#so seeing that Nick has a very keen eye and is very observant kind of ticks him off even though he is just the same. so maybe that’s why

[charcherry-weekly]

Charcherry Weekly - Issue 198

Hello everyone, Mage of Light Nick Card here! Though this newsletter has been going for a few years online, it is finally getting a hopefully permanent physical publication run! Now let's get to the news!

Mother's Day

On sunday, mother's day was observed. Though many of the dungeon crashers no longer have mothers, some of them have taken up the matron mantle in one way or another, and have been honored on that day. A particularly notable mom, Page of Mind Samm, had a visit from her many distant children, as well as a sparring match with one of them. Most other moms did not report such exciting activities.

Scarab City Elections

It has been announced earlier today that Scarab City on Neo Alternia will hold its first city-wide election (the only city on neo alternia so far), though the exact date has yet to be given. Regardless, a number of political alliances have formed, based upon various consolidated social groups found in Scarab City. The following information was compiled by a trusted intermediary government official:

Reformers

Broadest alliance, potentially the biggest, as so many people had issues with the old way of doing things.

They all agree that the current situation needs to be changed, but not on what it should become.

Subgroups include:

those who are against caste being important or even being on the ballot (they may persuade this alliance to go full hemoanon on the ballot, keep an eye out!)

rebels against the old system with psionics that would have been used and abused by the old system

planners for the future, and want more trolls brought over.

those who support HER (to a weird degree), and see her goals of reforming as something to support since she supports it.

The thing is keep an eye on is how various intra-alliance between different mindsets form, and how that will affect the coherent platform, if any.

Traditionalists

Another broad alliance, however a smaller one, albeit with more pre-election resources and power.

Subgroups include:

those who want to keep the system as it was

those who want higher-caste trolls to have more powers

those who support the empress as a position, but not what HER is doing.

They are most likely to lose existing power due to this election.

Majority

Name is a bit odd, to explain: their mindset is that Rust bloods are technically the majority in terms of population, and so should have a majority of power.

Not part of the reformers, because the reformers want to equalize things, whereas Majority want to turn the tables. Bronzes and Golds aren't very keen on that.

Followers

Supporters of the cult of the sufferer who see democracy as a way to spread their word.

Clowns

Clown church had power before, but risks losing power in a democracy. Don't really get along with others.

Reportedly a number of speeches and rallies have begun being held across the city already, but the campaigning period is likely to continue for a while, especially considering that the people of Scarab City are quite new to democratic practices. Coverage will continue.

Evolutionary stones in microwave

The other night, Rogue of Heart Charles reportedly began conducting science experiments using his microwave on a number of pokemon evolution-inducing stones. It should be said that these tests should not be performed at home, as they are highly dangerous. Charles is a highly trained scientist with ample safety equipment on hand in case of disaster. The Microwave that had the moon stone ended up imploding for currently unknown reasons while being microwaved.

Classified ads

I am looking for anyone interested in teaming with me in Dawnsring's Light League.

Also, I've got a 1M credit bounty for some proper fighter/team branding if anyone does that kind of contract work. Contact spiritoftheHunt for details.

Seeking experts in running elections, as well as business auditors willing to work with trainee auditors. Please contact +A437 in Neo Alternia if you are interested.

Do you want an ad here? Contact lavenderSiren to get an ad for whatever. If you don’t write it yourself, you risk the newsletter writer writing it instead, do be warned.

This week’s known market stands in Desertia Town:

DTA train ticket stand

Katie’s potion stand (Not available to plitlanders due to regulations, available to all others however)

shinyjiggly pokesnacks stand

Samm's noodle stand

Brae's produce stall:

- Potted vegetables

- Jarred vegetables

- Various jams

- Hisuian herbs (medicinal leek, pep-up plant, king's leaf)

tea set stand

bubble bath stand

That should hopefully do it. Apparently flamin' hot cheeto infused pancakes actually taste kinda good? who knew! Stay safe out there.

https://letssosl.boards.net/post/8342/thread

[zodiacs-web]

hi enlightened person, how are you? I would like to apply for Record of Ragnarok (more specifically, Buddha,Shiva,Zerofuku,Hares And Hades. with a human(woman) who is a famous empress/queen/warrior who is very well known.more, despite being an exceptional swordswoman, she is very kind and shy. I apologize for any mistakes, English is not my mother tongue and Google is not 100% reliable. God bless you and have a nice day!

Shy Queen Hcs

𖥔 Buddha/Shiva/Zerofuku/Hermes x Fem!Reader

𖥔 What's in the web: Established relationships, fluff, implied romance

𖥔 A/n: Sorry if it took too long. Have a good day as well!

Buddha

Despite everything about your outer appearance blaring danger from all corners, Buddha holds no fear as he approaches you. Only for you to stutter on your words when he makes a conversation. He only watches in delight that some tough looking girl is shy, what a sight to see.

Very patient with you and sometimes likes to tease you. Of course he switches from the two from time to time, but overall he's very fond of your presence. He learned that you have someone who speaks for you when it comes to official business unless it requires you to speak.

Doesn't necessarily want to spar with you unless he's bored or gets curious about your swordsmanship. He hasn't met any Queens in his time that can pull off stunts that you can so it entices him to learn more about you. To get closer.

Your still shy around him, but don't mind having a conversation with him. As time draws near your fight, you can help but feel a bit sad. But don't worry, Buddha assures you that you'll win your fight and come right back to him.

Shiva

He is very on edge having this blaring danger walk up to him yet laugh at how shy you are when initiating conversation. Stuttering on your words and looking away in fear as he watches with a smirk on his face.

Eyeing every piece of jewel that twinkles adorned on your clothes. He realizes you were a queen right off the bat asking questions like how you became a queen, how you knocked competitors off. Will definitely try to get you to be more confident and beat other people's asses.

Very loving as in teasing you every second he has saying it's to build confidence yet he's thriving off your pout. It takes you a while to open up but now he's learned how good of a swordsman you are. Asking to watch you train so that maybe one day both of you can go at it and maybe defend himself against armed foes.

Your a bit more relaxed with him yet still not keen on conversations. You love spending your time with him and so does he. So, when it is time for your fight he's right there watching and making sure that your alive so he can be near you once more.

Zerofuku

Ah Zerofuku! When he first met you, he was terrified to say the least but when he saw you in your state his fear turned to compassion. He was kind enough to direct you where you needed to be.

He likes spending time with you, going to little shops in villages and stopping at food stands. Playing games and wondering off to meet with different people. He loves interacting with different people and he enjoys doing it with you.

Gets interested watching you train, he sometimes can't keep up with your moves and has to ask what you did afterwards. Decorates your sword with all sorts of nick knacks that has you overjoyed.

He likes hugging you every second he can get and often praises you for your kindness. Has little brother energy that you can't help but be overprotective of him. Your grateful to have him by your side even if he's much farther away from you, his grace will never leave.

Hermes

Very observant to say the least. Wasn't one bit afraid of you but was interested in the attire you wore. So when he realized you were shy he actually took his time with you and directed you where you needed to go.

His interest in you grew when he realized that the shy you was a queen. Leading him wonder how you managed to gain that position considering your time was rough. He loves praising you when you retell your story of you came to be.

Loves your flustered state and often teases you when training. At first he wanted to analyze your movement and swordsmanship yet turned into seeing if you can focus on your training if he was throwing compliments left and right. You could not.

You've come to be a bit more relaxed when he's around. Never shying away from his grace and passion to be near you. Often tries to boost your confidence. He just adores you and that won't stop him from his teasing. Even during your match, he'll be supporting you in secret.

[missjosie27]

Year 2 Part 3: A Bit of Transfiguration

Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait on the update. This is the next part of the story I am currently writing and I hope you all continue to enjoy!

The next day proved difficult to focus on Transfiguration with Ben in the Hospital Wing. Though David, Penny, and Tonks had been sworn to secrecy, somehow rumor still spread around the school of his absence. Not to mention he wasn’t sure if he was going to avoid punishment for being caught after hours, however, he was pretty sure Merula hadn’t let the general populace that he had beat her again in a duel.

