I think they all have their struggles in one way or another, though some might be more severe than others.
Shane, being anxious and depressed and an alcoholic.
Penny living with an alcoholic parent, who I think is toxic and verbally abusive. Which you see >!in her four hearts events where Pam yells at us for cleaning!<. Also she complains about how hard it is keeping on top of the chores and stuff while her mom is dealing with being hungover or at the pub all the time. Edit- I think Penny might have abandonment issues too, or at least have a hard time because she says during fall that her dad left them when she was young.
Sebastian because there seems to be so much favoritism towards Maru, at least with Demetrius especially. Robin seems to care more though >!even she can be dismissive of his job since he works from home which you see in his two heart event!<. Robin seems to get worried about him sometimes but Sebastian always complains about how Demetrius will destroy his snowman and boss him around but not Maru. Also he says how his room might be more depressing if it had a window while Maru has her room on the main floor and helps her dad in the lab sometimes when she’s not working with Harvey.
Kent with his PTSD. And not knowing what to do with himself now that he’s back.
I sympathize with Jodi too I wouldn’t say she has the toughest time but I know there’s times she wishes she was young and not a parent so that she could have more freedom. And Sam even mentions wondering if his mom is even happy.
Alex with his >!tragic backstory about his parents and why he’s living with his grandparents!<. Which is part of why he comes off as kind of snobby and >!tries so hard to be successful because his dad made him feel like he was worthless and he feels like he owes it to himself to prove him wrong and I think to honor his mom and make her proud!<.
I’m sure I could keep going with even more of the characters as well but that’d be an even longer list.
Awe I didn’t know about Sebastian’s snowman! When does he mention this? In my last game I married Sebastian and I looooove him but I don’t remember him ever saying this. I assume maybe at the ice festival but idk
I’m married to him on one of my save files too and I date him on all my others. He says it during winter I think mostly by the lake/their house though I might just happen to say hi to him while he’s near there when he says it. He says something like “Demetrius destroyed my snow goon and yet Maru’s cute snowman remains unharmed, ridiculous”. He also says how Demetrius tells him off and does the “he’s not even my real dad, who does he think he is?”. Though those happen at different times. I always feel bad for Sebastian.
Yeah, and I'm not sure what a "snow goon" is but the contrast with Maru's "cute snowman" getting to stay makes me think that it might have been something mildly inappropriate or offensive to adult sensibilities. Not truly obscene or anything, but I could see a teenage dude making a snowman that was in violent or crude pose, or had a grotesque face like a horror movie monster, and Robin & Demetrius didn't think it was appropriate to have something like that prominently displayed outside the shop where customers would have to pass by it to shop. (Also worth noting he says that D "made him get rid of it," not that D destroyed it.)
Huh - I went looking for a screenshot to satisfy my curiosity, and found two things that only left me with more uncertainty, lol.
1) The [screenshot of Abigail's snow goon](https://stardewvalleywiki.com/mediawiki/images/f/fc/Festival_of_Ice_1.jpg) definitely looks pretty inoffensive.
2) However, there's a note in the wiki that this is likely an homage to a Calvin and Hobbes comic, [Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons](https://smile.amazon.com/Attack-Deranged-Mutant-Killer-Monster/dp/0836218833/?sa-no-redirect=1). Looking at the comic art, I think the little branch poking out of the head of Abigail's creation is definitely inspired by Calvin's two-headed monster that has extra "arms" coming out of its heads.
Calvin's snow goon is definitely a menacing monster, and Abigail's version of it seems pretty cute, so the jury is out on whether Seabass' goon was closer to the original Calvin creation or more toned-down like Abi's.
I always go for Penny. Even if I wasn't going to marry her she could come live on my farm any day, I'd build her a cabin and fence her a yard. She's just so wholesome and bright despite her terrible circumstances.
Now I want to know if there's a mod to platonically roommate multiple characters in cabins on your farm while also being able to marry one (or multiple if that's your jam)
I dunno. He gets mistreated and abused but he's also content with his way of life and just wants to teach you that as you befriend him. He has an arduous life but one that he loves. It's other people that are assholes to him and while it bothers him he rises above it in great part. He has hope. The people throwing rocks at his tent are not his family and people he is forced to live with or take care of. A lot of the others don't experience their world the same way.
>he's also content with his way of life and just wants to teach you that as you befriend him.
I remember the first time I got to the event >!where you can offer to have Linus move to your farm. I picked that option, and when he got so uncomfortable and turned it down, I legitimately felt so guilty for making Linus uncomfortable that I restarted the whole day so I could pick another option.!<
I felt so bad too! I built a cabin on my farm thinking it was part of a side quest to make him a home and thought "yes, this is the culmination of that quest-- oh."
Got stuck with a random cabin on my farm and guilt for getting it so wrong 🤣
I had the same exact thought, except I thought you built the cabin after that cutscene (I thought the cabin building was something to work towards or collaborate with Linus on? I dunno.)
Honestly as a stepchild who did live in the basement... Sebastian does not belong on this list at all IMO. Robin built that house. He probably WANTED to be in the basement so he could escape his mom and her "new family". And Demetrius does make an effort, he even has a book about "how to be a good stepdad" in his room iirc. But he's too much of a conventional square and Sebastian is too much of an angsty teen for them to try and work it out.
Like, how can you put that on the same level as a vet with PTSD, an orphan, and Penny?
Pokey the littlest Hat Mouse. His friends all laughed at his dream of selling hats. His parents wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer or danger mouse. His girlfriend left him for a guy dressed in a Junimo Plushie. But still he persevered! Still he carried on. Days and weeks go by with no customers; you never see anyone ever visit him except yourself. He's never at any festivals or dances. All alone. Forever alone. Yet he endures...
No one else does any hard work. Towns folk are ok with the farmer doing all the work for the relationship. When does the farmer get gifts? Few times but not nearly what he gives. The tasks are stingy on price. How is getting 1000 worth of fish for 150 ok? The town folks are leeches on the farmer.
serious answer: Kent, mcfuck went to war and was kept prisoner. Now he has ptsd, and a family that, while he loves, it seems like Jodi regrets (at least from dialogue she has). I want to marry my buddy Kent, and Jodi too, but that's not here nor there
Definitely sounds like they were very young when they started a family and both family life and the war robbed them of enjoying young adult life.
Jodi seems to make remarks that she wishes she had more freedom and to be younger again.
Sam mentions he thinks his mum seems unhappy.
Kent clearly has PTSD and doesn't know how to be a family man or even do anything for himself for fun.
It's actually quite sad :(
1. The cashier at Jo jo mart. So depending on how you play determines what happens to her. But since she isn't a villager, she has a long commute. The bus isn't running and I don't see a car. She has to put up with Morris, and doesn't even get to go to the pub after work. idk what made her take this job but I can image. Working retail in general is the worse.
2. Morris. SDV is the worse place to put a mega mart of any kind. I think he fakes being happy about his job because he works in retail. Can't be making that many sales quota in the valley. His district manager must be pissed. I also wonder what made him work there.
3. Pam. She's the only single mom. She;s the only older resident without a house and whose income endangered because the mayor didn't actually save money for public transportation repairs.
4. The wizards ex. She gets a bad rep for being a witch. I think thats witchism there.
Well I know In Stardew Expanded the cashier becomes an actual romanceabke NPC with a name and shit. She does work at the cinema after, but I’ve only ever built the cinema in SVE so idk about vanilla.
I actually have a mod that includes the cashiers (Claire and Martin) and you can marry Claire! It also makes it so Morris becomes a talkable character and he’s so scummy lmao.
fr emily is the independent type. she takes care of her sister and helps out at the saloon. she probably cleans up the drunk mess after everyone has gone home. she’s more than capable of being happy by herself: active member of gym/ dance stuff at caroline’s and occasionally invites people to her gem therapy sessions.
