axelsandwich

My guess is that initially, only the ankle was diagnosed but maybe they realised subsequently that his knee was also injured. I remember some of us were speculating when it happened that it looked like the knee took the brunt of the fall. If so, that might explain why recovery took longer than initially predicted. I think @Sombreuil is absolutely right though - I think what's healthiest now is to - like Yuzu and his team I'm sure - try to get to the stage of accepting this has happened, that it's awful awful luck but that the only thing we can do is keep moving forward as best we can. We've sent him our well wishes, I'm sure he knows this. We just need to breathe and adjust our expectations to accept whatever happens, while hoping for the best. And try to avoid news websites that - like when he was initially injured - will exploit useless commentary and recycle info for clicks. If he goes to JNats, if he goes to 4CC, if he goes to Olys with no preparation... at the end of the day, it's what happens on the day in PC that counts. We'll deal with it when we get there.

omg what a coincidence she/he/they(?) had a disney princess yuzu drawing though? (and not posted on her insta/tumblr as far as I can see -- where did you find it??) I adore that account, how do they manage to capture the likenesses so well ; u ;

omg omg are you the talent behind wtf skating doodles?? o:

suddenly I like the team event at PC. If he absolutely has to come back at PC......at least it won’t be the men’s short...?

LOL he literally referred to himself as the absolute champion in the sense that 'this is who I want to become/need to become'. He has also said 'as an absolute champion, I...' but always in the context of 'this is what I need to do better' [in order to live up to the name]'. Japan just took it and rolled with it like 'WELL THIS IS WHO YOU ARE NOW, WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IT OR NOT' In Japan, he's often referred to as 'Japan's Ace' (which is standard for any person 'leading' their field/discipline) but I don't think there's as established a title for him in Western media as eg. 'Queen' for Yuna. I've heard rockstar/legend a lot but that's from listening mostly to CBC, B Esp and NBC. Side note: I've always thought of GOAT as more of an implicit unspoken understanding (that 'invisible aura', perhaps) amongst the community such that if you actually said 'who's the GOAT?', people would reply - more or less - with the same name(s), regardless of their personal preference, which is why someone achieving true 'GOAT' status is so rare. Coming from tennis, it's often fiercely debated (Rafa vs Roger fans) but I think the only time we'll see the title actually being raised is after a mind-boggling result or once retirement starts becoming an actual reality

lord and saviour! (THOSE DORKS) thank you so much!!

Hii again, does anyone have a full clip of JP Nats 2014 mens podium w Yuzu, Shoma and Kozuka? (the one where they forget their certificates on the podium lolol). I found a gifset but the link to the video was broken ;;

lol don't raise this issue when NK tensions were at the highest after 'rocket man/fire and fury or what the fuck ever' fiasco but do it right after the day Russia was banned, when NK tensions aren't a news story and just enough to suggest the possibility of a boycott...... it's about as subtle as a battle axe. I doubt anything will come of it apart from making us sleep just a little less soundly, it will probably make Putin smile a bit though

A suspiciously timed annoucement

ahhh it just hit me how long these people have known yuzu and watched him grow up, I hope he's getting so much love from those closest to him

HAHAH I want that female presenter's job, can I also get paid to just fangirl over Yuzu (the jersey meme is a gift that keeps on giving) Also they call out the double standard - 'since it's Hanyu-kun, we forgive him but if any other man did it, we'd tell him to stop biting his jersey'

Mm I don't know, I think in this case the semantics do matter to the athletes. It's the Olympics, which gains its prestige precisely because you're your country's representatives and competing on an international stage. They're essentially still being shamed and punished for the wrongdoings of others. I wouldn't say I'm nationalistic at all but I can see why the athletes are upset. The sanctions would lose a lot of teeth/impact if they did allow some Russian teams to compete as usual though so it's a bit of a rock and hard place : / I do think allowing them to still say Russia's name was a fair concession... it's a matter of ego and pride for the higher ups, and I hope they won't sacrifice their clean athletes just to stick to that. Accepting the sanctions is tantamount to admitting Russia did something wrong but they run the risk of not going to Tokyo 2020 if they boycott and summer Olympics is a much bigger event (let's face it) than Winter, and I get this sense that if they quietly accepted this 'punishment', that will probably be as far as the IOC goes. There's no easy solution for the athletes either way. I only wish the anger was directed properly at those involved in doping who are now responsible for ruining not only their doped athletes' lives (who knows the side effects of these drugs?), the lives of their competitors who were denied a fair chance at Olympic glory and now innocent athletes from unrelated disciplines. I hope they feel shame. I watched Icarus a few weeks ago and it's truly quite a bizarre but interesting documentary (what shocked me was how cavalier Rodchenkov was about the doping process, how matter-of-fact he was about how common it was). I don't believe for a second it isn't biased in some ways and in how it presents the various players, but I think there are certain valid points raised and the documentary is careful to show how key parts of Rodchenkov's allegations (tampering with the urine samples) were verified by a subsequent investigation by WADA and now with the IOC's second independent investigation, as well as casting light into how Rodchenkov was very much framed as a 'crazy man' by Russian media, likely leading to widespread public distrust of his honesty. The suspicious death of his fellow director (supposedly of heart attack despite having no previous history of heart problems) was also something that stuck in my memory. With all the revelations about tampering in US elections, I can't say I have a high regard for the integrity of gov operations rn in the country. I'm sure I'd get a completely opposite story if I read Russian media accounts and I'm curious about what explanations they're offering against the apparently scientific findings of tampering. The truth...is somewhere inside it all.

