Chapter 10-Page-6-Hello Again
This should be a fun conversation, if you like your conversations awkward and tension filled.
Also, you can appreciate Sabrina’s cleaning prowess by comparing it to what it looked like here.
Kollision Con!
This weekend, November 15-17, I’ll be a guest at the 2013 Kollision Con at the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont, IL! Come on out and also see Krazy Krow (Spinnerette), Russell Lissau (Batman Strikes, Old Wounds) and Steve Horton (Amala’s Blade, Superman)!
I’m also hosting a panel on making webcomics, so if you’re interested in starting your brand new webcomic, or just want some tips on maintaining, come and check out these times:
Friday-Making Webcomics – Part One: The Concept 8:30pm – 9:30pm in Love Field A
Saturday-Making Webcomics – Part Two: Creation 7pm-8pm in Love Field A
Sunday-Making Webcomics – Part Three: Monetize 1pm-2pm in Love Field A
Voting Incentive!
Is it possible that they’ll work out their differences over pizza? Vote to see what’s coming up on Wednesday!
Good on Krystin for trying to smarten the blonde up!
Hey maybe you can rent her out. There’s hope for you somewhere.
Just cuz I took a finder’s fee from one of your “exploits”, doesn’t mean I’m in that business…
Oh wait, you meant the FLAT? Hahahaha good God no. The requirement for a furnished, UNOCCUPIED apartment is quite clearly spelled out in my contract.
Sabrina sounds like she’s gone crazy from literally no more than a few days of nobody being in the same room to talk to or about her.
Brina seems to have a bit of cabin fever.
Well, hey, if Sabrina gets fired, at least she could get a cleaning job and be damn good at it. But I don’t think she’ll get fired.
She won’t, I know these things.
*nod*
Also Gabrielle flat out said she wasn’t firing her?
This conversation just started at an awkward level and is going downhill fast. 🙁
Sabrina doesn’t even know of Krystin’s back dealing to speed up her recovery was partly because of her. 🙁
This is just going to turn out from bad to worse for the former roommates. 🙁
Not surprised at the cleaning result. It has, after all, been days. A single day is enough to work wonders in cleaning if you really try. Still, nice to see Sabrina appreciates a clean living space.
She appears to be at freak-out levels of loneliness, though. Never fun.
I wonder what that’s like. *is introverted*
Hmmmm I’m thinking Brina would look good in a French chambermaid uniform. I’ll give her a job. But it would be better if she keeps the one she’s got.
This episode has me wondering how long it will be before she finds Krystin’s goods. Nope, she wouldn’t snoop. She was just picking up a lil around the place…
…you’ve been reading BH’s stories, haven’t you?
Nah… BH have her in latex. Not lace.
And probably in a three way with you and one of A) Gabrielle, B) Sun, or C) me.
I thought they called them “Triple threat” matches, not three-way matches?
<_<
Brenda, you want to field this one?
Can I kick Krystins ass?
I’m feeling a need to.
*nod*
On another note, as awesome as I’m sure as awesome as my ‘Brina Girls cleaning skills are, when she can clean up after my Baby ‘Brina, then I will be impressed.
*nod*
**********
Baby ‘Brina Watch!
Sabrina-Ripley has developed a tendency to become increasingly grumpy if people move out of her immediate line of sight. As such, I found myself perplexed to discover that she remained content as I bustled from one terribly important task to another.
Turns out she can turn her head now.
She is immensely impressed with herself.
Smug even.
Apparently she takes after me.
X3
**********
YouTube of the Day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsvCLG1QZjs
Not the greatest animation, but still awesome XD
Sammie you want to get you a baby carrier sling. They are wonderful. They free your hands and save your back. Baby is with you getting all the stimulation of your busy life and constant huggies. Huggies are good. Even better than chocolate!
Both Baby ‘Brina and myself approves of Huggies.
We are in agreement that there should be more huggies.
*nod*
uh-oh now she’s mastered the “mommy can’t get away from me now!” technique. may as well just give her all your title belts now, you have no chance of winning. nods wisely.
I think I’m all right, she’s far happier to see me than my shiney shiney. Mommy hugs come before titles.
For now at least.
XP
Uh oh. Li’l Sabrina-Ripley has Mommy right where she wants her now… wrapped around that adorable, pudgy little finger.
uh-oh Krystin’s in trouble now taking a cab with the rival Shimmer organization’s advertisment on it. wait til Gabby finds out!
(side note- oooh crossover! Cheerleader Melissa vs. Brenda Rua, Canadian Ninjas vs Catgirls!- book ’em Dano!)
good to see brina’s not letting her pent up energy go unreleased though Krystin’s not exactly being overly thrilled with her being here.
as for the VI i think Brina is about to go on some long speech about how she feels when Topher calls Krystin who then runs off without hesistation to talk to him while Brina’s just left in the dust.
