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So, about Pierre...

With today being Father's Day, I've decided to listen to the hair trapped in my butt and write up a little something to defend one of the more contentious characters from Stardew Valley. Previously, I've talked about Demetrius (you can read my commentary on him here, if you're interested).

This time, I want to talk about Pierre, owner of Pierre's General Store.

Yes, his hunger for money and success borders on obsession. Some of his and Abigail's comments during the Luau imply he's got political aspirations on par with Lewis's. Sometimes he'll take crops or forage foods you might sell him for quick money and pass them off as his own work (of equal concern is how no one else in town really challenges it). It's hard to tell if he hates Joja because of the genuine harm it's dealt to the local culture or if it's because he envies its wealth and influence. (There's no reason both can't be true. People can be and often are in two minds about things they feel strongly about!) Sometimes, he neglects Caroline to focus on business, and he has difficulty relating to Abigail.

He may have a secret stash of pornography, as per Pierre's 6-Heart Event. Given the melody that plays when Pierre catches you in his and Caroline's bedroom, "Pickle Jar Rag (Haley's Theme)", I'm inclined to imagine his "secret stash" is meant to be embarrassing but not incriminating.

Then, when you get to at least 8 Hearts with him, he shares the above quote.

Is this an inappropriate thing to share with the farmer? Maybe. But if he won't talk about it with his own wife, who else is he going to tell in a place as small and gossipy as Pelican Town? Who knows how long he's been sitting on this anxiety? That's a hell of a thing to keep bottled up. Look at his expression. The idea that he might not be Abigail's father distresses him.

At least on the practical level, it'd be easy to investigate this on his own. Most paternity tests are done with cheek swabs, are over 99% accurate, and will give you results in days. There are even home paternity tests you can pick up at some drugstores.

But he'd need a sample from Abigail to do the test. It'd be difficult to swab her cheek without her consent. And if he was to ask her for a swab, she's bound to ask why.

We can only assume he hasn't tried for a test. He even urges you not to say anything to Caroline.

Why? Because he's afraid. Of the questions it will open up. Of potential ridicule from his peers. Most of all, of losing his family either way. That he hasn't sought a paternity test by now implies to me he's trying either to convince himself he's wrong or to make peace with the idea. Indeed, there are several hints in the game that suggest his fear may not be unfounded (link to article embedded).

Quoting Caroline, when you get to at least 8 Hearts with her:

I'm not going to argue Pierre doesn't have a problem with jealousy. My problem is that so much of the fandom takes Caroline's word at face value (while willfully ignoring anything positive she has to say about him at other times), painting in their heads a picture of a jealous, controlling, misogynistic man.

As someone whose own father is all those things and has been for as long as I've known him, I can say--at least from personal experience--that Pierre is extraordinarily tame by comparison! Abigail and Caroline are shown to come and go as they please, while Pierre stays behind the store counter most days. He's not tracking their movements every hour of the day. At least in front of us, he never asks where they've been.

Neither Caroline nor Abigail talk about him or interact with him with a trace of apprehension. Indeed, Abigail is comfortable enough with him to occasionally post for help with pulling pranks on him! On the community board in front of his store where he's bound to see, no less! If he was ever a true tyrant, she wouldn't go out of her way to push his buttons--certainly not so openly.

Occasionally, they'll even have nice things to say about him. From Caroline:

From Abigail:

Can't we suppose there may be some other reason Caroline would rather not have Pierre know about her walks around the Wizard's Tower? Seriously, what could Caroline have gotten up to there that would warrant Pierre's jealousy (/rhetorical)?

You know, come to think of it, it's Caroline that delivers the bulk of criticisms toward Abigail's habits and self-expression. The most we get from Pierre in this regard is, from Abigail's 6-Heart Event:

Then again, most people don't like the idea of their kids hanging out in graveyards at night, anyway--whether they're conservative or progressive.

Abigail, true to form, has no trouble telling him off:

Pierre's response:

No violence. No degradation. Just plain ineffectual shock. We get no indication of him chasing after her to force her home. Chances are, he resigns to let Abigail come home on her own.

Notice, also, how he doesn't say, "I want you to come home to make dinner." He says: "Your mother wants you to come home and help with dinner." He's fetching her on Caroline's behalf, not his own.

Also, Abigail is their only child. If they're able, it's not unreasonable to ask your child for help with household chores, no matter what their gender.

Is Pierre traditional? Perhaps, a little bit. But not virulently so.

He is, after all, paying for Abigail's college tuition out of his own pocket. If he fussed over money, or Abigail's lifestyle, that much...wouldn't he just stop supporting her?

