#yellowface kris

[susielesbianism]

In hindsight I don’t know how we ever feared something terrible would happen after Kris ripped the SOUL out

[ID: A cropped screenshot of Deltarune. Kris stands on the carpet of their room, their back toward the camera. They have a knife in their outstretched left arm and are looking back with red glowing eyes and a violent, bare-toothed grin. End ID]

This is EXACTLY the face of a kid who’s about to eat all the fucking pie

[divine-buster]

this has been in my drafts for over a year but:

i have heard people say that sans deltarune saying tomorrow 'may be in 1 day or maybe another 2 years' means that he has some sort of awareness of the timeline or knows that its a game or whatnot. however they are entirely forgetting about something

[ID: a screenshot from deltarune chapter 2. outside alphys's classroom, susie shakes kris's shoulders, saying "Just waiting for today felt like... years!!" / end I.D.]

WHERE are my far fetched susie theories!

[teammateswap-au]

This account was getting a little TOOOOO empty so here’s a redraw that I will probably use for everything!!!

✦ NEW TO TEAMMATESWAP? ✦

old version under the cut (// yellowface kris)

Yeah the designs didn’t change a lot LMAOOOO

[papyrusweekblog]

Papyrus week! April 16 – April 22

 (ID: Image of one of Undertale’s official stickers. Papyrus is smiling and happily crying, trying to dry off his tears with a tissue. There are letters above him that read, in all caps, “You’re nice!! You’re too nice!!”  / end ID)

Greetings! This is the first time I ever prepare an event, so trust me I will not be any good at it, but I really love Papyrus and I’ve always wanted to participate in a week appreciation about him, so I might as well make one myself!

The tag for this event will be #papyrusweek2023 and it will start on April 16 and end on April 22

 Read more for all the information:

 Rules:

-This event is for Undertale Papyrus, you can include your own version of Deltarune Papyrus too, but I would prefer the focus wasn't on AUs. However, Papyrus redesigns or human versions of the character are the exception, absolutely post these if you want!

-I want to keep this event sfw, please don't post any suggestive or nsfw content in the papyrus week tag

-Please I ask that you do not draw yellowface Frisk and/or Kris if you include either of them

-No misgendering of characters, not any erasure of characters’s canon identities, no bigotry or hate of any kind

-If you make content about the no mercy run or a couple of neutral runs do tag it properly, it can be upsetting to see for some people

-Of course, inc*st and p*dophilia are not allowed, get out of here. Yes, this includes Frisk and Chara, they are children. This includes Flowey too, there is debate on how old he is but he very clearly behaves like a child, and whether you agree or not I do NOT want to see him being shipped with Papyrus, keep that content out of this event

-While I didn't include a 'ship' day you can absolutely draw ship content, Papyton is allowed here or any other ship (that is normal and doesn’t involve inc*st or p*dophilia. I would prefer to not see selfcest either)

-You can pretty much do anything: drawings, fics, character analyses, videos, music, etc. Have fun!

  ------------------------------------

 Days:

April 16, day 1: Hobbies and Jobs

Let's start with an easy one: Papyrus's interest in puzzles, cooking and the royal guard! Papyrus cares deeply about anything he is interested in, even beyond the examples I just mentioned (being cool online, cars, etc). There is even a possibility for him to be The Monster Ambassador! Lots of things to choose, pick whichever you want!

  April 17, day 2: Battles

You're blue now, that's his attack. Papyrus's fight is really interesting isn't it? He has so many cool attacks, he's the only monster able to not kill you, and he might be incredibly strong...? It's a shame we couldn't see his special blaster attack, but if you want you want, you could show us! Or maybe even more interesting ideas for different Papyrus battles! Or simply appreciate the one we have and listen to Bonetrousle all day

  April 18, day 3: Family

Papyrus has a really cool brother, not as cool as he is but still pretty great. Some say he might also have a mysterious scientist dad/grand father/brother.....? We don't know much but that sounds pretty great too!

  April 19, day 4: Friendship

Papyrus wants to be popular, popular, popular! But perhaps what's most important is the friends that care about you for who you really are. And luckily, Papyrus has found friends like that along the way!

  April 20, day 5: Give up giving up

Papyrus is a character that has been very misunderstood in the past, from being reduced to a comic relief to being seen as nothing but an innocent naive character. But Papyrus is a very complex character: he has insecurities, he has flaws, he believes in kindness no matter what, and there are just a lot of things we don't know about him. For some reason we haven't seen him in Deltarune yet...? While we wait for him, let's show everyone how interesting Papyrus is!

