#not that netflix is great but disney is making it to....uneventful

[posallys]

im just saying that if netflix picked up the pjo adaptation it wouldn't be nearly as watered down

[sophiexteresa]

Thomas Sanders Instagram Q&A Transcript

From @thatsthat24’s Instagram story, 25/8/2020. Questions in bold. Text added to the story in (parenthesis/brackets), and descriptive info in *italics*. I tried uploading the video(s) too, but Tumblr is having issues, so here’s the transcript only! 

Thomas: I had some time this evening so I figured, hey, why not? Another lil’ Q an’ A, so if you want to ask a question *posh French voice* be my guest!

When approximately will the next sanders sides be out? Very good question! Uh, we are aiming this for a late September release, that’s what we’re all working towards.

Favourite musical you have been in or just favourite musical in general? This is really tough, I can’t decide. I’m between Rent where I was in the ensemble, Peter Pan where I played Slightly Soiled, which was just one of the lost boyos — boyos? Boys — and, uh, Into The Woods where I played Cinderella’s prince and that’s where Roman’s first costume came from.

Are you ever gonna due your hair purple again? I loved it! Yes! I miss the purple hair too.

Do you love me? *laughing* Yes of course! I do love me.

What would each of the sides’ reaction be to seeing the Grand Canyon? *speaking very quickly* Roman would be revelling that we made the journey, Patton would be marvelling at the memories being made, Logan would be telling you to look at these fascinating signs for important information, Virgil would be telling you to ‘get back from those cliffs!’, Janus would be telling you to take pictures to make it look like you’re next to the cliff, ‘for clout’, and Remus would be like *Remus voice* ‘you could push somebody and get away with it’.

Also when will we get more Picani, I miss him? You and me both, Bri, and honestly with the amount of amazing cartoons that have come out recently *sighs while smiling* yeah, I am a-hankering (?) to get back to Emile!

How have you been doing, like really? Mental health is important as you teach us: I feel like everybody’s kinda struggling with mental health right now, especially people in the USA with COVID. Uhm *clears throat* for me I continuously struggle with the balance between work and leisure time, um, social media makes that difficult, blurs the lines, and I’m working on it.

Do you have any tattoos? Umm, I don’t, uh, I struggle with the permanence of tattoos. And like do I, can I, make a decision that I like? But! There are tattoos that I might like. Where I’d put them, I have no idea, umm, but I think like, maybe like, little stars!

What rank of “Gay” are you? Big gay? What rank? *speechless pause* uh... General. You know? I wanna do my duty. Come back a hero. An all-American Queero *gets an idea* *roughly quoting Hamilton* Queer comes the General!

Can you please make Logan day something Patton would say? *Logan’s voice* Something Patton would say? Umm... please, I request more baked goods from the kitchen so that I can fill Thomas’s body with more trans-fats at 3 am. I don’t know, I don’t like this game.

Have you ever dated a girl? *awkward silence* I have. It was pretty uneventful.

Do you miss your friends? *laughs* Oh... *face crumples as if he’s about to cry*

What are you voice acting in or are you now allowed to say? Not until tomorrow.

When did you know you were gay? I think I answered this one on the last Q&A, but it was early. I was like, 9 or 10 at least.

When will we see Gavin? Gavin has started school! He’s back in his hometown, so I don’t know when I’m gonna see him. He’s still getting taller — I can actually include a picture of him that his mom sent me after he got a new little hairdo *insert photo of an awesome Gavin here*

Do you miss vine? For like, sentimental reasons, yes. Uh, I mean, technically it had its issues and I don’t miss being restricted to 6 seconds anymore *laughs*

What has been your favourite part of the day? My favourite part of today was actually... I came up with this last minute short video, and I got it done and I sent it to some friends and they really liked it. I have to save it until Thursday thought, but it’s just nice to come up with stuff that makes your friends laugh.

Janus acting like Remus? *Remus’ voice* Remus here! Looks like the Dukey just dropped in! *Remus’ laugh* *Takes a breath and snaps into Janus’ character* I spend a lot of time with him so I’ve had a lot of practise.

Why do I feel like we’re gonna have another angsty Virgil moment? When is Virgil not being angsty...?

Please can you say trans rights? Uh, heck yah trans rights! I, uh, this one was very simple but I wanted to say it!

Do you think Virgil would be into anime? Actually, if you remember from, uh, Accepting Anxiety, uh, part 2, there’s actually a Death Note poster in his room, so he definitely likes some anime.

Hi! Can you say hola to the Hispanic fanders in el vecindario fander? Please? We love you! Oh my gosh, *a very naturally american pronunciation* hola! that’s very kind of you guys. I appreciate all of the support you guys give, and I love all of you guys. 

STORYTIME! I love you: *upbeat voice* Storytime! I love you back.

How gay are you? Like, 15 gay! I rank General! 

How did you end up meeting and babysitting Gavin? Gavin is actually Leo’s nephew, so he would come up here, uh, during the holidays or during the summer, and alternate being baby-sat between me and Leo’s mom - his grandma.

What was the inspo for Janus’ outfit? Ooh, that’s a really good question, uh... Joan had a vision in their mind for almost kind of like this early 20th century or late 19th century kinda Jack the Ripper vibe.

Any advice for gaybies to fit in with society? Don’t apologise for being yourself. If people have an issue, that’s their issue that they have to work through. Do not apologise for being yourself. 

What type of gay are you? (Math gay, plant gay, caffine gay, etc): Wait, there’s such thing as a math gay? I am absolutely that, and I feel like I’m just gonna be naming traits about myself but I’m a trivia gay, a driving gay, apparently a math gay, a Disney gay *laughs* and a theatre gay.

Not a question but I’m glad to be alive at the same time as someone as great as you: Dude, this stuff is really sweet. *laughs* That’s really sweet, umm, trust me, I feel the same way about all of you. Honestly.

Why don’t you own a doggo yet? I... went to Petsmart today - I didn’t get an animal, but like... I’m thinking about it and this question is like... hmmm...

I’ve run out of cartoons to watch, any recommendations? Owl house! Owl house, owl house. I just tried it, and I immediately got hooked. Infinity train’s also a really good one, duck tales is amazing, and I’m getting ready to start Tangled: the animated series, so *shrugs*.

What is Patton’s opinion on rats? *adorable Patton voice, slowly zooming in on his face* They are tiny little squishy precious babies!!!

How do I ask people for their pronouns? I don’t know, I mean, I don’t think it’s like a big deal? I hope we could get to the point where we could just be like ‘what are your pronouns?’ and then they would tell you, and then you’d just, you know, carry on the rest of your conversation. 

A circle has no bounds and it’s the same with your beauty: This is really precious, and it of course came from Nash (?) who is a poet, he published a lot of wonderful, wonderful poems on twitter, they are are amazing, and you are once again far too sweet, Nash. 

Dream role? This is a pretty broad question, so maybe dream theatrical role would be Sweeny Todd, dream movie role would be anything in the marvel universe, uh, really just give me anything in any voice acting role, *smiling mischievously* egg rolls are also really good.

Can Remus please say ‘I am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand’? *Remus voice* I am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand! (love that vine)

Are there still plans for the Roman series? *nods* Oh, yeah, yeah, it was definitely hindered by COVID, uh, as was this Sanders Asides episode that’s coming up, which is why it’s taking longer in the editing stage, it is our, uh... strategy, for circumventing the obstacle, and we hope you like it.

Are we still getting an August playlist? Uh, heck yah you are! But honestly, actually, if you guys have any suggestions I should include in the playlist, lemme know! I’d be happy to get some suggestions - but yes. You will be definitely getting one.

May I please see your feet? *confused, slightly disgusted expression* *begins to move the camera away from his face* *holds up a tape measure, extended to 1 foot long* *grins*

Any shows on Netflix to recommend? Umbrella Academy is really good, Dragon Prince, uh, She-Ra, of course, umm The Hollow (?) is really cool, there’s a documentary about video games called High Score, that was really fun.

Roman, who would you say the gayest side is? *Roman’s voice* Oh, we’re all equally gay, okay? *chuckles* it’s a sexuality, not a personality trait. *takes a breath and speaks quickly* I’m just kidding it’s *sings* meeeeee!

If you were not a YouTuber, what would you see yourself doing and why? Uh, maybe putting my chemical engineering degree to some use. *laughs awkwardly* Uh, I went to school for 5 years for that one.

Like you literally make me so flipping happy: I’m glad! I don’t know what I’m doing to do that, but the feeling is absolutely mutual. 

Can we have Virgil saying “Falsehood”? *hair already over one eye, in Virgil’s voice* Uh, c’mon, okay, sure. *very quietly and unenthusiastically* falsehood. Is that good? Is that? I don’t know, I don’t wanna steal his bit.

Which Sanders Side do you feel you embody most? Ah, I would probably say it’s either Patton or Roman because Patton can be definitely me, all the time, just really enthusiastic about things and finding things cute, but Roman... Roman’s sensitivity, oh. That’s me. 

