Post by Fiona McFly on May 28, 2018 4:00:16 GMT
Night of the Immortals.
It’s funny how the Imperial world advertises every single pay-per-view docket of the year as being “the biggest of them all,” but looking at the schedule we have as the month of May comes to a close--along with an old chapter--is, truly, the biggest of the lot. In a city that never sleeps, that prides itself in being over-the-top, this night is truly historic on so many different levels. Just like the numerous choices of games at the casino, there is so much to offer on this card that going rhough it all would just be a bother to me own mind.
And when you see the names that are listed on the schedule, you get a variety of different reasons for why they WANT to compete on the world’s biggest stage.
Some compete out of anger at either somebody else or their own past failures.
Some, still, compete for the people they perceive as “family.”
And some, like you Alexis Gold, compete for your own personal vanity.
Ever since I got started three years ago, I’ve been a firm believer that wrestling should be used in defence of honour and other people. Yet more importantly...it’s a sport that should help enrich the mind and the soul process the many bad things that end up on our laps and turn them into positives, that gives us the strength we need to continue on living even as things get darker around you. That’s what makes plying this craft mean something, that’s what makes it so special.
You, on the other hand?
You use wrestling for attack purposes ‘cos you, like so many others who’ve passed through the IWF hallways without realising their fullest potential, believe that everyone and anyone is beneath your perceptions and abilities. Your mind and soul are so focused on what you think you’re going to get out of the sport that it has started to twist and turn you into something corrupt and evil. We live in a globe that needs heroines, that needs beacons of light to overcome the black clouds that this so-called “Age of Gods” have left in their wake...but to use this sport in such a vane way, in your own eyes, makes it mean nothing to you.
What if I told you...that winning or losing didn’t matter, that it’s about MORE than just a result or the pursuit of material wealth?
Think about it...I’ve walked through the fires of purgatory, I’ve been through this song and dance routine for three years. Three long years...and I’ve heard people say the same things about me over and over like a broken Queen record: that I can’t win the big matches, that I’m predictable, and all the other things that could make a mind go gaga! Yet those are the very same hooligans and trolls that forget that they had to start from the very beginning as I had to do, that they had to EARN their places on the roster no matter what others have said about them.
And believe me...I’ve earned spot on the biggest platform of them all--not ‘cos I expect to be here on the path to awards or titles. After all, the word “expectation” itself is a trap word ‘cos they can be broken just as easily as they are made.
But ‘cus I’m COMMITTED to this sport, that there’s so much more to it than personal glory, fame, or riches. It’s about inspiring others to be more than the sum of their parts, to rise above even when they’re feeling down and out.
That’s what separates us, Alexis. ‘Cos when you look at it, you expect that you’re going to walk out to that ring and prove to the entire world that you can slip and slide on by just ‘cos you expect everything to be hand-delivered to you on a platter, like bars of gold or coins of silver. Yet, as I’ve said on the Twitter feed the other day, a card like this year’s Night of the Immortals is stacked so full with competitors from different walks of life, that tell different stories, that many other wrestlers are, sadly, left off. Unfortunately, that is how LIFE operates, and the best thing you can do at this point in time is to not worry about whether you’ve been placed on the top or the bottom.
Just be grateful that you’re in a ring to begin with--no matter where you are or how things will pan out.
Nothing in this lifetime is ever guaranteed or absolute. You might think to yourself that I’m going to simply dominate this profession yet you’ll soon realise that there’s a world around you that will eat you alive.at any given moment. Everything we do in this gig...runs through commitment, through keeping up the fight even if things aren’t exactly going your way. That’s how you beat the trolls that say “oh sod off, you can’t do this or that!” and all that other good mess they throw in your direction.
You have two options: heed me words and learn these lessons…
...or you can tap out and run along to the back in shame.
Pray you make the wise choice.
Cheerio!
