Art By EroMkk

Art by EroMkk

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Can we talk about the fact that Odysseus probably wouldn't have slaughtered the suitors or kill the maids the way he did if they were actually respectful? He specifically killed all of them not just to show that he is the true king of Ithaca but because the suitors and the maids that helped them were assholes. The suitors disrespected his wife, his son, his home, ate and slept there for 20 years and showed little to no respect while talking big game, and the maids not only weren't doing any better but decided to help plot the family's downfall with the suitors. It was the fact that they all disrespected his home and family for 20 years, specifically, that really pissed Odysseus off.

Ithaca's major rule is to show kindness and respect to everyone around you, no matter their status. If you are staying with them you are treated and respected as a guest and the same amount of kindess and respect is supposed to be shown to the host as well. If they had done that then Odysseus probably would've went with his usual mercy and understanding route but this time, this time he rightfully had no room of mercy for these people that not only posed a major threat to his family but treated his family and home badly for 20 years, after everything that has happened he was just done with everyone's bs.

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.

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

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.

Can we talk about Odysseus's "these hands are rated E for everyone" unspoken rule? When it all really came down to it, he didn't really care all that much about other people's gender or status in the sense that if you pissed him off, regardless of who you are, he would beat the shit out of you.

And you could go about that and say he respected everyone equally as well, which isn't wrong as if I remember correctly the way he ran Ithaca is that regardless of status you never disrespect a guest and you never disrespect your host. The rules were basically just don't be an ass, and Odysseus gets very pissed off when that rule is broken.

But I am not refering to that, I mean it in the sense that he brutally beat the shit out of everyone equally if they pissed him off.

Palamedes? He framed him and got him stoned to death. Thersites? Beat the shit out of him as a form of public humiliation and punishment. Both on completely different status levels, both got fucked over by him for pissing him off.

The suitors? Odysseus killed all of them except two in a very brutal fashion, then proceeded to hunt down and try to kill their fathers. The maids that helped the suitors? He chose to hang them to death for their actions instead of brutally killing them the way he did with the suitors. They both pissed him off so he killed them both.

Not saying the stuff he did was a good way of going about the situation, regardless if they were being assholes or not, but I just find it so fucking funny that he doesn't care who a person is, if they upset him they are already writing up their own tombstone.