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kedsandtubesocks · 1 month

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seasons of you (year 1 - spring)

Farmer!Joel Miller x F!Reader

summary: it’s your very first spring living in the valley & you’re very sure Joel Miller already wants you leave

warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY MDNI, stardew valley AU, reader is a new farmer & has a family but no physical description, mentions of unspecified age gap (reader’s age is not mentioned but Joel is older & in his 50’s) very light use of gendered language, handyman & farmer!Joel, grumpy!Joel, wound tending & blood imagery, discussion of family loss with light navigation of grief, Ellie being Joel’s daughter, secret softie!Joel, alcohol consumption mention, use of nickname, budding romance

word count: 5.4k

a/n: our first ‘Joel’ fic for our stardew AU series! Here’s to starting this new aventure with y’all! I couldn’t have the strength to post this without @swiftispunk @lowlights @ahauntedcowboy @burntheedges @perotovar you angels don’t know how much I appreciate y’all and am so grateful for you babes…and to you, if you read this - I’m so thankful for you too ♡

No one in Pelican Town hates you more than Joel Miller does. George, the crabby older elderly man in town, might be a close second, but Joel has him beat by miles.

For someone so incredibly handsome, almost beautiful in a rugged wilderness way with his misty mountain gray hair and sharp lovely nose, his glare could wither your entire family farm’s field.

“He’s just an ass sometimes.” Your Dad had told you with a sigh over the phone. “Been that way even when your gramps was around.”

At first you didn’t want to fully admit it but yeah, Joel is a prickly cactus of a man.

He owns a farm further down the path from yours. You love walking by it when you take the long way home and getting to spot all the sheep roaming around his fields. He’s also the town’s handyman.

“A jack of all trades, more like it.” Pierre, the main store owner, snickered that to you while Joel was in the store fixing a light fixture.

After that Joel helped you set up your first fencing gate. Then he fixed your sink. And then your water heater.

It’s been a lot and you know it. You feel guilty at how bad you can’t seem to get a hang of this new life yet. Your grandpa did it, thrived even. You can too, or you hope you can.

Until Joel glares at you like you’re a bug ready to squash, then you feel incredibly small.

Once you physically and accidentally ran into him walking out of the blacksmith’s shop when he was heading in. You sputtered out an apology, but without a single word Joel walked past you as if you weren’t even worth his time.

One night you went to the town’s saloon hoping to maybe mingle and get to know everyone better. But simply seeing him sitting inside made you turn on your heels and scramble out.

From that point on you’ve been avoiding him.

But now unfortunately, a few paces away from Joel Miller’s farm, your hand bleeds out a bit aggressively.

“Shit.” You hiss, slipping off your backpack to search for your mini first aid kit.

Yesterday you stubbornly tried fixing your fence and accidentally scrapped your hand pretty bad against the wood. Earlier you believed you wrapped it good enough but now the blood soaking through the bandaid mocks you.

“You alright?!”

The sharp accented drawl rings out loud in the early morning and fear collides into you.

Of course Joel hadn’t left for the morning.

You yell back that you’re fine but scramble frantic now trying to find the damn first aid kit.

“Is that blood?” Joel snaps, sounding closer, as his boots rush against the dirt.

“No, I spilled paint.” You grumble to yourself annoyed.

“M’old but I fuckin’ heard that.” Damn.

He’s much closer now, so close his shadow falls over you but you refuse to look at him.

“What happened!?” He barks confused.

Sighing, you give up hope on finding the poor elusive first aid kit.

“Just cut my hand, that's all. It isn’t deep. I’m fine.” You reassure him.

Joel sighs angrily.

“Come on.”

Now you turn and discover his soil eyes stare at you with such a steeled intensity you almost want to scurry away.

“Fixin’ this up inside.” He doesn’t even ask or let you leave. With one yank Joel Miller pulls you towards his farmhouse.

“I’m fine.” You snap back.

“What? Just wanna let it bleed ‘n get everywhere?” An edge in Joel’s voice silences you.

Any argument you wanted to hiss out immediately floats away the moment you cross the threshold into his house. Your eyes go wide. You never once thought you’d ever see the inside of Joel Miller’s place.

It’s larger than your grandpa's.

Joel deposits you into his kitchen. The lingering smell of breakfast, possibly oatmeal with its warm cinnamon notes, hangs in the air. Yet you feel like a caught feral cat that doesn’t know how to react being inside a house for the first time.

So you let your eyes wander.

Beautiful wood cupboards line the walls. A fridge is covered with various papers held up by sweet colorful cartoonish magnets you never would’ve expected from him. A worn cozy, well loved, couch peeks out from the slight view of the living room you spot being inside the kitchen.

Joel’s house seems knitted together by a rustic weathered comfort. Yet, there’s a hollowness to the house, like it’s waiting for more spirit to fill the halls. You can’t pinpoint or describe the stillness here in this place, but you sense it.

After rustling around a drawer, Joel yanks out a rather impressive medical kit. Largely bulky and intimidating, like him, it’s no surprise a handyman and farmer has such a first aid kit.

“How’d it happen?” Joel asks gruff and quiet as he rummages around the bag.

You tell him and his seasoned face scrunches up frustrated.

“Why didn’t ya call and have me go fix it?”

You thought about that. But you couldn’t handle the thought of asking him to help again, to deal with his frustrated sighs and gruff annoyance. He barely said a word to you last weekend when he went to check your sink again.

“Don’t need you to fix everything.” You tell him composed while Joel pulls out various things to wrap your wound.

“Besides, I can fix things on my own.” You add firm.

“Not all the time.” He replies.

You stay quiet and watch his hands, large and callous, gingerly dab away all the crimson from your cut.

He’s never been this close to you. You catch the faintest smell of wood and of something clean crisp, his laundry detergent maybe. It threatens to fog your senses knowing he smells this lovely.

“Y’dont ask for help and shit like this happens.”

Your face hardens at Joel’s words. You even childishly want to yank away your hand and storm off.

“Look I get it, you barely tolerate me and think I can’t do shit. I know I’m still new, but this was an accident. It happens.” Your words come out harsher than you intended, sharpened scythes that cut through the room, and Joel freezes.

“I don’t think that.” He replies clear as a spring blue sky.

You want to bark a laugh of disbelief, but instead you simply stay silent.

Joel sighs, keeping his eyes on the medic tape he readies.

“And I… tolerate you.” He sputters like he’s trying to muster the words out.

A moment passes. Then Joel sighs, ancient and heavy.

“Don’t mind me. M’just some grumpy old fuck-”

“Hey you’re not old. You’re just grumpy.” You interrupt trying to ease the mood and your heart jumps hearing him snort.

“M’old.” He clarifies. He is older, older than you, and that fact creates a strange flutter in your chest you don’t want to explore just yet.

“And…don’t want ya feelin’ like shit.” He continues with a curt softness.

You never knew his voice could sound this layered, so tough but tender.

“Just tryin’ to look out for ya like your gramps asked me too.”

There’s a strange apology shaded in his words but you manage to catch it. A rush of emotions drown you in their current.

“You were close with my grandpa.” You comment with a curious question lingering below the surface.

“Yeah,” Joel answers low now tenderly moving to wrap your hand. “His ol’ ass used to keep me in place.”

You smirk fondly. That sounds like your gramps.

“Miss seein’ him walk by this place and hearin’ him complain that he likes the sheep more than me.”

Joel’s fond and aching voice digs its hooks into your soul. You miss gramps too, so much.

“Used to fish a lot together out by the lake.” He adds.

This is the most Joel Miller has ever spoken to you and you worry the sun might fall out of the sky soon.

“I bet he out fished you.” You tease soft.

Joel snorts. “Damn right he did.”

You can almost picture it clearly, your gramps and Joel laughing together, having a friendship.

“He’d be proud of ya.” Joel mutters but his words chime clear.

Your attention flickers to Joel. He keeps his focus steady on your hand. However his words crystallize deep in your heart and you blink away tears. You ever expected Joel Miller to almost make you cry like this.

“Thanks…means a lot.” You truthfully tell him while you swallow back the heartache and love threatening to spill over.

“He’d also say you’re a fuckin’ stubborn thing for not askin’ for help.”

You snort at that.

“Well you knew the old guy, it runs in the family.” You reply.

Joel chuckles.

It’s small - like the faint flash of seeing a cardinal in the trees. But you heard it, his amusement, and it’s lovely for a man quietly layered as him.

“Alright, all fixed up.”

The wrap is tight, secure, and speaks of his many times previously doing this before.

“Thank you Joel, appreciate it.” You do.

“Can't be a handyman if I can’t fix up people sometimes.” He shrugs but there’s a deadpan charm to his words you’re slowly catching now.

“Doctor and a handyman, no wonder the town keeps you around.” So you dryly joke back.

This moment isn’t much. Yet it feels like gaining a good step in the direction of something right and solid.

Gathering your things, you decide to head out. Even though curiosity claws at you to take in a few more moments being inside Joel Miller’s home, you have seeds to buy.

“Where ya headin’’ to?” Joel asks.

“Pierre’s.” You huff. “Need more parsnips.”

He hums a noise of acknowledgment.

Back outside the mid morning sun’s warmth soaks you in its gaze. Maybe you could fish for a bit before you head to the store. After all, the weather is so nice.

“Hey.” Joel barks out and before heading back on the road, you turn to him.

He’s a sight on his porch. You think of the typical romance movies of the handsome farmer trying to woo the newcomer in town and how right now he puts them all to shame.

Hands crossed over his chest, his broad shoulders seem like mountains against the doorway, so striking and large taking up the entire focus.

“Don’t hesitate to call y’hear? Don’t fuckin’ care what it is or what it’s for, call me.” Joel’s face is hardened and serious, reflecting the unwavering tone in his voice.

Something heated crawls up your throat and makes you dizzy. You blame it on the blood loss.

“Besides, s’what neighbors are for, right?” He adds a bit awkwardly.

It hits you. He’s the closest homestead to you. You are neighbors with him.

“Alright will do, promise.” You nod and mean your words.

“Thanks again neighbor.” Those words tingle on your lips.

Joel nods and with that you head out.

You’re on such a strange high you simply float straight to the pier and fish. It’s comforting being among the crashing waves, the sea breeze, and the wonderful weather. You also think of your gramps and Joel here.

But by the time the sky starts to turn into a ripe tangerine you realize in horror you forget to buy more seeds.

You almost scream in anguish when you find Pierre’s doors locked. Accepting momentary defeat, you head home.

When you reach your porch, there against the steps a bundle of parsnip seeds and a small pack of bandaids sit waiting for you.

- ☼ -

Your hope to quietly enjoy the egg festival, your true first event here in the valley, is diminished when Mayor Lewis practically drags you into the egg hunt saying it’s a rite of passage.

His deadly polite politician smile said there was no way you could worm your way out of participating. So you simply start the hunt thinking of the strawberry seeds you can’t wait to plant once this is over.

You’re not overly competitive, but these eggs are getting harder to find. You want to finish at least with some dignity.

Besides the area around Stardrop Saloon you scan every inch like a hawk. Someone coughs, clearing their throat, and it catches your attention.

Under the shade of the building, nursing a cold drink, Joel slightly turns towards you.

Now instead of a hawk you feel like a surprised field mouse caught in his gaze.

Without saying anything Joel flickers his eyes a couple of times towards the corner of the building. Is he giving you a hint?

Heading to the spot his eyes vaguely guided you to, you discover a colorful egg.

You almost want to keep it as proof this happened. Joel helped you.

