The Fight - Why I Relay at the Fantasy Faire 2024

 

The fight. 

It came out of the darkness, out of the blue. It came in whispers, in moments of sensation only slightly out of the ordinary. It came in the hesitation, the unexpectedly repeated review, the 'let me just run this past...' on an otherwise idyllic hot summer morning.

 

The fight built from there. From the words. Words known, and heard for others. Cursed and kept at a distance for the irrational fear of contamination. Words now so, so close. Now spoken to you. The fight may have begun from the worry. A preparation, a defence from the depths of soul and spirit, while the conscious mind danced in a syncopated frenzy of distraction, keeping to the rhythm, a beat of desperate hope, 'it might not be... it might not be...' The hope so often severed by the blade of confirmation. Of fear realised.

Other blades follow. The dull and bruising edge of doubt, of remorse for imaginary opportunities missed - for things which could have been done differently. Of course things could always have been done differently, while they also couldn't have been any other way at all. Terror's sharp stabs, slicing to the bone, to the heart, burying the marrow in an avalanche of fear. The rough serration of anxiety, catching and pulling, tearing mind and body from any focus but this one. "What will happen now?" 

The fight becomes a living thing. With a temperature and temperament all it's own, waxing and waning with every encounter, it falters and fails, regroups and rises. It gathers strength when weak, gives strength when even the idea of it feels impossible. It stands alone with you in your isolation, the solitary confinement of the early hours, in the thrum of the crowd at work, in the arms of your loved ones at home. The fight is for you, and in you. Your fight is the fight of all those who came before, of everything learned which has brought you to this point. When you feel you cannot go further, it is the fight that will carry you on, because you do not fight alone. Your fight is with you, and it has teeth. 

The blogger challenge of all blogger challenges. Why I Relay. The most personal, the most difficult for bloggers like me. Those of us who you may get to know by reading our stories, the themes and references we draw on, but nothing clear, nothing obviously us. I'm generally happiest to hide behind my characters - all aspects of me, while keeping who I am, what I think and feel hidden in their shadows. This is the yearly challenge to shine a light on all of that, and it is not a comfortable sensation! In the past I've spoken of those I've loved and lost to cancer. They remain at the heart of why I Relay. In trying not to look at my own past, I can't even be sure if I've shared my own fears, my own experience, my own time hearing that pause, that unexpected extension of an examination, that "let me just run this past..." The terror, the doubt, the anxiety. The appointments, the waiting, the planning for the what ifs for me and those who mattered the most. Life is far from what I expected, from what was promised. The appointments I'd attended, my hand and heart held safe, to having to find the strength to attend these on my own. My plans and the promises made daily to me in tatters, shredded and bloodied, and yet I remain. The fight continued whether I wanted it or not. When I didn't, when I don't, others carried and carry me forward, believing as I did not, that some day it would matter again. I hope to hope they are right. This fight continues, for them, for me. I hope it continues for you. And THAT my loves, is why I Relay. 

Vyl

xxx

RFL Items are 100% Donation to Relay for Life

Halo : :[P]:- Arien Gemhalo RFL Purple

Samsara

Horns : :[P]:- Arien Horns [Swirl-Stars] RFL Purple

Samsara

Hair : Raven Bell - Magnolia Hair F ~Shimmer~

Thunnus Bay

Earrings : :[P]:- Lunin Earring 

Samsara

Eyes : CHIMAERA - 'Lilith' Eyes in Purple

Flamenca

Tattoo: .AngelicUs. -We are coming-  

Ondheim

Wings : :[P]:- Dene Wings Raised RFL

Samsara

Floating companion :   -AxisMundi-Quetzlcoatl-Medium

Hopes Wish

Sword : (Artemisia) )O( Stained Glass Rose Glaive 

Lolliocalypse

Top : [The Forge] Zeta Bra, Gold Lace

Thunnus Bay

Top : [The Forge] Zeta Harness, Gold, Maitreya

Thunnus Bay

Nails : [QE] Leviathan Claws

Last Stop

Belt : Tentacio - Taeyeon belt maitreya turquesa

The Duskfall Court

Pants : :::c*C*c:::JSummer_Pants_Legacy(m) Purple01

Thunnus Bay

Twisting with fate at the Fantasy Faire 2024

Well, this was different…

Cyra had felt out of time for some considerable time. Dipping in and out, doing what was possible when it seemed possible, even when it didn't. It was hard to tell once you were behind the clock face, once the hands fell off and the numbers melted into their gently glowing puddles. When the world ceased. Forward or backward, up, down or sideways. Where each window would open, where each door would lead wasn't always by chance, not always a spin of the wheel. Sometimes she felt Lachesis behind a choice, a thread twisting, pulling to a destination with intention.

Perhaps there was something there, something that needed attention, or had… Cyra slowly looked around the hilltop, the utterly unexpected and unlooked for hilltop. “Nope … no Druids.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Unless..!?” Spinning around, eyes narrowing, scanning the horizon, taking in each trilithon, lintel and upright, every solitary menhir, missing not one blade of grass as it shifted in the breeze. No sound, not a whisper save from her own sequins. “No invisible Druids either…”

A twist, a pull, a shove.

The watermelon warmth of the light spiraled away into an infinite sky of damson and purple. The bone deep chill of the stones from the hill swirled around into the nothingness. Stars glinting in the distance the only measument, the only focus in the void. Riding it out the only option as fate made another move.

"OK then..." Warmth returned along with light, a different light, another place, the air sweet and threatening. Either the Druids or time itself thought this was the place to be, and the hour to visit. Cyra stretched and leaned in to the newness with an amused aside to the statue of Mayor Craven Candyclaw "One hell of a way to get to work!" At least the giant cupcake with teeth wasn't singing...

Back, back, back, back, back again! The Fantasy Faire is back, and so am I - raising money for The American Cancer Society and Relay for Life.  You know the deal - sims of beauty beyond compare. Creators with hearts, souls and minds working toward one aim. All items below are 100% Relay For Life donation items. Go shop, go stare, go help end cancer by getting some of the legit sparkliest stuff I've ever seen! Why I Relay post to follow :) 

Hat :  Lolly Hat Special FF (Spicy) by Madame Noir
Lolliocalypse

Hair :  Raven Bell Wisteria Hair ~Shimmer
Thunnus Bay

Earrings :  SIGMA Flower hoop
Samsara

Eyes : [Azai] - Arcana Eyes 15 ( Blackout )
Last Stop

Nose bandaid : [TNK] ESSENTIAL BANDAID - STRIPED
Wistlyn Shallows

Jumpsuit : Lolly Sequin Pantsuit (Spicy) LARA X by Madame Noir
Lolliocalypse

Nails : [QE] Leviathan Claws Maitreya
Last Stop

Pose image 1 :  Paniq - Midsummer Delights
The Duskfall Court

Pose image 3: Uzme Sorcerer
Ondheim