Frederica and Crepus are both such a complex character and I hate it when people label them as either the most amazing parent or abusive jerks. because I KNOW they had the best intentions, that they love their children and are trying their best to parent. But mannnn did they kinda fuck them up a little.
Frederica seemed to pass down generational trauma onto Jean, with how tightly run the Gunnhildr family is. You have to be the perfect role model, anything less than that falls below standard. She wants Jean to grow up independent, strong, and a leader she knows Jean could be, but she fed into the unhealthy work habits Jean currently has.
But it's so clear that she loves her daughter to bits. The little traditions they hold, the way Jean freezes on spot when she saw her mother's smile for the first time in months. She's not the perfect mother and might be considered overbearing but it's so... Realistic. She's interesting to me.
Crepus doesn't practice the "perfect" mindset like Frederica does but he does place expectations on Diluc. Basically living vicariously through him as the captain of the knights. I don't doubt that he'd love Diluc regardless of the path Diluc chooses but when you're raised with your parent's expectations, you don't really see the other possible options as, well... options. I'm of the opinion that Crepus wasn't aware of how dangerous and lethal a delusion is to a person without a vision. I just don't see someone like Crepus (from the way he's been described by multiple characters and from Kaeya's character stories) to willingly put any of his children in that position.
This is partially why I'm not a huge fan of the "Harbinger Crepus" theory (not that I believe he's the pinacle of morality by any means. Guy has a chamber built in his basement) simply because it's practically impossible for Crepus to not know the dangers of a delusion if he was a harbinger and the idea that he would be willing to slowly kill his eldest son just to receive the knightly glory doesn't fit him.
We don't know enough about Kaeya and Crepus for me to make a proper canon judgement on them but it's clear that Kaeya views him as a father too. But I doubt that Crepus placed the same expectations he had for Diluc onto Kaeya. In fact, I truly believe that Kaeya was supposed to be the one running the winery instead while Diluc became a captain of the Ordo.
But I've always wondered where Kaeya got all his tricks from. I don't know if Adelinde is the most reliable source but she described Kaeya as a bad liar during his younger years (maybe Kaeya was a REALLYYY good liar and managed to convince Adelinde that he's a bad one, who knows) so all his tricks had to come from somewhere.
All this to say that as much as I love the fluffy Dawn Family content, I find it a little disheartening whenever someone just brushes off their flaws and make them the perfect parent. Never scolding, never angry, never overbearing. It just feels like an oversimplification of one of the most interesting stories in the game.
