dndads s1e59 // antigone, jean anouilh // dndads s2e23 // nathanielorion // dndads s2e18 // how the light gets in, becks_rylnn // dndads s2e23 // famous blue raincoat, leonard cohen
You know what scene I want to happen in season 2 of the hit show Dungeons and Daddies: Not a BDSM Podacst?
I want Normal to have a crisis of self-confidence over something. Like, he gets overwhelmed before the final battle and starts getting worried about not being able to do anything useful in the fight. I want him to start rambling about it in front of Lark and Sparrow, and I want Lark and Sparrow to sit down and tell Normal that they unconditionally love and support him, and that he's strong enough to do whatever he sets his mind to.
And then I want them to teach him about the confidence-boosting properties of punching a tree and shouting "POWER!" at the top of your lungs
Not to mix together two hyperfixations of mine that have literally nothing to do with one another but to me Sparrow is a very good character to analyze through the "without love, the truth cannot be seen" framework that Umineko presents. Your understanding of his actions and words is framed entirely by whether you feel love for his character or not, which might sound obvious but what I mean is that to understand his relationship with his children, especially Normal, it is necessary to keep the circumstances of Sparrow's own childhood in mind - only then can you see the full picture. This, however, implies a level of care and nuance that is probably only granted by those who already have an attachment to the character, and that's why some listeners have fallen into the belief that Sparrow didn't love Normal (at least, not as unconditionally as he could've) despite canon evidence pointing to the contrary. Without >taking the time to analyze Sparrow in-depth< (Love), >his real feelings for his children< (The Truth) cannot be seen.
And, ultimately, I think this is why Sparrow and Normal's relationship is unfixable from an in-universe perspective. Still (validly) stuck with the image of his father telling him he's not proud of him, Normal sees Sparrow's support of him as limited and conditional, which biases his perspective against him - in other words, Normal does not truly feel loved by him. In turn, and whether it's subconscious or not, this makes Normal perpetuate the vicious cycle by being unable to view his father through a lens of Love due to his resentment. He interprets Sparrow's words and actions in unfavorable manners because he, himself, is depriving them of nuance and context. Because of this, he will never be able to reach The Truth.
Umineko also proposes the idea that if someone believes in a lie too fervently, it stops being a lie and becomes The Truth. Sparrow and Normal cannot find connection because they now fundamentally exist in two different realities, each one with a different Truth. And The Truth for Normal now is, unfortunately, that it took risking his life multiple times and losing people important to him for his father to be proud.
Randomly dropping this in two seasons in that I've binged over... three weeks, but, onward!
There's nothing that shows that this is the Bad TimelineTM than that Sparrow Oak-Garcia married a centrist, I for one salute Anthony Burch for this but also, wow those family dinners must have been. Something. Mercedes would Not have kept quiet is what I'm saying.