Marriage Candidates

[FlyingCatPhillips]

It's probably for the best to just agree that we both have great opinions on the matter.
I must thank you for bringing her up though! I did not really pay much attention to her before hand and after reading about her, she feels far more relatable for me! @ConcernedApe really did a wonderful job with Maru's character! I am really shocked! He shows immense maturity and understanding of how some women think with Maru's character, it's very impressive. Her events to me seem to have core values, best shown off in her displays of them. While her getting a PhD would be a nice event, it does not really add anything to her story, nor would it show off her display of her core values. Of course this is all my opinion.

Although now I am thinking that I should learn more about all the marriage candidates. If so much work was put into just 1 character than they all must have their own amazing stories, maybe.

 

[Polaris]

I have a lot of wishes for how relationships worked in SDV but that's for a different thread.

 

[hexnessie]

I've been thinking about the in-game age of my farmer relative to the younger marriage candidates. My farmers seem to me to be in their thirties at least - their grandfather already dead from old age, and many years after the Grandpa died, the farmer has worked for Joja Corp long enough to succumb to burnout. So even assuming they started working there right after college, the way I "feel" about their age is 28-35... MUCH too old for a baby like Sam, who is really a kid with the skateboard and jokes.

Sebastian feels a bit older/more mature than Sam, Abigail is also a bit more mature even though her mother keeps treating her like a child... Maru feels too young and too bright! She's a child prodigy, kind of (and I hear y'all about the pressure on child prodigies to perform!)

How old would Sebastian be in-game? 23? He has a job and seems to have graduated some kind of university / college. (I'm not sure about graduation ages in the U.S., he'd be 22 when graduating with BA where I live)

Emily is another good candidate, age-wise - about 25, I'd think?

 

[imnvs]

I've been thinking about the in-game age of my farmer relative to the younger marriage candidates. My farmers seem to me to be in their thirties at least - their grandfather already dead from old age, and many years after the Grandpa died, the farmer has worked for Joja Corp long enough to succumb to burnout. So even assuming they started working there right after college, the way I "feel" about their age is 28-35.

See, in my real life, I bummed around a few jobs while going to college right out of high school, ran out of money and had to drop out of college... and burned out and a few jobs all before I turned 25. It wasn't until after then that I get a steady job and went back to school. Sadly, that school was a sub-rate, for-profit scam in the end, but I still have that steady, union job. Things are working out for me, but I do think you are perhaps underestimating how some businesses can burn folk out.

 

[FlyingCatPhillips]

I like to make believe their age is close to the Players it's a lot less complicated if I don't pay much mind to age. It's probably why Marnie and Clint are not marriage candidates anyway... So, I just trust that the marriage candidates are in the players age range. After all my Husband IRL is actually older than me, but by the way he acts you'd never guess it. He can be very childish, and well people say I look young and act old, so..... Age thing... It only serves to cause unnecessary stress in the video game. By the way my grandpa IRL died by old age well before I was 30.... So, everyone has their own personal experiences.

I get not liking characters whom you feel act too juvenile though. I generally dislike Sebastian because his character feels like he is stuck up. But that could just be my perception of him.

 

[Polaris]

I think the question is more what age the char is when Grandpa hands over the envelope before dying. Because 20 years later is when the char leaves Joja and moves to SDV. I also feel like most of the marriagable NPCs are very young or very immature, and I'm not a fan of the pressure to find a spouse, get married and have babies by the end of year 2. But that's just me.

 

[FlyingCatPhillips]

Yeah, I like that you can do that your own pace if you want to do that at all.

 

[450735]

Isn't it heavily implied in-game that our character is rather young? I can remember two instances where an NPC comments on our youth, one of them being something like "why is a youngster like you at the bar?". Assuming legal age in Stardewland is 18, that would make the farmer much closer to 20 than 30. (And yes, it is very much possible to burnout at that age. IRL, I had my first at 16 (yeah, my life was something), but there are more and more instances of burnout among children, so nothing too far-fetched here.)

Also, while I highly appreciate the effort in characterisation, I do agree that a lot of the marriage candidates are very young (and probably too young), and there isn't much variety in their ages (not to mention that some of them I just do not see ever wanting to live on the farm). You either have a bunch of kids in their late teens/early 20s or a couple of 30-somethings. No one in their late-20s (except possibly Emily), no one older than 40. Also also, the older bachelor/ettes are (IMO) either messed up, clingy, or overly sophisticated, while the younger ones are whiny, depressed, or immature. It feels a bit stereotypical. Youthfulness, maturity, wisdom, etc. aren't necessarily age-dependant. But maybe I'm just thinking way too hard about some fictional characters in a farming sim, I don't know.

MUCH too old for a baby like Sam, who is really a kid with the skateboard and jokes.

Oh, trust me, you don't have to be a kid to do that (Although I don't do skateboard. Jokes, on the other hand...)

 

[Ereo]

I think the question is more what age the char is when Grandpa hands over the envelope before dying. Because 20 years later is when the char leaves Joja and moves to SDV. I also feel like most of the marriagable NPCs are very young or very immature, and I'm not a fan of the pressure to find a spouse, get married and have babies by the end of year 2. But that's just me.

Why is it twenty years later?

If I had a cubicle job, and inherited my grandpa's farm in an idealistic community, I would probably quit very soon.

