I sorta have mixed feelings about this page. I mostly worry it feels a little redundant. But it's also important enough that I don't think I can remove it or alter it too much.
If we look at it as a transitional page from the last few into the next few, I think it works better, but I am sorry if it doesn't feel like much right now. I'm sure many of you have questions too, but we're getting there. In the meantime, I hope you still like today's page for what it is.
Not redundant at all. This has to do with Emily and Rain's relationship, and shows Rain being supportive. That's important, for their relationship, for Emily's state of mind, for Emily's future relationship with her mother. There's going to be some strife with her mother over this, eventually, and the outcome will depend a lot on the support Emily has been getting from Rain, Fara, and her other friends.
Not redundant at all, and super important. I know first hand how manipulative "family" can be and having grown up with abuse and trauma sometimes I have to fight really hard not to automatically align with some people's behaviors and expectations. Sometimes you NEED someone to yank you out of the fire you're climbing into... She's lucky she has Rain to sort of 'douse that fire'.
There will always be pages in a webcomic that can maybe seem unnecessary when viewed from a daily or weekly update point of view, but are important and always add to the story when reading the archives (or book) as a whole. Don't apologise for it.
I've got an uneasy feeling that we may be seeing signs of a possible ending to Emily and Rain's girlfriend+girlfriend empathetic romance relationship and it fades down to just a regular friendship. Anybody else pick up on that vibe too?
If this were, like, a comic or a TV show from the 90s or early 2000s, or really anytime before that, I feel like Emily would have kept the whole phone convo to herself, not told Rain any of that (out of shame? Not wanting to hurt feelings? I DON'T KNOW), then up and go back to her moM without communicating at all with Rain or Fara because she felt like it was the "only thing she could do", endangering herself in the process and making Rain too afraid to go and find her because she was questioning herself since the way she left was so abrupt and hurtful. And there'd be a 3 chapter arc where the total lack of communication had to get resolved, with tons of misunderstandings. Or some other plot in which a complete lack of emotional literacy made all the characters do really stupid and inexplicable things.
I AM SO GLAD you chose this direction instead. That whole era of dramatic plot makes me want to scream. There's still room for drama! But let's see more characters in media TALKING THROUGH stuff!
"But they/them is also always acceptable too, especially if we're not sure where Ky stands at the moment."
But you had Rain using they when she already knew Ky was in boy mode. Using they/them can be lacking in clarity, can feel cumbersome and may be construed as the plural. If unsure of which mode a genderfluid person might be in, a better alternative might be to say the person. Otherwise, use the pronoun appropriate to the mode the person is in as however the person has stated.
(Imagine being genderfluid and every five minutes your friends asking if you're still in the same mode or if you've flipped yet. Just to be checking. Because, hey, it can happen any time. Time to find new friends.)
Then again I may imagine some would be much less irked than how the wrong pronouns can irk me. As a Tgurl I know each of our experiences are different and there is no one correct way to be trans. So, too, I imagine each genderfluid experience must be individual and different. As there will be differences and variations; so, too, will there be similarities in experience for some. But don't some take the view they are both genders just not at the same time, fluctuating? Hence, neither set of pronouns is ever a misrepresentation of the person's identity even when not matching the person's mode at the time?
Hmmm, What about ... Do some see themselves as being neither female nor male? Fluctuating between the two ends of their neitherness? Or being neither and yet both? What about them?
Any genderfluids care to weigh in on this? Please do.
I'm mostly in a neutral mode, but I'm somewhat genderfluid. I tend to use they/them, but will also accept binary pronouns whenever they match my gender. I like they/them when someone is unsure of my current mode or (as I suspect Rain is doing) as a safe-ish (i.e. less-outing, less-misgender-y) option for when my gender is at odds with my presentation but I'm in an environment where I'm largely closetted. Basically, when friends don't want to use the wrong binary pronouns (those matching my misfortune presentation) but can't use the right ones without outing me. Yay for general cis obliviousness to they/them (in passing conversation)?
NEVER am I proud to say they are my OTP!
But you were like
NEVER!
I am proud to say they are my OTP
I AM SO GLAD you chose this direction instead. That whole era of dramatic plot makes me want to scream. There's still room for drama! But let's see more characters in media TALKING THROUGH stuff!
"But they/them is also always acceptable too, especially if we're not sure where Ky stands at the moment."
But you had Rain using they when she already knew Ky was in boy mode. Using they/them can be lacking in clarity, can feel cumbersome and may be construed as the plural. If unsure of which mode a genderfluid person might be in, a better alternative might be to say the person. Otherwise, use the pronoun appropriate to the mode the person is in as however the person has stated.
(Imagine being genderfluid and every five minutes your friends asking if you're still in the same mode or if you've flipped yet. Just to be checking. Because, hey, it can happen any time. Time to find new friends.)
Then again I may imagine some would be much less irked than how the wrong pronouns can irk me. As a Tgurl I know each of our experiences are different and there is no one correct way to be trans. So, too, I imagine each genderfluid experience must be individual and different. As there will be differences and variations; so, too, will there be similarities in experience for some. But don't some take the view they are both genders just not at the same time, fluctuating? Hence, neither set of pronouns is ever a misrepresentation of the person's identity even when not matching the person's mode at the time?
Hmmm, What about ... Do some see themselves as being neither female nor male? Fluctuating between the two ends of their neitherness? Or being neither and yet both? What about them?
Any genderfluids care to weigh in on this? Please do.