Page 306 – Focus
Heh, can you believe that I actually cut a good 40% out of the original script? There’s a lot of explanatory copy here, but it’s for a good reason. I thought it’d be a good idea to remind old and new alike just what’s going on. I mean, it’s 306 pages over 23 months so a refresher might be okay.
Sabrina’s in desperate need of some focus and Marina is doing everything she can think of to do that. Sabrina’s going up against a great wrestler and fan favorite, in Xtina Carpenter. If she’s not focused, Xtina will beat the breaks off of her. And of course, Sabrina’s still caught up in her troubles with Sun and it doesn’t help that she just saw Krystin and Brooke lose tonight as well. Can Sabrina focus long enough to challenge Xtina and make it into the finals of the Television Tournament? Find out what Marina tries to do next on Monday!
If you want to find out what is on the TV in the background, it’s a commercial for the awesome webcomic, Marsh Rocket. You can specifically find the image from this page here. Rose is currently my favorite character from the series. It’s a great, fun read and I definitely recommend it. 😀
Voting Incentive!
Vote to get a clue as to what Marina might be saying to Sabrina to focus. 😉
Maria might need to get a cartoon size mallet to beat the focus into Sabrina at this rate, but hey that pinch to the but is a good and fun way to focus her as well =P. I think the Sun distraction is really going to have a be effect after the match, I really do not put it past the Queen damager to being this to weaken their bond, weaken a potential title target, or who knows as favor for the Belles; they have been willing to help each other with mutual targets in the past like the Yorks.
My my, a great “no rules” match just ended and we’re back to the main action: Sabrina!
I’m a bit disappointed that Sara won but heh, she’s the expert in these matches… The main risk for ‘Brina is to burn her wings to the sun! As Marina told her, she needs to get focused otherwise she’ll never make it till the end!
I think that the most significant comment is about how Gabrielle likes to cut off support after a certain amount of push. Vince McMahon is apparently notorious for the same thing, ostensibly for the same reason — of course, the vicious circle is that WWE is so heavily scripted that it boggles the mind HOW he expects people to get over when they have no actual freedom to do so. Then again, I’m also of the opinion that Vince has a loose grasp of logic at the best of times and that he’s seriously riding on the crazy train and has been for a while.
Rival Angels, on the other hand, is played on the notion that pro wrestling is real and therefore there IS no scripting… so Gabrielle’s cutting off of the push is not a self-defeating action, necessarily. In this case, it really is a matter of whether Sabrina or whatever hot young talent can maintain their popularity and momentum without being handed opportunities. I think what Marina is trying to press into Sabrina’s head is that it’s a honeymoon that CANNOT last and she needs to be ready when it happens.
well Marina was her own worst enemy there. did she expect to use the “S” word in front of Brina and not have it wipe out any sort of focus (which is debatale there was much to begin with here) Brina might have had? with Krystin’s loss i have to revamp my scenarios somewhat now. Actually not really since i picked Sabrina to lose this match as the Focus Queen shoots herself in the foot here. this is the first time she won;t have the fans all on her side and she may be more concerned with trying to win them all over than you know, winning the match itself.
Plus a Brina loss would only further stretch the bond with Brina and Sun. After all Sun runs down all of the other three during that workout and how Sun is moving to bigger and better things with Damage Inc. Now look at what happened. Brooke and Krystin both lose, Sun wins thanks to her new posse. A Sabrina loss (as Kyra Gold will just happen to walk by and mention in the back no doubt) would only prove Sun’s point that hanging around the “losers” in the Upstarts would only be holding Sun back. and that she doesn’t need them anymore now that she has Damage Inc.
as a side note- there’s not really any face factions in Rival Angels is there? Helles belles and the Yorks for the heels, Damage Inc for the tweenerish with heel tendencies. can’t really count the Upstarts since they have one of everything pretty much (face,heel,tweener)
Wow! This is quite a setting. There’s so many buttons being pushed here it’s… it’s like too real LoL I confess that I’d spaced on the club opening. Now I’m thinking that’s going to be big.
Great art here. I loved the expressions and body language!
“Hocus, pocus!
Buy me one blue Ford Focus”
Marina Ortiz, said “Focus” three times in this episode.. heheh!! Marina should buy a Ford Focus for Sabrina..
I kinda don’t like Marina’s style on Sabrina… I hope next episode Sabrina ultrakick Marina chin!!
