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The runway is behind us. The real competition has begun.

While Brooke, Josie, and Mike work in the shadows, the lights on stage have never been brighter - or more unforgiving. Xu's special events are underway, and as always, the cruelty is dressed up beautifully.

I'm happy with how this (somewhat long) episode turned out. There were a lot of moving pieces. And we are SO close to the end of Phase 9 now. Things are about to move very fast. I cannot wait to hear your reactions to what's coming. 💕

Thank you so much for your support on this epic comic!

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Comments

Jenny S

We're SO close! AAAAAAAAH!

Jessika

Well, I knew someone was going to doublecross the team...is it Morosini?! I have no doubt that Xu knew this was coming, and has a very elaborate plan to let this play out to the point that it exposes all of the flaws in his organization...basically a means to "clean house/drain the swamp"...test loyalties...test security...and finally prove to everyone, including Davis and the members, that no matter what he is always aware and in control. To have someone think they won, then pull that victory away at the very last minute is that last step to completely crush one's will to fightback....and Xu is the Art of War Master...the person playing 4D Chess...and now we start to see the pieces fall into place. But I do not think we'll ever see the full game come out yet....Xu always has more plans within plans. (...Star Wars/ Palpatine reference...here comes Order 66!...lol)

Jade Diaz

Omg the absolute humiliation of Jill as she is publicly displayed and her body narrated by Hatcher like she is a goddamn sculpture. Sick. You didn’t show us Papa Larsen but he must be ready to chew steel and kick ass.

Gemma

Such a sad episode. So sad to witness the emotional and psychological wearing down that Jill has experienced. Her holding onto hope, a hope that she has had to adjust and rework again and again as more and more has been taken from her. Willing to make whatever sacrifice, humiliation she has to endure to ensure well being of her family and those dependent on her. A true heroic gesture which highlights the personal growth she has undertaken from her transformation from Jack to Jill. Love the reference to and her ongoing awareness of Nikki and what she may be experiencing in her life. I’m now going to show my ignorance and need some guidance as I got a bit lost at the end of this episode in relation to appearance of last male character? Hopefully when next episode drops I will be able to join the dots.

Maggie Heels

OMFG... Holy... thankfully I was sitting alone at work this time... and Brooke ❣️❣️❣️Your talk makes me wet... and Jill... standing there... in front of his Dad... this... this is not "Dolcett" story ffs... this is "the test of total humility" or what? And about last pages... hmmm, my brain is not at full speed in the morning yet... not exactly sure what happened here...

ender8343

We appear to be going down the: meet the new boss same as the old boss. What more would we expect of the super rich to the point money's only meaning is power.

Kris Greg

CLIFFHANGER!!!! You've gotten so good at figuring out where to stop each installment so that we want more. It was nice seeing what Jill is thinking. We needed a reminder of what she's going through internally. I can't wait to see what comes next.

Ashleigh Christina

Well I guess the first competition round is a little better than I thought it would be. But it’s still so humiliating for Jill to stand there and have her father see her. But I suppose it’s better than watching his now daughter blowing a guy or having sex with one. Honestly thought that might be the first challenge. But the first few pages, in Jill’s mind… I know Jill wants to get back to being Jack, but she’s too far gone. I think Jill will be a woman for the rest of her life. But when she has that realization, which I think will be soon, she’ll realize that she’s taken on this motherly role for the other girls. Her dad did say she looked like her mom so it makes sense. Plus we’ve seen how she’s acted around the other girls. It feels like we’re getting close to the end of the story, and we still have so many things to happen. We still haven’t seen what Dr. Mason now looks like. As much as Connie is helping now, her actions don’t excuse what she did as Conner. I’m still hoping that Connie jumps the gender fence fully soon too! I kind of want Taylor to be made into a woman too. Maybe after the “storm” that’s coming, Taylor will admit that he doesn’t have a crush on Jill, but rather he wants to be a woman too. And Taylor will be Second Dawn’s first voluntary transition patient. As for Davis…. I don’t know.

