A/N:
Some dude:
So… anybody who says anything bad about Undertale is the villain by default, then? That's like saying that Undertale objectively deserved to win GameFAQs 'Best Game Ever.' Hm. Even Toby Fox had to admit that he created a fandom so large that it practically became a sin to not like Undertale. Which is ridiculous when even the creator sees his game as an 8 out of 10. People have the right to not like Undertale. People also have the right to say that they don't like Undertale, and if you demand an explanation without caring about any and all valid criticisms of an overhyped indie RPG that does nothing but repeat the phrase, 'violent video games are bad and you are a bad person for playing them,' over and over…
"When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say." ― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
Care to disagree?
There's a reason why people have grown to dislike Undertale and Undertale's fandom after all these years. And it looks like you've just found that reason.
…
SaintHeartwing:
Kenneth grabbed the yellow soul offscreen after he finished talking to Asgore in Chapter 7. Also, the limits of what human souls can and cannot do weren't clearly explained in Undertale's lore.
I'm not interested in narratives that insist that 'monsters are better than humans in every way, shape and form.' Our society is full of myths, legends and folk tales about how dangerous and scary monsters can be, and I was hoping to capture what made those old stories special and captivating.
Asian mythology is full of tales about how creepy and incomprehensible the youkai can be, after all.
If that's not what was interpreted from what was written, then that's fine. I can deal with that.
Undyne didn't melt because she was physically weak. It was another form of weakness in the face of the yellow soul's desire for revenge.
(Mental weakness. I was talking about mental weakness, in case it wasn't properly conveyed in the previous sentence. Because Undyne is dense. So dense that even Papyrus can get away with using reverse psychology on her.)
I've heard that the Undertale fandom is full of misanthropes who fantasize about having their souls eaten by the God of Hyperdeath, and it's not that shocking to hear, honestly.
I've had more than enough time to understand the hopes, dreams, and backstories of the Undertale Crew. And I've grown to despise them because of their hopes, dreams and backstories. Because they keep whining about how humans are oppressive, racist bastards. It's all they ever do. And they never, ever, shut up about it. Does this remind you of anything?
"And it's not like she's doing it to try and help people she loves like Asgore, who wants his people to be free and to stop living underground, or because she's been taught all her life by the people around her that humanbad like Undyne…"
We may have reached an impasse in regard to this particular topic. Every time I endeavor to calmly explain (through simple facts and extrapolation) why Asgore and Undyne and the other monsters are actually stupid and incompetent morons who can't even tie their own shoelaces together without begging Frisk to bail them out with the 'power of friendship,' nobody wants to hear it because they truly believe that these people are above criticism. That's one reason why I started this story.
If you don't like that, then I honestly don't think you're going to like this story, regardless of how many author's saving throws I make.
At this point, I doubt that a simple backstory or a convoluted Freudian excuse is going to change your mind about Kenneth and Lucia.
Here's what Kenneth and Lucia would say if you asked them about it:
Kenneth: "Hmph. You say that I'm a horrible person. And you're absolutely right. But you're missing the real issue. This isn't a contest of moral righteousness. We're way beyond that at this point. Hm? Where's the proof, you ask? Well, I could go into greater detail about the numerous wars that have come and gone thanks to the ever-present slippery slope that you lot refer to as soul power, but that would be a very long story and I doubt you'd take my words at face value. So look at this way. This what happens when the one controls the human souls… controls the world. Every monster has the innate ability to absorb human souls to gain god-like power. That's why the humans feared us. Perhaps they were right to fear us. I've seen my fellow shapeshifters be hunted down and lynched in the streets by bigoted rednecks… which is why Zootopia, Beastars, BNA, Wolfwalkers, and the We Bare Bears movie didn't say anything about prejudice that we haven't all heard before. There's a reason why the humans don't do that anymore. I'll give you three guesses as to why that is, and the first two don't count."
