Anywhere but Boring - Part 4

I'm glad you're enjoying the story, MG! Your psych background definitely shines through in your analysis. When I was writing Dylan/Lily's journey, I wanted to explore the complex psychological terrain of someone who starts living a lie but gradually finds truth in it. The milestones you mentioned are exactly the kind of details I'm having fun showing. More to come!

Emory Ahlberg

Comparing this fictional plot to real world is veeery simple I think... First of all... Outburst of "his" Dad is somehow understandable but... it should be directed only at very first moments where first decisions were made... definitely not now... now those are very cruel and very harsh and very hurtful... there is no real cis hetero men in the world who would go that far only for the money and that is obvious AF... Sooo i think it was extremely unwise for "his" father to spill the secret totally behind "his" back... that could lead to uncontrolled events like serious injury or even death... but from another side... I believe that Melissa should at some point learn the full truth from our fabulous star sooner or later... just for her to get clean her guilty conscience and live without heavy burden buried deep inside... The original idea was to get started and earn some money but this is already long gone... now our star knows that what she's doing is something more... inspiration etc. and I believe this is genuine... ❣️❣️❣️

Maggie Heels

The background at the beginning, yes. And her blue hair in the headlights reminds me of a...much younger Dr. Hatcher. Summer was allowed to keep her lapis lazuli rosary as a result of good behavior and she's Hatcher's favorite "Hatchling", meaning while Davis CAN punish her IF she misbehaves...they still need Hatcher and Xu's permission. At $ 5271.75 USD/$7212.36 CAD, the Crowes don't skimp on gifts...EVER, and Vienna has a matching one. https://i.etsystatic.com/14770804/r/il/e01d3e/4567171423/il_1140xN.4567171423_ee4k.jpg

Female-Bosmer-Always

Thanks for the update. Ive always liked psych, had A’s in psych classes without trying. I’m sure that you’ll go in a direction the subject or subjects deserve. As far as other avenues, several could be the topics of the psych sessions, or independent of that. For a girl, perhaps for some, there are milestones: makeup, fashion, first bra, first earrings/ear piercing, 1st dress, 1st high heels, etc. From what girls tell me, walking in high heels takes practice and a little bravery; while seeing that person stumble around might be somewhat amusing for some people, there is still the danger of falling. During an evaluation, a doctor could check off most or all of the TG boxes to a diagnosis, the time spent whether on makeup, hair, heels, to name a few., requires effort and practice, demonstrating a commitment to a goal. Apparently, the goal is not role play anymore.

MG

Thanks for the update. Ive always liked psych, had A’s in psych classes without trying. I’m sure that you’ll go in a direction the subject or subjects deserve. As far as other avenues, several could be the topics of the psych sessions, or independent of that. For a girl, perhaps for some, there are milestones: makeup, fashion, first bra, first earrings/ear piercing, 1st dress, 1st high heels, etc. From what girls tell me, walking in high heels takes practice and a little bravery; while seeing that person stumble around might be somewhat amusing for some people, there is still the danger of falling. During an evaluation, a doctor could check off most or all of the TG boxes to a diagnosis, the time spent whether on makeup, hair, heels, to name a few., requires effort and practice, demonstrating a commitment to a goal. Apparently, the goal is not role play anymore.

MG

Thank you so much, Emily! And I think you've picked up on something really crucial - Dylan's agency in this whole situation. Obviously external pressures play a role but, ultimately, it's Dylan making these choices, step by step. It started from a place of deception... but was it self-deception all along? Your thoughts on Melissa are definitely what I was hoping you'd see. As soon as he was like 👍 on the surgery, I think she reconsidered. Almost no cisgender actor would be willing to go to the lengths Dylan has for a role. I think the line between performance and identity can be blurrier than we might think, especially when it comes to gender. 😉

Emory Ahlberg

Aw, thank you, MG! Yeah, the psych sessions will be an interesting part of the story moving forward. What will they reveal about Dylan's psyche? Why is he more accepting of these changes? Is it the hormones? The fame? Or something deeper he's been suppressing all along? The threat of writing Lily out of the show forced Dylan to confront how much Lily had become a part of him, even if he wasn't ready to admit it yet... We will at least get a Part 6... But that won't mean Dylan's story is over forever!

Emory Ahlberg

But free FFS! 😉💕

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks so much, Bos! Things haven't settled quite yet, but that's okay. Change can be fun - unless it takes place on an island off the NW coast of the USA. 😉 That's interesting! To me, X-Files (which I love) is all about conspiracies and aliens. Do you mean in the shots?

Emory Ahlberg

Absolutely no worries, Robert! I really appreciate your feedback and insight.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Robert! 😊 Yeah...rushing to wrap everything up in just one more part might do a disservice to the character's growth. I'm thinking we'll at least need a part 6. And you're right about the relationship issues. God, there's a lot to unpack there. Repairing the relationship with their parents, navigating new dynamics with castmates, potential romantic interests, we've got a lot of ground to cover. But then...who said Dylan's story need to end here? 😉

Emory Ahlberg

Yeah...the cultural landscape surrounding trans stories, especially in entertainment, is fucking FRAUGHT with tension. The show-within-the-story, "Anywhere but Boring," would absolutely face backlash from certain groups. As for Melissa, I actually have some notes about her background that I didn't get to include in the main narrative. Maybe I'll explore that in a future piece! The tension between the show's popularity and the inevitable backlash is part of the pressure cooker environment that pushes Dylan further into his role and makes coming clean even more difficult. Yeesh!

