#non-binary farmer

[bulle-puff]

my wife

ive gotten obssessed with playing fields of mistria recently, and it's no suprise i like march lmaooo

gotta pick up the asshole blacksmith and wife him up 🤲😔🫶💗✨

[mini-munchers]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears—To Love Someone

Chapter 1 of ?: Newcomer

Pairing: March x Non-Binary Farmer (Ari)

Words: 806

Warnings: language, accidental misgendering

Summary: Mistria is in a dire state after the earthquake hit. Adeline has invited a new adventurer to town to help out. March knows they won't last. Adventurers never last in Mistria. He can't wait to see Ari fail.

Chapter Summary: Ari comes to town and March can't wait for them to leave.

(No beta, we die like Dragonsworn.)

----------

Love. Such a funny word. March liked the idea of love, the idea of romance. He saw it in others. He liked the idea of someone to confide in. To take hold of. To share life with. And yet when it came to him, he didn’t see it happening.

March didn’t need love. It didn’t suit him. He was too prideful, too focused on his work to be bothered by such trivial things. But when it came looking for him, he accepted it, albeit reluctantly. And he let himself get washed away in the tide that was Ari.

----------

A cool breeze blew across the back of March’s neck, a welcome relief from the heat of the forge. He had been working since about 7:30 this morning and judging by the sun, it was roughly about 1 pm now. Time for a lunch break. It was Spring 2 and all of Mistria was a fuss with the news that a new adventurer had arrived yesterday. ‘This person is going be an amazing addition to the town,’ everyone seemed to murmur at the inn last night. March didn’t buy it for a second. Mistria was fine without adventurers. They didn’t need them.

He headed inside the smithy to get some water and something to eat. He settled on some leftover sushi that Reina had made him two nights before. He enjoyed her sushi, it was always fresh thanks to Terithia’s daily fresh catches. The rice that Balor imported was nice too. March hummed at the thought of Balor’s trek. He really needed to get with Ryis to fix the bridge on the Eastern Road soon. Mistria could take care of itself.

He finished his plate after a few minutes and headed to the door of the shop, seeing Olric outside talking with someone. Someone new. There could only be one person. It had to be the dumb adventurer that Adeline had tricked into running the old overgrown farm plot south of town, hoping for some free labor. This person had decided to stupidly take her up on the offer. They wouldn’t be here long, he knew. She’d tried this several times before. No one stayed. No adventurer ever stayed in Mistria.

He pushed open the door hoping to slink past, but Olric made sure to not let his presence go unknown. 

“-and this is my brother, March!”

March sighed and forced himself to look at the newcomer. He was momentarily taken aback. She had dark eyes like soot fresh from the forge. Long flowing hair, tinted purple like the rock veins that silver ore lie buried in. A roaring blush that matched the appearance of the smothered embers of yesterday’s fire. Skin way too pale for her to have seen a single day of hard work. And a short stature to boot. She was beautiful, breathtaking even. But she wasn’t cut out for this, he knew. The only thing about her that didn’t scream ‘money-seeking adventurer’ was her clothes. She was dressed in a simple overall dress with a long-sleeved striped shirt underneath. Her boots were already worn in, which surprised him. But seriously, what kind of adventurer wore a dress? He quickly threw up his walls of stone.

‘You’ll be gone in a week,’ he wanted to say. But this was a rare occasion where he bit his tongue.

“The name’s March...what do you want?”

“I’m Ari, the new farmer in town!” Her voice was too chipper, smile brightening as she took him in. Her capital accent sliced through the air like a finely sharpened blade. Just as he thought, she didn’t belong.

He was going to crush that hope in her immediately. Set her straight as to what went down in Mistria. “Regardless of what Adeline says, we don’t need an outsider to come in and solve our problems for us.” They didn’t need anyone else to rebuild the town. “I- We have everything under control. Just don’t get in the way.” He initially misspoke but caught himself immediately. Though it was true, he did have everything under control.

And with that, he turned to walk back to the forge and get started on his most recent order of nails. Olric immediately apologized for his brother, but March saw no difference. Like hell if he was going to take help from an outsider.

“March,” Olric chided after the adventurer was gone, “they’re here to help. We need all the help we can get.”

“I’m focused on getting these orders out. I don’t need someone else bothering me for gear they can’t make themselves. Adventurers are useless and you know that as well as I do.”

He heard Olric sigh as he walked into the shop. Like hell if Mistria needed anyone else’s help. He had this. No one was going to steal his spot.

----------

Author's Note:

Hello! Shimmer here! I hope you enjoyed the first (short for me) chapter of BSaT. Expect many more, I am longwinded and love a good slow burn.

[jellyaris]

Quill, my lil guy. They're the farmer and an artisan, specializing in wine, cheese, pickles, jellies, and fabrics. They are head over heels in love with the lonely, handsome town doctor, John Harvey 🥹

The fic is written from Harvey's POV, so his perception of Quill is very much through rose-tinted glasses and a hesitant fascination.

[valleyofhyperfixations]

AFAB FARMER COMING OUT AS NON-BINARY

Part 1 of probably more, depending on my inspiration and wether y’all be interested to read more of it. I’m writing with an assumption that Farmer is AFAB and is also perceived as a woman despite making small changes in their appearance, such as short hair and at times wearing a binder. Not a self insert at all. Enjoy!

To Elliott:

This subject didn’t really come up for quite a long time of their friendship. There just weren’t many opportunities for Elliott to refer to Farmer in a third person pronoun, and even when they appeared, Farmer either had something else on their mind or didn’t deem the situation a good one for coming out. But as they met with Elliott in the saloon, emotions enhanced by alcohol that was already circulating in their system, they couldn’t hide a frown when they heard writer exclaim “And wine for the lady!”. Elliott, while oblivious at times, was not stupid. He quickly noticed the change in his friend’s mood and proceeded with an immediate investigation.

“Farmer, what seems to be the culprit of this sudden despair on your face?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…” Farmer attempted to summon a realistic looking smile on their face, but their true emotions could no longer escape from the observant author.

“I see that something had bittered your emotions and I will not stand for this factor to persist! What is it, Farmer? Did I say something that offended you? Perhaps I shouldn’t have ordered you wine?”

“No, wine is fine… It’s just…” Many thoughts ran rampant through Farmer’s head, nervously wondering if coming out to their friend will be something they’ll regret once effects of alcohol on their mind will wither away. They weighted the urge to be known as their real self against the risks of being called a freak and possibly even being outet to other people. Eventually, the first impulse persisted.

“It was the »lady« part” they said quietly. “I don’t… It doesn’t feel right when you- when anybody calls me “lady”. ‘Cause you see, I am…” Farmer took a deep breath, as Elliott waited in anticipation, absorbing their every word. “I am non binary. So, I don’t feel either like a woman or a man. I am just something else, they/them pronouns, that thing… that is… if it’s not too much trouble for you?”

After looking up, the Farmer thought for a moment that disgusted writer just stood up and left them as they were talking. But this fear was quickly dispersed by a soft thump on the floor beneath them.

„Oh, Farmer, I…” Elliott was looking at them from the ground level, surprised and ashamed. Farmer reached their hand to help friend stood up, but instead of doing that, writer remained on his knees and held Farmer’s palm as reverently as if they were at the very least a monarch of medium-sized kingdom. „Farmer, I am so, so, so, so…”

„Oh” Farmer exhaled with relief. „It’s okay, you couldn’t have known”

„…so, so, so, so…”

„Elliott?”

