Post by Alexander Raven on Jul 9, 2023 0:53:30 GMT -5
Trust your Eyes
“Bravery. Defining Bravery is entirely subjective. For each and every person, what makes them brave is wildly different to the next. To both fight a life-ending disease, or to make the decision to live the last of your days on your own terms. Bravery. The person who stands up and speaks out about the trauma of their past, exemplary bravery. Yet to also survive and continue to live your life, just as brave. Bravery is an entirely subjective thing, but there is always consistency. The consistency is the decision made. The decision to take a stance, the decision to be the one who refuses to allow their life to be dictated by the choices of another.”
A dingy little public toilet. A few cubicles, doors half ajar. One of the urinals is on the floor, another is at a 90 degree angle. Someone is standing at the only one that is still usable. A man stands in front of one of the sinks, gazing longingly at himself in the mirror. Alexander Raven. A simple white tee, pulled a bit loose in the neckline. Brick coloured van shoes, maroon skinny jeans. A somewhat brave choice for the sweltering Miami sun.
“Lachlan Kane knows a bit about Alexander Raven’s bravery. Stupidity, is what they call it normally. Stupidity, because I refuse to acquiesce to the status quo. I refuse to be constrained by the ideas of what is put upon me. No, I refused to be held accountable to a system that chose who its representatives would be at all times. So I planted my flag, in the runty wolf’s body. My stupidity resulted in me taking a title from Lachlan. It resulted in me putting down the big scary demon’s that held their power over the filth of Sin City, and it meant that Alexander Raven was no longer stupid. No, Alexander Raven was now, brave. A symbol for those who refused to be afraid of those with bigger names. Bigger accomplishments. Bigger distortions of reality. The more deluded, the more I needed to cleanse their mind.”
The guy at the urinal flushes and turns around, looking at Raven with a perplexed expression. He moves to a sink next to him, as another person walks in. The other man at the sink indicates towards Raven with his head, and then shakes his head back and forth rapidly. The new person raises and eyebrow and nods, taking a wide berth as they move towards a cubicle.
“Yet it seems. No matter what I do, no matter how many wolves’ throats I cut. No matter how many wings are clipped, and how many arrogant deluded Saviors I cut down. Bravery remains stupidity. Bravery remains just slightly out of reach for Alexander Raven. So if bravery must be nothing but stupidity. Then stupidity becomes my own bravery. Stupidity becomes what I must do, to be brave. Stupidity is the virtual unknown stepping into a challenge with a plethora of juggernauts. Stupidity is the man that they wear the blinders too, stepping to the plate. Demanding the attention, and reaching up. Reaching up for an opportunity to clear the lies that obscure their reality.”
Raven turns, looking at the guy who was now stopped pretending to wash his hands and is staring at him bewildered.
“Are you alright dude?”
“I am clearly in the middle of something.”
“But uh. You’re just… talking to yourself?”
“Do I bother you at work? No? Then fuck off.”
The grunting coming from the cubicle just really accentuated how little preparation had actually gone into this idea. The rudely interrupting person just shook their head again and stormed out of the public bathroom, muttering something about hopped up junkies taking over as he did.
“Delusions. I started a journey, over ten years ago. A man completely lost in himself. A story that anyone who has spent half a moment to learn, will have heard. Comic obsessed, gaming obsessed. A dewy-eyed and hopeful child. Who within a year had won a world title, lost the world title, seen my own father crucified and set alight, to then have my own head beaten in with a bat and set on fire myself whilst the sycophants stood around and watched their real life fetish dream play out. Hardened, yet understanding. Understanding that the happy go lucky child, is not the one that can dismantle the foundations of delusion. No, the geeky, traumatised child would not succeed in shattering the Stained Glass Lies that the hidden authority evoke.”
The toilet flushes, the person inside coughing and grunting as they finish up. The open the cubicle and walk to another sink, staring Raven down the entire time. Doing his best to ignore it, Raven shakes his head. Slowly reaching his hand up to the mirror and running his fingers down it, covering his reflected eyes. Eyes that seemed to be staring beyond himself.
“No, you see. Lachlan Kane knows very well the man who now stands here. The runt of the pack, the first wolf to be blooded. A journey that started almost a year ago now, that begun with you. Not by choice, however. No, I don’t think any of us would choose to be standing dressed as a feminine Celtic god, to mock someone. Well… maybe that’s not entirely true. I did decide to dress up that way, but I didn’t choose to be put in the position that required me to do that. Semantics. Regardless, the truth, Lachlan. The truth is that you know very well what it means to underestimate Alexander Raven. You know the stupidity involved in underestimating Alexander Raven. Underestimating Alexander Raven means getting put the fuck to sleep.”
