thank u SO much to everyone who was there for the premiere!! it was so much fun, genuinely so thankful and lucky to have this community of smart and hilarious and thoughtful people. and thank you to YOU dear viewer!!!! i try and reply to / read all comments but its a little futile at this point (which is mad in itself) but i APPRECIATE YOU so MUCH !!! such an indescribable feeling to have put my heart and soul into this vid for almost 2 months and have it hit pretty much exactly how i wanted it to like..... very warm feeling. very nice feeling. thank u for giving me that feeling. ily
I can feel already feel all the tangents and the nuance Edit: there were tangents!!!! THERE WAS NUANCE!!!!!!!!! edit 2: I wasn't convinced until you said Sebastian is my frog. I want a little frog husband. (also how could you make a Sebastian video and wait THREE HOURS AND TWENTY MINUTES to mention frogs???)
Fun fact from a Sebastian person, if you play as a female farmer and marry Sebastian there's a chance that the kids can be ginger. So the hair theory isn't totally out of cannon (could be a recessive trait obviously)
If one parent has red hair, it might skip a generation. My dad's mom had red hair, my uncle had red hair, my dad had brown hair, me & my sibling have reddish-brown hair. It could be recessive, but I'm not 100% sure.
@@fionasangster hair genetics aren't straight forward, but red hair is recessive confirmed via my old biology textbook & google lol. It makes sense, blue eyes & red hair is one of the rarest combos I believe. Although one point against Seb being a ginger is we don't see him have freckles. It's almost unheard of to have red or reddish hair & not have freckles. Could be a dev choice to not do skin details (nobody has any birthmarks or freckles if I recall).
Said this in chat but will say again. Fiona you can't say you aren't a video essayist after this one. The cut to talking about Numb by Linkin Park was an hbmomb level swerve, the emotional resonance of reading your teenage diary, the literary references, the studies. This is art. I'm waiting for it, the green light, I want it.
I think Sebastian brings attention to his purported desire for solitude because he wants people pursue him. He complains about feeling invisible because no one is putting in the effort to know him on his own terms.
As someone who is watching this video and realizing that Sebastian is apparently me.. yes. That's honestly a lot of it. The effort. That's one of the biggest issues I've had with feeling close to my family. They'll pay attention to me if I say "pay attention to me!" and not bother any other time. I understand that people can't be mind readers, but I don't think it's expecting people (especially family) to read your mind for wanting them to actively seek you out, respectfully. The 'on his own terms' part of your comment is so important, because I swear, every single time I've had a conversation talking about this with my family, they end up blaming me. You never want to come out with us. You never want to do this. You never do that. It's almost like they blame them treating me as an afterthought on me having boundaries and enforcing them. I get written off as 'difficult' so they don't bother. They assume I'm happier on my own, because it's easier for them to believe that then to spend time with me in a way that respects my boundaries. So either I chase them, or I'm just left to rot.
Unpopular opinion about Seb’s tabletop heart event: they are not playing DND, they are playing a “choose your own adventure” cooperative adventure game, like House of Danger.
True, DnD is the easiest comparison. Yet computer games more often referenced other Tabletop games. It took until late 90s for advanced options in games. Solarion Chronicles is like a text-based adventure. The ones where you type simple prompts. Thankfully without the "[The Game] does not understand [Typed word]". Before Maniac Mansion.
The trailer is so cinematic and hilarious. Even as someone who isn't a Sebastian fan, I'm excited to see what your experience and take are. After 4 hours, we're all gonna be so numb. Or at least our bums will be. 😂
The way my heart just jumped up into my throat when I saw the thumbnail and then plummeted down to my feet when I realized it's still two more days. The countdown is on. I'm so here for this.
43:41 Sebastian is like a cat, he only wants attention when and how he wants it. If you try to leave the cutscene he suddenly wants it, like a cat who wants outside as soon as you shut the door 😂
when you live in crazy hot climate and you have chronic illness oof, it's so easy to get reverse SAD. As soon as it cools down and I can go out it's just a night and day difference.
I’m from a hot climate and I hated the summer, but then I moved to a cold climate and now I can’t stand winter because there isn’t enough sun 🫠 we are all just complicated houseplants lmao
My headcannon is that bright things, like sunny days or florescent lights, are overstimulating for him. I think he does like being outside, but it can often become too much for him, like interacting with his friends.
