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Hi! She's Addison! Yes. I think so. :3c This is a special collab with @lynnsenpai for the 15th Anniversary of her comic, Rain!

Wow! I can't believe I've been doing this comic for a whole year already! And we've come so far! 800 followers? Are you kidding me! This is going to overtake my personal blog in just a few weeks, I'm sure.

Now, normally I draw all of the seasonal stuff myself (ignoring that I forgot Autumn, oops.) But while at work I did a lot that was really awkward and painful on my wrist. Typing right now is a major pain. I'm having to go a lot slower than I normally type. So I couldn't finish what I was trying to sketch out. Luckily, I have an amazing friend in @prettiestplatypus who was willing to finish the piece based on what I sketched, and an amazing girlfriend in @tresenellaart who was willing to lend an old background for this. So with the power of Love and Friendship on my side, you have some special art for the special occasion: It's been officially one year since I started posting the comic.

This comic, this story; all of it means so much to me. I cherish it every day. I wait patiently for pages to go up and I get to see the love and joy I've put into every page be seen by all of you. It warms my heart in a way I cannot fully express. Hell, I anxiously wait for pages to be finished myself because it's a team effort with the little cleanups and lettering Tress does. Who I am not part of a system with, nor am I part of a system with PlatypusPro. There was some confusion about that. Weirdly. But I am me, and they are their own wonderful and lovely selves. This is going to be what I pour myself into for the foreseeable future. Not that I'm planning on dropping everything else, mind, I just want to give everyone the best story I can give. Right now, that's Girl Me!, and I couldn't be happier. Years of this? Being proud of myself, and my art, and the connections and joy I bring with it? I can do that. I hope you can all join with me. One of the main reasons I make this comic is because I wanted to be able to make something that was me, that was unfiltered. That was unsanitized by the rest of the internet's algorithmic mayhem.

To everyone who's patiently waiting for more of the story: Don't worry. I've got so much in the backlog I could disappear until NEXT anniversary and still have pages.

To all my wonderful friends not directly mentioned who are waiting in the wings for their collabs: Thank you. It's all going to be very special when it's here in its own time. You did perfect and will continue to do perfect.

To all the lovely patrons on Patreon who are happy to get everything early: I love you. Thank you for helping make this more than a pipe dream.

There's still so much more to share, so much more to see. I hope you'll continue to ride along with me on this journey. It's only up from here.

False alarm, but you can always still need fresh air. Can you tell when I decided I didn't want to come up with any more backward facing character designs?

What's this? ANOTHER COLLAB? That I'm drawing myself and taking away time from drawing the main story? YES IT IS! But this time it's going up on a Saturday! Unfortunately, that does mean the wait for Chapter 3 is going to be longer. But this is really important to me, and I hope it can at least suffice for now. Buuut if you're really impatient: Chapter 3 in full is on my Patreon <3 This is a special collab with @lynnsenpai and her webcomic, Rain! This is in celebration of the comic's 15th anniversary! If you've not been around the block enough to know, I write, direct, produce, and voice Rain herself in Rain: The Animated series. Rain means more to me on a lot of levels than I can express. It's in part of why Girl Me! even exists at all. Lynn's become one of my dearest friends and I wanted to make something that shows the full breadth of what she and her comic mean to me. I found Rain at very pivotal point in my life and it helped me ride out some really hard times. Whenever I get to work on anything Rain related at all, I try to put my best into it. Because it means that much to me. So, when Lynn set out to ask about everyone maybe drawing fan art and making other kinds of fan work? I thought, "wow I should be careful to not overdo myself."

I asked her "what's the limit on this, do you think?"

"Part of me just wants to see what you do unrestrained." she replied. SO HERE WE GO. FULL LENGTH CHAPTER. LET'S GO. IT'LL RUN ON FOR MONTHS. WOOOO! This collab itself takes place a bit later in the main story, but it shouldn't have much in the way of spoilers other than some character fluff and world-building involved. How did Addison and Valerie end up in St. Hallvard? Who knows! (I do, but I'm not saying here!) ALSO Yes: This collab will be kept PG-13 AT THE MOST. I know I can get a little saucy with the main comic, but the collabs I tend to keep as tame as possible. ^_^ I respect Rain too much for that. It's why I am pushing back Chapter 3 for this too because Chapter 3 is a little bit too saucy to be next to the Rain pages. Kick back, and let's celebrate #15YearsofRain together!

On this day, fifteen years ago, I started a silly little webcomic called Rain, about a trans girl doing her best to be herself in high school. I wasn't sure I was going to stick with it. I wasn't sure anyone but me would even care. It was the kind of story I needed but didn't have when I was growing up, but being the only trans person I knew at the time, I was admittedly expecting it wouldn't click for anyone else.

I was wrong.

Queer folks have told me they came out after reading it. Trans folks told me they started transition after reading it. Cis folks told me they better understood the queer and trans people in their lives after reading it. Folks of all kinds figured themselves out after reading it. And more than once, I've been told by folks that they're still here because of it.

It's a lot to take in. It often feels like more praise than I deserve, considering the simplistic art, and frequently overly verbose dialogue. But it also means the world to me that it resonated so much with people. I'm so grateful that the story I needed meant so much to so many other people. It's more than I could've ever asked for.

So thank you to everyone who's ever read it, and everyone who will read it someday. You're the reason I could keep at it. You're the reason I was able to finish it. You're the reason I'll be able to release the final physical volume very soon. I started this because I wanted it, but I couldn't have finished it without you!

Thank you for your ongoing support. In return, I hope I can continue to help you laugh and smile and grow.

*** If you've never read Rain yourself, you can start right here: https://rain.thecomicseries.com/comics/1/ If you've already finished Rain and want something new, my second webcomic, My Impossible Soulmate, might interest you too. Like Rain, it is full of trans and queer characters, but this time with a bit more of a romantic fantasy adventure. This one is ongoing, but on hiatus until probably the new year at this point. Still you can read what's available here: https://mis.thecomicseries.com/comics/1/

*** Sales will continue through the weekend!

Use coupon code BOOKGIFT30 for 30% off Rain books on Lulu! Volumes 1-6 are currently available. https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/LittleLynn84

Thus concludes the mini chapter featuring Lillie from Prettiest Platypus! big thankies to @prettiestplatypus for letting me Girl Me! her girl! I'm taking a well deserved break after this. I've been drawing nonstop for months and my hand needs rest. Some more collabs coming up soon. ^_^ Doubt they'll be as long as this, but if you're on the Patreon you've probably already read most of chapter 3 already by now. For everyone reading on everywhere else, chapter 3 should start up very soon! Tata~

A familiar family meet a familiar pair of rodents, nothing weird here!

I do struggle with drawing crowds, but it just wasn't going to feel right unless all these kids were there. :)