Awesome / Rain (2010)

• Maria makes it clear to Todd that she won't tolerate him picking on her brother.
• Maria comes out of the closet
• Rudy snapping and telling off the ever annoying Drew. As seen right here.
  • Much later, Rudy, in Tranquil Fury mode, spells out to Drew that he needs to learn to Be Yourself and decide what's more important to him: his reputation or Ky(lie).
• Emily demonstrating that she understands Rain better here
• Rain giving Kellen a calm but spectacular What the Hell, Hero? for what she did, and disowning her.
  • And it's followed shortly by Aiken's own What the Hell, Hero? moment where he spells out all the reasons why what she did was not only cruel, but just plain stupid and establishes that it's all on her, so he's staying completely out of whatever else happens between them.
• Despite being probably the most hated character(and rightfully so) seeing Kellen chew out Chase for getting a teenager (Emily) pregnant. It doesn't redeem her, but seeing her technically stand up for Emily, who she has a mutual dislike for, and give Chase his first taste of consequences for his actions was satisfying.
• After having enough of Debbie being jealous of Rain for being closer to Emily to the point where she's clocking her as a male, Rain gives her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech pointing out that Emily being so distant is her fault.
  Rain: From the very second you learned she was pregnant, you didn't even try to be there for her. You avoided her. Holly yelled at her. All during an already difficult time for her. If you were really her friends, you'd have made some effort to show support. But even now, it's more important for you to threaten me than to talk to her. She didn't abandon you. She was just scared. You abandoned her.
• At the very beginning of Chapter 35, after his parents are debating what to do to find Maria, Rudy completely lets them have it, especially his Jerkass of a father.
  • The mother, Donna, proves herself to be the better person when she not only acknowledges their fault in contributing to the situation, but also stands up to her husband when he threatens to send Rudy to a "cure the gay" camp for Calling the Old Man Out.
    Donna: Of course I don't want my children to be gay. But I never wanted this! Any of it! It's bad enough my little girl has left us, but if you do anything - anything - to take my baby boy away too, I swear to God you will regret it.
    • Donna wasn't kidding when she warned him, as she threw Norman out of the house when she overheard him threatening Rudy with camp again.
• Brother Arthur seeing right through Todd's bullshit after he pretends Maria attacked him, an act which got her expelled. He demands a doctor's note by the next day, otherwise Todd will be spending Saturday detention with him for the rest of the year, and makes sure to tell him to leave Rudy alone.
  Jocelyn: I don't know about you, but when a typically friendly, light-hearted person reaches that point where they just aren't having it anymore, it scares me a little.
• We finally see Blair's personality after pages upon pages of being The Ghost. And he does not disappoint.
• Arthur, with a mountain of evidence and testimonies from Chanel (Doctor's note regarding her injury to prove Todd did injure her and that he did start the fight), Donna (Rudy's medical records which match up with Maria's description of Rudy's black eyes and broken rib, all from Todd's bullying), Rudy (about Todd's bullying that went on for 2 years with Rudy going to Quenton several times and nothing being done), and the 22 female students comfortable coming forward (about Todd becoming "agitated and volatile" after they said declined going to prom with him), confronts Quenton on the lack of disciplinary action against Todd for his bullying of Rudy and expelling Maria after she tried to defend Chanel from getting seriously injured by Todd. Arthur lets Quenton know that he is refusing to accept the Strongwell kids being openly homosexual as a valid reason for such negligence. Arthur later reveals to Quenton that he forwarded all of the evidence to the district's Diocese, who're interested in better understanding why the parents of several young ladies are considering legal action against the school. Quenton appears to be sweating upon hearing of this. Two comics later, it's revealed Quenton resigned and Todd is effectively expelled.
• In Chapter 37, Drew finally starts letting go of his fears of being judged, realizes his past mistakes, and decides he cares about Ky no matter what they identify as. With support from Rain and Ana, he decides to go apologize to them for everything he's done. On his way there, he's confronted by Rob, who cracks a joke at his and Ky's expense. Drew's response?
  Drew: You know what, Rob? You're a shitty friend.
  Rob: Wh-what?! Dude, I was just joking around!
  Drew: And have I ever laughed? I don't have to explain myself to you. Nor do I have to explain my friends.
• Heather gets a lot throughout Chapter 38, from getting Jess and Aiken to talk, but especially managing to get through Kellen's thick skull and finally get her to see how much she's screwed up.
• Presenting Rain: The Animated Series. Crosses over with Funny as well.
• The ending of the penultimate chapter has Rain finally confronts Marcus in her dreams, affirming that Mr. Bryer is her real father and Fara is her real mother, refusing to address him as her dad anymore, taking his surname off from her name and telling her to never bother her again.
  Jocelyn: He's never physically appeared in the comic, but we've seen how his actions have continued to hurt and frighten our heroine without him ever being actively present. [...] But we've also watched her grow over all this time, becoming stronger, and distancing herself from the one who hurt her, and instead surrounding herself with those who care. So in a way, I think it's actually kinda fitting that rather than telling off the real life Marcus who already wasn't in her life anymore, she's telling off the nightmare that's been plaguing her for years instead.

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