Fiona! The level of production is insaneeeeee! A trailer and everything? That was so amazing, so I can only image the actual video will blow my mind hahaha I'm really looking forward to this video 😊
"Sebastian is Robin's biological daughter." Not yet he isn't. Just Sebastian a few years, I'm sure the depressed, ttrpg playing, programming emo who wears hoodies most of the time will figure herself out eventually.
1:18:00 EVEN HIM USING SCENARIO CARDS versus DMing is an example of his like inability to come up with things to say, his anxiety. no real conclusion with this (obv i havent finished the video and seeing all the info yet!) just something i wanted to point out Xd
Omg the way I can't wait to watch this while I play Stardew... and just end up holding the controller on the pause menu for 4 hours while I fall down this rabbit hole 🫣😅 calling it rn lmao
Im so terrified for the Shane video, I feel like a lot of people misunderstand his character and just see his surface level of "he's a drunk!" "you cant fix him!" "he keeps drinking" blahhhh when in reality you can tell the people who haven't had to struggle with addiction of any kind (family/friend or their own), they think its so easy when its such a hard thing to over come and sometimes people relapse. anyway sorry for the rant- love your videos! Thank you for providing another amazing video while I draw!
I agree that people often lack empathy for people struggling with addiction, either due to never experiencing it/knowing people who struggle with it, or just lacking empathy to others. I think some people definitely blame/dislike Shane for being able to completely overcome his addiction because they disregard how difficult it is to recover, even when he's trying as much as he can. But I do think some of the criticism comes more from the fact that sometimes it's really difficult for people to try to support/care for addicts when their self-destructiveness hurts the people around them. I've been on both ends of the addict spectrum, and I've definitely had times where I had to lower contact with people I knew who were struggling with addiction, because trying to help them was destroying my own mental health, and their struggles led to them doing things that directly harmed me/the quality of my life. So I think the people saying they don't like him as a romance candidate due to him continuing to drink have a valid point, in that there's a big difference in how difficult it is to support a decently close friend struggling with addiction vs helping a spouse/romantic partner. But obviously, there's a big difference between pointing out those things and actually insulting him for it, so I agree that the latter group don't even try to have empathy for him. But that's just my biased opinion ofc
Fiona this is incredible!! This cannot have come at a better time. I have had such a long and emotional week, and I’m so excited to have this to look forward to. P.S. god, if the trailer for Seb was this cinematic I can only imagine what we have in store for Shane 😶🤞
aw i’m glad you’re looking forward to it!! hope you’re doing ok ❤️ hehe the shane vid will either be my magnum opus or just me slamming my head into a wall for 8 hours
For real! I found Sebastian to be surly and immature. Like if someone talked to me that way in real life, I’d be pissed. But I have been proven too harsh 😅
BECAUSE TONITE WILL BE THE NITE THAT I WILL FALL FOR YOUUUU~ (seb's my fave!! i'm so excited for this, this is the BEST Halloween treat 🖤 Thank you, Fiona!)
Actually got a little emotional when you were reading out entries from your diary! While it’s funny knowing we all had very similar feelings as kids / teenagers, I can’t help but feel sad and just want to grab younger me and give her the biggest hug! 😭 Also great video as usual! Been very excited for this one as a Sebastian girlie 😌
it was meant to be funny but loads of people have told me it made them cry 😭i guess its easy for me to laugh at cos i know how dramatic i was being but like. yeah i felt that shit. being a teenager is hard
Fun fact: From all the characters and their heart events Sebastian's scene when he is repairing his motorbike - and he smiles at you and shares this different side of himself; that is the only scene that really made me feel something/blush ... to my own surprise because I felt similarly about him as Fiona. He was too emo for me, but this fucker got me with his bloody smile, adorable blush and surprising hobby ...