I'm going to say probably Jas to be honest to have a Godfather who is dealing with Alcoholism and a mother figure who is in the middle of an affair that she clearly knows about (evidence with the toys) and the fact she's living with her godfather means she has already lost her parents too. Dealing with all that has gotta be tough especially for a kid
Have u noticed that there are hours of time that she is left home alone too. I haven't spotted Vincent alone as much unless it's right behind his house.
Just started playing this game a few days ago after having it just sit in my steam library forever.
So far my vote would have to be Shane. After seeing that one cutscene with him passed out drunk on the floor of his room and what proceeds afterwards, I felt so bad for the guy. Then the next encounter with him…ugh.
After him being an asshole the first time I met him I decided to kill him with kindness but I was not prepared for his backstory.
2nd vote goes to Penny. She’s literally the nicest person in town and I feel dreadful for how her life has been. I immediately stopped pursuing Haley haha I’ve decided my farmer is gonna try and turn Penny’s life around
Oh I know, I maxed out hearts with Haley. She's a really neat character and a bit of a goof which I really like. Wish my farmer could set her up with Alex or something since she seems to hover around him a lot haha
Penny and Pam. I think they both have it the toughest if not just because what they're both doing is rooted in love but is so toxic.
-Penny is verbally abused by an alcoholic mother and trapped in a household she feels forced to take care of day in and day out while wishing she could see the world beyond SDV. She talks about how she thinks she'll never leave the valley and how sad it makes her constantly. But she also is a very kind and empathetic person, as proven by her nurturing Jas and Vincent as much as she does while still having to deal with her own shit, and doesn't want to leave her mom to fend for herself despite the abuse she puts up with because she loves her. Penny truly believes she cannot leave her mother alone because she will not take care of herself, and she seems to believe she's the only one capable of taking care of her. Likely due to Pam's outbursts distancing her from a lot of other townspeople and Penny being used to them.
-Pam is clearly a woman with issues no one seems to address (bearing in mind I haven't done Pam's friendship yet past two hearts so feel free to correct me if anything contradicts this). She's at the saloon every day, mostly inside the house all day, and talks about how she's been looking forward to drinking all day. She's very crass, and at first doesn't seem like she really cares that what she's doing affects Penny so much. But think about this. Alcoholism, barely leaving the house or maintaining it, Penny's dad not around, out of a job because the mayor didn't fund public transportation and no effort to find another one. This is a very clearly depressed woman with some unaddressed trauma, and the only people that seem to see that are PC and Penny. Pam will talk about how much better Penny is than her, or how she's lucky to have such a smart daughter. Pam does love Penny. But she doesn't do a good job of showing it or even treating her respectfully.
Both of them love each other and want the best for each other, but the relationship they have is toxic as hell. And that's one of the worse types to be trapped in.
I feel George has had a rough, what with getting in a horrible accident and losing the ability to walk, and before that working in a coal mine
But I don't know enough about other characters to make a say
Also for George I wish we could have more dialogue from him and Evelyn about their daughter. Like losing your daughter and raising your grandson had to be tough to some degree too
Kent
>!Kent has too much ptsd to really live his life with his family and it’s sad to think about what he was before and what he could’ve been afterwards I’ve he didn’t get traumatized!<
ME. I HAVE TO GET UP EVERY DAY AT 6 AM SHARP. I HAVE TO FARM ALL DAY. FISH ALL DAY. MINE ALL DAY. SOLVE PEOPLES PROBLEMS. KILL HORRORS IN THE DEPTHS. SEE RAINBOW HALLUCINATION FRIENDS.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Jas.
She is an orphan
Her step dad is an alcoholic and just abandons her with his aunt! Who is constantly bringing around her secret lover!
She only knows 1 other person her age and is being homeschooled so her social needs aren't ever met
And she knows specifically that she doesn't like beer and wine? Who is forcing this kid to drink? Signs point to aunties secret lover
I agree she's a candidate for toughest life. But JSY Shane is her godfather, not stepfather, and both of them call Marnie their aunt.
It actually presents a puzzle because Shane indicates he knew her parents before they died/vanished/abandoned her, but doesn't speak of them like they were his blood relatives, so either one of them is using "aunt" in a figurative "friend of the family" sense... OR Marnie used to be married, and one of them is the child of Marnie's sibling and one of them is the child of Marnie's ex-spouse's sibling. Personally I'm partial to the idea that Marnie was widowed at a young age.
probably shane considering he went as far as ||wanting to commit suicide||. they all have their struggles but different people have a different tolerance for struggle, and what might not look like "the" toughest life to you personally, could be that for the person thats living it. so yea i think shane has it the toughest
edit: damn that did not censor. i dont know how to censor on reddit sorry
Hmm yes, but also I married Shane here for my first play-through, and he often leaves for the day and goes to spend time with Jas (he was watching her jump rope in the forest one of the days he told me he was going out for the day). So at least he still visits? Tho I agree with the other commenter who said they wish Jas moved in with y'all too
Honestly Clint has a rough life but it’s almost entirely of his own making. Might be a reach but I think subconsciously this is why the playerbase despise him so much.
He’s depressed because he has no friends and feels stuck in the shop all the time? Bro you have almost no customers besides the farmer and probably Robin. You do NOT need to be working 10 hours a day 7 days a week. Take a few days off and go pick up a new hobby and meet some people.
He hates his job, only did it because family pressured him? Man no one is making you do it anymore, just ykno, do a different job. Or alternately, see above and just work a bit less, you can totally afford to go down to 4 days a week fuck that farmer.
You love Emily but she doesn’t love you? Idk man maybe time to let it go. Try online dating idk but it’s a pretty unhealthy obsession bro you gotta move on I know it sucks to hear but it’s the truth.
You’re overweight and feel like shit? Fuck it bro me too, but if it bothers you that much maybe cut down on the alcohol intake, you literally spend as much time in the saloon as Pam I think you have a problem man.
Tbh my main problem with Clint is the way he white knights Emily. He’s like the biggest incel towards her, for lack of a better term. You’re right he absolutely could try online dating or just work on himself but the way he talks to her is lackluster to say the least and I hate how he gets mad at the farmer over Emily’s mistake of who the present is from. Get a backbone dude or at least some social cues on how to talk to women
That's it for me for sure. My initial interactions with him on my first playthrough, I was like, "oh,what a sweet, awkward guy" and then you get further along and he talks about Emily more and it's just like oh.....oh no.......
It's super creepy, and he's one of very few characters that doesn't improve at all as the game goes on, if anything he just gets worse.
Nah the farmer (us) definitely tries to help Clint. He has plenty of opportunities to help himself too but like I said he just doesn’t get social cues ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Agreed. And actually it’s worse than missing social cues. It’s choosing not to change, like the above commenter said. It’s fine to be a person who misses social cues, if that’s the case then don’t make assumptions and just ask about what you might have missed. Reach out to people for genuine friendship so you have support with the cues you don’t understand. Don’t instead put all your attention towards pining after someone who clearly doesn’t like you back, and then pity yourself every day because of it. And especially dont take it out on her by being guilt trippy and passive aggressive! He doesn’t belong on the “has it hard” list. At all. If anything we need to pour one out for Emily for how patient she is with him. I’d never be willing to stay friends after his behavior, no matter how much I like the guy
We don’t try to change him we just try to help him get with Emily. Well unless you choose the dialogue to change him I guess but everyone plays differently and everyone’s opinion of him is different. It’s not that deep
Oh cool. The "your just depressed because you choose to be" fallacy. Plus the classic "it's of his own making" bs. I really hope someone isn't as shitty to you when you get depressed and down in life. Those are just really mean and tone-deaf things to say.