Ellen Mellor

Another breathtaking episode with emotional whiplash as we were thrown from one extreme to another. Holly's heartfelt apology and Jill's introspection, questioning herself were beautiful. The intersection of the words and the pictures really made the two monologues hit home. Your mastery of dialogue and the way you give each character a distinct and recognisable voice is absolutely top-notch, up there with the best. The scene in the server room was hilarious. Undercutting and lampshading our expectations of a tense hacking scene with something that was more "I did it thirty-five minutes ago". (And now I want to go and reread Watchmen). And Morosini: curse you for you sudden but inevitable betrayal!

Ellen Mellor

I forgot to say - the detail on Jill's nude was amazing. The stretch marks and delicate veins on her breasts, the tan lines from her bikini bottom, the look on her face which is a mix of suspicion and "I am going to fuck you up so hard", even her belly button! She is completely believable. I can't imagine how long it takes to draw something with that level of detail. Your dedication to creating the best work you can, week in and week out is admirable. And potentially a little bit insane.

Ella Cherry

Tense and deep! Another fantastic chapter!

LikeGender

Spectacular work, I felt sorry for Jill's father seeing his son's sculpted body, looking at that tiny penis and those ample breasts, knowing it was all forced. But anyway, she's very beautiful, I'm envious of her body lol

Pet Jeffery

I've noticed that your stories land with me on the day after the one stated in the schedule. I assume that this is because you live a long way west. So, when it's the morning of the 9th in London, it's still the evening of the 8th in the Emoral City (where genders melt like lemon drops). It's been a bit of a busy day for me. I intend to read the episode tonight, after I switch off my computer. Meaningful comment will have to wait until tomorrow. (But that might be your today, which is a bit confusing.)

Tim

It appears Emory's schedule is based on the U.S. Pacific time zone (-7 hours difference from London/GMT).

Pet Jeffery

That would be consistent with Emory reporting directly from Second Dawn's island which, I think, is off the coast of the Pacific North West.

Tim

Oh my! I never imagined she might be held captive (or—shriek!😱—be employed) by Second Dawn... or that Emory Ahlberg could in fact be Jack/Jill Larson's pen name.

Jade Diaz

Can confirm Emory is a tiny bit insane. But in a good good way.

Pet Jeffery

Well, I've read the episode. I think that we already knew that the cyber attack on Second Dawn would not go smoothly. We've seen the red lit scenes, with shootings, as things go very wrong. In this episode, there's something agonising as we read Brooke's confident words because we already know that it won't go as she intends. The end of this episode starts to explain what, exactly, goes wrong. I was hoping that Davis would be killed. But, as I think about it more carefully, my hope is that there will be bullets for the Double Platinum billionaires. They are the ones truly responsible for the cruelty, because they bankroll it. I'm reminded of people who sit comfortably at home snorting cocaine. They're safe, but they're bankrolling the murders of the drug trade. Or the politicians who sit safe in their mansions giving the orders for war. For once, at Second Dawn, those responsible are on the scene. Let them eat leaden death.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Pet! There's something brutal about how the people who design the suffering are always the ones sitting safe in luxury boxes while their foot soldiers catch all the actual consequences. And poor Brooke! I guess you can't account for human ambition.

Emory Ahlberg

Living on the West Coast definitely causes some fun chronological dissonance for my international readers, hehe Oh and let's just say I'm very glad my estrogen comes from a standard pharmacy and not a gene-tailoring psychopath lol

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Pedro! I am also very envious of Jill's body!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Ella! Balancing the high-stakes action with the quiet character moments is my absolute favorite part of writing this phase!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Ellen! 🥰 I loved Brooke being completely unbothered in the server room. I made myself laugh. That was exactly the reset I needed after all that heavy stuff with Holly and Jill. And yes... I spend a kind of embarrassing amount of time fussing with bump maps and textures on these models lol

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Ashleigh! 💕Having Dr. Hatcher break down Jill's surgical history in front of John Larson hits hard, I hope. It strips away Jill's agency, reducing her to a medical marvel while her dad watches. And yeah, I'd say Jill accepting that she's a woman for good is a theme we've been working towards since the first phase. She's definitely embracing that protective side, and it's part of how she gets her power back from her captors.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you Kris! 💖 Yeah, I love ending on a moment of pure tension. Cutting away the moment Janelle realizes she handed control to a different kind of monster was, I hope, the perfect end to the episode. And I was very happy to get back to Jill's inner life. I needed to ground her emotions to make the stakes feel even more personal.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, ender! Morosini definitely seems to be playing some kind of game. Maybe we'll hear more about it next episode. 😉

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Maggie! 💖 Hatcher treating Jill like a prize mare while John Larson watches helplessly strips away all of Jill's remaining dignity - or at least it's trying. And I can definitely clear up the ending! The man in the Venice estate is Morosini. He bankrolled the infiltration plan saying he wanted to expose the trafficking ring.

