Post by Fiona McFly on Aug 7, 2017 3:32:48 GMT
FIONA'S JOURNAL
5 August 2017
It happened so fast, I couldn't even react.
Last week, I had the Shieldmaiden opportunity in me sights as I gave Lizzy Dalmon EVERYTHING I could muster. Yet, out of the blue, Kate came in and took command from there. I wanted to come back in and stop her from getting a victory that I wanted to earn really badly, but...I couldn't make it in time. I just couldn't, and now I'm left to ponder to myself about what had happened out there...
...leaving me to ask the universal question of "why."
Leaving me with no answers whatsoever.
I feel...as if I need to be as straight and leven with you, the people of the Imperial world, as I possibly can. I haven't been sleeping well ever since our mentor passed away, since me husband and I gathered on the back playground and lawn of Beckham Elementary to pay our last respects. I've been constantly grieving for weeks on end, and...I let it boil over in those waning moments. I feel as if I'm wastin' me breath fighting a faceless, nameless, souless enemy that has done nothing but tear me apart on the inside.
And it hurts me more than anything else I can ever imagine.
I wish I didn't have to live me life with things like pain and anger all the time, but it's the drive to overcome them that keeps me going from now 'til I can't fight anymore. After all, as I've learned so often yet find myself forgetting, that for every day we deal with things like loss and heartache, there's always hope for what lies ahead, for the next day will come to pass and bring with it a much, MUCH brighter outlook than the previous day.
That, as I think about my upcoming match in Moscow for the Sacrifice programme, gives me a sense of comfort, comfort in knowing that growth means overcoming the bad and thinking about the good...
...the hallmarks of what it will take for me to become Champion.
Right, Crystal?
When you think about it, we've had quite the history together. First you and your old mentor Zelda tried to stop me from winning last year's Iron Maiden only to flunk miserably. You then tried to apologise for what you've done to me in the past, telling me that I had a hand in your turning a new leaf. The deal with that, however, is that you did it all by yourself, and for that I applaud you. You spent the last year or so toiling away, watching as the likes of Pandora Freeman or Rowan McDonnough quickly rose and became Champions....
...and then, you concussed yourself.
And now you're primed for yet ANOTHER comeback.
Here's the deal, lovely...as me mentor and friend, Miss Kimble, would usually say all the time, the best moments in life happen when you're in ONE PIECE, not in a million pieces. The point I'm trying to make out of that saying is REAL simple...stop showboating. Stop being so overtly emotional about the little things that hold you down. Just close your eyes...and think of the things that REALLY make you into who you are! Who knows, you might learn something as I have--things like respecting yourself and the people around you, learning to grow, and all that good stuff.
Just remember: just 'cos I say those things to you doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you.
After all...I didn't get to this point in me life by playing nice. Now Keira...
My heart breaks for you. It really, really does. Being picked on at school 'cos you were this middle-class gothic girl really hurts you, and believe me...I know the feeling of being picked on all too well, mainly 'cos I came from a land different than Texas, 'cos I had an accent. Much like you, I've often found myself feeling as if I was truly alone, not wanting to be around anybody or lashing out against those who've done nothing but torment me in the past.
Deep in me heart, that's where I believe you truly are.
Yet you did well in the Diamond in the Rough series to earn your place in IWF!
But when you come to think about it...this landscape will eat you alive, that is true, yet there ARE people who genuinely care for you and want to help you along in your journey. Utilise what you learn from then, don't just play by yourself! Learn from them, take good notes...for whilst it takes a good woman to survive in a world like Imperial, it takes a BETTER woman to fully understand how we, as grapplers, shape the landscape today. Trust me...I had to go through the same process you're going through now.
And it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.
After all...nothing about this sport comes easy.
Cheerio!
~~~
Interlude #5 ~ "In Which Fiona Goes On A Predawn Drive"
25 July 2017 + 0630 GMT
The Aston-Martin's engine roared to life.
Its LED headlights came on at full beam.
We find Fiona McFly inside her vintage DB5 that was parked outside the house she shared with husband Jack Gaither, revving its powerful V8 motor for a moment before placing it into first gear. Lurching forward, the car made a sharp right-hand turn as she drove towards Wheeler Avenue, going on a route that would take her onto Interstate 20 heading eastbound. She had taken that particular route many times during her North Texas residency, often traveling to DFW Airport to catch a flight to some random city on the world map.
Yet on this partly cloudy Tuesday morning, she found herself driving for a very different reason.
Her haggard complexion gave away the fact that, ever since Regina Kimble's passing and subsequent memorial and funeral services, she had not been sleeping well. Her eyes, bloodshot beyond any form of imagination, were wide open as she sped down the North Texas highway, passing by a steady stream of cars and trucks of varying sizes as the other drivers headed out to work. Yet her mind wasn't on the road ahead of her as she hit her 65 mile-an-hour cruising speed.