  April 21, day 6: Free day

Make whatever content you want! Headcanons, fun ideas that you want to share, ships, post-game stuff, etc. Impress Papyrus with your creativity

  April 22, day 7: Papyrus

We have focused on everything that revolves Papyrus, now it's time for Papyrus himself! What do you love about this character? Do you think he is cool? Let's show Papyrus how many fans he really has

  ----------------------------------------

 And that’s all! I apologize for being very new at this but I’ll try my best. Most importantly, if you decide to participate even if it’s just for one day, thank you and have fun!

[greggorylee]

Do you have a screenshot of his responses? Also what year was this?

context

its not the entire emails since there are parts not relevant, like me mentioning unrelated things or complimenting him, etc. the 2nd point i brought up to him but omitted was about the weebish elements of the game that my korean sibling expressed distaste with, and toby seemed receptive to.

my email:

"On Fri, Sep 16, 2016 at 4:33 AM

Hey there Toby,

Another Tobi here. I'd like to start off by congratulating you on the 1 year anniversary of your truly incredible game. It changed mine and many, many other's lives. However, it hasn't been all for the good.

I simply wanted to address the matter of some decisions you made in creating the game that have expanded in the fanbase and, well, have hurt and are hurting many people."

"-- Firstly, I have no idea what design choices led you to create Frisk's sprite in such a manner, or whether or not you did this purposefully, but they are (intentionally or not) a harmful stereotype of east asians called yellowface. Which is...very, extremely racist. This has been spoken about by east asian people for a long, long time."

"-- Thirdly, and this may seem small, but the incest joke. Incest is a very real and damaging thing and should not be taken lightly. It's rather insensitive to joke about the situations that have caused people (mostly children) severe trauma. Similar to joking about rape. You just don't do it.

I bring these things up because your decisions affect others. Is that not what Undertale is about? The effect of your decisions? Unfortunately the effect that yours have made within the fanbase are quite damaging.

Because Frisk's sprite is the way it is, hundreds of either ignorant/uneducated or young artists are now drawing yellowface. This is horribly harmful and spreading a racist stereotype."

"I'm not trying to hold you accountable for all the harmful behaviors the Undertale fabase make... By no means would that be fair. I just want you to understand that your choices made a ripple effect, and when people are hurt by this and speak up about it, it's important to not, you know, absolutely dismiss them."

toby's response:

"From: Undertale . <undertalegame@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, September 16, 2016 6:01:40 AM

1. This was not my intention. In order to make the character design less "normal," I gave them yellow skin like in "The Simpsons." Also, by making the skin color unrealistic, allows fans to have more of an interpretation regarding how to draw it.

In the future, if I make more media, I definitely won't create a character design like this. My apologies."

(i find this last sentence interesting since kris is also yellow skinned and it felt like toby just hid their eyes to avoid controversy?)

"3. Huh? There was no incest joke in the game? OK, seriously, what the hell are you talking about? Please link me to whatever you are talking about. That would be a real issue.

Regarding the tweet, it's real, but I made it in poor taste 3 years ago and deleted it. I definitely would not have made it even 2 years ago and am sorry if I offended anyone with it. I have definitely changed since then and would never make a tweet like that now."

(the tweet in question is an old tweet Toby made joking about fontcest. i also find toby's first reply interesting because he seems to have forgotten about the incest joke written between dogamy and dogaressa post-pacifist. i dont blame him after writing thousands of lines of dialogue, however, when i replied providing him evidence of the "real issue" and asked if he could consider removing it, he did not reply nor address it anywhere else. it makes the claim that he's changed past thinking incest is funny seem less genuine.)

my reply (that was ignored):

[ screenshot attachments of the dogi incest joke, email sent 9/20/2016 ]

"1. I very well understand what you mean by the intent behind Frisk's character sprite. Specifically it was the skin color and the shape of the eyes that just unfortunately happened to align with a stereotype, and I'm very glad you understand that."

"3. I included screenshots of the jokes. When one of the Dogi mention that being married to one's sister is normal for dogs. I'm sorry if it seems nitpicking, and I know that the joke was likely just a joke about how dogs are prone to incest, but it was still in basics a joke with incest as the punchline. I did not try to scare you by the mention of the attempted suicide. The person's alive and okay, my only intention was to provide an example of how serious incest will affect survivors. Perhaps that wasn't the best example to use, and I'm terribly sorry. Again I wasn't trying to imply anything was your fault, just that incest is not an appropriate thing to take lightly, that's all.

About the tweet; it's good to hear, thank you for addressing that. I've definitely said my fair share of tasteless things in the past that I've also grown from."

