Tiny Dog Doodles (Patreon)

1.) height comparison of honey and her brothers. Honey is average dog height, Topher and Toffee are just unusually tall and lanky- though Topher slouches a lot.

2.) family drama from Topher’s teen years. Topher was never the straight A student that Toffee was, but he still did the best he could to measure up to their father’s expectations. He thus feels it’s fair to ask dear ol’ Pop to be allowed to choose his own classes for once. Music and metal shop class are simply calling Toph’s name, not the sewing and childcare classes Merry chose to be his electives. Topher is gut-punched when Merry not only refuses, but also reveals he isn’t planning to pay for Topher to go to college, despite funding Toffee’s extensive studies at an expensive private degree program. It’s just not a sensible decision for a young woman, says Merry. Especially, he adds, not one with Topher’s middling grades and lack of any substantial talents. It’s been clear for years that Toffee was always meant to be Merry’s true heir, and now that Merry’s busy with his perfect new family (young wife Maple and tiny tot Honey) there’s really no place for Topher.  This is why it’s better that Topher focus on shaping that prickly personality into a prim and proper young lady, so he can focus on getting a husband, having kids, and, uh-ahem- officially not being Merry’s problem anymore.

It doesn’t go well when Topher chooses this moment to furiously, tearfully announce that he will never be a proper young lady- and that he’s not a lady at all. Never has been. After all, if playing by his father’s rules only ends in pain, what reason does he have to keep up the facade? Topher is a man- and he never wants to speak to his father again.

Toffee, meanwhile, has been dutifully suppressing his own dreams and desires to conform to his father’s wishes for years. While he’s upset at the fracturing of the family, ultimately he cannot ask Topher to compromise his identity the way he has. It feels cruel. He may not presently understand what it means to be transgender, but he does love Topher, and feel a kinship with him in his own feelings of loneliness as a closeted gay man in a hostile conservative space. Toffee will try for some time to bridge the gap between Topher and Merry, but when the time comes that Merry demands he make a choice…..well, he picks his little brother. And so, both Topher and Toffee are cut out of Merry’s will and permanently estranged from their father. This is still the case when Honey reaches out to them, many years later.