#jocelyn samara

[washipink]

Rain by Jocelyn Samara D Year 1: 2010-2011

erSo I recently found out that 1 year ago, a comic that was INCREDIBLY important to me as a trans middle schooler who went to catholic school had wrapped up. This year, I’ve decided I’m going to read through and review Rain by Jocelyn Samara, 1 year of the comic’s run at a time. First up: Year 1, which covers Chapter 1 (The New Girl) through Chapter 6 (Fallen Angel). I’ll be summarizing the story and characters for those unfamiliar, so feel free to follow along.

There’s a LONG-ASS post under that read more. If you have any experience with the comic or enjoy the post, please talk about it with me. It’ll be a good time.

Year 1 Summary

The star of the show is Rain, a transgender 17 year old girl who moved in with her Aunt Fara after her mother’s death. It starts on the first day of her senior year of high school, the first time she’s ever tried to pass as female in front of... anyone???

Based on some of the language used in the character bios, I should be very clear that this comic is from 2010 and written by a trans woman who is most likely older than most of my followers. There may be language used that you personally don’t agree with. I’m not a fan of being called transsexual myself, but there’s nothing wrong with saying it.

Anyway, the basic gist is that Rain passes EXCELLENTLY and attracts a lot of attention from her male classmates, much to her dismay.

But the men aren’t the only people with their eyes on Rain. Lesbian classmate, Maria and her fake boyfriend, Gavin make a bet of 5 United States Dollars out of who can talk to Rain first.

Here’s the rub: During Role, Gavin seems to recognize Rain’s last name. It’s the same as his childhood best friend, Ryan. Gavin and Maria then banter a little bit, jokingly saying “what if that IS Ryan? could ya believe that?”

Little do they know...

One thing about Rain is that its cast of characters is by no means infallible. Even characters that I came to love, like Maria, are kind of insensitive. Just about no one in this cast has ever MET a trans person in their lives prior to Rain. It’s very true to life in that way. You meet a lot of people that are ignorant or accidentally insensitive. And sometimes, they learn to stick up for you.

The realistic portrayal of how trans teens can be treated by other teens is one of my FAVORITE things about Rain.

Anyway, Gavin brings up Ryan Falherty to Rain, which causes her to panic and run away.

And Crash Directly into the fifth member of our main cast, RUDY!!!!

A rather gossipy gay boy that sees up Rain’s skirt and thinks she’s just a REALLY brave gay dude. He tells Gavin and Maria pretty much right away and Gavin does not take it well. The majority of Year 1 is spent on Gavin and Rain repairing their strained friendship after years apart from one another. That begins here, with Gavin confronting Rain about her identity.

Gavin’s super upset about the whole deal, but Maria and Rudy are some of Rain’s biggest shooters going forward. Even if they can ask a LOT of invasive questions.

If I’m being completely honest, there’s no MAJOR developments in Chapter 2. Fara gets a call from Rain’s older Sister about how their older Brother hasn’t talked to either of them in forever. This lays a few seeds for later events, but it is PRETTY unimportant for a while. There’s some really good emotional dialogue in it though.

In Chapter 3, Rudy’s meddling directly causes Rain and Gavin to reconcile. They have a discussion about how the reason she never told him was just that she was scared to lose her only friend.

MEANWHILE, in an attempt to make some actual friends, Fara reaches out to her neighbors and meets Ky(lie) and Heather Coven, a Gender Ambiguous Teen who goes to a different high school and her less approving older sister.

Kylie, also known as Ky, swaps gender presentations incredibly frequently, not really showing any bias for one or the other. So do not expect me to be consistent with their pronouns. Their gender is kinda messy. Almost like he’s some kind of... real person with a real life gender. Crazy.

Anyway, Fara invites them over and she and Heather get drunk, which means she can’t pick up Rain from the mall. Rain needs a place to sleep that night and Gavin invites her to stay with him.

This begins Chapter 4, in which Gavin and Rain realize that things may be different from when they were kids... but there’s a lot that hasn’t changed. Gavin remarks about how much more feminine Rain is than when she was a kid and how that’s WEIRD for him... but they end up playing a game from their childhood pretty much all night. It reminds them of all the good times and ignites within them the hope that they can have MORE good times going forward.

As an adult with friends I’ve had on-and-off relationships to, this speaks to me way more powerfully than ever before. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The next day, during her hangover, Fara sees Rain’s older brother on an ad for a dating website with his new fiance.

And on the way back to her apartment, Rain meets Ky for the first time. Neither one of them is aware that the other one has ANY kind of Gender going on and they won’t be for quite some time.

The chapter ends with Aunt Fara telling Rain about what happened with Aiken.

Chapter 5 is a simple one, Popular prep girl, Emily is giving out invitations to a Halloween party for her “perfect senior year”

Everyone but Rudy gets one, which causes Maria to give Emily a talking to. She assures Maria that he wasn’t intentionally excluded and it definitely wasn’t because he’s the only openly gay student in the whole school.