~~~
CHAPTER 6
““In Which We All Learn That What Happens in Vegas Doesn’t Necessarily Stay There…”
~Part II~
Two-and-a-half hours later, that same morning…
We find Fiona McFly inside her former girlfriend Angie Johnson's apartment in neighbouring Henderson, just a few miles away from the famed Las Vegas Strip. It wasn't the best-looking fixer-upper in the Vegas metro area, but it was liveable. Fiona observed Angie pouring coffee into a red and white mug, admiring the various Golden Knights-themed decor the latter had on the walls--including a giant poster of her so-called "man crush" Riley Smith.
ANGIE JOHNSON:
Coffee? It’s decaf…
FIONA MCFLY:
I’m not into the whole “coffee” thing but I’ll have a little bit of it, thank you…
Fiona took the mug, giggling over its strange aroma that didn't resemble anything like her usual blend of tea she'd always have every morning at breakfast...
FIONA:
...then again, if I don’t me cup of Earl Grey in the morning, I get very cranky.
...and as Angie cracked a chuckle, Fiona took a sip of the concoction. She perked her brows up curiously, noting a flavour she wasn't familiar with.
FIONA:
What is that you put in there?!
ANGIE:
Caramel mocha creamer and Sweet ‘N’ Low, you like it?
FIONA:
Hrmmm...it could make for a passable substitute.
Both women flashed wide grins as they sat down on the living room sofa and watched a contestant bungle the "Ten Chances" game on The Price is Right. Yet on this sunny morning, both Angie and Fiona realised that they weren't just there to exchange pleasantries. This was a time for them to try and reconnect with one another as best friends--perhaps that was all they wanted to be, even as their relationship spiraled out of control for the better part of the 2000s until late 2014 when it ended.
It felt, for a moment, like the times they had together as University students and former roommates.
Angie turned the high-def TV down to a minimum, her eyes never losing focus on Fiona's as the vibes in the room began to grow tense by the second.
ANGIE:
Fifi...I did what you wanted. I stayed away…
Angie paused, taking a sip from her mug of coffee.
ANGIE:
After that bachelorette party, I never thought I’d see you again.
Fiona placed her drink on the side table, allowing it to cool down slightly. Yet she closed her eyes and took a deep, solemn breath. She felt a sense of uneasiness around her former Badger flame, often milling about at times to the point of being quite uncomfortable about the whole fling...
FIONA:
Did you really believe that we were together? Were we going to be?! You had your world, and I had mine--and I wanted to live in mine. Not dealing with a persistent lot of drunken hooligans in a run-down pub in Wisconsin every night.
...yet she opened her eyes, realising that the very irony of what she did now for a living was very reminiscent of her past life as a bartender in one of the roughest parts of Green Bay.
FIONA:
How ironic, come to think of it...I’ve been wrestling three years now. I deal with more hooligans and egos every day, just on a more massive scale.
Angie nodded, gazing her eyes upon the lone selfie they took together during happier times.
ANGIE:
Tell me how you’re feelin’...how you’re really feelin’.
Fiona's voice became soft, very reflective of everything she had experienced in the past three years--from the highest of highs to the lowest and darkest days of her own existence.
FIONA:
How am I feeling...unwell. I’ve been living a roller coaster of a life myself--fast-paced, sometimes with the feeling that I’m not in control, that I just want to slow down and take a deep breath after losing Jack. And it makes me…angry...been angry ever since, that I wanted to slow him down but I failed to do so; eventually, the fast living he did...cost him his life.
Angie slowly shook her head and took a deep sigh, placing her mug on ther opposite table.
ANGIE:
Oh, don't feel like that hunny--no matter how hard ya THINK ya can try, ya just can't slow other people down, they have to do it themselves. Truth is once ya start livin’ that kind of life it’s hard to pump the brakes. Sometimes people would often sell their souls to slow their lives down--if only for a single moment in time, leadin’ to disaster. But tell me...have you ever experienced that “perfect moment” in your life, when time around you just seemed to stop and you can just wrap yourself up in that moment like a blanket?
Fiona's face became softened as her mind focused on her biggest professional accomplishment.
