Before getting into the plot commentary, I just want to explain that the setting is supposed to be them all heading back to the car from Kellen's apartment (figure this scene is taking place at the exact same time as the last two). This was all written as a conversation for the ride home, but we all know how much I HATE drawing car scenes. The change of walking to it rather than being in it, made this scene ever so slightly less emotionally draining on me. XD
Okay, but being serious here...
It's easy to say, "Just disown your crappy relatives who don't accept you and be done with it." But for a lot of us who've been in the situation where it became a necessity, it's possible there were good times before coming out. They might not be accepting of you now, but deep down you may recall seeing them be good people before. The intolerance almost feels out of character for them. And that makes it all the more frustrating and upsetting. Disowning is a two-way street. It punishes them because they lose you. But you lose the good person they (may have) seemed to have been before that. The good person they should've by all rights STILL been.
Kellen didn't "get away with it." She didn't "win." However, this wasn't exactly a victory for Rain either. They BOTH lost a sister here. Again, I'll be the first to say that things like this really can (unfortunately) be a necessity sometimes. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. That's why Rain's crying in the last panel.
Sorry. I know this is a super mopey chapter and probably hits close to home for a lot of readers. It's a real hard subject, but I think it's important to address in a story like this. It hits close to home for me too, actually. I admit a lot of this is a bit of a means of expressing some of my own frustrations that I never really let out before.
Rain needs a big hug right now, but I think how she's reacting to all of this is good. Rain admits she was and is in the same camp as many of us were on that day, and yet resisted the urges. I would press charges like hell, but I think what Rain says is really going to be her punishment is just as if not more effective. After all, charges and sentences go away, but this is permanent. Is that extreme? Perhaps. I don't think it's entirely impossible for the two to mend, though for sure its not happening anytime soon. Would I ever forgive Kellen? Probably not. But, that said, I realize that I have a bad problem of reacting to things like that with blind anger initially and I could not handle a situation like this as well as Rain could. But that said...
Come here Rain you need a hug and a lot of fun happy stuff to get your mind of this sad stuff
Another reason not to get in some wild physical confrontation or press legal action is that it may draw unwanted attention. The Principle at her school would likely see or hear about anything that ends up involving the Courts or Police. He would toss Rain right out and probably fire Fara.
You bring up a really good point, I forgot about the school and what would happen if a student had a legal situation...most schools would look into something like that especially if it involves a students safety
I know exactly how Rain feels on these two pages, probably this whole chapter... It really sucks when you have to basically disown a family member and I've had to disown my fair share of my own. Though none as close as a sibling. But for me, it being necessary to disown my cousins was worse, because that meant not seeing my second cousins anymore.
"If you can stop loving someone then you never truly loved them to begin with. Love doesn't work that way. If you ever truly love someone, then it never goes away. It can become something else. There are all different sorts of love. It can even become hate - a thin line and all that - and, really, hate is just another form of caring." -Blakney Francis
My family disowned me and to this day I still think about them and miss them even if I never want to see them again.
I haven't technically disowned my family, they haven't technically disowned me. But I only talk to them when they call me, and that's not often. I think they believe it's just me being a workaholic plus having a wife who needs a lot of care. The former is common in our family, and the latter is certainly true. But it's more that we've had discussions about LGBT* stuff, and they've never admitted to the possibility that cis straight might not be the only way to be. They don't get that their stance is such a big deal, because why would I out myself to that? I mean, ok, they at least haven't said bad things about my brother in law, who's openly gay. They've actually said good things about him. But those things have always sounded like, "this guy is ok, but homosexuality is still wrong and he should repent before it's too late."
I do miss them. I miss the days before it became clear that one of my brothers was like Lucifer, seeming to be an angel of light, while sowing what destruction and ruin he could. The days before I realized that another of my brothers was Neutral Stupid. (He'd be Lawful Stupid, but he can't even get *that* part right. Or maybe you can still be Lawful Stupid doing what he's done if you don't realize that fraud and vandalism are illegal, even if you think you have a good reason to do them.) I wish them well. But I'd really prefer if the well they got was mentally and spiritually, to the point where they weren't so hurtful to others.
Emily is 100% me there. I'm not trans myself, but my friend is, and she was scared of going to the mall with me and another friend. So I basically said "If anyone looks at your wrong I'm calling security or hitting them myself", but it didn't come to that.
Despite being trans myself, I'm a little more like Emily in this comic. My boyfriend (who is also trans) is not accepted by most of his family as being male (nor accepts me as being female). The reason why he doesn't get up and leave (apart from being disabled, on the other side of the country, and having no money) is that he would miss the distant relatives that do support him. The irony is that his mother is afraid of losing him or any family, but still will not accept him as being trans.
That 4th panel hit home so hard. When I was an egg, people talking about how I only did things a certain way because of my AGAB hurt so badly, and I couldn't figure out why. And some of those same people hit me with things like this when I cracked and came out. I read this panel and just went cold for a second. I really appreciate what you have done with this comic, because over and over it reminds me that I'm not alone in all of this. Thank you, Jocelyn.
I kinda like Rain with this cut now.
Come here Rain you need a hug and a lot of fun happy stuff to get your mind of this sad stuff
My family disowned me and to this day I still think about them and miss them even if I never want to see them again.
I haven't technically disowned my family, they haven't technically disowned me. But I only talk to them when they call me, and that's not often. I think they believe it's just me being a workaholic plus having a wife who needs a lot of care. The former is common in our family, and the latter is certainly true. But it's more that we've had discussions about LGBT* stuff, and they've never admitted to the possibility that cis straight might not be the only way to be. They don't get that their stance is such a big deal, because why would I out myself to that? I mean, ok, they at least haven't said bad things about my brother in law, who's openly gay. They've actually said good things about him. But those things have always sounded like, "this guy is ok, but homosexuality is still wrong and he should repent before it's too late."
I do miss them. I miss the days before it became clear that one of my brothers was like Lucifer, seeming to be an angel of light, while sowing what destruction and ruin he could. The days before I realized that another of my brothers was Neutral Stupid. (He'd be Lawful Stupid, but he can't even get *that* part right. Or maybe you can still be Lawful Stupid doing what he's done if you don't realize that fraud and vandalism are illegal, even if you think you have a good reason to do them.) I wish them well. But I'd really prefer if the well they got was mentally and spiritually, to the point where they weren't so hurtful to others.
I hope I'll never have to disown someone... I can only imagine how it must be difficult.