You know what, I’ve done some character development, I’ve finished the current character arc, so here’s an updated version of…
My feelings on Demetrius (as a Maru lover)
Let’s begin with the basics: Demetrius to me feels like a nerdy, socially constipated dad who doesn’t know how to talk to people. Is this partially down to his almost definite autism? Most porbably, but I also feel he generally prefers to stay indoors with his science experiments which has led to an additional lack of social understanding on top of the initial struggle that typically comes with being autistic regarding understanding social stuff. Ultimately he comes off as a lovable nerd and I get what Robin sees in him.
Speaking of Robin let’s have her have a bit of a say in this, after all she is married to the man! Despite a lot of cutscenes confusing both of them having them bickering, I do think that this is only in cutscenes for a reason: it’s not a common event. Sure, they conflict during misunderstandings and a lack of intimate knowledge about each others interests (simply due to the fact they both are quite content simply doing their own thing most the time) but during their regular routines they spend an awful amount of time together quite contently! Every time I head up to the mountains in game the pair tend to be standing side by side looking over the valley. It doesn’t seem like they’re saying much but they’re still peacefully hanging around each other. It is clear from this that both of their love languages are quality time, hence why most their interactions are literally just them being around each other rather than any intimidate discussions. All of this is basically just to say that I don’t think Demetrius is a bad husband and he and Robin are a very good pairing, which is nice to see amongst all the other parents in the valley! (Looking at you Pierre and Caroline 👀)
Now let’s get to his relationship with his daughter, Maru. He loves his daughter, plain and simple, he wants what’s best for her and to protect her. However, he does go to far with it a lot and as consequence pushes her away and blocks her from social opportunities. Both her friends in the valley being Penny, the local sweet school teacher, and Harvey, the town doctor who wouldn’t hurt a fly? Highly suspicious, especially given her personality matches very well with people like Sam, the local skater boy. And let’s not forget the Maru 2 heart event, the farmer has basically only just met Maru and is only just getting to know her, yet Demetrius practically threatens them and warns them not to touch his daughter? He could at least wait until they start dating… But, he does it from a place of care. This isn’t to say he’s justified in trying to push away Maru’s new friends, just that his reasoning is not outlandish, in fact it’s rather common (sadly so). He still sees Maru as his baby and wants to protect her a tall costs, though this means that he forgets she’s a grown woman now and is capable of looking after herself, like in her 10 heart event when he tries to catch the farmer in the act of canoodling with his baby girl (even though they are officially dating it’s to be expected). All this to say he does still have a rather good relationship with Maru, they share interests and hobbies and he wants her to thrive in the scientific and engineering routes she so clearly excels at. This makes it easy for him to talk to and bond with Maru, which makes their relationship rather strong. Ultimately, he is a brilliant father to maru in all aspects of her life EXCEPT social.
Now I hear you all saying from the corners of the internet ‘what about Sebastian?’ Well he definitely fucked up in that department. The pair clearly don’t get on well at all, Demetrius never quite respecting Sebastian for who he is and considering him a bad influence on Maru. I imagine this all began when he first started dating Robin, after all explaining why his daddy had left and there was this new stranger in the house would’ve been difficult to explain, especially to a child that was still learning his abcs. In this department both Demetrius and Robin probably fucked up, with clearly neither of them doing a very good job at explaining the prospect of a step-dad to the young Sebastian at a time in his life he probably wouldn’t be very receptive of the concept, purely due to not being able to fully understand what was happening. This would’ve been amplified by the birth of Maru and Demetrius doting on her more and Sebastian feeling abandoned and tossed aside for the new baby due to all the attention she would of gotten, especially from his supposed step-dad Demetrius. While Robin would’ve definitely kept giving Sebastian as much attention as she could, a baby is a handful so she would’ve had to divide her attention up which would’ve fueled the abandonment Sebastian felt at the time. This would be a feeling that continued throughout his entire adolescence, with Maru shining bright as the golden child while Sebastian was deemed a delinquent in the eyes of his step-dad, being over looked in preference of his half-sister. This favouritism by Demetrius has had a massive impact on both Sebastian and Maru. Sebastian was impacted for the reasons previously stated, feeling neglected and abandoned by the only father figure in his life at this point and Maru for creating a rift between her and her brother, someone who she has expressed a deep desire to close the gap with and have a proper relationship between them. While Sebastian would’ve spent most his life pushing Demetrius away, Demetrius did not help that at all, and is ultimately the one mainly at fault for their rocky relationship. He may have tried at some point, given the ‘first time step-dad’ book in his room, but he gave up on Sebastian too soon, leaving Sebastian with one proper parent.
Now how about the farmer? How does he interact with them? Well, he isn’t a bad friend to the farmer at all, giving them the fruit/mushroom cave for free and generally just being his nerdy self during conversations with them. There are times where I get annoyed with him after him being overly protective of neglectful regarding his kids then he goes on a rant about trees or something and it endears me to him. His relationship with the farmer seems mostly to be someone who he can talk to and just info dump whatever scientific information he’s currently focused on to.
Ultimately Demetrius is a significantly flawed character and has bridges to build and people he needs to apologise profusely to, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. Feel free to hold a grudge on him for his attitude towards Sebastian, for his over protectiveness over Maru, for his arguments with his wife, but don’t let that overshadow the rest of the character, as, once again, his flaws don’t make him a bad person. They just make him a shitty step-dad!
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