„…so, so, so, so deeply, highly, terribly…”

„Elliott!” Farmer pulled their hand upwards, forcing the apologetic writer to stand up from the floor. „I’m telling you, it’s fine! You didn’t know that. I’m just… glad that you’re so accepting of me”

Elliott opened his mouth to say something that was hopefully not the continuation of his apology, but at this moment they were interrupted by Gus, who brought them ordered drinks.

„Here you go, Elliott. One pale ale and one wine for…”

„For me!” Elliott snatched wine from the platter with a wave of a hand, so fast that is was almost a miracle that he didn’t spill anything. „Come on, Gus” He said facing the confused bartender „You had to have noticed that I’m very in touch with my feminine side”

If Stardrop Saloon’s owner attempted to say anything, he gave up on it, leaving eccentric writer to his matters. Elliott and Farmer were drunkenly giggling about the situation for the next couple of minutes.

“But do tell me, Farmer” asked Elliott after some time, taking a sip from his second glass of enhanced grape juice “How am I to address you?”

“With my name” Farmer shrugged, also taking a swig of their drink “Or, you know, they/them pronouns”

“That is to be expected, but I mean in more… exclusive occasions. Like when I’d want to introduce you with all the deserved nobility, or emphasize special circumstances. Referring to you as a Lady is not acceptable, from what you’ve told me Gentelman also wouldn’t suit you…”

“Wow, you have a gift of inventing problems” Farmer gave their companion a friendly laugh “If you insist on having a “special” title for me it can be whatever. Call me “your majesty” for all I care”

“Yes, this is it!” Elliott slammed his fist on the counter, gently enough to not disturb anyone present in the bar. “A perfect title suitable to your merit!”

“Elliott…” Farmer’s expression was a little terrified. “Elliott, this was a joke”

Despite Farmer’s best efforts, Elliott proceeded to address them as “your majesty” whenever he found it suitable for the occasion.

[artoffenrad]

A bit of comfort

[peppergnocchi]

I was super inspired by @crazysodomite 's taur art and wanted to doodle a taur myself!! Have a farmer taur who just got the eggs (& and rogue hen 🐔)

Your art is legit so soft and cozy dude, keep up the good work!!!

[hopeful-alter-ego]

Between being a young farmer, bisexual and non-binary I think I have the trifecta of "ignored to the point of non-existence"

[moiraimyths]

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) | Official Trailer

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a lore-rich and choice-driven historical fantasy visual novel inspired by Irish mythology and Celtic folklore. Play as a tenant farmer from mid-19th century Ireland, whose path becomes inexplicably entwined in fairy affairs after getting robbed by the roadside and lured into the mythic and war-torn world of Tír na nÓg: A once unified land, now divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Will you escape and return home with your stolen belongings? Or does fate have something else in mind?

🍃 STEAM 🍂 ITCH.IO 🍃PATREON 🍂DISCORD 🍃

Eager to play? Certain route content is available NOW in early access on Steam and Itch.io! For more information, click below👇

Meet the Cast

Facts & Questions: The Game

🍃 The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a Kickstarter-funded project currently in development. Due to the scope of the story, we will be releasing it serially over several years to Steam and Itch.io, and discounting it while in early access. The earlier it's bought, the cheaper it will be overall, and you'll only need to buy the game once!

🍂 Not all routes are currently available! As of Nov. 1, 2024, you can play half of Shae and Maeve's routes; both approximately 50k words. If you're not sure about paying for an unfinished game, feel free to check out our free demo first. It consists of Vol. 1, Book of the Traveller (the pre-route content). Differences between the demo's Vol. 1 and the paid game's Vol. 1 are marginal following our August 1, 2024 re-release of the demo.

🍃 The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) has a recommended reading order (Vol. 1, then 2, then 3, etc.), which will correspond to the release order of the routes. For more information on our reasoning behind this, click here.

🍂 Due to its setting, The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) will occasionally feature instances of characters speaking in Gaeilge, i.e. the Irish language. All instances of Gaeilge are linked to an internal translation tool, which is voiced by Nigel McKeon, a Gaeilgeoir.

🍃 The main character is yours to shape. At minimum, you must choose a nickname, pronouns, and one of four default appearances, the last of which can be your own artwork (instructions are included in the game's files). You may also choose to discard the True Name…

🍂 All routes, both current and upcoming, will have both romantic and platonic choice options. If you're uninterested in romance, feel free to make friends instead! No matter the nature of your relationship, you will still be able to reach the good end. (Want to learn more? Refer to this post!)

🍃 Our cast consists of two men, two women, and two non-binary characters. All are romancable no matter the MC, but some characters are asexual or on the aromantic spectrum, which may impact aspects of their romances.

🍂 If you are a Mac user and are having issues launching the game via the Itch direct download, refer to this guide for troubleshooting before sending us an ask. We strongly recommend purchasing the game through Steam instead of Itch if you are a Mac user; it is the best way to avoid issues with launching the game.

🍃 NDM is very intentionally set just prior to the onset of the Great Famine, which is both thematically and textually relevant to the leftist, anti-imperialist story we're aiming to tell. If you would like more insight into this, refer to this post.

🐎 There are secrets to be found in this game, with more yet to come. Prepare yourself for a lot of horse related shenanigans. 🐎

Facts & Questions: The Company

🧵 Moirai Myths is a five-person company based out of Canada. The core devs/founders go by Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. All writing and programming are done by this collective, i.e. the Fates.

🪡 Moirai Myths has a two person in-house artist team consisting of Kazane, our Character/UI Designer, and Melinoe, our Environmental Designer. In addition to them, though, we have had a number of guest artists assist us with the creation of sprites, CGs, and an assortment of other materials. If you'd like to meet them, check out our about page on our website!

✂️ Moirai Myths stands with the people of Palestine 🇵🇸

Disclaimer: This description will be updated periodically. If you're reading this in a reblog, you may want to check our current pinned post for potential changes.

[mini-munchers]

Um, if you don't read seijousucks fics, what are you even doing?!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61903048

New March Moment: maybe you should read it

[cowboyjen68]

Hi young butch here. I’m 22 and live in a pretty bigoted area. I’m non-binary on top of my butch identity. Do you have any advice on staying safe while also standing firm and proud in your identity as a butch lesbian?

I live in the Midwest and I have been out in my community a long time. Being a working part of the community goes a long way. There is value in making yourself known and valuable.

I have always been involved in helping with local events like parades or celebrations. I support local businesses and I smile and say hello A LOT. Remembering other people makes them feel seen and it then makes it harder for others to "hate" and if they are uncomfortable in my presence, a smile and a nod can go a long way to diffusing that tension.

I do have the privilege of being an extrovert but also being perceived as a man of first glance so in passing most people just don't even notice they are seeing a butch lesbian. Also, the women of my area and I kind of share the same fashion sense because many are farmers or union factory workers, or at least work outside at some point of their day.

When I am out and about I now hold an air of confidence that I belong in my community as a butch woman. I feel no need to get upset when called "sir" or to be overtly pushy about my sexuality. Making sure people I interact know I am friendly and really just getting on with my day at the feed store or Dollar General helps them to, at the very least, not put much thought into my looks or sexuality.

Anyone looking at me long enough to realize I am not a man probably know they are looking at a butch lesbian and a little smile and "hello" allows us all to just keep moving in our day.

It is not easy for everyone and I am aware that I hold extravert privilege. My best advice is to love who you are and dress as you are comfortable and let that confidence be known with eye contact, cheerful acknowledgement and kindness when you feel tension rise.

