There’s a kind of depression called “persistent depressive disorder”, where it’s less severe than what we’d associate when we think of depression, but it also never really seems to go away or have major upswings. Jodi’s perfectly functional with no major mood swings, but her stumbling over the hobbies question and only coming up with “sleeping” is a major red flag that something’s Super wrong. It indicates a lack of interest in other hobbies, which is a key symptom of depression, but one that’s subtle enough for her or others to brush off. She could also have seasonal affective disorder, because most of her sadder/more wistful lines cone from fall and winter, when it’s darker, colder, with less sun light and some people’s moods are affected negatively by the lack of light and warmth. She’s also coming down off her busy summer schedule, meaning she had less to do to fill her time, and with no other hobbies she can think of that interest her, she talks about the one thing that passes the time and she’s been doing more of lately… sleeping.
@@Vashiane Sorry to put your discussion off-topic. So, you think in the DSM VI they will be changing Dysthymia to Persistent Depressive Disorder? I know in the DSM V they used both names, and in the DSM IV it was only Dysthymia. I don’t believe it was in the DSM III.
@@Steampunkkids Oh no you’re just fine! I thiiiink they will? I can’t be certain, I’m not a medical professional, but when I had my diagnosed reconfirmed my therapist was insistent on using persistent depressive. I doubt the term dysthymia will go away for a long while though.
I always felt that Jodi loves her sons and Kent more than anything. And that her regret is more about having a child so young, and having a husband who's faced things in war she'll never understand. That her regrets are less about having a family and more about the circumstances of her family. If she and Kent had had more time in their honeymoon phase before having Sam and if Kent hadn't needed to go to war, instead of mourning her youth she'd look back fondly on it.
That's how I see it as well. Either they had Sam too early by accident and/or rushed to get married because Kent was deployed, and they never got to be on their own. Not only that, but she was probably left to figure out how to be a mom and a wife on her own much of the time. That would be overwhelming for anyone.
Its an unfortunate trend i see in real life too. Young guy goes into the military, wants to stay with his girlfriend, but the military only recognizes wives. So they get married super young, and suddenly the wife feels like her youth just dissapeared. Its an unfortunate factor of the high divorce rate in the military
I've heard it's also normalized a little. Like there's an expectation almost that things won't work out the first time and you're always fighting that. Not sure if that's true or just the opinion of some of my friends.
@@NeroPawz hi I know this was posted a while ago but this is simplifying things. Some people choose to get married before deployment to keep the other spouse faithful. There are a lot of stereotypes about cheating in the military by both the deployed and the spouse. Some might chalk this up to the relatively young ages of people who are also starting their military careers right out of highschool or around that age. People make a lot of mistakes in their lives, they also tend to project their mistakes onto others and say everyone does it. If you two are sure, then do it. I know this also reductionist to say but you know you best and you can only make the best decisions you can at the moment. People’s marriages have survived deployment, including their first marriages.
My husband became an Army Ranger at 20, and the joke is that you're not a "real Ranger" until you've gone through your first divorce. He was married for 2 years before divorcing because she cheated on him with another Ranger. We now refer to her as "that thing that he married" lol.
I think people saying Kent should get a job don’t really understand that Kent JUST got back. I think he should have like months of therapy or something before working.
@@lioraselby5328hopefully, sadly most veteran pensions are really lacking irl. It’s hard to say that Kent should get a job considering people like Haley don’t do anything, does Haley just leech off of her sister? I wouldn’t expect anything Better from Haley tbh
@@victoriahewitt9938 possible. we don't know enough whether or not he would/could do anything. i must say, sometimes he looks over vincent...but there is also the moment when jodi invites you to dinner and asks you to bring a fish...she says kent caught a fish but only one and he will eat it alone. why didnt he catch enough for the family lol
@@victoriahewitt9938 Someone suffering from severe PTSD would probably just become the third child to take care of for Jodi while also cementing her feeling of being permanently trapped.
I'm a parent of 2 and I do relate to Jodi from time to time... Especially when I'm tired. The sad thing that when you are single you dream to have a family. When you have a family you dream to be single and carefree. It's in humans nature I guess but I wish we could recognize that both situations have advantages and disadvantages...
We want what we don't have for sure. Especially because people always try to show off the best parts of their lives. I can find a million examples of people talking about how beautiful it is to be a parent, or how wonderful it is too not have children. But we're much less likely to talk about those deeper feelings of isolation or those moments of regret, even if they're justified.
@@Leapalot Exactly, it's the same reason why we want to be in summer when it's winter, and we want to be in winter when it's summer. Or why we hate school, but when we finally graduate we start to miss it.
Yeah, Jodi's right. I too settled down young and had some kids. I adore my family, but that doesn't mean that I don't mourn the missed opportunities of youth sometimes. Accepting that that ship has sailed is difficult but necessary.
I can relate strongly to the feeling of wanting what you don't have, but then I try to appreciate more what I have currently (I think we all do), and it can be such a mental exercise sometimes
It doesn't help that we've become so isolated by the need to do everything ourselves. We have less help with children and chores because we all get pushed into this single family home lifestyle
I'm a mother myself and i see so many stay at home mothers who neglect themselfs because they give all the energy they have to their children. They have no hobbies, no nights out, no "metime" etc... They don't necessarily have to clean up behind their children and do chores all day or manage every aspect of their lives but they feel the need to do it because of what they think others expect of them. And i think Jodi is similar to that. In my mind at least i think she tried too hard to be the great mother she felt people expected her to be and is just burned out and depressed, i feel bad for her.
Yep! And in many ways, she's basically been a single parent raising the kids while Kent has been away. Parenting alone is so incredibly taxing. There's almost no time for anything else. I'm married with two kids and I work part-time hours as an RN and my spouse works full-time. Even still, most of the mental load and physical load of children and housework falls on me (which is still pretty common in the US for most housework and child work to fall on the woman even if both parents work). I expect it to a little more for me since I work part-time hours, but all planning, all meal prepping, appointments, all birthdays, everything like that, I do. All the planning on top of the actual physical work is draining. So much mental load. I love my kids and would do it all again if given the choice, but it's also my greatest stress in life hah. So, I feel some of Jodi's feelings at times. She's def best parent in stardew.
She's constantly talking about cleaning and saving money. I think it's a bit of a two part issue. She probably recently cleaned, and they don't really have a lot of spare income for little mistakes that add up over time. Even Sam is working part time to help out it seems. Still not the best reaction though.
@@Leapalot I don’t think it’s a money problem I think it’s part of her depressive disorder. Too much is going on around her, she gets stressed and snaps at something small
I never thought it was over the top, but maybe that's just from picking the truthful option? She herself then says that it's "no big deal" and is very grateful when Sam says he'll clean up.
@@thekeeperoftwindragons5976 it could be though. If money is tight then you need to save as much as possible, I didn’t see it as an overreaction at all because my family is like this. Money is tight for us and if we dropped food, she would be extremely stressed because while it’s just one egg, that one egg could mean not having a meal for your child
The timeline I imagined for Jodi and her family is more like: she married Kent and got pregnant before he first left to Army, then was essentially a single mother for years before Kent returned. Upon his return, Jodi realizes he's not the same person she married and Kent's PTSD isn't allowing him to fully enjoy his family life. They discuss getting divorced but ultimately decide to have another child in an attempt to save the marriage. Vincent is born but their relationship isn't any better and Kent decides to go back to Army, leaving Jodi to raise the kids and long for her freedom. We arrive just before Kent's return but through the cutscenes we see their home life is somewhat tense, though they are still trying to make things work.
That's an interesting time line. I can see the "having a second kid to save the marriage" part. Not so sure about returning to the service with full blown PTSD in effect though? 🤔
I’ve always felt so bad for Jodi. I talk to her whenever I can and usually give her food as gifts. I know it doesn’t actually affect the game but I like to think it’s one less meal for her to cook
In one part of Sam's dialogue, Sam says "Sometimes I wonder if my mother is actually happy with her life... I asked her once and got the feeling she was hiding some inner pain." Idk if u mentioned this but I love sam and Jodi and was heartbroken reading that 😥😥😥
I think if she and Kent went to therapy, things would be better for the both of them. I think start out with individual sessions with the goal of getting to couples counseling. Kent has a lot of trauma to deal with and Jodi is having a missing tile she needs to find. Sounds like she may want another kid, as she reminisces about baby Sam, or she may want to find freedom away from house chores and errands, hence her dreams at night and realization in the morning. If the boys helped out more around the house she could be free to have another baby or do something that fulfills her. I also think Kent should get a day job. He’s done fighting now and I doubt they can live on a pension alone. Pierre’s store, the Saloon, or even working at Willy’s bait shop would be good. I also think he would have a more therapeutic time at Marnie’s ranch. Being around the animals and caring for them might be good for him. He may even pair well with Shane once he’s getting sober. It’s my belief Shane should take over the Ranch once he’s sober and JoJa is closed (or even thriving so they don’t need him anymore), that way the shop is always open and we don’t have to worry about Marnie slacking off lol.
