Rain
Comic 1343 - Closure?
Author Notes:
Brother Arthur also briefly mentions Todd Bittner (the bully who harassed and abused dozens of students, including Rudy and Chanel, and led to Maria getting expelled), and Father Quenton (the principal who looked away from it all, and the one who did the expelling). Chances are extremely slim we'll see either of these characters in canon again, but this gave me one last chance to touch on what became of them. It mostly just follows up on or confirms what we already knew, but I think it's worth addressing.
I'm aware it's not a lot of information, though, and I'm sure a lot of folks still have questions. But that's kinda the point. I've gone over this before, but unlike a lot of TV and movies and stuff, life doesn't always give closure, and I like the idea of leaving some of these bits up in the air. These characters are no longer interacting with anyone in the active cast, so no one would know what's happening with them. The kids' guesses - and yours - is all anyone really has.
Todd's seeing some kind of therapy/rehabilitation, and hopefully it works out. Some bullies do get their act together as they grow up, and some don't. We can only hope he gets better, though. He's young enough that perhaps he's not too far gone, at least. Father Quenton however acts as more a bit of commentary with problematic people in power being swept under the rug, rather than facing any kind of repercussions for their actions. He's an older person not being given any reason to change, so who knows when or if he'll change. It's not hopeless, but being very realistic, it might not be the most likely scenario. As this may be one of the last times we need to talk about them, I'd love to hear what y'all may think will become of them.
Anyway, we then close the page with Brother Arthur asking to pull Rain aside for a moment. I wonder what he wants to say...
Wednesday's page will conclude the chapter. This will be followed by a [hopefully, rather short] hiatus. I won't name any dates just yet, but I'm hoping I can start posting Chapter 42 some time in February. ^_^
©2004-2021
Rain, all characters and all other aspects of the story are copyright material belonging to me.
Support our Patreon.
You can buy Rain: Vol. 1 through 5 here!
And you can get Rain shirts, stickers, mugs, and more at RedBubble.
You can also follow Rain on Facebook!
And of course, follow me on Twitter!
It's not exclusively a Catholic church problem, I assure you. :/
Meanwhile, in another diocese...
Father Quenton's new co-workers happen to be named Sister Maria and Brother Todd. Struck by the coincidence, Father Quenton tells them all about the circumstances around Maria's expulsion and his own relocation. To his surprise, instead of commiserating with him, his co-workers are shocked at his behavior. It makes him wonder whether he really was in the wrong. He finds himself calling Brother Arthur for advice, and, despite himself, taking the advice to heart: recusing himself from interacting with students directly, being mentored by another priest, and starting the process of genuine repentance...
Who can say what really happens? But no one is too old to change
It doesn't matter if the difference is trans, orientation, autism spectrum, skin color, gender. Whatever makes you different in a way that people in power have taken issue with.
Your difference could be that you were a straight A student in the class of a teacher who hated smart kids. If you got in trouble for your difference, you wonder.
They don't need to have taken issue with you in particular. If you've heard about people getting in trouble for your difference in what you consider your local area, it can still make you wonder. Your personal trauma from this is probably less, but still, you wonder.
Of course, the worse your trauma, the worse this worrying is. Frequently, when you're trans, this is bad. Even if you've personally been lucky, most places, you've heard news stories of people getting lynched for being trans.
I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's trauma. I'm just saying the problem is bigger than just 'if you're trans'.
Intersectionality is also a thing. This isn't a competition, but some people have it pretty bad.
This post isn't about me or you. It's about people being different, and sometimes that's hard for reasons it shouldn't be. Life would be hard enough without this shit.
It feels to me like most of us are different in some way, but a lot of people are able to mask it. Frustratingly, one of the ways some of them do this is by getting on the cases of people who can't mask it. They don't necessarily abuse those with the same difference.
Then there's people whose difference is they enjoy committing acts of violence, who simply target certain subgroups because they've found they can get away with it.
I don't have answers. I just know that this feels like a major systemic problem, and it's frustrating and it hurts.