#dewevent009

[dcwdrops]

starter for finley — @finleymartin​ !

     She wonders if it’s healthy, to not want to let go yet. Probably not, but she doesn’t necessarily know if she’s supposed to have a healthy response to something like this. What good response is there to your family’s livelihood being taken over by JojaMart? Maybe it’s not sitting on the floor of the empty general store cross legged with bottles of wine you’d been unable to sell in front of you because it’s the only alcohol you sold, and you certainly aren’t going to go to JojaMart for anything — but even if that’s not the right thing, it’s what Jillian’s doing. She’s so deep in thought, so deep in angry, frustrated moping, that she doesn’t think about a text sent. To: Finley — You need to pick up your paycheck. Store sometime today, or just find me tomorrow. I’ll be around. So when the door opens unexpectedly, and she hears footsteps, she snaps almost immediately, head jerking to the side to see who the perpetrator was:  “  We’re obviously not fucking open.  ” 

    And then she sees who she is and it’s a sheepish reaction, but not an apologetic reaction — if anyone would understand, anyone outside of the Mercer family, it’ll be Finley. They lost their job too, she knows, and even if it isn’t the loss of a home, the feeling of an existence in the Valley in peril ... it has to still sting. She knows it does, so she just says,  “  Oh. Hi.  ”  and reaches next to her for the envelope, not even standing as she tries to pass it up to them. She’s filled with something almost unfamiliar – very, unfamiliar, in fact. She almost always wants to be alone, to wallow in misery, and she realises right now, she doesn’t. So instead of shoving the envelope closer towards Finley, Jillian nudges the wine bottle and says, almost wryly,  “  you’re welcome to help yourself.  ”  The Mercers are supposed to lock the doors of the general store tomorrow. It’s last hurrah, almost, even though that thought rings as hollow as her voice does against empty walls and broken down shelving units.  “  It’s not a bonfire on the beach, but ...  ”  Unspoken: it’s something. 

[ogdewhq]

to the residents of stardew valley,

but more importantly, my neighbors and my friends. when i took this office, i swore to do right by you and to lead always with your best interests in mind, and over the years i have done my best to keep that word. i see now, though, that allowing joja mart to take refuge in our town was not in any of our best interests.

i understand the threat that large corporations often pose to small businesses, but i believed joja mart would diversify our town’s offerings and grant us all access to products we can otherwise only find in the city. without proper care and regulations, however, joja mart’s stronghold clearly tears our community apart in the most regrettable way.

over the past two months, i have tried to negotiate with joja mart and establish a balance that could allow both joja mart and the general store to thrive alongside each other. because we could come to no agreement, i will not allow the corporation to stay in the valley when its lease expires at the month’s end.

i understand this is the least i can do by way of reparations, and it will also host more problems for us in the valley. to ensure you all have access to the products you need, i have developed a plan with the mercer family to ensure their store can reopen at once. i will also work with the other businesses who have taken losses due to joja mart.

this matter goes beyond business. your trust is something i can only restore through further time and care. but as your neighbor before your mayor, i thank you for your letters and meetings, for my accountability. time and time again, you all spoke of the community that we have built together, and you are right. stardew valley as we know it takes a village, and i am nothing without your guidance. so i thank you.

your friend, lewis

[ogdewhq]

BOYCOTT JOJA! a call to boycott the town’s new “neighbor” erupted through the valley following the general store’s closing. the town, or those who feel led, banded together to boycott joja mart, creating a rideshare schedule, bartering their artisan goods, and commuting via bus to zuzu city together. some have even taken to protesting outside the store to get potential customers on their side. you can write your #BOYCOTTJOJA threads and tag them as #dewevent009.

people have also organized a letter-writing campaign to the mayor himself. tag your letters to the mayor as #dewtask007 before friday, september 25 for him to weigh your thoughts in his decision.

[dcwdrops]

starter for ben — @benjpark​ !

