a story about deciding to do Iddy Iddy Bang Bang again
I've read in some places to not let people know about your future plans, and by God I'm absolutely terrible at adhering to my fandom plans. But I feel I'd like to disclose what I'm doing for 
iddyiddybangbang, if only to help myself out.
I know a lot of my followers aren't into wrestling, and especially WWE now as opposed to about 5-6 years ago when wrestling fandom was all over the trio/stable known as The Shield and a lot of people who were on one of WWE's brands, NXT, at the time. I know most people followed me when I was more into Doctor Who and some smaller fandoms like Killing Eve. I'll try to explain what the hell I'm talking about here.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was casually watching wrestling, and fell into watching WWE programming (again-I was watching on and off around 2000ish, 2005ish, and 2010ish) around December 2019. I didn't really care about the wrestlers and had a slight passing interest in a character known as The Fiend, a character who looks like a psychotic clown and goes after people he feels wronged his other persona, Bray Wyatt. Then the pandemic happened. I decided to stick with wrestling instead of not watching it without fans. I also decided to watch WrestleMania 36, as I was curious how that would work without fans, and I was laughing at the fact they wouldn't cancel the event.
So this is where I introduce Bayley. I think a lot of people who follow me and know wrestling know who Bayley is. She was this character who was relentlessly positive despite adversity, and who was known for her colorful ring gear and her side ponytail. In October 2019, she stopped wearing multi-colored ring gear for single-color ring gear, cut her hair off, dyed her hair black, and attacked these tube men that popped up at her ring entrance (the "Bayley Buddies"). She also turned on her fans, believing that would give her a competitive edge. That was the night she became SmackDown (one of the WWE brands) Women's Champion, and she was still champion heading into WrestleMania.
Other "professional" wrestling critics weren't high on Bayley's match, which was a match with four other women, but I was captivated by her match and how it told a story about a woman who'd do anything to keep her title to the point where she'd even screw over her best friend, Sasha Banks. That match still sticks with me today more so than a lot of WrestleMania 36 matches.
In short, during the pandemic and in settings that were mostly closed off to the public, Bayley also won, and then lost, WWE's Women's Tag Team Championships with Sasha and then got into increasingly violent feuds with Sasha and then another wrestler, Bianca Belair. Bayley's feud with Bianca had escalated to the point of an "I Quit" match when it was reported, just before shows with fans, Bayley suffered a real-life injury that would keep her out of the ring for at least nine months. (Possibly longer, if the time announced doesn't include getting her knee into match fitness and/or when she might come back to the ring, which may not be around nine months.) Her injury hit me hard because, over this pandemic, Bayley was one of the people who truly brought me joy during a miserable time in history. (I mean, it's still miserable, and I really don't think we should have live anything until we actually achieve herd immunity around the world, but I can't make everyone stop what they're doing for a virus.)
So a few days before IIBB signups started I wanted to do something riffing off of Bayley's various personas she claims she has. Her most recent ring gear has her face, but drawn in three different ways, on it. On Twitter, before her last Hell in a Cell match, she replied to herself as if she had three personas. I wanted to use time travel to have Bayley explore these personas in alternate universes that would make up this current Bayley. Her injury happened a couple of days before IIBB signups, and was announced just the day before. So I feel now my IIBB project is going to now be, in part, a way to channel my sadness. I hope Bayley stays on television in some way, but if not, I want to use my project to help me say goodbye until she comes back. And there are worse ways to spend two months or so waiting for someone to get better, right?
I'm thinking I also want to do a fanmix to my fic. I have a few songs floating around my head as I'm writing this fic, and so I may put together this YouTube playlist that goes with my story. I don't think I have to sign up separately for a complimentary fanmix, but we'll see.
This entry was originally posted at https://merryghoul.dreamwidth.org/428716.html. Comments on either site are fine.
iddyiddybangbang, if only to help myself out.
I know a lot of my followers aren't into wrestling, and especially WWE now as opposed to about 5-6 years ago when wrestling fandom was all over the trio/stable known as The Shield and a lot of people who were on one of WWE's brands, NXT, at the time. I know most people followed me when I was more into Doctor Who and some smaller fandoms like Killing Eve. I'll try to explain what the hell I'm talking about here.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was casually watching wrestling, and fell into watching WWE programming (again-I was watching on and off around 2000ish, 2005ish, and 2010ish) around December 2019. I didn't really care about the wrestlers and had a slight passing interest in a character known as The Fiend, a character who looks like a psychotic clown and goes after people he feels wronged his other persona, Bray Wyatt. Then the pandemic happened. I decided to stick with wrestling instead of not watching it without fans. I also decided to watch WrestleMania 36, as I was curious how that would work without fans, and I was laughing at the fact they wouldn't cancel the event.
So this is where I introduce Bayley. I think a lot of people who follow me and know wrestling know who Bayley is. She was this character who was relentlessly positive despite adversity, and who was known for her colorful ring gear and her side ponytail. In October 2019, she stopped wearing multi-colored ring gear for single-color ring gear, cut her hair off, dyed her hair black, and attacked these tube men that popped up at her ring entrance (the "Bayley Buddies"). She also turned on her fans, believing that would give her a competitive edge. That was the night she became SmackDown (one of the WWE brands) Women's Champion, and she was still champion heading into WrestleMania.
Other "professional" wrestling critics weren't high on Bayley's match, which was a match with four other women, but I was captivated by her match and how it told a story about a woman who'd do anything to keep her title to the point where she'd even screw over her best friend, Sasha Banks. That match still sticks with me today more so than a lot of WrestleMania 36 matches.
In short, during the pandemic and in settings that were mostly closed off to the public, Bayley also won, and then lost, WWE's Women's Tag Team Championships with Sasha and then got into increasingly violent feuds with Sasha and then another wrestler, Bianca Belair. Bayley's feud with Bianca had escalated to the point of an "I Quit" match when it was reported, just before shows with fans, Bayley suffered a real-life injury that would keep her out of the ring for at least nine months. (Possibly longer, if the time announced doesn't include getting her knee into match fitness and/or when she might come back to the ring, which may not be around nine months.) Her injury hit me hard because, over this pandemic, Bayley was one of the people who truly brought me joy during a miserable time in history. (I mean, it's still miserable, and I really don't think we should have live anything until we actually achieve herd immunity around the world, but I can't make everyone stop what they're doing for a virus.)
So a few days before IIBB signups started I wanted to do something riffing off of Bayley's various personas she claims she has. Her most recent ring gear has her face, but drawn in three different ways, on it. On Twitter, before her last Hell in a Cell match, she replied to herself as if she had three personas. I wanted to use time travel to have Bayley explore these personas in alternate universes that would make up this current Bayley. Her injury happened a couple of days before IIBB signups, and was announced just the day before. So I feel now my IIBB project is going to now be, in part, a way to channel my sadness. I hope Bayley stays on television in some way, but if not, I want to use my project to help me say goodbye until she comes back. And there are worse ways to spend two months or so waiting for someone to get better, right?
I'm thinking I also want to do a fanmix to my fic. I have a few songs floating around my head as I'm writing this fic, and so I may put together this YouTube playlist that goes with my story. I don't think I have to sign up separately for a complimentary fanmix, but we'll see.
This entry was originally posted at https://merryghoul.dreamwidth.org/428716.html. Comments on either site are fine.