“Hey! Watch your language, there could be children around.”
He screwed his face up in frustration, turning to look at the man who had just finished washing his hands. His brow was dotted with sweat, and he was still red in the face from all the pushing and grunting. Raven tilted his head, confused and spat at him.
“I see one child, you. You are the fucking child.”
“Unbelievable! You sir, are beyond rude! It takes a brave man to stand up to men like you! Brave like me! Like me!”
He came barreling towards Raven. A reactionary left jab, the sound of flesh to flesh, the crack of bone. Then the loud thump. And he went down like a sack of bricks. Raven just continued to tilt his head, stare at this flesh pile of a man writhing on the ground in half lucid pain.
“How are you all getting in here?”
He huffed, kicking the man sharply in the kidney. He groaned out before going completely limp, now totally unconscious.
“The more interesting thing however, is not the past. Thought rectifying problems of the former will always be present in the mind of the future. Truth, truth is far deeper than that. Truth is beyond the intuition of the unknown. Truth is total understanding of that which lays before us. And that is where truth ends for us both. Because in the opening round, the first taste of Bravery. The first match of the series that will take us to the end, the understood becomes something improbable. Improbable because of the aforementioned titans. The verbal juggernaut, the proud and undetectable. Vhodka Black. She burns down a bank, I get set on fire. She wins world titles, I get set on fire. She gets married, my wife dies. She gets remarried, I get set on fire. Truth would say these things have no correlation. I agree.”
Raven cocked an eyebrow as he turned back to the mirror. He seemed to have managed to get somewhat lost in himself. This had been occuring a lot more lately than he would have liked. Recent failures, short steps. The stumbles, as he liked to call it. The stumbling had been plaguing his mind, and as a result. He seemed to be losing his own focus. Yet, he refused to blame himself. Nodding he stared into himself once more in the mirror, his face slack. Empty of any actual deeper thought.
“Illusion is the greatest strength of the deceivers. So to break the deceptions that the hands that would hold us down continue to blow into these stained glass lies. I wonder, Vhodka. Lachlan. Can you see beyond these illusions? The deceptions? The lies. Do you see the reality?”
A smile. The snap of fingers. A flash and then spotted vision. The bathroom was the same but different. The walls were peeling their paint. The urinals were caked in a grime and a seemingly impossible rust. Bags of rubbish replaced the heap of humanity, smashed doors and hidden cubicles. All but one of the mirrors were gone. Raven was there, his eyes looking beyond himself. Staring into the world over his own shoulder.
“Bravery teaches us, to step into a world beyond our own doubts. Into a world where we trust our eyes to be honest. Bravery is about the confidence to see beyond the distortions of what exists. What if what exists is a creation of that of which I want to paint. What does that mean, Vhodka? What does that mean, Lachlan?”
The lights flicker. Darkness, then light. The original bathroom, the man on the floor. Dilapidated but usable.
The lights flicker. Darkness, then light. The alternate bathroom, the rubbish on the floor. Destroyed and unusable.
The lights flicker.
“The virtual unknown, is me. Alexander Raven is the one they believe does not belong. The surprising final choice, the one with nothing to lose. Yet here I am, chosen. I’ve beaten Lachlan. I’ve banged heads with Knox. I’ve got a world of people before me, to show that I am the one who will unite the Triad. For this is more than just an opportunity to flex some imaginary muscles. More than the opportunity to garner respect for a concept. No, this is more than that for me. This is to prove that everything I’m doing is worthwhile. That I am not stumbling. That this, is my opportunity. An opportunity I share. Stratford, Wolf and Duke. Endearing them, but ensuring they know. That friends of Alexander Raven, very rarely have happy outcomes. That friends of Alexander Raven, set him on fire. They lose their wives. They lose their position, their place. An omen. A ghost. A time and place. They lose it, in Alexander Raven. For their truth, becomes a distortion that I must fix. Their authority, won’t stop me.”
The lights flicker.
The lights flicker.
The lights.
Lights.
Alexander Raven is standing in a room, devoid of life. In front of him, and old wash basin, filled with water. A round ornate mirror reflecting him. The world beyond swathed in darkness. A single bulb swings, the yellow light casting a small spotlight.
“Who is Alexander Raven?”
A shadow cast over his own face, his eyes downwards. Facing towards the full basin. Eyes locked on the impossibly rippling water.
“Alexander Raven is the virtual unknown, who will show them all. For reality, is what I make it to be. Will you trust your own eyes?”
The basin tips. The water cascades out. Trickling into the darkness beyond the spotlight. Alex steps backwards, stepping beyond the veil of light. Leaving the mirror, reflecting the nothing of the world beyond.
The lights flicker.
“The Conspiracy has arrived.”
