Rain LGBT

What Pannic said. Although I don't think I've been lucky enough to find a transgender webcomic that's just slice of life. The ones I've seen are either blatant wish fulfillment, creepy fetish, or anvilicious soapbox stories. If there's ever been a webcomic that explores transgender issues in an interesting way, or a webcomic that's a good solid drama or comedy and just happens to have a trans character in a major role, I ain't seen it.

And after wading through the poorly drawn, badly written shit that is Rain LGBT, I can safely say I still ain't seen it. WISH FULFILLMENT AHOY!

^Have you tried Khaos Komix?

I check it out briefly, but it is very...gritty and NSFW.

It really isn't either of those things unless you go into the sex stories.

Still, it isn't really something I want to be caught reading. At least Rain looks cheery from somebody taking a glance at my computer, while if I'm reading the wrong page...I'll be questioned.

The cover of Chapter Three had just been posted. It seems like there is going to be a new character.

What do you think of Rain Delay?

Say all you want, but I think this page is extremely funny.

Little Lynn is definately improving.

Right, I gave Khaos Komix a try. I want half an hour of my life back.

Right, I tried Khaos Komix. I never did find out whether it was wish fulfillment, fap fodder, or soapbox, because it was just so crap I lost interest. Judging by the zany cast of larger than life characters (and my tongue was firmly in my cheek when I typed that) I'm guessing that everyone was gonna turn out to be different flavours of Sue in a wish fullfilment marathon.

I had a look at Khaos Komix and got to the bit where two guys (sorry, can't remember any names) were bullied and threatened with rape by a gang and one of them got his hair shorn, and... I feel terribly sorry, because I know hate crimes against LGBT people are no laughing matter, but I just burst out laughing. The over-the-top gay-bashing lines of the bad guys ("Oh no, I nicked your ear! I don't want to get AIDS!"), the victim's Big Woobieish face during the Traumatic Haircut... it says "trigger warning" on the wiki page linking to that scene, but I think "spew coffee on your monitor laughing" would be a better warning.

And I really wish this comic hadn't made me laugh at heterosexist hate crimes.

edited 2nd Apr '11 4:30:34 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

Umm...this thread is about Rain, not Khaos Komix.

So, which one is better then?

Can we put Miss Rain down as the Woobie yeat?

You can, since she fits the mold. Just give some reasons why.

This strip is also funny. Just look at their expressions!

It sort of turned into a thread about the problem with queer and transgender webcomics in general somewhere along the line. General Consensus: it's not the subject matter that's the problem, it's that all the people who write glbt webcomics (and especially transgender webcomics) are either creepy fetishists or painfully earnest Twoo Beweivers.

My problem with transgender webcomics was that they seemed not to actually be about any form of transgender experience. This applies mostly to the transformation-type webcomic (which are vastly greater in number, I believe) but my issue with them (as a mostly cisgender male) is that trans people suffer from the fact that they feel that their assigned gender and/or sex do not match up with how they feel, and so what they really want is to be able to live in a body and a society that sees them as they see themselves.

Transformation-Trangender webcomics, meanwhile, have it completely opposite, with protagonists who are forced into a body (check) not of the gender they see themselves as (check) while society ostracize them (check) and then they eventually learn to like and enjoy their new bodies and live contently in bodies that don't match their own self-image.

Wait, what?

Maybe not all of them, but especially Misfile, where the author throws up a "Day of Remembrance"-page every once in a while, (in itself a good thing, I'll admit) but the moral of the story seems to be that people unhappy with their bodies should learn to live them because its better that way. And that seems to be the moral of a lot of them. That, and cheap jokes. So Rain LGBT might be poorly drawn wish-fulfillment, but at least it's about a trans woman trying to reform society, and not the other way around. (IANATransgender, etc.)

EDIT: To add to that, I guess my main issue is that a lot of ostensibly TG stories tend towards what I see as a reactionary view that's completely opposite of everything I've seen trans men and women talk about as their experiences, and that irks me. In fact, I'd say that the transformation-based TG (web)comic is closer to what someone experiences when they realise that they're homosexual or bisexual, because it is an internal "change" that they have to learn to accept in themselves. Or, perhaps, the experiences a trans person has, should they suddenly find out they're trans (though based on anecdotal evidence, many have known that from before their teenage years).

But in the latter case, the metaphor would fall apart because when a transformed person learns to accept their new gender, they're over the largest hurdle, while (IANATG) for a trans person, they've only just began the long and laborious process of coming out, transitioning, etc. Essentially, I feel that a lot of TG webcomics tend towards a very uninformed presentation of trans issues (alternatively, the authors' autogynophilia-comic is mistaken for a TG comic by fans and critics with cyborg-rat avatars...) which I feel is counterproductive to an accepting society.

edited 11th Apr '11 5:22:06 AM by LatwPIAT

Not really...

You just put your finger on everything that squicks me about most genderswap stories. Not a webcomic example, but Whateley Universe, I'm looking at you.

As much as I like Whateley, I have to admit that's a pretty terrible aspect of it.

The thing that annoys me about Whateley is the obscene amount of Entry Pimping. Sometimes with ridiculously rambling entries (holy crap, the Our Werewolves Are Different entry) and sometimes in the wrong section. And sometimes confusing - I scratch my head as to how it's both a Reconstruction and an Affectionate Parody.

My exposure to it on the site does not endear me to it.

edited 11th Apr '11 12:29:26 PM by Pannic

Which does get annoying...

Contrived coincidences!

So, I said to myself as I was clicking through the latest updates because, honestly, I've seen worse comics, I don't supposed their neighbours also crossdress.

Seriously, I thought, still a bit shocked, that's the best you can do, LittleLynn? How about a turn of events, for once, that isn't completely predictable?

I see a Love Dodecahedron at the end of the tunnel. The whole situation is still funny, with the dramatic irony of it.

Hmm...Maria has a crush on Rain. Gavin had a crush on Maria, and may have a crush on Rain. Rudy may be attrached to Gavin. Rain and Kylie can go both ways. Basically, throw one more person in and you'll have a mess in your hands. An amusing one.

I'm sure the artist can go far if s/he tries to improve, and goodness knows I can't draw to save my life, but the art so far looks very much like Abstract Gender. And that's not a good thing.

I keep it essay myself

Rain and Maria, Gavin and Rudy.

Specking of which I'm trying to do a one shot Fanfic but, I never wrote about not understanding a trans gender. Also I'm not really shire whats not to get.

However, with Kylie in the mix, Little Lynn may pull a twist. Also, if this was a normal webcomic, Rain and Rudy would be together, but because he's straight...well...But still, First Girl Wins.