Chapter Text
Prologue
“...and for my very special grandson…”
She winced at the last word. She never had been able to work up the nerve to tell her family that she wasn’t actually a boy. And now that Grandpa was lying on his deathbed in front of her, she knew she’d never be able to tell him at all. At least I have a good excuse for crying, she thought bitterly.
Come to think of it, that’s more of a cot than a bed. And… is that leg even stable? The offending leg in question was jutting out at an awkward angle towards a lit fireplace, above which sat a framed picture of some elderly woman, a strange round green toy, and a mounted cutlass, of all things. Just what did Grandpa get into throughout his life, anyway? Or… who? Banishing that thought immediately, her attention snapped back from the photograph to Grandpa.
“I want you to have this sealed envelope.”
She had been wondering about the paper in his hand throughout the proceeding. Thinking back through the proceeding, her relatives had received all of Grandpa’s possessions that she knew of. His house, his furniture, his savings, that sword on the wall, even the weird purple metal ingots in his basement. Curious, she gingerly took the envelope from his trembling hand.
“No, no, don’t open it yet… have patience.”
Figuring there was a reason for it being sealed, she of course hadn’t even thought of opening it yet. But with his eyes already closed, Grandpa couldn’t have known that.
“Now, listen close…” Grandpa’s hand which previously gripped the envelope twitched twice, as if feeling for something. She placed her hand in his. “There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life…”
Like literally every day of my adult life? Idly, she wondered if Grandpa knew that she worked at Joja Corporation, the soulless monument to capitalism. If Grandpa had decided to execute his last will a few hours earlier, she would’ve had to leave work early, earning a substantial reduction in her already-meager pay for this season.
“...and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness.” That’s genuinely poetic, she thought.
“When that happens, my dear, you’ll be ready for this gift. Now, let Grandpa rest.” Her relatives started filing out the door, in various stages of grief. She lingered a moment, gently squeezing his hand.
“Thanks, Grandpa,” she whispered, in her practiced, feminine voice. The least she could do was be honest in her last moments with him.
XX Years later
Four grey walls. Dozens of harsh, cold ceiling lights, high above a checkered floor. Two observation rooms, where imposing men in suits stood, looking down upon the rows of nearly identical cubicles, searching for signs of a lapse in productivity. The incessant sounds of clicking, typing, and whirring computers. A constant headache. This was her day-to-day life. Joja Corporation’s motto painted on the wall was the only decoration in the room.
Joja ☼
Join us. Thrive.
Or else, she thought bitterly. Joja had bought out half of the companies in her hometown. They even lobbied the local government to demolish the old library she went to growing up. Everyone knew that they had no need for an imaginative or educated workforce. Joja only needed an army of drones, endlessly typing. Which she did.
>439 SABLE CREEK IS DERELICT, PROPERTY COVERED UNDER SECTION 3.2
>441 SABLE CREEK IS FUNCTIONAL, PROPERTY NOT INSURED
>443 SABLE CREEK IS FUNCTIONAL, PROPERTY COVERED UNDER SECTION 3.7 SEE ADDITIONAL NOTES
>445 SABLECREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
She shot awake, fearfully glancing at the surveillance camera pointed directly at her from above her desk. Luckily, the harsh buzzer warning didn’t sound this time. One more productivity demerit and she’d lose her vacation day this year. She always had trouble staying awake, even as a child, but she refused to use any of the methods of staying awake preferred by her coworkers. The fellow with the cowboy hat a few cubicles behind her was constantly licking his lips and his scattered pill bottles explained why. That guy was going to have a heart attack someday, and then they’d have two skeletons.
We have skeletons. Left in the cubicles. Forgotten. I need to get out of here!
Forgetting her work, she opened her top desk drawer. Inside was Grandpa’s envelope, still sealed with a rich purple wax. She had known exactly where she’d be when she needed it, but she was patient, as Grandpa asked. How many years has it been since he died? She couldn’t remember, but it was probably long enough. She cracked the seal and pulled out the parchment inside.
“Dear — ” she ignored the name.
“If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.
The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life —” BZZZZZZZZZZT!
She ignored the buzzer warning, well past caring about her vacation days at this point, and kept reading.
“...what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.
I’ve enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Girl Farm.”
She entirely stopped thinking for several seconds. What? Why? Grandpa, why in Yoba’s name did you name a farm “Girl Farm”?!
“It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life.
This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name, my dear. Good luck.
Love, Grandpa
P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?”
She put the letter back in the envelope and took a deep breath. Well, he missed a comma in the postscript and there’s no explanation of why he named it “Girl Farm.” I guess there’s really only one place I can find out.
The former Joja employee stood up, turned off her computer, pushed in her chair, and walked away.
BZZZZZZZZZZT!
The bus ride was long, giving her time to clear her head. For the first time in years, she wasn’t dreading her inevitable return to that cold, grey, maddening room. The picturesque mountains and dense trees rushing by were soothing, and she never imagined clean air would feel this good. Was the city actually so bad that the middle of nowhere felt like paradise by comparison, or was it just the relief of finally getting away from Joja? Shouldn’t she be more worried about this reckless, life-changing move? After a full, manic day of calling ahead to the mayor of Stardew Valley (Lewis was alive, after all), pawning off most of her belongings, and paying the rent on her apartment plus overdue fees from last month, she had left town with nothing but the clothes on her back (a brown jacket, undershirt, and jeans), a few bare necessities, and a grand total of 1000g in savings, half of which was immediately used for the bus fee. She barely had enough money left to buy a beer, but she did have freedom and time, and those felt far more precious. She took advantage of both by fixing her medium-length chestnut hair into a more feminine fashion. She had some practice with this, having switched gender presentations every Sunday to give herself a small dose of euphoria. Enough to get through the week— even if it was only in private. She knew that "girlmoding" would have violated Joja Corporation’s unequally-enforced “No Politics” guidelines, but that made it feel all the more satisfying to do it as much as possible now.
