I like Shane because of his character development. ConcernedApe made him change over time and of course, Shane isn't perfect. But he slowly rids his addiction after wake up calls and his character begins to understand how life really is. That's why I love Stardew Valley. Everyone has deep layers to them.
My personal solution to this. Once Emma realized he was making a real attempt to stop, or cut back, she gave him hot peppers instead. It was part of Emma's way with "helping" him.
My view is that I think Shane's messyness and alchoholic tendencies were intentional on CA's part. Someone saying they are going to turn their life around doesn't always mean they actually do. It doesn't even mean they really try to. I think this is the kind of character CA always intended Shane to be. When people requested Shane as a bachelor CA himself said he didn't see the appeal probably because of the type of character Shane was designed to be. But he put it in anyway but kept the character consistent with the way he envisioned him meaning that he's available but not really a great candidate. On top of this I don't think it's a coincidence that he added the divorce option at the same time. I think it was less to allow people to divorce so they could pursue the new options and more because he expected people would pursue Shane and then regret it afterwards.
The only thing that I didn't really like is how his room is filthy - he kept things tidy at Marnie's! I enjoy Shane. However, I think the thing is that Shane's heart events were full of the potential for change - he wasn't in a good place yet, but he could be soon. His events had a real momentum to them which was fun to be a part of. But spouses are static-pretty much everyone complains about how boring it is to be married and how small spouse's lives are. This is particularly jarring with Shane since he cannot live up to the potential for change which was one of his most attractive factors. So he is stuck as a doofy, troubled guy who has just decided to turn his life around. He just never gets the chance to actually do it.
His room is really dirty, I get it, but it doesn't make sense since his room at Marnie's is spotless basically. Maybe she cleaned it for him? (I really don't think he's that sloppy lol.) Otherwise, I think marrying him gives him a better chance at a decent life. So maybe he isn't some successful millionaire? So he's not perfect? He's got a happy wife and kids at home. Seems like a pretty decent life tbh. I actually think Shane is a really good spouse on the game, and this is after I had debated heavily between him and Elliott for a while! I think after marriage he has turned his life around the best that he possibly could. He takes care of Charlie (his chicken), helps out on a profitable farm (better than a Joja Mart job), still visits family (Marnie and Jas), and is drinking much less (he only goes to the saloon on Fridays rather than every night.) He may not have become a famous author/sports star/musician/game programmer/etc., but he's done a decent job I think. That's why I like him, he's realistic rather than some fantasy spouse. I'm glad CA made Shane marriable. I don't regret my decision to marry him at all. He could mop though... (But I'm glad I overlooked his uber messy room!) *The "best" candidate is probably Elliott; he's romantic, and a successful writer. Is he a good fit for everyone? No. Is he realistic for most people, no.. Elliott doesn't have "baggage" (at all). That makes him unrealistic to me. (Yes, I know he doesn't want to be a hermit on the beach, but if that's his worst trait then he has been one lucky guy in life.)
I don't see how that's a bad thing, it is a farming game after all. It's not like we're in 'Music Star City' and you married the farmer. Although I will admit he is the slightly drunk farmer husband who obviously isn't perfect and really needs to clean his room.
I've been married to him for about 3/4 of a season now and so far, I have zero complaints. I'm actually enjoying seeing what he does on his days where he goes out (hanging out with Jas, shopping at Pierre's, and yes, sometimes relaxing at the saloon) and getting a better understanding of his personality through new dialogue. He's actually made me giggle a few times now with some of the things he'll say (one morning he basically told me I had pizza breath lol), and he always shares whatever he pulls out of the microwave with me. I got around the messy room by installing a mod (because I'm a neat freak and I just really didn't think it needed to look like a pig-sty regardless of where he is in his road to recovery). Its obvious he hasn't stopped drinking all together, but you can tell he's cut back a lot. He's come a long way from being passed out on his floor or wanting to throw himself off the cliff...so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. We'll see how things go over the course of the next few seasons, I'm still new to him but it's all been good so far.
"Someone saying they are going to turn their life around doesn't always mean they actually do. It doesn't even mean they really try to." Which is why I mentioned both possibilities.
Fair enough. I've seen a lot of people who don't actually believe the former ((oops)), I tend to get nervous when people say the latter.