FIONA:
...winning the Iron Maiden.
ANGIE:
And I bet that wasn’t exactly a simple process. Then again, life ain’t meant to be simple. It's complex, it's often cruel...yet it's also rewarding if ya let it be.
Fiona nodded, chuckling sheepishly.
ANGIE:
So you're still a wrestler huh...plannin’ on retirin’?
FIONA:
I was planning on it, but...
Angie held up her hand, politely cutting her ex off with a confident grin on her kisser.
ANGIE:
Well lemme tell you somethin’--don’t. Don’t let the trolls bother you, don’t pretend to be someone you’re not, don’t ever stop smiling ‘cuz while you’re out there doin’ what you wanna do and just bein’ yourself, you can make a difference.
Fiona couldn't help but muster a wide, cheeky smirk. Yet deep in her soul, all she wanted was a friend to help keep her own temperament at bay, someone she could trust to help her when the days got dark. In spite of everything that happened between them in the past, one thing was perfectly clear: she needed Angie, and Angie needed her.
FIONA:
Come back to Texas with me. I want you to meet a young lady I’ve been mentoring in me craft of wrestling--she’ll be done with final examinations this week. This city has too many temptations...
ANGIE:
Oh no...I couldn’t. Even if we might set ourselves as bein’ “just friends,” I just couldn’t...I'm afraid I miht slip back into my old habits again and hurt you like I've done before.
Fiona shook her head, not taking 'no' for an answer.
ANGIE:
I see that look in your eyes, that you’re in need of some company--any company--and this area’s got so much in the way of distractions. Honestly…?
Angie, a Sociology major, paused, her eyes lit up with the prospect of moving away from the glitz and glamour and into a more peaceful and tranquil environment. Yet deep within her conscience, she realised that, perhaps, she had a lot more to learn about her former rommate than what she had known fifteen years ago. They needed each other in their own darkest hours...
...even as they made a solemn vow to keep things platonic.
ANGIE:
...why not? I wouldn't mind the change of scenery...
It’s funny how the Imperial world advertises every single pay-per-view docket of the year as being “the biggest of them all,” but looking at the schedule we have as the month of May comes to a close--along with an old chapter--is, truly, the biggest of the lot. In a city that never sleeps, that prides itself in being over-the-top, this night is truly historic on so many different levels. Just like the numerous choices of games at the casino, there is so much to offer on this card that going rhough it all would just be a bother to me own mind.
And when you see the names that are listed on the schedule, you get a variety of different reasons for why they WANT to compete on the world’s biggest stage.
Some compete out of anger at either somebody else or their own past failures.
Some, still, compete for the people they perceive as “family.”
And some, like you Alexis Gold, compete for your own personal vanity.
Ever since I got started three years ago, I’ve been a firm believer that wrestling should be used in defence of honour and other people. Yet more importantly...it’s a sport that should help enrich the mind and the soul process the many bad things that end up on our laps and turn them into positives, that gives us the strength we need to continue on living even as things get darker around you. That’s what makes plying this craft mean something, that’s what makes it so special.
You, on the other hand?
You use wrestling for attack purposes ‘cos you, like so many others who’ve passed through the IWF hallways without realising their fullest potential, believe that everyone and anyone is beneath your perceptions and abilities. Your mind and soul are so focused on what you think you’re going to get out of the sport that it has started to twist and turn you into something corrupt and evil. We live in a globe that needs heroines, that needs beacons of light to overcome the black clouds that this so-called “Age of Gods” have left in their wake...but to use this sport in such a vane way, in your own eyes, makes it mean nothing to you.
What if I told you...that winning or losing didn’t matter, that it’s about MORE than just a result or the pursuit of material wealth?
Think about it...I’ve walked through the fires of purgatory, I’ve been through this song and dance routine for three years. Three long years...and I’ve heard people say the same things about me over and over like a broken Queen record: that I can’t win the big matches, that I’m predictable, and all the other things that could make a mind go gaga! Yet those are the very same hooligans and trolls that forget that they had to start from the very beginning as I had to do, that they had to EARN their places on the roster no matter what others have said about them.