Lucia: "You hurt my little sofralia without apologizing, so why wouldn't I hurt you without apologizing? It's only fair. And besides, do you know what's the difference between you and me? You fantasize about having the power to do whatever you want, and I have all the power I need to pursue my definition of contentment. So git gud, ya noob. Fucking pacifists. At least I don't have to hide behind a tragic backstory just so I can sleep at night, unlike your beloved fish heroine…"
Sarah: "Um… guys? Could you please tone it down a notch? Think of the children. I don't want Frisk to be exposed to harsh words…"
Kenneth: "At what point was Undertale a story for children? We're all adults, here."
Sarah: "Kenneth…"
Lucia: "And as adults, it shouldn't be too hard for our audience to understand that wendigos need to eat human flesh, otherwise we become extra crazy and eat everyone we see. Speaking of which, I wonder what they would say if I ate everyone from Mount Ebott..."
Sarah: "Lucia…"
Kenneth: "No, seriously. The game was full of depression, suicide, eldritch abominations, and child murderers who became karma houdinis though Undertale's anvillicious, pretentious narrative."
Sarah: "Hm…"
Lucia: "Hey, does anybody actually want to hear my tragic backstory? It's over 8000 pages, like Homestuck-"
Kenneth: "Please don't. Nobody wants to listen to your monster sob story."
Lucia: "Fine, fine. But only because I love you guys. Welp, I'll just have to save it for another time…"
Sarah: "Sometimes, I wonder why I put up with you two…"
Kenneth and Lucia: "Because the rest of our fellow monsters hate humans, remember? And because you're hiding the fact that-"
Sarah: "Never mind. Forget I asked."
…
About the backstory thing, well… many writers insist that personalities are much more important than backstories. I've been thinking about this, because one frequently-cited example of bad writing is to rely on a really big paragraph full of blatant exposition to justify a how a character thinks and acts. I've been repeatedly told that it's one symptom of a Mary Sue story.
Just look at Volume 5 of RWBY. The writers had a mysterious, token good villain named Hazel Rainart. He was a bad guy… but he seemed to have standards, and he frowned upon senseless killing. Everybody in the fandom was excited to learn about his backstory, but the writers did something really stupid at the end of the volume. Hazel turned into a stereotypically-edgy berserker, and Ozpin (an old man living in a young boy's head) suddenly blurted out this really dump exposition dump about how Hazel wanted revenge against Ozpin because his younger sister Gretchen died at the hands of the Grimm (generic fantasy monsters). So instead of going after Salem, the big bad who controls the Grimm, he decided to ally with Salem to kill Ozpin. With one small exposition dump, Hazel became a big fat joke. That's not what I want to do with my story.
…
All stories have characters, and (most) characters are meant to be likable. You have heroes you can root for, and you have villains you can root against.
But sometimes, the fans root for the villains, even though they do bad things.
Why? Because they're charismatic and cool? Because they're compelling and interesting?
It depends on who you're asking. That's why despicable villains like Light Yagami, Flowey and the Fallen Child, Caretaker Chara (The Caretaker of the Ruins), Betty Noire (Glitchtale), X!Gaster and X!Chara (Underverse) have their fans.
Of course, not everybody feels the same way about despicable villains. That's why we have the phrase, 'your mileage may vary.'
You don't like the OCs because you think that their 'Reason You Suck' speeches are completely unwarranted.
But I don't see it that way. They are among the few people who are actually willing to call out the monsters of Undertale… instead of just existing to parrot exposition about how great the Undertale crew is, which is something that happens in pretty much every single Post-Pacifist AU fic. That's another thing that wears me down.
Because most Undertale fanfics have a bunch of one-dimensional racist humans and a few token nice humans… and they all exist to make the Undertale characters look like perfect pacifists (or flawed-yet-sympathetic goofballs, sigh) who can do no wrong in comparison. Over and over and over.
I am putting my foot down. This is my firm rebuttal to those oversaturated and extremely obnoxious plotlines.
So… even if I were to flesh the OCs out… would that really change your mind about them?
Stating that you don't like Undertale automatically makes you the villain by default… which is not surprising.
