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To save her father's life, Jill must convince him that the greatest lie she’s ever told was the truth she always wanted.

Having Jill lie to her father using pieces of her real trauma may be the cruelest thing I've done to her. But that's the true horror of Second Dawn: not just what they take, but what they force you to become to survive it.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts! 💖

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Zoe Storm

lmao I love/hate how easy it is for Larsen to slip into lawyerbrain Excellent chapter as always, Em! Love this :)

Alyson Greaves

hell yes, fucking heartbreaking, excellent

Ellen Mellor

Yes. It's the biggest lie she's ever told. But the real question is: who is she lying to? Her father? Telling him what he needs to hear to keep him alive? Or herself? Unaware that she's telling the truth because that truth has been so wrapped in the truth of the island that she can't see it for what it is. It would explain why she has managed to adapt so well to her new life. She was an egg that wasn't ready to crack and, while she has adapted, she hasn't accepted that part of it. The yolk is still in the shell. I think we need another Second Dawn/Dorley Hall crossover where Stef talks some sense into Jill. Of course, I may also be talking absolute bollocks (heh) here but I'd be surprised if you were being that straight forward. It would be unlike you. This may have been the best art you have done so far. Jill's expressions conveyed her emotions perfectly and I felt it in my heart. And now, at long last, we come to the Contest. The tension has reached a crescendo and it doesn't seem like it can go any higher. We know it all comes crashing down. I feel like we're about to find out how. I can't wait.

Tiki D

I like this chapter because it explains what happen her to her father based on he treated Jack/Jill due to not knowing how to be a parent to them and Emily during their childhood. Jill knows she has to lie to him to survive due to various situations with Emily, Connor, Adale, and Ryan. This chapter gave more inspiration for more alternate universe stories. I am working on a surprise for you, too.

Jade Diaz

Everything Jill confessed to her dad was a lie except that Jack felt like a total failson.

Ellen Mellor

Yes. Probably. But it was also a very well constructed lie which rather begs the question of where she got that narrative. It's not as if she's had an opportunity to talk to un-coerced, un-tortured trans women.

Jade Diaz

As a fake backstory it’s so believable. It’s so relatable to so many of us. The failson who is every day living a lie about who and what he is and wants to become. Jill using the last words her dad said as the coup de grace that makes it so poignantly clear why Jack could never come to him with this (fake) news about being trans. But it’s all a giant pile of bullshit laid on extra thick because Jill’s dad can already see the cracks in this ridiculous cover story. Let me spend a moment gushing over the renders of Jacks mom. I don’t remember seeing her before. They’re so beautiful and wonderful. What an incredible piece of this family story you’re putting together before all the dominos start to fall.

Emily

Perfectly laid out story and how can Jill be so confident she will win? So she lied to her father, I wonder if he believed all of it because as he said, she is a bad liar. Or maybe she wasn’t lying as much as she believes.

Emory Ahlberg

Bashir: So of the stories you told me, which ones were true? Garak: My dear doctor, all of them were true. Bashir: What about the lies? Garak: Especially the lies.

Ellen Mellor

Nerd! (But also, yes! THIS!) (And also, ONE OF US!)

Jade Diaz

Emory didn’t show us when Jill has been hanging out in the most sickos part of trans feminine discords for the past two years.

Ellen Mellor

I'm sure I'd have remembered seeing her there...

Thomas Tolliver

Wow, that was difficult to read, and I definitely like darker material, mental TFs and such. But having to lie and make up all that to protect her father. Just wow. Very good though!

Tim

There's a photo of Jack, Emily and their mom on John Larson's phone, Jade (Phase 9, Part 20). You can really see the family resemblance among the three.

SingularCurve

One step closer. Daddy sure is wrapped up in being a lawyer. And Jill, she has got her work cut out for her now.

Jade Diaz

Yes Emory reminded me of that lol

Kirsten Roberts

Another incredible episode. I love the decision you made her make

Emory Ahlberg

I should RP Jill on Dorleycord just to mess with people lol

Michael Merenstein

It is hard to watch Jill/Jack lie successfully lie to her father even if it is to save him. The shrewd old bastard will figure it out and keep his cards close to his chest. Too much truth will come out at the pageant.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Michael. Lying to an excellent lawyer seems destined to fail. Soledad is in for the fourth degree, I think!

Gemma

Great and very express images as usual. What I am really blown away by is the authenticity of each of the characters you create. Jill’s dad responses to finding his long lost child are so very real. His inquisitiveness is aligned so beautifully with his character (profession). Seeing him waltzing between being both Jill’s dad but also revealing aspects of his background as a lawyer. It was also so nice to see Jill’s dad’s reflective remorse around how he was as a father after Jill’s mums death. I love witnessing personal growth and this episode is steeped in displays of it! My heart went out to Jill in this episode. Needing yo betray herself and her lived truth in order to protect those she loves. The back story of her gender dysphoria is so strong, how well she has captured tge different themes and experiences that many of us can relate. Also, Jill is such a great example of ‘post traumatic growth.’ How much has she grown from the more self absorbed, self pitying and psychologically damaged person she was as Jack. Can’t wait for the next episode and when Jill sees Emily. This certainly is going to put ‘the cat amongst the pigeons.’