Fiona gazed at a pair of photos--one of her grandfather Seamus, the other one of the beloved former educator--that had been placed on the dashboard, next to the right-hand driving column, as a song from the 1985 "Rocky IV" soundtrack began playing from her playlist on her iPhone, which was docked in the docking station and connected to her car's radio. "Rocky IV" wasn't one of Fiona's favorite movies, for she had found its U.S. and Soviet Cold War undertones to be extremely trope-filled with very little in the way of substance attached to it. Yet deep in her soul, she couldn't help but not skip over to the next track on her list...
...for the tune in question from Robert Tepper made sense.
"We're not indestructible
baby, better get that straight;
I think it's unbelievable
how we're givin' to the hands of fate
If something's all worth fighting for
some feelings never die;
I'm not askin' for another chance,
I just wanna know why..."
On this day, Fiona was contemplating revenge against a faceless, figureless, souless enemy that had swopped into her very consciousness, taking with it the two people she had truly treasured the most--Seamus McFly, her beloved grandfather, and the aforementioned Regina Kimble. It had left her pondering the reason why that enemy known as cancer would tear her life--and her husband's--apart like this.
Yet she couldn't find an answer to the question.
As she continued her travels, we see flashbacks race through her mind, including the time spent with her father on board his Royal Navy anti-mine vessel, to the first time she had met Regina, in that dusty old boneyard just moments after the town bully had stolen something she had scavenged as a child. Her thoughts changed to the days spent in Regina's garage as they toiled away on the old "Mach Five" go-kart, preparing for that fateful 1994 summer race. The chorus of the track in question can be heard as McFly's 007-inspired vehicle raced on I-20, heading towards Dallas...
"There's no easy way out
there's no shortcut home
there's no easy way out
givin' in can't be wrong..."
...and we, once more, are treated to her reflections, witnessing moments like her future husband accidentally spilling Coke on her blouse on the first day the couple had met in the Arlington High School cafetorium, to their first kiss at their senior prom, to the moment they both stood beside one another at the summit of Enchanted Rock, and last but not least, to the day of their wedding.
That, plus the moment in which she won that go-kart event, was some of the proudest times of Fiona's life.
And all the while, she realised that her beloved Grandpapa and Miss Kimble were always with her, through hell and high water.
She still hated cancer with a passion, she hated the fact that it can just reach out and take people away from her in a matter of months; yet she warmly smiled, gazing her eyes upon the steadily rising sun that greeted her. It offered a glimmer of hope and comfort for her--for it wasn't about how a person had died, but about how they lived.
Truly, it was the beginning of a brand-new day.
~TO BE CONTINUED~
5 August 2017
It happened so fast, I couldn't even react.
Last week, I had the Shieldmaiden opportunity in me sights as I gave Lizzy Dalmon EVERYTHING I could muster. Yet, out of the blue, Kate came in and took command from there. I wanted to come back in and stop her from getting a victory that I wanted to earn really badly, but...I couldn't make it in time. I just couldn't, and now I'm left to ponder to myself about what had happened out there...
...leaving me to ask the universal question of "why."
Leaving me with no answers whatsoever.
I feel...as if I need to be as straight and leven with you, the people of the Imperial world, as I possibly can. I haven't been sleeping well ever since our mentor passed away, since me husband and I gathered on the back playground and lawn of Beckham Elementary to pay our last respects. I've been constantly grieving for weeks on end, and...I let it boil over in those waning moments. I feel as if I'm wastin' me breath fighting a faceless, nameless, souless enemy that has done nothing but tear me apart on the inside.
And it hurts me more than anything else I can ever imagine.
I wish I didn't have to live me life with things like pain and anger all the time, but it's the drive to overcome them that keeps me going from now 'til I can't fight anymore. After all, as I've learned so often yet find myself forgetting, that for every day we deal with things like loss and heartache, there's always hope for what lies ahead, for the next day will come to pass and bring with it a much, MUCH brighter outlook than the previous day.
That, as I think about my upcoming match in Moscow for the Sacrifice programme, gives me a sense of comfort, comfort in knowing that growth means overcoming the bad and thinking about the good...
...the hallmarks of what it will take for me to become Champion.
Right, Crystal?
When you think about it, we've had quite the history together. First you and your old mentor Zelda tried to stop me from winning last year's Iron Maiden only to flunk miserably. You then tried to apologise for what you've done to me in the past, telling me that I had a hand in your turning a new leaf. The deal with that, however, is that you did it all by yourself, and for that I applaud you. You spent the last year or so toiling away, watching as the likes of Pandora Freeman or Rowan McDonnough quickly rose and became Champions....
...and then, you concussed yourself.
And now you're primed for yet ANOTHER comeback.
Here's the deal, lovely...as me mentor and friend, Miss Kimble, would usually say all the time, the best moments in life happen when you're in ONE PIECE, not in a million pieces. The point I'm trying to make out of that saying is REAL simple...stop showboating. Stop being so overtly emotional about the little things that hold you down. Just close your eyes...and think of the things that REALLY make you into who you are! Who knows, you might learn something as I have--things like respecting yourself and the people around you, learning to grow, and all that good stuff.
