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profounddefendorcrusade-blog · 1 year ago

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Debunking the “Lancer is a little kid” belief

After years and years of not shipping anything (not in video games, movies, or TV shows), I finally came across a particular pairing in Toby Fox's "Delatrune" that immediately caught my attention. In case you're still guessing even after reading the title, I'm talking about Susie and Lancer here. Specifically, how Lancer is portrayed in the Delatrune fandom.

Now, what you're about to read is me being as objective as possible, but if you still see Lancer as a literal kid (even after the very last point, taken straight from the game itself), go on and believe what you want to. I mean, isn't that what works of fiction or supposed to be about? Letting our creativity flow and taking whatever we want to take from the actual work, so that we can interpret it in any way we want to? I won't even stop you from posting hate comments (they're inevitable). Just prepare yourselves for a reality check, folks.

Enough rambling. Let's get straight to the point. And that point is that whenever I went on the internet to look for fanart/fanfiction of these two, I could barely find any for one reason: 99% of the fandom saw the pairing as pedophilic. I must stop you all right there. Let's take a not-so-well-deserved break from my little discussion and look up the term 'pedophilia.'

In short, a pairing can’t be pedophilic if neither one of the characters is an adult. Or, if they're in a romantic, but non-sexual relationship. Like, you can call a couple with an age gap weird/gross all you want, but if it's not sexual, the term 'pedophilia' doesn't apply. That's my whole point. Except... Susie and Lancer are *peers.*

About Lancer's height. Saying that he's a child just because he's short is like saying Papyrus is much older than Sans just because Sans is short (heck, if you compare the heights, you'll see he's even shorter than Lancer, and yet Sans is an adult, and no one has ever questioned it).

Let's look at an actual example: Monster Kid/Teen. I found a picture containing them as a child (right) and teenager (left). See the difference? Okay.

Now, I did the same thing for Lancer, and... if he were a child, he'd look something like this:

If you look up an actual height comparison for every character in the game, you’ll see how Lancer and Monster Teen are the same height (Kris and Ralsei too as far as I can tell). Still not convinced? Let's look at Susie. Most people follow this logic: She is taller and, therefore, must be older than Lancer. To that, I say: she's a dinosaur-like monster; of course, she will be taller than the others. Who knows how tall she'll be as an adult? As for Lancer: his dad may be tall, but that doesn't automatically mean he will be as huge as him when he grows up. Nothing weird about that.

Now Let's look at Lancer's personality. He's an immature and spoiled prince, but for a good reason: he spent his entire life being treated as a baby/toddler/child before he met Susie. No wonder he lacks confidence, needs 'babysitters', and is terrible with directions. Lancer... doesn't know any better. He's never been told that he can be his own individual. He's never been told that he isn't useless. That he doesn't need protection. Remember when Lancer told Susie that he had never eaten the Dark Candy hanging way too high on the tree because he wasn't allowed to get it himself, and she decided to let him try it even though she was hungry? Or when he stated that he wasn't allowed to swear? Lancer was even surprised that the trio's "collective dad" "lets them" swear. I'm sure people growing up in a strict household would understand when I say how this doesn't explicitly have to do anything with Lancer's biological age, just his upbringing. And Susie trying to get (the word they used was not 'teach,' just 'get') him to swear more is similar to what some of my friends do sometimes when I'm too shy - get me out of my shell. That doesn't make me younger than I am. She teaches Ralsei sarcasm too in CH2, and I don't see anyone treating him like a little kid.

There's an interesting post about this here on Tumblr (https://at.tumblr.com/rainy-poppy/lancer-is-literally-a-child-why-are-you-shipping/d3kpxj3hpn1j). Basically, the person is saying that Susie, being the tough badass she is, wouldn't be hanging out with an actual child (despite calling him 'kid,' which I'll be getting to after this). Let's look at Anne and Sprig's friendship in Amphibia for a second since both of their ages are confirmed. She's 13. He's 10. The difference between Susie and Anne here is that Susie was a bully. Someone who was actually threatening, and not just a typical, friendly teenage girl like Anne. A bully like Susie would NOT willingly team up with a child. Instead, she'd say something like: "Whatever, kid. Scram!". Not only that, but she would not threaten to bite a child's face off, or beat him up (Lancer was literally the first person she actually beat up, according to what Monster Teen and Snowy tell us about never having seen her do it to anyone before), try to kill him twice (and almost succeed the second time), or call him 'man,' 'dude,' 'idiot,' and a 'wannabe tough guy.' And Lancer's face? I don't know if it's a joke. If it is, I'll ignore it, but if that's his actual face, then no. Him being a child is impossible. And considering that he has already made this particular face three times (once in CH1 and twice in CH2), I'm pretty sure it's canon. I can't get behind how someone could look at this face and think "That's a baby/toddler/little boy!" I seriously can't.

And it's not just that. We see that he and Susie made a literal game in which we (Kris) and Ralsei are supposed to ‘thrash our own ass’. I don’t know about you, but I highly doubt a child would have the mental capacity to contribute to the project or keep up with Susie in general. Additionally, Lancer shows an uncharacteristic level of maturity, ordering his troops to imprison us. Heck, they put him as the king of the entire Card Kingdom! Would they have put a 10-year-old on the throne? If they were smart, then no, of course not! Rouxls Kaard would have been in charge instead until Lancer was old enough. The comment one of the Rudinns made about him being their new king went something like: "We didn't know who to make our new king. Lancer's always been annoying, but seeing how nice he treats you guys, I think he'll be fine". There isn't a single mention of him not being old enough. The only canon information we have about Lancer’s age is that he isn’t old enough to ride a motorcycle, so he’s 15 max. Not an adult, but not a child either. And considering how the rest of the gang are teens, he is at least 13 (although, this is still too young imo).

