#you're your father's son

[megaclubdiolis]

ep26 // ep29 // ep32

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

[dootznbootz]

Thinking about how Telemachus has heard "You are just like your father" by so many people for most of his life. How different yet refreshing it is to hear said father tell him warmly "You're so much like your mother".

[pixelpaladin24]

[renegadesstuff]

you're an idiot I'm your idiot

[blackknight-100]

I'm absolutely obsessed with how mythology portrays parent-child relationships, especially when at least one divine party is involved. I've talked about Karna and Arjuna's relationship with their fathers, and how it might tie up to their characters and situations, and the Mahabharata as a whole, but they're not the only ones! Speaking exclusively about father-son dynamics in this post, and we have a lot of them!

You have Yudhisthira, whose father Yama/Dharma shows up in his son's mortal life twice (iirc), gives him a 20 min quiz each time and then tells him that no son, we don't allow dogs in heaven (which, how dare, but we all have that one parent). This is so in line with Yudhisthira's arc, poor man that he is, having to spend his whole life finding answers to questions about righteousness and honour, losing his friends, brothers, wife and children in the process.

Rama-Dasharatha and Ganesha-Shiva are pretty straightforward - there's plenty of mutual love and respect despite the horrors ™️ , but then there is Rama and Luv-Kush. If you're counting the Uttar Kand, then these boys literally saw their mother die because there father could not stop questioning her honour. That has to mess with your head. There's no way it's a happily ever after story.

Another man who interests me greatly is Yayati. Like sir... what were you doing. Who grows old and thinks, "You know what would be great? Me borrowing my son's youth" and then curses them when they refuse? What were you thinking. What were your kids thinking. I need to take your heads apart with a scalpel, this is so incredibly insane. A father should give to his children - the only thing this man "gave" was to spare Puru from his curse.

You have Bhishma and Shantanu, another wild story. I understand that Bhishma chose to give up his birthright to make Shantanu happy, but can you actually tell me Shantanu wasn't at least somewhat interested in the plan? Shantanu is Bhishma's father, it's his job to stop him from doing things like this. I feel like pulling my hair out everytime I think of this. You can tell that Bhishma was afraid for his father's well-being when he made this decision, and that so... unfair.

On the other end of the spectrum are Krishna and Vasudeva, who are wholesome to the point of despair. Vasudeva giving up his everything just to get his boy out of prison?? Waiting years and years for him, but never lamenting or cursing Krishna for not coming fast enough??? That's peak fatherhood (Shantanu take lessons). And Krishna honours that sacrifice!! He comes from idyllic Vrindavan, slays the tormentor of his parents and rips the bars of their prison!!! And that old married couple trapped within those dank, dreary walls, with no one except the other for company, watches their godly son turn up to free them and show them the sky for the first time in more than a decade - the thought of it brings me to tears. Possibly the only part I like about the change from baby!Krishna to adult!Krishna is his reunion with Vasudeva and Devaki!

Oh, and last but not least, our favourite problematic pair: Jamadagni and sons. I'm slightly terrified by how Jamadagni was like "kill your mother for me she's sinful >:(" and when four sons refused, he actually killed them. HIS OWN SONS! Admittedly, in some versions he asks Parashuram to do the killing but like... those are his brothers. Who probably swaddled him and rocked him and fed him and played with him. And all this is presumably happening right in front of Renuka. And then Parashuram has to kill his mother as well, unless he wants to be a heap of ashes.

(In some versions, including the one I've always heard as a child, Parashuram is said to be "aware of" his father's immense power, which just seems to me a really polite way to say that Parashuram knew disobeying his father had consequences ™️ that weren't always right or rational)

Worse, after the killing is done, Jamadagni is so pleased he offers Parashuram a boon, presumably with the remains of the rest of his family still nearby, and when Parashuram asks for his mother and brother to be revived, Jamadagni is all like "ooh actually I got really angry, I think I'm going to renounce rage forever. Dw btw your brothers and mother forgot you killed them you're welcome <3"

Sir??? This is what you got out of the whole issue???? No wonder Parashuram killed a whole bunch of kings, this couldn't have been healthy.

[aeligsido]

there's this idea that magical people in general live longer than Muggles, which I choose to take as a "they age more slowly". So, say, a woman could get a child maybe up to her sixties. Very late, risky pregnancy, but can happen by mistake, right? Or as a miracle, maybe.

What I mean is that Euphemia and Fleamont could have been in their late fifties or early sixties when they got James. Which adds the very funny bonus that they would have gone to school with Sirius' grandfather (rather than his parents like I see sometimes in the fandom).

I just think it would be a bit hilarious is all.

[mooneln0ne]

Don't I deserve to live too?

[crypticpaw]

More art for chapter 7 of my fic! :3

Hellcat cousin duo for the win! They were so much fun to write!

[yakny]

I will never know if...! If you saving me was a part of this selfish grander scheme of yours... or just one small moment of mercy from you. It doesn't matter to me anymore. None, and I mean none, of what you tell me will ever come to pacify my doubts and fears again. It all won't ever come back, and neither will I, Pops.

[cyndaquillt]

I'm on the chapter where they captured the leader of the bandit group Chang Geng had his first memories with and Gu Yun is close to finding out everything and it's viscerally driving in the point of how helpless Gu Yun feels that he could not do anything for Chang Geng back then because he was also a child.

When Chang Geng was a baby, Gu Yun was about 7 and couldn't possibly have done anything to save him. When they found Chang Geng at 12 yo, Gu Yun would've been roughly 19 and it's illogical to expect a socially awkward ptsd ridden 19 yo to immediately grasp that Chang Geng may have been running away from an abusive parent, especially when both Xiu Niang and Chang Geng were hellbent on hiding it so well. Of course Gu Yun has regrets. Whether you are old or young, naive or perceptive, you are still you and the people you love are still the people you wanna save and you couldn't do it. You couldn't be there and when you were there, you didn't get what was happening.

And at this point it comes full circle when you realize that Chang Geng feels EXACTLY the same. Him wishing he was born 10 years before his time, him trying to grow up faster and become capable soon so that he could be of use to Gu Yun, all of those are Chang Geng's fight against time and his own youth. Gu Yun wished he wasn't a child when Chang Geng needed rescuing just like Chang Geng wishes he wasn't a child when Gu Yun needs/needed support

[thelovers-thedreamers-and-me]

the downside to being a sitcom neighbour sort of person is that when rough things happen and emotionally fuck u up a lil bit, it also sounds completely made up

[thuringwedhil]

a 4th age re-embodied silvergifting redemption au can only be elevated to an even higher place of honour in my heart if it's also a 4th age re-embodied tyelcurvo au

[alex-is-the-king-11111]

Me when I'm about to play Mama by MCR on repeat for an hour and cry

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

[angelsdean]

Jack: Yeah, he-he wasn't all bad, my dad. Uh, that's what makes our parents loom so large in our heads, I think. They're… a million things to us all at once.

And even after they're long gone, we're stuck with them. Can't help it. They're inside of us. You know, my whole life, I promised myself I'd be nothing like him, but…I ended up just like him.

Kevin: No, Dad. You're way better than him.

Jack: Thank you, my son. And you're gonna be way better than me.

— 5x07, This Is Us

[beanghostprincess]

Josuke: I am going to leave you here to rot and die if you don't help me! I swear! I won't go save you either because I don't care about you! Josuke two scenes later: I came here to treat your wounds and save you and take care of you even if you don't help me because I felt slightly bad and guilt was consuming me