Ember’s Glow

(Hey guys! I’m very excited to be working on this new fanfic! I’ve kinda had ideas for this one for a few years now, but now I’m finally getting around to writing it!)

(This is going to be about my main ship in Stardew: the six bachelors in an open relationship with each other. As I implied in a previous post, this ties back to something Sebastian, Sam, and Alex all have in common. You’ll see what this thing is in this chapter.)

(Despite the fact that he was recently announced as the seventh bachelor, Clint will NOT be included in this story, as I already have things planned out involving the original six and Clint would just complicate things. This is NOT because I dislike him, it’s merely for convenience.)

(Also, fun fact, this was actually something I had originally written for DecembAlex25, specifically the ‘strong’ prompt, but I wrote something different instead, and reworked what I originally wrote for this story. I hope you enjoy!)

It was springtime once again in Pelican Town, and Alex was looking forward to the egg festival. Normally, he would be spending it with Haley, but she was taking pictures with her sister Emily, and Alex didn’t want to intrude, especially since the sisters started talking and getting along better recently. As he was getting ready, he noticed that Sam and Sebastian were hanging out, only without Abigail around.

Well, Alex DID want to hangout with them and get to know them better, even if their games and hobbies were a little weird… he didn’t really have a lot of guy friends…

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Alex asked, trying to sound casual.

Sam smiled at the jock. “Oh, hey Alex, we’re just chatting and chilling. Stocking up on eggs again?”

Alex nodded and held up his plate full of eggs in response. “Heck yeah, I have to bulk up to get stronger!”

Sebastian seemed unimpressed, but held out his plate to Alex. “Here, take mine, I don’t want them anyways. I only grabbed some eggs to not look weird in front of everyone.” He said, sounding unenthusiastic.

Alex shrugged, taking the eggs of Sebastian’s plate, eager to take more. Sebastian then chuckled with a nice thought.

“Although one type of egg I will take is some black void eggs the farmer gives me sometimes. They look really cool.”

Alex nodded at that. “Yeah, he gives me eggs too sometimes, he’s a really generous guy! I’m glad he moved here,” Alex said, “oh, speaking of, did you see him at the fair last year? He hit the maximum strength level in the smashing stone game several times. Even I can’t do that!”

Sam smirked. “Guess all that farm work is really paying off for him!” He then looked up and saw the farmer walking into town. “Hey, speak of the devil, here he comes now!”

Sebastian and Alex both looked in his direction, and then all three of them started waving at him with a smile. The farmer smiled fondly and waved back at them before having a conversation with Mayor Lewis.

“The farmer really is in great shape, isn’t he? Just look at those muscles!” Sam said, admiring the farmer and his physique.

Sebastian nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he’s certainly not forgetting about leg day either, just look at those thighs…” He said, looking down at the farmer’s build.

Alex kept looking too, his plate of eggs forgotten as he placed them on the table. “Not to mention those pecs…”

The three guys kept gushing about the farmer as they watched him interact with the other townsfolk.

“He looks like he could bench press my motorcycle…” Sebastian mumbled, his face turning pink.

“He could easily do push-ups with one of us on his back…” Sam said, a smile and blushing forming on his expression.

“He’s shown me his routine at his farm before, he does a lot of squats when he’s taking care of his animals…” Alex said, unable to help his smile as he thought about the farmer.

The three men kept staring at the farmer, mumbling praises about his body and personality to each other, when they were interrupted by giggling from behind them. When they turned around, they saw Abigail and Haley both laughing. The girls realized they were caught, but didn’t stop laughing.

“No, no, wait, keep going! We wanna hear more!” Haley said, giggling.

“Yeah, what were you guys saying? All the ways the farmer is so hot?” Abigail said, laughing hysterically.

“Nooooo, Abigail, they were talking about how ‘strong’ the farmer is!”

“Oh yes, he’s soooooo strong, Haley, I almost forgot! Good thing our friends reminded us!!”

The girls kept laughing while Sam, Sebastian, and Alex kept glaring at them, their cheeks flushed.

“What are you two laughing at?” Alex said, looking irritated.

This response only made the girls laugh harder.

“Oh, nothing… but you boys should be more careful… your Daddy issues are showing…” Haley said with a snicker.

The trio of young men went from looking irritated to horrified and embarrassed, which only made the girls laugh harder as they walked away. They then went back to looking at each other, now too shy to say anything.