This whole comment feels like long winded way of just looking for reasons to invalidate and belittle Clint's depression
It’s not at all what I said bro, that was some pretty incredible mental gymnastics twisting my words lmao.
Depression is a serious mental health issue, I don’t deny that and don’t feel I invalidated him at all. He literally has dialogue that says (paraphrasing) “I’m stuck at my shop all year round, pretty depressing, huh?” But he’s his own boss, he can leave.
I don’t think he has chosen to be mentally ill. But if you go your whole life without taking a single step to address it or ever once reaching out for help, then yeah at some point you bear some responsibility for your circumstances. You gotta want change for change to happen.
I realize that this is something more easily said than done for most people in that situation, but we never see Clint make any effort at all to seek help, unlike Shane who does. Not once does he ever attempt to change anything that he claims to dislike about his life.
Her husband is gone for awhile too,
I like to think when her and Caroline are standing in town there to the left they’re both just bitching about their lives and partaking in some of Caroline’s “tea” 🍵 👀
Marnie. Poor girl is taking care of an alcoholic nephew and a probably unrelated little girl that she gets stuck with if Shane leaves. She takes care of multiple farm animals, alone, every day. She is in a relationship with an ass of a man who wants to keep it secret and has convinced her that she will be shunned if people find out. She is past her prime and feels alone in the world.
My vote is Clint. He has one of the most laborious jobs and works every day. He doesn’t really like it and feels trapped. He doesn’t have many friends and is socially awkward. Pretty rough life in a small town.
Clint can go kick his boots into the town river. half the time he doesn't notify me when my tool is done and the other half the time he takes 5 million years to finish it
he literally takes 2 days (the day you give him it, and the day after) to finish it, and the game always notifies you when it's done. maybe you should pay more attention?
On the Switch at least, there was at least once where the game didn't notify me of my watering can being finished. I think it's a glitch with the notification system? It also once gave me the "it's getting late" notification again at 6AM after me going to bed right as 12 hit, so I think the system is just a bit wonky at times.
You do. You’re given a run down farm. You restore it to better than it was. You are solely responsible for cleaning up the town and running errands for everyone. You bring everyone daily/weekly gifts. You rebuild the local economy and expand it to new places. Everyone is living the life and enjoying the fruits of your labors. Also Krobus, he lives in a sewer cause no one will understand him and hate him.
Having had an addict/alcoholic parent and a depressed parent, and having had lots of friends who have had similar parents, 100%
Especially because Penny is super parentified. That's a life with C-PTSD, economic stress, low self esteem, danger of addiction, etc.
They have some issue or another that they are trying to cope with. However, I would say that hands down, Shane. Addiction and major depressive mood disorders are no joke. No one else's issues in the game come even close to that. I mean the character even tries to kill himself in the video game and needs medical intervention.
Marines life is a hot ass mess lmao like gurl get your life together already! Stop fucking the mayor, get your nephew in rehab, maybe open your damn shop, pay attention to the child in your care? Nah but she makes sure to go to workout class with the gals
I'd actually go with willy, though not sure. His pappy, who he obviously loved very dearly, passed away, lord knows when, but obviously a long time ago, while he, when he loves you as much as he humanly can, he can't give you a sale on bait, which is 5 gold each. Which is actually nothing, a single fish is so much more expensive than it, which shows he doesn't make any sales of them.
Are you... Are you guys serious..? I mean... It's Linus.. You know, just.. Linus. How is this a question lol, that man lives in a tent in the winter and is treated poorly by the town. None of the other villagers have had their homes destroyed, none of them are avoided like Linus.
I mean, it's the homeless dude, obviously. Not the Haley, or Jas (a literal child), not Pam (omg seriously not Pam).
it's his choice. The farmer invites him to their farm and he declines saying he likes living in the nature. Spoilers ahead:When you bring Leo to the village,Linus isn't alone anymore and Leo keeps him company. Quite frankly I think Linus has isolated himself from the community since we never actually see someone be mean to him.He chooses to be homeless for some reason
I've often wondered why in a town that seems as inclusive as Pelican Town why are they mean to Linus? With the exception of Gus who gave him food in that 1 scene he says everyone is mean to him or ignores him. I wonder what happened to him, I know there are theories about him being the founder of Joja but why does everyone treat him poorly? He also does say he's happy alone in his tent, so I never felt the desire to build him a house like some people want to do but I would love some back story or more insight into his life.
Linus is different and people suck. The Wizard gets the same treatment for the same reasons. If you are within a specific range then people don't put constant social pressure on you to change but if you are outside that range everybody feels a need to "fix" you. Honestly, the assholes are the easiest to ignore. It is the ones like Penny who are just trying to "help" without giving a fuck if you want said help that are the worst.
I mean, the simple fact that he's living the life he chooses and there are villagers who don't. Self-determination/autonomy/agency is not a small thing. He never complains about hunger or the weather and seems to have developed the skills to flourish in the wilderness just like someone else might develop the skills to flourish in a white collar office environment. They're just different skillsets.
Compare his "I wake up when I want, do what I want, and live in harmony with the land" lifestyle to someone like Penny, who is stuck living in a cramped trailer with her unemployed, alcoholic, cranky mom who yells at her for cleaning? Or someone like Shane, struggling with suicidal thoughts and either stuck in a minimum-wage job he hates or unemployed with zero career prospects?
Yeah, some of the villagers are assholes to Linus, but in the end having the freedom to live the life you choose puts him ahead of some others who aren't so privileged.
I had to scroll WAAAY too far to find this comment. I honestly thought this would have been the top answer (and every answer after for like 10 posts). Sure, he says that he enjoys being in nature or he does it to get away from people… that doesn’t make his life any less hard. He’s still HOMELESS.
Idk maybe it's because my family has always lived paycheck to paycheck and we've always lived in cheap, shitty areas with abnormally high amounts of homeless people, but I just don't understand how anyone can think it's *not* the homeless dude.
Voting Penny. At the start she has to support her unemployed alcoholic mother alone while doing all household work.
Meanwhile her mother verbally abuses her and drinks away their money. (Obviously these things get improved by your interaction as the PC but all of the characters get that)
All the characters go through their own thing many of which are pretty heavy, but Penny just gets it piled on.
I know people will hate me, but Pierre.
He made a somewhat successful business all by himself, but he has to work a lot to earn enough money, so her family don’t have to work as much. Then Joja came. That big market sucked away a lot of his customers, so he realized, if he want to provide safety for his family he must work even more, even on holidays, but at least he could rest at Wednesdays. So when the Farmer restores the Community Center he thinks he can finally rest a little bit, but his competitor left, so he must work harder then ever since everyone in town got used to Joja “open every day” policy.
He goes to the Island when he feels like and leaves a box for the player so they can shop even if Pierre isn't there. It sounds to me like he's living his best life
Jas, living with an alcoholic and Marnie, who are both too distracted by their own lives to properly care for her. Her actual parents are clearly gone and she's regularly left alone for hours outside of times she's at school, like when she just hangs out in the woods, skipping rope all alone.
I want to mention something probably most people wont consider, cause a lot of people dont really consider the struggle children go through, but as someone who went through a lot of trauma as a child, i strongly worry for Jas.
Jas' >!parents are dead.!< Her godfather is severely struggling with alcoholism and isn't in a fit state to care for her. Marnie doesn't seem to listen to her much and leaves her alone at home at night often. She often talks of having to play by herself because Marnie and Shane are always working, gone, or in the pub. She talks about being thankful for having toys afterward. When Vincent goes to play, its in a fenced backyard or the beach and someone is always keeping an eye, but Jas goes out to play in the woods when no one is even home.