Marina Ortiz must know how to blend with ‘Ultragirl’ Sabrina Mancini.. Marina must know, that Sabrina didn’t get a full training.. I mean Sabrina have problem on focus.. remember, Sabrina is only on development training for twelve weeks.. maybe in Biloxi she hasn’t face those problem before..(am I right? Albone) hehe
and Biloxi.. is no Akira superstar..
if Sabrina went to Akira superstar!! I don’t think.. Sabrina won’t have this problem.. and if Sabrina, trained on Akira.. I think Sabrina must undergo pressure, and Akira will train Sabrina.. the twelve weeks.. it will be two years before Sabrina get to Rival Angels, but the result ‘Ultragirl’ Sabrina Mancini will be great! won’t have this focus problem..
Marina Ortiz, if she’s gonna keep saying focus.. I don’t think Sabrina can focus enough.. and I don’t think Marina Ortiz is a good at training…
Commissioner Gabrielle.. assigned Marina Ortiz to be Sabrina’s mentor? could it be a test on Marina also? not only to Sabrina? maybe Gabrielle knew that Marina’s weak on helping rookies?
(If)
Let’s say! ‘Celt Warrior’ Brenda Rua, will help Sabrina.. I think it will be a different situation. less Party for Sabrina, and more training.. I don’t know if Sabrina can handle if Brenda’s training Sabrina in Rival Angels? am I right Albone?
I’m still rooting for Sabrina for the win… hehhehe!!
Marina makes really good points and Sabrina needs to wake up. Sun is looking out for herself, and it’s paying off. She needs to do the same. When the promotional aid from the league ends, does she have what it takes to stand on her own. Same question that Sun asked her during their big fight. She needs to listen to what people are saying to become a champion and as much as I love Brina… I’m not sure if she will.
If Marina keeps talking about shiny things like the club, the big push and Sun, of course Sabrina is going to lose her… hey what’s that over there, is that a mini bar? Wait, where was I going with this?
Oh ya, she’s going to have one heck of a time getting ready for.. how many inches are those big screen TV’s… man that would look great in the bathroom when you are thinking of new moves… Oh right Focus… It was almost like Brooke was channeling herself into Sabrina at that time…;)
But, anyhow, I think that if Sabrina loses the match the rest of Rival Angels will show up and cause some stuff to happen at that club. Hell’s Bells, Damage Inc and we’ll see how Sabrina can handle the press, the other wrestlers and of course the fans as well…
As for who’s going to win? Hopefully Sabrina but I could see her losing and then taking it all out on De Sade in the next PPV.
I suddenly become quite a bit concerned for Sabrina’s chances at winning this next match. There’s a lot of pressure on her shoulders, plus the issue with Sun, and the club opening; I wouldn’t be surprised if the match was the last thing on her mind. Then, of course, Sabrina is our hero, and she’s found ways to beat the odds against her before. Either way, with that epic match between Def Tech and Schoolgirl, I fully expect Sabrina vs. Xtina to be intense.
Jabberwocky, if you got a mallet that she can borrow, Marina will take it. XD Marina has her work cut out for her and we’ll find out on Monday just what the motivation tactic she’s using and if it works. As to Yvonne, she’s definitely a schemer and doesn’t make rash decisions so you can bet that she knows what she’s doing by having Sun as a member of Damage Inc.
Hey Jul! Yah, Sara won to the displeasure of several DEF TEC fans but she’ll be back. And Sabrina’s up next! Maybe she can turn the Upstart bad luck around? We know Marina’s right, we just don’t know if Sabrina can listen.
Adon, you read that perfectly. Gabrielle has her reasons, and Marina’s giving her fair warning. This is a critical time for all of the Upstarts, but mostly Sabrina. The higher she goes, the longer the possible drop. Marina is giving really solid advice to Sabrina, but in her defense, she does have an awful lot to worry about with stuff outside of wrestling. Heh, McMahon. Sometimes, he’s brilliant and sometimes he’s terrible. And sometimes he’s just lucky, which might explain a lot.
