This one is a bit of a guilty pleasure fic thats also quiet a bit out of my comfort zone. It's based off the game Life Eater where you play as a serial killer who sacrifices people to please a god and prevent the end of the world.
The general idea is that Grian becomes indebted to the Watcher and becomes forced to murder someone every year. But during the disposal of the first body, Scar accidentally stumbles onto him, to which Grian panics and ends up taking him hostage.
Not sure if I'll ever end up posting it, just because of the general nature of the fic. But from what little I've written it's been a good exercise in writing darker tones and a good excuse to play the game again :)
Omg, please tell me more about How To Love A God. I am in love with the idea of God of Death!Jimmy
-Nor
This was one of those projects were I was certain that it was only going to be a 5-10k oneshot, but the more that I'm planning it, the more I realise it's definitely gonna be longer.
It's set in a world where gods' powers are derived from their followers, the more they have, the stronger they become, both physically and magically. Jimmy starts the story off as one of the Watchers' followers, but he ends up earning their ire. Because of that, they turn him into a deity of death, a dominion no one wants to worship, cursing him with immortality and no power to show for it, except for the lingering death that follows him wherever he goes. Queue in Tango who just can't help himself falling in love with the wet dog of a god personified.
I've always been fascinated with death and fictional gods, so writing and planning this has been quite the treat for me!
Ever since @norinenglish posted about their stardew ranchers fic concept I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head, so I've decided to make it everybody's problem.
I'm not going to be following the farmer's story beat for beat, instead, I'm just taking it as a loose inspiration and seeing where it takes me. Is there going to be more? Who knows, certainly not me!
First draft of Jimmy coming to the valley can be found under the cut :D
The bus travelled down the lonely highway, the slight unevenness of the road sending Jimmy’s head bumping against the window. There were endless mountain ranges just on the other side of the glass and peaking between the small crevices he could even see the ocean. Verdant grass covered every inch of the place—such a far cry from the dull greys of Zuzu City.
Which, he supposed was the point. Looking back at it, it was only a matter of time before the city chipped away at the last bits of himself until all that remained was just a shallow husk of a being. It was too loud, too full, too much.
Though who was he kidding? He could blame all his recent troubles on the city all he wanted, it wouldn’t get him anywhere. There was no guarantee things would get better in Pelican Town either.
Positive thoughts, Jimmy, warned Pearl’s voice somewhere in the back of his head. Positive thoughts.
Right. Things at least—probably?—couldn’t get any worse than they had been. And now he at least wouldn’t have to burden his cousins with coming all the way out to Zuzu City to keep an eye on him.
It had been their idea to have him move back to Stardew Valley in the first place. Grian had suggested he stay with him up in the spare bedroom of his cabin, though Jimmy had resisted the idea with all his might. He’d caused them enough trouble as it was. The last thing they needed was to have him leeching off their kindness at all hours of the day and invading their personal space.
After that conversation though, the incessant need to move out of that city to get away increased tenfold, until his small apartment full of stuff that wasn’t even his own began closing in on him, until there was no longer enough space for him to even breathe.
“What about Gramps’ old farm?” Grian had asked as they were lounging on the couch one evening. “You wouldn’t have us breathing down your neck all the time there and we’d be a few minutes walk out if you ever needed company.”
“Have you been to that place at all in the past few years? It’s so overgrown you can barely get to the house!” Protested Pearl. Her legs were draped across the both of them while she nursed a bowl of popcorn in her arms.
“Okay, so it needs a little bit of cleaning up—”
“Understatement of the year.”
“—but it would solve our conundrum here, right Timmy?”
Two sets of eyes turned to stare at him as Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his seat and pretended he’d still been paying attention to the long-forgotten movie playing in the background.
“I… I think I’d need to sleep on it.”
Up until that point he hadn’t thought about the old ranch much. Though he had spent most of his early childhood there, he and his mum moved to Zuzu City after Grandpa passed away. He can’t even remember if they ever came back to visit, although that’s not exactly something he could ever blame her for. What was there to return for besides memories now painted over by grief?
He had loved that place to bits as a kid. How could he not? It was a pocket of the world that always felt as if it had been carved out just for him, endless fields and meadows he could run around until he could no longer catch his breath, chasing around friends whose faces he could barely recall anymore. And the animals—the chickens, the cows, the goats, creatures that at times understood him better than any person could. He wanted to become a vet because of them, though that dream was now long forgotten, locked away with every other ambition.