What was the first job you had? I actually worked as a page in a library! A- pages basically just kinda like, shelve books, check books out; it’s one of the chillest jobs I’ve ever had, one of my favourites, and my dad always had a lovely dad joke for it: ‘you’re working as a page, when do you get promoted to a book?’

How tall are you? I usually say 5ft 10, but I think I’m trying to be a little more realistic with myself. And I’m probably 5ft 9 and a half. *zooms in on his face, staring into the camera* I’m holding onto that half a foot for all dear life. 

DROP THE SKIN ROUTINE PLEASE! This is very sweet, uh, I, *laughs nervously*, uh, I use Curology? They’re very nice. Umm, just... different kinds of lotion, I guess. (I suppose I should write down what I do lol)

Can we get a FALSEHOOD? *is standing* *clears throat* *points upwards from his eyeline* FALSEHOOD! 

Do you have a boyfriend if not are you planning on dating soon? I do not, uh, dating is kinda difficult right now midst COVID, you know, kinda tough... love... in the time of Corona... umm, but, you know, option’s open.

When was your first kiss? I’m sure I’ve answered this somewhere, it was in high school, I might have been 15 or 16. It was with a girl. *Shakes head* And all I can remember is hitting teeth. A lot.

Can we get a super super vague hint about the new Asides episode?  Alright, I’m getting ready to end the Q&A, so this, you know, if you’ve made it so far you deserve this super vague answer, umm... it includes a side that was not in the last episode. (This isn’t much, I apologise lol)

Thomas: And that is it for this evening! Thank you so much, you guys, for watching. I know some of you are still over in Europe watching and it’s like 4 in the morning, and I need to go to bed so thank you all so much for your questions - I gotta do this more often ‘cause I really enjoy it. Love you guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Peace out!

[olivenight17]

Hawks x Reader “Childhood” (Springtime Event)

And here I am, screeching in with my exchange! Let me tell you, there were so many ideas popping into my head, but there was one I couldn’t quite let go of, so I hopped to writing it! I hope you enjoyed @nightfallrevel

For it was I, your Springtime Anon, the whole time! Lol, it was really fun getting to know you!

Anyways, on with this fluff with feelings!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, are you just going to keep following the fan around or…?” You asked, an eyebrow quirked in amusement as you stared at your boyfriend flying aimlessly around your ceiling.

He let out a groan at your quip. “Chickadee, I’m losing my mind over here. We’re in lockdown, the association has heavily limited patrols, and even when I do go on patrols, there’s nothing going on! The streets are empty! It’s just boring meetings, paperwork, and uneventful patrols. There’s nothing to do,” he whined pathetically, gliding his way over to you. Before you could blink, Takami had you in his arms, and continued his following of the circulating panels with a heavy sigh. “And before you say it, yes, I know. This is technically a good thing! Everybody’s doing their part to stay safe, and I mean even crime rate has gone down because no one’s risking the virus and lowering crime rates is all I’ve wanted but…” he adjusted you so he could wave a free hand around. “Look at what I’m doing! I’m flying around a fan because that’s the most entertaining thing to do. I’m tired of being cooped up!”

You laughed at his drama, and then laughed more when he pouted at you. “Love dove, I know this is hard for you. But you’ve just got to stick it out, and it hasn’t been that bad- don’t give me that look, it hasn’t been! In fact, I think I’ve found something you might like.” You wiggled your eyebrows as Takami gave you a suspicious stare.

Nonetheless, your feathered boyfriend let you down and you went off, coming back huffing and puffing with a box in your hands. Takami continued to look at you strangely as you carried it all the way to the living room and set it down on the ground. “Chickadee...what’s in the box?”

“Takami, I hope you're ready, for this is about to be the most magical night of your life!” You gestured for him to sit down and he humored you, plopping himself on the couch and waiting for you to continue. Dramatically, you flipped the edges of the box open, grinning as Takami gave you a joking gasp of awe, and picked up a handful of movies. Disney movies, to be specific. “Be my guest, be my guest, put these movies to the test,” You sang, placing the movies on his lap and he chuckled as he looked at them.

“Binging Disney movies, huh?” He raised an eyebrow as he picked them up. He had a face of mild disinterest but you could see the little sparkle in his eyes.

You sat next to him with a nod. “Yup! I’ve got all the classics leading up to most of the new ones! Pretty sure I haven’t gotten one since Frozen though…” You tapped your chin in thought before shaking your head and wrapped your arms around him. “Go on, pick one!”

He turned his gaze back on the movies, before he looked back at you. “I have to ask, why these? There are like, a million shows we could be binging on Netflix,” he told you.

You rolled your eyes. “Believe it or not, this is as much for me as it is for you! These movies were my childhood! They taught me little lessons and helped me adjust as I grew older, and so many of them are enjoyable even now. And… I know you weren’t really allowed to have much of a childhood yourself, and that still pisses me off what they did to you!” You scrunched up your nose before you sighed, shaking your head. Now wasn’t the time for those emotions. “So, I wanted to introduce you to my own childhood, to make up for it.”

Takami stared at you the entire time you spoke, his eyes softening with every word and his lips curved upwards. He slipped an arm around your waist and kissed your forehead. “You’re entirely too sweet on me, you know I have to make fun of it to balance out your sweetness, right?”

You slapped his chest in response. “Don’t you dare! I’m gonna sleep without socks on if you do that!” You smirked as he cringed at the threat.

“No, anything but your ice cold feet on my legs at night. Fine, fine, which one to go with though…” He sifted through the movies again before he settled on the Atlantis cover and shrugged. “This looks cool.”

You took it in your hands with a grin as you loaded it into the DVD player before snuggling back up with Takami again. He played with your hair lightly as the beginning credits played. “Thank you for doing this though, I mean it.” You couldn’t help but smile and kiss his cheek.

“Don’t mention it, love dove. Now, watch.” You teasingly turned his head to the TV and the two of you began your adventure of binging childhood movies.

...And it was possibly the most emotional you’ve ever seen Takami. He laughed, he cried, and he swooned at all the right moments. By the time you had properly watched all of them, there was a handful of tissues on his side of the couch and he was staring into space.

You grinned as you poked his cheek. “So? How was that?”

“That...was an experience to me.” He turned to you. “You did this to me. So many feelings because of you. How dare you.”

Laughing, you brought him into your arms as he whined. “I’m so happy I could impart the Disney experience onto you, love dove. So, did you have a favorite?”

He looked at you wide eyed. “I’m... I’m supposed to have a favorite? How? They’re all so good! I mean, Aladdin was hilarious with great characters! All the classic movies with their unique animation!” Takami continued to ramble and you listened with a wide smile on your face.

You wouldn’t miss this sight for the world, to see his wild expression as he ranted and raved, the excited glimmer in his eyes the more he talked, it was perfect. He had never acted so childishly in his life, and you couldn’t be happier to see it.

[amypound]

Sorry for the long post

As i reflect back on being frickin done with exams and papers for the semester I finally feel ready to look back on the year...

Man I’ve had a hell of a year.

January started off pretty normal with working 40+ hours, school, life insanity until I had a cancer scare and the anniversary of my divorce. Yeah if you didn’t know til now about either of those it’s because I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. The cancer screening process kept me in a state of emotional death spiral until after i had surgery to remove the scary bit. I was not comfortably numb, I barely existed but pretended like everything was ok. In this I still went to work and school and with the exception of asking for an extension on a paper which was due a mere few days after my surgery, I tried to keep on keeping on.

Once getting the all clear, no cancer talk from my team of doctors i tried desperately to pull out of my spiral. However, work was over worked and understaffed and so i had a lot of responsibility thrown at me in a very short amount of time. In addition finishing up the second half of my first year of law school was not turning out to be a cakewalk like previous attempts at school had been. My spring break i went crazy socializing as much as possible and pulling extra hours at work. I got into makeup and fashion and whatever i could to fake it til I actually was together.

But by the end of March, beginning of April my life was out of my control, I was a wreck, taking my prescription xanax like candy to keep my heart from exploding out of my chest like a bat out of hell. I’d start a bottle of wine only to find I’d finish it as well because hey why not. I was working all the time but paralyzed by how much work i had to do. My school work suffered due to the same depression anxiety spiral and my home life largely consisted of Netflix binges of Disney movies in an attempt to feel.

I finally had a big break down one day at work and it was the worst. I got myself together enough to finish work that day and get to school, but took a much needed mental health day the next day. I called a therapist and made an appointment and started to get my life in order. I also had started applying for new jobs. I even started having serious discussions about moving back home with my parents. Something had to give.

Luckily, i really clicked with the therapist i had been recommended right from the get go and so I was really able to dive right into making real change in my life and getting to the roots of my issues. Also in April I got some great news, I got a promotion and transfer to a new job in the courthouse, which was just what I needed.

I finished out the year with decent enough grades and high hopes for my future at work I continued down my path. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. May gave rise to more romantic troubles and believing who people are when they show their true colors.

June into early july was largely uneventful, merely taking summer classes 4 nights a week and trying to person when not doing the school, work cycle. I was tired, but i could tell things were better. Not what I’d call great, but marked improvement from crying myself to sleep. By mid July though, my therapist thought I needed additional help with my mental health struggles and suggested that I find a psychiatrist to get a leg up on my problems.