Lancer understands the concept of death damn well; he just doesn't let it bother him. A child would scream, beg, cry, or run away in terror if someone threatened or tried to kill them, or become paralyzed from fear. He was even willing, no, EXPECTING to die during the Susie fight and said "Susie, you... you missed." He was willing to make this sacrifice just to keep her safe from his dad. The same guy who only used to care about being useful to King and making him proud (despite clarly having a soft heart) finally found something more imporant than proving himself, and that's having, being, and remaning a true friend to the end. This is both heartbreaking and beautiful. And from this one scene on, Lancer's remained 100% loyal to his friends, especially Susie (but also never had a single thought about leaving Kris and Ralsei behind).

A child like Monster Kid was clearly naive in UT. They said how they want to be like Undyne when they grow up (all Lancer said was how he wanted to be like Susie, without the "when I grow up" part). Not only that, but Monster Kid isn't even old enough to fight and needs Undyne to protect them, while Lancer is a skilled fighter compared to the rest of the Card Kingdom inhabitants (minus his father). Lancer, as immature as he sometimes is (and for a good reason, if we consider his upbringing), isn’t naive and clueless about the world. Bonus points for his jokes being not only silly but clever and sarcastic. He's like the perfect combo of Papyrus' goofiness and Sans' sarcasm. A child wouldn't be able to ride their bike as well as he does, think of such witty comebacks, or make up creative new words on the spot. A child would babble some stupid stuff, unfunny to teenagers. But Lancer's actually the only person who can make Susie laugh (besides herself).

Now, about this whole 'kid' talk. Lancer, I believe, called himself like this because he sees himself as a child despite being chronologically older. Why? As I said, because of his upbringing and (I think) because his father always saw him as incapable. And Susie addressing him as ‘kid’? It could mean a few things:

1) it was said as a way to mock him for his height, immaturity, or both, and as an addition to the comedy; it's not that deep

2) She thought that he was a kid, but Lancer explained to her that he wasn't when they started hanging out, which would explain why she didn't call him a kid ever again (and called him 'dude' and 'man' instead);

3) It's meant to imply Lancer is 1 or 2 years younger than Susie, but 3 years younger? I don't think so. More than 3? Definitely not.

*I think the first one is the most likely scenario considering she had called him a 'wannabe tough guy’ during their next encounter, while they were still enemies

I respect if you don't like/hate the ship because you see them as siblings, if you headcanon Susie as a lesbian, or if you ship her with someone else. I'm just sick and tired of this reasoning and not being able to enjoy the ship in peace because of people attacking it and its fans.

Edit: There are a lot of things I either forgot to mention, or want to discuss in more detail, so here they are:

-The reason the word 'kid' is repeated so often during our first encounter with him is because someone from the staff accidentally thought Lancer was much older than he really is based on the headcanon voice he gave him, so Toby decided to highlight that Lancer is a kid just like the rest of them (this was spoken of during the 6th anniversary of UT, there's a video on YouTube). Not only that, but Berdly calls himself 'the smart kid', and Susie says something like 'whether you're the smart kid or not, we couldn't care less (referring to Berdly)'. Basically, they're all still "children" (as Queen calls them) even though they're technically teens, and it's not like Lancer is an exception. Heck, Berdly asked: "Who's this guy?" And not "Who's this kid?" because we're already familiar from CH1 that Lancer isn't an adult, so there's no need to highlight it anymore

-Toby wanted to make 4 slots instead of 3 originally so Lancer could be a part of the gang and appear in the status menu, but figured that it would take too much work (from the stream). This proves that all 4 of them are equals; a child wouldn't be able to or allowed to fight alongside teenagers

-Speaking of my previous point, Lancer is a pretty skilled fighter (can throw a ton of spades), he's stronger than a lot of his people (his attack is 7) and also surpingly difficult to kill (during the fight with Susie)

-He acts a lot less stupid than most people give him credit for and is way more emotionally mature. Sure, he's silly for the sake of the comedy, but also clever and sarcastic. You can't convince me, based on his dialogue and interactions, that he acts like a little kid. Once again, I don't understand how those who had played Undertale are now pretending that they don't know Toby's humor is often exaggerated (like in Papyrus' case). It's not their first time seeing someone incompetent and purposefully goofy in his game

‐ If we look inside Lancer's room, we can see that it not only looks similar to Kris and Susie's, (who are, you know, teenagers), but there are also no "childish" things in there, such as toys, posters and action figures (Papyrus has them, and he's an adult). Also, he has a totally normal, spade-themed bed, while Papyrus, again, has one shaped like a car, yet somehow, Lancer is the one seen as a little kid. Sans reads Papyrus *bedtime stories* I repeat: *Sans reads Papyrus, an adult man, or an older teenager, bedtime stories.* NO ONE does this to Lancer.

-Whenever he and Susie interact, I always get the feeling that they're both on the same wavelength. To give an example of what I mean, I'll compare their dynamic to the one between Applejack and Apple Bloom from MLP:FiM. Even though AJ cares about her little sister, they each have their own friend groups. Saying Lancer is a little kid wouldn't make sense, considering how Susie has always treated him as her equal (heck, they even high-fived each other twice in CH2. If that isn't a sign of equality, I don't know what is). I never got the feeling that she was taking care of her "little brother," like a lot of fans seem to think. Even when she tried to save him from the maze, she got lost herself. I mean, who wouldn't do something like this if it meant helping a friend out? Not to mention the many stupid things they did TOGETHER (in the 6th-anniversary stream of UT, Toby stated how neither of the two knows anything about villainy), so it's not Lancer dragging Susie down with him

-This might sound like a nitpick but I think it's important: how Lancer addressed King as 'Father,' and also how King referred to him as a 'traitor'. A little kid would excitedly run up to their dad and say either "Dad!" or "Daddy!" And I highly doubt a kid would be referred to as a traitor

-Susie actually planned to bite his face off, and Ralsei didn't stop her. I'm sure as hell he wouldn't have let a young child get eaten like that. Also, Lancer called him his 'main man,' once again showing that they are similar in age. And if he were really a little kid, Lancer would have annoyed the living daylights out of Susie once they teamed up (ask her to play with him, ask a lot of questions and be overall annoying. Trust me, I've got younger cousins). But instead of that scenario, Susie says "We got bored, so we're having a snack" What does this mean? That Lancer did not act like an annoying little kid, simply because he isn't one. Don't even get me started on how people draw him, because holy hell, it seems to me that 1) most of the fandom is actually blind and doesn't see that he, Ralsei and Kris are all roughly 4 feet tall in the actual game or 2) they try to capture Lancer's childishness by drawing him as a toddler (except, the personality they give him isn't his real one in the first place, considering how he's never acted like a toddler once, so I really don't know what the point of drawing the poor guy like this even is)

