Post by leilafarrahi on May 22, 2010 7:48:58 GMT -4
The night of Mayhem is warming up. The crowds are buzzing, the backstage alive. The wrestlers are going through their routines, the technicians are wiring everything up. And the management is doing everything that they do well: Nothing at all. They will take in the money procured through nefarious means – money stained with immorality – and then use that to propagate their own agenda of exploitation. But there is one that fights to stop this, and will continue to do so as long as she falls under their long shadow. Leila Farrahi, who is walking by herself amongst the mindless people. Every so often someone will cast her as stare, but she continues on her way. Her fight isn't with the gawkers, but with Sally Talfourd tonight. She has to save herself for that test. Leila continues her walk to the open door of a locker room. She looks in and sees a smashed vase, flowers strewn over the floor, a warmly decorated room. Leila tisks as she shakes her head.
Leila: How disappointing. It seems that some people don't know how to take a gift. It is a shame that Sally doesn't have the decency to even thank me for this gesture. I merely wanted to show her what's at stake tonight; remind her of everything that she will lose when I win. It will be a shocking, momentous night for her. And when she leaves this room to go to our match, she should realise what she is leaving behind: Her life of glitz and glamour. No longer will she be the Hallmark card for immorality and lavishness. When I defeat her, she will cease to be embodiment of all that is wrong with this world, and she will become a truly righteous person. Someone who people can look to for inspiration and as an example of someone who has lost her faithless ways to be shown a more devoted life.
She leans on the frame of the door, he head resting against the wood. She breaks into an smile, evil and vindictive. Then lets out a laugh. She trails he fingers around the hem of her khimar, then pulls it tighter over her head. She pushes off from the frame and walks further into the room. Looks around. Sees the merchandise on the table in the centre of the room. She sits at the table, with the camera taking up a position across from her. She fingers through the program guide, coming to a stop on a page that catches her eye.
Leila: Sally Talfourd. The Last Magician. Seattle, Washington. Five-feet, ten-inches. One-hundred and forty pounds. Finishers: The Makeover, Chip on the Shoulder, and the Happy Ending. *Leila flicks page after page, getting to near the end* Leila Farrahi. Tehran, Iran. Five-feet, seven-inches. One-hundred and thirty pounds. Finishers: Shab and *Leila squints to a word, then rolls her eyes* and the Bedrod. Expected, not only am just an afterthought to this company, but they couldn't even manage the correct spelling of my finisher. It translate somewhat to 'goodbye' in a language far more ancient and beautiful than primitive English. Goodbye. It is the most polite way I can farewell my opponent in a match where I have put them through so much anguish and pain.
But this *Leila gestures to the page* is precisely the type of thing I am fighting against. The maltreatment and the disrespect that someone like I receives. Just disregarded by the majority of people as different. And if I am different, I must be forgettable. And if I am forgettable, I must be ignored. And to be ignored is an insult in this profession. It is a statement that I am not worthy of my place and that my skills are sub-par and that I don't deserve a minute of attention. It is a disgrace upon me that I am treated like this. I fight against the disrespect that I have issued upon me by those supposed powerful people who control all of the companies I work for. I fight against the disrespect that the audiences pay to me for my efforts and my attempts to show these people how they are wasting their lives. I have tried for years to do this, an unfortunately I have not prevailed. But tonight will be different. Tonight will be the start of a new day, not the end of my efforts.
She lays the program down, open still on the page that has the 'glamorous' and 'beautiful' Sally Talfourd. Leila picks up the marker that's there and takes off the cap. She begins to draw on the page.
Leila: This will not be my final struggle. It will not be my final step or my last conquest. You, Sally, will be my first. While you come to this match looking to end something, to turn a page on me and our past, I enter this match with the intent to start a revolution. The revolution that will come is of the minds and of the souls of the people in this company. They are corrupted, Sally, and you are the most corrupt and the most dishonourable soul in this company. By defeating you at this night of nights, you will be the first change for this company. You will have no option but to accept that I am so far above you. And because of that, you will have to follow my ways. You will have to adopt my faith. You will have to treat yourself with the honour and respect of a person of faith. And you will have to treat these other sinful and disgusting people the way I do: with contempt.
The people that surround us need changing. They need help Sally! And only I can bring it to them. With my faith and my devotion and my purpose, I can change the people here. Sally, you will be the first example of that. But maybe you have already changed. Maybe you know this already as you walk towards our fate. And in knowing this you know to lay down and to accept this change. You may already know to embrace the change that I bring, and that you know to lose. To me, and to Him, this is a sign of change. It is good! You will avoid the pain and torment that I will put you through, Sally. You will walk alongside me, and into His light, with your head held high, with your honour in tact, and in an unrivaled pleasure.
