Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Downloads

Content

The morning after changes everything...or maybe nothing at all. After spending the night with Maya, Taylor is beginning to understand that identity might be more complicated (and more freeing) than a simple binary.

Hey everyone! Fair warning: Chapter 13 clocks in at over 9,800 words - I know, I know, it's a beast. But there was so much emotional ground to cover, and I couldn't find a good place to split it. Also threw in 10 images instead of the usual 8 because this chapter earned them. Hope you enjoy! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. ❤️

Files

Comments

Skyheart

Absolutely love this chapter! Love the growth that our girl Taylor is going through!

Ellen Mellor

You made me cry! TWICE! That was absolutely beautiful. The emotional turmoil and the satisfaction of Tay actually feeling confident and happy about who they are - or at least more confident and happy than they have been for a long time. I still worry if it becomes generally known about their AGAB but at least they have three wonderful women to stand with them. I can't wait to see their Halloween outfit!

Amber Caledonia

This is wonderfully emotional on all fronts (Go Maya!) but more importantly (not more importantly) my hypothesis about Taylor ending up enby gets a few more thick notches under it On this ride wherever it leads, but also #TeamTheylor

Kris Greg

I liked this chapter a lot. It wasn't overly dramatic. It felt more like life. I'm pretty neutral on Halloween. Some years I love it, but some years I find it annoying. (Feeling in the middle this year.) I can't wait to see what Taylor has chosen for their Halloween costume!

Alyson Greaves

[an emoji of a cat vibrating with excitement]

Samantha Louise

This was a really hopeful and beautiful chapter. Love Taylor’s actually thinking about who they are and now that things are in the open can start taking steps to figure it out. They are rightfully deserving to be angry at their mom but glad they recognize she did it out of love, kept firm boundaries for her not to make decisions for them again, and told her they still love her. Very excited what the Halloween costume can be, I’d guess but so many possibilities!

Jessika

...get ready for sexy MCU Super-Heroine!

Claire

I really love this story! I like that Taylor is just trying to figure it out and has opened this door they didn't know was there. I love the breaking the 4th wall in the last image... that smile... what has Taylor in mind? Can't wait but Ill be sorry to have to let Taylor go. (I hope there's another talk between Taylor and their mom)

Omagathief

Love this phoenix like story moment where Taylor is building a new life, a new existence, a new truer version of themself from the ashes of the mountain of lies they were embroiled in. I look forward to seeing them figure out who they truly are over the coming chapters of the rest of this story. P. S. I’m really excited to see what costume they’ve pick for Halloween 😍🥰🥰 👻

SingularCurve

Oi, thats a lot of emotional trauma and the start of some healing this episode. Great chapter. I hope things continue to improve for Taytay

Gemma

Another amazing episode. I just love the detailed conversations throughout this episode (and others) that make this story so real. I also appreciate the informed, reflective therapeutic conversation throughout this chapter that provides pack and provide insights around the complexities around sexual identity and sense of self. You so beautifully enable this gentle exploration to occur with such compassion and humanity. I love the affirmation, this episode provides to Taylor and all of us, around the underlying themes validation of each individual’s sense of self, self worth, self acceptance. I am also so pleased Taylor resolved situation with Alicia. What a special person she is and a great friend for Taylor to have. It was great that a Taylor became aware of how she saw and felt about ‘them’ (‘you did matter to me’). I know it was a bit of a twist when Taylor learnt about what ‘their’ mother did. However, it does open the door ajar to enabling Taylor to further explore more fully ‘their’ sexuality. Now, lowering the tone, on a more superficial level. I wish more intimate details and insights were revealed into Taylor’s physical experiences around having ‘their’ breasts kissed, touched and fondled. Are Taylor’s breasts as sensitive an erogenous zone and as they are for cis women? Do other parts of Taylor’s body react when Taylor’s breasts being stimulated? Sorry , I just had to go there out of curiosity. Finally, the images you have rendered are so beautiful. The subtle details again in all the characters faces capturing their feelings are always amazing to see. As you noticed I kept using the ‘their’ pronoun, like Taylor, I don’t know when ‘they’ will ultimately settle, or maybe not anywhere, in relation to their sexual identity. Thanks Emory for another great episode.

