yuzuangel

Unpopular opinion but it's probably a lot more work to be a full time student at, say, a top public state school than at Yale. At least with most state schools there isn't rampant grade inflation and you actually have to work for the same GPA. My public state school friends work a lot harder than my Yale/equivalent friends. So I'd be truly equally impressed (or more) if someone could balance an education AND athletics at a state university for sure.

Hi everyone! We have a thread to talk about US skaters, so please talk about Nathan here (unless it has to do with Yuzu)

Yeah I'm from the US and there's a ridiculous amount of ... how do i say it? inability to accept anything that doesn't confine to limited gender expression norms here. you'd think with social issues being a big thing here and in many places we're very outwardly liberal but even compared to Japan where social issues aren't as "advanced" there's way more...internalized bias here that people just believe to be or frame as a preference. It's sad.

@makebelieveup also uploaded one:

underscored

look at the way he kisses the ice, and then he guards over his love protectively with murderface on

Chopin 4.0

I feel like JSF puts such unhealthy pressure on their skaters. They really treat them like show ponies. I think the same thing happened to Satoko when she was injured before 2017 worlds. they were like "i know you're extremely injured but pls skate so 3 spots" lol

Uhh I feel a bit worried for Shoma. Injured and could barely walk yet doing SOI and then WTT right after?

Sigh, the media certainly seems to wish Yuzu is 100% thinking about Beijing. As do I but sigh...

rest your wings, angel

False, Nathan skated after Yuzu 5 times. He beat him 3/5 times. (2018 Olympics, 2017 Worlds, 2017 4CC, 2017 CoR, 2019 Worlds.) ETA: "Yuzuru won all the practices"? Did he see Yuzu's practices Or does this have some other hidden meaning about poohs or fans? WTF too cryptic for me

wow he's pretty

I just listened to this and I didn't think they really said very much about Yuzu at all, although nothing negative either. Oh well. And Yuzu loves and appreciates it.

Yeah Kolyada's Carmen is one of the best! Like, who knew you could make Carmen look good and not generic haha. I just hope he could get out of his head because when he skates well, it's really beautiful, but you could still tell he's in his head being all like "please DON'T fall." Wish he could channel that nervousness outward the way Yuzu does. Then he could really have strong performance qualities. I also liked Brezina's rock programs. And excitd for Matteo's rise as well. I really liked Trusova's long program, or at least the first half of it. It works ridiculously well for her strengths (highlights her fearlessness). I love Anna Shcherbakova's SP (it's my favorite of all the 3A programs). Alena Kostornaia is, of course, a ballerina on ice with wonderful pure skating, but to me she looks really good when you watch a gif of a moment (she has many beautiful moments) but her choreography seems like a string of "beautiful moments" with no coherent "storyline" to me, if that makes sense? Like I think falling leaf and split jumps should be used sparingly (they're kind of like tanos -- too many and it becomes filler). But it's me being extremely picky though. Haha.

Men: Boyang Jin - I think Boyang HAS considerably improved his PCS side of things and a lot of his jumps are "out of nowhere" now with transitions. His expression has improved as he's clearly taking dance and acting seriously. His programs are too "normie" for me but I can see where he has been spending time -- perhaps to the detriment to his jumps. Hope he stays healthy for Beijing 2022. Junhwan Cha - I think he has potential as he has good skating skills and beautiful long limbs but he still has a ways to go before being really polished and engaging as a performer. The R+J program is cute but cheesy, lol. He started the year off so well but kind of just burned out at the end. Nathan Chen - I liked his FS music by itself but I think his programs are worse than last year's. Thought it was funny they played Nemesis as his encore for the Gala because it's like saying neither of his programs this year would really be a smash encore and they were right (IMO). Really glad they fixed the hair. Shoma Uno - sort of the same stuff as always. Kevin Aymoz - everyone is raving about him which is cool, since his programs are unique and very showman-like, and he has decent skating skills. I like the short ... but the free skate feels like too many moves that make me feel a bit unsafe/uncomfortable LOL. Vincent Zhou - I find he tries hard to perform, but he lacks the finesse to not even stand out in a positive way, but to blend in among everyone else in terms of SS. Also he kind of comes off as trying to be Yuzu? Idk just a sense I get from his skating and his mannerisms on and off the ice XD Ladies: Rika Kihira - love both programs, ESPECIALLY beautiful storm. That music is perfect for her. It goes with her 3As so well and just builds. Dramatic stuff. Lovely costume and I like that she wears her hair down. Kaori Sakamoto - She has some magic ability to make elevator music fit her really well despite being an athletic, energetic skater. But this year her polish and flow and SS have clearly improved. Alina Zagitova - Unfortunately I don't like both programs. Her jumps are no longer look as effortless as they used to be. The music cuts are unpleasant and her movements are jerky and not aesthetically pleasing. Evgenia Medvedeva - I really love the new SP (Tosca). I love the step sequence although she could sell it a tad bit more. The FS is fine but not as engaging. Not as many aha moments as the short to me. Elizabet Tursynbaeva - TBH I don't really have much of an impression of her programs. But 4S! Cool. Eunsoo Lim - I don't like how they gave her a recycled Mariah program complete with "heart" choreography. That cutesy number doesn't look good in a free skate, either. It works way better as an SP. But Eunsoo has a lot of firepower in her skating. Satoko Miyahara - She's polished and poised as ever but I find she doesn't have the power that really excites me. Bradie Tennell - It's cool to see her try a lot of things and go outside of her comfort zone with the dark and dramatic SP and FS and the -3Lo combo. Not very many American women like to shake things up so I commend her for that. But she didn't quite pull it off, there's just something sorta stiff and unnatural about her movements.

What do you think of