#hm gbc2

[stemmmm]

Stem's thoughts on Harvest Moon GBC2

AKA how I ruined a perfectly good game for myself

The first Harvest Moon on the GameBoy was a port of a pretty simple game onto an even simpler console. The limitations involved meant that only the most basic mechanics could reasonably be left in. The farming gameplay loop still existed, but without any superfluous aspects like wandering the forest for forage or speaking to any of the NPCs. The town still existed of course, as you needed to have a place where you could buy more things for your farm. The compromise they made was to turn the whole thing into a menu where you could choose a business and go inside to buy things, but nothing else, which is disappointing but understandable for such a simple game.

The first thing that Harvest Moon GBC 2 does is put you in a conversation with an NPC, and then makes you run around the town– a place that you can actually walk around in, with buildings and people outside –to talk to and meet everyone as you tell them that you’re going to take over the old farm.

To say this game was a relief to play is an understatement. I actually played this one immediately after GB1 because I decided to skip 64, so when I turned on the game and experienced its opening, I was still extremely raw from how awful GB1 felt. The first time I played it, I actually had to stop after day one, I didn’t even get to do any farming yet, because I was reeling so hard from how absurdly different this one was– and how COMPLETE! The excuses I made in my mind for GB1 were a complete and total sham!

The first thing that you see when starting a new file is something of a character creator. It’s a simple menu where you choose your name, your gender, pick a birthday out of any day in one of the four seasons (64 only let you choose a season), and then choose between a cat or dog for a pet. You aren’t told this in the selection, but a cat will bring home random seeds you can plant, and a dog will scare away wild animals, meaning that you can only leave your livestock outside overnight if you have a dog. I like free stuff though, so I chose the cat.

The next thing you’re exposed to is the town and what story there is, but I’ll get into that later. What I’ll instead explain next is your farm, which is a little weird compared to earlier games. In the first area, you have your house, a big open space, and then the usual barn, coop, silo, wood bin, with extra space on the left and bottom of the farm for a sheep pen and hothouse/greenhouse that you can buy in the future. You cannot grow crops in this area. Instead, there’s a different area to the south that hosts a huge, empty field where you’re expected to grow everything. This is also the only place where there’s an outdoor shipping bin, so you have to go all the way down there rather than just to the entrance of your farm if you have forage to ship. To the east of the farming area is a lake where you can catch fish, and a pond where you can save fish you’ve previously caught. The only thing to do with fish is sell them though, so the only reason I can really see for using the pond is if you caught something past 5PM, when anything put in storage will rot before it can be picked up. The lake is connected to a river that runs through the crop fields, and there’s actually a space to put a bridge so you can access the other half of the space for double the planting capacity. 

You won’t use any of that space to plant grass though, as all of that is meant to go behind the animal houses. Each one has its own individual field behind it for planting grass, and the game won’t let you buy any animals to go in the corresponding buildings unless a certain amount of grass is growing in the field behind it. It’s pretty awkward to make sure the grass is actually cut, as a player who doesn’t go back there every day, but I see the logic behind it.  They want to make people plant grass as an extra way to gatekeep animals beyond just money. It also works pretty tidily with the mechanics they have for putting animals in and out, which is that you get special tools for each of them that automatically sends them in or outside. I didn’t use these things because I didn’t have a dog, so putting my animals outside was equivalent to throwing them to the wolves… literally. And as you may have already theorized, individual items for three different types of animals turns into an inventory disaster because of the way tools work.

In your house is a tool chest that opens a menu when you interact with it. The chest holds up to 20 tools, each with a designated slot, and it has an additional page for all the different types of seeds you can buy. You’re able to carry four different tools or types of seeds on your person at any given time, with the ability to swap between which one is equipped quickly via the START button, or more precisely by opening up the inventory menu via the SELECT button, which is pretty nice in my opinion! It works quickly, and four tools is more than any other game has let you carry so far, but that only means so much when the game has such an excess of tools, while most others only have about six– not including seeds. Navigating the tool chest also becomes something of a pain because there are so many items, so it’s desirable to only keep the absolute necessities on your person.

Included in the excessive amount of tools is an exciting new item: the bug net. See, this game has reincorporated the forest as a foraging area, but it’s a little more than that. While it has the usual seasonal wild plants, a daily-replenishing supply of lumber, and a hot spring, it also has a myriad of insects that wander or fly around in short, predictable loops. It’s no Animal Crossing– the bugs always spawn in the same place and do the same thing for a whole season until the next one, where they’re replaced by a different kind of insect doing the same amount of nothing, but I think that’s appropriate for a game on such a short schedule. Bug catching is less about skill and more about remembering to bring your net with you on days and times that you haven’t gone bug-catching before. The fishing mechanic is similarly simple– it’s less about waiting and more about timing, as the rod will bob in the same pattern every time you cast it, you just have to catch it at the right time. As a result, if you get the timing down, you can always reel it in at the first bob and catch fish extremely quickly. This strategy ended up being my favorite during the time while I was getting started and didn’t have a lot of cash for seeds or animals yet.

But what do you do with these things you catch? You can sell fish but you can’t sell bugs. Instead, both are recorded in collections that you can access at the library in town! The function of the library is to let you access your collections of bugs and fish, view photos that you collected through experiencing events (kind of like what was in 64), and connect to the save files of your friends who have the game to share information and trade items. See, this game took a little inspiration from Pokemon in that while there aren’t separate versions, you only get access to certain things if you’re playing as either a boy or a girl. You get different crops, different bug and fish spawns, and there’s a certain quest that requires making a connection. It’s very cute! But inaccessible if you aren’t playing a physical copy of the game on original hardware, unfortunately.

Other than the library, the town has a carpenter, clinic, church, restaurant, ranch, tool shop, and flower shop. My making a big deal about how the town isn’t a menu this time feels a little disingenuous getting more into it, because while it is a space you can navigate and where people walk around, once you go in a building it’s almost exactly the same– no interior, just a portrait of the shop owner and their wares, but all of this is preceded by an option to talk to them this time around! Not that they have much to say, but it’s still a difference. You get another chance to talk to the shopkeepers and give them gifts (because you can carry items between rooms this time) on Sundays when all the shops are closed, which is another unique feature compared to GB1 where every day was exactly the same.

To the north of the town is a little square with a fountain and bulletin board where everyone who isn’t employed usually wanders about during the business week. At the start of the game, the bulletin board is loaded up with handy tutorials on how to play the game (yet another thing GB1 severely lacked). Later on, it fills up with dates for town festivals like the cherry blossom festival and horse races. The festivals usually aren’t much, shops don't even close for the majority of them, but they give the world a little more life and variety and the horse race gives you the ability to purchase a minigame from the tool shop that you can play anytime you want! There are several minigames which are all unlocked to replay by doing things like going to events or completing certain objectives.

The last new thing in this game is that if you press SELECT twice, instead of giving you the option to turn on Harvest Sprite helpers (no sprites to be found here), you get a more detailed menu with information about your animals, possessions, and then a long FAQ list with information like “weeds are back!” and explanations on how to get sheep or grow flowers inside the hothouse.

The Story

The premise of the story is that there’s an old farm in town that’s going to be replaced by an amusement park. It opens with your character trying to talk the mayor out of agreeing to any deals, saying that you’ll take over the farm to save it. He agrees to give you three years to do the best work you can and then you’re sent on your way. The first thing you have to do is announce the deal to everyone in town, who all happen to already know you… and apparently very well! The town doctor confirms that you grew up in this town, and everyone around is your childhood friend. I’ve never personally seen any farming sim take this angle, and I think it’s pretty fun! The game doesn’t do a ton with it, but it at least has a different vibe. It works well for a game where you do have relationships with these people, but they’re not in a ton of depth and they don’t go anywhere in the end because marriage doesn’t exist here.

This entry is also the first in the series that we see a wholly unique cast (almost). You could argue that 64 does it since technically the folks in town aren’t the same, but they’re awfully damn similar. Everyone here is a new character design unrelated to anyone we’ve seen before. Aside from Mary (librarian) and Ken (carpenter) anyways, who are both the same exact design as their counterparts in 64. While their personalities are similar, there’s nothing to indicate that these are the same characters in any way.

The stories to do with all of these characters mostly aren’t anything too special. There’s twin boys who run the tool shop and their narrative is tied to how you get tool upgrades. Whether you play as a boy or a girl, there are a couple events that indicate certain characters have a crush on your farmer. There’s also a marriage that happens once you make it into year three that puts a tiny change in the town where Rosie, who runs the restaurant is replaced by her sister. Some of these events have to do with little quests where just about all you have to do is go to a certain location when asked, others just occur. As I said before, the story’s all very simple, but it’s just fine like that. 

