#Telemachus helps more with the War PTSD and Penelope is the SA PTSD...Dad is a bit of both :')

[dootznbootz]

I absolutely love your head canons about Water Wife™️, but I’m curious about what head canons you have for Odysseus (aka. #1 Water Wife™️ simp) 🤔

I have so manyyyyyyyy!!! :D

For both, of course, and I'm not even done with Penelope never will be There's some I probably have mentioned before but bleh :D I'll put it out anyways.

Odysseus is a "pretty boy" and he's able to balance "masculine" and "feminine" beauty perfectly and he knows it and uses it. (When you're aspec, you tend to "study" what makes people "pretty". To understand it as, "What's the big deal?". That's what he does) I knew someone in theatre who when playing different characters for acting, the more "sweet and goofy" one (Seymour, Little Shop of Horrors) and the "rugged, handsome" one (Prince from Into the Woods) and he looked like different people and realized it was because he was able to really shift his jaw around and also just really expressive and Odysseus USES this. ALL the time. Paris is a more feminine pretty boy while Menelaus is a more masculine pretty boy but Odysseus is a perfect in-between. (Paris and Menelaus are definitely prettier than him in a way but yeah >:D Homer doesn't stfu about Odysseus and he had multiple people wanting him. When he didn't want anyone but Penelope)

What "mars" his beauty is that Odysseus bites at his lips a lot. Usually chapped and ripped up.

I kind of plan for it to be kind of unknown whether Sisyphus or Laertes is his dad. He REALLY takes after his mom in so many ways. He's a lil jealous of Ctimene as while both take after Mom, she has Dad's nose and eye color. It's something that means a lot to him that his dad loves him regardless. And it REALLY bothers him when people try and bring up Sisyphus being his dad. It makes him sincerely happy seeing Tyndarius loving all his kids even though there's a CLEAR difference on who's whose. (Omfg imagine if he could talk to his mom about Calypso and Circe as what she went through with Sisyphus 😭Maybe Penelope trying to get advice from Laertes!!!)

He actually couldn't really grow a beard until after the war for whatever reason :D he was just kind of pretty smooth-shaven (not shaven but just no beard til later). Penelope teases him about it and when she does he rubs his face against hers.

He tries to say his favorite poems/epics/myths are the ones of Heracles but it's actually Psyche's myth. Not giving up because you're so devoted? That you want to see your person/people again?? RINGING ANY BELLS. (Also Baucis and Philemon, because Xenia is very important to him and to grow old with his love to then get turned into olive trees together?? That's his LIFE GOAL.)

I really love the thought of him and Eumeaus being super close. Like he actually wasn't that close to Polites and Eurylochus until mid-teens but Eumeaus was raised beside him and Ctimene.

Demisexual/demiromantic/aspec: Like he didn't really get it until Penelope, at least not fully. And then he's just hit by a truck. They were in the garden when they first met (no details yet! But she just knocks him on his ass) and there were beehives and beekeepers around and he turns so red and is so gobsmacked that Penelope freaked out thinking he was stung by a bee and was dying. (being Naiad she's dealt with this before) I wouldn't say "love at first sight" as he didn't really think anything until she called him out.

Mentioned before, but the Boar scar caused fertility issues. He's...very ripped up. He blames his asexuality/demisexuality on it and it's a surprise that he can run so well (Hermes' descendant and Athena saved him...just not "all of him".) Penelope had some fertility issues too (she has a lot of siblings so she's really sad about it) but he always took the blame and always made a point of "I won't take a concubine. I don't want one and I'm the reason why we can't have children. It wouldn't change anything." Though his leg does get stiffer in joints and the skin is tight when he's older. Water Wife™ helps with that. :D

Since it took a while before they had Telemachus, he had... a lot of toys made in preparation even though it took awhile. Crib too but wasn't used for a while. Telemachus luckily has many keepsakes and gifts from his dad :') and yes he carried them everywhere. (There was a branch off their "nest" that Telemachus messed around on too much when he was around 8 and it broke :'). When Odysseus comes back, Telemachus is ashamed and says sorry and Odysseus is just happy he wasn't hurt. (OUCHIE)

He actually had the Trojan horse idea for YEARS (like year 5) but everyone thought it was "dishonorable" and he was SO MAD. (also yeah, he remembered all the toys he made his son and that's how he got the idea) It is a "TOLD YOU SO!" moment when they win.