Darkness.
Silence.
Nothing.
“Bravery. Defining Bravery is entirely subjective. For each and every person, what makes them brave is wildly different to the next. To both fight a life-ending disease, or to make the decision to live the last of your days on your own terms. Bravery. The person who stands up and speaks out about the trauma of their past, exemplary bravery. Yet to also survive and continue to live your life, just as brave. Bravery is an entirely subjective thing, but there is always consistency. The consistency is the decision made. The decision to take a stance, the decision to be the one who refuses to allow their life to be dictated by the choices of another.”
A dingy little public toilet. A few cubicles, doors half ajar. One of the urinals is on the floor, another is at a 90 degree angle. Someone is standing at the only one that is still usable. A man stands in front of one of the sinks, gazing longingly at himself in the mirror. Alexander Raven. A simple white tee, pulled a bit loose in the neckline. Brick coloured van shoes, maroon skinny jeans. A somewhat brave choice for the sweltering Miami sun.
“Lachlan Kane knows a bit about Alexander Raven’s bravery. Stupidity, is what they call it normally. Stupidity, because I refuse to acquiesce to the status quo. I refuse to be constrained by the ideas of what is put upon me. No, I refused to be held accountable to a system that chose who its representatives would be at all times. So I planted my flag, in the runty wolf’s body. My stupidity resulted in me taking a title from Lachlan. It resulted in me putting down the big scary demon’s that held their power over the filth of Sin City, and it meant that Alexander Raven was no longer stupid. No, Alexander Raven was now, brave. A symbol for those who refused to be afraid of those with bigger names. Bigger accomplishments. Bigger distortions of reality. The more deluded, the more I needed to cleanse their mind.”
The guy at the urinal flushes and turns around, looking at Raven with a perplexed expression. He moves to a sink next to him, as another person walks in. The other man at the sink indicates towards Raven with his head, and then shakes his head back and forth rapidly. The new person raises and eyebrow and nods, taking a wide berth as they move towards a cubicle.
“Yet it seems. No matter what I do, no matter how many wolves’ throats I cut. No matter how many wings are clipped, and how many arrogant deluded Saviors I cut down. Bravery remains stupidity. Bravery remains just slightly out of reach for Alexander Raven. So if bravery must be nothing but stupidity. Then stupidity becomes my own bravery. Stupidity becomes what I must do, to be brave. Stupidity is the virtual unknown stepping into a challenge with a plethora of juggernauts. Stupidity is the man that they wear the blinders too, stepping to the plate. Demanding the attention, and reaching up. Reaching up for an opportunity to clear the lies that obscure their reality.”
Raven turns, looking at the guy who was now stopped pretending to wash his hands and is staring at him bewildered.
“Are you alright dude?”
“I am clearly in the middle of something.”
“But uh. You’re just… talking to yourself?”
“Do I bother you at work? No? Then fuck off.”
The grunting coming from the cubicle just really accentuated how little preparation had actually gone into this idea. The rudely interrupting person just shook their head again and stormed out of the public bathroom, muttering something about hopped up junkies taking over as he did.
“Delusions. I started a journey, over ten years ago. A man completely lost in himself. A story that anyone who has spent half a moment to learn, will have heard. Comic obsessed, gaming obsessed. A dewy-eyed and hopeful child. Who within a year had won a world title, lost the world title, seen my own father crucified and set alight, to then have my own head beaten in with a bat and set on fire myself whilst the sycophants stood around and watched their real life fetish dream play out. Hardened, yet understanding. Understanding that the happy go lucky child, is not the one that can dismantle the foundations of delusion. No, the geeky, traumatised child would not succeed in shattering the Stained Glass Lies that the hidden authority evoke.”
The toilet flushes, the person inside coughing and grunting as they finish up. The open the cubicle and walk to another sink, staring Raven down the entire time. Doing his best to ignore it, Raven shakes his head. Slowly reaching his hand up to the mirror and running his fingers down it, covering his reflected eyes. Eyes that seemed to be staring beyond himself.
“No, you see. Lachlan Kane knows very well the man who now stands here. The runt of the pack, the first wolf to be blooded. A journey that started almost a year ago now, that begun with you. Not by choice, however. No, I don’t think any of us would choose to be standing dressed as a feminine Celtic god, to mock someone. Well… maybe that’s not entirely true. I did decide to dress up that way, but I didn’t choose to be put in the position that required me to do that. Semantics. Regardless, the truth, Lachlan. The truth is that you know very well what it means to underestimate Alexander Raven. You know the stupidity involved in underestimating Alexander Raven. Underestimating Alexander Raven means getting put the fuck to sleep.”
“Hey! Watch your language, there could be children around.”