Opposing the Undertale crew makes you the villain by default… which is why you have the same group of racist human OCs in all those Post-Pacifist AU fics.
Kenneth Livingston and Lucia Heales are the villains by default… because they were mean to Asgore, Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne.
Kenneth's children are the villains by default… even though they haven't done anything bad yet.
Frisk and their mother are the villains by default… simply because they want to live out the rest of their days in peace.
Because that's what it means to take a stand and go against the grain… instead of shutting up and obeying like a mindless conformist who can only repeat overused phrases about how 'violence is bad, m'kay?'
That is why this story exists.
So look at it this way… you resent the OCs because they are terrible people who get away with murder. And I resent the monsters of Undertale because they are also terrible people who get away with murder. They're a perfect fit for each other, wouldn't you say?
Chapter 18: Tragic Backstories And Tragic Backstories
A world on the brink of collapse.
A war fought for different reasons… but the result is all the same.
A savoir, a werewolf, and an impossible choice.
"Hey."
"O-oh! Um… u-uh… hiya, Frisk's mom… wait, have we met before?"
"I… that's odd. I do believe so. I paid a visit to the mall for takeout because they have a really nice food court, and we crossed paths. I invited you along for a quick meal, and you were interested because you were looking for a nice place for you and Undyne to enjoy udon noodles."
The monsters beg for salvation.
The humans jeer.
The werewolf watches from afar.
"B-but what was I doing in this mall? I don't remember how I got here…"
"Well, I noticed that you were curled up under a lingerie display inside… a… Victoria's… Secret… department? I… hold on…"
Creatures of darkness, roaming under a fragile sky.
A brilliant beam of light.
For a single moment, the path forward is clear.
"U-um… Miss Amherst? Is this really the best time for eating noodles? I mean, this script thingy-"
"Alphys… I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
"H-Hey! That's… a lot t-to ask from someone you've just met…"
"I know. Believe me, I know."
A werewolf, a wendigo, and a savoir.
Three unlikely heroes… but why bother?
You've already seen this type of story before…
"AH! What the HECK are YOU doing here? Haven't you done enough?"
"Shush, shush, shush, Undyne. You look like you've seen a murderer or something."
"That's because you ARE a murderer!"
"Hey, don't be a bigot, you bigot. We wendigos have feelings too, you know. I even came up with a really tragic backstory to make you feel guilty-"
"WHO CARES!? You're still a murderer!"
"So are you."
"EHHHH!?"
"Well, I suppose that depends on how you perceive the nature of death-induced time manipulation… but either way, your king is definitely a murderer… but I don't see you complaining about him."
"Asgore isn't a MURDERER like you!"
"Yes he is."
"No, he ISN'T!"
"Yes he is."
"No, he ISN'T!"
"No, he's not."
"YES, HE IS, AND THAT'S FINAL! HAH! Wait a second… oh, GOD DAMN IT!"
"Heh."
"ARRRGH… NGAHHH!"
"Hm? Oh, is this my cue? Really? We're doing this now? Well, if you insist… Ahem… O, I am slain!"
"Hah… hah… take that, you psychotic bitch…"
"…"
"This… did you do this on purpose? This was SUPPOSED to be a really dramatic and heroic moment for me! And YOU!? You… ruined it…"
Two forces clashed, tearing the world asunder.
One side held the human souls, forbidden sources of magical might.
One side was the Void, an all-consuming hunger that dwelled within all souls.
Only one could prevail in the end.
"OH… HELLO! I WASN'T EXPECTING TO SEE YOU HERE, ROYALS GUARDS 01 AND 02."
"Hey, Papyrus. Did you hear? A human blew up Grillby's restaurant."
"UH…"
"So 02 and I decided to stand guard in case any more humans showed up to do racist things or something, because we've got plenty of experience with trying to kill humans and all that jazz."
"UM…"
"…01!?"
"...Huh? What is it, bro? Wait, is that a meteor-"
The savoir stood as a shining beacon.
She vowed to save the world and the people who called it home.