True bigots are going to hate even if you make their day better while the majority of people are not bigots but just not used to things outside the status quo of their straight life.

Be aware of your surroundings. Say an authentic hi to those you interact with and be confident enough to know not every side eye and smirk is out of hate. And even if they are, you know you are a valuable and belong in the community in which you live. Don't let haters take that knowledge from you.

[soperomitch]

Queerness In Ninjago (Spoiler alert, it's very queer)

Contains spoilers

I honestly don't see the queer side of Ninjago being talked about enough. Probably because half of the fandom are immature homophobic people but that's not gonna stop me writing a whole post about it on Tumblr that probably no one is gonna see. I'm gonna be looking at specific characters and at the canon part of it. I do have my own headcanons and stuff but I'm gonna try to forget about those for the sake of this post.

First, let's start out with a character who is almost 95% canon to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, Sally. She's a side character and doesn't play much of a role in the series after The Benefit of Grief but I feel like she's still worth mentioning. She has the progress pride flag on her guitar and the back of her dad's van which shows that she's definitely a supporter.

You can also see the bisexual flag on her guitar case, which tells us that she's bisexual! They don't do much about with it after this but it's still good to have some representation, even if it's not a big part of the story. This is probably the only instance where a character has had their sexual orientation shown in Ninjago.

The episode where we see her in the most, The Benefit of Grief, can be viewed as an allegory of coming out, which I touch more on here, but in case you're too lazy, I'll just explain how here. The basic premise of the episode is her running away from home because she wants to move to Ninjago City and get big in the music industry. However after a while she starts to feel guilty about it, but is afraid to go back in fear that her parents won't forgive her. With the help of Zane she makes the decision to go back home with her parents. Her parents forgive her and woo yay happy ending.

This episode can be taken as a coming out experience. Think about it. You hide your sexual orientation/gender identity from your family, friends, or others in your life. You feel guilty about it but also afraid to come out, out of fear that they won't accept you. It's a pretty good allegory. It most likely wasn't intentional but it will always be in my head because how can you write such a good allegory like that with a canon queer character as the main character and not calm it intentional? That's all that I have to say about Sally though.

Now let's get started with these 2 girlies. They competed in the Terra Technica Dance-Off in season 12, Prime Empire. They were heavily treated like a lesbian couple in the episode. So heavily that the episode got banned in a few places around the world. Tommy Andreasen said that it was up to the fans to decide so though it wasn't really confirmed it's heavily implied. They were only side characters so we don't get to see much of them after this episode but it shows how Lego will be willing to add some gay in the show.

I've been talking about sexual orientation for some time now it's time we talk about gender-queer characters (Gender-Queer is an umbrella label which applies to genders outside the male/female gender binary like non-binary, bigender, pangender, genderfluid, ect.) in Ninjago. One of the Algae Farmers in Dragons Rising have the Non-binary flag attached to them. The person who voices them (Niah Davis) Is also Non-binary. The character didn't have much of a role but it's still super cool to see.

The Source Dragon of Life is also non-binary. Which is another character voiced by Niah Davis. The dragon uses they/them pronouns throughout the show and was later confirmed in a tweet. This character actually does play a big role in the series and is the source of Lloyd's power. (Which means Lloyd is non-binary too. /J) They'll also most likely have a big role in season 3 when that comes out. So is every character Niah Davis voices non-binary? Heck yeah!

Now these next 3 instances of queerness in Ninjago are very minor but they include 2 instances of 2 male characters kissing and a rainbow sidewalk. Now, some can argue that the sidewalk can be unrelated to the LGBTQ+ community but it was changed to be a white sidewalk in some places in the world, so it was very intentionally to be LGBTQ+. Some may also argue that the 2 male characters kissing can just be a man and a masculine woman but Ninjago very rarely adds masculine woman, so yes, it's like 99.9% 2 men kissing in both instances. Which isn't much but is still showing that Lego isn't afraid to add some gay in the show.

Now I wanna talk about Jay. Before I hear anyone talk about his relationship with Nya hear me out for a bit. Jay is heavily implied to also have an attraction to male characters which leads me to believe that he's probably a bisexual.

First, I want to talk about this clip. Out of context, it looks very much like a marriage proposal and Jay is saying yes with such a smile on his face. Now, it's just a fake marriage proposal and he realizes after and is kinda confused but anyways. What kind of straight man says "Yes! :D" like that to marriage proposal? (Side note: The Ying-Yang promise in Ninjago is not marriage. I'm just calling it marriage because it will make more sense. It's most likely engagement but that's too long to type) I mean, it seems like he really meant it. Which lead me to believe that he's probably a bisexual.

Also the whole Sweating to the Goldies short is very gay. He's very touchy towards Zane and dances with him and stuff. Though song on the end does include both of them but in the beginning it's mostly Jay doing the gay action. He's extremely flirty with Zane and seems to genuinely mean it. Now that's not me trying to say he likes Zane, since he obviously loves Nya, but I think if Nya wasn't an option, he wouldn't mind being with one of his ninja comrades.

He's also shown to be attracted to Nadakhan's voice. Calling it "beguiling." (Beguiling - Charming or enchanting, often in a deceptive way.) and also calling him a "Silky-voiced seducer." He's also the only ninja in the show to express how attractive his voice is which lead me to believe that he can be attracted to the voice of a male character. Of course, he's not attracted to Nadakhan himself, but acknowledging that he had an attractive voice is no doubt pretty gay. Which is another reason why I believe he's most likely bisexual.

Also another clip related to Kai, he calls him, "Kai baby." Which, c'mon, you don't just call your homies that. That's definitely a sign that he has no problem flirting with other men. Honestly, after season 7, he's been the most gay ninja of the group, despite being one of the only ones having a girlfriend. (Zane was also one of the only ninja to have a girlfriend at the time too but Zane isn't as gay as him) Now if I'm gonna do a little theorizing here, but I think that he's not at peace with his sexual orientation and is now willing to tease and flirt with the other ninja. I know I said I'd keep my headcanons out of this but I'd call it a theory more than a headcanon. (Edit: I, for some reason, can't upload a clip of it so you get a picture of it instead sorry. XD)

Jay is also just 10 times more touchy than the other ninja. A straight male would normally not be comfortable with this amount of touch from their male friend but Jay doesn't mind. He's pretty chill with it and treats it like it's an everyday thing. Which is very very gay. And sure, they're his friends and they've lived together for basically half of their lives but I've lived with my sister for all of my life and she's not even comfortable with me hugging her without permission (or really anyone) so yeah this kind of touch isn't very straight.

And since we're in the topic of Jay, I want to talk about the most villainous and evil character of Ninjago, FugiDove! He's very touchy towards Jay in the series and even sacrificed himself just to save him. He calls Jay is wingman and wants to be with him a lot. Which is very big implications of FugiDove being gay. And the writers of the show aren't stupid they know what they're doing. So all of these little things are definitely implications of him being gay. Which also applies to Jay and Cole.

Speaking of Cole, yes, it's finally time we talk about him. All throughout the show Cole doesn't have a love interest. All of the Ninja had one (Jay with Nya, Zane with Pixal, Kai with Skylor) and yet, he hasn't had one. Some may argue that he liked Nya in season 3 but it's confirmed in this tweet that he was just confused by the attention and never really had a crush on her. Some can also claim that he had a crush on Vania but their interactions don't seem very romantic. More like a friendship kind of interaction.