Therapy would be great foe the whole valley lol. But yeah. Kent even talks about needing more structure, and Jodi talks about spoiling her kids. Everyone could step up and help mom a little!
I think Jodi is a classic case of a young woman being enamored by the *idea* of having a big strong soldier for a husband. So she marries(usually straight out of high school or early college) and expects this fantasy idea of what that will be like, only to be hit hard by the truth that being married to a soldier isn't a fantasy, it's still full of work and chores and baby wrangling just like other relationships, only this time one of the people in the relationship is gone 99% of the time. In most cases, the woman in question either starts cheating or becomes depressed or both, because they weren't *really* interested in what being a soldier's spouse actually is and therefore aren't really ready to deal with it. Divorce is usually the end result. I don't think Jodi is a cheater, but she's obviously depressed. I think she does love Kent, but both hates that he didn't/couldn't live up to her fantasy and that young her had her head up in the clouds. I also think she feels guilty for feeling that way. Kent also will never come home the same boy that she originally fell in love with, not just because he is now older, but because the horrors of war will do that to you. This also crashes hard with her original ideal. This isn't to say Jodi is at fault for their issues, this is just to say how and why Jodi made the choices she did and what she feels the way she does now. Jodi and Kent's troubles are actually unfortunately common among soldiers and their spouses. Sam and Vincent's age gap to me seems to be due to Kent being gone most of the time, less time to make a baby when you're gone for years at a time. And just to clarify, I'm using woman=solders spouse, man=solder, because that's how it's present in SDV, in real life men can be the ones at home dealing with these issues while their wives are at war. Same-sex couples can deal with this as well.
Jodie seems so sweet, but like she doesn't have a life of her own aside from being a mother and housewife. It's really sad, but I know something that happens to a lot of women (and in turn, something that can happen to a lot of men in different roles). She probably grew up with the romanticised idea of husband, kids, family; and when that happened... she was one of the ones that asked "but what happens for me?" Excellent videos mate :) you're doing great work! Glad I stumbled onto your channel that one rainy day while I was sick!
Thanks so much! Hope you're feeling better! That's definitely the point I was shooting for. Her identity is completely overwhelmed by her family roles. :(
my feelings about jodi are complicated. i feel bad for her but also find her parenting frustrating-- the egg thing, and how she'll walk in on sam in his room if you're dating him?? but i also can't stand how sam does nothing to help her and he's sort of an overgrown kid. he doesn't help her around the house or with food or anything. if he's old enough to be a marriage candidate, he's old enough to pull some of his weight in the house. then again, i feel like her parenting style has enabled this sort of behavior. i still feel bad for her though.
I mean, Sam has a part time job at Joja Mart, and in the scene with the egg he says that he'll clean it up, so I don't think he's entirely irresponsible be and unhelpful
@@elizabethb4168 yeah! additionally, sam seems to clearly (from his dialogue) have ADHD, which would probably pose a problem for him to start tasks on his own around the house without being told to.
@@elizabethb4168 yeah, totally! With the proper diagnosis, treatment and communication, he could help out even more! Maybe Harvey could contact that one counselor friend of his in Zuzu city 🤔 (unless of course, the farmer falls in love with the himbo and has him join the farm... ykno...)
Jodi was a little bit condescending when the farmer first moved to Stardew ("You aren't exactly how I imagined etc") lol. But I agree that she seems like a good parent. Also the part about Vincent is spot on.
I actually love that line cause when I make a crazy character everyone else acts like it's normal to have blue skin & a duck bill, but she acts sightly started. XD I think that's why that line's in there.
I didn't see it as condescending. besides, she says immediately afterward that it's okay. its kind of like when someone new comes to your school as a kid. everyone imagines how they will look differently, and its almost never right lol.
Jodi reminds me of my mom in a lot of ways. Although my parents are divorced, when they were together, she was always tired and after they split up, she was, and still is, obsessed with taking control of her life. I feel like Jodi would be what my mom would be like if my dad was a soldier, and they hadn’t divorced. Good video as always though!
I remember hating Jodi because of those dialogue lines I didn’t bother reaching more than 2 heart with Jodi until Kent came back during my first play through. So when she said all those lines about wanting freedom and how I read it at the time regretting be married. I was like wow Jodi is a bitch I feel bad for Kent. But after replaying I now know what she meant and maybe little less salty
This is why I broke up with my boyfriend the end of senior year… he was going to go off until the military. They only recognize wives, so both of our families were saying we should get married… I was too young to be doing that and I needed to live a life before settling down. I’m in my mid twenties now and have done lots of things and am just now considering settling down. My ex ended up finding someone in the military anyway, so it all worked out! We are still friends on Facebook.
Jodi seems sad that she missed her youth, what's sader is what's gonna happen when she gets old, hopefully she'll get some nice hobbies, I also think you should play a game (can't remember what it's called) but watched a video on it 9600 hours, it's actually has you play as a little black creature with you killing 400 days time clock(on and off there's no conflict whatsoever) it's show the importance of time
Yeah what happens when the kids move out and she's stuck with her own thoughts..? The Longing? I've heard of that but haven't played it. It seems like a dauntingly huge real time investment lol.
@@Leapalot well I look it as, *imagination time* you're playing cod zombies and you know that you're going to be overrun with zombies and be eaten, there's other players that will help you, there's the normal zombies, throwers(throws projectiles), tank(self explanatory), the healer(again self explanatory), assassin(damage dealer) and the more shiny zombies. The normal zombies can be dealt with by the other players, whil you focus on the healer because it heals the rest of the zombies so that's the number 1 target, the 2nd target is throwers or the assassins because they are on you so get them dead(again) then the other one(either assassin or the thrower) the the tank because they got a lot more health then mixed in between are regs and shiny regs. We all have tasks that we gotta address like maybe ur gf/wife(I hope they're the same person 😅) told you that you were going to take her out somewhere, then the bois come acallin', and you have a doctor's appointment this week, we gotta sign some important of what we take out (If you made it this far I would like to bestow the highest honor that I could welcome you with*looks at the join button*)
@@mul3307 I am married and I don't have a side girlfriend lol. Yeah, it seems like a time management game. But also doesn't it keep playing when you're not there? That kind of always scares me. It's almost like another job at that point. :(
Jodi definitely has a type of depression, possibly steming from the stress of running her household and Kent's PTSD from his time in the military making it hard for him to work and help support the household. A good thing in my eyes would be to be able to hire Kent as an extra hand on the farm, giving him purpose and helping Jodi support the household.
@@Leapalot Depression typically doesn't just go away so she definitely was on a slope before Kent came back and him coming back made it worse (again possibly from his PTSD).
I actually remember a bit of dialogue from Sam that might add things here: Apparently Jodie, Kent, and (younger) Sam used to live in Zuzu City. Kent was a garbage man I think. My guess is as Sam was getting older, they realized that money was an issue, and after not being able to find a higher paying job Kent decided to join the military. At some point they moved to the Valley, and had Vincent, but Kent got called back to the war at an age where Vincent was old enough to remember how he was before he left (supported by dialogue with Vincent going "Dad is different now"). My guess is Jodie is simply struggling with life not turning out the way she imagined it going, and not having to many ways to cope with that.
It isn't too uncommon to only list your kids when talking about not regretting your family. If you have a spouse, you are typically referred to as a couple, and you still have a lot of those "freedoms" that Jodi misses. But, when you have kids, that is when people start considering you a family. Like how when someone is asked when they plan to start a family, what the question actually is, is when are you going to start having kids.