After a moment, Sam broke the silence, as he often does. “Well… those two seem to be getting along nicely.” He said to Sebastian, who grumbled and ran his hand across his face in frustration. He then turned to Alex, who looked like he wanted to disappear. Feeling pity on Alex, Sam gave a small smile. “Hey, Sebastian and I were going to hangout and play Solarian Chronicles after the festival, why don’t you join us?”

Sebastian gave Sam the side eye. Solarian Chronicles was HIS game, why was Sam making these offers without at least consulting him first?! Especially to Alex, who Sebastian viewed as arrogant and selfish?!

Alex seemed uncomfortable as he was put on the spot. Solarian Chronicles was something he had no interest in… still, it sounded better than just sitting in his house and feeling sorry for himself…

“Well, sure, why not?” He said, still sounding unsure.

Sam smiled warmly. “Great! That’ll help us forget about our problems for a bit! Seb and I will-” An announcement from Mayor Lewis got everybody’s attention: the egg hunt was about to begin. “Oh! I better get ready. I can’t let Abby win this year! Seb, you want to help Alex with the game?”

Of course, I am more than happy to have some more content for Stardew Valley and have absolutely nothing but respect for ConcernedApe, especially since he’s working on 1.7 IN ADDITION TO Haunted Chocolater, but it’s a bit surprising that he’s adding two new marriage candidates at the 10 year anniversary mark, especially given the choice of singles in the game. This is in no way criticism towards ConcernedApe (after all, this is his game, he can do whatever he wants) it’s just an observation.

This may be a personal thing, but I don’t really think we can do much better than the marriage candidates we already have. The 12 singles are mostly my favorite characters and I SERIOUSLY struggled with deciding who to romance for my first play through, so to add 2 more may throw me off, at least for a while.

I have a bunch of fanfics involving the current love interests planned, and it’ll feel weird to not include the two new characters if I don’t like them, and depending on who gets chosen, I may proceed as planned and not include them in my romance fanfics or carry on as if nothing had changed.

Another thing for me is that I’m not too crazy about most of the non-dateable characters in general. Going SOLELY based off the remaining characters mentioned in ConcernedApe’s Twitter poll from 2016 about who should be the next marriage candidates (Pam, Marnie, Sandy, Linus, Clint, and The Wizard) I’m not too hopeful. I can’t stand Pam or the Wizard, and Marnie is just kinda… meh. I’m indifferent about both Linus and Sandy, not because I dislike them, I just kinda forget they exist sometimes. Clint is the only character I could get behind romancing, mostly because I know there’s a well written character in there somewhere, but that’s just me. (And yes, I completely understand why a lot of people don’t like Clint.) The only character I could get behind romancing would be Gus (maybe Willy too, but he gives off more mentor/fatherly vibes than dateable vibes, but that’s just me.)

Depending on who the new candidates are and how their stories go, I may enjoy it, but I don’t know. I’m currently theorizing that it’s Clint and Sandy, but we’ll see.

(Hey! Remember when I said I wasn’t going to finish DecembAlex? Yeah, me too. But, I got an idea and I’m gonna roll with it. This is a combination of the remaining prompts I did not finish, as all of them will be a flashback. I hope you enjoy!)

As Alex was standing on top of the cliff of the summit, waiting for his husband to show up, he had a big smile on his face as he replayed the last few months leading up to this moment…

When The Farmer first moved to Pelican Town and celebrated the winter star, Alex was miserable, as the holiday always reminded him of his mother. Not only was it a sickness in winter that took her life, but the Winter Star was her favorite holiday. Alex couldn’t help but be sad every year. However, this year was his first holiday being a husband and father. He checked on their daughter, Clara, and Alex still thought it was sweet for the Farmer to name their daughter after his mother. It was his idea, not Alex’s. Alex happily held and finished taking care of baby Clara, changing her diaper before bundling her up. The Farmer woke up and gave Alex and Clara a kiss, had a nice breakfast, and then went to town square to eat with Alex’s grandparents, as it was tradition for the families to eat together during the holiday. It was a fun filled day, with lots of cheer and laughter. For the first time in a very long time, Alex understood what the joy of The Winter Star was supposed to feel like, and it was all thanks to his husband and daughter.

A few days later in the spring, Alex and his husband were playing catch with the gridball on the farm after they had finished the chores for the day. The farmer had gotten MUCH better at catching the throwing the gridball then when they first played on the beach. The two of them were playing in silence, just enjoying the moment together. Then, Alex gives a small smile.

“Do you think Clara will want to play catch with me?”

