Thinking about Tenna and Kris… Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I actually LOVE their relationship when Tenna is properly portrayed as the manipulative, cruel, and terrifying TV host he can be. Yes he’s pathetic and tragic, but he still contains The Horrors and I love it so much. A kid and their morally dubious uncle figure is amazing, especially with the themes of nostalgia, escapism, and a desire to avoid the future that their whole dynamic represents.
I honestly love the fact that Tenna is willing to pressure and hurt Kris to make them love him again. To want to stay with him. It’s so interesting! It is fucked up, certainly, and that’s why it’s so fascinating. Tenna doesn’t JUST adore and love Kris with his whole heart, doesn’t just want them to be happy and smile. In a way, he wants to be their world again. He wants them to NEED him. The idea that they don’t is too much to bear, so Tenna pretends. Pretends that Kris needs him even more than he needs them.
And this isn’t to downplay his interesting dynamic with Susie or Ralsei either— but I think it’s so fascinating how he fixates on Kris. He’s always talking about them, thinking about them, wondering what will make THEM happy. Not Ralsei. Not Susie. Kris.
The borderline possessive behavior he displays towards Kris is so so delicious. He loves them so much it hurts, so they’ll hurt too. He’s so confident in his knowledge of Kris, the more and more they reject him the further he slips into mania to try and get SOMETHING from them.
And, y’know, nothing I’m saying here is new or isn’t already obvious. But I think Tenna and Kris’ relationship has so much potential outside of the art of them drowning out the fighting with Tenna — which I do adore!
Tenna holds on to anything he can, even the employees he mistreats and exploits. He wants to make people happy because HE wants to be needed and adored. He holds on so hard it hurts. He tries to draw Kris in by reminding them of the good old days— but just pushes them away even further, leading him to more and more extremes to try and get their love and attention back. Dude was on the verge of committing war crimes to get Kris back.
Kris isn’t a kid anymore. But to Tenna, they’re still his kid. Even if they need a… not-so-gentle reminder! Teenagers, right? So rebellious! They can forget how much they need their caretakers.
Tenna loves Kris. And that does not make him above hurting, manipulating, and displaying possessive behaviors over them in a vain attempt to make them love him as much as they used to. And I love it.
(Also I just realized I don’t have a link on my account to my Ao3, which you asked for— so my bad! It’s Calamit_Y on ao3– I’ve got two fics about Kris and Tenna if you’re up for reading them! Currently I’m tossing around an idea where Kris gets the Snowgrave treatment instead in chapter 2… but nothing concrete. Yet.)
You're so right. I was pretty disappointed when I looked in the tag and saw very little dark Kris & Tenna content. Don't get me wrong, I also love the art where he's the kind uncle shielding his nibling from the Divorce, but... he's not just a kind uncle.
I read your two fics and they're perfect! You 100% nailed Tenna's demeanor, affable and desperate even as he's hurting others, a love that borders on obsession without going full yandere.
It makes sense that Tenna will all be about Kris. The fondness he has for Susie is all new, which thematically makes sense since the whole point of Susie is creating a new future. But Kris? That's the kid he raised. Or, at least, it's how he feels. Funnily enough, Tenna never reminesces of times they watched TV alone, it's always with Asriel or Asgore. I guess he needs to feel important, because if he is not a formative part of Kris' childhood, then what use is he?
Tenna definitely gives the vibe of a parental figure who has a very specific, yet outdated view of their child. He knows best. He knows what Kris truly needs (him). He loves Kris, his cute kid Kris - so he doesn't know how to approach the depressed teen Kris. And since he knows best, he's not afraid of gently "parenting" his sassy nibling if they resist his love.
It's just. ugh. he's so creepy but never in a hateable way, I love him 😭 you can't say he's just a selfish bastard who only cares about himself, there is this wonderful combination of genuine love for his family and self-centered desperation! It's complex, and it's realistic, and it's ughhhhh tenna is so goooooooood
This is all Tenna, of course. It's harder to gauge how Kris feels about him. But considering that Tenna is the personification and reminder of a happy childhood that no longer exists, which incidentally is a behavior that Asgore shares and makes everyone uncomfortable, I can't imagine they care a lot. And this absolutely creates a push and pull where the more Tenna tries to bond with Kris to recreate "the good ol' times", the less Kris wants anything to do with him. They can't stay home and watch TV, they have friends now. Friends who won't push him to return to something they no longer are.
Huh. Of course Kris wouldn't be comfortable with yet another parental figure trying to control them :)
(and I haven't even touched the part where in the Mantle game Tenna reveals he had a deal with Kris, and the guy still has to kill him, which can mean nothing.)
Thank you for the ask and the recommendations, I can't get enough of the funny TV guy and his nibling <3
blakekathryn
kianamaiart
theartofmadeline
