I am having feelings again about "AU where Kanis adopts Simeon and Bronco instead of taking them to the orphanage," aka Assassin Dad AU.
The thing about Kanis is that he's pretty honest and upfront about what he's good at and what he's still learning in AAI2 (obvious trolling of Edgeworth aside). He still considers himself a beginner at chess, but doesn't treat this as something to be ashamed of. It's just a skill that he's working on.
And I feel like he'd have the same approach to parenting, treating it as another skill that he can learn with time.
The kids are somewhat confused by this.
There's a lot we don't know about the Gusto & Frost years. But what we do see is Carmelo Gusto's obsession with his budding confectionery career and how quickly he dropped Simeon after Simeon stopped being useful to him. The less said about how Artie Frost treats Bronco, the better.
However you slice it, Gusto and Frost ultimately put their own needs and desires ahead of their sons during IS-7. And that probably seeped into much of their everyday lives. Simeon and Bronco would've subconsciously come to accept the idea that their own needs were always going to be less important. What their dads wanted would always outweigh what they wanted.
So, they're baffled when Kanis asks for their opinions on things. To Kanis, it just makes sense to ask them. How else is he going to know what they like to eat? What do they like to wear? What do they need to keep themselves entertained? What are they afraid of? Are they allergic to anything? No point in wasting money on food or clothes that they won't like.
Can't remember their names? Okay, what do they want to be called? Because of course that should be their decision. It's their names.
If Simeon doesn't like sweets anymore, why make him eat them? If playing chess keeps Bronco entertained for hours, then why not let him do that?
It takes years for them to get used to the idea that their input does matter. How they feel about something matters. Kanis might not agree with them on everything, and he definitely doesn't let them walk all over him. But that's okay. They can talk things out with him, and even if the answer is still no, they'll at least get an explanation as to why.
They keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never does.
(Well, that, and everyone knows that the family member who ACTUALLY calls all of the shots is Helmut. But, y'know. That's to be expected.)
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