axelsandwich

Among all my giggling at all this absurdity, I'm amused by how the 4S BV is barely lower than a 4Lo. ISU making sure yuzu doesn't overstress his right ankle by trying to get the 4Lo back too fast and they made a score cushion for Yuzu in case he << his 4A attempts. Now he just has to either << or rotate it The 4A BV lowering is pretty blatant targeting even by ISU standards but hey, maybe we should give the ISU credit for hearing '4A' coming out of yuzu's mouth and not even questioning that he'll land it before scrambling to pre-emptively rob him on BVs. Faith as staunch as any fanyus. Now to see if any of the old bigwigs at the conference have a shred of common sense/logic/integrity to question any of this

a mood

It’s ‘kawaii’ for cute, not kuwaii ( : And tbh East Asian beauty standards are much more nuanced than simply ‘cute’ or ‘cool’. Yuzu might fall into the proverbial ‘idol charm’ mould where coexistence of those qualities is a large part of its appeal (ie. delicately featured, cute/charming mannerisms but also pretty unmistakeably masculine and ‘cool’, especially when he turns the murder face on). Anyway I think there’s a little less emphasis on double eyelids/lashes etc. for men, though of course that’s helped by how he ticks off all the other qualities. Where did Brian say that?? I think it’s doing them a disservice to say they mean so little to each other — they may not be traditional ‘friends’ in that I think it might be more accurate to classify them as ‘colleagues’ but 6yrs of supporting each other hardly strikes me as ‘little’.

Personal favourite wish bouncing off @CupidsBow‘a idea on twitter - SP: flight of the bumblebees and the entire SP is just a StSq4 with all Level 4 spins to make up for the kuyashii But more seriously...I too seem to be feeling (wishing for?) a jazzy/upbeat SP and something dark and dramatic for the FS. Feel like he’ll use something Japanese in at least one of the programs assuming they’re all new. I would lowkey die if he did that WTT fan dance as a full EX. It’d be lovely if he could work with Nanami-sensei or Kenji again ;;

ughhhhh this makes it so hard for me since I'm contemplating whether I should stay an extra month abroad to catch ACI (literally...only to catch ACI)....watch me do that and then have him go to Finlandia aslkfajs

Yeah, I do worry about why he wasn't training.... but even if it's just being mentally exhausted after Olys, I'll take it to hiding an injury or some other condition (Boyang, don't learn from a certain Pooh-lover on this front). Watching live from close up was....I don't even remember, it was mostly a haze of horror and anxiety, but I do vaguely remember he was definitely fighting for the jumps. But honestly once you pass like 3 falls (the first fall looked really rough), his exhaustion was visible and it really just looked like he had no strength in his legs, which then caused...more falls. but tbh I don't remember much of it and I still haven't watched the broadcast

Yes it was David Wilson. still sweet though, 2013 Worlds was rough, poor bb ; _ ;

he was injured in the GP part of the season (potentially from very early on in the season, I remember the news coming out halfway through), then missed the GP Final to recover and made a comeback at 4CC and Olys where he skated well at both events. perhaps Olys aggravated his injury (or he wasn't fully healed) but Boyang himself only cited not being in the right mental state as a reason for the FS, no mention of continued injuries and he's been skating at ice shows. I really hope Worlds was one-off -- watching live, you just got a sense of how things snowballed from the first few falls in throwing him off completely.

/standing ovation. I'm just fervently nodding to everything you said but especially to your point about antis. I've seen some JP antis accounts myself, and the extent to which they twist, lie, cherry pick their way obsessively through his every action to find fault. Honestly the only thing I feel for them is pity that they have so much time to hate. The real battle is in winning over neutral people and new fans. Yuzu can win over plenty of people by being himself. As a fandom, we can help them stay and learn more about the sport and hopefully become valuable contributors to the fan culture through methods like being positive, welcoming, fair, informative about the sport in general and just generally acting in ways that Yuzu would be proud of. Helping people enjoy all that Yuzu has to offer through positivity, I think, is the best way to convey the joy he brings all of us and hopefully help them love him too (while of course trying our best to counteract antis and also keep a check on poor or 'bullying' behaviour in our own fandom that can make neutral people adverse to yuzu by association)

For sure, one of our team is working on getting locations for all of us. And hm. I don't know if we have any people permanently based in Russia but I believe there are a couple based in East/South Asia. I do know people who are, so there's potential to invite them on as special guests, and we're always open to suggestions about things you want to hear about. Thanks for your kind words!