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks, Gemma! I think Jill's ultimate victory is finding her maternal, protective core amid all this systemic horror. She stopped fighting just for her own survival and started taking on the weight of the others, like Nikki, Adele, and Ryan. That shift from Jack's self-isolation to Jill's fierce loyalty is my absolute favorite part of her character arc. And I can definitely join the dots on the ending for you. We haven't seen Janelle and the man since Phase 8. That man is Danté Morosini. He funded the rescue mission to get his hands on the encrypted server data... he said it was to expose Second Dawn. But now it seems as if he's essentially stealing Xu's entire empire out from under him and he never cared about saving the captives. But we shall see!

Emory Ahlberg

💕 Thank you, Jade. Yeah,I wanted Hatcher's presentation to feel exactly like a tech CEO unveiling a new smartphone. Her total lack of empathy is terrifying. I imagine John Larson is absolutely vibrating with murderous rage in that third-row seat!

Emory Ahlberg

Jessika, I love your Order 66 comparison. Xu is a master manipulator who thrives on anticipating his enemies, but maybe his fatal flaw has always been his massive ego. He treats human beings like predictable lines of code, completely underestimating the messy variables. It's possible that Morosini and Xu are two sides of the exact same coin, treating everyone else as disposable pawns in their personal vendettas. We'll learn more next episode! And I'm sooo excited to show you all how the fallout! 💕

Ellen Mellor

'Bump maps and textures' sounds so... euphemistic.

Kris Greg

I understand why you'd had to move away from Jill's inner thoughts for a while. There was so much going on that the other things had to progress. I'm glad that you realized & were able to come back to Jill's inner monologue.

Crewchick

The pressure is certainly building even higher than we ever expected. It won't be long before the lid blows off this pot straight up into the sky. And wow, the added stress on Jill with the final competition, the objectification and dehumanization must be unbearable. Standing on stage naked being presented and explained like a science experiment or some kind of new car at a car show. Ironic in a way since the whole point of the Venus Code and the Jack and Jill show was to make Jill and all the others it is used on seem more natural, and even their best human self. And then it all comes down to an auction for genetically altered cattle. All Xu's talk but in the end dollars and cents, dollars and cents. Can't wait to see Josie and Emily jump into action together and kick some Second Dawn butt. And I think we are all on the edge of our seats to find out how Holly got shot and if she lives or dies. Now Moroisini, that was a completely unexpected twist! I guess it should not be too much of a surprise he would deceive and lie to get something he wants. It is not like he got as rich and powerful as he is by being a choir boy. Still I think you may have a twist within a twist. His full intentions may have been too complex or controversial to have explained and gotten everyone on board. So, a simpler "truth" was presented. My speculation is that Morosini may be planning to take over Second Dawn to change and reorganize it and possibly eventually bring it out of the shadows. Possibly even he and Xu have had a conversation or two about this? Xu appeared to be having a change of heart in his conversations with Jill, wanting her to take the lead in a reorganized Second Dawn looking after the Toys. That may be Morosini's plan as well, and the hook that keeps Jill engaged and preventing her from going home just yet. Also, the catalyst for Jill to make that trip to Texas to check on Nicki. Who knows, maybe Xu is sick with a terminal cancer or something and sees his end coming and wants his work to survive and become a legacy for him. That can't happen in the shadows and dark web. Certainly not in the hands of someone like Davis. This literally, "hostile takeover", may be a way for Xu to clean house of elements like Davis and the Toy Program, and also eliminate some of the wealthy deviants funding the Toy Program, so Second Dawn can come out of the dark and into a "New Dawn". I assume Morosini must have some legitimate business operations, if only to launder the illegitimate ones. His plan may be to assume control of Second Dawn. Part of that plan may include a rescue program for the toys. That would likely be Jill's role. And maybe Emily and Josie join her in that mission? Perhaps even Dad takes on a role as a legal advisor and providing pro bono legal services for the toys in legal trouble and/or helping them establish legal female identities so they might eventually be able to reenter society. And the island might become a place to help them complete transitions, rebuild them emotionally and prepare them to reenter the real world. Also, a sanctuary for those too broken to be on their own. This seems like the kind of project Jill would feel called to and that her whole family might be able to support. I expect Morosini would then move the technology, surgical skill and Venus Code to a new operation under his control with no traceable ties to Second Dawn, and start a for-profit clinic offering up transition to those willingly seeking it for themselves. For the right price, of course. What would someone pay for a much faster and more complete and "real" transition that develops the mental and emotional along with the physical. And done in a place like the Tyrolean Italian Dolomites. And if that is a little to elitist for you. Maybe Morosini blackmails any Platinum Club members not killed on the island into funding a health grant program for those who meet the Venus Code requirements but can't afford the care at Morosini's clinic? And in that little village in the Italian Alps where the clinic is there is a sweet little café and bakery run by... you guessed it! And they are always all too happy to welcome these "new women" into the café and make them feel warm and safe as they make their first ventures out in public after their transition. A little too "Pollyannaish"? Maybe, but we all love happy endings. Right? Of course, we have already established Morosini's not a saint. Maybe without Jill's knowledge he has taken that tech and code and created an off the books "clinic" separate and apart from the Clinic in the Alps, and placed it on an isolated Greek Island where Morosini "deals" with some of his enemies? Could Davis and Hutchinson be "Patients #1 and #2"? Maybe just a little post credits teaser to plant the seeds for a sequel or spin-off at some future time if you ever choose to return to the Xuniverse.

