I'd like to say a few things…
Firstly, this is not an AU. Not really.
This is something called a Special Event AU. Basically, all of the characters are the same, but the story is different because of one event that wasn't canon.. One singularity, or I should say, one theft, changed the course of the Tale Under the Mountain. Going forward, you won't need to know much if you've already played Undertale. (If you haven't, um… well, I don't know why you're here, but you're welcome to join us. I won't stop you from reading. But maybe go watch a playthrough or something. Or just get the game. It's not too pricey.)
Feel free to skip this little rant if you want. Just go to the beginning of the story.
No? Curious? Bored? OK, you asked for it.
A pet peeve of mine has always been reading Undertale Material about Frisk where authors refuse to pick a fricking pronoun. (or is it Frisking pronoun?) The whole point of Toby Fox making Chara and Frisk unambiguous was so players of both genders could fully insert themselves into the story; the same reason why Frisk never talks, like Red in the first Pokemon game.
That said, I don't think amateur authors do this well. They don't make Frisk gender-neutral to appeal to a diverse audience, they do it to stay true to some imaginary canon. Well, here's the real canon- yes, the game doesn't tell us if Frisk is a gal or a guy, but they ARE one of the two, SO PICK ONE GUYS! I'm sick of people using the words 'they' and 'them' to mean one person rather than a group. It's a plural pronoun, and, I'm sorry, I love this franchise, but not enough to murder grammar itself. I'm an author for crying out loud. Such an atrocity I cannot stand for. I'm not perfect- I'll have the occasional typo, but I won't intentionally maim English.
Now, if you've written stuff about Undertale and played the they/them game, I don't hate you. You're just doing what other authors have been doing ever since we fans started writing about Undertale. And those first authors didn't have malicious intent either; they were just trying to make the writing more like the game. But in analyzing the game, I think they lost a part of the game that is unique to each of us. Our experience.
Go ahead, keep playing the pronoun game. I've come to accept that it's just part of the norm. But please, consider actually giving Frisk some identity. Put a little of yourself into him/her, or maybe a little of someone you know. Frisk doesn't talk much because that makes it easier for us to feel like we are Frisk. Go ahead, make him/her say something.
That said, please don't hate me or refuse to read my story when I tell you that I made Frisk a dude.
Firstly, I'm a guy, so it made sense to me. And secondly, I feel like when Frisk and Chara aren't "theys" they're always "hers". (That sentence was weird. Lets try again.) If not stiffs, the two of them are always female.
Rest assured, this story will have plenty of kick-butt ladies taking center stage, and I don't just mean Undyne. Have an open mind, girls.
Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but there's a young man running for his life up the slope of Mt. Ebott, and he requires my attention. (By which I mean I'm going to shove him off a cliff.) On with the show.