For the most part, necessary events will trigger when the time is right, but other things only happen if you’ve made good friends with everyone by talking on a regular basis and occasionally giving gifts. You’ll know if you’re on the right track when peoples’ dialogue changes, which happens a few times as you become closer. There’s apparently all kinds of little events in the game, but I failed to see a good number of them.

As usual, the easiest way to get on everyone's good sides and progress the story further is by doing well on your farm and either giving people the appropriate harvests as gifts or just upgrading things further. Despite all the changes to your farm layout, the actual things you have to do to work the land and care for animals are the same as ever. It’s pretty simple and quick to get good farming work done, and a decent amount of options afforded to you in terms of how you want to focus your energy– be it crops, animals, fishing, forage, or friendship, so it’s up to you how you want to get to the finish line. While you’re not told the requirements very clearly, the game is pretty low-stakes and just wants you to take your time and enjoy the three whole years it expects you to play.

How I ruined the game for myself

So of course, without a clear goal given to me, I had to look up the endings as soon as possible. Which brings me to my problem with this game: the requirements it has for the best ending are completely absurd. Well, to be accurate, one of the requirements is completely absurd. The best ending in the game requires 70 or more Happiness Points, having 10,000 G or more, have at least 3 of each animal (cow, sheep, and chicken), find 10 Power Berries, and have the third home expansion built, which are all extremely reasonable to do. So reasonable in fact that I handily managed all of those things before the end of year two out of three. The final, problematic requirement is to ship 10,000 or more items. This is a ridiculous amount of items. This is a “fill your entire field to the brim and never let it run empty” amount of items. I knew this from the second I saw it, but… well, it’s three years of gameplay right? And you aren’t told this is what you need anywhere within the game that I saw, so surely the developers thought this would be a reasonable goal for people, right? I had to give it a try, right?

Saying this from the future where I succeeded, I wish I didn’t try at all. I spent the full three years of this game constantly on the grind, filling my fields as completely as I could, and panicking to rush everything to the shipping bin before 5PM hit so I would have more empty land to plant more crops that I would water in the dark of night before going to bed and doing it again. Fun fact, this game doesn’t make you reset until 6AM the next morning and without any real repercussions. I only found this out because I’d stay out all night weeding and watering. There was very little time left to talk to the people in town after that. I did manage to get them all up to their maximum friendships pretty early on, before I had the means to constantly be churning out veggies, so I had every opportunity to catch their events, I just missed them because every day, no matter the season, I was farming.

The funny thing is, I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy playing the games this way. That is still true, and I very well could have enjoyed my time much more if it weren’t for the damned horse and its awful AI. See, there may be four inventory slots for tools, but there are none for items. Every individual one has to be plucked and carried to the shipping bin, same as SNES, same as GB1. The saving grace in those two games, and technically this one as well, is that around winter-ish of your first year, a horse will appear on your farm, and when it grows up in a couple seasons, it either already has or you can buy for it a saddle bag which functions as a mobile shipping bin. All you have to do is ride your horse out to where you’re harvesting and while it wanders a bit, it stays put well enough for you to load it up with veggies as you run back and forth to harvest, which speeds up the process dramatically in the vast fields you have to work in these games.

This horse is not like those other horses. This horse will take off in a dead sprint with no warning in any direction it pleases. In my experience, this was usually in the worst possible direction that would put it the farthest away from me. And the timing of it was typically whenever I was about to throw something into the saddlebag. This aggravated the hell out of me not only because it was a huge waste of my limited time, not only because it wasted a ton of crops, but also because it was constant. Nothing I did, no positioning I tried was able to help keep the horse where I needed it, and this was how I was spending 80% of my time in this game, dealing with this horse. I could have been seeing fun events, I could have been peacefully farming at my own pace and leisure, even better this technique easily could have just worked out if the horse didn’t behave so erratically. 

But I can’t judge the game on the merit of all the time I spent with the horse alone because that was my own choice to do. The best ending may require 10,000 shipped items, but all it takes to avoid the worst ending is to have more than 10 Happiness Points, more than 2,000G, more than four Power Berries, expand my house, and ship 100 items. With three entire years of game, the only way you fail to achieve that is by basically not playing the game. The vast space between the requirements for the best ending and the worst ending is to get a normal ending that accomplishes exactly the same thing as the best ending does, only the cutscene is different and you get a trophy for the best one. The cutscene barely stands out as anything special, which led to me having no idea what ending I got until I discovered the trophy was a thing I had to search for in my house. That’s it, you still get to keep playing the game either way, not that there’s terribly much else to do regardless of which ending you get, since there’s no special post-ending content.

I’ll still judge it a little bit though

While it makes sense to use your workable area to its fullest extent, having it be a requirement for the good ending to use all of it to the best of your ability for the whole extent of the game is excessive to me, especially since by year 3 it becomes completely unnecessary to try to earn money. I already had everything I was working for, and the requirement being to ship more things rather than better things meant there was no reason to get anything other than what was cheap and quick. No reason to make my animals like me so they’d produce better stuff, no reason to use the maker machines even though they weren’t obtainable until it got to the point where money had no meaning. I hardly bothered with the hothouses because they were both so confusing about what I could plant in each, and so tedious both to unlock and to harvest things since I needed a special tool that would take up a precious inventory space, lest I have to run back and forth between the tool chest. The hothouse might have been more useful if there weren’t winter crops, but there were.

What’s wild about my criticisms is that the game itself has something built in to mitigate everything that I struggled with. There is a tool called the miracle glove that automatically ships your crops the moment that they are harvested. But the only way to get it is via a link connection to a friend’s copy of the game– something near impossible in this day and age because you’d need to somehow find two working copies of this game with two functional GameBoys, and completely impossible if you’re using the magic of the 3DS eShop which doesn’t exist anymore and didn’t have functional multiplayer for most games anyways. That item alone would have solved the biggest problem I had in playing this game, and it was functionally DLC.

Closing thoughts

It took me a really long time to try and get to this review, and I’ve beaten two more games since, which has given me a new perspective. My original nugget for this one was going to focus on how much I hated the horse the whole way through and on how disappointed I was that the game was so hard for such little reward, but I’ve since realized that playing in a way that was no fun for me was my own choice. At any point I could have scaled things down and reprioritized to focus on the details of the game that are more fun like seeing events, but I just clung to that damn horse for 50 hours instead– which by the way, is longer than it’s taken me to beat any other game in this series so far that I’ve recorded my playtime for. The average sits around 25 hours.

If you don’t play like I did, it’s actually a really neat game!It’s not dissimilar to a scaled-down version of 64, with the way it focuses a little more on events and adds features to make the world feel just a touch more alive like the bug and fish collections. It’s not as deep or detailed as 64, but you still get to experience something of a sweet little story with a small set of characters in a game that feels very smooth and fun to play.On the bright side, even with the struggle I went through trying to get the perfect score, it was still a better game than GB1. It says a lot that I’ve found it more appropriate to compare it to  64, a fantastic game, rather than its actual predecessor.

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! January 15 - January 21, 2024

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

Remaster: Yuki - by darkryuu; WIP, 2/15, 18k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M Fandom: DS Cute Relationship: Pony | Aya | Jill/Skye | Steiner; Characters: Pony | Aya | Jill, Skye | Steiner Summary: Sequel to Remaster: Step Toward the Future: Kaede ("Pony"/Jill) is caught in a situation where she may be the only hope of peace and freedom for a certain Prince of the Stars.

Your Eyes - by SymphonicFantasia; Complete, 1/1, 1.2k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: M/M Fandoms: Story of Seasons (2014) Characters: Nadi, Johnny/Ibuki, Male Farmer Additional Tags: Romance, Fluff, Established Relationship, Friend Fiction, Sick Character, made up story, Hurt/Comfort, Not Really Character Death Summary: No one else could do this to him. They looked right through him and into his soul. They knew him and he knew they did. How could he not fall in love with them?

Stormy Night - by SymphonicFantasia; Complete, 1/1, 1.0k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: Gen Fandoms: Hero of Leaf Valley, Save the Homeland Relationship: Dia & Gina; Characters: Dia, Gina Additional Tags: Thunderstorms, Storms, Platonic Relationships, Divorced parents, Fear, Tenderness, Fluff and Angst, Angst, Best Friends, Friendship, Female Friendship, Drabble Summary: Storms reminded her of when she was a child and when her parents were still together. She was scared of them then, and she was scared of them now.

