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We're here! It's almost 90 pages... basically a quadruple episode. The biggest single release I've ever done for Jack & Jill, and yet it really doesn't feel like enough pages for everything these characters deserve.

When I started writing Jack & Jill back in 2016, I was still going along with the story I'd told myself since I was a kid - that I was just a regular "boy" with a particular interest in gender-bender stories. But that didn't last very long once I actually started writing them.

I don't care how cheesy it sounds - these characters changed me. Or, I suppose, they helped me find what was already there. Either way, Jill's journey and mine have been intertwined in ways I never expected when I wrote that first page. These characters really do mean more to me than I can put into words.

This is not the end. Phase 10 is still to come - and it'll be the final phase. But reaching this point... I think part of me never really believed I'd get here. That I'd actually tell this much of the story, that people would actually care, that any of this would matter to anyone besides me.

But it does, because you're here - and I'm really glad you are.

I hope you love it. 💕

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Comments

Jenny S

One of my favorite things in stories is the battle of philosophies, when the hero and the villain lay out how they see the world and try to counter each other's ideologies. Xu is a proper bastard, but a consistent one, and the implied confirmations of his backstory here finalize him as a monster created from tragedy. He sees tragedy as transformation, tragedy as progress. After all, how else could a poor young woman become one of the richest and most secretly powerful men in the world if not for the tragedy he endured. It's just math. And here comes Jill screaming "People aren't math!" You can't solve a person like they're an equation, you can't understand them on an algorithmic level. Holly proves this, her resistance unexpected. The Second Dawn staff hacking down the door to get medical supplies proves this, because even for them, the people matter more than the mission. And Jill herself proves it by reclaiming her choice. Because Jill *has* become a woman, and Jill *wants* the De Novo implant, wants to become a mother, but not on Xu's terms. Her accepting the surgery in exchange for Holly's life is not a victory for Xu, but a victory for herself. I've been in much the same place you have, Emory. That "boy" reading Fictionmania and Ranma 1/2 and thinking "what if that happened to me?" And it was up to us to wrangle with that and explore that and come to a conclusion about ourselves. We either accept what the world says we are, or we take control of who we are. If I may be so bold, this is the moment Jill takes full control of who she is. This is the moment that this goes from being a forcefem story to a trans story. I love it, Emory. Thank you all of this. <3

Tim

Quite the cliffhanger! So Phase 10 begins next month?

Jade Diaz

Incredibly perceptive take on this finale! I agree with you completely

Jade Diaz

I love how Jill just cuts through Xu’s egomaniacal bullshit like a hot knife through butter. A man who keeps kidnapping and mutilating over and over in pursuit of some kind of abstract concept of what a woman is, all fed from some kind of mutilation in his own past is monstrous and evil. A man who was so meticulous and shrewd ultimately undone by his own misunderstanding of a humanity that lies deep down inside of people no matter how you cut them or beat them or grind them. To think back to those early days of this story, with Xu’s written updates to Platinum Star members to the Jill show to this finale, hitting all of the right emotional beats, some of them you may have envisioned from the very beginning of this narrative, well. It’s an incredible feat to stick the landing. But here we are. You’ve taken us all on a long and complicated journey, through the whole spectrum of emotions, and I’m glad I got to ride along.

Alyson Greaves

yeah that was absolutely fucking amazing

Gemma

Wow Emory! I will have to wait until later to devote allow enough time to fully engross myself in this mammoth episode to do justice to you in my feedback.

Keefe McGrath

Well dam! Excellent storytelling

Crewchick

OMFG!!! That was just amazing. To mix my metaphors, you stuck the landing, and it was pitch perfect throughout. I literally read it on the edge of my seat from page 1 to 90! 9-0 pages!!! Insane! And yet it read so well and so smooth, I could have read 90 more and still been left wanting more. AND I DO!!!! I don't know how long a hiatus you are planning before starting Phase 10, but I hope it won't be too long. However, after writing this episode alone you probably need at least a month or two to relax, decompress and give your creative muscle time to refresh and grow after a strenuous workout. I am just glad we will have Half Sisters to keep us in the Xuniverse. Not going to give any spoilers yet, so I will just say I did not know if you were actually going to take the story where you did by the end of the episode. We were teased probably about 20 episodes back that Jill would make a crossover visit in Half Sisters. I was excited about that visit and how Jill's presence in Texas might influence Nikki, and what impact it might have on Hutchinson and moving the story along. But with the way things are headed at the end of Episode 41, it would have a whole other layer in a visit from Jill with Nikki. I can't even begin to imagine the impact a visit from Jill might have on Nikki now.