The Farmer smiled at this. He knew just how much gridball meant to his husband. “I think that she will. She’s going to be tough and strong, just like her daddies.”

Alex smiled, tears forming in his eyes at the thought. The thought of playing catch with his daughter the same way he played catch with his mother brought tears to his eyes. He loved his husband and daughter more than anything.

One day, Alex and his husband decided to have a day just for themselves, so they asked Haley and Emily to babysit little Clara, and had a relaxing day at the spa. The two of them sat around in the relaxing water, the warm water clearing up any stress and tension they had from all the work and responsibilities they had. The Farmer looked especially tired, as whenever he wasn’t farming, he was fishing and/or mining. Alex gave a playful smirk as he swam over to his husband.

“Hey, honey, you look tense. How about I give you a nice massage~”

The Farmer simply chuckled at his husband’s boldness. “You are such a flirt, honey… fine, but keep it above the waist…”

Shortly after that, after a long day together full of farm work, housework, and taking care of the baby, Alex and his husband were reading a bedtime story to Clara, specifically, it was a simple book about loving their child forever and always, and how that cycle of love will always continue with each generation. After they had tucked Clara into bed and gave her goodnight kisses, they had retreated to their own room. Alex sat in a chair, and all of the sudden, he just started crying.

“Whoa, Alex, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” The Farmer practically leaped out of his chair to go to Alex’s side, standing on one knee as he held his husband’s hand in support.

Alex smiled, revealing these were tears of happiness. “I’m fine. I just… watching you take care of our daughter… making sure she knows she’s always safe with us… tucking her into bed and protecting her…” Alex sniffled and trailed off, wiping away some tears. “I finally have the childhood life I got cheated out of… and it’s all because you came into my life… thank you…”

The two husbands leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together while The Farmer grounded them both.

“I was so scared I was going to be like him… a hateful drunk like my dad…” Alex started, then was gently shushed by The Farmer.

“Hey… you’re nothing like him. You don’t have to think about that man or that life anymore, promise. In fact, how about I give you a taste of that childhood.” The Farmer then smirked and lifted Alex up, his hands resting under his husband’s butt to hold him steady. Alex gasped in surprise, but put his arms around his husband’s neck to support himself. The Farmer then started humming the same song he hums whenever he’s taking care of Clara, and carried Alex over to bed, tucking him in like a child. Alex chuckled at the absurdity of it, then gently settled into bed, enjoying being taken care of and pampered by his husband. The Farmer smiled and climbed into bed next to him, cuddling and spooning him.

“You’re safe with me. I promise.”

On another night, after little Clara was tucked into bed, the two husbands thought it would be fun to put some music on and start slow dancing. Why? Why not? The two were dancing in silence, just enjoying the slow, romantic atmosphere together. After a while, Alex spoke up.

“When did you start falling for me?” He asked. Alex had told The Farmer he had feelings for him ever since they first met, but The Farmer never disclosed the first time he fell in love with Alex.

The Farmer smiled at this.

“Would you believe me if you told you it was when we were hanging out at the beach and you told me you were going to go pro?”

“Wait… really?”

“Yes, you looked so surprised that someone was supportive of you and your dreams. You looked so excited, as if you had just won the lottery. No matter what I did the rest of that day, your smile just wouldn’t leave my mind. After that, I just had to get to know you more, and well,” he paused, suddenly looking sheepish and embarrassed, “I kept asking around town about what your favorite things were so I could surprise you with gifts. Your grandma looked ecstatic that someone wanted to do something nice for her grandson.”

“And you fell for me? Just because of my smile?” Alex asked, completely shocked by this. In spite of always bragging about being smooth with his words, especially when it came to women, Alex was always secretly insecure, so to hear this made Alex feel like he was on cloud nine. He couldn’t help but blush immensely, falling in love with his husband all over again.

“There it is. There’s my favorite thing in the whole world.” The farmer said as he cupped Alex’s face and rubbed his thumb along his cheek. Alex subconsciously leaned against his husband’s hand, practically nuzzling against him. The Farmer stepped forward and kissed Alex on the lips. “There’s the smile I want to protect more than anything.”

Alex felt his blush and smile returning, the only thing that needed to happen was be with his beloved husband.

That was a few days ago now, and somehow, someway, the enormous rock that was blocking the way to the summit had somehow been moved. Alex was fairly certain the farmer had something to do with it, but didn’t know for certain. After all, his husband was quite odd and mysterious, and if some miracle happened in town, more than likely the farmer was involved. Either way, Alex was content to finally walk up to the summit. This was an area he had always wanted to explore since he was a child, so to finally do this felt like a dream come true. When he finally arrived, with baby Clara in his arms, he couldn’t help but admire the gorgeous view.

