#gymleadercheren

[ash-of-the-meadow]

I wish I had more artistic skills so I could add more content for the 5 of us in the Rock Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons fandom. I've come across more funny dialogue I've been meaning to post, so that's something at least. I'm so thankful for you guys.

[gymleadercheren]

harvest moon awl remake is finally out so I get to repeat the childhood experience of looking up a guide on how to get married only to have every single guide, despite being neutral and detached for the rest of it, feel the need to comment ‘why are you marrying rock he’s the worst character anyone has ever created’ YOU BET HE IS, NOW HOW DO I MARRY HIM

[exit-path]

Hey, remember this video? This is how tumblr made the Undertale “Stronger than You” parody.

Hi guys! Before we start, some of you on tumblr may have been in the Undertale fandom in 2015 when this was taking place, but I wasn't. So if you were at the devil's sacrament, then reblog with what you remember! I'd love to hear primary source perspectives of events.

(EDIT, 5/6/23: SO @galxie JUST PROPOSED TO ADAPT THIS POST INTO A YOUTUBE VIDEO. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING)

(SO IF YOU'RE GOING TO SHARE YOUR STORIES THEN GET IT IN NOW)

But without further ado, let's begin, and watch as ordinary people made Internet history. (under the cut)

Part 1: gymleadercheren

It all started when @gymleadercheren drew a snippet of the Sans fight, with some Steven Universe lyrics underneath. This post caught the eye of @thepinkestpug, who had an idea.

Part 2: thepinkestpug

Later that same day—Oct 10, 2015—thepinkestpug sang a parody. Now, her Soundcloud link… how do I say it… doesn't sound very good? (He calls it "poor quality" herself.) But because he was in both the UT and SU fandoms, she was uniquely qualified to come up with these lyrics.

Upon seeing the "Stronger Than You" parody, gymleadercheren was ECSTATIC that she inspired someone with her post. The next day, she asked thepinkestpug for "permission to smoosh our lyrics together and make a comic?” If you've seen djsmell's video, you may recognize what she made next…

Part 3: The Comic

It took 3 weeks, but on Oct 29, 2015, gymleadercheren finally finished her comic. With 38 PANELS in total, the post was an instant success. She credits thepinkestpug for her lyrics, and links to an 8-bit "Stronger Than You" instrumental. Today, the post has over 20k notes.

Part 4: djsmell

Two days later, on Oct 31, 2015, @djsmell made a song cover of the comic. He NAILED the voice of Sans, and used the 8-bit song cover from gymleadercheren's post. He posted about it on his blog, while his YouTube video now has 11M views.

Part 5: alfa995

It wasn't until nearly 2 months later that on Dec 21, 2015, @alfa995 finally finished his animation. It used djsmell's audio, and filled in the gaps where the comic made you use your imagination. Today, the YouTube video has been viewed nearly 80 MILLION times.

These were alfa995's words about everything that had happened so far: "So basically someone… made lyrics for an Undertale version of [a song from Steven Universe] and a comic based off it, then someone else sung it, and now I animated it. I love the Internet."

Part 6: Reflections

And that’s the history of this video! This singular video has grown in popularity to such immense heights, it's a well-known piece of trivia that more people recognize the Undertale “Stronger Than You” parody than the actual Steven Universe song it’s based off of.

What I find interesting is how each person involved in this process had a tumblr blog. They saw each other’s posts and made more posts based off of them. By fandom standards this happened LIGHTNING FAST, the idea took 2 and a half months from conception to completion. It’s this connectivity that created the 4th most-viewed Undertale video.

The Undertale scene on tumblr spawned many more memorable fan creations, such as the “Underpants” series by SrPelo, which became the entry point for many into the wonder that is his animations.

It is this fandom that made Undertale a goliath of Internet culture. It is this fandom that made it so that Toby Fox will always have a loyal, rabid audience. Say what you want about it, whether you love it or hate it, the Undertale scene on tumblr may never happen again.

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you enjoyed!

This was my first time thinking about the Undertale fandom in a LONG time, and it was a nice trip down memory lane. Also, here’s a few things I found while researching that I couldn’t list above:

First, what's with all these "Stronger Than You" versions? I had no idea until I started researching that there were so many spinoffs of this singular video. Like, there's a CHARA response? There's a FRISK RESPONSE? THERE'S A TRIO VERSION?

And speaking of spinoffs, I want to shout out the video "Richer Than You"—absolutely phenomenal YTPMV that had a lot of effort put into it.

