Always Raining Here is a Boys' Love webcomic about a teenage boy named Carter Brooks, who recently realized that he was gay, and Adrian Hlaváček, a theater kid that is the focus of Carter's unwanted hormones.
The first few pages start off during the 26th of March, 2011 with the two boys on the side of the road on either end of a pink bicycle. Dialogue is exchanged briefly before the first chapter actually starts, which explains the thirty-two days leading up to the opening scene.
For the majority of the first and second chapters, Carter does his best to get Adrian to sleep with him, using every method from flat-out asking him in a bookstore to installing a confetti cannon into Adrian's locker and stuffing hand-written notes into seemingly every crevice. To Adrian's disdain, his friend Maria is even encouraging Carter's desperation. However, Adrian is still getting over a past love - David - and does not appreciate Carter's advances, to say the least. The story takes a somewhat darker turn during a party they attend.
In the second volume, both decide to start over and begin again as friends. Carter decides to get to know him better and genuine feelings begin to develop between the boys as they spend more time together. They eventually become rather close, as Carter helps him in gathering props in theatre, hanging out together in the treehouse, texting each other for hours, eating pizza with their best friends Maria and Jason, watching the stars together, and playing video games at Adrian's house.
The first page can be found here.
This comic provides examples of:
- All Gays Love Theater: Adrian. He joins the school theater. And sings.
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Played with in regards to Carter in that he sure would like to have a lot of sex, but cannot find someone he'd sleep with besides Adrian who rejects his advances. Once he gets to know Adrian a bit better, it's apparent that he's actually very much the type for a committed relationship and capable of emotional attachment.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Adrian is implied to still have feelings for David while being the object of Carter's affections.
- Art Evolution: The art style used in the comic starts off very angular and 'pointy', with the way characters pose looking slightly odd. Fast forward to the newest pages, in which the art looks more professional, shading and poses look well done, and Hazel (the artist) showing a teensy bit of manga inspiration.
- Back Story: Exists in the form of short side stories found here. Explains the relationship between Adrian and David prior to the comic.
- Book Ends: At one point of the story, Carter drives Adrian who still looks uncomfortable around him; in the end, Carter is driving Adrian to a weekend away with him and their friends, and they share a loving look in the last page of the comic.
- Brick Joke: Carter fathoms himself to be great at French, then, when Adrian makes a comment on the subject, replies with "gracias". On a later occasion, Adrian uses the word "passé"... leading Carter to say "I don't know Spanish, Adrian."
- Chivalrous Pervert: Carter. Even though he's after Adrian for a non-commital sex relationship and flirts like a madman, he doesn't take advantage of Adrian when he's drunk at the party.
- Deadpan Snarker: Adrian in response to Carter's antics.
- Education Mama: Both of Adrian's parents are this, leading him to study diligently for hours deep into the night.
- Entitled to Have You: Carter seems to think that, because he's one of the very few gay guys at their school and probably the only one who's not closeted or hideous, Adrian just has to sleep with him. Luckily, he grows out of that attitude.
- Fanboy: Carter is one of Nintendo, according to his character profile on the site.
- How We Got Here: The first few pages depict Carter and Adrian after a bike crash, and the thirty-two days leading to said scene are shown in the following pages.
- Hypocrite: Maria calling Carter a "social boundaries infringer" near the beginning of the second chapter. In the first chapter, it was her who got him the key combination for Adrian's locker so he could store a bunch of hand-written propositions for sex there.
- Incompatible Orientation: The problem between Adrian and David, as explained in the short story.Spring in December. Then again, David did kiss him and lets him sit on his lap, so chances are he's just too deep in the closet.
- It Meant Something to Me: True, Carter initially is after Adrian only for sex, but he seems genuinely heartbroken when they eventually get intimate with each other and he realizes afterwards that, to Adrian, it was only a bit of stress relief and replacing David.
- Kissing Under the Influence: Adrian initiated a full make-out session when he was drunk.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Adrian and Carter get it on with on the kitchen floor.
- The One That Got Away: David, for Adrian.
- Open-Minded Parent: Carter's parents apparently had an idea that he was gay before he had; his mother made a bet on it.
- Relationship Upgrade: Adrian and Carter.
- Stalker with a Crush: Carter towards Adrian, in the beginning at least.
- Straight Gay: Carter. One of his hockey acquaintances is surprised when he finds out that Carter's gay.
- But then again maybe that's because he's dated girls before.
- Tsundere: Adrian is this, especially in the Extras.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Maria chews Adrian out for using Carter as an outlet for his frustrations, especially since, after what has been with David, he should know not to involve someone else's feelings in his selfish whims.
- Wrong Guy First: Before Carter comes into view, it was David who stole Adrian's heart.
- Yaoi
- Yaoi Fangirl: Maria, arguably, who gives Carter the combination to Adrian's locker so he can stuff it full of love letters, and makes faces like this when the two seem to be getting along more.