fiona i am sobbing. I genuinely cannot finish this video right now because after that intermission (where i now understand sebastian as well) I’m now realizing I AM sebastian. I cannot continue with this call out without continuing to sob (Love you though 😭🫶)
"Need somethin?" "what's the matter? somebody steal your sweetroll?" "I was an adventurer like you once, till I took an arrow to the knee" "got to thinking... maybe I'm the dragonborn, and I just don't know it yet" "you disrespect the law, you disrespect me" okay I'm done, just heard "You need something" and all the flashbacks of skyrim came flooding back
I agree that the gaps are why Stardew works in spite of how little character development we actually get. It gives you enough to care about the characters, but not enough to fully flesh them out and Sebastian has more gaps than most. It's really interesting to see how differently people read his character and fill in those gaps. Ex 1: His bio dad was abusive. His bio dad is dead. His bio dad just stopped talking to him after the divorce. Ex 2: Demetrius is an asshole. Demetrius and Sebastian genuinely love each other and just squabble a bit. Demetrius and Sebastian have conflicting communication styles that leads to a lot of misunderstandings. Ex 3: He legitimately wants to move to the city and just doesn't have the money. He legitimately wants to move, but is scared to take that final step. He knows the city is a fantasy. The lists go on! (I put my personal reads at the end of each example if you're curious.) This ambiguity and complexity is almost certainly what drew me to the character. I'd played Stardew before and wasn't big on the romance aspect. Decided to romance Sebastian this latest time and boy did he hit different. So much unexplored depth that made my brain tingle! I'm with you on wanting a Sebastian and Maru reconciliation arc. I want that whole family to do some growing because they all seem to be in desperate need of working on their communication skills (except Maru. Maru seems to just be in over her head.) It's like you said, I don't think any one person is to blame, life is just complicated. Like my personal theory is that Maru happened while Sebastian was still adjusting to having a step dad (or even just his mom having a boyfriend) and Demetrius and Robin now had a baby to deal with on top of everything else and so Sebastian got less attention when he probably needed it most, leading him to internalize things they never intended him to. This feels especially likely since we see that Demetrius and Robin aren't exactly world class communicators. He has a pretty ridged world view and she's got a hair-trigger tempter. Not a good mix. Therapy for the lot of you!
I’m glad you shared your journals. I could not share mine, they were so cringe I barely can look at them when I go back to them, I think I’ve only done it once moving stuff after college
YEEES YEEESSS YAAAAAS i have been waiting for a new video of yours! I actually dont know anything about stardew valley apart from your videos, but they are just so good! It‘s like a comfort show at this point ☺️
Sebastian being annoyed at people not taking his job seriously is very valid, my dad started doing home Office way before the pandemic and back then everyone thought you were just lazing about if you worked from home
Ngl if you ever did book reviews with all your usual analysis of characters and such I'd be so down lol Banger vid as always! Was a nice treat after writing a 12 page essay over the course of 2 days haha. I feel like I understand Sebastian more now, tempted to go read some Alex/Sebastian fanfic lol. I still don't think Sebastian is necessarily my type bc of how similar he is to me but I get it too now lol
Loved this so much, best one so far! Such an emotional ending as well, really felt connected to the world with your discussion here. Btw NEED the intro as a short to send to my friends haha
As someone who wants to be a Narrative Designer and Writer for Games 1:05:33 is one of my favorite sections. I love it, Thank you for sharing your expertise on these videos~!!
1:28:22 I don't know if I have SAD, but I do know that learning that you could get it in the summer was a big "wait what?" moment because I find summer so draining and I'm so much happier in the winter, though I don't relate to the specific symptoms you listed. It's definitely something that made me like Sebastian because I get so excited when people get my preference for being happier in the cold and the rain and the dark. I don't view it as emo or a personality thing because I'm generally a pretty upbeat person, I just legitimately love that weather and longer nights so much more and don't get why people like the awful heat and the evil sun so much. So I didn't view any of this as emo, I just saw someone who liked the "good" weather.
I seek to know myself as well as Fiona knows these characters by the end the video. The amount of depth and complexity you are able to weave from this content is amazing! Also the Shane preview had me cackling!!
