Fun fact: This is a true story. Like in Rain's case, it wasn't serious, but my first kiss was with a girl in kindergarten, and I was made fun of for it until the seventh or eighth grade. I was super-closeted as a kid, so my gender identity played can't have played a part. I guess besides being quiet, kissing a girl was all they had on me. Elementary/Middle school is a weird time. XD
Once I got to high school, the teasing stopped. This is a little off-topic, but in my case, I didn't really get bullied or teased or... well, acknowledged really. I guess not having bullies was a plus, but I had very few friends too. I was pretty invisible. I have a hard time calling that an improvement. This is where Rain's story and mine differ, as she continued to get picked on (although the insults grew up).
There're a couple Chapter A references on this page. In the first panel, there're two random little girls off to the side, watching Rain and Allison's kiss. They're actually based on the same girls who make fun of Rain on one particular page. They're not terribly important, but it fit for them to be there. I probably had names for them way back when I wrote that chapter, but I don't remember what they were and it doesn't really matter. Make up your own names, if you like. ;P
In the last panel, Rain also touches her cheek while mentioning a "bad result from coming out". Allison slapped her when she came out back then, thinking Rain was making fun of her, but she has since apologized.
Anyway, that's enough yammering out of me. I hope you like the page, and feel free to share your thoughts on anything, as always. ^_^
Hey, Rain Beaus. This is kinda out of the blue - and I'm really sorry to do this - but I think I need to take a bit of a hiatus.
In favor of being completely forward with you, I've been kinda stressed out for a while. Not so much with the comic, but life in general. And while my anxiety isn't stemming from the comic, per se, it's not helping. My struggle to balance everything going on in my personal life has been leading to my very frequently slapping pages together the day they go up. And when I have time to start rebuilding my page buffer, life happens for a week, and it all goes away again. It's frustrating - downright maddening sometimes - and I worry about having my frazzled rush to finish pages becoming apparent, because you deserve better.
And even through this, I was tempted to keep going through to the end of the chapter (which still honestly has a few weeks left). But as of this week I've been experiencing some nasty tendonitis in my drawing wrist, preventing me from drawing, killing my buffer again, and leaving me with nothing for the next page, and no way to even make a new page right now.
To top it all off, I had my first panic attack in over a year last night. It's becoming abundantly clear that maybe I ought to allow myself a break. Pushing myself any more than I already am is not going to help, so I'm going to just take this hiatus while I can.
I am sorry to drop this all on you out of nowhere, and I'm definitely sorry for the short notice hiatus, but I really think I just need to do this right now. I don't want you to worry about me though; I'll be okay. This hiatus is to assure exactly that, after all. This break will not be permanent, and I promise to let you know when I'm ready to come back as soon as I can.
Thank you so much, as always, for your understanding and your patience with me.
I never felt comfortable with myself, so I never really had anything close to relationships until after coming out. Now I have a boyfriend who literally had to catch me during my first kiss, my legs gave out. XD
Also, my avatar image is what he used to break the ice, it caught me by so much surprise that he took the time to draw it. Then he asked me out. (and yes, he already knew about my being trans, it is a non issue to him)
My story has some rather similar features. I really discovered I was trans in 3rd grade. Didn't know what to call it back then, I just knew I was a girl inside. My parents agreed to let me grow my hair long again as long as I made good grades so starting in 4th grade, I pretty much made straight 100s/As on everything and tried to dress as girly as I was able to get away with in early 1970s Texas. I rarely got bullied or teased because eveyone considered me to be a brainiac and that got me respect. In middle school and high school I got the occasional accusation of being gay but not by my classmates... moreso from my neighbors and my older sisters' boyfriends. I was the shortest, skinniest, and scrawniest kid in my class and that probably helped because nobody who was predisposed to being a bully wanted to get caught picking on someone half their size. In high school, I had one of the coolest hotrod cars in town and that earned me some respect and admiration too. When I moved away to a big city by myself to start college in 1980, I tried going out in public in girl mode a few times and actually passed since I didn't finish puberty until about age 27 and looked rather effeminate anyway. I researched what it would take to "get a sex change" ( the term transitioning wasn't yet in the vernacular of the day) in 1980-81 and what I learned then put me in the closet for the next 35 years. I never even kissed a girl until I was 22. I was the epitome of a loser. Never had a successful intimate relationship my entire life. In 2016 at age 54, I finally had to accept who and what I was, and this explained everything, so I began my transition and the rest is history. Just completed 11 months of HRT this week and can't believe how quickly this first year has gone by...