jpiv, you are on the money, though Marina did think that bringing up having fun with Sun would be a good thing. She didn’t expect the backfire. And yeah, we’re going to see that Xtina is much more popular than Sabrina with the crowd, as well as being a pretty darned good submission wrestler to boot. Sabrina’s not a shoo-in to win this match and make the TV finals by any stretch. Might even be a (very) small blessing as she’s already got a match with Chloe, but you make a good point about the fallout of that. With what Sun said to Sabrina and the trouble that Kyra will cause, it’d be a big ol mess. No face factions to speak of in Rival Angels, but that sort of follows tradition. Not very many face groups to speak of, outside of ‘Dudes With Attitude.’ XD
Thanks, Champ! Yeah, that was my subtle way of throwing the Club Redline opening in there. Sabrina’s got a full plate! Marina’s might’ve missed on that one button, but wait til you see where she goes next. 😉
Hey, MGC! That’s brilliant! Marina should get her a Ford Focus to hammer the point home. XD Marina knows that she needs to get Sabrina focused for this match and you might be surprised to what tactic she tries next. Maybe she WILL get ultrakicked after all! No, Sabrina had no Akira training her, but like Sun had Kyle, Sabrina did have someone train her up and was a former high risk champion himself. I think we’ve seen that Gabrielle had Marina befriend Sabrina purposefully and we’ve seen Gabrielle ‘steer’ things through Marina. Sabrina’s a hard worker, so I’m sure she’d do well in the Brenda-Rua-Training-Camp, but I would assume that it’d be tough business and yeah, not so much partying. Well, until after training camp. lol
Some great points, Lora. Sabrina’s got a lot of great support, despite the huge challenges in her way, but she seems to be her own worst enemy when it comes to acting on that support. Marina and Sun are right and I think she knows it. That scene with Sun and Sabrina brawling was powerful stuff and seems to be the only way to get a point to stick with Sabrina. So she can listen, it’s just tough business doing it. It’s going to be fun calling back to that great scene. 😉
LOL Kurt. Yeah, Marina thought she had something going there but it kind of backfired. Expect a different result on Monday. Those TV’s are ginormous! That was the former locker room to the world champ, so you have to wonder what she’s rocking now! Great catch that Sabrina isn’t a lock to win this match since she’s already got a match at the PPV. Plus, things would be pretty interesting at Club Redline for Sabrina the hostess if she loses.
Chris, the only thing for certain is that Sabrina’s going to give 110% to her fans and to herself (and Xtina) because she’s a hard worker. Will it be enough to defeat fan-favorite, Xtina? Hard to say, the magic eight ball would read, ‘Ask again later.’ XD I was hoping you guys would enjoy the Schoolyard Brawl and knew that this match would have to be special, which I’m expecting/hoping for it to be. 😉
Sabrina has to remember to do things in chronological order. First things first: focus on the match! And don’t forget to look behind you every now and again!
::holds up a double-sized chocolate chunk cookie in front of Sabrina’s face:: Repeat after me! “Win match, get cookie! Win match, get cookie!” Smell the cookie, imagine how good it will taste! Empty your mind of everything but the match and the cookie! ::blinks as he discovers that the cookie is gone:: Okay, now there is only the match, right?
GhostEraser, some good advice there. Hear that, Marina?! lol
Cookie Ogre, you might remember that candy and good eats don’t last long around the Upstarts, especially Sun and Sabrina. But your wisdom is sound: there is only the match. XD
well there’s always DX- nowadays anyway, sometimes the Horsemen- at least towards the end and during the NWO days, the Dudleys (WWE version…mostly) oh and the One Warrior Nation ;P
but yeah guess you’re right, face factions never last very long even if they do show up (MegaPowers) and seldom have more than two people or are a face turn from a heel faction.
xtina’s a submissions style wrestler? be interesting to see her and Krystin in the ring then. i really think not being the clear face here is going to mess with Brina’s laser-like focus (there’s that F-word again) more than she is going to expect. Brina’s one to use the fans to rally her back into matches, if they start going for Xtina, Brina’s gonna almost kinda feel betrayed sort of (cause that’s the Brina way to react after all ;P) by them. I don;t think this is going to go well for Ultragirl at all.
Verbosity in comics is underrated! I just finished LXG: Black Dossier, in which Alan Moore surely breaks his own record for highest text-to-art ratio in graphics history, but that’s no bad thing. Maybe it’s a common talent among people called Alan that they can balance clear, impactful art with exposition so well?
Sabrina seems clinically incapable of focusing! Although I don’t think that’s what’s going to cost her. I’m anticipating a big twist to the next match… Not only is Brina facing potentially two matches at the PPV, they’re both main event calibre matches. Brenda vs Widow is the presumed main event, and of course we have a tag title match, but a tournament final and a match with both the hometown girl and one of the biggest heels in the company are both the kind of thing to go on the top end of the card. So Brina might just have long enough from one match to let fatigue set in before going on with her second…
Well, there’s the Claremont deal where the characters have huge speech bubbles, and it’s packed and takes you time to read. And then there’s the modern comics deal where the characters say one line, have a speechless panel to pause for effect, and then another line. The comic goes on like this, taking you five minutes at most to read and like 4 bucks. So if those are the choices, pack that dialog in and get to the good stuff.
Not to change the subject too much, but lately i been thinking about Sun’s comment of Chap 11, more importantly the dynamic change in Sun’s attitude and focus right that. Being a comic nerd,lol, these subtle comments or action combined with a sudden changes or tilt for the reader, forget the importance of these items, a recent example is MJ’ ” secret deal” with Mephistopheles then the series overall still is factor a play for that series.
