It really pains me to come onto this website and see a journal (or many) from deviants who having declared that being in this fandom is too hard because there is so much bitterness and, as some put it, toxicity.
It pains me when I go onto my front page and see a few deviations in my Undertale Collection of my favorites was put in storage or I cannot find something at all because it was deleted.
And I find it even more upsetting when the community is fighting over things like gender, age, and the like of different characters. The fighting continues and both sides get no where - there are the occasional apologies and peaceful conclusions, but they don't have nearly enough.
So, I want to ask you a simple question, asked in two parts:
What is Undertale about? What does Undertale stand for?
The answer is in every place that gives you a summary of the game: Undertale is a role-playing game where you don't have to kill anyone!
And then Toby Fox said something important, as stated on Polygon:
"What's the point of killing something?" Fox said. "What kind of lesson is that giving players and kids that play the game? I think that we can develop more games that show that there are non-violent ways of dealing with conflicts and that teach people to be friendlier."
Undertale has been described as a game "where no one has to get hurt." So then, why is this community (the community that supposedly loves this game and fandom so much) doing the exact opposite of what the creator wanted? If you are a fan hurting other fans to get them to stop drawing what the believe in, you really have no right to call yourself a fan of Undertale.
This is what I have to say: In this world [the Undertale community], it should be be nice or get out. From a community standpoint, all of this negativity is no better than religious blasphemy. The true fans are able to appreciate all the ideas (pairings, AU concepts, etc) and can set aside their personal beliefs to accept, tolerate and respect others' opinions. If you have a DA group with certain rules or have you own guidelines on your page, both you and everyone else have to remain respectful at the very least. You can agree to disagree and leave it at that.
Looking at this community now, do you really believe we are doing what Toby Fox hoped we would do by presenting this game to us? Are we fulfilling his wish by all this negativity? Are we making this fandom a safe place for newcomers or those who have been here since the beginning?
I think the answer is obvious. No, if anything, a lot of the community is tainting this fandom because so many people feel they need to force their personal beliefs on others and make them feel unsafe. This is not dealing with conflict and being friendly. This is malicious behavior directed at those who do not share the same views. It is people hurting other people because they are too narrow-minded to see it any other way than what they believe is the truth even though there is no foundation.
Toby Fox has made a game that gives you the choice: "TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL IS REALLY NOT A CHOICE FOR MOST PEOPLE ... BUT JUST HAVING THE CHOICE IS IMPORTANT."
After, he said: "It's predetermined by their personality. But just having the choice is important. Otherwise people would never feel guilty, and you should feel guilty. It was your fault, after all."
What game allows you to do that? What game forces you to think about your next move in that context? What game has you fall in love with the characters to the extent that you feel absolutely horrible if you even consider taking the [Genocide Route]?
Some things I feel I need to remind this community:
1) Frisk has no specific/confirmed gender, which is why they use they/them pronouns instead of he/him or she/her. It is up to the player/artist/writer/fan to portray Frisk as they want.
2) Also, Frisk has no confirmed age. They could be 5, 8, 10, younger or older. Keep in mind that monsters do not age like humans, so whenever Frisk is referred to as a 'kid' or 'my child' by a monster, it is because they are a human, a species that doesn't have a lifespan like monsters do. Confirmed by some dialogue from Gerson in the game, Asgore and Toriel are not aging, so they have probably been around for quite a few centuries. Yes, there are head canons for how old they are, but there are no confirmation because it is up to interpretation.
Here are a few other things I want you to consider:
1) Why are there so many AUs (alternate universes)? There is Underfell, Underswap, Outertale, Swaptale (incomplete), Aftertale, Errortale, Timetale, Flowerfell, Monofell, SpiriTale, Negatale/Positale, Reapertale, Underfresh (OMG!), and so much more. Why do you think that is?
I have an answer: It is because so much of the story behind the ORIGINAL Undertale is up to interpretation that so many people make their own variations on it, some manipulating the storyline a little bit while others change the entire universe.
2) Are you participating in this fandom in a way that is healthy to the entire community? Are you supporting the other fans despite differing opinions on gender, age, and more, even if you feel they are wrong?
3) Do you know what ambiguous means and can you respect that others have different views?
4) Are you open-minded? Can you abide by the wishes of the creator?
5) Have you read all of the interviews that Toby Fox has had with other people, one of which had a comment from someone else who was inspired to do the right thing? (last question)
6) Do you honestly think this fandom needs this much negativity and toxicity flowing through it? Other fandoms have the same thing, and it isn't helping anyone who likes the fandom? Don't ruin this fandom with garbage! Don't spread crap on something the was made to combat it!
Last question:
Do you think Toby Fox would be proud of this community if he saw all of the negativity going on?
SPREAD AWARENESS OF THIS! DO NOT LET THIS FANDOM BECOME TOO POLLUTED TO SAVE! FIGHT FOR WHAT IT WAS DESIGNED FOR! SPREAD FRIENDSHIP, NOT NEGATIVITY!
Repost this journal if you agree! Send me the link when you are done!
SUPPORT:
Message for Undertale Fans: by Wings-of-Change12
Status by @princessalyssahybri
Thank you to the following deviants for you supportive comments!
Blackcat-101 Dynneekx MyLittlePonyRocksAnd NOMNOMSUN xXDarkness--InsidexX Beanst3r HMB-BellyBomb catgir iSpazzyKitty KitsuneHime91 Wings-of-Change12
And thank you to all who favourited this or added it to their collections!