Leila stops to look down at the program, and holds it up for the camera. She's coloured on some sleeves, some pants and over her mid-rift to give her some respect with her picture. The sleeves right down to the wrists and the pants down the the ankles. There's no flagrant display of skin, and a degree of modesty. Much more to Leila's liking. She puts the program down, takes up the pen again.
Leila: But should you insist on fight, you will not win. My faith in Him gives me strength. It gives me all that I need to defeat those that stand in my way of change. I am on a journey. I have seen it. If you come looking for a fight, you will get one. It will be long, and it will be miserable for you. I think you already know this. You've been through some of the worst torment I can put you through before. Let us not forget that I was the last one of us to win our singles match. I had found the strength and the courage to defeat you once before. And I have held on to it ever since then. I know what is required of me to defeat you. And it is nothing compared to what I have been through already in this forsaken world already.
Leila picks up the program again to show her latest addition. She's poked a pair of holes through Sally's eyes. Leila turns the program round, looks down at it with a knowing stare.
Leila: I know that you know my past. You know my own pains and anguish. I might care to inform this disgraceful company one day, but I doubt it. The people here don't have the right to know my past. But you do know it. So you know the fire that burns inside of me. And you know that no matter how hard you try, Sally, you won't be able to extinguish it. I will always pull myself up. By tooth or by nail, I will pull myself to my feet, and I will continue to fight you. Because my flame is not fueled by anything of this world. There is nothing that inspires me here. It is my faith that pushes me. My faith drives me forward and makes me better than all of these wastes that surround me. But His grace and his strength is not blessed upon me alone, Sally. You, too, can have that flame burn inside of you.
You should share in my faith, Sally. It gives me purpose and strength. You can have this too. Our faith always teaches us the new and great things. And you can walk assured that you are graced in His light and that you are above everyone else. You will have a dignity about you that everyone else has forsaken. And then, Sally, you and I can walk together again. I can't walk with you while you have no respect for yourself. We can go back to being those great companions that we once were. Can't you see, Sally? Can't you see that I'm doing this for you? That you need lifting up and saving from your life of disgust and exploitation. This company uses your body for money. You are this company's whore! They have to strip down to nothing and stand before all to see, while they take the money from tickets and shirts and posters and whatever else they can print you on. They exploit you, and you let them do it without so much as a protest.
I'm not allowing it. I will not allow you, my former friend, to be prostituted like you have been for so long. I have always only ever been doing this for you, Sally. I spoke to you, and you ignored my words. I begged you, and you ignored my pleas. I tried to stop me, and you ignored my hand. So I hurt you, and you ignored my message. My message has always been one of saving and redemption, but you have ignored it. And it is that that has angered me. I cannot be ignored! What I try and tell you is nothing short of your last warning before you finally succumb to this disgraceful world and the behaviour that makes it up. I have only ever tried to save people that I care about. I don't want to see them become the wastes that they will become without saving. I don't want to see you get abused by anyone any more.
She stands up, tosses the program to the floor, then walks over it to get to the door. She leaves the lockers, goes out to walk around. She catches a television showing the events in the area leading up to Mayhem. Among the superstars out with the fans is Sally, with every male in the area lining up to get a perv under the ruse of getting an autograph. Leila watches.
Leila: It's obvious that you don't understand that what people do to you. You don't see the abuse THEY put you through. That's why I do what I do. You ignore me, and you don't feel the pain that this management inflicts at you. So I make you feel what you should feel. Your half-naked image floods our screens, so I make you bleed so that you feel that loss of self-respect. You parade yourself in front of crowds that have nothing but a visceral reaction to your flesh, so I knock you out so that your loss of consciousness reflects your loss of dignity. You don't feel the pain that you should, so I remind you. Your problem, Sally, is that you need constant reminding. You have the mind of a teenage girl: Appealing to your vanity, getting boys to gawk at you, and not remembering a single day before the moment at hand. I put you through a match where you should learn something and listen to what I say. And you don't. You go through our match and you hear my lesson and you feel the pain. But next week, you have your breasts out, your legs showing, and your make-up done like a whore! You do not learn, so I have to remind you.
And remind you I will, tonight. I'll make you remember what I speak of. You will lose, and you will know that what I say is truth. You will turn away from your ways of filth, clean yourself, and walk with me. You will come and share in my ways. You need to, before you destroy yourself. You can't help prevent that. Because if you don't destroy yourself, I'll do it. I will do it in this match, and by the end of it you will wish that you had heeded my warnings long ago. You will learn that your months of fighting me have only prolonged your fate, and that the two choices you have tonight are the choices you have had all along: Lose our match and realise that you must join my faith, with respect and honour or be destroyed trying to prevent it. They are your choices.
