Stardew Valley creator Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone celebrated the farming sim's 10-year anniversary last night with a fantastic video that dives into the game's past and looks ahead to its future. What shocked me most was how much the bones of Pelican Town have remained the same. What everyone else is talking about are the two marriage candidates who will be added in the upcoming 1.7 update. While most people are happy enough Sandy is being added to the dating pool, Clint has once again proved to be a divisive individual.
If, like me, you play Stardew Valley exclusively as a farming sim and not a dating sim, you may not be aware that Clint has a big ol' crush on bartender and budding clothing designer Emily. What splits the fanbase is how he manages his affections.
To some, Clint is just an awkward guy. Remember your first time visiting him at the forge? He's all stutters and long pauses. Befriend him enough and he'll reveal he wants to date Emily, he just has no idea how to approach her. To others with less charitable readings of his feelings and personality, he's at best a stereotypical Nice Guy or at worst a downright incel misogynist.
"Who is actually going to marry Clint?" asks one incredulous player on Reddit. Some plan to marry him just to torture the guy. "I will marry Clint, lower him to zero hearts, divorce him and then mod him out of the game so he can die without ever knowing what true love and affection feels like," writes a particularly vindictive player on X.
Some are wondering how Clint's crush on Emily will be resolved if you, the player, do decide to romance him. Under ConcernedApe's own tweet confirming the news we'll soon be able to marry him, someone replied, "Marrying Clint and the first thing he asks you is 'so you're good friends with Emily, right?'"
ConcernedApe has noted the fan reaction. In a Steam post he writes, "Oh, and you'll be able to marry Clint and Sandy. I know you've all been dying to marry Clint... right? ...guys?? Welp…"
Some have leapt to Clint's defense. "'Who asked for this?!' Me. I asked for this," writes one Clint fan on Reddit under a cute drawing of them calling Clint perfect even as insults are hurled at him. "I personally went to ConcernedApe to ask for this. I'm going to marry Clint on a new savefile everytime I read a mean comment about him."
[Fanart] How it felt today reading all the 1.7 comments from r/StardewValley
Another Clint defender on Reddit claims, "He’s not different from how Alex treats/views Haley. But because he’s not hot everyone has jumped on a bandwagon of hate and labelling him as a creep."
I'd argue the game itself views Clint as a man who doesn't know how to talk to women, or anyone, for that matter, rather than an incel or a creep. During his three hearts friendship event, when he asks for advice on how to do better with the ladies, telling him to just treat men and women the same increases your relationship with him the most. Does that make him better at speaking to people? No. But perhaps he'll get some more depth when the 1.7 update finally drops.
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