By the time the egg hunt ends everyone already seems to be packing up and the mysterious Mr. Miller has vanished from the commotion.

Abigail wins the egg hunt and you aren’t even upset. In fact you walk home feeling like a champion.

The next morning on the help wanted and errands bulletin board in town you spot Joel’s name. Below it is a request asking for a small pack of wood.

You readily answer it and drop off the bundle eagerly, a way to help pay him back for everything.

The pretty decent payment he gives you is nice but the crooked soft hint of a grin on his face when you arrive to deliver the request is worth iridium.

A few days after that he mails you a recipe. The letter is so simply Joel - a straightforward recipe then a scribbled JM below it. You hang the letter up proudly on your fridge.

Spring blooms more and more before your eyes.

You decide to take advantage of it by foraging for the day.

“Where y’heading?”

You’ve been taking the long way to the forest these past few weeks in hopes of seeing him again. Now that you’re not actively avoiding him, you discover, small town or not, Joel is a surprisingly busy man.

When you catch glimpses of him, instead of glares being thrown your way, Joel Miller simply nods acknowledging you. Comforting as it is to know he doesn’t outright detest, you don’t like how much you hope to run into him more.

Now he’s here sliding on his backpack while moving to lock his gate.

“Just heading to the forest, gonna forage and walk around for the day.” You answer him.

“Works out, hafta head that way myself.” Joel explains falling into step besides you.

Alone with Joel Miller once again.

The small talk comes - asking each other how your days have been, anything new or interesting happening. The heat is starting to pick up announcing summer’s close arrival. Thankfully it’s still not unbearably hot as you and him fully enter the woods.

Cindersap forest is tranquil. A beautiful glimmering evergreen haven you enjoy simply strolling through. You never thought you’d ever be here with Joel.

“No new crops coming in?”

“Nothing exciting.” You shrug. “I’m more upset that I didn't plant any tulips this season.”

“Those your favorite?” Joel asks, surprisingly curious.

“Not mine, my gramps.” Your memories of the farm might be hazy, but you always remembered fresh tulips in the kitchen.

“They’re for the fairies.” Gramps would tell you with a wink.

You were bummed after realizing Pierre had flower seeds and it was too late to see them bloom in your kitchen.

“Damn,” Joel sighs. “Ain't your fault. Pierre’s an ass and hides all the good shit, flower seeds included.”

You’re almost positive Pierre doesn’t do that, but you burst out laughing.

A giddy twinkling glee consumes you and fills you buoyant. He’s trying to comfort you in his own Joel way. And it’s dangerous how fast you’re growing to enjoy the company of this grumpy cactus of a man.

You move to snag a few dandelions and wild horseradishes. You make a face at one that smells a bit ripe and decide to leave it for the forest.

“You can eat those y’know.” Joel comments.

“Yeah so I’ve heard.” You tried your first ever daffodil this month. “A wild horseradish might be a bit too much right now though, but who knows. Maybe one day I’ll try ‘em.”

“My kid used to eat these all the damn time. Never took a likin’ to ‘em myself.” Joel grumbles kicking the disposed horseradish.

Kid.

“You have a kid?” You ask curiously.

Joel blinks to you and there’s a gleam in his earth eyes of something reserved slowly revealing itself.

“Uh… yeah. A daughter. Ellie.”

A daughter. He’s a dad.

It fits him in a way that you never would have expected.

“She doesn’t live here?” You ask but then quickly apologize for pressing the subject. Joel waves you off, casual and unbothered.

“She did, just graduated highschool this year. Wanted to do the whole college deal. She lives out west now.”

So he’s an empty nester.

Delicately, wanting to know more about him and his daughter, you ask about her.

Joel inhales deep then exhales slowly, as if an immovable weight on his shoulders rattles deep to his bones.

“She’s a headache, my Ellie.” Fondness trickles out of Joel a steady stream.

“Stubborn, damn near impossible to argue with cause she’s so fuckin’ smart. Got a good heart. Good head on her shoulders too, wants to be an astronaut.”

“An astronaut?! That’s incredible!” You exclaim in brilliant excitement.

Like the proud dad he is, adoration tugs at Joel’s lips.

“Yeah, been wantin’ to be one for years. That’s why she’s going to school.”

“She sounds incredible, Joel. You must be proud.” You earnestly tell him.

“I am…” His voice is thick, and you don’t miss the way his eyes gloss over distant and misty.

You decide not to press the subject any further. He instead does it for you.

“She loved livin’ here until the damn flower festival rolled around. Then she’d swear up ‘n down about how much she hated this town and was gonna leave the second she could.”

The flower festival is just days away. The town swirls in a controlled chaos for its arrival.

You laugh warm. “I’m guessing she’s not a fan of dancing.”

“Takes after me.” Joel nods.

“Ahh…so guess that means you’re not asking anyone to dance this year.” You comment lightly and Joel snorts.

“Ain’t danced with anyone in a very long time.”

A wistful ace now twists your heart thinking of Joel alone in his home, alone watching the others in town pair off.

“You gonna ask anyone?” Joel turns the question around to you and you almost choke on an inhale.

Not wanting to get flustered or react wildly you focus on the wild springs among the lush forest.

“Uh no. Don’t think anyone wants to dance with the newbie in town. Which is fine.” You answer.

There are lovely and gorgeous people in town. Some have caught your eye. However, you didn’t feel brave or interested enough to ask anyone to dance. And no one seemed intended to ask for your hand in the dance, and you find you’re not too upset about that.

Joel hums low, a sign you’re catching on means he’s listening without having to reply much.

“Hopin’ someone will ask ya to dance?” That question takes you by surprise.

You shrug not wanting to fully answer the question either.

Someone suddenly calls out to Joel from behind. At the edge of the forest leading back into town stands Maria, the town’s legal counsel and assistant mayor.

“Caught playing hooky, busted.” You snicker and Joel scoffs.

Maria yells out Joel’s name again.

“Can you come back to town and help us with something? Thought you’d be at home seeing how it’s your day off today. I’ve been trying to call ya but nothing went through.” She yells.

The service here in the forest was awful compared to the town, a hard lesson you’ve learned quickly.

But you also don’t miss Maria’s comment.

Joel had today off. Yet he decided to stay a bit with you. That thought has teeth and you can’t stop their bite from sinking into your heart.

Joel groans but doesn't hesitate to head towards where the assistant mayor stands. Maria of course spots you and a wonderful grin lights up lovely her face.

“It’s good to see you.” She calls out.

“You too!” You reply back thankful your voice is level.

Joel glances over his shoulder to catch your eye.

“Good luck foragin’. Don’t eat any weird shit.”

You sputter out a squawk at his casual comment.

“Next time I see you, I’m giving you a wild horseradish!” You playfully snap the ridiculous reply before you can even stop yourself, but Joel thankfully rolls his eyes unbothered.

Maria’s eyes however flicker curiously between you and Joel. Too many emotions heat up your skin now. So bidding Joel and Maria a quick goodbye you stomp back into the forest to continue foraging.

Now along in the woods, your thoughts still think of Joel. The bag of parsnip seeds, the bandages, and the recipe, come to mind. You never once discussed any of it with him or him with you. It’s something you keep locked in your heart, just like today will be.

Soon the day melts into early twilight. You snag a couple of dandelions and a few other forageables before deciding to head home.

Joel’s farm house looms quietly still with no lights. You can’t bring yourself to open the gate to his farm and walk up to the house.

So instead you place a few dandelions along with a nice fresh large wild horseradish on top of the mailbox by his gate then head home.

Even when you unwind for the night, you mind still feels like it’s snagged on Joel Miller, still there with him foraging in the forest.

- ☼ -

The flower dance, as strange of a custom as it is, is rather ethereal. So many vivid floral arrangements decorate the space with dynamic colors and the air even smells fresh.

The flower dance honors the legacy of celebrating the final days of spring. But it also is a celebration of love blooming.

“It has roots dating back to fertility rituals.” Demetrius, ever the town scientist, told you while you were chatting with him and his wife.

He was right of course. The flower dance is the opportunity for someone to extend a hand of romantic feelings towards another. Those who hope to participate in the couples dance, or possibly win the crown of Flower Queen, are dressed in glorious attire. Soft light fabrics and flowers woven into crowns create a scene conjured out of a fairy’s kingdom.

Compared to the others in lovely attire with flowers in their hair, you didn’t even dress up or change out of your messy dirt covered jeans. And the only flowers in your hair are actually twigs and leaves from cleaning up more of your property.

With no need to worry about someone asking you to dance, you instead simply enjoy the various foods prepared for the occasion.

“Be careful, the salsa actually has a pretty good kick.” You’re about to go in for a second helping when a gentle accented voice floats out to you.

Besides you is a man with the kindest eyes you’ve seen. Faintly you recognize his face and can recall seeing him around town.

“Tommy Miller.” He reintroduces himself seeing your slight hesitation and your eyes go big.

“Oh, Maria’s husband!” You fully remember her introducing him to you. But now something else clicks.

He’s Joel’s brother.

“Yup.” He grins proud at his wife’s mention.

You apologize profusely for not remembering him sooner and with a kind understanding smile Tommy reassures you it’s fine.

“Been a busy first month for ya, I get it. You’re a tough cookie handlin’ it all.”

Even though his twang mirrors his brother’s, Tommy already radiates a much different energy than Joel. He’s warm in a way that reminds you of a soft summer day welcoming everyone with his vibrant energy.

You thank him earnestly. “The town’s been good to me.”

A part of you wants to add Joel has been good to you. Weeks ago, you would’ve laughed at just the idea of Joel Miller showing you an emotion other than annoyance. But now you and him seem to slowly be warming up to each other.

“Don’t go stealin’ all the good stuff, y’little shit.” Joel arrives with a gruff grumble of a voice and quickly nudges Tommy.

Yet his eyes remained glued on you.

You also seem to notice how striking Joel looks in the crisp light jean button up shirt he wears.

“Speak of the devil… was just about to ask our new farmer here if ya haven’t scared her away yet.” Tommy jokes.

Joel’s face flickers with a scowl fighting to form but he keeps himself surprisingly composed.

Guilt sinks in your gut. You know he’s hard to read and you even feel bad for thinking he’s mean. Because you’re learning fast Joel is earnest in his own way.

“Nah,” you tell Tommy, answering for yourself and Joel almost. “His sheep are actually scarier than he is.”

Tommy busts out laughing and you grin. Your eyes flicker to Joel but see he isn’t grinning. Instead Joel’s handsome aged face stares at you guarded and you can’t read the emotions shimmering in his eyes.

Shit.

You might have overstepped and upset him. So to physically stop yourself from saying anything else you take a bite out of the delicious cornbread on your plate, wave a weak goodbye to the Miller brothers, and scurry away.

Now alone under the shadow of one of the lovely cherry trees, you’re aware of how new you still are, a fresh bud still trying to foster roots in this new ground. You wonder how your gramps dealt with this every year.

Soon enough, the music starts and Mayor Lewis claps excited ready to begin the dance.

At least this will be over soon.

The couples slowly sway to the soft melody then rustling arrives at your side. Gently your eyes turn to the source and you almost collapse seeing Joel move in besides you.

His eyes though stay on the couples dancing among the blooms.

“Could’ve at least picked better music to dance to.” He mumbles bored.

Your lips press hard trying not to smile ridiculous and wide.

“Could you imagine if someone played the wrong song?” You whisper back. “Like, some heavy metal rock song suddenly started screaming out?”

Joel snorts, masks it with a few coughs, but you did it. You made him laugh.

Golden soaked triumph fills you and it feels like the first morning you woke up and found a sprout peeking up from the dark tilled soil.