One thing I love about him is that he really is "all or nothing" in many ways. or a "0 to 100 very quickly". He does NOT let even minor insults slide. He goes all out and over the top for the people he loves and the people he hates. like, he DOES care. He loves as much as he hates. Like he's an asshole but there's always a reason (honestly I think he does have his rules. and they ARE consistent I think. probably will write an essay on it soon)

Honestly, I know a lot of people think "oh familiar stranger" when they get back and yeah, they look so different but they still think the same in many ways. Homer ends with them still being like-minded. I think Penelope and Odysseus had the feeling of "feels like there was almost no years of separation" as they can be in-sync and "are like they were before". They're older, wiser, but he still does the funny voice that makes her laugh. She's still ticklish on her neck. So much is the same. It'll be fun to learn what's different.

Except the PTSD.

And Odysseus is basically just trying to force himself to be "normal". He's bottling things up but not pushing away. Some war stuff he's shared as there were games and some fun stories (also not as recent) But he doesn't share Circe or Calypso with Penelope at first. And he definitely doesn't want Telemachus to know. But he's not pushing away. If anything he wants them even closer than ever. And doesn't really like them being away from him.

He usually has to be the one to make "first contact" or "first touch" (don't go up behind him...ever) but he is very physically affectionate so...kind of works.

Though it saddens Penelope, as this is all Telemachus knew, he's not too affected. As to him, Odysseus is already so loving and wonderful to him and so he just sees his moments of war flashbacks and fear and his violent outbursts against others are just... Dad. He knows it's strange but no one's perfect. He's fine most of the time otherwise. He kisses his and his mother's cheeks and is trying to learn pottery from him. But Penelope knows this is not normal. Plus he's sharing some things with her that he would rather keep hidden from Telemachus forever.

Before she could always just hold him and basically do whatever and he melts. She now needs to go slow and always give some sort of warning. He usually meets her halfway, so that helps. Something he did before but...There is so much lost and that needs time.

Slowly reaching her hand out to his face? He grabs it and leans into it. She didn't need to go slow before. She opens her arms? He flops into it. Before, she could've grabbed his hand and basically pulled him into her.

He always has to be in control now and he's mad at himself for it.

"That's your son. Why did your son's joyful shouts make you think of the screams of the young men in war. Your son is fine. There's no war here. You made sure of that. That's your wife. Your wife that you've longed for 20 fucking years and you still wake up weeping and think you're with the goddesses again. Hold her. Let her hold you. Stop crying. Let her hold you. That's what you want."

He's like a cat who digs their claws into you to keep you to them. He's angry at himself for getting scared/upset and...in a way HAS to let it be known that even though he's a mess, he NEEDS them. Always has.

He can't be the little spoon anymore. He can't have her sleep/rest on top of him anymore. He can lay on her and be the big spoon but as he was basically a "doll" for Calypso and manipulated and tricked by Circe, there are certain things he can't have done to him. If he gets in his funks, he sometimes has to have it where he holds her and she's completely still before he gives her the go-ahead to hold/touch him in return. Sometimes he has to quiz her questions only she would know. And then he just cries. He won't talk about it for a while. :')

As he and Laertes shared some of the same "adventures" with the same beings, they bond over that :D Also, with his older cousin Jason? "I don't like him. >:( He always would fuck up my hair by messing with it."

In their Early marriage, they tried each other's "hobbies". Aka Odysseus tried weaving and Penelope tried woodcarving. Two of their most prized possessions is a fucking ugly wooden duck and a little blanket that is uneven and has some holes in it. When he doesn't see his blanket next to her duck when he returns, he's worried and a bit sad but then Penelope reveals that she sleeps with it :') the dye is faded and some parts are clearly rewoven so it won't fall apart.

#I did a LOTTT #and this ain't even all of them but idk wanna reveal some in fics :D #I like studying these goobers :D #Mad rambles #shot by odysseus #my headcanons #ask #fangirlofallthefanthings #I'm basing a lot of this on my own recovery and shit :D #idk feels nice in a way??? and honestly? accurate as yeah :D Everyone's different but so many moments of 'I know what you're #doing. I did it too.' and yeah :P #Telemachus helps more with the War PTSD and Penelope is the SA PTSD...Dad is a bit of both :') #tw ptsd