Brother Arthur walks up and speaks a bit to the crew, mostly Maria. No longer student and teacher, things are very calm between them. Arthur wasn't the one who got Maria expelled after all, and fortunately she recognizes that. ^_^
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. ^_^
I'm hoping maybe we either hear about Will, or question how to make up to him for what has been done. I'm certain he's figured out the haircut was a family thing....
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
Brother Arthur has long known about her name, and situation. Way back towards the begining of the school year, after she and Rudy started dating, he called them in his office... Also, there was his little side eye when she was late to class complaining of "feminine problems" around the time Ana first appeared in the story... More recently, he gave Rain a big talking to about how much trouble she (as well as her aunt, and him) would have been in if Fr Quinten had still been around after her stunt getting into prom....
I know Brother Arthur knows Rain is trans. He might ask about what name should be on her diploma, especially since Rain has talked about changing her legal name after her 18th birthday, which is presumably soon. She also mentioned to Emily once that she might choose a different name instead of Rain. But it's kind of silly to speculate since we'll find out tomorrow
It's nerve-wrecking to be pulled aside; you always worry it's your gender. Strange, if Rain wasn't trans, she wouldn't have to deal with most of these problems; it' just because she's trans. Brother Arthur is a really cool person; I'm sure it's something that's understanding, and even if a warning, I'm sure he's just trying to protect Rain as she moves onto her adult life as a woman.
It's nerve-wrecking to be pulled aside when you're different. You always worry it's your difference.
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.
And even if you're in an environment where you have no obvious differences, you still wonder if it's because you've done something wrong. It's nerve-wrecking to be pulled aside in any scenario.
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.