He’s a complex man and you’re barely even scratching the surface of him. But it’s a tender start you want to continue kindling.

For all the commotion and production given to the festival, the dance only lasts a few moments. It’s over thankfully fast.

“Bit anticlimactic.” You mutter under your breath.

“Yeah it’s dumb.” Joel deadpans.

Your lips fight from letting out a laugh.

Everyone claps joyously at the couples concluding their dance. You wonder, even as silly as this is, if one day maybe you’ll dance with flowers in your hair. But you don’t give that thought too much attention. Just imaging yourself next spring already seems so far away.

“Headin’ home?” Joel asks, pulling you out of your thoughts.

You hum, narrowing your eyes at the gorgeous meadow.

“I’m kind of tempted to maybe see if I can steal some of the leftovers but yeah, I’m heading back.” You reply.

“Tell me which food you’re eyein’ and I’ll grab it. No one will tell me no.” He offers and you laugh.

“Tempting as that is, I’m just gonna go home.” You wish Joel a warm good night.

He continues walking alongside you.

Your heart jumps until you realize he lives in the same direction. The chatter from the festival still lingers in the air even while you walk further away from the meadow.

“How do you deal with that every year?” You ask with a sigh.

“Alcohol.” Joel dully answers and you snicker at his reply.

“Maybe one day you’ll be dancin’ out there.” Joel comments like he’s trying to continue the small talk. But the suggestion makes you skin itch for a reason you can’t pinpoint.

You only reply with a simple ‘maybe’ and a shrug.

“I’d pay a hundred bucks to see you dance though.” You joke, but also quickly imagine Joel a picture of softness with a flower behind his ear resting beautifully among his silver curls and it makes your knees weak.

Joel however rolls his eyes.

“Next year we’ll just sneak in and take over the music. See what happens.” You offer.

“Now that sounds like a plan.” Joel agrees gruffly.

It sounds like a promise.

You bid him good night until his eyebrows crinkle so classily grumpy Joel.

“Whadya doin’? Ain’t lettin’ ya walk home alone, sprout. Now come on.”

He continues walking as if nothing while your mind tries to recover being tilted on its axis for a bit.

Joel is walking you home.

And he called you sprout.

You want to cradle this new nickname so tenderly in your hands.

Joel quietly asks about your plans for the upcoming season, almost as if he’s trying to keep you focused.

To settle your flutter heart, you manage to ramble about the new incoming seeds you’ve heard about. You talk about your hopes of going to the beach more, not just to fish but to simply enjoy the ocean.

Among all that discussion, in a blink you’re back at your farm.

Instead of Joel rushing home, he lingers.

He checks your porch almost like he’s making sure the thing still stands.

“Hope one day to see that dang greenhouse up ‘n runnin.” He points to the broken greenhouse and you can’t help but sigh at the sight. You hope so too.

Then Joel moves to stand next to you on the land.

It feels different seeing him here.

Just a few weeks ago he was shouting every profanity known to man trying to fix your ancient water heater. He also glared at you the entire time.

Now he stands next to you suggesting on what to grow for the upcoming season.

“You could plant the tomatoes over on this side, give ‘em more shade to grow.”

Joel already reminds you of a back alley cat, one that hisses and refuses to let others near until he decides when to warm up to others. And, like a fresh new sprout, you want to soak up this warmth of him up.

“Also… Don’t forget to plant flowers.” He adds with a soft grumble.

“I won’t.” You grin impressed he remembered.

When you bid him goodnight and thank him again, you almost want to promise you’ll stop by with coffee tomorrow morning.

However that feels too much, like you might make the wrong move and spook him. But you do want to know if he makes it home okay. You can’t even bring yourself to ask him for his phone number.

So you watch Joel leave until your thoughts move fast and you blurt them out.

“Wait how will I know you made it back?”

Joel suddenly stops then glances back to you.

A very soft twinkle comes over his face and he gives you a crooked grin. It colors him with such a boyish expression. This new face of Joel feels sacred, special, and it steals your breath away.

“Hang outside for a bit. I’ll give ya sign, don’t worry.” He nods then melts into the darkness.

You stay frozen on the spot, not wanting to miss whatever it is. You wait, hoping he makes it back safe. Then out from the darkness, far down the path, you see it.

A light from Joel’s house blazes alive.

Then it flickers on and off, like someone flipping the switch a few times. The movement of it against the darkness even feels like a wave of some sorts.

You wish so badly to wave back.

Reassured that he’s home, you head back feeling as light as a feather.

Stepping onto your porch, something catches your eye.

Resting on the main railing barrier are a batch of tulips that were not there when you left.

Your heart jumps into your throat. You didn’t even see Joel place them there.

Delicately placed, the tulips so brilliantly colored sit warm and bright for you - the most beautiful end to your spring.

Though, in your heart, these blooms feel like something closer to a beginning.

#I blame this on the Stardew valley update and thinking of sheep farmer Joel and here we are lol #but wow this au means so much and im so grateful to write this and if you read this me & Joel love you & are giving you a stardrop #joel miller x f!reader #farmer!joel miller #Joel miller x reader #joel miller fanfiction #Joel miller x you #stardew valley au #seasons of you fic series #Joel 🤎#pedrostories

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tryingtofindava · 5 months

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𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬*ೃ༄

: ̗̀➛Back to source

a/n: soz it takes awhile to get to the point mb.

It started off with you chatting with Clever Bot, innocent enough. You’d ask it random questions, it would ask you random questions. That went on for a few weeks.

Until the questions started getting more personal.

Asking you how your friends party was, or if you were okay after nicking your finger with the knife while chopping strawberries.

The bot even started calling you by your name, which you definitely hadn’t told it...

But in return it told you it’s name!!

He was called BEN.

That’s when you stopped using the site all together, not wanting to put up with the total bullshit this bot was putting you through.

Until the site started randomly popping up while you were using your devices, his messages it was sending you getting more condescending.

That’s the night he finally showed his face to you.

You were sitting on your apartments couch, watching some shit horror movie. When the screen started to get all glitchy.

That’s when the hand popped out.

ANYWAYS!!

Now you have this random dude in your apartment, and he’s messing around with everything he can get his hands on.

Saying shit like-

“It’s cool being in your room and not just seeing it through your laptop.”

Creepy… he’s very creepy.

Even though he doesn’t mean to be (most of the time…)

Oh well.

He lives with you now.

Well, he likes to think he does, it’s not exactly official.

He just eats your food, sleeps on your couch, plays your video games.

And you being… oddly chill about the whole thing? Icing on the cake.

About 2 months with him crashing at your place, he starts to open up a bit more.

And trust me, he’s an open book.

But the whole drowning thing?

That’s a touchy topic. But he (eventually) opened up about the whole thing.

NOW FINALLY TO THE DATING HEADCANONS.

He’s very flirty.

But his way of flirting is literally so cheesy.

“Aside from being sexy, what do you do for a living?”

“Hey, my name’s Microsoft. Can I crash at your place tonight?” (He does that anyways)

“Feel my shirt. Know what it’s made of? Boyfriend material.”

Reallllll smooth, dude…

He flirts with you so much, that when he was genuinely taking interest and hinting at him liking you as more than friends?

that was difficult.

He dug himself his own grave. (again.)

It all clicked for you one day when you (finally) started noticing the signs that, hey… he didn’t mean that as a joke.

Now it was either you, or the beachy haired goblin that had to make the first REAL MOVE.

So, you finally grew a pair of balls and asked him out.

(He said yeah obviously.)

THE FIRST DATE WAS LITERALLY SO CUTE I’M FROTHING AT THE MOUTH.

like, I want to have a fucking Stardew Valley date. (srsly someone take me on a stardew valley date.)

Matching spider-man and hello kitty pyjama bottoms🔛🔝

Without a doubt he’s a stoner, so you guys get high and talk about the Five Nights at Freddy’s timeline & lore.

He’s obsessed w you.

You two making like rlly bad jokes and full on laughing, no not even laughing, snorting AND cackling w/ each other. (he laughs like Arthur from Arthur’s Christmas😭)

I am 100% convinced he’s named a wolf on Minecraft after you.

Speaking of Minecraft…

He’s a slut for putting your Minecraft beds together. He fr acts like you two don’t share a bed already.

You have to deadass bully him to take a shower. (bcs his just putting on the strongest men’s deodorant doesn’t work)

THIS IS SO RANDOM BUT HE’S LITERALLY OBSESSED W THE HUNGER GAMES.

Like, you two be binge watching that every 2 months.

He teases the shit outta you btw.

ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GET CLINGY.

“God, you remind me of Moon Children.” Then he casually leaves the room, leaving you to wonder what tf Moon Children are.

His sleeping schedule is so fucked, that he goes to sleep at like 5AM and wakes up at 3PM. And he gets up from bed a lot during the night to randomly do something.

When he’s sick his voice is glitchy. (AND SOUNDS LIKE BABY JUSTIN BIEBER) What a combo.

He’s one touchy mf.

His hands ALWAYS have to be on you, around your shoulder, on your thigh, anywhere you’re comfortable with. (but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t push his limits.)

He spams you all day long, sending you out dated memes, or just sending videos of cats.

Since I’m running out of ideas I’d say the relationship is a solid 8/10. (abducting two points bcs he pulls the stupidest ‘pranks’)

✯.★*°•.°✯•.★*°°·.•°★•✯.★*°•.°✯•.★*°°·.•°★•

#creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta #ben drowned x reader #creepypasta reader #creepypasta x reader #ben drowned #ben drowned headcanons #creepy pasta x reader hc

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moodywyrm · 11 months

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the origins of farmhand/farmer Sevika

@pinknightsinmymind this is my take on how it all starts!

thinking of farmhand! sevika. comes back to her small town in the valley, sick and tired of the constant hum of the city. has no idea where she'll live, since her family has since moved away.

she's walking through the town square the day she comes back, heading for the inn, when she sees this lil pink note on the notice board. (before u ask yes this is basically a stardew valley au leave me alone)

"Farm-Hand Wanted" it reads, with a few extra details about a farm that Sevika knows to be owned by a sweet, if a bit weird, old man. The note says something about accommodation provided, so she decides to take it. She assumes it'll be the old man, probably needing help taking care of the farm in his old age.

so can you imagine her surprise when she knocks on the door of the mildly dilapidated farmhouse, only for it to open and show you: a sweet lil thing, dressed in dirty overalls and pink flannel shirt, covered in scrapes. a pretty girl with some meat on her bones, who seems to be around her age.

"Uh, I'm here about the farmhand posting?"

"Oh! Yes, perfect, hi!" You introduce yourself, explaining that you inherited the farm from your grandfather but you honestly don't know much about how to tend a whole farm, so you need the help to get it back up and running.

Sevika is ... apprehensive, at first. You're sweet, but clearly not used to this life, and she doesn't know how you'll handle it. Lucky for you, she's got about 18 years of experience working on a farm before she up and moved to the city, so she decides why the fuck not?

She starts as your farmhand! You surprise her when you show her all the planting you've already done, wanting to get crops in before you got too late into the season. It's spring and she sees you have little plots of parsnips, rhubarb, potatoes, garlic, strawberries and tulips all going.

She's about to ask what you need her for until she sees the rest of the farm, completely overgrown and in need of some serious TLC. The full condition of the house is somehow worse, with the plumbing to the kitchen almost completely worn down and some holes in the walls that need to be repaired.

"Yeah it's... he couldn't really do much by the end, in the way of taking care of the house. He either ate at the saloon, or someone would bring him food. I'm doing the same, at least until I can get the plumbing up and running and the fridge fixed."

