#oedipus complex

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Though there is no known chemical treatment for an Oedipus Complex, doctors are hard at work developing an Oedipus Rx.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

It’s crazy that Kataang gets called an oedipus complex fantasy. When Zukos arc appeals to the idea so much more of being a special Mothers boy that goes on a journey to defeat his Father. And in the comics becomes the hero she never had as Ozai was abusive from the start instead of the show implying he got worse as he became more power hungry.

Would’ve killed him too if not for fact he knew the world needed the Avatar to fight the battle.

As an expert in Official Freudian Bullshit and someone who prioritizes fairness/accuracy over dunking on zutarians, I say we just cannot take this specific shitty anti-aang/anti-kataang argument and go "NO U" at zutara fans because it'd make as much sense as "Kataang is Oedipus Complex" aka no sense at all.

There is a BIG difference between an OBJECTIVE "My mom is great to me, my dad thinks I'm a living punching bag and is abusive to mom too, so I don't want him anywhere near us" and Oedipus Complex.

Oedipus bullshit requires actual enmeshment/emotional incest (aka a dysnfunctional dynamic that is not necessarily sexual, but can turn into that) between the son and mother, which then either fully creates or merely worsens tensions with the father, who can be anything from just an innocent person caught in a mess to a vile monster that actively contribuites to the mess by being abusive, and thus making the son more codependent with the mother by validating the "Us VS The World" mentality she's teaching him (out of deliberate malice or just poor parenting, doesn't matter).

What Zuko had towards Ursa was a very understandable "you're the parent that is not abusive to me, so I feel safer around you and don't get scared to show/ask for affection that my father denies me and mocks me for wanting" type of closeness. The more "saintly" image he has of her comes from the fact that HE THINKS SHE'S DEAD. He has fond memories of her, but she comes up in 4 episodes out of 61, and only influences his decision making in three scenes. She's not haunting his every thought and choice.

There's a reason why, when confronting Ozai, Zuko lists all the way he sucked as a parent and ruler - but not as a husband, because URSA HAD NOTHING TO DO WHY ZUKO GREW TO DISLIKE HIS DAD!

And lets not act like Zuko hated Ozai from day one. He loved the fucker so much he came back to be his right hand despite believing not only that Ursa was likely murdered, but that Ozai had something to do with it, or at least with the cover up of it. He genuinely believed "my father had every right to disfigure and banish me" for the longest time. He was constantly mad at Azula for being better than him, but not once got mad at Ozai for making this kids compete against each other. He became verbally abusive to Iroh for daring to say "Your father wouldn't change his mind and say he was sorry, he doesn't care about you."

Ozai was, objectively, the villain of Zuko's story, but Zuko was in denial about it. His complex towards Ozai puts the bastard up in a PEDESTAL, not in the role of antagonist he needs to defeat. Zuko loved his mom, but the parent he WORSHIPED, struggled to form a separate identity from, and had a completely unhealthy attachment to was his father - which is why Zuko temporary turns into a clone of Iroh in the Ba Sing Se arc when he thinks there's genuinely no way back to Ozai. He projected all those complexes onto the availiable PATERNAL, not just parental, figure.

Boy is WAAAAAAY more of an Electra (dad is the center of my world) than Oedipus (mom is the center of my world), let's be fucking real - and again, it's not one-to-one because he doesn't hate his mother at all and his father manipulates him through LACK of closeness. Keeping his kids at arm's length, and using the hurt this distance causes to his advantage, is Ozai's whole deal.

Also Zuko is Fire Lord, he has full legal authority to execute Ozai whenever he wants, Aang's opinion, or anyone's opinion really, be damned now that it is purely "Fire Nation business" not "Avatar business". He didn't do it because he came to genuinely accept/believe Aang was right to spare his father - if he didn't, he'd have just demanded to know where Ursa was when speaking to Ozai and said nothing else.

There is no universe in which Zuko EVER tells ANYONE , especially his abuser that he was now aware was indeed abusive, "I believe you can still change and become a better person" if he didn't mean it. That's just not how Zuko works.

Zuko doesn't want Ozai in his life anymore. He also has zero intention of killing him, or doing anything to hurt/control him, that is not 100% necessary. He's a victim drawing a boundary with his abuser to protect himself (and others), not a son with an irrational, potentially undeserved hatred towards his father, rooted in "You were the villain between me and mom/the villain I had to save mom from."

There's is ZERO Oedipus Complex to Zuko's arc.

[lichredmia]

Back again to Oedipus Complex discussion in Chainsaw Man, I like that there's some solid evidences that manga/anime shows to us thematically:

When Makima controls everyone by her presence, especially Denji, she represents not only a sexual desire to him but too a motherly figure that Denji doesn't have in his entire childhood. A mother who is an onipotent authority that demands atribbutes of her child all the time in exchange for affectionate care. For example, at the beginning, she gives everything good that he wanted to enjoy, like eating miso, fixing his tie, teaching him to write/sign in the paper etc, all of this is done to draw him into her maternal and sensual image, transforming him into an emotional and physical slave through her manipulative actions.

It's no coincidence that Denji always looks for a psychological pattern in likeable dominant female models, confusing desire with emotional need, that is, a lack of affection (hence the sexualization). Furthermore, Makima also rivals other women whose actions are distinct from her: Reze represents the reciprocal love; Power, the egalitarian affection; and Quanxi (more or less), the emotional maturity. This pyramid threatens the main control models instigated by her, eliminating them to deprive the "son" of functional stability.