Oh, also a dude beats Rudy up for that exact reason, earning Maria’s fury later on. Rain invites Ky to come with the rest of them to the party.

Like I said, pretty simple chapter.

The last chapter of year 1 is Chapter 6: Fallen Angel.

Everyone is showing off their Halloween costumes before they leave for the party. Rudy’s reads as a bit insensitive to rain, as he goes as.... a high school girl.

We’ve all heard this one, right? young queer person that wants to toy with their gender expression uses a Halloween costume as an excuse? It can hit different watching your friend do this when you’re a stealth trans person and especially when you’re one as self-conscious as Rain.

When they reach the address for the party, they find out that Emily... has an older Boyfriend. Like, a WAY older boyfriend. Who lets all these literal teenaged children drink at a party in HIS HOUSE.

also he’s dressed as the devil in case you needed any more signals he was BAD NEWS.

This sounds like a good time for an aside: Fara is on a date with someone she met online. He works at a manga translator and offers to get Rain a meeting with her favorite mangaka.

Meanwhile, at the party, Chase seems to recognize Rain from somewhere. What could this mean?

Anyway, remember how I mentioned the underage drinking? Yeah, Rudy is HELLA drunk. And the results are not pretty.

The whole school sees this and is... BAFFLED. Because of course, Rudy is gay. how could he kiss a girl? Did he do it because he was dressed as a girl? Was it the alcohol? was RAIN Gay? Who knows?

The chapter ends on Rain riding home in tears.

Thus ends the first year of Rain.

Art

Ok, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. This art is... not too impressive. Every character looks like they jumped out of a How to Draw Manga book and Rain’s design is VERY 2010. Backgrounds are infrequent and many panels feature just 2 characters next to each other against a flat color.

But I think that’s okay. While the visual design of Rain is not immaculate, it’s certainly passable. Samara had a story to tell and she didn’t let her art hold her back. She just took pen to paper and let it go. As the comic goes along, you can tell she’s trying different things and experimenting with drawing a variety of poses. That said, the art style never really changes at all during the comic’s run.

Pure Unfiltered Story Opinions

Rain was one of the first real queer stories I’d gotten a chance to read. At the ripe, young age of 12, every word of it was unreal to me. A girl like me made REAL friends in spite of it all and got to be who she was. And now, reading it again, it really holds up.

Rain has a depiction of queer friendships that’s very true to a lot of peoples’ lived experience. Not everyone GETS each other, but they try. Sometimes, they ask a stupid-ass question. Sometimes, you get into fights. 

Also, sometimes people in your high school get prayed upon by creepy weirdos in their late 20s who think they can get easy tail from CHILDREN. (Trust, people. This gets addressed. This is NOT a fucking glorification and if anyone in the notes says it is, they’re blocked.)

I look forward to seeing where the comic goes from here and I hope you’re ready to take that journey with me.

[momofmysquad]

Close enough, welcome back Rain by Jocelyn Samara

Also this part too

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Rain by Jocelyn Samara D.

webcomic page | Lulu

Rain is a slice-of-life/comedy/drama that follows the life of a teenage trans girl named Rain, attempting to go through her senior year in high school identifying only as a woman. It's intended to be a comedy, but it will also touch on some heavy subjects including acceptance from family and peers, blind hatred, and many of the other difficulties faced by members of the LGBT community. Nevertheless, it is a largely positive story, with humor and tearjerking moments and lots and lots of love triangles.

Mod opinion: I haven't heard of this webcomic before, but it sounds like an interesting look into 2010 teen trans experience.

[tigergirltail]

Halloween Rain

Fanart of Rain (webcomic by Jocelyn Samara D.)

The instant I saw this costume in the story I knew I had to do a fanart of it. It's exactly the sort of thing that would have given me SO MUCH gender euphoria when I was Rain's age.

The more I read this comic, the more it feels like looking into a magic mirror, and seeing what life would have been like if I'd awakened 20 years sooner, when the first signs showed themselves.

I look at Rain, and I see… myself.

(I agonized over the pose for a long time, eventually settling on the lean-against-wall pose because it's one I'm not used to doing, but it's also not THAT complex, so it was a nice exercise. Also babby's first background!)

[valtsv]

i feel like your ocs would have amazing aita posts

oh definitely. in fact here's a sample for you.

Annie: "AITA for constructing a moral framework based on my belief that I am a character in a cosmic horror setting where my knowledge of the horrors makes me a target and thus I must do whatever it takes to survive (NOTE: I have justified the ruination of the lives of hundreds of people thanks to this worldview, but in my defence most of them had the potential to kill me even if they weren't actively trying to do so)"

also "WIBTA if I were to wander the earth leaving a trail of destruction in my wake until someone puts me out of my misery because my boyfriend died"

Lincoln: "AITA for continuing to pursue my passion of making music even though it compels people to kill each other (btw my new album is now available for pre-order!)"

