In Defense of Penny

[Marcell]

I have recently come across some slander of my darling wife Penny, on youtube recently.

apparently some people hate Penny, and think negatively about her, as one of the worst.

One common thing that is brought up is the first heart scene where she pushes George out of the way, to help him with reaching the end of the mail box. While the criticism is valid, many people make this a way bigger deal than it is, yes, she should have asked George, but knowing Penny her heart and intentions were in the right place, she is not perfect, and no one is, in real life either. Before anyone accuses me of "minimalizing ableism" I am disabled myself.

Another thing I saw, was that Penny doesn't have much of an arch, or doesn't change. Ironically I think this is actually a good thing, she is an adult, and realistically adults don't change much, especially in a short time.

Penny knows who she is, and what she likes. She likes reading, she is a genuine good and kind person who likes to help people, she tutors Vincent and Jas, and she wants a house and a family.

Compare her to Hailey who is a real piece of work, and Penny is an angel. While some people may try to defend Hailey because of her absent parents, and other issues, that is not an excuse for Hailey's behavior, as Penny also has an absent father, an alcoholic mom, is poor and lives in a trailer, yet she is kind and well meaning.

Penny is a kind well meaning woman, she knows who she is and what she wants, and she is good with kids, and is peak trad wife material. She does not need to be crucified by merciless vindictive online mobs because she isn't 100% perfect, because no one is, neither you or I. We literally all make mistakes, and we need to stop pretending we don't.

Even after marriage, she has a library in your home, she still reads, she still tutors Vincent and Jas, and she is kind, loving and support of you, making you food, sometimes helping with watering crops, filling bowls, repairing fences, etc, and even bedroom decoration.

These are the reasons why I am proud to have married her, and have given her a home and child.

 

[Maher]

Married her in my 1.4 save. She was fine. Her biggest challenge is the codependency with Pam, and she tries to distance herself from it, not always successfully. Her anxiety dream leaves me wondering if she had a sibling that Pam couldn't afford to raise. That's a fanfic I have not had the stomach to write.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Here's the thing with Penny. You're not wrong about any of those things. She is a genuinely good person. But... she's also got a couple of red flags.

First and foremost, she's desperate to get out of her current living conditions. Her mother is an abusive alcoholic, so you can't really blame her for it, but she's wanting to jump ship to anyone willing to get her out of there. Which makes me wonder if she's interested in the Farmer as a person, or interested in the Farmer as a means of escape. She also seems to have some very codependent tendencies based on her father leaving and generally being neglected by her mother, leading to a high emotional maintenance. At least she's not high cost maintenance like Hailey is.

And that's what I like about Stardew Valley, nobody's perfect and everyone comes with baggage. Abigail still acts like a rebellious teen, Maru is more concerned with her projects than any partner she might end up with... and that's good writing. Because nobody's perfect. The characters are more than just cardboard cutouts with tropes applied, they're actual fleshed out characters, flaws and all.

 

[HaleyRocks]

Although i strongly dislike Penny (apologies), i absolutely love her pirate theme.

 

[Marcell]

First and foremost, she's desperate to get out of her current living conditions. Her mother is an abusive alcoholic, so you can't really blame her for it, but she's wanting to jump ship to anyone willing to get her out of there. Which makes me wonder if she's interested in the Farmer as a person, or interested in the Farmer as a means of escape. She also seems to have some very codependent tendencies based on her father leaving and generally being neglected by her mother, leading to a high emotional maintenance. At least she's not high cost maintenance like Hailey is.

I'll have to disagree on a couple things there.

Pam is an alcoholic, but, seems to be a functioning one, who does actually care for/about Penny. So I don't think abusive is fair at all, yes there is the one heart event where she gets mad about you and Penny cleaning the trailer, but that's more out of embarrassment than anything, and I don't think getting mad/angry now and then makes anyone abusive, or else literally everyone on the planet would be abusers.

I'm only on summer year 2 now, and haven't made much CC progress, so if anything happens later showing Pam actually being abusive, please don't spoil it.

As for desperate to get out of her living situation, that may be true, but, maybe she will love you even more for choosing her and giving her the chance to get out of it, of course both of our perspectives are just pure speculation.

 

[LRangerR]

As a Penny hater, I'll just say that I don't actually hate her, she just has too many red flags, like @ShneekeyTheLost Said. But the penny vs Hailey comparison is remarkably on point and valid.

As far as abuse go, I have never believed that Pam is physically abusive, however, it's important to remember that neglect is a quiet form of abuse. Is intentional? Not normally. If not is it malevolent? It doesn't have to be. But still, and I think this is the abuse that penny is a victim of.