Finally, I want to shout out Super Eyepatch Wolf’s video, as it was my inspiration while writing this, and explains: “why did these videos get so popular?”

[kinokoshoujoart]

@gymleadercheren read my brain (again) so i have to post my essay draft

if a tumblr sexyman is a conventionally unattractive man whose perceived sexiness is abnormally high due to having a certain collection of Attractive Personality Traits, rock is literally the opposite. tumblr unsexyman (name subject to change)

rock is a conventionally attractive twink who nonetheless manages to not just undo every bit of god-given advantage he was given but actually pushes into the negatives through his incredibly odd and off-putting behavior and wack fashion sense. which is ironic since the reason he gives for these — in his own words— is “I wanna be the ideal man”

of course, this is based on HIS concept of the “ideal man”, an ideal which no one but him seems to share. in this same dialogue he acknowledges that “chasing trends” (like idk allowing marvelous to give him a makeover instead of insisting on what they very politely termed his “unique worldview and aesthetic sense”??) might get him actual dates but ultimately would rather just kinda hope that striving for his vision of the “ideal man” will land him some interest… but it does not. he dies utterly bitchless unless rescued from his Free Man To A Good Home cardboard box by the player.

rock is this strange paradox of being chronically unable to just be himself while refusing to be inauthentic in his made up persona. a paradox where both of the contradictory things he decides to do repel everyone who might otherwise be into him.

[neothebean]

A little throwback for @gymleadercheren

Mr Bossypants is here to fuss everyone

[oranges-and-pears]

@gymleadercheren @touyea I thought you should know that my friends had a PowerPoint party recently and the circumstances aligned such that I presented our hunger league au and the people loved it

fan favorite to win (since apparently we didn't decide that) was hilda/touko and they're so right for that

[give-me-eat-orange]

finished another mashup today @gymleadercheren @djsmell @alfa995 thank all of you for creating the original Sans Stronger Than You animation

[myfriendskickass]

@vergess @essande @arionwind @sic-semper-amicis @charmarlowe @charleydriftwood @kibibarel @meloncrab @rhymebeat @sailormajinmoon @usurperkingzant @deepscornhollow @dezzidance @kazimakuwabara @fuckernickel @gymleadercheren @westtiris 

I remade, this is AWKA (all-women-kick-ass)

[kibibarel]

gymleadercheren replied to your post: Cheren letting N move in with him after bw2 so...

N AND CHEREN COMEDY HOUR

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES!

(oh my god they were roommates...)

[drazeriiart]

My exchange piece of @gymleadercheren ‘s character cornflower! It was a ton of fun and thanks to @neothebean for running this secret santa!

[bisexualcommando]

⭐ kin me babey

I diagnose you with Maya

[ash-of-the-meadow]

BEHOLD!!! The power of the magic spoon trick!!!!!

[theitalianmafia]

gymleadercheren replied to your post: Made kazoos tail finally lmao

HOLY CRAP… AMAZING

thank u... it’s heavy as fuck lmao

[elizabysmal]

it is........ Her

[kinokoshoujoart]

Now I'm curious who is the #1 Rock apologist??

@gymleadercheren whose art i ran into on Fogu which caused me to make a tumblr is the world’s leading #1 rock apologist ! and has gained additional rights for rock:

“i guess i have to reconsider him” - xseed employee

all us Rocklovers together are also #1 ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[neothebean]

19, 22, 37!

19. Imagine we're at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

Absolutely! In Dunsparce colors, of course. And I apologize in advance for the polish all over your fingers, my hands are very shaky lol

22. What type of person are you?

Feline lol, waaayy back in like 6th grade is when friends started comparing me to a cat. I'm mostly chill, except when I'm not; I like to complain just for the sake of complaining; don't touch me unless I ask; you can befriend me with food; I gravitate toward people who don't look directly at me lol; I am always ready for a nap; magnetically attracted to sunshine.

Basically I'm a sleepy and neurotic mess who hates everyone except the people I like lol

And if you're looking for someone to handwrite pointless lists for you, I'm your girl

37. Someone in your life, other than a relative, you've known for 10+ years?

@gymleadercheren has known me since.....junior high? I have honestly forgotten, it's been that long lol. We've been graduated for 15 years, so we've been pals for almost two decades now! And she is never ever getting rid of me, I am a ghost and she is my artifact and sage only makes me sneeze