Why Haley HATES Us || Stardew Valley 1.6 Lore and Theory

Why Haley HATES Us || Stardew Valley 1.6 Lore and Theory

Meow y’all and welcome back to another video. You’ve just moved into Pelican Town and you’re ready to start a new life. You decide to walk around and meet the town’s folk. Ooh, she’s pretty. I wonder who she is. Um, if it weren’t for those horrendous clothes, you might actually be cute. M, actually, never mind. Wo, what’s her deal? That’s what we’ll be discussing today. So, buckle up. If you don’t know me, I’m Solder. I make Starter Valley YouTube videos featuring game challenges, lore, and theory crafting and analyses. So, if you’ve got any suggestions for the next video, feel free to leave a comment down below and hit that subscribe button for more. So, Haley, what’s her deal? Each character in Stardw Valley will have pools of dialogue that can be randomly chosen when you speak to them, depending on certain circumstances. A lot of them have dialogues based on the season, if it’s raining, or if they’re at Ginger Island. Some of the towns folk have very special dialogue that they’ll say if it’s the first time they’ve ever spoken to you. The first thing Haley ever says to you is, “Oh, you’re that new farmer, aren’t you?” Huh? Oh, I’m Haley. Hm. If it weren’t for those horrendous clothes, you might actually be cute. Actually, never mind. Yep. That wasn’t me ad libbing. That’s literally what she says to you right to your face. What is her problem? Why does she hate us? And does she actually hate us? in her regular dialogue pool where there’s nothing special going on and you haven’t increased her friendship point substantially yet. She says quite a few rude things to us. Don’t you get tired of running around on that farm all day or whatever it is that you do? I couldn’t stand getting all dirty like that. You probably get a nice tan though. Ew, you’re all dirty. H Something smells weird. Hm. You’ve been working on that farm, huh? Now, some people have argued that Haley is just really blunt. I mean, let’s be honest. We do spend a lot of time on the farm, so there probably is dirt all over our shoes, and we probably do wreak of sweat. But let’s hone in on that thing that she just said or whatever it is you do. It’s really likely that Haley doesn’t actually understand everything that a farmer has to do. Let’s be real, most people don’t know all the hard work that farmers have to do on a day-to-day basis. It isn’t until you’re actually on a farm that you can see how much work is involved and how utterly exhausting it can be. Okay, fine. Haley doesn’t really understand her job. Is that enough for her to hate us? No, it’s something else. But friend Haley and her dialogue slowly changes and we start to see some development. Old Haley, the Haley before she becomes friends with you or even falls in love with you is stagnant. She is constantly bored of her day-to-day life and she’s honestly miserable. The only thing I like about this town is the beach. I’m feeling an urge to go shopping. I wish there was a mall here. I spent 3 hours practicing my signature today. I guess that’s pretty silly, huh? I feel the urge to go shopping. She’s not happy in Pelican Town. It doesn’t seem like she’s been exposed to the real world, and with that any real world experiences. Every day really is the same for her. Now, there’s this new hot shot farmer that just moved in, and the whole town is excited. Everyone’s talking about you, and everyone wants to meet you. And where did you come from? You lived in an exciting, bustling city and you moved here. What is wrong with you? Haley can’t even fathom this. On a Saturday in the summer, Haley has a chance to ask you, “Farming sounds so boring. What do you even do all day?” You can respond with, “Here for plants, explore the caves, dig for treasure.” Haley will say, “Hm, sounds like a lot of work.” Snoop around in your room. What? You better not be doing that. But once you get to at least six hearts with Haley, things begin to change. Haley begins to change. She begins to realize that her life is her own, and she can make certain decisions to make her life more interesting or to choose things that will make her happier, just like how the farmer chose to leave the city and move to Pelican Town. After Six Hearts, Haley begins to say things like, “I need a new hobby other than shopping. I’ve decided to expand my horizons. Maybe I should learn to play the mini harp. You know, I should probably start exercising more. This youthful metabolism won’t last forever. I should start reading some books instead of magazines. It’s good to learn things, isn’t it? I only ever look at pictures. I talked to my sister for a while last night. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. You know, Emily’s not actually that weird. I guess we have a lot more in common than I used to think. Don’t tell her I said so. Shopping just doesn’t sound as fun as it used to. What’s happening to me? Hm. She’s beginning to take an interest in other hobbies. She’s taking care of herself, and she’s even getting closer to Emily, who she doesn’t really like that much. While doing research for this video, I actually ended up finding a surprising amount of similarities between Haley and Shane. Both of them are very abrasive and rude to us when we first meet them. Probably stemming from the fact that there’s a level of jealousy at play because they can see that we are taking charge of our future and happiness. Both of them are shocked that we would ever leave the city to come to Pelican Town. Both of them hate healthy food and don’t care about exercising. Neither of them really take care of themselves physically or mentally. Talk to their immediate family members and they’re genuinely worried about their future and how they’re going to continue growing as a person. If you’re unsure about that last part, talk to Emily and she can say, “I wish Haley would get a job or at least contribute to cooking and cleaning. I think she’s hoping to just marry someone rich.” This is a really nice way of Emily saying, “Hey, I think Haley is kind of a freeloader and she doesn’t really have any real life skills that she can apply. It’s seriously worrying, and I think she’s betting on just letting someone else take care of her for the rest of her life. Please help for the love of Yoba.” And it really makes me think. There are countless videos, essays, and threads about Shane’s mental health and how much he struggles with his depression. I have to wonder, what about Haley’s mental health? Sure, she’s not on a cliffside passing out, but she is deeply unhappy, bored with life, stagnant. Life just kind of feels like a blur to her. Every day being the exact same. No real interest in improving herself, learning new things, or even connecting with other people in her life, including her own family members, let alone some stranger that just moved in. Why does Haley hate us? Why not? She doesn’t have the space in her life or her heart to entertain some new personality. She can hardly handle this overwhelming unhappiness that she has. She’s not going to be enthusiastic about meeting us and talking to us and becoming best friends. She’s going to guard herself and shoe you away because in her head, what’s the point? Nothing’s going to change and nothing’s going to make her happy. It’s just another boring person talking to her about boring things. Yawn. Now, please don’t think for a second that I have forgotten the absolute privilege that Haley does have. That vlog number 12 by Concerned Ape states, “Being wealthy and popular throughout high school has made Haley a little conceited and self-centered. She has a tendency to judge people for superficial reasons, but is it too late for her to discover a deeper meaning to life? Is there a fun, open-minded young woman hidden within that candycoated shell? She has had a lot in her life that many others have never had, including people that live in Pelican Town. But that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t had her own challenges. Concerned Ape even asks us if it’s too late for her to discover a deeper meaning in life. She’s been on this closed path her whole life. And she’s an adult now. She has to broaden her horizons and figure out what life is actually about. She doesn’t have to be this constantly bored, stagnant person that’s unhappy waking up every day. She can change. And someone that she initially hated could help. With that said, I hope you all enjoyed this video. And thank you so much for watching. Let me know what you think of Haley. Was she too rough around the edges for you? Or did you know you just had to work at it a little bit for a beautiful friendship or romance to blossom? If you’ve got a suggestion for the next video or some head cannons that y’all have and want to share, be sure to leave a comment down below and make sure to subscribe to catch my next video. I’ll be making more Sardo Valley videos, so keep an eye out. See y’all next time. Bye.

In Stardew Valley, Haley is pretty abrasive for many… Why does she HATE us though? And does she really…? Perhaps there’s a hidden reason hiding in the lore…?

The Stardrop Corner: A Stardew Valley Podcast:

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