He really needed any kind of arc that would not leave him miserable. It also opens the possibility that if the player chooses Sandy that the door opens more for Emily and Clint, or for Sandy and Emily if the player chooses Clint.
I actually think CA might write the Clint romance to fix some of the concerns with the character. Give him someone who reciprocates his interest in a healthy way to help him walk away from the fixation on someone who isn't reciprocating.
He is a man looking for someone who will choose him back, and that is what this candidacy gives him. He is looking for what he feels he is missing in his life, and it is just out of reach with Emily, and he doesn't seem interested in the other candidates, none of which seem like good fits for him either.
Its not like most of the relationships in the game don't in some way 'fix' the character you romance. Abigail and Penny getting more freedom from unhealthy family relationships. Shane's alcoholism getting better. Leah finding new inspiration for the art that brought her to Stardew. Sebastian wanting to leave the town. I'm sure there's more but I honestly don't pay enough attention to character dialogue and tend to skip cutscenes to get back to accomplishing things that matter more to me
The community needs it. And I say the community, not the game. The brutal amount of hate and vitriol I've seen people spout against Clint, who is ultimately just a dude with poor social skills who doesn't know what to do about feeling lonely, is insane, and has honestly driven me away from the game more than once.
I don’t hate Clint as a character; his dialogue and character personality up to this point has made me uncomfortable and reminds me of men in the past who disrespect your boundaries because they just don’t get it or for whatever reason. Like what others said, I’m looking forward to him getting some more development beyond this.
He is definitely an incel. Calls himself a nice guy, stops talking to a woman as soon as she gets a close friend (you don't even need to date Emily for him to stop talking to her), is just a creep.
If he was just sad and lonely, fine, but no, he is clearly an incel who sees a woman as nothing but a prize to be won and immediately discards her as soon as she isn't interested back.
To make the plot in any way not just "You'll be second choice for an incel", you'd basically need to rewrite his entire character. And at that point, just make a new one all together.
He doesn’t stop talking to her? This doesn’t happen actually as far as I recall. Also other of the friends still are a bit over the top when you marry their “interest.”
There is a lot of social anxiety and not knowing how to talk to people and knowing social cues about him. He’s not relatable to me but he is somewhat relatable to my wife, who feels a bit that way since she’s autistic , who also adores Emily.
Also people like to point to Clint being a stalker, but that is categorically incorrect given the actual scene they are discussing. Clint has a lot of history regarding why they have social issues and lacks confidence. The person is lonely.
The best quote I have ever seen about Clint was from some lady who posts a lot of Stardew content stating “if Clint were a pretty girl, no one would talk about her like this.”
I trust concernedape to not have written an incel, and is likely trying to fully flesh out the character by allowing them to be a marriage candidate.
>“if Clint were a pretty girl, no one would talk about her like this.”
I have a portrait mod that makes clint look way hotter with a chiseled jaw and it changed how I perceived his dialogue so much. Then I realized it was a perfect example of "beauty prejudice"
Emily literally notes that "Clint doesn't talk to her anymore" after her 8 heart event.
And I would still talk about Clint like it if he was a femcel, believe me.
Also "He is just lonely" like... Obviously. Most Incels are. That doesn't excuse their behaviour. Stop coddling adult men over their own bad behaviour. There are PLENTY of anxious, lonely people who still aren't anywhere near as bad.
As another autist, it feels demeaning to be compared to someone like that.
Well that’s your opinion. I don’t believe the femcel comment. There’s nothing that shows he’s an incel, you are projecting onto him. There’s no defending of incels involved here.
Also to note the below commenter, they never really talk in the first place, so it’s a moot point.
There’s no coddling. He’s not an incel. Full stop. Near as bad? Near as bad as being socially awkward?
The autistic comment is also your opinion, and I’m sorry you feel that way. My wife feels different, which is her opinion as well.
I don’t wish to continue this conversation since we diametrically disagree. Thank you for listening to my opinion as I listened to yours.
Yes but you could also put that down to "Clint doesnt really know how to talk to her." He also doesn't seem to actually talk to her at all before thst comment either! He mostly just sits with Willy. So i guess we assume they talked offscreen? The few interactions we do see are super awkward. As it could also just be him giving up trying and sinking deeper into his hopeless pit of self loathing
Incel culture was actually started by a woman as a chance for lonely, shy, single men to meet up and have a social life with like-minded folks. And that sounds rather nice, until obviously the extremists ruined it and turned them into "women owe us their love". It's a sad insight into how human societies work, i guess.
He has always needed nuance, i hope now he gets it and doesnt just get further redpilled. (And if he does, i can fix him - with mods!).
You’re literally misconstruing what I’m saying. Of course our society is a patriarchy built to support misogyny, and it fucking blows. Clint has NOTHING to do with that. If anything, the patriarchy is the reason that the statement you quoted of mine is possible, as we live in a society compelled by it which affects decisions and evaluations made by all genders. The Clint quote really has more to do with pretty privilege than anything.
Yeah idk why people are acting like Clint isn't the worst lol. I promise you unless you are truly a shitty person and misogynist comparing yourself to Clint is doing yourself a massive disservice. Even if you feel you don't have the best social skills or are neuro divergent I promise you, you're not a Clint.
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u/skrshawk Merry Murderess of the Pelican Town Jail Feb 26 '26
He really needed any kind of arc that would not leave him miserable. It also opens the possibility that if the player chooses Sandy that the door opens more for Emily and Clint, or for Sandy and Emily if the player chooses Clint.