Samara: "AITA for helming a highly dangerous expedition to the Arctic despite my lack of experience in this regard in order to prove to my father that I'm worthy of inheriting his company"

Nicky: "AITA for becoming a tool of the state in the fight to prevent angels and demons from abusing or destroying humanity for extremely personal revenge quest reasons (I do torture people for information as part of my job)"

Eddie: "AITA for placing myself intentionally in high-risk situations to spite my overbearing sister (regardless of your verdict I will be continuing)"

Logan: "AITA for tying my loyalty to whoever I perceive to be the most capable of protecting me from harm at any given time and doing whatever they ask of me unconditionally"

Fen: "AITA for letting people drown if they don't pay me to ferry them across the marshland which I am a physical manifestation of"

The Radio Host: actually i'm not even gonna try to write one for him he's a genocidal dictator who wants to turn the universe into its personal surveillance state

Dante: "AITA for running away from home to play a game that could kill me because I didn't want to talk to my parents about my mental health and also being a nepo baby I guess"

Maja: "WIBTA if I just lay down and gave up while my team are waiting for me to bring back help and rescue"

Pentifer: "AITA for killing innocent people so I can use their corpses as puppets to get close to my assassination targets if I was abused by my creator until I became hateful and cruel and now have no reason to trust that anyone will treat me differently when I'm widely feared and considered an abomination"

Jocelyn: "AITA for being an opportunistic cult leader who eats people and turns them into cocoons for spiders if I was raised to believe I have no choice in the matter"

Ram: "AITA for dying so badly that it was the catalyst of the problems for everyone around me"

Radi: "AITA for being unable to fall in love with the person who loved the person I was before her personality and memories were forcibly erased and I was born from the ashes of her destruction"

[anameistoohard]

A late birthday present we made for Jocelyn Samara (LynnSenpai84 on twitter)

I feel like white tea cups are the most iconic, but it posed an interesting challenge drawing white on white on white.

[tbthqs2]

A USCLA tem a honra de receber em seu campus os seguintes alunos da graduação:

The Delinquent: Benjamin "Ben" O'Leary (Ryan Gosling) - Direito - Played by Jay

The Dramatic: Arabella Dankworth (Elizabeth Debicki/Anya Taylor Joy) - Marketing - Played by Eden

The Fallen One: Vincent Kingsley (Joseph Morgan/Bill Skasgård) - Medicina - Played by Icarus

The Nepo Baby: Donna Zhanlan (Jesse Mei Li/Phillipa Soo) - Engenharia de Materiais - Played by Eden

The Nerd: Katherine Lewis (Kerry Washington/Alisha Boe) - Ciências Políticas - Played by Nana

The Olympian: Kai Pomaika'i (Auli'i Carvalho/ Stephanie Beatriz) - Jornalismo - Played by Icarus

The Paradox: Priyanka Lalwani (Banita Sandhu/Sobhita Dhulipala) - Direito - Played by Mitsu

The Party Animal: Riley Kalman (Sophia Bush/Charlie Gillespie/Zac Efron) - Jornalismo - Played by Jay

The Pretender: Jocelyn Jenkins (Meltem Akçöl/ Hande Erçel) - Engenharia da Computação - Played by Mitsu

The Rockstar: Richard "Ringo" Miller (Ben Barnes/Joseph Quinn/Matt Smith) - Música - Played by Eden

The Trickster: Lucien LeBlanc (Hunter Parrish/Sam Clafin) - Engenharia Aeroespacial - Played by Icarus

The Versatile: Harvey Wang (Alex Landi/Daniel Henney) - Medicina - Played by Nana

The Wallflower: Olivia Priestly (Margot Robbie/Kristine Froseth/Mia Goth) - Estudos do Cinema - Played by Mitsu

OC: Coraline Parton (Samara Weaving/Sydney Sweeney) - Arquitetura - Played by Mitsu

OC: Guinevere Viker (Dianna Agron) - História - Played by Eden

OC: Harper Wang (Brenda Song/Gemma Chan) - Nutrição - Played by Icarus

OC: Nash Torres (James Lafferty) - Direito - Played by Jay

OC: Nora Grey (Ruby Cruz/Katie McGrath) - Jornalismo - Played by Nana

Os skeletons The Delinquent, The Dramatic, The Fallen One, The Nepo Baby, The Nerd, The Olympian, The Paradox, The Party Animal, The Pretender, The Rockstar, The Trickster, The Versatile e The Wallflower e os FCs Ryan Gosling, Elizabeth Debicki, Anya-Taylor Joy, Joseph Morgan, Bill Skasgård, Jesse Mei Li, Phillipa Soo, Kerry Washington, Alisha Boe, Auli'i Carvalho, Stephanie Beatriz, Banita Sandhu, Sobhita Dhulipala, Sophia Bush, Charlie Gillespie, Zac Efron, Meltem Akçöl, Hande Erçel, Ben Barnes, Joseph Quinn, Matt Smith, Hunter Parrish, Sam Clafin, Alex Landi, Daniel Henney, Margot Robbie, Kristine Froseth, Mia Goth, Samara Weaving, Sydney Sweeney, Dianna Agron, Brenda Song, Gemma Chan, James Lafferty, Ruby Cruz e Katie McGrath se encontram indisponíveis para aplicação.