Now, in Dragons Rising we finally see some sort of actual romance with him. He basically raised a whole family with Geo and has a very strong connection with him. They're very close, and you have to remember that Geo is kinda shy and scared to open up to others, and he's pretty vulnerable to Cole. They're also touchy and don't seem to mind it, which leads me to believe that he might some sort of attraction to Geo, a male character. Also Doc Wyatt seems to support a relationship between the 2. So if it became canon, it wouldn't shock me honestly.

Also the episode where Cole finds his true potential is literally an allegory for coming out. I explain it here but I'll explain it again here for the people who are too lazy. Basically the whole episode is him trying his best to hide his identity of a ninja to his father since his father wanted him to be a dancer. Later in his dad find out and is pretty mad at him but after a whole performance and stuff he's accepting of his son and yay they're a happy family. (Watch the episode here I'm bad at explaining.)

Now, if you think about it, it's very much like coming out. He's hiding his identity out of fear that his father won't accept him as his son. He comes out to his father as a ninja and his father is upset about that. Now flip Ninja with the word gay and bam you get the perfect coming out story coming from Lego. I don't think it was intentional but it could very much be as well. Again, the writers aren't stupid. They know what they're doing. So yeah, I view this episode as an allegory for coming out.

So, yeah, Ninjago is pretty queer. There's a few more examples I wanted to show but then it would be way too long and it's already 11:15PM. Anyways, if you want to sum up everything I'm saying, Ninjago isn't afraid to add some queer representation in the show, Jay is bisexual, and Cole is gay. Or that I'm an overthinker who loves yapping I dunno. And before anyone gets mad, this is going based of the canon. I'd like to think of it as building a headcanon based on canon. You can still have your own headcanons. I honestly don't care. Anyways, if you're still here thank you for staying until the end and reading the thoughts I've had in my head for a while.

[mini-munchers]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears—To Love Someone

Chapter 4 of ?: Enigma

Pairing: March x Non-Binary Farmer (Ari)

Words: 6005

Warnings: language, the author does not understand bocce

Summary: Mistria is in a dire state after the earthquake hit. Adeline has invited a new adventurer to town to help out. March knows they won't last. Adventurers never last in Mistria. He can't wait to see Ari fail.

Chapter Summary: The spring festival has arrived. Ari dwells on the past. And March sends another request.

(No beta, we die like Dragonsworn.)

----------

March stepped outside and took a breath, the fresh scent of spring filling his nose. Petals from the cherry blossoms drifted lazily through the air. The Spring Festival had arrived, just like it always did on Spring 17.

The air was pleasantly warm, not too hot. With summer approaching, it would only get hotter though. March sighed. ‘Can’t wait to sweat through my clothes again.’

He started on his path to the town square, hands shoved in his pockets. Another year, zero Breath of Spring flowers collected. He didn’t have the time this year. He’d just started to get reprieve from the alternating orders from Mistria and the capital. Why people from the capital kept demanding orders when they knew the earthquake had done bad damage, he didn’t know. ‘Leave it to the capital scum to take resources away from those who needed them,’ he thought. But, the Tesserae was nice, he had to admit.

As he approached, he saw Juniper and Valen standing near the fountain. Surprisingly, they seemed to be the only ones in the square aside from Nora, Josephine, Celine, and Adeline, who were putting the finishing touches on the decorations and stalls. He decided to take a chance and strolled over to the pair, hoping they weren’t bickering over potion side effects again. Last time, things had gotten pretty intense. 

“Good morning, March.” Valen turned to greet him. “Up early I see.”

“Sleep well, lover boy?” Juniper smirked while Dozy lay languidly at her feet.

“What are you talking about, Juniper?” March sighed. He was used to Juniper’s teasing at this point. It seemed to be an all too important character trait of hers.

“Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me, mister ‘you’re not so bad’?”

“I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was talking about.” A light heat rushed over March’s cheeks as he frowned. “You and I both know they won’t last until the end of the season.”

“I don’t know, March,” Valen mused. “They seem to be doing pretty well. Juniper was just telling me she has been able to make a lot more of her potions recently thanks to what Ari has been able to ship.”

“They brought me some monster powder the other day. And let me run a few…tests on them. I’m always grateful for a willing guinea pig. They bring far more to the table than you think, March.”

Valen cast a disapproving look at Juniper. “You know, you really should run those ‘tests’ of yours in a more…controlled environment.”

Juniper laughed. “Now Valen, who would I be if I was so concerned with the ‘ethics’ of things? Ethics and rules just get in the way.”

March rolled his eyes, the two of them clearly now caught up in each other. “Whatever, I’m going to grab some coffee.” He leaned down and gave Dozy a pat on the head before walking down the steps towards where Maple now sat seated behind a booth.

“Morning, Mister March! Mom told me I could watch the stand this year! What can I get for you?”

“Just a coffee.” March placed his Tesserae for the coffee in the little bowl set in front of the menu.

Maple looked at the hot coffee pot, then back at March, grinning sheepishly. “Princess Maple…requires assistance…it’s hot.”

“Sure, kid.” March walked behind the stand and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot. Maple was right, it was hot. But, hot suited him. Even on the most sweltering of summer days, he preferred a warm cup of hot chocolate over anything cool Josephine or Darcy had to offer.

“Princess Maple appreciates your assistance.” The little girl beamed at him.

“Thanks for the coffee…princess.”

He turned to head back up the fountain, spotting Ryis now. March sipped his coffee as he walked back up the stairs.

“Yo, Ryis.” March lifted his hand in greeting to his friend as he crested the stairs.

“Morning, March.” Ryis waved back and smiled.

“First Spring Festival, huh?” The two men fist-bumped as March reached Ryis.

“Yeah. Hayden was telling me last night that Celine wins the Breath of Spring competition every year. Sounds like I have no chance.” 

“Against Celine? No chance at all. I tried to beat her every year when I was a kid. It never worked. I don’t know how she does it.”

Eiland strolled up to the pair with a quick greeting. “Talking about how Celine wins every year?”

“Yep, Ryis thinks he has a chance.” March teased his friend.

“What? I didn’t say that!”

“No chance,” Eiland confirmed. “She hasn’t let anyone win in ages. Not even the kids.”

“Damn,” Ryis mused. “She sounds just as bad as you, March.”

“What? No way.”

“Uh-huh.” Eiland drew out the word. “What was it you were saying at the inn the other night? Best blacksmith in the country?”

March narrowed his eyes at the man. So, Eiland had jokes this morning, huh?

“Good morning!” The sound drew the men's attention from each other. Ari approached from the stairs, looking as chipper as ever. “I hope I’m not late. It took a little extra time to work on the garden this morning. I had some weeds to pull.”

March frowned. Great. The capital scum was here to try and take over the day’s festivities.

“You’re not late at all,” Eiland smiled back. “The awards ceremony won’t start for a while. We were just talking about who would win this year.”

“Apparently, Celine wins every year. I had no idea. Sounds like I am out of luck.” Ryis scratched at the back of his head.

“Oh, is this your first year too, Ryis?” Ari put their backpack down on the cobblestone, rustling around before pulling out a handful of feathers. “I found these yesterday near the Western Ruins and figured you could use them.”

“Thank Ari!” Ryis took the feathers, a small, gracious smile on his face. “I can probably use these for something. I’ve been meaning to ask Balor for some. Landen just had an order come in for a double bed from someone in Auchendale yesterday actually.”

“Did you find anything at the ruins?” Eiland’s eyes sparkled with thoughts of another artifact being discovered. It was no secret to anyone in town that Eiland worked hard to uncover the history of Mistria. Anything he could find, he was excited for.