Despite these distractions, he still managed to be only one of two students (the other was a red haired Ravenclaw girl he didn’t know) to properly transfigure his porcupine into a pincushion, much to the delight of Professor McGonagall.

“Very good, Mr. Grant,” she praised after asking him to perform the spell for her. “You are quite the natural in this subject. Five points to Gryffindor.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Indeed, you are one of the more gifted students at Transfiguration I’ve seen in some time,” she added. “If you are interested, we may explore more advanced lessons.”

“I’ll consider it for sure.”

McGonagall gave a curt nod. “Alright, that’s enough for today. Class dismissed.”

The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws began shuffling out and for a moment David thought he had successfully avoided the subject of last night. Alas, he was wrong.

“Mr. Grant, do stay. There is a matter we need to discuss.”

Rowan gave him an encouraging look to try and make him feel better, but though his head of house was fairer than Snape he knew she would not let him off easy. Running a hand through his dark brown hair, he decided it was best to face the music.

He walked over to her desk while the others vacated the room and soon he was staring face to face into her stern, gray eyes.

“You wanted to see me Professor?”

“Yes, Grant. It is in regard to last night, your friend Mr. Ben Copper.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is he okay?”

“At the moment, he is being well cared for by Madam Pomfrey and is no immediate danger. However, his memory is quite spotty, and he does not remember how or when he became trapped in this cursed ice. Rest assured, he is fine and will make a full recovery.”

That at least, was a huge relief off of his mind.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Indeed, I thought it best you ought to know personally given how close you two are.”

“Soooo….I’m not being punished?”

David hadn’t wanted to push his luck but a part of him couldn’t help popping the question. Better safe than sorry.

“Your heroism in discovering Mr. Copper in the nick of time has warranted a pass for now. But I warn you, I will not overlook future violations of curfew. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied eagerly, hardly daring to believe his good fortune.

“Very good,” and suddenly her eyes were full of concern and sympathy. “Though he is fairing well, I daresay he’ll need his friends after such an ordeal. Do see to it to pay him a visit.”

“I will, professor.”

“Good. Let us speak no more of this.”

Rowan was waiting for him outside when he finally exited the classroom.

“What did she say?” he asked with anticipation.

“She let me off the hook for now. Definitely her way of saying ‘thank you’ for finding Ben when we did.”

“I’m sure glad you found him,” Rowan agreed. “I think it explains why he was acting so oddly. You know what this means, right?”

“What?”

“He must have been searching for the vaults himself,” he theorized as they traveled up the stairs towards the Great Hall. “You know that ice only affects you if you touch it. Somehow, he broke through that door again.”

“You don’t know that,” David tried to ease his best friend. “He’s not exactly in a good state right now. Let’s just see how he’s doing before jumping to any conclusions.”

“Alright. It’s just…after that note from ‘R’ or whoever…it’s freaky that someone or something could be watching us…”

“I know. But for now, let’s just pay him a visit before History of Magic. Give him some company.”

Rowan nodded and they climbed another flight of stairs before entering the main ward of the Hospital Wing. It was quite spacious and very tidy, with windows to allow those unfortunate enough to find themselves sick or injured. The ceilings were high and each bed was surrounded by a curtain to allow for privacy if desired. Madam Pomfrey ran a tight ship and was usually not keen on people distracting or distressing her patients, however, she was also quite kind and was usually accommodating within limits.

Today, only two other students were in her care so being able to see their friend was not an otherworldly request.

“Hello, Madam Pomfrey,” David greeted as she approached them. “How’s Ben? Is alright?”

“I believe so,” she said, causing both boys to inwardly sigh in relief. “I’ve certainly seen worse in my time here at Hogwarts, but his memory is rather erratic.”

“May we see him?”

“You may although I must insist you not stay long. He’s still in a minor state of delirium and I don’t want him to get too excited.”

“We��re just here to check in on him. Don’t worry, Madam Pomfrey.”

“Very well, he’ll be waiting for you. Third bed on the right.”

Privately, David could only wonder ‘delirium’ meant in Ben’s current condition. Did he go crazy? Perhaps confounded? That was always a possibility. Of course, at this point, almost anything was.

“Hey, mate,” he said as casually as he could upon reaching his bed, making minor observations along the way. Judging by his physical appearance, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The blue in his face was completely gone and he was certainly no longer shivering. However, Madam Pomfrey had not been lying when she stated he was in a nervous state of mind.

“Hey, Dave, Rowan.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better but not great. Madam Pomfrey says that a few more pepperup potions should be enough to get rid of the cold, but I’m still sore.”

Though he claimed to be okay, his face told a different story. In truth the second year Gryffindor looked quite shaken.

“Anything we can do to cheer you up?” Rowan asked.

“Just seeing a friendly face is enough. Madam Pomfrey has been really helpful but she’s also kind of strict.”

“I would know,” David nodded. “She almost made me miss the feast last year after the werewolf debacle.”

“Not going to lie, kind of glad I missed that.”

David laughed but he and Rowan both knew that getting to the bottom of the ordeal was equally important.

“Ben, we have to ask, what happened?”

Placing his hand on his head in frustration, he let out a confused groan.

“I feel like I’m losing it.”

“You mean you have no idea what you’ve been doing the past couple days, or how you became stuck in the cursed ice?”

“None, at all. I can’t remember a thing,” came the sad reply. “Madam Pomfrey says she thinks it has something to with the ice but there’s no way to know for sure.”

David and Rowan looked at each other, the latter nodding at the former, who pulled out the letter they found on his person at the time of his discovery.

“This was a note we picked up off the floor after we found you. Do you recognize it?”

He proceeded to read aloud the message from ‘R’ but again it drew a blank.

“I’m sorry, guys, but I don’t know how that got into my pocket or who ‘R’ is.”

“You must remember something,” Rowan pressed him. “Try and think. We need to know who this person is.”

Again, Ben shook his head.

“It’s too difficult right now. All I can really recall is preparing to get on the train and then it’s completely blank after that…almost like I was floating aimlessly or something…cursed vaults…ice everywhere….”

It was then that David knew they weren’t going to get much else out of him as Ben lay back down on the bed, still muttering to himself quietly. Evidently, Madam Pomfrey thought so as well because not a second later they were being escorted out of the Hospital Wing.

“He needs his rest, dears. When he’s ready I’ll be sure to let Professor McGonagall know so she may inform you all. Good day.”

As the doors slammed shut, David began to muse to himself as they headed down for lunch.

“He seems fine enough,” he said to Rowan, who began pulling out several books from his satchel. “But if he can’t remember anything, how are we supposed to know who’s behind this or what’s going on with the vaults?”

“We don’t know enough about ‘R’ to get any closer to finding who they are,” Rowan said, flipping through pages. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t still investigate ourselves. Remember the message we found last year about the hidden staircase? I have a feeling that might be our next lead.”

“The ice knight stands guard past the vanished stairs,” David echoed the deciphered message from the previous year.

“Exactly. Probably guarded by more than a few vanishing and concealment spells.”

“So how do we get in?”

“Easy,” Rowan said, plopping down on the table and serving himself a sandwich with chips. “I’m willing to bet that hidden staircase is in the same corridor as where the ice originates. We find the vault, break the curse, and gather more information. But first, I suggest not going there for the time being.”

“Agreed.”

“At least, not until we learn more complicated magic. The Revealing spell for one thing.”

David began munching relentlessly (he always had an appetite for food despite his wiry build).

“We don’t learn that in Transfiguration until fifth year.”

“I know, that’s why we need to learn it.”

He chuckled.

“I suppose you’ve read the entire curriculum already, Rowan?”

“Close, I’ve already looked into our N.E.W.T. level coursework actually. This doesn’t quite fall under that category but as you said, it’s advanced magic for someone our age.”

“Well, lucky for both of us, I’m quite good at Transfiguration,” David said through a mouth full of chips. “And a certain someone just offered me advanced lessons.”

He swallowed and gave a large belch, which caused a passerby Jae to laugh, and a few of the girls to give disgusted looks their way.

