#astyanax lives au

[kittenscookie]

Okay I'm feeling kinda silly so imagine if you will,

Odysseus and Penelope walking along the beach with their sons (Astyanax lives :P) just all four of them enjoying finally being together. But then Astyanax points out something floating towards them in the distance—a basket? Astyanax and Telemachus rush forward to investigate their parents following after. Before either boy can step into the water to retrieve it the waves push it forward onto the bank in front of Odysseus's feet. He kneels down, takes the little lid off the basket, and OH! Would you look at that, it's a baby! Covered in a fine silk blanket, cooing up at him with big blue eyes and brown hair so dark it almost looks black, surrounded by seashells and holding a little wooden horse. Both his and Penelope's mouths drop, Astyanax wants to know if they can keep it, and Telemachus is just confused.

[somereaderinblue]

Odysseus of Troy AU

Inspired by the Warrior!Penelope AU, @maggie44paint's Malewife Menelaus AU & @theblindgoddess + DaughterOfDungeonBat's Penelope of Troy AU.

So instead of Helen, Paris chooses Odysseus, thinking he's the safer option because he's just the king of small, barren Ithaca & super smart. Baby Telemachus is also spirited away as extra leverage.

Paris thinks he's being cunning, hoping this choice can somewhat ease Athena's wrath as well.

At first, Athena is furious....but then she gives the go-ahead for 3 reasons.

Odysseus will give Paris hell.

Hera will give Paris hell.

This one is important: Penelope will give Paris hell.

Paris tells himself he's doing Penelope a favour! Now she can find another, more powerful husband & have another kid with him. Plus, she's a woman with a tiny kingdom, it's not like she'll come knocking on Troy's walls.

Newsflash: a furious Penelope comes pounding on Troy's walls with a vengeance.

(Bonus if she isn't even being backed by Ares here. Oh no, all that unstoppable rage is 100% pure Penelope.)

In Olympus, Hera & Athena are cackling and high-fiving over a bucket of popcorn. In Troy, Ody is going full Mission Impossible, being a monster (rawr rawr rawr) to Paris, mapping out servant passages, calculating how much cloth it'll take to make a long enough rope & hoarding tiny paper scraps and crumbs for bird feeding.

He goes all: Yes, I need more clothes. It's not my fault my clothes keep ripping. *wink wink*. Oh, I'm not supposed to be here? Silly me, I'm hopeless without Athena's wisdom now! Look at the cute birdie, little wolf! *slips a message onto them while his son's buried under feathers*

Athena is very proud of her master liar.

Bonus:

Hector & Ody ironically become good friends because they're both dads and loving husbands. Hector tells himself he will NOT get attached to the man who's singlehandedly screwed him, his family & Troy over......only to pat the guy's back as he sobs for the nth time over missing his wife. It's hard not to empathize with him & feel a little sorry for the kid who doesn't even remember his mom.

And maybe when Hector senses that the end is coming, he & Andromache ask Ody to take Astyanax with him. He won't have a future in Troy, but it's better than no future, period.

Thus, Penelope returns to Ithaca with her family one member bigger than before.

[eeriefeelingsat3amuwu]

hdhahdhajfbajdnaudb Okay having Thoughts™️ about some of these ‘Odysseus raises Astyanax’ fics. Because. Because if we’re talking about the full odyssey experience. If Astyanax were to survive. He would have spent 11 years of his life growing up with Odysseus as his father. Now, to the main area of thought - Telemachus. Imagine. Imagine being a child, hearing of your father only in stories. From your mother, the servants, your grandparents. Seeing your grandmother succumb to her grief, seeing your mother grow sadder by the day, more sullen, seeing your grandfather withdraw into himself, all because of your father.

The man you are told you look like, the man who left for war, six, eight, eleven, fifteen, TWENTY years ago, left your home in disrepair, left your mother and you to deal with suitors disrespecting your house and name, the man who you are so angry at, yet Also worship as a god, because you don’t have a CHOICE. You can’t love him, you don’t KNOW him, but you love him in the way you love your gods - distant, unknowable, unreachable, and yet you have his face, your mother sometimes gates at you with these sad, sad eyes and you know she’s not really seeing you when she tells you she loves you.

You know he is a man, logically, how could he not be when your mother still remembers every calous on his hands and your grandfather tells you of how he almost set his room on fire one day, but he is only a legend to you. You hear other Kings, Kings from the same war your father left for (they came back, they are already back and he is still gone) discussing him, you hear how he helped end the war with your and your mother’s name on his lips and YET! He’s not here, he’s not here but he can’t be dead, because everyone agrees that he is too stubborn to die.