-An argument I saw against Susie x Lancer was how "they've never acted romantic with each other" All I have to say in regards to that is how they've literally known each other for roughly 2 DAYS (+ Toby seems to want to make Suselle canon). I can't get behind how people think that love can blossom over such a short period of time. Not everyone believes in 'love at first sight,' and I'm one of those who don't. Crushes, yeah, but they are usually short-lived and always shallow. What we learn about Lancer is that he values sincerity and is very sincere himself (as we can see when Kris tries to compliment him twice) Plus, Susie never had any friends prior to Lancer, so jumping from friendship to romance just like that would be not only bad writing, but also unrealistic. The very reason I love Lancer is how there's no sudden romantic subplot linked to him, like Noelle's obsession with Susie and Ralsei's crush on Kris (I find both of these ships toxic as hell, but I don't want to talk about them here). Just to add something here: despite not moving any romantic subplot forward or being associated with one, Lancer isn't unfamiliar with the concept (as seen in CH2 when he calls himself handsome and admits to 'having fallen in love'). I honestly think that, much like Papyrus, Lancer isn't linked to any kind of romantic subplot simply because he's the comic relief, so it would affect the comedic part of his character

-Why is everyone complaining about this ship, but not a literal child (Frisk, who most people see as 8-12 years old), going on a date with an adult skeleton, Papyrus? (at least, people usually percieve him as a young adult, but he could also be a teenager) Either way, it isn't a small age gap. Also, why is Frans such a popular ship even though one character is a child (Frisk) and the other clearly an adult (Sans)? You could argue that Frisk's age hasn't been confirmed, and skeletons don't age because they're undead, but still, Papyrus and Sans were not introduced as, you know, skeleton boys, and yet somehow both ships are acceptable, but Susie x Lancer isn't? Not just that, but people age Frisk up when it comes to the Frans ship and there's far less hate for it than the ship that isn't even pedophilic?

-People are also totally fine with ships like Dipper x Wendy (Gravity Falls), Aang x Katara (ATLA), Toph x Sokka (also ATLA), Spike x Rarity (MLP:FiM), and such. There is a clear age gap in all of these pairings, but they're not seen as problematic in any way

-I bet that, if Ralsei had a childish personality, or literally any other character, they'd also be seen as a kid/toddler. Even a baby for some reason? I don't understand this. The way people perceive Lancer, when it comes to both height and personality, is completely different from how he acts in the game. Sure, he's loud, flamboyant and obnoxious, but also chill and sarcastic. And sure, Lancer does have the tendency to act dumber than average, but THAT'S THE POINT of a character who's a COMIC RELIEF

-"But King doesn't allow Lancer to say tier-two swear words!" Neither does Greg from Steven Universe, and Steven was 14. You know, a teenager. In case people are curious about which episode I'm talking about, it's "Beach City Drift". Basically, Greg doesn't allow Steven to say words like 'hate' and 'creep'. That's even worse than not allowing your teenage son (who is still a minor and therefore you still have authority over him) to say tier-two swear words!

-"Why does King make his people take care of Lancer if he isn't a little kid or allow him to eat from the Dark Candy tree?" To make sure he's acting like a proper prince and not the goofball he is deep down, if you ask me. And because he doesn't take the poor guy seriously. As for the Dark Candy; once again, eating sweets isn't considered 'princely' and, as I mentioned above, Lancer is still a minor, so King still has the authority to tell him what to do and punish him in whatever way he wants (having to take a shower every time he reads a swear word, possibly being starved, according to a few lines, and even being emotionally and physically abused). Emotionally, in the sense that King belittled him, made him feel worthless, ignored whatever Lancer had to say and used him in a manipulative way to achive his goal of serving the Knight (the first two points are guesses, while we saw the other two on screen). Physically, based on the fact that he becomes worried when he realizes his friends and his dad are gonna fight. I have no doubt that King was phyiscally violent towards him at least once, considering how terrified Lancer is. He knows what King is capable of because he himself experienced his wrath. I see Lancer's upbringing as that of a lonely, overprotected person, who's also royalty. There are a lot of examples of this type of upbringing, whether we're talking about real people or fictional characters (like Rapunzel, for example)

-Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender took over the Fire Nation at 16. This makes sense. I don't imagine Lancer being much younger when he took over the Card Kingdom

-"The reason why the guards obeyed Lancer when he told them to imprison Kris, Susie, and Ralsei is that King made them obey his every order!" Then why can Lancer make his own laws (+ he knows what the word means, which wouldn't be the case if he were too young) without asking RK for permission, and why do Lancer's people listen to him without complaining when he orders them not to attack/kill us at the beginning of CH2 (if we attacked the Darkeners in CH1)? King isn't in charge anymore, so it's not out of fear. They all clearly grew to respect Lancer and his authority. They wouldn't respect a child like this

-"In the stream, Toby said Lancer is a boy!" So what? We've got Ralsei, who people call 'fluffy boy,' and Susie, who's known as 'purple girl'. I bet Berdly and Noelle would also be known as 'bird boy' and 'reindeer girl'. Even Lancer refers to Kris, Ralsei, and Susie as 'boys or girls' In the same stream, when they got to the part where we first meet Lancer, someone said something along the lines of "Now it's time to replace the fluffy boy (Ralsei) with another boy (Lancer)" In other words, they're both referred to as boys and therefore must have similar ages. Yet SOMEHOW it's acceptable to ship Susie x Ralsei but not Susie x Lancer

-The Fun Gang (Kris, Susie, Ralsei, Lancer, Noelle, and probably Berdly too) is their friend group, right? It wouldn’t make sense for the five of them to be teens, and for Lancer to be the only one who’s a child. Deltarune is clearly a story about teenagers finding their place in the world

