Pondering my initial reaction to Tenna for his birthday and I think what struck me first and foremost about him is I’ve never seen an antagonist before or since that is trying to avoid the conflicts in the story as much as I wanted to and it led to a lot of personal reflection on why that is.
(Explanation under cut)
I went in assuming Tenna was gonna be almost how he gets portrayed in fanon frequently where he was fixated on making people play his games forever out of loneliness/need for attention, and I kinda braced myself from the start for when he stopped being “fun” and fell into his role as a villain. Like the archetype that wants to make people happy or play with them and loses it when people try to leave. Taking the nostalgia motif into a predictable childish behavior.
Around the weather duo fight I initially thought that’s why he was trying so much to make them stop arguing, and I was nervous going out towards Toriel the first time because I thought it’d be a breaking point where the gang got punished in some way for going somewhere they weren’t supposed to be, but that’s when I reached the part that made me reconsider everything I’d seen up to that point:
He pretends it didn’t happen and tries to move on. It felt like flinching for a punch that never comes. It had me reconsidering his behavior up to that point and realizing how much effort went into just trying to keep people happy for the sake of conflict avoidance, but it wasn’t until the Doom Board that everything clicked fully and unsettlingly into place.
This. This right here immediately brought me harshly to exactly why he was acting the way I would have tried to.
Doing my best to not get too personally detailed in the “how Tenna personally affected me” essay, but most of my upbringing involved most family members arguing with each other frequently and primarily living with a loud and irritable parent who would generally use anyone nearby as a venting target whenever they felt the need to, so most of the coping I’d learned and even been explicitly told a couple times was “stay in your room, play your games, don’t worry about it” while hearing said argument very clearly from the other room. Later on this would lead to using headphones most of the time to try and drown out noise or generally shutting down and spacing out or hyperventilating any time I got scolded for long periods of time, and it really didn’t fully click with me how or why this happened until this moment.
Because at that moment I knew the exact feeling behind that statement. You can’t stop it, agree with them, let them vent, go hide and watch something if you can get out. Brace yourself.
Especially with his position as an object fixed in the middle of the house and not being physically able to get away from the situation, while perceiving oneself as the cause of the argument, (Tenna’s guilt as his position as a positive form of entertainment and distraction, myself and I’d wager Kris as well’s as the subject of argument in a divorce, honestly there’s a whole other essay to be had about how chapter 3 reflects Kris’ emotional state and upbringing) causes him to feel trapped and helpless yet simultaneously culpable for what he’s experiencing, and the feeling of being trapped in a situation you don’t want to be in, especially as a result defending a stance you only go along with for a promised end result (his deal with Kris & the Knight) hit exceedingly close to home. You even see it throughout the rest of the chapter where he folds immediately after any threat he makes out of desperation and trying to keep his employees around.
This is what really stands out to me about Tenna as a character. He’s forced to experience horrible things while partially blaming himself for it and tries everything in his power to try and prevent conflict at every turn. He straight up doesn’t fight you until you’re right in front of Toriel and he has no other options. And that’s what I sorta wish I could see more about in his fandom portrayal. He’s not looking for attention or guilt tripping to get his way. He’s scared of another fight while being forced into conflict by a deal he has no real other choice but to take (it’s essentially “sell out your family or die” at this point) and can’t take it when he can’t keep the act going and people start turning on him. I think the one time I’ve seen this really well portrayed is Dark Fountain Within by @/tennas-t-v-time but I’d love to see it explored more often.
Anyways rant over. The TV made me come to terms with the psychological impacts of divorce and generally being around family members that barely tolerate each other. Happy Tennaverssary.
Happy 1 year anniversary of my Tenna fixation. Decided to redraw the first ever sketch I made of him ⭐️
I can't believe it's been a full year now. I'm someone whose hyperfixations change pretty frequently and while my interests have shifted from deltarune here and there over the last year, my interest in Tenna has not wavered once. He's very special when it comes to fictional characters because no other has ever made me feel like he did when I first saw him and I definitely favor him over other characters I like
I don't think I've ever drawn a character this much either, he generally inspires me to keep creating and has done wonders for my art block I've been struggling with for multiple years. Sorry to the people who follow me for other content besides Tenna. I love TV, what can I say 📺💙
I just fucking love love love when a narrative shows me a character who is an insufferable and badly behaved bully being propped up by an even shittier familal authority figure assuring them that they are a Special Princess who deserves to walk all over everyone else, and then the narrative pulls back a little and shows me that in fact the love and support of that authority figure is Deeply Conditional and Finite and this bully is both aware of it and haunted by that knowledge. Their Special Princess Swagger is PAPER thin
Something that just occurred to me is I think people compare Tenna’s fear of being thrown away with Spamton’s living out of the Trash Zone and go “wow that thing Tenna was afraid of actually happened to Spamton and it happened to him for years!” While they are miles of severity apart and it makes me feel insane.