Alex From the Tri-Cities

My muse, you made me cry tears 😭 of both sadness and joy seeing Jill doing what needs to be done to protect her father. As I was reading this, my sadness turned to joy. Very few creators can bring that out of me. I was also reading Jade's comments AND couldn't help myself but think of...our private messages back and forth...my very own fictional characters which you graciously allowed me to place my inside your magnificent Xuniverse and finally the concepts of Taqqiya and Ketman... omitting and dissimulating to defend ourselves, survive and protect those we love so much.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Zoe! 💕I've known a few lawyers. and this seems to be a common affliction lol

Emory Ahlberg

💔 Thank you, Alyson! Poor Jill really meant it when she said she got better at lying. But did Dad buy it all? Soledad might have some questions to answer on the long walk to the event...

Emory Ahlberg

I wanted to write more about this great comment, Ellen! The lie she tells her father has to be convincing, and the only way it can be is if a part of her believes it's true. Her adaptation isn't just about survival but also about her finding genuine pieces of herself in the wreckage - strength, empathy, a kind of femininity that feels more authentic than the machismo she was performing as Jack. She's not lying about who she is now, she's lying about *how she got here.* And that's a truth so tangled, I think it's really difficult to separate the threads herself anymore. And oh my god, a Stef/Jill crossover would be incredible. Stef would take one look at Clinic 12 and burn it to the ground by lunchtime. She'd have zero patience for Xu's philosophical bullshit. And thank you so much for mentioning the expressions! In a "quiet" episode like this, they have to do a lot of heavy lifting, so I spend a lot of time on them. Her face in that scene had to be a battlefield of truth and lies. And you're right, the crescendo is just the beginning of the noise. The crash is coming. 😈

Emory Ahlberg

Tiki, thank you. It was important to show that John wasn't just a monster. He's a man who completely failed his kids after his wife died, hiding his grief behind anger and expectations. So, in a way, he has his own new path: Not just about accepting Jill, it's about him finally learning to be a father again.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Jade! That lie had to feel like simple a truth, but it's wrapped up in this crazy situation. That "coup de grace" with her dad's last words is one of the most honest part of the whole fabrication. It's the real reason Jack could never go home, weaponized to sell a fiction. And you're so right, her dad's a lawyer. He's already spotting the holes in the case. I'm so glad you loved seeing her mom. I loved showing her again! Emily takes after her more than Jill (who looks more like her father). She's the ghost that haunts their entire family - but maybe they're all about to start really healing!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Emily! Yeah, those are the two biggest questions hanging over her right now... And I think her 'confidence' about winning isn't arrogance so much as desperation. She MUST win. There is no other option in her mind. Ryan and Adele's freedom depends on it, so failure is simply not a possibility she can allow herself to entertain. And that lie... oh, that lie. The most convincing ones are always the ones with a dash (or more) of truth. 💕

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Thomas! Yeah, I think this was one of the most painful parts of her unwilling transition. She had to weaponize her own trauma to save him.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you Singular! And yeah Dad really is! Seems like that lawyer persona is the armor he built around his grief. Jill's job was to somehow get past that armor without letting him see the real war she's fighting. Think she pulled it off?

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Kristen! 💕 I kind of think of this as the moment she stops being a pawn and starts playing the game on her own terms, even if it means sacrificing a piece of herself. What do you think is the real reason Xu brought her dad to the island?

AB

Xu believes Jill needs a mom, not a dad, so that's why her dad is on the island.

SingularCurve

I think she gave it the good ole college try, but daddy is a "suspicious bastard" for lack of a better term. Got to love those land sharks!!

Nolwenn (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-14 23:00 Finally the big Cérémonie will start soon🎆🎇🎉🎊🎉🎇🎆
2025-10-29 18:05

Kris Greg

I FINALLY had a free moment to read this! I like that Jill got to speak to her dad. Will we soon see the beginning of the contest at last? I'm excited to see it!

Robertlouis

Hmmm. We’re poised, seemingly, on the precipice of the coming out/auction. What we don’t know is whether Xu’s shooting and the ensuing mayhem occurred before, during, or after, the party. So that’s another ace up Emory’s sleeve… As for this chapter, it’s another masterpiece in emotional manipulation both by Emory and by Jill. The art is incredible, to the extent that Jill’s expressions suggest that she believes implicitly what she’s saying, and that she’s revealing her own truth to herself at the very same time as she’s trying to deceive her dad. It’s a headfuck in many ways, but you pull it off brilliantly, Emory, especially as the realisation gradually dawns on Jill that what she’s saying is in fact her reality. Don’t you dare end Part 9 on a cliffhanger, I just couldn’t bear it! We need at the very least a temporary closure or a clear caesura after such a maelstrom of events.

Emory Ahlberg

Gemma, thank you. You're so right about her dad. That lawyer persona is his armor. It's how he survived losing his wife, and it's his first line of defense against this impossible new reality. That lie she tells is the most brutal part of her 'post-traumatic growth.' To save him, she has to claim her own violation as a choice. But she was willing to do that for him.

Emory Ahlberg

Uh oh! That does seem like the kind of thing Xu would do!

Emory Ahlberg

So glad you enjoyed the episode, Kris! 💕 I loved writing their conversation, even though poor Jill had to 'own' her trauma as a choice instead of something imposed on her. And yep! We're at the contest finally!

Emory Ahlberg

Robert, thank you for this. Her face had to be the whole story in that scene. You're so right, her expressions had to sell it, not just to him, but to herself. That's the ultimate headfuck of her situation. The story she's telling is a complete fabrication, but the emotions she's using to sell it are 100% real. The pain of not being seen, the fear of rejection - that's all Jack's truth. She's just repurposing it, using the raw material of her actual trauma to build a shield. And as for the ending of Phase 9... ha! I hear you. I promise the end of this phase will feel like a real turning point. A deep breath before the final plunge.