Rowan laughed, as he showed the deciphered message to him once more in his book.

“I think you’re onto something there, Dave. Get a basic understanding of vanishing and revealing spells, and we can check out that corridor once more.”

“Agreed. I think it’s time I pay our head of house another visit.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, following Herbology, David stopped by the Transfiguration room, where Professor McGonagall had just finished teaching one of her classes.

“Professor? I hope this isn’t a bad time,” he said peeking through the doorway.

“Mr. Grant. No, not at all. I was just finishing up teaching the fifth year Gryffindors. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Stepping inside the classroom, David got straight to the point, not wanting to waste anyone’s time.

“I thought about your offer for advanced lessons and I’ve decided to accept.”

Waving her wand, McGonagall sent a handful of her papers back into her desk before addressing him.

“I am certainly glad to hear it. It may take some time to find a consistent schedule, but I have some free time this Thursday after dinner if you are interested.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“We can start off with some spells and motions normally reserved for third years and go from there. Does that sound agreeable?”

David was afraid she might say that. While under normal circumstances, he would have been more than happy to leave the planning of the lessons up to her, he had to insist upon learning something far more specific and at the same time not tipping his sharp head of house to his real intentions.

“Actually, professor, I was wondering if we might start off with something more advanced. Specifically, revealing and vanishing spells?”

As predicted, McGonagall’s eyebrows furrowed at the request.

“Those two particular techniques are not taught until O.W.L. year, Mr. Grant. They are also quite difficult to master for those much older than you. I am not certain that is the best place to start.”

“I understand. But for me, those are the ones I’m really focused on.”

“And why should a second year be so heavily interested in those specific areas of Transfiguration?”

He knew it was coming. David was well aware Minerva McGonagall was no fool and would not hesitate to glean the truth from him if necessary. His next answer had to be extra careful.

“I want to challenge myself, Professor,” he said with a straight face. “You said yourself I’m gifted at this. Let me test my abilities under your supervision.”

After a few seconds deliberation in which David could feel a trickle of sweat go down his back, McGonagall relented.

“Very well. We will not immediately jump into the spells you have mentioned but I do promise that eventually we will reach that point and devote significant time to their mastery.”

That was all he wanted to hear.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“You are welcome. I shall see you this Thursday at seven pm.”

Walking out of the classroom, a renewed sense of purpose filled David Grant. The vault would have to wait awhile yet, but this was a start. With any luck, he could break this curse and discover more clues about his brother and ‘R’ in little time.

[nickjunesource]

Handmaid’s Tale: Max Minghella Understands Nick, Even If You Don't

(link to article — full text below)

On The Handmaid’s Tale, there are no easy answers when it comes to good guys and guys, collaborators and resistors. Everyone’s favorite brooding former driver Nick Blaine—and the closest thing the show has to a leading man, if the #TeamNick stans are to be believed—is often seen as a bit of a cypher. That is, to everyone except the actor who plays him, Max Minghella.

“I really enjoy playing Nick," Minghella told Den of Geek. "I like that he’s somebody who people find somewhat opaque. I don’t, because I play him. So I feel like he’s quite straightforward.” After speaking with him, that becomes entirely clear. Minghella offers keen observations on his character unlike anything else I’ve ever heard or read from the legions of people who obsessively interpret the Emmy-winning show, either professionally or recreationally.

Some have wondered why The Handmaid’s Tale continued beyond the limits of Margaret Atwood’s speculative fiction novel, queries that grew louder during Season 2’s ever-concerning torture porn and apparent unwillingness to deal with race. But for Minghella, Season 3 is full of excitement. “Every script I got this year, it never went in the direction that I thought it was going to go in. I didn’t feel like anything was obvious. I don’t feel like I know now where it’s going to go.”

But he reminded us of an important caveat: “Everything you’re seeing in the show is through June’s eyes, and his actions aren’t always consistent with a good person.”

June learned the truth about Nick.

The biggest Nick-related drama of “Household” was Swiss intelligence revealing to June that Nick isn’t entirely what he seems and that he played a role in helping create Gilead, confirmed by Serena Joy. There’s a lot to unpack here, but perhaps the biggest question is: how will June take it?

“These are not sort of shocking revelations for the audience, but they are for maybe some of the characters around him. It’ll be interesting to see how that affects June’s perceptions of him. I can’t speak for her, I don’t know how surprised she is by it or how upset she is by it, but I have hope that this relationship can survive. But maybe I’m being optimistic.”

It’s hard to imagine June getting over this revelation so quickly. This season in particular, her mantra has been that people need to find love wherever they can and hold onto it, because it’s the only way to survive. Nick has been that love for her, helping her (both literally and emotionally) when nothing and no one else could. But how does someone cope with realizing that their sliver of hope was far more complicit than they realized? And how does Nick live with himself, knowing he helped bring about this authoritarian regime and continues to serve it on a daily basis?

Minghella shared this thoughtful and honest insight: “I think it’s really torturous and something that weighs very heavily on him. I think he’s kind of a heavy person you know, he’s clearly tortured and has had to experience quite a lot of trauma and inflicted quite a lot of trauma and I don’t know how anybody reconciles that. So I think he’s always struggling with it.”

“But I also think that his feelings for June are contrary and they’re very, very straightforward. I feel like everything in his life is extremely complicated except for June, and that’s just like, ‘I just love this woman,’ and it kind of clarifies all that stuff for him.”

Nick’s complicated past.

Of course, Nick’s involvement in the early days of Gilead isn’t news to the audience – the show explored Nick’s backstory in the Season 1 episode “Jezebel’s,” where we saw Commander Pryce recruit a younger, angrier, unemployed Nick – but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear.

In Margaret Atwood’s book, Nick’s loyalty was ultimately left in question, while season two of the show made Nick’s love of and loyalty to June unequivocal. Yet, his very real history has come back to haunt him, and as he rises in the ranks in Gilead, it may well become difficult for June to ignore the role he plays in the regime that destroyed her family and oppresses her on a daily basis.

Delving into that sort of ambiguity is fruitful for Minghella, who shared that, “In general in fiction, I like characters who have shades of grey to them. I think everybody in The Handmaid’s Tale, to a degree, has that complexity. To get to play somebody who’s ambiguous is fun.”

It might have surprised some viewers that Nick agreed to help June in such a dangerous way in the first place – and he certainly had to be convinced – but Minghella says, “He wants the best for June and he wants to facilitate whatever that’s going to be.”

Nick didn’t immediately agree to work with the Swiss – he still has that disenfranchised young man inside him, the one who turned to the Sons of Jacob because he felt he had no other purpose, and no other path to success or happiness. And given the Nick we know now and the horrific things the regime has done to June, it would make sense that his experience with Commander Price and the Sons of Jacob has made Nick even more jaded than before.

If Episode 6 did anything, it served as a reminder that Nick isn’t just jaded; he’s always been so much more than just the driver. “I do think that Nick is always one step ahead of where you think he is. He’s certainly one step ahead of where I am as a reader or an audience member, and I think that becomes very clear in Season 3. Not all is as it seems. He’s quite strategic and cunning.”

Nick goes to war.

Nick is a commander, something he casually told June he “earned.” How did he do that, exactly? One would have thought he’d be on time out after his part in allowing June to get Nichole out of Gilead, at least with Fred. Instead, Waterford seems completely chummy, calling Nick “son” while the other commanders have welcomed him into the fold.

Part of his new title, it seems, is the other big news: Nick is going to war. If this caught you by surprise, you weren’t alone. “Full disclosure, I didn’t know there was a war,” Minghella confessed.

“When I found that out, I was like, ‘Oh, this is amazing.’ It was such a reminder of how we’ve just scratched the surface of this story and this universe and there’s so much more to discover. Like literally just geographically, there’s so much more to discover.”

The glimpse of Gilead’s military that Nick and his troops offered at the end of “Household” seems to be just the beginning. With Nick on his way to the front, what more might the rest of Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale hold?

[mallorytaylorblog]

How to manifest like a boss.