-King wouldn't have trusted a child with something as important to him as destroying Lightners

-The Jack of Spades (the card which Lancer represents) is associated with a young man, not a child

-The thing I absolutely can't stand is how people who headcanon Lancer as a little kid act like their headcanon is canon and somehow think that 'they're right while others 'are wrong'

-Him not understanding what a 'mom' is, if we really want to look too deep into this (which I doubt we should since Toby's characters are often comically exaggerated and act sillier than 'normal'), could have something to do with how Darkeners are created in the first place. We don't know anything about them if you think about it. Whether they are 'born' or not, or if they even age. Maybe everyone in the Dark World will always remain the way they are physically. We don't know yet

-Queen adopting him in order to take care of him makes sense, considering he is, you know, a minor. Saying he doesn't need a mother figure is like saying Kris doesn't need Toriel

-In the live stream I mentioned earlier, the team talked about Lancer's original concept art, and announced how he was originally going to ride a motorcycle (making him 16). I don't imagine that they'd age him down from 16 to, let's say, 10 years old ↓

-Another thing that might contribute to people seeing him as a "little kid" is his design. What I mean by this is how Lancer's "eyes" (if that face he made was canon and not just a meme) are not in alignment with the eyes of, let's say, Kris and Ralsei. I'm certain this has to do with his species (the spade he has for a head isn't a hoodie but a part of his body; I came to this conclusion after I saw how he can move the top part of his head up and down when he's happy/sad, kind of like what a dog does with its ears). And, let's imagine for a moment that the rest of the gang were the same species as Lancer; they'd all be the same height then, if we apply logic here. They'd also all be the same height if everyone were a human/goat/dino. In other words, Lancer is of completely average height for a spade. There's this logic going on in the fandom that, since Lancer isn't that tall + is goofy + isn't skinny, he's a little kid. But if he weren't chubby or immature, even if he remained on the shorter side, I 95% believe he'd be drawn normally, just like Kris is drawn

-I'm no good at math and numbers, but let's try to think logically once again. In Berdly's flashback, he and Noelle are seen participating in the spelling bee, making them 8 years old (that's the youngest kids can be in order to participate). In the present moment, they're roughly twice the size they used to be back then, right? That would make them around 15 or 16 currently, because 8+8=16. The exact same comparison can be linked to Lancer. When he was 8, he was shorter than he is now, as a teen ↓

-Also, here's a comparison of Monster Kid, Frisk, Sans, Lancer and Kris. It's clear, looking at the image below, that the first two are children, that Sans is a simply short adult, while the last two are teens ↓

-In the stream, Toby showed us some more concept art for Lancer. In this particular picture, we can see that he used Kris' height to design Lancer. Since we know Kris is a teenager, that must mean that Lancer is one too ↓

-Why does everyone think Lancer is younger than Susie? He could be older than her, but we don't know it, and probably never will because ages in UT were never canonized either

-"But Lancer looks up to Susie so he must be a lot younger!" I once again have to draw parallels between two fandoms. In Kung Fu Panda, Po looks up to Tigress even though they're on the same team and have similar ages. There's nothing weird about looking up to someone, whether they're older, younger, or the same age as you. Lancer idolizes Susie because she's tough, tall and physically strong (I repeat, it's all because of her species and NOT because she's older). Her age has nothing to do with her physical appearance

-Also, why do people think that when someone says 'I ship these two characters,' that automatically means they want them to do something sexual? Ships can be just romantic and sweet, you know?

-During the sleepover after chapter 2's pacifist route, Susie mentions how cool it would be if Ralsei and Lancer could come to visit the Light World and explains how Ralsei could be mistaken for Kris' cousin, as well as how Lancer would live under Kris' bed. Right after this, she excitedly says how all of them could walk to school together and be an unstoppable team. This is proof that all four of them are not only high schoolers, but also that the age gap between them isn't larger than 1 year (sophomores are between ages 15-16, so that would mean that Lancer (and probably Ralsei) is 15, while the other two are either 15 or 16). They must be sophomores because Catti has a job (Berdly too); you have to be 16, at least. Maybe 15. But definitely not younger than that. Again, no pedophilia here

-A little theory I have is that, in the end credits of the final chapter, we'll finally get to see Lancer riding a real motorcycle, but that's just what I'm hoping to see, and it may or may not age well. This would mean that he would have turned 16 by the end of the game

-Typical teeage behavior ↓

-And, most imporantly, THE TIME THE GAME ACTUALLY DEBUNKED IT. Now, I don't know how many people actually payed attention to this little moment (I found it on accident) ↓

Let's break this down into a few segments to understand it better: Lancer challenges Kris, Susie, and Ralsei to a race to their new rooms. Instead of saying "the last one there is a rotten egg," he, for the sake of the comedy and his unique speech pattern, says "the last one there is a fresh and fragrant egg" We can say that there is no deeper meaning behind this particular choice of words, but to me, a "fresh and fragrant egg" represents youth (adolescence).

Ralsei asks him why he's standing if they're supposed to be racing, and Lancer replies with: "I wanna be the egg!" According to my interpretation, he's trying to say how he wants to be "the loser," "the failure," "the underdog," or something similar. In other words, he wants to be the last/the worst.

Finally, he adds: "You won't get through your teen years without at least one Egg." Whether this is referring to how he wants to experience failure/ being the loser and finds it to be an important/essential part of growing up, or maybe there's some other meaning behind being an "Egg," it's clear as day now that he's a teenager. Any of them (Kris, Susie Ralsei, or Lancer) could have been "the egg" in this race if they had ended up last. We know that the other three are teens, and if Lancer is saying how he wants to experience being "the egg," and associates it as an essential part of being a teen, that means he's in the same boat as the others and is also a teen. "One Egg" is probably linked to failure as well, so if we translated the dialogue into a non-metaphorical one, it would go something like this:

"The last one there is a loser!"

"I wanna be the loser! You won't get through your teen years without being the loser at least once!"