And believe me...I’ve earned spot on the biggest platform of them all--not ‘cos I expect to be here on the path to awards or titles. After all, the word “expectation” itself is a trap word ‘cos they can be broken just as easily as they are made.
But ‘cus I’m COMMITTED to this sport, that there’s so much more to it than personal glory, fame, or riches. It’s about inspiring others to be more than the sum of their parts, to rise above even when they’re feeling down and out.
That’s what separates us, Alexis. ‘Cos when you look at it, you expect that you’re going to walk out to that ring and prove to the entire world that you can slip and slide on by just ‘cos you expect everything to be hand-delivered to you on a platter, like bars of gold or coins of silver. Yet, as I’ve said on the Twitter feed the other day, a card like this year’s Night of the Immortals is stacked so full with competitors from different walks of life, that tell different stories, that many other wrestlers are, sadly, left off. Unfortunately, that is how LIFE operates, and the best thing you can do at this point in time is to not worry about whether you’ve been placed on the top or the bottom.
Just be grateful that you’re in a ring to begin with--no matter where you are or how things will pan out.
Nothing in this lifetime is ever guaranteed or absolute. You might think to yourself that I’m going to simply dominate this profession yet you’ll soon realise that there’s a world around you that will eat you alive.at any given moment. Everything we do in this gig...runs through commitment, through keeping up the fight even if things aren’t exactly going your way. That’s how you beat the trolls that say “oh sod off, you can’t do this or that!” and all that other good mess they throw in your direction.
You have two options: heed me words and learn these lessons…
...or you can tap out and run along to the back in shame.
Pray you make the wise choice.
Cheerio!
~~~
CHAPTER 6
““In Which We All Learn That What Happens in Vegas Doesn’t Necessarily Stay There…”
~Part II~
Two-and-a-half hours later, that same morning…
We find Fiona McFly inside her former girlfriend Angie Johnson's apartment in neighbouring Henderson, just a few miles away from the famed Las Vegas Strip. It wasn't the best-looking fixer-upper in the Vegas metro area, but it was liveable. Fiona observed Angie pouring coffee into a red and white mug, admiring the various Golden Knights-themed decor the latter had on the walls--including a giant poster of her so-called "man crush" Riley Smith.
ANGIE JOHNSON:
Coffee? It’s decaf…
FIONA MCFLY:
I’m not into the whole “coffee” thing but I’ll have a little bit of it, thank you…
Fiona took the mug, giggling over its strange aroma that didn't resemble anything like her usual blend of tea she'd always have every morning at breakfast...
FIONA:
...then again, if I don’t me cup of Earl Grey in the morning, I get very cranky.
...and as Angie cracked a chuckle, Fiona took a sip of the concoction. She perked her brows up curiously, noting a flavour she wasn't familiar with.
FIONA:
What is that you put in there?!
ANGIE:
Caramel mocha creamer and Sweet ‘N’ Low, you like it?
FIONA:
Hrmmm...it could make for a passable substitute.
Both women flashed wide grins as they sat down on the living room sofa and watched a contestant bungle the "Ten Chances" game on The Price is Right. Yet on this sunny morning, both Angie and Fiona realised that they weren't just there to exchange pleasantries. This was a time for them to try and reconnect with one another as best friends--perhaps that was all they wanted to be, even as their relationship spiraled out of control for the better part of the 2000s until late 2014 when it ended.
It felt, for a moment, like the times they had together as University students and former roommates.
Angie turned the high-def TV down to a minimum, her eyes never losing focus on Fiona's as the vibes in the room began to grow tense by the second.
ANGIE:
Fifi...I did what you wanted. I stayed away…
Angie paused, taking a sip from her mug of coffee.
ANGIE:
After that bachelorette party, I never thought I’d see you again.
