#nuclear golden retriever || alfred's general freakiness

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Theres that scene where alfred uses his super strength to basically be an asshole and keep hitting matthew in the face when theyre throwing a ball around in canon, does your alfred deliberately use his strength like that in true older asshole sibling fashion? And has he ever used it accidently and regretted it?

So not going to lie this is something I've gone back and forth on. But I very much dislike the abuse a lot of canon and fanon have Alfred inflicting on Matt and the lengths people go to make him a shit brother. Neglect, sure. Abuse? Never. I think Matt has shot at Alfred but if Alfred has ever purposefully struck Matt in his life it was rare. I don't think Alfred is an asshole. Overbearing and self righteous, sure. Something like self-centered, yes. Abusive? No. Selfish? No. Alfred loves Matt easily as much as Matt loves him. You may have noticed I call Alfred a golden retriever. Well Golden's have a very soft mouth and a very strong bite they don't often use. They're adapted to fill their role without hurting people. In my view, Alfred has done as much with regard to Matt.

Matt was a very small often semi-abandoned baby. He clung hard to Alfred when he could. If he was cold, when he was scared, if he was sick, if he was tired. Give baby Matt a reason not to be terrified of whoever was available and he had a habit of snuggling in and hanging on. And it was a long time before Alfred got very tired of that and Matt. Like Matt has never known existence without Alfred. He's never existed without this bright, bold outline of warmth that, for better or for worse, defines and defends his existence in uncountable ways and I really don't think Alfred would under 99% of circumstances purposefully harm Matt. So Alfred learned to control his strength.

Accidents happen though. They'd roughhouse and Alfred would slam him too hard and crack some ribs. He'd hug tightly enough to give Matt stress fractures. He'd occasionally throw something too hard and knock Matt flat on his ass, concussed to hell. He's accidentally gone to hand very heavy objects to Matt, like an anvil or a horse and Matt's just gotten fucking flattened a broken a few bones but not on purpose. Matt's not fragile, next to literally any other human shaped creature on earth he'd hold his own but next to Alfred he may as well be made of glass sometimes. I think he might have accidentally murdered Matt because Matt forgot to make sound, surprised him and he sent him flying on first instinct. Matt probably isn't the only person who's had to duck Mr surprised spray and pray over here either but that for another ask. As adults, Alfred has knocked him out cold just by tossing a TV remote or Nintendo controller at Matt too hard or out of frustration. He's probably tossed him a bottle of water so hard it knocked Matt over and winded it him.

I think for Alfred it's less about forgetting or misusing his own strength and more about his inability to remember Matt's not his equal. They will go hiking and Alfred will be going for 26 hours straight like a nuclear powered energizer bunny and not notice Matt's getting tired until he nearly walks off a cliff. But he'll also let Matt sleep for sixteen hours while he does god knows what only to slide back into his own sleeping back as Matt begins to rouse his sleepy ass up and pretend he hasn't been up for eight hours already. Sometimes dense, very willing to ignore uncomfortable emotions, a bit or a lot neglectful, sure. But not on purpose.

Tbh I think that of most nations personalities (not their actions lord knows not their actions) Alfred does prefer using his brain over his brawn. Especially when it comes to Matt.