Finding a psychiatrist was not easy though as my insurance company’s website couldn’t be more unhelpful even if it tried. Finally got a referral from a referral and found a doctor that seemed like it may work and set an appointment for late July.

However before that could happen i was rear ended coming home from a long day at work, we had gone late on our criminal docket. The accident itself wasn’t life threatening but i was certainly sore and tired for the next several weeks. I had started physical therapy as well as my normal therapy and then of course in the middle of this was my first appointment with the psychiatrist who started me on the first antidepressant i had been on in years, after having bad luck with one back in the day, and swearing off of them. I was nervous to say the least.

However, the anti depressant was actually doing its job. I felt better. I had energy. I could focus on my work. I even managed a small vacation in mid August and lots of other fun things since then. When school started I could manage my school load despite taking 11 hours (the part time evening max). Things have been looking up.

I won’t say things are perfect now, but instead of wallowing, I make positive change. I’m on 75mg of Zoloft and might end up on 100 or more at some point. And that’s ok with me. I’m doing better, not perfect but it’s much better than it used to be. I organized my office and bought a happy light which also seems to help me with energy in the morning.

I don’t claim things are perfect. I don’t claim there aren’t things I shouldn’t still be working to improve about myself. I should make fewer impulse buys, and play fewer games on my phone.

But I’ve had one hell of a 2018.

And I look forward to 2019.

[rwbyremnants]

THIS CHAPTER: Cuddles with boners, nail-painting, foot-worship, massage, toe-kisses, almost-footjob. Also, some of that also applies to July.

=Chapter 14

The half-sisters, half-girlfriends did exactly what they said they would do. The next day, they went shopping for all of the trimmings for a spa day, piling them in the back of Ruby’s car before they went to that special event showing of Akira.

And as it turned out, they didn’t actually make out much during the movie. Scattered kisses, but no intense groping or getting each other off; Yang was a little too interested. Especially in the main character’s motorcycle, which she gasped and smiled about every time it came on screen. Ruby was clearly a lot more invested in the actual storyline, but Yang liked that well enough, too - more than she expected, considering she was expecting somewhere between a Disney movie and Pokemon. Besides, it gave her a little more insight into what kind of girl Ruby was, the things she liked. Since she already knew she was head over heels for the brat, that seemed highly important now.

The whole way home, they chatted about it as they picked up shave ice from Ruby’s beloved spot. Just enjoying each other. Yang had started to worry that once they started doing non-sisterly things that the more sisterly side of their relationship might suffer for it, but it only made them closer. This way, Ruby could babble about her favourite anime and Yang could laugh about her excitement, and then lean over and kiss her cheek to make sure Ruby knew that she found it adorable, not annoying. The best of both worlds.

Dinner was nice and easy, and TV afterward just as uneventful. Gone was most of the weirdness and discomfort, and all the loose lips that nearly sank Ruby and Yang’s “ship” as Ruby had called it once or twice. Though Yang did need that explained at first, now she thought it was ridiculous to view the two of them as fictional characters, but to Ruby it was what she always did with the shows and movies she liked, so it naturally made sense for her.

“If that makes sense to you, then it makes sense to me,” Yang muttered as they snuggled into Ruby’s bed together. “Just don’t slip up and say anything about it in front of Dad.”

“Hey, I’ve been really good, haven’t I?” she protested. “Mom’s the one who’s doing worse. But she was way better tonight.”

Yang pressed her face in a little closer to Ruby’s neck as she hummed her agreement. Tonight, she just wanted to hold her. Though being that close to her did make her want to do more, she didn’t think it was necessary to do so every single day they were together.

“Mmm,” Ruby said with a smile as she held Yang’s arms around her body. Then she chuckled very quietly, “Oh, hello…”

“Ruby, don’t,” Yang muttered, though she clearly wasn’t that upset. When she felt a warm ass grinding back and forth, she giggled and said again, “I mean it, cut it out.”

“Why? I think somebody down there likes it…” But when Yang didn’t respond, she stilled and asked in a less flirty voice, “Why?”

“I dunno. Just… wanna take a day off. Maybe I’m weird, but today’s been so much fun, just hanging out with you. Kinda like the idea of keeping this memory separate.”

At those words, Ruby rolled to look at her again, smiling very slightly. “I get it. I mean, I’d still love to get you off, but I follow your brain-train. You like having PG-rated memories with me, too.”

“I really do,” Yang sighed, glad that she understood. Ruby’s little kiss took her by surprise, but it was a chaste, sweet little kiss. “Mmm… thanks, Rubes.”

“Anytime. I love you - all of you, not just my little buddy down there.”

Giggling, Yang grinned against Ruby’s face. “Your little buddy, huh? Sounds like you wanna dress her up in doll clothes and have tea parties.”

“Would… you be into that?” But Yang’s only response was to tickle her.

After showering and a late breakfast, the two girls set themselves up in the living room to do their beautification rituals. The coffee table was pushed forward a little to make way for them to sit there, it being a little easier than trying to do it on the couch or loveseat, and a mediocre crime drama was pulled up on Netflix to have going in the background. Ruby had mentioned some anime she liked, but it was decided that it would be too interesting to be able to ignore while focusing on the other stuff.

“You’d really wanna go back to the comic book shop?” Ruby was asking as she finished painting Yang’s toenails. Her fingernails were still wet, and she was blowing on them herself while Ruby worked down below. On each hand or foot, the middle was yellow, next two out from that orange, and the ones on the ends red, imitating fire; that part was Ruby’s idea.

“Sure,” Yang said, trying not to smile so she didn’t disrupt the moisturising face mask. It felt cold and gross, but she wanted to let it do its thing before she happily yanked it off. “Maybe I’ll find a t-shirt with that cool motorcycle from the movie. And then afterward, maybe we can grab a burger? Seems like we haven’t had straight-up nasty fast food the whole time I’ve been down here…”

“Ooh! I know a place that has great burgers, we can totally do that!”

It was harder to keep the grin away now, but she shook her head as she chuckled, “You’re too damn cute.” As Ruby finished the top coat and started blowing on them, Yang went back to blowing on her own. After a minute of that, she asked, “Hey, um… I also wanna stop by a jewellery store.”

“Really?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. “Why?”

“O-oh, I just… I was thinking I don’t have very much, and I look too, like… butch? So I just wanted to see if I could find some fun stuff.” It was a little white lie, but she hoped Ruby would forgive her eventually.

“Sure, yeah. There’s probably some places like that around by the comic shop.”

“Cool.” Then Ruby’s lips dipped a little too low and she kissed Yang’s toe. Laughing, she asked, “What are you doing?”

But Ruby only shrugged, going back to blowing the polish dry. Soon enough, they were, and she came up to plunk down next to Yang. “Masks off?”

“Yeah. One, two… three!” As they peeled them off, they both let out an “ewwwww” and then held them out at arm’s length. “Damn, but that was awful.”

Shivering, Ruby grabbed them and threw them in the plastic shopping bag they had designated as “trash” for now. “I kinda like it, but yeah, I’m done. Okay, so… my nails?”

“Sure,” Yang said, taking up Ruby’s hand. But Ruby pulled it back with a little smirk. “What?”

“Let’s do these first.” She scooted back and wiggled her toes about a foot away from Yang’s face. When she pushed them away, she whined, “Awww…”

“I told you to cut that out,” she said with a roll of her eyes. But when Ruby continued to pout, she sighed. “Fine. I guess it doesn’t matter if I do your toes before your fingers.”

“YAY!” Yang sighed while Ruby settled her heels against her thighs, waiting for Yang to begin. But when she didn’t, she asked, “What? You wanna give me a different colour?”

There was a slight pause as Yang’s eyes remained pointed down at her feet as if she were lost in thought. Shaking her head, she said in a distant voice, “No… I just… I have this strange feeling…” She picked up one of the ankles. “I don’t know what’s coming over me… I think… I think I need…”

“Huh? Yang, what are-” But when Yang started biting her foot all over, she cackled and thrashed around, “YANG STOP! No, nonono, you can’t! Not again!!!”

“But I can’t stop!” Yang called out as she nibbled and Ruby squealed, trying to escape. “Your feet are just SO IRRESISTIBLE!”

“Okay, OKAY, I get it, y- AHAHAHA! You don’t have a thing, you don’t have a thing!”

They were still wrestling with each other, just barely not knocking over the bottles of polish, when a voice from off to the side asked, “What the hell has gotten into you two?”

“O-oh, Mom!” Ruby half-giggled, half-sniffled. “I’m sorry, did we mess up your work?”

Summer shook her head with a bemused smile in place, hands on her hips through her silk robe. “No, no, don’t worry. Finished all that up about ten minutes ago. I was just about to get a glass of limeade and head out onto the deck for a while. You two want to join me?”

Yang resisted the urge to say ‘Depends on if you’ll have clothes on’ and just shook her head. “Nah, we’re having a spa-day. Maybe later?”

“Mom, you should paint your nails with us and stuff!” Ruby said with a smile as she sat up.

