Sooner or later is an undertale fanfiction, based on the underfell AU, based on the mafia fell AU that started as a fanfiction that got adapted into a comic.
This contains spoilers and details about what happens in the story, so if you want to read the fanfiction or the comic don't read this.
it is subjectively the more problematic side of the fanfiction heterosexual cisgenderism rearing its ugly head making frisk a heterosexual cisgender assumably white passing woman. not that I have anything against heterosexual cisgender people, I just wish they would stop rubbing their agenda in my face. Even worse, she turns out to be a damsel in distress later on story - but let me not get ahead of myself about this hetero patriarchy shitshow!
In the beginning
Frisk is a talented singer in a mafia gang crime-riddled City. at this point in her life, she's lost a lot of friends and family, was in abusive relationship, had a miscarriage because of it, and abuse and death has been 90% of her adult life. But don't, because she's a strong independent woman who don't need no man.
She has money saved up, but that's for the obscure idea leaving, without the story expressing a destination or plan. Just bankrolls that could have been spent on a bus ticket and a new apartment a long time ago - buy real life standards. While that's going on, she's cussing out racists, and getting beat up by night club managers. No mention of feminism, even though that was obviously the thing back in the twenties.
Into the story's events, frisk seeds Sans and the mafia Don at the club where she singing that night, and they're stared each other for a little bit because of course he looks fucking weird, and she sings blows the mafia boss a kiss, and is like I need to get the fuck out of here. Except she's not; in the fanfiction, she expressed urgency and leaving the club before she it went down because of the attendance. In the comic, they took that urgency out.
the person who did the comic express some artistic license and putting in and leaving out details, but for some reason they didn't think it was a good idea to take out the story written narration that is necessary for a comic where you can see people's expressions and what's happening. And there are some things that aren't relevant in a setting where you can see them, like backstory for the most part. some things people can just guess why these things are happening, but there has to be an artistic way of expressing back story that isn't just narration, because that's boring and unnecessary.
Back to the events; she can't change clothes and get cleaned up fast enough for sans to be able to come into the women's bathroom, compliment her, get rejected, use his powers on her, and then slam her head up against the wall twice. someone fearing for their lives should have just thrown on their coat and bolted out of the door "slutty dress", makeup and all. And this was a really long time for no one to come into the bathroom. and the story has to throw in the time that first almost got raped in the bathroom, but someone came in, and then people came in and beat the guy almost to death. not to say that that doesn't happen, and rapists don't deserve to get beaten to death, but God damn this woman's life is horrible and it gets worse.
She somehow overcomes his powers when being accused of being a racist, and then he decides to be decent all the sudden, even though this is still taking place in a gendered bathroom, which has already been played up to be a big deal. He then later creeps her the fuck out by telling her he's been stalking her for a while - weeks, if not months. And then he's like JK, but for real I'm stalking you, now. so now she has to try to put her foot down, while living in fear of this dude knowing he has powers.
Then they address the brothers
Sans and Papyrus obviously have anger issues and they would kill everyone and blah blah blah. this takes place in the world where a w d gaster is alive, and he's their brother. He has a handle on him, they're afraid of him and how violent he can be with them and blah blah blah. Traumatizing violent troped for days blah blah blah. The birth order is WD, Sans, and Papyrus - with no clearly expressed age Gap.
At some point, it's hinted that asgore sexually abused either wingdings or Sans, I don't remember which one. Or maybe it was it sexual abuse, but that's how I interpreted it. And I think it sans that doesn't want to talk about their parents, so I don't know if the story will ever get around to what happened to them.
Sans and Papyrus are the two that are the most out and about, while wingdings does most of the background, megamind operation stuff. They've been building a reputation for years in fell, and have decided to expand to a human City. I don't know how or why that's happening. It sounds like there is no underground and they all exist on the surface but their population is mostly contained. And there is no barrier to keep monsters from coming into the human areas. I really don't understand it when stories take this angle, but there are some a use that are commonly known for stuff like this really the monsters can interact with humans at any time, but what about the war and stuff? Why aren't they living amongst humans normally if there's nothing keeping them isolated? but those are questions to address more with the fandom at-large.