@@Leapalot 🤣 to be fair, I count my cats as people, when I'm asked how many kids I have. You, your wife, and your corgis are a family. I very much was referring to "traditional" terms, especially in regard to interacting with older generations. I didn't mean to invalidate your family. 💚
I love Jodi. I think she & Kent rushed into marriage young because of him joining the military. (My grandparents did that, so she could travel with him when he was deployed, though they ended up fine.) Maybe Kent was about to be deployed & she wanted to marry him before he left in case something happened to him, or so she could live on base with him. Then she became pregnant with Sam & Kent was deployed somewhere she couldn't follow him to, or she wanted to give their baby a more normal life away from the military. Married life wasn't exactly what she planned. She was all alone while Kent was deployed. She had to become a mother on her own & a homeowner on her own. (It makes me wonder if there were family issues, since she didn't go to family for support?) She never got to experience the bliss of being a wife that she had dreamed of. Even when Kent was occasionally home he was changed & couldn't emotionally support her. She must have suffered some depression. Then when he became a prisoner of war that only worsened things. He was probably absent for most of her life, judging by the almost 20 year difference in their children. So here she is now, living in a tiny town with a grown son & a second grader, with only Caroline mentioned as a friend. She spends her days cleaning & caring for her family, day after day, & has to have a lot of "what ifs" running through her head as she does the dishes yet again. She's excited to have Kent home, but that quickly dies as only a shell of the man she loved returns. It's only another face at the table & more work around the house. He's not someone she can lean on emotionally. She still loves him, but things are different. So yes, what if I never married him? What if I spent a few extra years on myself before settling down? What would I do if someone could do all this work for me? And maybe she does all that work so she doesn't have to think about all that. She's trying to prevent her sons from doing what she did by not placing responsibilities on their shoulders. It's her way of trying to right the wrongs in her world. She's lonely & had to grow up way too fast.
This isn’t related to the contents of the video but I think it’s so lovely that you seem to interact and engage with everyone’s personal experience in the comments of each video. it’s very clear to me that you truly value learning about others perspectives and it’s not just something you say
Hey thanks! TH-cam has offered me a way to connect with people from such wildly different backgrounds and that's been one of my favorite parts! I'm glad it's visible as more than lip service. 😁
I actually love how Jody complains to the player character how having kids completely changes your life, freedom etc.. meanwhile I have 2 kids and I spend my days slaughtering monsters and running a brutal capitalist empire with my smoking hot redhead wife and my life has literally not changed a bit.
I use to love jodi when i first started to play, but then one day she caught me looking through the trash and she yelled at me and i was caught off gaurd by it and so then i gave her the trash. I now go out of my way to give her bad presents--- some times i feel bad some times i dont lol
Jodi is one of my favorite vilagers, I didnt like her at the start but once I started to talk to her more and bring her gifts, I started to feel more empathy towards her, I think talking to her reminds me to be grateful to my mother, I'm sad she couldnt enjoy her youth more. great video !
as a child of a mom that married at 23 and had me at 24, she always tells me how much she regrets being a mother and wife at such a young age, and she loves me, so so much, but that dosent change the fact that if her had me at an mature age, she would deal with stuff like getting angry or mood swings better, i love my mom and she loves me, i think the same happens with sam and jodi, jodi loves sam and vincent, and she is not a bad mom, she just wishes she dealed with stuff better.
What I think is I think they need a maid, long vacation and new house with bigger room for Vincent I can't comment much about this. I'm not married and even I'm taking care of housework, I'm sure it's different when you have children to take care.
Great Video as always! I'm glad you checked the link out. I'd been toying with making a post on Reddit about the name Jodi, so when I saw your community post I just had to share my thoughts ☺️
I think we pay less attention to Jodi and her family because they have a different set of issues. Like: Jodi, Kent, Sam, and Vincent all love each other. We know who Sam's and Vincent's parents are. They care for and about each other. Like Kent's letter on Jodi's nightstand. Or Sam trying to protect Vincent and caring for him. There's definitely mental health issues on Jodi's and Kent's part but again - they all love each other. They all take care of each other. They're honest with each other and fights are short-lived and easily solved. You can see in dialogue and cut scenes the way they love and support each other. Much less interesting than Abigail possibly being the Wizard's daughter or whatever is up with Robin and Demetrius.
@@Leapalot I mean, with some of the other bachelors and bachelerottes, you want to marry them so they can find self-fulfillment or be safe or whatever. Sam is putting together his dream band. He loves his brother and his parents and they love him. Yeah Kent is different, but also at least once a week I see him outside with Vincent. We see Jodi's situation and she seems sweet and tender but she is also so dedicated to and so in love with Kent that you can't even flirt with her! And while she laments her situation you can also see how dedicated she is to it. Idk man I just have Thoughts and I want everyone in Pelican Town to go to therapy XD
I think it’s important for most people to find themselves before having a family. It’s hard to find time to grow yourself when you have children to help grow.
I just want to say a quick thank you to all the moms out there who do their best and love their kids and family. Jodi is a lot like them, and she's hardly a flawless person but she's trying.
@@literaryworm6563 yup I’ve come to think that Emily’s room was her parents before and she used to live in her sowing room since I’ve lived in a similar layout growing up 😂
Reminds me of a Tilda Swinton movie I watched a while ago where a woman gives birth to a psychopath, but she's also very clearly resentful that her youth ended with the birth of that child and felt no obligation to love it. Of course Sam and Vincent are fine, but the giving up on youth part is similar.
Sam and Vincent might have such a big age gap due to Kent's absence... I think that's the most likely explanation, but other options include health issues, financial issues, psychological issues, etc. For example my dad and his older brother have a 10 year age gap because of how terrible complications my grandma had during the pregnancy, I think they were hoping that the complications were just caused by her being too young but she had to spend the last 2 months or so of the pregnancy in the hospital and got told if she wanted another child she'd have to spend the entire pregnancy in the hospital.
Yikes! Yeah there are tons of reasons, both intentional and not, to wait between kids or decide to only have one when you planned for more. Good point!
Firstly: Kent needs to see a therapist, stat. Because Jodi isn't a trained therapist or a fellow survivor of war, she won't be able to help him to the full extent he likely needs. Secondly: If we look at a worse case scenario concerning Kent's mental health, the trama might push him to become violent with her and/ or the kids. Of course this is a game about growing food, I may by thinking too much.
this is a really interesting video to me. my parents got married in their 30s and my mom was almost 40 when she had me, i used to think that was kinda wild, but this video makes me think how nice it'd be. my mom got to enjoy her youth without the burden of children, and still managed to have a family when she was young enough but not too young
For a guy who says he doesn’t have kids, you have a very good grasp of what parenting is like. You describe the emotional struggles very well too! Lucky for me, I did get a chance to have lots of fun in my 20s before having kids in my 30s, but I can totally understand where Jodi is coming from.
I like Jodi a whole lot, and I love your headcanon to explain the age gap! The thought that I was still plenty young to have another child and relive the early baby days struck me not too long ago, as my eldest approaches ten. I laughed it off, of course, but I can see how that (counterproductive, ruinous) thought might have been too tempting to ignore for a person in Jodi's position.
Being a parent is the greatest thing I've ever done, but my life will never be my life again. Once you have children it does feel like you lose part of yourself but you also get a new much bigger piece to fill that empty space. Nothing compares to watching my boys become little human beings with their own feelings and personalities. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the freedom I used to have because having children is very time consuming, but it's worth every second.
Congrats, this episode hurt me. Jodi always came off to me as a very sad woman who has accepted that she made many mistakes and she simply has to live with them, despite being deeply unhappy. No doubt she loves her family, but her dialogue makes me worry she's just become a shadow of her former self, not unlike Kent I empathize with her a lot.
Didn't think much of Jodi as I focus more on gameplay but now that you mention it, Jodi has alot of parallels from Karen in Life is Strange 2, despite the fact that she wasn't the stereotypical wife troupe, she still loved her son's Sean and Daniel and her husband at the time, But she ultimately felt like she got married too young and it wasn't the lifestyle that she wanted, and felt trapped in that lifestyle, she didn't want to settle down but to explore the world, the difference between Jodi and Karen is that Karen left. Maybe it's not that Jodi doesn't love her kids and even Kent, but that there's a clashing of interests between Jodi and Kent with Kent wanting the traditional family and Jodi wanting to do more with her life. Again I could be wrong because I focus on gameplay and I haven't gone further that year 3 summer on a save file
Jodi's entire situation and personality is precisely why whenever I play the Datable Jodi mod (imo it's a pretty canon-friendly mod), I never go into it with the mindset of "haha fuck u Kent" or anything that would make me wanna hurt Kent in an emotional manner, because I don't think Jodi hates Kent for marrying her at a young age, and if I was in the same situation as the farmer, I defo would think the same (even if I think of the farmer as a separate entity than mine). Because marrying the farmer suddenly gives Jodi a lot of time and freedom, something she needs, to find what she wants to do (her spouse patio is her working out, and you can say that she likes working out, that's valid to think of). It's not a be-all-end-all solution to Jodi's depression, but the way I see it, people can only do so much as to alleviate someone's emotional suffering, regardless of how much you care for them, so at the very least the thought of the farmer giving Jodi the time and freedom she needs by remarrying her and not pressuring her to do chores (cause the farmer's pretty self-sufficient anyway) is a nice gesture.