Thank you! Two of us are from Australia (Evie and myself), Tilda is from Sweden and Karly from the US ( : All of our hosts (present and upcoming) can be found here: https://inthelopodcast.tumblr.com/hosts

Apparently people are having trouble telling me and Evie, the other Australian, apart. I wasn't aware our accents were so strong, I think we sound completely different???

Yes...I know that? But logistically, this is a huge ask, with an unclear goal and there are many factors to consider - a 'list' of offenders could easily get out of hand, I don't know who has the time, energy and Japanese skills to seek out/translate/report on the antis constantly but I certainly don't. When this issue was happening, I was being messaged a lot of links to hateful tweets and my twitter followers and friends helped to report them and I even considered if there was something more systematic we could do. but Twitter's reporting system is dubious at times and they will not necessarily take any action, especially for vague nasty comments with no tangible threat or targeted harassment (many of them don't even mention Yuzu by name but it's clear they're talking about him...Twitter won't do anything about that). Frankly I had to step away because my own mental health was making it difficult to deal with. It's definitely not a job for one person. You seem passionate about the topic, perhaps you can spearhead some initiatives about solutions? I'm sure there are many people interested and willing to help.

Yes, my point is that there's a lot of anti hate/lies being spewed on JP twitter and that's where it's the 'worst' because Yuzu is more likely to see them. Hence how can we engage with JP twitter on a mass scale as intl fans who don't all have Japanese skills (I, for one, don't have the skills to engage constantly) and back up the JP fans already replying with facts (since numbers in a tweet do matter)... is not an easy problem to solve.

I think the most productive way to incite action if you have the existing expertise is definitely to guide fans to resources and a clear call to action. set out the steps, give them help on expressing themselves (it's surprisingly hard to phrase a complaint well, productively and respectfully so it doesn't get tossed into the trash immediately as hate mail!) and emphasise why they should do it. Especially if you're writing to TV Asahi, a message in Japanese may be more impactful. I know a lot of fans want to help if they can but it's a large fandom and news/information gets lost very quickly, a lot of people may simply not be aware of how to help out. And, frankly, people will help out much more easily when it's easy to do so - like when gladi put up a guide to how to donate to the sendai parade for English-speaking fans. If it's numbers you're going for, there are ways you can help encourage it personally.

Like @Nerdincool said, speculation based on that one line without further clarification from yuzu himself was both risking overblowing the issue and going into complete denial and was ultimately going to be unproductive (but in case you missed it, I compiled a bunch of sources and translations here - the censorship issue is also addressed). In that sense, I'm disappointed at how JP media basically just brushed the comment under the table since they're the ones who would have had access to him to ask him to clarify further or discuss the issue but honestly, mental health is not an issue that is ever readily covered by media, especially not in East Asia where it is still a pretty huge social stigma, so I'm not entirely surprised : / My key question in all of this is what can we do that will actually make an impact. Because getting outraged online won't actually make a difference to the JP broadcasters unless you're doing it in Japanese and in large numbers, nor will it stop tabloids and online antis from hating on him. As international fans, we're held back a lot by the language barrier (and make no mistake, JP fans defend him constantly against antis) -- the question is what can we materially do to help the JP fans try and minimise the hateful content that Yuzu himself might see? Is it a question of a 'watchdog' group to help report bad content? Is it a question of participating in hashtags? It's a question I think about a lot but, in the meantime, what we can do is to try and ensure his English-speaking haters are kept in check but also that we as a fandom are behaving in ways that will make Yuzu proud - which means not attacking other skaters, not behaving inappropriately etc. (Hearing about how this Yuzurenai guy is using Yuzu's image for profit in nightclubs does throw him more on the 'questionable' scale for me than someone who was just cosplaying him for Halloween and was invited on JP TV for the novelty, which is what we initially assumed/knew)