[fischerfrey]

oc x oc connections masterpost

an open oc x oc interaction post with all of my characters looking for different relationship dynamics!

this post will be updated with all new additions and when one of the ocs featured becomes unavailable!

preference for mutuals and matching story lines!

if you're interested in any of these ocs, please feel free to message me via dms, asks, or comment on/reblog this post directly!

current available ocs: 15

looking for a love interest: 6

victorian era;

alphonse edevane (intro post)

professor of ancient runes

wealthy background

half-blood

ravenclaw

researcher, explorer

bisexual

starts teaching at around 30 years old

studious, socially awkward, prefers books to people, sweetheart

open for;

love interest (of any gender)

friends

colleagues

harlan rowle (intro post)

born 1874/75?? (depending on the timeline)

slytherin

pureblood

bisexual

a little bitch (derogatory)

a slut (affectionate)

he doesn't really have a set story line yet but maybe some relationship dynamics would help me develop him!

love interest: winona rosewood by @usernoneexistent

open for:

friends

dorm mates

rivals/enemies

ww1 era;

klara belikova (profile)

born 1892

sagittarius

istj

lesbian

pureblood

durmstrang

closed off emotionally, kind of rude, tries to be a better person

open for:

love interest

friendships after school (since in school she's a huge bitch and only hangs out with lexi, kat, and fiete)

rivals/enemies (especially during school)

sydney barlow (profile)

born 1892

aquarius

esfp

slytherin

a little bitch *affectionate*

funny lil guy

love interest: alexej kavinsky by @potionboy3

open for:

friends

dorm-mates

rivals and enemies

leda gaunt (profile)

born 1893

leo

slytherin

isfp

she's the most decent person out of her family

voldemort is her first cousin once removed lol

love interest: lunas avery by @cursed-herbalist

open for:

friends

school acquaintances

dorm-mates

riddle era;

charlotte quinn

born 1924 (ish)

pureblood

slytherin

prefect and head girl

older sister of stephen, aunt of bessie and camron, great grandmother of baby

bisexual (not actively aware of this)

star pupil, compassionate, sheltered childhood

open for:

love interest (of any gender, with the disclaimer that she'll have at least one child at some point)

friends

school rivals

stephen quinn sr.

born 1926 or 1927

classmates with tom riddle

slytherin

pureblood

is among tom's closest circle of friends but doesn't become a death eater later on

regrets his actions as an adult

smart, ambitious, gravitates towards charismatic leaders to get closer to power and influence

love interest: gwendoline quinn, née greengrass

open for:

friends (especially others who are pals with dear old tom)

dorm-mates

rivals

frederica "freddy" of alderly

born sometime in the early 1930s (ish)

firstborn child of edward of alderly and jocelyn somerset

gryffindor (only sibling with magic)

half-blood

bisexual

has a wicked sense of humour and shirks her duties like her dad

oldest of four children but is more often than not doing her own thing and letting her younger brother edwin take on the role of the oldest sibling

open for:

love interest (of any gender)

friends

marauders' era;

brandon "bran" vespertine (intro post)

born 1966

samara's brother

slytherin

half-blood

gay

a mess

tw: substance abuse (this guy is his own trigger warning truly)

love interest: tba

open for:

friends

hpma;

olympia alderly

born 1998

muggleborn (with wizarding roots in her family tree)

beauxbatons

princess<3<3

quincey's sister

laid back, just wants to live her life in peace (that's why wanted to go to beauxbatons for her schooling)

love interest: gaia alden by @cursed-herbalist

open for:

friends

classmates from beauxbatons

anora brindlemore (intro post)

born 1958

ravenclaw

bisexual

professor of defence against dark arts

based on hpma's mysterious dada professor

a mysterious past, several brushes with dark forces

a demanding teacher but ultimately cares deeply about teaching future generations to be able to defend themselves

has two children; bloom, born in 1995, and twyla, born in 1999

bloom's father was a decent guy but he's dead, twyla's father is a dick and not around

trust issues

her children are her priority

love interest: cairo aguilar by @cursebreakerfarrier

open for;

colleagues

friends

bloom brindlemore (anora's intro post, lol)

