in game there are a total of twelve marriage candidates. each candidate has their own special interests, hobbies, and heart events! heart events are in-game scenes that give you a deeper look into a specific character's life. these scenes can be unlocked by gaining hearts with a character. 

   what are hearts i hear you asking!! well, every character, bachelor(ette) or not, has a relationship score represented by ten hearts. for marriable characters, there are an extra two hearts that can only be gained after entering a relationship with them. you can gain hearts by gifting a character items they like or completing quests for them. after enough time of finishing tasks, talking to them, and giving the gifts, you'll be sure to stumble across a heart event! now, enough of game mechanics!! let's move onto the thing you read this for... 

   here, i'll give a brief rundown on each bachelor(ette) in stardew valley, followed by my thoughts and opinions on them!!! this might be a tad long, so strap in i guess :DDD!! grab a snack, pull up a chair, and get ready for an unnecessarily long analysis on fictional characters!!!!

   starting off strong with my first ever in-game spouse!! abigail lives at the general store in the town plaza with her mom (caroline) and dad (pierre). she's a free-spirited and rebellious character who's into the occult and paranormal!! she can be found at the cemetery late at night or hanging out with sebastian and sam, two other marriage candidates.

   now, considering she was the first person i married, i obviously love her a lot. i love her personality and style!! i do think she can be a tad harsh with her judgements, though. i can relate to how her and her mom argue a lot. i think she's harsh out of habit, possibly because it's the only way her parents will listen to her and respect her choices.

   alex is coincidentally my most recent spouse <333!! when you're first introduced to him, he comes across as a (sexist, depending on your gender) jerk who only cares about gridball. however, after bonding with him, his character develops greatly. he lives in town with his grandma (evelyn) and grandpa (george) due to his mother dying in his childhood. as mentioned previously, alex is very passionate about gridball (basically football lolol) but struggles with academics as a whole.

   i think alex is one of the most interesting characters throughout the whole game. his entire character grows so much in the span of only a few heart events. i love how he learns to open up and express his emotions; i found myself relating to that part of him a lot. as someone who also struggles with vulnerability, playing alex's route helped me open up more and i love him for that <333!!

    ah the poet!! in my first save, he was my second option in case things with abigail went south. this dork lives on the beach in a one-room cabin. he decided to move to stardew valley to get away from the city if i remember correctly! his arc is all about a book he's writing. in one of his first heart events with the player, he asks them what their favorite genre is. what you respond with ends up being the genre of his book!!

   now for my totally unwarranted opinion!!! i!! love!! him!! a lot of people don't because of his lowkey arrogant personality, but i knew he was going to be a favorite of mine the second he came onscreen. i love seeing how he pursues his dream and puts every ounce of his motivation and effort into it!! 

   AAA resident cool kid!! not going to lie, i don't know much about her... all i can say is she has a passion for sewing and works at the saloon! so like!!! a hard worker!!!!!! she lives in town with her sister, haley, who's another bachelorette!!

   i think emily is like!! super cool?? from my minimal interactions with her, she seems really sweet!!! i'd trust her with my LIFE. and there's this one scene where she dreams about the player and it's SOOO  cute. all in all, i love her <333!!!!

   final thoughts: every character is great in their own way, so i wanna highlight that!! sorry if this was a little unorganized, i'll try formatting better next time lolol. well, thanks for reading!! may or may not do a part two ❤❤❤❤