It's worth noting that Denji detests male authority due to past paternal trauma, but respects the people behind it for different reasons. Aki arrived, in his eyes, as the rival "limiting father" who also seeks his boss's attention; however, this breaks down because he begins to see him as an older brother who wanted to protect him, completely moving away from the authoritarian paternal figure. This also applies to Kishibe, although in a different way, as he acts as a mature mentor who teaches him how to survive psychologically in this chaotic world. Does Denji still fear him? Yes, but he partially understands his honesty without the other seeking domination.

Unfortunately, even after Makima's death, he remains in a state of emotional regression stemming from the Oedipus complex and trauma, using hypersexuality as an escape valve for the emotional deprivation that has shaped him, submitting to the mold of the monopolizing mother who appears in several female characters in Part 2. Therefore, Asa and Yoru represent maternal duality: the former representing the real affection that Denji never had for Makima; while the latter follows the dominant principles of the omnipotent, controlling mother.

A child who has not been instructed from infancy will hardly recognize the signs of pervasive abuse from others.

[love4bingge]

reading a mommy kink moshang fic about time travel fuckery where sqh ends up raising (like from a baby) mobei and its so fucking good so im having brainworms about bingyuan thats somewhat inspired by it CW: omegaverse, semi underage (binghe having feelings for shen yuan as a minor, but nothing happens until he is an adult, typical bingqiuisms. binghe's presentation as an alpha happens at around 18 to 19 years old.), dubcon, druggging, mpreg/male lactation, mommy kink, binghe Shen Yuan transmigrates into a male omega concubine of the emperor Tianlang Jun. But he isn't only a concubine; he is also a nursemaid for the other harem members. It is his duty to look after the children born to TLJ's concubines, raising them to be both potential heirs and also strong and kind people (demons?). And he falls into the position quite well, and loves his job! Under his mothering, the empire has never seen such a fine set of sons. Any one of them could take the throne, but one stands head and shoulders above all: Luo Binghe, a child born from an affair with a woman who wasn't of the harem. Despite that, Shen Yuan takes him in and raises him along with the other children under his care. Binghe is possessive of his "mother" from day one, and Shen Yuan spoils him too much to ever curb his attachment. He breastfeeds him even into his teenage years (if milk is what his boy needs to grow strong, then who is he to take that away from him? he has plenty now that there arent any new babes to wet nurse) and binghe develops quite the Oedipus complex. Everyone knows Binghe will present as an alpha, but he is tired of waiting for his presentation. His precious mother keeps telling him he should go to a brothel (he can hardly believe his son is already at that age...his baby is all grown up now!) but he doesn't care about that. Presenting means he will become a full adult, which means he can't spend all his days lazing around drinking Shen Yuan's milk and being spoiled by him, so he's not looking forward to it. Still, becoming an alpha means he will finally have the ability to claim his mother for himself. When he knows it's time, he drugs Shen Yuan with a heat inducer and pops his knot in him then and there. Finally having come of age, he's ready to make his challenge on the throne, and claim the hand of his father's omega concubine and his mother. Shen yuan is reeling from the shock of being drugged and knotted, but his omega instincts are soothing over his last lingering sensibilities from the modern world. His fading modern morals tell him how wrong it is to be mated to a boy he raised, but his body is telling him it's only right, that Binghe is his alpha, and nothing else matters. It feels good, right, to submit to the alpha. After all, what mother can say no to their precious son? the moshang fic (seriously guys read this omfg): https://archiveofourown.org/works/76543671/chapters/200320726

[nosferatu-roberteggers]

“While it is unclear to what extent [Bram] Stoker was aware that his vampire represents the evil or repressed fantasies of his characters, it is the case that the associations of violence with madness and vampirism with sexuality are typical in the Gothic. True to the nature of the Gothic, Dracula is the external representation of Renfield's insanity, Lucy and Mina's sexuality, and Harker's episodes both of delirium and passivity […] vampirism is associated not only with death, immortality, and orality, but also with sexuality.

Further, in psychoanalytic terms, the vampirism is a manifestation of greatly desired and equally strongly feared fantasies. These fantasies have encouraged critics to point to the Oedipus complex at the center of the novel. Dracula, for example, is seen as the “father-figure of huge potency”.

— Phyllis A. Roth; “Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (in “Dracula: Criticism” edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal, 1997)

“I have never been so happy as that moment… as I held hands with Death.” // “I might ease your wound” // “Think you there is no burden upon myself? […] I fear little Friedrich is so strong and hungry, he's eating me weary.” // “I cannot resist you, my love.”

[aliciavance4228]

You know precisely just how flawed psychology still is when one of the most famous psychological theories out there is erroneously called the "Oedipus Complex" and it's ment to describe "the unconscious erotic attitude of a son towards his mother that results in jealousy towards his father", yet I haven't found any official term or theory ment to describe the behavior some men possess whenever their newborn baby becomes part of their life and now they're discovering that they're supposed to get access to their mother's private parts in order to get fricking fed or receive more attention from their wives, which can even lead to extreme case scenarios because of jealousy. Yes, there's the Laius Complex, but it's linked in filicide specifically (and sometimes incest), whereas here we're talking about how so many men are socialized to perceive themselves as being entitled to women's bodies to the point where even their own children start to look like a threatening to their "territory". Small kids cannot have any erotic or predatory behaviors unless they're taught by adults to think or act in a certain way, and yet somehow we got to a point where a complex named after the guy who had zero idea that he was married to his mother and who literally gouged his eyes upon learning the truth is so ridiculously popular.

[poetryofapollo]

STOP GIVING HAMLET AN OEDIPUS COMPLEX. NO HE DOES NOT WANT TO FUCK GERTRUDE. Thank you for attending my pep talk

[diana-andraste]

The Death of the King (detail), Agnieszka Polska, 2009