Emory Ahlberg

Wow, Diana! I really really love how much thought you've put into the future of this universe. Turning Morosini into a benevolent provider of gender-affirming care is a beautiful dream. I certainly would've booked a flight to the Italian Alps in a heartbeat if a magic transition clinic existed when I first came out! I love your idea of a stinger featuring Holly and Angela. How sweet! And it's definitely tempting to imagine giving characters like Davis a taste of their own medicine! I think the reality of men like Morosini and Xu is that they're fundamentally creatures of ego and control. Xu’s philosophical musings about the Venus Code are just a sophisticated coping mechanism so he doesn't have to see himself as a slaver. And I deliberately wrote Hatcher's clinical stage presentation to strip away that exact illusion. Underneath the silk, they're just auctioning off human lives. But I promise the fallout from the Coming Out dinner brings plenty of massive consequences, but true redemption in this world demands a heavy toll.

Crewchick

Emory you certainly know far better than any of us as the writer. As a reader I think Jill pretty much accepted she would never fully be Jack again after her encounter with Nikki. I think it was a major transition for Jill on many levels. Stepping in to take Nikki’s place in the putative castration pretty much meant she would never be able to fully return to bd Jack, even if all the other procedures were reversible. Even in the heat of the moment that is not a decision to can make without some appreciation of the long term consequences. Even if Jill has never actually articulated that acceptance. It was also a powerful F/U and reclaimed agency moment for Jill. Almost all her life at Clinic 12 is decided and planned out by others. From long term transition goals set by Xu to daily harassment from Davis, Jill has had almost no control over her body or her fate. Jumping in to take Nikki’s place allowed Jill for once to decide the what, when and where of what happens next to her body. Not Davis, not Xu. Being able to claim any kind of agency in that environment is a win. Up until this point much of Jill’s story focused in Jill a what was happening to her and how she was responding an adapting. With the Nikki episode we see a transition from Jill focussed on herself and her situation to focussing on others. Jill is most herself when she is not actually thinking and focusing on herself. We see her father accepted her without even knowing the full or real story. I suspect Jill an Emily will have a tearful and heartfelt reunion. If her family can accept her as she is now, I don’t think Jill would have any other incentive for wanting to go back to being Jack. One sh an her family have time to breath and see all she has accomplished I think the will all agree, Kill may not be the person she ever planned or expected to be, but in Jill she has truly found her best self. Not saying life will ever be easy or that Jill won’t continue to wake up in tears well into th future missing being Jack or feeling victimized, violates and robbed by Second Dawn. And she was. But trauma is also often a crucible for us, burning off impurities and bringing out our purist elements. I don’t know what kind of difference trauma Jack could have undergone that would have produced in him all that Jill has become. Then there is the stoic view that we are the some of all our experiences, good and bad. Wishing away any part of our life would fundamentally change who we are in the present. Such wistful navel gazing is unproductive and unhealthy. First because undoing any past of our past is an impossibility. And second because it distracts us from the present and the future a from embracing the growth and change still ahead of us.