“Oh! I did!” Ari reached into their backpack again. “Aha! Here it is!” Ari lifted a set of beads from the sack. They were blue and white and almost seemed to glitter in the light of the sun. “It looks like-”

“Ritual beads?! Let me see!” Eiland practically vibrated with joy as he took the beads from Ari, all the delicacy in the world dripping from his greedy fingers.

“What, no gift for me?” March crossed his arms, looking Ari up and down as they put their backpack back on their shoulders.

“Oh! I’m sorry.” Ari’s face fell. “I didn’t-”

“Whatever.” March waved his hand as he started to walk off. “I don’t need anything from you anyway.”

“Don’t mind him, Ari,” Ryis started. “He just-” But March didn’t hear the rest as he walked out of earshot.

----------

March took a bite of his tulip cake as everyone gathered around the stage

“March.” Reina, who stood beside him, motioned to the left side of her mouth.

“Huh?” March mirrored the action, brow furrowing.

“Icing…” Reina whispered.

“Oh, thanks.” He wiped his face, looking down at the icing now on the back of his hand. Great. He wiped his hand on the bottom of his apron. Whatever. His clothes were always dirty anyway.

“The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here,” Josephine started from the stage. “It’s time to announce the three people who turned in the most Breath of Spring flowers!”

Applause came from the group surrounding the stage, followed by an expectant silence.

“In third place…Errol!”

The crowd clapped as Errol walked up to the stage, a polite smile cresting his face. He graciously took a bouquet from Josephine.

“In second place…Celine!” There was a silence that passed through the crowd before a lone clap started the applause. Celine accepted her bouquet with a smile, though her eyes didn’t reflect the same joy. She was disappointed. Who in the world had beaten Celine? No way anyone had done it. But…

“And finally, in first place…Ari!” Ari walked up to the stage, beaming. Josephine placed a white flower crown on their head and handed them their bouquet. March turned away from the spectacle.

What? No way. No way the stupid adventurer had beaten Celine. Anger simmered in his stomach like embers in the forge. Who was this piece of capital scum coming into his town and ruining things?

Ari came over to him after a minute, the bouquet of Breath of Spring flowers in their hands. They placed down their backpack and began to gingerly place the flowers in the bag.

“Best at picking flowers, huh?” March snarked, discontentment dripping from his words. “Well, it’s something I guess.”

“Thanks, March!” Ari grinned, totally impervious to his sour mood. “I found a lot out on the Eastern Road! They were hidden pretty well though! Whoever hid them did a good job!”

“Congrats, Ari!” Ryis chose that minute to walk over, a cup of floral tea in his hands. March turned to face him.

“Thanks, Ryis! I was just telling March how many flowers I found on the Eastern Road! I was foraging and just kept finding them!” Ari closed their bag and stood up, throwing it over their shoulder. There was a clattering noise as everything settled.

Foraging? Seriously? The adventurer foraged? Shouldn’t that be beneath them?

“Oh, really?! I looked everywhere for them and never could find any on the Eastern Road!” Ryis chuckled. March eyed his friend. There was a faint tint of red on Ryis’ cheeks. Just enough to see with a well-trained eye. Ryis was blushing. Hard. Around Ari. Over a simple statement of a fact. No way. There was no way that Ryis…A crush? Really? March sighed inwardly. Leave it to Ryis to get caught up in the adventurer’s game. He really was too gullible sometimes. March would have to talk some sense into him later.

“Yeah! I even found one hidden in a patch of cattails! That one was hard to fish out. I almost fell in!” Ari was enjoying the attention, clearly.

“What? No way!” 

“The water would have been so cold! I would know, I fell in around Spring 5!”

Ryis doubled over with laughter. “How did you manage that?!”

‘I fell in around Spring 5!’  Ha, served them right. Maybe the renown-seeking adventurer was finally getting a taste of real life. Maybe they would realize they weren’t cut out for this. Mistira didn’t need them, after all. Mistria had him.

There was an expectant silence that drew March back from his thoughts. He looked between Ryis and Ari, their interest in what he had to say next palpable. 

“Hmm? What’s with that look,” he asked, letting the irritation he felt slip through in his voice.

“I’m surprised you know how to juggle!” Ari smiled politely. “I never picked it up. Some guys in my guild tried to teach me, but I was bad at it. And they didn’t start me out with scarves either. Straight to the clubs. The amount of times they fell on my head-”

“What are you talking about, who told you that?!” March felt the shock rush through his body. No way, no way they knew. Heat crept over his face and ears. Now Ari had embarrassing knowledge to use against him, fuck!

Ryis spit out a little of his floral tea. “Were you even listening?” 

Ari snorted. Actually snorted. March whipped his head around to Ryis. “Are you serious,” he yelled.

“What?” Ryis smirked. “Just a little fun fact between friends.”

March felt his face start to get even hotter. Just who was Ryis? Going around and telling Ari facts about him? Friends? Yeah right.

“Celine tells me you’re super good at bocce too. I bet I could beat you though.” Ari smirked. They were teasing him! This was getting ridiculous. 

“Oh yeah? You wanna try that, adventurer? I’d beat you any day!” Bitter venom dripped from his words. Like, hell. Like hell if Ari would win. Not against him.

“I think Adeline has a set, Ari,” Ryis said. “Let’s go see. I would love to see this play out.”

----------

“Ari wins!” Adeline held up Ari’s hand in a victory salute.

What…had even just happened? March had the advantage. He had more points. Until suddenly, he didn’t. A final underarm throw from Ari had sent their jack rolling right into the pallino. It came to a gentle stop right as the balls met. How had that even happened? Who had that kind of stupid accuracy when it came to throwing around wooden balls?!

They had played on the manor lawn, a small group forming around the game. Maple had been the most interested, seemingly having abandoned her station at the food stall. Not that it mattered. Mistria worked on an honor system after all. The crowd had clapped softly with each throw, cheering March and Ari on. His applause had been louder, which bolstered his ego. But then, Ari had thrown the winning ball and everything came crashing down.

“This was so fun!” Adeline cried as she threw her hands around Ari’s neck, jumping up and down in excitement.

“How did you-?” March clenched his fists at his side.

“Oh! Sorry!” Ari scratched the back of their head as Adeline released them. “I trained with a competitive player when I was young. I should have told you that.”

“You–!” The fuck was Ari? Some kind of rich family golden child? Who in the world would train with some competitive player? What was the end goal in that? March seethed. He would not be bested by a piece of capital scum. He couldn’t accept that kind of fate.

“Oh wow, really?” Adeline turned to Ari, a sense of wonder in her eyes.

“Ha, yeah. My mother wanted to ensure I would fit into high society. I studied a lot of things growing up.” Ari was channeling her capital charm, it seemed. And Adeline was falling for it.

“Do you drink your tea with your pinky up?!” Maple asked, tugging on the corner of Ari’s dress. March took Ari in at that moment, a white dress with black tights and a pink cardigan. The flower crown only served to amplify the outfit’s childish look. The white blooms seemed to match the dress perfectly. But still, who put on a flower crown over the age of 10? They looked like a child of the capital, alright.‘Good,’ March thought. ‘Let them show their true colors.’

Ari knelt down to match Maple’s level. “Only with the finest royal, like you!”

Maple brought her fists up to rest in front of her chest and squealed, stamping her feet in joy. “Can we do a tea party?!”

