#tenma's a+ parenting

[fruity-fruition]

My thoughts on Tenma Parents!

I am the Tenma parents' number #1 defender in a way. I still think they fucked up Tsukasa, but not intentionally.

(fyi, Tsukasa is definitely a mama's boy and I don't accept criticism. Saki's on the contrary)

I think Tsukasa's parents loved both him and Saki equally, unlimitedly, and wholeheartedly. The sad reality is that life handed the entire family a shitty deck of cards. And while love is unlimited, time and attention isn't.

They try their best, they genuinely do, but it's difficult juggling their job AND an ill child AND another child.

Due to Saki's (uncontrollable!! Remember!!) condition, one of the parents has to be with her nearly at all times and the other one has to work for the additional hospital bills (since the government can't cover some surgeries or procedures. Idk how it works in Japan but)

They try to be there for Saki and Tsukasa a lot but they do notice growing concerns abt both of them.

Saki's getting quiet, nearly bursting into tears every time Tsukasa or any of them leaves the hospital room. She clings on to people a lot to the point of where it hurts.

Tsukasa's getting quiet too. He thinks they don't notice, since he's trying to act upbeat and cheery in front of Saki to cheer her up, but they can't ignore... that. Whatever is happening to him.

They both don't know what to do.

Despite their best efforts, Tsukasa was still left home alone most of his late childhood and early teens.

They don't have favourites, but after a while, they can't say they know their son anymore. They saw him grow up without them, and it's the most heartbreaking thing to not be there.

--

They had to miss his middle school graduation. They tried to take time off work, but neither of them got off fast enough to reach the ceremony. Both only saw him that day at the hospital.

But Tsukasa lied. Lied to Saki's face, because he didn't want to upset her.

Tsukasa's mom: "Sweetheart, we're so sorry-"

Tsukasa: "-that you had to leave the ceremony early? It's okay!"

Their parents look at him confused because the issue is that they weren't even there. But Tsukasa gave them eyes, begging them to play along.

Tsukasa's mom: "...yeah. y-yeah, work called in and we really couldn't avoid it much longer"

Tsukasa lets out a sigh of relief before nodding and smiling "really! It's okay!"

When leaving Saki's ward, his mom asked him why he lied, and he just looked at her and shook his head.

Tsukasa: "...Saki does this thing, where she blames herself for stuff she can't control. I-I don't know how I know it, but I'm sure she'll do the same if she found out you weren't there. I don't want to see her doing that."

Outside, his mom pulls him into a hug, whispering apology after apology as she holds him. He kept insisting, it's fine! Really! He's a future star, with loads of celebration to come! Who cares if they missed one?

His mom looks at him, with genuine sadness, and asks him to be honest with her. Is he upset?

She noticed him froze, before shaking his head.

Tsukasa: "Not at all, mom! I understand why you both couldn't make it"

Tsukasa's mom: "...You can understand and still be upset. You're allowed to be"

But despite her best efforts to make her son open up, he still shakes his head and tells her it's alright.

She thinks he doesn't know that she knows. She knows that he wants them to worry less about him, which made them worry more.

--

She learned from Saki that Tsukasa doesn't have a lot of friends. He never mentions it a lot to Saki, but every time Saki asks him if he'd be hanging out with people, he just looks at her confused.

Tsukasa: "Why would I hang out with other people when I have the most incredible sister in the world!"

When he started to open up to her again, later in the future, when everything had settled down and life was beginning to move steady, she'll learn that his classmates think he's overbearing.

He wasn't getting bullied, nor was he actually disliked. But in terms of friends? They think he's a bit too loud, too tiring to deal with. Some even think he's a bit too selfish.

She would argue about that final point with her life. Because if anything, she wishes Tsukasa thought of himself more.

--

They learned more about him when he was 17. They learned about his friends, his troupe, his work, and how close he's gotten towards achieving his dreams. They're so unbelievably proud of him. He's grown into such an incredible person.

They just wished they could've taken the credit.

--

They loved their children equally. Even when Toya was pulled into the frame and they unknowingly gained a third, they loved him all the same.

But there's a difference in loving and knowing, because their son felt far more distant to them than their daughter. And they're trying their absolute best to fix that rift before it's too late

--

Both Tsukasa and Saki suffered majorly in their life, both in vastly different ways. But in terms of parents, I think Tsukasa got the short end. But not intentionally, y'know? It's like. Accidental child neglect.

[fiery-is-in-pain]

people are not making enough wxs kaito dad content

[correctproseka]

Prsk as posts once again

[asherenjoysbeingtransparent]

“Kirapipi★Kirapika” (One scene) — Emu Otori, Nene Kusanagi, Tsukasa Tenma, Wonderland!MEIKO, Rui Kamishiro.

