This is my first time writing here, so I'll start with a story based on my first experience with makeup.

I guess it was a Friday night, my parents went out to a party and left me, Mark (10 years old) and my cousin Mia (13 years old) with a neighbor Julie (In her early 20's I guess) as our babysitter.

Summer heat baked the ground into a cracked, desiccated mass, a thin crust over a briny substrate that helped to give this place its name. She had been to and through some strange and beautiful places but this one in particular spoke to her soul… to the part of her that felt so keenly the loss of everything she had once held dear. Years flew past in her mind’s eye as she waited for the sun to dip below the mountains, composed herself for what she must do.

The fallout from the meeting with Hermie strains Ryan and Ashley’s relationship. Meanwhile, Ashley aims to curb some of Ryan’s more sexist tendencies while the two of them learn about their roles on the show- much to Ryan’s chagrin and continued embarrassment. While their bodies have undergone a massive transformation, their minds remain intact. However, with temptation in every corner of the playroom, they quickly learn that their minds could share a similar fate. Despite these challenges and the continued humiliation, a simple discovery ignites hope within the transformed group that escape is possible.

Ashley sighed gently, “I’ll admit that girls do it too, even me sometimes. Yeah, I will look at another girl and think, well she shouldn’t wear that because it’s not flattering. But I don’t make that part of who I am. And as for what you said, there’s no right way to be a man, Ryan. But I can tell you that filth like Mark aren’t the litmus test for how a man should act. He talks a big game, but I bet he goes home with his hand. Unless he’s paying for it.”