“Um, of course! Who am I to turn down an invitation from Princess Maple?” March swore he saw Ari’s face soften into something unrecognizable for just an instant. It was like nothing he’d seen before from them. Joy with a hint of sadness. It was gone as soon as he saw it, that everpresent charm coming to take its place. “I’ll bring some berries if you can get Hayden to supply the milk. We can make berries and cream,” Ari continued.

“Ok! I’ll go ask now!” Maple took off toward the steps of the manor house, presumably in Hayden’s direction.

Ari stood, brushing their knees off.

“Ari, you’re really good with kids! I heard about that story you told Dell the other day. How in the world did you think of that,” Adeline asked.

“Well,” Ari started. “One of my older brothers has two kids. Twins. They were born when I was around fifteen. Though they had an au pair, I got to spend a lot of time with them growing up. We used to do all kinds of stuff together! We played a lot of imaginary games. Never bothered me, I quite enjoyed it.” 

There was that sadness again. Longing, he realized. Did they…miss their family? Mistria wasn’t too close to the capital. It was about a day and a half to two days walk. Not something you could easily make when you had other things to attend to. It struck him that Ari had a life at home that they had given up to come to Mistria. ‘For the renown,’ he quickly reminded himself.

“I love talking to Luc, Maple, and Dell,’ they continued. “They remind me so much of my niblings. I’d probably spend the whole day playing with them if I had the chance.”

“Do you miss home?” Ryis asked, a look of genuine curiosity in his eyes. There he went again, getting sucked in. March sighed. “I miss the capital sometimes, but the more I stay here, the better I like it here,” Ryis continued.

“Yes and no,” Ari answered. “I miss my guild and a few members of my family, but I do not miss the atmosphere at all. The energy always felt too rushed, no matter where you went. Not to mention all the smoke.”

“The smoke!” Ryis laughed. “Isn’t the air here so much nicer?”

“Absolutely! I love waking up in the morning and coming out to the smell of fresh air!”

“The air is a lot cleaner here, I never thought about it like that.” Adeline tapped a finger to her chin. “I haven’t been to the capital in a while.”

March paused, narrowing his eyes at the adventurer. How easily they tricked everyone. Their words seemed to be a siren’s song to everyone’s ears except his. He could hear the broken melody for what it was. Still, how did they schmooze so easily? Was there a single person in Mystira that didn’t like them? Was he the only one who could see through their game?

“Air. What a dumb thing to get excited about.” March murmured. Adeline and Ryis turned to stare at him. “What?” He huffed, standing his ground.

“That’s not nice, March,” Adeline said, arching her eyebrows in question. “Why would you say that?”

March faltered. A half-hearted apology fell out of his mouth as he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to walk away.

“I’m so sorry, Ari! Ignore March, he—“ March let the rest of Adeline’s apology go unheard as he descended the stairs.

----------

The sun shone through the window, bouncing off the opposite wall and right into March’s face, rousing him from his light sleep. He sat up in bed, stretching his arms before letting his feet hit the icy floor beneath his bed. Spring 18. Another morning, more work to be done. March walked into the bathroom and started brushing his teeth as Orlic puttered around the smithy.

“Good morning, bro!” Olric grinned as March exited the bathroom. “Sleep ok?”

“Fine enough.” That was a lie. He’d lied in bed all night, Adeline’s comment eating him from the inside. ‘That’s not nice, March. Why would you say that?’  Why wouldn’t they see Ari for who they truly were? They were no workhorse. They weren’t here to ‘save’ Mistria. They could try, but they would fail. He knew the truth though. They just wanted the renown–their name attached to Mistria for the next generation of adventurers to admire. How ‘noble’ a pursuit.

“Need any help today? I got the fire up to about 1100° already. Should be good to go for the copper.”

“Nah,” March waved a hand at his brother as he entered his room. “I’ll only be able to make three to four orders today.” He cracked his door as he got dressed, still listening in case Olric needed him.

“Oh, that’s right. It’s tool day today, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” March called as he shrugged on his shirt.

“Oh cool! Y’know, I saw Ari in here the other day looking at the copper hoe. I wonder if they need an upgrade.”

March clicked his tongue, agitated. Why bring them up? Could he not get a day of peace without mention of Ari? “If they want one, they can buy it.” He threw open his door and headed to unlock the smithy.

“Ok,” Olric replied, a little less cheery than normal. “I’ll be working a shift at the museum today if you need me later.”

“Whatever.” March walked out the door, the bell on the door jingling as the door closed. He rounded the corner of the shop, ready to get to work. But there was someone standing near the forge. March deflated, realizing his day was about to go to shit.

“What do you want?” He sighed, taking in Ari as they stood there, blank expression on their stupid face. They were dressed in the overall dress again today, same striped shirt, same worn boots. Only this time…“What’s with the bow?” He pointed to the pale yellow bow tied in their high ponytail.

“Oh! Good morning March!” They startled, their blank expression morphing into that blinding smile so quickly, it almost gave him whiplash. He’d noticed the small jump they’d done though. He’d scared them. Good. “Do you like it,” Ari asked. “It’s something an old…friend gave to me.”

March let out a snort. “Yellow is not your color,” he lied. The pale yellow was indeed their color. He just didn’t want to admit it.

“Oh…” They paused before setting down their backpack and starting to rummage around in it. “Well, anyway, I wanted to give you this.” A familiar reddish-gold color glinted in the sun as they pulled out a copper ingot. “I had a few spares and wanted to give one to you!”

When in the world had they had time to make it? He didn’t recall them using his forge yesterday. At least not that he knew of. March took the ingot, examining it with an expert eye. It…wasn’t bad. There was very little oxidation and the color matched his ingots almost exactly. They…had done a good job… especially for capital scum.

“Huh,” he mumbled, turning the ingot over in his hand. “Th-thanks Ari.” The words tumbled out of his mouth quicker than he could stop them. “I could turn this into something pretty nice.”

If Ari’s smile could have grown, it would have. “You’re welcome!”

March felt like raising his hand to his face and shielding his eyes. How did someone smile so…radiently?

“Also,” they said, face falling more than he had ever seen, but somehow still showing kindness and interest. “Sorry…for yesterday. If I knew you wanted to win so badly…” They reached up and grabbed a lock of their hair, twiddling it in between their pointed finger and thumb.

“What, you would have purposefully lost? That’s fucking stupid.” March walked past them to the forge and placed the ingot in his pile.

“Oh, uh…” There was a pause as Ari seemed to search for their words. March wanted to spin around, to laugh in their face. He’d caught them. He’d left them speechless. But still, their words irked him. Why apologize? There was nothing to apologize for. Sure, he was pissed that he lost, to capital scum of all things. But they had won fair and square.

“Don’t apologize for something that you have no reason to apologize for. A useless apology is never a good apology.” March poked the fire, flames rising to spill out the forge’s open door.

----------

‘Don’t apologize for something that you have no reason to apologize for.’ 

The words echoed in Ari’s head as they lay in bed that night, sleep escaping them. March’s words stung, but it hadn’t been the first time they had heard that sentiment. Antonio had been the first one to say it.

It was the first job that Ari had screwed up. Their first real stealth job. The guild members had been tailing some bandits, hoping to take them out at the order of the royal court. Antonio and Joaquin had nearly gotten within distance to ambush them, but all too suddenly the bandits had turned on them. There’d been a fight, swords clashing, metallic sounds ringing through the air. Blood, lots of blood. Ari wasn’t good with a sword at that time. And because of them, the bandits had gotten away. They’d been a blubbering mess after they had gotten back to the guild hall.

