It's my birthday! Usually, I like to have a cute or funny one for today, but I don't really plan these out to the day. Even if it's a little serious though, I hope you like it all the same.
Much like Rain, a few people guessed that it was Chase who brought Emily to prom last year. Keep in mind that he's a LOT more than a year older than her though. Maybe he could be brought as a guest (I haven't thought about the rules hard enough to know if an adult can be brought, both because it's not relevant, and I kinda don't wanna know), but Emily would've been a junior last year, and unable to go on her own. She'd need a senior student (as has been discussed) to bring her.
That senior was Blair Carver, the boyfriend before Chase. We haven't formally met him yet (unless you've read Chapter D from Volume 4), but his name's been popping up a lot lately.
I hope it's not too confusing. Between Maria, Blair, Chase, and now Rain (and a myriad of other guys we don't need to know in between there), Emily has probably the most complex dating history of any character I've written. XD
On another note, we get some shots of Emily's previous prom (whose hair and dress were a delight to draw), expect a lot of that (and hopefully better) when it comes time for prom itself. I've been painstakingly picking out just the right look for everyone for quite some time now. I hope it'll be something to look forward to. ^_^
I'm going to guess her idea involves asking Drew to bring Chanel. It's either that, or something completely out of left field that I would never guess.
Drew may well be totally harmless, to be fair, but remember that he's not part of the main group and they haven't seen the development he's gone through like the readers have. Maria has no reason - to her knowledge - to trust him. And if Maria doesn't trust him, Chanel probably won't either.
Not to mention the fact that he's taking Ky to the Prom. I'd assume if Ky wanted to come to the prom in boy mode Ky would have probably talked to Drew about that.
Ky seems to have decided that if (s)he's there as Drew's Date (s)he should be in a dress. The trouble is that (s)he doesn't have any way of knowing in advance whether (s)he'll be in boy mode or girl mode on the day. All (s)he can do is hope (s)he'll be in girl mode. (I suppose (s)he could buy or rent both a dress and a tux and decide which to wear on the day... not sure (s)he'd be allowed in as Drew's date in a tux though.)
I'm thinking about that conversation Emily and Maria had in Chapter 28 about Carver, which went more or less:
Maria: get out of here. Carver was pan?
Emily: mhm. Among other things...
Emily said in chapter 22 (I think) that Rain was the first trans person she ever knowingly met, which means Blair Carver probably wasn't. I think Blair was polyamorous. I don't have any evidence to prove that, although I think Jocelyn said at some point in the comments that a polyamorous person/couple would appear at some point in the story? I have no evidence on that though, but I feel like that's Blair, and it might have something to do with why he and Emily broke up if Emily wanted to keep the relationship monogamous. (I haven't read chapter D, so if anything is said in there that contradicts anything here, that's why.)
I had a thought after recently finishing a re-reading of Rain; there really aren't any "villainous" LGBT characters. All the story's major antagonistic characters are straight and cis (Kellen, Chase, Todd, and I would consider Debbie a rising antagonist at this point). This isn't necessarily a bad thing; it makes sense that other LGBT characters would accept Rain, just something I noticed.
I'm sure this isn't universal, but (as a transwoman myself), it's rare that I meet any unpleasant queer folk. There've been a few, (one of the most manipulative, heartless people I've ever met and unfortunately dated was a transman) but it's a rare occurence for me.
I've always kind of figured that (down here in the south especially) the experience of facing discrimination and prejudice inclines the LGBT community towards being kinder and more understanding than average, but I also think I'm probably just lucky.
It might be interesting to have a more antagonistic LGBT character, though; I could see Rain being like "But you're openly gay/pan/whatever, how is my being trans a problem for you?" Maybe she would out herself to them thinking they'd be cool since they're also LGBT, and have it backfire. Be an interesting turn of events with her confidence in presenting as trans to more people growing.
Also, everybody in the comic is a product of their environment. That's why it's so great - even the most antagonistic people have their reasons for being so, and truly think that they're doing the right thing. They might be wrong (to us at least - we are only getting one side of the story) but they're trying.
Take Father Quentin... he only thinks the way he does because he's been brought up to believe certain things (wrong, dreadful things - but nobody told him that) - unfortunately he is in a position of power which makes his one-sided view dangerous. He needs a life-changing experience to show him that he's on the wrong side of history...
Not having villians is what makes this story good because in real life there's no black and white villians and good guys, there's just people who do good or bad things. That's realistic and considering this story is supposed to be realistic, that makes it a good thing.
I'm going to guess her idea involves asking Drew to bring Chanel. It's either that, or something completely out of left field that I would never guess.
Keep in mind that before all Drew's questioning of his orientation, he had a reputation as an unrepentant pervert. So much so, that Maria didn't trust him around Ana, who she didn't even know yet at the time. So why would Maria ever allow Drew anywhere near her well-endowed girlfriend who has trauma from sexual harassment as is?
Drew may well be totally harmless, to be fair, but remember that he's not part of the main group and they haven't seen the development he's gone through like the readers have. Maria has no reason - to her knowledge - to trust him. And if Maria doesn't trust him, Chanel probably won't either.
Dun Dun DUNNNN!!!
...
I SHIP IIIIIIIIIT
Maria: get out of here. Carver was pan?
Emily: mhm. Among other things...
Emily said in chapter 22 (I think) that Rain was the first trans person she ever knowingly met, which means Blair Carver probably wasn't. I think Blair was polyamorous. I don't have any evidence to prove that, although I think Jocelyn said at some point in the comments that a polyamorous person/couple would appear at some point in the story? I have no evidence on that though, but I feel like that's Blair, and it might have something to do with why he and Emily broke up if Emily wanted to keep the relationship monogamous. (I haven't read chapter D, so if anything is said in there that contradicts anything here, that's why.)
I had a thought after recently finishing a re-reading of Rain; there really aren't any "villainous" LGBT characters. All the story's major antagonistic characters are straight and cis (Kellen, Chase, Todd, and I would consider Debbie a rising antagonist at this point). This isn't necessarily a bad thing; it makes sense that other LGBT characters would accept Rain, just something I noticed.
I'm sure this isn't universal, but (as a transwoman myself), it's rare that I meet any unpleasant queer folk. There've been a few, (one of the most manipulative, heartless people I've ever met and unfortunately dated was a transman) but it's a rare occurence for me.
I've always kind of figured that (down here in the south especially) the experience of facing discrimination and prejudice inclines the LGBT community towards being kinder and more understanding than average, but I also think I'm probably just lucky.
It might be interesting to have a more antagonistic LGBT character, though; I could see Rain being like "But you're openly gay/pan/whatever, how is my being trans a problem for you?" Maybe she would out herself to them thinking they'd be cool since they're also LGBT, and have it backfire. Be an interesting turn of events with her confidence in presenting as trans to more people growing.
Take Father Quentin... he only thinks the way he does because he's been brought up to believe certain things (wrong, dreadful things - but nobody told him that) - unfortunately he is in a position of power which makes his one-sided view dangerous. He needs a life-changing experience to show him that he's on the wrong side of history...