He also cooks dinner on occasion even though he admits to you that he hates doing it. He does it to please Caroline.

Indeed, Caroline sometimes wonders out loud if she should "get Pierre to cook dinner tonight". She would not do that if he never indulged her.

He builds a snow-goon with Abigail during the Festival of Ice on odd years and on even years shares that he'd gotten the family matching sweaters (and laments how Abigail refuses to wear hers...though if you talk to Abigail at the same event, she reveals she is in fact wearing her sweater beneath her jacket. "Don't tell Dad!")

If you choose "Let's be reasonable" at the ending cutscene for the Community Center route, Pierre will give a speech praising the community and encourage the others to boycott JojaMart. Call me a sap, but I like this cutscene better! Pierre, of course, would have a strong personal interest in driving Morris out of town, but his speech proves he does in fact pay attention to the community and the people in it when he wants to. Or else his call to boycott would not be nearly as effective! You can't fake that level of attention.

All of this is to say...Pierre is not as terrible a father, and a general person, as I've too often seen him made out to be. He's flawed and complex! Like everyone else in this game.

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For additional reading, may I suggest my post headcanoning Pierre and Caroline as bereaved parents?

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“Mediary between physical and ethereal” is a ridiculous job sometimes

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They call each other friends and get offended if you believe otherwise

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Ok but what if he has friends and they hangout

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He really thought he’s good with secrets, huh

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No but since Bennet canonically comes from Natlan now, imagine the possibilities of angst fics we could write like.

Imagine an AU where we met alive family members of Bennett. like grandparents or aunts or uncles. Imagine how they would feel meeting him, having thought him and his parents both dead as they grieved- only to find out that their grandson or nephwe was alive afterall.

And that he grew up without them.

Because Bennett, in all ways that matter atleast, is from Mondstadt. Not Natlan. He knows nothing else besides Mondstadt. That's where he spent his childhood; that's where his friends are. Bennett has no idea what his own original home culture is! He's a child of Venti and of the wind, a son of Mondstadt. Accepted and loved and forever interwoven. Natlan was never, and will never become his homeland again.

And that must be hard. To know the child you've grieved and loved and wished was here is actually here. But not really. Not truly. Yes, Bennett is alive and that is what is most important. But he simply isn't natlanese anymore, he's mondstadtian. He never rode a saurian, or partook in the rituals of his tribe. He never saw a pilgrimage and came here for a vacation above all.

Let that sink in, Bennett's own origin was originally nothing more than a vacation spot for him. Just imagine the heartbreak other relatives would feel at that.

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Our Spark ✨

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Sorry I had to

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no because actually - if i went through even a fraction of what bennett's been through, i'd just lay down and give up, but benny!!! it always so positive and optimistic!!! love this boy <3

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"My Treasure" - Bennett Birthday comic

‼️contains/implies self-hate/harm‼️

first things first, I am so sorry I promise I love Bennett T^T

I just wanted to show what we won't ever see in game; the thoughts after the years of constantly being blamed and then internalizing how everything goes wrong around him so he's better when he's not around

I can see him trying to be positive but there are still moments where dark thoughts creep in, but there are also those who cherish and love him and on bad days I could see him needing a reminder

and who's better than the adventurer who found him? HE was his literal treasure

so yeah this is an angsty interpretation of how Bennett could view his existence, obviously a bit more exaggerated

there was an extra page to this but it felt right to leave it here, just him and the old adventurer who saw a life worth saving

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Getting this event (no where near done I'm just getting emotional already) after waiting for it for 5 years is truly something

Happy Bennett impact everybody

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So the thing is; I don’t think Yuri has like a loli con sister fetish thing going on. As fun as it is to shit on him for it and as weird as it is sometimes I think he just loves her and because he probably has no/very little memory of his parents and he’s definitely never had a romantic relationship in his life the only person in his life that he loves is his sister and so my take is that his brain never actually learnt to differentiate between all the different kinds of love you can have for people.

Like ofcourse objectively he knows the difference between romantic love and platonic but also Yuri at times is still mentally at the childhood phase of I love my mom and I’m going to marry her because I love her so much and that’s apparently what you do when you love someone.

Because honestly if he really was weirdly romantically in love with Yor I don’t think Anya would bother him so much like hes just as jealous of Anya as he is of Loid which would just not be the case if he actually knew how to differentiate between all the different kinds of love. If he really was romantically attracted to yor I think he’d make a bit of a bigger show to show how “fatherly” he could be (even tho she’s technically Loid’s child)

Yuri just really loves his sister like when little kids have feelings that are too big for them to put of reach to explain or do anything other than experience them at full intensity. There is no one else hes allowed himself to share his life with in anyway. He has no real friends no parents or parental figures and he has no partner he literally only has his sister she’s his entire life.

