axelsandwich

awww, the paper swans idea was so sweet ; u ; If I make it to Milan, I hope I can also participate in spreading the love~ Caption: The swans I received from Planet Hanyu individuals* from Hungary and Germany. The girls are making 1000 swans - their love is deep. Since today's program is 'Swan', let's enjoy it with Hanyu fans from all over the world. Ah, and also with Tara-mama! (she means Tatiana Tarasova) *She uses '方' which is a respectful way to say 'people' that doesn't quite...translate into English. Hm.

Well it was practice so he didn’t have as much pressure and he skipped all the spins (and StSq was on different days I think?) Maybe also eagerness to show off a bit for the media crew : P Anyway, we’ll see if he can pull out more of the magic by NHK. Though I don’t envy him the expectation at that comp...

I definitely haven't been sold on the spiral esp because it looks like it's tricky if the timing isn't precisely right and well...he's not Sasha Cohen lol. I guess the main thing I'm waiting for is that sense of energy and the sharp 'snap' that he had with his movements in NHK and GPF and that's the double edged sword of repeating 'perfect' programs because anything less is both immediately obvious and kind of distracts from the good elements. I suppose it only really becomes glaring for Yuzu/skating fans who've watched the 'perfect' performances so much they've basically memorised every move (ahem, me). I do think, however, that if he can nail this new program, it will be absolutely incredible - there are these small details where you can see the budding potential and a much more complete program but it's just not happened yet. Early in the season though, so it's okay. I'll just hang onto this 'draft' spliced from his practices lol. He mentioned somewhere in an interview he needs to do more runthroughs and I agree - individually, he can make everything look incredible but the stamina toll of all spins + 5 quads landed at once is something he needs to get used to.

CBC Olympics posted a video recap of the mens event titled 'Oh Pooh 💩🐻 (and then something along the lines of 'Nathan Chen upsets Yuzuru Hanyu to win' etc.)'. The video itself showed the Seimei girl crying and overlaid words essentially suggesting they were upset about his loss. The Seimei girl actually specified on Weibo she wasn't crying because she was upset he lost and she was crying for other reasons. It was kind of a shady angle to take (I think esp since they showed the girl's face), so people called them out on Twitter and they deleted the Tweet. I think the video might still be up on their homepage & someone screenshot the tweet but I can't find it rn. I guess this is an example of where I think one or two firm callouts would have sufficed to outline the issue - don't really think they meant it entirely in bad spirit but it was a poorly executed tone/angle/joke given they should probably have put the spotlight on Nathan - y'know, the actual winner - and not on Yuzu losing. I wouldn't call it cyberbullying or the height of disrespect or anything (which I've seen on a few tweets) or think it necessary to demand an apology from the ISU though.

I guess I'm thinking about my cat, who is lazy AF (but you're right, she's very high strung at certain moments)

What I worry about is that the intensity of people's passion to defend Yuzu (sometimes unnecessarily) often causes more damage than good. I know it's frustrating but we will do much better if we are calm, firm and have sources to back up any arguments. Be clear about your objectives when you're interacting with a hater or with journalists. If they already seem set to hate him no matter what, don't waste your emotional energy on such people or upset yourself by getting into pointless fights. State your position, call out bad sportsmanship (a la CBC) or bad reporting but be specific about why it's bad, don't just insult people, esp journalists...who admittedly do have more power to influence coverage and TBH will take a v low view on fans who are just insulting them, whether their reporting is reasonable or not -- you're much more likely to get through if you can specifically point out how they screwed up. At the end of the day, we cannot possibly hope to convert everyone into Yuzu fans nor hope that the media will do a 180 or suddenly become favourable to Yuzu (the US media have their own interests and narratives to sell, it's not surprising). Just take it as an inevitable part of figure skating - there will be many casual people tuning into the Olympics with no clue and yes, they're going to be mostly reading media from certain sources. As intl fans engaged with English media, trying to introduce some balance to hyperbolic headlines is the most we can do. And positivity by drawing attention to what a great skater and person Yuzu is will do much more to win fans to his side than angrily taking issue with every little slight - we're not hostile guard dogs, we're tour guides introducing people to a new planet As long as we're not giving Yuzu fans (and Yuzu by extension) a bad name by starting fights or attacking other people unreasonably, that's the most we can do. The skating will speak for itself.

Q from foreign media: If you were to become any animal, what would you be? A: A cat. They're extremely free and live freely, according to their own wishes. No matter how you put it, I'm also someone who has that sense. Rather than being like a cat, I think I just actually give off that feeling? I hope I got that right lol. I was just amused bc I think he's right but he's also waaaay too non-chill to be a cat

You’re gonna have to translate what she’s saying

Can you make one?? lol It's free isn't it? I would make a Weibo because Chinese fandom is WILD af but my written Chinese is too basic to be able to deal with the flood of info on Chinese social media. I need one of those programs that reads you the page out loud. It makes no sense to stick to one choreographer for the entire team but....... eh. It's the Chinese Fed. They like to have things uniform and equal and 'efficient' =___=;; I don't doubt having to choreograph for SO MANY teams in a concentrated block of time would affect Lori's creativity as well (assuming that's what she did). It's shitty but like...what can we do at this stage tbh

