Wasted Time
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Hunter Pups Collection; Elizabeth and Arturo.
🕑 Added 2022-10-02 05:04:06 +0000 UTCA new day, a new sheet, this time covering Xavier and Ulric's family units. Yes, even Ulric gets to be a Dad, although who's raising who is questionable. Thankfully Honey's there to keep him wrangled. Anyway...
Xavier, Malcolm and Elizabeth;
So we've already seen Elizabeth Hunter (Maiden name Meypole) in the 20 years later ask set. As an adult she is an accomplished violinist, and plays in a big orchestra. Which one? I haven't figured that bit out yet. Naturally, her love of the violin was something she carried with her as a kit, the instrument acting as sort of...Well, the rawest way she can express her emotions and speak from the soul.
Xavier and Malcolm first come into contact with her when she's about seven years old, as Xavier takes on a family court case involving Elizabeth's mother. In a similar fashion to what the 'emergency trio' suffered through, Elizabeth's mother was also a damaged individual. Though whereas the hyena pups birth mom was crippled by her cultural beliefs, Elizabeth's Mom had deep mental issues that always kept her on the verge of being institutionalized. Elizabeth was also with her birth mother a lot longer than Yuri's boys, which subjected her to abuse for several years. The abuse running the gamut from mental to physical. This abuse would eventually culminate with Elizabeth's Mom trying to burn down the house with Elizabeth locked inside, which became the catalyst for the court case. The fire leaves Elizabeth with severe burns on her face, the left-hand side of her torso, and arm down to her paw. (Might be hard to make them out on the sketch as everything is...well sketchy.)
During the trial, Xavier gets to know the sweet, shy, and polite skunk girl, and grows close to her, each night returning home and blathering on and on to Malcolm about the poor girl whose plight really moved him. Despite having never met her personally, Malcolm is the first to suggest they make the move to adopt her once the trial ends, and keep the poor girl out of the system. And after a lengthy discussion, the pair agree to take the dive and become parents. Naturally, Elizabeth is thrilled when Xavier and Malcolm ask her to be their daughter, and the adoption goes off without a hitch.
Already shy, Elizabeth has issues with self-confidence which were only worsened by her burn scars. Early on in her time being adopted into the San Fransisgoat Hunter Pack she dresses rather frumpy, and with heavy coverage even in the summer. Her outfit of choice usually includes an oversized hoodie and fingerless gloves to cover as much of her burns as possible when going to school or being forced to be outside. She only feels...sort of comfortable being exposed among her adoptive parents, and even then she still reflexively tries to cover her face on occasion, usually when caught by surprise or off-guard.
Even before being adopted, she loved classical music, specifically pieces featuring the violin. And so, noting that, Xavier and Malcolm buy Elizabeth a violin of her own for her first birthday with them, as well as payout for private lessons in order for her to learn how to play. This is something not only Elizabeth delights in, but takes to with gusto. Mastering the instrument by her teenage years and going so far as to compose a myriad of her own deeply personal violin pieces. With encouragement from Malc and Xav, she's able to overcome her shyness and self-confidence issues and go on to play in school recitals, plays, and eventually concert halls.
Regarding Elizabeth and Omari;
Despite Piper being a pain in the ass, and picking on her as she does with most of the other cousins, Elizabeth really bonds with the emergency trio, and specifically Omari. The similar circumstances involving their abusive birth mothers, and how that affected them saw them become closer than they were to some of their other cousins. But more than anyone else out of the trio, it was Omari who'd spend most of the time talking to her. He would talk about his interests, his growing appreciation for science and medicine, and his insecurities. And Elizabeth would share her own insecurities, her love of music, and even a few of her private violin concertos just for him. This closeness led to the two cousins catching feelings for each other going into their teenage years, which would eventually bloom into full-on love in their early adulthoods. While Yuri protested the two getting together due to being cousins, despite not being blood-related, Xavier and Malcolm were as always very supportive and encouraging.
Ulric, Honey and Arturo;
Initially, I had planned against giving Ully and Honey any pups, as Ully was too irresponsible, and Honey wasn't really one for 'traditional family structure'. I hadn't even planned for the pair to get tithed or married, but rather simply be monogamous partners with at most a couple's contract or whatever I called it in LAW where the two are recognized as legally sharing resources. And while I intended to keep that the case, the idea of them raising a pup kept coming back to me...tickling the back of my skull until Arturo began to form.
Arturo is a pudgy, sensitive kid who's generally very open to weird ideas. He looks up to his adopted Mom and Dad with a sort of awe and wonder, much in the same way Wyatt looks up to Vanna and Zach. No one is cooler than his parents, and that's especially true when it comes to his oddball father. In terms of Ully and Arturo's relationship, I imagined it to be very similar to Dale Gribble and Joseph from King of the Hill. (You can guess who's who in that connection) With young Arturo looking up to his Dad despite his obvious craziness and wild and baseless theories. That said, with Ully being...well Ully, he's not exactly A-grade father material when it comes to safety and setting boundaries. Naturally, this puts Honey in a weird position where she's almost raising two kits rather than one. That said, despite Honey acting as the 'buzzkill' and authoritarian in the family unit, Arturo doesn't love his mom any less than his crazy Dad.
Young Arturo's summers growing up are filled with all sorts of wacky escapades involving his Pa, including annual Catsquatch hunts, ghost hunting in spooky locations, and weird and irresponsible science experiments, but as an adult, those become treasured memories. And despite all that would have been working against him, Arturo grows up to be a kind, intelligent and well-adjusted male who ends up becoming a popular Animalian and Zootopian history teacher at the Zootopian University. While he has largely grown out and away from taking everything his father taught him as gospel, the lessons instilled in him by Ully and Honey fueled a thirst for history and seeking truth. And while his lesson don't cover topics like 'Catsquatch' or 'ancient aliens', he's always open to hearing folks talk about such topics. And he also makes sure to allocate some vacation time to go 'catsquatch' hunting with his parents every summer.
Onward to page four!
-Wasty