Callista vs Sara Del Rey! (I know, she’s down in Florida, now, but for me, she’d come back!
Book it! I’ll get you a pass to the back.
Brenda’s very fond of handing out “passes to the back”…
Really Krystin, that’s all you can say? “No hi, how are you” “thanks for saving my sorry ass. And for cleaning my pig pen of a house.” Just, “Are you even employed anymore? Because if not you shouldn’t be here.” And “You should have taken the belt.”
Bitch!
And bad enough Krystin holds Sabrina at fault for stealing the spot light, but at least she should be grateful to her for not stealing her title belt in that farce of a match. But I forgot Krystin is as cheap a title holder as you can get!
Sabrina saved Krystin? That cast must be for show a la Bob Orton, then?
“Because if not, you shouldn’t be here.” The apartment is the property of Rival Angels, and is there for RA employees. If that were no longer Sabrina’s position, allowing her to remain there could land Krystin in hot water.
“You should have taken the belt.” She’s right. She should have. When Vince clattered Kat, the match was already well beyond “farce”, and there was no saving it. At that point, the question was what to do going forward. Gabrielle (the boss) worked out a plan and attempted to put it into action, but Sabrina decided her priorities were more important, and made the situation worse for everyone (with the possible exception of Kat.)
Just because you’re hungry for gold and will work any angle – not to mention street corner or alley – doesn’t mean Sabrina is. She’s got standards and an ethos that will endear her to the fans. While she might have followed instructions from Gabs to take the belt, the boss clearly didn’t communicate that well. It’s moot.
Catty comments don’t become you, Brenda. Befit you, yes, but not become.
The problem isn’t Sabrina’s standards or her ethos, it’s her belief that her standards and ethos are superior to those of everyone around her, and that’s why she’s in trouble.
For what it’s worth, I agree with you that Marina could have communicated the situation a bit more clearly, but it’s not like she exactly had a great deal of time just then. That hardly excuses the blonde, though. She was given an order, and not an unreasonable one. She refused to follow that order because her overlarge ego wouldn’t allow her to do anything that might make some punter love her just a bit less.
When confronted about this decision by Gabrielle, Sabrina made it plain that she considers herself the ultimate arbiter of what is and is not best for the company.
If we compromise our integrity, then we don’t deserve to have any.
By taking the belt, Sabrina would have cheated. You can window dress it as much as you want, but the official was clearly crooked, and by following through she would have won by cheating. Any Champion worth her salt would refuse to win a title in that manner, any champion that does is a paper champion and nothing more.
Cheating is cheating. In any other sport, you are stripped of whatever ‘prestige’ you’re ‘earned’ the moment it is uncovered. In boxing, the contest would have simply been stopped cold there and then, refusing to do otherwise is why Gabrielle screwed up.
She lost control of her own company, that’s bad management.
Sabrina retained her integrity as an athlete, and that’s what makes her such a great one.
On the other hand, feel free to win Gold however you like, just don’t expect me to call you a Champion.
So there.
“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” “Rubbing is racing.” “No harm, no foul.” “Professional foul.” Sports of every stripe are filled with aphorisms like the above, because the simple fact is that professional athletes are paid to perform, to compete, and to win, and not necessarily in that order. It is an individual athlete’s job to enforce the rules, and it certainly isn’t her job to determine what the company should be doing when those rules are violated.
As for your definition of what a champion is, it’s simple nonsense. Are Manchester United not the champions of England because they had a player sent off last year? Or committed a foul? If Brenda pulls up an opponent by the hair, gets warned, and the match continues, is she no longer a champion because she cheated? Of course not. The penalties for individual offences are determined by officials and the league itself.
You can disagree with a decision, certainly, but the moment you as a competitor decide your opinion supersedes that of the people responsible for making those decisions, you become a greater danger to the integrity of that sport than any hair-puller or diver out there.
The worst of it is that she’ll escape termination because of her talent. That’s nothing new in sport, but what happens the next time she doesn’t like the ref’s performance? Say it’s a new lad and his counts aren’t quite perfect yet. What does she do then? Ultrakick him and get cheers?
Sabrina simply cannot be allowed to escape punishment. The self-righteous sorts who think she should should never be allowed to hold any position of responsibility, because they will allow their own ego and self-certainty to destroy everything others have built up, all in the name of “doing what’s right.”
*deep breadth*
First Paragraph. The statements you include are made by apologists who feel it is ok to cheat in order to win, the term ‘professional foul’ is particularly hollow, the fact that he/she did it on purpose makes it no less of fowl, if anything it simply solidifies the offence as cheating. Professional Athletes are paid to compete, winning is not a privilege, and they are certainty not paid to cheat in order to attain victory.
