Post by Deleted on May 8, 2016 11:11:07 GMT -6
Well. I kind of walked into that one, didn’t I? I should have known that suggesting a pick your poison deal that Winter would pick Katie to be my opponent. Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about this, I really don’t. What if something goes wrong? What if I hit her too hard with a move and severely hurt her? I won’t be able to live with myself if I hurt her.
However, I need to get these negative thoughts out of my head because I’m here at the Auditorium Building, part of the Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois at some sort of little Comic-Con event where I’ve been asked to take part in a Q&A panel.
And after the last one I did with Katie and Zo, it feels good being able to do one of these when I’m no longer sick, because that last one was rough.
Dressed in a pair of black leather high heeled boots, a pair of black denim jeans, a sleeveless plain black tank top and a plain black woolen hat. I’m standing outside of the room listening as the people attending the panel are getting themselves settled in their seats.
The host of the panel, a man in about his mid-thirties with short red hair and a full beard, dressed in a black VoW T-shirt, a pair of dark blue denim jeans and a pair of white sneakers with a microphone in hand walks past me and into the room.
After a few moments, I hear his voice booming out of the microphone to make the announcement and welcome me onto the stage.
“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to this special part of the day, the VoW Q&A panel 2016!”
Applause and cheers come from the crowd, some whistling and whooping also coming from one or two in attendance.
“So without further ado, please give it up for our special guest today. She’s a former two-time VoW Xcel Champion...she’s VoW’s resident Glampire! Stacy...Jones!”
My theme music, “I Will Not Break” by A Sound Of Thunder begins to play on a CD player and I peek my head into the room and the fans cheer the moment they see me. Teasing them a bit, I disappear back outside of the room.
Moments later however, I enter the room properly and wave out to the crowd, slapping some of the fans hands sitting in the front row before heading up onto the stage and taking a seat behind the table as my music stops.
“Hi guys...”
The crowd cheers again, then after a few moments, as soon as the cheers die down, a random heckle comes from the back shouting.
“We love you!”
A ripple of laughter falls over the hundreds of people in attendance and I let out a chuckle of my own.
“And I love you too...”
Taking hold of the handle of a jug of water on my table, I pour myself a cup of water and take a sip as I glance over to the host.
“Okay guys, Stacy’s here and ready to ask your questions...so let’s begin shall we?”
Looking out to the crowd, a middle-aged woman with fair hair stands up and the host sticks his microphone close to her mouth so I can hear her.
“Hi Stacy, my name’s Angela...”
“Hello, Angela...”
“My question is...being in VoW as long as you have. What would you say is the best part about coming to VoW? And the worst part?”
Damn, tough question right off the bat. I sit there for a moment, thinking about my answer.
“Good question. Honestly, there are too many good parts...obviously I’d have to say the overall best part was meeting Katie, the love of my life. But of course, I love all of you guys...my two Xcel title reigns as well. As for the worst part? Definitely being away from my kids...not being able to see them because of how much time I’m on the road. Thank you for the question...”
Nodding she retakes her seat and then I peruse the crowd and a little girl, must be about ten years old stands to her feet and another helper closer by has a microphone ready for her.
“Hi, my name’s Katie...”
“Hi there Katie, love your name...”
She smiles shyly which is so adorable, her blonde hair tied into pigtails makes her look so cute, I just wanna pinch her cheeks.
“When did you know you wanted to become a wrestler?”
“Great question. I knew I wanted to become a wrestler when my Dad took me to my first ever wrestling event in Madison Square Garden. I just fell in love with it right off the bat, the story-telling...the characters...the art of wrestling, every aspect of it just clicked with me. Thanks for your question, honey...”
She quickly sits down, obviously pretty shy still and then I look over to see a young man stand up, wearing one of my T-shirts. He’s got dark brown hair and looks to be about eighteen roughly.
“My name’s Joel, and my question is, do you have any regrets as far as your rivalry with Winter goes?”
Huh, that’s ironic. Considering what’s happened recently, you’re damn fucking right I have regrets.
“Hi Joel, thanks for that good question and I love your T-shirt by the way. I’d say that I would regret dragging my kids and my fiancé into it...honestly if I could go back, I wouldn’t have done that. It should have just been between me and her, nothing more.”
