#also yes they had a bambi 2 moment of kaen prancing around and whooping

[strywoven]

yeah , yeah ceres was a horrible runaway father. but i'm going to enlighten you to a few things. he's sort of based off bambi's own father ; detached , stoic , a revered figure that is near-impossible to get close to even for his son's efforts. and for all the nonsense he employed in raising kaen , he - in his own subtle ways - tried to grant kaen some semblance of comfort. and i'm not just talking about how he financially provided for the family , how neither kaen nor their mother wanted for nothing when he was around. here's a few silly things he did in his time :

true , he contributed to kaen's extreme sense of internalized misogyny and made them have a contentious relationship with gender overall , but did you ever listen to how he would introduce them to others ? "MY SON , MY BUCK," spoken with such pride in his voice , such hope ( maaaybe a little too much emphasis on the hope=expectation bit , as this also proved a detriment , enforcing perfectionistic ideals ) .

as a nine or so foot-tall heteromorph , he often planted kaen on his shoulders , letting them slump between his sprawling antlers and play with his mane ( sometimes trying to steer him around or put flowers in the long red tresses ) . is he smiling ? no , you're seeing things.

he took notice of kaen's fascination with film and built , all by himself , an outdoor screen like you see people do on TV. it didn't... come out very well. and when his doe cocked her head at the botched handiwork asking , "what... is this for?" ceres grunted and nodded to kaen vibrating in place , sparking cinders and grinning , "... for that."