So yeah, that's all the reasons why Lancer is NOT a little kid. Thanks to anyone who read all this. And if you're still gonna be a hater, then ok. Waste your time insulting random people on the internet and make them feel terrible about themselves for having an opinion (though, it's not even an opinion after the final point) about a work of fiction, instead of enjoying the things you want to enjoy and minding your own business

P.S. I may have forgotten to mention a few more arguments: 1) Lancer is strong enough to carry Susie's entire weight on his back/head; what little kid could do that? 2) Lancer's attacks are numerous and strong enough to make SUSIE, THE PHYSICALLY STRONGEST member of the team, FLINCH. 3) At the hospital, Rudy mentions something about Noelle playing a "children's" game, I think it was in ch2, gotta go check, but the point is, Rudy (and Queen, by calling them children a few times) considers these teenagers to be "children" Which honestly makes a lot of sense since they're all still under 18. 4) There is not a SINGLE "little kid" in this entire game. Let's see here... we have Kris, Ralsei, Susie, Noelle, Berdly, Temmie, Monster Teen, Snowy, Catti and Jockington... who are ALL 'big kids' (teenagers). And you're trying to tell me the only person who's 10 years old is Lancer?? Get outta here. 5) It makes sense that Deltarune is about teens. Why? Because it is supposed to be a 'more mature' game than Undertale. Teenagers go through all the stuff DT characters go through (family problems, depression, loneliness, crushes, feeling clueless about who you truly are etc.) Lancer has family problems, he used to be lonely, and he was completely misguided because of his dad. Typical teenage problems he's experiencing here. 6) I don't expect a kid who's 10 years old or less to be into motorcycles. That's logically a teen thing. Otherwise we'd see him ride normally on a bicycle with a helmet on, just wanting to play, like, you know, a child. 7) Oh yeah, and Toriel mentioned something about Susie being a bad influence on Kris, so there's that. Lancer and Noelle ("I wish I could do crazy stuff like you...") willingly look up to Susie, while Kris and Ralsei are unwillingly influenced by her (at least, Ral was). This is called *peer pressure* Because they're all teens. But Susie's dominant. So... yeah.

Anyway, I don't care what people ship. I'm fine if you hate susancer. It's not for everyone. What DOES piss me off so much though is the lack of respect Lancer gets, how he's treated as this "bouncy little pumpkin uwu" despite being one of, if not, the most useful character in the game plot-wise so far + a great comedic relief. I'm sick of him being drawn and treated as a toddler. So sick of it.

I get that the kids in the fandom still lack critical thinking, but older teens and adults, too?

In any case, I'm signing off for real this time. Thanks for reading.

#lancer #susie #susie x lancer #lancer x susie #deltarune #lancer deltarune #susie deltarune #character analysis #debunking

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ilyrouxls · 1 year ago

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Amusement Parks Have Rouxls Too

Rouxls Kaard x Reader

(Fluff, Gender-Neutral Reader, Not Canon AU idk, Y/n used)

Your sibling Kris forces you to join them with their friends and Rouxls to go to the Amusement Park. Chaos, failed flirting attempts, jealousy, and disaster oh my!

You awake early on this Saturday morning to grey clouds covering the city, and cold air nipping at the people outside. A morning like this called for a warm beverage and a pile of blankets. Settling for hot cocoa, you feel excited thinking about everything you won’t have to do today. You stir the packet of Cocoa mix into a warm glass of water. No college, no chores, no work, and no terrible coworkers. It’s only 10am, so you still have a lot of time to waste indulging in doing nothing. It’s perfect for the first day of Winter Break. Of course, until Kris had decided to text you.

“Y/n. come to the amusement park with us.’ So unspecific, per usual of your texts with Kris. They seemed to have a knack for never telling you the full details while at the same time also leaving you on read. Sipping on the steaming cocoa, you write back a response; ‘1. Lol. why? 2. Who is going? 3. Why??’ Kris is always a handful for you, but you love them to death. When you had decided to move out, you chose to not move far so that you could still see them easily. You're glad that you had chosen to do that considering after you moved out, Asriel soon did as well. Asriel is sadly much farther away than you, so Kris began taking the bus to see you. You appreciate it a lot more than you’d ever admit. You both weren’t really close when you were younger, so it’s nice that you’re closer nowadays.

‘Ralsei, Susie, Noelle, Berdly, Lancer, me. The usual. Rouxls is gonna be there too. Meet us at 11.’ You sigh, Kris didn’t even give you an option to not go. And now if you don’t show up you’ll look like an asshole. Damn it, they’ve got you cornered.

On the flip side, Rouxls will be there. Your feelings for him are… complicated. He’s annoying, obnoxious, and quite frankly outright irritating. But these traits are why you’re madly in love with him. If you look past the three previously named traits, he’s genuinely sweet and caring. Especially towards his adopted son Lancer, aka his lesser son. You don’t really know the story between them because you've never asked; it seemed too personal when you first met him and now it seems like it’s too late in the friendship to ask. Rouxls certainly is an interesting character, you can’t tell if he likes you or not. He always calls you a puny small worme or a peon, or other names along those lines.

You drink the last of your cocoa, wash the mug, and think of the pros and cons of going. Cons; Being in a crowded Amusement park, scary rollercoaster rides, tons of people, and annoying kids. Pros; The Fun Gang, hanging around Kris, an opportunity to romance Rouxls…….

‘I’ll get ready, see ya soon.’

Your face feels hot, this could actually work out if you play your kaards right. The amusement park is the perfect place for you two to get closer. It almost makes you giddy thinking about it. Correction, it actually does make you giddy. You smile as you go to shower and tidy yourself up.

Showering is easy but picking out an outfit is hard. You want to impress Rouxls by looking your best, but not too overdressed. You want to be comfy, but not under dressed... It’s an overly complicated process, but eventually you pick something to your liking. You pack a bag with a thin blanket, so you all can sit in the grass at lunch of course, and your wallet. Soon enough, you drive over to the amusement park, planning your ‘devious’ plan.

