Posts Tagged ‘Victoria’
The Symbol Pt. 2
September 2, 2017The Symbol
August 26, 2017Victoria had lived with the symbol all of her life. It was hanging over the front door both inside and out of her childhood home. It was carved into the center of the family dinner table. It was carefully tiled into one of the shower walls. It had been imprinted on the fence posts bordering her ancestral home. At age four it was meticulously tattooed onto her shoulder. It was a very traditional symbol that had been in her family for a long time. Some now confused it for a family crest but it was far more than that. It was a demon ward. It was designed to ward against a very particular demon.
That particular demon would be Solantria and she was a wicked one. Victoria’s ancestor, Leonidas Heathrow, had made a deal with the demon in order to gain the power to save the local town from a dragon. Her many-times-great grandfather had been between a rock and a hard place but he made the sacrifice for the right reasons. When it came time for Solantria to collect, Leo was not available. He had perished after the deed was done but his spirit, his bright and shiny soul had been taken away by the Great Dragon. Feeling cheated, Solantria decided that the family would have to settle their ancestor’s debt. Until the symbol, too many of the family had fallen to the wicked demon.
However, with the advent of the symbol, the demon was kept at bay and the family had flourished. What had started with but one Heathrow had spread to many different kingdoms. Many of them were not even Heathrows anymore but Victoria was. She was proud to be part of the original line. They had taken Leonidas’ sacrifice as a symbol and they worked to gather mystical knowledge to keep the world safe. Some strayed from that specific path but, for the most part, the family loved to be of some service. They left the world better than they had found it. All done while keeping a watchful eye for the demon’s inevitable attempt to return.
For her part, Victoria had become an expert in mystical artifacts. She had collected quite a few after she had grown up and left the family estate. She was currently in residence in Callia, a lovely little apartment scattered with magical items. Some of them Victoria had not yet figured out but that was the fun of it. She tended to crack every puzzle put in front of her eventually and she loved that daily challenge. She was partnered with several magic schools and universities who either sent items to her or summoned her to exam problems. Most every librarian in the world knew her name or would soon learn it. She was happy with that.
She had been examining a ring sent from several towns over when a note had been slid under her door. She walked over and unfolded it, adjusting her spectacles. Her friends wanted to go out for a drink. Victoria looked out of her big window and was surprised that the sun had gone down and the moon was traveling through the sky. Where had the time gone? She could always figure things out the next day. Friends were important. They were just another extension of family which was the most important thing besides your health. Victoria grabbed her coat and slipped it on. Her favorite weapons were almost always tucked inside.
She made her way down the street which was dimly lit by oil lanterns but she felt safe enough in this part of town. Besides, the tavern was not far. The ogre of a bouncer opened the door for her and she thanked him with a smile. She walked into the bar but did not see a single one of her friends. In fact, the place was fairly empty. Victoria frowned and wondered just how late it had gotten. Her stomach grumbled. She moved to sit at the bar and the hawk-nosed bartender smiled at her. She smiled back at him.
“What do you have for dinner tonight, Abram?” She asked.
“Dinner, Ms. Heathrow?” Abram asked with a playful smile and a toss of his blond locks. “It is a little late for dinner. Did you just now come back from the clouds?”
Victoria laughed softly. “Yes. I’m afraid so,” She said. “I really should get better at eating at regular times.”
“Why do what regular folk do when you can be interesting?” Abram asked.
“Interesting is fine but eating is healthy,” Victoria said.
“I can cook up some sausage with some onions and tomato sauce?” Abram asked.
“It sounds great, Abram. I’ll eat whatever you put in front of me,” She said.
“We’ll see,” Abram said with another laugh. He headed just out of sight to fire up the sausages. Victoria could hear as the pan bang against the brick of the stove.
It paid to be a regular. People were happy to give you more than they would give a stranger. Victoria did not have a lot of friends due to her bookish life but she cherished the connections she had made. She smiled to herself as she waited for Abram to get done. Maybe he would chat with her over her dinner and she would tip him generously despite his protests. She liked that whole song and dance.