Yeah she sounds like a typical parent. The one thing kids take from you the most is time, you are feeding them, putting them to bed, playing with them these things take up most of your time and when they go to school/nursery you get some of that time back but if you are the parent who works then that doesn't help at all, you go to work and then you get home and you have to do your part before they go to bed and sure while your child is asleep you get some time to yourself except if you are a clean person you'll probably be cleaning the mess your child has made through out the day for at least a little while and then you need to spend some time with your partner if you have one and by that time you've got maybe 1 hour to yourself if you don't have any chores to do.
i sympathize with their situations, but i honestly can’t stand that whole family. not vincent, he’s just a kid and a good boy at that. but kent has the personality of a sheet of laminate paper with probably 5 unique dialogue options. jodi contradicts herself- she says she never made the boys do a single chore but she runs her household like it’s the navy. in the largemouth bass cutscene we SEE her giving sam a chore to do, which he responds to so formally as to say “…yes, MA’AM.” she languishes and says she never has time for herself, but i think she’s in a situation she herself created. sam is an immature, mostly useless kid. he shouldn’t be a marriage candidate, that’s how childish he is. in whole, i avoid the whole military family (except vincent, who is an angel)
So! A "Jody" is a term for a civilian that's unfit for duty, who stays home when the soldier gets deployed and this "Jody" is generally the person in stories who takes advantage of the soldier's significant other. It's just interesting that Jodi, the only soldier's wife in the game, has a name so similar to a military trope. I was speculating that some people might think that Vincent was born to a father other than Kent, while Kent was deployed, because that's kind of also a military trope. "Your girl cheats on you and you come home to a kid that's not yours." Hopefully that makes sense! 😁
Jodi is my favorite. I understand not being able to marry her. I think that's a fine choice. But it would be neat if they could explore impossible love a liiiiitle bit more.
As soon as I found out Jodi was married I was devastated. I wanted to marry her so bad and I was slightly hoping there was a point where you could convince her to leave Kent.
I hate this trend of homestay mothers wanting freedom and to do more. I would be so much happier as a mother than to work for some man I don't even love in a cubicle.
I admire Jodi a lot to be fair. She seems to be going through a bit of a midlife crisis, and that's i think very common with parents of young adults. She obviously struggles with some inner sadness big or small, and being there for a person who has a debilitating mental illness like PTSD can be very emotionally taxing. And yet Jodi rarely makes that her children's problems. Yeah she overreacted over an egg, and Sam has a feeling his mom is not entirely content. But, letting your feelings slip out every now and then i think it's normal, as long as it's not abusive. Which i very much doubt Jodi is. Sam saying stuff like he would miss his mom's cooking if he leaves, really gives me a vibe that they all feel very close, And that's really sweet that Jodi can be that for her family. What can I say, she seems nice! She also strikes me as the person that when her sons live the next she will probably make trips or find hobbies and enjoy her "retirement".
the best parent is not the one who does everything with smile or have it "easy" but the one who doubts, fears, longs, and have a regret here and there but... ALWAYS has their child best interest at heart. And maybe suffers for it but that's what's making that parent great.
Stories like Jodi's is exactly why I want to avoid having kids I dont want to put my own life and ambitions on hold to bring someone else into the same shit world I hate My perfect idea of a family is just living with one person I love, and a husky dog. That's it, that's my dream life. I want one person I can dote on and care for, also huskies are fkn awesome. I dont know, it's probably stupid, but I've always felt like having a kid is kind of... selfish? Bringing someone who never asked to be in this world, just so you could feel fulfillment. It's probably an awful thing to say, sorry.
I love Jodi, but she's too much of a helicopter mom to be the "best mom" in the valley IMO. I mean Sam almost has a fit when he drops an egg on the floor and Jodie immediately comes running, and then there's the incredibly awkward 10-heart event. Kids don't act like that unless they're used to their parents lurking behind every corner. Which makes sense given how unfulfilled and bored she is with her life. The only thing she can do to occupy her time is worry about her kids and housekeeping. She doesn't like cleaning, but she's still absolutely obsessive about it.
The usual "woman regrets not enjoying youth" is not the accurate pitch here. It sounds good and is sold a lot, but women are proven to not be happier by throwing away youth to... "adventuring" instead of building long term stability. It definitely is regret that she didnt prepare more for the husband being deployed and having to take care of kids in a situation she didn't talk with him more on/find stability in that lifestyle ahead of time, a regret many have.
It depends what you mean by being able to enjoy your youth! Single women are actually the happiest demographic and have the longest life expectancy if you look at marital status and gender. My understanding is that it’s to do with the way patriarchal culture affects men and how they can harm those close to them as a result. I think it’s also to do with social wellbeing. Unfortunately boys often don’t get taught social things as well as girls do so it’s harder for them to maintain social relationships independently. Meanwhile single women don’t usually have as much trouble. That’s why married men are hit harder when their partner dies than married women, because they’ve often depended on their wife for their social wellbeing. I don’t think any of it’s innate, it’s cultural. But I think it can lead married women to feel like they’re missing out, because they’re providing a disproportionate amount of their husband’s social support which is quite draining!
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There’s a kind of depression called “persistent depressive disorder”, where it’s less severe than what we’d associate when we think of depression, but it also never really seems to go away or have major upswings. Jodi’s perfectly functional with no major mood swings, but her stumbling over the hobbies question and only coming up with “sleeping” is a major red flag that something’s Super wrong. It indicates a lack of interest in other hobbies, which is a key symptom of depression, but one that’s subtle enough for her or others to brush off. She could also have seasonal affective disorder, because most of her sadder/more wistful lines cone from fall and winter, when it’s darker, colder, with less sun light and some people’s moods are affected negatively by the lack of light and warmth. She’s also coming down off her busy summer schedule, meaning she had less to do to fill her time, and with no other hobbies she can think of that interest her, she talks about the one thing that passes the time and she’s been doing more of lately… sleeping.
Seasonal affective disorder is absolutely brutal in a sneaky way. Great insight there!
@Vashiane Are you talking about Dysthymia?
@@Steampunkkids Yes! They very recently renamed it though so I just used more recent one.
@@Vashiane Sorry to put your discussion off-topic. So, you think in the DSM VI they will be changing Dysthymia to Persistent Depressive Disorder? I know in the DSM V they used both names, and in the DSM IV it was only Dysthymia. I don’t believe it was in the DSM III.
@@Steampunkkids Oh no you’re just fine!
I thiiiink they will? I can’t be certain, I’m not a medical professional, but when I had my diagnosed reconfirmed my therapist was insistent on using persistent depressive. I doubt the term dysthymia will go away for a long while though.
I always felt that Jodi loves her sons and Kent more than anything. And that her regret is more about having a child so young, and having a husband who's faced things in war she'll never understand. That her regrets are less about having a family and more about the circumstances of her family. If she and Kent had had more time in their honeymoon phase before having Sam and if Kent hadn't needed to go to war, instead of mourning her youth she'd look back fondly on it.
Probably so! I don't think she hates Kent or the kids, but I would guess this not the storybook ending she had in mind growing up.
Nice headcanon
That's how I see it as well. Either they had Sam too early by accident and/or rushed to get married because Kent was deployed, and they never got to be on their own. Not only that, but she was probably left to figure out how to be a mom and a wife on her own much of the time. That would be overwhelming for anyone.
Its an unfortunate trend i see in real life too. Young guy goes into the military, wants to stay with his girlfriend, but the military only recognizes wives. So they get married super young, and suddenly the wife feels like her youth just dissapeared. Its an unfortunate factor of the high divorce rate in the military
I've heard it's also normalized a little. Like there's an expectation almost that things won't work out the first time and you're always fighting that. Not sure if that's true or just the opinion of some of my friends.
this is quite a disturbing thing to hear, especially since i plan to marry my long-term boyfriend soon before he enters the military…
@@NeroPawz Good luck, I hope it works out.
@@NeroPawz hi I know this was posted a while ago but this is simplifying things. Some people choose to get married before deployment to keep the other spouse faithful. There are a lot of stereotypes about cheating in the military by both the deployed and the spouse. Some might chalk this up to the relatively young ages of people who are also starting their military careers right out of highschool or around that age.
People make a lot of mistakes in their lives, they also tend to project their mistakes onto others and say everyone does it.
If you two are sure, then do it. I know this also reductionist to say but you know you best and you can only make the best decisions you can at the moment. People’s marriages have survived deployment, including their first marriages.
My husband became an Army Ranger at 20, and the joke is that you're not a "real Ranger" until you've gone through your first divorce. He was married for 2 years before divorcing because she cheated on him with another Ranger. We now refer to her as "that thing that he married" lol.
