What did the Stardew Valley grandpa ever do to you?
Alright, we had a laugh with these dying grandpa memes, we really did. But things are getting out of hand now! Give the poor guy a break — it’s bad enough that he is dying alone and losing the farm that he worked so hard to build over his lifetime. In all seriousness, though, I am incredibly proud of the Stardew Valley community and their creativity, because this is a joke that just keeps on giving.
For those who have no idea what I’m talking about right now, let me fill you in: earlier this week, mods started surfacing on the Stardew Valley subreddit poking fun at the opening cutscene of the game. Players found it amusing that the grandpa character was dying in a really rickety-looking bed, and so they created mods to either make grandpa a bit more comfortable, or much, much less comfortable. Hilarity ensued.
Things really kicked up this week after news outlets (like us) picked up on the trend, because it really got the news out there, and the mods started spiraling into the hilarious, somewhat unhinged state that only a finely crafted meme can bring us to. As it is now, pretty much the entire subreddit has been taken over by pages of these Stardew Valley grandpa mods, and somehow it’s funnier every time.
Following this subreddit for the past couple of days has been fun
byu/CubularMonoxide inStardewValley
We now have mods that make it so Robin was masquerading as grandpa all along in order to get more contract work, or make it so grandpa is a bear, or Toad for Mario. There’s one that makes it that he died outside because he misplaced his keys after filling his entire house with kegs. There’s even one where his bed is stuck in the Swamp of Sadness from The Neverending Story, and I want to personally thank the creator of that one, because it’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.
Stardew has always had a really active, and frankly quite fun fandom, and seeing them all come together to create these monstrosities brings a tear to my eye. These types of memes are what make the internet worth it every once in a while. I’m sure ConcernedApe didn’t think much of the opening other than it being a means to get the player to Pelican Town, and now look what it’s become. I wonder what he thinks of the Stardew Valley grandpa saga, but given what I know about him, I bet he would be so proud.
[Featured Image Source: Reddit user KittenBraden]