born in 1995

slytherin

pureblood

son of anora brindlemore, professor of dada

half-brother of twyla

quidditch player, jock supreme

gay

mummy issues

identity crisis 24/7

not in touch with his emotions

love interest: tba

open for:

friends

dorm-mates

rivals

next gen;

apollyon "polly" byrn

born around 1993

vampire

slytherin

brother of ella

gay

kind of evil

assassin

be gay do crime

love interest: idris potter by @potionboy3

open for:

enemies😈

imogen everlane (intro post)

born 2005

ravenclaw

half-blood

bisexual

musician

aloof, eccentric

she's probably not very well-adjusted ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

open for:

love interest (of any gender)

friends

dorm-mates

rivals

misc;

aada aarnintytär (intro post)

born in the 1600s, immortal

bisexual

half-blood

avid user of blood magic and other sort of shady magicks

"do not cite the deep magic to me bitch, i was there when it was written"

finnish but has lived in soooo many countries during the centuries

sister of loviisa and aino

former carefree social butterfly turned vigilante to avenge the death of her younger sister during the witch trials

*vigilante shit by tswift playing in the background*

open for:

love interest (of any gender) for any time period since the 1600s but preferably for modern times

friends

enemies

[tresenellaart]

The Big Life Update!

Um, hi everyone! Long time no see huh? In fact, it’s been a very, very long time. 5 years ago I nearly dropped off the face of the internet, and while some of you might have caught a glimpse of my work here and there, I've been almost completely offline and I've kept away from all social sites ever since.

Around 2017-2018, I found myself very lost artistically. I hit a hard wall where I wouldn’t know where to go next, what project to embark on. I had many ideas, but all of them seemed to evaporate into nothing the moment I sat down to flesh them out. I felt extremely apathetic creatively, eventually stopped uploading any art, and sank most of my time into gaming or mindlessly watching videos and streams. My partner at the time helped me gather the strength to look for a job, but without any formal education or previous jobs I could refer to, I tried my luck on Fiverr.

My experience on Fiverr was… mostly terrible. Being paid very little for a lot of hard work, and having to deal with some problematic clients and tight deadlines, really took a toll on me. My time there did send me on a path that I wouldn’t have expected though. I was contacted by a game dev to do a character design for a little wizard character. This person was quite pleased with my work, and continued to ask me for art for a second character, then some test animations… And soon I found myself handling all the art and music for the game, in what’s been my job for 5 years. The game is called Enchanted Portals, and it’ll be releasing later this year!

It’s been… a wild ride. The game’s very heavily inspired by Cuphead, with very similar art-style and gameplay. My boss, being an avid fan of the original, was very passionate about creating his own take on the genre, but maybe not surprisingly, the initial reaction to unveiling the first trailer was one of mass rejection and hate towards it. A useless ripoff! An inferior clone! I hope they get sued for this! Instead of the love letter from a fan that it actually is, it was mostly seen as a ploy from some greedy studio to make a quick buck. Didn’t help that the trailer reached a lot more people than we could’ve ever anticipated.

I can’t really call the game mine in any way, as I’ve mostly just been hired to make art and music assets for it, but the wave of hate was still quite overwhelming and soul-crushing for me. Is this all I’m gonna be known for now? Is this hate going to follow me forever? That creative black hole I had found myself in before, grew even bigger. I didn’t want to be public online again. I wanted to disappear. I couldn’t work on anything creative outside of my job anymore. I was burnt out, scared of the world, feeling completely defeated.

I was very fortunate to be contacted by a long time friend from my early DeviantArt days, someone that, despite my lengthy online disappearances, would make an effort to send me a message from time to time to catch up. We started talking very regularly, and she got me interested in a project she was part of, a fandub of the webcomic Rain by Jocelyn Samara D. (that I’m sure a lot of you know already). We toyed with the idea of upgrading the project into a full animated series, a pretty ambitious task since I’d be the only one animating, but my creative spark was immediately reignited. Working on Rain was such a joy, and a rekindling of everything I love about creating art. The project hit some serious bumps along the road, but it’s still going strong now, and while it’s been really slow working on it on top of my job, it’s been the best artistic experience I’ve had in a very long time. If you want to check it out, here’s the Rain: TAS Youtube channel! We just released a new short!

This long time friend has since become my girlfriend, and we’ve embarked on other wonderful projects together. If you want to check out some of our other stuff, we have a wonderful world of gay fae bugs in the making too!

Despite all of these exciting new personal projects I’ve embarked on recently, coming out of my bubble has still been a huge struggle. Posting on my own accounts, drawing new strips for my webcomic, uploading anything that's more personal, still fills me with fear and anxiety. I really want to get out of my comfort zone and start posting again, being more active online, reaching out to new people, sharing my art with others once more. I miss it all dearly. And I know people have been missing my art too, and some have even been seriously worried about my well-being. I sincerely apologize if I made any of you worry too much! ^^;

I hope this post is the first step in a long new creative journey for me. I’ll do my best to leave my shell, and to build myself and my art back up again. There’s so much wonderful stuff I want to do, and to show to the world! Stay tuned!