It had been the happiest he’d ever been.
That realisation had hooked its claws underneath his ribs and refused to disappear, reminding him of its existence with each breath he took.
He could have that again if he gave it a try.
At first, he attempted to squash that idea down as best he could, to lock it away in a small box tucked at the very back of his mind. It tasted too much like the sickly sweetness of false hope and he wouldn’t—couldn’t let himself be overtaken by it again before he inevitably came crashing down into reality.
But it was too persistent, growing louder and louder the further down he attempted to push it. So, when he had gone through the few things he still owned from back then and found the deed to the old ranch tucked between photo albums and Grandpa’s old books, it felt as though fate had made the decision for him.
❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀
It was all too soon that the bus hissed to a halt at a small clearing with barely any indication that there was a bus stop to begin with, besides a ticket machine tucked to the side that anyone could miss easily if they didn’t know it was there. With dread and anticipation both mixing in the pit of his stomach, he stepped out into the open.
“Timmy!”
Before he processed what was going on, there was an arm that hooked around his neck, pulling him down enough for Grian to reach and ruffle his blond hair. It took him a moment to pull out of the grasp.
“What happened to a good old-fashioned hello?”
“Welcome to Stardew Valley!” A theatrical voice boomed from the side, immediately catching Jimmy’s attention.
On the dirt path leading to the bus stop stood a man dressed in elegant reddish clothing. He leaned heavily on an ornate cane while his other hand held a matching tophat. A wide smile overtook his features. Behind him he caught a glimpse of Pearl, sitting on a wooden fence.
The stranger made his way over to them. “I’m Scar, mayor of Pelican Town.” He offered a small bow, before placing the tophat back on his head and offering Jimmy the now free hand.
“I’m—I’m Jimmy Solidarity.” He stumbled over his words as he shook the hand of this clearly important man. His brain wasn’t going to let him forget that for weeks to come.
If he noticed anything amiss, Scar didn’t comment on it. “I’ve heard a lot about you! It’s not every day someone new moves it. It’s quite a big deal! The entirety of Pelican Town is anxious to meet you.”
The words sent Jimmy’s stomach tying up in knots and though he attempted to cover that up as best he could, the pitying look Pearl sent his way told him he hadn’t done a good job at it.
“How ‘bout we take him to the cabin first, yeah? I’m sure others are gonna be able to wait until he gets settled in.”
Scar’s smile never wavered. “Why of course, of course. Just follow me!”
An uncanny feeling crept up his spine as they walked down the dirt path he must’ve walked through thousands of times as a child. It seemed much smaller now, the wooden fences surrounding it were much worse for wear. Something so familiar growing into something foreign.
They stopped once they reached another big clearing and oh—he’d thought Pearl had been exaggerating about how overgrown the property had become. But weeds and debris stretched as far as he could see and where there used to be fields full of crops now grew sturdy trees.
And the house… Well, it looked as though no one had set foot in or around it in more than a decade, which he supposed must have been the case.
“Told you it was bad,” Pearl half-snickered, though there was no real malice in her tone.
“You’re exaggerating! With enough time this can all be fixed up easily.”
“Says the carpenter. The house looks like it’s being held together with duct tape and Gramps’ old stubbornness! Are you sure this is even safe to stay in?”
Grian waved a hand in dismissal. “I went to check it over a few days back. It’s not a luxury hotel or anything, it’s covered in about an inch layer of dust and I’m pretty sure most of the wiring and plumbing needs to be redone, but it’s not going to collapse at a moment's notice.”
“Reassuring,” Jimmy chimed in, though his gaze wouldn’t leave the old house. It stood tall, with warm-toned wooden walls and a big front porch leading to the reddish front door. The attic window had been broken, with plastic stapled on from the inside to prevent rain from soaking the inside.
This was what had become of his childhood home. A broken, empty mess.
“I mean, it’s got character, it’s rustic!” Scar jumped in.
“Crusty’s a better way to put it—”
“Listen,” Grian jumped in, cutting off whatever Pearl was about to say. “I’ll help you get it back into proper shape as long as you’ll get all the materials, deal?”
Jimmy mumbled something vaguely affirmative as he continued staring at the overgrown ranch in front of him.
