#@nonbinarylocalcryptid's au

[backpackingspace]

Okay so I've been thinking about @nonbinarylocalcryptid Astyanax lived/daddy odysseus au. Which is some good shit in general. Yall should check it out. But specifically I'm think about what it would be like for this child to grow up on calypso's island. He would have been what ? 3-10 there??

[little-cereal-draws]

@nonbinarylocalcryptid has put this au in my head so here are some headcanons for Odysseus adopting Astyanax instead of killing him

When Odysseus finally gets home, Astyanax is ten and Telemachus is twenty, about to turn twenty one

Astyanax is incredibly furiously jealous of Telemachus. He doesn’t know who this guy is or why Odysseus is so obsessed with him. He isn’t used to having to share his dad’s attention

He tries to come up w ways of getting Odysseus to focus only on him but he’s never successful. Either he gets in trouble for doing smth bad or he tries to start a game and it gets turned into a whole family activity

He gives up after a few weeks and sulks by himself exploring the palace and city. Odysseus eventually finds him and they have some much needed one on one time. Astyanax is ecstatic

Telemachus is incredibly furiously jealous of Astyanax. He doesn’t know who this kid is or why Odysseus is so obsessed with him. He isn’t used to having to share his dad’s attention

Him and Odysseus are trying to make up for lost time and Astyanax keeps bursting in and being super annoying. He’s so glad every time Odysseus shoos him away. He desperately needs this one on one time

Astyanax isn’t sure abt Penelope. She’s very nice, makes an effort to connect to him, and Odysseus hasn’t stopped raving abt her for as long as he can remember. But hearing abt someone in a story is different from actually meeting them. She a total stranger. He warms up to her after a while but for the first month or so, he’s very shy and apprehensive around her

He doesn’t consider her his mom tho, only Odysseus’ wife. He used to think calypso was his mom (she would be the first woman he would be old enough to remember and they lived w her for most of his life) but now he’s content to not have a mom. He only needs his dad anyway

After about a year or so, both Astyanax and Telemachus begrudgingly accept that they’ll have to share Odysseus. They’re both not thrilled abt it but they’re not angry anymore either

Telemachus is a self sufficient adult at this point and spends a lot of time doing his own thing. He’ll go on trips, go hunting, attend his parents’ court, try to woo maidens, debate policy and philosophy w the advisors (which can get pretty complicated when his parents join; his dad especially loves having battles of wits), etc

Astyanax is a preteen and very curious abt what Telemachus is getting up to and what the adult life of a prince is like. He followed him secretly at first but quickly got found out. Telemachus thought it was kinda weird at first but then was a little flattered

He started letting Astyanax accompany him (to an extent. Long trips and wooing maidens are off limits lol). But he’ll take him to court, on quick trips, to his fighting lessons, to intellectual debates, etc.

Penelope isn’t so sure but Odysseus is adamant that learning by experience is just as valuable as structured lessons and they should just be happy that they’re finally getting along lol

The only part he has a problem w is the trips. He’s already anxious when Telemachus leaves on his own but when he takes Astyanax too… The thought of potentially losing both his sons, them taking years to return, or them being harassed by the gods eats him alive. It’s terrible to watch. He doesn’t eat, barely sleeps, doesn’t do any work. The only thing he does is sit by the door to the palace and wait for them to come back. Not even Penelope can soothe him

It’s worse when they go on a boat. Even if they’re only taking a one day trip to the city next over, he’s literally shaking w stress. Instead of sitting by the door, he’ll sit in Poseidon’s temple and do nothing but pray for their safe passage, not stopping at all for food or sleep

Telemachus has offered to leave Astyanax so he feels a bit better but he insists that he’s fine. It’s more important that the two of them bond, form good relations w their neighbors that will benefit them when they’re the king, and become more worldly. He’s fine. He swears it. He’s fine

Telemachus has taught Astyanax how to shoot a bow, how to track animals, how to identify plants, and how to basically do anything that doesn’t involve living on a boat lol

