lopoddity
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A Bruce By Any Other Name
🕑 Added 2022-07-31 23:15:53 +0000 UTCjuuust in case the dialogue's tricky to read
Priscilla: Funny running into you, babe! *whispering* Hey, pretend to be my boyfriend real quick. I think that guy's been following me.
Bruce: Point him out. I'll bite his face.
Priscilla: No, no...Just keep walking...
I enjoy drawing all my characters, but lately I've been reluctant to draw Bruce. His wallaby Fuzzbutts self was just not working for me, and eventually I figured out why. He didn't feel like Bruce. Looking back I'm not really sure why I landed on "wallaby" for his design, besides the obvious Australian-ness and I guess I thought it'd be funny to subvert expectations with him and Stormy/Sunny, turning gentle Stormy into a predator and snarly Bruce into a prey animal. Eh. Bit lame in retrospect, innit
So I'm exploring changing Bruce from one marsupial into another, a tasmanian devil. Finally, he's the smelly toothy gremlin man he was always meant to be! His relationship with Priscilla is getting tweaked a bit too. Rather than first meeting each other at the boarding house, they met in their freshman year of college. They were dormmates~ And they fought. So. Much. But! They grew on each other in an exasperated kinda way, and managed to stay in touch as best friends that don't like admitting they're best friends. They have a ton of history between them- with Bruce knowing Priscilla throughout her transition, and Priscilla having blackmail evidence of that time Bruce thought he'd look cool with an emo fringe. Modern day Bruce is a doctoral student/adjunct professor at the very same zooniversity where he first met Pris, while Priscilla puts her business degree to good use running her salon.
As for what's happening here, well, Priscilla is a tiny lady cat, and, as in our world, tinyness and ladyness often catches the attention of creeps. She's gotten pretty good at looking out for herself (even taking small critter self-defense lessons at Logan's gym), but still, it's nice to have a friend to back you up on those sometimes-unnerving walks home.
Comments
forthehonor-ofgayskull
Gotta say a tasmanian devil is perfect for Bruce
Must Love Frogs
Same on this side
Lopoddity
Hmm. Yes, but also no? Not universally. Gender dimorphism and behavior vary wildly across the animal kingdom, and the cultural gender expectations of different species are greatly informed by their biological imperatives and evolution. Domestic cats and dogs are notoriously egalitarian and play it fast and loose with gender roles. If a tomcat wants to be a housewife or a female dog wants to be president, they'll be met without so much as a second glance by the peers of their species. Other species like elephants and hyenas and meerkats are typically matriarchal, with the males expected to take on passive caregiving roles while the females are the leaders and breadwinners. And yet more species (eg. lions, deer, kangaroos) are distinctly patriarchal, with the dudes expected to be in charge. In many of these species, where the male is expected to be the one to pursue females/ compete with other males, there sometimes arises a cult of aggressive machismo, competitiveness, and idolizing of tough playboy figures. So if a dude is coming from a species where he was socialized to think males know better than females, and that men are supposed to be pushy in their pursuit of women, then you sometimes get a creep who won't take no for an answer. Or perhaps a creep that enjoys tailing a small woman walking alone because it makes him feel powerful. This isn't to say every critter is a slave to their biology and upbringing, of course. Or that patriarchal social systems are the only ones with problems. The people of FB are people, and they vary a lot in their approach to gender roles. Bruce for example was socialized by tasmanian devils (which emphasize ferocity and an everyone-for-yourself attitude) and kangaroos (which emphasize brute strength and male dominion), yet here he is, listening to Priscilla and doing whatever necessary to make her feel safe, even dropping his initial instinct to drive off the creep at her request.
Must Love Frogs
So, in the world of FB is there a universally-regarded dominant sex?
