I started off late March 2021 thinking about calicos and the way most get their colors from having two X genes, and I found it a fascinating idea to have someone who might upend expectations. A boy would subvert the typical expectation of calicos. So would one who didn't quite feel like a boy. Non-binary? The idea was just floating around a while until the 31st, International Transgender Day of Visibility. Could they be transgender? How am I to resolve this? The answer came in a torrent as I received the answer. They have a sibling.
Being something of a nerd, I thought it might be fun to call the first one April. (Robert April, first captain of the NCC-1701 Enterprise), and well, for pun's sake, calling their AFAB brother Mae, at least for now, I do not yet know what name he may pick, but I've seen some false starts. They start off pretty well together as children raised openly at home but in public as sisters, with April being the cheerful, funny, upbeat one, and Mae being more tomboyish when they were young. Mae would be the one protecting April from bullying, and to be the one to provide a shoulder to cry on.
Then growing older, they make their personal discoveries: April enjoyed the freedom of not being tied to a gender and decided to let things just be, be all and do all without caring about whatever gender roles people might expect of them. It was Mae who rejected being a girl; she didn't fit in with other girls, didn't really act like them, she couldn't bring herself to like the things they did, and most importantly, she didn't feel like one, and didn't even right in her own body. And so, the roles are reversed, where we see now that April is the one comforting their new brother and providing support while they both wait for society and medical care to catch up and help Mae feel like himself at last.
A caption for the lower left panel of the sketch page: "No one said it was always going to be easy. There will be setbacks. There will be people who don't understand, who refuse to. Some days, even your own damn body is going to fight you. But you are a fighter. You have fought my fights for me before when I was not ready. But please, please remember, brother, sister, we're both in this together, and it is not weakness to accept help. Please, let me help fight this with you."
They're calico! The original sketches were done before their markings were finalized in reference drawings, but here you get to see the markings applied in their full colors, and side by side.
The uh, ongoing narrative of their story makes presenting them in any form a bit difficult and sensitive, so please bear with me. This image is representative of their past and does not reflect who they are now, but part of understanding the crossroads of where they are now is seeing where they are coming from. Much of who they will be is not written in their present. We are not there yet.
In the present, April has grown but doesn't change much outwardly; they are non-binary, and perhaps even genderfluid? It remains a question. And so far, Mae has barely started his journey toward discovering himself and what it means to be a transgender male; getting to understand his feelings, his identity, or finding his name, and to take the first difficult steps needed to begin the work of transitioning. These are things we will answer in the present, and hopefully their pursuits will achieve fruition as they continue to grow.
For the marking references: April is shown a little older, yet they maintain some ambiguity in their appearance. Ever so upbeat, their sunshine is a welcome break from the rain. Here we can get a better view of (almost) all of their markings.
As for Mae, well, here you may find subtle differences between him and April, shorter hair, dark regions in different areas, different paw markings.
Please don't look too close or he'll have to punch you.