Zoe Storm

Fuck yes I love this

Maggie Heels

THANK GOD I AM ALONE IN THE ROOM AT WORK RIGHT NOW............ so many tears................ Phase 11 part 1 (1k+ pages heavy epilogue... because why not? hehehe) Jill kneeling over a toilet: "why i ate so much fuuuuck.... and why those cramps are squeezing my whole stomach and not only this stupid new organ!!!..." Emily looking at her sister: "I still don't fuckin believe it... I see it with my own eyes... in real-time that my ex-brother now sister is wondering what team to join... team pads or team tampax... THIS IS SOOO SURREAL"

Ellen Mellor

Congratulations. You have pulled it off. I always knew you would but to have done it so well (even if the final episode was five times longer than you had originally planned) is masterful. Xu is revealed as the fraud we always knew he was, being totally exposed by Jill cutting through his crap and exposing him for the cowardly, scared, broken individual he has always been, blaming everyone else for the choices he made. He was right about one thing. Who Jill had become. And that was more by good luck than good judgment. She became the powerful, strong woman capable of standing before him and telling him to fuck off despite him, not because of him. I loved the quick shots of all the other participants around the island, while Jill was explaining reality to Xu. It really brought the whole thing together. And I can't help thinking that Davis is probably the most turned on he has ever been bound up in those furry cuffs. (Please, some bring me some brain bleach.) The final image of Holly and Jill holding hands is the most powerful one of the whole story and underlines what the whole thing has been about. Scared, mutilate men becoming strong, powerful women through the care, love and sisterhood of the other women around them. It was perfect. Here's to phase 10. I can't wait to find out what Jill calls her baby.

Pet Jeffery

Wow! I've just finished reading it. It's wonderful, but, right now, I'm too much of an emotional wreck, my eyes too full of tears, to comment properly.

Kris Greg

WORTH THE WAIT Now we have to wait until the next season. You're my favorite author of TG fiction. Thanks for producing stories that keep me hooked. I'm about to have a long, dull day of work training, but reading this has me in a good mood.

Reyana

This was a fantastic way to end this phase! One thing I noticed is page 74 might need an update as I only see 1 hand and one long joined arm.

Gemma

Amazing, the dialogue, the images, the drama and suspense. Mr Xu, as diabolical as he has been certainly can present in a very skewed way his logical and rationale to justify his actions. It was great to see Jill go head to head with Mr Xu and peel away many of the falsehood superficialities assumptions and beliefs that his twisted philosophical are based. Such clever writing within this episode. You so beautifully and patiently build and created such a depth of understanding of all the characters. We get to witness and understand their psychological motives and perspectives and this makes them all so believable and this story so real. Thankyou Emory. However even after such a mammoth episode you still leave us up in the air and desperately searching fruitlessly for ‘just a couple of more frames.’

Jenny S

I'll go on record and say I'd love a series exploring how a former man deals with periods and pregnancy, be it Jill or some other recipient of a De Novo implant. There's an interesting story there for sure, plus plenty of fun comedic moments like Maggie's here :)

Jessika

Nice to see it play out as hoped! (wink)

M Fielding

Emory - this was wonderful. I think one of the things that has grown as you've worked on this story is the incredibly rich and truthful emotional payoff here. Jill's choice is so very much hers and true to who she's become, and one of those things is the ability to see the people around her as they really are and still appeal to the good in them, even Xu. Only a person with a true perception of themselves is capable of that, and Jill has, incredibly, achieved that. So have you (not so incredible given the wonderful work you've done the past few years). Thank you for sharing the journey. Oh, and P.S. No kidding about Xu's comment. She'd make a hell of a lawyer, bargaining as well as that....