“No thank you. I want to make sure I get some sun in during the peak hours.”

“But I thought that didn’t start until after lunch.”

“Well…” Shrugging, she went into the kitchen, still not quite answering. As she opened the fridge, she asked, “What kind of spa-things are you doing?”

“Face masks and nail-painting, lotions. Maybe henna later? And we were gonna do pumice stones, but all that running around on the beach… I don’t have any callouses, really.”

The woman nodded along as she poured herself a glass. She held up the pitcher, looking at Yang and Ruby to ask silently if they wanted any, and they both shook their heads. “Sounds like fun. But I don’t want to intrude.”

“You won’t be! Just hang with us for a little bit, and then you can go out and cook yourself.” Yang laughed at the way Ruby had phrased that, and Ruby grinned and shrugged.

“Okay, but I really don’t need a face mask; I put mine on at night.” The woman hesitated, then shrugged and walked into the living room. “I’m not sitting on the floor, though. I might not be a grandmother, but I’m definitely too old for my butt to survive that hard floor.”

“Definitely not a grandmother,” Yang remarked. Afterward, she realised she probably shouldn’t have said that, but they were trying to work past the mistakes that had been made, after all. Making jokes was the easiest way to do that.

Ruby handed Yang one of the pumice stones and picked the other up for herself. When Yang raised her eyebrow, she said, “What?”

“Like, are we double-teaming your mom’s feet? What am I using this on?”

“Yeah, we are.” The other two were quiet, so Ruby looked between them and said, “So she can go outside sooner. Right? You take that one, and-”

“Alright, alright, makes sense,” Yang half-laughed as Summer slipped out of her flip-flop and offered the foot to her. She definitely felt a lot weirder about this than about working on Ruby’s, but not to the degree that she couldn’t start in.

The elder woman sighed as the two pampered her, leaning back and sighing. “Mmm… thank you, girls. You didn’t have to do this for me, but it is appreciated.” She twitched a little at one swipe of the stone. “Heh… tickles a little.”

“So Mom,” Ruby said as they worked on the slight callouses, which were pretty negligible to begin with, “we were thinking about going into town and hitting the comic shop again after this. Um… is that cool? I know we’re out a lot of the time, but-”

“No, no,” she sighed. “That’s fine. To be honest… now I’m almost more worried when you’re here than when you’re out shopping. For… reasons discussed.”

Yang dipped her head lower in guilt. Sure, Summer hadn’t said it in a cruel tone or anything; she just stated a fact. Now that she and Ruby were sleeping together, of course her mother would be wary of them being alone somewhere private enough that they could get up to mischief.

“Oh, Mom,” Ruby sighed with a roll of her eyes. “We’re taking care of each other. Isn’t that what’s important?”

“Yeah, and I’m worried about you ‘taking care of each other’ a little too much.” But when Yang came to a stop, breathing a little faster and more shallow, the woman prodded her nose with her big toe. “Hey.”

“Hm?”

Summer’s eyes weren’t exactly happy, but they were piercing into Yang’s with intent as she smiled very slightly. “I’m teasing. Well… I’m also being honest, but mostly teasing about it. Sorry if I really made you feel bad.”

“O-oh. Well…” Yang never finished her sentence; she just started sanding again.

As if hoping to change the subject, Ruby put down her stone and picked up a few bottles of polish. “Umm… what colour do you want, Mom?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” the woman said with a grateful smile. “Um… a cool colour, like a turquoise?”

“That’s such an old mom colour,” she teased. “What about… bright red? I’m gonna do mine with this!” She held up the one she meant. When the woman reluctantly turned her eyes up toward the ceiling, Ruby hopped up onto the couch next to her and reached for one of her hands. “This’ll be great, you’ll see!”

“And what am I doing down here now?” Yang asked. “Since you’re in charge, I guess.”

“Keep pumice-ing!”

So Yang did. When she finished the first foot, she took over where Ruby had left off with the other one. As she did, she occasionally glanced up at Ruby’s painting job, listening to them chat about Dad and school, other mundane things. Most of the time, her eyes remained focused on the goal. She had to admit, Summer’s feet were nearly as cute as Ruby’s, and no less so when viewed up close. She took good care of them, as she did with the rest of her body and health. On the other hand…

Was that a weird thought to be entertaining? Was it Ruby’s insistence that she had a thing that was messing with her? She had never thought feet were ‘ugly’, exactly; just that they were feet. Those few moments of interest that her half-sister had “picked up on” seemed to give her the impression that it was a lot deeper than that. Maybe she just liked teasing her, or just thought feet were funny in general and that, for that reason, it was fun to tease Yang about it.

“Alright, I have to admit that was a good choice,” Summer was saying, admiring the first coat as Ruby blew on them to get them to dry so she could put on top coat. “They look nice, Ruby. Thank you.”

Yang spared a glance up at them as she uncapped the lotion and saw Ruby’s cheeks bunched in a genuine grin. “Hey, it’s… no big deal. Just wanted to make my mom feel as good as she already looks.”

“Stop buttering me up!” She elbowed Ruby, who only giggled. Then she twitched and gasped, “OH! Oh, that’s cold!”

“Sorry!” Yang hissed through her teeth. “I didn’t warm it up first!”

Sighing, Summer waved a hand. “No, it’s fine. Just surprised me.” Then she relaxed into the sensation of the fruity-scented goop being rubbed into her skin. “Mmm…”

“You said I’m buttering you up,” Ruby snickered as she began putting on the top coat. “But it’s Yang earning the brownie points down there, right?”

“She is, she is. Very seriously… you didn’t have to do this for me. Either of you, but you even less, Yang. I appreciate it.”

The praise and gratitude made Yang’s face heat up. Even though she was still a little upset with her for what she tried to do the other morning, she knew that Summer was still disgusted that the two of them were physically intimate. When their options were to either hold grudges, or try to move on, the second thing was a lot more appealing. Ruby’s mother putting forth that effort meant a lot to her.

Then Yang pushed into her sole a little more than she meant to, and heard a groan from Summer that made her look up. But her eyes were closed. Ruby didn’t seem to have noticed, either, intent on finishing up the clear coat. Her mother only looked very relaxed, but the actual groan had sounded like something else for a brief instant.

“There,” Ruby sighed as she capped the bottle. Then she glanced at Yang, and happened to see her ruddy-faced and blinking in mild surprise. “Hm?”

Yang shrugged just a little and turned back to massaging the lotion into Summer’s foot. She felt a little silly, but she also knew that it was for an innocent enough reason. Well, innocent enough as far as they could be after all they’d been through in the past few days.

“You girls are magic,” Summer sighed in a supremely relaxed voice. Finally, she opened an eye and looked at Ruby, already looking regretful before she continued, “Sorry… I know this is selfish after you two have been so nice, but could you help me get a drink of my limeade? So I don’t mess up my nails.”

“Sure.” Ruby did as she was asked, tipping the drink up for her mom. A couple of drips did run down her chin and neck, but not as much as it could have been. “Oh, hang on! I’ll get that for you!”

As she popped up to get a paper towel, Yang smiled after Ruby. She really was the sweetest girl who would never hurt a fly. If she hadn’t been in love with her already, it might have happened in that small, random moment. She was just too perfect to be believed.

“Ohhh, that’s so good,” Summer was sighing, flexing her ankle. It wasn’t intentional, but it did bring Yang back to focus on her job. “You didn’t have to massage me, either.”

With a shrug, she said, “Hey, might as well while I’m putting the lotion on, right?” Then Ruby came back to blot at her spill. “Did you wanna help me with the other one?”

“Actually… I gotta go to the bathroom.” The way Ruby said it was a little odd, but she was smiling at Yang. “I think you got this. Just… finish that and then paint her nails. I’ll help you if you’re not done when I get back.”

“Alright, honey,” her mother said lazily, not giving Yang a chance to reply. “Thank you again.”

Her eyebrows were raised at Ruby as if to ask “What?” but Ruby ignored that, just waving at the two of them as she padded off to the bathroom. All she said in an airy voice over her shoulder was, “Have fuuuuun!”

Yang had just finished and reached to pick up the lotion to start in on the other foot when Summer said, “You can stop, you know.”

“What? No, it’s cool, I don’t mind.”

“Well, I mind.” Her voice had been hard, but when Yang flinched from its impact, she frowned. “It’s not… I didn’t mean that I don’t want to you to touch me because you’re ‘beneath’ me, or anything like that. Just that… you and I are still…” Another sigh, this one more discontented.

“I know,” she said, staring down at the two feet, one shining from lotion, the other not. “I’m sorry for… some of what I said. But hey, I figure… we both messed up, a little? And-”

“Stop. Just… yes, we have made mistakes, and disappointed each other, and I nearly hurt you in a way I regret deeply. We’ve covered that. All I was trying to say is that it’s not necessary for you to try ‘making nice’ with me when Ruby’s not in the room.”

The words hurt, though Yang fully understood why she was saying them. In the end, she opened the lotion and squeezed some into her hand.