Second paragraph. You’re argument concerning Manchester United and having players sent off is just silly. Of course they would still be the Champions if they had players sent off. Said players cheated during the course of the game and they were punished during the course of it by being sent off. They cheated, they were punished, and that’s the end of that incident. Now if it was to be later discovered that Manchester United are the Champions because the Officials during last season were crooked and Manchester United knew said Official would fix the matches in their favour, “match fixing” as it were then they would lose their title, and if other football leagues are to go by, they would also be heavily panelised and more than likely relegated to a lower division. A quick internet search will also reveal a great number of athletes whom have had their titles/medals retroactively removed for them due to later discovered cheating, more than one Olympian has been disgraced in this manner. Cheating is not accepted by sporting bodies, no matter how much you want to believe otherwise.
As for the hair pulling example, my make my own point for me. Brenda (hypertheticly speaking) pulled her opponents hair, she was warned, that’s the immediate punishment. If she were to continue doing so, she would be warned again to the point of being DQ. Crime/Punishment. The nonsense, my girl, is yours.
Paragraph Three. Again, your just being silly. It is the morale obligation of any athlete, of any human being, whilst in the presence of corruption to simply not accept it. If you know the referee/official/umpire in any contest you are competing in is crooked, it is your responsibility to stop. You don’t carry on Boxing when you know the referee is going to guarantee your going to win, its wrong on every conceivable level. Walk away and leave the official body to deal with their screw up. I fail to see why you can’t see that.
Paragraph Four. Sabrina refused to be involved in an obvious match fixing scenario and her professional integrity steered her true. She has done everything she should have done, and she should be getting a frigging medal for doing so. As to what she may or may not do in future contests I will judge her on when she may/or may not do so.
Sabrina didn’t do anything wrong, the only thing she did was refuse to cheat. Anyone who believes she should be punished for that shouldn’t be allowed to hold any responsibility, because they obviously don’t know what being an athlete is about.
Doing what’s right is the only thing that should ever be done.
But that’s all I have to say on the matter, because I hate to repeat myself.
XP
Your first paragraph simply doesn’t reflect the reality of sports as a business. Athletes, coaches, club owners; everyone makes more money when they win. Moralising about whether that’s right or not has filled far too many column-inches for sports commentators too lazy to write a real story. And frankly? It doesn’t jibe with the fans’ expectations, either. They want their favourites to win.
Regarding your second paragraph: Alright, so we’ve established it’s not ALL cheating that disqualifies one from winning or being a champion. So from whence comes your insinuation that Sabrina would be cheating by pinning Kat? Certainly, if Sabrina were behind Vince’s shenanigans, that would be the case, but we can see clearly that that was not the case. Moreover, Sabrina was not ordered to cheat. She was ordered to put an end to the match in a legal way so that the repercussions could be dealt with by the people whose job it is to do so. Instead she attacked the ref and walked out of the match. While you’re doing your quick internet searches, find me a scenario where it’s EVER ok to do that? (I’m not excusing Kat’s follow-up attack, by the way, though she has at least the excuse of being the one sinned against.) It’s only Vince’s egregious actions that will prevent serious punishment for both of them.
Paragraph Three: I’d love to live a world where this is true, but it simply isn’t. In the world we actually live in, it’s people who feel they know the One True Right Answer that cause all the harm. As for “leaving the official body to deal with it,” I feel you’re attempting to co-opt my argument, here, but it’s simply not on. The official body DID attempt to deal with it. Sabrina decided she didn’t care for their attempt, so sought to impose her own decision instead. You seem to be implying that since Vince was in the wrong, then the only right course of action for her was to her to seek an outcome other than the one he sought. In short, his ends justified her means. That is clearly wrong.
Paragraph four: She should get a medal for attacking a ref and walking out on her job? Should she f***…
I’m terribly sorry to make you repeat yourself. It seems to be necessitated by your repetitive argument.
Callie is correct, but Sammie is right.
Yes, gaming the rules, engaging in bad sportsmanship, taking what penalties you need to as long as you still come out with a net strategic gain? That will get you a lot of success, yes. But it also makes it clear that you are less worthy of respect and admiration, and the respect and admiration of fans is what drives the business end of sports – sales. Yes, they want their favorites to win, but they still want them to be favorites at the end of the day, and you can alienate fans with villainous behavior.
Sabrina putting an end to the match by pinning Kat under those circumstances would have made things easier for management, but would not have sat right with fans, which, in the end, would have been a bigger problem. Vince’s obvious bias in the match meant that a clean win is not possible, and unless lives are on the line, an honest loss is more respectable than a dirty victory. This isn’t exactly hypothetical stuff – research fan reactions to recent WWE championship matches where interference cost one wrestler the win. The Maddox intervention in the Punk vs Ryback match, for instance, or the recent mess involving Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. Those events did not do good things for ratings.
