(WIP & Warnings) Topher Confronts
Added 2024-08-11 15:55:10 +0000 UTCIncoming sketch comic featuring Topher! He’s 16 or 17 years old in this. I wanted to give a couple content warnings beforehand. There will be discussion of Maple’s pregnancy and mention of abortion. Besides all the other horrible stuff key to the Meadowsweet storyline (infidelity, sexism, religious trauma, you know the drill), Topher also gets (unknowingly) deadnamed in this one. :/ Letting y’all know in advance!
Comments
Get their ass, Toph
Heather
2024-08-12 00:28:08 +0000 UTCEchoing some already existing replies, I feel the same way about my deadname. In fact, I don't even view it as my deadname, but more so as an oldname. I personally liken my trans experience in terms of my previous name and my new name to a Pokémon evolving. I was an Eevee, and I have no qualms with people referring to me with that name in regards to that period of my life. I have fond memories and experiences from my time as an Eevee. However I'm a Glaceon now, and I'm proud of that! Doesn't mean I automatically detest my time as an Eevee, just means I've moved on to the next stage of my life, and am excited to see what my time as a Glaceon will bring! Essentially, every trans experience is personal and unique, so although there are helpful tips and words of advice when it comes to writing and drawing trans characters, there's no "wrong" way to portray them (unless it's in a hurtful, fetish-y, or bigoted way, but obviously we all know that's never what you're going for)
Your_Gym_Partner
2024-08-11 20:30:47 +0000 UTCNO SAME, for me its "huh" kinda feeling because everyone around me refers to me by my actual name, so if suddenly someone called me by my deadname i would be like ? are you sure youre talking to the right person? cause im clearly a man lol
Jaszczur
2024-08-11 18:57:57 +0000 UTCMy headcanon for now is that an elderly Merry happened to spot all three of his kids and his ex wife being their happy, authentic selves at a pride parade, and he was so overwhelmed by The Woke that he had a heart attack later that day.
FloweryFruitFangs
2024-08-11 18:31:09 +0000 UTCShaking tophers hand so hard there. my deadname was never one i hated, it just doesnt reflect who i am now. and tbh i often forget abt it entirely, i also would have the “who?” reaction bc ive lived as my chosen name for seven years (even if i only legally changed it last year) so if someone called me it i would just bluescreen for a moment nfhshdg
AsTheJayFlies
2024-08-11 18:21:56 +0000 UTCMerry pass away? Y'all are so mean to my boy! He will live forever and never die 🥺 Jk I actually have a very specific vision of how he'll die
Lopoddity
2024-08-11 17:41:07 +0000 UTCAahhh I see now :) still equally excited with every update we get!! I can see this upcoming conversation being echoed the day merry passed away and Maple gets a bit of sympathy from a very unlikely source… 👀 maybe?
Emily Lemur
2024-08-11 17:32:19 +0000 UTCI don't mind! I know some questions might be too specific to answer, especially if you're already planning on covering them; I'm happy to wait! That makes sense though, especially with what Don said before. People are too afraid to go against Merry without being ousted. An unfortunate reality of too many religious communities 😔
mirarevias
2024-08-11 17:24:18 +0000 UTCAhh I'm sorry, I can't give a very detailed answer, I'd rather you see for yourself. Maple's parents are indeed members of the congregation. She does have friends! But Toffee was her very best friend. Her friends and family push her in the direction they feel is best for a young girl in her situation. Even if they felt some degree of discomfort at the idea, it's like Don said. Merry is top dog.
Lopoddity
2024-08-11 17:17:13 +0000 UTCThanks! :3 That's a good tip. And I've done it before. I'm hesitant to do so in this case however because crossing out the name just draws attention to it, when really it's simply a mundane relic of the time they're in. It also makes it seem like the character doing the deadnaming is doing it on purpose, or to be cruel, when that is also not the case. That is the name Topher was known by at the time, so that is how he was addressed. It happens reflexively in the comic, and conveys the nature of the characters' relationship. Generally I avoid deadnaming outright, most particularly in cases where a name truly is "dead" to a character. Perry for example has bad memories of his name and never wants to be called by it, so if I were doing a comic where Liv "accidentally" deadnames him, I'd cross it out to be unviewable. Mal has long buried her childhood name. Priscilla simply doesn't like her childhood name and thinks it's super dorky, so she changed it. Topher also thinks his childhood name is stupid, but he doesn't care if people know what it is. It's just something he used to be called, and to him it is entirely dissonant to who he is. Not so much "dead" as it is a name for somebody else. A set of too-small clothes he's long since outgrown. Mal would hiss at her deadname being used, and Priscilla would wince, but Topher would give a blank "who...?".
Lopoddity
2024-08-11 17:09:21 +0000 UTCSheesh, Topher even having to be part of this conversation icks me to no end, if I am assuming what this conversation will be about correctly (not on your part at all, just the fact that Maple assumedly comes to him with this when she turns up pregnant. Like girl, you're really going to approach the "daughter" (second son) of the man you slept with after failing to get with the older brother/the man's first son, after you end up being pregnant with their sister? Maple is so messy). I feel bad for Maple but at the same time WTF leave Topher out of it 😭 Really though, it seems like after the falling out Maple really has no one to turn to at all, I'm curious, were her parents part of Merry's congregation? Does she have siblings or any other friends? She really seems like she has no support at all outside of Toffee and Topher, who she undoubtedly loses after her tryst with Merry. What a miserable situation all around 😓
mirarevias
2024-08-11 16:48:47 +0000 UTCIt's actually not like, gut-wrenching or anything. Sad but not super sad, like the last post with him and Maple on the swings. It's why giving content warnings is tricky cuz I think sometimes it gets people braced for The Horrors but usually the story in question is actually just some characters processing shitty circumstances
Lopoddity
2024-08-11 16:10:04 +0000 UTCGAH comparing each pic of topher before comming out vs his current really shows how (unknowingly) misserable he gets :( also tip i usually give to people writting trans characters is to not drop their deadname (because why does it matter us as readers if its not their actual name) unless its like, plot relevant (for example if both names are thematic to uhh, lets say plant or smth) and personally i just put a giant ugly black scrible over the deadname to indicate that its something thats well, not pleasant to hear for both the trans character, and us as an audience since were sympathetic to them etc :0 not sure if youve already thought of that, but just wanted to share a possible writting (drawing??) tip for trans stuff :D (also im obsessed with the way you draw topher in general, the punk vibe is through the roof, hes so cool)
Jaszczur
2024-08-11 16:09:47 +0000 UTCGod I love him so much. And the meadowsweets They’re all such cuties
Tibbles Yorkie789
2024-08-11 16:09:44 +0000 UTCI am fully prepared for the internal spiral I'm gonna go on about the trans experience
Louis Esposito
2024-08-11 16:01:06 +0000 UTCThe way I SPRANG to patreon when I got the notification. Oh man- we better BUCKLE UP
Emily Lemur
2024-08-11 15:59:38 +0000 UTC
