialogue, you see things like this:

“I think I'll walk down to the beach today. It's always nice to see the ocean again.”

“I've had this reoccurring nightmare that you gave me a buzz cut. You wouldn't ever do that to me, would you?”

Another example, given if you choose “How long have you been playing?” in response to his 6-heart piano event:

“Oh, I'm not sure... I've been dabbling in piano since I was a kid. I'm not very good, but it's fun.”

These are all (as are most of his dialogue lines) what would be considered as casual vernacular. He uses one or two slightly ‘flowery’ turns of phrase, but he is nowhere near as ultra-poetic as he’s often written. Taking the above ‘buzz cut’ line as an example, typical fanfic!Elliott might phrase it thus:

“Upon waking this morning, my dear, I was in a sweat from a nightmare that you had cut off all of my hair. Please reassure me that you would never do such a thing to me?”

While that’s certainly characterful and works well in small doses, it can be very wearying to read for line after line and chapter after chapter. I mean, I adore Elliott as a character (he and Sebastian are my two favourites in the game) and I’ll put up with a lot for an Elliott story, but even I struggle to read overly-flowery and laboured dialogue like the example above.

In a time period (or world setting) where flowery dialogue is the vernacular--for all or most characters--it works extremely well, provided it’s carried out with a light hand and it’s not too laboured, which some of this is. (And, by ‘laboured’ I mean trying a little too hard to make the dialogue sound poetic.)

Please, Elliott writers: tone it down just a little?

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

"Rumors say that the little green jellyfish can be seen approaching the newest additions who come to live in Pelican Town."

--

MER ELLIOTT MEETING THE MOONLIGHT JELLIES DURING HIS FIRST YEAR IN THE VALLEY.

Oh yeah, I was using HiPaint, which is basically like free procreate for android.

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

I'd like to think Elliott grew up in one of these old fancy european apartments in some big bustling city.

It was overwhelming. The smog was dreadful. The noise was horrendous.

And yet, he was at least thankful the view from his window was able to face the sunset sinking over the sea.

The sea. A place that always called out to him, but he was rarely ever given the chance to step foot on the silky sand.

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

Elliott and Rose for Valentines day! (I know it's tomorrow, but I'm busy with school.)

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

Meet Elliott's parents from the SDV: Ocean's Blessings au: Melody and Cian!

"It started off as just me trying to befriend him. Before we knew it, it turned into something far much more..."

"My biggest regret was not being strong enough to save him..."

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

Was playing around with Rose's sweater, and I think she looks better with it when it's open. Really hints at her being a vet better than her original design.

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

FINALLY HERE! I present to you, my redesign of my Stardew Valley NPC oc, Rose Isabella Rodriguez!

Ft. Clara (oc by @changanomaly). For an au we made called Stardew Valley: Ocean's Blessings! (No concrete lore yet, just pure vibes.)

Stardew Valley Profile Maker here (works best on desktop).

Old Design:

Rose is the local veterinarian in Pelican Town. She helps take care of all the animals that live in town.

Damn, I'm so glad I gave her melanin.

About her:

She's 30-32 years old (haven't decided yet), and if this was a mod, she would be a marriagiable candidate.

There was a smaller farm in town called 'Gumamela Fields' that was owned by her late grandparents. She inherited the farm and turned it into a ranch where she takes care of her patients.

She loves to draw, paint, and read books during her past time. She's a huge nerd for mythology and enjoys a good romance novel.

Has just a "little" crush on the new melodramatic author who recently moved into town. (He is such a dork.)

She is Filipino 🇵🇭 (coded). Idk if irl countries exist in the SDV universe, but she's the filipino equivalent of that.

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

Mermaid Elliott and Rose.

Ngl, I couldn't get the background right, but whatever.

What's more romantic than making out under the waves with your mermaid boyfriend? (Nothing too crazy happened. They're both on the asexual spectrum)