Leila turns back to the television once more and watches the clips play out. It finishes, she walks off, joining the crowds that are running around, preparing for Mayhem.
Leila: How disappointing. It seems that some people don't know how to take a gift. It is a shame that Sally doesn't have the decency to even thank me for this gesture. I merely wanted to show her what's at stake tonight; remind her of everything that she will lose when I win. It will be a shocking, momentous night for her. And when she leaves this room to go to our match, she should realise what she is leaving behind: Her life of glitz and glamour. No longer will she be the Hallmark card for immorality and lavishness. When I defeat her, she will cease to be embodiment of all that is wrong with this world, and she will become a truly righteous person. Someone who people can look to for inspiration and as an example of someone who has lost her faithless ways to be shown a more devoted life.
She leans on the frame of the door, he head resting against the wood. She breaks into an smile, evil and vindictive. Then lets out a laugh. She trails he fingers around the hem of her khimar, then pulls it tighter over her head. She pushes off from the frame and walks further into the room. Looks around. Sees the merchandise on the table in the centre of the room. She sits at the table, with the camera taking up a position across from her. She fingers through the program guide, coming to a stop on a page that catches her eye.
Leila: Sally Talfourd. The Last Magician. Seattle, Washington. Five-feet, ten-inches. One-hundred and forty pounds. Finishers: The Makeover, Chip on the Shoulder, and the Happy Ending. *Leila flicks page after page, getting to near the end* Leila Farrahi. Tehran, Iran. Five-feet, seven-inches. One-hundred and thirty pounds. Finishers: Shab and *Leila squints to a word, then rolls her eyes* and the Bedrod. Expected, not only am just an afterthought to this company, but they couldn't even manage the correct spelling of my finisher. It translate somewhat to 'goodbye' in a language far more ancient and beautiful than primitive English. Goodbye. It is the most polite way I can farewell my opponent in a match where I have put them through so much anguish and pain.
But this *Leila gestures to the page* is precisely the type of thing I am fighting against. The maltreatment and the disrespect that someone like I receives. Just disregarded by the majority of people as different. And if I am different, I must be forgettable. And if I am forgettable, I must be ignored. And to be ignored is an insult in this profession. It is a statement that I am not worthy of my place and that my skills are sub-par and that I don't deserve a minute of attention. It is a disgrace upon me that I am treated like this. I fight against the disrespect that I have issued upon me by those supposed powerful people who control all of the companies I work for. I fight against the disrespect that the audiences pay to me for my efforts and my attempts to show these people how they are wasting their lives. I have tried for years to do this, an unfortunately I have not prevailed. But tonight will be different. Tonight will be the start of a new day, not the end of my efforts.
She lays the program down, open still on the page that has the 'glamorous' and 'beautiful' Sally Talfourd. Leila picks up the marker that's there and takes off the cap. She begins to draw on the page.
Leila: This will not be my final struggle. It will not be my final step or my last conquest. You, Sally, will be my first. While you come to this match looking to end something, to turn a page on me and our past, I enter this match with the intent to start a revolution. The revolution that will come is of the minds and of the souls of the people in this company. They are corrupted, Sally, and you are the most corrupt and the most dishonourable soul in this company. By defeating you at this night of nights, you will be the first change for this company. You will have no option but to accept that I am so far above you. And because of that, you will have to follow my ways. You will have to adopt my faith. You will have to treat yourself with the honour and respect of a person of faith. And you will have to treat these other sinful and disgusting people the way I do: with contempt.
The people that surround us need changing. They need help Sally! And only I can bring it to them. With my faith and my devotion and my purpose, I can change the people here. Sally, you will be the first example of that. But maybe you have already changed. Maybe you know this already as you walk towards our fate. And in knowing this you know to lay down and to accept this change. You may already know to embrace the change that I bring, and that you know to lose. To me, and to Him, this is a sign of change. It is good! You will avoid the pain and torment that I will put you through, Sally. You will walk alongside me, and into His light, with your head held high, with your honour in tact, and in an unrivaled pleasure.
Leila stops to look down at the program, and holds it up for the camera. She's coloured on some sleeves, some pants and over her mid-rift to give her some respect with her picture. The sleeves right down to the wrists and the pants down the the ankles. There's no flagrant display of skin, and a degree of modesty. Much more to Leila's liking. She puts the program down, takes up the pen again.