Alex Cioranic-Alex From the Tri-Cities

Muse Emory, every single panel was worth waiting for. I wanted to apologize deeply if I made it sound like you made Holly expendable and this made me feel like I was there in every panel watching the action. I can't believe I saw Holly talk and move this really made me cry. Also Jill's take on morality-truly humane, humanist and permit me to say...angelic in every sense of the word. Xu's take on morality, on the other hand...my dearest muse...so stomach-churning and nauseating, a disgusting mixture of Andrey Vyshinsky, Roland Friesler and transhumanist comment section at 2:34 AM. You truly are unmatched in writing characters spanning form the altruistic and angelic to the loathsome and nauseating. Also I have re-read SEVERAL TIMES Phase 8, Part 14, 15 and 16 right after you posted it the conversation between Xu and Cestmir Kaschak and...THE COIN FINALLY DROPPED...the little girl in the black and white photograph IS Xu. I never imagined he would ADMIT IT...I have waited 3 and a-half years for this. Panel 17- Get royally bent, DAVIS!!!! You're a moral disease upon mankind. So happy beyond words seeing a monster chained at long last. Panel 74-SHUT UP, HATCHER!!! I don't know what's been done to you to make you...THIS...but as of right now I officially don't care. Don't you botch up this surgery Hatcher!!! HATCHER!!!! HHHHHHAAAATTTTTTCCCCCHHHHHHEEEEEERRRRR!!!!! Panels 82-87 Tears of happiness in my eyes muse Emory. Sweet Holly, please hold on. So many love you, care about you, still depend on you. Panel 39- Nobody asked you to psychoanalyze Dante Morosini's morality, Xu. You're in no position to lecture anyone about morality...none of this would've happened if you hadn't killed Thomas Monroe. EVERYBODY-Muse Alyson, muse Zoe, muse Jade, muse Emory, Jeffrey -tell me please in the replies if I got anything wrong.

SynGirl

Echoes of Eve goes into it some, but I agree I'd love more!

AB

Wow, well worth the wait, I just kept turning pages hoping it wouldn't be the last.

Thomas Tolliver

10 phases in 10 years, huh? Proud of you.

Brandi

Idk why but the scene with Jill and Holly before their operation is so beautiful to me

Emory Ahlberg

I’m really glad, Brandy! It made me cry. 💕

Emory Ahlberg

For me, it’s because of the raw vulnerability - especially for Holly.

Brandi

And like the 2 of them have been through so much together

Jade Diaz

Alex what does “angelic in every sense of the word” mean? Biblically accurate angels with six wings as in the book of Isiah? What is a transhumanist comment? Who are these people you’re referring to? No one knows.

Tim

I re-read the episode a couple more times today... and I keep coming back to panel 61. I can only imagine that we will see this image again, but with the sonogram screen showing much more than a void the next time. "...what if?" But knowing you, that question has already been answered in my mind—the only one that remains is who will the father be? And the only answer I have at this point is Jack, using the specimen Holly "extracted" from Jill right before her orchie... would that be considered incestuous? We'll have to wait until Phase 10 to find that out. But there's so much more we have to wait for before finding out. Obviously, the last image—the fates that await Jill and Holly—looms largest. I'm optimistic that both will pull through because they both deserve to. If anyone was unsure about Holly's fate, Jill's argument with Xu should convince them that Holly should survive. But even if she doesn't, the last image shatters Xu's opinion that "a woman like that dies exactly as she lived. Alone." If Holly dies, she definitely won't die alone. There's so much else left to sort out. Xu could survive or not—I don't think it really matters anymore. We may or may not find out his/her history, but that now seems like a marginally relevant anecdote. Xu's preeminence as a villainous character has passed, but the future of his "legacy"—the De Novo Project, not Second Dawn—should likely be the primary focus of Phase 10's story. When you think about it, the good the De Novo Project potentially brings to the world justifies the evil that drove much of Clinic 12's operations. I guess I really don't care if Morosini takes over Second Dawn's operations... perhaps there will be a battle between him and Davis for control over what remains when the smoke clears. But some evil entity should replace Xu and his organization because... well there will always be a need for an organization like Second Dawn that abducts and feminizes unwilling young men to become beautiful young women. That's just a hard, fast rule in the world you have created. But the De Novo Project?... that's just so important far beyond the Xu-niverse. I see that at the heart of Phase 10's story, with Jill being far more than merely a spokesmodel—the "proof" of concept. I see Jill becoming something of a CEO and ambassador for good reaching far beyond an island in the Pacific Northwest or the beaches of California. Jill's importance to the world is about to become revolutionary. And I know the wait before any of that happens will be a long one. Phase 9 has 1,219 panels (almost 40% of the story) published over 2-1/4 years, and I can only imagine that Phase 10 will rival those numbers, but first, a well-deserved break from J&J. This finale is momentous, but there is still so much more story yet to be told... in due time.

