Roxanna Rambles

The first section of the new Dark World starts off with the main antagonist "forcing" Ralsei to wear his hat and making a remark that lampoons fans of Hat Ralsei. Later on in the chapter, one of the other characters continues this, making many comments mocking fans of Hat Ralsei. Additionally, the hat is sometimes treated as symbolic of something super deep and negative ('hiding who you are'). Some of the themes of the chapter are 'nostalgia' and 'clinging to the past' and not being able to accept change, and there is a section where Ralsei has his hat on and it mirrors much of Chapter 1, and the section may be implying this is nostalgia that needs to be let go of. In chapters 3 and 4, there are some comments/jokes inserted in these chapters that also target Hat Ralsei fans, but Toby had doubled down hard in Chapter 5.

I'm gonna be honest. It puzzles me how much time he has spent focusing on these fans.

Here's what I think. A hat doesn't have to be that deep.

I've enjoyed Deltarune a lot. I've especially loved Ralsei's character arc and all the changes he's been going through. I love seeing him become his own person, exploring and discovering his own tastes, preferences, hopes, dreams, his own personality, his own identity. I love it. I can't wait to see where it goes next for him.

Implying that fans of Ralsei's Ch 1 design fail to understand Ralsei's story arc or are unable to accept change is very silly. A person can go through many changes and become someone entirely new, without changing their wardrobe or their face. This has been my preferred interpretation; that the hat is simply not that deep. This interpretation is not what Toby personally had in mind, but fans are free to draw their own interpretations, headcanons, AUs and preferences if they feel like it. Toby has said as much, in Undertale's 10th Anniversary special. He encourages his fans to make AUs, to make fanfic, fan art, fan games, etc. People are free to play around in the sandbox and do what they vibe with. He's usually very chill about this.

So it's . . . odd that he's apparently so cross about this particular point. Especially with regards to some of his jokes on the topic. One such joke in chapter 3 or 4 (can't recall at the moment) with the coat rack NPC in Castle Town compares fans of Hat Ralsei with wanting your friend to get plastic surgery on their face. Which is. A ridiculous comparison. Yes, it was a joke. But it now seems possible it was meant as a semi-serious comparison, considering Ch 5's numerous barbs thrown on the topic.

But guess what? Ralsei is not a person. Neither is Kris or Susie. They're fictional characters. Preferring one design other another, aesthetically, is akin to preferring chocolate ice cream over vanilla. It's simply your taste preference. To villify anyone for that-- which fandom already does-- is pure silliness. And Toby's joke led to fans targeting and harassing fellow fans further for something that is genuinely so silly and not important. I cannot stress enough how liking or disliking a character's visual design is not the same thing as liking or disliking a real person's face. That wistfully wishing a character's visual design hadn't changed is not the same thing as asking a person IRL to hide their face. If you can't understand the difference between the two, I don't think I can help you.

Now we'll be seeing even more harassment, with the release of Ch 5. Toby knows what fandoms are like. He's demonstrated a deep familiarity with them. I can't imagine he isn't aware of what his mockery in-game is going to do to fandom. He's not responsible for other fans behaving badly, but he certainly could consider what the repercussions are for jokes made in his game about his fans. Jokes that, at this point, don't seem like tongue-in-cheek playful ribbing and are actually much more pointed and mean-spirited in nature.

I hope I'm wrong about them being mean-spirited. I really do hope so. But regardless, fans will still use it as fuel for the fire to attack others, sadly. Such is the way fandom drama goes.

And like, don't get me wrong. Not all Hat Ralsei fans have been cool, some have complained excessively and have been super rude! And that's not cool. I don't blame Toby for finding that annoying; I certainly would. But not all of us have been like that. And there's honestly a lot of Hat Ralsei fans. So I feel it's not fair at all to paint us all the same. As whiny, complaining bitches who don't understand Ralsei's story arc or don't want their friends to be themselves. That's absurd.

Me, personally? I think Toby is a great storyteller, a fantastic musician, and his games just keep getting more and more fun to play. But I don't like a lot of his character designs, aesthetically. And that's fine? I'm free to not vibe with some of his character designs. I always found Toriel, Asgore and Asriel's designs rather plain and uninteresting. Not horrible, just a bit dull to me. So yeah. I prefer Temmie's Ch 1 design for Ralsei. I really vibe with it, I think she really COOKED with it, I grew super fond of it and it made me happy.

That's all. Nothing more than that. I didn't go around constantly telling people my opinion. I didn't whine or complain. I reblogged cute Hat Ralsei fan art and made some game reskin mods with him. Mods I put a lot of time and love into. They were just for fun, not some attempt to erase canon or put others down. When I posted them I repeatedly made sure that was clear.

I dunno, man. I hope I'm just being paranoid and fans won't get really gross and toxic about this. I hope I'm wrong and that Toby isn't making these jokes because he truly believes all these really ridiculous things about those fans. 'Cause if he really does, that'd be pretty disappointing.

Please let it be that I'm just being paranoid!

EDIT TO ADD:

Been doing some more contemplating about all this. There are a few popular YouTubers and streamers I sometimes watch-- namely Markiplier and Jacksepticeye. And they both were driven away from playing Undertale/Deltarune because the fanbase kept annoying them en masse. Just badgering them constantly and leaving endless rude comments on videos or complaining how they were 'playing it wrong' or 'missing all this stuff.'

And I think it's time I finally admit . . . UTDR fans can be really fucking annoying. It left a real bitter taste in the mouth of Mark and Jack and they both refuse to touch the games anymore as a result. They say real rude things about the fans of those games too. And like, it's deeply unfair to paint all UTDR in that light since there's many who are not assholes and who are totally cool. But at the same time I do understand it. I really do. It's hard to be objective about things in that situation.

Toby's beef with hat fans is no doubt similar. I can only assume as much. A lot of people being super rude. And it's very hard to be objective in that situation and remember that there's still a lot of fans who are not being jerks. Who get caught in the crossfire, so to speak.

It sucks, but it's kinda understandable.

I'm gonna be real, even I have had some nasty experiences lately with UTDR fans. And I'm growing more and more tired of the more toxic aspects of the fandom by the day. Any large fandom has its share of jerks and its annoying people, and sometimes, curating your feeds can only do so much.

So. I'm gonna take a break from UTDR fandom. Because it's been wearing me down lately, and this whole mess bums me out too. I think it's healthy to take a break from something that's supposed to be fun but has ended up not being fun. Part of what makes fans turn into toxic fans is when they don't take a break in that scenario. Turns them bitter, ya know?