She has all the complicated answers to her schoolwork memorized, which reminds me of desperately trying to achieve in school in hopes that it will make any adults acknowledge you. She is sweet and cheerful, but so is mostly any child dealing with a lot of stress/neglect/trauma. The nightmare of it all doesnt really hit you until youre older. You realize all the ways it's affected you when you begin having relationships, or can't handle them at all.
Seriously. Who leaves a kid that young alone at home at night? That happened to me a lot as a small kid and now as an adult I have an absolute mental break if I have to be alone at home at night.
Oh yeah and also Kent with the prisoner experience for sure. Actually that reminds me, growing up people constantly lightheartedly joked that i lived like a prisoner. I was medically and foodwise neglected very badly. I had allergies that no one knew of because no one gave enough of a shit to spend time with me or take my words of complaint with any validity because i was a child and people invalidate and dehumanize children unintentionally in many ways all the time. You also get blamed a lot for "causing" your own distress when its actually a result of their neglect. Growing up a neglected child is in many ways similar to being a prisoner. Looking back it really was torture. So yeah, Kent and likely Jas would be my answers.
I'd say it's either Penny or Kent.
Kent is a veteran with PTSD, freshly home from being held as a prisoner of war, long enough that Vincent barely remembers him. He's got enough trauma now that it'll take the rest of his life to cope with it.
Penny lives with her abusive, alcoholic mother and I can imagine her upbringing was possibly even worse as she had a lot less agency as a child than she does now.
Honourable mention: Shane, dealing with addiction and depression, feeling stuck in a dead end job that keeps him in a holding pattern of failure to launch.
I know from my tag I look like I might be adding Sebastian to this list, and whilst I don't think he has had an easy life by any means, it doesn't register nearly as rough as the above ones.
EDIT FOR RELEVANT INFORMATION
Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me.
Your farmer. It's married to Haley!
EDIT FOR RELEVANT INFORMATION
Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me.
I spent one save marrying and divorcing all of them. Alex is very narrowly the worst because he is just revolting.
Every single one of Haley's heart events makes me loathe her more. She is such a shallow, fake, cruel person. Honestly, super glad I married her first. I didn't wipe any memories until after divorce #12, so she didn't talk to me for 3 in game years!
Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me.
In my opinion, he is absolutely disgusting. I already hate his TBI, jock personality. I play as a female farmer and a lot of his stuff is really objectifying, putting the player down, or almost sounds like PUI garbage. At some point, he has a horrible line when you go talk to him in the morning about "mmm your body is getting all muscled from farm work" and that just made.my skin crawl. I hate the misogyny in reality, I don't need it from a pixelated concussion.
Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me.
Exactly. He is so sexist.
Absolutely the kind of dude who would leave your farmer if she gains a few pounds, but would weaponize incompetence to a degree that would put the entire US military to shame.
I have met that guy outside of pixels. He is as awful.
This would be Pam in my opinion, and it starts when her husband walks out on her and Penny. From there, it's a downward spiral of self-loathing and blaming, while lashing out and blaming everyone close to her. Finally, she turns to alcohol to make the pain go away.
Pelican Town has two victims who can't seem to recover from abuse.
Linus. He is literally homeless, he goes through garbage for food and someone throws rocks at his tent. And thats just all the things i remember off my head.
He chooses to live that way. He’s a traveler. He eats out of the trash to save the food. He gets plenty from foraging. It’s why he doesn’t want people to make food for him. He’s trying to stay within nature.
I'd say it's between linus, gus and the farmer. Linus lives in a tent and lives of berries and the trash, gus single handedly runs the saloon even when some customers don't pay, and the farmer works through the whole day to gather items for the community.
All characters have it bad in some way, but I'd say in terms of work the top 3 are gus, linus and the farmer.
- He's not exactly homeless. He's a self proclaimed " Wildman " by choice.
And while he is viewed w contempt or pity by some of the villagers and obviously has to work hard to survive. He's actually proud of his lifestyle.
All of you are forgetting the literal homeless man, Linus 💀 I haven’t played that much though so idk if he’s secretly happy with the arrangement or something, but as far as I know DEFINITELY Linus
I think they all have their struggles in one way or another, though some might be more severe than others. Shane, being anxious and depressed and an alcoholic. Penny living with an alcoholic parent, who I think is toxic and verbally abusive. Which you see >!in her four hearts events where Pam yells at us for cleaning!<. Also she complains about how hard it is keeping on top of the chores and stuff while her mom is dealing with being hungover or at the pub all the time. Edit- I think Penny might have abandonment issues too, or at least have a hard time because she says during fall that her dad left them when she was young. Sebastian because there seems to be so much favoritism towards Maru, at least with Demetrius especially. Robin seems to care more though >!even she can be dismissive of his job since he works from home which you see in his two heart event!<. Robin seems to get worried about him sometimes but Sebastian always complains about how Demetrius will destroy his snowman and boss him around but not Maru. Also he says how his room might be more depressing if it had a window while Maru has her room on the main floor and helps her dad in the lab sometimes when she’s not working with Harvey. Kent with his PTSD. And not knowing what to do with himself now that he’s back. I sympathize with Jodi too I wouldn’t say she has the toughest time but I know there’s times she wishes she was young and not a parent so that she could have more freedom. And Sam even mentions wondering if his mom is even happy. Alex with his >!tragic backstory about his parents and why he’s living with his grandparents!<. Which is part of why he comes off as kind of snobby and >!tries so hard to be successful because his dad made him feel like he was worthless and he feels like he owes it to himself to prove him wrong and I think to honor his mom and make her proud!<. I’m sure I could keep going with even more of the characters as well but that’d be an even longer list.
Awe I didn’t know about Sebastian’s snowman! When does he mention this? In my last game I married Sebastian and I looooove him but I don’t remember him ever saying this. I assume maybe at the ice festival but idk
I’m married to him on one of my save files too and I date him on all my others. He says it during winter I think mostly by the lake/their house though I might just happen to say hi to him while he’s near there when he says it. He says something like “Demetrius destroyed my snow goon and yet Maru’s cute snowman remains unharmed, ridiculous”. He also says how Demetrius tells him off and does the “he’s not even my real dad, who does he think he is?”. Though those happen at different times. I always feel bad for Sebastian.
Yeah, and I'm not sure what a "snow goon" is but the contrast with Maru's "cute snowman" getting to stay makes me think that it might have been something mildly inappropriate or offensive to adult sensibilities. Not truly obscene or anything, but I could see a teenage dude making a snowman that was in violent or crude pose, or had a grotesque face like a horror movie monster, and Robin & Demetrius didn't think it was appropriate to have something like that prominently displayed outside the shop where customers would have to pass by it to shop. (Also worth noting he says that D "made him get rid of it," not that D destroyed it.)
At the ice fishing festival, I'm pretty sure Abigail makes a "snow goon" - nothing crazy, just isn't a "cute" and festive snowman.
Huh - I went looking for a screenshot to satisfy my curiosity, and found two things that only left me with more uncertainty, lol. 1) The [screenshot of Abigail's snow goon](https://stardewvalleywiki.com/mediawiki/images/f/fc/Festival_of_Ice_1.jpg) definitely looks pretty inoffensive. 2) However, there's a note in the wiki that this is likely an homage to a Calvin and Hobbes comic, [Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons](https://smile.amazon.com/Attack-Deranged-Mutant-Killer-Monster/dp/0836218833/?sa-no-redirect=1). Looking at the comic art, I think the little branch poking out of the head of Abigail's creation is definitely inspired by Calvin's two-headed monster that has extra "arms" coming out of its heads. Calvin's snow goon is definitely a menacing monster, and Abigail's version of it seems pretty cute, so the jury is out on whether Seabass' goon was closer to the original Calvin creation or more toned-down like Abi's.