Robertlouis

I haven’t started reading the chapter yet, Emory, but I found your preamble really moving. In a way I’m not surprised, because Jack and Jill has been a life changing experience for us readers - I’ve certainly never read anything quite as profound or written with so much care, love, tenderness and understanding towards its central characters as you’ve poured into this opus. It’s a magnificent literary and artistic achievement apart from anything else, but it’s that extraordinary care that truly marks it out. Thank you a hundredfold. ❤️

Crystal Peaches

Where do I begin with this!? Superlative drama and action with characters that we have grown to know and love and a message that speaks to ( allegorically) who we are and what we have experienced. I’m not crying you are!! ❤️

Ella Cherry

That's a fantastic story, and it gets even better when one reads your “cheese report”. It makes the story feel even closer. A great closure for the season that gave us answers, satisfied us. But it also left many doors that I am already eager to see opened and revealed to us! Thanks, Emory, for the story and for putting yourself into it so passionately! ❤️

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Jenny! Yeah, Xu's entire worldview is math. Inputs, outputs, percentages, algorithms. While Jill's whole existence is a refusal to be reduced to a number... and in this moment, she never beats him by out-arguing him. She beats him by being unpredictable. So does everyone else: Holly holding that knife. The coven choosing people over protocol during a goddamn military invasion. None of that computes. None of that is math. And, yeah, I spent a lot of nights with Fictionmania, too. I'd read them and tell myself it was just curiosity, just fiction, just a weird phase. And then the phase never ended. But I think that's why Jill's arc means so much to me -she got handed a body and a life she never chose, and then she reaches inside all of that wreckage and pulls out something real. "This is the moment it goes from being a forcefem story to a trans story." This gave me a huge smile. Thank you. The surgery isn't Xu's victory. It's not surrender, it's not Stockholm syndrome, it's not the algorithm working as designed. It's Jill standing in a room full of people who think they made her and saying, "No. I made me. And now I'm going to decide what comes next." Thank you again Jenny! 💕

Emory Ahlberg

Jade, thank you!!! 💖 Yeah, Xu isn't a cartoon villain. He's a person who experienced something devastating, drew the wrong conclusion, and then built a billion-dollar empire on that wrong conclusion. He believes tragedy is the forge that makes people better. And the horrifying part is that he's not even completely wrong - Jill DID become someone extraordinary through suffering. He just can't see that it happened despite him, not because of him. That blind spot is the crack in his whole philosophy, and Jill just keeps wedging herself into it. And you're right that his undoing isn't some clever plot twist or a bigger gun. It's just... people being people in ways he can't predict. Also thank you for riding along! It wouldn't have been the same journey without amazing friends like you in the car. 💕

Emory Ahlberg

LOL 💖 Once my brain boots back up, I'll let you know!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank youuu! I almost can't believe it's done. It's actually out!!! And my dopamine has totally crashed. I honestly wasn't sure that I could pull it off, or if I was crazy to even try with all the plot and characters and locations... But, yeah, I'm pretty darn proud of how it turned out. 💖

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Maggie! I'm so glad you had the room to yourself for the tears. And I'm so glad the tears turned into THAT mental image. That's the whole spectrum right there lol

