zhuge liang and zhou yu family situations
zhuge liang was abandoned by his parents soon after she was born with the thought of "we can just have another one, something is horribly wrong with this one" because she was a genius upon birth, and there's nothing quite so frightening as a newborn infant's eyes possessing the wisdom of an immortal
she was raised in a facility where the staff were also deeply afraid of him and that's where he got into the habit of maintaining muscle tone just exercising out of boredom bc peers and staff alike were unsettled and disturbed
zhuge liang got better with her own "character design" as she got older and more socially acceptable (to an extent)
but basically was raised in isolation under a bell jar
zhou yu's actual parents were like so useless he forgets he even has them beyond a bit of money in his imperial bank account when he checks it from time to time. he thinks he may have been better off with them like, dead or smth, because then he would have closure about them not being there but being TOTALLY there for his spoiled and pampered and coddled, just oh so lovable younger sister
as he grows into an adult his parents get more impatient with their own guilt and shame and embarrassment for having neglected him that they lash out and blame him and say they spoiled him so he should get out of their sight since he'll be fine on his own, right? (while they take credit for his achievements. this is mostly his mother)
his mom is a textbook bpd narcissist (not judgmental or stigmatizing against these personality disorders, just plain old explaining via dx shorthand) who cherishes his younger sister like her treasure bc she sees her own traumatized and abandoned childhood self in her whereas she just feels unfamiliar and awkward and uncomfortable with zhou yu, who doesn't take after her or her husband, and instead resembles her mother's cold and calm but also unpredictably extremely angry temperament, who was abusive, extremely strict and harsh and to whom she could only be a failure
and she IS a really brilliant, loving, fun, yet responsible, and honestly really perfect mother to zhou yu's sister
but she fails zhou yu himself in every way possible
zhou yu's dad to put it kindly is gentle, to put it harshly is passive, cowardly, and indecisive. he fails him via inaction