And then. He is back. And he has a boy with him. A boy who is younger than you, still just a child. And he regards the boy as his own, introduces him to you as ‘your brother’. He hasn’t dishonoured your mother, he took the child from the burning city of Troy because he is merciful and kind and you see it in the way the boy hugs him and calls him papa. And you should be happy, your father is back, you have a sibling now, your mother finally smiles properly again, your grandfather no longer cries when he sees you.

But. This boy. The boy your father brought from Troy. He got all that you have ever wanted: he got your father, from the moment he was Born he got your father, he was there for his first steps, his first words, he taught him how to sail, fight, read, count, he has been there with him through it all and you have never wanted anything more. ‘This child is not his son’ says that hateful, angry voice in your head.

You spend time with your father. He weeps, hugs you. Tells you he’s proud of the man you are now. Teaches you how to rule, it is your birthright, he says. He goes hunting with you and tells you he loves you and that the thought of you and your mother got him through many a peril. You spend time with your brother, you make him laugh, he loves you, clings to you just as much as he clings to your father, you teach him more about Ithaca, the way it is now, because he’s only heard stories. And still, in the back of your mind, you know you hate the child. You despise him with every fiber of your heart even if your mind knows he is not to blame - and that he has dealt with the same thing, just opposite to you.

Whereas you had a home, your mother and the rest of your family, but yearned for more than just the memory of your father, wanted for freedom, the boy had him, in the flesh, soothing his nightmares and teaching him to live, had the open sea and the deck of a ship, the capability to go anywhere, he lacked the stability that you had and despised. He didn’t know his grandfathers, would never get to know his grandmother, only had a memory of a mother and a brother, saw them as saints, as a reason to keep pushing forth.

You are opossites. You don’t know how it happened, as the child is not hers, but your brother looks like your mother where you are clearly your father’s son, yet your personalities seem to have been switched. You’re calmer, much more subdued, you don’t smile easily and are weaker of will. Your brother is loud and boisterous, quick to crack a grin and so, so Brave.

You still get the compulsion to bow to your father whenever he enters a room, to touch him to make sure he is real, at times. He sometimes wakes screaming, seeing horrors that you could not imagine in his sleep and doesn’t feel comfortable in a proper bed for years. He sets the curtains on fire and your father laughs in relief and he holds him to his chest. Your own chest cleaves in two.

Just. Is this anything?

[xixovart]

i tremendously adore the ‘odysseus adopts astyanax’ multiverse but have we considered athena’s reaction?

“odysseus you took the infant? he’ll kill you.”

“you think this little face is capable of murder, athena? look at him. look at his little cheeks.”

[holly-opal]

So what if when they get to the suitors, they are killing everyone, and then Penelope and Odysseus reunite with tears, and it's super emotional. And then while they are distracted, a suitor is going to stab them. But then Astyanax just fucking jumps on his back and starts stabbing him repeatedly with Telemachus in the back like 😐

I can imagine the exchange is like

Astyanax: :3

Penelope: Who's that feral child?

Odysseus: Ours. I was pregnant :)

Penelope: [visible confusion]

Telemachus: I think his blood got in my mouth-

[attyhat]

Itacha saga destroyed me so I had to cope with something more wholesome..

Soooo Astyanax lives au doodles I guess? Very quick and easy things, I didn't even color them

Only thing I actually colored is Astyanax ref because I needed it

Other than that I just have more doodles and tbh the things I've read about this au are destroying me even further...so in the end THE COPING IS NOT COPING

So I'm just gonna be delusional and not think about the angst and only fantasize about the great relationship the whole family has :D

Mandatory stupid doodle of the day: Telemachus and Astyanax bickering

[little-cereal-draws]

Incorrect Odysseus and Astyanax quotes (inspired by @nonbinarylocalcryptid 's post)

Astyanax: That’s why we needed to get an expert. Odysseus: Oh, really? Who did you get? Astyanax: Odysseus: Oh! Right, that’s me… Yes.

-

Odysseus to Astyanax: I'm leaving for the weekend, so I hid 100 dollars in your room for food. Clean your room, and you will find it.

-

Astyanax: As someone who has a long history of not understanding anything, I feel confident in my ability to continue not knowing what is going on.

-

Odysseus: See, the problem is, Astyanax, you’re playing 3D chess. I’m playing 4D. Astyanax: I’m playing checkers. I don’t know what the fuck you’re playing.

-

Astyanax: Oh, fiddlesticks. Odysseus: Look, I understand this is a tense situation, but let's watch the fucking language.

-

Astyanax, upon learning how Odysseus did a magic trick: So you’re not magic? Odysseus: Well, not really. Astyanax: You’re just a liar.

-

Odysseus: Why is it so hard for you to believe me?! Astyanax: Odysseus: Oh, right. The lying.