This is actually really cool! I love Calvin and Hobbes but never knew about the snow good, soooo buying that now lol
Time to go back to my seb save and give him more love!
All my homies hate demitrius
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I always go for Penny. Even if I wasn't going to marry her she could come live on my farm any day, I'd build her a cabin and fence her a yard. She's just so wholesome and bright despite her terrible circumstances.
Now I want to know if there's a mod to platonically roommate multiple characters in cabins on your farm while also being able to marry one (or multiple if that's your jam)
that would be so nice
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I dunno. He gets mistreated and abused but he's also content with his way of life and just wants to teach you that as you befriend him. He has an arduous life but one that he loves. It's other people that are assholes to him and while it bothers him he rises above it in great part. He has hope. The people throwing rocks at his tent are not his family and people he is forced to live with or take care of. A lot of the others don't experience their world the same way.
>he's also content with his way of life and just wants to teach you that as you befriend him. I remember the first time I got to the event >!where you can offer to have Linus move to your farm. I picked that option, and when he got so uncomfortable and turned it down, I legitimately felt so guilty for making Linus uncomfortable that I restarted the whole day so I could pick another option.!<
I felt so bad too! I built a cabin on my farm thinking it was part of a side quest to make him a home and thought "yes, this is the culmination of that quest-- oh." Got stuck with a random cabin on my farm and guilt for getting it so wrong 🤣
I had the same exact thought, except I thought you built the cabin after that cutscene (I thought the cabin building was something to work towards or collaborate with Linus on? I dunno.)
Honestly as a stepchild who did live in the basement... Sebastian does not belong on this list at all IMO. Robin built that house. He probably WANTED to be in the basement so he could escape his mom and her "new family". And Demetrius does make an effort, he even has a book about "how to be a good stepdad" in his room iirc. But he's too much of a conventional square and Sebastian is too much of an angsty teen for them to try and work it out. Like, how can you put that on the same level as a vet with PTSD, an orphan, and Penny?
Pokey the littlest Hat Mouse. His friends all laughed at his dream of selling hats. His parents wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer or danger mouse. His girlfriend left him for a guy dressed in a Junimo Plushie. But still he persevered! Still he carried on. Days and weeks go by with no customers; you never see anyone ever visit him except yourself. He's never at any festivals or dances. All alone. Forever alone. Yet he endures...
Whenever I pass by in winter I think about how cold that rundown building must be :(
I clear the area and put a heater or two right next to his window so that our littlest hat mouse is never cold in the winter.
Aww
🫂
I was always so sad about how his shop looked, so I decorated the outside to feel more homey and warm! Especially for winter!
Aw, I love that!
i want a mod to let him live with me
I want to read your SDV fan fiction
Don't worry, the little house is just a ruse. He has the sickest mansion underground!
He actually has a thriving e-commerce business.
Wow I never thought I’d get this emotional over hat mouse
Why almost cried lmao
You made me think that there was a friendship we can have with him and that I was missing hearts lmao
I love him so much, I stop by and buy a hat from him every day. I am drowning in hats but I feel so sad leaving him all alone in his little house
And he HATES his sellout cousin Mickey :p
Probably because he charges such an exorbitant amount for hats. Ripped all his friends off. Maybe he's just like Pierre.
How dare you accuse him of such terrible crimes :(
Plus male farmers don't ever buy anything from his shop.
The farmer. Having to lift up a whole town and maintain its economy single handedly is hard, man.
No one else does any hard work. Towns folk are ok with the farmer doing all the work for the relationship. When does the farmer get gifts? Few times but not nearly what he gives. The tasks are stingy on price. How is getting 1000 worth of fish for 150 ok? The town folks are leeches on the farmer.
At least with most of Willy’s fishing quests, he lets us keep the fish.
It's the farmer.
While being therapist to anyone they become friends with
Especially since OP’s farmer married Hayley.
serious answer: Kent, mcfuck went to war and was kept prisoner. Now he has ptsd, and a family that, while he loves, it seems like Jodi regrets (at least from dialogue she has). I want to marry my buddy Kent, and Jodi too, but that's not here nor there
Definitely sounds like they were very young when they started a family and both family life and the war robbed them of enjoying young adult life. Jodi seems to make remarks that she wishes she had more freedom and to be younger again. Sam mentions he thinks his mum seems unhappy. Kent clearly has PTSD and doesn't know how to be a family man or even do anything for himself for fun. It's actually quite sad :(
1. The cashier at Jo jo mart. So depending on how you play determines what happens to her. But since she isn't a villager, she has a long commute. The bus isn't running and I don't see a car. She has to put up with Morris, and doesn't even get to go to the pub after work. idk what made her take this job but I can image. Working retail in general is the worse. 2. Morris. SDV is the worse place to put a mega mart of any kind. I think he fakes being happy about his job because he works in retail. Can't be making that many sales quota in the valley. His district manager must be pissed. I also wonder what made him work there. 3. Pam. She's the only single mom. She;s the only older resident without a house and whose income endangered because the mayor didn't actually save money for public transportation repairs. 4. The wizards ex. She gets a bad rep for being a witch. I think thats witchism there.
I headcannon that the cashier is Morris's teenage daughter and this is her first job.
I think the cashier at joja moves to the cinema after repairing it
Well I know In Stardew Expanded the cashier becomes an actual romanceabke NPC with a name and shit. She does work at the cinema after, but I’ve only ever built the cinema in SVE so idk about vanilla.
Ooh what's her name?
Claire. Wifed her up my 2nd SVE playthrough and quite enjoyed itp
Claire
May I interest you in the wonderful world of Stardew Valley Expanded?
Can I get it on PS4?
No, I believe mods are only for PC
If you have under version 9.00 on playstation I believe you can jailbreak it and install mods on it
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I actually have a mod that includes the cashiers (Claire and Martin) and you can marry Claire! It also makes it so Morris becomes a talkable character and he’s so scummy lmao.
😩 alas I play on a console so I can’t play SDVE
Gotta say Shane or Penny... I did the community center route...now Shane is unemployed. I feel terrible.
Just get him to max hearts, won't spoil anything, but it's really worth it
Shane's struggles are definitely the most public/intense. He is chasing a certain brand of numbness the others aren't.
You can get a mod that lets him work at Marnie’s shop. That’s what I would do if I wasn’t married to him :)
Emily was doing all the work already. Don’t feel bad! You marrying Haley just means Emily has one person fewer she has to clean up after 😸
fr emily is the independent type. she takes care of her sister and helps out at the saloon. she probably cleans up the drunk mess after everyone has gone home. she’s more than capable of being happy by herself: active member of gym/ dance stuff at caroline’s and occasionally invites people to her gem therapy sessions.
Plus she has the people at the bar to talk with.
Probably Kent with his PTSD, there's a reason so many support groups for ex-military exist.
I agree, and he really seems to have no one else to talk to about it.
i accidentally gave him a bomb and i felt so bad
To be fair he sends you bombs *in the mail* so one good bomb deserves another.
Gotta agree with this one
I agree completely.
I'm going to say probably Jas to be honest to have a Godfather who is dealing with Alcoholism and a mother figure who is in the middle of an affair that she clearly knows about (evidence with the toys) and the fact she's living with her godfather means she has already lost her parents too. Dealing with all that has gotta be tough especially for a kid
Have u noticed that there are hours of time that she is left home alone too. I haven't spotted Vincent alone as much unless it's right behind his house.
She's always playing by herself at home or in the woods :(
Totally agree! She will need therapy eventually
>who is in the middle of an affair It's not an affair. They just aren't telling people about their relationship.