I think people saying Kent should get a job don’t really understand that Kent JUST got back. I think he should have like months of therapy or something before working.
Me at year 17. 👀
Not only that, but he got back from a PRISON CAMP. Give the guy a break 😂
The Ferngill Republic probably gives a solid pension to Kent anyways.
@@lioraselby5328hopefully, sadly most veteran pensions are really lacking irl. It’s hard to say that Kent should get a job considering people like Haley don’t do anything, does Haley just leech off of her sister? I wouldn’t expect anything Better from Haley tbh
would have been nice if jodi got days off when kent does chores since he is back but without a job. he just stands around
Yeah she could use a helping hand for real.
I think Kent's so damaged mentally & emotionally she just can't rely on him.
@@victoriahewitt9938 possible. we don't know enough whether or not he would/could do anything. i must say, sometimes he looks over vincent...but there is also the moment when jodi invites you to dinner and asks you to bring a fish...she says kent caught a fish but only one and he will eat it alone. why didnt he catch enough for the family lol
@@victoriahewitt9938 Someone suffering from severe PTSD would probably just become the third child to take care of for Jodi while also cementing her feeling of being permanently trapped.
I'm a parent of 2 and I do relate to Jodi from time to time... Especially when I'm tired. The sad thing that when you are single you dream to have a family. When you have a family you dream to be single and carefree. It's in humans nature I guess but I wish we could recognize that both situations have advantages and disadvantages...
We want what we don't have for sure. Especially because people always try to show off the best parts of their lives. I can find a million examples of people talking about how beautiful it is to be a parent, or how wonderful it is too not have children. But we're much less likely to talk about those deeper feelings of isolation or those moments of regret, even if they're justified.
@@Leapalot Exactly, it's the same reason why we want to be in summer when it's winter, and we want to be in winter when it's summer. Or why we hate school, but when we finally graduate we start to miss it.
Yeah, Jodi's right. I too settled down young and had some kids. I adore my family, but that doesn't mean that I don't mourn the missed opportunities of youth sometimes. Accepting that that ship has sailed is difficult but necessary.
I can relate strongly to the feeling of wanting what you don't have, but then I try to appreciate more what I have currently (I think we all do), and it can be such a mental exercise sometimes
It doesn't help that we've become so isolated by the need to do everything ourselves. We have less help with children and chores because we all get pushed into this single family home lifestyle
I'm a mother myself and i see so many stay at home mothers who neglect themselfs because they give all the energy they have to their children. They have no hobbies, no nights out, no "metime" etc... They don't necessarily have to clean up behind their children and do chores all day or manage every aspect of their lives but they feel the need to do it because of what they think others expect of them. And i think Jodi is similar to that. In my mind at least i think she tried too hard to be the great mother she felt people expected her to be and is just burned out and depressed, i feel bad for her.
Exactly! Jodi dove into motherhood and basically that became her identity. Care for yourself too momma!
Yep! And in many ways, she's basically been a single parent raising the kids while Kent has been away. Parenting alone is so incredibly taxing. There's almost no time for anything else.
I'm married with two kids and I work part-time hours as an RN and my spouse works full-time. Even still, most of the mental load and physical load of children and housework falls on me (which is still pretty common in the US for most housework and child work to fall on the woman even if both parents work). I expect it to a little more for me since I work part-time hours, but all planning, all meal prepping, appointments, all birthdays, everything like that, I do. All the planning on top of the actual physical work is draining. So much mental load. I love my kids and would do it all again if given the choice, but it's also my greatest stress in life hah. So, I feel some of Jodi's feelings at times. She's def best parent in stardew.
I always think of one of Sam's cutscenes where she freaks over an egg getting dropped
She's constantly talking about cleaning and saving money. I think it's a bit of a two part issue. She probably recently cleaned, and they don't really have a lot of spare income for little mistakes that add up over time. Even Sam is working part time to help out it seems. Still not the best reaction though.
@@Leapalot it was a huge overreaction in my opinion. Even if things are tight, one egg isn't the end of the world
@@Leapalot I don’t think it’s a money problem I think it’s part of her depressive disorder. Too much is going on around her, she gets stressed and snaps at something small
I never thought it was over the top, but maybe that's just from picking the truthful option? She herself then says that it's "no big deal" and is very grateful when Sam says he'll clean up.
@@thekeeperoftwindragons5976 it could be though. If money is tight then you need to save as much as possible, I didn’t see it as an overreaction at all because my family is like this. Money is tight for us and if we dropped food, she would be extremely stressed because while it’s just one egg, that one egg could mean not having a meal for your child
The timeline I imagined for Jodi and her family is more like: she married Kent and got pregnant before he first left to Army, then was essentially a single mother for years before Kent returned. Upon his return, Jodi realizes he's not the same person she married and Kent's PTSD isn't allowing him to fully enjoy his family life. They discuss getting divorced but ultimately decide to have another child in an attempt to save the marriage. Vincent is born but their relationship isn't any better and Kent decides to go back to Army, leaving Jodi to raise the kids and long for her freedom. We arrive just before Kent's return but through the cutscenes we see their home life is somewhat tense, though they are still trying to make things work.
That's an interesting time line. I can see the "having a second kid to save the marriage" part. Not so sure about returning to the service with full blown PTSD in effect though? 🤔
I’ve always felt so bad for Jodi. I talk to her whenever I can and usually give her food as gifts. I know it doesn’t actually affect the game but I like to think it’s one less meal for her to cook
this is so sweet🥺
I do the same thing! I always try to gift her meals or produce, so she doesn’t have to cook or go grocery shopping for one day.
In one part of Sam's dialogue, Sam says "Sometimes I wonder if my mother is actually happy with her life... I asked her once and got the feeling she was hiding some inner pain." Idk if u mentioned this but I love sam and Jodi and was heartbroken reading that 😥😥😥
Sam is such a good son though! He cares about her well-being and helps out both with Vincent and by working. I'm glad she has that at least
I think if she and Kent went to therapy, things would be better for the both of them. I think start out with individual sessions with the goal of getting to couples counseling. Kent has a lot of trauma to deal with and Jodi is having a missing tile she needs to find.
Sounds like she may want another kid, as she reminisces about baby Sam, or she may want to find freedom away from house chores and errands, hence her dreams at night and realization in the morning. If the boys helped out more around the house she could be free to have another baby or do something that fulfills her.
I also think Kent should get a day job. He’s done fighting now and I doubt they can live on a pension alone. Pierre’s store, the Saloon, or even working at Willy’s bait shop would be good.
I also think he would have a more therapeutic time at Marnie’s ranch. Being around the animals and caring for them might be good for him. He may even pair well with Shane once he’s getting sober. It’s my belief Shane should take over the Ranch once he’s sober and JoJa is closed (or even thriving so they don’t need him anymore), that way the shop is always open and we don’t have to worry about Marnie slacking off lol.
Therapy would be great foe the whole valley lol. But yeah. Kent even talks about needing more structure, and Jodi talks about spoiling her kids. Everyone could step up and help mom a little!
I think Jodi is a classic case of a young woman being enamored by the *idea* of having a big strong soldier for a husband. So she marries(usually straight out of high school or early college) and expects this fantasy idea of what that will be like, only to be hit hard by the truth that being married to a soldier isn't a fantasy, it's still full of work and chores and baby wrangling just like other relationships, only this time one of the people in the relationship is gone 99% of the time.
In most cases, the woman in question either starts cheating or becomes depressed or both, because they weren't *really* interested in what being a soldier's spouse actually is and therefore aren't really ready to deal with it. Divorce is usually the end result.
I don't think Jodi is a cheater, but she's obviously depressed. I think she does love Kent, but both hates that he didn't/couldn't live up to her fantasy and that young her had her head up in the clouds. I also think she feels guilty for feeling that way.
Kent also will never come home the same boy that she originally fell in love with, not just because he is now older, but because the horrors of war will do that to you. This also crashes hard with her original ideal.
This isn't to say Jodi is at fault for their issues, this is just to say how and why Jodi made the choices she did and what she feels the way she does now. Jodi and Kent's troubles are actually unfortunately common among soldiers and their spouses.
Sam and Vincent's age gap to me seems to be due to Kent being gone most of the time, less time to make a baby when you're gone for years at a time.
And just to clarify, I'm using woman=solders spouse, man=solder, because that's how it's present in SDV, in real life men can be the ones at home dealing with these issues while their wives are at war. Same-sex couples can deal with this as well.
I remember being 7.
