Rain
Comic 927 - Chapter 32 - Unfeminine
Author Notes:
Regarding the cover, I think Debbie and Rain should be recognizable, but who's the guy? That is Todd Bittner, a bully known for harassing Rudy a lot in the early sections of the story. Apart from a single panel cameo in Chapter 25, his last real appearance was Chapter 10, I think. I figure his absence in the story all this time is because he's not going after Rudy anymore. Not because he's turned over a new leaf or anything; he's just afraid of Maria and Gavin who will fight for Rudy if need be, and they WILL win. Easily. Todd's not a shining example of humanity though, so there's a good chance he's just been giving some other poor kid trouble all this time ('cause bullies suck like that). But how will this be playing into everything currently going on?
And then there's Debbie, who's been taking Emily's change into her actual self very hard. Worse, it all seemed to start when she befriended Rain, so Debbie's been making her into an easy scapegoat. Does she really believe it's Rain's fault though? I know I've asked this many times before, but how big a threat is Debbie?
I wanted to make sure this cover looked a little darker and more foreboding than usual. The reality is that this is a pretty heavy chapter. Necessary, but I know this chapter - particularly the first half - will probably hit a few sour notes for a lot of people (and I apologize; I'm just trying to tell a story here). I won't go into specifics, but the chapter title and the inclusion of two antagonistic characters on this cover may give some idea of what I'm saying.
I should say though that there will, as always, still be humor and cute moments too. It's not all bad news.
Finally, like the previous chapter, this will be somewhat short again. Longer than Chapter 31, but still well below average length recently. It's just very focused and there won't be many sudden shifts to totally different scenes.
And because a lot of people have been asking, Ky will technically return this chapter, but only for a bit part. We'll see the kid again in a bigger role next chapter though. I promise.
©2004-2017
Rain, all characters and all other aspects of the story are copyright material belonging to me.
ALSO!
Happy Transgender Day of Visibility, everyone!
For those who don't know, TDOV is an annual holiday occurring on March 31 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of the hardship and discrimination faced by us worldwide. But I just want to take this opportunity to offer my love to ALL trans people, visible or not.
The topic has been recently relevant in the Rain so I've already kinda said a lot of this, but I just want to stress again to everyone: just do feels right for you. Visibility is very important in the grand scheme of things, but so is your comfort and your safety. So if you don't feel ready or you feel like you're not in a safe environment, don't force yourself to come out because you think you have to. You don't. Your responsibility is to your own well-being. That's not selfish; that's taking care of yourself.
I'm visible, yes. I also chose to be visible. I want to be visible. But I would never ever EVER force it on anyone who didn't want to live that way. Because I made my choice, and I want others to make theirs.
So, if you want to be visible, be visible. If you want to be stealth, be stealth. If you want to be kinda halfway open with select people, go for it. If you're planning to come out to someone or a couple someones today, I hope all goes well. And if you want to shout it today and go back into stealth tomorrow, more power to you. As long as you're not hurting anyone, you do whatever you need to for you. And whether your level of openness is based on personal safety, past traumas, general comfort, or just what feels right, your reasons ARE valid.
Please be happy, be safe, and be you. Have a lovely day, everyone. Today and every day.
And as for Todd...it might be a good idea to get a punching bag with his face on it, because it's looking like I'm going to have a lot of fictional character anger in the near future...
Side Note, just a few short hours until I come out on Facebook and at work!!!
BTW, I just came out at work and my boss was totally cool about it.
My hands are still shaking!
>Be me
>It's TDoV
>Decide to look around and see what different sites are doing
>Deviantart is circulating some pear meme
>Imgur has a zombie apocalypse event
>Google is celebrating some Russian ballet dude's birthday
>Pretty much everywhere else is gearing up for April Fool's
>Getting rather sad at this point
>Go on a smaller forum I frequent, based around riffing on so-bad-it's-good media
>People there, of all places, are posting trans pride art
>I actually choked up a bit
>Moral of the story: allies come in unexpected places
This is the first time I've been caught up and the first time I committed.
But this chapter looms really interesting, I'm really glad that the sponge of my favourite character's (Gavin) hate, is being used against and as an antagonist to Rain instead of Rudy. Debbie clearly is now Emily2.0, and seems that she will keep that position for a while if not till the near end of the story.
While Ky not being a main focus is fine by me although I do miss him abit.
-Arietta
She also wouldn't renew my blockers.