Sadly, while I share in all the above posters' outrage, I don't see Boyang changing his FS at the last minute... that would be a very non-Chinese-Fed-and-athlete thing to do and he doesn't strike me as the type. I was also just showing my family Bridge Over Troubled Waters today and it caused me a fresh amount of anguish thinking about how they're doing bloody Turandot instead of that exquisite piece. Lori really phoned in on the Chinese skaters' choreo and music.... >______>

I know you're prob joking but I also feel the need to dispel a myth about this place - no need for blasphemy! There's nothing wrong with liking another skater's programs or, indeed, acknowledging faults in Yuzu's. I just hope he rotates his jumps in Seimei tomorrow tbh, I don't have any other wishes beyond that. Nathan's programs are probably one of my favourites in general this season - he's hit on his equivalent of Ballade No 1 in this SP (all hail Shae-Lynn tbh) which makes him a potent competitor. Should be exciting to see him develop

OH I didn't realise this was a network thing, I thought they at least alternated ;; why did Shoma and Marin both pick Turandot

Interesting comments by Kenji Miyamoto Before the first 4Lo, Yuzu's hand movements were slightly smaller than usual and so Kenji wondered if he was truly focused before his jump The curve before the jump was a little stronger (not sure if he means deeper or larger) than usual and he got the feeling there wasn't as much speed as usual Yuzu managed to capture the music very well during his step sequence though and Kenji praised the StSq a bit He thinks Yuzu will definitely deliver an amazing free For the free, it's not like the hands and body will move because there's music but rather the music will follow/be connected to (?) the hand and body movements. Yuzu's emotions/thoughts/determination (not sure how to interpret omoi precisely in this context) are strong so Kenji is confident he will deliver LET'S HOPE SO KENJI-SENSEI ; u ;

I'm the breed of Chinese who gets triple/quadruple eyelids when I'm sleepy & makes my eyes super droopy so it's never factored into my personal experience, but that would make....sense if they used it (that being said, it IS possible to pop your eyelids if you're looking up at the right angle apparently). Kind of wish they didn't though, he looks kind of weird ;;

They all look vaguely CGI'd in this especially when moving because I assume the camera was filmed at a very high fps, which is kind of giving me uncanny valley vibes. I was also wondering why he looked so different and it's because they put makeup on his eyebrows and he's somehow popped out both his double eyelids lolol

I mean...I showed my dad......... and he was like 'heh, that's pretty smooth' so like. if a middle aged chinese dad can find it cool, I guess I'm not surprised it's going viral

lol congrats on Yuzu's 'eros' jacket removal method going viral on JP twitter, there's at least two versions of the same clip that collectively have over 250k likes & the YOI fandom has claimed it too also resulting in the most hilarious headlines even slow mos are getting like 700+ likes W TF

oh my goodness, what wonderful news, bless Mama Tracy for being amazing I hope the golden swans will bless them all~~

I'm really glad this interview articulated a couple of the key differences in Javi and Yuzu's styles - especially the fact that Javi needs new choreo because he's easily bored of the same program and also finds the trying-and-failing struggle of acquiring new jumps to be demotivating (whereas Yuzu sees it as part of the challenge). Hence, the strategy to stick to what he's already good at. Sad they kind of need to be kept apart but as long as it's best for both in the long run ;;

That smile

It's to be expected of someone in Yuzu's position and anyone who is at the 'top' of their sport, so I'm not particularly surprised when the media freaks out about every little mistake. The pressure, the heightened expectation is a natural part of being at the top and part of the 'bell curve' that the dominant athlete of a discipline gets measured against, if they end up in that position. We also have Zhenya whose superhuman dominance adds to the contrast/perception of invulnerability - which, all credit to her, is simply astounding but also presents a convenient point of comparison even if it's not particularly fair. Mark of character is how they deal with that pressure and, perhaps even more importantly, how they bounce back from when they falter against that pressure and Yuzu has my eternal respect for always being able to turn his failures into motivation. He's an emotional skater and his skates are emotional extremes, and that's why we love him. Really, I see a lot of people stressed out about the media/commentators being unfair and we can laugh at them, we can gently poke fun at them but, at the end of the day, they're media. Trying to sell a narrative, something that will generate discussion, and many different opinions abound... it's part and parcel of the overall experience ( : let's just enjoy the process as much as we can and hopefully watch the naysayers get proven wrong

Lmao judging by his expression, I’m gonna assume he still has the hot water running here and it’s hit the threshold where the water becomes a little too hot (what.......is that face...)

I don't have my earphones w/ me and I'm rushing to class so I can't hear the newscaster or his words precisely but I think newscaster is just giving general background info on why he's here etc. He's basically like 'I've come here to do what I (plan?) to do so I want to (skate?) properly.' About his knee: 'No problem anymore, there's no need to worry. I'm glad I've arrived like this so I'm relieved, first of all.'

I don't think he always does but for the first GP and to Moscow (a long flight)? I'd hope he does!

First class flight experience, no doubt and ANA has really good service