Yes, Spamton lost everyone he thought cared about him. Yes he faced homelessness and poverty for years and that’s terrible for him and that trauma probably led to a fair amount of his present behavior. However. Living in a dump is not at all what would happen from Tenna being thrown away.
The game likes to reiterate that Tenna being thrown away is effectively dying. Being on the street “in the junk folder” vs Literally Being Hauled Out Of Your Home To Be Destroyed Because You Weren’t Good Enough At Making Your Family Happy levels of difference.
Neither of them are pure evil or perfect characters but this particular comparison bothers the hell out of me because it really isn’t one.
To my knowledge this is all he’s said about it, but the repeated emphasis on “I’ve been Alone” plus how intensely he seems to fear going back to being unplugged makes me think whatever it was, was very unpleasant.
Something that just occurred to me is I think people compare Tenna’s fear of being thrown away with Spamton’s living out of the Trash Zone and go “wow that thing Tenna was afraid of actually happened to Spamton and it happened to him for years!” While they are miles of severity apart and it makes me feel insane.
Yes, Spamton lost everyone he thought cared about him. Yes he faced homelessness and poverty for years and that’s terrible for him and that trauma probably led to a fair amount of his present behavior. However. Living in a dump is not at all what would happen from Tenna being thrown away.
The game likes to reiterate that Tenna being thrown away is effectively dying. Being on the street “in the junk folder” vs Literally Being Hauled Out Of Your Home To Be Destroyed Because You Weren’t Good Enough At Making Your Family Happy levels of difference.
Neither of them are pure evil or perfect characters but this particular comparison bothers the hell out of me because it really isn’t one.
i 100% believe every single adaptation of superman should be judged for accuracy based on how well they understand just how completely unhinged lois lane is as a person. because if you think THE lois lane wouldn’t do [fill in the blank], you’re wrong. she absolutely would do that and she will not be apologizing for it. superman being in love with her only succeeded in making her more comfortable and willing to do insanely dangerous things than she already was. because yes, she will 100% launch her body off a skyscraper just to prove a point. and guess what, idiot? she was right, so it was completely worth it and she will be doing it again. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, lois lane is absolutely bat-shit crazy. clark just happens to be really REALLY into her particular brand of crazy. like there is nothing lois won’t do with the right motivation. she is an absolute force of nature and that should scare the shit out of you.
Something that just occurred to me is I think people compare Tenna’s fear of being thrown away with Spamton’s living out of the Trash Zone and go “wow that thing Tenna was afraid of actually happened to Spamton and it happened to him for years!” While they are miles of severity apart and it makes me feel insane.
Yes, Spamton lost everyone he thought cared about him. Yes he faced homelessness and poverty for years and that’s terrible for him and that trauma probably led to a fair amount of his present behavior. However. Living in a dump is not at all what would happen from Tenna being thrown away.
The game likes to reiterate that Tenna being thrown away is effectively dying. Being on the street “in the junk folder” vs Literally Being Hauled Out Of Your Home To Be Destroyed Because You Weren’t Good Enough At Making Your Family Happy levels of difference.
Neither of them are pure evil or perfect characters but this particular comparison bothers the hell out of me because it really isn’t one.
Happy 1 year anniversary of my Tenna fixation. Decided to redraw the first ever sketch I made of him ⭐️
I can't believe it's been a full year now. I'm someone whose hyperfixations change pretty frequently and while my interests have shifted from deltarune here and there over the last year, my interest in Tenna has not wavered once. He's very special when it comes to fictional characters because no other has ever made me feel like he did when I first saw him and I definitely favor him over other characters I like
I don't think I've ever drawn a character this much either, he generally inspires me to keep creating and has done wonders for my art block I've been struggling with for multiple years. Sorry to the people who follow me for other content besides Tenna. I love TV, what can I say 📺💙
romaincrisis
germansingergirl
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