The local amusement park isn’t far from the city you live in, but it’s a little farther to get to from where Kris lives. Your parents, Toriel and Asgore of course, used to take the family during the Winter and Spring a lot. Asriel always wanted to play the games to earn prizes but Kris wanted to ride all the rides. So you guys always did both. Kris won all the prizes, but got forced to share against their will. Asriel would get sick from Roller Coasters, but still went on them so as to not ruin the fun. You never weren’t much into games at the time and were too scared to go on the rides. What you enjoyed the most was the atmosphere; sitting in the grass, enjoying your family's presence, and watching the sunset at night. But besides that, you liked cheering both of your siblings on! The good old days of youth. One thing that’s definitely changed is that you would totally play the games now.

Soon enough you arrive at the amusement park and you already feel your anxiety kick in. There’s a lot of people, scary rides, and Rouxls Kaard here. That’s a lot of things that are scary. ‘Where r u? I'm here’ You send Kris the text, and try to gain the balls to go out. You take a deep breath and get out with your bag and head toward the entrance. You feel a buzz in your pocket and pull out your phone to read what Kris said while you stand in line. ‘Already got entrance tickets, trying to buy tickets for rides and games atm.’ You smile, it’s been a bit since you’ve seen Kris. They honestly brighten your day when you see them.

Going up to the entrance to buy tickets, you see a skeleton snoring at the ticket booth. “Uhm… excuse me..” You say, hoping to get their attention. The skeleton stirs and looks up to you, but keeps their head in their arms. “Oh, hey-o. Wanna ticket or somethin’?” His voice was monotone yet he kept a tight grin on his face, a bit friendly but a bit unnerving at the same. You hope he’s actually an employee, but his attire wasn't exactly a uniform.

Blindly trusting the suspicious guy, you nod your head. You were similar to Kris, not one for conversation but more in a socially awkward way. You pull out your money and put it on the counter. You focus your gaze into the park while the worker, if he even is a worker at all, gets your ticket. There's a chance you just gave your money to a scammer. You look past the gates and there in the distance you can see the Fun Squad!

… Oh no.

The scene before you plays out like this; Kris and Susie are shaking the ticket machine, Ralsei is frantically trying to stop them, Berdly is standing a couple feet away trying to act like he doesn’t know them, Noelle is at a different ticket machine, Lancer is hanging onto the machine gleefully, and Rouxls defeatedly sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. Oh boy, today is gonna be a long day. “Know 'em?” The worker at the ticket booth asks you. You make a face, knowing the fate in store for you when you walk in, "Yeah." He hands you your ticket and you thank him before going in.

“Guys don’t go breaking the ticket machine please... We just got here, we can't get kicked out yet!” You say, walking up to the group. “Ah! Finally, the assistance has arivedetheth.” Rouxls stands up and exclaims exasperatedly; it seems like he already tried to stop Kris and Susie. Kris and Susie stop shaking the machine and Kris runs up to you, giving you the biggest hug. Smiling, you hug back and ask, “So, what’s the issue with the ticket machine?”

Susie rolls her eyes and walks over to you. “We thought if we shook it hard enough the tickets would come flying out and we would save our money.” You can’t help but laugh a little because that makes sense now. "Don't worry, I got enough tickets for everyone while you guys were... doing what you did." Noelle says, tickets in hand. Seems like she was the only one with a brain. She hands out tickets to everyone, what a saint she is. As the Fun Gang begins to move towards the rides they desire, you fall a little back to walk with Rouxls. For no particular reason of course. “So, what made you want to tag along Rouxls?” You imagine the reason was probably that he wanted to watch Lancer, but you still ask regardless just so you have something to talk about. “Well, I wasn’t planning on attending, but I heardeth thou were going to be here and decidetheth to join along to so thou shall not be watching these little worms alone.” You don’t know whether to feel flattered that he cares for your well-being or offended for calling them worms. It makes you wonder whether Kris asked Rouxls to come by pretending you were already going, and vice-versa for yourself. What a trickster they are, if it was purposeful. “Aw, that’s sweet of you to tag along for me. Thank you, I appreciate it. The kids aren’t worms though.” You giggle, looking at your feet instead of him. He chuckles in response and you both walk in silence.

Soon enough the kids found the first roller coaster they wanted to ride on. The start of your master plan began to set in motion, or so you were hoping. You wanted to pull a few super smooth moves on Rouxls, but you were, conveniently, inconvenienced every time you tried. The first inconvenience was when you tried to ask Rouxls to get on the rollercoaster in the same cart as you. But he declined, saying something along the lines of rollercoasters was for worms and that he would never. The look on his face gave it away though, he was scared of them. So you were you so it was kind of a good thing. Instead you decided to join him watching the kids ride their rollercoaster. You were excited to get alone time with Rouxls until your second inconvenience happened. Ralsei wasn't able to handle the roller coaster and the poor little guy got sick, so he sat with you both for the rest of the rides. It reminded you of when Asriel got sick from roller coasters all the time when you were kids. You did feel bad for Ralsei, but you were also secretly cursing him for accidentally ruining your alone time.

After the last ride ends and everyone gets off the ride, you ask, “Okay everyone, are we getting hungry?” You get a collection of answers such as, “Hell yeah!” and, “Yes please.” Pretty obvious who those two answers came from. Kris takes the lead and shows everyone the way to the food and snack portion of the park. The stands around you smell delicious and the food looks great, but you can only think of one thing. Cotton candy. It’s been years since you’ve had authentic amusement park cotton candy, and it was the only food on your mind.

Seeing the stand in the distance, you start to veer away from the group with it being the only thing on your mind. “Huh? Y/n, where are you going?” Noelle's voice calls out from behind you, and you point at the booth. Heading over to it, you notice the man running the stand is the previous man from the entrance ticket booth.

“I thought you worked at the ticket booth?” You ask him when you get to the front of the line. The guy looks up and his grin seemingly gets wider. “Ha, I s’pose I multitask. It’s a skele-ton of work though.” He winks, and you can’t help but laugh a little at the pun but also cringe at it. “Oh I bet, sounds like you get worked down to the bone.” He snorts at equally cringey pun while you hand him the money, and he starts making your cotton candy. “Didn't read you as the type to like puns.” You look at him a bit confused. “Are you a professional at knowing whether someone likes puns or not?” He chuckles, "Perhaps." You roll your eyes and laugh. He hands you your cotton candy and you turn to walk back to the group.