Antonio was angry. Ari had cried and cried and eventually, he got tired of it. He beat his fist against the wall, causing the room to fall into silence. “Don’t apologize for something that you have no reason to apologize for! It makes you look fucking pathetic.”

“Ginko!” Otter yelled back at the man.

“No Otter! They’ve got to learn to deal with it! Jobs go bad sometimes. It happens. But what’s not ok is bawling your eyes out over spilled milk. It was a small job, nothing serious. Now, suck it up, Princess!”

Ari stood there, shaking. They knew this version of Antonio, of Ginko. He was more Ginko in this moment than Antonio, the job still weighing heavy on his shoulders. Sure, Ari’s father had gotten mad at them from time to time at home, but Ari had never seen anything like Ginko’s anger. It scared them.

Joaquin opened his mouth but Antonio cut him off. “Slick, don’t even start.”

“Wasn’t gonna,” he lied.

Antonio stormed out of the guild hall, the grand doors slamming behind him.

Joaquin came over, throwing an arm around Ari.

“You good, Princess,” he asked.

“Yeah, Joa-Slick, I’ll be fine.” The slip was obvious, but neither Otter nor Slick said anything. Ari was still getting used to code names. It had only been a month since they had joined the guild after all. But still, it was their first real job that was more than just menial labor…how had it gone so wrong?

“Don’t let him get under your skin,” Slick said, taking his arm from around Ari’s neck and giving them a firm slap on the shoulder. Ari just barely managed to stabilize themselves before they fell over. “Ginko is like that will every new guild member.”

“That’s why I paired you with him. He’s a tough nut to crack, but he’s a great teacher,” Otter added, tone matter of fact. Ginko…a great teacher? Yeah right. The number of times he’d hit Ari with his full force in their sparing sessions was starting to outnumber the stars in the sky.

“I don’t get it though,” Ari stared down at the freshly wrapped cut on their left arm. The bandits had sliced their arm with a dagger in a moment of distraction. And it was deep. Thank god Slick had known how to make an emergency compress. Ari had about fainted at the sight of the blood. Ginko had carried them back to the guild hall, roughly stitching them up, muttering how stupid they were the whole time. “How did they know I was there?”

“Probably your walking pattern.” Slick walked over to the guild request letters and started flipping through them, looking for the next job.

“What?” Ari was confused.

“Yeah, you have very light footsteps, don’t get me wrong,” Slick said as he grabbed a letter and turned back to face Ari. “But you have a very particular pattern to your gait. It’s easy to hear if you know what you are listening for.”

“What? My footsteps?”

“You walk like a noble is what Slick is trying to say,” Otter said, no malice in his words. Only pure fact. “Think of it like this. You know how you have to walk on the pads of your feet when you walk in heels?”

“Yeah?” Ari rubbed their eyes, trying to wipe the remnants of the tears away.

“There is a district rhythm that is associated with that. And when you wear heels long enough, your foot starts to naturally fall that way, all the weight striking the pad instead of the heel.” Otter made a walking motion with his hands.

“And it’s so easy to hear once you know what it sounds like. Makes you an easy mark for anyone who knows what to listen for. And you’d be surprised at how many people know what to listen for.” Slick added.

“Huh.” Ari rolled their food back and forth, mimicking their normal walking style. “I guess I can see it.”

“We just need to get you walking on the heels of your feet. Easier said than done, though.” Otter brought his hand to cup his chin in thought. “But…that experience of yours in heels might benefit us later.”

“You wouldn’t believe how many times Ginko has had to wear heels on jobs. He hates it!” Slick put his hand on his hip and exaggerated throwing a fake scarf over his shoulder before walking over to Otter. “This one,” he said, handing the letter to Otter.

Ari snorted, quickly covering their mouth with their hand in an attempt to hide their amusement. “An-Ginko in heels?”

“Red heels,” Slick laughed.

“Had to get them from Dutchess Cressier. She was more than willing to hand over a pair once we ran a job for her. Ginko has big feet after all.” Otter jabbed Slick in the side with his elbow.

Ari let out a breath of a laugh as they recalled the memory. They really did miss the guild. They missed home. They looked around the small, one-room cabin that they occupied now. The fireplace was small, nowhere near big enough to heat the room. The roof leaked when it rained. And most aggravating of all, there was no running water. A bathroom with running water had never sounded so lovely. Instead, they had the outhouse. Ari didn’t want to think what it would be like come winter.

They’d gotten a few things to make it a bit more homey. A potted plant and some curtains. It was nothing major, but it did spruce the place up a bit. Their niblings, Lennox and Layla, had sent them drawings in the mail almost as soon as they heard the town’s name, Mistria. The drawings hung from the wall near the table There was a letter from Aldo, their older brother, Lennox and Layla’s father, and another from Ruby, his wife that were folded neatly and stacked on the table. Ari hadn’t received anything from Charlotte yet though, their younger sister. They suspected that she would write on her own time though. Charlotte had always worked on her own timetable, much to mother and father’s dismay. But her being the youngest, she often got her way.

Ari stared at their nightstand, the book that Celine had let them borrow closed with a clean leaf stuck in the middle as a bookmark. They thought about reading, but it probably wouldn’t help this time. 

They missed home, desperately. The guild hall, the dormitories, the massive kitchen, they missed it all. Sure, the beds in the dormitory weren’t the best, and they didn’t miss Guardian’s snoring at all. But It had been years since they’d slept outside of the co-ed dorm with the exceptions of a few jobs. Hell, since they had slept alone in a room at all. They missed the company sometimes. It was lonely coming home to an empty cabin.

Ari rolled over in bed, turning to face the wall. They mentally went over their checklist for tomorrow. Water the tulips, daffodils, potatoes, cabbage, and strawberries. Harvest the potatoes and maybe the strawberries if they ripened up enough. Eat some strawberries if they ripened up enough. That thought alone made them excited enough to kick their feet. Breakfast and dinner at the inn. Maybe a little mining. Give March another ingot. The thought made them pause.

March was an enigma. He was the only person in town who seemed to distrust them. And he had from the beginning. The rest of the town had been so welcoming. And yet March…March remained icy. What could they do to warm him up? To make him see they weren’t so bad and were just here to help?

‘I could turn this into something pretty nice.’

Ari thought about the comment. In that moment, he seemed to falter–he seemed to crack just the tiniest bit. They’d made the ingot while he had been at the inn after the Spring Festival. They didn’t want to take up his forge time. It was his job after all. Just like taking care of Mistria was theirs. It was a full time gig. March was good at his craft. Very, very good at his craft. It seemed like that was his sole focus in life, to perfect his craft. They’d seen his work in the smithy. It was some damn fine craftsmanship. Nothing they could ever measure up to. They wondered if they had ever seen any of his work at the capital. Olric had mentioned he was doing a lot of jobs for the capital lately.

Their father had mentioned Mistria once or twice that Ari remembered. Once, he mentioned it as the only place to get mistril. The rare metal was expensive and hard to work with. Their father could work with it, but he was one of the few jewelers that could. Those mistril pieces were some of his bestselling pieces. But since the mine had been shut down…was there even still mistril in the mine at all?

Ari had gotten down past level 20 in the mine. The water tablet had been a sticky one to solve, but with the help of Juniper and Eiland, they had done it. How much deeper did the mine go? Where was the mistral? They shook their head. Not the time to dwell on that.