[lifeofalesbiangirl]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand we are back! Sorry for going inactive again, life just..got in the way and I wasn't able to make more comics because of that. ^^; Although, as an apology gift, here's (potential) redesigns of the three main girls! Fun fact, Mocha is supposed to be the tallest while Blondie is supposed to be the shortest. Another fun fact, Rin's dress is inspired (or is a direct reference, what's the right word?-) by the one Rain Flaherty wears in Chapter 22 of Rain (by Jocelyn Samara D), please check it out, it's very good ^^ But anyways, sorry for rambling, I promise to post a comic soon!

[washipink]

The Rain Review (Finale)

If you’ve been with my blog for the past week or so, You’ll know I’ve been reading a childhood favorite webcomic of mine, Rain by Jocelyn Samara. And you’d probably be wondering what happened to my review of the comic Year-by-Year. The answer? I went on a road trip for a few days and couldn’t help but read the whole rest of the comic. So today I’m here to talk about my overall thoughts.

For the uninitiated, Rain is a slice-of-life webcomic that started in 2010. It’s about a transgender teenage girl of the same name navigating her senior year at a Catholic high school. There’s a LOT of romantic and gender-related drama. Friends are made and lost. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll see yourself in the characters somewhere along the line.

My experience with Rain prior to this project only goes up to about 2014. I started reading it in middle school on Smackjeeves.com. Y’all remember Smackjeeves? I miss it every day. Apparently it redirects to a shitty webtoon clone now. IDK where I’m gonna find peoples’ sprite comics produced in 2013 now.

Anyway, I bring this up to say that I had stopped keeping up with Rain even though she was a major part of me accepting who I was. When I found out that her story had come to a close, I had a real need to find out how.

This time, there won’t be a plot summary because this comic ran for 11 years and it takes me long enough to do just 1. That and, if I may spoil my final opinion, I really want you to give it a read for yourself.

ART

I want to get this one out of the way because it’s a very common critique that even I hold to some extent. The art in Rain is a clear indicator of the era its artist hails from. In 2010, anime and manga had just hit the American mainstream. Everyone was reading those “How to Draw Anime” books and took a lot of notes from them. To showcase, here’s a page from Chapter 1, the first color page in fact.

This page is actually one of the busier pages in terms of art. Jocelyn doesn’t usually do background details much, if at all. Usually, backgrounds are depicted as solid colors that are associated with specific locations. Grey for the apartment, sky blue for outside, light green for school, etc. But the way Rain is drawn here bears a striking resemblance to the styles a LOT of people were using at the time.

While Jocelyn’s style stays rooted in, shall we say, American who got really into anime, her techniques evolve over time. Especially in terms of displaying what’s going on with limited background detail.

As an example, I really enjoy this scene. Rain and Emily are, in universe, speaking over the phone right now. But neither of them are holding their phones to their ears. They’re looking at each other as if they’re in the same room. Jocelyn uses a gradient background to signify that the two of them are NOT in the same room, but as they get closer during their conversation, they get physically closer in the panel as well.

This page is taken from 2014, about 4 years into the comic’s run. You can see that Jocelyn’s brush choices have changed. Everything is far smoother than it was toward the start. While the overall style is as simplistic as year 1, her technique has changed a lot.

That comfort with her work only continues to grow. Below is a panel from a bonus page that released after the comic’s conclusion. The line work is the cleanest its ever been.

STORY AND CHARACTERS

Now this right here is the REAL meat of the comic. Regardless of any feelings I had on the art, the characters really endeared me. And this being a slice-of-life teen drama, they had plenty of time to learn, grow, and clash against one another.

The majority of the conflict in Rain comes from people being set in their ways. Rain’s whole gaggle of queer friends is hiding from the school’s principal, who refuses to acknowledge that maybe there’s nothing wrong with being a little gay. One of the most compelling ongoing threads in the comic centers around Rain’s brother and sister trying to understand and accept her. These personal stakes were a really enjoyable break from the kind of thing I usually read. In Rain, there is no world to be saved or villain to defeat, but there IS a prom to go to. Sometimes, that’s all you need to tell a good story.

The comic has this small-town vibe I care for a lot. Sometimes, a character will exit another’s life and you’ll never expect to see them again. Then they’ll end up dating Rain’s aunt or something. Word spreads fast in Centerville. People are gossipy. Sometimes, you tell someone something and it reaches ears you didn’t want to hear it. That gossip is what makes things so dangerous for Rain. If the wrong person finds her out, then EVERYONE finds her out. The same goes for all her friends.

There’s all kinds of flavor of queer in this comic in a way that mirrors real life friend groups. We have a tendency to find each other like that.