And as someone who will always act like a rebellious teen, I get abby.

P.s. Linus rocks, go gil!

 

[Giant Octopodes]

Most of what is said is true, and certainly a case could be made for Penny. But folks seem to be overlooking what I consider to be her single biggest flaw.

In Stardew Valley, there are 6 items which are universally beloved. Don't want to give Alex a full, complicated meal or a rare book? No worries, everyone loves these, it's the easy auto win answer to all your birthday woes. Of those 6 items, 4 are rare, valued in the thousands, and never come in qualities above normal - magic rock candy, golden pumpkins, prismatic shards, and pearls. One is new and exceedingly rare, the Stardrop Tea. It takes a full 9 prize tickets, each earned by completing quests, to get just one. Or you can have a 40% chance of getting a treasure chest while you fish times a 35% chance of it being golden times a 7% chance it's got one, for a less than 1% chance of finding one while fishing.

Then there's the rabbit's foot. It's lucky, you can get it in large quantities from a coop full of rabbits, and you can get them in Iridium quality, granting a whopping 120 points towards friendship just when given randomly and an insane 960 points when gifted for a birthday. That's nearly 4 hearts, it's more than stardrop tea, and it's so much that you can give it to someone on their birthday and ignore them the rest of the year and you'll still have gained 3 hearts with them that year.

It's the perfect gift. It's the *only* item *in the game* that you can have a stack of in iridium quality and never worry about what to get someone for their birthday again. There is, however, one notable exception.

 

[LRangerR]

Most of what is said is true, and certainly a case could be made for Penny. But folks seem to be overlooking what I consider to be her single biggest flaw.

In Stardew Valley, there are 6 items which are universally beloved. Don't want to give Alex a full, complicated meal or a rare book? No worries, everyone loves these, it's the easy auto win answer to all your birthday woes. Of those 6 items, 4 are rare, valued in the thousands, and never come in qualities above normal - magic rock candy, golden pumpkins, prismatic shards, and pearls. One is new and exceedingly rare, the Stardrop Tea. It takes a full 9 prize tickets, each earned by completing quests, to get just one. Or you can have a 40% chance of getting a treasure chest while you fish times a 35% chance of it being golden times a 7% chance it's got one, for a less than 1% chance of finding one while fishing.

Then there's the rabbit's foot. It's lucky, you can get it in large quantities from a coop full of rabbits, and you can get them in Iridium quality, granting a whopping 120 points towards friendship just when given randomly and an insane 960 points when gifted for a birthday. That's nearly 4 hearts, it's more than stardrop tea, and it's so much that you can give it to someone on their birthday and ignore them the rest of the year and you'll still have gained 3 hearts with them that year.

It's the perfect gift. It's the *only* item *in the game* that you can have a stack of in iridium quality and never worry about what to get someone for their birthday again. There is, however, one notable exception.
View attachment 25242

@MogBeoulve confirmed, penny hates rabbits

 

[Kurachi84]

I think most points others have to dislike her, are overthought.
The only aspect i dislike of her (and this has to do with marriage, which is why i won't marry her anymore), is that she keeps complaining about how hard it is to take care of the students.
You wake up, you talk to your love, and she complains about them already!

Her growth and other aspects are either just flaws in the character, or not good for more sensitive people(which we have a lot of nowadays), who seem to overthink when not needed.
... But this is just my opinion.

Just that 1 flaw out of there, and i can marry her again!

The rabbit's foot is a part of an animal, and maybe she's not fond of seeing that?
I think the part with George is supposed to be some funny slapstick moment, like "Aaaand here you go!"... just a random thought about that bit.

 

[Ereo]

@MogBeoulve confirmed, penny hates rabbits

Or she loves them so much that she can’t bear the thought of how they are made?

 

[Maher]

[Rabbit's feet are] the perfect gift. It's the *only* item *in the game* that you can have a stack of in iridium quality and never worry about what to get someone for their birthday again. There is, however, one notable exception.
View attachment 25242

In the time it takes to get a good rabbit foot inventory on hand, it's easy enough to get enough melons or emeralds going to keep Penny happy. So, apart from remembering that she hates them, that doesn't feel like a major setback. And if you marry her, a crystalarium churning out emeralds or a Sandfish pond is just de rigeur. Trixie keeps a midnight squid pond for Elliott, Bupkis keeps a stack of coconuts for Haley, Shomer keeps a goat for Leah, and Maher keeps a pig for Leah. The farmer whose name I forget who stupidly made mayonnaise from the Journal Entry ostrich egg always had an extra iridium bar on hand for Maru.