I’m a big believer in manifestation. In all areas of life we have the ability to call in what we so desire. The catch of this is, due to our natural inclination to be self critical, judgemental, and all round bullies to ourselves (thanks, social conditioning!) we have become masters at calling in the things which we don’t desire, and most of us are completely unaware. I want to share with you the three things I think are the keys to powerful manifestation.

First of all have you ever heard the phrase ‘what you focus on, expands’? I’d wager if you haven’t been living under a rock you probably have. Well, this phrase is one I like to keep in the front of my mind because if I’ve learned anything about manifestation, ‘The Secret”, and the Law of Attraction, is that it’s absolutely true. What we focus on is exactly what we bring about in our lives - in both the perceived negative and positive senses.

Manifestation is a skill we can all harness and it can be used across every facet of our lives. Let me give you an anecdote from my relationships. Before I got together with my current partner Nick (for the second time actually) I dated so many people who were emotionally unavailable. They were passionate flings that started off fast and ended just as rapidly, full of magnetism and bursting with chemistry. I kept meeting the same type of emotionally distant, non committal, no-strings-attached kind of guy, and deep down I thought I could “win them over”, woo them with everything amazing about me and suddenly they’d be keen as a bean to commit - right what I wanted! - but every single one of these passionate encounters fizzled out by way of ghosting or in an angry, tear stained crying mess. I persisted through so much resistance and at the end of it all I’d be left feeling lonely and pretty sorry for myself - as every fling ended I found myself asking “WHY DOESN’T ANYONE WANT TO BE WITH ME?!” Totally desperate stuff.

Let me tell you the truth. And this was a crappy lesson for me to learn. I was actively repelling the amazing qualities I craved in others because I had not yet owned them in myself. I’d been single for years but sat with this belief that dudes only wanted sex from me and that no one really valued me enough to consider a relationship with me. What do you think I attracted? Yep, you guessed it. Desperation is a stinky cologne.

One of the keys to manifestation is loving yourself first. Our relationships are our biggest cosmic assignments and are mirrors to show us what we need to address within ourselves. And we will keep encountering the same assignment (in my case the same type of doo doo flings) until we learn the lesson it’s trying to teach us.

I wanted deep love. But was I deeply loving myself first? I wanted loyalty and commitment. But was I being loyal to my Truth and wholly committed to myself? I wanted someone to honour me and love me for exactly who I was. But was I willingly to love others exactly as they were, without judgement?

The answer to all those questions was a firm NO.

Was I setting firm boundaries on what acceptable love was, or was I letting whoever was willing to get close to me dictate the way the relationship ran its course? You bet I was willing to throw myself at the first dude that gave me puppy dog eyes because I was so desperate for this idea of a dream relationship I created for myself that I was unable to set myself firm boundaries on healthy love. I hadn’t owned any of those amazing partner qualities in myself first so honestly I didn’t even know what healthy love looked like, and in addition to that I was looking externally for someone to fill the gaps I felt in myself. I was emotionally unavailable, so naturally that’s the only type of person I was able to manifest. It was a massive mirror that took me way too long to notice, and I did NOT like what I saw once I did. Does any of this sound familiar?

When it comes to manifesting the universe (or source, God, our higher power, the Divine, whatever you want to call it) needs to know you’re safe and reliable to work with. Have you ever tried to work on a project or complete a task with a Debby Downer or Negative Nancy? It’s painful and can feel like you’re dragging a dead weight - no thank you! Someone who is clear on what they want and is willing to take action towards achieving that goal with a positive mindset is SO much easier to work with! And the universe wants to work with you, she absolutely has your back. But make no mistake, manifesting does require some level of work - the universe needs to see you’re willing to make the effort for the things you desire. Once I committed to myself and put in the work the universe had my back and presented me my Nick - he mirrored all the qualities I wanted in a relationship because I’d worked hard to own them in myself first. I think a lot of people, especially when the Law of Attraction and “The Secret” became popular, seemed to gloss over this fact; it’s not as easy as simply wishing, praying and visualising something into existence, you have to put in the work too.

So that’s the second key to manifestation; putting in the work. Yep, sorry. You’ll have to do more than just say ‘yes!’ and hope you get what you want, some level of effort is required. When it comes to things like money and career we can absolutely manifest our dream job, our dream salary, or perhaps become a successful entrepreneur if that’s what our soul desires. But I’m not going to become a doctor just by doing my nightly meditation and hoping that someone will hand me a PhD. I need to do the work required to reach my dream career. In my relationships the effort required to attract my partner came down to me taking a massive interest in my own self care and working HARD on finding ways to truly love myself. It required a mammoth amount of effort. But the love we give is equal to the love we receive, and let me tell you it was absolutely worth all the discomfort.

The last key to epic manifestation is believing. This takes a certain amount of trust, which can feel very “fake it until you make it”. I mean, you have to trust that something is going to occur or show up for you without any tangible evidence that it will be so? Massive leap of faith, especially when dealing with matters of great importance. But if you really want to get the things you desire, absolute surrender and a knowing that everything you want is at your fingertips is what it takes. That knowing is a whole body feeling and this too requires practice. One way you can measure that feeling is to take a good hard look at the things you currently focus on. Are your thoughts and belief systems negatively or positively geared? Do you subscribe to the shitty and unhelpful stories your past experiences have told you about money, relationships, and your self worth, or have you recognised the beliefs you grew up with may not necessarily be yours and can be changed to support the narrative you want to engage in? Our emotions are messages to and from the universe, and tapping into this whole body feeling will tell you how supportive of your soul truths those belief systems really are.

When it comes to relationships, what do you hinge your self worth on? Do you believe all women are gold diggers, or men are only in it for the sex? What were the relationships you observed like when you were growing up? When it comes to the self, what is your inner dialogue like? Are you compassionate, loving and kind with yourself? Do you practice self care? What’s your relationship with food and exercise like? What media/books/music/news do you consume? How’s your ego? When it comes to money and career, what are the stories you tell yourself about money? Do you have an abundance or a scarcity mindset? Are you doing work that fulfills you or drains you of your energy? Do you feel passionate going to work every day? Are you taking steps towards living your dream career? Do you hoard money, have good investing habits, or do you spend it when you get it?

The things we believe and assign value to provide the guidelines the universe works with in order to bring about what we focus on. Surrendering to belief systems that don’t serve you is like trying to travel cross country while looking at a map without your glasses on - taking charge of your values and beliefs brings you the 20/20 vision needed so you can follow the path you’re destined to be on.

Being crystal clear on the things you want, believing wholeheartedly you’re destined to achieve them, and taking action towards making it a reality is what it takes to manifest your dream life. If there’s one important thing to remember in addition to all of this, it’s that you must let go of how you think it’s all going to turn out. Being firm on the way you want things to go will limit opportunities for it to happen in other, perhaps quicker and more beautiful, unexpected ways, and will only lead to disappointment when it doesn’t go exactly how you planned. The parable of the drowning man is an example of this - a man was stranded on his roof after a tidal wave crashed through and flooded his village. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The man shouted back, “No, it’s okay, I’m praying to God and he’s going to save me.” So the rowboat went on. Then a motorboat came by. The man in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.” So the motorboat went on. Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, "Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the helicopter reluctantly flew away. Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. When he went to Heaven he finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!” To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”

The man was so firm in the ways he expected his saving to happen that he missed every other opportunity to be saved. Be fluid in the way you allow things to happen and enjoy the journey.

Going after the things you want in life requires balls and it requires practice. Let’s have a conversation. If you’d like to talk about epic manifestation and ways you can start to implement the three keys message me on my socials and let’s chat about it. I want to hear what you’re all striving for and if I can support, you bet your butts I want to help in any way that’s meaningful to you.

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[impfiltration-archive]

The Victory Garden

Some drabble fun for @ardentsoldier​ because an idea I sprung up with them filled my head up with so many mental pictures that I needed to scrabble it all out

Warnings: Self-indulgent and too many plants

Haxus has never been much of a gardening person; overall, he found himself rather neutral when it came to any matters of botany. 