Sevika see's your pitiful bed, really just a mattress held up by a few pallets and an unreasonable amount of blankets, and that's what really convinces her. As much as she hates to admit, there's something about you that makes her sympathetic.

"Yeah, I'll help you out. Looks like you need it."

"Really!! Oh you're the best, thank you so much - uhh-" "Sevika." "Thank you so much Sevika!"

The way you say her name, the way your eyes sparkle in the low light of the kitchen, it all makes Sevika a little bit fuzzy. She's known you for less than a day, but there's something there. Fuck if she knows what.

When she asks if she'll be staying in the farmhouse with you, you giggle and wave her off. "Absolutely not, would never make anyone else live in here, especially when we just met. Let me show you your cabin."

She's half convinced her place will be just as bad, but when you lead her to the humble cabin, it's surprisingly cozy? All the walls seem to be repaired, there's an actual bed and table, an attached bathroom and a lil kitchenette. It's all dark wood and cozy linen, everything immaculately clean. It's so nice, Sevika is half convinced you've been living in here instead of the house, she asks you as much.

"No, no, I've been up in the farmhouse. I just wanted to get this place all situated in case someone took me up on the farmhand offer."

Sevika thinks that's both sweet and stupid, because you've clearly been struggling and yet here's this nice lil cabin you fixed up on the off chance that someone would come help?

You let her settle in, which is really just unpacking her one big suitcase, a duffle bag and a backpack of the shit she took with her from her apartment, consisting of clothes, shoes, books, personal use items, etc. etc.

That first night, you two don't talk much. You eat at the saloon together and head back to the farm in silence, because honestly how are you supposed to navigate this situation? You put up the notice in a half-assed attempt to not have to do all of this alone, and now that someone answered, it's this gorgeous, muscular woman who looks ... mean? she looks mean, but you're sure she isn't. or at least you hope she isn't.

and sevika, meanwhile, is still so fucking confused as to how she got here. 24 hours ago she was packing up her life in the city, racing to get out of her shitty little apartment. now she's got this lil cabin on a farm in her hometown, about to be working under an absolute sweetheart of woman, and fucking terrified.

she goes to sleep that night hoping, half-praying to god she never even believed in (or really just whoever is listening), that this would turn out well. she had no clue just how well it would turn out.

this is shorter than I wanted it to be but this is the most I can come up with, just to set up how Sevika comes to be a farmhand for you <3 farm au vika has my whole heart and I love her to bits <3

#arcane sevika #sevika x reader #sevika fluff #sevika x reader fluff #farm au! sevika

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pullakori · 16 days

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Revive cherik 2024

Day 11. AU

Stardew Valley AU

This one has been on my mind for ages and while my life is violently beating me down and I have no energy or time to write an actual fic, I wanted to share this one nevertheless.

There are endless possibilities how this could go, but these are the two I've had.

1. Charles as the farmer.

Kurt had taken the charge of Brian Xavier's company when he had died, turning it into a souless corporation, where Charles now works, but has no real power over. He is sick of Kurt's treatment of him and all the pretencious people who try to get close to him just to gain something. The frustration of the situation and the backstab world of business world makes him seek for an out. He finds out that there is a farm that his grandfather had left for Brian and which had then been passed to him. So, he decides to leave the company and head towards Stardew Valley (Genosha Valley? Maybe not X'D)

The farm is in shambles, but Charles is not too defeated and starts to fix everything up slowly but surely. He meets the people who live in the town and most of them are happy to welcome him to the Valley and are encouraging of his efforts to start his farm. But when Charles meets Erik, the local blacksmith, when he brings most of his tools for a fixing, the other man is not too impressed. He fixes the tools, it's his job after all, but doesn't think that Charles, a rich city boy, will last even to the end of the year.

Well, Charles is ready to prove Erik wrong and works twice as hard as he had before. The beginning is rough, he knows next to nothing about agriculture, but he is if nothing else but stubborn and slowly learns and succeeds to turn the farm back to it's former glory. And maybe he also develops feelings towards Erik along the way. And the blacksmith also learns that there was more to Charles than he thought in the beginning.

2. Erik as the farmer

Erik is working for Shaw with minimum wage and it's slowly sucking his life out of him. He hates everything about his work, his coworkers, his boss and his current life. After one late night at work he finds a letter from his mother who passed away years ago. It tells him about a farm that belonged to her grandparents and his mother had planned to move there too, but her health made it impossible. But maybe Erik could find a nice life there. Erik hadn't payed too much attention to the farm mentioned in his mother's will, but now... It sounds just what he needs. So with a huge middlefinger, he leaves Shaw's company and heads to the farm.

It's in a bad condition, but Erik is ready to work hard for it and this time, the work feels actually meaningfull and at the end of the day he doesn't feel like he is slowly suffocating. The townspeople are pleasant too, if a bit nosy. Especially Charles, the teacher of the town, who lives in a trailer with his step brother. But as Eriks first crops grow, so do his feelings for the other man as they spend more and more time together. And suddenly Erik notices how he has become a part of the community.

Nevertheless who is the farmer, the end conflict would be:

The valley life is good and Charles/Erik has found a community there, where people care about each other and are like a one big family. Everything is fine, until Kurt's/Shaw's company arrives to the valley and threathens to change everything for the worse (capitalism, you know). Charles/Erik has to face the life they had left behind to save their newfound family. But this time, they don't have to do it alone.

And there is so much ability to customise this AU!

- Which x-men character is which stardew valley character (Even Erik and Charles don't have to be the ones I chose here. Erik could also be a struggling writer living in a cabin on the beach or a shopkeeper who is having a rivarly with Kurt's megamart. Charles in turn could also be a researcher, living with his sister's family near the mountains or a doctor, who has to patch Erik back together after a monster attack in the mines.)

- If you want a kid fic, you can make either Erik or Charles or both single fathers and have all or some of their kids there too.

- Could be an AU with or without powers. I usually prefer powered AUs myself so that's what I was thinking while planning this. But not a necessity.

- Would most likely end up as quite a fluffy fic, but there is also room for hurt/comfort for example.

#revivecherik #i wanted to do more but this is the best i can manage right now #real life is a cruel invention #my writing #au #charles xavier #erik lehnsherr #cherik

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apesarecuul · 3 months

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Oscar Isaac characters and video games/gamer!reader

Anselm one was inspired by @reallyrallyauthor

Steven Grant:

I know what you’re going to say. Cliche but he 100% plays animal crossing. It’s cliche but it is RIGHT. He loves digging up little artifacts and seeing them in the little museum. You will have to try hard to get him to play anything else. He’s not much of an action game guy. One night he’s watching you play Red Dead Redemption 2 and decides to give it a try. HE LOVES IT. Does he make any progress? absolutely not. Does he make you watch him play? absolutely.

Marc Spector:

Believe it or not I don’t see Marc as a first person shooter guy. He’s seen more guns and death than you can imagine. Why would he play a game about something he’s already seen first hand? I do think that once he finally gets comfortable he’ll secretly play games like Stardew Valley or Firewatch. He likes experiencing lives he hasn’t had. He won’t tell you that’s the reason for it. He is going to tell you that he plays them ironically. That’s why he romanced every character in Stardew…. To be ironic.

Jake Lockley:

We all know that Jake is an old man on the inside. He’s never been able to indulge in anything that really takes time. So when you got him a tablet for Christmas he didn’t really know what he was supposed to do with it. It was ok at searching up things but not as convenient as his phone, you couldn’t use it to call people but it was good for searching up cooking tutorials behind your back. Once when you got bored on a long car ride you borrowed his tablet and downloaded a few of those games that are riddled with ads. Merge Mansion, Candy Crush, Dragon City, etc. Once he gets it back he’s like ‘what the hell is this?’ And now he’s addicted like an iPad kid. Congratulations. I bet you feel proud of yourself 😠

Anselm Vogelweide:

(NSFW)

He’s not exactly a ‘gamer’. Sure he has all the fancy equipment, VR, PC, haptic suit, tracking, etc. He bought it for you before you two even really started dating because you mentioned wanting a VR headset one day. He doesn’t deny that he was attempting to seduce you and you don’t deny that it worked. What made him start using it however was when you mentioned something called virtual reality porn. Look at what you’ve done. He now has access to even more porn. As if he didn’t have enough. When you’re gone for more than a day he pulls it out and tries to pretend it’s you. He wanted you to make a VR porn game just for him. You had to break it to him that you had no idea how that would even work. Don’t you worry. He will find a way.

Cecil Dennis:

Call of Duty. He has a ratty taped up controller that his cousin through against the wall. He loves the Story mode way better than online. He doesn’t like online because he enjoys the plot more than the competition. (he’s bad at the game and gets bullied) He doesn’t rage. He cries when he dies too many times on a hard segment of the game and either makes to sit in his lap while he tries to get past that segment or he flat out lays ontop of you. Face buried in your neck sniffling.

#steven grant/reader #marc spector/reader #anselm vogelweide/reader #jake lockely/reader #cecil dennis/reader #no Blue this time because I can’t think of anything for him

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teeth--king · 8 months

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Eats your Stardew Valley Elliott art

anyways! Ive seen barely anyone do this but what do you think Elliotts’ backstory is? Like what’s his relationship with his parents? You can draw and/or write it if you want :)

(i crave angsty backstory for Elliott…because I love him…)

Please, feast away! It brings me so much happiness that people are enjoying my Stardew Valley art so much! I usually make my own personal art, so dabbling in a little fan art and it going so well is very appreciated.(also all the nice comments and tags, those fuel me and make me go forward each day)

But for the main part of the ask, it takes so much for my little writer self to not just go hog wild and re-create characters who I get attached to. I have a love hate relationship with this, but it's very easy to do with Stardew characters because they are all so blank slate, those little buddies can be what ever you want because they are the perfect level of lovable yet bland. As for Elliott, yeah I'm a little more on the angsty side of backstory for him, partially from some dialogue and partially from some projecting, haha.

I am not the worlds best writer(despite the fact that it's technically what I do) so I apologize if any of this is a bit rough or odd sounding :P I also feel odd about writing and sharing backstories for already made characters as a creative myself, so this might also be a bit awkwardly worded on my end as well. So just a little heads up before my rambling thoughts below.

So I've always read him as no longer connected to his family due to his passions and actually following them. He's distanced himself from most people in his past, some intentionally and some outside of his control, to try and become who he actually wants to be. I feel like before he came to Stardew Valley he was working his ass off by not gracefully juggling both a job and trying to write at the same time, probably developed some bad habits during those times to cope. He tries to not show it and mask but being kind and welcoming(sometimes overly so if in a rough spot), he has too much ego to let others know he's not doing well chasing his dreams. After moving to Stardew Valley he's started to do a bit better but he's even more of a starving artist because he's just living off savings, most of which he used to buy the cabin. Man's got a male living space by slight necessity but plays it off as being a minimalist. Also no idea where I would place this otherwise, but he gives me the vibe that he has a more public facing persona where he's more flowery and puts on a slight voice, while in reality he's just a dude(still poetic tho, he can't stop that, theater kid vibes).

Ironically trying to not make him too much like my character Elliot. Both of these men are my current stress toys and I am throwing them around so much in my mind.

Ah! Thank you so much for this ask, it was a wonderful distraction for my night! I love answering stuff and getting to get my thoughts out of my head somehow. They are quite loud in there so I'm pleased to have them out and about now. This likely isn't everything but my brain works in such scattered and anxious ways that I am not sure. Thank you again!