Something is still hinky to me about that sudden shift in Sun, especially when compared to here recent remarks that were strategically cut off by Kyra before she could finish, but this could be over reading whats there
Once again Commish Gabby’s influence is felt… she is a background character whose string pulling is felt even when she’s not in the comic. Especially when she’s not in the comic. “String pulling” sounds kinda sinister. It is.
This is the first I’ve heard of dark matches… I suppose this means Rival Angels has them. Not only are they not on television, they aren’t in the comic either. Before now the big threat for under-performing was getting dropped altogether or sent back to the developmental league… could this happen to Krystin? I doubt it would happen to BrOOke as her… umm… uh… ‘prominent features’ are so telegenic.
Do Dawn and Jeff announce dark matches? Or are there second stringer announcers too? “Good evening sports fans! I’m So Not Jeff, covering tonight’s live exclusive match between Has Been Hannah and Last Chance Linda!!” ‘live exclusive’ = ‘not televised’
Sabrina and the club opening… I’d forgotten all about that. What’s the worst that could happen? Over enthusiastic fan getting physical with a girl who throws people to the ground for a living? Ex boyfriend shipped in to provide live drama for TMZ?? Tune in and see…
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the match, even if Sabrina seems to be in danger of doing so… Seriously, does anyone recall the Simpsons episode where Homer has to stop a reactor meltdown… and he doesn’t know how ’cause he wasn’t paying attention when the trainer guy told him how all those years before? Get that vibe with Brina now?
That’s not good. If the Ultra Girl does not get her act together, she is going to be in Ultra Trouble, but that’s fine considering what went down as of late. Brooke and Krystin losing does not help her either, but I guess she will get though it. If she does not, she is going to mid-carder city, if you know what I mean.
jpiv, the thing about DX is that they were bad more often than not, and only when they were going up against something like the Nation did their actions seem face-like. But yeah, kind of a rarity. Yep, Xtina is a submissions wrestler and a good one too, from what we’re going to find out. Sabrina hasn’t been in this position yet in Rival Angels so that’s sure to mess with her. WE know and see Sabrina, but she’s still pretty new and against established faces, its just going to be hard to go up against. She’s got a big challenge in front of her.
Stygomoloch, thanks for the vote of confidence! Ironically, it was Alan Moore that wrote that you shouldn’t have more than 22 words per panel on average. I think you’re right about the ‘Alan’ cheat. XD I see what you’re thinking for the PPV but I got a few surprises for this match coming up, with the first one coming on Monday with the voting incentive the only tiny hint. 😉 But yeah, the PPV is going to be huge for Sabrina, whether she makes the finals of the TV tournament or not.
Ken, thank you for the vote of confidence with the writing. I appreciate it. 🙂 Really though, it was a lot longer and when I got it up on the page, decided to do the trimming. Looks like it was just enough!
Jabberwocky, her attitude adjustment was being empowered by the fact that she was in Damage Inc and could let Brina have it, as far as criticism. She also knew being a part of Damage Inc, she wouldn’t have Brina’s back anymore either, so she was going to have to get her head on straight to deal with challenges just like this. We saw Sabrina sweating Sun’s match earlier. Think maybe we’ll see the same out of Sun during Sabrina’s match?
Hey hey, RDF! Yeah, Commissioner Gabrielle is such a force. We haven’t seen her lately and I think that’s going to have to change. Maybe next chapter? Earlier maybe? Heh. Yep, Rival Angels has dark matches but they aren’t televised liked you guessed and they don’t have any commentators either. They’re there to warm up the crowd and give some time to wrestlers that ‘aren’t quite there’ yet. Yeah, the club opening! Wooo, that’s going to be a fun chapter! You just know that Gabrielle made sure that ‘media sources’ like TMZ are in the building. I know exactly what vibe you are talking about with Homer/Sabrina. Marina has her work cut out for her if she’s going to get Sabrina back on target.
YuriBoy, you are Ultra-right, that if Sabrina can’t get it together, she’s going to regret it. That’s the problems with rookies, they just don’t have the sense or faith that things can get better. Of course, her Upstart roommates losing isn’t helping the cause and as dignified mid-carding is, you just know that Sabrina wants more than that.
Thank you Albone and I just went back and read notes from that section too, a swing and miss for me that observation >.< lol. I think Sabrina will come out on top, its going to be a hard one, but I think she has a good chance, she technically had a handicap match last time. The PPV is really going to test Sabrina’s focus and others ability to close the deal when it really counts, cause whether its one or two a lose hurts momentum.