Robertlouis

My dearest Emory, this chapter contains the finest prose writing you’ve ever committed to your screen. There’s not a word or phrase to change or add, it’s absolutely perfect. And it sustains that highest standard throughout. There are no dips. Too many quotable sections - I’d be here all day once I started. And Taylor’s reunion with Alicia is a masterpiece of restraint, handled so delicately and with such understated feeling. Beautifully written. So much is going Taylor’s way at last. As I said a couple of episodes ago, he can defy categorisation and just needs to be Taylor, presenting as whoever he wants to be on any particular day. He’s noticed that others in his classes don’t care either and are happy to defy the visual binary, so the question of acceptance is more in his head than theirs. And in Maya he has found someone who doesn’t care either. She loves the essence of Taylor: it’s both that simple and that profound. There are going to be many twists and turns - they’re only 18, after all - and they still have to fully come out to their mother and sister, but Taylor is oh so nearly there. What a perfect chapter in a wonderfully constructed, mature story, that manages to be both fairy tale and a terrific illustration of the realities and traumas of transition. Standing ovation, Emory. ❤️

M

Love this, makes me so emotional. It’s also what keeps me troughing along in life at the moment. Something I look forward to. Resonate with Taylor’s self-discovery. Envy Taylor for such good accepting friends that sincerely love and care. Thanks Emory ❤️

Emory Ahlberg

Wow, thank you so much for sharing this, M. Reading that my story is something you look forward to, that it helps you keep going... that's honestly the most meaningful thing an author can ever hear. It's the whole reason I write. I'm so glad you're connecting with Taylor's journey. That envy you feel for their friends is so real... I have it too! For me, Abigail and Maya are the entire point of the story. Taylor can't even begin the work of self-discovery until they're in a place where it's finally safe to fall apart. For so many of us, especially as trans folks, we have to build that safety net ourselves. We find our family. Abigail and Maya are the first threads of that net for Taylor. I think they represent the unconditional love and acceptance that allows for the messy, terrifying, beautiful process of becoming yourself. Thank you for being on this journey with them. ❤️ I really appreciate you!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much, Robert! 💕 Your comment really made me tear up. This comment is so thoughtful and sees right to the heart of what I was trying to do. I'm so glad the scene with Alicia landed. I wrote it so many times, and it never felt right when it was loud or dramatic. It had to be quiet. It's about two people trying to rebuild a bridge that's been washed out, and you can't do that by shouting. But you've also totally hit on Taylor's central conflict right now. They've spent years building this fortress inside their head to survive, and now they've walked out into a world that isn't at war with them. All that armor is heavy, and they don't know how to take it off. The real battle isn't with the world anymore, but with the ghost of the person they used to be and the fear that they'll never be anything else. I love that you see it as both a fairy tale and a story about trauma. That's exactly it. The "fairy tale" is finding people like Maya and Abigail. That's the dream, right? To find your people. But the "reality" is that even when you find them, you still have to do the brutal work of believing you're worthy of their love. The external world is becoming safe(r) for Taylor, but their internal world is still a battlefield. That's the real transition. They are so, so close. But that last step - the one where you finally, truly accept yourself - is the highest mountain to climb. I know from experience. Thank you again for seeing all of this in the story. ❤️

Emory Ahlberg

Gemma, amazing comment. Taylor has spent their entire life as an observer, a ghost in their own story, using logic as a shield against a world that has been nothing but cruel. The whole point of their journey at MIT is learning a new language... the language of feeling, of connection, of self-worth. It's a messy, terrifying process, but it's the only way they can become a whole person. The validation they're starting to feel isn't just about gender. It's also about their right to simply exist and be loved for who they are. Okay, lowering the tone... haha I love this question, and I'm so happy to go there. The short answer is yes, absolutely. From a purely biological standpoint, the breast tissue Taylor developed is identical to that of a cis woman. All the nerve endings, the sensitivity, the potential for arousal - it's all there. But for Taylor, the experience is a complete rewiring of their brain. For years, any sensation in their chest has been coded as pain, shame, and trauma. Their neural pathways are literally built to interpret touch there as a threat. What Maya is starting to do reprogram those pathways. It's the first time sensation in that part of their body has been associated with desire and tenderness instead of violence and mockery. So yes, other parts of their body are absolutely reacting, because for the first time, they're experiencing that connection between their body and pleasure without the filter of shame. It's a whole new world opening up inside them. 💕

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much, Singular! I think that's the whole heart of this chapter. For Taylor, the trauma is the operating system they've been running on their whole life. Every decision, every bit of their personality, has been a defense mechanism against that pain. This is the first time they've ever let someone see the wound instead of just the scar tissue. The healing is just beginning, and of course it's not going to be a straight line. It's going to be messy and confusing, but it's a start. I'm so glad you're rooting for Taytay. They're going to need it! 💕

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much Omaga! "Phoenix" is the perfect word. And the ashes aren't just the mountain of lies but the entire survival system Taylor built in high school. The invisibility, the self-hatred, all of it. The person rising from that isn't the person who was buried underneath, it's someone entirely new, forged by this whole experience. And the Halloween costume... oh, I am SO excited for you to see what they've picked! 💕

Thomas Corbin

I like Maya, but I'm sad he's not with Alicia. I can't wait to find out about the costume. I hope he finds a way to make his Mom feel better. And tell his sister. I think this is your only story that's remotely happy.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Thomas! Yeah, I felt bad for Alicia, but hopefully they'll be great friends. If you'd like another happy story, check out "Anywhere but Boring!" 💕