“Clara… look at how pretty this is…” He said gently to his daughter, who happily giggled in response. Shortly after that, the Farmer finally arrived. “Hi, Honey.”

The Farmer smiled and gave Clara a kiss before giving Alex a kiss as well. The Farmer then put his arm around Alex protectively as they looked at the view of the Valley together.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it, Alex?” The Farmer said, rubbing his thumb along Alex’s shoulder protectively.

Alex smiled and nodded. “It’s a great view.” He said, going between looking out at the valley and at his husband and daughter. “But I think I see a better one.”

The Farmer looked a little confused for a moment, then smiled and chuckled bashfully when he realized Alex was talking about their family.

“I’ve just been thinking about the past several years. We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we? But just look at how far we’ve come.”

The Farmer smiled as he held onto Alex and Clara a little tighter. “From awkward encounters and blushing, to dating, to married, and now having a sweet little child together.” The Farmer smiled as he booped Clara’s nose playfully, making their daughter laugh again.

Unfortunately I will not be finishing DecembAlex, even though I had a lot of fun with it.

However, that is a great Segway to another fanfiction I’m going to make. There is an old version of the ‘Strong’ prompt that I had written fairly early on in preparation for DecembAlex, but scrapped when I had made Alex and the farmer start dating earlier then I originally had planned. Instead, I’m going to rewrite some parts of what I originally wrote, and use that as the opening for said fanfiction. (I’ll give you a hint, it has to with something that Alex, Sebastian, and Sam to an extent, all have in common. Teehee 🤭)

However, there is also a one-shot fic about my farmer character that I started in January of 2025, but never finished because life happened. I’m going to finish that one soon and post it here.

The adoption papers were signed, now, all they had to do was wait. Alex was sweating nervously, pacing back and forth in the farm. His pacing was getting to the point where The Farmer had to lead Alex to another room and sit down on the bed.

“Babe, relax. We’re going to get our baby, and we’re going to be great dads. Now please relax, if you keep pacing the way you are you’re going to put a hole through the floor.” Farmer said, trying to soothe his husband.

“I’m sorry, Honey, I just… I had a terrible father who was jealous of me for being young and having dreams that he outgrew… what if I end up the same way…?” Alex said, sounding worried. Even though it was Alex’s idea to adopt the baby, he couldn’t help but overthink everything. Again.

The farmer smiled and put his arm around Alex. “Then you have me who can help keep you grounded and remind you of what’s important. However, you have too much love in your heart to end up mean to our kid. We’re going to have a great life with our future daughter. By the way, have you told your grandparents about what we’re naming the baby?”

Alex smiled. His husband always knew exactly what to say to make everything better. Alex gave The Farmer a kiss as a thank you for easing his nerves. “You’re fantastic, babe. And to answer your question, no, I want it to be a surprise for when they meet her…”

The night they were able to legally adopt their baby was a night Alex will always remember. Alex felt the world stop around him the moment he held his daughter, and The Farmer leaned against him supportively, the family having a group hug as they heard their daughter cooing. After a long time together like this, Alex went over and tucked their daughter into her crib, making sure she was cozy in there. Even after that, he watched her for a little while, with the most proud smile on his face. While the idea of being a father was a lovely dream to have, Alex never thought it would be achievable for him, and now, here he was: a married man with a daughter. How did he get so lucky?

Before long, Alex and The Farmer made their way to the Mullner residence to introduce Evelyn and George to their great-granddaughter. Evelyn’s face practically lit the room when she saw the baby. She held her so carefully, as did George. Alex smiled sweetly at his daughter when he saw her in his grandparent’s arms.

“Do you like your Mimi and Papa, honey? They love you a lot…” Alex said sweetly at the baby, who kept her eyes glued to George. Apparently, his wheelchair caught her attention, and she was drawn to it.

George smiled sweetly at his great granddaughter, loving how cute she looked.

“So… will you boys finally tell us what you named her?” George asked, looking at Alex and The Farmer, wanting the answer to the mystery of the baby’s name.

The Farmer smiled and squeezed Alex’s hand, and Alex in turn gave a proud smile to George and Evelyn.

“Her name is Clara. We named her after mom.”

