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So here's the pitch: Sasha is a trans game dev who accidentally tells her friends she has a girlfriend in Montreal. She does not have a girlfriend in Montreal - even though that is what she has told her workmates. What she DOES have is a best friend named Ethan who she met in an MMO three years ago, who draws her custom memes, stays on Discord calls until 3am, and has eyelashes that make her feel things she is not supposed to feel.

Then her company books a trip to Montreal and her friends want to meet the girlfriend and everything goes exactly as well as you'd expect.

This is Part 1 of 2!

I had so much fun writing this one. Hope you enjoy it! 💛

Also, I made way too many images - but, yeah, I was having fun.

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Comments

Gemma

Nice change of pace and format. Interesting to see where this goes!

Maggie Heels

Aaaaand another masterpiece landed here... only two parts you say? I'll take them with gratitude ❣️❣️

Pet Jeffery

Cripes! I don't often see a short paragraph written in what seems to be normal English but with three nouns that I don't understand: game dev, MMO, and Discord. (I do know what discord means with a small d, but capital D Discord must, from the context, mean something different. The context tells me that all three must be nouns.) I imagine that they are young people's concepts, and I suppose that I'll discover what they are when I read the story. Perhaps that renders this story more intriguing than usual. (Actually, I don't understand what memes are, either. The word has been explained to me, but the concept is too slippery for me to grasp.)

Jade Diaz

You guys, I swear my Canadian girlfriend is absolutely real.

Maggie Heels

I'm too much of a nerd not to answer/clear up your doubts. So, let's take it one step at a time. “Game dev” is short for “game developer,” which simply means someone who creates computer games. MMO stands for “Massively Multiplayer Online,” referring to games in which a massive number of people participate at the same time. And finally, “Discord” is the name of a very popular instant messaging app among gamers, created specifically for gamers, which gained wider popularity during the pandemic. ❣️

Sam May

I feel like Ethan is definitely a trans girl who hasnt amidited it to herself yet. (Egg) Wonderful story as always.

Pet Jeffery

Thank you, Maggie. Since I've never played a computer game, that was all new to me. My guess was that 'game dev' might be a 'game devotee' (developer didn't occur to me). MMO, I really had no idea. For all I knew, it could have been the Metropolitan Museum of Origami (I am familiar with the abbreviation MMA for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York). If Discord is a messaging app for gamers, that makes it sound as though they strongly disagree with one another (and perhaps they do).

Jerome B

I had a Canadian girlfriend many years ago. Moved to Canada with her for a couple of years. This story is way more interesting and Elise is a beauty! Can't wait for part 2. 😊

Pet Jeffery

Well, I read the story while I was waiting for a supermarket to deliver my week's groceries this afternoon. There was a great deal that I didn't understand in this story, as I've never played a computer game, but that didn't matter at all. I really enjoyed it. Wonderful illustrations (as ever) and a compelling storyline. Brilliant! One sentence seemed almost as though it might be addressed to me. "Is that what being old feels like?" If the goddess is kind enough to preserve me for another three months and a week, I will be eighty, so I'm well qualified to answer the question. The answer is, "Yes, it kind of is, but that's not the whole of it." The world has become filled with stuff that means nothing to me. I sometimes latch on to a song, but there are pop stars who sell millions of... well, I'm not sure what they sell these days, probably not records, which is what I was going to write... of whose work I haven't heard a single note. But at least I'm not one of those sad people who are still fixated on the music of their teens and twenties. For me, that would be stuff from the 60s, and I heartily dislike most 60s music (too much testosterone). My favourite album is Halo Friendlies' 'Get Real', 2002. Anyway, yes, the world is full of music I don't know, and forms of entertainment that are alien to me (such as computer games). As to celebrities... Well, you learn their names when you're young, you turn around, scratch your bottom, and they're all different people. Then, you wonder why you bothered to try to remember their names. But I'm not likely to forget the name of Emory Ahlberg. I can remember things that are worth remembering.