"The only thing I ask is that perhaps if you were able, if you could address some of these issues publicly. I'm not trying to pressure you, but I really do think it could make a difference in the behavior of the fanbase. Many, MANY people consider your word as law, and I understand that might be overwhelming, but if you mentioned that Frisk's sprite wasn't meant to be a stereotype and that incest shouldn't be glorified or joked about, etc, it could change some people's minds for the better. For example, a friend of mine who's an incest survivor has to deal with a lot of Undertale fans who create incest content -- he's had to block at least 2,000 people, and that list is growing because more and more are put in public tags on tumblr which put him and other survivors at risk, he's gotten endless attacks and death threats and hate messages for saying "incest porn is bad", and this is a struggle he deals with daily. A lot of those people won't change, but with your word some might, and it would at least give us leverage when arguing for the safety of others."

"And again I'm not trying to imply any of this nasty behavior is your fault. It seems that you really didn't have any idea, and I'm REALLY sorry to have to bring up the ugly side of your fanbase, I know it's an unfun and uncomfortable time, but the unfortunate truth is that fiction affects reality and how people treat each other, which you've found from the messages you say you've gotten from people saying Undertale has inspired them and made them try to act nicer. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm making an unreasonable demand, I just thought it wouldn't hurt to give that idea a shot. You'd be surprised how much difference your word could make."

"Thank you once again for listening, it really does honestly mean the world. Your game really did touch my life--and that's the reason I was ever compelled to email you. I am certain that you only meant good and fun when you made the game, and I hope it hasn't seemed like I was accusing you of intentional bigotry. I simply wanted a chance to offer insight so that an artist like yourself can go on to create art that has less and less harmful content, because hey, we all have to comb that stuff out of our own art and mindsets. We're kindof raised on bigoted stuff, so we all gotta grow from it, and we all sometimes need to be made aware of ourselves. I hope that all makes sense, I do hope you understand, and that nothing came off weirdly."

... and that's where i was left, 6 years ago or so. i cannot for the life of me find his follow up email claiming how he didnt want his work to come off racist, but its clear in my memory when mentioning it to friends at the time.

personally i dont think toby is a horrible person or whatever, like i mentioned in my first post i think he just simply doesnt want to face the results of taking public responsibility for the problems in his own game, or even backlash in response to him denouncing parts of the fanbase, etc. but like i also mentioned, it's cowardly to to nothing at all about things you're very aware about. i just feel like if he really was concerned about what i brought to his attention, something wouldve been done in the past half decade. not that he owes me or any of us anything personally, but i just find it disappointing all the same after being given the impression that our feelings and safety matter

[dogcasino]

Hey there I'm genuinely wondering why "yellow face frisk/kris" is a problem? As an Asian person I'm just happy protagonists are heavily implied as Asian in games and in fan arts

I don't see what's the issue here can you explain what you mean

hi! i'm really happy to explain my thoughts but before that i do want to say i am white and i do not want to tell you how to feel about this. if you still feel happy or take away a positive perspective from this, that's great! my perspective is based on what other asian people have said on the subject as well as what i know of historical racism against asian people and how that has manifested in art (specifically in the US, where undertale was made).

so firstly, i don't actually think frisk or kris were Intended to be asian by toby and i think it would be fairly upsetting with how their current designs are if they were. in my understanding, their designs resembling yellowface caricatures was an unfortunate coincidence, which was pointed out by fans with the hopes that there would be some form of course correction or acknowledgement that making a character with bright yellow skin, a brown bowlcut, and squinted eyes is, not ideal. instead, the design motifs (barring the eyes) were repeated in deltarune. people take issue with them because yellowface historically has not been used to represent asian people with kind intentions- i bring up US history because when i think of yellowface some prominent examples i think of are anti-japanese propaganda from WWII which led to the establishment of concentration camps for japanese americans and art in support of the chinese exclusion act targeting chinese immigrant laborers to keep them from being able to work in the US. both of these had real, horrible impacts on asian americans and the depictions of asian americans in art during these eras were reflections of the intentions to do harm to and dehumanize asian americans. because of the harmful past of these caricatures, i feel like many don't see kris and frisk's resemblance to them to be representation, but instead a hurtful accident that intentionally or not references a visual tool that has been used to harm asian people in the past and present on a political scale.

i think it would be amazing for frisk and kris to be asian but i think there would have been a better way to accomplish that than giving them unnatural skintones and making them resemble these caricatures. i don't intend to strip any potential asian identity from them by asking that people in the safeutdr tag draw them in natural skintones, and i believe many people do actually draw them as asian in the tag! i would also like to invite anyone else with thoughts on the matter to chime in, especially anyone who is also asian like anon. this is worth talking about and the last thing i want to do is say "i'm right so shut up" haha.