Victoria barely even noticed the hooded woman sitting next to her, at least not at first. She only noticed her when the woman reached over the bar for a bottle and two glasses. She had grabbed some really good stuff. It was an aged scotch/whiskey blend from the kingdom of Shahl. Very expensive stuff and this woman was just helping herself.
“Hey!” Victoria said. “You can’t just help yourself.”
The hooded woman said nothing but poured two glasses of the classy booze and pushed one of the glasses toward Victoria. Victoria just looked at the glass.
“I think you’re going to need that,” The woman said. “Drink up.”
“Who do you think you are?” Victoria asked indignantly. She wished Abram would come out and chase this rude woman out.
“I think you know exactly who I am, Victoria,” The woman said. She drew back her hood. The woman’s skin was light purple, her hair raven black, her eyes blood red. There was a horn protruding from the left part of her forehead and a broken off nub protruding from the right part. All of this was proper evidence but the woman’s smile was what really spoke volumes. The look in her eyes told Victoria everything she needed to know.
“You!” Victoria yelled.
Why I Love Pro-Wrestling: Strong Women
June 9, 2014Throughout the history of sports entertainment, there have been a lot of good perfomers and a lot of bad performers. Of course, being a good performer has nothing to do with what your sex is. I’ve seen female performers who can wrestle circles around their male co-workers and I’ve seen women who don’t know a wristlock from a wrist watch.
Unfortunately, for a while, the WWE has trotted out a lot of female performers who don’t actually wrestle. They might wrestle once a year at Wrestlemania and then the rest of the year they appear in a trashy reality show and pose for photo shoots. (I’m looking at you Eva Marie)
Variety is the spice of life but wrestling companies definitely go through periods where they trot out bland performers who run together. They have no character, no skill and no charisma and are mostly just fitness models who look pretty in their costumes. They might as well be clones of each other. The Eva Maries, Bella Twins, Camerons, Rosa Mendes, etcetera of the business are a plague. What follows are a handful of woman who always had me on the edge of my seat. Once again, omissions are not a statement, I just grabbed a few examples that I thought were examples of my experience.
Gail Kim has unfortunately been underrated in years past. The WWE did not know what to do with her. They didn’t realize what a good thing they had going with her on their roster. She is the inaugural women’s champion for TNA where she continues to kick ass. She is one of the most athletic woman in the business today. Also, her logo on the screen during her entrance looks like artwork done by Jamie Hewlett of Gorillaz and Tank Girl fame.
If I saw Awesome Kong coming my way then I would run and I would hide. I would do anything to get out of her way. She is one of the most unique female performers that I’ve ever seen. She flattened plenty of people with her Implant Buster in TNA and then moved over to WWE to decimate their roster as well. She was let go by the WWE due to a pregnancy that she did not carry to term but it would be a crime if she doesn’t make it back into the big time.
Another performer who has worked on top in WWE and in TNA. She immediately impressed me with how vicious she could be at a time where everybody else seemed to be blonde and happy. Her Widow’s Peak finisher is more believable as a painful maneuver than a lot of moves I could name. Later, in TNA, she became legitimately scary through acting and carrying around a spider. She always looked like she worked stiff and looked tougher than a lot of people I know in real life.
The first lady of Team Extreme spent a lot of time pissing off fans of the WWE. All of that aside, she was one the first really talented female wrestler that I knew of. She was also the first female high flyer that I knew of. She wrestled about as well as Matt and Jeff Hardy who she hung out with. Later, she proved to be better than either of those broken down messes. A lot of people trumpeted Trish Stratus as the best of the best but I was always a Lita fan. I liked her music, her moves, her style and her attitude the best.
The Glamorous Amazon or Glamazon has beastly strength for somebody of her stature. Proof positive that you an bench press a ton of weight and look good doing it, Beth Phoenix was always impressive. Her Glam slam is impressive at how she can consistently lift people of both sexes and slam them down face first with such ease. She was put into a lot of silly and demeaning storylines but her talent always shone through regardless of what the WWE did to her.