I was simply too excited to wait until Sunday this week, ladies. sorry ^_^;
A big thank you to Miss Kory and especially Miss Sunny for offering their religious/cult expertise respectively to help in workshopping the pamphlet. We designed this one first, and then used it as a template to create the gendie one.
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Also thanks to everyone still voting at the polls, too! Very helpful <3 It'll still be open till Sunday.
Oh, Riley. My heart. What a great parallel you have drawn — Christianity with the trans cult. Great job as usual, Rusty!
OMG AN EARLY UPLOAD LETS GOOOO
also this page is very interesting, are the girls in the yellow shirt from a school or different group? they’re wearing pants and from what we know riley was not allowed to wear pants as a child…
Did you bless us with an early drop??????? Thank you!!!!
I am living for Riley’s hair Rusty you do long messy-but-not-unkept hair so well!!! Young Riley is so cute (even tho she already looks so fuckin tired the poor thing). And the background is great! What card games are those kids playing? Zu-bi-ho? Bokemon?
The transition (ha!) from the first pamphlet to the second was so good and does a lot. I was thinking that it was kinda heartbreaking to see the switch from Riley’s adult hands to her little baby hands cause it just,…really encapsulates how long Riley has been dealing with the regressive beliefs of those around her 🙁
It was so fun to wrack our brains doing these pamphlets ! 😀
Those two pages really pack a punch and poor baby Riley ToT I feel so bad for her in the last panel in how isolated she looks while the girls are playing behind her, unaware of this mess (hopefully v_v)
And yay Winnie cameo !!! Miss Winnie please save little Riley !
early update this week lesGOOOOO
fuuuuck i was going to ask “who’s giving this child religious pamphlets” but then i remember in my australian primary school we had teachers that would come in every week for “religious education” and we even got bibles too
I was like, hmmmm, she said she was resisting temptation to post the next page early, maaaaybe? Refreshed the page and YES!! lol
I love how the women on the trans pamphlet have shorter hair, but are wearing lots of makeup, whereas the women on the religious pamphlet have longer hair, but aren’t wearing noticeable makeup; it’s an excellent showing of how both enforce gender conformity, just in different ways.
Crypty’s comment about Riley’s hands made me go back and forth a few times, because I was so focused on the pamphlet I didn’t even notice the first time. Her adult hands holding a pamphlet so reminiscent of ones her small little girl hands held is heartbreaking.
I can’t even imagine how Riley will react now or what she’ll do.
If this were a trans story, this is where she’d have a breakdown and realize she actually IS trans and if she’d just had the trans pamphlet instead of the religious one as a kid she could’ve been ‘saved’ from living as a gnc woman. Then of course she’d give the pamphlet to Violet, and Riley and Faith would start their trans journey together 🤡
Wow, that’s exactly what Blaire’s perfect world would be, isn’t it? And all credit to her for bringing the pamphlet that led to it all 😇🇧🇷
Is it time for Riley’s backstory!? I’m glad that Riley sees the parallel between gender indoctrination and religious indoctrination immediately
Wow! This page hit me like an absolute truck. The parallel is insane.
Rusty giving us the greatest Galentine’s gift of all: an early update. ❤
I’d somehow blocked the memory of all the times I was given religious pamphlets while I was at work (I exude heathen vibes, I guess), and this immediately brought back the discomfort of being asked about my religious beliefs when I wasn’t allowed to be rude (read: honest) about it.
I don’t know if we’re about to get the backstory of Riley’s awful childhood, or if this was just a singular image to show the parallels between gender and religion, but either way, I’m excited for the journey to the moment Riley goes, “Wow, transgenderism is a cult, just like my mum’s faith!” and goes OFF.
Oh no, poor Riley’s getting triggered. I can NOT see this ending well… I hope Blaire is at least understanding.. 💔
as someone who was raised religious this page made me feel like i got the wind knocked out of me. in the best way possible.
can’t wait to see the total radio silence from tras on this page because it’s hard to claim we’re right-wing puritan bigots when we’re criticizing religion 🙂 i genuinely can’t wait i mean, the downvotes and bad-faith (LOL) comments make me roll my eyes.
amazing art as always! and so many commenters pointed out amazing comparisons i didn’t even notice! my contribution: love the fact that “he knows you better than you know yourself” on this pamphlet is in the same spot as “your child knows their gender best” on the trans one. amazing insight on how trans’ “you get to choose your own destiny” is immensely appealing to people (women esp) raised to believe free will doesn’t exist so it predatorily sucks them in. i’m in awe
This page hit me in the face. My (Aussie) school uniform looked just like that. And as someone else commented, teachers would spread this shit, even though I went to a secular public school.
(I already tried to comment this once before but I don’t think it ever went through, so I’m rewriting it!)
Good god, the parallels between the cult/religious pamphlet and the TRA gender pamphlet is just… oh my GOD.