There were some Galra that were raised on colonies with lush vegetation, and it wasn’t uncommon for the cadets recruited from these lands to try and smuggle ferns or grasses into port. As a sort of momento to remind them of home. Others were raised in the protective hulls of civilian cruisers, and could get anxious when their world opened up to forever-rolling hills and way-too-tall trees teeming with unknown life. 

Haxus, on the other hand, was raised along the banks of Dreia-55. He found beauty in ripples and comfort from the sound of water running over rocks, but the ugly weeds and spindly trees that grew along the shoreline? He never developed any attachment to them, thus his sense of neutrality. 

He has found a new, twisted fascination in gardening, now, though. The Lions, you see, had elemental alignments, and this seemed to be transferred to their paladins.  

Some have asked if that was just an Earthling thing—they’ve come across a number of aliens with peculiar, evolutionary features—but the Champion never bled the sparkling, black goop he does now when first under their care. Which brings us back to the gardening. 

While fighting the Green Paladin, her (As opposed to the “his” they presumed) little drone knocked him over into the engine well. He was plummeting to his death, cursing his ignorance—why had he let himself underestimate an enemy just because of her baby-fat face—when he managed to snag himself on one of the ledges that narrow the drop. All the momentum went straight to wrists, making him keen in a way he hasn’t since interrogation-exposure training, but as the Galra mantra goes, “Victory or death,” so he clambered back up to the catwalk. 

Having lost his sword during his fall, Haxus had nothing but his agility and claws to finish his mission. So.. Actually, scratch that, since it seemed like he also had the element of surprise on his side. He found her running mad down the halls, cycling through the different files on her gauntlet and oblivious to his stalking. He was quick to slink up left and nick her along the side. 

He smirked, already counting down when his venom would make her to keel over with a whimper like a sick yupper, when all the sudden quiznaking plants burst out from her between her ribs—taking them both by surprise.

It started with an ivy-line that burst out before falling into a limp droop, followed by hard stems that twisted together into budding red ends that seal up all her cuts. Most bizarre of all, probably, was the a glowing, purple pulse that slowly seeped up the stalks protruding from the wound, outlining jagged lines of a nonsense pattern as it throbbed out. Likely the toxins meant to murder her, now being leeched out of her body.

It was unexpected (Was there any other word that fit?), but one of them was a child, and the other a solider who has been scarred again and again in learning not to lose focus. The battle was pretty much over by that point.

While she flailed and gawked at the leaves and stems spurting from her side, Haxus brought her down with a sickening thud, heel slamming against her breastplate. 

That seemed to bring her out of her stupor, since the paladin was actually trying to aim her bayard. Unfortunately for her, Haxus wasn’t playing any coy, battle games this time. His boot went crunch against her wrist, and her bayard scattered down the hall before it could take proper form. 

Then, in a fluid motion that could’ve only been trained into him, he brought out a magnetic pair of cuffs from his side-pack and slapped them onto her—ignoring her screech when he mishandled the hand that was very much bent the wrong way, now.

No mistakes this time.

With the paladin properly incapacitated, Haxus can’t help but admit that he finds himself rather.. curious about this strange occurrence.  

He walks a wide arch around her left, head tilted curiously before he bends down, glaring absolute contempt into her frenzied, tear-filled eyes. He at least meant to, but after neon-tipped clovers sprouted from wherever he dragged a claw over the girl’s face, there was no hiding his fascination. His fallen contender squirms, panting that sort of huff you only get under immense pain; still, the sprouts running down her cheek is a glaring blemish that absorbs most of the attention. 

Now, it’s important to know that Haxus is not exactly like Sendak. The Commander liked to play around with any of the more challenging adversaries they come across, whereas Haxus prefers his enemies cold and dead wherever he got a hold of them, but this little imp? The idiot child who nearly managed to wreck a 10,000 year long mission of the empire? The brat who almost hung all that humiliation on his shoulders? He’d be lying if he said it didn’t make giddy to watch her struggle and grimace. 

Besides that, he wasn’t quite sure how to kill her yet. Burning or spacing would probably work, but from what he’s observed, anything that could be inflicted right now would just result in more of those fauna-scabs or whatever they should be called. That’s when the twisted idea came to his head: Why doesn’t he start a garden?

He pressed the comm-piece fastened to his wrist before raising it up close to his face, hopefully muffling the girl’s sniffling about family this and help me that. “The saboteur has been aprehended; the mission is back on course.” 

Sendak replied back in a smooth voice. “Good.” Or was that a hint of relief he heard? “Get those engines back online.”

“Aye, Sir.” He waits for just the briefest of pauses. “There has also been a new development I’m sure you’ll find.. interesting.” 

Enter the greenhouse deck of the third fleet, some odd movements later.

A level like this is something you usually only find in specialized shuttles, given all the expenses and resources they require, but after returning the lions to Emperor Zarkon, they could’ve asked for commemorative luxite plates if they wanted to. But no, he was fine absorbing all the glory now fixed to his name (It came with so many benefits, like a bigger pension, a multitude of favors, his Commander’s pride), and requesting a housing unit for his little experiment. 

In there, Katie was more than less in a permanent kneel. Rather than shackles, Haxus had cut along her forearms and introduced the blood-smudged vines—all scrawling and numerous like veins—that spilled from her wounds to the soil covering any sign of metal floors. They had taken root quickly, keeping the girl bound to the ground like the life support system that left a mask strapped across her face, and multiple tubes either stuck into her back or arms. 

It all read her vitals or pumped in one nutrient or another. Whether she needs the oxygen-flow or not is debatable, but the specialists who examined her said it was better safe than sorry. Haxus could agree to that; however, he wasn't so attached to persevering this whelp's life that he'd let her medical needs to ruin this fine aesthetic of torture—meaning that all the blinking lights and vials those tubes are connected to were covered up by a thin layer of dirt, as well as the little viridescent buds littering the room.

One way or another, she was tethered to the ground and kept behind locked doors, where only those with the proper clearance could marvel at this spectacle:

Great big leaves flowing from her shoulder blades like wings, their ivory outline making wrinkles through the middle and enclosing the spry green that runs even deeper along their underside. Between these appendages sits big flower in per-bloom. 

The petals came together like a kiss, colored a pale pink turning fusa along its soft, frilly edges. As if guarding this rare beauty, a thorny batch of navy blue stems that fade into a softer blue around each pointed end circle it; although, some of them flowed past their ward. Several spill over her shoulders, others warp themselves into her remaining hair, while the rest stretch over an iris moss that runs down the girl's spine. Knobbly, bark patches infringe its borders before reaching well beyond her girth, housing all sorts of exotic plants that make up odd colors and shapes like small bushels of flowers with dovetail petals and patterned leaves. 

Even more of her back is claimed by succulents that build up like scales, or the swirling thistles, and while more flesh from her front has managed to survive, it is very much the same—like an overgrown garden bed. It stands much more shielded, though, having Katie’s own shadow conceal it; however, that also just accentuates the purple-ish, glowing outline of the different greenery dotting her stomach. 

Meshed with pale, smooth skin, it was all beautiful until you came to her human face—where green, leafy flakes slowly grew over her cheeks. As long as her mouth and nose were covered by the oxygen-mask, the girl’s eyes stand as her most prominent features, especially with the sad, mournful song those honey hues sang. They lost their watery beat a while ago—there were just too many tears—but they're the type of dim and tired seen on any work camp salve. 

Yet somehow they still manage to be expressive, as seen by the anxiety that filled them when the doors opened up to Haxus.

When she could still talk clearly—because the roots of all those stems and thorns hadn't grown into serrated, overlapping lines through her throat yet—she'd always try to make remark or another. Then, after the mask went on, she relied on her eyes to muster the same gusto or pleading she'd squeal before. Now, she just stared at him with an exhausted, half-distressed look, as if to ask, "What now?” 

That's how Haxus read it, and he responded in kind. "Don't wilt now, little Katerlily," he only called her the plant name he made up for her (Or more likely scrounged from her files) these days, "I brought a new addition for you."

