Fuzzbutts: World's Best Dad (Patreon)

concept art for our expy of Captain Cutthroat! Meet Silas Abalone. I initially thought it'd be neat to have him be a big ass grey kangaroo like Silver so you could have the neat visual symbolism of him constantly looming over his sons, buuuut then I wondered if it might be more interesting for him to be a dinky little asshole. :>

notes (trigger warning for abusive parenting):

-in his late fifties. Trained Silver from adolescence to be the world's next great kickboxing star, is his son's personal coach

-bitter as hell, allergic to smiling. May give the odd wheezy chuckle sometimes, usually at someone else's misfortune

-Napoleon complex for days. Culture among macropods emphasizes strength and size for males, yet no matter how much Silas bulks up, he can't do anything about his size. He's smaller than the average dog, and certainly smaller than the kangaroo bucks that populate his hometown. As he grew up constantly getting picked on and pushed around by bigger animals, he decided to dedicate himself to fighting back.

-His sons call him “sir”. Bad things happen if they forget.

-A yeller. Despite being a coach, Silas has never implemented a pep talk in his life. His default parenting strategy is to ruthlessly tear his sons apart, then dare them to go prove him wrong.

-His favorite insults for Silver are typically variations on his oldest son being fat, lazy, and/or an idiot. As for Bruce, he prefers to call his youngest son fat, girly, and of course, absolutely worthless.

(insulting Bruce's naturally pear-shaped body)

-Much like Cutthroat before him, Silas isn't afraid to show open contempt toward Bruce. When Bruce was a small child, he was caught up in an accident that tragically ended in the death of his mother, Fey. Although it truly wasn't Bruce's fault, Silas blames his youngest son entirely for the cruel, abrupt death of his wife and the fracturing of their family. He is the one that sowed the rift between Bruce and Silver, making sure Silver knew Bruce was to blame for their mother being gone. Although as adults Bruce and Silver would eventually begin to patch their relationship, there remains a note of anger and hurt between them to this day. Bruce still blames himself for the accident, and his guilt manifests as a near-constant state of depression.

-Silas also resents Bruce because Bruce- small, weak, and sensitive- secretly reminds Silas of himself, and this is painful. Thus Silas projects his self-loathing onto his son. Even Silver doesn't escape this. Where most parents want their kids to be better than them, Silas feels a fierce need to chain down his sons with the same baggage he has.

-Even as an adult, Silver is terrified of disappointing their father. He obeys him without question and tries to shrug off Sila's hateful tirades, always contorting himself to be the son he thinks Silas wants. Bruce is also afraid of their dad, but also much more over it than Silver is. Silver is the favorite, so mercifully Bruce was never much the focus of his dad's attention. Bruce moved out of the house the second he was able and refuses to ever again be in the same room at Silas. This hurts Silver, who really wishes his little broken family could feel whole again, but doubts if it's even possible.