She wasn't getting anywhere with Nelly, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she sits and fumes, waiting for Rain to be alone so she can corner her and demand answers.
Well, hopefully, when Rain is confronted, she'll have the presence of mind to admit she was taking advantage of a clerical error.
Maybe something like, "My parents named me Ryan, but most people expect Ryan to be a guy's name. For example, when I enrolled here, the school assumed that checking "female" was a mistake, because nobody gets their legal name wrong. I switched to calling myself Rain because it's close enough to what my parents named me while not being seen as so tied with my gender.
"Maria wanted Chanel here, and due to the clerical error we have not been able to get fixed, I could, so I did."
I mean, sure, it seems like a risk to admit her name. But since she's also eligible to be the prom king, it would probably be better to start spinning that story than not and risk being outed by the vote.
Rain can also use the story that her birth name is indeed Ryan, and when her mother was sick and died from cancer, she was so gloomy and sad that the kids at her old school started calling her Rain instead and the name just stuck, and she liked it better.
I think that moment there, between panel 4 and 5 something clicked.
Either debbie realized what's up, and doesn't want to pressure it any further because she is not a bad person
or she still doesn't know, but realizes that she might have been a bit too obsessed. and also that she is pressuring someone in a place that is supposed to be a good time for everyone.
the third option being that she's going to check the school records later, but I don't think she would go that far
I'm thinking the second. she does look a bit desperate in panel 3 there
I don't think debbie is a bad person. just very inquisitive, and recently saw one of her friends suddenly shift her attention away from her and towards a group of people she didn't seem to talk to before. I think she just wants to know why
I agree with your reasonings and I don't think Debbie means to cause any problems. I worry that her curiosity is going to unintentionally out Rain and cause a scene
I see that happening.
or maybe her public questioning of chanel and public speculation causes others to actually make their own deductions. people who would have thought nothing of it if it wasn't for debbie.
I think that might actually be a pretty interesting arc for debbie to go through. her finding out and then actually joining the main cast. but then her actions caused others to find out and out rain publicly. Causing debbie to become extremely guilty about what she did, even though she didn't mean any harm. it would be a good story arc. from a narrative standpoint, at least. I don't actualy wish for anything like this to actually happen
I feel like we'd need to see more character growth on Debbie's part before that would be realistic. The last time she confronted Rain about it, Debbie was very aggressive and accusatory. Much as I like a turnaround, I don't think it would be terribly in character for her based on what we've seen so far.
My prediction:
Debbie still feels that Rain somehow stole Emily from her and wants to get revenge by outing rain as trans. However, based on her previous discussion with rain, she thinks nobody will believe her, so she will just sit and pout over it. Rain will win prom queen (because a lot of fans of the comic probably voted for her), and that will push Debbie over the edge. She will then make a big scene by outing rain and claiming that a trans girl can't be prom queen. If that's the case (that's a BIG "if"), Will people believe her? Either way, how will it affect the rest of the story? Only time will tell.
I don't think that's the case. She's just mad that her former best friend doesn't want to spend time with her anymore and has moved on to being best friends* with someone Debbie doesn't like. The tension between them doesn't feel romantic at all.
*Obviously we the readers know that Rain and Emily are dating, but the rest of the school doesn't know that yet.
I’m honestly very nervous here, I feel like Debbie is really going to screw things up for everyone. I just want them all to have a nice fun prom, is that too much to ask???
In my opinion, Debbie needs to let this go. She's blaming Rain for Emily dropping her and honestly being obsessive and awful. If she's so upset, she should talk to Emily, you know the one she actually has a problem with, instead of making this about Rain. No one can "steal" a friend, significant other, etc. People are responsible for their own actions and if your friend leaves you it's because of them, not someone else, and that's what Debbie needs to learn.
I disagree in that I think friends, significant others and the like CAN be stolen, but it takes an unhealthy amount of narcissism and emotional abuse toward the friend/significant other to make it happen. Abusers tend to intentionally isolate their victims to keep getting whatever they get out of it and it can be hard to go back to friends and family afterward. This is clearly not the case here, but it can happen.
I wouldn't really call that stolen though, I would call that escaping. Stealing denotes property, and no matter an abuser or narcissist's thoughts on the matter, people are never property in a friendship or relationship.
Debbie strikes me as feeling always exluded and may have a bit of an an inferior complex.
Rather than make her out to be a villain, maybe she needs more to be included... maybe to be invited into the group. Something about her also fuels my suspicion that she's actually a deeply closeted lesbian too. Anyone else suspect that?
My best friend (who is trans, postop) has a middle-school age daughter named Ryan because that was her birth middle name. My friend didn't keep it as her middle name though, but changed both first and middle names to unambiguously female names. Both of her kids call her by her new first name even though they both know she was originally their father.
Maybe something like, "My parents named me Ryan, but most people expect Ryan to be a guy's name. For example, when I enrolled here, the school assumed that checking "female" was a mistake, because nobody gets their legal name wrong. I switched to calling myself Rain because it's close enough to what my parents named me while not being seen as so tied with my gender.
"Maria wanted Chanel here, and due to the clerical error we have not been able to get fixed, I could, so I did."
I mean, sure, it seems like a risk to admit her name. But since she's also eligible to be the prom king, it would probably be better to start spinning that story than not and risk being outed by the vote.
Either debbie realized what's up, and doesn't want to pressure it any further because she is not a bad person
or she still doesn't know, but realizes that she might have been a bit too obsessed. and also that she is pressuring someone in a place that is supposed to be a good time for everyone.
the third option being that she's going to check the school records later, but I don't think she would go that far
I'm thinking the second. she does look a bit desperate in panel 3 there
I don't think debbie is a bad person. just very inquisitive, and recently saw one of her friends suddenly shift her attention away from her and towards a group of people she didn't seem to talk to before. I think she just wants to know why
or maybe her public questioning of chanel and public speculation causes others to actually make their own deductions. people who would have thought nothing of it if it wasn't for debbie.
I think that might actually be a pretty interesting arc for debbie to go through. her finding out and then actually joining the main cast. but then her actions caused others to find out and out rain publicly. Causing debbie to become extremely guilty about what she did, even though she didn't mean any harm. it would be a good story arc. from a narrative standpoint, at least. I don't actualy wish for anything like this to actually happen
With "It doesn't matter" she looks pretty resigned. I wonder if she'll drop it for real, bot just temporary.
Debbie still feels that Rain somehow stole Emily from her and wants to get revenge by outing rain as trans. However, based on her previous discussion with rain, she thinks nobody will believe her, so she will just sit and pout over it. Rain will win prom queen (because a lot of fans of the comic probably voted for her), and that will push Debbie over the edge. She will then make a big scene by outing rain and claiming that a trans girl can't be prom queen. If that's the case (that's a BIG "if"), Will people believe her? Either way, how will it affect the rest of the story? Only time will tell.
*Obviously we the readers know that Rain and Emily are dating, but the rest of the school doesn't know that yet.
Rather than make her out to be a villain, maybe she needs more to be included... maybe to be invited into the group. Something about her also fuels my suspicion that she's actually a deeply closeted lesbian too. Anyone else suspect that?
It was pronounced "Ry-ann" but the spelling was the same.
She wasn't trans either, because well, she was pregnant.
So it really wouldn't be that strange.