I don't think I've posted here before,(mainly cuz to most standards I'm a cis-gendered straight white male. There's a little bit of my personality that isn't, but I'm fairly comfortable in my own skin. I just lurk and read and enjoy the story cuz I generally have nothing of substance to add.) But I wanted to contribute here when the topic was something i had relevant experience on.

In my personal experience regarding how attraction is formed, it boiled down to two ways, the usual "s/he looks attractive, and I want to know them better", and the other common variation "this person has lots of my interests and is pretty cool themselves to boot, and I want to know them better".
I have had now four different instances where I was/am seriously attracted to a person and they run the gamut in the range between those options. the first was in middle school, literally like at the first week, and I proceeded to be the high-functioning autistic that I am/was and figuratively nuked my chances (we made up in high school) the second was about 3-4 years ago and I was 20-21 at the time, and much more aware of how not to creep girls out, that one I haven't seen in 3 years or so but last I heard she's doing well. those two were the cases of the former style of attraction and thinking back on the situations, even if they had gone anywhere, there wasn't much there besides "she's pretty", the third was from year before last, to last year and started from "this girl has a lot of similar interests as me, hey wait, she's also really pretty" seriously, between the fact that we generally only saw each other in passing with little chance to talk she only pinged on my radar after i found out we read a couple of the same webcomics. (this wasn't one, which is why i'm going into this much detail.) on reflecting, this was one of those "given a different set of circumstances" type situations, she's a nice girl and we still see each other from time to time, but she's busy enough that there just wasn't any chance there. the most recent (and current) of the examples, is a girl I met over the comments on another webcomic and started to occasionally chat with over facebook messenger. it started over me recommending EGS to her in the comments, and grew from there. (Incidentally, if you were to pick a character from that webcomic whose sexuality/gender identity most resembles mine it would be Tedd, I just feel more secure in my own skin) after a while she was a good friend I talked to about little stuff I don't even talk to my therapist about (I have issues, but so does everybody) including the whole thing regarding Girl Number Three, she was there for the high points and the depressing ones. somewhere along the line past that, I started to Worry when there were long stretches where i didn't hear from her (she had started college and was swamped with work. which I knew, but that didn't stop my brain from quietly panicking) but my point with that bit is, I dont know what she looks like, and i only know her screenname but despite that, she became a friend, and then somewhere along the line someone i care quite a bit about (not that it's going anywhere even if i told her. she's on the other side of the country and barring miraculous circumstances there's no room for a relationship.) anyway, that's my experience with how attraction starts, hope this adds to the discussion.

@makogun2000, I offer you these song lyrics....

"You have found her, now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you, hey Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder

Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you'll begin to make it
Better better better better better better, oh"

I
Don't make the same mistakes I made when I was your age. I've had a lifetime of regret and it sucks to have lived such a life. It's too late for me but you still have your



Read more: Beatles - Hey Jude Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Your whole life ahead of you. Just.Do.It.

Even if you have to travel a continent away, don't let love slip you by

ehhh... that's a bad idea for a few reasons. one, she's working hard in college on a scholarship and I'm pretty much going nowhere fast. two, I have next to no resources that I could reasonably use to support myself if I moved to the east coast. and three, she has already expressed a desire to keep her online friends and her Real Life fairly separate, so while what you suggest might work out in a romantic comedy, I'm fairly certain that it would be quite the opposite of helpful given that Real Life Isn't a Romantic Comedy.

I find it very interesting that the public for this webcomic does not seem to cross-pollinate with that of others I read. Seems fans are particular to this and probably come to this site for this and other comics of this nature. OF course, maybe they are reading and enjoying other comics but feel out of place in the comment sections, like you did here.

Without over-simplifying the issues to the point of ridicule, I wonder if this happens because of the objectification of women that seems so prevalent in 'straight' comics (I might be guilty of this myself), or perhaps the opposite, when in an attempt to show respect for women, they end up caricaturizing the men to the point that all of them end up being non-functional idiots who would be unable to survive without their long-suffering wives (I'm definitely guilty of this one).

I think you are on to something, but not quite in those terms. It is important to note that the pregnancy really brought them together, but not because of it being a pregnancy. It was the fact it was a very close secret that showed just how much trust existed between the two. This was reciprocated by Rain bringing her along to her family's place. It could have been a lot of things, it just happened to be the pregnancy. That's my two cents about it; informed a bit by some personal experiences about sharing close secrets with potential significant others.

This is how I read it too: The pregnancy was an event that caused a lot of changes and one of those changes was the mutual support relationship they developed. This allowed their romance to grow. It could have been a different event and the same thing would have happened.

I agree. It's about the secret. It could have been anything, really, but the fact that Emily is pregnant and Rain has always wanted to be a Mom makes it a double-edge sword. If Emily's secret was that she robbed a bank, they'd still have gotten close. But, in that case, Rain could never be accused of being envious.

I agree with that. It's complicated, but sharing something intimate tends to bring people together. Otherwise, why would someone fall for someone else who keeps talking about their troubled relationship? It is an old dirty trick and yet, even knowing the person's part in making a relationship unbearable, they convince themselves that it will be different this time.

On another note, for some unexplained reason, I've been somewhat attracted to pregnant women in the past. I have not been able to figure out the cause, but it's not really important anymore.

Yeah.... A friend who is transitioning turned me onto Rain and I read about 800 pages in a week and ever since then it's like, "C'mon - where's the next panel??"

Tbh this page came up as soon as I finished my binge read starting on this comic.XD But yep,much suspense.I do hope everything gets settled alright..

3 updates a week, oh how I have missed you!

Hope you feel better, this bug going around fracking sucks.