[good-wine-and-cheese]

If you consider all Tenmas to, at some level, be the same Tenma then its almost funny to count up his trauma quotient. The dude has been surrounded by death. He lost his parents when he was young, he lost his wife (even before Tobio in some variants if I'm getting the read of 03 right), Ochanomizu had a brush with death, and then Tobio is a given....he must think he's cursed or some shit

[starshine-valley]

Random ships to consider (i like their dynamics in my mix n’ match au :DD and doesn’t really have to be considered “romantic” per say could be a friendship type thing!!)

RuiEna

Mafusaki

Akihona

Shizukasa

Shihoan

These ships in my au are not necessarily canon? But they have the most interactions that are interesting and ship worthy. 

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

i need Mr and Mrs Tenma to be getting Live2D models and appear in the next Saki or Tsukasa event purely so the poor things STOP GETTING MISCHARACTERISED OH MY GOD

[chealinks]

Yuzuiba au where Yuzuru is still Tori's butler but Ibara is forced to be a kindergarten teacher single guardian x teacher au ft eden ra*bits🐇🐇🐇🐇

Yuzuiba are like childhood rivals who became like college exes and met again in the kindergarten!

[nashishishi]

i've seen a lot of theories about what the virtual singers signify to each character. the two main theories i've been seeing are that they're either symbolic of what the members of the sekai need to grow, or are just milestones of their growth and/or their desires. i'm not quite sure which camp i fall into personally, but i do think both theories are really interesting. especially since, when you think about it, what do the wonderlands x showtime virtual singers signify?

first of all, we have miku. miku is a bubbly younger sister type character. she's curious about everything, thinks everything is wonderful and amazing, and she literally has stars in her eyes all the time. she talks in onomatopoeias and is high energy. she was part of the sekai when tsukasa first discovered it.

then we have kaito. kaito is a parental/older sibling figure. he takes care of the plushies in the sekai, takes care of the other virtual singers, takes care of the unit members, and basically takes care of the sekai as a whole. he's shown bits of being a workaholic as well. he was also part of the sekai when tsukasa discovered it.

next is len. len is curious about anything he finds interesting. he's willing to learn from others, constantly spouts about how cool everyone is, and is always looking for ways to improve himself in the things he likes doing. he manifests right after the main wxs story ends, but only makes his actual first appearance in the story during "It's On! Wonder Halloween!".

after that is meiko. her characterization is the trickiest. she seems to be a "supporting role" kind of person, happy to be on the sidelines helping out, instead if being the center of attention. she first appears in "On This Holy Night, I Sing".

next is rin. she "completes" len, in that she's curious about her friends. she always wants to learn more things about them so they can be better friends. she first appears in "Musical Twilight Parade" (which isn't actually a wxs-centric event but they are there).

and last but not least is luka. she's always sleeping. she's said to sleep when everyone is happy, because she can rest knowing everyone is doing well. she appears during the "Doll Festival at the Tenma's" event (which is a tenma siblings centric event).

so. what do they symbolize? well, the easiest ones are len and rin.

like i said, len first manifests right after the main story of wxs, and him being curious of things he finds interesting could be symbolic of tsukasa actually making new friends after like. a decade. which i WILL get back to.

it works with both theories. tsukasa needs to be more curious to get his friends to open up/get himself to open up to his friends, but it could also signify tsukasa Actually Being Curious About His Friends. he's never known anyone like emu, or rui, or nene, so he wants to get to know them and what they do. it also fits that len's first proper appearance was during the halloween event (or, if you remember events by the songs, the Becoming Potatoes event), because that's the same event where tsukasa gets injured by one of rui's robots, rui shuts down, and tsukasa has to reassure him that it's okay.

rin is basically the same. she's symbolic of love, care, and curiosity for her friends. i haven't read the twilight parade story in full, so i'm not exactly sure how she ties into the story, but it makes sense that she'd show up then, because right before her was meiko.

SPEAKING OF MEIKO! meiko is also relatively easy to figure out. like i said, she's a "supporting role". there to help out when needed, not to take the lead. it makes sense that she'd show up during the christmas event because the event isn't tsukasa-centric. it largely doesn't involve him. but meiko is also loving and caring and, as i said before, supportive. she's symbolic of always wanting to help and support friends, even if from a distance. tsukasa reflects this by complimenting nene in the event, often saying things like "that's our diva!" and such.

again, this works in both theories. nene needed support and, seeing this and (likely) wanting to help (idk like i said he isn't shown much lol), meiko manifested. but she could also be symbolic of how tsukasa has grown past his earlier actions in the main story, where he yells at nene for messing up the show. meiko is a symbol of how he's come to care for her, and genuinely wants to help her.