They’ll spar too. Astyanax is much better than Telemachus was at his age and Telemachus is a little jealous abt it. If he didn’t win anyway bc he’s bigger and stronger, he definitely would be angry

It’s weird tho bc he’ll be like “how did you learn that move? It was super advanced." And Astyanax will just casually be like “dad taught me after we fought a harpy.” And Telemachus is reminded that this kid has spent more time w his dad than he has. He never got to have his dad teach him how to fight but this other kid did. It’s not fair. He pushes it deep down and ignores it

Astyanax is aware of what happened to his biological family. Odysseus told him when he was eight. He was a teary mess, barely able to get the story out, but Astyanax wasn’t distraught like Odysseus expected. Astyanax was quiet for a long time, thinking, then went off on his own for a while but by the time it was night, he seemed to have moved pass it

He didn’t remember that family so he wasn’t very upset. He definitely thought it was messed up that he was taken in by the enemy that killed his whole family and destroyed his city but Odysseus was nice and it beat being killed too so he wasn’t complaining

Sometimes he’ll lay awake and wonder what his life would’ve been like if he had grown up in Troy tho. How his biological dad would’ve raised him. How different his life would’ve been if he hadn’t been constantly moving around and fighting for his life. As a kid, he can’t even begin to imagine what that would feel like bc he’s never known it. But by the time he’s grown, it’s different

Telemachus is on the throne now; Odysseus retired and just hangs around now. There are rumors that he's gone mad and even tho it's 100% false, he does nothing to stop the rumors bc he thinks it's funny and likes to mess w ppl

Astyanax is in his mid to late twenties now and he's feeling like he doesn't belong in Ithaca. He looks different from the rest of his family, he's got a much darker and complicated past than most of them, and every time they talk abt war in the court he can't help but get angry and closed off

Tho to Telemachus' credit he's a very fair king and does his best to avoid war and getting involved in other people's wars. That's how he lost his dad for so long and he's not making Ithaca go through smth like that again

Astyanax decides that he needs to see Troy. What's left of it, any new civilizations that replaced it, anything he can find. He's a little worried about the trip across the sea but figures if he did it once before, he can do it again

There's nothing when he gets there. Most of the wood has rotted and the ground is black and charred. He can walk the Greek camp based off the burnt fire pits, the tent peg holes in the earth, and the rotted outlines of the thick wall. The field in between the camp and Troy is littered with swords, spears, arrows, shields, and the occasional chariot wheel. Troy is a ghost town. The only thing left are the great walls. The inside is baren and empty

When he returns, he's furious. His "dad" destroyed his entire civilization. Except for him, no mercy was shown. It was a horrible, monstrous thing to do. (He's forgotten the memory of how much Odysseus cried telling him what he did)

He goes off on Odysseus. Odysseus is partly resigned (he knew this day was coming and he’s in the wrong) but he’s still a stubborn ass who resorts to violence instead of talking things out so the fight gets pretty explosive. It stays an argument but only just barely

They both have swords in their hands when Telemachus comes in. He tries to talk them down and pretends he doesn’t know what the fight is abt even tho the whole palace can hear them yelling

Astyanax asks for Odysseus to be executed, banished, or otherwise punished in someway. Telemachus won’t do it. Astyanax is furious that he’s not taking his side. Telemachus didn’t see what he saw. He didn’t lose his whole family and get kidnapped by the man who murdered them. He has no idea how it feels to have your whole world flipped on its head

Astyanax debates fighting both Odysseus and Telemachus but decides against it. He storms out, gets on a boat, and goes back to Troy. He wanders around there for a while until he finds a civilization to join

Years go by. Odysseus dies, Telemachus has his own kids and grandkids. His hair is starting to go gray. Then one day a messenger runs in announcing the approach of a foreign army

Telemachus runs out to see the threat and a fleet of twelve boats is abt to enter Ithaca’s harbor. At the prow of the biggest one is Astyanax, torch in hand. He’s going to burn Ithaca like they burnt Troy

The prophecy is fulfilled