Fiona placed her drink on the side table, allowing it to cool down slightly. Yet she closed her eyes and took a deep, solemn breath. She felt a sense of uneasiness around her former Badger flame, often milling about at times to the point of being quite uncomfortable about the whole fling...
FIONA:
Did you really believe that we were together? Were we going to be?! You had your world, and I had mine--and I wanted to live in mine. Not dealing with a persistent lot of drunken hooligans in a run-down pub in Wisconsin every night.
...yet she opened her eyes, realising that the very irony of what she did now for a living was very reminiscent of her past life as a bartender in one of the roughest parts of Green Bay.
FIONA:
How ironic, come to think of it...I’ve been wrestling three years now. I deal with more hooligans and egos every day, just on a more massive scale.
Angie nodded, gazing her eyes upon the lone selfie they took together during happier times.
ANGIE:
Tell me how you’re feelin’...how you’re really feelin’.
Fiona's voice became soft, very reflective of everything she had experienced in the past three years--from the highest of highs to the lowest and darkest days of her own existence.
FIONA:
How am I feeling...unwell. I’ve been living a roller coaster of a life myself--fast-paced, sometimes with the feeling that I’m not in control, that I just want to slow down and take a deep breath after losing Jack. And it makes me…angry...been angry ever since, that I wanted to slow him down but I failed to do so; eventually, the fast living he did...cost him his life.
Angie slowly shook her head and took a deep sigh, placing her mug on ther opposite table.
ANGIE:
Oh, don't feel like that hunny--no matter how hard ya THINK ya can try, ya just can't slow other people down, they have to do it themselves. Truth is once ya start livin’ that kind of life it’s hard to pump the brakes. Sometimes people would often sell their souls to slow their lives down--if only for a single moment in time, leadin’ to disaster. But tell me...have you ever experienced that “perfect moment” in your life, when time around you just seemed to stop and you can just wrap yourself up in that moment like a blanket?
Fiona's face became softened as her mind focused on her biggest professional accomplishment.
FIONA:
...winning the Iron Maiden.
ANGIE:
And I bet that wasn’t exactly a simple process. Then again, life ain’t meant to be simple. It's complex, it's often cruel...yet it's also rewarding if ya let it be.
Fiona nodded, chuckling sheepishly.
ANGIE:
So you're still a wrestler huh...plannin’ on retirin’?
FIONA:
I was planning on it, but...
Angie held up her hand, politely cutting her ex off with a confident grin on her kisser.
ANGIE:
Well lemme tell you somethin’--don’t. Don’t let the trolls bother you, don’t pretend to be someone you’re not, don’t ever stop smiling ‘cuz while you’re out there doin’ what you wanna do and just bein’ yourself, you can make a difference.
Fiona couldn't help but muster a wide, cheeky smirk. Yet deep in her soul, all she wanted was a friend to help keep her own temperament at bay, someone she could trust to help her when the days got dark. In spite of everything that happened between them in the past, one thing was perfectly clear: she needed Angie, and Angie needed her.
FIONA:
Come back to Texas with me. I want you to meet a young lady I’ve been mentoring in me craft of wrestling--she’ll be done with final examinations this week. This city has too many temptations...
ANGIE:
Oh no...I couldn’t. Even if we might set ourselves as bein’ “just friends,” I just couldn’t...I'm afraid I miht slip back into my old habits again and hurt you like I've done before.
Fiona shook her head, not taking 'no' for an answer.
ANGIE:
I see that look in your eyes, that you’re in need of some company--any company--and this area’s got so much in the way of distractions. Honestly…?
Angie, a Sociology major, paused, her eyes lit up with the prospect of moving away from the glitz and glamour and into a more peaceful and tranquil environment. Yet deep within her conscience, she realised that, perhaps, she had a lot more to learn about her former rommate than what she had known fifteen years ago. They needed each other in their own darkest hours...
...even as they made a solemn vow to keep things platonic.
ANGIE:
...why not? I wouldn't mind the change of scenery...
Well howdy there pardner.