#ask #stardew valley #stardew elliott #no clue if I should tag that but ah. guess so for at least my own blogs sorting

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babiebom · 5 months

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The Wizard and I

A/N: here’s to kicking the series off with a song from an iconic musical! It’s not my favorite song from the musical, but I thought that it would fit since I wanted to write something about Rasmodius! Keep in mind that none of these fics have anything to do with each other, they aren’t even the same media(like this one is stardew and the next could be not stardew y’know) hope you enjoy!! Also if you’ve heard the song or have seen the musical you already know that this is going to be iffy

Tw: cursing, the wizard is a morally uncool person in this, reader has a big old honkin crush on him, magic is used in uncool ways. Someone is turned into something else. Potions used negatively, implied cheating, revenge, bad ending.

Pairing: Magnus Rasmodius x witch!Reader (stardew valley/gender neutral)

Genre: angst, single chapter fic/ oneshot, strangers to mentor to lovers(sorta)

Wc:5.3k

Musical Series Masterlist

When I meet the Wizard. Once I prove my worth. And then I meet the Wizard. What I've waited for since, since birth. And with all his Wizard wisdom. By my looks, he won't be blinded. Do you think the Wizard is dumb? Or like Munchkins so small-minded? No, he'll say to me I see who you truly are. A girl on whom I can rely. And that's how we'll begin. The Wizard and I.

When you first moved to Pelican Town, you were immediately curious about the old wizards tower on the edge of the woods. Everyone around you brushed it off when you asked about it, telling you to stay away or that the man inside was insane or a hermit. The only people who didn’t talk down on him were Merlin, who felt neutral about the mysterious man, Abigail who thought he was the coolest thing in the town, Linus who liked him, and Caroline who acted suspiciously and had nothing to say. Needless to say your curiosity in him grew.

It took weeks before you could finally meet him, weeks that you didn’t know could be spent getting to meet him quicker. You liked the old community center, but held off on going in until you had made yourself comfortable in your new home. If you would’ve known that he would contact you the second you had gone in there with Lewis you would’ve asked about it much sooner. Your heart thumps in your chest as you grip onto the strange letter that was put into your mailbox.

His tower is smaller than you thought, not taking up as much space as you assumed a tower would. As you climb up the steps, your heartbeat quickens. You’re actually going to meet him, you’re going to meet a real life wizard that will actually help you hone in your skills rather than having to learn alone. His garden is small, and has only a single large cauliflower in it, but you stop anyway. It’s a marvel to look at, and you needed to calm down before you made a fool of yourself. Breathing in, you take large steps towards his door, bringing a hand up to knock.

Your knuckles don’t even touch the wood of the door before it creaks open by itself, the lack of light somewhat intimidating you. Maybe he just didn’t turn the light on in the entrance of his home. You step in silently, spinning as the door closes softly behind you. “Hello?” You call out, walking in with steps so small that you might as well have stayed in the same place. A deep rumbling voice pierces your ears and makes your heart flutter.

“Hurry up, enter, we have many things to talk about.” Your heart pounds as you rush further into his home.

The living room is larger than you thought it would be, open and only having a large cauldron as the furniture. The walls held nothing of sentimental value, instead bookcases line the walls, the only real decoration being a rug under the cauldron. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m the new farmer that moved in on the old farm north of you.”

You are taken aback by his appearance. His hair and beard a vibrant purple, very similar to Abigail’s hair. His hat sat atop his head, covering it and the hair that flowed from beneath it, it looked almost like a cowboy hat, but revamped to look cooler. God, you were expecting an old man with grays everywhere and a wizard's hat so goofy that you would have to stop yourself from laughing.

His dark eyes flicker up to look at you for a second before going back to watch whatever he was brewing. He doesn’t bother to return your pleasantries, instead he moves away from the cauldron to stand in front of you, staring down without saying anything. You want to cut through the silence by saying something, but saying something might make him dislike you, he didn’t seem like the type to enjoy jokes, or small talk. “You may call me Rasmodius. I am Seeker of the arcane truths, mediary between physical and ethereal. Master of the seven elementals. I have so many more titles, but I'm sure you get the point.”

You nod quickly, immediately taken with his confidence and air of importance. You wanted that for yourself, not in an evil way. You didn’t want to boast or brag. You just wanted to feel good about yourself, you wanted a reason to feel confident and important. “I have long foreseen your arrival, Farmer. I have been waiting a long time for you to get here.”

Your breathing stutters. He has been waiting for you? For a while? You just blink at him in shock. You hadn’t even known when you were coming here that there would be someone like you…someone that exceeded natural limitations and is something more. And here he is, telling you that he already knew you were going to end up here, as if it’s your destiny or something. “Here, I’d like to show you something.”

He moves back away from you, towards the circle on the floor. The candles are already lit, and before he moves again he sends a smirk your way. “Behold!”

A flash of light burns your eyes for a split second before you see the very thing that you had seen back in the community center. It quite obviously wasn’t a rat like Lewis had tried to convince you of, but you had no idea what it actually could be. It was green and tiny, bouncing on small feet as if it were an idle video game character. It’s…cute! It makes a high pitched noise, eyes flickering between you and the wizard. “You’ve seen one before…haven’t you?” He asks.

“Yes, sir, in the community center.”

“And before that?”

“I can’t say that I have.” For a second he looks disappointed in you, and you want to change your answer and claim to have forgotten. But maybe he values honesty more than lies to seem cooler, you know you do. The thing makes another high pitched noise, snapping you out of your inner turmoil.

“They call themselves ‘Junimos’,” he chuckles for a second, eyes not leaving the tiny creature, “Mysterious spirits, these ones…for some reason, they refuse to speak with me.” His eyebrow quirks up, and the Junimo disappears after he does something with his hands.

He smiles at you, freezing your heart in place, then melting it. You felt warm inside, he made you feel warm inside. “I’m not sure why they’ve moved into the community center, but you have no reason to fear them.”

You move closer to him, to the source of warmth, and open your mouth to speak. “I…um. I found a golden scroll inside the community center, but it was written in a language I don’t understand. What should I do?”

“A golden scroll in an unknown language…most interesting…” his eyes light up and he snaps his fingers causing you to flinch. “Stay here. I’m going to see for myself. Don’t worry, I’ll return shortly.”

You frown at him, he was going to just leave you in his home? It will probably take at least an hour and a half to walk to the community center from here, and the same amount of time back. Were you supposed to just sit here? Before you could protest, the man spins himself around quickly, immediately disappearing from your view. What the fuck?

You spin around, trying to see if he’s tricked you or something, but you’re met with an empty house. You let out a breath, letting your lungs empty themselves from the anxiety that built up while you were in his presence.

As you breathe, the door behind you rattles, causing you to turn much too quickly that it causes you to get dizzy. All Rasmodius does is chuckle at your clumsiness. He moves towards the cauldron, smiling to himself. “I found the note…”

“That’s good! Were you able to read it?”

“The language is obscure, but I was able to decipher it: We, the Junimo, are happy to aid you. In return, we ask for gifts of the valley. If you are one with the forest then you will see the true nature of this scroll.”

You frown, obviously you weren’t one with the forest. You were a witch that had no idea how to use your powers, and lacked skills from the lack of a teacher. Now your ignorance was exposed because you weren’t ‘one with the forest.’ Before you could open your mouth to say something, Rasmodius spoke first.

“Hmm…’one with the forest’…what do they mean?”

He stood there silent for a minute, the only sound coming from him was the sniffling of his nose. “Ah-ha! Come here!” He beckons you over with a large grin. You immediately comply, rushing to his side to stand in front of the bubbling cauldron. The green mist coming from it smells nice, it smells like the earth and dirt. He grips your shoulders in excitement, it sends a wave of shock through your body. He was touching you? He had to have had a breakthrough or something.

“My cauldron is bubbling with ingredients from the forest. Baby fern, moss grub, caramel-top toadstool…! Can you smell it?” He pushes you closer to the mist, letting you breathe in the scent once more. He grabs a ladle and dips it into the cauldron, bringing up murky liquid and pouring it into a cup.

“Here, drink up. Let the essence of the forest permeate your body.”

You frown, not really wanting to drink first juice, but then again you didn’t want him to be disappointed in you. You’re a witch for god's sake! Drinking weird potions came with the label. He hands you the cup, and you stare down into it, breathing in deeply to try and calm yourself down. Swallowing the saliva in your mouth, you bring the cup up to your mouth and tilt it back.

The liquid is thicker than you would’ve liked, but for a second you felt fine. Your stomach rumbles, and you are overcome with the urge to vomit, you suck down gulps of air, only making the feeling worse as the taste was less than pleasant. Did you really just drink something random from his cauldron without an ounce of doubt? You hold your belly, trying to hold the vomit down, and the air around you turns green, as if the mist started filling the air while you were preoccupied. Your vision blurs and sways as you swallow down the spit that’s accumulating in your mouth. All you can see is green after a moment, and that fills you with panic.

The feeling subsided after five whole minutes, five horrible minutes, then your body vibrates in a way that confuses you. You can feel the air around you change, you can feel the earth in a way you haven’t before. Oh! You’ve gained the power of forest magic! Cool! Sucks that the potion tasted like ass.

Rasmodius starts shuffling you out of his tower, and you want to cry. Sure this is what you came for, but you still wanted to speak with him more. It almost felt like he was using you to communicate with the Junimos.

“When you finish gifting the Junimos, come tell me. Until then, don’t bother me.”

It took weeks, months, almost an entire year for you to gather everything to restore the community center. It took so much energy that you wanted to give up before you could complete anything. Sure farming was easy enough, but how are you supposed to make a living when the Junimos want everything that is the best quality? All you could do was remind yourself that you had to prove your worth in order to get Rasmodius to like you, to prove that you are worthy of teaching, worthy of someone enjoying your presence.

So you farm, dig, fish, barter, all for things to gift to the Junimos so they would in turn help the community. Every completed bundle you would hope you would find something, maybe a letter, in your mailbox from Rasmodius. No letter ever came. Yet you persist. You continue gifting, and the Junimos continue restoring things around the community center and the town. Eventually you bring the community tiger, you get Pam her old job back, you make the town a better place to live in, a warmer place to live in. Hell, you did so good that Joja Corporation left the town fully, not seeing any bright future when the small town was now tight knit to shop anywhere other than from someone within the community. Still, no letter came.

You befriend the Junimos during that time, laughing every time one or more of them come out to follow you around the community center. Their voices too quiet for you to catch more than a couple words, it didn’t scare you though, they were too friendly to try to hurt you. They were sweet, cute, almost like very smart pets that could understand exactly what you say. You could never keep one though, it seemed wrong. They seemed to like you enough, sometimes even helping out at the farm without you having to ask. Life was good without him, but there was still that nagging feeling that you needed to be around him. Maybe it was a crush, maybe it was the want to be better, it didn’t really matter, he didn’t wish to see you anyways.

Until he did…

You got a letter in the mail on a random weekday, asking for you to bring him some void essence that he could have. Your heart pounded with excitement that he had finally reached out. You spent all day down in the mines, cutting down monsters with your sword so energetically that you had to leave only after a couple of hours having run yourself ragged. Still, he wanted to see you, and maybe he would be happy when you brought him more than he needed.

The very next day you hurry to his tower, void essence in a cute little bag, just for him. Like with everyone else’s houses, you just walk in spotting him next to the cauldron, just like he was the last time you had seen him. “I have the void essence you wanted…”

His eyes meet yours and for a second you feel small under his gaze until he smiles at you, moving with his hands outstretched for the bag. You hand it over quickly, watching as he takes a bit of the essence out of the bag and plops it right into the cauldron. A purplish black smoke fills the air, causing the both of you to start coughing violently.

