Now Thinking Of The Other Times Odysseus Just... Dotes On Telemachus.Like When They First Meet, He Just

Now thinking of the other times Odysseus just... dotes on Telemachus. Like when they first meet, he just kisses his boy on his cheek. Then when Telemachus accidentally leaves the door to the armory open, Odysseus is just- "It's fine (even though it'll totally kill us HAHAHAHA... daddy's got this-)" AND THEN. That time this one suitor begged him for mercy and Odysseus mercilessly kills him. Then another guy also tries to beg, but then, Telemachus was like- "Oh, don't kill him, he was nice to me." and Odysseus was like- "Ok, I'll spare him cause my baby boy says so." and Telemachus is just- "Oh yea, don't kill this one other guy too cause he was also nice to me- er- unless he already got killed or something-" and Odysseus is all- "Sure baby boy."- no questions asked.

Honestly I can see why people would feel off at the fact that Odysseus questioned his father at first when they reunited when people look at it at face value, but if you actually read and look into his character and the story it makes perfect sense as to why. The reasoning?

Trust issues, a boat full of it

Odysseus hardly trusts anyone at this point. I mean hell when he went to Ithaca and finally arrived there he thought Athena, the goddess, the one who personally trained him and watched over him since he was young, was lying and tricking him because the poor man is so traumatized he feels like it is all another trap for him.

Then he sees his father, who he hasn't seen in 20 years, and doesn't know if he can even trust his own father anymore. He doesn't trust his own father anymore. That's not something that warrants rage and anger, that's something to be genuinely concerned about that someone can be so traumatized to the point that they can't even trust their own family. Odysseus couldn't tell if he really was his father or if it was another bs situation being pulled on him by the gods that messed with him for 10 full years.

And when he finally revealed himself to his father? He hugged him, he hugged him tightly and comforted him. Probably one of the only times in a long while that Odysseus has felt comfortable enough to hug anybody. This moment, this special moment between the two, is the moment where Odysseus has fully reconnected to his home for good.

So if anyone even tries to say that Odysseus was bad to his parents or that he didn't care about them you will be catching these hands and book 16 of Homer's Odyssey because clearly you don't understand that a huge part of Odysseus's character is loving and caring for his family above everything else.

man you know that one trope where the enemy comes to the protag's house (or vice versa) when they're hurt and is like "i didnt know where else to go"

i fuckin love that like. unconscious draw dynamic with shizaya where only when they're not in their right mind (probably from blood loss or sleep deprivation) do they start to unconsciously seek each other out

like they'll just start walking and not really know where they're going but they find themselves at each others' houses and by the time they realize where they are, the other one's already opened the door and is frozen

or like. shizuo doesnt even realize he's trailing izaya's scent until he runs into izaya himself, or izaya doesnt realize he's headed to ikebukuro until the train comes to a stop and he's like oh. huh

shizuo's walking around idly when he catches a glimpse of izaya bleeding as he runs away and izaya's thinking that he can't get caught by shizuo right now because shizuo will definitely hurt him, but shizuo chases after izaya anyway and he's not even sure why because it's not anger clouding his actions anymore but something else (concern?? nooo it couldnt be)

shizuo's always been better at sensing izaya through raw instinct than izaya is at sensing him but when izaya's tired enough to let go of some of his repressed emotions and constantly-running brain he finds that his instinct carries him to shizuo as well

like. just the magnetic force between them. i need more of it the flavor is so good because sometimes they dont even want it to be there. izaya comes to shizuo and he's like fuck. i need to go home and sleep off this fucking bullet wound why am i HERE WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME

or shizuo gets a bad feeling out of nowhere and he's like damn the flea must be getting stabbed in an alley somewhere. dont care (he sets out on a walk a few minutes later and if he unconsciously starts checking alleyways that's no one's business but his own) (he doesn't actually find izaya dying in an alleyway but he does find a gang looking for him and maaaybe he roughs them up bit)

so insane over how subconscious their attachment to each other is please give me more fics about it lest i write them myself because this post already contains like 5 different fanfic plots