Retaking his seat, this time another guy stands up, this one seems to be in his twenties or something.
“Hi there, m-my name is J-John...”
He pauses for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths.
“S-sorry, I’m really nervous...”
“It’s okay, John...take your time.”
“Do you h-have any advice for s-someone going through d-depression and dark thoughts?”
Poor guy, he’s shaking, it takes a lot of guts for someone to ask that kind of question in a room full of strangers.
“That’s a great question, thank you for it. The best thing you can do, is talk about it to someone. Communication is key, whether it’s a family member...a friend or even a therapist. You don’t need to be afraid to talk about it. I urge any of you to talk about it, there will always be someone there to listen to you and help you out.”
A small ripple of applause comes from the crowd as John sits back down, looking down to the floor as he does. A woman now stands up, who looks to be in her forties possibly.
“Hi Stacy, my name is Donna and I was just wondering, did you ever think you would be such a big influence on the LGBT community being in a profession like professional wrestling?”
Taking another drink from my cup of water, I straighten up my hat a little whilst pondering my answer.
“Thank you, Donna. Honestly, as much as I love pro wrestling because of all the stuff that happens on the show, I also love the fact that I along with other wrestlers have this platform that allows us to be an influence on different things...”
Lightly scratching my cheek and rubbing my nose, I then continue.
“And to answer your question, yes I did think I’d be a big influence on the LGBT community because I have always wanted to use this platform to get our voices heard. As a lesbian, in a position where people look up to me and listen to what I have to say, I feel like it’s my obligation to have my voice be heard about this kind of thing, and I do it for the people who’s voices aren’t heard...”
Again, another ripple of applause comes from the crowd as Donna sits back down. I notice the host out of the corner of my eye raise the microphone to his lips.
“Okay guys, we have time for three more questions...”
Nodding, I turn my attention back to the crowd and a bald guy who looks about early fifties stands to his feet.
“Hi there, my name is Harry and my question is, what is your relationship like with the Storm family? Does it concern you about comments sometimes about how close you are with them?"
“Thanks for the question, Harry...”
I lift the cup of water to my lips again and take a large gulp from it before setting it back down on the table.
“My relationship with the Storms, particularly Zelda is different from most friendships. Without going into too much detail because of the young ears here, Zelda and I are more than just friends and both our respective partners are fine with that...”
Leaning forward, I rest my arms on the table and clasp my hands together.
“As for comments people make, I know that this kind of thing isn’t something that everyone is okay with. But the thing is, at the end of the day...what we do in our personal lives, isn’t hurting anyone else and we have the right to do what we want. And as for anyone who has issues with us talking about it over Twitter, all I really have to say to them is there’s an unfollow and a block button that you can use.”
Harry nods and smiles before sitting back down as the next person with a question stands up. This person is a young teenage girl, looks to be about sixteen years old and has a very punky look to her.
“My name is Amber and I was wondering, how hard has it been to have to keep from beating the Hell out of Winter after all the things she has done to you?"
Letting out a small chuckle, I shake my head a little.
“You have no idea how hard it’s been! She's put me through so much Hell over these past few months, it's ridiculous. But don’t worry, come Fate of the Gods...I’m taking her down once and for all. Thank you for the question, Amber.”
Amber smiles and sits back down as the host once again chimes in.
“Well folks, we have one more question left and we have a special guest to ask the final question. This is a young eight-year old boy called Colin, who is currently fighting leukaemia and as part of the Make-A-Wish foundation, he wanted to meet his favourite Visionary which is you, Stacy...”
The host makes his way over to Colin and the moment I see him in his wheelchair and without any hair, obviously due to his chemo, my heart sinks. His big beaming smile however also makes me feel so honored and privileged to be in his company.
“Hi there, Colin...you better have a good question for me with it being the last one. No pressure...”
I smirk at him as he lets out a small giggle, which sounded so damn cute.
"Hi Stacy! When the day comes you have to retire or leave VoW, how would you want all your fans to remember you?"
“That’s a great question, Colin. And well, as you know...I’ve already made history here in VoW by becoming the first ever female champion, as well as the first ever two-time champion...”
Some more whooping comes from the crowd as I nod with a smile on my face.
“So I think one of the reasons how I’d want the fans to remember me by is by being the first ever female World Visionary Champion...”