luka is. a bit trickier. as i said, she sleeps when everyone is happy. that means, if she's wide awake, someone is upset. she first appears in the doll festival event which is. worrying.

in the doll festival event, tsukasa misinterprets a memory from his childhood. when he was younger, he wanted to give his little sister saki these 2 dolls, but on his way to the hospital, he trips and ruins them. when he shows them to saki, she cries. he misinterprets this to mean that she hates him for it, when in reality she was touched by the gesture.

luka's appearance in an event like this is... concerning, because tsukasa is also shown as a bit of a workaholic at times (kinda like kaito). he doesn't stop until he reaches his goal, and even then, he quickly moves on to an even greater goal. this means, depending on which theory we're following, luka could either signify

a.) how tsukasa needs to rest every once in a while. how he doesn't need to shoulder everything on his own. how he's Allowed to Rest When Everyone's Happy. or

b.) how tsukasa FINALLY LEARNS EVERYTHING IN A.

so then. we get to the last 2. the duo that had been there from the very start. miku and kaito.

miku and kaito are kind of polar opposites. one is bouncy and bubbly and full of energy, while the other is calm and collected. one is a playful little sister figure, while the other is a responsible older brother or parental figure.

i want to briefly talk about another theory (or rather, headcanon), separate from this, that has become quite popular lately: the theory that miku and whoever else was there since the discovery of the sekai has been there since the unit members were children. i mention this theory because...

miku is a little sibling. she thinks everything is wonderful. she thinks everything is amazing. she literally has stars in her eyes.

she could have only been made when tsukasa was a child because, depending on the theory, she's either:

a.) a manifestation of how tsukasa needs to let loose and have fun and enjoy life like a kid would?? (which doesn't make sense bc of kaito)

b.) a manifestation of either tsukasa's childlike wonder, tsukasa's Want to experience childlike wonder, and/or his want to spend more time with saki

and kaito is an older brother/parental figure. he's responsible. he's calm and collected. he's cool. so depending on the theory, he's either:

a.) a manifestation of tsukasa needing to be a reliable/responsible older brother figure for everyone around him (which is worrying)

b.) tsukasa's need for a parental unit in his life, or tsukasa's desire to be seen as a reliable older brother figure (Which Are Both Worrying (seeing as kaito seems to be a workaholic and tsukasa has also been shown to be a workaholic as well!!))

which brings me to my next point: the designs of some of the virtual singers.

miku, rin, and luka are designed a bit specially in comparison to the others. they all have elements of animals in them, implying their designs are supposed to resemble plushies. (which makes sense considering how many "fluffy" elements and pompoms they have in comparison to all the other characters.) miku is a cat plushie, rin is a bunny plushie, and luka is a sheep plushie. but.

why?

why is miku, the embodiment of childlike wonder, a plushie?

why is rin, the embodiment of excitement and love and care for friends, a plushie?

why is luka, the embodiment of resting well knowing everyone is happy and healthy, a plushie?

actually, why are plushies way more important to tsukasa than they ever were to saki?

tsukasa's sekai is all made of things he made for SAKI, right? all of the things, from the giant train in the sky to the singing flowers, were for SAKI, right?

but saki barely ever mentions it in her story. in fact, it only ever comes up when TSUKASA is involved. saki sees them as nothing more than toys, meanwhile tsukasa has personified them. it may just be because of his sekai, but let's not forget...

while these were SAKI'S plushies, they were also TSUKASA'S co-stars. they were with him when he put on all those shows for saki in the hospital. they were with him when the plushies were brought back home.

and what else is a lonely little boy at home, with no family and no friends, supposed to do, other than to anthropomorphize inanimate objects to keep him company.

suddenly, we have a reason why miku, the embodiment of childlike wonder, is a Plushie. we have a reason why luka, the embodiment of being able to Rest now that Everyone is Happy, is a Plushie. we have a reason why rin, the embodiment of the Excitement of Friendship, is a Plushie.

because tsukasa's childlike wonder Started with plushies. he made them act out scenes from the wonders created in his brain, and the plushies were there to bring them to life.

because tsukasa always used plushies to cheer people up (like in the shows he put on for saki). because the plushies were always there to cheer Him up.

because for the longest time, for maybe a decade, or more, for most of tsukasa's childhood...

his only friends

were

the plushies.

[yunyunbby]

Is it wrong that I want to see some Tenma parents and Aoyagi parents friendship lore??? Like damn I need to know more about their relationship.

