This Bastard (affectionate) Asked Me Which Founding Father I Liked Best, And Then Proceeded To Raise

this bastard (affectionate) asked me which founding father i liked best, and then proceeded to raise his eyebrow, look me dead in the eye and say "that's such a basic answer. hamilton is everyone's fav." sat there stunned. why am i being judged for my fav founding father again? the fact that you paint yourself as superior to me for liking a more obscure founding father? that's the worst PR i have ever seen. nerdiest of nerd behavior.

and what's worse is that i almost defended myself with "i grew to like him independent of the musical actually" 💀. saved my dignity at the last moment.

Burr pretending he couldn't read his daughter's letter because she made one spelling error was sooooo scary it's good thing that father's aren't real

i saw a post somewhere speculating on whether or not hamilton would have been more receptive to george washington's friendship as an aide de camp if his real father, james hamilton, had died at that point. and the more i think about it the more likely i think it is.

would hamilton still have had issues? undoubtedly. i don't think he would've ever reached lafayette levels of adoration and easiness just on account of his personality, and i don't think washington would've wanted an aide doing the work hamilton did with the apparently helpful advice he gave, to be worshippy towards him to that level either. but i'm being unfair to lafayette; i need to know how he worked with washington on a professional level, and i haven't done research on that yet.

but i do think the fact that he wasn't truly an orphan - that his actual father had just fucked off somewhere but was very much alive, would have added another layer to that good childhood traumatic angst. because he's not only an impoverished young man who has big dreams in a new country with no strong connections or standing. he's got something to prove to his old man. and as we know, hamilton never ever got over his lack of family. he was practically a doormat for his scottish relations who hit him up when he was influential for a favor. he continued to ask his father to come join him, and sent him money. the man could've resented his father completely (and probably did to some level) but he never let go.

knowing that, if his commander in chief who's surprisingly hot-heated and grumpy extended affection and sometimes seems to treat you paternally (?), would he embrace that? hell no. his fanon catchphrases "you're not my dad", "don't call me son", etc. are literally true.

but maybe if james hamilton was dead, and had been dead for a good while - maybe then he would've leaned into that friendship more, even if his trust issues towards authority figures continued. not to mention how much simpler his issues would've been if his dad had just died instead of abandoned him.

all this to say fuck you james hamilton. your son could've been better off if you had just died, actually.

i feel the need to point out that this was posted over a decade before the coquette trend on tiktok. time is a circle.

me desperately trying to connect my niche interest to contemporary events:

the wonka experience in glasgow but it's hamilton having lofty dreams and expectations for the american cause and its ideals only to join washington's staff and realize what a shit show everything is. worst part - he's now one of the main oompa loompas.