Cheering from the crowd this time and it’s even followed up by a large ‘you deserve it’ chant which makes me smile.
“However, the main thing I’d like to be remembered for...is that if you put your mind to it, you can live your dream. And also, to be who you are and not be forced into being somebody you’re not. You’re all beautiful in your own way, and you have the right to be who you want to be...and that’s the legacy I want to leave behind for all you guys...”
And with that, the crowd get to their feet, applauding and cheering as I too stand to my feet.
“Well folks, that’s all we’ve got time for...thanks for all your questions. In about half an hour, in the room opposite here, Stacy here will be doing signings and taking photos so if you want to be involved in that, please make your way there now.”
I then make my way off the stage and leave the room from where I entered as the crowd that came to see me disperses quietly and in orderly fashion.
Being there for my fans is something that I will always do, as much as I possibly can. Meeting them are moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life, seeing the reactions of their faces when they see me, their idol, fills me with so much joy.
At least for now, taking part in this day is keeping my mind off the big ass elephant in the room, the thing that I will inevitably have to address at a later date. But for now, I just want to focus on being there for my fans, because they deserve it.
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So moving away from wrestling for a bit, and I’ve decided to meet up with Kelsey for a coffee and a chat. After what happened between her and Zahara, it’s put me in an awkward position because I still consider both of them my girls and now they’re no longer friends with each other.
I understand why their friendship has ended, and I’m not going to be forced to take sides in this, it’s none of my business at the end of the day and I just couldn’t choose one over the other. I’m not that kind of person, when someone becomes my friend, unless they do something completely despicable or they stab me in the back, I will remain their friend forever.
I’m just hoping that even though Zo and Kels are no longer friends, that I’ll still be able to have them be my bridesmaids at my wedding. Because I want all of my girls to be there on my big day, because I love them all.
So I’m sitting here in Ispento Coffee Shop dressed in a pair of black high heeled leather boots, a pair of black skin tight leather trousers, a black Nightwish Imaginearum T-shirt, a black leather jacket and a plain black woollen hat. Cupping a cappuccino in my hands, I’m awaiting the arrival of Kelsey, who I’ve ordered a mocha latte because I know she likes those.
I glance out of the window and I see her making her way along the sidewalk towards the entrance to the Coffee Shop. She spots me before entering and I give her a little wave which she reciprocates before opening the door and heading inside.
Dressed in a pair of black sneakers, a pair of light blue denim jeans, a black “Kelsey Club” T-shirt and a plain black cap, she walks up to the table as I look up to her with a smile on my face. Normally at this point, I’d get to my feet and give her a hug but I know she’s not keen on stuff like that so I don’t bother.
“Hi Kels, I got you a mocha latte...”
"You wanted to meet with me, Stacy?"
She responds, running a single finger along the table, refusing to make eye contact.
“I did, I wanted to see how you were doing. Please, take a seat...I’ve been worrying about you since our conversation over Twitter.”
Hesitating for a brief moment, Kelsey takes the vacant seat and motions towards the cup in front of her.
"Mocha latte; my favourite."
It's clear she's doing her best to avoid discussing her feelings.
“Please Kelsey, with my history, I know better than anyone that bottling up your pain isn’t going to do you any favours. Please, talk to me...you’re one of my girls and I hate seeing my friends in pain...”
Kelsey takes a smooth, drawn-out sip from her beverage, placing the cup firmly on the table. Slouching her shoulders downward and remaining adamant that she won't look me in the eye, Kelsey simply mutters.
"I don't know what you want me to say here..."
Taking a drink from my own drink, my concerned gaze remains locked onto her. From what I can see of her face, I can tell she has so much pain inside and it’s breaking my heart.
“Tell me how you feel...what’s on your mind right now? Hell, if you feel like you need to cry, do that. I’m trying to help you here Kels, I really am...”
"I'm not the crying type..."
Kelsey replies with defiance.
"Nor am I someone who talks about their feelings like this. I appreciate you trying to help me, I really do, but..."
“Okay, okay...I understand. I just want you to know that if you ever wanna talk, I’m here for you. I mean, why wouldn’t I be there for one of my bridesmaids...”
I figured rather than just asking her plain and simply, will you still be my bridesmaid? I instead thought I’d just throw the word in there to see how she responds to it.