I just wanted to be friends with everyone and so I was friends with Jodi and that was a very sad day when I finally realized
But... What did you realize? Lol
@@Leapalot he realised
@@Leapalot I realized Jodi was trapped in a marriage she rushed into so she never got to enjoy life and she can never get that back
Jodie seems so sweet, but like she doesn't have a life of her own aside from being a mother and housewife. It's really sad, but I know something that happens to a lot of women (and in turn, something that can happen to a lot of men in different roles). She probably grew up with the romanticised idea of husband, kids, family; and when that happened... she was one of the ones that asked "but what happens for me?"
Excellent videos mate :) you're doing great work! Glad I stumbled onto your channel that one rainy day while I was sick!
Thanks so much! Hope you're feeling better! That's definitely the point I was shooting for. Her identity is completely overwhelmed by her family roles. :(
my feelings about jodi are complicated. i feel bad for her but also find her parenting frustrating-- the egg thing, and how she'll walk in on sam in his room if you're dating him?? but i also can't stand how sam does nothing to help her and he's sort of an overgrown kid. he doesn't help her around the house or with food or anything. if he's old enough to be a marriage candidate, he's old enough to pull some of his weight in the house. then again, i feel like her parenting style has enabled this sort of behavior. i still feel bad for her though.
She talks about how she basically did everything for her kids when they were younger, and now she hopes they're not too lazy. Welp...
I mean, Sam has a part time job at Joja Mart, and in the scene with the egg he says that he'll clean it up, so I don't think he's entirely irresponsible be and unhelpful
@@elizabethb4168 yeah! additionally, sam seems to clearly (from his dialogue) have ADHD, which would probably pose a problem for him to start tasks on his own around the house without being told to.
@@firebird5570 yeah! So I don't think he's doing to bad with that in mind
@@elizabethb4168 yeah, totally! With the proper diagnosis, treatment and communication, he could help out even more! Maybe Harvey could contact that one counselor friend of his in Zuzu city 🤔 (unless of course, the farmer falls in love with the himbo and has him join the farm... ykno...)
Jodi and Kent gettting therapy arc
Stardew Valley 1.6 - Therapy Update
Jodi was a little bit condescending when the farmer first moved to Stardew ("You aren't exactly how I imagined etc") lol. But I agree that she seems like a good parent. Also the part about Vincent is spot on.
Glad to hear you agree! But like... What did you expect Jodi? Lol
I wonder if she imagined someone more like how she used to be in her youth. Perhaps she wanted to be a farmer once.
I actually love that line cause when I make a crazy character everyone else acts like it's normal to have blue skin & a duck bill, but she acts sightly started. XD I think that's why that line's in there.
I didn't see it as condescending. besides, she says immediately afterward that it's okay. its kind of like when someone new comes to your school as a kid. everyone imagines how they will look differently, and its almost never right lol.
Jodi reminds me of my mom in a lot of ways. Although my parents are divorced, when they were together, she was always tired and after they split up, she was, and still is, obsessed with taking control of her life. I feel like Jodi would be what my mom would be like if my dad was a soldier, and they hadn’t divorced.
Good video as always though!
I remember hating Jodi because of those dialogue lines I didn’t bother reaching more than 2 heart with Jodi until Kent came back during my first play through. So when she said all those lines about wanting freedom and how I read it at the time regretting be married. I was like wow Jodi is a bitch I feel bad for Kent. But after replaying I now know what she meant and maybe little less salty
That does give you a different perspective.. I think it makes me more sad than angry tbh.
This is why I broke up with my boyfriend the end of senior year… he was going to go off until the military. They only recognize wives, so both of our families were saying we should get married… I was too young to be doing that and I needed to live a life before settling down. I’m in my mid twenties now and have done lots of things and am just now considering settling down. My ex ended up finding someone in the military anyway, so it all worked out! We are still friends on Facebook.
Jodi seems sad that she missed her youth, what's sader is what's gonna happen when she gets old, hopefully she'll get some nice hobbies, I also think you should play a game (can't remember what it's called) but watched a video on it 9600 hours, it's actually has you play as a little black creature with you killing 400 days time clock(on and off there's no conflict whatsoever) it's show the importance of time
Yeah what happens when the kids move out and she's stuck with her own thoughts..?
The Longing? I've heard of that but haven't played it. It seems like a dauntingly huge real time investment lol.
@@Leapalot well I look it as, *imagination time* you're playing cod zombies and you know that you're going to be overrun with zombies and be eaten, there's other players that will help you, there's the normal zombies, throwers(throws projectiles), tank(self explanatory), the healer(again self explanatory), assassin(damage dealer) and the more shiny zombies.
The normal zombies can be dealt with by the other players, whil you focus on the healer because it heals the rest of the zombies so that's the number 1 target, the 2nd target is throwers or the assassins because they are on you so get them dead(again) then the other one(either assassin or the thrower) the the tank because they got a lot more health then mixed in between are regs and shiny regs.
We all have tasks that we gotta address like maybe ur gf/wife(I hope they're the same person 😅) told you that you were going to take her out somewhere, then the bois come acallin', and you have a doctor's appointment this week, we gotta sign some important of what we take out
(If you made it this far I would like to bestow the highest honor that I could welcome you with*looks at the join button*)
@@mul3307 I am married and I don't have a side girlfriend lol. Yeah, it seems like a time management game. But also doesn't it keep playing when you're not there? That kind of always scares me. It's almost like another job at that point. :(
@@Leapalot a part time one, anyway I hope you stay away from the bad stuff like politics, have a good time and I'll welcome you back
Jodi definitely has a type of depression, possibly steming from the stress of running her household and Kent's PTSD from his time in the military making it hard for him to work and help support the household. A good thing in my eyes would be to be able to hire Kent as an extra hand on the farm, giving him purpose and helping Jodi support the household.
I think she was already running on fumes before Kent even came back home. That probably only made it 10 times worse. :(
With the amount of bombs Kent casually sends me by mail, I'll be reluctant to have him help out on my farm, welp
@@Leapalot Depression typically doesn't just go away so she definitely was on a slope before Kent came back and him coming back made it worse (again possibly from his PTSD).
I actually remember a bit of dialogue from Sam that might add things here: Apparently Jodie, Kent, and (younger) Sam used to live in Zuzu City. Kent was a garbage man I think. My guess is as Sam was getting older, they realized that money was an issue, and after not being able to find a higher paying job Kent decided to join the military. At some point they moved to the Valley, and had Vincent, but Kent got called back to the war at an age where Vincent was old enough to remember how he was before he left (supported by dialogue with Vincent going "Dad is different now"). My guess is Jodie is simply struggling with life not turning out the way she imagined it going, and not having to many ways to cope with that.
Could be money, could be Healthcare foe the kids and family, could just be patriotism? Good call on the waste collector part!
Can you do an elliott video? he seems very isolated from the rest of the town and I would love to hear your theories.
Definitely! We're getting close to the point where I start talking about marriage candidates! :)
he is friends with leah and willy though! so he has two friends
It isn't too uncommon to only list your kids when talking about not regretting your family. If you have a spouse, you are typically referred to as a couple, and you still have a lot of those "freedoms" that Jodi misses. But, when you have kids, that is when people start considering you a family. Like how when someone is asked when they plan to start a family, what the question actually is, is when are you going to start having kids.
Why can't my wife, our two corgis, and I be considered a family? 😢
@@Leapalot "I don't regret having a family even though i was very young when we got the corgis"
"When are you gonna start a family?"
"Um, hello? My grandma, siblings, uncle, and two corgis are right here."
@@Leapalot 🤣 to be fair, I count my cats as people, when I'm asked how many kids I have. You, your wife, and your corgis are a family. I very much was referring to "traditional" terms, especially in regard to interacting with older generations.
I didn't mean to invalidate your family. 💚
@@liz54321 hey Liz, when will you start a family?
I think kent's ptsd affects their relationship lot, I think a video about that would be cool!
Dont forget the heart event with the popcorn!!!