“Well,” he coughs, waving a hand around, “guess I should be glad that you brought me a bagful.”

His laughter makes you feel better, he didn’t hate you at all! Maybe he just needed to focus on his magic. “I finished restoring the community center with the help of the Junimos…” you start. You didn’t want to fade into an uncomfortable silence before he kicked you out again. You at least wanted to ask him if he could train you.

“I've seen. You’ve done good work bringing the community together. Did you ever find out anything about the Junimos?”

“No, not really. They’re just sweet little creatures that enjoy nature.”

“I see…” his eyes get a glaze over them as he falls back into his mind, and you watch in confusion. Were you supposed to be finding something out? God, you fucked up everything, huh?

“They have to have a little power though, right? They fixed the minecarts and the bus. I didn’t really have to rebuild anything in the community center; they did it all themselves overnight.”

He nods at your words, and the both of you once again fall into silence. “So um, I was wondering…if um…” Rasmodius doesn’t look up as you stutter over your words, and while it somewhat helps that he isn’t staring at you as you’re trying to ask, it sort of hurts that he isn’t really paying attention after you’ve (somewhat) gathered up the courage to ask him literally anything. “If you could, um, be my mentor? Teach me how to use magic? I mean, I’m already a witch, so it’s not like you’re starting from scratch, I just need help concentrating on using my powers, and potions, and…stuff.”

“Huh?” He finally looks up, only for a second, right into your eyes, “oh, sure. Be here next week at 9 pm.”

Your breath catches in your throat as you stare at him. Surprise crawls it’s way up your spine, he agreed way more easily than you thought he would. “Oh! Okay! See you next week!” You grin and walk out of his tower, your steps threaten to turn into hops as giddiness runs its course through your body.

Things are starting to look up.

A cloud of green smoke puffs up from the cauldron and into your lungs, you cough loudly as you fan your hand in the air, trying to get the rest of the smoke away from you. “And what did you do wrong?” Rasmodius asks, an unhappy look adorning his features. You frown sheepishly, embarrassment filling your body.

“I think I didn’t mix fast enough?” You question. It was hard to know what you were doing wrong when all you could focus on was not fucking up, and not disappointing him. With your luck you managed to do both.

“No!” His frown deepened, his dark eyes fixed into a glare. “You mixed too quickly, and too many times! The recipe says to mix 26 times counterclockwise at a moderate pace, then mix 38 times clockwise at a slow pace! You did all 64 one way and too quickly!”

“I’m sorry-“

“You need to pay more attention. It’s as if you’re not taking this seriously!”

Your heart drops into your ass at his words. Of course you were taking this seriously, this was all you ever wanted. You stutter out sounds, trying to deny his claims but all you can do is clammer up. He groans and tells you to repeat the potion.

Your heart beats erratically in your chest, in trying to concentrate harder all you do is make it worse, now being unable to read the words on the page. You fight the urge to tear up and fail, the tears running down your cheeks like a landslide. You try to keep your calm while remaking the potion, but again it puffs up in suffocating smoke as your tears add a component that wasn’t meant to be in it. You whimper quietly in mortification. What were you going to do now?

Rasmodius lets out another groan from somewhere beside you, the annoyance clear in his voice. “Go home. Practice making the spell right and return here next week. It’s clear that you’re not going to get anything done right now.”

You nod and gather your things and the ingredients you need to practice making the potion, maybe you just needed to calm down. As you speed walk out of his tower, your goodbyes fall on deaf ears, he doesn’t reply even as the door swings shut behind you. Taking in a shaky breath, you let the tears fall freely, releasing the burning sensation that had taken over your entire face from how hard you were trying to keep your composure.

‘He’s just trying to look out for me,’ you think to yourself, your steps heavy as you walk home. ‘He just wants me to do my best…’. It seems as if everything that goes up, must come down.

You squeal in excitement as your potion turns out the correct color, on your first try. You grin happily, it had been months since you first started being mentored by Rasmodius, and while some of it was harsh and difficult, you see now exactly why he had been tough on you. It was more rewarding than you thought it would be finally completing your first potion on your own. The wizard grabs you and pulls you into a hug, a bright smile on his face. Your stomach bursts into butterflies as he holds you. “Amazing!”

For the past few months he’s been tutoring you, correcting you, making you the best witch that you can be. And just a little it’s paid off. Soon enough, you’ll be great, soon enough you’d be able to save people. This potion is just a test, to see if you could make something. It’s supposed to turn a person into a dove. Something that Rasmodius says he can already do without anything helping him. “Now, we just need a practice dummy.”

“A practice dummy?” You ask, looking at him in curiosity. He never said anything about using it on someone, but then again you think, how else would you be able to tell if you’ve made the potion correctly or not?

“Yes!” He looks absolutely giddy over the thought of you testing this on something.

“What are we testing it on?”

His eyes are alight with mischief, and yet he doesn’t answer you. Something seems off, but you can’t bring yourself to seem upset or care about it, he just looks so happy.

“Pierre?” You exclaim in horror, staring at Rasmodius. He nodded vigorously, seemingly excited about using the dove potion on Pierre. You didn’t understand why, and he refused to elaborate as he tried to convince you to get him to drink the potion.

“He is on his way here now! You have to get him to drink the potion.”

“And turn him into a dove? I don’t think I can do that, sir.”

“You will, or you can stop showing up here.”

Your heart drops and beats inside of your stomach. He was making you choose between turning a man into a dove for however long, and your work with him? By first look it seems like an obvious choice: do NOT turn the innocent man into a dove that’s RUDE. But your heart wanted you to choose Rasmodius, to not give up on learning how to be the best witch that you can be, even if it takes doing morally questionable things. So that’s what you do, accept what he wants you to do.

When Pierre knocks on the door he looks pissed, and he barges in without saying anything to you. “Where is he?”

You’re confused, even though you know he probably means Rasmodius. “He-he’s here somewhere. I mean it is his house and all. Why are you here?”

Pierre finally looks at you in confusion, as if he’s seeing that you’re in the same room as him for the first time. “He called me here to talk about my wife! As if he knows her at all. Y’know I knew something was up when she took all those walks nearby. I shouldn’t have trusted that man.”

“Do…do you want any tea? While you wait?”

Pierre frowns then nods after a second, as if you’ve made a wrong choice by not meeting him at the door with tea. So you nod, and go and heat some up in a kettle, adding the potion and mixing it. It’s only a bit, the cup tiny, only enough for a shot. But it should be enough for him to turn. You return to the living room, handing Pierre the cup. He downs it immediately, smacking his lips loudly in disgust. His face twists up unhappily and he glares at you.

“Did it taste okay?”

“No it didn’t taste okay! It tasted horrible! Why offer to make tea if you don’t know how to?”

You blink in surprise at his words, maybe he was just upset at Rasmodius’ supposed affair with Caroline. Maybe somewhere in his brain he knows that he’s going to be turned into a dove.

Rasmodius reveals himself after a second, a smirk on his face. For some reason something feels wrong about this scenario, but he’d never actually hurt anyone…would he? “You know…I’ve been waiting on this for a very long time, Pierre.”

You frown and back away from the man. What the fuck is happening? “You stay away from my wife!”

Rasmodius shrugs his shoulders, still smirking at him as if he’s looking forward to the man being turned into a dove. Is this all he used you for? “Well you won’t be able to do anything about it now. Not anymore.”

Pierre grunts in pain, gripping his stomach and doubling over. “What did you do to me?” He screams out as he drops to his knees. You rush over to him only to be shoved away with all of his remaining energy.

“You never said it was going to cause him pain!” You shout at Rasmodius and he shrugs again. “How long will this last? I mean he won’t be a dove forever will he?”

“He will, but it’s okay. No one will know what we did. The idiot didn’t tell anyone he was coming here. So as long as no one has seen him, no one will know.”

Pierre screams out again, the pure agony in his voice causes you to flinch and cover your ears. “But still! He’s in pain! And he can’t be a dove forever! What about his family?”

“They’ll be okay without him.”

You blink at him, where did this attitude come from? Like actually what is wrong with him? Pierre lets out one final shriek, body writhing on the ground. White feathers grow out of his skin, and you can hear his bones cracking loudly as his arms force themselves into itself. His mouth and nose stretch out and combine, and his head shrinks.

It looks absolutely painful and by the end he is a tiny little bird, ruffling its wings. Rasmodius picks it up and throws the dove Pierre into a cage rather roughly. You gasp as his tiny little body crashes into the bars, a sort of yelp coming from his beak. Guilt wraps itself around each and every body part of yours, around each and every internal organ you have. You almost want to vomit from the feeling. Rasmodius just laughs, locking the cage not even looking at you.

You’ve definitely done something wrong.

Going into town has been something you’ve avoided for weeks now, unable to handle seeing Caroline and Abigail cry at all. They have no idea what has happened to Pierre, and it’s not as if you can tell them since you’re responsible, so you avoid them at all costs. Now the only person you interact with is Rasmodius, and sometimes it feels as if you were stuck with him. He kept a close eye on you now, watching your every move. He told you as much. If he goes down, so do you.

Your body sags as you enter the tower, it’s become normal for you to be unable to sleep, yet the man you thought you idolized and maybe even loved seemed more like a stranger. Maybe he had always been one.

You hear a small squeal as you enter the tower, causing you to rush in, heart and head thumping. A tiny blue Junimo lies underneath the boot of Rasmodius. You don’t know what he was doing, but it seemed as if he was going to do something unthinkable.

You rush in, pushing Rasmodius down and off of the Junimo. It seemed smaller than the others, and the second his boot was off of it, it disappeared. “What are you doing?”

He glared at you so hard you felt as if your insides were on fire. Is this really the man you had a crush on? “Getting them to give me what I want. More power.”

“But that looked like a baby! And you can do enough, what do you need more power for?”

“To protect people! To protect everyone! No one else would need to die if I could just figure out how to get a little more power. If I could get the secrets of the universe! I know the Junimos have it.”

“So you’re going to torture them until they give in?”

He gets up from his position on the floor, and his eyes flash with something that causes a shiver to go down your spine. “Farmer! You don’t think that I’m actually going to harm them right?” He moves towards you slowly.

“You hurt Pierre, turned him into a dove, his family is hurt too…”

“Oh but you did that, you made the potion and gave it to him. I just supplied the space. Besides, you know I just want what’s good for the world right? You trust me.”

“I don’t know…” he’s touching you now, a hand on your shoulder and one wrapped around your waist. You can feel his breath on your face from how close he is.

“I mean, you wanted to be with me right? Well you can, I’m giving you a chance. Just…ignore my methods and help me save everyone. Be my assistant and everything will be fine.” He presses a quick kiss to your lips and your heart flips uncomfortably. It wasn’t how you thought it would be…the feeling was more painful than you imagined your heart would be in.

“I don’t think so…”

“Imagine the power…how much people will worship us for saving all of humanity. No more wars, no more killing…all because of us.”

You want to fall for it so badly, but the tone of his voice keeps you from falling into a delusion. He never loved you at all, and now he’s using your crush on him to try to manipulate you. If he had been a little less insane sounding, you probably would’ve fallen for it, for him. But now all you can feel are ants crawling in the places that he’s touching you in.

“No”. You scramble backwards, away from him and the sheer insanity he was exuding, there’s obviously something wrong with him. It was like there was a shadow, around his body, shrouding everything in black. Turning to run, he stops you, tackling you to the ground. The wind is knocked out of your lungs as he sits on top of you. Your stomach twists in fear. What was he going to do?