Katie, no, the Katerlily would’ve burst into a sob right then if she still could. She didn’t want anymore, he’s already done more than enough—she can feel all these things growing through her insides. 

Unable to cry, she’s limited to staring insecurely at the potted seedling in his hands. It didn’t look like much, just an ugly, little weed, but where he usually just maimed her in some grizzly manner, then kept whatever grew out of those wounds watered, there were other times that he’d jam in different seeds or sprouts wherever he sliced her up to see what would bloomed. 

That’s how she ended up losing her voice to thorns, and the pads of her feet to sundew buds—perhaps the most excruciating points of her torture.

Haxus could feel her apprehension as she gawked, but that just made him light in the chest. It shows in his smug face, and the spring in every daunting step he takes around the room.

“I’m sure you’re going to love it. An.. acquaintance of mine gave it to me, after gasping on about some hackney metaphor all about how ‘it doesn’t look like much on the top, but the extensive root system underneath is beautiful all on it’s own’.” He paused to roll his eyes, quietly gagging to himself, too. He was never a fan of all the annoying poetics that people try to jam into every little thing. 

Haxus perks up, though, when he sees the Katerlily shuddering and trying to discreetly look over her shoulder to see what he’s doing, as if she doesn’t know exactly where this is going.

Just to goad her even furthur, he lets his dramatic pause swell some more, then walks up right behind her with a click, click, click of his heels. Her shoulders go rigid with how tense they are, and she keeps waffling between peeking or just letting her head hang—still unsure whether it’s better to watch or look away. It’s delicious enough of a sight to make him purr his words. “I’m sure you’d love the priggish sentiment it represents.” 

There’s a quiet shing of a dagger being unsheathed, and the Katerlily finally settles on nestling her chin as close to her chest as she can. It helps, she likes to tell herself, when you count, so she tries focusing on that instead of anything happening around her.

1, 2, 3—There’s a small clatter as Haxus lets the pot for his ugly plant fall, probably holding the newly uprooted sprout in his dagger-free hand—4, 5—What’s that shuffling?—6, 7.... 8.......

All the sudden there’s an eruption of pain from the small bit of space between her kidneys, where Haxus plunges his knife before pulling it back to create a pocket of fat and muscle. 

It feels so unnatural—she can actually feel Haxus’ fingers in her as he jams the sprout into the wound—and oh god, it hurts.

The Katerlily crumples into a series of screams. They’re muffled and strained from her mask and punctured voice-box, but they’re tortured screams all the same, and pair well with the way she contorts, arching her back with trembling shoulders and closing her eyes as tightly as possible.

Haxus watches it all with a cool, relaxed posture, making a quiet, “Oooh,” sound as he watched her skin meld over the protruding head of the weed then wriggle around beneath her first few layers of fat and muscle.

It was slow at first, that extensive root system from before was just starting to take root, then it erupted into fleshy ripples and the squishy sound that comes from guts. At that, the Katerlily thrashed about screeching, almost covering the beeping of monitors from someplace around the deck. If his ears weren’t so sharp, Haxus would’ve missed them, not that he was going to do anything about it. 

The beeping was the monitors indicating one health failure or another, but as far as he’s aware, this is a perfectly acceptable death for a rebel brat.  

Today’s not her day, though, since she’s still twitching when the bulging eventually stops. In another tick she’s limp and panting loudly, shaking like—for lack of better wording—a leaf. 

Haxus imagines she would’ve collapsed into a puddle of her own bile if in the position to do so, but she can only rest on sore knees while her head lolls around from what he presumes is a rapidly fading consciousness. 

Well, there was no fun for him here anymore. He kicks the little pot from earlier to the side and sheaths his weapon, letting his hand graze over some of the Katerlily’s leaves and branches as he strolls past her. “Well, I suppose a creature like you still requires sleep.” 

His claws come up to where her hair and thorns connect as he breaths out a quiet laugh to himself. “Let’s see if that’s still the case after we plant something in the back of your head.” It seems as if his victim is too tired to even try to flinch her head away, so he just tuts and leaves the greenhouse.

The doors slide close behind him, and his garden left to grow.

[totallyrhettro]

Another Me, Chapter 7

Word Count: 2114 Rating: PG-13 Warnings: None Summary: This time, Rhett was really going to do it. He had tried maybe a thousand times over the past thirty-odd years to tell Link how he really felt, but this time he was finally going to actually succeed. At least, that was the plan, but when another version of the six-foot seven bearded internetainer appears out of nowhere during their weekend getaway, Rhett’s carefully laid plans are quickly pushed aside. Notes: AU, Present day, Rhett and Link aren’t married

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First Chapter Previous Chapter

Rhett started to feel like he was going on vacation with a twin brother he never knew. One that was more excited about this vacation than he was. It’s not that Rhett wanted to be the sour grape in this bunch but he was having a hard time getting into the sight-seeing mood. Every time he turned around Link and the other Rhett were laughing about some other story shared or joke told, or patting one another in some friendly way. He continued to tell himself it was just in his mind, that if he was alone with Link it wouldn’t be much different, but he knew something the other Link didn’t. He knew how the new Rhett felt about him.

“I can’t believe you got Jimmy Fallon to eat edible underwear,” his doppelganger was commenting, as they walked up to the fallen gates of Old Sarum. His words turned a few curious heads. Link giggled at the memory, recalling it fondly.

“I can’t believe Rhett thought they tasted good,” Link replied, motioning to his lifelong friend.

“They were good,” Rhett admitted, slightly embarrassed. “They just tasted like fruit roll ups.”

“Underwear are not made to be food, man.”

“The edible kind are,” the Rhett duplicate agreed, pursing his lips.

“You guys are crazy.”

The three men walked up the gentle slopes to the main ruins with both Rhetts flanking Link. In the center of a field was a strangely-shaped hill with a low ditch surrounded it, once used for a moat but now devoid of water and lined with thick grass. A modern day bridge took the trio over to the actual ruins which began with twin gate houses, or what was left of them. Every wall that once stood in the ancient settlement had been aged by time, some worse than others. Many were semi intact; the handcrafted bricks that once covered a mortar and flint core were all but gone on most of them, leaving a perforated stone look behind. Others were all but gone save but what appeared to be stone paths in the soft dirt.

Unlike Stonehenge, less than ten miles North of it, Old Sarum wasn’t bustling with huge crowds. Instead a few people here and there wandered about the ruins as Link and the two Rhetts made their way inside. It was also a much bigger space than Stonehenge, the structures spread out instead of mostly all in one place, leaving a lot of room to walk about. Plus, other than climbing on the walls being prohibited, the rules were a bit more lax on how close to get to the ruins. Not that Link or either of the Rhetts were keen on doing that any time soon, given what happened at the last site.

“We should get a map,” Rhett noted, looking around, unsure where to begin their self-guided tour of the ancient settlement.

“We should get some b-roll while we’re here, too,” Link suggested, stopping to adjust his camera bag. “I’ll try not to get both of you in the frame at the same time.” Looking up he fixed his glasses as his eyes darted between the two Rhetts before him. “Too bad you guys didn’t wear the same clothes today.”

“We can always say we visited this site twice,” the doppelganger offered. “Or maybe season three should be about the return of Link’s hallucinations come to life.” He smiled over at the original Rhett. “Or maybe I’m your long-lost twin.”

“I’m going to get a map,” Rhett told him, stepping away. He didn’t relish the idea of his alternate sticking around long enough to be in a GMM let along in the third season of Buddy System. The fact that this new Rhett was making plans for how he was going to fit into this universe was beyond unsettling. It was almost like he didn’t want to go back to his universe and while Rhett understood why, he wasn’t about to let this new guy take his place.

While Rhett was gone, his duplicate leaned against one of the more intact brick walls next to Link, watching him fuss with his camera bag and it’s numerous contents. The brunet was rather oblivious to the other man’s gaze, his green eyes looking Link up and down, slowly and deliberately. When he looked up the duplicate’s eyes snapped to Link’s haircut before looking away with a chuckle.

“Sorry to stare,” he apologized with a shrug. “I’m still not used to the new hairstyle.”