“Listen. You’re kinda right, but… I mean, there’s no reason we can’t be nice to each other, I guess. And I seriously don’t mind. Like, maybe if you walked in here and told me to put lotion on you, I’d feel weird about it, but we were already doing a spa thing, right? So it’s like… no big.”

Summer merely stared at her. Yang didn’t dare start in again without her approval, so she sat there, as well. Then she shrugged and gestured for her to continue.

“That Ruby. I guess she was ordering us to have fun with this while she was gone. Trying to make everyone ‘happy’. I don’t know how I raised a daughter who’s that much sweeter than I am; must be her dad’s influence.”

“Oh, that,” Yang snorted as she shook her head. “Ehh… I think she meant something else. But like, maybe you’re right; maybe she just really wants us to get along.”

“What else could she have meant?” When Yang didn’t answer, feeling trapped by the things she could possibly say, Summer raised her other foot to nudge Yang’s shoulder. “That wasn’t a joke about you catching me sunbathing, was it? Or about…”

That was referring to the terrible near-miss of two mornings ago. Yang shook her head vigorously. “No, no, she’d never joke about that. But you know that. Um…” There was really no way out. “She’s just teasing me about something stupid.”

“Really? Maybe it’s not so stupid if she’s teasing you. My Ruby tends to be pretty perceptive.”

That definitely didn’t make Yang feel any better, or her cheeks any less hot. If Summer was right about that, then she was really in trouble! She’d feel even stupider if Ruby hadn’t meant anything like this, after all, but she had a feeling it was the same old subject.

“For some reason,” she said as she massaged a little harder, “she got it into her head that I’m into this certain thing. And she’s wrong, but the more she teases me about it, the more embarrassed I feel.”

At the tail end of a long groan, Summer asked, “What kind of thing? Is this about the comic shop?”

“Not that kind of thing. Like…” Grunting in annoyance, she blurted, “She thinks I’m into feet. And I’m not! Like, never have been, and I don’t get that as being a thing, so… I don’t know why she keeps teasing me!”

“Really?” Summer asked. She was quiet for a moment, and Yang was sure she was about to get some kind of lecture, or a disgusted noise. At first, she managed to keep up the massage, but her movements halted when she realised there was no further response. She finally looked up to see that her stepmother was just watching her, patiently waiting for a reply.

“Y-yes. I don’t even know how it started; she just kinda asked if I liked hers out of nowhere, and I didn’t say ‘no’ fast enough, and ever since then…”

A low “Mmm” as the woman mulled that over. Yang couldn’t help noticing that she seemed to be flexing her toes back and forth a little more than she had been before. “Well, I don’t understand that being a ‘thing’, either, but I do know it’s pretty common. Meaning it’s the fetish you hear about most often, not that everyone has it, of course.”

“But she can’t give me a thing just by like, mentioning it, can she?! That’s crazy!”

“I don’t know how that works,” Summer laughed. When Yang just ducked her head and began kneading faster, she relaxed into the sensation. “Ooh… but I do know I’m enjoying this. You have a gift there.”

At first, Yang didn’t answer. She was too busy trying to ignore the near-sexual noises coming from the older woman, the wriggling of little appendages from between her thumbs and fingers. For a minute or so, that was all that happened; massaging lotion into skin. Even if Yang was completely mortified that Summer knew about this unwelcome insistence of Ruby’s.

Then Summer finally whispered, “I think that’s good.” When Yang blinked up at her, she elaborated, “The lotion. Massaging me. It felt wonderful, but I think you’ve done your job. You could move on to the nail polish.”

“O-oh. Sorry, I wasn’t- yeah, I’ll get on that.” But while she was fetching the bottles, she got another question that sidetracked her.

“Do you like my feet?”

“What? Uh… sure.” No sense saying otherwise.

“Tell me,” Summer asked, voice carefully neutral as she raised a toe to push into Yang’s nose. This time, it stayed there. “Don’t worry about the answer, about making me feel disgusted, or what Ruby would think. What would you do with them right now if you had no consequences?”

That sounded familiar. Ruby had done much the same when she first wanted to give her a hug, but had been suppressing the instinct. Though she couldn’t believe she had any such instincts in this area in the first place! “Um, I’d do nothing with them.” No answer. She forced herself to do as Summer asked and be as honest as she could. “Like, massaging them for you was nice, and um, I’m glad it helped you relax, but… I don’t need to do anything weird, alright? It’s all good.”

“I won’t tell Ruby,” she promised, a hand up as if taking an oath. “This is just for your benefit, to check in with yourself. You can do whatever you want with one or both of my feet. No thinking, just answer quickly: what would you do?”

Clearly, Summer wanted there to be more to this. Or at least for her not to blow off the question. Her mind flicked back to Ruby finishing up her own toenails a little while earlier. It was the first thing she could think of, so she used that. “Kiss them?”

“There,” Summer said with an encouraging smile, just like a lot of her elementary school teachers wore. That did nothing to make her feel less embarrassed, but at least she felt a tiny stirring of pride that she had pleased an elder; it helped balance out her shame. “See? That wasn’t so bad. Now, is there anywhere special you’d want to kiss?”

The woman’s foot was still in front of Yang’s face. Did she want a demonstration? Hoping to get it over with, she leaned down and kissed the bottoms of Summer’s middle toes. It felt fine, not like anything special… but the whole situation was still driving her insane.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d really…” But her words cut off with a slight sigh. “Mmm… you’re too sweet. Makes me feel even worse that I tried to trap you; I clearly was very mistaken about what kind of girl you are, Yang. I apologise.”

“N-no big,” Yang insisted as she unscrewed the nail polish, still blushing like mad. “You were trying to protect Ruby, and I get it. Like, I want that, too.”

“We can agree on that, at least.” As she watched Yang get to work, she asked, “Did you think about kissing my toes before I asked at all?”

Shaking her head, she held the foot still so she could do a decent job, trying to balance the open bottle between two fingers at the same time. “Nah. Just that they were pretty. I’ve never wanted to do anything to feet in my whole life, I swear.”

“But you thought mine were pretty? Well, thank you.” Cursing herself for the slight slip of honesty, Yang tried to refocus on the task at hand. “Odd as it is to have them kissed, I can’t pretend I don’t appreciate a compliment like that.” After a few more seconds, she changed the subject very slightly. “And the massage. You have very skilled hands.”

“Thanks,” she snorted. “Comes from giving my mom foot and shoulder massages after work some days. Sometimes it helps her be less crabby.”

“Lucky woman. Tai does that for me on occasion while we’re watching TV, but not terribly often.” After a few seconds, she suddenly offered, “I always wondered what the true reason was for Tai and her splitting up… he always just told me it was ‘personality compatibility issues’, but I also thought it might be something a bit deeper that he didn’t want to burden me with. But I suppose it’s none of my business.”

Shrugging off the darker subjects, Yang painted more furiously as she said, “Dunno. Mom hates talking about it, and I figure Dad does almost as much. But I’d be lying if I said you’re anywhere near the raging bitch she can be most of the time, so… probably mostly what he said.”

Around when Summer was still nodding, not having expected a much different answer, Ruby returned with a mischievous little grin. “How did we do?”

“Fine,” Summer told her with a smirk of her own. “Yang is painting my attractive toes.”

As she sat down, Ruby whispered, “Is that what she called them?”

“No, it isn’t. And you should stop trying to give poor Yang a complex she doesn’t already have!”

“You told on me?!” Ruby gasped, and Yang rolled her eyes. It was almost as bad that Summer told on Yang, but it was a minor detail by this point; the cat was already out of the bag. “Aww, but I wasn’t trying to do that! I just think she already has one, and I thought if I-”

“Well, it wasn’t very nice. Yang looked horrified at having to admit what you were talking about. I wound up teasing her without really meaning to, and I feel like I have done enough of that for one week.”

Seeing that Ruby was starting to look chagrined, Yang felt obligated to step in. “Hey, it’s no big deal. Pretty much, I just kissed her toes, and then we went on with painting.”

However, that had been the wrong thing to do. Ruby’s eyebrows shot up and she whispered, “What? Really? So I was right!”

“No, you weren’t! She just, like… we were talking about it…” However, the more she tried to rationalise the kiss, the less she found she could. All she had to tell Summer was that she didn’t want to do anything and stick to saying that; why had she said she wanted to kiss them?

“I talked her into it,” Summer covered for her, patting Ruby’s arm. “When she told me what you’ve been doing to get a rise out of her. And I wouldn’t have told you about that part, because I promised.” Now Yang felt stupid for having volunteered that information on her own. “Though I have to admit, she’s very good with feet; mine have never felt better.”

A few seconds passed as Yang blew on the red paint, trying to distract herself by doing her “job” for the moment. The more they talked about her and this topic, the more aware she was of how close she was to Ruby’s mother’s admittedly-pretty toes, handling them, staring at them. When had she started thinking of them as “pretty”?! It wasn’t something she had expected to ever care that much about.

“Well, I’m jealous,” Ruby said with a pout that Yang could hear as pretend, so she felt no need to stop and address it. “I’ve been trying to get her to kiss mine for a while.”

“Dude!” she half-laughed as she finally did look up. “I was just chewing on yours a minute ago!”