Kelsey falls silent, her brain slowly ticking over. The expression on her face reveals she's trying her best to convert thoughts into words.
"Are you sure you want me to be a bridesmaid?"
She questions.
"I mean, considering what's just happened. Do you really want that kind of drama on the biggest day of your life?"
“All I know is, no matter what kind of negative feelings you have towards Zahara now. You’re both still my girls and I want you both to play a big part in what will be one of the best day’s of my life...”
I begin twitching a little, I’m so used to showing my affection to my friends with hugs and friendly touches, but I know how much Kelsey doesn’t like that sort of thing and I want to respect that.
“I’m not asking or expecting you to be near each other, or talk to each other...but I’d like to believe that you’ll still both want to be there for me. However, at the same time...I’m leaving the final decision up to you on whether you want to be my bridesmaid or not. I’m not going to force you to do this if you don’t want too because of what’s happened between the two of you...”
Trying to make eye contact with her, she continues to avoid it so I eventually just give up in the end.
“And if you don’t want to be my bridesmaid anymore, I want you to know that you are still invited to the wedding no matter what.”
"I still want too..."
She announces, folding her arms as some kind of insecurity coping mechanism. Letting out a sigh of relief, I smile.
“I’m so glad you said that, Kelsey. I was worried you wouldn’t want to anymore, thank you.”
"Is that all you wanted?"
Kelsey asks, before grabbing a hold of her coffee cup and rising from her seat.
“I guess it is, unless you’ve changed your mind about talking to me about how you feel?”
"Sorry, not my style..."
She states, before taking one final sip and leaving the half-full drink on the table.
"Thanks for the mocha,"
She adds as she fixes her cap and walks away from me, leaving me alone to finish off my cappuccino on my own.
Well I guess at least that went somewhat well in the sense that Kelsey is still wanting to be my bridesmaid. Could there ever be a point where Kels and Zo rekindle their friendship? I would hope so, but honestly I can’t say if they will or not.
I just hope that Kelsey is going to be okay. Like I said to her, I know what can happen if you keep your emotions bottled up inside of you and don’t talk to someone about it. The last thing I would want to have happen is to wake up one day and find out that Kelsey is no longer with us.
Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, maybe Kelsey’s stronger than I think. I just wish she’d realize I’m her friend and open up to me.
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So now it’s time to finally address that elephant in the room. That being the fact that I am scheduled to go one on one with my fiance, Katie Moicelle in a match that was made by my nemesis, Winter Pine. Of course, Winter hasn’t gotten off easy herself, as I also picked her opponent and I decided to go with the leader of the Horsewomen of Chaos, Emma Carlisle.
I guess that’s another elephant that I need to address too. Because it’s quite clear that Ms Carlisle wasn’t expecting her name to be brought into this. Which is fair enough, but I didn’t want to go down the obvious route and pick someone like English or Robinson because I know they would have pulled some stupid crap to screw me over.
But then again, Ms Carlisle has said it herself that she could very well do the same thing herself if she wanted too. I honestly didn’t think of her as being that kind of person, I thought she would have relished the opportunity to get her hands on anyone, especially a member of The Orphanage.
However, I am of course prolonging the inevitable, so I digress...
The camera flickers to life as I’m here in the lounge are of my hotel room in Chicago. Dressed in a pair of light blue jeans and a sleeveless plain black tank top, I make my way over to the sofa and sit down on it, swinging my legs over so they too are resting on said sofa.
Grabbing a bottle of water off the side table next to me, I unscrew the cap and take a long swig of the clear liquid before placing it back down.
“First things first...everyone wants to know, even the woman herself...why did I pick Emma Carlisle to be Winter Pine’s opponent at Breakthrough? It’s simple really. I’ve seen what she is capable of, I know that she enjoys destroying anyone who stands in her way and I know she is one of the toughest women in this company. I picked her because I knew that it would be a tough fight for Winter to endure...THAT’S why I picked Emma Carlisle.”
I take my electronic cigarette out of my pocket and take a few drags from it, watching as the vapour dances up into the air in front of me.
“And of course, Winter picked Katie to be my opponent. It was predictable, honestly...and I should have seen it coming but because my mind was all messed up at the time, the news hit me like a ton of bricks...hence why I walked out in tears when the news was dropped.”