Looking at the map, there are quite a number of people living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean I still can't see the right hand side map on my Opera browser but I've just accepted the map is going to be slow to update for me lol

prediction for his reaction, probably something along these lines ETA: He says 'who on earth was this??' at 3:18 and then - I believe - 'good job' with thumbs up after, hopefully he'll be embarrassed but happy in the same way at the poster

The report says they've found no independent/impartial evidence of state involvement at the highest level, not that there's no evidence -- if the news articles are to be believed, the allegations against individuals and the existence of a system have been proved by the two independent investigations by WADA (McLaren report) and the Schmid report (which is why I'm =_= at people claiming Rodchenkov's a liar...there was more evidence than just his words involved in this decision). I hope the athletes will be able to go, not in the least to prove that clean Russian athletes can still succeed at their sport. It'll be a huge test to see what Putin decides.

There are several people on my twitter acting as though the IOC banned their faves...but the IOC didnt ban them? In light of all the circumstances, I thought it was the best thing they could have done (realistically you couldn’t have expected IOC to do nothing esp once they let Rio slide, they’d double down on the ‘lesser’ Olympics especially since it was Sochi where the system was revealed). It’s cruel that now if the RusFed doesn’t boycott entirely, clean athletes will have to choose between fulfilling a personal dream and boycotting for national pride. A lot depends on the tone the leadership will take — if they act like martyrs, even if they don’t officially boycott, it will be almost impossible for athletes to go individually. But if that happens that’s still on Russia, not the IOC?

I’m more interested in this ruling - quoting myself to save typing

welp. As we predicted. Now to see if they will boycott

Tbh I think the larger number of fan projects this year is mostly because he’s been injured and missing from the GP series and is also spending his first birthday w/o the company of everyone on the FS circuit/media so naturally fans want to set up projects to show him extra support. Sympathy + an antsy fandom in Olympic year experiencing Yuzu withdrawal...at least the energy is being productively channeled. As far as I know it’s been gladi’s banner project, the fanbook, our map and now this poster. I think that’s a healthy amount of support and open to all.

It's an interesting strategic move on the IOC's part if they went for the neutral flag route so athletes ultimately not participating will be Putin's fault and not the IOC's (and shift the Federations' focus to his decision to boycott/not to boycott). He'd have to really play up the 'wounded national pride, we did NOTHING wrong, making our athletes neutral is the same as denying them a chance to compete' martyr angle (then again, idk how public perception/popularity really factors into his decisions at this point)

I'm so curious to know what the banner looks like! (and what they'll do with it......hang it up???? surely not in Yuzu's house lol) maybe we should've made it a quilt he can snuggle up in LOL

Let's not think too many steps ahead - there isn't another fandom for a skater that is on equal footing with Yuzu's fandom. So I don't think there will be any one-upping happening anytime soon. Kpop's cesspool of toxic fan culture dysfunction is systematic and spans decades (aided and abetted by the entertainment agencies themselves =___=). This is hopefully just a one-off fan gesture, albeit slightly misguided. If they do it again, if it stays for too long or he/someone else from TCC expresses discomfort about the issue, then cause for a bigger pushback.

Well no, performer's copyright over their own image if fan-taken especially in sports is actually a grey area in copyright law (at least in Aus) because it's questionable whether they fall under a protected copyright subject matter even though you may intuitively think they should (performers have moral rights but they don't really apply in this situation/would be hard to argue). So infringement in that 'raw' situation is not guaranteed. ISU/the venue claiming rights to footage via contract is a good point though that would potentially remove the ambiguities and give copyright to ISU (I'd have to look at the T&Cs of the tickets to see exactly what they're claiming). Japanese copyright laws don't have anything to do with the situation if the ISU has copyright, unless they took the image from a JP broadcaster.

Yeah, I agree with that -- I think sending donations to places or causes he cares about (eg. Ice Rink Sendai, skating help for disadvantaged kids, funding asthma research or something) would be great as a future initiative.

I endorse the double breasted suit, Yuzu's probably got the rare figure that could pull it off lol. On the whole, it's not bad. Not particularly distinctive but sensible enough. I cannot look at a silk scarf around the neck and not think flight attendants though