Emory Ahlberg

Thanks, Jade! Maybe by the end of this we'll have a full-blown novel on our hands! 😉 There's definitely more going on beneath the surface than even Dylan realizes. The whole "doing it for the role" thing is becoming a pretty thin excuse, isn't it? The denial is strong with this one! It's been really fun to explore this journey of self-discovery (or self-denial, depending on how you look at it).

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Omaga! You know, that twist was something I really wanted to explore. I love how our identities can shift and evolve, sometimes in ways we never expected. Dylan started this journey thinking it was just a role, a means to an end. But as he lived as Lily day in and day out, something began to change. It's not that Dylan suddenly became trans overnight. Rather, the experience of living as Lily opened up parts of himself he'd never fully explored or understood. The line between "acting" and "being" became increasingly blurred.

Emory Ahlberg

You've got a keen eye, Tim! You're absolutely right that there are a few lines that foreshadow Dylan's journey. I wanted to plant those seeds early on, to show that even when Dylan thought he was just playing a role, there was something deeper stirring beneath the surface.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Gemma! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story and finding it as far from boring as I hoped it would be! 💕 How far Dylan will take things? Well, the line between acting and reality is about to get even blurrier. The question of irreversible steps is definitely going to be a major theme in Part 5. Dylan's story is going to involve some pretty intense physical and emotional changes, and the possibility of reaching a point of no return is very real!

Emory Ahlberg

I’m enjoying this story a lot. I think the aspect that’s most appealing is that Dylan is the one making the decision to transition. SHE isn’t being forced to do anything. What surprised me is that Melissa is trans and seemingly didn’t have any idea Dylan was faking. My hypothesis was her gut instinct at the beginning oh this Dylan was just looking for audition experience. But saw his potential and decided to call his bluff but instead Dylan’s accepted the offer. And melissa just assumed she was wrong. What I really like is that there are enough clues here to show Melissa sees “something” in Dylan. Something that says “I’m a woman” I think she is thinking Dylan could be the most dedicated method actor ever but my gut tells me it’s not all just an act. She is an egg!! Lily is helping trans woman everywhere come out of their egg, including Dylan herself.

Emily Morgan

MG

WOW... rough stuff ❣️❣️❣️

Maggie Heels

My dearest muse Emory, this was well worth the wait, I'll tell you that right here and now. I hope everything is fine and settled with you and wifey. New jobs can be stressful. As for the blue-haired-deer-in-the headlights look, you are seriously giving me X-Files vibes here. Speaking of which, did you know Summer and Vienna's first song together at the Homecoming Dance was "Twilight Time" by The Platters.

Female-Bosmer-Always

Sorry to pile more work on your plate, Emory, but from my professional perspective as a songwriter I always try to ensure that a song has a balanced structure as well as a coherent content!

Robertlouis

Given the major reveal and twist in this 4th episode it would unbalance the story to close it down in the next part - an unseemly rush, perhaps? It may need a minimum of another two parts to allow Dylan/lily’s revised trajectory to fully develop, particularly if there is genuine realisation that the feminine route is the one that she truly wants to take: there are umpteen relationship issues to resolve at all sorts of levels. And there needs to be definite rather than sudden closure.

Robertlouis

Showrunner Melissa is working on it, Zoe! 🤣💕

Emory Ahlberg

Someone please smash this dumb egg's shell I beg you ❤️

Zoe Storm

One other thought I had was that while I'm sure a lot of Hollywood is excited about a trans lesbian coming of age story set in a flyover red state, but I can only imagine what the Usual Suspects will be saying in our (stupid, exhausting, relentless) ongoing Kulturkampf. Imagine the little old church ladies shaking posters of Dylan with vile transphobic text. I sure can. And a _trans_ showrunner? Gosh, you should do a side story about how she got _that_ job...

Jade Diaz

It's pretty clear at this point that Dylan feels most comfortable leaning into the _excuse_ that the part of Lily requires these things, but Dylan, the actor wants them too on some level. So hopefully she is going to start leaning into all of this.

Jade Diaz

Pleased to see you're pulling an Alyson. By chapter 5, you'll be cranking 30,000 word novellas. Slightly more seriously, somehow Dylan seems like less of a dumb baby in this update. Some part of her clearly can't let "Lily" go, oh sure, she rationalizes it all so deeply but it's pretty clear that she is as happy or happier presenting femme as she ever was as a macho action hero jock type. (Denial isn't just a river in Egypt after all.)

Jade Diaz

Great story. I did not see that twist coming, where Dylan not only had come to acceptance of his situation but eagerly awaited what’s to come🥰

Omagathief

Just reread Part 1. There's a couple of lines there that seem to presage Dylan's fate in the final chapter... but hopefully not the end of Dylan's story. We'll see what Part 5 brings in another couple of weeks, and what might possibly lie beyond that for the young starlet

Tim

After this episode Emory I can see why this series is called ‘Anywhere but Boring.’ I certainly did not see this particular reveal and twist in the storyline. Can’t wait for next chapter to see ‘how far Dylan will take things.” Will steps (by choice, accident)or miscommunication) be undertaken surgically that make it impossible for Dylan to, even if he wanted to, ever be able to go back to being a man again?

Gemma