That made Summer raise her eyebrows. “Wow. And you were acting like I was making some kind of breakthrough with helping you figure that out, and you’re already nibbling on Ruby’s feet? I feel used.”

Gulping, she glanced between the two play-glaring women. “Wait… no, that wasn’t- when I did it to Ruby, I was making fun of how much she keeps saying I want to… I’m not really-”

“I think you should kiss mine now,” Ruby needled her as she pushed her feet into Yang’s face. Though Yang shrugged it off at first, she was insistent. “Come on! Just so we’re even!”

“How is that even?” she complained. But in the end, she could find no reason not to, so she gave the toes a quick kiss. Ruby switched feet, so she kissed those, as well. “There. Now leave me alone so we can finish?”

“Not quite even,” Summer insisted, raising her other foot that had been neglected before. Knowing that she was blushing worse than she ever had in her life, Yang kissed those toes, and she smiled evenly down at her. This time, she was definitely trying not to laugh at her, but she was also smiling fondly. Being able to play around like this was a positive step, even if it was a little odd.

“Hers probably taste old,” Ruby remarked, earning her a little elbow-nudge from her mother.

“They taste like lotion,” Yang snorted, blowing on the paint to make sure it was completely dry. As she grabbed for the topcoat, she got another faceful of Ruby’s feet, so she rolled her eyes and grunted, “WHAT?!”

“I just want more kisses. No reason.”

“Okay, okay, but then I have to put on the topcoat.” So she gave Ruby’s soles a few kisses, and she listened to the two of them chuckle. As she started giving the paint job a protective layer, she asked, “Why is it so funny to you, huh?”

“Because you should probably just tell us ‘no’,” Ruby was cackling, letting Yang finish up. “But you’re not. It’s funny that you don’t think you have a thing.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, either way,” Summer told her daughter stubbornly, and Ruby nodded her agreement, though she looked a little reluctant to part with her source of entertainment. When Yang finished, she sighed and looked at her handiwork. “Alright… yes, I do think that will work nicely. Do you like them better painted or unpainted? Tai is a fan of unpainted.”

That had Yang curling her lip, and Ruby gasping, “DAD, TOO?!”

“No, not like that,” she snickered. “He just says that painted, they look ‘strange’; that’s it. Though it would be funny if it was a hereditary kink.”

“I don’t have a kink!” Yang tried to protest, but they ignored her. Actually, they didn’t; she would have preferred that. As if in direct response, one of them pressed a foot each into Yang’s face to silence her. And it worked; she instantly slapped her lips shut to keep from accidentally nibbling one or both of the soles.

“Ooh, look how lucky you are,” Ruby was cooing as she flexed her toes against Yang’s lip. “You’re the only girl to ever have both Rose women’s feet in her face at the same time!”

She was. And unbelievably… that knowledge, along with the whole of everything that had gone on before, was starting to turn her on. She hadn’t been aware of it up until that point; only that she was flustered. But by this point, the sheer absurdity of the moment paired with the soft sensation, plus the taboo of a mother-and-daughter combo, was affecting her libido in a way she REALLY didn’t appreciate. She’d been afraid that they would stink, but Ruby’s didn’t smell like much of anything, and Summer’s smelled like the fruit-based lotion and the acrid aroma of polish. Without that worry, it was somehow...

Nice?

“I think she’s enjoying this,” Summer remarked, as if they were watching a vaguely interesting documentary. But when Yang’s eyes flashed down and to one side, she frowned. “Yang, are you alright?”

“It’s fine,” Yang said gruffly, then winced at how annoyed she sounded. They weren’t doing anything that bad, really. “Just… you don’t have to laugh s-so much, I guess.”

“Yang is getting woody from the footies,” Ruby snorted. But Summer’s elbow quieted her. “What? I was just kidding. Yang knows I’m kidding.”

“I don’t think she does. And even so, clearly she’s having a little trouble with this, so we shouldn’t tease. Unless…” There was a slight smirk that had been absent for a while. “She likes the teasing, too.”

When Summer’s other foot drifted down to push into her erection through her shorts, Yang had to flinch very slightly. That seemed to be enough. Ruby glanced between them, then cautiously lowered her other foot to do the same, next to her mother’s on its other side. “Ooh… maybe she does.”

“Mmhh,” Yang couldn’t prevent herself from sighing anymore, rolling her hips into the slight contact. It held fast. They couldn’t be serious. How could they be right at home with doing this together?! Even for one person, it was a strange thing to do, much less as a mother-daughter team!

“Good God,” Summer breathed. For the first time since she had seen her on the deck, she looked flustered and aroused - without being angry the way she was that morning she tried to trap her. “I had no idea when we started that this would…”

“Mom?” Ruby whispered; of course Yang could hear her, but she was trying to keep her voice down. “Is this weird for us to… y’know… at the same time?”

“No weirder than anything else from this week. But… I am starting to think we should rethink this.” Drawing her toes back a few inches, she dipped her head lower to catch Yang’s gaze. “What would you like us to do? We can stop at anytime.”

“Um… y-yeah,” she whispered, though she was still thrusting against their feet below. “It’s kind of… intense, but I think I’m gonna lose my mind if this actually keeps going.”

“Alright. That’s all we needed to know, sweetie.” That was distinctly more maternal than she had been a moment ago. The foot that had been grinding against her arousal patted her hip slightly in consolation.

“Sorry, Yang,” Ruby replied, taking the cue from her mom and lowering both of her feet at once. Their concern soothed her irritation, and she nodded. “Um… maybe we could put lotion on you? Or I could; Mom wants to get back to her sunbathing. Right, Mom?”

“Right,” she sighed as she scooted forward to slip her feet back into her flip-flops. “I should do that, yes.”

“Wait.” Catching the foot that had been on her face, Yang brought it up to inspect the nails. “Looks like you’re done, yeah.” Then she gave the top a little kiss before dropping it so she could leave. A small apology for overreacting to what was, after all, some simple teasing.

But it meant more than she intended to her stepmother. The woman paused to brush her hand over Yang’s hair. “You’re too sweet. Maybe if you keep that up, I’ll let you kiss my feet again tomorrow.” As she stood, she picked up her limeade and paced off to the deck. Honestly, Yang couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not.

Once the door was closed, Ruby sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around Yang. After a few seconds of wondering why she did that, she whispered, “I’m so sorry. Okay? I know I was teasing like, way too much, and then I got Mom doing it…”

“Yeah,” Yang agreed as she hugged back. “It’s not such a huge problem that you should feel bad, but like… I dunno, you went a little overboard. Maybe don’t do that again?”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated anyway, clinging tightly to her. “Mom said that, too, that I went too far. But like…” Clearing her throat, she said it in an almost fearful way. “You did kiss our feet… and I could tell it was turning you on. You could have come that way, right?”

Sighing, she tried to think of a way she could deny it. Ruby brushing over her bulge with one hand made that quite impossible. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with that whole thing. Especially both of you starting in at the same time, making fun of me. Why do you want me to like it so much?”

“I… huh. I really don’t know. I guess…” Ruby sat back on her legs, brow furrowed in thought for a moment. She hadn’t considered that very deeply, it seemed. “Well, it’s funny because they’re feet. Feet are funny to me, like butts. And I guess I also really liked what you said about liking all of me, but I figured that couldn’t be true. Like, maybe you don’t think I’m ugly anywhere, but that’s not the same thing as thinking like, my toes are sexy. My armpits are sexy, belly button. Weird stuff, right? So like…” A little shrug. “I guess I was testing you. Didn’t mean to be, though, I just wondered if I could tease you a little and find out whether or not you really did like my feet. And it was kinda funny to do, so that didn’t stop me. But I never meant to make you legit uncomfortable, I promise!”

That had taken a lot out of Ruby to think her way through her own actions, and she was being baldly honest. Yang knew she could do no less. “Yeah. I mean, I guess… I’ve never thought about feet like that before, and I haven’t been sure what you want me to do about it, anyway. Like, I started noticing your feet are cute the minute I got here, but before you started teasing me, that was it; like, you have a cute nose, too. But I don’t wanna fuck your nose!”

“Nah, I get you,” she giggled, reaching up to pet up and down Yang’s arm. At the same time, she crinkled her nose a little at the compliment. “Thinking something’s cute doesn’t mean you’re into doing stuff with it. Makes sense.”

“Good,” she sighed, running her hand through her bangs.

“Did you really like ‘em the moment you got here?”

Now it was right back to Yang feeling embarrassed. But Ruby’s expression was curious, no longer even remotely teasing or amused. That helped. “Y-yeah. Following you up the stairs, I didn’t want to look at your butt, so I looked at your feet… and they were cute, so it was only a little easier. Trust me when I say that staring at your ass would have been WAY worse, though.”

Ruby nodded. Then she whispered, “Yang?”

“What?”

“I really am sorry for being such a jerk about that. But… if you like my feet… it’s okay. Just makes me happy that you think so much of me is worth calling ‘cute’, okay? Nothing wrong with that.” As an afterthought, she added, “And my mom’s. Which is weird, but like, we’re already half-sisters so it seems pretty dumb of me to act grossed out by that.”