Because rabbits' feet are universal, I tend to save them for Qi's Kindness, and otherwise give people their preferred gifts. Making an exception for Penny is easy.

Trixie has Perfection, and could therefore hold Haley's aversion to Prizzy Shards against her. But she doesn't. Trixie would never marry Haley because the Trad-wife transform would creep her out. It made perfect sense for Bupkis, though.

 

[MogBeoulve]

Rabbit feet are FAKE feet made out of shed rabbit fur. NO RABBITS WERE HARMED. Penny just doesn't like rabbits, and us rabbits therefore do not like Penny.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

I agree with most of the points already mentioned though wanted to add on a few other things.

Pam is an alcoholic, but, seems to be a functioning one, who does actually care for/about Penny. So I don't think abusive is fair at all

Her being an alcoholic and not caring aren't equivalent and don't necessarily have to exist in parallel. She can love Penny and still be abusive and an alcoholic, there are many facets of abuse and abusive behavior stemming from addiction that go far deeper than an outsider may observe, or that are hidden by both for their own reasons.
I also wouldn't really call her a functional alcoholic for a couple of reasons. First people argue we don't have the best frame of reference for a working adult in the valley but basically everyone of age has some job in some capacity. Pam doesn't until the bus is repaired which didn't have any sort of time frame upon it's disrepair for her to rely on. That means she was both unemployed and not actively trying to get or maintain any job. She sleeps in drunk on the couch, has outstanding unpaid debt to Gus in the saloon, enough that he's losing major profits and worrying, and doesn't actively try to maintain her living space in any capacity.

Compare her to Hailey who is a real piece of work, and Penny is an angel. While some people may try to defend Hailey because of her absent parents, and other issues, that is not an excuse for Hailey's behavior, as Penny also has an absent father, an alcoholic mom, is poor and lives in a trailer, yet she is kind and well meaning.

This point largely takes away from the point that Haley does have a character arc and does change throughout the game to the point where you'd be dating her. It's true that Haley is quite mean and demeaning off the get go but I don't think insulting one spouse necessarily elevates your argument for another, just continues a cycle of spouse hate that you said you're against/was unwarranted.

She does not need to be crucified by merciless vindictive online mobs because she isn't 100% perfect, because no one is, neither you or I. We literally all make mistakes, and we need to stop pretending we don't.

Hard agree, though I think the point is wildly exaggerated as the penny "hate" is often ironic or limited to a few key points (as it is for basically every spouse and character, while stardew offers depth they are game characters, there's only so much to build off of to begin with). I also think the point that we all make mistakes is quite hypocritical seeing as how you yourself were doing after Haley being a "real piece of work" for the mistakes she makes and corrects, as I'm sure penny also corrects.

First and foremost, she's desperate to get out of her current living conditions. Her mother is an abusive alcoholic, so you can't really blame her for it, but she's wanting to jump ship to anyone willing to get her out of there. Which makes me wonder if she's interested in the Farmer as a person, or interested in the Farmer as a means of escape. She also seems to have some very codependent tendencies based on her father leaving and generally being neglected by her mother, leading to a high emotional maintenance

Definitely agree, her lack of a defined character arc could be attributed to this in some capacity though I don't think it necessarily has to be. She absolutely does have real underlying issues which I think people are more than fairly pointing out rather than outright hating the character for, and of course everyone takes everything to their own depth of lore and finds different meaning or levels of meaning behind actions.

Those are most of my points, I think it's decently fair to say the hate towards her (or really any spouse) is unwarranted though I think the "hate" in the first place isn't as charged as assumed. Much of the same thought processes could be applied to different spouses and I think it's fun to have a game so well made that we can look critically at a character and argue either way. Regardless, she's a perfectly viable spouse for anyone who wants to marry her, any as said before, you can take whatever you want from her actions and the actions of those around her, though be equal in your reasoning.

 

[LRangerR]

Rabbit feet are FAKE feet made out of shed rabbit fur. NO RABBITS WERE HARMED. Penny just doesn't like rabbits, and us rabbits therefore do not like Penny.

The most truthful thing ever said. Penny hates rabbits

 

[LRangerR]

@FilthyGorilla too big of a post for me to quote on mobile, but long story short, two things.

1. A bus delivers you to pelican town in the opening cutscene. We can assume the bus broke down shortly after you arrived and Pam is just taking an extended staycation bc of it.

2. Is it bad that I like Pam more than penny?

 

[Marcell]

@FilthyGorilla too big of a post for me to quote on mobile, but long story short, two things.

1. A bus delivers you to pelican town in the opening cutscene. We can assume the bus broke down shortly after you arrived and Pam is just taking an extended staycation bc of it.

