december 31st, 2025
transcript
as the children continue petting Ollie, he explains, “I’m not actually a doggy! I’m a human, just like you two”
the striped kid stops petting Ollie, eyebrows raised in surprise.
striped kid: really? you’re human??
Ollie, smiling: yeah, I am! humans come in lots of shapes and sizes
the striped kid points to Pepper, who’s now being pet by the long-snooted kid.
striped kid: is your friend a human too?
Ollie: no, she is a doggy! but for future reference, it’s a good idea to ask before running at or petting dogs you don’t know, ‘cuz it might scare them and they might even bite at you
long-snooted kid, as their face is being thoroughly licked by a very happy Pepper: oh. that makes sense
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in which it’s formally revealed to any new readers that Ollie is indeed a human and Pepper is indeed a dog! worldbuilding yay!
Ollie and other characters’ experiences being non-bipedal humans aren’t intended to be a direct allegory for anything in particular, but will draw upon and overlap with a variety of real-life things, especially my personal experiences as a transgender human. I interact with a lot of kids and they often notice and have a lot of questions about me being trans, and when I explain things like “well I used to live as a girl, and now I live as a man,” it sometimes blows their minds in a way that’s very fun and rewarding. that’s what Ollie is experiencing here — humans with four legs and long fur aren’t uncommon in this world, but this kid hadn’t learned that yet, and it can be kinda great to get the privilege of introducing a new concept like that to someone!
as for the dog safety PSA, yay dog safety PSAs! I’d initially been thinking that members of the general public wouldn’t be allowed to touch or approach Pepper at all, hence Ollie’s earlier statement of “I can’t let you socialize properly” and hurried intercepting of children, but I decided to relax that and retcon it into ten minutes being too short for proper socializing and Ollie wanting to teach the kiddos good habits around strange dogs. if Pepper were shyer, he’d also be more concerned about keeping her comfortable and keeping the kids safe, but he knows her well enough to correctly predict that she’s delighted by this situation and has nothing but kisses to give!
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