[boyrobott]

a very important conversation i had with my friend about poor elefun always being caught in the middle of astro & tenma's drama

[venichors]

i hope saki is ok

tsukasa good vision au

[asherenjoysbeingtransparent]

DAY THREE: “Favorite cover or favorite commission song”

“Emu’s birthday” (2023) — Emu Otori, Rui Kamishiro, Tsukasa Tenma, Wonderland!Miku, Nene Kusanagi

( @sekaitransparents )

[thrilling-oneway]

tsukasa is a transguy in the same way apollo justice is a transguy but he's also the token cis for literally no reason other than it would be funny

[apotelesmaa]

My personal hot take that will get me chased with pitch forks and torches if I talk about it is that kanade is a tenma fanon is stupid and ignores so much abt both kanade & tsukasa’s characters. Kanade has her grandma and honami taking care of her and would not benefit from or even desire A Brand New Family. Tsukasa does not go around adopting people as new siblings he considers toya to be his brother because they have known each other since they were children and have been very close since they were children. Too tired to articulate my view on their relationship but something something being there for each other when toya was dealing with his dad being shitty and Tsukasa was dealing with saki being sick & his parents (justifiably. They were doing their best & he does not blame them.) focusing on her so they relied on each other. Tsukasa loving his sister and being unable to help her/separated from her -> friend he loves dearly is also struggling -> older sibling instincts have to go somewhere -> “I have known this guy and been looking out for him since I was like seven he’s basically my sibling” “tsukasa has been supporting me since I was a kid and having my own wants ignored by my dad (& presumably also older aoyagi siblings) he is basically my older brother.” Do I think he would make a great and supportive friend for kanade yes but I also think we should acknowledge that kanade is already getting the support she needs from her own friend group and family.

[tsukasalover]

#1 tenma defender

(screenshots from saki’s first bday card side story) can people stop pretending like the tenma parents are complete assholes for UNINTENTIONALLY neglecting tsukasa and actually notice how they’re more morally gray for deciding to parent in that way than anything else

im not sorry but i had a good time reading this side story and i think it’d be funny if tenmadad and tsukasa were actually really similar bcs i imagined tenmadad with these extremely dramatic expressions that were just like Tsukasa’s every time he spoke

but really, people try and focus too much on ONLY the fact that Tsukasa was neglected, not the details, and dont care enough to think about the fact that the tenma parents CLEARLY didn’t intend for that to happen (do you think they would REALLY know that saki would be hospitalized for most of her life? come on pjsk is much more realistic and has better writing than that) and something that i believe is extremely important as well is that usually childhood neglect (well specifically the tenma’s somewhat complicated case) has a lot of pieces missing or kind of blurred parts, and it’s probablyyy going to take a while to really get more information on what the fuck was going on back then and more about the tenma parents because they still don’t exactly seem to play like REALLY big roles or anything AND even when they’re around it’s NOT like they’re bringing up the topic of the tenma’s childhood and describing it in more detail? (i mean specifically what happened with tsukasa) i want another Tenma event where we get cards where the tenma parents are in them and they’re all having a good time 💔💔this isn’t fair i want to get to know the tenma parents better WAAAHH

also tsukasa has like. some serious repression issues going on. that’s just been obvious for a long time now. so when both parents AND the god damn child who got unintentionally neglected and has memory and emotional repression issues don’t really ever look back on the past for a really long period of time or try and talk much about it from what they can remember… yeah. it’s just kind of a big question mark for now. i mean, I’m sure we’ll probably get more stuff about it down the road (maybe from toya too? who knows) but for now there’s no EXACT answer. it’s up to everyone’s different interpretations and I’m not here to hate on everyone’s own opinions, but don’t just slap on the “tenma parents are complete assholes and don’t love tsukasa” and call it a day without doing actual deeper dives into childhood neglect and how messy the effects and situations can be. i strongly believe that one day the tenma parents probably WILL mention Tsukasa’s situation or be aware of how Tsukasa’s childhood continues to affect him in the present, and they will actually care for him and try to be there for him more often. they love BOTH of their kids so much, but one happened to end up in a very unfortunate situation and that caused some very poor parenting choices to be made UNINTENTIONALLY. sorry for word vomiting but GODD this just goes to show how realistic and detailed pjsk is. like i find so much comfort in these silly characters from a rhythm game. it’s so clear that tons of love was poured into building the world around them and even their own personal lives. colopale really wants to make me cry for once with how much they manage to nail realistically writing rough topics like these.

anyways this is just how i personally view the tenma family and Tsukasa’s situation after analyzing my own experiences and how much of a messy situation (my bad i don’t know how to word this but like, hard to figure out?? piece together??) childhood neglect will ALWAYS be, and then if there’s also things like repressed memories and never really much or any discussion of “hey wtf happened back then and how do we all think of what happened from our own perspectives,” uhh yeah. that’s rough. i woke up in the middle of the night so this might be edited in the future btw