Rolling her eyes, Yang pulled her into a one-armed hug. “Dumbass. I’d really be fine if your mom stopped doing stuff like that sometime soon. Like, I’m not gonna miss it.”

“Whose feet are better?” When Yang only rolled her eyes in disgust, she pressed, “Which turned you on more?”

“Summer’s.”

“What?!”

“Well, I wasn’t expecting those!” Yang burst out in vague irritation, though she was smiling and blushing. “You’ve been bugging me with that for days, but I never expected your mom to do the same thing, okay?! I can’t help my reaction!”

Folding her arms over her chest, Ruby looked away in false offense. “Well, I’ll just have to step up my foot-game!”

“What does that even MEAN?!”

[dbarajas03-blog]

JESSICA JONES

Overcoming her difficult past, Jessica Jones works as one of the finest Private Investigators in New York City. Her firm, Alias Investigations, was born out of her unmatched street smarts and her personal drive for justice. Jessica is a skilled detective and investigative journalist. She an incredibly talented PI and her powers just add onto a really amazing character.

Powers and Abilities

After coming into contact with experimental chemicals and spending some time in a coma, Jessica emerged with superhuman abilities. She possesses superhuman strength, as well as flight, and can block mind control. She shows the capacity to lift a two-ton police car with little effort. Her strength allows her to lift up a giant-sized Goliath by the nostrils and toss him a short distance, break Atlas' nose, and render her fellow superheroine Jessica Drew unconscious with a single punch to the face. She later withstood being punched by a human on Mutant-Growth Hormone and sustained only mild bruising and a bloody nose and was able to recover in moments after being shocked by Jessica Drew's venom blasts. Despite this resistance to harm, Jessica sustained severe injuries, including a damaged spine and neck, a detached retina, and a broken nose after being attacked by both the Vision and Iron Man. Jessica is also able to fly, and while she was able to fly quite well during her early years as a heroine, she has admitted that her flying ability degenerated while she was no longer an active hero. She has since displayed improved flying ability after joining the New Avengers. After her ordeal at the hands of the Purple Man (Killgrave), Jessica was given a degree of psionic protection by Jean Grey of the X-Men. This psionic protection was sufficient to protect Jessica against a second attack by the Purple Man, though she had to "trigger" this resistance on her own. This instance was in the Netflix series show “Jessica Jones” when Jessica learned, as time progressed, to deal with Kilgrave's mind control, by making her willpower stronger and able to block out his power.

Bio

In the comic series, Midtown High student Jessica Campbell goes to school with Peter Parker, on whom she has a crush and is present when he is bitten by the irradiated spider which gives him his spider powers. Jessica's father receives tickets for Disney World from his boss Tony Stark. On the way home, their car collides with a military convoy carrying radioactive chemicals. Her family is killed, and she spends several months in a coma. Upon waking, she is placed in an orphanage and adopted by the Jones family. Jessica later discovers that her radiation exposure granted her super strength, limited invulnerability, and flight. Jessica's adoptive parents re-enroll her at Midtown High, where she is ostracized by her classmates, especially Flash Thompson. Peter Parker (who has since become Spider-Man) senses in Jessica a kindred spirit—someone who has also lost her family due to a tragic circumstance. Jessica mistakes his kind attention for pity and lashes out at him. She later witnesses a fight between Spider-Man and the villain Sandman in her school. This inspires her to use her abilities for positive ends. As Jewel, Jones has a fairly uneventful superhero career until she intervenes in a disturbance at a restaurant involving Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man. Killgrave uses his power of mind control to place Jones under his command, psychologically torturing her and forcing her to aid his criminal schemes. After Killgrave sends her to kill Daredevil at the Avengers Mansion, Jones is rescued by Carol Danvers, the only Avenger who actually knows her. Jones undergoes psychic therapy with Jean Grey of the X-Men, who places a special mental command in Jones's subconscious to protect her from further mind control. During this time, Jones develops a brief romantic relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clay Quartermain. Due to the traumatic violation of her mind by Killgrave and the fact that she was barely noticed missing for eight months, a demoralized and depressed Jones gives up her costumed superhero life. She briefly adopts a darker identity as the Knightess and interrupts a crime meeting between the Owl and a mafioso, through which she meets up with fellow superhero Luke Cage. After defeating the Owl, she and Cage develop a lasting friendship. No longer a superhero, Jones opens a private detective agency. Longtime friend Carol Danvers sets Jones up with Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man), and the two date for several months. She also has an off-and-on affair with Cage. Killgrave, still obsessed with Jones, escapes from high-security incarceration, but with the mental defenses Grey gave her, Jones breaks his control and subsequently beats him to death.[11] Later, Cage and Jones admit their feelings for each other, and after she becomes pregnant with their child, they begin a committed relationship.

Significance

Jessica Jones is an amazing character in the Marvel series in my opinion and has all going for her. She is a very relatable character as she deals with real-life problems such as alcoholism, poor living conditions in the slums of New York, and family issues. These type of problems are very common in real life. So, for a superhero to be dealing with such problems and saving the day makes the superhero very well-respected as an icon. What I mean by that is when a hero deals with things that a regular person would deal with, it makes the person like the hero more. In addition, since her intelligence is very high, she doesn’t even need her powers to be a successful private investigator. Her powers just make her job easier to deal with homicidal maniacs like Kilgrave or other villains. She is practically a hero with or without her powers. Though she points out from time to time that she does not believe she is a superhero, this has to do with her nature as a person. With her troubled past, she grew up dealing with a lot and went to alcohol to numb the pain like some people today dealing with their individual struggles. She believes that she does not fit the hero type qualities, so she is more portrayed as an anti-hero. Even though anti-hero characters are not very popular due to their personality being very dark or too violent, however, Jessica Jones does not really fit this profile. She succumbs to being or acting very blunt or violent but it is usually to protect the ones she cares about. I think Jessica Jones is underrated and was not very popular before being introduced into the Netflix series, because she was seen in the comics as a very normal hero. I think people thought the character with the most powers and coolest looking were the best, but I do believe people are starting to appreciate backstory more and the overall quality of the hero. Which is why Jessica Jones makes a great addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will continue to look awesome.

References:

https://www.marvel.com/characters/jessica-jones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Jones

[ourrvroadtrips]

Heading to the Ozarks: Part 1-Avoiding a Hurricane (Again)

We are obsessed with the Netflix show Ozark so after watching the 1st episode we decided we would take a trip to Lake of the Ozarks. After much planning we set out on Friday September 14. But only after we spent a wonderful Rosh Hashannah with G et al, had several FAN meetings, broke my big toe (actually the break was the least of it) and watched countless hours of coverage of Hurricane Michael.

First stop was Disney for E2’s first trip to the Magic Kingdom. She (and we) had a ball! D’s family was all there too. (E2’s had her picture taken on Sunday with her mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great great grandmother- the real reason for the trip to Orlando). E2 loved the teacups, Dumbo, the carousel- pretty much anything we put her on. But by far her favorite was Small World better known as the dolly ride (as E calls it). She was a little young to have any idea who Minnie was but she really seemed to have a great time. And I got to be pushed around the park in a wheelchair- weirdly last time we were there with the Fs I was in a wheelchair as well! We had a great site at Fort Wilderness and they all stayed at the 4 Seasons which has a pool area that puts the Beach Club’s to shame.

After much deliberation (and more hours of Michael coverage) we decided to leave on Sunday and head a little south of Atlanta so that we had access to 81, 85 and 95 to head up to M. Michael had hit around Savannah on Saturday and then stalled dropping tremendous amount of rain on North and South Carolina. It was still raining on Sunday and no one was sure how far inland Michael would go. There was tremendous flooding and a lot of 95 was closed. And basically they were saying to just stay out of North Carolina.

We had an uneventful drive up to Forsyth GA and pulled into a KOA for what we hoped would only be 1 night. It was old but pleasant and when we checked in we noticed there was a part of the office that was being used to make pizza. We asked about it and the woman told us there were 5 pizza places in town but a lot of people came to them for the pizza. We were tired and hungry so we decided to order a pie and some wings. They told us not to wait- it would be delivered in about 25 minutes. Sure enough, we had just gotten hooked up and settled in when there was a knock on the door and there was our pizza. And it wasn’t bad! In fact it was good enough that we decided to order a 2nd to keep in the freezer. Really weird experience! While we wouldn’t seek out KOAs this one convinced us that they can be a resonable alternative for a night. And this one in particular is a good stopping point for any future trips to Blackberry Farms!