Leila: But should you insist on fight, you will not win. My faith in Him gives me strength. It gives me all that I need to defeat those that stand in my way of change. I am on a journey. I have seen it. If you come looking for a fight, you will get one. It will be long, and it will be miserable for you. I think you already know this. You've been through some of the worst torment I can put you through before. Let us not forget that I was the last one of us to win our singles match. I had found the strength and the courage to defeat you once before. And I have held on to it ever since then. I know what is required of me to defeat you. And it is nothing compared to what I have been through already in this forsaken world already.
Leila picks up the program again to show her latest addition. She's poked a pair of holes through Sally's eyes. Leila turns the program round, looks down at it with a knowing stare.
Leila: I know that you know my past. You know my own pains and anguish. I might care to inform this disgraceful company one day, but I doubt it. The people here don't have the right to know my past. But you do know it. So you know the fire that burns inside of me. And you know that no matter how hard you try, Sally, you won't be able to extinguish it. I will always pull myself up. By tooth or by nail, I will pull myself to my feet, and I will continue to fight you. Because my flame is not fueled by anything of this world. There is nothing that inspires me here. It is my faith that pushes me. My faith drives me forward and makes me better than all of these wastes that surround me. But His grace and his strength is not blessed upon me alone, Sally. You, too, can have that flame burn inside of you.
You should share in my faith, Sally. It gives me purpose and strength. You can have this too. Our faith always teaches us the new and great things. And you can walk assured that you are graced in His light and that you are above everyone else. You will have a dignity about you that everyone else has forsaken. And then, Sally, you and I can walk together again. I can't walk with you while you have no respect for yourself. We can go back to being those great companions that we once were. Can't you see, Sally? Can't you see that I'm doing this for you? That you need lifting up and saving from your life of disgust and exploitation. This company uses your body for money. You are this company's whore! They have to strip down to nothing and stand before all to see, while they take the money from tickets and shirts and posters and whatever else they can print you on. They exploit you, and you let them do it without so much as a protest.
I'm not allowing it. I will not allow you, my former friend, to be prostituted like you have been for so long. I have always only ever been doing this for you, Sally. I spoke to you, and you ignored my words. I begged you, and you ignored my pleas. I tried to stop me, and you ignored my hand. So I hurt you, and you ignored my message. My message has always been one of saving and redemption, but you have ignored it. And it is that that has angered me. I cannot be ignored! What I try and tell you is nothing short of your last warning before you finally succumb to this disgraceful world and the behaviour that makes it up. I have only ever tried to save people that I care about. I don't want to see them become the wastes that they will become without saving. I don't want to see you get abused by anyone any more.
She stands up, tosses the program to the floor, then walks over it to get to the door. She leaves the lockers, goes out to walk around. She catches a television showing the events in the area leading up to Mayhem. Among the superstars out with the fans is Sally, with every male in the area lining up to get a perv under the ruse of getting an autograph. Leila watches.
Leila: It's obvious that you don't understand that what people do to you. You don't see the abuse THEY put you through. That's why I do what I do. You ignore me, and you don't feel the pain that this management inflicts at you. So I make you feel what you should feel. Your half-naked image floods our screens, so I make you bleed so that you feel that loss of self-respect. You parade yourself in front of crowds that have nothing but a visceral reaction to your flesh, so I knock you out so that your loss of consciousness reflects your loss of dignity. You don't feel the pain that you should, so I remind you. Your problem, Sally, is that you need constant reminding. You have the mind of a teenage girl: Appealing to your vanity, getting boys to gawk at you, and not remembering a single day before the moment at hand. I put you through a match where you should learn something and listen to what I say. And you don't. You go through our match and you hear my lesson and you feel the pain. But next week, you have your breasts out, your legs showing, and your make-up done like a whore! You do not learn, so I have to remind you.
And remind you I will, tonight. I'll make you remember what I speak of. You will lose, and you will know that what I say is truth. You will turn away from your ways of filth, clean yourself, and walk with me. You will come and share in my ways. You need to, before you destroy yourself. You can't help prevent that. Because if you don't destroy yourself, I'll do it. I will do it in this match, and by the end of it you will wish that you had heeded my warnings long ago. You will learn that your months of fighting me have only prolonged your fate, and that the two choices you have tonight are the choices you have had all along: Lose our match and realise that you must join my faith, with respect and honour or be destroyed trying to prevent it. They are your choices.
Leila turns back to the television once more and watches the clips play out. It finishes, she walks off, joining the crowds that are running around, preparing for Mayhem.