Sans and Papyrus are the ones who bother frisk the most, even though they helped her out of some trouble sometimes, but there's kind of no reason for that trouble to exist. But Sans isn't straight up abusive stalker, who seems like he's doing all this because she's pretty and he wants to fuck her. On the subject of racism, "as a man of bone, I have a thing for skin" is something that Sans says to her very early on. That's racial fetishization, if we really want to talk about racism! But if only it were that simple, instead it's far more Insidious. He harasses her bosses and gets her fired from all her clothes, and has all her bills forwarded to him to pay them without her knowledge or consent. He wants a full time trophy that only depends on him for survival.
of course, she didn't ask for this, and this whole premise is really set up around some different type of form of holding her hostage in her own life. it's the constant cycle of trying to make amends after doing something horrible to piss her off after that for a while. But there's no attention put on how they're still forcing themselves on her without asking her how she feels about all this.
Where we last left off...
Of course, being the strong independent woman who don't need no man trope, she tries to get away from it by going to fell City. In this particular story of the alternate universe, underfell is a city, not a place inside of the mountain. She goes to sing at a club, and gets kidnapped by toriel and asgore because she looks like Chara. for some reason this happens with the assistance of grillby and a human who gets paid to lure people into fell City.
Mettaton, Alphys, and Undying are on asgore and toriel side. it's hinted that undyne had past relationships, most likely with Papyrus, but she pick outfits over him. That's how I interpreted it. also Burger pants and the nice cream guy are former lovers. Burgerpants got dragged into the bullshit with mettaton and isn't even allowed to see him anymore, and of course he's doing all that to try to achieve fame and fortune. His life is also 90% abuse.
Toriel becomes obsessed with frisk and wants to make her into a little child. Frisk is drugged and forced into a wheelchair, while being threatened by a score that if she misbehaves she'll be taken to a whorehouse to be viciously raped on a daily basis. But somehow that saves her, because he can't mutilate her too much for her to remain attractive at the warehouse. in contrast, toriel wants to mutilate her a lot to make her into a child. Two things that get pointed out is that they want to give her a mastectomy, removing her breast, and a hysterectomy, removing her reproductive system so she won't have menstruation. and she also has to put on makeup to make her look younger as well, and large ugly dresses to make her look smaller. "This is Tori's world; Everyone else is just allowed to live in it", a paraphrased quote by frisk im an assessment of the situation. she realizes she can get away with a lot as long as she doesn't upset toriel. this Frisk is by no means stupid, she's just always in a victimized roll.
at this point, the fanfiction isn't updated that much. It got one update earlier this year, but I think before that it was less than a huge gap. And now it's November, with another huge gap. Last I saw, the artist that was doing the comic was having money issues, and might have suffered from the Tumblr crash. I haven't been back on Tumblr since the announcement, so I don't know what's happened to those people.
something that I can say that is my heaviest criticism of the comic is that when you use narration alongside the art, you're talkin down to your audience. You're taking away their agency and being able to read the situation that they're looking at themselves. Comics don't need to be narrated in a way that written stories do, for what I would like to think is obvious reasons. For as great as the art is, I wish that better judgment had been applied on the translation from written to visual.
On the other hand, the writing isn't all that great either. Bringing up back story of arbitrary times is also pretty unnecessary. The writer had a hard time staying in the moment events, to set up backstory while the events were happening. and I think I've made it pretty clear that I disagree with the themeing and where the story is going. I didn't walk into this story knowing that it would be a damsel in distress situation. first takes as much agency as she can, to the writer's credit, but everything is very set up against her being able to get out of the situation on her own. And at the last part of the story, Sans was on the track to save her, but I don't see an interesting way that this would play out where Frisk doesn't end up owing her life to an abuser.
abuse is not funny, it's not cute, and it shouldn't be a redeemable concept Floyd. Even when he's not hitting her he's still abusing her by forcing himself into her space. and is she going to fucking leave? All questions that may never be answered.
I know you have to be a bad writer to become a good writer, and the same pretty much goes for anything else. I highly advise everyone to learn about racism, and different types of racism. Abuse, and different types of abuse. It can only be educational and beneficial for everyone to broaden their ideas beyond the over things that are presented to us in the mainstream Hollywood funded media. Shit is Insidious and in a wide variety!
That's all I have for now. Thank you for reading!
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