Dude/Dudette, you nailed it. And this is why I love Shane, warts-and-all. No one gets completely "cured" from depression, still he is doing better than he was alone.
Marrying Shane means accepting that you and any children you bring into the marriage will always take second place to Shane's true love, Charlie. I mean, he even has a framed picture of his chicken on the wall of his man-cave. Farmer: *walks in to find Charlie in the crib and baby dumped on the floor* WTF, Shane? Shane: Shhhh, her has a sleepy...
I didn't think of using a mod, I just couldn't cope with the room and was trying to hide the beercans behind my junimo plushie and pink rabbit. However, Shane was also drinking in bed which was a bit much for me. I felt bad about trying out the divorce mechanic, but at least it was a new thing to me and I timed it with a point in the game where I could also wipe his memory the next day so he wouldn't suffer for more than a morning. To be honest, I married him just because I had made this character with him in mind to see what would happen and knew even as I proposed that this was not a good enough reason. My character is now happily wed to Sebastian (who turned out to be her true love) and does carry a bunch of gold star hot peppers around for Shane. Seb hasn't noticed yet.
QFT. There are various kinds and levels of depression and anxiety. Some, like grief or the anxiety caused by moving, last only a short time and most people won't need special treatment to help them get through those periods. But for people like me - I've been on medication for 22 years and I STILL have days where I struggle with basic tasks. The most I can hope for is that my medication keeps me relatively stable long-term and that the good days outnumber the bad ones. And I can say that I never got as low as Shane gets in-game. Honestly, Shane's a LOT stronger than he gives himself credit for being. Here's someone who only moved to the valley a few months before the farmer did, hasn't felt able to make many friends, and the two people he knows best in the area are a child who was entrusted to him on her parents' death and an aunt with whom he may not have had much prior contact. For someone who was probably already dealing with untreated depression and anxiety, those circumstances almost certainly didn't help. Yet somehow, when he finally hits bottom, something in him refuses to let him give up that easily. He knows it's going to be a struggle, and he also knows he needs to watch his drinking, but he still makes real progress in a short time. It's not always possible to sustain that kind of progress, but I feel like marrying Shane puts the PC in a position to at least make sure he doesn't slide too far back, that each time he does slide back, he stops at the same place or a little bit farther forward than he did the previous time.
I know this thread is old, but I see activity from today so why not? I actually didn't even get the game until I saw Shane was made a bachelor. I saw lots of good things about the game and of my random screencaps I saw this dude, who was portrayed realistically with untreated depression, and he just felt so... authentic with me. And whenever I saw posts about him, the tags were always "WHY CAN'T I MARRY YOU?????" and so on. I didn't want the same frustration, so I didn't get the game. Then the patch came out and I finally experienced how great this game is, and how great HE is. I suffer from depression and three anxiety disorders. I hate alcohol because I have a lot of bad memories since everyone on my mother's side were/are severe alcoholics(most violent, may I add) and Shane... He didn't trigger me. I saw a man that used alcohol to numb the pain because he had nothing to help his problems. He wasn't violent, or rude when he drank. I mean, he was a bit of an anti-social jerk, but that's just his normal personality. And as I went through his progression and saw just how bad his depression was and how he was FINALLY getting help... I was happy. I'm not pleased with the mess of his room, but at the same time it could be a lot worse. The muddy foot prints is obviously from trekking the farm so I can forgive that.(Not happy with the spilled beer though... then again that's what mods are for oDo But I'm pleased with my marriage with him. He helped around the house and he was appreciative of the work I do and how he's in a better place now. When he's staying in I can understand it because even with medication and therapy there are still those moments I call "down swings" where it's at its worse and let me tell you. I can't even get out of bed sometimes if it wasn't for my puppy needing me to get up to take care of him. All-in-all, I'm not disappointed with Shane in the slightest. As someone who suffers what he suffers, I just... he tried to get through it the way he knew how. And now that he's working on better coping skills you can see he's cutting down which is what he promised, not that he would stop cold turkey. I wish that the game could have some events after a few years to show how far everyone's come around. After you do everything the only interesting thing for me is breaking the end of the day money counter by making 3million at the end of the year. I'd love to see some progress in Shane's therapy or see how other characters are doing in their little arcs or to find out something new about them. (Looking at you, mystery man Linus...)