Thanks, Grandpa, she thought, before realizing he had died just last week. Joja must've been messing with her sense of time...
The bus pulled to a stop. The driver tipped his hat as she stepped off into a small clearing in the wooded area, where a woman with a ginger ponytail and a leather jacket waited with a smile.
“Hello! You must be Artemis.”
She felt a wave of euphoria hearing her name, spoken by someone else, to her, in person. Having never been able to present as female in public, she’d been nervous introducing herself over the phone, but this made it all worth it. The woman eyed her curiously, and Artemis realized she’d been grinning with glee.
“I’m Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you to your new home. He’s there right now, tidying things up for your arrival.”
“Wait, the mayor is cleaning my farm? Is that normal?”
Robin smiled nervously. “Well, our mayor does a lot of things normal mayors don’t, and your Grandpa’s old place… well, you’ll see. The farm’s right over here, if you’ll follow me.”
Artemis followed Robin to a dirt path which led immediately to another clearing, almost completely overgrown with trees, tall grass, boulders, and shrubs. There was a wooden shack with a mailbox and a large crate off to the right. It looked… tasteful, despite all the holes in the wood. Robin stopped, looked around, and sighed.
“This is… Girl Farm.”
Artemis looked at the abandoned area for a moment. How many decades had it been since anyone lived here? She ignored the looming despair for a moment and asked the question that was most pressing at the moment:
“Why is it named that?”
Robin looked just as distraught as Artemis felt. “I don’t know! I didn’t even know this place had an official name until Mayor Lewis told me you were moving in! We all just called it ‘the old farm’! As far as I know, there were no girls here.”
Artemis sighed. She’d have to ask Lewis, then. “But this… is a farm, right? It doesn’t look much like one.”
Robin gave a reassuring smile. “Sure, it’s a bit overgrown, but there’s some good soil underneath that mess! With a little dedication, you’ll have it cleaned up in no time.”
A little dedication and months of hard labor, maybe, Artemis thought, acutely aware of the substantial difference between the carpenter’s sturdy frame and her own weak desk jockey body. Robin was already moving on, so Artemis followed her to the house itself.
“...And here we are, your new home.” Artemis was about to remark on the fact that it was larger than her old apartment when the door creaked open and a man with a green dress shirt, yellow tie, brown suspenders, and a grey handlebar mustache stepped out. On anyone else, the outfit would’ve looked ridiculous, but on him, it somehow worked.
“Ah, the new farmer!” the man who appeared to be the epitome of the word “mayor” proclaimed, approaching from the doorframe. “Welcome! I’m Lewis, mayor of Pelican Town. You know, everyone’s been asking about you. It’s not every day that someone moves in. It’s quite a big deal!” Artemis had heard the saying that everyone knows everyone in small towns, but the idea that the entire town was aware of her before she even arrived was… intimidating. She had found safety in the inherent anonymity of cities. On the other hand, since she had called ahead and introduced herself as Grandpa’s granddaughter, that meant everyone in town would know her as a woman beforehand, so the odds of being misgendered by assumption alone were slim. I can work with this, she thought. Confidence is the key!
Lewis was eying her curiously. “You… are the new farmer, right? From the phone call, I was expecting a young woman…” Artemis’s blood went cold. I can’t work with this, confidence has failed me!
Robin glanced at Artemis quickly and interrupted the mayor’s inspection. “Your eyesight must be going, mayor! She’s as much a woman as I am. Better not make that mistake with anyone else around town.” Robin can work with this! My hero!
Lewis retorted, “I happen to know everyone in town quite thoroughly! And Doctor Harvey said my eyesight is just fine, thank you very much. My apologies, Artemis. I…” He glanced to the side shiftily. “...I just thought you sounded older, is all.”
Robin snickered “Yeah, I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you—”
“So!” Lewis interjected, starting to sweat. “You’re moving into your grandfather’s old cottage. It’s a good house… very ‘rustic’.”
“Rustic?” Robin chimed in, grinning. “That’s one way to put it… ‘Crusty’ might be a little more apt, though.”
Lewis scoffed. “Rude! Don’t listen to her, Artemis. She’s just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you’ll buy one of her house upgrades.”
Artemis blinked. “House upgrades?”
Robin looked excited to answer, but Lewis cut her off. “Anyway… You must be tired from your long journey. You should get some rest. Tomorrow, you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. The townspeople would appreciate that.”
As nervous and yet excited as Artemis was about introducing herself as a woman to the entire town (How many people lived here, anyway?), she didn’t let it show as Lewis turned to walk away. Then she remembered.
“Wait, Mayor Lewis! Why did Grandpa name it “Girl Farm”? Lewis turned with an apologetic smile.
“He… said it was because he was raising chicks.”
Robin looked extremely happy.
Lewis tiredly continued. “Like… chickens.”
Robin’s grin continued to grow.
“It was a pun.”
Robin’s look of sheer joy hurt to look at.
“Anyway! If you have anything to sell, just place it in this box here.” He gestured towards the big crate beside the house. “I’ll come by during the night to collect it. Good luck!”
Still reeling from the sudden revelation that her grandpa had named the farm she inherited after a pun, Artemis almost didn’t process what he said. “Did… did he just say he’ll pick up my crops in the middle of the night?”
Robin replied, “Our mayor does a lot of things normal mayors don’t. Best not to question it. And don’t let anyone make the same mistake he did, either. You’re definitely a young woman, and you’re not alone, either.” Artemis turned towards her, but Robin was already leaving.
I’m… not alone?