From what I heard in a lore video, apparently according to dialogue, the bus has been broken for decades. and Lewis never fixes it, or does much of substances for the town. Leaving it up to you, because he's syphoning tax money for himself, and making a gold statue of himself.

Also in defense of Pam, its not like there's a lot of job opportunities in such a tiny town, even Penny had to make up her job of tutoring.

 

[pinga]

Here's the thing with Penny. You're not wrong about any of those things. She is a genuinely good person. But... she's also got a couple of red flags.

First and foremost, she's desperate to get out of her current living conditions. Her mother is an abusive alcoholic, so you can't really blame her for it, but she's wanting to jump ship to anyone willing to get her out of there. Which makes me wonder if she's interested in the Farmer as a person, or interested in the Farmer as a means of escape. She also seems to have some very codependent tendencies based on her father leaving and generally being neglected by her mother, leading to a high emotional maintenance. At least she's not high cost maintenance like Hailey is.

And that's what I like about Stardew Valley, nobody's perfect and everyone comes with baggage. Abigail still acts like a rebellious teen, Maru is more concerned with her projects than any partner she might end up with... and that's good writing. Because nobody's perfect. The characters are more than just cardboard cutouts with tropes applied, they're actual fleshed out characters, flaws and all.

this is actually how I feel when I married Sebastian. I feel like he only cares about using me to left the house asap lol.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Much of the discussion around Penny seems to revolve around ignorance vs. intent with her 2 event with George. Yes, Penny's actions are ableist but it doesn't seem that she does it because she looks down at George. Instead she does it with the intent of trying to help, but she's ignorant of the fact that some people would much prefer to do things themselves even if their life situation makes those things considerably more difficult. Seeing as this is a game, which is specifically scripted and not a real-time IRL interaction, I wish that Penny and George had a more in-depth discussion of ableism and how to first talk with someone who may be having difficulty instead of just diving into action. There is an opportunity for understanding which should be explored, especially since George clearly has the capacity to adjust his opinions on Alex and a male farmer getting married. He should be able to explain the nuances of his life situation to Penny so both of them can grow into more completely realized people.

Even though it's been brought up here, I haven't heard overall as much about Penny wanting to "escape" her life situation, as a number of the other Villagers make more pointed comments about it (Seb, Haley, Alex, Shane, even Leah though she's escaped to the Valley). If you don't marry Penny but get her to 8 or 10 , some of her dialog becomes more life-affirming when referring to specific events (the rain on the tin roof of the trailer), so while she starts out arguably towards the depressed side of the spectrum, that seems to shift to a more positive tone as she gets to know the new Farmer.

I guess I don't like to judge too harshly as I don't know anyone's backstory too well. The game gives us precious little life information about anyone so being judgey seems an overreaction IMO. Ie: disliking or even hating any character is too strong a reaction for me to a pretty thinly delineated character archetype. Random example: when I first met Shane, my initial reaction was, "Oh, I see right through that facade and I we can totally become friends." LOL I think I said it out loud.

The criticisms of Penny after marriage are tougher for me as I married her in my first save thanks to Dandelions and her reading under the Tree in town. So I don't think I've even played that save since v1.4 and thus not seen any new dialog, but she was not the most inspiring spouse. However she kept her job an seemed to enjoy cooking, which also argues towards her being content and if I remember, she still sees Pam once a week which I like. I should play that save again for a season to get a handle on her current personality as Abby, Haley, and Emily have been a little more fun, but also more recent, being played in v1.5 and later.

I dunno I suppose she also falls into the category I described for someone else recently: Mostly Harmless.

 

[Maher]

Rabbit feet are FAKE feet made out of shed rabbit fur. NO RABBITS WERE HARMED. Penny just doesn't like rabbits, and us rabbits therefore do not like Penny.

Are you sure? I thought that as the rabbit grows, they shed their old feet for new ones because the tread wears out and they become apt to break traction. I mean, certainly, no rabbits were harmed. They just know that going around with feet that have less than 6/32" of tread left is dangerous.

 

[Maher]

Ah, that 2 heart event. It is Penny's, isn't it? It's something where they both come away with a lesson learned: Penny, that you don't just take over for people, and George, that there is a difference between an act of Naivete and Malice. My PC's have tended toward correcting Penny without being a jerk.

Anyway, I've started a new save on my iPad to see what gameplay is like (1.5 does not exploit iPadOS, and seems to have issues mapping the bigger screen), so I might marry this farmer off to Penny. The only time I've had a real problem with her is when she comes home mad at the kids and has pathing issues in the house. It feels like she's displacing her anger on the farmer.