Frater Sororque Semper - by SymphonicFantasia; WIP, 6/7, 20k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandoms: Story of Seasons (2014) Characters: Iris, Mistel Additional Tags: Family, Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Family Feels, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Grief/Mourning, Character Study, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Platonic Relationships, Emotional Manipulation, Gaslighting Summary: Always brother and sister. Losing your parents at a young age is hard. Living with caretakers who seem bothered by your existence is even harder. It gets easier if you have someone by your side; someone who cares about you more than anything in the world. Iris and Mistel only have each other to keep themselves company as their caretakers take them through life.

Best friend's brother - by Trans_Nerd; WIP, 2/?, 6.5k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: M/M Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Kai/Rick; Characters: Kai, Rick, Popuri, Lillia the Shopkeeper Additional Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Trans Male Character, Fluff, Smut, Angst, Vaginal Sex, First Time Summary: Rick/Kai enemies to friends with benefits to lovers speedrun

The Shy Newcomer - by durotos; WIP, 128/?, 615k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Categories: F/M, Multi Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Cliff; Characters: Claire, Cliff, Gray, Karen Additional Tags: Slice of Life, Romance, Coming of Age, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, very slow burn, PROBABLY THE SLOWEST BURN EVER, Multiple Pairings, Mental Illness, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism Summary: Claire, aching for something new in life, moves to Mineral Town and realizes at once that she has left everything she has ever known. At heart, a story about a young woman discovering that there is more to life if she just looks around her. A story of true love, friendship, hard work, and being part of something bigger than yourself.

Why did Sara have to die? - by Anonymous; Complete, 1/1, 1.5k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Major Character Death; Category: Gen Fandom: GBC2 Relationship: Sara & Bill; Characters: Sara, Bill, Daisy, Will, Mayor, Doctor, Nancy Additional Tags: Pining, Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Bill/Sara is hinted but nothing big, Death by bear mauling Summary: Sara's death felt so stupid, unnecessary and avoidable, so why did she have to die? Was there a reason for it? It didn't matter anymore. There was no way anyone could change anything now. Yes, Bill and Will did try to build a time machine a few years ago, but there was no way it would ever work. They already gave up, if not, even forgot about it.

[durotoswrites]

Bill/Sara (HMGB2) For the ship game please?

Thank you very much for your patience on this one.  I rewatched some of the cutscenes in the game and read some of the official comics, since it’s been a while since I played the GBC games.  Bill was always one of my favorite villagers, and I think him and Sara together are pretty cute.

 Bill x Sara

SEND ME A SHIP and I’ll tell you:

Who said “I love you” first

Sara - I always imagine her as pretty outgoing, and she’s written that way in the comics.  Bill seems a little shy, but I think Sara would have some idea of how he feels about her before confessing her love.

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background

Bill.  As a guy who is into technology, I can picture him looking at the phone wallpaper often.  I imagine it being a playful, cute picture, maybe one taken during the snowball fight in the game.

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror

Bill, who would then prompt Sara into doing the same thing.  Their notes would get longer and more complicated as their relationship progresses.

Who buys the other cheesy gifts

Both - Sara would literally give cheese, and Bill might add some custom parts to her cheese maker, hehe.  But I think that they would both give matching sweaters or scarves - the image is really cute to me. ^-^

Who initiated the first kiss

Sara can be a bit impulsive, making hasty decisions in farming. Bill strikes me as the more levelheaded of the twins, and I feel like he thinks things through a little more than Will does.  As for the kiss, I like to think Sara decided to just go for it as Bill finally decided to give her a smooch and they ended up colliding.  Thankfully there were no injuries or casualties, but they had to give that first kiss a second try, haha.

Who kisses the other awake in the morning

Sara, as she is the first one to wake.  I headcanon that Bill has a tendency to stay up late looking at blueprints and working on his projects and he’s so groggy when she kisses him in the morning that it takes him a moment to realize she’s done it.

Who starts tickle fights

Bill - he was quick to throw a snowball at Sara’s face, so I think that he’d show that playful side of him more often if they were in a relationship.

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower

Sara might cheekily ask Bill who is nervous but thrilled, and his attitude leaves her flustered.

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch

Sara would be the one who brings lunches.  Bill would have a tendency to get wrapped up in his inventions and forget to eat otherwise.

Who was nervous and shy on the first date

I think Bill would be more nervous and shy and Sara being the one to ask him out first.  He might be a little unsure of how he should act and might be a little clumsy, but Sara finds it endearing.

Who kills/takes out the spiders

I’d imagine Sara hates spiders and Bill has invented something to carry them outside safely. 

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk Bill.  He’s a bit quieter of the two, but if he’s had a little to drink I can imagine him going on about his sweetheart, and perhaps even being a bit of a flirt.

Thank you so much for the ask!  Again, I appreciate your patience.  I hope that you have an awesome day! <3

[beck-a-leck]

A last part of the Bill x Sara Fanfic with Drabble prompt 75 (and a happy ending?) Please?

Sorry for the delay responding, Nonny, it's been a few busy weeks for me. But I hope this is the happy ending wrap up you were hoping for!

We pick up right where the last installment ended, with the boys fighting. This time Will and Sara get to have a conversations.

I hope you like it!

💜💜💜

Will didn’t speak to Bill for weeks. Not since he’d stormed out of the shop when he’d found out his older brother and the girl of his dreams had been seeing each other behind his back for half a year. Will could barely even stand to spend ten seconds in the same room as Bill. He stopped helping at the shop, leaving it all to Bill. He didn’t eat there. He barely even slept there anymore.

Did it suck? Yeah. Will had to admit he kind of missed his brother, and he hated feeling so uprooted in his own home. But now there was no sense in keeping their relationship secret to spare Will’s feelings, Bill and Sara had started openly dating. Everybody in town knew they were in a relationship, and everybody thought it was the sweetest thing they ever laid eyes on.

It was all anybody ever talked about. And every time someone asked Will about how his brother and Sara were going, the green haired brother saw red, and his blood boiled.

There were some sympathetic parties in town, Will’s friends who knew about his feelings for Sara, and other folks perceptive enough to pick up on the young man’s broken heart. They commiserated with Will and gave him places to lurk when the weather wasn’t good enough for him to retreat into the mountains. But even their patience ran out when Will’s cold shoulder treatment lasted more than a week or two.

Still, it wasn’t their place to try and mend things between the feuding brothers. They would have to figure things out themselves. But there was gossip around the town about Will moving out of the tool shop, or possibly leaving the village for good.

Will hadn’t considered either of those options. Not seriously.

He knew eventually he would have to break his silence and talk to Bill again. Things could go back to something like normal. He hated feeling so isolated from two of his favorite people, and as loathe as he was to admit it, it was partially his fault that he felt that way.

Bill had been right, he didn’t steal Sara from Will, she chose his older brother, the guy who wasn’t so shy he couldn’t even deliver a simple piece of cake.

Will had his chance to get Sara to notice him; Bill had argued with him for a good twenty minutes last Thanksgiving that his shy younger brother should deliver his own gift to Sara if he ever wanted her to notice him. But eventually Will had worn down his brother, and Bill, with a fond, but exasperated smiled, finally relented.

And now, in retrospect, it just made Will feel stupid, which also made him less inclined to talk to Bill again, because then he’d have to apologize and admit he was wrong, and – ugh!

Will sighed and then swore sharply, kicking a stone over the edge of the overlook. He heard it clatter once or twice before it fell too far away to be heard. Heaving a frustrated sigh, Will leaned against the fence. He wondered how many rocks he’s kicked and thrown over the mountain’s edge over the last few weeks while he had been brooding and moping up here. He was lucky he hadn’t caused a rockslide or something, considering sometimes all it took was one little stone hitting the wrong place to send half the mountainside shifting.

Then again, there hadn’t been a real rockslide in over ten years, so everything was probably fine.

Will heard footsteps crunching in the dirt and gravel, approaching him, but he didn’t turn or acknowledge the interloper until they leaned up against the fence beside him.

“Mind if I join you?”

Will peeked at Sara from the corner of his eye and shrugged.

Sara frowned. “Still not talking to me then, huh? That’s fair. I was hoping, well… it’s been long enough, maybe we could talk. We miss you, y’know, though Bill won’t admit it. But if you don’t want to talk, I’ll go.” She pushed off the fence and stepped away.

“Wait.”

Sara stopped. Will turned to face her. Hope gleamed in her eyes, but her face remained cautious.