-

Odysseus: We’ll find another route, it’s not safe for amateur adventurers. Astyanax: That sounds like a challenge. Odysseus: I have to stress, that is not a challenge. Astyanax: …Is exactly what you say to dissuade the weak of heart from accepting the challenge. Well, challenge accepted! Odysseus: There is no challenge!

-

Odysseus: Thought I was meowing back at my cat for the past hour, but it was just me and Astyanax meowing at each other from different ends of the boat.

-

Astyanax: What do you do for a living? Odysseus: I exist against my will.

-

Astyanax: *trying to buy a Father's Day card at Hallmark* Astyanax: Excuse me, do you have any that just say "You are my dad?" Store Associate: Well, I- Astyanax: How about "You killed my mom?" Store Associate: No… Astyanax: You know what, I'll just get a blank one. Astyanax: *writes ‘You are a father. This is a day. Here is a card.’*

-

Astyanax: That sounds like a terrible plan. Odysseus: Oh, we've had worse.

[restlesskeychains]

More of the astyanax lives au haha

[flashthescalesian-art]

Okay but an EPIC: The Musical AU where Odysseus brings Astyanax along instead of killing him, and Polites immediately decides to be the fun uncle for this baby. B U T during the whole Cyclops thing, instead of dying, Polites just gets really injured, so Odysseus carries him back to the ship and tries to tend his injuries. (Astyanax is safely with a few other members of the crew, don’t worry). Polites is still hurt too badly to survive for long, so Odysseus begs the gods for help, and Hermes shows up with something (a potion/elixir/whatever you wanna call it) that’ll heal Polites.

It doesn’t immediately make Polites better (I’m a sucker for hurt/comfort, don’t come at me), but he survives and heals, and he and Astyanax are both fine until the events of Thunder Bringer. Except instead of dying with the crew, they both wash up on Calypso’s island with Ody. Calypso finds them after finding Odysseus, but before he wakes up, she turns them into something (idk what, probably plants or something, this idea is just a concept rn).

So events go as they do in canon, but when Calypso has to let Odysseus leave, she’s also forced to free Polites and Astyanax too, so they get turned back to normal and get to leave with Odysseus, who is honestly just BAFFLED by the fact that his best friend and adopted son are still alive, but he’s also so freaking happy to have them back after seven years of torment. (Astyanax is probably like ten now even tho he spent seven years as a plant or something, but idk maybe he’s still a toddler. Haven’t decided)

They get home to Ithaca, Odysseus, Polites, and Telemachus kill the suitors, Ody reunites with Penelope and introduces her to Astyanax who she adopts immediately, and Telemachus and Astyanax get to hang out with their parents and Uncle Polites. Also Ody gets to sleep because that man needs it

[viaviv124]

Ok i have a small scene in mind

Eurylochus asking why Odysseus cares so much for a child that isnt even his to begin with, he gets goodwill but this kind of attachment to another's son? Odysseus smiles as he replies:

"he may not be my son by blood but he is and always will be my son by heart. I wouldn't trade him for anything, regardless of all the frustrations and pains raising a child brings."

And all this was as Odysseus sat next to sleeping Astyanax, gently petting the baby with a finger before this little hand grabbed his finger tightly, holding it close.

And that's when Eurylochus understood that Odysseus was a father first and a warrior second.

[yourlokalescholar]

Astyanax lives AU doodles!

[kittenscookie]

I don't like Astyanax Lives AUs where Astyanax kills Odysseus with his own hands because it feels way too straight forward to me. But you know what would make it better? If he's absolutely crushed by guilt and regret right after.

If he looked into Odysseus' eyes and expected to see fear, anger, hatred. But instead all he sees is acceptance (and maybe understanding) as the man gives him a sad smile. And in that moment Astyanax doesn't see the monster—the saxer of troy—he sees the man. The man that showed him how to do the laces on his sandals, who taught him to read, write and sail, who comforted him when Zeus threw lightning and thunder upon their shores, who would squish his cheeks between in his hands and give a hearty laugh as the boy complained—

"Papaaaa!"

He sees the man who defied the gods' will for him and in that moment realizes that none of it was a lie—Odysseus loved him. His father loved him, his father's blood is on his hands. And all Astyanax can do is fall to his knees, sobbing out apologies as he cradles the man who even though weak and dying brings a hand up to cup his cheek and shush him. Comforting him like he once did when he was but a boy who couldn't even reach his father chest.

"My boy, my son don't cry. It is okay, it will be alright"

But Astyanax sobs only persist, for he knows it will never be alright. Because unlike his father, he was too weak to deny the gods their bloodshed.