     The Stardrop was far from empty, which felt more like a bad thing — even if it isn’t necessarily. Jillian supposes she’s supposed to be getting a handle on things now, jumping in first, but she still feels like everyone using a night of unwinding in the saloon feels a little unfair. Selfishly, maybe, she wishes she was on the other side of the bar, because the combination of her depressed defeat regarding the general store and the exhausted lack of hope at the protests brewing left her in want of a stiff drink. Tomorrow she could be, and most likely will be, sitting at that counter with drink in hand — no apron tied around her waste, and no delivery of two ice cold beers to make. One would think the later hours, at least were a benefit: a night owl like Jillian no longer having to wake up early to open and getting paid to hang around where did did every night. Except she can’t exactly drink heavily on the job, and the past few days of packing up and moving things away have been like pulling teeth during the daytime, and she imagines once her parents and Stanley are gone and she’s all moved in, they’ll be full of pained boredom.

      Speaking of: she says goodbye to them tomorrow, their venture off into Zuzu City weighing on her mind — and that only adds to the exhausted expression on her face and the desire to down the beer she hands to the person in front of her, not even registering who it’s for until she hears a beep behind with the alert of a pizza she’s supposed to be serving. She’s more than a little distracted, considering she literally took the order from Ben moments ago without registering it was even from him. Who knew for a town so small, bartending was so hard?  “ One minute.  ”  She adds to her friend, or she guesses now, patron, mumbling a I fucking hear you to the machine under her breath. She reaches behind her to open the oven and take it out, before turning back to him. Jillian heaves a sigh, looking incredibly frustrated, and sounding it too.  “  Hi, Ben. Just the beer ?   ”

[dcwdrops]

starter for sloane — @sloanepearson​​ !

     Lizzie inches towards JojaMart, a little curious about the crowd that was forming around it. A small but spirited protest had formed around it, and Lizzie suddenly felt a little bit embarrassed to be carrying around her reusable shopping bag. She takes the thin canvas and balls it up, tucking it under her arm as almost a shield as she tries to get a closer look. Of course she’s heard about all the controversy surrounding JojaMart, and of course she felt terrible: she couldn’t imagine how the Mercer family felt, and they’d been really nice whenever she’d shopped there, except for maybe their daughter. Lizzie had a heart — she would have liked to shop at the General Store, but Joja had been unbeatable. Their prices were lower, their variety was bigger ... she was working tirelessly at the farm, and the lower prices of seeds and the convenience of a freezer dinner after a long day were just easier.

     Part of her feels a little bad for not making the effort, at least, to divide up her trips. Cheaper seeds and easy meals could have been bought at Joja, for her own pocket — but those ingredients she’d used to make croissants with Sasha could have definitely been bought at the general store, as could the milk she kept in the fridge and the ingredients for the cookies she made the week before. OKAY: so maybe she felt more than a little bad. But mostly, she was surprised: she’d never really seen a community band together like this so quickly. The closest thing she’d ever experienced was mild grumbling after the local pizza place in her home town shut down to make way for a Dominos. Everyone had just moved on — but no one seemed to be doing that here. There wasn’t a lot Lizzie hadn’t seen before. She turns to the person next to her with furrowed brow, interrupting faer protest.  “  Is this really all for the general store ?  ”

[dcwdrops]

starter for art — @livelovejoja​ !

     The day was nice, warm for September with a gentle breeze in the air — and Jillian is stuck outside the general store. Usually, she wouldn’t mind it, but nothing about right now was usually. Mostly, because the sign behind her still said closed, and the front door was locked. A duffel bag at her feet and a little grey rabbit in her lap, his travel cage beside her, she’s sitting next to the pile of boxes of her things that are being carted over to her brothers’ house. In childish indignation, she’d tearfully refused to load anything into the carts they were dragging across cobblestone and towards the forest. 

     It was childish, really, more reminiscent of moody teens at the beginning of every horror movie who resented a move, or a child who clung to their fence posts and wept that they were going cross country from their closest friends. Jillian was still in the Valley, but it didn’t really count — not when the time on that was slowly ticking away, and the protests hadn’t changed her parents minds. Speaking of protests: she sees one of the new farmers walking in a direction that looks suspiciously like JojaMarts, but he carries no sign and looks even more suspiciously un-infuriated.  “  Hey,  ”  She calls out, standing up, carrying the bunny with her as she stalks towards him. It makes her look less intimidating, or maybe a little silly with annoyed expression and tiny animal cradled in her arms.   “   You’re not going to Joja, are you ?  ”