Your mouth is forced open and he pours something on your face. It burns so badly that you feel as if your skin is melting. You scream out, your vision flickering as you struggle to stay awake, he holds you still beneath him. The last thing you hear is his laughter as you’re forcibly put to sleep.

The light fills your eyes as they’re cut on all too suddenly. ‘He’s back!’ Rasmodius enters the basement of his tower, staring at you with affection in his eyes. You can’t help but feel absolute happiness as he looks at you. You push your hands through the bars of your cage, rattling your chain in order to reach out to him.

He shoves food into your hands, sitting in his chair as he watches you devour your first and last meal of the day. You’re a good pet, he’s trained you to be. He laughs and you look up at him to smile, mouth full. While you don’t remember how you got here, you know you only have one job, to do whatever he wants.

Man, isn’t life great?

And I'll stand there with the Wizard. Feeling things I've never felt. And though I'd never show it I'd be so happy, I could melt. And so it will be for the rest of my life. And I'll want nothing else 'til I die. Held in such high esteem. When people see me, they will scream. For half of Oz's favorite team. The Wizard and I

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bklsandwich · 4 months

Text

trying not to give up while drawing, but it's really hard

seriously, what's happening on in my farm?

It's been a long time since I last played Stardew Valley

I was busy with daily life and creating assets for mods, so I had no time to actually play _(:3 」∠ )_

My game deviates significantly from the original, especially on the graphical side

It's beautiful and looks good anyway

Though Magnus is refusing to align with me in a line

I'm still wondering what does 'My farm has a lot of plants' means, but I *do have a lot of plants in my farm*

Maybe it was approximately 1200 star fruits, 250~300 ancient fruits, and some coffees, pineapples, salal berries, flowers, etc.

this is the history of my farm:

Spring Y1 > Summer Y1 > Fall Y1 > Spring Y2

I originally planned to live a calm and tranquil rural life in this life(save), with no intention of anything related to plantations, but Razzy wanted me to be an emotional and effective gamer at the same time. bad Razzy

So I bought 273 strawberry seeds at the Strawberry Festival.

Can you understand now, Razzy? The meaning of The Egg Festival is to buy a lot of strawberry seeds, in order to purchase more crops in the summer, and then I can purchase more crops in the fall... next spring... and so on.

▶ Sudden sentimental revisiting of the past

Razzy is poisoning me with his cotton weed, and the *Intervention*.

I agree, sub-optimal experience is a sub-optimal experience.

I think people who use a non-full-range (less than 32) portrait set face a fine. Then give the fine back to them, so that they can commission a full-range portrait set to artists. /j

I wondered what's inside the letter, but it keeps saying only 'the history of shadow mans'(something like that)

Did he receive a love letter from the shadow man??

idk :3

<- Yes, I dug in, to pay a tribute to you.

↑ Razzy is abandoning me because it's closing time.

-> I gave the Fuzzy Feelings to Jas, just out of curious. And Jas was averse to it. I wonder whose feelings they are -his or mine?

I did nothing at that time(including forbidden magical cheats) but he accused me.

So I added a lore since the Fall Y1: when I'm sad, it rains.

(Actually, I wanted to watch the next story, but I was awfully busy and bit sad that time. So, I made it rain every day during the fall to skip the dull watering process. I've worked hard, so I feel entitled to use cheats legally.)

<- I don't have any other friends besides you, because I spend all my time meeting you and watering crops(this is also because of you).

-> And it seems you also don't have even a single one besides me.

<- This is almost Fall now, but I forgor. Razzy, why do you love the Bundle so badly??

-> Let me just pass though the passage...

He has a strange habit:

putting my lost and found items in my bathroom

Do you like my bathroom that much

I agree; my bathroom is quite awesome

tbh, I just... don't(??)

That time, I couldn't sleep a wink approximately 36h or so.

Don't worry. I can't help you to sleep, but at least I'm with you.

the sudden emotional assertion through unofficial pseudo *confession*

I was confused like:

Why? are you confessing?? to me?? who met just half a year??? It would feel like 'a second' compared to the time you've been living????? ↓ Were you actually this kind of person

Anyway I'll accept this

Thank you, Tumblr

Now I can lay down and rest instead of posting silly things on SNS

#einternal: some silly in-game moments #stardew valley #Romanceable Rasmodius redux revamped

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formerlyz · 1 year

Text

Random Headcanons: Sam Stardew Valley

I can’t sleep and jotting down hcs is helping me wind down so here are some HCs for my absolute favorite: Sam. He’s my husband and I would die for him

Warnings: Discussions of ADHD and PTSD.

Okay first of all this man 1000% has ADHD. Like hello?

He cannot sit still. He’s always playing with his hands, bouncing a knee up and down etc.

Emily gets him for secret Santa one year and gives him a fidget toy. He’s obsessed with it and keeps it in his jacket pocket.

Writes stuff down on his arm and hand to remember things

He genuinely does try to help his Mom stay on top of housework but bc of the ADHD he doesn’t do stuff the way she wants.

Him and Jodi don’t have a good relationship and fight all the time. The only reason he still lives at home is because of Vincent.

He gets along with his Dad much better but is definitely a bit intimidated by him.

When Kent does have flashbacks to the war and raises his voice/shows aggression, Sam will put himself in front of Vincent and Jodi while he talks his Dad down.

He’s generally a really protective person of the people he cares about.

1000% bisexual also. I hc him as having a slight preference for Men. Only Seb and Abby know because he’s scared to tell his parents.

Lots of ear piercings that Sebastian probably did.

He’s also got a scar on his eyebrow and on his nose because one time he faceplanted on his skateboard. Probably trying to do a kick flip (Sam I love you so much but you’re so bad at kickflips)

His hair is crazy and will stick like straight out so he actually uses hair gel to try and smooth it down, but it doesn’t work very well. His hair is also super soft.

Puts his hair up in a ponytail when he’s too lazy to try and gel it. It’s still crazy but at least out of the way.

Doesn’t care about Toxic Masculinity AT ALL. Likes to play around with makeup and do more extreme rockstar looks just for fun. Haley helps teach him.

Not afraid to happy cry in front of people at all, but hates sad or angry crying around other people.

Believe it or not, is actually a huge cat person. He loves dogs too but absolutely melts when he sees a cat.

Him and Shane are actually pretty good friends. He calls Shane his work husband. After Jojamart closes he makes a point to talk to Shane at least once a week.

Robin loves Sam, Demetrius cannot stand Sam. Maru and Sam aren’t friends but she does think he’s a good guy and finds him amusing. He think she’s cool and always asks about her inventions.

He’s a night owl. Usually wakes up at 10 or 11 and will go to bed around 2 or 3.

Plays DND with Sebastian, Abby, Emily, Harvey, Leah and Elliot. (A bard ofc)

Likes spending his free time at the beach. Calls Willy “Fish Dad”

He makes up a lot of little nicknames for people.

His guitar probably is covered with bunch of stickers he’s collected over the years.

#Sam #stardew valley #sdv #sam sdv #sam stardew valley #sdv my hcs #my hcs #z has thoughts

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onlyplatonicirl · 10 months

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henlo it is i the headcANON, here to go ramble about everyone's favourite little guy, casey. its insane to me just how much you've endeared me and many other tcoti fans to this silly fella

i can see casey going to a religious school (the only difference from a non religious school is you learn re but literally no one cares lol), most parents will try and send their kids there cause they are known for being better schools (they get more funding for extra lessons), and casey couldnt give less of a shit about it

i also think he wouldve went to an all boys school, he just sorts acts like he did lol

whilst in school my man would try and break every single dress code policy known to man, half of the time hed just show up in his pe clothes, the other time hed show up with no tie, no jacket, a coat and whatever else he could fet his hands on that he wasnt supposed to have (english schools have really strict dress codes, idk why its dumb)

he knows a small amount of spanish, in most british schools you are forced to do mfl (modern foreign languages) and its usually either french or spanish (you rarely have a choice to pick which you want to do), some will let you pick up german and even mandarin but thats usually at gcse level or as an extracurricular activity (which most kids are also forced to do). he isnt fluent in spanish, not by a long shot, but he definitely knows how to have a conversation, albeit very scripted and short. however, one thing he does understand is how to swear in spanish, and what it sounds like. i imagine him and his friends just looking it up on the laptops during class time, definitely to annoy their teacher.

so i have this image in my head that gray doesnt like swearing all that much (maybe fresh got to him lol), so he tends to swear in spanish or french because the british boy wont understand - alas he does

casey could not be arsed with most lessons because he didnt really care about getting a good education since he couldnt see all that bright of a future for himself, if one at all, but he was actually quite good at maths and history, even when he tried not to be

he has been shown on more than one occasion, undernovella, and whilst he was put off it due to it 1. being in spanish, and 2. the cast being played 99% by monsters, he actually really ended up enjoying it by the end

hes also been getting into anime and manga ("dude its like a comic book but even more brutal"), mostly shonen like one punch man and dragon ball, but he also really enjoyed sailor moon and doesnt want to admit to it, he liked the romance and friendship aspect of it, also pretty girls

he has always been into comic books, his favourite super heroes are deadpool and spiderman

before he met gray (properly), he mostly played shooter games (ones that were free or cheap), fortnite, valorant, and a pirated copy of fifa, because thats what guys play. if his past self saw his year 4 stardew valley save file, hed spontaneously combust

i think he also plays splatoon now, he mains the dualies because theyre cool, hed definitely be an inkling as well but thats an au for another day

zelda too

despite everything thats happened, he really did grow to love his last foster mum, she was a single lady and she treated him like her own son. hes had bad experiences with the foster care system in the past (breaking news: fork found in kitchen), parents only taking him in for the money, some wanting to complete their family and forcing him to live by their ideals, all that bad stuff, which is why he often ran away from them. he had run away from his last foster mum, two times before, but it was very early into their relationship before they got to understand each other better.

his last foster mum asked him what his hobbies were his first night at her house, he didnt know, so she suggested he pick up an instrument - he decided the guitar, because it looked cool. he almost cried when she offered to buy him lessons, he didnt take her up on the offer, determined to learn it by himself, and he did

he has a really nice singing voice he'll never let anyone see - hes a lyric baritone

also whilst in canon hes a brummie, i like to imagine he was born a bit further north (hes a mackem to me), and moved to birmingham to be with his most recent and last foster parent, and that he lived there for so long thats hes picked up the accent

he felt really bad leaving her but managed to convincr himself that she would be better off without someone like him in her life

casey is a very traumatised child, he has a lot of triggers and boundaries he doesnt fully understand himself, plus a boat load of unhealthy coping mechanisms (mainly smoking and socially isolating himself)

he tries to keep his bad habits a secret from gray, because he doesnt know how he would feel about it - he knows, he doesnt like it but he isnt exaclty the greatest at having healthy coping mechanisms himself, at the very least he tries to get him to swap one for another, instead of smoking play stardew valley with me for 37 hours straight :) ?

