Thanks Grandpa - SlowLiv - Stardew Valley (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter Text

Wow. I can’t believe I’m actually here. I was starting to fully accept that working at Joja’s advertisem*nt center was going to be my life.

After Grandpa’s death, I held onto his (now my) deed to his house. At that time, I was climbing the ranks, exceeding in every job they gave me, and I was on par to become the next CEO in five to ten years time. No way was I going to give that up for some family farm. Especially as it seemed Ferngill Republic was about to head into war with the Gotoro Empire, I needed to earn as much money as possible.

But as time passed, Joja seemed to plateau me. I worked harder than I ever had before, yet I never actually progressed. I started spending weekends at the office. One time, I even slept in my car once to get back to work as soon as possible in the morning.
I had a wife, kids, and family. After I started becoming a workaholic, I pushed everyone out. I lost everything. My wife wholly thought I left her and cheated, and she almost killed me one weekend. She threw a toaster at me from the second story window. After I realized the world passed me by for years, it was the first step in my leaving Joja.

Once my coworker died at his desk in front of me, and no one noticed until I found his bones. It was then that I realized that I was giving my life for Joja. A company that wouldn’t even notice if I died, became my whole life. After the coworker incident and the recent news of my divorce papers, I slowed down significantly, and I stopped doing the work of five people. Maybe three others also died and no one noticed because of me. Of course, I reported the pile of bones to my supervisors, but I just got a stock message that read, “Thank you for your complaint. We will look into that as soon as possible.” They did not look into it.

As I stopped doing extra work, then finally someone came down to check on me. I explained the situation to her, and she got up and walked away. She power walked past the body/bones and didn’t even look! After that day, I was given a call at 8pm. A robotic voice monotone, “We deeply apologize for the inconvenience. Due to [EMPLOYEE 4]’s check-in today, we have decided that you are no longer the correct fit for this company. We have to terminate your employment as of today. Goodbye [PLAYER NAME].”

Spring 1, Year 1

So yeah, it was kind of a no-brainer to finally use my deed and move onto some free land. Definitely feel crushed by the burden of modern day life. It took me a while to even find a bus to that place. (I had to pawn my car just in case I needed to repair the house or get tools or something) (I did end up using all that money). As I got off the bus, I was greeted by a really hot ginger who welcomed me after the bus drove off.

“Hello, you must be [PLAYER NAME],” says the ginger, “I’m Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He’s there right now, tidying things up for your arrival.” Robin starts turning away and walking to my house and motions for me to follow. “The farm’s right over here, if you’ll follow me,” she says as we walk.

“This is Over the Rainbow farm,” Robin says as if it wasn’t obvious. Pop off queen. (My late grandma might have had a hand in naming the farm.) However, the farm is just littered with overgrown weeds, and has enough trees to be classified as a forest. Robin notices my panic and asks, “What’s the matter?”

“Sure, it's a bit overgrown, but there’s some good soil underneath that mess!” she assures me. How am I supposed to know that if I can’t clear this out? Maybe it’s not too late to back out. That bus couldn’t be that far away by now. As if she could read my mind, Robin says, “With a little dedication, you’ll have it cleaned up in no time.”

She led me to my porch and presented it to me like I won a new car off a game show. “...And here we are, your new home,” she smiles. After she says this, an old man walks out of my new house. (How did he get in there? Do I have no locks? Where do I buy door handles with locks?)

“Ah, the new farmer!” he exclaims. I’m guessing this is the Mayor Lewis the ginger was yapping about. “Welcome! I’m Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town,” he says, “You know, everyone’s been asking about you. It’s not everyday that someone new moves in. It’s quite a big deal!”
He turns to my house and says, “So… You’re moving into your grandfather’s old cottage. It’s a good house. Very … ‘rustic’.”

“Rustic? That’s one way to put it…” Robin scoffs. “‘Crusty might be more apt, though.”

“Rude!” Lewis exclaims as Robin giggles to herself. She’s really pretty when she smiles. “Don’t listen to her, [PLAYER NAME]. She’s just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you’ll buy one of her house upgrades.” Robin’s jaw is dropped as he reveals her true intentions. She sighs and crosses her arms.

“Anyway… You must be tired from the long journey. You better get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. The townspeople would enjoy that.” Lewis starts to head off my farm, leaving me and Robin behind.
He turns and points to a box. “Oh, I almost forgot. If you have anything to sell, just put it in this box here. I’ll come by during the night to collect it,” he explains. “Well… Good luck!” he says as he leaves. Robin is too busy pouting that she takes a few seconds before catching up with Lewis.

Okay, so I now know Robin and Mayor Lewis. I have tools, which means that I don’t have to spend as much money as I planned. After the deed expenses (who knew giving a house away would be so expensive?) and the bus fare (it was hella expensive to get here because the bus stop isn't functional), I was able to keep 500g.

I went onto my property, which is quite conveniently placed for a farm. I’m secluded enough to the point where no one really can wander onto my property, yet close enough to go up to the mountains or down to Cindersap Forest. Robin says she lives in the mountains, so I might have to stop by there soon, if you catch my drift. The town is a bit far away, but if I run I can make it to the town in 10-15 minutes. I should’ve moved earlier. Maybe my family could have fit into this small farm house. There’s no toasters.
Granted, getting this ‘free’ house isn’t the dream it was meant to be. Between the time that Grandpa couldn’t handle the farm anymore and my time wasted at Joja, the farm was laid to waste. I’m honestly flabbergasted, floored, and quite possibly even dumbfounded at the amount of work I’d need to put into it to even make a patch of this usable.

Come to think of it, I don’t actually even know what I’m going to do. Like, what does a farmer do? This seems like a pretty rural town, someone must have animals I could pay for. What do I feed them? Where would I keep them? I don’t want my first livestock to be killed on the first night. Who do I buy them from?

That is going to have to be a problem for me tomorrow to figure out. The only place I can really get to is the house, so I start heading there. When I finally got up the stairs and opened the door, a gust of old, musty, Grandpa-esque wind blew past me. I gagged audibly. This is definitely a fixer-upper. I guess there is no such thing as a free house.

A fireplace, old TV set, and a thin twin-mattress. Livable. Wait, there’s something on the floor. When I get close enough, it's just a sh*tily wrapped present. Unwrapping the loose paper, it’s…parsnip seeds? I mean, it is Spring. Can I just put these seeds in the ground?
How do I do this? I’m a city rat. Born to own Joja, forced to hold parsnip seeds in a confused manner. I’ll plant them, screw it. Best case, I earn money from 15 parsnips. Worst case, I get a weird spot in front of my yard where I dug up the ground.