Hi Chelsea! There's a video about Kent in the same Playlist as this one. :)
I love Jodi. I think she & Kent rushed into marriage young because of him joining the military. (My grandparents did that, so she could travel with him when he was deployed, though they ended up fine.) Maybe Kent was about to be deployed & she wanted to marry him before he left in case something happened to him, or so she could live on base with him. Then she became pregnant with Sam & Kent was deployed somewhere she couldn't follow him to, or she wanted to give their baby a more normal life away from the military. Married life wasn't exactly what she planned. She was all alone while Kent was deployed. She had to become a mother on her own & a homeowner on her own. (It makes me wonder if there were family issues, since she didn't go to family for support?) She never got to experience the bliss of being a wife that she had dreamed of. Even when Kent was occasionally home he was changed & couldn't emotionally support her. She must have suffered some depression. Then when he became a prisoner of war that only worsened things. He was probably absent for most of her life, judging by the almost 20 year difference in their children. So here she is now, living in a tiny town with a grown son & a second grader, with only Caroline mentioned as a friend. She spends her days cleaning & caring for her family, day after day, & has to have a lot of "what ifs" running through her head as she does the dishes yet again. She's excited to have Kent home, but that quickly dies as only a shell of the man she loved returns. It's only another face at the table & more work around the house. He's not someone she can lean on emotionally. She still loves him, but things are different. So yes, what if I never married him? What if I spent a few extra years on myself before settling down? What would I do if someone could do all this work for me? And maybe she does all that work so she doesn't have to think about all that. She's trying to prevent her sons from doing what she did by not placing responsibilities on their shoulders. It's her way of trying to right the wrongs in her world. She's lonely & had to grow up way too fast.
She's chosen the path of pushing all your feelings down and working so hard that you forget you're sad. 😢
You can tell that Jodi is trying and most of the time is a good mom
This isn’t related to the contents of the video but I think it’s so lovely that you seem to interact and engage with everyone’s personal experience in the comments of each video. it’s very clear to me that you truly value learning about others perspectives and it’s not just something you say
Hey thanks! TH-cam has offered me a way to connect with people from such wildly different backgrounds and that's been one of my favorite parts! I'm glad it's visible as more than lip service. 😁
it’s so sad to see someone be held back by things like that, npc or no :((
Yeah that's a really sad one.
I actually love how Jody complains to the player character how having kids completely changes your life, freedom etc.. meanwhile I have 2 kids and I spend my days slaughtering monsters and running a brutal capitalist empire with my smoking hot redhead wife and my life has literally not changed a bit.
I've been waiting for a Jodi video!
Thanks for waiting so patiently! 😁
@@Leapalot I'm really curious now as to whoa next 🤔😁
I use to love jodi when i first started to play, but then one day she caught me looking through the trash and she yelled at me and i was caught off gaurd by it and so then i gave her the trash. I now go out of my way to give her bad presents--- some times i feel bad some times i dont lol
I found this channel a few days ago because of "exposing the valley" series and now I'm obsessed
I love this series they're such good psyche evaluations. Can't wait for you to do the Caroline Pierre Wizard case study.
You may want to check the Playlist! 👀
Jodi is one of my favorite vilagers, I didnt like her at the start but once I started to talk to her more and bring her gifts, I started to feel more empathy towards her, I think talking to her reminds me to be grateful to my mother, I'm sad she couldnt enjoy her youth more.
great video !
Every video you make is somehow better than the last. You're awesome, keep it up Leap!!! 💛🌱
Wow, thank you!
as a child of a mom that married at 23 and had me at 24, she always tells me how much she regrets being a mother and wife at such a young age, and she loves me, so so much, but that dosent change the fact that if her had me at an mature age, she would deal with stuff like getting angry or mood swings better, i love my mom and she loves me, i think the same happens with sam and jodi, jodi loves sam and vincent, and she is not a bad mom, she just wishes she dealed with stuff better.
What I think is I think they need a maid, long vacation and new house with bigger room for Vincent
I can't comment much about this.
I'm not married and even I'm taking care of housework, I'm sure it's different when you have children to take care.
I could use all of those things as well...
Great Video as always! I'm glad you checked the link out. I'd been toying with making a post on Reddit about the name Jodi, so when I saw your community post I just had to share my thoughts ☺️
Thanks for that comment! It sure is an interesting name decision by CA... 🤔
I think we pay less attention to Jodi and her family because they have a different set of issues. Like: Jodi, Kent, Sam, and Vincent all love each other. We know who Sam's and Vincent's parents are. They care for and about each other.
Like Kent's letter on Jodi's nightstand. Or Sam trying to protect Vincent and caring for him.
There's definitely mental health issues on Jodi's and Kent's part but again - they all love each other. They all take care of each other. They're honest with each other and fights are short-lived and easily solved. You can see in dialogue and cut scenes the way they love and support each other.
Much less interesting than Abigail possibly being the Wizard's daughter or whatever is up with Robin and Demetrius.
You mean... Love is boring? 🤔 That's fair.
@@Leapalot I mean, with some of the other bachelors and bachelerottes, you want to marry them so they can find self-fulfillment or be safe or whatever. Sam is putting together his dream band. He loves his brother and his parents and they love him. Yeah Kent is different, but also at least once a week I see him outside with Vincent.
We see Jodi's situation and she seems sweet and tender but she is also so dedicated to and so in love with Kent that you can't even flirt with her! And while she laments her situation you can also see how dedicated she is to it.
Idk man I just have Thoughts and I want everyone in Pelican Town to go to therapy XD
I think Jodi has a bit of communication problems
So many problems in the Valley could be fixed by just openly and honestly talking to one another....
I'm pretty sure the reason people don't talk about them more is the fact that Jodi and Kent are probably the only decent parents in Stardew Valley.
I think it’s important for most people to find themselves before having a family. It’s hard to find time to grow yourself when you have children to help grow.
Yes! A Jodi Video!
🥳
I just want to say a quick thank you to all the moms out there who do their best and love their kids and family. Jodi is a lot like them, and she's hardly a flawless person but she's trying.
Talking about parents what’s up with Emily and Haileys parents? All I know is that there on a cruise. And where’s their room?
One hell of a cruise it's been 6 years just say you hate your children 😅😂
🤔
You know that’s a really good question 🧐 🤔
@@literaryworm6563 yup I’ve come to think that Emily’s room was her parents before and she used to live in her sowing room since I’ve lived in a similar layout growing up 😂
Reminds me of a Tilda Swinton movie I watched a while ago where a woman gives birth to a psychopath, but she's also very clearly resentful that her youth ended with the birth of that child and felt no obligation to love it. Of course Sam and Vincent are fine, but the giving up on youth part is similar.
Sam and Vincent might have such a big age gap due to Kent's absence... I think that's the most likely explanation, but other options include health issues, financial issues, psychological issues, etc. For example my dad and his older brother have a 10 year age gap because of how terrible complications my grandma had during the pregnancy, I think they were hoping that the complications were just caused by her being too young but she had to spend the last 2 months or so of the pregnancy in the hospital and got told if she wanted another child she'd have to spend the entire pregnancy in the hospital.
Yikes! Yeah there are tons of reasons, both intentional and not, to wait between kids or decide to only have one when you planned for more. Good point!
Sleep is when the screaming stops.
Firstly: Kent needs to see a therapist, stat. Because Jodi isn't a trained therapist or a fellow survivor of war, she won't be able to help him to the full extent he likely needs.
Secondly: If we look at a worse case scenario concerning Kent's mental health, the trama might push him to become violent with her and/ or the kids.
Of course this is a game about growing food, I may by thinking too much.
And that's why it is my duty to download the romancing Jodi mods, sorry Kent
Im going to flee when then squad roll up on me. From fear
What you get for serving your country in a nutshell
Now Jodi got broken hushband and endless house work
The country help them?
this is a really interesting video to me. my parents got married in their 30s and my mom was almost 40 when she had me, i used to think that was kinda wild, but this video makes me think how nice it'd be. my mom got to enjoy her youth without the burden of children, and still managed to have a family when she was young enough but not too young
For a guy who says he doesn’t have kids, you have a very good grasp of what parenting is like. You describe the emotional struggles very well too! Lucky for me, I did get a chance to have lots of fun in my 20s before having kids in my 30s, but I can totally understand where Jodi is coming from.
When her face moved it's scary creepy weird hollow
Regret is a Powerful Emotion.
i didnt even realize how close to her i was in game cuz i heard all of that dialouge already, i felt rlly bad for her
Stardew Valley Expanded delves deeper into this and boy is it dark...
It's always expanded making things so dark!
I like Jodi a whole lot, and I love your headcanon to explain the age gap! The thought that I was still plenty young to have another child and relive the early baby days struck me not too long ago, as my eldest approaches ten. I laughed it off, of course, but I can see how that (counterproductive, ruinous) thought might have been too tempting to ignore for a person in Jodi's position.
Being a parent is the greatest thing I've ever done, but my life will never be my life again. Once you have children it does feel like you lose part of yourself but you also get a new much bigger piece to fill that empty space. Nothing compares to watching my boys become little human beings with their own feelings and personalities. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the freedom I used to have because having children is very time consuming, but it's worth every second.
I be walking home to this content
You pretty much covered everything I was thinking. Can you do a Clint video next?