And I know I've probably mentioned this before, but in August 2016, I discovered Rain and binge read all episodes in one weekend. I fell in love with the story and this is what gave me the final push I needed to start HRT. So again, and from the bottom of my heart... THANK YOU JOCELYN!!!!! Your creation of this story might very well have saved my life. No joke. I am indebted to you.
I love this webcomic because it is so realistic and relivent. The twists and turns that the characters go through make for great reading. Keep up the good work Jocelyn.
I've known a number of people who say that in real life. I think it's more common among those people I know who have had a lot of training in giving presentations than among those who post a lot online.
Take all the time you need! I know how panic attacks feel (especially in the dead of night) and I don't wish that on anyone! We'll all be here when you come back :)
Speaking as somebody with an anxiety disorder, I know how real that is. Take care of yourself, we'll be here waiting for you when you're better. Self-care is vitally important. You're an amazing storyteller and artist and you've touched my and many other lives in a very positive way. I hope you feel better soon and can destress. <3
So I caught up with this comic after 10 days of binging through the archives. I love it. It's amazing how much I learned about trans/genderfluid/intersex people reading it. Before that I was only familiar with gay/lesbian/bi/ace topics. (still better than many people out there, I guess)
I definitely recommend this story to anyone who wishes to learn more about LGBT stuff, AND to anyone who loves a good slice of life story. The comedic elements are icing on the cake. Your characters are so funny and quirky! Rudy is easily a personal favorite. He's so lovably sassy and cloudcuckoolandy and manages to get many awesome moments. I could go on and on praising everything in the story but everyone did it before me.
Not sure when you'll read this, Jocelyn, but I wanna say it's been a real pleasure getting to know you through Rain. It's not like I met you or anything but understanding what kind of person an author is through their work is amazing. As an author (haven't officially started a webcomic yet, but I got plenty of stuff to show in the near future), I'm adding you to the long list of my influences. Fate made me discover Rain through the memetic Dude, She's A Lesbian TVTrope page, and I can say it was a good turn of events. Enjoy your break and know you've gained one more fan!
And here I am in the English equivalent to 11th Grade and still have never had a first kiss. My only relationship lasted 2 and a half days until they told me they couldn't date a girl. So Rain's doing better than me in that regard :p
Never had many friends. Usually just one or two. Getting bullied ended in like 7th grade for me. I didn't realize I'm trans until I was 47 though.
And I know I've probably mentioned this before, but in August 2016, I discovered Rain and binge read all episodes in one weekend. I fell in love with the story and this is what gave me the final push I needed to start HRT. So again, and from the bottom of my heart... THANK YOU JOCELYN!!!!! Your creation of this story might very well have saved my life. No joke. I am indebted to you.
That was before I was out to either of them. They had no idea...:)
I definitely recommend this story to anyone who wishes to learn more about LGBT stuff, AND to anyone who loves a good slice of life story. The comedic elements are icing on the cake. Your characters are so funny and quirky! Rudy is easily a personal favorite. He's so lovably sassy and cloudcuckoolandy and manages to get many awesome moments. I could go on and on praising everything in the story but everyone did it before me.
Not sure when you'll read this, Jocelyn, but I wanna say it's been a real pleasure getting to know you through Rain. It's not like I met you or anything but understanding what kind of person an author is through their work is amazing. As an author (haven't officially started a webcomic yet, but I got plenty of stuff to show in the near future), I'm adding you to the long list of my influences. Fate made me discover Rain through the memetic Dude, She's A Lesbian TVTrope page, and I can say it was a good turn of events. Enjoy your break and know you've gained one more fan!