Straightening up my top, I rest my right arm on the armrest of the sofa.
“Now Katie, I know how much it gets to you when people keep saying things like, what an upset, when you manage to knock off someone like Kincaid...or Robinson. It’s one of the things that happens in the wrestling business unfortunately, if you start off not doing so well in this industry, people are always going to remember that and you will probably forever be known as the underdog.”
Moving my legs off the sofa now and placing them onto the floor, my toes wriggling on the soft cream carpet below. I lean forward, this time with a serious expression on my face, my elbows resting on my thighs.
“But there is one thing you have NEVER been referred too as and that’s ‘Stacy Jones’ love squeeze’ nor have you ever been looked at as someone who is living in my damn shadow! Did you even listen to yourself when you said that, Katie? Who the Hell has ever referred to you in that manner? Better yet...who has referred to you in that manner who’s opinion actually friggin’ matters?”
I shake my head, chuckling before taking some more drags from my e-cig.
“You know, we both deal with negative opinions from people every single damn day. Tyron Bickerton for example, a man who we used to call our friend, berates us and Zelda over social media because of what we like to do with one another behind closed doors! But you see, we ignore it because his opinion doesn’t friggin’ matter to us!”
Taking another drink of my water, I maintain my focused look, trying desperately to get my point across to Katie.
“The only opinions that should matter to you, are those of myself, your friends and your family! And my opinion of you is that you are one of the best wrestlers in this company! You are arguably the greatest Zero Gravity Champion that’s ever existed, and I’m not saying all of these things because you’re my fiance and I love you more than anything else in the world. No, I’m saying this because it’s the damn truth!”
I let out an elongated sigh as my attention darts around the room for a few moments before switching back to the camera.
“So considering you’ve never EVER been in my shadow, as much as you may THINK you have been. If I do end up defeating you at Breakthrough, it doesn’t sap a God damn thing away from what you’ve worked for. All it will mean for you is that there will be another loss added to your record, nothing more...nothing less. And the sooner you realize that, the better...”
A smirk appears on my face as I stroke my hands through my long black and blue hair.
“You know, for so long I was worried about having to face you at Breakthrough, much like it’s worrying you so much as well. And yeah, it is my fault that we have to face each other at Breakthrough 45, I should have known that Winter was going to choose you as my opponent. But you wanna know something, Katie? When you truly think about it...all I did was just cause the inevitable to happen sooner!”
I pause for a moment to let that sink in, see if Katie realizes before I explain in detail what I meant by that.
“I mean, c’mon Katie! We’re both wrestling in the same damn company! It was going to happen eventually, you and I crossing paths! What’s to say that this time next year, one of us is going into Fate of the Gods III as the World Champion and the other is going into it as the number one contender? We’d have to face each other then...and who’s fault will it be then? Will you still not want to go ahead with the match, just because you’re facing your fiance? This...is what...we do!”
Nodding to myself, I have another drink from my bottle of water and then lightly scratch my cheek.
“I know for a fact that this is a match that our fans are seriously looking forward too. And I know for a fact that we are the types of people who will go out there and give our fans what they want, and that is an awesome match between two awesome talents! Win, lose or draw...nothing will change between us, because I am not going to let Winter win! She wants me to completely destroy you, she wants me to make you bleed, she wants me to show the world that I’m some kind of monster! Well none of that is going to happen...”
I stand to my feet and take one final drag of my e-cig as I make my way over to the camera.
“Katie, let’s give the fans a match to remember forever! Good luck, honey...because you’re going to need it!”
And with that, I shut the camera off forcing the scene to cut to darkness.
I hope I was able to get through to Katie with what I was saying to her there. I don’t understand where she got this whole idea from that she’s been living in my shadow. I mean, yeah I trained her and all, but for fucks sake, she’s one of the longest reigning Zero Gravity Champions right now and I just recently got out of a massive losing streak!
But the main point behind all of this, is that I have come to terms with having to go ahead with this match now. And I know what Winter wants to see from it, but she isn’t going to get it. We’re going to have a good, clean match that the fans will love, and if I win then I get to possibly pick the stipulation for my final battle with Winter.
And if I lose? Well I will raise my future wife’s arm in victory myself, because I know that she will have deserved it. Because contrary to what people may think, she’s one of the best...and I tell her that every day.