I hope this is okay to share this here (if sharing is not allowed on this thread, mods feel free to move to another more appropriate venue, I wasn't sure where to best put this) but some friends on twitter and I just started a FS podcast, trying to cover topics not addressed by current FS media, as well as fun stuff by fans and for fans. The first episode is out if you want to take a listen and we're always open to suggestions for topics to talk about etc. I managed to sneak a little Yuzuru reference in the end

the photo....isn’t in focus

Someone on CuriousCat linked me to this series of videos on Twitter and I'm touched because it's the news feature on basically what was said in a news article released awhile back during Olympic season of Yuzuru's connection with Yuuki-kun, a disabled boy who he was friends with in primary school. If someone has the article and the translation (I think someone kindly did it), this is a good supplement in person. A quick speed translation (the full video is in parts in the thread so click to expand). Usual disclaimer applies: I am not a professional translator, only a Japanese student practising my skills and this is mainly the ‘gist’ of what is happening though I do check dictionaries and resources to ensure I’m getting as much accurate as possible. Am always open to more precise corrections VIDEO 1 - 3 Sakata Toshiyaki (58yrs) from Kanazawa. "Anyway I yelled out but it really was just a short period of time. I'm very glad I could be here live to see him and convey my thoughts to him." Actually Sakata-san has a certain fated connection (en) with Hanyu-san. Sakata-san's home is full of Yuzu-related goods. On the wall, there's a particular photo: Yuzuru and Sakata-san's son Yuuki who has a disability. An advisor at Yuzuru's skating club was also coincidentally Yuuki's homeroom teacher and they were primary school classmates and spent time together as friends. Because of the damage from the earthquake, Sakata-san moved to Kanazawa. He met Yuzuru again coincidentally at an ice show. When Sakata-san asked Yuzuru whether he remembered them, Yuzuru laughed loudly and said 'how can I forget?' and it left a huge impression on Sakata-san. Because he was so moved by this, he started a 'Hanyu Yuzuru Cheering/Support Club' in 2011 and even made newsletters updating members on Yuzuru's activities called 'Han-News' (a pun omg ;;). Sakata-san: "When he faces adversity, when he's injured, when he fails, his words and his attitude are amazing. Therefore I feel like I must also try my best." In the message to Sakata-san with the autograph, Yuzuru writes: "I always enjoy the 'Han-News', really thank you very much. It would be wonderful if I could meet with Yuuki-kun again someday." In order to see Hanyu-kun, Sakata-san will be returning to his hometown, Sendai. -- VIDEO 4 & 5 On the day of the parade: Sakata-san: I can see it. Ah, there's a feeling like it's about to start. Well everyone's happy aren't they, today. (footage of parade and Sakata-san waiting at a particular corner/curve). Sakata-san: I hope Yuzuru-kun will look this way when he's at the curve. If I can get a nice photo of his smiling face that would be great. (Footage of children) "Do you like Hanyu-kun?" "Yes!" "How was it to see him?" "He was cool!" -- After 30min, he was arriving at where Sakata-san was. Sakata-san: Yuzuru-kun! Congratulations! Behind you! Behind you! Congratulations! Interviewer: Did you see him? Sakata-san: I saw him, I was able to see him. I thought 'that's Hanyu Yuzuru', a thing like that. I yelled out but it really was just a short period of time. He really treated us all with politeness and a thankful heart. (Yuzuru at press conference speaking about how he hopes that the parade will help to aid recovery efforts from the earthquake) Sakata-san: Everyone being happy and giving Yuzuru-kun blessings and well-wishes for his gold medal really is, by itself, a factor that contributes to recovery. Despite all his hardships, he holds onto hope and is able to move forward. I think that power will come out again when he fights and I felt that he can begin a new journey now.

Korean and Kpop fandom is even more terrifying, their police forces really should recruit these fans

I’m........not sure what I just walked into but a curiouscat anon alerted me to the fact that yuzu and yumi-san were in Mai and Karen’s TCC photo and I went back and checked and while idk if that’s yuzu (could be another skater) I’m pretty sure that’s yumi-san...sasuga fanyus

Maybe getting choreo? or a summer class, who knows

thank youuu! I'm so soft about yuzuru's smile here, I hope he and sota get to hang out at the ice show in June ; _ ;

really reaally random but there's this 5sec clip of yuzu backstage at some ice show and he's packing up before he sees Sota Yamamoto and he's like 'ohh Sota ganbatta jyan'. anyone know what I'm talking about and/or if there's any longer video? for...science. thank you!!

omgggg I hope it goes well!!! : D