“Rhett had the same reaction,” Link remembered, taking out his camera. “I caught him staring a number of times. I think he liked the old style better.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true,” alternate Rhett told him, raising an eyebrow. ‘He probably thought you looked hot,’ his brain added, but that he kept to himself. “If he’s anything like me -and so far he is- he just wasn’t used to it. Personally, I love the new style; it suits you.”

“Yeah?” Link grinned crookedly, sparing a hand to run through his greying hair. Complements had always been his weakness. “Even with the grey?”

“It’s distinguished. I’m glad you stopped dying it.” Link couldn’t stop grinning, choosing to look down at his camera than at the Rhett staring so intently at him.

“You should tell your Link to stop dying his,” he proposed, fingers feeling a bit shakier.

“He wouldn’t listen. He’s a lot like you, Link, but I don’t think he’s exactly the same.” Another sneak peek all along Link’s form. How he had missed just looking at his Link in the other universe. He would give so much just to have him nearby, like this.

“How so?” Link wondered. The more time he spent with this version of Rhett the more he was convinced that the two Rhetts were identical. The way they looked, the way they moved, even the way their eyes sparkled with they laughed. Hanging out with this Rhett just felt so comfortable and familiar. How could this Rhett be so similar to his and yet the alternate Link be so different from himself?

“Just slight differences,” the duplicate began, holding out his finger and thumb very close to one another to demonstrate his point. “I don’t know. Nothing I can accurately describe. Subtle, it’s- it's subtle.”

“In a good way, I hope,” Link quipped, finally looking up.

“Not to put my Link down but I’m not sure he would have come with me to Stonehenge just because I had a random whim to shoot video one day.” Definitely not these days. “That’s pretty amazing, Link.” ‘You’re amazing,’ he amended in his head. “And he certainly wasn’t brave enough to get such a modern haircut,” ‘Just when I thought you couldn’t look any more gorgeous…’

“The grey makes me look old,” the other man lamented frowning again.

“I think the technical term is silver fox.” Rhett’s duplicate definitely thought the phrase was apt. A fitting description for Link but he seemed completely unaware what it was supposed to mean.

“A what?”

“Never mind,” the duplicate backpedaled, worried he had said too much. “I think you look good. Are you single in this universe? Because the ladies like a bit of grey.” In truth Link hadn’t even gone on a date in years, focusing on his work with Rhett, on his YouTube career. A few times he’d experimented with dating apps but either found them too confusing or none of the women they found for him worth his time. If he had to say, he’d say he was biding his time, waiting for the right woman to show up, but given the unlikely nature of that happening, it was a weak excuse.

“Rhett and I have been pretty busy lately,” he pointing out, hoping his reason would stick. Then, turning the tables on his new friend he asked “What about you? Or my other self? Anyone in your lives?”

“If Link has a girlfriend he hasn’t told me,” Rhett’s alternate quipped. “As for me I don’t have a lot of free time, actually. I’m not on a very clear cut schedule and I spend most of my days off resting up.” Sighing deeply he squinted as he looked off into the distance, the sun getting brighter as the clouds that had been previously covering it drifted away. After a moment he looked down at his shoes, kicking at the soft dirt. “Sort of the reason I’m here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nick didn’t bring me on a vacation just to ‘get away’,” the blond man admitted. “He wanted me to get over someone. Thought flying halfway across the world would help.”

“Dumped?” Link guessed. It was close to the truth.

“And hard, too,” the Rhett duplicate clarified.

“Well, hopefully this weird trip to another dimension has at least kept your mind off her,” Link hoped. “Until I brought it up. Sorry.” The duplicate smiled, reaching over to pat Link on the shoulder. Link didn’t mean any harm; there was no way anyone could begrudge him for making small talk. There was also no way this Rhett was going to correct the assumption that he’d been dumped by a woman.

“You didn’t know,” Rhett’s alternate observed, waving Link’s unneeded apology away. “I’m glad I’m here. It’s the closest thing to hanging out with my Link that I’ve had in… a long time. We both been too busy with our own lives to get together.”

“Next time you talk to me, over there,” Link began, gesturing wildly with his hands. “You tell me to get off my butt and come visit or somethin’.” The alternate smiled at that, though he knew it wouldn’t be that simple. Link always had a way of cutting to the easiest solution, at least what he thought was the easiest.

“I’ll definitely try.” It was a lie, but Link wasn’t listening anymore.

“Dang this wind.” The change in subject was rather abrupt but the Rhett copy understood Link’s frustration. Maybe with the city walls up the wind would have been tolerable but with little to no protection it blew harder here than at Stonehenge. Both of their carefully sculpted hairdos were having a tough time with the intense breeze. Link’s fingers brushed through his hair and his annoyed expression melted with one of confusion. “I think I have a twig in there. I can’t get it out.”

“Here,” Rhett’s alternate offered, standing straight and heading over. “Let me see.” Link didn’t move as the taller man approached, but he wasn’t scared or nervous. It didn’t feel weird or out of place for this Rhett to help him with his hair. It felt like… like if his Rhett was here. It felt normal, it felt expected, but this Rhett’s touch was not the same. There was apprehension as his hand grew closer to Link’s head, as his fingers tentatively reached for the offending twig. For a brief moment Link second guessed letting his man, basically a stranger, touch his head. That moment past in an instant; the instant this Rhett’s fingers stopped moving.

Looking down at Link, the Rhett before him stared down into his eyes. His aqua-green eyes looking exactly like Link’s Rhett, but Rhett had never looked into his that way. Never had Rhett… except, wait… At the cathedral, when they had been so close and Rhett had his hands on his arms. That was the look- the same look that had made Link’s heart stop and his breath catch. The same eyes, the same look, and the same strange desire to-

“I got the map guys,” came Rhett’s voice around the corner. His duplicate didn’t miss a beat, finally taking hold of the twig in Link’s hair, pulling it out and flicking it to the ground. It was casual, as if he hadn’t just been looking into Link eyes… at his lips…

“It’s about time,” he joked, stepping over to take a peek. It took Link a bit longer to recompose himself. He coughed off his awkwardness and looked down at his camera.

“You guys, okay?” Rhett asked, not wanting to voice the real questions on his mind.

“The wind blew a twig into Link’s hair,” his duplicate replied, smooth as ice. “I was just getting it for him.” Rhett glanced at his friend for confirmation.

“Yeah,” he affirmed. “The wind’s brutal.” An uncomfortable silence fell over three, all of them felt it but none wanted to admit it. Finally Rhett shrugged it off. This was neither the time nor the place to discuss anything, but he resolved to speak with both of the men before him privately, and definitely not at the same time.

Next Chapter, coming soon!

More Fics

[eddygould]

An American parody act No Man’s Armband has made a comedy rock opera that combines many genres, from garage rock, metalcore, and indie rock to hip-hop. At the center of the story is a local band from Montana which has been trying to find its style and become popular for several years. Overcoming a bunch of problems and difficulties, they master the modern music industry and learn the lifestyle of the new rock'n'rollers. Total length: [1:21:04]

Tracklist:

1) The Stoics [4:19] The album begins with a recording of a nameless band from Montana in a nameless garage. It turns out that their independent project is called The Stoics, and they are already finished recording their debut album with the same name which cost exactly $201. The Stoics is represented by: Nick Oldman, the "heart" of the band, the leader, a vocalist and a guitarist, Eric Ainsworth, the "body", a bassist, Eugene Cahill, the "brain", a drummer, and Joe Cowski, "the soul" of the band, the second vocalist, guitarist, and also a sound engineer.

2) Joe's Montage [5:02] After hours of mastering, Joe, in anticipation of success, uploads the album to the GroupRant website. That night, he sees a dream about how the group is assembling a huge stadium with “hundreds of thousands of people”, and the next evening he drinks in a bar with Iggy Pop and then climbs a mountain of money. He is awakened by his father who is displeased that Joe has spent the whole night at the computer and slept until dinner again. After listening to another lecture that he needs to find a job, Joe says that soon he and his band will become famous and go on their first tour.

