Back before we started sizing everyone up by the mask they do or don’t wear at the grocery store, or even by the faction of a homeowner’s yard signs, Texans derived a much more graceful manner of indicating a geographical area’s political leanings—iced tea.
I’m not sure if other states have similar litmus tests. I’d love to hear from anyone who has observed such a phenomena elsewhere. But in the big, ole State to the South, the sweetness of the tea is a clearcut indicator of the political stance of the person and/or establishment drinking/serving said tea. I’ve found this method of determining political beliefs to be accurate around ninety percent of the time (much better than standard forms of polling or would-be-supreme-court-justice hearings). And you don’t have to get up in anyone’s grill to get your answer.
Here’s the bottom line: The sweeter the iced tea, the more conservative/Republican the establishment and most likely the geographical region containing said establishment. To be totally confident in an area-wide conclusion, you should test two to three establishments in close proximity. (There’s always the possibility of a rogue tea drinker drifting away from their roots and becoming a bit of a rabble rouser in a rival territory.)
You know you’ve truly entered a liberal stronghold when you order “sweet tea” and the wait person eyes you with extreme suspicion before pulling a sugar packet out of their apron and tossing it on the table. Make no mistake, this is meant as the highest form of insult. I mean, have you ever tried stirring sugar crystals into previously iced tea? It’s like the old Bible verse, “Once something has lost its saltiness, can it be made salty again?” The answer, in case you were wondering, is no.
Unsweetened iced tea can never sweet tea become. It is destined at best to be unsweet tea with sweet grit swirling in the bottom of the glass. If you are a conservative attempting to stir sugar into your unsweetened tea at an establishment, you can be certain everyone else is having a hardy internal laugh at your expense.
At the other extreme of the spectrum, liberals caught in a den of Republicans have a bit more graceful of an out. Order an Arnold Palmer (half and half lemonade and iced tea). Arnold Palmer was a self-declared “middle of the road Republican” who had too much integrity and charisma to allow himself to be sucked into ugly partisan politics. The beverage named after him remains a perfect reflection of Arnold as a man, a human, and an American. It’s a compromise that balances a bit of the sweet and a bit of the tart with the underlying bitterness that makes tea such a compelling beverage to begin with.
Me personally? Hey, some like their tea sweet. Some don’t. As a young man, mine was pretty dang sugared. As I aged and moved around the country and even traveled a bit of the world I learned to drink my tea as the locals did…while still relishing opportunities to raise awareness and challenge local conventions. Eventually, you guessed it, I settled into the Arnold Palmer as my tea flavor of choice. I let the host determine whether the base tea be sweet or unsweet. The addition of the lemonade ensures there’s always a respectful balance.
At the Desk This Week
I’ve outlined and begun episode four of season three of The Green Ones. I’m still playing around with the right balance for the relationship between the newly reintroduced Grisha Petrosian and my main protagonists. “Grish” is a character who appears in three of my series within the Schism 8 universe. He’s a complicated guy because he’s constantly appearing in different parallel universes, and each doppelgänger reserves the right to be a little different.
This is his earliest appearance in the “real” universe (the one that is based on our universe), so I want to make sure I nail his quirks and mannerisms. I also have to make sure he instills the right amount of suspicion in the reader. My favorite version of Grish is in the “Texicas” universe where he has clearly gone a bit nutty from decades of isolation and conspiracy tracking. In the “real” universe, I want Grish to maintain his sardonic wit while maintaining more of a air of genius and power. Here is to hoping I find the perfect balance!
Below, you’ll find my best ability to clean up the rules for my fictional game of Ōllamaliztli. If you find any conflicts between these rules and the way I described the game near the end of Outburst, Season 1 of The Green Ones, let me know! All of this has been developed over a long period of time, and it is an absolute possibility that I’m conflicting with myself.
If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…
[Click here to start at the beginning.]
The rules for Ōllamaliztli*
[*I have no clue how to pronounce this.]
The game of Ōllamaliztli is played between two 49’s on a large stone court built around two vertical rings stationed at opposite ends and at the top of steep, stone slopes. Each team of 49 is broken into four positions: 1.) blockers 2.) handlers 3.) guardians 4.) strikers. When a player is not deployed on the stone court (remaining in the dugout), that player is by default a blocker. When deployed onto the stone court, the player must take on a designated role of handler, guardian, or striker. This role cannot be altered until the player rotates off of the court and once again becomes a blocker.
