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Neville Sinclair · (07-26-2017)

I do not see the hills around,
Nor mark the tints the copses wear;
I do not note the grassy ground
And constellated daisies there.

I hear not the contralto note
Of cuckoos hid on either hand.
The whirr that shakes the nighthawk’s throat
When eve’s brown awning hoods the land.

Some say each songster, tree and mead –
All eloquent of love divine –
Receives their constant careful heed;
Such keen appraisement is not mine.

The tones around me that I hear,
The aspects, meanings, shapes I see,
Are those far back ones missed when near,
And now perceived too late by me!

- The Rambler by Thomas Hardy

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July 26, 1894

Hardy sat uncomfortably once more in the office of Henry Sutherland Edwards. Edwards had been correct the last time, Victorian England wasn’t ready for his novel. As it was serially published, it had been met with more and more controversy. People around the country decried it as foul and he had received death threats and boycotts from masses of people. All because he told the story of a broken woman, one who could still hold her head high after being labelled a sinner. Through all the controversy, he took solace when people read his work and related to it. There were so many people out there that seemed to relate and quietly wrote him letters or told him in person what it had meant. There were people out there who got it.

But he sat once more in Edwards office, almost three years to the day of his last publishing appointment and waited for Henry to say something. Edwards quietly read the manuscript, shaking his head in disapproval at the content he was reading. But this was a man who took a chance last time, and Hardy prayed silently he would find the courage to do so again.

Well you’ve done it again…

Done what, Sir?

Edwards once again chewed on a giant cigar hanging loosely his mouth. After reading what he could, he needed a smoke.

Why do you insist on writing things you know will rile people up? Why do you insist on the controversy? I can’t publish this, Hardy? Instead of portraying a shameful woman as a hero this time you’ve gone after the very root of the cause – religion.
Do you see religion as a problem?

Hardy knew he needed to choose his next words carefully, it could be the difference between having his latest work published or not.

Religion isn’t a problem, no. But the organized way in which religion stirs people up and makes them blindly follow a series of rules to make them feel better about themselves. That is a problem. These last few years I’ve been crucified, sorry, I should choose my words more carefully, I’ve been chastised because I made a point. And it’s been those who practice a religion of love and acceptance that have led the way. Is morality really what it’s all about? Do we lose our humanity because we struggle with our morality? There has to be a healthy amount of cynicism about this stuff.

And that’s what you’re trying to say here?

Precisely

Hardy now had a cigar in his mouth as well. Both men took a deep breath and sat in silence for an overly long amount of time.

We’re going to have to sell our newspaper in paper bags…

Hardy smiled

Jude the Obscure was published 2 months later.
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July 26, 2017

Neville now sat inside of Max Gate – the former house of Thomas Hardy. It had since been turned into a museum preserving everything it could about it’s former owner. He sat inside the living room, cluttered with as much Hardy items as it could be filled with. He glanced an oddly placed cross on the wall. He knew that Hardy had grown skeptical of Christianity in his later years. Hardy had done whatever he could to speak on wrongs he had seen in society, and it had cost him dearly. Neville thought to his own mission in the XWF and wondered if he was going to be treated much in the same way. He needed to make his point, which was why listening to a guy like Tommy Wish was so painful for him. Tommy had no mission, Tommy had no points. Tommy Wish simply was a guy with a shitty attitude that spewed nonsense into dead air. Echoing through the speaker system in the house played Hardy’s favourite music – Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It gave the room a surreal, almost church-like sound.

Tommy, I’m having a hard time getting any kind of read on you. First, you’re claiming that you want the title, then you claim not to care. Then, you’re trying to make a case for being successful before immediately dispelling the notion that you aren’t here to make a point. I don’t understand who the hell you are or what the hell you’re trying to do, but I can’t wait to make sure you understand what the truly important things in life are. Maybe you’re a badass, the guy who likes to hurt people. That was Jack Cain last week, and look at where it got him. You can only hurt people for so long without having a reason to do so. You can’t simply do something for the mere pleasure of it. Maybe you’re a rebel – the guy who likes to break social norms. But I’d think to do that you have to first understand what social norms are, and listening to your promos, that simply can’t be the case. Or maybe you’re the guy you portray yourself to be – a man of little to no consequence in this federation who spews nonsense and has been given a title shot because management doesn’t know what to do with him. I would vote for the final option, but at the end of the day I have to admit I just don’t know.

One of Hardy’s books of poetry sat on a coffee table, Neville fixates on it.

You see, that’s the great thing with any good expression, it has clarity. Poetry isn’t simply words put in good order, poetry is the best words one can think of placed in the best order. Every word has a meaning and is placed specifically in that order because it’s right. Every word elicits an image in one’s brain because a poem is a meticulously crafted thing. Why can’t I get a good read on you Tommy? Because you don’t make sense. You don’t live in a world where good self-expression and self-realization are valued. You bounce around this federation reacting to other people who don’t know who the hell you are. You have more of an identity crisis than a gay teenager growing up in Utah. Choose your own expression carefully Tommy, be careful with what you show, and try to make sure that you’re showing the world something that it needs to see. Present yourself like a poem, where things are carefully chosen and thought out and I guarantee you will get further in this career you’ve chosen.