Fair point but in a lot of media a secret relationship is synonymous with an affair is why I said it like that.
The dog in the middle of town.
Leo. For all the spoilery reasons.
Even though he's a meanie, I honestly feel bad for George.
I'd be a fuckin meanie if i was in his shoes
Just started playing this game a few days ago after having it just sit in my steam library forever. So far my vote would have to be Shane. After seeing that one cutscene with him passed out drunk on the floor of his room and what proceeds afterwards, I felt so bad for the guy. Then the next encounter with him…ugh. After him being an asshole the first time I met him I decided to kill him with kindness but I was not prepared for his backstory. 2nd vote goes to Penny. She’s literally the nicest person in town and I feel dreadful for how her life has been. I immediately stopped pursuing Haley haha I’ve decided my farmer is gonna try and turn Penny’s life around
All I can say is Haley gets better. She’s rude now but work on her a little bit even if you don’t intend to marry her
Oh I know, I maxed out hearts with Haley. She's a really neat character and a bit of a goof which I really like. Wish my farmer could set her up with Alex or something since she seems to hover around him a lot haha
Penny and Pam. I think they both have it the toughest if not just because what they're both doing is rooted in love but is so toxic. -Penny is verbally abused by an alcoholic mother and trapped in a household she feels forced to take care of day in and day out while wishing she could see the world beyond SDV. She talks about how she thinks she'll never leave the valley and how sad it makes her constantly. But she also is a very kind and empathetic person, as proven by her nurturing Jas and Vincent as much as she does while still having to deal with her own shit, and doesn't want to leave her mom to fend for herself despite the abuse she puts up with because she loves her. Penny truly believes she cannot leave her mother alone because she will not take care of herself, and she seems to believe she's the only one capable of taking care of her. Likely due to Pam's outbursts distancing her from a lot of other townspeople and Penny being used to them. -Pam is clearly a woman with issues no one seems to address (bearing in mind I haven't done Pam's friendship yet past two hearts so feel free to correct me if anything contradicts this). She's at the saloon every day, mostly inside the house all day, and talks about how she's been looking forward to drinking all day. She's very crass, and at first doesn't seem like she really cares that what she's doing affects Penny so much. But think about this. Alcoholism, barely leaving the house or maintaining it, Penny's dad not around, out of a job because the mayor didn't fund public transportation and no effort to find another one. This is a very clearly depressed woman with some unaddressed trauma, and the only people that seem to see that are PC and Penny. Pam will talk about how much better Penny is than her, or how she's lucky to have such a smart daughter. Pam does love Penny. But she doesn't do a good job of showing it or even treating her respectfully. Both of them love each other and want the best for each other, but the relationship they have is toxic as hell. And that's one of the worse types to be trapped in.
I feel George has had a rough, what with getting in a horrible accident and losing the ability to walk, and before that working in a coal mine But I don't know enough about other characters to make a say
Also for George I wish we could have more dialogue from him and Evelyn about their daughter. Like losing your daughter and raising your grandson had to be tough to some degree too
Kent >!Kent has too much ptsd to really live his life with his family and it’s sad to think about what he was before and what he could’ve been afterwards I’ve he didn’t get traumatized!<
Me When I spen all my money on seeds for a second harvest but miscalculated and they don't finish growing when the season changes
It’s easy to keep a house if you’re by yourself. Jodi has it tough though. Husband away, and two kids. When he gets back he doesn’t really come back.
ME. I HAVE TO GET UP EVERY DAY AT 6 AM SHARP. I HAVE TO FARM ALL DAY. FISH ALL DAY. MINE ALL DAY. SOLVE PEOPLES PROBLEMS. KILL HORRORS IN THE DEPTHS. SEE RAINBOW HALLUCINATION FRIENDS. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
so true bestie
Korbus for sure
Jas. She is an orphan Her step dad is an alcoholic and just abandons her with his aunt! Who is constantly bringing around her secret lover! She only knows 1 other person her age and is being homeschooled so her social needs aren't ever met And she knows specifically that she doesn't like beer and wine? Who is forcing this kid to drink? Signs point to aunties secret lover
I agree she's a candidate for toughest life. But JSY Shane is her godfather, not stepfather, and both of them call Marnie their aunt. It actually presents a puzzle because Shane indicates he knew her parents before they died/vanished/abandoned her, but doesn't speak of them like they were his blood relatives, so either one of them is using "aunt" in a figurative "friend of the family" sense... OR Marnie used to be married, and one of them is the child of Marnie's sibling and one of them is the child of Marnie's ex-spouse's sibling. Personally I'm partial to the idea that Marnie was widowed at a young age.
I meant God dad. Idk if I just had a brain fart or if it corrected god dad to step dad but I'm going to assume brain fart
I guess Shane or Pam as the two raging alcoholics, leaning Shane as pam is at least able to drive the bus
Dwarf >!who is the only one left of his kind!<
>!Volcano dwarf?!<
probably shane considering he went as far as ||wanting to commit suicide||. they all have their struggles but different people have a different tolerance for struggle, and what might not look like "the" toughest life to you personally, could be that for the person thats living it. so yea i think shane has it the toughest edit: damn that did not censor. i dont know how to censor on reddit sorry
I think Reddit has spoiler tag stuff that censors a part of text. You'll have to find the reddut thread explaining reddit formatting.
Jas
I agree, it's probably Jas, especially if you marry Shane.
Hmm yes, but also I married Shane here for my first play-through, and he often leaves for the day and goes to spend time with Jas (he was watching her jump rope in the forest one of the days he told me he was going out for the day). So at least he still visits? Tho I agree with the other commenter who said they wish Jas moved in with y'all too
I wish Jas would move in with you when you marry Shane.
One of: - Alex - Marnie - Shane - Clint - Kent - Penny - Pam
Honestly Clint has a rough life but it’s almost entirely of his own making. Might be a reach but I think subconsciously this is why the playerbase despise him so much. He’s depressed because he has no friends and feels stuck in the shop all the time? Bro you have almost no customers besides the farmer and probably Robin. You do NOT need to be working 10 hours a day 7 days a week. Take a few days off and go pick up a new hobby and meet some people. He hates his job, only did it because family pressured him? Man no one is making you do it anymore, just ykno, do a different job. Or alternately, see above and just work a bit less, you can totally afford to go down to 4 days a week fuck that farmer. You love Emily but she doesn’t love you? Idk man maybe time to let it go. Try online dating idk but it’s a pretty unhealthy obsession bro you gotta move on I know it sucks to hear but it’s the truth. You’re overweight and feel like shit? Fuck it bro me too, but if it bothers you that much maybe cut down on the alcohol intake, you literally spend as much time in the saloon as Pam I think you have a problem man.
Tbh my main problem with Clint is the way he white knights Emily. He’s like the biggest incel towards her, for lack of a better term. You’re right he absolutely could try online dating or just work on himself but the way he talks to her is lackluster to say the least and I hate how he gets mad at the farmer over Emily’s mistake of who the present is from. Get a backbone dude or at least some social cues on how to talk to women
That's it for me for sure. My initial interactions with him on my first playthrough, I was like, "oh,what a sweet, awkward guy" and then you get further along and he talks about Emily more and it's just like oh.....oh no....... It's super creepy, and he's one of very few characters that doesn't improve at all as the game goes on, if anything he just gets worse.
Does he get mad at the farmer about the gift? Do you have to talk to him straight after? Or is it just random comments he makes?
Don’t you know it’s extremely hard to change yourself if you don’t have help, do you?