Samantha Louise

Loved part one so excited for part two! I wonder what the heck Ethan/elise is thinking right now.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Samantha! ♥️ I’m really glad you enjoyed it - I loved writing it and making the art. Can’t wait for you to read Part 2!

ender8343

Why does it seem if your friend ask you as a favor to dress as the opposite gender, and your answer is not a really hard no, then there is a good chance you are at least not strongly cisgender

Annette

Ah, what a nice, heartwarming story! The give and take between Sasha and Ethan is like a force of gravity, drawing them together slowly at first, then accelerating to create a supernova (hopefully in part 2, stay tuned). He created Luminara for her, and then she created Elise from him. Both incomplete, insecure, and not fully realizing who they can be without the other. Thank you, Emory, I'll be standing at the edge of a cliff waiting for part 2 🥰

Firewalker

This is such a good setup!! I love them together already and am ready for all sorts of angst and messiness to come 💖

Kris Greg

So far this looks like a sweet story of friendship & personal discovery. Part 2 can be fun, heartbreaking, or both, but I'm looking forward to reading it!

Wes Adams

As a Canadaphile, I absolutely loved this story. Your writing and artwork are incredible as always. I am looking forward to part 2.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Wes! I'm glad the Montreal setting hit the spot for a fellow Canadaphile! 🍁 I loved Montreal when I visited. The food was incredible. And thanks so much for the love on the writing and art, it really means a lot. Part 2 is coming in hot!!! 🔥 (well, as hot as Canada can be haha)

Emory Ahlberg

Yeah, Kris, you nailed it! Both Sasha and "Elise" are so in over their heads lol. Can't wait for you to read it! ❤️

Emory Ahlberg

Firewalker, same!! Sasha is in so deep and she has NO idea how to navigate this situation without making it worse... or maybe better! We'll see! 💖

Emory Ahlberg

Annette, I love how you worded that! They really are just two clueless nerds orbiting each other right now. 🥺 Creating Elise was basically like opening Pandora's box for both of them. I'm so glad you're enjoying the ride! Don't jump off that cliff just yet, part 2 is almost here!! lol

Emory Ahlberg

Lmao Ender, you said the quiet part out loud!! 🤫 Like, Ethan baby... the math just isn't mathing for a totally cis guy here. He folded way too fast for some virtual game loot! We'll just have to see where "Elise" takes him! 🥚✨

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Pet! Honestly, I love that you were able to dive into the story even without knowing a thing about video games. The gaming stuff is really just a backdrop for the messy human stuff anyway. And yeah, I totally hear you on the aging thing! It’s wild how fast culture moves. You blink and suddenly everyone is obsessed with a completely new set of celebrities. Also, Halo Friendlies from 2002? What an amazing pull! Thank you so much for the incredibly kind words at the end there, you really know how to make a writer blush.

Emory Ahlberg

Ha! Jerome, I love that you actually lived the Canadian girlfriend life! Moving all the way up there for her is a serious power move. But yeah, Sasha’s situation is definitely a bit more complicated than yours! Elise really did turn out gorgeous, didn’t she? Ethan cleans up suspiciously well. I’m so glad you're hooked, and I can't wait for you to see Part 2! 💖

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks, Sam. I mean, the signs are definitely there, aren't they? The long hair, the ridiculously pretty female avatar he spends hours on, the fact that he was way too natural in that wrap dress... we see you, Ethan! 👀 Haha

Emory Ahlberg

LOL Jade, sure she is! We totally believe you! 😂

Emory Ahlberg

Maggie, you are way too sweet! Calling it a masterpiece is huge praise, so thank you so much! 💕

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks, Gemma! Just wait until you see what happens when Anya finally gets to meet "Elise" in person. 🍿

Annette

Thank you, Emory! Roger on not jumping off the cliff. Standing by for part 2. Over 🥰

Pet Jeffery

Yes, messy human stuff is what it's about. That doesn't change and it's important. The rest is just fluff. A while back, I read a Jane Austen novel. She repeatedly mentioned quizzes, for example, which (from the context) were clearly not what people mean by 'quizzes' today. I don't know what Jane Austen meant by the word, and I don't care. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the novel was about messy human stuff. Similarly, if people are reading your work in a couple of hundred years time, they will have no idea what all the game references mean, but the messy human stuff will remain relevant and important. Halo Friendlies' 'Get Real' album is a great example of a musical genre that I love. I don't know whether anyone else has even noticed that it is a genre. I think of it as oestrogen rock. Rock music is dominated by hormones. The rock music produced by such all-female bands as Halo Friendles, Tuuli, and Lillix draws on something extremely powerful and quite different from testosterone rock.