With all kinds of queers being hormonal teens, things get messy FAST. There’s a lot of things that happen in this comic that I feel like baby gays need to see. There’s a point where a gay boy and a trans girl start going out because... this just happens sometimes. Nobody is “the villain” in this scenario. They both just tried to explore themselves and found mixed results.

That’s one of the big themes of Rain. Self-exploration. Every chapter, we’re learning more about these characters as they learn more about themselves. Nobody stays in the same headspace for too long. They’re constantly evolving.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Rain is ABSOLUTELY worth the read. It’s actually a really easy read. I was able to finish it in about 2 weeks, so I’m sure it won’t take up too much of your time. But, it’s a really heartwarming story that I’m sure a lot of us can relate to. Thanks for going on this journey with me. And be safe, Rain Beaus.

[effortlessly-emily]

hello mutuals. please read Jocelyn Samara's perfect webcomic, Rain. Thank you and have a good day

CW for transphobia and homophobia (VERY ROUGH transphobia and homophobia at some points) + some other stuff that's spoilery to mention so i'll put it in the read more

but i swear that it's hilarious + cute + wholesome maybe 90% of the time. Mostly just a slice-of-life about a stealth trans girl attending a Catholic school and the real main character, Fara Bryer.

also if you want to talk about rain it has wormed me thoroughly. so.

additional CWs: offscreen sexual assault of a minor, teenage pregnancy resulting from said assault.

[swordshq]

a new player in the game of thrones has arrived ... we welcome the arrival of jocelyn selmy, aiyla tyrell and bethany hill to king's landing ! your presence is expected within twenty four hours and your guide can be found here. sophie skelton, aslihan malbora and samara weaving are now unavailable.

( SOPHIE SKELTON, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER. ) could that really be JOCELYN SELMY, the LADY of HARVEST HALL entering the keep ? king’s landing is sure to benefit from the THIRTY year old’s ability to be both MAGNETIC and STAUNCH, but beware, whispers also say they have been known to be FORTHRIGHT and TEMPEROMENTAL. their loyalty belongs to HOUSE SELMY & BARATHEON and they ARE INDIFFERENT TO of peace throughout westeros. / KATIE, SHE/HER, 25+, BST.

( ASLIHAN MALBORA, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER. ) could that really be AIYLA TYRELL, the LADY of HIGHGARDEN entering the keep ? king’s landing is sure to benefit from the TWENTY FOUR year old’s ability to be both ELOQUENT and SPIRITED, but beware, whispers also say they have been known to be JUVENILE and PAMPERED. their loyalty belongs to HOUSE TYRELL and they SUPPORT the notion of peace throughout westeros. / KATIE, SHE/HER, 25+, BST.

( SAMARA WEAVING, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER. ) could that really be BETHANY HILL, the BASTARD of THE WESTERLANDS entering the keep ? king’s landing is sure to benefit from the TWENTY EIGHT year old’s ability to be both CUNNING and ADVANTAGEOUS, but beware, whispers also say they have been known to be SPITEFUL and DECEITFUL. their loyalty belongs to HOUSE LANNISTER/THEMSELVES and they ARE INDIFFERENT TO the notion of peace throughout westeros. / KATIE, SHE/HER, 25+, BST.

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

I’d like to submit a few if you don’t mind.

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (YA coming of age)

Jilted by Lilah Suzanne (adult romance)

The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (YA fantasy)

Rain graphic novels by Jocelyn Samara (also available online at rain. thecomicseries. com) (YA slice of life)

Thank you for these submissions, I added the books to the list :)

[lunadook]

Human Replacement Therapy Extended Universe (and inspired) Link Collection Part 2

This is a continuation of the list of Human Replacement Therapy/related stories as the above post hit the 100 inline link limit (wow).

Catgirl [by cherrypillowzz] Cat [by ofdreamsanddoodles] Human [by beedokart] Demon [by beedokart] Flesh [by anti-psycomics] Bird [by flightlessbirdgirl] Kaiju [by roxynychus] Dragon [by Jocelyn Samara DiDomenick] Hellhound [by dariothecat-blog] Kitsune [by crystalseadragon44] Cat [by paintedbytosia] Hybrid (on Google Docs) [by candys-writing-blog] Goblin [by goblin-papermoon] Crow [by ashleyrowanthewriter] Pigeon [by pigeon-dyke] Demon [by josphitia] Cosmic Chimera [by thelunadev] Hybrid HRT [by dev_aka_asa] Merman [by freakydoq]

Worldbuilding or related works:

Hyper City [by nuggetofthesea] THEMS [by xiontheslime] Iris the witch [by darkmagenugget] The Sign for Gold is Ugly [by ashleyrowanthewriter] Wolf and Rabbit [by mscoffeesq] Project Chimera [by mysteriousmaninthesmoke] Dr Vee [by haarlow] Timeline [by nyxisart] Scales [by gamemakerm] Good Sleep HRT [by butterfly-sapphire] TheraSMD 335 Providers Informational Report [by cerislabnotes] Researchers Note 311: 15 Minutes [by cerislabnotes] Animal HRT CVS parody [by anameistoohard] Magic HRT [by stickia404] Porcelain Doll HRT Observations [by ashleyrowanthewriter] Mermaid Kaiju [by noreo-oreo]

Human Replacement Therapy Extended Universe (and inspired) Link Collection Part 1

EDIT: We've hit the Inline Link Limit! I've linked to a second post containing more links. (The google doc linked at the bottom of the post will still contain everything in one place.)