Ari thought back to the second time their father had mentioned Mistria. That memory was a bit more fuzzy than the first. It had been a little over 7 years since their father had made the comment. ‘There’s a good blacksmith in Mistria. He does impressive work for someone so young.’ The blacksmith had made their father a hanger sword for hunting. Ari remembered the glint of the metal and the gentle curve of the blade. It sat unused in the house until the day they had been kicked out. It was a shame, really, going unused like that. But whoever it was had come to the capital to work as an apprentice. Could it have been March? Surely not. But, how long had he been smithing? The thought gnawed at them. They’d have to pry the information out of him, but how?

They sighed and flipped back over. Tomorrow would be a new day. A new chance to make a difference. Ari poked a new welt on their arm, wincing at the pain. A new day to get hit with fucking clod bullets.

If only Antonio could see them now. He wouldn’t be happy. No, he’d probably laugh at their misfortune of a hard job, sigh at their performance, and then get angry that Otter had put them on the job in the first place. Antonio, in the last month of his life, had started to hate Ari taking jobs with hard labor, his protective instinct coming out. There was a reason why, of course. But they didn’t want to think about it, the pain too great. Antonio always got irked when those he loved were put in the line of danger. But then, didn’t Ari too?

‘They shouldn’t have gone out that day,’ Ari thought. ‘They shouldn’t have gone out that day.’ The thought haunted them for the rest of the night.

----------

A letter awaited Ari in their mailbox the next morning, patiently waiting for the sun to rise.

Ari, 

Meet me at the Blacksmith’s and don’t keep me waiting.

March

[possibly-evil]

Starship is the most trans gay chaotic starkid musical and you can’t prove me wrong. I’m using this as an excuse to rant about my Starship headcannons.

Most of Bug’s story, lyrics, everything, can be used as a metaphor for being transgender. Also… he’s just trans. Like. He is. Look at him. HES A BUG. THATS LIKE, THE NON-BINARY NAME. in my opinion.

Taz gives off major lesbian energy. She’s so badass. She’s literally just a butch lesbian in space.

February is pansexual. She’s kinda that meme that’s “I just told you I’m gay, you expect me to do MATH??” Also she just has so much love in her heart :D I think she’d fall in love with almost everyone she meets.

Junior… oh junior. Where to begin. I’m torn between gay or aroace. Probably somewhere on the aroace spectrum, definitely likes men. You can’t look at him and tell me he doesn’t. I feel like he’s somewhere under the trans umbrella, but idk where. Gender-fluid or Agender, idk.

Commander Up. I feel like he’d just seem like a regular straight guy and then one day drop the craziest lore like “I remember when I had six boyfriends… we used to play football by that old house on the edge of campus…” idk. (Bonus headcannon: he secretly believes God is still alive.)

Tootsie Noodles Megagirl. “Where I come from, we don’t have no gender. It makes things too difficult for us farmer folk” -he said this trust me I was there I was a stack of hay

Megagirl is a robot. She’s like Janet from the good place, she’s not a girl, not a human. Idk how else to phrase it. She only feels love for Tootsie.

[redriots0]

A Literal Snack

Summary: “Close your eyes,” he requested. Adding with a raise of his eyebrows, “and open your mouth.” One-shot where Rick finds chocolate after you’ve offhandedly requested it.

Word count: 782

CW: fluff/suggestive

Rick Grimes x Original Character (Female, Male or Non-Binary)

Cross-posted on AO3.

---

“Hey, Y/N, there ya are. I’ve been looking for you. Found something this morning that I think you’ll like.”

You whirled around, startled by the deep voice of Rick, the resident sheriff’s deputy turned farmer turned all round bad ass. You had been contributing to your daily tasks in a quieter section of the community, content to work at your own pace and under your own direction.

“Close your eyes,” he requested. Adding with a raise of his eyebrows, “and open your mouth.”

Your eyebrows raised in response at his command, the corner of your mouth turning up slightly at the innuendo. Your eyes flickered between his, gauging whether to trust him. After the moment’s hesitation, you nodded slightly, allowing your eyes to close. Your lower lip parted from the top, tongue covering your lower teeth.

At that point, you can feel and hear rather than see Rick stepping closer to you. One hand clasps your chin, his thumb and index fingers angling your chin upward. The other hand parts your lips slightly as something is placed ever so gently on your tongue. His hands linger before withdrawing.

Eyes shut, the sensation of what had hit your tongue began to hit you. A wave of sweetness began to dance along your taste buds, enveloping them in a velvety embrace. Your eyes flutter open with the excitement that takes its hold, twisting your face in delight as you lock eyes with Rick.

Careful to not waste any, you cover your mouth as you exclaim. “Where the heck did you get chocolate?” You ask, Rick’s grin showing how pleased he was with himself and your reaction. He shrugs nonchalantly. “Found it on the run this morning. Whaddya think?” Smooth bastard, he must have heard your whining to Maggie earlier that week about ‘missing chocolate the most in this apocalypse thing’. Mind you, if you remembered correctly, you also said you missed ‘mind-blowing sex and a decent but smutty novel.’

Your eyes flutter close briefly again to enjoy the sensation on your tongue. “Jesus Christ, Rick. This is practically orgasmic!” As they reopen, you catch the faint blush tinging his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “It’s been sooo long since I’ve had chocolate. Have you tried it?” He shook his head, proffering the remaining pieces of chocolate bar to you. “Nah. I was gonna save it for Carl to have.”

“Fuck that, some things should be saved for the adults,” you giggle, grabbing the bar. “Your turn,” you murmur, stepping closer to him once again, “to close your eyes and open your mouth.” Once again, you don’t miss the slight tinge to his cheeks, but you definitely don’t miss the darkness that flashes across his features before he obeys.

You take the remaining piece, placing it into his open mouth upon his tongue, thumb brushing his lips as you withdraw. You watch as his features too change as the flavours hit him of a decadence that had been too long since last tasted. You’re hyper aware of your breathing whilst this close to him, but you are mesmerised as his eyebrows knit together, tongue swirling the chocolate around his mouth with a slight.. was that a grunt or a moan?

Catching himself by surprise with that, he began to grin sheepishly, eyes opening to find you in his space watching him with thinly veiled delight. Absentmindedly, his hand raised to brush a lock that had fallen in front of your face. The touch wasn’t out of place for Rick- he always found a way to touch you in this absentminded way, whether a hand on the small of your back to guide you, or a touch on the arm to get your attention.

This felt different. And as his eyes once again locked with yours, you could tell he felt it too. Here you both were, within a foot of the other, having shared some sweet treats. Rick inclined his head downwards, one hand falling to rest on your waist, eyes trailing the small gap between your bodies.

He leaned down further, his warmth radiating through your body. You almost started when he spoke- you forgot that you were both capable of speech at this point.

“Well, Y/N… with a reaction like that, I’m going to make it my own personal mission to find you a ‘smutty book’… whatever that means.”

He winked a blue eye at you, and you smiled coyly in response.

“And then, together, we can maybe look at working on the whole ‘mind-blowing sex’ thing.”

Your reply was simple, but with confidence. “Get me that novel, and we’ll see just how we go with the mind-blowing sex.”

[valleyofhyperfixations]

Nobody asked, but I made more of my farmer’s lore

[jellyaris]

More Stardew Valley dolls!! This time my non-binary farmer, Quill, and Harvey 🥹 Harvey was simple to make-- I've stared at him long enough after all-- but Quill was a challenge. Particularly their chest. They've had top surgery, but there are no flat chested Barbie dolls, so I ended up melting the chest into the shape I wanted 😂 it worked out incredibly well! Even with the shirt off you can't tell they ever had tits!