Diskette: Rain

Author

Jocelyn Samara DiDomenick, aka LynnSenpai.

Status

Finished with 44 chapters.

Rating

10/10

Where to Read

Available for free on ComicFury or DeviantArt.

I found Rain exactly when I needed it. In that sense, this is probably the most biased 10/10 I'll ever give anything, but I'm not pretending to be objective here. For what it's worth, even if this story doesn't change your life like it did mine, it's still excellently written, funny, just the right amount of tense, and worth experiencing regardless.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's rewind. What is Rain? Well, it's a webcomic with a fairly straightforward setup: the titular Rain is a transgender girl trying to make it through her senior year of high school. The problem being that she attends a catholic private school with a very conservative headmaster. The twist being that there are a surprising number of fellow queer children in this environment. Coming of age story ensues.

Though simple in its setting, the real meat of this story is in the characters. Every major character (and even some minor ones!) brings something to the table, from exploring different approaches to gender expression, to navigating crushes with incompatible sexualities, to showcasing the varying roots of intolerance and if (or how) they can be cut down. Also: they're just plain fun! I don't think there's a single character I would accuse of being poorly written or mishandled - maybe some of the minor characters if I really wanted to get picky, but even then, most of them have their purpose and serve it well.

Something I also appreciate is the overall positive tone of the story. Make no mistake, this comic is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects and inflict misfortune on the cast. But through it all, a general attitude of "it'll be okay" permeates every story beat. That's not to say characters don't suffer, or are always optimistic; rather, it's because they suffer, because they lose optimism, that this attitude is so striking. Even when a character's entire life seems to be upended (which happens on more than one occasion), the people around them help them bounce back and keep moving. I admire that kind of attitude, and I think it was exactly what I needed to hear.

This section contains spoilers for the final chapter of Rain

The moment that resonated the most with me was Lorcan's letter. Learning that Rain's mother was actually her father was a twist I never in a million years saw coming. Speaking honestly, the first thought that entered my head was that it was a little... Odd? Not in the "oh how statistically unrealistic" way that people tend to complain about, but taken at face value, I felt like it wasn't the best direction to go in.

But as the chapter went on, that thought dissipated entirely. I was floored. Now, on a surface level, I don't share much with Lorcan. We don't have the same assigned gender at birth. He was still within the binary, whereas I likely am not. I've never experienced most of the things he's shown to experience. And yet, Lorcan's story resonated deeply with me, because I'm pretty sure he's the one character in the story that represents the alternative to what everyone else is doing. While Rain and her friends struggle tooth and nail to be who they want to be, Lorcan simply accepted that wasn't in his cards. And the result is that he died without anyone knowing who he was. Had Rain not expressed her identity early in life, he wouldn't have confessed to it in his letter, and no one would ever know who he was.

Isn't that terrifying? It felt like it to me. Existentially terrifying. And I think that's because I was on the same path.

This story changed my life. It changed the way I engage with my own queerness. It made me less afraid - or maybe just more encouraged - to explore my gender identity. Hell, Rain is half the reason this website exists - it killed my passiveness towards my gender, and that had a domino effect into wanting to kill my passiveness online (and I also just really wanted to rave about this story to anyone who would listen).

I highly recommend that you check it out, whether you're queer or not, but especially if you are, and especially if you're still figuring yourself out; it's a teen drama, so if that sort of thing doesn't interest you it may not be for you, but there's enough "mature" conversations and plots in the comic that I would still ask you to consider it.