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Ellen! 💕 God, yes, the finale was 2x longer than planned. I kept telling myself "okay, wrap it up" and then I realized I needed another emotional beat or reaction shot. At a certain point I just surrendered to the story's appetite. It wanted to be big. Who am I to argue with my own fictional hellscape? The Xu thing - "blaming everyone else for the choices he made" is such a clean way to put it. He built this entire philosophical framework around transformation and human potential, and at the end of the day it's just a very elaborate excuse note written by a wounded person who refused to heal. Jill sees right through it because she did the thing he couldn't - she took the worst thing that ever happened to her and actually grew from it, instead of just inflicting it on others and calling that growth. Holly and Jill holding hands across the operating tables was the image I couldn't get out of my mind, and I knew early on that was the final image for the season. Also, the moment Holly's last mask finally falls away, and she just says "I'm really scared" with tears in her eyes... It made ME tear up just thinking about it. Because, yeah, that's probably the most honest she's been in eight years. No wit, deflection, or performance - just a terrified woman reaching for someone she loves. 😟

Emory Ahlberg

Ha! Take your time, Gemma! It's not going anywhere. Grab a snack, a blanket, maybe clear your afternoon lol 💕

Emory Ahlberg

Keefe, thank you!! Glad it was a hit for you! 💖

Emory Ahlberg

LOL, Zoe that energy is EXACTLY how I felt writing the finale at 11pm over the span of a week.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Kris! Comments like yours are what get ME through the dull work days too. 💖

Ellen Mellor

I think I fell in love with Holly even more than before at this moment. I'm not sure I could be any more in love with Jill though.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you very much, Gemma! Building characters this slowly is a gamble every time because you're betting that readers will stick around long enough for the payoff - that they'll trust the quiet moments to matter as much as the explosions. So when you say the depth feels earned and the people feel real... That's really very rewarding to me. Honestly, the quiet moments are my favorite. The image that was most striking for me from this episode (the one I couldn't get out of my head) was the close up of Holly saying "I'm really scared" on that operating table. No wit. No mask. No clever deflection. Just three true words from a woman who spent eight years performing confidence she never felt. Of pretending everything was okay and nothing bothered or scared her anymore. Not to (again) be cheesy but sometimes the truest thing a character can do is just... stop being clever.

Emory Ahlberg

Pet, take all the time you need. The fact that you're a wreck means the story did its job, I hope!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Thomas! 💕 ten phases, ten years, and whatever was left of my sleep schedule. Worth every minute. Thank YOU for being here for the ride.

Emory Ahlberg

Wow. That's the feeling I'm hoping to make every time I sit down to write. Thank you! 💖

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, M! I love this: "Only a person with a true perception of themselves is capable of that." Because, yeah, Jill isn't kind because she's naive. She's kind because she sees people with clarity and chooses compassion anyway. It'd be easier to write her as someone who fights back through anger or cunning, but the thing that makes Jill dangerous to Xu's entire worldview is that she looks at broken people like Holly, Ryan, Adele, even Xu himself - and just will not reduce them to what they've done or what's been done to them. Thank you for mentioning the emotional payoff because there were quite a few moments in the finale that made me cry while writing them. Holly's "I'm really scared" was the big one... Like, I know that I created her, but somewhere around Phase 6 she stopped feeling like mine. She became this person who existed independent of my plans for her, and when she dropped that last mask on the operating table I felt like I was witnessing something rather than writing it. I know that sounds pretentious as hell but it's the honest truth. Eight years of performance and wit and armor, and it all falls away in three words. She just had nothing left to hide behind, and what was underneath isn't emptiness like Xu believed - it's just a frightened woman who wants to live.

Pet Jeffery

Yes, the story did its job. Having now taken a little time to reflect, one of the things that really impresses me is your use of facial expressions to convey nuance. In the closing scene of the episode, Emily's and Jill's faces tell us so much.