[somereaderinblue]

As much as I loved seeing Odysseus stab the shit out of Poseidon, I want you to imagine an Astyanax Lives AU BUT Poseidon does succeed in killing Ody. So cue an older grown-up Astyanax hunting the Earthshaker down, unleashing 600 strikes & then 600 more stabs all while screaming:

I am the son of Ithaca's past king Odysseus Know that I have grown from a boy to an avenger One fueled with rage as I'm consumed by age You didn't end me then, so you're the only one to blame!

And bonus if this is an Astyanax who knew about Troy and his past family. An Astyanax who knew the risk Odysseus was taking. An Astyanax who Ody promised a home, family, a princely upbringing still & even swearing to help him track down Andromache once the dust settles.

An Astyanax who watches Odysseus sacrifice himself so 1 boy who was meant to die can live. An Astyanax who doesn't sleep at night, wondering just how much of Ody's sacrifice was choice & how much was prophecy (bcz it's still Astyanax's fault he died, his fault his fault).

An Astyanax who ends up embracing his role as an avenger for a father anyways.

EDIT: I reblogged with a part 2!

[weareallgonnaliveforawhile]

In an AU where Astyanx lives, Eurylochus would have a much bigger role in taking care of him than people think.

Personally?

Eurylochus is the second in command on a ship that's full of men doing their best to go home. That is to say, Odysseus would be very busy whether he wanted to be or not. In an au where Astyanax's identity is being hidden, then there's the thing of Ody can NOT be hiding in his room constantly raising this kid because if he is, then the rest of the men don't know where the fuck he is. If his identity isn't being hidden, then it'll still fall to Eury to do a decent amount of child rearing as one of the people Ody trusts most in the world.

After the ocean saga, I imagine Eury tries to make up for the fact he nearly got all of the men killed and latches onto Astyanax a bit tighter. Him being willing to leave behind the pig men on Circe's island was him being like 'Yeah, I don't think it's possible to save them, let's get the fuck out of here' just like in canon with the only change being him tightly clutching onto Astyanax while this is happening.

If Astyanax was somehow turned into a pig then I imagine during the entire conversation Eury is holding onto this tiny piglet for dear life and treating any stray animal or plant for that matter as if it's gonna kill the baby.

Narratively?

Eurylochus is the voice of the crew and the representation of Odysseus's humanity. He's willing to sacrifice men at the start when Ody isn't and that's something that swaps further into the musical (I will go on a whole rant about Eury being Odysseus's humanity, the thing that makes him human). All of this is to say that as Odysseus gets crueler with his morals, Eurylochus gets kinder. Where he'd once be fine with sacrificing someone else if it meant more got to live, he becomes aghast at the thought of killing one of the men that's fought so long to go home.

This is seen in his treatment of Astyanx. If he was brash to the kid at first, he becomes softer, caring. Maybe he sits with him and tells him stories of the war. When Odysseus is charting out his maps or having an episode (which is to be expected on a ship full of war veterans), he sits beside Astyanx. Maybe they talk and maybe they don't. But it's VERY important that they get closer. Close enough that on a ship where traditional family dynamics get skewed very fast, since it's entirely full of traumatized middle-aged men who have questionable ideas on how to interact with kids, Eurylochus becomes almost a second dad of sorts. It takes a village, after all, and some villagers get closer to the child than others.

During Mutiny, Eurylochus is the voice of the crew. And the crew is starving. Not just hungry, but a true type of starving that eats at your stomach and blurs your vision until you know nothing but the desperation of needing to eat. It'd be worse than in canon. Eurylochus would give any last rations he had to Astyanax. Not just because he'd do that as a person at this time. But because it'd parallel Odysseus in a sense. Ody let other people hurt so he could get home, so he could live (not saying this is a bad thing, just saying this is what he did) and Eurylochus let someone else take something they needed despite the fact that he would hurt, that if he didn't eat the ration he might not get home (at least to his hunger ailed brain). So yeah, I don't imagine Astyanax would be visible for Mutiny because Eury would've had him tucked away somewhere. Why force the boy to watch his uncle father Eurylochus betray his father?

Either way, long story short, Eurylochus would be a central part in Astyanax's life. From a reluctant uncle, to a protective uncle to a peusdo second father to a ghost, he is a very important figure in Astyanax's life that can't be underestimated.

[unknownchoatic]

Telemachus to Astyanax: Where you ever dropped as a child? Because that would explain all of this *gestures to Astyanax’s whole body*

Astyanax: No actually, dad didn’t want to throw me off the tower wall so he snuck me onto the ship and i road home with him

Telemachus: Oh cool… wait what?? dad threw you off a wall??

[magnetic-maverick]

Let his papa go!