And grandpa could have had kids late and therefore died early in the farmers live. My grandfather was almost 90 when he died, and we grandkids were between 10 and 18.

 

[hexnessie]

Why is it twenty years later?

The intro animation says "XX years later" so I assumed that it meant 20 in Roman numerals. Maybe they meant any double digit number of years, though.

 

[imnvs]

The intro animation says "XX years later" so I assumed that it meant 20 in Roman numerals. Maybe they meant any double digit number of years, though.

The "XX" could also just mean "some number of".

Also, we don't know how old the farmer was when grandpa gave the letter.

 

[Polaris]

I did assume the XX meant 20 years, so if the player char is a little kid when Gramps hands over the envelope, it's very reasonable to be around the same age as the marriageable villagers. But perhaps because they've had an insular life locked away in the valley, they seem very immature compared to a player char that has already worked in the world, hit despair and made a complete life change.

 

[imnvs]

Me? Honestly, I'm not sure who my favorite is. See, I've married Abigail, Haley, Leah, Maru and Elliot in saves. I also have saves where I have not married yet but intend to marry Penny and Shane when I get to that point, and I'm not far off. @Cuusardo has saves wherein she's married Abigail, Emily, Haley, Maru, and Sebastian, and also has saves where she plans to marry Sam, Alex and Harvey. (This list includes all solo and MP saves we two have.)

...so I've seen, personally and vicariously, a lot of the storylines for the marriageable candidates... and I still really do not know for sure who my favorite is, even when just limiting it to those we've actually married. They're all slightly more complex than they appear on the face of things when you meet them, and they all grow in such spectacular ways.

Still, the "laughing, grimy/muddy Haley" picture? I think that might be my favorite part of the game. Once I've married everyone I want to marry... I think every save after that? It'll be Haley, just because of that picture. I'm still not saying that she's my favorite, just that picture.

 

[lilan castel]

My farmer is 25. But she acts younger. Her grandfather died when she was 5. (Joja are to blame). She fell in love with Harvey because he was the only one in town that didn't act rudely toward her. (Srill a reason).

 

[Dr. eeL]

Still, the "laughing, grimy/muddy Haley" picture? I think that might be my favorite part of the game. Once I've married everyone I want to marry... I think every save after that? It'll be Haley, just because of that picture. I'm still not saying that she's my favorite, just that picture.

I love that picture. Haley's hair is spectacular. The 1.5 version is altered from the 1.4 version, and I definitely prefer the 1.4 version. A lot of players don't get Haley, but Come On! How many girls do you know that can fall hard on their butt, get their clothes, hair, and face smeared with mud and cow poo, get up, and laugh about it. This is picture is the inspirational reason that I picked Haley to be the farmer's love interest star in the Middlewalk fan works.

 

[Laissez_Faire_Farming]

Update: I wanted to marry Shane, but I married Sebastian my second time again in another save.....

I find Shane extremely attractive. Love his story and hobby.
I almost dated Shane. I love him, but please understand me........
Unfortunately, I sensed a red flag from him. This is coming from my own personal experience with people who have been through the addiction...

After reaching out 8 hearts events, I suspected that Shane was trying to look too good to impress me...Hope you will figure what I am trying to say.

Spoiler: Shane's Dark Side

Usually, those who have been through addiction would experience some uncomfortable transitions to become clean.
BUT Shane shows NO SIGN OF SYMPTONS.
If he experiences some withdrawals, I am ready to give him some encouragement, support, or hug.
Unfortunately, it NEVER HAPPENS.
After reading on people's rants about Shane's messy room, I am glad that I made the right decision not to date him.

I am not impressed with how he managed his situation. – he made it look easy.
The truth is it's NEVER easy to be sober.

Overall, he is still my second favorite bachelor...

 

[Polaris]

My issue with Shane and his dark side has to do with change never really being portrayed except in the heart scenes. If I go to the saloon on a Friday night, Shane will still be there and is still a nasty drunk. For some of the characters that have big changes as the player progresses through cutscenes, I think the dialogue might need some rework.

 

[Laissez_Faire_Farming]

My issue with Shane and his dark side has to do with change never really being portrayed except in the heart scenes. If I go to the saloon on a Friday night, Shane will still be there and is still a nasty drunk. For some of the characters that have big changes as the player progresses through cutscenes, I think the dialogue might need some rework.

I think his dialogues really reflect who he is.
Actually, his dialogue -itself is a red flag.
It was too much sugarcoating.....feels bit dishonest.
I grew suspicious every time when he said something.

 

[Tom]

I really wanted to marry Maru. And I still do. But her heart events were a letdown, and once I married Penny, I never wanted to go back, and I never can seem to really find the interest to even give a bouquet to anybody else. Maybe someday. Or maybe that's just how I am, and maybe I will never get over my IRL ex-wife.

By the way, Emily is adorable. But eventually that became "like a little sister, niece, or daughter".

The only male candidate I find remotely interesting is Elliot.

 

[Jennita]

I like Shane, he's nice when you get closer to him. Also, the gifts he likes are easy to get, so you shouldn't ever have him on low hearts if you keep "mass producing" those items for him. Also the Pepper poppers he gives are useful for farm work days.

To anyone saying about his addictions, I think he might not have stopped drinking, but he maybe drinks a lot less and that's something I find normal. There's a difference between normal drinking and being passed out surrounded by beer cans. This is just my view of this.