I’ve never connected the two groups in my head, but now that I can see the similarities I just can’t unsee it… as someone who was raised to be very religious and (as I commented before!) used to be a TIF due to people forcing the belief on me that I was, essentially, born “wrong”, i have first hand experience in how these groups just… prey on women in VERY similar ways. Especially with the whole “Observe HIS commands, walking in obedience to HIM”, “HE knows you better than you know yourself”, “Submit to HIS Guidence” stuff… it’s reminiscent of how, in the TRA movement, TIM’s are often seen as these people who know better than you do, and you CANT question them at all, or you’re actually a dirty homophobic TERF… Almost like how in religious/cult groups, if you speak out against the men in power (or “Gods voice”), you’re unsaveable and are a dirty sinner who should be shamed and avoided…
Hmm, really makes you think, doesn’t it?
God Rusty, this page hits me right where it HURTS- (I mean that in the best way possible, of course :’) )
Everyone (so many insightful readers!) is already pointing out the parallels between the trans movement and religious high control groups, so I’m gonna say…
1) Is this the start of the coveted, long-awaited Riley backstory reveal?!!! Or maybe a preview for it coming soon… how exciting?!!!??
2) Young!Riley looks so small and cute. She’s going to go through something at the hands of her religious cult/parents that will make me sad and very angry and wish I could protect her, isn’t she? Since we know she not only left the cult and got shunned but also had a very specific and soul-crushing reaction to being put back in a dress :'(
Hah…I knew it. Riley’s witness vibes were always apparent to me. Though I have to say, somehow observer it’s much more ominous than witness to me, maybe because it’s twice as creepy in translation to my native language hahaha
Oof… those two girls in skirts watching the girls in pants use the swings… 😭
Oooohh! This parallel is VERY well done!
Also: are we gonna see a Riley flashback 👀👀👀✨????
AAA riley backstory time?!!! let’s goooo
I love this page so much. It was an honor to be able to help you with it! ^^
Tiny Riley always breaks my heart. Being pushed into “blind faith and unquestioned loyalty” to a specific “truth” is always a red flag, so I can relate very much to Riley getting reminded of her religious past.
You did an amazing job with these pages!! <3
THIS IS CRAZY BUT I SEE IT. the gendie i had a crush on also happened to be religious. grrr… c’est la vie. looove your art as always
The girlies enjoying Magic The Gathering under the shade meanwhile Lil Ri gripping the paper like: … What’s all tis HIS bullsh!t?? Where is The Goddess?!?! whack 😾
Jokes aside but well done, it really helps draw similarities between poles that at first appear entirely incompatible. Now it’s not too hard to think both also have commonality in their appeal to unmet human needs (the need to belong and connect, the need of a sense of direction or structure, a sense of control, the need for self esteem). The soft green selected gives that “natural + soothing hence truth” vibe to the propaganda. Unrelated but I found the little hats SO very cuuute.
Are there any statistics of how many cults are formed and led by women vs men? In Australia or otherwise?? Also now that You explained the uniforms thing, I wonder if Riley ever broached that convo with her family like “but why cant i wear the shorts” “because you’re a girl, that’s not your path” “but why can they do it if they’re ALSO girls?” “because their parents are heathens and those kids are straying from salvation, but We truly love you (proceed to lock her in a basement for ‘reflection’)” kinda thing.
Or if at that timeline point she already knew it wasnt worth it so just tell herself she just cant because god works in mysterious ways and it just is, full surrender.
Of the two protagonists I like Jaden’s whole vibe and design but Riley has a much more grimly appealing backstory hands down. The whole muddled aggressivenes that permeates religious marketing and proselityzing is sometimes extremely brainwreckig in a way it really does make You feel like wanting to explode in a bout of rage and turn to ashes. And especially so when the preacher looks extremely happy and collected as they press and probe and erode.
Based on what we seen so far about each, Jaden’s conflict feels more direct and in your face like a truck slam while Riles is more like dark stillwater or those rooms that block ALL sound iykwim. We get the endgame is sweet romance but omfg i don’t care if it’s not in tis chapter i hope you go all out with the unsavoury dynamics of religion and her mom and keep us on the edge worse than Shez background arc did. So much terrain potential there. Go make Maria Onasis look like a sweet novice by comparison.
I often found myself wishing for uniforms during my grade school years because of bullying I received due to my own clothes, but in hindsight, perhaps a lack of uniform was a good thing. My mom would have been fine with me in pants, as I wore leggings and pants for most of my childhood instead of skirts, but I know I would have gotten in trouble with the school staff for loudly hating said skirt/dress options.
I feel for the girls who can’t play on the swings. 🙁
Aren’t these pamphlets giving completely opposite messages, though? The only real similarity here is the formatting and being words on paper.
If we take both at face value, the “gender” one is urging parents to let their children make decisions for themselves because children are capable of understanding themselves and what they want (whether or not that’s actually true, in terms of any individual wanting to medically transition). The Christian one is encouraging readers to give up autonomy because they CAN’T understand or make decisions for themselves and instead need to listen to God and/or religious elders.
Christian communities are, very famously, anti-trans and opposed to children making decisions for themselves outside the church. I guess the intended implication is that “people” (fictional characters) like Blaire and Brick are the equivalent of religious authorities making decisions for others, but that comparison doesn’t consistently hold up outside of this world you’ve created.
Hell f*cking yeah. I was raised religious and then got caught up in trans ideology. Not only do both operate the same way, but that’s a very common pipeline for kids with religious trauma to move straight into trans identification.