Been seeing a lot of those Human Replacement Therapy comics and stories going around and I wanted to try and make a list of the first (?) panels/chapters of each one I've found so far, so..........

Part 2

Dragon [by ayviedoesthings] Fish [by welldrawnfish] Bat [by kaylasartwork] Puppy [by nyxisart] Mouse [by prettiestplatypus] Worm (I can't find the first one I'm too lazy) [by shaveyoureyebrows] Axolotl [by bubbleverseart] Goat [by kontonord] Elf [by squiretilde] Eldritch [by dawning-mars] Bird [by vy-canis-melodis] Slime [by pollypoirate] Slime (Written) [by mint-and-authoress] Slime (Written) [by scrubbinn] Slime (Written) [by sandyca5tle] Shifter (Written) [by calliecwrites] Cow (Written) [by josphitia] Bovine [by pennymations] Wolf [by gracewolfing] Coyote [by vanillayoteart] Werewolf [by tobydoeswrite] Werewolf [by cyberbeast99] Tiger (Written) [by tigergirltail] Mermaid HRT Poem [by ashleyrowanthewriter] Kitsune (Written) [by mothduchess] ??? [by home-sweet-hive] Sonic [by sonic-spirit] *break so tumblr will let this post*

Aves [by cozy-kitty-corner] Cat [by entroart] King Cobra [by thecrystalmountainsystem] Polymorph [by probablyplural] Human [by deadeyedfae] Werewolf [by furfangsandfierceness] Werewolf [by lycans-art-kingdom] Mermaid [by noreo-oreo] Puppy [by noreo-oreo] Deer [by aster-is-confused] Lamia [by ariathelamia] Moth [by hyacinthdoll1315] Skunk [by sundaysstrawberrykombucha] Void [by v-draws-whatever] Dragon [by zykeroth] ??? [by transpandaart] Jaguarfolk [by jaguarfolkhrt] Sheep [by cr1zz0] Bunny [by grumpybunny-edith] Fox [by disappointedcreeper] Sparrow [by lylaslilacss] Animal? [by cutepastelstarsailor] Cow [by megamoonerjenny] Bug [by thebugautistic] Vrastelian [by silliestcreature196] Elf [by siimplyapril] Demon [by shockpulse] Wolf and Crow [by sunification] Bird [by tiredtiresias] Shoggoth [by aiden-nevada]

*break so tumblr will let this post*

Bird [by comfeeeeeeee] Bird [by nuclearraven-woman] Manticore [by redroversendjayover] Spider [by sweetspidergirl] Mouse [by alice-arty] Zombie [by sunnyrabbit05] Cat [by v0vivi0v] Cyberdemon [by kazsartcorner] Troll [by artvil-gang] Polar Bear [by frostehburr] Lamia [by robins-warudo] Shapeshifter [by maxine302] Vulture [by prollymad] Dragon [by a-being-that-just-is] Slug [by a-being-that-just-is] Cryptid [by thejaded0nes] Robot [by lavender-inkwell-99] Monkey [by mechanical-sunchild] Eldritch Dragon [by your-pal-nebula] Time Lord [by joyfulbeatrix] Digimon [by reticent-fate] Plant [by jalopytheplant] Slime [by ruckeysquared] Fox [by super-sayian-kitty64] Demon [by pugsofwriting] Weasel [by alice-of-heart] Sylveon [by constellarcreator] Robot [by squiddotmid] Eevee [by darlingsuperstition] Chimera [by gate4043]

*another pause weee*

Swolbold [by flowershakur] Type Green [by scpwiki-official] Dragon [by tresenellaart] Dragon [by theinsidiousdice] Robot [by raptorbricksart] Dragon [by koalaphoenix] Gem [by techno-toister] Hybrid [by ehksidian] Ktletaccete [by fenmere] Slime [by madelinemccoolname] Succubus [by lariumbreon]

Please feel free to let me know of any you know of that I missed. I'll periodically update the post with anything I get links to.

I have also made a Google Doc containing all of the links, including the ones that aren't fitting in this post. Part 2 of this post, with more links, is here.

[snakajaja]

Rain by Jocelyn Samara D.

rain.thecomicseries.com