“I… well… I’ve been a jerk. I’m sorry.”

Sara smiled uncomfortably. “Well, we did lie to you for quite a long time. We hurt you. I can’t hold it against you.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been pouting for at least a week longer than I need to.” Will rubbed at the back of his head. “I shouldn’t have given you the silent treatment for so long. I was being immature.”

“Well… let’s both agree we did things poorly and call it even?” Sara offered her hand.

Will shook her hand. “Sounds fair.” His hand dropped awkwardly to his side.

“Now you just need to talk to your brother.”

“Yeah,” Will sighed, “Probably should do that sooner rather than later.”

With a wry smile, Sara advised, “Putting difficult conversations off for too long is what got us all into this mess in the first place.” After a pause she continued. “I’m cooking dinner tonight, my place. If you and Bill hash things out, why don’t you join us. We’ll have our first family dinner all together.”

“Y-yeah, sure. That sounds nice.”

Sara’s smile brightened. “Great! Then I better get cooking. Be there by six!”

She turned once more to go and Will found him calling after her again, “Sara, wait!” He didn’t know where he’d found the boldness to ask what he wanted, but he realized this would probably be his only chance to ask it so he swallowed his nerves and asked, “Do you think there ever could have been something between us?”

Sara’s face fell minutely as she though it over. “Oh Will… I don’t know, maybe?” She shrugged unhelpfully. “Maybe we could have dated, but I can’t imagine it could have lasted longer than a month or two. You’re sweet but… I can’t see us being anything other than very good friends.”

Will’s face burned. He didn’t know what he expected as an answer. He already knew Sara didn’t like him in the same way he liked her. It wasn’t like him asking her would sway her to his side and have he confessing she was desperately in love with him. Hearing it from her, though, was so much worse, and – he realized deep down – kind of healing to have her words.

Sara offered one last warm word, “There’s someone out there for you, Will. One day you’ll meet a great girl who makes your whole world bright, and she’ll feel the same about you. Who knows, maybe you already know her. Don’t forget: talk to Bill, dinner at six. See you later.”

[One Year Later]

Sara was surprised when Bill arrived for their weekly family dinner alone. “No Will tonight?” she pecked him on the lips.

Bill kissed her back, a little more tenderly than a quick peck. “He’ll be along. He’s picking up his girlfriend.”

Sara raised her eyebrows. “A girlfriend? Who?”

“No, no, he gets to introduce you.” Bill laughed and moved over to the china cabinet to get another place setting. “He told me specifically he wanted to make the announcement.”

Sara, feeling nosy, peeked out the front window. “I see them coming up the road. Oh, it looks like she’s brough something, that’s sweet of her… wait…” They were close enough that Sara definitely recognized the young woman walking next to Will. The two of them were deep in conversation, their cheeks were flushed, and Will laughed at something his girlfriend said. “Is that Chocola?”

[mrslittletall]

Let's rate all Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons summer themes! Why? Because it's summer at my half of the globe! SNES - I never really liked this theme. Too busy, too energetic, too repetiteve. It is fine enough to listen too though, but it was never one of my favs. GB/GBC - It's the same melody as SNES, but with the Game Boy sound font. For some reason, it actually sounds BETTER like that. Yeah, I prefer the GBC one to the SNES one. 64 - Hmm... I am torn on that theme. Similar to the SNES theme, it feels too busy for me and the first few notes are a bit grating, but the melody is pretty catchy and entraps you to hum along. Also, the quieter part of the theme sounds pretty good. Yeah, it's pretty solid ^^ If only the loud entry wouldn't be. GBC2 - YIKES! That was my reaction when it started, but it gets gradually better and turns into a pretty enjoyable little melody, sounds very much like summer. BTN - Aaah, now we are talking! This song is just FUN! It lets you think about a fun summer day on the beach. The melody starts a bit frantic and then gets calmer for the second verse, and you just want to wave your body along the melody and eat ice cream. It's a bit short though... GBC3 - Like pretty much every entry for this game, the music is pretty yikes. It just... isn't very good. It isn't an ear grater, but also not very enjoyable to listen to. AWL - While AWL lacks a summer theme on its own, because you can only play disks in your house and on your farm, it uses a song from Save the Homeland and that one is remixed pretty well. FoMT - It's the same melody as BTN but in the GBA sound font. It sounds well enough, but it can't beat the PSX version of it! Yes, I am biased, I prefer BTN over FoMT, end me if you please. BTN was the better game and I wished SoS FoMT would have been more BTN and less FoMT. MM - My husband goes around and hums this theme when I play Magic Melody ^^ And I get why, it's an earworm! It has this absolute summer feel, similar to BtN, from a summer day at the beach you want to spend with ice cream. It has such a tropical feel and once the main melody sets in, you can't help but hum along the music. I especially love the key change at around 1.17 ^^

StH Farm Theme - Ah, it's the theme got used in AWL, but this version is SO MUCH BETTER. I love the charming little melody, the guitar melody in the background, how the melody slowly splashes along and then turns into a flute to just tell you that you are on the countryside and sit leaned against the fence on your farm while there are 30 C and you are completely fine with it. StH Town Theme - Ah, this theme is a lot more energetic and quick. While it kinda remixes the farm theme (every StH theme does that), it doesn't carry quite the same nostalgia as the farm theme. The part that starts at 0.43 is super rad though and I love this bit. DS - I never have been a fan of this summer theme. It just feels like it starts and never ends. It just goes on and on and on and ugh... it annoys me kind of. At least you can switch the music in HM DS. IoH - This game kinda manages to nail all its themes, it is such a charming little song that makes me think of a summer breeze, but it's sadly, like every IoH song far too short. HoLV - Aw, what a charming little song ^^ The bassline melody and the main melody really contemplate each other and unite into a song that sounds like you want to let your feet doused by the river on a hot summer day.

ToT Day Theme - ToT goes a very different route with it's summer theme. It's a downright relaxing song. It is a joy to listen to, for it gives you the feeling that you are allowed to slow down and do your chores in your own pace. I really like the key change in this one. Sadly, the song falls short. ToT Night Theme - It's the same melody as the day theme, but... it sounds a bit haunted in my opinion ^^' ToT's night themes all have this problem. The key change though is really good here, make it sound like a warm summer night under the stars. SI - Hmmm... it's ok to listen to, I guess, but I don't actually feel a lot when I listen to this theme. It doesn't have a very summery feel for me and actually feels a bit chaotic. AP Day Theme - I LOVE THIS THEME! Ok, I say it, that is downright my favourite summer theme in the whole series! It starts with such joyful piano notes and then the piano takes a back seat with the same three notes that goes up and down while the main melody kicks in and just tells you that this is a summer day and you will enjoy it and you will have fun doing your chores and then sit at the beach that is right in front of your farm or share a cold drink with your sweet heart. My husband also can't stop humming this theme whenever I play AP, that shows how much of an earworm it is ^^ AP Night Theme - The melody is the same one as the day theme, but played more slowly and more relaxing. While I prefer the day theme, this one is super solid as well and a joy to listen too, especially the bassline of this song. GB - Ah, a fun little theme ^^ It is very fitting for the world of the game which seems to be set in the netherlands. I like listening to it, it is a song that you want to sway to.