Blocker: The foundation of the team. Each 49 begins the game with 48 blockers (reduced down to 37 as players enter the court, and then reduced further by potential stunnings and penalties). These people sit inside a dugout on the sidelines and focus their EM energy on frustrating the opposing players in any strategy they see fit. Blockers are not allowed to stun, only block. As players are stunned or knocked out of the game (or removed due to penalty), the number of blockers will decrease, thus reducing their overall effectiveness.
Handler: At full, on-court capacity, a team consists of 10 handlers. These are the people allowed to control the pelota(s). They pass the pelota back and forth between each other and battle the other team’s handlers to move it into position for a strike.
Guardian: Each team consists of a maximum of 1 guardian. This player cannot control the pelota, but can merely deflect it. His/her duty is to protect the ring at all costs.
Striker: Each team consists of a maximum of 1 striker. This player cannot control the pelota, but only direct it with a quick strike. The striker is the only person who can score a point by directing the pelota through the opponent’s ring.
Objective: The team with the most points at the end of regulation (150 minutes) wins.
The pelota: The pelota weighs 9lbs., is the size of a coconut, and is made of heavy rubber. The inner core contains a response unit—a basic stripped down version of the brains inside a probe. As a result, the pelota is much easier to manipulate via telekinesis. Pelotas are used in early academy training to teach basic manipulation skills.
Commander: The team commander sets the overall strategy for the match and is in charge of formations and focus on the court.
Manager: Each dugout is controlled by the team manager—a person appointed by the team commander. Typically the commander will be rotated out by the manager, thus assuming managerial duties while in the dugout to ensure no penalties occur from improper rotation and that positions are filled strategically. The manager has to think quickly in order to rotate best fit players after stunnings and penalties while keeping players in line for regular rotations. Creating mismatches is critical to win the game, so the manager must be aware of who the other team has deployed as well.
Game play: The clock stops twice—once between each of the three periods of play. (Each period is 50 minutes.)
Each team starts with a single player leaving the dugout and entering the stone court. Every minute for the next 11 minutes, another player is added for each team until all 12 players are on the court for each team. Then every minute after that, the rotation continues so that two new players (one for each team) enter the court every minute during regulation. The starting two players must endure the longest span of continuous court play, 12 minutes, before being eligible to rotate out. Players rotating in must remain in the position of the player they replace the entire time they are on the court.
Much strategy is deployed in the order of the initial 12 players and their positions. If a team starts with a handler, they can control the pelota much more easily, but they cannot score. If they begin with a striker, they have the potential to score, but their striker could become exhausted too quickly and not be able to be replaced for 12 minutes. A team can go defensive and start the game with a guardian. They have no chance to score, but can keep their handlers and striker more fresh in hopes of scoring later in the period. Teams will always put their best players on the court early, so as to give them the most playing time. But they might mix up the order of the first several in order to create mismatches between fresh and tired players. The first two players on the court face TK abuse from all 48 blockers. The first minute can be extremely brutal. Only the toughest players can handle the position.
The second and third periods begin in the same manner as the first period. As players are stunned and/or ejected, a blocker will rotate into their place immediately so that each team keeps 12 court players as long as they have 12 or more players remaining of their 49. A “clean” period results in a team’s 49th player entering for the final 2 minutes of that period (all 49 players have played at least one minute). A clean period grants the 49th player to enter the court a chance at a free strike (striker against opponent guardian without any blocker interference) at the end of the period. Because of this, some teams reserve an above average player for this final rotational spot.
After rotating out, a player is eligible to rotate back in immediately.
Penalties:
A guardian handling the ball results in ejection.
A striker handling the ball results in ejection.
Failure to rotate or improper rotation results in ejection.
A blocker throwing a stun pulse results in ejection.
All of the above ejections are for the duration of a single period.
Anyone deemed to intentionally threaten the life of another player is ejected for the entire game.
Season: 10 weeks. 20 games. Each team plays in 8 games. The top two teams play a final on graduation week.
Special rules: Each team commander is allowed a single deployment of a second pelota once during the match. He/she can deploy the second pelota at their discretion. The second pelota remains in play for two minutes. All normal rules apply.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read these scenes of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!