Monday morning had better news for us. Michael had pretty much dissipated as a hurricane and while there was still a lot of rain it was heading north not west. We really didn’t want to take 81 up and 95 was still closed so we figured we would try 85. We knew we could head over to 81 from several spots if flooding was an issue that far inland. We were very nervous (DOT still said don’t go into North Carolina due to major flooding) but it seemed like we would be able to stay south of the weather and nothing was being said about closures on 85. Traffic was light (people were still not being allowed back into evacuated areas) but there were a lot of trucks which we took as a good sign. We crossed into North Carolina without any mishap and while we hit a few heavy downpours we were basically able to stay behind the rain. We thought about staying outside of Releigh but neither of us wanted to be in North Carolina longer than necessary so we kept driving. Very happy to cross the border into Virginia! We needed nourishment so we stopped at a Golden Corral in Petersburg VA. We chatted with the guy that was taking the money and he said he lived about 30 minutes due east and right after he left for work a tornado came through and someone had been killed. Sure enough we heard about it on the news the next day. We always laughed that if there was a tornado somewhere it would find the trailer park- but since we got the RV we have driven up north 3 times that we were within ½ an hour from a tornado and we’ve dealt with 2 hurricanes. Makes me nervous to head out to the Midwest!

After gorging ourselves and taking quite a bit of cotton candy to go we decided to keep on driving (we were only 25 minutes south of Richmond) and stay at the Walmart in Fredericksburg. We really wanted to be as far from flooding as possible and we wanted to get to M’s the next day without too much of a drive so that we could all have dinner together before the Yom Kippur fast began.

Got to Manassas Tuesday morning and parked sticking out far enough that we wouldn’t get stuck again. The ground was so saturated that there was no way we could get the gravel done- we’ll do it in the spring.

Had a great time with M and the kids! M and I drove the kids up to NJ for two nights while R stayed in DC watching football and playing the piano. V is a lot of fun and really gets excited to see us and of of course we love spending time with E. We spent 10 days with them and were really sorry to leave but excited for the next leg of the trip.

[mollyjoycupcake]

9/3/2018

Things have been quite a ride since I last wrote here. 

I did manage to survive the spring semester, if that is what you are wondering. I had to drop calc and physics, and take a medical withdrawal for linear algebra, but I ended up passing intro to engineering, engineering success, computer science, and latin sol immersion. Although I did make it through the semester, I am afraid it was to my detriment. Forcing myself to go through that simply wasn’t worth the sacrifice of my mental health. I’m fairly certain that I walked away with some trauma, both from specific events but also as a general effect of the constant, drawn out stress. I never quite got used to the noise at the apartment (I found out why, which is what I’ll talk about later), and I never quite made any friends, with the exception of Taksha. Although I was somewhat proud to finish my classes, I was much too drained to really appreciate that I had made it. And, of course, any positive emotion I would have felt was taken away by the unexpected news that VR wouldn’t cover rent during the summer (which I wasn’t aware of, nor was prepared for). So, because I couldn’t come up with $1,000 in rent in two weeks, I went back to Santa Fe to stay with Shawn. 

Although our relationship had almost completely fallen apart over the spring semester, returning to Santa Fe was an attractive (and probably my only) option at the time. My parents had moved out of their house to a campsite in June, rendering themselves technically homeless. I was at a negative balance both emotionally and financially, so I figured a familiar and low-key place would do me good. To this day, I’m not certain if it was really the best choice, because these past few months have been incredibly difficult. But, I guess it makes no sense to dwell on it. Just need to find a solution and move on. 

In June, after we took a trip to Florida and Disney World, I started modeling by being a part of Santa Fe Fashion Week’s runway show. I simply sent the director a DM and he put me in the show. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. After that, in late June through July, I then began working in background for television shows in New Mexico. I was featured background as a “cheerleader” and “high school student” for the new netflix show Chambers, background for Midnight Texas, and background for Messiah. I also had a small acting role in Midnight Texas as a ghost witch. I think I may get IMDB credit for it.  In late July/early August I began a 4 week job as a stand in for the main actress in a movie for Netflix called Walk Ride Rodeo. I also appeared in the background in several scenes as a nurse, a patient, and rodeo-goer. The hours were long and hard and I struggled to get through it. It was 5 days a week, for about 14 hours a day. I made decent money, but the exhaustion and the lack of free time made it hard to be worth it. Once that movie was over, I moved on to some more modeling with the RD3 Elite fashion show, and then I attended two casting calls. On one casting call, I was hired on the spot to do photos for the covers of romance novels. I am still waiting to hear back on the other one, so cross your fingers. If I get it, I will be part of a traveling fashion show out of LA (and it’s paid). Although all these experiences would be exciting for anyone, I have a hard time even feeling anything due to my mental state. It’s frustrating because I would like to appreciate it, but I can’t seem to right now. 

Aside from those activities, my summer has been relatively uneventful. I have struggled to get through every day. It has been hard to process all the traumas from the spring semester. Things with Shawn have been rocky, which is both a cause and effect of my perpetuated mood issues. I finally decided to seek help during the last week of August, when I couldn’t stop crying all week. I think the long hours on the movie finally broke me down. I decided to go to the ER to be evaluated. They had me stay overnight and I spoke to a few counselors and psychiatrists. We agreed that a likely cause for my symptoms was the Nexplanon implant, so we made a plan to get it removed at the women’s clinic the following week. The doctor also got me in to see a reputable psychiatrist the next week, who formally diagnosed me with PTSD (as opposed to the typical depression/anxiety diagnosis I was given previously). I started two new medications that are supposed to address PTSD specifically, so I am hopeful that it will be effective. I also did get my Nexplanon removed, but because I was so anxious and the implant was very deep, I had to be given Xanax and Oxycodone to get through the procedure. I think seeing that finally seeing that bloody thing in the tweezers in the doctor’s hand was one of the most relieving moments of my life! It is still too soon to tell if the removal of the nexplanon plus the addition of the drugs has helped me very much (its been less than a week), but statistical information has me hopeful.  

The biggest thing on my plate right now (aside from healing from PTSD) is now deciding whether or not to return to ASU or become a resident of New Mexico. Both situations have ample pros and cons. At ASU I would be closer to my family, and I would have the climate that I want. I also have a nagging suspicion that if my symptoms get under control, a lot of personal growth could occur there (at least, in the way I want it to). Also, there is something to be said about the youthful and vibrant culture that surrounds Tempe. However, staying in New Mexico could be good as well. There are several schools to choose from that are all reputable and more affordable than ASU. It is also less populated and therefore more peaceful out here. I would also remain close to Shawn, which is good if we decide to remain together. New Mexico also has a lot of modeling and film industry, as well as two national labs, so if I want, I do have a successful double life as a STEM person as well as an entertainment person. Additionally, the medicare in New Mexico has much better coverage and includes dental and vision (which AZ medicare lacks), so if I get medicare here, I can get my broken tooth fixed, which could save me a few thousand dollars. As you can see, both options seem fairly attractive. There are many cons to each option, however. For ASU, they are kind of obvious: if I can’t get my symptoms under control, I will end up overwhelmed just like the spring semester. It is also very busy and chaotic, which may simply may not be the best for me, regardless of mental health. I would also be far away from Shawn, which would really strain the relationship, as well as my emotional state, and could end up forcing us to split. I would also need to know exactly which major to pursue in order to secure VR funding, and there is no guarantee that the funding will be enough to guarantee a comfortable existence, due to the rising costs and the lowering funds available from VR. As far as New Mexico goes, by staying here I would be far away from my family. Although my family does stress me out sometimes, I do like to be close to them so that we can be there for each other (especially now, as things are stressful for all of us). I am also not entirely sure if I like UNM  or Albuquerque yet. There is also the fact that if I get residency here (in order to get medicaid and such) I would lose my AZ residency and VR funding, which would make it very difficult to return to ASU if I change my mind. I am not quite sure if I am comfortable with cutting the AZ ties just yet. Another fear I have about staying in NM is, what if Shawn and I end up splitting anyway? It would be extremely difficult to live in the same town if we were no longer together. Just the thought of potentially seeing him with someone else tears me apart. 

In general, this is a very huge decision. I would be lying if I said I felt equipped to handle such a major life decision. I have a difficult enough time deciding what drink to order at Starbucks (even though I always get the same thing), so deciding where I want to live and study for the next two years is extremely overwhelming. I am very distressed by it. Part of me just wants to be a kid again so I don’t have to be burdened by all these thoughts. I am far too aware, and worried of, all the implications that come with each possible route. All of this, combined with the fact that I don’t have much money, makes things seem impossible. I can’t even pay rent right now, so how could I possibly decide where to settle in for school? Do I even want to go to school any more? Do I even have a choice? Maybe I should run away and travel the world. But without money? Maybe I should just drop out and work and make lots of money. But how? And with what mental health? I guess the only place I can start is by listing my basic needs, which would need to be fulfilled regardless of location, and then selecting location based on what would be best suited for my needs.

As far as I know my needs include: healthcare coverage, adequate mental health/psychiatric support, friends, access to high calibur dance training, proximity to family, proximity to shawn, access to further STEM exploration and employment, a low stress living environment, quiet home, either living alone or with good roommates, a degree program that is fun and not too stressful, opportunities in modeling and entertainment, a structured schedule that allows for creative expression and self care.  I would type more, but my brain fog is starting to set in (along with a headache). 

Hopefully I will be able to reach a decision soon. Perhaps I am struggling because I am attempting to intuit a decision instead of making hard, conscious choices for myself. I’ve always preferred going with my gut, because I am terrified of making a conscious decision that ends up going wrong. I would rather blame god than blame myself.