ToTT - I hear the first few notes of this and instantly know that is summer, that is how much this summer theme got ingrained into my mind. It is one of the more relaxing themes though and there isn't much indication that it is a summer theme actually, so while it works very well as song, it isn't the greatest summer theme. ANB - Is it the 3DS game with the best music in the series?! It is! And ANB doesn't disappoint, the summer theme SLAPS! It is a joyful little song which runs at a quick pace and lets you feel like it is summer and you want to go to the mountains and sweat while you climb out and then go for a swim in the river on your way back up. The key change at 0.53 is just GREAT and it gets me every little time I play the game. TLV Day Theme - Aw, I always liked this little theme, it is a very relaxing theme and it fits the valley that is your playground in this theme. I just liked to terraform while this relaxing music played. TLV Night Theme - Um, are we at a jazz bar? Because that legit sounds like a theme that would play at night in a jazz bar, where you sit with your drink and just chill while you look at the jazz band performing. SoS Day Theme - SoS is special, because in that game you actually CAN SWIM IN THE RIVER, so I really like that the summer theme is so enjoyable to listen to, because you can actually cool off in this game ^^ Go swim and dive while this little theme plays, mostly played with plucking instruments. SoS Night Theme - Oh, this one starts a bit slow, but gets really nice to listen to once it hits the first 30 seconds. A very relaxing song, another one that makes me want to douse my feet in water and look at the starts while I stay on the countryside. SV Day Theme - I kinda always liked this tune. It is a fun little tune that feels like summer and has a nice melody to it, but that is pretty much all I have to say about it. SV Night Theme - Ah, we are back at the jazz bar ^^ The quiet piano melody is very jazzy and yeah, that is all I can say about it. SoS 3oT - It's a nice melody and enjoyable listening to it, but I don't really feel summer with this theme, so I am a bit torn on it. I think I prefer the fall and winter themes in this game. It's really nice to listen to though like I said, so I don't mind that it plays for 31 ingame days straight. LoH Day Theme - A nice song that totally sounds like summer to me, but like the rest of LoH's music, it just kinda... splashes along and nothing really happens. LoH Night Theme - Hmmm... it really isn't anything happening in this theme. It is more a melody so that it isn't quiet. SoS FoMT Weekday Theme - It's the tune of BtN but remixed.. and... in a good way actually! This song SLAPS! I really like what they do to my summer time beach fun song. SoS FoMT Weekend Theme - God, I LOVE this song! For some reason, SoS FoMT added a remix of the seasonal songs for the weekends and festival days and this one is such a banger, I can't help but bop to it, it's so good! It just sounds so much like summer and you just want to run around and dance to it while you enjoy your day off at the beach. Doraemon SoS Day Theme - What a cute little song ^^ It is on the more relaxing side, but it clearly has a summery feel to me. The video shows Nobita napping on the beach and well, isn't that a mood for this song ^^ Doraemon SoS Night Theme - Nobita still naps in the video and well, the music turned into his lullaby I guess ^^ It is mainly a guitar solo that is played slowly and very quietly, very very relaxing. I think I am falling asleep as well... OW - Sadly no one uploaded this music... which is a shame, because it is really good and the song gets remixed depending in which country you are. I really dislike how much hate this game got, because it is actually a solid entry and has some of the best music in the franchise. PoOT Weekday theme - I HATE THIS THEME! It isn't because the melody is bad, it's that DAMN TRUMPET! Why is the trumpet player playing it so... crazy? Why are so many notes sounding off key? The song would slap if the

trumpet wouldn't be there! I love every part of it, but then the trumpet ruins my day. Ugh! UGH! I legit had to switch the music off at first while playing until I got used to this horrible horrible trumpet. PoOT Weekend theme - Oh thank GOD! This theme is without the horrible trumpet. I prefer the holidays in PoOT summer a LOT because the song is actually enjoyable to listen to and it sounds very much like summer as well.

[bitter-black-beans]

There's actually quite a few. For example, there's a priest(no name as far as I know) in the original SNES game:

HM 64 has Brown (he always makes me think of Father Brown form the TV series with the same name lol):

Then there's Cain from GBC2:

Then there's Chester(his design is the most fun one imo) from HoLV:

Plus Nathan(from the Island games and Two Towns) and Perry(from ToT and AP) who were previously mentioned.

I think the Elder from GBC3 also sort of was a priest? I don't quite remember since I haven't played that game in forever.

HELP is there a priest in this series that isnt carter mineraltown

[sihasbimasakecil-blog]

A Photo Entitled Moon Viewing And Snowball Fight

[vaughnislands-blog]

Harvest Moon 2 Fun with Mary :P

[stemmmm]

so close to beating hm back to nature that its killing me (3 full season remaining and nothing to do but get 1 (one) single cutscene that won't trigger for some god forsaken reason)

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! Week of July 18 - July 24, 2022

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for the Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons fandom on AO3

Rikki - by MuffinsInSummer; Complete, 1/1, <1k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: M/M Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Pete the Farmer/Rick; Characters: Rick, Popuri, Gray, Lillia the Shopkeeper, Pete | Jack, Jennifer Additional Tags: Trans Female Character, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, Gay Male Character, Bisexual Male Character, The Author Regrets Nothing, Rarepair, Mentions of Sex, Mild Language, No Smut, No Plot/Plotless, Fluff without Plot, Random & Short, Short & Sweet, Healthy Relationships, Drabble, Wordcount: 100-500 Summary: Going through some old albums Pete gets an idea on how to please his workaholic husband.

For Science - by sanguinessinner; Complete, 1/1, 2.1k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: M/M Fandoms: Harvest Moon DS Relationship: Carter the Archaeologist/Original Male Character(s); Characters: Carter the Archeologist, Original Male Character(s) Additional Tags: First Time Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs, Self-Discovery, Gay Sex, Original Character(s), Confessions Summary: The scientific method is the process of objectively establishing facts through testing and experimentation, and the Valley’s archeologist has one hell of an experiment.

Our Story of Seasons: Pete x Claire - by Ry2_Sinheart; WIP, 2/?, 3.7k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: F/M, Gen Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationships: Claire the Farmer & Pete | Jack, Claire the Farmer/Pete | Jack; Characters: Pete | Jack, Claire Additional Tags: Romance, Slow Burn, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Slice of Life, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Developing Relationship, Strangers to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories Summary: A story that revolves around the protagonists of Mineral Town. After a series of unfortunate events, Pete and Claire agree they'll have to raise the farm together, whether they like it or not. Through their farming-ventures, they realize that maybe farming together... isn't so bad. Based on the game "Story of Season: Friends of Mineral Town." Adapted from "The Story of Pete and Claire: A Harvest Moon Fan Fiction" by hmnoob.

Sugar and Spice - by Chibimiie; WIP, 40/?, 96k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Animal Parade Relationships: Chase/Molly the Farmer, Angela/Luke; Characters: Molly | Hikari, Angela the Farmer, Chase, Luke, Kasey the Farmer Additional Tags: Slow Burn, oh god how do you tag fics, mentions of eating disorders, alternating povs, Friends to Lovers, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, bumped up the rating because i honestly should have a little bit ago Summary: Wanting to get away from past hurts of the city, sisters Molly and Angela decide to respond to a flyer advertising an abandoned farm on the faraway island of Castanet. Leaving behind their closest friends and brother Kasey, the two take a chance and move to the tiny island hoping for a new chance at life.

Under the Name - by ModernTsunami; WIP, 8/63. 73k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Major Character Death; Category: F/M Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationships: Elli/Doctor Trent | Torre, Elli | Elly & Stu | Yu, Elli | Elly & Old Ellen; Characters: Doctor | Trent, Elli | Elly, Old Ellen, Stu | Yu Additional Tags: Character Development, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Co-workers, Roommates, Grief/Mourning, Smoking, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Strangers to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Medical, Implied Sexual Content, Illness, Injury Summary: When Trent accepted the offer to run a rural health clinic, he didn't realize he was taking on the part of small-town doctor and neighbor. The dual relationships he develops with the residents of Mineral Town begin to shape his ideas of who he is and who he wants to be. But growing closer to others always runs the risk of clouding one's judgment. While small-town life is nothing new to Elli, being caretaker to her younger brother and homebound grandmother is. There’s nothing she wants more than the confidence that what she’s doing for them is right, but as she strives to fulfill her growing obligations to her family, she finds it harder to hold on to what she wants for herself. Together they work in the clinic and learn the difference between what you do and who you are.

Seedlings and Sprouts - by TheBeckster; WIP, 28/?, 22k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: Gen, Multi Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, Story of Seasons (2014), Trio of Towns, The Tale of Two Towns, Harvest Moon 2 GBC, Animal Parade Relationships: Carter/Doctor | Trent, Claire the Farmer/Cliff, Fritz/Raeger, Gotz/Vesta, Female Farmer/Ludus, Holly/Hector, Female Farmer/Ford, Farmer/Hinata, Sara/Will, Sara/Bill, Gill/Angela, Perry/Molly, Rick/Elli, Perry & Gill, Claire/Doctor | Trent; Characters: Cliff, Claire, Doctor | Trent, Carter the Pastor, Fritz, Raeger, Gotz | Gotts, Georgia, Iluka, Hector, Holly, Ludus, Henry the Farmer | Haruto, Hinata, Ford, Sara, Will, Bill, Molly the Farmer, Perry, Rick, Elli | Elly Additional Tags: yes this collection includes a star wars crossover, Tumblr Prompt, prompt collection, kiss prompts, Fluff, Angst, Drama, oneshots, Ficlets Summary: A collection of tumblr prompts I've filled over the last couple years based on Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games. Every chapter is a different prompt. Should be posted in chronological order from oldest to newest. Prompt themes and ships will be included in the chapter titles.

