Ash Rice

Ash was born as Magne to Oystein and Lise Haugen in Tromso, Norway. As far as he was concerned, nothing much was impressive at that point in his life. His parents were both good people who worked and loved him and loved each other. Even when they were planning to move, Ash had so much love and support that he didn't really mind leaving Norway behind for America (it helped that he didn't necessarily have a ton of friends at the time, something his teachers were trying to work with him on). They arrived in Montana when he was just six years old, having a nice little house with an expansive backyard that lead into the woods. It was there that Ash met Cedric. Cedric was, simply put, Ash's everything. Ash loved Cedric with all of his heart, with as much love as he knew how to give. They often would go adventuring in the woods or camp out in the backyard (Cedric's favorites) or riding their bikes into the bigger part of town and going to see movies (Ash's favorite). They were happy.

It was when they were young that Ash got it in his head that he wanted to be an actor. He wanted to be like those stars he saw on the screen, who had all kinds of money and got to live adventures (even when they weren't really adventures). Most teachers just humored it as a child wanting to be an astronaut-vet-pop star, but Ash's parents and Cedric took it seriously. Cedric was Ash's number one fan even as he just started getting in to acting classes. When Ash was fourteen, he decided that he needed to "rebrand" himself. After all, who in America would want to go see a movie with someone named Magne Haugen? That sounded like an artsy film that only pretentious people saw. But between him and Cedric, he came up with the perfect one: Ash Rice. That was the name of someone who would punch bad guys in the face and always get the girl (or guy, in his case). He was happy with trying harder and harder. He got the occasional commercial in his home town or news media, but it was never quite enough for Ash.

When he entered his twenties, he started looking elsewhere. Here he was, a young, relatively handsome and talented actor...who just needed some acting under his belt. Then came the day he had been hoping for: auditions were opening up in Los Angeles for some movie. It wasn't going to be a big role, but there was something even better: talent agents were combing the movie set, making it a prime spot for anyone who wanted to get their foot in the door. Ash had a chance in this. He hardly even mulled it over, deciding that it was exactly what he was going to do. His parents were supportive. Cedric...less so. What is a guy suppose to do when your boyfriend, the man you were planning to marry, comes up to you and says he's going down to Los Angeles, planning to move there if things worked out, and didn't seem to care about you? Well, apparently if you're Cedric, you tell him a few days later that you're going for a chance to study wolves in Canada. The two were completely shattered by the others' choice, Ash unwilling to recognize that he started the ball rolling by thinking that Cedric would just tag along with him to LA. So, he moved alone and pretended for six years that he wasn't dying inside.

The continuation of Ash's story is explored in the To The Moon, Through the Stars story Stars Are Just Memories.

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