Neville still has some Scotch left in his bottle from last night, and he glances over to Hardy’s liquor cabinet. He quietly walks over to the cabinet where two scotch glasses sit behind glass. Making sure no one can hear him, he opens the door to the cabinet and removes one of the glasses. Drinking a shot from Thomas Hardy’s own personal glass, how many can say that they’ve done that? This was what made Neville great, he took opportunities that many would be scared to. He savoured each burning drink he took from the class, his only regret was that he wasn’t carrying an older, more expensive Scotch.

So Tommy, listen up, I’ve got a few more lessons to teach you, and believe me, for the good of the federation, I really hope you listen.

Lesson #1 – You need to have a point

It’s almost funny how you tend to demonize having a point in what you say. You’ve said it yourself “I don’t feel the need to make a point to a casually person like you.” So why say anything? Tommy one of the things you’ll learn hard and fast in this industry is the need to have people listen to you. Why would anyone in their right mind pay attention to you if you talk and talk and have absolutely no point to what you’re saying? From now on it should almost be a comical anecdote to call saying absolutely nothing of any consequence “pulling a Tommy Wish”. One of the things you’re taught in primary school is the central need for a thesis statement in any kind of literate writing. Any kind of composition requires a point to be made, things are better when that point is fleshed out. What I wanted to hear from you Tommy was a well thought out call out to try and intimidate me and make me want to work to defend my title. That’s what your responsibility to this federation should have been. What I heard from you though sounded like the maniacal rambling of a man with early onset Alzheimer’s. There was no point to anything you said. Words fell out of your mouth like verbal diarrhea that you couldn’t hold in. You say that you’re a poet? A poem’s not simply rhyming words placed in nice order to resemble a Hallmark card. You say that you do it to a beat? That’s great. I have such a healthy respect for rap music when it resembles art. People can take the language of where they’re from and write street poetry with music in the background. That stuff is amazing because it makes points. But you don’t do that do you Tommy? Your rapping or poetry is clearly a result of a white suburban kid who thinks it looks cool.

Neville struggles thinking that Tommy Wish could do any kind of artistic endeavour well. In what he had heard from him, his found his expression skills to be… lacking. His way of responding to any criticism or insult was to simply deny it’s truth. And his way of insulting back was comical as well. Neville smiled as he thought of being called a “fancy pants club member”. That insult felt like the verbal equivalent of a puppy bite. He’d much rather be thinking of puppies than Tommy Wish right now.

Lesson #2 – Clarity is your friend

Probably the most effective thing you accomplished was calling me out on something I got wrong. But if you’ll forgive me, I’m of the mindset that when I wrestle with a naked young woman, I’m usually having sex. You’re right, I got that wrong, only because I can’t fathom what the hell you were doing, or why the hell you chose to show it to everyone. And watching her in this promo you have her randomly standing naked beside you again? What the hell? My favourite “what the fuck” moment with everything is that you randomly decide to spend a million dollars to rent a mansion for a day. You do know they don’t cost that much to rent for a day right? And to get one that even has a badly cut lawn.

Neville shakes his head

Look, Tommy, trying to track with you and understand anything that you do has been a chore this week. None of it makes any sense and has no point to it. Which leads me to what I want to teach you. Clarity is your friend. You have a chance to make what you do and what you say matter, but you seem to want to live in your own world that the rest of us can’t get into. When you get to cut a promo, and people want to listen to what you have to say, it’s an insult to us to pass off what you have. There’s no reason or purpose behind everything. Why would we even want to pay attention to what you say when we have to sift through mounds of drunkenness, naked wrestling and you frivolously spending a million to throw a book in a pool? Think about it Tommy, and spare us next time.

Neville looks at his watch and knows that he wants to be done soon. It was lunch time and he was getting hungry, but he needed to pass off one more thing to Tommy.

Lesson #3 – Pay attention to what’s being said

You may have heard the poem I’ve given you at the beginning of this promo here. Think it through. It’s about someone who spends time in nature and realizes as he spends time in a particularly nice place that he wished he had been listening better on his whole journey. The realization that he had missed so much on his journey hits him hard at the end because the noises had always been there. One of the reasons I spend so much time trying to educate people in this federation is because I need to make sure they listen. This is a wrestling federation filled with lazy, stupid, uneducated people who don’t take the time to think things through or listen. If there’s one lesson I can teach you well today it’s that you need to listen to what I’m saying and actually try to respond to things. Don’t simply cover up your answers by confidently stating that I’m wrong. Listen.

And I’ll be having a talk with management about you bringing a pocketknife to the ring on Saturday. Believe me, you’re closer to walking out of the ring in handcuffs than you are walking out of the ring wearing a belt. But you don’t care about that do you? If there’s one thing I “Wish” for “Tommy” this week, it’s that he shuts his damn mouth for a second, listens to what I’m saying and puts clarity and purpose into what he chooses to say next.

Neville sits back down and takes one more shot. Fighting guys like Tommy made him need a drink. He was sure he’d need plenty more fighting Tommy this week.

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