The world might have been worth saving…
But could the same be said for the people?
"What exactly are we doing here?"
"we're advancing a plot point, tori."
"Do not call me that, Sans. Also… whatever do you mean by a… plot… point?"
"yeah. welp, we're currently stuck in a bad fanfic that's being written by a spiteful author who hates us, so we have to say self-aware things with really obnoxious lampshade hanging because literally every self-aware post-modern story does it."
"Sans, I do not understand what you are talking about. Why did you bring me to the place that… my ex-husband… now calls home?"
"oh, that's because he got kidnapped by fairies."
"…Excuse me?"
"you're excused, tori."
The war eventually came to an end.
Countless monsters had perished.
Some humans had died as well, but the monsters didn't care about that because humans suck… in the eyes of both humans and monsters.
But the werewolf had something more important to take care of.
The savoir had disappeared-
"Kenneth, we need to talk."
"And he spent a very long time searching for her. He succeeded with the help of the wendigo, and they all lived happy ever after."
"Kenneth…"
"But if happy ever afters were that simple… we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Um… I g-get that something really bad is going on… but I'm still confused about w-what I was doing in a mall department for… lingerie."
"Rule of funny?"
"Kenneth."
"Oh, for heaven's sake! Do you really think it's that easy to write something meaningful in this day and age!? I'd like to see you come up with a story that doesn't raise hundreds of complains the instant you dare to post some that's even slightly controversial!"
"No, I don't… but is this really necessary?"
"Of course it isn't… as usual. Sigh. Why did I even bother with creating this story in the first place? In fact, why don't I just go ahead and delete everything now, and then delete the posted chapters just for the heck of it! I bet you'd all love that… wouldn't you."
"Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? There's no need to be so dramatic…"
"Tell that to the jackasses who actually think that pacifism can magically solve every stupid problem that's plagued us since time began!"
"Kenneth!"
"Sarah, look around! We were born into a world where humans and monsters murder each other for countless reasons, and we vowed to change that."
"I know."
"And it didn't work, because we still live in a world where humans and monsters murder each other for countless reasons. Nothing has ever changed, and nothing ever will change."
"I…"
"And this is the part where you remind me that we still have to earn our happy endings… but that's stupid. You can't earn your happy ending if the universe keeps moving the goalposts out of spite."
"…"
"You ask why I do what I do… and I ask… why not? If I'm doomed to lose everything no matter how hard I strive to do the right thing, then what's the fucking point! If I'm going to lose everything no matter what, then why shouldn't I enjoy the few things I have right now? And when the time comes, I'll have a front row seat as all of the people who have ever mocked me… all choke on their hypocrisy and perish."
"Kenneth… this isn't right."
"I know. But there aren't any heroes left who are competent enough to stop us. The death of heroism has seen to that, thanks to all those super-serious deconstructions that can't even be argued with. I'm tired of dealing with people who can't accept that maybe, just maybe… it's okay to not want to be the hero. Because there's more to escapism than wanting to kill people to 'feel like a hero.'"
"Maybe… but…"
"I… I g-got it!"
"Alphys, don't!"
"B-but I have his computer! If I delete everything that's in here, then we can get rid of him!"
"Alphys, just hold on for a second! We can still sort this out."
"Why? I already know that he's just going to kill us off because he hates us! I don't want to die! I don't want Undyne to die! I don't want-"
"Don't be absurd, you stupid lizard! Who said anything about dying… hurk!"
"I never wanted it to come down to this… sorry, Kenneth."
"W-what are you… g-going to… do?"
"I'm going to find a solution for our problem. Of course, whether or not our audience will accept it… is another matter entirely."
"What do y-you mean by that?"
"Well, look at it this way. Have you ever read, 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas?'"
"N-no… should I have?"
Once upon a time, there was a fantasy land full of magic, mystery, and wonder.
There was no racism, bigotry, or prejudice.
Everybody lived in peace, no matter what their species was.
There was no conflict, and everybody lived happily ever after.
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That should be enough.
Why isn't it enough?