Emory Ahlberg

Reyana, good catch on page 74! You're right, I was so tired that my I messed up the posing and somehow missed it while I was finalizing. It has been fixed! And thank you very much!!! 💖

Emory Ahlberg

THAT ENERGY!! 💖 Hope you liked it, Ashleigh!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Diana! 90 pages. I KNOW. I kept telling myself "this is insane, you are insane!" and then I'd write another scene and think "but they NEED this moment" and suddenly it's 2am and I've added twelve more pages. So the fact that you read it on the edge of your seat and wanted 90 more feels really good. The hiatus question... I'm not putting a date on anything because I've learned that lesson the hard way. But the tank isn't empty. Luckily, I already know the shape of Phase 10 - which will be the official end of the J&J story. And the Half Sisters crossover, YEP! Everything that happened in Part 41 changes the context of a Jill visit to Texas. Twenty episodes ago, it would've been one kind of conversation between Jill and Nikki. Hm! Although I doubt very much that Nikki will be signing up for Jill's surgery anytime soon!

Ashleigh Christina

I love it! A while back I said it would be cool if Second Dawn was able to some sort of female reproduction system transplant. And here we are! With Jill being the one! Please please please! I think all of us need sweet Jill to make it off the island safely with her new womb. Jill has been such an incredible motherly figure to all the girls on the island. She would make an incredible mother to a baby that gets to grow inside her. Like others have said I wonder who the father will be. And curious, what happened to Dr. Mason lol

Jenny S

Hey Nolwenn? Don't ever speak to me again.

Emory Ahlberg

This community does not debate whether trans women are women. Nolwenn is no longer a member.

Kirsten Roberts

This is the greatest phase of the best thing in tve genre that’s ever been written. I cannot wait for Phase 10

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Ashleigh! 💕I agree she'd make an amazing mother, if that's what she wants for her future - and if she's able to have that chance! 😊 As far as we know, Mason is still in PL-0 after receiving his first HRT shot. The question is... is he safe? Or would Morosini consider him as one of Second Dawn's "people" since he helped for so long? We'll find out more in Phase 10!

Emory Ahlberg

LOL - Thank you, Ella! "Cheese report" is what I'm calling all my personal afterwords from now on, thank you for that gift. And yes, doors were left open on purpose. Some of them I know what's behind. Some of them I don't yet. That's the fun part. ❤️

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Alex. I'm glad you finally got the payoff after three and a half years! Holly is holding on as best she can... We'll see if it is enough.

Emory Ahlberg

Robert, you haven't even read it yet and you wrote something that made me have a big smile. "Extraordinary care" is what I want this story to be remembered for, I think. Not the twists or the drama or even the art, but the fact that every single character was treated like a person who mattered. Please come back and tell me everything when you're done! ❤️

Emory Ahlberg

Well, Crystal, I AM crying! Hehe. And I really love "allegorically who we are and what we have experienced" 💖. Also, I love these characters too. Literally.

Emory Ahlberg

Kirsten, thank you! I think I'll screenshot this and look at it on the days when I can't get a sentence to work and I'm convinced I'm a fraud lol. I'm already planning Phase 10 in my head! 💕

M Fielding

Emory, thank you so much for your reply. Holly's "I'm really scared" did that for me too, and so did Jill's response. Jill's about to undergo life altering surgery, partially on Holly's account, and her final thought is to reassure her friend. Very much in keeping with what you've said about Jill in your initial reply. I love Jill for that too.

Alex Hait

Emory, You absolutely SUCK!!!! (said with a huge smile on my face). What an episode. What a great cliffhanger ending. You truly have become a fantastic writer/artist. I don't know what you do for a living, but you have so much talent you could write novels. Your graphic talents are also amazing. I know you said that episode 10 was the last. I hope it has 100 parts.

Annette

In no particular order... This may end up as a story without a main villain. This depends on the true motives of Xu and Morosini. Both may be in the process of solving the trolley problem in their own unorthodox ways 🤔 That's not to say that there are no evil characters. The main one is, of course, Davis. And some peripheral villains like sadistic guards and evil billionaires. Davis in fluffy handcuffs - hilarious! 😂 A welcome little distraction in a very tense moment. If Davis ever gets feminized it will be the ultimate justice served 👠👗 Larson family reunion under the most unusual circumstances was heartwarming. Hopefully, the experience will bring them together like never before 💕 The same goes for the coven witches, who may become closer and a force of their own after (hopefully!) saving Holly's life 🧙 I hope that Xu survives. For some reason I imagine Jill giving his eulogy many years later, putting many things into perspective. Jill taking one for humanity makes me wonder what can possibly top that...

