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Neville Sinclair · (08-17-2017)

Chap. 1 – Geoffrey of Monmouth’s preface to Merlin’s prophecy

“I had not got thus far in my history, when the subject of public discourse happening to be concerning Merlin, I was obliged to publish his prophecies at the request at the request of my acquaintance, but especially of Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, a prelate of the greatest piety and wisdom. There was not any person, either among the clergy or the laity, that was attended with such a train of knights and noblemen, whom his settled piety and great munificence engaged in his service. Out of a desire, therefore, to gratify him, I translated these prophecies, and sent them to him with the following letter.”

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August 16, 1117

A few weeks back, he had received a request from the Bishop of Lincoln to write a book of history. A Benedictine Monk for years, his job had been to record history and teach it to the younger brothers in the Monastery. But this was different, for anyone to care what he was writing, he needed something to stand out.

Geoffrey of Monmouth sat at his desk and pondered what to do. Any writer feels a sort of block when greatness is required of them, but this seemed so much more significant. Geoffrey struggled with what to write, there was only a few different ways you could tell the same stories over and over again. What kind of hook could he give? Geoffrey thought back to the ways he could get the younger monks to listen, they’d heard it all before. They didn’t care about the historical, they wanted the more fantastical spiritual moments of the stories.

Old men require history, young men require fantasy

A Welshman at birth, Geoffrey had been introduced to Celtic mysticism at a young age. There was no holy book like other religions, no one in the Christian faith knew much about the heathens. The old Bishop had actually looked to Geoffrey in conversion efforts, all that had come from that was death and fighting. But the young men in the Monastery still seemed fascinated with it. Telling stories about Water Goddesses and Fairys got their attention, and they always asked for more. If Geoffrey wanted to make his mark, he had to include that.

But how could he include mysticism to a history book? He would slip it in, create a character that stood for the elements he wanted to include. Maybe a sorcerer or a wizard could be included.

But that would stand out too much

He remembered this was meant to be historical. He needed someone who actually interacted with Kings and Rulers. None of the Kings saw the Celts as anything but a threat, everyone would see them as the bad guys. He couldn’t do that to them, not when they were so near to his heart. If he could create a sympathetic Celtic character, that would be of first importance.

I need to create a King as well

Maybe he could add a King to the history books to show a sympathetic side toward the Celts. He thought long and hard about what that should look like. He would create an old Wizard, symbolic of Celtic Wisdom and have him interact with a young King, symbolic of the nation of England. If the two could interact positively, maybe there could be a chance for peace yet between the two sides. He would place the story between other accounts of Kings so it might be gradually accepted by people.

Creating history could mean something
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August 17, 2017

[Image: tintagel-castle-bridge-contest-x280715.jpg]

Neville stood at the ruins of Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. A two tiered site now, one half of the ruins sat at the bottom of a set of stairs. It sat close to the village, Neville could look over and see the townspeople watching him film. He would visit the local pubs later and introduce himself to them, it was a chance for him to hear the history from a group of locals. Tintagel Castle used to be the home of the 1st Earl of Cornwall, and now was owned by Prince Charles and sat as an English Heritage site. But there was much more to this place than that. Tintagel Castle was legendary home of Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur. No one came to hear the history of the castle, they wanted to see where King Arthur, the legend, was conceived. Neville runs his hand over the ruins and begins to speak.

I must say that I find it incredibly appropriate we are having our King of the Ring pay-per-view in England. We are the home of the greatest Kings this world has ever known, and we are able to create the greatest legends in the world. I have to say that I was most disappointed in this event until a few days ago. I lost my first match to Phantom Panzer, and it did make me question some things. I got caught in a submission, and I tapped out. But I still think the legend of Neville Sinclair lives on. The TV title has and will be defended vigorously. I want to be the greatest TV Title holder this federation has ever seen. Many people see the TV Title as a stepping stone to other things, but I’m happy to have it. And I will show that defense at the King of the Ring pay per view.

Neville walks up the stairs to the upper ruins

It’s interesting how the legend of King Arthur really starts with a monk, not a King. A welsh monk who sought to tell Celtic Mythological stories as history. Many men thought him a liar and it wasn’t well received by lots, but that’s all we remember isn’t it? We can all recite stories of Merlin and King Arthur. We all know about Guinevere and Lancelot, but we are more fascinated with fantasy than reality because of a little bit of magic. In many ways, I think that’s a damn shame. History is full of larger than life men whose stories deserve to be told. But we don’t care about them do we?

As I look on my opponent this week, I don’t see a man. I see a recreated image of something he things looks cool. Obviously Mezian has a fascination with dark things, obviously he probably spends a lot of his time watching horror movies and listening to death metal. But the thing I don’t get, is what’s really special about him. Listen to any Korn album from the late 90’s and you’ll find guys like him dancing around in masturbatory glee. The guy has probably watched “The Crow” so many times he thinks Brandon Lee is still alive. It’s an image, pure and simple, and one that hasn’t been done well. I’d much rather have conversation with the ex-blockbuster employees you now find re-living their glory days by recreating dark arts.