[beck-a-leck]

Can you make a sequel for the Bill x Sara Fanfic you did a while ago with Number 2 from the 150 Drabble prompt?

Drabble Prompt #2 "How long have you been standing there?"

Oh, this one was fun to write! I decided to make it a bit dramatic, and a direct follow up to what happened in the smooch prompt.

Bill and Will have a lot to discuss after Will (who is crushing on Sara) walks in on his brother kissing her.

Thanks for the prompt, Nonny!

Enjoy!

💜💜💜

Bill knew there was going to be no easy way to explain away the semi-compromising position Will had just found him and Sara in, but he was going to try. He turned around as Will entered the shop, with his words dying on his lips.

“Oh… uh, hey Will. How long have you been standing there?”

What kind of question was that? Will literallyjust walked into the room!

Will’s brow furrowed at his older brother’s awkward tone of voice, his eyes darted between Bill and Sara, and as much as he wish there was some kind or reasonable explanation for why the girl of his dreams had her legs hooked around his brother’s hips, and their hair was all messed up, he didn’t think he would be so lucky.

“What’s uh… what’s going on here?”

Sara looked at Bill. “You said you were going to tell him.”

Bill grimaced, running a hand through his pink hair. “Um… look, Will, this wasn’t how I wanted you to find out, but… Sara and I are kind of dating?”

“Kind of?” Both Will and Sara said at the same time, though she said it with an air of sardonic amusement, and he said it like he’d been punched in the gut.

“Yeah… for a while now. I meant to tell you, but…” Bill trailed off with a helpless shrug.

Will gaped at him like a fish out of water. None of this made any sense! Sara was his dream girl! Bill knew how his brother felt about the farmer. He’d even helped Will get on her good side by delivering a Thanksgiving present last winter. His brother wouldn’t just… turn around and start seeing Sara behind his back, would he?

Except… well… clearly, he had done exactly that!

Sara bit her lip and slid off the counter. “I should go. You two need to talk. See you later.” She kissed Bill on the cheek and slipped out the shop’s front door.

When she was gone, Bill turned back to his little brother, sheepishly. “Say something, please. Let me know you haven’t suffered an aneurysm.”

Will gaped for a couple seconds longer at his brother while he searched for the right words to say. His scrambling brain settled on, “How could you!” He clenched his hands into fists to stop them from shaking. “How could you! You knew how I felt about Sara and you stole her from me!”

“First off,” Bill rose a finger, “Sara’s a grown woman, I didn’t steal her. She likes me, and I happen to like her back! And second, it’s not my fault you were too shy to even speak to her for monthsand couldn’t even work up the nerve to send her a present for Winter Thanksgiving. What did you think would happen?”

He was right, of course. And Will hated him for that. How could he ever hope to date a girl as cool as Sara when he could hardly talk to her unless it was for business purposes? Had he really doomed himself to a lifetime of loneliness because he was too shy?

“How long?”

“Since… uh… last winter.”

It was mid-summer! Had they really been sneaking around behind his back for half a year!?

“You mean… since Winter Thanksgiving? Since I… I asked you to give Sara my cake.” A horrible thought occurred to Will. “Did you even tell her it was from me?!”

“Of course I did!” Bill shot back, defensively. “You know I’d never take credit for something you did. And it was after Thanksgiving… closer to New Years.” Bill sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Look. It was my idea to not tell you. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, even if I knew you would be hurt even more finding out this way. I just…” he threw up his hands helplessly, “I don’t know, bro. I know you’re going to be mad at me, regardless, but don’t take it out on Sara too. She never wanted to keep us a secret.”

Fury and heartbreak and embarrassment and a dozen other emotions flooded through Will, leaving him feeling stranded in the middle of a hurricane. He couldn’t talk about this right now with his traitorous older brother. Anger made his eyes burn with tears. He needed time to think, time alone to sort through his feelings, time away from Bill and Sara and the shop and her farm. He stalked over to the shop counter and snatched up the camera he’d accidentally left there. Had he not forgotten it, he might never have found out about Bill and Sara, probably not until they were happily married if Bill could have had his way.

He spat an accusation as his older brother. “Were you actuallygoing to tell me about you and Sara? Were you ever going to?”

Bill took just a little too long to answer, long enough to formulate another lie.

Will scoffed. “That’s what I thought! Some brother you are.” He stormed to the shop door, wrenched it open, and slammed it closed behind him.

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! November 14 - November 20, 2022

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

Living in Color - by rockyroadster95; WIP, 6/?, 14k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: F/M, Gen Fandom: A Wonderful Life Summary: At her father's funeral, Aya was given an offer that would take her far from her stale and directionless life to a place she hoped would give her something to live for.

The Boys - by juggalombre; WIP, 7/?, 11k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: M/M, Multi Fandoms: Harvest Moon DS Characters: Original Male Character(s), Carter the Archeologist, Flora, Marlin | Mash Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Pining Summary: Jazz's life gets turned around with the help of some friends.

The Confession - by sanguinessinner; Complete, 1/1, 1k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Harvest Moon GBC2 Relationships: Chet/Sara, Chet & Sara; Characters: Cain the Priest, Chet, Sara Additional Tags: Infidelity, Cheating, Confessional, Riding, Blow Jobs, Public Sex, Masturbation Summary: An interesting confession makes its way to Cain's church.

[love-bokumono-fics]

Fresh Crops! June 6 - June 12, 2022

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

"and if you're ever tired of being known" - by vampire_bat_locked_in_a_portapotty; Complete, 1/1, 3.5k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/F Fandom: The Tale of Two Towns Relationship: Georgia/Laney; Characters: Georgia, Laney, Dakota (the horse), many other mentioned characters Additional Tags: Internalized Homophobia, Coming Out, lots of homebrew backstory and character exploration, is it set in our world or does taylor swift exist in harvest moon, You Decide, Fluff, kissing in a barn, there is one (1) use of the f slur (georgia uses it in reference to herself), hayloft by mother mother good ending????, shoutout to the one other person writing georgia/laney fics for ttott ur a real one, i also explore howard's character just for funsies, Song: dorothea (Taylor Swift), this isn't supposed to be a songfic but taylor swift fought her way into this fic TOOTH AND NAIL, no in-game knowledge needed, using my rural midwestern accent for good by incorporating it in fanfiction Summary: After weeks of overthinking, Georgia takes a leap of faith and comes out as bisexual to Laney. This gives way to a series of revelations concerning both of them.

The Wall Between Us - by Gamergirl100; WIP, 21/22, 23k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M Fandom: Trio of Towns Relationships: Female Farmer/Wayne, Lisette/Wayne; Characters: Wayne, Lisette, Ford, Female Farmer, Siluka, Ludus, Frank, Iluka, Brad, Carrie, Ethan Additional Tags: Adopted farmer - Freeform, Hurt, mailman, love interest, trio of towns, Guilt, relationships, Parents, Unrequited Crush, Break Up, friends - Freeform, Self-Denial, Denial of Feelings, Fanfiction Summary: It all started with a rejection. Scarlett can't seem to get over the loss of her best friend since she rejected his confession of love. Already dealing with her own self-worth and feelings while keeping up with daily life, things soon become difficult when a familiar face from the past comes back to haunt her. Wayne struggles to let go of the only girl he loved and move on with his current girlfriend. However, things never go the way he plans. His parents are across the world without him. Friends constantly concerned about his well-being. He wants change, yet she keeps pulling him back. Can they ever hope to rekindle their long-lost friendship, or will it become something more?

Amnesia - by the_thorned_rose; WIP, 2/?, 5.6k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M Fandoms: Trio of Towns Relationships: Female Farmer/Ford; Characters: Ford, Female Farmer Summary: On the outside looking in, Ford is living a charmed life. He is a successful doctor, living with his beautiful wife Iluka, and their son. But with the passage of time cracks in the relationship start to form leading to a messy divorce. What caused the relationship to crumble? And, can Ford find happiness with someone else? HollyXFord NanamiXFord

Lets Save The Harvest Goddess! - by TheCherryblade; WIP, 10/?, 24k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Fandoms: Tree of Tranquility Relationships: Angela the Farmer/Kasey the Farmer, Kevin the Farmer/Jin, Kasey the Farmer/Maya, Luke the Carpenter/Maddy; Characters: Kevin the Farmer, Angela the Farmer, Kasey the Farmer, Molly, Maddy (the OC), Harvest Moon Tree Of Tranquility Characters Additional Tags: Rating is subject to change, Starting a new life, mentions of depression, crussing, Slice of Life, i like harvest moon, and writing, i'll do my best, mention of past lose, mention of past love, these will come later probably, wet dreams Summary: Maddy has been brought to Waffle Island to start a new life, but is being plagued with strange dreams of a woman. While trying to save an Island that is now her home, she falls in love…how cliché is that?