Eva Grimm

This released just in time for the final build up to a huge trip for me, and only now, days into it, have I had a chance to read. "This is the moment it goes from being a forcefem story to a trans story." Jenny, you're absolutely right. That exchange between Jill and Emily is incredible on several levels, but there's a part where Emily asks Jill whether she's trans, and she responds, "I wasn't . . . but I'm happy with who I've become." That idea was a huge part of my struggle in coming out. "Am I really trans? Do I just think I am and am making a big mistake?" And what I realized in the end is, I think, the same as what Jill realizes here... I am exactly who I choose to be, every day, every moment. And here I am, a bit more than fourteen years later, crying happy tears after reading such a beautiful encapsulation of that transformation and so, so much more. Thank you, Emory, for sharing this journey with us. I can't wait to see the epilogue!

Emory Ahlberg

LOL - thank you so much, Alex! I'm glad that I "suck" in a good way! 💕 And thank you so much for your compliment. I actually do write novels, as well. Taylor Made is an example of one I wrote here - and I'm expanding The Last Straw into a novel because it has caught the attention of some people. 😊

Emory Ahlberg

Eva, I'm so touched by your comment. I hope your big trip is going perfectly. And, yeah, writing that quiet moment in the surgery bay where Jill finally admits to Emily that she's happy with her new self was emotional. Jill wouldn't go back to Jack, even if she could - but she does want to go home. Desperately. And I really hoped to capture that exact feeling of simply choosing your own path and embracing the woman you've become, no matter how messy the journey was. Reading that it brought you happy tears and connected with your own coming-out story means so so much to me - especially since I feel the same way about Jill's journey. 💖

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Tim! I love your theories. I doubt very much that Xu wanted that "specimen" for no reason! I'm zipping my lips on what Phase 10 holds, but you always bring the most incredible analysis to the comments section! That final image between Jill and Holly was, for me, the most important moment of the entire phase. Xu was so coldly certain that Holly was just an empty vessel who would die exactly as she lived - alone and performing. But in that final moment, stripped of all the glamour and the masks, she wasn't alone. That hand-hold was everything. It still makes me tear up just thinking about it. They’ve been through hell, and whether they make it through the surgery or not, they have each other. Love your thoughts on the De Novo Project, as well! Does a world-changing medical miracle "justify" the horrors and human suffering it took to create it? I know Jill and Hatcher would have a screaming match over that very question! And, yeah, the power vacuum left in the wake of Xu's potential fall - with Morosini's twisted vision of "justice" on one side and Davis's unfiltered cruelty on the other - definitely guarantees that the world of Second Dawn isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Thank you for quantifying this journey for me... 1,219 panels! Seeing that number really puts into perspective what a massive, wild marathon Phase 9 has been! 💖

Emory Ahlberg

Sorry for the late reply to such a lovely comment, Annette! 💖 And, wow, I love this breakdown so much! Your "trolley problem" analogy for Xu and Morosini is spot-on. They really do operate on these grand, terrifying, utilitarian scales where they justify horrific things for what they see as a "greater good" (or a twisted sense of justice, in Morosini's case). In some ways, I find Davis to be less monstrous in comparison because he doesn't even try to hide behind a philosophy. He's just pure, unadulterated sadism. But, yeah, the fluffy handcuffs made me laugh, too. I imagine Brooke got them once she got her computer back and could hack into her room again. As for Davis eventually facing the ultimate poetic justice... well, my lips are sealed, but I absolutely love where your mind is going! Writing that Larson family reunion was actually pretty difficult. Of course, it's one of the most emotional parts of this entire phase. John has failed his children in so many ways over the years, but now he really steps up and that was wonderful to see. But Emily is so confused and scared about what's happening with her "brother," and I wanted that to feel real and earned. She really did make the ultimate sacrifice for humanity by accepting the De Novo Project, didn't she? Watching her grow from a lost surfer boy who just wanted to disappear into the ocean, into a strong woman literally carrying the future of medical science inside her... yeah... Thank you so much for reading!❤️

Annette

Thank you for replying, and no worries at all, Emory❣️ I appreciate your insights and am really looking forward to Phase 10 😻