My issue with Izaya being a damsel in distress who needs Shizuo to save him is like. Do yall not remember Yodogiri Jinnai lmao. Izaya got stabbed and the moment he got his bearings back he tore that whole shit down just to prove a fucking point. Shizuo doesn’t need to rescue Izaya, at best Izaya would have him there just to show off a little or because he wants to see Shizuo beat someone’s ass not because he needs him there

And if he did ever get helped without asking for it first he’d be such a little angry bitch about it. He’d be snarling and clawing and spitting the whole time not whimpering and saying “thank you” he’s a prick for a reason

another bad take from that one post (we ALL know the one) that kinda got buried under all the ableism is that izaya's mistreatment of those suicidal girls was a just action and done out of pity for, like, "actual" suicidal people?

like. analyzing izaya's relationship with suicide and why he has this... uh.... "hobby" in general is super interesting, and here its just the most blandest woobified interpertation of it possible

like- if izaya IS mentally ill and the symptoms of said mental illness are why he's Like That, it creates this interesting thought of, suicide is the natural endpoint of those girls' mental illnesses, and izaya's actions are the natural endpoint of his. suicide is both a) understandable from the standpoint of how it reduces (er, eliminates) the victim's suffering and b) incredibly hurtful and damaging to those in the victim's perprhiary. AND notwithstanding suicide, mentally ill people whos symptoms cause them to hurt others are (generally) given compassion and understanding for their symptoms, while still being held accountable for the harm they've caused.

so if izaya's actions are from untreated mental illness, can they be seen thru this same framework? about how his actions are understandable from his perspective since they (at least in the moment) migitate his suffering, but are also extremely hurtful? and that, because everyone around him wants him to be held accountable or for karma to get his ass, without having any compassion or understanding of his symptoms, that a fundamantal aspect of this setup is missing and that's why nothing ever seems to change? because people see him not as a mentally ill person deluding himself into thinking that his symptoms are all active decisions made by him that he's in control over, while actively losing control of them, but as an iredeemable and actively malicious man who genuinley IS on top of things and orchestrated literally everything- basically, believing the lie he puts on for people, including himself?

and another angle is WHY he fixates on suicide specifically. was he suicidal in middle school when he was more reserved? does it have ties to his thanatophobia in that he wants to understand what drives a person to suicide, only to be repeatedly dissapointed when its mundane reasons AND that they're scared of dying? (ergo, something COULD happen to him that can drive him to suicide, since these girls were driven to it by a mundane event- AND that his fear of death will not save him from these urges)

does he realize that his plan to die in battle DOES count as a suicide, and he's projecting those feelings onto other people and focusing on their suicidal ideation instead of his own?

it's a fascinating topic!!!

So, some notes about Shizuo and Izaya.

A. In the beginning, Izaya does NOT keep close tabs on Shizuo. In fact he must practically be avoiding information about him in order to miss that Shizuo was fired from that bartending job.

B. Izaya doesn't actually run away all that much. Sure he avoids being hit (the heck else is he gonna do, let Shizuo behead him with a lantern pole?) But he actually doesn't run, and instead fights back fiercely and aggressively.

C. They actually talk pretty calmly most of the time. Izaya pisses Shizuo off, but it's not in the blind, trashing in anger kind of way and it probably never was. If anything I kind of think Izaya is the angrier one.

D. As he doesn't run, the reason most fights end is actually not because he gets away, but simply because other people interfere and stop them; in most cases, Simon. And as illustrated by the April's fools story, sometimes Kyohei.

E. Izaya actually doesn't come to Ikebukurou often, he really mostly just comes for work, or for personal projects; certainly not to bother Shizuo. At least at this point in time the 'entertainment' definitely does not outweigh the risk of brain damage.

F. Shizuo supposedly hates Izaya because he talks too much, but considering Shinra arguably talks more, I'm gonna go with the other side; He hates Izaya because Izaya is too logical and rational. And on his part, Izaya hates Shizuo because he doesn't listen to reason- at all. Kind of obvious, that one.

G. Shizuo knows perfectly well that Izaya is lonely and longs for connection just like he does. It doesn't inspire any kind of pitty or care, and doesn't make him any more reasonable about it.

I. Izaya doesn't normally even have time to play around even if he wanted to. This may be subject to change once he has Namie working for him though.