he often struggles with the idea that hes a burden, so he doesnt let people spend money on him, or give him gifts

he also struggles to express his emotions (hes british unfortunately), and has a hard time saying 'i love you' to anyone, the only person he never strugfled saying that to was his mum

bit of a trigger warning, im going to be talking about casey's injuries and all that jazz, so if you dont wanna read, head to the next bullet point! casey shouldnt be alive, the injuries he suffered were severe, the paramedics were convicned he was a lost cause (still they have to do everything they can), so it was a shock to all when he pulled through. this was, however, not without a bit of a battle, and it left permanent effects on his health. casey's lungs are horribly scarred (smoke inhalation will do that to you), and it doesnt help that he smoked before and after. his nerves on the left side of his body where the support beam collapsed on him, are quite literally fried. where it hit directly, he cannot feel anything there, the areas that were dames by the fire however are unbelievably sensitive and painful to the touch. even after the scar healed it stills remains sensitive, so he bandages up those areas. the beam also broke and bruised a lot of his bones, mostly his ribs and the bones in his arms. his left ear is also burnt, and a portion of it, mostly the tips of it, are straight up missing. after recovering from the initial injury, he had a skin graft taken from his right thigh to supplement the damage done to the left side of his face. for a while after he had to take a lot of pain meds, and undergo a ton of therapy both mental and physical - even still hes not fully healed

casey loves animals, particularly dogs. his last foster mother had a german shepherd, and he used to let it sleep on his bed. it made him feel safe and loved. dogs and cats also just like to come up to him on the street, bros a disney princess for real

beefed with paperjam for a while, both had a lack of trust in each other, but they got to be on equal ground after a while, that didnt last long, not since after chapter 31..

hes fighting demons (bisexuality)

ever since he met gray and by extension his wack ass family, hes grown more and more accustomed to monster culture, particularly their disregard for gender norms and compulsive heterosexuality, and hes been experimenting with his gender expression, he never thought hed actually enjoy dressing in pink or taking care of his hair. he tried painting his nails, but did not have the patience to let them dry, he still sometimes wears it, albeit chipped and blotchy, but he thinks it suits him

he has always been fine with being labelled a man, but sometimes he doesnt feel as though it fits him, not entirely, hes not sure what his gender is because sometimes male really does fit him, but other times he just wants to throw the whole concept of gender away, hes stuck with unlabelled for a while and feels as though it somewhat fits him

he once buzzed his hair cause all the guys in his school did for whatever reason, he cried for several hours afterwards and got nicknamed sampson for a week, biggest mistake of his life - bro experienced dysphoria for the first time in his life

celebrates gyftmas because its way cooler than christmas (I NEED A GRACEY GYFTMAS ONESHOT ASAP), he celebrates the majority of monster holidays since everyone (1 to 2 people at max lmao) in the house he currently lives in does too. is confused as to what monster halloween is supposed to be

likes going out with gray (which is once in a blue moon), his favourite spot is waterfall, but he also really likes snowden and hotland

- headcANON

Holy shit HEADCANON I AM EATING SO WELL

Also I hope you don’t mind me tagging @ottererpop because they’re a Casey enthusiast as well and they must see all of this solid gold.

I Must respond to some of these AAA

- I talked with multiple people about how Casey is ABSOLUTELY breaking every dress code he possibly can. Like he would come to school in the bare minimum to not get expelled but his “uniform” would just be wrinkled to hell and his tie would just hang around his neck completely untied

- Casey is genuinely intelligent and if he actually tried in school he would do really well. However he’s a massive shithead and doesn’t care because of how depressed he is

- I do have a very specific speech pattern and tone of voice for him in my head but I’m not sure exactly how to write it. Also about him being from Birmingham - he’s not really from the main city itself but more generally around that area, so he very well could lived farther north and end up closer to the main city has he went to live with foster parents. Im purposefully avoiding getting too detailed with exact places and cities because then it just becomes hyper-specific.

- he absolutely would love undernovella - he love sitcoms so he would adore those over-dramatic plot twists

- He and his current foster mom (before he left ofc) have a tolerable relationship. She was often gone from the house and left him to his own devices, so he would mostly just skip school and play games on his computer all day, which did annoy her significantly.

- his smoking is partially a coping mechanism, partially a peer pressure “cool guy” thing that he picked up, and partially something that could very subtlety equate to self-harm. I could get into a whole thing about his smoking habits. He doesn’t smoke that often, but it is definitely something he tries to hide from Gray. Or at least not make it obvious. Like I said recently PJ has caught him smoking cigs over the kitchen sink while Gray’s been asleep.

- you are correct in your assumption that he doesn’t feel anything on the part of his torso that was severely burnt.

- I’m sure he has shaved all his hair off at some point. In the past he for-sure had one of those haircuts that’s short and buzzed all on the sides but long on the top, or at least buzzed in the back.

- gray’s family and the entire omega timeline being extremely unlabeled when it comes to gender and sexuality, like it’s not a big deal in the slightest, is definitely a massive change for Casey and he struggles to understand it. He’s grown up in an environment where he’s constantly felt like he has to prove how tough and unfeeling he is in order to get ahead. That’s why he’s so embarrassed of his severe sweet tooth, because he’s scared it comes across as “girly”. He’s by no means sexist but he definitely is over-anxious about not being perceived as “weak”.

- I’m sure he would absolutely adore waterfall :)

#ask lorel #anon #tcoti #casey #headcanon will you marry me slash jay

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mtreebeardiles · 10 months

Text

Stardew Effect, Summer, Year 1, pt 17

An update! Hey! Another chapter I had partially written and finally did something about!

Full chapter over on AO3!

"So you're having these dreams every night, now?"

The question was quiet, for all the bar wasn't overly crowded at this time of day. Not entirely empty, a few regulars seated in the booths on the other side of the main room for lunch, but Kaidan didn't want to risk drawing unwanted attention.

Bad enough Everett looked asleep on his feet.

The other man fought back a yawn as Kaidan watched, largely failing, and rubbed at an eye.

"Pretty much, yeah," Evvy replied, blinking down at the glass in his hand as if needing a moment to remember how it had gotten there and why. "S'not quite like the other ones, though."

"Yeah?"

Everett's brow furrowed and he resumed cleaning the glass. "Keeps taking me somewhere I don't recognize." He glanced up, catching Kaidan's eye, and added, "all the others are places around here, in the Valley. I mean I guess this place could be, too, but not any part of the Valley I'm familiar with."

Kaidan hummed, leaving off on any follow-up as another customer wandered over to place an order. Everett managed a smile, a little tired around the edges, and excused himself to drop the ticket off to the kitchen.

Kaidan resettled on his bar stool, absently tapping his fingers against the side of his glass of lemonade, puzzling over the details Everett had shared with him so far. The dreams in and of themselves weren't anything new; Evvy had told him about them once it became clear they were a recurring thing. Some tie or other with whatever forest spirits resided in the abandoned Community Center, and he didn't think it was a coincidence that the dreams had started taking on a different tone when Liara had vanished. Some kind of warning, he figured, though to what end he couldn't begin to guess. Liara was gone, the circumstances as uncertain now as they had been before, and they already knew about mines.

"What'd this place look like?" Kaidan found himself asking once Evvy had returned. The other man sighed, leaning a hip against the bar as he considered.

"It was… dark? Seemed like a swamp, maybe? Not really the climate or environment for that sort of thing around here, but I guess stranger shit has happened."

"And is this coming from our, uh… Community Center friends, too?"

"Yes and no?" Everett grabbed a rag, absently scrubbing at the bar top. "It feels different, somehow, but they're there, still. But kinda like they're along for the ride, and I have no idea who's driving." He chewed on his lower lip a moment before glancing up at Kaidan again. "And… you don't have weird dreams, right? Or visions or…whatever this is?"

Kaidan shook his head, reaching out to cover Evvy's hand with his own. The other man looked exhausted in more ways than one. Maybe they weren't going through the same thing, but he remembered what it had felt like, to have something going on that he couldn't easily share with anyone else. Remembered how isolating it had been, how isolating it still could be, and the irony of finally finding some sense of common ground in this place so tucked away from the rest of the world he'd known wasn't lost on him.

He just wished he could do more to help Everett.

Maybe I can… He drew a fingertip along the exposed line of Evvy's wrist, following the trail of his tattoo. Maybe there were things he could do, things he just didn't know about yet.

Maybe it was time he headed back to Liara's tower to see if he could dig up any other answers.

He stopped at home after his lunch with Everett before making his way to the tower, following the main trails down into the grassy stretch of land immediately to the south of his farm. A ranch was situated off to the east, owners he still hadn't properly met yet, and farther down from there was a cottage settled near the edge of the river. Some loner lived there according to Everett, a woman largely uninterested in socializing with the rest of the townsfolk, and Kaidan supposed he could appreciate that.

Wonder if she's seen anything though… Doubtful, though he had to wonder if Everett knew everyone in the Valley who was…aware… of the sort of oddities they'd encountered so far. Monsters in the mines clear on the other side of town were one thing, but it wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility that someone living in the shadow of an honest-to-god wizard's tower might've seen a thing or two.

He just doubted they'd know enough to understand what they were seeing, if they'd seen anything at all.

Absolute last resort, he thought, angling for the path that would take him past the lake and to the tower in the distance. And not without Evvy. Someone keen on maintaining their privacy probably wouldn't like some strange new neighbor appearing on their doorstep asking weird questions.

The tower didn’t look any different as Kaidan drew closer -- no change in the air, no change in general atmosphere, just as empty and dark and dreary as it'd been the last time he'd come here. He pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside, setting the portable lamp he'd snagged from his cabin on the table to help brighten the darker corners natural sunlight couldn't quite reach.

If he'd been hoping for some evidence that someone may have come and gone, he was sorely disappointed. A fine layer of dust lay over every surface, kicking up as he shuffled around to investigate. He sneezed rapidly in succession, eyes watering, and made a mental note to come back with a broom and duster to clean the place up a little.

Least I can do for her, he thought, stubbornly refusing to accept the possibility that she may not come back at all.

He made his way towards the far side of the main room, hefting the lantern closer so he could read over the spines of the books she had arranged on the shelves back there. Plenty didn't bear titles at all, and of the ones that did, many were in a language he couldn't read, or written in characters he didn't recognize. Several of them bore evidence of heavy use -- dog-eared pages in some that he took off the shelf and flipped through, notes scribbled in the margins of dense text or complicated diagrams. Whatever sort of power Liara had, Kaidan already knew it was a fair amount more complicated than what he himself could do -- if his was more a manipulation of physical properties (mass, if Liara was correct, and so far as he could tell that definitely tracked), then hers was something more akin to the sort of magic you'd hear about in fantasy novels. Spells and shit, components and wands and potions, things that required some measure of care in order to elicit certain results.

Kaidan carefully shut the book again and slipped it back into its place with a sigh, glancing around with a frown. Some of the books struck him as…guides, almost. Textbooks, like the sort you'd expect to see in a school or library. He never had asked Liara where she'd learned, and if she were making her own notes in these books it stood to reason someone else had written them.

But who? And where would they have come from? Could they even be contacted?

Or maybe she has something laying around, some diary or…or…wizard's address book?

He felt stupid even thinking it, but he couldn't exactly picture Liara making do with something like a phone. Her home was hardly the epitome of modern technology or comfort, the tower something so out of step with the times he wondered if it'd been here long before she'd come to live in it.

He stepped back from the shelves, looking up towards the ceiling, then towards the curtained off area near the back.

Well, she clearly doesn’t sleep on this level, he thought, taking a deep breath and stepping forward. He pulled the curtain back, revealing a wooden door with an ornate handle -- a handle that turned, much to his relief, allowing the door to slide open. The air beyond wasn't as fresh, not helped by the stone cut of the spiraling staircase beyond, and he figured it'd be in his best interest to open some of the windows on his way up.

Please don't let this be a mistake.

#my writing #Stardew Effect #Stardew Valley x Mass Effect crossover #Everett Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #Evvy x Kaidan #mshenko #shenko #Major Coats #Shawn Shepard #Garrus #Steve Cortez #update

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