Taylor Made - Chapter 8
Added 2025-07-25 07:18:03 +0000 UTCTaylor discovers that being visible comes with unexpected complications when his social calendar suddenly fills upβand some of his assumptions about himself start to unravel.
Sometimes the universe decides to throw all your experiments at you at once, and poor Taylor's hypothesis about himself is about to undergo some serious peer review. Also, Abigail remains the best wingwoman in the history of wingwomen, even if her methods involve being a trash panda when necessary. π
This one has 9 images and is, again, almost 7,000 words. π³
Comments
Taylor and Will sitting in a tree...k...i....ss....i....n....g! hehe x
stacy C
2025-08-19 00:25:35 +0000 UTCThank you so much for this incredibly thoughtful comment, Diana! I always love reading your insights. I read them right away, but I always need to take some time to reply because I'm working on all the other stories and my day job. π€ͺ But I soo appreciate them. I'm really happy you're connecting with Taylor's mom. That comparison to Mary Palmer is really lovely. I see them both as women who have been shaped by hardship but refuse to let it make them brittle. For Taylor's mom, so much of her motivation comes from a past we haven't fully seen yet. I hear you on the speed of Taylor's adjustment. It's something I keep thinking about while writing. But I think he's pretty much acting naturally (except for the clothes and [now] makeup). Unfortunately, what "natural" means for him is that he's constantly monitoring himself - his posture, his voice, his presence - to make himself smaller, to become invisible. A lot of girls are forced to act the same way. π Does that mean he comes off as a 'plausible girl?' Others seem to think so... for now. But it has only been about a month! And I love your thoughts on his identity. I guess in a way the whole narrative is about the space between binaries: male/female, genius/fraud, belonging/isolation. Whether that "in-between" state is literal... no comment!
Emory Ahlberg
2025-08-05 04:07:19 +0000 UTCThank you so much, Crysta! I'm so glad you're enjoying the ride... me too! π I think Taylor's 'inhibitions' are the whole messy, confusing heart of the story for me. Taylor's spent years building these walls to protect himself, and now he's in this situation where the only way to maintain his disguise is to start tearing them down. Basically the lie is forcing him to be more honest and vulnerable than he's ever been. As 'Boy-Taylor,' he was trapped by his past and his fears. As 'Girl-Taylor,' he's almost a blank slate, and he's discovering he can actually connect with people when he's not leading with his trauma.
Emory Ahlberg
2025-08-05 03:57:17 +0000 UTCJust loving this series. It keeps getting better and better as Taylor lets go of their inhibitions. Its cute, funny and full of characters that I really want to get to know more about
Crystal Peaches
2025-07-29 23:28:03 +0000 UTCWell Emory you are making my prediction come true. That every new episode I will say it is the best yet. And every episode you publish after that comment will be even better than all that preceded it. The artwork is amazing, and I say that as a fan of your more life like artwork in other stories. The mom is beautiful. In a way she almost reminds me of Mary Palmer. At least in terms of the characters being both wholesomely beautiful women and and hard working mothers 100% committed to their children. I hope we see much more of her ahead. I think hers is a story we also need to hear. And I think she has insights on Taylor only she can share for us to truly know Taylor. The only criticism I have is that it still seems Taylor's adjustment seems far too quick, easy and complete than could be achieved over a few weeks in the summer and a few days of Freshman Orientation. Just the way you have her sitting on the bed on the phone in that cammie and shorts. There is a femininity that comes across that appears almost natural and un-thought and but if learned would likely take months or years of practice before appearing so effortless and second natured, especially by someone who was doing this under duress and with much reservation. I know after Taylor's father died he essentially grew up in a house full of women (at least his mom and sister). But a boy misses so much even in this environment 24/7 unless he is actively studying, preprocessing and internalizing EVERYTHING. Even boys who grow up among women tend to suffer from what they think women are like verses what they are actually like, even with them living right in front of them. The image of girls having panty party sleepovers are such trope, and yet so many males still choose to believe that is how girls act outside male company. So I find it hard that someone who could be so clueless as girls openly flirt with him could somehow be a quick and accurate study on just how a girl would sit on the bed and chat with her mom. Because in most dorms the doors are open and people are walking by or popping their head in looking for someone to go to dinner with or borrow their laundry detergent or something. So even in her room Taylor needs to be in character 24/7 especially with a roommate. And that performance needs to be 100% precision tuned. Girls are not 100% 24/7 miss priss, nor are they all female Oscar Madisons in private. There are times and places when legs are crossed Miss Porter School proper and times when a girl will "man spread" just because she can. But knowing the how and when's is like learning a foreign language. Plus the fact that Taylor may actually have something revealed if she man spreads, even if the other girls in the room are doing so. We don't actually know yet what Taylor has down there. But it is enough that she at least believes she is male and her Mom has not yet told her otherwise and allowed her to believe this deception is necessary. Of course I am in the camp that Taylor might be intersex and thus, once this revelation is revealed may find it far easier to embrace the female identity she created for the scholarship but that has become more real for her than her past male identity. Only time will tell if this is the case or not.
Diana O'Neil
2025-07-26 22:17:19 +0000 UTC