Sebastian in the album cover kinda looks like twilight in the “air planes in the night sky like shooting stars, I could really use a wish right now wish right now wish right nowww” 27:48
The amount of references to all the emo music from my teenage years in this video was everything to me and possibly a reason why I love this boy so much lol. The interjection of analysis of Numb was amazing lmao
I listened to this whole video while being extremely sapphic and happy with Leah and our daughter on our happy lil vineyard Love your content and the super fun analysis~♡ I'm very fond of critical engagement and digging into the deeper themes and messages in media, and also sometimes get very lazy amd let my brain go brrrr while i listen to other people do that work XD
today is my birthday so perfect timing!!! sebastian has always been my favorite bachelor. i always connected with him because of my own social anxieties/issues and longing for things you might not actually want; it doesn’t hurt that i always had a thing for the emo boys too lmfao. thank you for another beautiful video and having the best upload timing, i’m gonna rewatch later as a bday gift to myself 🖤
I'm someone who deals with reverse SAD, I live in florida, and the only time of year that I can go outside with immediately getting sunburned/drown in sweat is in late autumn and winter. Because of this, I spend most of my summers inside. One thing I think can worsen it too is seeing friends and peers online having the time of their life, when I just can't get myself to that headspace. When I do go out during these bouts I just feel like I'm sucking the fun from everyone else. I think that's why I relate so heavily to Sebastian during his early heart events. The needing an activity to be able to hang out with someone, so I don't feel like my personality during these times will make or break the interaction
I can tell you’re a game narrative designer cos this video was so insanely creative!!!! I loved the last 10 ones but I am HYPED for the ones going forward!
I don't know what it says about me that even after all this, the whole video, I'm just not into Sebastian. I am laughing so hard at the Chappelle Roan ending. 10/10 Thank you as always!
I'm so glad I got to see this premiere. This was a much longer video compared to your others, but in that, I appreciate it more. I love how you dig so deep into these characters and give so much meaning to seemingly simple dialog, along with being an avid sebastian lover (I've married him 11 times 😼) you hit the nail on the head with the biggest reason people love him being that they can see themselves in him as his story is open enough too do so. I loved every second of your videos from the format, your humor, your nuance of situations, and how you make your beliefs well known. I hope you enjoy making these videos as much as we loved watching them. You're great at this and I can't wait to see the next one. Sorry it's long just felt like you deserve some praise for all your hard work put into making these ❤
omg i fuckin love making them! i am a terrible actor so every laugh/smile is real, i would have stopped a long time ago if it didnt bring me so much joy. maybe my fav part is reading comments so ty to you right back
Dude I just know I’ll watch this video like 3 times back to back, have it on in the background while playing video games, show it my friends…. I AM EXCITED OMGGGG
THE INTRO IS SUCH A MASTERPIECE I'm not into Sebastian myself (the broke writer with a crab in his pocket has my heart forever), but I'm really enjoying learning Sebastian's lore and all the details you give us!
the premiere just ended, Fiona this is PHENOMENAL. the graphs, the poetry, the music, the research, the outfits (HELLO???). getting to watch this with the community was such an uplifting experience and I loved being able to build off thoughts with other watchers in real time - to the community too, thank you all for being here, we laughed together, cried together, caused mischief when Fiona left for a couple minutes together - all the work that went into this is absolutely astounding and your dedication to this series has inspired me to pursue my interests with the same level of passion. thank you so much for this, you've come so far and I'm so happy for you
You've done it again Fiona, you've made me understand why people love a character I hate. As someone who very much was a Sebastian as a teenager (and still struggles with depression today) I think that's probably why I dislike him so much. I see all my worst habits in him, and I don't want to deal with those in my escapist farming game. That's why I nearly always marry my beloved Elliott, who is artistic, and confident, and is unashamed of what he wants. THOSE are the characteristics I aspire to. I also think there is a real difference between how older and younger players see the characters. I'm in my 30s. It never even occurs to me to pursue Sebastian or Maru or Abigail. They just read as children. Especially Sebastian. I know he's supposed to be Maru's older brother, but he comes across as 15. And that's simply not appealing.
I suffer from bipolar disorder, when I’m in Mania and can’t sleep your stardew valley vids help me get some sleep. Thank you and can’t wait for the Shane video!! X
I just finished the video. It was incredible, and I felt like commenting because honestly, the ending part made my heart flutter. Thanks for sharing a part of yourself in each videos, wether directly or within your persona. I didn't care much for Sebastian at first, now I feel closer to his character. I guess that's the purpose of these videos, at the end of the day, for me at least :) You're awesome! This channel is awesome!