Sabrina was fully justified in kicking Vince. He cost her the opportunity for a clean title win and tried to force his way back into her life by turning a wrestling match into a two-on-one grudge battle. Deserved what he got and more.
“You can alienate fans with villainous behavior.”
As long as Luis Suarez still has a job, I’m still right 😛
As a long time wrestling fan, I would’ve lost a lot of respect for Sabrina if she had taken the dirty win. It’s not in her wrestling persona, or real life standards for that matter, to take a dirty championship win. If she was a dirty player from the get-go, or if that was her angle form the beginning, then I wouldn’t have been surprised if she took the win.
You can try to change the situation all you want to justify it, it’s still cheating. Job security is one thing, respect of countless people is another. If she gets let go because of this then so be it. I’d rather be fired for doing the right thing than alienate my fans and my own-self respect.
Getting vaguely back to Kobra’s point, Krystin really does come off as unappreciative. First her deciding that Sabrina’s stealing her spotlight was more important than stopping a beatdown — note that Krystin was already injured, and if it continued it is not unlikely that her hand would have gotten worse.
Now this… no thanks for cleaning up the place (and Brooke stated that Krystin’s turned into a slob), and a thinly veiled suggestion to get lost.
I’m sure Callie would say that it’s a dirty business, and everyone has to look out for themselves first, and that’s partly true. But it’s also true that it doesn’t hurt to have friends to back you up when you need it. Basically, Krystin is coming off as extremely egocentric… everything is about how it affects her, and she doesn’t even consider how someone else might view things.
Stick together and help each other girls 😉 http://youtu.be/HkUNR3jP13w
I guess it’s a case of taking Sabrina all the way down so you can bring her all the way up. This happens too much…like Cinderella.
Or Shadow Hours. Sabrina and Brooke totally give off that “Baltazar Getty” vibe right now. Only question is who is their Peter Weller?
It’s pretty commonly known that after WWE brings someone in with an initial push, they generally will de-push them some to see how they respond to setbacks. Sabrina’s response to such is telling. Cleaning up the apartment like that is a sign of her desperate need for external approval.
Or not wanting to live in a sty.
Hence why she expressed irritation with Krystin and requested that she be more considerate in the future.
Oh dear, wait. No that’s not what happened at all. What happened was that she started yapping like a puppy that had been left home alone, never mind that she and Krystin were not exactly on cordial terms the last time they spoke.
I’m comfortable with my theory.
You’d think that being a champion she’d have a little self respect to clean up after herself. Or at least hire a maid.
The trouble with that, meaning the de-pushing after the initial push in WWE is that the product is so tightly scripted these days that it’s practically setting up someone to fail. The current WWE doesn’t really allow much leeway or allowing the wrestlers to show their personalities.
The trouble, I think, is that the decision makers are confusing the actor with the script, to use theatrical terms. Should a wrestler be buried/fired because they couldn’t sell the crowd on a bad storyline? Daniel Bryan is a particularly relevant example here… the recent debacle has resulted in him being yanked out of the main event picture because the fans weren’t getting behind the scenario. But the scenario called for him to repeatedly get screwed over without ever really getting his payback. To use Triple H’s words against him, how could he prove him wrong when the script doesn’t let him ever get the upper hand?
See, the difference between the current scenario and the one it’s trying to copy, the old Austin/McMahon feud, was that for all his faults Vince was willing to let Austin get the better of him, repeatedly. He was willing to be the butt of the joke, the one humiliated and outmaneuvered repeatedly by Austin. Since then, it seems that Vince’s control freak nature has expanded, and so aside from a couple of bumps that had no lasting effect, Triple H never appeared to be anything but in the complete advantage. (As an aside, it didn’t put Orton over either, since he came out looking like a lackey who repeatedly needed help because he couldn’t beat Bryan on his own.)
It’s basically, in the end, blaming the wrestler for the failure of a bad script when honestly it would take a miracle to turn a garbage scenario into something the fans want to watch.
That’s the main problem with promotions now a days. No originality, no creativity, no theatrics, and 100% predictability.
They once had a entire group that could use flare and stile while flying threw the air in the cruiser weights and X division and they decided to toss them out. Any actually athletic women they had were replaced with pretty barbie dolls. And they keep rehashing old tired story lines that you already know how an episode is going to end before it does.
The owners need to actually do something original and get better writers or give there wrestlers more creative freedom. They also need to take some responsibility and admit when they fuck up.
So, when Brina gets nervous, she gets creepily happy, hyper, and likes to clean
And looks like a Stepford Wife.
She should have taken the belt. Agreed. And then hit both the ref and the opponent with it.