Alright guys, positivity time
Look, there are times when the Undertale fandom is a literal garbage cesspool. Glorifying abusive relationships, disgusting inter-ship hate, a lot of negativity centered around how certain characters are perceived (I could go on for pages about the Great Frisk Gender Debate). There are plenty of times when I wonder why Iām even here.
But today isnāt one of those days
Guys, Iāve been in the fandom game for a long time now. Iāve seen the good ones come and go. I was there for the rise and fall of Superwholock. Iāve been there for the Potterheads. Iāve grief-counseled for the Merling fandom. Iāve been here long enough that the Marvel fanbase still seems like a baby to me.
And I have never seen a fandom become so creative, so fast.
There are SO MANY AUS, GUYS. SO MANY.
So youāve got your basic Swap one, where characters change personalities around. Itās a fleshed out au, but nothing I havenāt seen a version of before.
Then youāve got yourĀ āeverything is darker, and kind of evilā au. Again, itās really interesting in itās own right, but I have seen versions of this in other fandoms
Thenā¦they combine? And yet are still somehow distinct? Okayā¦
Undertale in space? Wow, thatās actually pretty interesting!
Wait? Sans combines with Gaster, and searches for holes in the universe with an older Frisk, in an attempt to understand Determination and resets more fully? Okayā¦
Sans locked in a Save screen after a genocide run?
Frisk decides to stay in the Ruins with Toriel
Undertale as something out of the mind of Tim Burton or Neil Gaimanā¦with a fully fleshed out backstory?
Donāt even get me started on the random (but genius) little acts with this guy
We have so many aus weāve started building crossdimensional characters.
the Star Sanses, who help protect, and Cross Sans, who wants to create a world of his own
And this is barely scratching the surface.
The point is, this fandom, while often full of drama and hard to live with, is also excessively creative, and filled with a million interesting ideas. It hasnāt even been two years since the original game came out, and yet weāve fleshed out a rich and complex world. All made largely by independent creators, likely working with no financial impetus and no chance of becoming famous outside of a select group on the internet. They did it for love of a game, and for the ideas that it sparked in them
So despite all the times this fandom has let me down
I am still so damn proud to count myself a part of this beautifully creative team