3) Get Away [3:20] A week later, the band meets in its "headquarters", the Nick's house. The musicians see that their album is at the very bottom of the GroupRant rating, and they don’t have any fans. Looking at the charts of the modern independent albums, they understand that they missed the genre. The most popular trend at the moment is metalcore. Eugene sees such bands and albums as "All Longboards Go To Heaven — Revolutionary", "DangeRR — Kill Them All" and "Doctor Mobster — Heart Generator" on the top of the rating. Eric invents the name of the new band: Trestle Kids. On the same day, they decide to start work on a new metalcore project.

4) A Ballad of Metalcore [8:28] 8 months from the life of Trestle Kids. Endless recordings of the album in Nick's garage, attempts to promote their project on the Internet and among friends, lectures from Joe's father, and quarreling with parents. The band nearly gets thrown out of the college, killing all the strength on the new album, but in the end they are convinced that they have lost their time again. Now girl-oriented, "sweet" pop-rock is in the trends. Nick wonders what a terrible world they live in, if fashion changes not by years but by months. Frustrated and oppressed, they are running out of patience, but decide to work on the next project.

5) Turn On The Lights [2:23] The band changes its image and takes the name Snorlings. In a couple of weeks they record the songs and reduce the sound, after which Joe presses the sacramental "upload" button on GroupRant.

6) You Are Trendy Now [1:50] New listeners are appearing, and such soft rock begins to appeal to the audience. Eugene notes that too many teenage girls have subscribed to the band’s page.

7) Eclat Hills, Idaho [5:40] Brandon Brods, a Nick's friend from Idaho, sees potential in the new project of the band, so he invites them to a mini-gig in his hometown Eclat Hills. Brandon says that for a humble amount of money, he would give them a platform for a performance: his father’s bar, the "Young Rhino". In this case, the friends will pay for a trip to the neighboring state, but Brandon’s friends will help them in transportation, and if the concert is successful, Snorlings will receive a double fee. Eric is skeptical of this venture, complaining that the main visitors to these bars are "unbalanced young people who live in parties" and turns out to be right. The band is met by a dirty bar and not the most pleasant-looking public who doesn’t like the performance at all. In addition, Joe breaks a string on his guitar. The concert fails, and the band is forced to return home in disgrace. Brandon refuses to pay out any money, and the friends, along with a bunch of expensive equipment, spend the night in a motel.

8) Try. Fail. Repeat [1:11] The band members are depressed. They sit in a cafe in Eclat Hills and reflect on what happened last night, not understanding what they are doing wrong. However, Eric notes the pattern: the less effort they make to record an album, the more listeners enjoy it. Nick suggests that they have not yet found their style, as well as their true listener. Eugene says he has heard from a friend that the "guitar" genres are dead, and hip-hop is the genre of the day. No one believes his words, but everybody admits that they need a little rest from music.

9) Are We Gonna Do It? [2:04] Nick gathers everyone at his parents' house. He is tired that their music doesn't find a response among the audience, so the frontman sets an ultimatum: either go back to basics and play obscure and pretentious rock, or try themselves in contrast and popular hip-hop, or break up. According to his theory, if they record an album in a couple of days and specifically make it terrible, it will blow up the charts. Joe perceives the idea with hostility, but generally agrees just to support friends. The idea is seems curious to the others.

10) Weak Vibes [4:37] By the beginning of the recording of the new album, the band's whole enthusiasm is drying up: gathering at Joe's house, the musicians pay more time to each other than to the album. They remember the old days, share stories, order pizza, have fun, and just fool around, making the album "as bad as possible", calling their new project Lil Doodoos. At this point, they realize that they have been putting some hypothetical commercial success above friendship and true creativity. Overnight, the band records an ironic hip-hop album. Having collected a bunch of samples from old and obscure music, as well as their own tracks, they don't even count on any success: there is nothing to lose anyway, but there will always be friendship. In the morning, drunk Joe uploads the album on GroupRant.

11) Kiwi Mustard [6:14] The next day, the page on GroupRant is torn from ecstatic reviews and ratings, and the messengers of the band members are filled with messages and endless calls. Their album takes off. In the middle of the song there are the voices of the managers of several recording studios: Grillin, Caveman Rocks, ERPLC, and Swell Records, each of which "lures" the band to them. Musicians don't believe their eyes, but Eric is fully convinced of his theory. After thinking much, the group decides to pursue a career and stops at Grillin, because "they have a cool name". However, Joe is sad, but he doesn't give a look, so as not to upset his friends.

12) #GOT2GOT3 [2:00] The band is watching the rise of its popularity and on the wave of the hype immediately writes another track in which they declare themselves to the world. Subsequently, friends come to the conclusion that they will have to quit college for the sake of a musical career.

13) The Grand Tour [5:18] Grillin invites the band to Florida, the "new Hollywood of music industry". In a week, they have to tour the entire state, from Jacksonville to Miami, and give a series of concerts, the final of which will take place in the city of Flamenco. They also decide to record a mixtape. None of them know what this means: "probably, this is a mini-album".

14) All Of You Belong To Us [2:11] The first concerts are paying off. Getting out of a quiet town, Lil Doodoos get acquainted with a rich southern life: constant parties, fun, and a lot of drugs. Eric quickly adapts to this kind of life, which is worrying the rest. Nick is completely keen on the process and expresses the opinion that this is really the new rock'n'roll. Eugene realizes that he starts to cool down, and Joe is increasingly moving away from his best friends, saying openly that rock in a rap environment is a kind of cargo cult, and generally a parasitism on the classics.

15) American Dream Nowadays [5:49] Eric, as usual, rests at the hotel, of course with drugs. In the hallucinations he observes a fabulous world where France and Spain with alien fractal technologies and lava lamps have captured all the North American colonies and divided the continent into two parts, after which they proclaimed themselves an earthly empire. The new world order was headed by Shiva, Ra, and the Naked Emperor Z. Eric enters the magnificent palace of glowing bricks and climbs the high stairs to the balcony where he meets the world rulers who present him a personal plane and give a couple of tips about their sound. For example, they ask to add more "buzzing" and "alien" beats. Suddenly, the world around Eric dissolves, and he returns to his usual environment, without hearing the last piece of advice. Meanwhile, Eugene and Joe, worried about their friend’s condition, decide to start fighting his addiction.

16) Unfair Posture [4:20] The gig of the band almost falls apart: SERT (Society of Equality, Rap and Teepees) blame Lil Doodoos for the fact that there are no women among the performers. The band begins to seriously think about attracting new people, but Nick decides to disregard it and, since they have become mega-stars, just write a track that makes fun of this society. A track named "A Message" appears on the mixtape.

17) Do We Deserve This [3:16] Eric dies from an overdose in a hotel room, and the mood of the whole album changes, as well does the genre, from comedy rock to dark folk rock. Friends mourn Eric and, looking back, realize that everything is over.

18) Mixxtape [3:58] The band refuses to record the mixtape, and the album is being completed in a hurry by Nick. Nevertheless, the published news about Eric's death warm up the interest of the audience, and all attention is riveted to Lil Doodoos and their new album. Starting from this track, the cheers of the critics will periodically appear in the songs: "Wonderful! Truly iconic!", "They will change this world, I swear", "Sincerely incredible", "Better than the first one", "Ten out of ten!", and others.

19) Apocalypse [6:16] After the final perfomance in Flamenco, friends announce the disbandment of the band. The label offers a replacement in the form of a rapper Yun RelZa, but the musicians refuse. After a series of trials, the band members manage to win against the label, and Lil Doodoos officially ceases to exist. Nick continues his solo work in the genre of experimental hip-hop under the pseudonym $niKKie, Eugene decides to return to college, and Joe moves away from the public, becoming an artist. The friendship comes to a logical conclusion. Meanwhile, many “professional” bloggers and critics call the album an epoch-making masterpiece, and in an instant it reaches platinum status in the USA. The band itself is unconditionally recorded in the annals of history.

20) Curtains [1:48] The album ends with a short guitar solo and the words: "Who knew that such a story would happen to a bunch of usual guys from Montana?"

Full double cover