Just remember: just 'cos I say those things to you doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you.
After all...I didn't get to this point in me life by playing nice. Now Keira...
My heart breaks for you. It really, really does. Being picked on at school 'cos you were this middle-class gothic girl really hurts you, and believe me...I know the feeling of being picked on all too well, mainly 'cos I came from a land different than Texas, 'cos I had an accent. Much like you, I've often found myself feeling as if I was truly alone, not wanting to be around anybody or lashing out against those who've done nothing but torment me in the past.
Deep in me heart, that's where I believe you truly are.
Yet you did well in the Diamond in the Rough series to earn your place in IWF!
But when you come to think about it...this landscape will eat you alive, that is true, yet there ARE people who genuinely care for you and want to help you along in your journey. Utilise what you learn from then, don't just play by yourself! Learn from them, take good notes...for whilst it takes a good woman to survive in a world like Imperial, it takes a BETTER woman to fully understand how we, as grapplers, shape the landscape today. Trust me...I had to go through the same process you're going through now.
And it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.
After all...nothing about this sport comes easy.
Cheerio!
~~~
Interlude #5 ~ "In Which Fiona Goes On A Predawn Drive"
25 July 2017 + 0630 GMT
The Aston-Martin's engine roared to life.
Its LED headlights came on at full beam.
We find Fiona McFly inside her vintage DB5 that was parked outside the house she shared with husband Jack Gaither, revving its powerful V8 motor for a moment before placing it into first gear. Lurching forward, the car made a sharp right-hand turn as she drove towards Wheeler Avenue, going on a route that would take her onto Interstate 20 heading eastbound. She had taken that particular route many times during her North Texas residency, often traveling to DFW Airport to catch a flight to some random city on the world map.
Yet on this partly cloudy Tuesday morning, she found herself driving for a very different reason.
Her haggard complexion gave away the fact that, ever since Regina Kimble's passing and subsequent memorial and funeral services, she had not been sleeping well. Her eyes, bloodshot beyond any form of imagination, were wide open as she sped down the North Texas highway, passing by a steady stream of cars and trucks of varying sizes as the other drivers headed out to work. Yet her mind wasn't on the road ahead of her as she hit her 65 mile-an-hour cruising speed.
Fiona gazed at a pair of photos--one of her grandfather Seamus, the other one of the beloved former educator--that had been placed on the dashboard, next to the right-hand driving column, as a song from the 1985 "Rocky IV" soundtrack began playing from her playlist on her iPhone, which was docked in the docking station and connected to her car's radio. "Rocky IV" wasn't one of Fiona's favorite movies, for she had found its U.S. and Soviet Cold War undertones to be extremely trope-filled with very little in the way of substance attached to it. Yet deep in her soul, she couldn't help but not skip over to the next track on her list...
...for the tune in question from Robert Tepper made sense.
"We're not indestructible
baby, better get that straight;
I think it's unbelievable
how we're givin' to the hands of fate
If something's all worth fighting for
some feelings never die;
I'm not askin' for another chance,
I just wanna know why..."
On this day, Fiona was contemplating revenge against a faceless, figureless, souless enemy that had swopped into her very consciousness, taking with it the two people she had truly treasured the most--Seamus McFly, her beloved grandfather, and the aforementioned Regina Kimble. It had left her pondering the reason why that enemy known as cancer would tear her life--and her husband's--apart like this.
Yet she couldn't find an answer to the question.
As she continued her travels, we see flashbacks race through her mind, including the time spent with her father on board his Royal Navy anti-mine vessel, to the first time she had met Regina, in that dusty old boneyard just moments after the town bully had stolen something she had scavenged as a child. Her thoughts changed to the days spent in Regina's garage as they toiled away on the old "Mach Five" go-kart, preparing for that fateful 1994 summer race. The chorus of the track in question can be heard as McFly's 007-inspired vehicle raced on I-20, heading towards Dallas...
"There's no easy way out
there's no shortcut home
there's no easy way out
givin' in can't be wrong..."
...and we, once more, are treated to her reflections, witnessing moments like her future husband accidentally spilling Coke on her blouse on the first day the couple had met in the Arlington High School cafetorium, to their first kiss at their senior prom, to the moment they both stood beside one another at the summit of Enchanted Rock, and last but not least, to the day of their wedding.
That, plus the moment in which she won that go-kart event, was some of the proudest times of Fiona's life.
And all the while, she realised that her beloved Grandpapa and Miss Kimble were always with her, through hell and high water.
She still hated cancer with a passion, she hated the fact that it can just reach out and take people away from her in a matter of months; yet she warmly smiled, gazing her eyes upon the steadily rising sun that greeted her. It offered a glimmer of hope and comfort for her--for it wasn't about how a person had died, but about how they lived.
Truly, it was the beginning of a brand-new day.
~TO BE CONTINUED~