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One big horrid family

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made an official reference for Bruce's sad family, with a Bruce thrown in for scale

from left to right:

Bullet; Blue Captain Cutthroat (Ishmael Carcharodon)
Bruce's dear daddy. Fisherpony by trade (ponies trade meat with griffins, and some ponies eat meat themselves). Tough as nails and mean as a rattlesnake, Captain Cutthroat is a gruff stallion of few words. Most of those words are sharp commands and berating directed as his wife and surviving son. His temper made the household a volatile, stressful place to live, and both Bruce and Fey were grateful that Cutthroat was away at sea often.

Once upon a time, Cutthroat did deeply love his family. As something of a teenage heartthrob in his youth, he and Fey were high school sweethearts. When young Fey came up pregnant and was booted out by her family, he dutifully, happily married her, and was later fit to burst with pride over his first son, Butch. Butch was a strong, healthy colt, a chip of the old block, and the recipient of many fond hair ruffles and terrifying high seas tales by his father. When Butch drowned, Cutthroat dealt with the loss the only way he knew how-rage. His heart turned black and bitter, and he never smiled again. He blamed his wife for Butch's death, and demanded that no reminder of Butch be kept around, than the colt never be mentioned again. He didn't want to remember. When Bruce, his second son, was born, Cutthroat wanted nothing to do with him. He forever saw Bruce as a runt, a poor replacement for Butchie, his real son...thus Bruce was often the target for his father's temper, though he could never know why.

The origin of most of Cutthroat's scars are unknown (it appears that something took a literal bite out of him in some places), but it is known that he treated them himself (with whiskey), and refused proper medical care or stitches, which is why the scars look so jarring and poorly healed.

Bullet; Blue Butch Carcharodon
Bruce's deceased (older) brother, died not long before Bruce was born. Butch was a brave and adventurous colt, perhaps a bit of a bully, but not without occasional kindness. He was a momma's colt and often went treasure hunting to bring Fey pretty seashells and hermit crabs. One day, Fey took Butch out for a fun day at the beach. Butch was a strong, capable swimmer, so she left him for a moment to buy the two of them a pair of popsicles. But when she returned, she found that Butch had simply....vanished. The colt had been caught in a powerful rip current. Fey spotted him bobbing in the water and leapt in to save him, but he was gone by the time she dragged him to shore. Fey has never forgiven herself.

Had he lived, his cutie mark would have been a meat hook. He would have made a great fisherpony, and a champion back alley boxer.

Bullet; Blue Fey Ocean
Bruce's mum, and Cutthroat's much beleaguered wife. Former olympic level swimmer (once won gold in the Equestria Games). Fey met Cutthroat in her youth and the two had a whirlwind romance, though Fey later realized that she was only infatuated with him, and the idea of being in love, while Cutthroat was honestly head over hooves for her. She would have likely broken things off if she hadn't come up pregnant at 18. Her parents kicked her out, and hesitantly, she married Cutthroat. Their wedding was small, they moved into a cramped fishing shack, and Fey spent her pregnancy sad, alone, and missing her friends and family. Fey and Cutthroat are poor-Cutthroat refuses to find a better paying job (fishing is family tradition!), and insists that Fey stay as a housewife.

The birth of her son was a welcome ray of sunshine in Fey's life. For a time, she forgot her situation, doted on her son, and perhaps fell a little back in love with Cutthroat. But money was still tight, and there were fights....Fey began to struggle with depression, and started sneaking an odd glass of cheap wine here and there. Things start getting worse between her and Cutthroat....and then finally, the killing blow comes. Butch drowns on her watch, and Fey is shattered. A terrible spiral of depression begins, and Fey numbly finds herself drinking more and more frequently....she can't bring herself to stop, even when she learns she's pregnant with Bruce. Bruce is born very, very small for a newborn, but Fey finds herself thinking that he is the most beautiful thing she ever saw. She loves him immensely, but she is a shell of who she once was. She tried her best to be a good mum, but depression and alcoholism made her distant, neglectful, weary. She had a bad habit of falling asleep in the middle of chores, and sometimes just...forgot to feed Bruce. He quickly learned to steal food from his schoolmates’ lunchboxes, but his growth was further stunted by poor nutrition. Fey saw Butch in Bruce sometimes, and hated that she was forbidden to tell Bruce about his brother.

Bullet; Blue Bruce Carcharodon
Bruce's beginnings are sad, but eventually, he changes his fate by defying the family fishing tradition. He's subsequently kicked out and disowned by his father, which is fine by Bruce, because Bruce hates his dad. Bruce works his way through school and studies to become a marine biologist, to protect and conserve ocean life, rather than slaughter it. Bruce struggles with a lot with internalized, toxic ideas, after years of having his father snarl multiple variant of "sissy" at him, and shove him into being gruff, cruel, and unaffected by frivolous emotions like compassion and love. Bruce agonizes over his feelings for Stormy, another stallion, for quite some time, before his best friend Magnolia May eventually manages to push him into a bit of self-acceptance. Bruce comes to view his happy life with Stormy (they eventually get married and have children) as a final act of "fuck you" to his dad.

At some point in the future, Cutthroat dies, and Bruce is reunited with his mum at the funeral. He comes to forgive her neglect, they hug...and then Fey starts telling him all about his lost brother. Fey eventually meets Stormy (and gushes over the fluffy, handsome pegasus her boy married), is slowly rehabilitated, and becomes a happy, fun grandmum to Bruce's daughter, Wave Rider.

Fun fact-Bruce was hugged exactly once in his lifetime by his father, the day that Bruce nearly died (but got his cutie mark). Story here: lopoddityart.tumblr.com/post/1…

i drew a what-if-butch-had-lived scenario here: lopoddity.deviantart.com/statu…

the Carcharodon family was thought up partly by :iconroboheather: ;>
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El-Jorro's avatar

Boy....this is a sad story. I hope that they can find some measure of happiness.