That's my plan! 😁
i think kent and jodi use to have that room but sam got it because of kents ptsd and she prolly though he was dead so changed it in year 1
Man your underrated as hell
She's Jeanne Dielman coded
Congrats, this episode hurt me. Jodi always came off to me as a very sad woman who has accepted that she made many mistakes and she simply has to live with them, despite being deeply unhappy. No doubt she loves her family, but her dialogue makes me worry she's just become a shadow of her former self, not unlike Kent
I empathize with her a lot.
This was my first video of yours I watched and I was hooked, got a sub from me. I adore Stardew Valley.
Didn't think much of Jodi as I focus more on gameplay but now that you mention it, Jodi has alot of parallels from Karen in Life is Strange 2, despite the fact that she wasn't the stereotypical wife troupe, she still loved her son's Sean and Daniel and her husband at the time, But she ultimately felt like she got married too young and it wasn't the lifestyle that she wanted, and felt trapped in that lifestyle, she didn't want to settle down but to explore the world, the difference between Jodi and Karen is that Karen left.
Maybe it's not that Jodi doesn't love her kids and even Kent, but that there's a clashing of interests between Jodi and Kent with Kent wanting the traditional family and Jodi wanting to do more with her life. Again I could be wrong because I focus on gameplay and I haven't gone further that year 3 summer on a save file
Jodi's entire situation and personality is precisely why whenever I play the Datable Jodi mod (imo it's a pretty canon-friendly mod), I never go into it with the mindset of "haha fuck u Kent" or anything that would make me wanna hurt Kent in an emotional manner, because I don't think Jodi hates Kent for marrying her at a young age, and if I was in the same situation as the farmer, I defo would think the same (even if I think of the farmer as a separate entity than mine). Because marrying the farmer suddenly gives Jodi a lot of time and freedom, something she needs, to find what she wants to do (her spouse patio is her working out, and you can say that she likes working out, that's valid to think of). It's not a be-all-end-all solution to Jodi's depression, but the way I see it, people can only do so much as to alleviate someone's emotional suffering, regardless of how much you care for them, so at the very least the thought of the farmer giving Jodi the time and freedom she needs by remarrying her and not pressuring her to do chores (cause the farmer's pretty self-sufficient anyway) is a nice gesture.
Little cracks? I got strong vibes of unhappy housewife throughout.
OMG YES. Love These Videos.
The videos love you too!
this is why i'm never having kids
Yeah she sounds like a typical parent. The one thing kids take from you the most is time, you are feeding them, putting them to bed, playing with them these things take up most of your time and when they go to school/nursery you get some of that time back but if you are the parent who works then that doesn't help at all, you go to work and then you get home and you have to do your part before they go to bed and sure while your child is asleep you get some time to yourself except if you are a clean person you'll probably be cleaning the mess your child has made through out the day for at least a little while and then you need to spend some time with your partner if you have one and by that time you've got maybe 1 hour to yourself if you don't have any chores to do.
You can almost be infuriated But Feel sad for Jodi.
Just more proof that CA is a great character writer!
i sympathize with their situations, but i honestly can’t stand that whole family. not vincent, he’s just a kid and a good boy at that. but kent has the personality of a sheet of laminate paper with probably 5 unique dialogue options. jodi contradicts herself- she says she never made the boys do a single chore but she runs her household like it’s the navy. in the largemouth bass cutscene we SEE her giving sam a chore to do, which he responds to so formally as to say “…yes, MA’AM.” she languishes and says she never has time for herself, but i think she’s in a situation she herself created. sam is an immature, mostly useless kid. he shouldn’t be a marriage candidate, that’s how childish he is. in whole, i avoid the whole military family (except vincent, who is an angel)
7:40 um.what are u doing. Also sorry if i commented too much i watched and commented
Getting cozy. :)
👍
👍
@@Leapalot 👍
Jodi was Vencent's Father?... umm not jugiing but where does that come from?
So! A "Jody" is a term for a civilian that's unfit for duty, who stays home when the soldier gets deployed and this "Jody" is generally the person in stories who takes advantage of the soldier's significant other. It's just interesting that Jodi, the only soldier's wife in the game, has a name so similar to a military trope. I was speculating that some people might think that Vincent was born to a father other than Kent, while Kent was deployed, because that's kind of also a military trope. "Your girl cheats on you and you come home to a kid that's not yours."
Hopefully that makes sense! 😁
Nice another video :D
🎉
Jodi is my favorite. I understand not being able to marry her. I think that's a fine choice. But it would be neat if they could explore impossible love a liiiiitle bit more.
oh.
2:26 your in the George thumbnail says yuor
It's from a meme! :D
As soon as I found out Jodi was married I was devastated. I wanted to marry her so bad and I was slightly hoping there was a point where you could convince her to leave Kent.
Do you play on pc? I'm positive there's a mod for that.
Why is that hall so long and that room so tiny?
is there anything interesting about emily? i randomly thought about her.
Yep! We'll cover Emily soon. I'm trying to do most of the non marriage villagers first though. 😁
@@Leapalot sounds cool
Hi! :)
Cool video😁
Hey, thanks! 😁
@@Leapalot 😁
I hate this trend of homestay mothers wanting freedom and to do more. I would be so much happier as a mother than to work for some man I don't even love in a cubicle.
Hello!
Hi!
I admire Jodi a lot to be fair.
She seems to be going through a bit of a midlife crisis, and that's i think very common with parents of young adults. She obviously struggles with some inner sadness big or small, and being there for a person who has a debilitating mental illness like PTSD can be very emotionally taxing.
And yet Jodi rarely makes that her children's problems. Yeah she overreacted over an egg, and Sam has a feeling his mom is not entirely content.
But, letting your feelings slip out every now and then i think it's normal, as long as it's not abusive. Which i very much doubt Jodi is. Sam saying stuff like he would miss his mom's cooking if he leaves, really gives me a vibe that they all feel very close, And that's really sweet that Jodi can be that for her family.
What can I say, she seems nice!
She also strikes me as the person that when her sons live the next she will probably make trips or find hobbies and enjoy her "retirement".
I hope she does find that joy when the kids are out. I'm worried that she'll feel a little empty inside. 🙁
the best parent is not the one who does everything with smile or have it "easy" but the one who doubts, fears, longs, and have a regret here and there but... ALWAYS has their child best interest at heart. And maybe suffers for it but that's what's making that parent great.
I feel sorry for Jodi. Sam is he most useless husband I´ve had (and I´ve had all but Shane).
I feel like most spouses in game are just kind of window dressing...
@@Leapalot it's just his dialogue. He never does anything. Just sleep in and loaf around with his music.
Stories like Jodi's is exactly why I want to avoid having kids
I dont want to put my own life and ambitions on hold to bring someone else into the same shit world I hate
My perfect idea of a family is just living with one person I love, and a husky dog. That's it, that's my dream life. I want one person I can dote on and care for, also huskies are fkn awesome.
I dont know, it's probably stupid, but I've always felt like having a kid is kind of... selfish? Bringing someone who never asked to be in this world, just so you could feel fulfillment. It's probably an awful thing to say, sorry.
4:35
I love Jodi, but she's too much of a helicopter mom to be the "best mom" in the valley IMO. I mean Sam almost has a fit when he drops an egg on the floor and Jodie immediately comes running, and then there's the incredibly awkward 10-heart event. Kids don't act like that unless they're used to their parents lurking behind every corner.
Which makes sense given how unfulfilled and bored she is with her life. The only thing she can do to occupy her time is worry about her kids and housekeeping. She doesn't like cleaning, but she's still absolutely obsessive about it.
The usual "woman regrets not enjoying youth" is not the accurate pitch here. It sounds good and is sold a lot, but women are proven to not be happier by throwing away youth to... "adventuring" instead of building long term stability.
It definitely is regret that she didnt prepare more for the husband being deployed and having to take care of kids in a situation she didn't talk with him more on/find stability in that lifestyle ahead of time, a regret many have.
It depends what you mean by being able to enjoy your youth! Single women are actually the happiest demographic and have the longest life expectancy if you look at marital status and gender. My understanding is that it’s to do with the way patriarchal culture affects men and how they can harm those close to them as a result. I think it’s also to do with social wellbeing. Unfortunately boys often don’t get taught social things as well as girls do so it’s harder for them to maintain social relationships independently. Meanwhile single women don’t usually have as much trouble. That’s why married men are hit harder when their partner dies than married women, because they’ve often depended on their wife for their social wellbeing. I don’t think any of it’s innate, it’s cultural. But I think it can lead married women to feel like they’re missing out, because they’re providing a disproportionate amount of their husband’s social support which is quite draining!
WOAH