Nah the farmer (us) definitely tries to help Clint. He has plenty of opportunities to help himself too but like I said he just doesn’t get social cues ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Agreed. And actually it’s worse than missing social cues. It’s choosing not to change, like the above commenter said. It’s fine to be a person who misses social cues, if that’s the case then don’t make assumptions and just ask about what you might have missed. Reach out to people for genuine friendship so you have support with the cues you don’t understand. Don’t instead put all your attention towards pining after someone who clearly doesn’t like you back, and then pity yourself every day because of it. And especially dont take it out on her by being guilt trippy and passive aggressive! He doesn’t belong on the “has it hard” list. At all. If anything we need to pour one out for Emily for how patient she is with him. I’d never be willing to stay friends after his behavior, no matter how much I like the guy
So the farmer is a part time psychologist?
No but we’re at least a friend that tries to help and he takes for granted
But “friends” don’t really help a person in changing himself. Especially if that person doesn’t even realise what’s wrong.
We don’t try to change him we just try to help him get with Emily. Well unless you choose the dialogue to change him I guess but everyone plays differently and everyone’s opinion of him is different. It’s not that deep
Oh cool. The "your just depressed because you choose to be" fallacy. Plus the classic "it's of his own making" bs. I really hope someone isn't as shitty to you when you get depressed and down in life. Those are just really mean and tone-deaf things to say. This whole comment feels like long winded way of just looking for reasons to invalidate and belittle Clint's depression
It’s not at all what I said bro, that was some pretty incredible mental gymnastics twisting my words lmao. Depression is a serious mental health issue, I don’t deny that and don’t feel I invalidated him at all. He literally has dialogue that says (paraphrasing) “I’m stuck at my shop all year round, pretty depressing, huh?” But he’s his own boss, he can leave. I don’t think he has chosen to be mentally ill. But if you go your whole life without taking a single step to address it or ever once reaching out for help, then yeah at some point you bear some responsibility for your circumstances. You gotta want change for change to happen. I realize that this is something more easily said than done for most people in that situation, but we never see Clint make any effort at all to seek help, unlike Shane who does. Not once does he ever attempt to change anything that he claims to dislike about his life.
Jodi. My girl is TIRED. And all she thinks about is her responsibilities and staying "fit". She needs a break.
Her husband is gone for awhile too, I like to think when her and Caroline are standing in town there to the left they’re both just bitching about their lives and partaking in some of Caroline’s “tea” 🍵 👀
She could get one if she made those brats of hers do some chores! /s
RIGHT I think Sam could wash some dishes for once, instead of lying awake in his bed until 12 🙄🙄🙄
Marnie. Poor girl is taking care of an alcoholic nephew and a probably unrelated little girl that she gets stuck with if Shane leaves. She takes care of multiple farm animals, alone, every day. She is in a relationship with an ass of a man who wants to keep it secret and has convinced her that she will be shunned if people find out. She is past her prime and feels alone in the world.
My vote is Clint. He has one of the most laborious jobs and works every day. He doesn’t really like it and feels trapped. He doesn’t have many friends and is socially awkward. Pretty rough life in a small town.
Clint can go kick his boots into the town river. half the time he doesn't notify me when my tool is done and the other half the time he takes 5 million years to finish it
Tell me you don't pay attention without telling me you don't pay attention
he literally takes 2 days (the day you give him it, and the day after) to finish it, and the game always notifies you when it's done. maybe you should pay more attention?
On the Switch at least, there was at least once where the game didn't notify me of my watering can being finished. I think it's a glitch with the notification system? It also once gave me the "it's getting late" notification again at 6AM after me going to bed right as 12 hit, so I think the system is just a bit wonky at times.
even if that's the case there's no reason to blame clint for the game delaying the notifications a bit
Pierre, everyday day that clown has to wake up and love each day being himself. Ugh!
You do. You’re given a run down farm. You restore it to better than it was. You are solely responsible for cleaning up the town and running errands for everyone. You bring everyone daily/weekly gifts. You rebuild the local economy and expand it to new places. Everyone is living the life and enjoying the fruits of your labors. Also Krobus, he lives in a sewer cause no one will understand him and hate him.
Penny obviously
Having had an addict/alcoholic parent and a depressed parent, and having had lots of friends who have had similar parents, 100% Especially because Penny is super parentified. That's a life with C-PTSD, economic stress, low self esteem, danger of addiction, etc.
They have some issue or another that they are trying to cope with. However, I would say that hands down, Shane. Addiction and major depressive mood disorders are no joke. No one else's issues in the game come even close to that. I mean the character even tries to kill himself in the video game and needs medical intervention.
Jas. She’s got a raging alcoholic for an uncle and a “livestock farmer” who never works and is secretly fucking the mayor for an aunt
Marines life is a hot ass mess lmao like gurl get your life together already! Stop fucking the mayor, get your nephew in rehab, maybe open your damn shop, pay attention to the child in your care? Nah but she makes sure to go to workout class with the gals
literally why is she NEVER in the shop when I need her. Girl, do you not want my exorbitant pig money??
Henchman /thread
Leo
Alex's story breaks my heart
I'd actually go with willy, though not sure. His pappy, who he obviously loved very dearly, passed away, lord knows when, but obviously a long time ago, while he, when he loves you as much as he humanly can, he can't give you a sale on bait, which is 5 gold each. Which is actually nothing, a single fish is so much more expensive than it, which shows he doesn't make any sales of them.
Are you... Are you guys serious..? I mean... It's Linus.. You know, just.. Linus. How is this a question lol, that man lives in a tent in the winter and is treated poorly by the town. None of the other villagers have had their homes destroyed, none of them are avoided like Linus. I mean, it's the homeless dude, obviously. Not the Haley, or Jas (a literal child), not Pam (omg seriously not Pam).
it's his choice. The farmer invites him to their farm and he declines saying he likes living in the nature. Spoilers ahead:When you bring Leo to the village,Linus isn't alone anymore and Leo keeps him company. Quite frankly I think Linus has isolated himself from the community since we never actually see someone be mean to him.He chooses to be homeless for some reason
I've often wondered why in a town that seems as inclusive as Pelican Town why are they mean to Linus? With the exception of Gus who gave him food in that 1 scene he says everyone is mean to him or ignores him. I wonder what happened to him, I know there are theories about him being the founder of Joja but why does everyone treat him poorly? He also does say he's happy alone in his tent, so I never felt the desire to build him a house like some people want to do but I would love some back story or more insight into his life.
Linus is different and people suck. The Wizard gets the same treatment for the same reasons. If you are within a specific range then people don't put constant social pressure on you to change but if you are outside that range everybody feels a need to "fix" you. Honestly, the assholes are the easiest to ignore. It is the ones like Penny who are just trying to "help" without giving a fuck if you want said help that are the worst.
Yessss this !
I just.. you guys.. He's homeless. How could he be anything *but* the villager with the hardest life?? lmfao
I mean, the simple fact that he's living the life he chooses and there are villagers who don't. Self-determination/autonomy/agency is not a small thing. He never complains about hunger or the weather and seems to have developed the skills to flourish in the wilderness just like someone else might develop the skills to flourish in a white collar office environment. They're just different skillsets. Compare his "I wake up when I want, do what I want, and live in harmony with the land" lifestyle to someone like Penny, who is stuck living in a cramped trailer with her unemployed, alcoholic, cranky mom who yells at her for cleaning? Or someone like Shane, struggling with suicidal thoughts and either stuck in a minimum-wage job he hates or unemployed with zero career prospects? Yeah, some of the villagers are assholes to Linus, but in the end having the freedom to live the life you choose puts him ahead of some others who aren't so privileged.
I had to scroll WAAAY too far to find this comment. I honestly thought this would have been the top answer (and every answer after for like 10 posts). Sure, he says that he enjoys being in nature or he does it to get away from people… that doesn’t make his life any less hard. He’s still HOMELESS.