After you turn around, you notice all the kids are playing tag on an empty grass hill nearby. Rouxls is standing nearby but instead of watching them, he's watching you. When your gaze meets his, he turns and watches the kids. You could imagine it but it seemed weird that he was watching you, his face looks a bit angry too. Was he mad that... you got cotton candy? Maybe he wanted some too. Putting that aside, you walk back to the group. The kids are all playing a seemingly intense game of tag, but it looks like they got themselves some snacks and put it in a pile nearby. You walk toward Rouxls and say, “Sorry about that, it took a little bit. I’ve got a blanket for us all to sit on.” He doesn't say anything, but you set your bag down and grab the blanket you packed and lay it on the ground. Rouxls sits on one end while you sit on the other, eating a bit of your cotton candy. Awkward silence ensues.

…

“So, did thou know the man at that stand? Thee both seemedeth.. uhm.. quiteth friendly.” The question broke the silence but didn't make any sense. “Oh, no not really. He was also the guy running the ticket stand. Kinda weird to be running both areas right? He was also making some cheesy puns.” Rouxls makes a hm sound in reply, leaving you with more questions than answers. Rouxls' weird attitude made it seemed like he could be jealous of the way you acted with the ticker stand slash food stand worker. But that's too cliche to be true, right?

You want to break the tension but you’re not sure how to with the way he's shut your previous conversation down. Staring at the yummy sugary treat you hold in your hand, an idea sparks to life in that brain of yours. Slowly, and hopefully not noticeably, you scoot your way closer to Rouxls. In a matter of seconds you’re so close that the both of you are almost touching arms. He doesn’t seem to notice thankfully, he’s staring at the kids but it seems like he’s actually spacing out. “Have you ever had cotton candy before, Rouxls?” You ask, finally breaking the silence. He jumps at your voice and turns to you in a surprised manner. He was definitely spacing out based on the slightly shocked expression he holds. “A-Ah, I didn’t realize you- thou got so.. close. No, I hath never had whatever thou speak of. He almost broke his façade but he picked it back up quickly... you always knew he probably exaggerated or faked his way of speaking. You smile and push the cotton candy close to his face and say, “It’s called ‘cotton candy’, and you should try some! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, basically it’s sugar that gets heated up into liquid and then spun into this like uh, soft cloud threads? I’m not sure how to describe it but you should try it.”

His cheeks flush a dark blue in a way that makes it seem like he could be blushing, but you’re not sure. “Are you sure? Isn’t it yours?” You nod your head, and he hesitates for a second but then he takes a surprisingly good sized bite out of the cotton candy and his eyes light up in delight. “Mm, tch-at is pretty, mm, good.” He mumbles, mouth full of cotton candy. You can’t help but giggle at his cute behavior. He glares at you, but it seems playful enough that you don’t mind. You pull the cotton candy back to you and take a bite, then bring it back to him to eat. From an outside perspective it probably seems like you two are a couple. You don’t mind at all, you hope he doesn’t mind either.

The kids finally tire out and join you both on the blanket to eat their lunch. You all share some laughs, and before long lunch passes by and the real fun begins. Susie suggests you go to the arcade, and of course you all agree. When you get there, Berdly loudly exclaims, "We should do a competition to see who is the best overall gamer! I know you all know I am undoubtedly the best, but I'm sure you're all eager to try to beat me." Ignoring his gloating for a second, that actually sounds pretty fun. "Sure, can I go against you first?" You ask him, you can't wait to kick this kid's ass. Berdly smirks and picks out some random shooter game. The others begin to pick out their competition and go to other games. While you get ready to start your epic match against Berdly, Rouxls walks over to you. "I am admittedethly not good with video games, so I wisheth thee luck on winning. I have no doubth that thou shall win." Even though you were sure he was just being nice, your heart can't help but flutter that he went out of his way to wish you luck. You played against Berdly a few times, and let's just say you won by a long shot. Even though Rouxls said he wasn't good at video games, you managed to get him to play a couple of games with you. He did pretty well for his first time, only struggling every once in a while. Then Kris joined in and basically annihilated everyone. They always did have a knack for games, always winning while barely putting in effort to it. These events have led up to now, where you’re all surrounding Kris and Susie, the last competitor against Kris. They’re playing Dance Dance Revolution and both of them are trying their hardest to win. Who knew Susie was this good at dancing, she was really holding out against Kris. Everyone was cheering for who they thought was going to win. You could hear Noelle cheering for Susie the loudest though, how cute.

The song was just about to end with Susie winning when suddenly she missed a note. The game flashed with a finish sign and showed their scores. Kris won by barely a smidge of points. “GODDAMN IT KRIS, I WAS ABOUT TO WIN!” Susie exclaims and in a fit of rage punched the screen, smashing it. Everyone stands in shock and you hear someone shout, “Hey! What do you think you're doing!” Looking to where you heard the shout, you see a guy who looks to be the manager and a couple security guards running towards you all quickly. In a rush of panic you yell, “RUN AND HIDE!!”

You all run out of the arcade, scrambling in different directions to hide on various attractions. You pause in the middle of a crowd outside the arcade unsure where to go, when a hand grabs yours and drags you along with them. Startled, you look and see Rouxls is the one who grabbed you. You both run towards the nearest ride to hide, the Ferris wheel. The worker, obviously clueless to the previous arcade incident, lets you into the box and starts the ride up. You take a seat to catch your breath.

Rouxls sits next to you, in the same state as you. “That was quiteth… hah.. an exciting and scary predicamenteth.” You nod your head feverishly in agreement. Pulling out your phone, you send a quick text to Kris informing them that Rouxls and you escaped to the Ferris wheel and that everyone should meet up in 10-15 minutes at the front. You know it's a bit annoying that you all have to hide out for that long, but it's better safe than sorry in case the guards go to the gate now. They don't text back yet, and you hope they're okay along with everyone else.