Crewchick

Emory, thanks for this response. I appreciate you humoring my Pollyannaish happy ending narrative and the further insights you shared about Xu and Morosini. I agree they are bad people, and you should know since you wrote them. But my comment on Part 36 had me giving this a little more thought and about the duality of man. Washington and Jefferson are revered as founding fathers and enlightened thinkers who created a system of democratic government that has endured for over 200 years and been the envy of most other nations for the better part of all those years. But they were also slavers, Free Masons, and part of a patriarchal system that relegated women to something slightly better than chattel. Was founding the United States just part of their "coping mechanism"? An over blown example I know, and over two hundred years makes them men of their times for which it is unfair to apply today's morals and values. Xu and Morosini people of our times so it is more than fair to judge them by our standards. But who exactly are they. I suspect one of the detours to the end of this story will be parts that provide Xu's full backstory and Morosini's backstory as well. Your comment that the "good" they see themselves doing is simply a coping mechanism I think is a little too narrow and simplistic. Because it suggests that they know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad as you and I understand them. But people like Xu and Morosini are not like you and I. At the very least they are sociopaths, if not even possibly full-blown psychopaths. They actually believe their own narrative, not because it makes them feel better about themselves, but because through their lens that is the truth. Look at Trumps maligning of Mueller. That is not an act. He actually believes what he is saying. At least at the moment he is saying it. That does not make what he believes right, but it is different from spin or coping mechanisms. Because they are coping just fine in the Universe their mind inhibits. For them, we are the one's not coping with reality as they see it. This can be dangerous because their belief in their universe is so strong, almost like a black hole, that it can cause us to question our own reality at times and risk getting sucked in. Then there is the whole duality of man thing. With but possibly a few exceptions like Hitler and Stalin, no one is pure evil or pure good. In my comment on Part 36 I asked how one reconciles Washington's and Jefferson's slave ownership with all they did to found this nation. Where is the breaking point that allows one person to be remembered as good and another as bad when the degree of difference is only shades of gray? I suspect even Hutchinson loves his own son, even if he way of showing it is more than warped. When I gave my spin on a Morosini ending that brought the Second Dawn technology into the legitimate business and medical space and opened a clinic in the Italian Alps, you said such a clinic real and giving out grants to those who could not afford their care, that you would have been on a plain to Italy in a heart beat. But what if those processes were the fruit of a real Second Dawn type clinic? What if that Venus code, that hormone pharmacology regime and the procedure involved were the fruit of innocent men who turned into against their will under great duress and excruciating pain? Would you still be so eager to avail yourself of the sterilized and consensual version being offered in Italy? The Nazi's did a great deal of medical research that the world uniformly rejected because of its association with the concentration camps. And yet despite the general rejects on moral grounds, some of the research and discoveries still found their way into mainstream medicine. Not overtly of course. And often when found out the justification offered was that the research was already done, it was verified and validated as correct, and that ignoring and rejecting it as if it never existed would be an insult to the suffering of the victims experimented on by refusing to allow anything good to come from it leaving their death nothing but abject futility. And the other, that it is a disservice to those suffering from conditions the research could address by making them wait and possibly die during that wait. Forcing independent scientists to come to the same findings without the immoral experimentation. If knowledge good or evil or is knowledge simply knowledge, even it if came through immoral means? If knowledge is neither good nor evil, then is it only how we use that knowledge that can be judged?

Emory Ahlberg

Amazing write-up! Thank you, Diana! Genuinely a great read. 💕