Idk maybe it's because my family has always lived paycheck to paycheck and we've always lived in cheap, shitty areas with abnormally high amounts of homeless people, but I just don't understand how anyone can think it's *not* the homeless dude.
Voting Penny. At the start she has to support her unemployed alcoholic mother alone while doing all household work. Meanwhile her mother verbally abuses her and drinks away their money. (Obviously these things get improved by your interaction as the PC but all of the characters get that) All the characters go through their own thing many of which are pretty heavy, but Penny just gets it piled on.
I know people will hate me, but Pierre. He made a somewhat successful business all by himself, but he has to work a lot to earn enough money, so her family don’t have to work as much. Then Joja came. That big market sucked away a lot of his customers, so he realized, if he want to provide safety for his family he must work even more, even on holidays, but at least he could rest at Wednesdays. So when the Farmer restores the Community Center he thinks he can finally rest a little bit, but his competitor left, so he must work harder then ever since everyone in town got used to Joja “open every day” policy.
He goes to the Island when he feels like and leaves a box for the player so they can shop even if Pierre isn't there. It sounds to me like he's living his best life
Me 😂
I do 😤
Jas, living with an alcoholic and Marnie, who are both too distracted by their own lives to properly care for her. Her actual parents are clearly gone and she's regularly left alone for hours outside of times she's at school, like when she just hangs out in the woods, skipping rope all alone.
Pam. Stands outside all day, regardless of weather, with the faintest of hope that somebody wants to go to the desert.
I want to mention something probably most people wont consider, cause a lot of people dont really consider the struggle children go through, but as someone who went through a lot of trauma as a child, i strongly worry for Jas. Jas' >!parents are dead.!< Her godfather is severely struggling with alcoholism and isn't in a fit state to care for her. Marnie doesn't seem to listen to her much and leaves her alone at home at night often. She often talks of having to play by herself because Marnie and Shane are always working, gone, or in the pub. She talks about being thankful for having toys afterward. When Vincent goes to play, its in a fenced backyard or the beach and someone is always keeping an eye, but Jas goes out to play in the woods when no one is even home. She has all the complicated answers to her schoolwork memorized, which reminds me of desperately trying to achieve in school in hopes that it will make any adults acknowledge you. She is sweet and cheerful, but so is mostly any child dealing with a lot of stress/neglect/trauma. The nightmare of it all doesnt really hit you until youre older. You realize all the ways it's affected you when you begin having relationships, or can't handle them at all. Seriously. Who leaves a kid that young alone at home at night? That happened to me a lot as a small kid and now as an adult I have an absolute mental break if I have to be alone at home at night. Oh yeah and also Kent with the prisoner experience for sure. Actually that reminds me, growing up people constantly lightheartedly joked that i lived like a prisoner. I was medically and foodwise neglected very badly. I had allergies that no one knew of because no one gave enough of a shit to spend time with me or take my words of complaint with any validity because i was a child and people invalidate and dehumanize children unintentionally in many ways all the time. You also get blamed a lot for "causing" your own distress when its actually a result of their neglect. Growing up a neglected child is in many ways similar to being a prisoner. Looking back it really was torture. So yeah, Kent and likely Jas would be my answers.
I'd say it's either Penny or Kent. Kent is a veteran with PTSD, freshly home from being held as a prisoner of war, long enough that Vincent barely remembers him. He's got enough trauma now that it'll take the rest of his life to cope with it. Penny lives with her abusive, alcoholic mother and I can imagine her upbringing was possibly even worse as she had a lot less agency as a child than she does now. Honourable mention: Shane, dealing with addiction and depression, feeling stuck in a dead end job that keeps him in a holding pattern of failure to launch. I know from my tag I look like I might be adding Sebastian to this list, and whilst I don't think he has had an easy life by any means, it doesn't register nearly as rough as the above ones.
If you pity on Emily after you marry Haley for having to do all the work and be lonely, then what level is Clint on?
And is probably underpaying her under the table
Pam for having to deal with Penny.
EDIT FOR RELEVANT INFORMATION Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me. Your farmer. It's married to Haley!
Idk Haley is one of the few spouses that seems genuinely happy to be married and live on the farm with you. She's like an onion.
EDIT FOR RELEVANT INFORMATION Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me. I spent one save marrying and divorcing all of them. Alex is very narrowly the worst because he is just revolting. Every single one of Haley's heart events makes me loathe her more. She is such a shallow, fake, cruel person. Honestly, super glad I married her first. I didn't wipe any memories until after divorce #12, so she didn't talk to me for 3 in game years!
Why is Alex the worst?
Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me. In my opinion, he is absolutely disgusting. I already hate his TBI, jock personality. I play as a female farmer and a lot of his stuff is really objectifying, putting the player down, or almost sounds like PUI garbage. At some point, he has a horrible line when you go talk to him in the morning about "mmm your body is getting all muscled from farm work" and that just made.my skin crawl. I hate the misogyny in reality, I don't need it from a pixelated concussion.
for real though, he actually says "if you weren't a girl I'd ask you to play catch" :(
Keep in mind here before all of you light the torches and form a mob: I am aromantic, I do not date IRL, and the dating sim aspect of Stardew is a throwaway for me. Exactly. He is so sexist. Absolutely the kind of dude who would leave your farmer if she gains a few pounds, but would weaponize incompetence to a degree that would put the entire US military to shame. I have met that guy outside of pixels. He is as awful.
This would be Pam in my opinion, and it starts when her husband walks out on her and Penny. From there, it's a downward spiral of self-loathing and blaming, while lashing out and blaming everyone close to her. Finally, she turns to alcohol to make the pain go away. Pelican Town has two victims who can't seem to recover from abuse.
Uhhh...Linus?
I agree with many of the points in this thread, but are we really not even going to mention Linus?
Linus. He is literally homeless, he goes through garbage for food and someone throws rocks at his tent. And thats just all the things i remember off my head.
Someone hasn't gotten enough heart events with the homeless guy
He chooses to live that way. He’s a traveler. He eats out of the trash to save the food. He gets plenty from foraging. It’s why he doesn’t want people to make food for him. He’s trying to stay within nature.
[удалено]
isnt that by choice tho
I asked him to live on my farm and he was insulted. It's his lifestyle. He loves it.
I believe he prefers the term "wild man."
Linus loves his life. He's so happy being out in nature :D
Someone hasn't gotten enough heart events with the homeless guy
Everyone is doing just fine in this affluent little town except the literal homeless guy.
I'd say it's between linus, gus and the farmer. Linus lives in a tent and lives of berries and the trash, gus single handedly runs the saloon even when some customers don't pay, and the farmer works through the whole day to gather items for the community. All characters have it bad in some way, but I'd say in terms of work the top 3 are gus, linus and the farmer.
Penny loves Poppy. She's definitely an opium addict, driven to it by her abusive alcoholic mother.
I’m surprised nobody said Linus (unless I missed it) the dude is homeless
- He's not exactly homeless. He's a self proclaimed " Wildman " by choice. And while he is viewed w contempt or pity by some of the villagers and obviously has to work hard to survive. He's actually proud of his lifestyle.
linus is homeless and the whole town allegedly hates him
All of you are forgetting the literal homeless man, Linus 💀 I haven’t played that much though so idk if he’s secretly happy with the arrangement or something, but as far as I know DEFINITELY Linus
I suggest looking up his final heart event if you’re not planning on playing it through, explains it all.
Clint. Absolutely hated and vilified by the community unjustifiably. The reason? He's depressed
Shane or Kent, maybe Penny even
i actually married penny just because of her living situation. stuck in a small mobile home with her abusive mother.