So this begs me to ask the questions who the hell am I against and why the hell did he get a title shot? I’ve obviously got a few things to teach Mr. Mezian this week, and I know he’s probably going to reply with some fake-ass horror movie type stuff.

Neville stands over the ruins and breathes in, if there’s anyone who deserves to be called King in the XWF it was him. Imagine knowing you have a legacy. Neville was sure he was carving out a nice one here with his title run. It was why Mezian couldn’t win this week.

Lesson #1 – The Future is Defined by the Past

Mezian, I don’t know where you’re going in the future, but I do know what your past looks like. I’ve watched everything you’ve done lately with Ezariaha, and really tried to get a picture of who you are. All I see is an illiterate meathead who likes to talk cryptically to make up for the fact that he doesn’t really say anything. Watching you try and call out Jack Cain this year was laughable at best. When people look at you, do you really think they see a champion? I mean the last time I checked on anything you said you were warping through time and having energy ball up in your head. I had an easier time watching the last season of Lost than following anything you had going on. Did you watch a lot of anime and decide you wanted to be like them? Nothing made a lick of sense.

Now I’ve gotten pretty far in the academic world for being what’s known as a cynic. People come to me to doubt everything because then they can either go through the exercise of proving it or denying it completely. This can be an incredibly helpful thing when you’re debating topics like religion or science because it forces you to ponder the existence of something assumed. Here’s my challenge to everyone in the XWF, go ahead and watch any of Mezian’s promos. Pick any single one of them. Then using your mind, try to tell me if any of them make any fucking sense. This is what I call a brain exercise, if you can follow his train of thought for longer than 3 minutes, you may in fact be smarter than I am. Mezian’s past is that he doesn’t get taken seriously because nobody can understand what the hell is going on. Now where does that leave him for the future? In my path to retain the TV title.
And we both know how that is going to end up.

It's interesting to talk about Kings and the past this week at King of the Ring. As I stand here on the supposed ruins of Uther Pendragon’s castle, could anyone have imagined the Arthur legend might be England’s most famous “king”. Maybe that’s why we are where we are now, we fabricate history and our future is dependent on it. Mezian, for you to have any kind of claim to greatness here in the XWF, has to come from some kind of fabrication. You alter facts here, you pretend to be someone you’re not, and some people eat it up. But a guy like me can see right through you, I can see your future. I can see the series of mid-card matches you’re going to lose because you’ve put all your image into the wrong things. Mezian, with all the weird shit you’ve got going on, I bet you’re going to tell me you can see the future too, but we both know what it looks like.

Neville pulls a bottle out of a bang flung over his shoulder. People had been commenting lately how it seemed that he was an alcoholic. He’d thought it over, but knew that the drinks never brought him to rock bottom, if anything they added clarity to things. A shot of alcohol could sooth even the nerves with the most fraying. He decided to go for an old classic today. A Glenlivet. He took 3 shots and composed himself.

Lesson #2 – Fantasy needs to have an Element of Reality

I get the appeal to creating a fantastical character that people are attracted to. Fiction works because people want to have something in their lives that isn’t currently a part of their lives. People want to solve murders, people want to know wizards and people want to believe they’re privy to something they can’t know about any other way. Fiction is important. But, the greatest fiction all has it’s roots in reality. Even the most fantastical fiction. Think Alice in Wonderland, the story is a trip, but it starts in the real world so people can identify with the protagonist. Think Harry Potter, there’s a reason why “muggles” exist, so the characters can flip between the fiction elements and the real world. Fantasy and reality go hand in hand.

But look at who you are. There’s something completely missing with you. The humanity of who you are escapes me. The person you’ve created yourself to be can’t possibly exist in the real world, so people can’t relate to you. As I’ve reviewed things about you I would describe your movie’s plot as “Jumper” meets “Steampunk” meets “Dragonball Z”, and the mix doesn’t go down well. It’s like putting French fries, ice cream and cranberries into a blender and expecting to come out with something palatable. I’m saying you leave a bad taste in my mouth. Which is why I’m so excited to get to beat you this weekend at King of the Ring. My goal here in the XWF has been to always call out those who clearly know less than me and point them to propriety. Mezian, I have a long way to go with you. You seem dumber than Jack Cain/Finn Kuhn offspring. But you can learn. Take what I’ve taught today and put it to use. I think your career depends on it.

A small group of people have decided to gather around Neville. Neville had been able to see his star rise these days. He was starting to get noticed wherever he want. How odd was it that there was a group of people who knew who he was on a castle ruins in Cornwall?

Who the hell gave this guy a title shot?

Neville holds up a picture of Mezian and smiles as the fans laugh at his comments. He wanted to go Conor McGregor on Mezian and make fun of everything about him, but he knew there might be some needed restraint, so he stopped.

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