DecembAlex Day 23: Helping

Alex was walking around Pelican town and catching up with the people of Pelican town and taking a break from the farm. On his walk, he saw Penny teaching Jas, Vincent, and Leo. Other than Penny occasionally buying ice cream for the kids after school, he rarely interacted with them, instead just doing his own thing, but, Alex noticed that Penny looked a little more tired lately. She always talked about how interesting it’s been teaching someone like Leo, but having another kid to teach added some more to her stress. Alex gave a small smile and approached them.

“Hey, Penny, do you want some help?”

“Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I’m trying to come up with an activity to get them moving, but I don’t know what to do…”

“Well, about I do some PE with the kids? It’ll help keep the kids active and you can rest up if you’d like.”

“Really? That would be wonderful, Alex. I really appreciate that! I can grade some of their papers while they’re busy.” Penny then stood up and addressed the kids. “Okay, guys, listen up, Alex is going to teach us some things about physical education! So I want everyone on their best behavior while he’s teaching us, okay?” Penny said, calling to the kids.

The three kids eagerly nodded and went over to Alex, giving him their full attention.

“Okay, guys, who wants to give me an example of some exercise?” Alex asked, addressing the kids.

Jas raised her hand, getting excited when Alex called on her. “Jump rope! I do it all the time when I’m at home!”

Alex smiled. “Thats a great example, Jas! I do that sometimes as well! Anyone else?”

Leo also smiled and raised his hand. “Climbing trees?” He asked, sounding a little unsure.

“That’s another great example! Nice job, Leo!”

Vincent raised his hand with a big smile on his face. “Sports, like gridball! My dad watches gridball all the time!”

Alex smiled warmly at that. “That’s right! Sports are a great way to get exercise! Okay kids, here’s what we’re going to do…”

Alex spent the afternoon doing some workout stretches with the kids, giving some advice on healthy yet delicious foods they can try, and overall just had a good day with them. Penny, meanwhile, was smiling as she watched Alex help teach the kids as she graded some of their assignments.

Alex was wrapping up the lesson when Vincent raised his hand again.

“Yes, Vincent?”

“If I keep doing exercises and lift weights like you do, could I be as strong as my big brother?”

“I think you could! Maybe even stronger!”

“Cool! Because I saw him pick up Miss Penny into a tree the other day outside our house!”

Alex blinked and closed his mouth, trying not to laugh, and Penny stared right at Vincent, appalled. “Vincent! It’s not nice to gossip!” She then coughed and collected herself. “Now, I believe that’s all from Mr. Alex today, can we thank him for teaching us today?”

The kids nodded and collectively thanked Alex for PE, then did their silent work while Penny and Alex chatted.

“I really do appreciate the help, Alex. Running everything is quite a challenge, but I make it work.” Penny said, thanking Alex personally.

Alex smiled. “No thanks needed. I actually enjoyed myself. Working with the kids was way more fun than I thought! If you ever want me to do some exercises with them again, just let me know!”

“Oh, Alex that would be wonderful! But… I can’t afford to pay you…”

“Whoa, who said anything about paying me? I’ll do it for free!”

“Oh, Alex, that would be fantastic! Thank you!”

“Well, I didn’t exactly have the greatest childhood, so it’s only fair these kids get that instead.”

The two of them sat in silence for a bit, watching the kids do their work and play games together.

“Alex, I know this is none of my business, but are you and the farmer planning on adopting any kids?”

Alex paused at that. It would make sense, as they’ve been married for a while, so it seemed like the logical next step, and Robin had already provided an area for children when she did some renovations for the house, but children was a topic they had never had before.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t think I’d be good at it. My dad was always incredibly cruel to mom and I, and mom passed away when I was still young, so I really don’t know how to be a good dad…”

Penny took a small step closer, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder in support. “I understand that fear and insecurity. My father walked out on mom and I when I was younger and… well, you’ve seen my mother…” Penny trailed off before sighing. “The point is, Alex, is that we usually end up surprising ourselves. I didn’t think I’d enjoy teaching that much, but here I am. I think you’re great with the kids, and I think you would be a great father.”

Alex had pondered over Penny’s words all day. To be a father, what a concept. Well, why not? The farm would be a great place to raise kids, and The Farmer would also be a terrific father…

“Hey honey, you look deep in thought. Is everything alright?” The Farmer asked, interrupting Alex’s train of thought.

Alex looked at his husband and smiled wider. “Yeah, it is, just got to thinking…”

“Oh? Thinking about what?”

Alex hesitated, then decided to trust his gut, and took a deep breath as he intertwined The Farmer’s hands in his.