If You Tried To Fix Shane In Stardew Valley, You Might Be The Real Problem

thegamer.com:

Shane was never my first pick for a husband in Stardew Valley, but I was desperate. I needed footage for a video on Everything You Need To Know About Having Children, which required me to, in essence, speedrun through having a family.

The fact that Shane is at the Stardrop Saloon almost every night and within spitting distance of one of his favorite gifts (beer) made him the prime candidate. I told myself that at least I would get some blue chickens out of it. When my real-life partner came home from work that night, I told him about how awful Shane was as a partner. How his room was disgusting, how he was still talking about drinking even despite swearing he was sober now. The more I talked about why I hated Shane so much, a sinking feeling grew in my chest. I realized I was basically describing myself as a partner.

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I was diagnosed with Bipolar Type 2 only a few months ago. This was after a relapse that had made it readily apparent that I was in need of professional help. Still, this was not the diagnosis I was expecting nor wanted to hear. If even I was judging Shane for his lack of progress, then what hope was there for me?

It’s a pretty natural reaction to want to ‘fix’ Shane. The ‘fixer-upper’ is a trope seen across all forms of media but especially in romance stories or life-simulation games like Stardew Valley. In these games, often the ‘objective’ of the relationship is to shower the romanceable candidate with unconditional love and, by the end of the romance, to help them change as a person.

While I personally never had any desire to fix Shane, I will admit that I assumed that once I triggered the ten heart event all would be resolved. My