LUST - by kopipuna; WIP, 8/?, 42k; Language: Bahasa Indonesia

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Gray; Characters: Claire, Gray, Duke, Doug | Dudley, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Gotz | Gotts, Zack, Brandon, Cliff, Saibara Additional Tags: Romance, Sex, Drama & Romance, Friends With Benefits, Psychological Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, Social Issues, Social drama Summary: Ada pendatang baru yang membeli kebun bobrok di sana. Sebuah keputusan paling bodoh dan ekstra tolol, menurut Gray, lelaki 24 tahun yang sudah mengidap kebosanan akut. Gray sendiri sudah mengidam ingin hengkang dari tempat ini, kota sialan ini, juga segala hidup monoton di dalamnya. Apa yang dipikirkan pendatang itu? Terserah apa yang dimaui si pendatang, Gray akan berusaha tidak peduli dan jauh-jauh saja darinya. Takut ketularan tolol. Namun Duke muncul dengan rencana paling sialan di dunia. Gara-gara rencana konyolnya, Gray jadi terjebak dalam situasi bersetubuh dengan perempuan yang dikata-katainya tolol. Bukan hanya sekali, tapi berkali-kali, mungkin sampai ratusan kali. Sialannya, tubuh pendatang ini enak sekali. Namun meski seenak apa pun mereka merasakan persetubuhan, hubungan mereka hanya boleh sebatas ini.

Seedlings and Sprouts - by TheBeckster; WIP, 25/?, 20k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: Gen, Multi Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, Story of Seasons (2014), Star Wars - All Media Types, Trio of Towns, The Tale of Two Towns, Harvest Moon 2 GBC, Animal Parade Relationships: Carter/Doctor | Trent, Claire the Farmer/Cliff, Fritz/Raeger, Gotz/Vesta, Female Farmer/Ludus, Holly/Hector, Female Farmer/Ford, Farmer/Hinata, Sara/Will, Sara/Bill, Gill/Angela, Perry/Molly; Characters: Cliff, Claire, Doctor | Trent, Carter the Pastor, Fritz, Raeger, Gotz | Gotts, Anakin Skywalker, Beru Whitesun, Owen Lars, Georgia, Iluka, Hector, Holly, Ludus, Henry the Farmer | Haruto, Hinata, Ford, Sara, Will, Bill, Molly the Farmer, Perry Additional Tags: yes this collection includes a star wars crossover, Tumblr Prompt, prompt collection, kiss prompts, Fluff, Angst, Drama Summary: A collection of tumblr prompts I've filled over the last couple years based on Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games. Every chapter is a different prompt. Should be posted in chronological order from oldest to newest. Prompt themes and ships will be included in the chapter titles.

[beck-a-leck]

sorry for requesting so much this is my last one i promise :( can you do the smooch prompt 22 with Bill and Sara?

one final Smooch Prompt for you Nonny!

like the last GBC2 prompt, I pretty much went with whatever for the characters since their wikis are a bit sparse and I haven't played the game.

I hope you enjoy Sara and Bill being a little sneaky behind Will's back. 😉

#22 A kiss that is leading to more but gets interrupted by a third party.

💋💋💋

Bill hid a frown as his brother sighed wistfully after the young farmer, who had just left their shop with a newly improved sickle in hand. His little brother had been crushing on Sara since she’d moved into town about a year ago, but he’d never worked up the courage to speak to her outside the shop. Will was certain his crush was one-sided, that Sara didn’t have feelings for him, that she probably barely even knew he existed.

Bill knew Will was half-right in his assumptions.

Sara knew Will existed at least.

But of the brothers, it was not the shy, green-haired boy who had gotten her attention, but his bolder, pink-haired older brother.

Bill felt a little bad. He hadn’t meant to steal his brother’s crush out from under him, but when Will had chickened out and sent his brother bearing a Thanksgiving gift to the farmer last winter, Bill had been the one to catch Sara’s eye and earn her affection.

They couldn’t keep their relationship a secret for forever, but Bill couldn’t think of a way to break the news to Will in a way that didn’t scream betrayal. The longer they waited, the worst things would be, but he still couldn’t think of a gentle way to break the news.

Will shouldered his backpack and waved to Bill on his way out the door. He was off the hike the mountains again. What he was searching for up there, or if he was really looking for anything, Bill didn’t know, but he was glad for this regular absence. It was very nice to have the shop to himself most afternoons.

“Be careful out there,” Bill waved his brother out the door and then busied himself around the shop.

Soon enough, the shop door opened, and the bell overhead tinkled. Bill smiled to himself, knowing who it was even without looking.

“Is he gone?” Sara asked quietly, pushing the door closed behind her and leaning against it.

Bill nodded and leaned across the counter. “He should he halfway up the mountain by now.” He heard the lock on the door click.

“Perfect.” Sara grinned, crossed the shop, and planted a kiss on Bill’s lips. “The weather’s gorgeous today, I bet we’ll get a couple hours to ourselves. Any idea what we should do?”

“Oh… I could think of a few things.” They kissed again, long and luxuriantly. When Bill pulled back, Sara followed until she was practically laying across the counter.

“Oh,” she said breathlessly, excited. “I think I know what you’d like to do. Sounds like a good plan to me.”

She hopped onto the counter, scattering the cup of pens and a few papers on the floor, but neither she nor Bill cared much about that. She swung her legs around and dangled them off the edge of the counter, hooked Bill around the hips and pulled him close.

She leaned in close for a kiss, but before they did, she said, “Don’t think I’m complaining or anything about our current arrangement, but you know what I would like to do one of these days?”

“What’s that?” Bill asked distractedly, peppering kisses along her wrist.

Sara caught him by the chin and gently directed him to look into her eyes. “Go on a real date. Go out to eat together, and maybe even be so scandalous as to hold hands in public.” She sighed softly and smiled sympathetically. “Look, I know telling your brother about us won’t be easy, but he needs to know.”

“I know,” Bill said, resting his forehead against hers. He drew in a fortifying breath. “I’ll tell him tonight. Deal?”

“Deal. Now…” Sara drew a finger slowly down Bill’s chest. “Where were we?”

“Doing something like this, I think.” Bill settled his hands on Sara’s waist and leaned in for a kiss.

She twined her arms around his neck and hooked her legs around his hips, pulling him close against her. Bill’s hands worked their way beneath Sara’s shirt. Sara twisted her fingers into his hair.

Suddenly, the shop door rattled. Someone was trying to get inside.

Startled, the two jumped apart and listened carefully.

There was not a follow up knock at the door, which told Bill exactly who it was. The back door opened just a few seconds later and Will was calling out, “Hey Bill, why’s the shop locked? Anyways, just came to grab my cameraaaaa…”

He trailed off as he came into the front room, spying Sara on the counter and Bill standing far too close for there to be any reasonable explanation. “What’s ah… what’s going on here?”

Sara gave Bill a significant look and simply said, “You did say you were going to tell him today.”

Bill sighed. Looks like both his and Will’s afternoon plans were going to be ruined.

[beck-a-leck]

If you still do the smooch prompt then 33 with any of the HMGB2 characters please?

Thank you for the Smooch Prompt!

I haven't played HMGBC2, so I'm not super familiar with the characters. But I took a quick look at the wiki and saw the Winter Thanksgiving festival where you get cake, and I thought that would be the perfect thing for this prompt!

So I hope you enjoy Will and Sara! and Smooch prompt #33: An unexpected kiss that shocks the one receiving it.

💋💋💋

Will was locked in an extremely intense staring contest with the cake sitting on the shop counter. He would lose eventually, the cake having no eyeballs or consciousness to even be aware of the staring contest, but lookingat the cake was significantly less nerve wracking than delivering it.

There was movement behind him. “You’re still here?” Bill stepped into his brother’s view. “Something wrong with the cake?”

“No. The cake’s perfect.” Rosie’s cakes were always perfect. “I just… I can’t do it!”

Bill sighed, exasperated, and rolled his eyes. “I am not delivering your cake for you again.”

“Pleaseeee?”

Bill crossed his arms and turned away from his brother. “Absolutely not. If you can’t gather the courage to tell Sara how you feel, then you don’t deserve her.”

“But what if she says ‘no’?”

“Then it wasn’t meant to be.” Bill would be sympathetic, but they’d had this conversation a dozen times over the past few days, and he was done being nice.

