oldmanatom
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Summary
"How on Earth did this man ever manage to write me as many letters as he has?" Brenda mutters, arms dropping to hang limply at her sides. "Especially all the angry ones?"
"You must just move him to words," Sharon says with a smirk.
[Brenda, for once, is the one writing a letter to her father. It's going like a car trying to climb the Grapevine with its emergency brake on. Sharon's there to help ease Brenda off the gas a bit.
written for the Femslash Big Bang's April Monthly Challenge, "letters never sent." there's no specific point in the timeline for this scene, so weave it in where you'd like.]
Series
- Part 1 of FBB - Monthly Challenge fills (2026)
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And...well, isn't that what she's here doing, playing farmer? Trying to build a whole new life—doesn't that mean making different choices?
A philosopher would've sat and thought her way through it. Jake, though, just thinks, oh, hell.
[a late night walk, an unexpected crossroads, and a quiet conversation that casts a new light on an acquaintanceship. // finished for the Halloween Trick or Treat Game in the Stardew Valley Fanfiction Writers Guild's Weekly Word Challenge channel, specifically for the Treat prompt "Moonlit Stroll."]
Series
- Part 1 of SVFWG - Weekly Word Challenge fills
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Eight moments in the lives of some of those who live and work in Stardew Valley.
[drabbles written for the Labor Day drabble challenge hosted by the Stardew Valley Fic Writers Guild, including two written post-challenge.]
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The wasteland's full of jobs to do and people to do them, from soldiers to raiders, from merchants to thieves. Question is, what do the people think about what they do to make a living?
[Interviews with wastelanders, where they "talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do." Based off of Working by Studs Terkel.]
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Time marches on, and, as always, she keeps pace flawlessly.
[Six 100 word drabbles on Chell and GLaDOS post-game.]
Recent series
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my fills for the Femslash Big Bang's 2026 Monthly Challenges.
- Words:
- 1,778
- Works:
- 1
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my fills for the Weekly Word Challenge prompts on the Stardew Valley Fanfiction Writers Guild Discord. fills are limited to 1000 words or less.
- Words:
- 1,000
- Works:
- 1
Recent bookmarks
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Summary
The introductions pass by in a blur, and it is not until the farmer leaves that Harvey notices the posters on the clinic wall, where the door had slammed. They are for missing children: a girl and a boy, young enough to toddle alongside their parents. They both have auburn hair. The girl has green eyes, and the boy’s eyes are bright and lively.
Hm. He doesn’t recall seeing the posters before. Maybe Maru had put them up, and he’d simply forgotten. He is getting older, after all.
Bookmarked by oldmanatom
21 Mar 2026
Bookmarker's Notes
the vast majority of my bookmarks are fics that i think anyone, regardless of familiarity with the fandom, can read and appreciate. this is not one of them. this fic relies on the reader being both familiar with the general vibe of Stardew Valley as a game and far enough along in it/spoiled enough on it to understand the beating heart beneath the floorboards, here. (it'll be a good read even if one or both of those things aren't true, don't get me wrong, but for the full effect, that's the bar.)
if you have, though, i genuinely, genuinely, genuinely cannot recommend this fic enough. i love horror, and i especially love horror set in "wildly discordant" settings like Stardew Valley (it's really not!), and i ESPECIALLY love horror that uses the genre to take a very interesting look at things like game mechanics and design decisions. this fic hits all three. this is an excellently written story on a pure craft level, too, and one i'm going to look towards as an example of how to do the type of horror i love correctly. and besides all that, it just makes you fucking think. i love when fics do that.
if you're a Stardew fan, please, read this. it might just make you look at this game very differently—it sure had that effect on me.
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Occupational Hazard by Quasichalant (WormholeToNowhere)
Fandoms: Stardew Valley (Video Game), Ask a Manager - Alison Green
26 Mar 2026
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Summary
A worker in a small town in the Ferngill Republic writes in to Ask A Manager.
Bookmarked by oldmanatom
26 Mar 2026
Bookmarker's Notes
when i say that i like fics that play around with formats, this is what i'm talking about. not only did this introduce me to Ask A Manager (an advice column i've now spent many hours reading through), it also stands out as one of the most creative SDV fics i've read. the execution is great and it overall feels true to some of the wackier AAM sagas. i'm so glad that this idea was dropped in the SDV Fic Writer's plotbunny adoption Discord channel, so that we could get this fic!
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Summary
Leah isn't looking for love, or even a fling. She's just trying to survive, maybe make some art, maybe drink some wine. She definitely hadn't meant to get so close to Pelican Town's newest bachelorette, but some things are just out of her control. Bonding over a shared craft and a shared romantic life fraught with bad decisions, Leah and Robin might just find the inspiration they've both been looking for in the most unexpected place: each other.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 10,801
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 6
- Kudos:
- 12
- Bookmarks:
- 6
- Hits:
- 178
Bookmarked by oldmanatom
28 Feb 2026
Bookmarker's Notes
Leah's written fantastically here—she has a presence, a maturity that i find really compelling and that just clicks with the way i think of her as a character. Leah and Elliott's friendship also adds a nice dimension to their characters, as something outside of the spark between Leah and Robin that fleshes them both out, but that still ties into and supports the overall plot.
to get more craft-headed for a sec, i really appreciate that everything that happens here is really driven by both Leah and Robin choosing to make it happen, from the first move to the very hopeful ending. that kind of agency on both of their parts helps make their connection feel very genuine, and maybe is why they feel "mature" here. they feel like two people who actually like each other and want to lean into that and explore it more, and that sort of dynamic just makes you really want to keep reading, even (maybe especially) at the end.
i've been thinking about this fic since i first read it. it's a lovely exploration of how these two would get together, and sold me on the ship.
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"Smile, lady, and look up to your future – for that land goes by the name of Skyrim, and you are in it already."
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 555
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 5
- Kudos:
- 21
- Bookmarks:
- 3
- Hits:
- 466
Bookmarked by oldmanatom
14 Jan 2013
Bookmarker's Notes
What I love about Skyrim is that it's a setting where you could write a thousand different smaller stories that have little to nothing to do with the main plot, or the main character. There are a ton of jumping off points to work with given the vastness of the world, and I think this story is an excellent example of that.
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Narrow Parameters by ASongofSixpence
Fandoms: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
03 Jul 2025
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Summary
When Vulcan is destroyed, everyone feels it. Isolated in the wilderness, Pavel's aunt and her Vulcan colleague have no choice but to help each other pick up the pieces.
(A look into Katreen and T'Parr's story, set during and after the events of The Seventeenth Mile.)
Series
- Part 2 of The Seventeenth Mileverse
Bookmarked by oldmanatom
04 Jul 2025
Bookmarker's Notes
look. i don't even go here. i know truly jack and shit about Star Trek, in any iteration. but i know people, and that's all you really need to know in order to appreciate what the author's doing here. a wonderfully thoughtful look at these two characters and how they slowly but surely come together, because and in spite of themselves.