And yor was kind of like that too Im the beginning wrapped up in Yuri everything she did was to ensure Yuri didn’t worry it wasnt as intense as Yuri’s cause York’s not as single minded but like look at them in the last chapter Yor actually sets and enforces strict boundaries on Yuri and how he can talk about her family when just a couple chapters ago she let him talk smack about her fake marriage in her living room. Yor has grown she has let other people into her life it’s bigger and it’s settled on away thay Yuri can’t push back against. And just like she’s always done as his big sister she is teaching him, modeling for him how to open up his life, how they can expand to include other people in this little world of theirs and they will still have space for each other that they’ll still have love for each other.

And yuri’s first instinct is to make their world small again to make it safe take them back to when it was just them until he realizes that’s not making the world safe hes just sealing them in an airtight jar. And he lets go. He calms down and he goes home and I think the fact that he didn’t just stay home eating food that reminded him of his childhood of Yor instead he accepts the invitation, it’s why Chloe and his first commander are so important he letting his world expand just a little bit. That he gets the little sheets Yor wanted to get for Anya. It’s proof it’s all proof that Yuri’s growing up. Hes learning to let the life in.

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Can we just appreciate how much Anya helped out Yor and Loid/Twilight with their jobs? (SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 ‼️)

First off, it’s hilarious that Anya was able to win the cruise trip. But anyway.

Remember when she found out that Yor was going on the same ship for her assassin job? She was actually considering not going on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a “big adventure”

(They ended up going anyway but still! Kids her age would probably not even care about those types of things and probably make it harder for the parents)

Then in the later episodes, she does everything she can so that Yor can continue her killings without Twilight/Loid finding out, while trying to hide her own identity at the same time. With first giving Twilight/Loid the time to disarm the bombs on the ship, while it also allows her to find Yor so she can help her with her “mission”.

Anya also informs the others there about the other bombs that were hidden around the ship before it was too late.

And when Yor is struggling while she fights off her opponent, she loses her weapon and is unable to fight back properly, that is until Anya comes in and throws the weapon back up for her to reach. 

Of course with the technique Yor taught her back in season 1 😭

And in the process, she accidentally threw in the perfect position to stop the other two guys that were trying to kill them

This gave Yor the perfect opportunity to end the battle and defeat her final opponent. I think of it as a ‘butterfly effect’, because if Yor never taught Anya how to throw during the dodgeball arc, I can’t see any other way she would’ve passed it to Yor without exposing anyone’s identity.

And in return, she gets to spend time with her fake family after all :)

I discuss this because it was something I was thinking after watching season 2, and because I don’t see many people appreciate what Anya does for her family to not only stay together— but also for her family to stay safe.

There’s not much I can say other than that. But yeah, good job Anya!

Anyway, that’s all for now!

Hasta la vista and see you in the next post!

[rainbowsarealwayssomewhere]

The thing about Courtney Sithe is that she has a probably living husband who is probably the only person she has ever married, and this is NOT Maria's father

Courtney was explicitly not married ten years ago, and had likely never been married (she is mentioned to be going by her maiden name, as she is unmarried)

Maria's father is likely someone with the surname Gorey who Courtney never married

Courtney had Maria at about 23 years old

The study tour began when Maria was 3

Courtney was unmarried when the study tour ended, and Maria was 9

The implication here is Maria was born out of wedlock

Caidin mentions politely that Maria's different last name is because of some family situation

Courtney's husband is never mentioned, but his last name is Sithe, not Gorey.

Also, Sithe is one of (if not the only) English character surname that ISN'T a reference to Sherlock Holmes to not be changed. Could be coincidence (in Japanese it's from shisu, to die. But in English it could sound like a reaper's scythe)

What is possibly an error or an Easter egg: the coroner thay signs Windibank's autopsy report is named Dr. Stevens. Meaning it's possible she married as late as the year the game takes place. If this was an intentional reference to Courtney, its unlikely Mr. Sithe is dead.

All this to say I think the Doylist explanation of Mr. Sithe's lack of presence is that he's not important to the story. The Watsonian explanation to me is that Courtney had to work extra hard to get recognized as Dr. Stevens, and likely had to work harder to keep that recognition once she became a married woman. Plus, it would draw some attention to her daughter's surname difference.

And now, presumably, Mr. Sithe has to deal with the aftermath of his wife's actions

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"Smoking? Again?"

color variants under the cut

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Day 7 of Homumiko Week - Home

-Cookie-Crumbs- try not to bring Sherlock & Co. into every Sherlock related media challenge (impossible)

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coroners