He screwed his face up in frustration, turning to look at the man who had just finished washing his hands. His brow was dotted with sweat, and he was still red in the face from all the pushing and grunting. Raven tilted his head, confused and spat at him.
“I see one child, you. You are the fucking child.”
“Unbelievable! You sir, are beyond rude! It takes a brave man to stand up to men like you! Brave like me! Like me!”
He came barreling towards Raven. A reactionary left jab, the sound of flesh to flesh, the crack of bone. Then the loud thump. And he went down like a sack of bricks. Raven just continued to tilt his head, stare at this flesh pile of a man writhing on the ground in half lucid pain.
“How are you all getting in here?”
He huffed, kicking the man sharply in the kidney. He groaned out before going completely limp, now totally unconscious.
“The more interesting thing however, is not the past. Thought rectifying problems of the former will always be present in the mind of the future. Truth, truth is far deeper than that. Truth is beyond the intuition of the unknown. Truth is total understanding of that which lays before us. And that is where truth ends for us both. Because in the opening round, the first taste of Bravery. The first match of the series that will take us to the end, the understood becomes something improbable. Improbable because of the aforementioned titans. The verbal juggernaut, the proud and undetectable. Vhodka Black. She burns down a bank, I get set on fire. She wins world titles, I get set on fire. She gets married, my wife dies. She gets remarried, I get set on fire. Truth would say these things have no correlation. I agree.”
Raven cocked an eyebrow as he turned back to the mirror. He seemed to have managed to get somewhat lost in himself. This had been occuring a lot more lately than he would have liked. Recent failures, short steps. The stumbles, as he liked to call it. The stumbling had been plaguing his mind, and as a result. He seemed to be losing his own focus. Yet, he refused to blame himself. Nodding he stared into himself once more in the mirror, his face slack. Empty of any actual deeper thought.
“Illusion is the greatest strength of the deceivers. So to break the deceptions that the hands that would hold us down continue to blow into these stained glass lies. I wonder, Vhodka. Lachlan. Can you see beyond these illusions? The deceptions? The lies. Do you see the reality?”
A smile. The snap of fingers. A flash and then spotted vision. The bathroom was the same but different. The walls were peeling their paint. The urinals were caked in a grime and a seemingly impossible rust. Bags of rubbish replaced the heap of humanity, smashed doors and hidden cubicles. All but one of the mirrors were gone. Raven was there, his eyes looking beyond himself. Staring into the world over his own shoulder.
“Bravery teaches us, to step into a world beyond our own doubts. Into a world where we trust our eyes to be honest. Bravery is about the confidence to see beyond the distortions of what exists. What if what exists is a creation of that of which I want to paint. What does that mean, Vhodka? What does that mean, Lachlan?”
The lights flicker. Darkness, then light. The original bathroom, the man on the floor. Dilapidated but usable.
The lights flicker. Darkness, then light. The alternate bathroom, the rubbish on the floor. Destroyed and unusable.
The lights flicker.
“The virtual unknown, is me. Alexander Raven is the one they believe does not belong. The surprising final choice, the one with nothing to lose. Yet here I am, chosen. I’ve beaten Lachlan. I’ve banged heads with Knox. I’ve got a world of people before me, to show that I am the one who will unite the Triad. For this is more than just an opportunity to flex some imaginary muscles. More than the opportunity to garner respect for a concept. No, this is more than that for me. This is to prove that everything I’m doing is worthwhile. That I am not stumbling. That this, is my opportunity. An opportunity I share. Stratford, Wolf and Duke. Endearing them, but ensuring they know. That friends of Alexander Raven, very rarely have happy outcomes. That friends of Alexander Raven, set him on fire. They lose their wives. They lose their position, their place. An omen. A ghost. A time and place. They lose it, in Alexander Raven. For their truth, becomes a distortion that I must fix. Their authority, won’t stop me.”
The lights flicker.
The lights flicker.
The lights.
Lights.
Alexander Raven is standing in a room, devoid of life. In front of him, and old wash basin, filled with water. A round ornate mirror reflecting him. The world beyond swathed in darkness. A single bulb swings, the yellow light casting a small spotlight.
“Who is Alexander Raven?”
A shadow cast over his own face, his eyes downwards. Facing towards the full basin. Eyes locked on the impossibly rippling water.
“Alexander Raven is the virtual unknown, who will show them all. For reality, is what I make it to be. Will you trust your own eyes?”
The basin tips. The water cascades out. Trickling into the darkness beyond the spotlight. Alex steps backwards, stepping beyond the veil of light. Leaving the mirror, reflecting the nothing of the world beyond.
The lights flicker.
“The Conspiracy has arrived.”
Darkness.
Silence.
Nothing.