Suddenly, realization hits you in the face. Rouxls and you are alone. In a Ferris wheel. By yourselves. Alone. Did you mention alone? Your face warms up and your body starts to feel uncomfortably sweaty. Even though you were trying to woo him from the start and this is the perfect place. But now that it's happening with no interruptions this time, it's making your body feel like it wants to collapse and yet always throw yourself out of the window. You feel too scared to make a move so instead you decide to look out the window. You didn’t realize how long you all were playing arcade games until you looked, the sun is already setting behind the clouds. It was beautiful, it had already passed the orangey stage and was now in the darker stages. Dark purples, pinks, and light blues painted the sky. Some stars even started showing up.

“Rouxls! Look at the sunset, it’s beautiful right now.” You lean back into your seat to allow Rouxls to see the sunset from your window. Instead of looking from where he was sitting next to you, he scoots closer and leans over you to see the sunset. He stretches out his arm putting his hand on your thigh and his other hand on your shoulder to steady himself. His face lights up looking at the sky, and he smiles peacefully. You blush and oh my god do you want to kiss him right there and then, but you don’t want to interrupt the moment. He looks absolutely stunning in the lighting, the sun dimly reflecting against him, enhancing his features perfectly and making his hair look angelic. You try not to stare but you can’t help it.

Rouxls turns his head away from the sunset and instead looks at you. Your eyes meet and slowly Rouxls leans closer to you. He’s so close you can feel his shaky breaths against your face. To say you were freaking out in your head was an understatement, your thoughts were running a million miles a minute. You’ve been wanting to kiss him for months now, and it felt like it was about to happen. You want to make the move, but you feel frozen staring into his eyes. Rouxls makes the first move, and finally seals the gap and kisses you. It takes a moment, but you reciprocate the kiss and put your arms around his neck while he moves his hand from your shoulder up to hold your face. His lips feel soft and taste sweet, the flavor of cotton candy still lingering on his lips even after all this time. You both pull apart and you feel a little winded. “I apl- aplogizeth for not asking to kiss thou.. I couldn’th help myself.” Rouxls trips up a little on his words, but you understood what he said. “It’s okay, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for months- I mean it’s okay yeah don’t worry. Don't think about what I just said.” You accidentally overshare that little tidbit of info and try to laugh it off nervously. Rouxls smiles and kisses your cheek, which reassures you that he didn’t mind.

A minute or two passes, and Ferris wheel finally brings you both to the bottom to get off. Rouxls stands up and holds out his hand gentlemanly for you. You take his hand and hold it tightly, and he leads you off the Ferris wheel. With your free hand, you take out your phone and see Kris has texted a few times updating the situation.

‘Okay, I got stuck in a ball pit. A security guard is near me.’ (8:21pm) ‘The security guard just walked past me.’ (8:28pm) ‘THE SECURITY GUARD ALMOST SAW ME’ (8:34pm) ‘IM RUNING RNW OMG HE IS RUNIGB AFTER ME I WILL HAVE TO’ (8:35pm) ‘Sorry for the typos and not finishing my sentence. I’m safe now, we’re all here at the entrance except Rouxls and you.’ (8:39pm) ‘We’re leaving without you two with mom. If I see that you're both in the news for getting arrested, we aren’t gonna bail you out lol. And I'll print out your mugshot and hang it up in the house.’ (8:45pm).

You can’t help but laugh at the series of texts Kris sent. You update them that you’re okay and that Rouxls and you got stuck on the Ferris wheel. You shiver, now that the adrenaline is gone you realize how cold the night has gotten. Rouxls looks at you at you concerned and you say, "Sorry, don't worry. I'm just a little cold." He smiles and replies, "Ah, I see. It does seemeth to have gotten quite cold from when we hadth first arrivedeth. If you are cold dear, then taketh my coat." Rouxls lets go of your hand and takes off his coat, handing it to you. Although flustered, you take it gratefully and put it on. The coat is warm since he had been just wearing it, and is stops you're shivers in a matter of seconds, the jacket was a bit big on you but you didn’t care. You grab his hand again, already missing the feeling of it. “Thank you for the jacket, you’re never getting it back ever again. The kids left with my mom, so it’s just you and me. We better get to the parking lot quickly before security recognizes us.” You tell him and the both of you speed walk and get to the parking lot quickly. As you approach your car Rouxls suddenly stops. “Are you okay? What’s up?” You ask concerned, still holding his hand. “Uhm.. I just realizedth that thy mother took me here with Lancer, it was convenienth at the time to not take two cars...”

…

“Oh.”

“Luckily Lancer is with them. I think they’re all going to have a sleepover, I heard them mention it earlier at lunch.” You say and Rouxls sighs in relief that Lancer will be okay. While wondering how Rouxls will get home, a thought crosses your mind. You tug on his hand to get his attention, “Hey, wanna have a sleepover of our own? You can stay at my apartment for the night and then in the morning I can take you to pick up Lancer and take you both home.” Your face heats up, while your offer is meant to be innocent, your thoughts can’t help but imagine some not so innocent scenarios.

Rouxls looks surprised by your offer and you hope you didn’t over step. “I mean of- of course you don't have to, I can just take you home instead and then you can do your own things. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable-“ Rouxls cuts off your rambling by squeezing your hand reassuringly. You stop and look at him, and he leans down to kiss your cheek. “Don’t fret dear, I would love to stayeth over at thy home.” You smile, happy that he wasn’t offended and happy that he actually accepted your offer. You turn toward your car and you pull him close, walking hand in hand together.

“Alright then, let’s go!”

(Orginally posted on AO3 9-12-22, 4551 words)

(Based off of a dream I had January 2022. In the dream I had, instead of sharing cotton candy it was a bowl of white rice and I was feeding it to Rouxls. Just plain white rice. Not on a grassy hill, no no no we were just below the Ferris wheel on the concrete for no reason. Then Kris, Susie, and Ralsei come over and get all mad that we were sitting and eating because we were supposed to be in the arcade playing games. So yeah that dream inspired this lol)

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