Quietly, Will asked. “And what if she says ‘yes’?”

“Then you’ll finally have a girlfriend. Why do you sound more terrified over Sara also liking you than her not?”

Will’s face went pink and he muttered something under his breath. Not wanting to endure any more teasing from his brother, he tugged on his jacket and headed for the door. “I’m not scared! I’ll show you.”

Bill smirked at his brother’s back as the door swung shut behind him. He counted under his breath. Three seconds later, Will was back, sheepishly picking up the cake he’d forgotten.

Will rehearsed what he was going to say the entire walk to the farm. He practiced a hundred opening lines, each one sounding worse than the last. Freshly fallen snow crunched under his boots – a storm had passed through just yesterday – but today the sun was shining and the air was even a little warm for winter. Sooner than he liked – he still hadn’t settled on what to say! – Will found himself at Sara’s front door.

He stood there for a long minute, his knuckles hovering just inches above the door. Maybe Sara wasn’t even home right now. It was a beautiful day, and she was a farmer. She was probably out working after the storm they’d just gone through. He could just leave the cake on the porch. She would know who it was from.

Oh, but Bill would never let Will hear the end of it if he chickened out and didn’t even knock. Will sucked in a breath and held it as he rapped his knuckles against Sara’s front door. A second later he heard footsteps approaching. Will let go of the breath he was holding just in time for the door to open, and Sara was there.

Her brown eyes sparkled, and she brushed her chestnut-colored bangs from her eyes. “Will, hi! What a surprise.”

Her smile was so warm and genuine. Will’s heart leapt into his throat and he instantly forgot every potential opening line he’s rehearsed on the walk up. “This is for you!” he thrust the cake box into Sara’s hands.

Momentarily flustered, Sara took the cake box. “Is this for the festival? Thank you!” Quick as a flash, Sara leaned in and pecked Will ever so gently on the cheek.

Fire bloomed on his face from the point of contact, and Will froze, caught in a mental loop of “Did she kiss me? DID SHE KISS ME? I need to do something. I need to say something! I’m just standing there like an idiot!”

Somehow, thank the Goddess, his voice box unfroze and he said, “Y-you’re welcome. It’s one of Rosie’s cakes.”

“Rosie's are the best,” Sara hummed, seemingly unaware of the turmoil her little kiss had triggered in Will’s brain. She opened the box a little and peeked in. “Oh, strawberry cake is my favorite!”

“M-mine too.”

“Really?” Sara’s eyes sparkled, as they met Will’s. She bit her lip and then said, “I just put on the kettle. Would you like to come in and have a slice and a cup of tea?” She stepped aside in the doorway, inviting Will in.

Fighting the urge to shout and cheer and do a victory dance, Will smiled and stepped in. “I’d love that.”

[mrslittletall]

And now because I have nothing better to do, I am going to rate all the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons winter themes:

SNES -> Very melancholy and gloomy. It makes absolute sense for the theme to be like this, because the season in game is very harsh and you can run out of money or food for your livestock quickly.

GBC -> It is pretty much the same as in SNES, but on the Gameboy sound font. The melody is fine, I guess, but we have to admit, Game Boy music is VERY grating to listen to, so yikes.

64 -> It legits sounds like a remix of the SNES winter theme. It has some of this “shing shing” sounds winter music is so fond of, which makes it a little more cheery, but it is overall still a pretty melancholy song that makes you think of a harsh winter.

GBC2 -> Like GBC, suffers from the Game Boy sound font, but the tune is generally nice and it sounds a bit like a christmas jingle. Certainly makes me think of winter. 

BTN -> The first Youtube comment went “Funeral music for my crops” and that is literally how the song sounds like! BTN’s winter theme is EXTREMELY slow, sad and melancholic, consisting of pretty much only string instruments.

GBC3 -> Sadly I can’t find a video that points out which one is the winter theme. But listening to the overall OST, it must be pretty terrible. 

AWL -> While this game lacks traditional season songs, one of the records is called “Quiet Winter”. This one will fit. It is a very soothing and relaxing song, I actually enjoy listening to it a lot. I want to sway to it while watering my crops.

FomT -> It is the same as the BTN song, but with the GBA sound font. It actually makes it sound even MORE melancholic. 

STH -> The song is very slow and melancholic, but for some reason, it doesn’t really gets stuck in the ear. Which is a shame, because STH OST normally is amazing. The winter theme is an expection.

However, there is a different winter theme, the one for the town! Different to the farm theme, the town theme is cheerful and almost christmassy, using the “shing shing shing” again in the background. 

MM -> A cheerful winter tune. It is fun to listen to, but I must admit, the instruments feel a bit chaotic, the song doesn’t have much coherence, so I don’t really know what to expect from it. It feels like several songs got played over each other.

HoLV -> Wha?! Isn’t that the Kakariko theme from Ocarina of Time?! The song really sounds like this from the background tunes ^^ It turns into an original song soon enough though and it is a good one, it is relaxing, feels like it might snow, but overall is one of the more cheery winter tunes. It has a pretty cool key change in the middle.

DS -> A very wintery theme, but one that doesn’t sound christmassy. Kinda mixes the melancholy with the joyful part and makes it a pretty solid song, but the background tune is a bit too repetitive.

ToT -> It starts pretty calm and relaxing, certainly makes you think of winter, then has a key change with a very charming melody before repeating. The song is very coherent and sounds like winter. A good song.

The song also has a night theme, but this one sounds downright haunted. Woah!

IoH -> Now THAT’S a cheery tune! It screams winter joy and a fun snow day to me. The only downside is that it is really short. 

AP -> It starts out almost gloomy before changing into a major key sounding song that just screams winter and star gazing time at me. The beginning notes are a trap, this song wants to slap, but it wants to let you think that it goes the melancholy route first. In a sense, it has a bit of melancholy into it even.

The night version of this song uses the same melody as the day theme, but with different instruments. Let me just say, they are equally AMAZING. I know why I think that AP has one of the best HM OSTs of all times. 

SI -> I have mixed thoughts on this one... as a winter theme, it is alright I guess, but like with MM, it is kind of not coherent? It also has this strange howling wind sounds in the background, which take away from the song imo.

GB -> This one literally starts out with the “shing shing shing”, makes you think winter right away. The main melody is cheerful, though played with a low sounding instrument, but adds some bells or whatever, making the song more cheerful again. It then has a key change and turns into something greater. 

ToTT -> What?! That is a winter theme? It sounds very very different, there is barely any winter to hear in there. Disappointing, because ToTT generally has a pretty solid OST. 

ANB -> This must be one of the BEST winter themes in the entire series. It starts with a really solid opening and then the main melody kicks in, which just screams “christmas” or “fun snow day” to me. I want to sway to it once the second part of the song begins. The melody rises more and more until it culminates into a slower pace only to do a perfect repeat. It is a pure joy to listen to. 

TLV -> While a solid song, that theme suffers from a BIG problem. The first ingame year you are pretty much stuck in winter, so you have to listen to this theme for almost an ENTIRE year. While the theme sounds pretty magical and wintery, I can’t like it anymore after having been forced to listen to it for far too long.

The night version is a little better, but still a bit grating because of the problem described up there.

SoS -> This winter theme is something special. It follows a certain event and it actually sounds like it accompanies this event and the sadness and melancholy of our farmer while they grieve. This theme sounds more like it could be a character theme instead of a seasonal theme, because it certainly tells a story. The slow and staccated melody played throughout the theme just cements this even more.

SV -> I can only find one winter theme for this game and I think it might be the night theme. It is a very slow theme, but also kind of nice.

3oT -> Similar to ANB, this is a very cheerful winter theme, which just wants to make you sway while you enjoy a snow day (or sweat your head off when you visit Lulukoko). It is very cheery and christmassy and overall very fun to listen to. I could never get enough of the theme.

LoH -> Hmmm... the song goes for a slower pace, but it sounds a bit off, like someone tried too hard. It has a keychange in the middle though and while it still sounds a bit offkey, it is nice enough, but there are better themes.

SoS FoMT -> Ah yes, our favourite, the BTN winter theme that just is TOO melancholy. They try to make it a BIT more cheery, but playing it in major key, but that, uh, doesn’t really work.

This one also comes in an alternate version that plays on weekends and festival days, but it is super QUIET. I barely can hear it when I play the game, so these days always felt like they had no music.

It is a somber piano tune, which very much makes it feel like winter, but still too melancholy. 

I REALLY hope that I didn’t forget a game! Tell me if I did!