Before we begin down the road of the lonely single farmer yearning for the company of another human, I must confess, I am worried for Stardew Valley. I question the idea of bringing a child into this town when things seem so bleak. The homeless rates are unacceptable, we rely on individual donations to pull people out of poverty when we should be taxing the rich (like me) to build up our infrastructure and community resources, and don’t get me started on the joke that is the Ferngill Republic Health Authority. When is the last time any of us saw a therapist? Or a dentist? Do we even have teeth? How are we eating? Why don’t we use the bathroom? These are all questions that deserve answers.
But for now, and despite all that, I believe I should have the right to adopt a child in Stardew Valley just like married couples already can.
Unlike in my actual life where I have no inheritance from my dead family and my work is repaid on a spectrum from hardly at all to nothing+abuse, in Stardew I have been bequeathed a large farm and my hard work has been favorably repaid. I single-handedly repaired the community center and helped drive Joja Mart away. I’ve bought houses for townsfolk that couldn’t afford one. And I’ve won the grange display competition in the town fair 3 years in a row with goods from my organic farm. Surely, I have proved myself a responsible and caring member of the community.
I’ve adopted a cat, a horse, and the farm consists of pigs, cows, goats, ducks, rabbits, and void chickens. I have sunflowers that grow year round in my greenhouse. I have a bat cave. But my pixelated family does not yet feel complete.
I would welcome the opportunity to indefinitely care for a toddler, as all children stop aging in Stardew Valley. While I have questions as to why the game sometimes feels more like purgatory and less like an idyllic farming environment, I have long since accepted how time works in Stardew: Fast, yet ageless, like Elijah Wood on a moderate amount of cocaine.
I’ve considered the marriage angle at length. But sadly, I feel no connection for any of the singles in town, and I can’t imagine wanting to be married to any of them. Perhaps if Demetrius were single, but alas he is not, and I’m not a homewrecker. And I shouldn’t be pressured to couple up in the first place. Who are you, ConcernedApe, to deny me the joy of parenthood just because I am single? Are you capitalism? Are you real-life horrible capitalism that has priced whole swaths of humans out of having a family? Are you genocide? Are you actual and literal genocide, ConcernedApe?
A child is not something you should have to financially qualify for. You shouldn’t need to have a a million in the bank or win grange displays at town fairs to prove you are worthy of caring for a child. Children need homes, and there are plenty of people who could care for them if only we communally provided the means.
Although, here I am assuming that Stardew Valley has ethical adoptions. Has anyone met with any CPS workers? Where are these babies coming from? Stardew is a universe with prison camps, who are we to assume their adoption processes are on the level? Are these war babies?
Give me what I want and I will stop asking questions such as these (said the white woman). I think we all deserve the adoption option. So we can siphon out tiny bits of our pent-up family instincts on tiny, fake pixel babies. Which is a very healthy and normal thing.
Regards,
Ginny