[mar64ds]

what does the tag “safeutdr” mean?

it's a tag created for people that want to see undertale/deltarune content but don't want to see misgendering of characters, yellowface frisk/kris, gross ships (inc*st, etc) or lesbian erasure (people shipping undyne with papyrus for example). I want to post on the main tags as well but I'm still nervous to do so, so for now I'm only using the safe tag and I'm more comfortable that way

[everysongineverykey]

its surprising that no one tried to call undertale/deltarune or toby problematic because the queer characters arent completely flawless people

pleasantly suprising! most of the criticism is of parts of the games that actually deserve it, like yellowface kris and frisk.

[friskibitz]

I can forgive frisks simpsons skin tone but with kris it makes no sense as the theme in center stage is ‘kris is their own person not a self insert’

On the other hand, what if frisk just got covered in pollen when they fell on that flower bed and never cleaned it off

to be real i can't stand it either way. i know it wasn't overt in undertale, but one point about frisk's presence is that they aren't a self-insert either. and either way, whether these characters were self-inserts or not, and even if it wasn't intentional, toby ends up playing into yellowface depictions (especially when coupled with frisk's closed eyes) and i don't like it. and there's really no reason why he can't just give them normal skintones, like i said earlier frisk straight up has natural colored skin in the kickstarter art

[tenpixelsusie]

wow these spot the difference games are getting hard

[a-snow-decahedron]

Y algo más neutral

[rasairui]

Separate post bc I didn't want to clog the OPs notes but the yellowface in undertale and deltarune makes me so goddamn angry like no I will not support your art if you draw these kids bright yellow you're a bad artist. I remember on my old blog I made a post abt yellowface and "skintones" to avoid and multiple people commented on it going "the only people I draw yellow are Frisk and Kris bc they actually look like that!" Did you ever stop to think that maybe there's something very bad about way these characters are canonically portrayed? How the hell are you not making the connection I literally did all the work FOR you idiots.

[mymarifae]

pardon me for asking, but whats safeutdr?

oh! here!

[susielesbianism]

here's the resend! could you help explain the yellowface kris issue?

(The original ask stated that anon was Asian and meant no ill will in asking, just so everyone else is aware)

Let me state before answering that I’m white, so I worry about making myself out to be the ultimate authority on an issue I have no lived experience with.

I tried looking up the specific problem too as well as trying to find posts about it, but like you said before there weren’t that many results. But in general, the yellow skin is a problem because it’s very reminiscent of anti-Asian propaganda — especially war propaganda — that depicted East Asians as yellow, among other characteristics. It was also very common in (especially early) 20th century Western theater and cinema for non-East Asian actors to wear yellow or yellowish makeup along with manipulating their facial features to appear more exaggeratedly “Asian.” And like you said before, although the Frisk eye thing isn’t present in this game, their yellow skin is, so it’s still very much an issue. Toby Fox's explanation was that he wanted to make the skin tone ambiguous enough so that anyone could headcanon them as whatever race they wanted, same with Frisk, but making them yellow is a really weird -- and if I may be honest, stupid -- way of going about it.

This is an extremely brief explanation though. If you want, I can search for links that might potentially explain the general problem better than I can.

[greggorylee]

As a UTDR fan I'm sorry people are being weird about your Toby Fox thing. There's nothing wrong with looking at media you like or dislike with a critical eye, and, when the creator is clearly open to discussion (or at least hypothetically), to having that discussion with them too. With Fox in particular (and this is NOT me trying to "cancel" him or anything) he's also continuously friends with some other notoriously problematic people like Omocat and Hussie, which everyone in the fandom also just ignores (or outright acts as an apologist to both their behaviors too). It's tiring, but it makes me glad to see some people willing to have this conversation. Your point about him being highly idolized especially rings true to this day. You don't need to respond to this ask publicly btw if you feel like it's going to cause more people to attack you, just some other points of contempt I've had as someone in the fandom. Have a good day.

thank you so much for your support and kind words <3 theres no need to apologize though lmao ive been a huge UTDR fan since 2015 and ive picked my poison. there's still transphobic rhetoric about frisk and kris in 2024, im not surprised a lot of the fanbase havent developed the ability to critically enjoy their favorite media and to not act like the creators of said media are perfect and beyond approach. asking toby fox about something that directly affects me (the incest jokes), my sibling and many of my friends (yellowface), and politely suggesting that he make changes while stressing im not demanding things of him, is not actually outrageous and 2016 sjw behavior. im grateful to have seen that at least a few people are having honest conversation about their reaction to this :) take care!

[dogcasino]

How is Frisk & Kris yellow face? Their skin is yellow but it's not to mock Asians

their designs resemble racist caricatures of asian people. i do not believe this was the intention of their designs, but the design of a person with bright yellow skin and squinted/slit-like eyes is still... not really something that should be approached uncritically.