TallyT

Please keep in mind, Yuzu appears to have a completely different understanding of what the word 'slowly' means to most of the known world....

It has just occurred to me (what can I say, I'm slow) that tomorrow we will probably have another new costume to obsess over... It's got to be better, right?

I find Patrick simply unlikable, but I have had to feel sorry for him ever since seeing a clip of the flower ceremony at Sochi - he was clearly shattered and humiliated, trying so hard - and failing - to cover it up. Okay, he probably should not have publicly built himself up so much as the destined winner, but still, seeing someone so gutted, you can't help feel a little for him (even if I'm still glad Yuzuru won). His eyes show the depth of what he is going through, even when he fakes a smile. It couldn't have been easy, not only to have this tiny rocket shoot up out of nowhere and take his top spot (and then go on to win Worlds) but also because Yuzuru was so young and adorable, watch him grab stardom and fans as did did so. On the other hand, he was ungracious - both at Worlds 2012 and Sochi 2014 medal ceremonies someone in the comments pointed out how he fairly pointedly didn't applaud for Yuzuru at least (not sure if he did for the other person on the podium, but then in both cases, the uploader and viewers were really more focused on baby Yuzu). Contrast that to Yuzu's attitude even when he loses, and most of the other current top men... they're all good sports win or lose.

he does look so utterly commanding there....

Umm, I love the stuff, but I have seen foreigners with Vegemite, and somehow I can't see them being grateful to us.... (It needs to be spread very very thin, with quite a lot of butter. NOT - as I've seen - eaten with a spoon...) Tim Tams, definitely. Nature's perfect health food.

I just have a soft spot for R&J2 (and yes, even the costume) as the fannish underdog, which is ironic given he pretty much took a triple crown with (and in) it...

I had to try Notte Stellata to the original Saint-Saens (because I love it better) first, and simply sat here melting (the length was wrong of course, but still....) then because I've wanted to see Yuzu do a Japanese horror soundtrack pretty much from my second day of fandoming, tried the piece Ideal from Kenji Kawai's Dark Water https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhxSzZNGbWM&list=PL5249413C7D99410B&index=1 But even more, I want to see Yuzu skate to James Newton Howard... this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0-lu9Zs5Gw or this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoVJrTaHGn8&list=PLFEB4926BB8A722F6 Oh dear, I am going to get so little work done today....

I mean, we don't know any of these people really, so it's all too easy to read stuff into what they say publicly.... but it's also quite possible that Brian asked Javi what he thought because he knew Javi would actually, well, say it. Yuzuru, being a very different sort from a very different culture, might not answer the question, and certainly might not do so bluntly enough for honesty. So throwing it out and looking for a reaction might be a far better and more sensitive way to gauge his feelings rather than going by any words.

There's also the training partner aspect - if the plan back then was always for Javi and Yuzu to be training partners then yes, Javi being totally on board was vital to them both - had he been reluctant, it could have been extremely damaging to Yuzu as well, given how very young he was and what a huge change he was going into. We don't know that any of the newbies are going to be Yuzu's training partner, and even if they do train together, it won't be anything like the same as working together to grow into champions.

We can also thank small mercies - and the quad axel - that he's still planning to compete (at least till he nails it). Most skaters, I can't help feeling, would have announced their retirement the day of the medal ceremony at the Olympics... if not the 2014 ones!!! And although I've only just discovered how wonderful he is, I do want him to know when the right time is to stop and have to admit that, given all of his gifts, I'm already curious about where he will go from there. Somewhere wonderful, I hope (and he'll keep everyone guessing till the last minute, you betcha!)

The minute Yuzu and Javi got on that podium at the Olympics, it was probably crystal clear that the TCC was going to expand its elite stable: no business in the world would NOT take the boost the reflected glory would bring. It probably just seems to us outside to have been very fast (I thought everyone said off season would be slow??) I'm not interested enough in women's skating to care more than mildly about Evgenia, but of all the male elite, Boyang and Jason are probably the ones I'd be happiest to see there (I know when people were saying after Nathan's Olympic meltdown that HE should go there, I was mentally screaming... and I don't dislike him but still!!!) While I will fret about my two favourites (the ones who GOT the medals and glory, damnitall!!) and that their needs stay a firm priority, I do note that Brian and his people obviously took time and care to make the decisions for all three newcomers and how they would fit with those already there (with Jason, it started before the Olympics? - but there was no way it was going to happen till that pressure was off, and then Brian had to also decide if he US paper trail was worth it. Obviously, he came down on Jason's side). And given what I understand of the mess with Yuna, Brian would have been careful to consider - and consult - with the skaters he already has as to how it would fit around them. (I shouldn't be surprised if Tracey is Jason's main coach, from what I've read she really pulled for him to come.) Yuzu is still their absolute star pupil, the biggest, most popular and beloved skater in the world, and their probable G O A T. Javi is one of their three Olympic stars. Brian clearly cares about both of them, and is not going to risk another pr nightmare if it all goes sideways. That's what I'm telling myself anyway. (And Brian needs to have a jacket made up with the UN symbol on, he's going to outdo the diplomats at this rate!)

He and Javi are textbook examples of how, when it's the right people, it can lift both of them to heights they might never have reached without their partnership - and how, when it's the right people, it can show the whole sport what really great sportsmanship is about (for me, the two of them set the tone that has made the recent top flight of men such a lovely, respectful, friendly and yet still fiercely competitive group). And of all of the top flight, Boyang is the one I think would be the best match for Yuzu after Javi... I love them both dearly and am thrilled at what it could do for both of them, especially Boyang.

Brian and Tracey will be able to give lessons in how to run a multinational force...

This just confirms how very very much I want to see him in a black costume sometimes... pretty please???

To quote one of my TV character heroes (from an old TV series, who actually dresses worse than Yuzu)... "All knowledge is valuable"

I love how subtle they're not about making sure where you look first..... is it being filmed? Will we be able to get a download? Am I fretting madly?

We seek him here we seek him there, the fanyus seek him everywhere....

I'm fairly new, but from my reading, Yuzu actually was in the vanguard of the quad charge because it was a way to beat skaters than had no quads but at that time higher other marks? It's one of the things he's good at, taking what looks like minuses and turning them into winning points. I can't help thinking that he and his team are brilliant enough - both at skating and thinking it out - to work out precisely how to max out the benefits and minimise the drawbacks. Of course, no matter how they try and score the 4A he is going to do it, but it occurred to me that if doing it not-so-well is downgraded pointwise, maybe he'll be a tad more cautious and practice more before he tries it out on us (Maybe. This is Yuzu.) which would be good for his health and our sanity....

Sour grapes, can you taste them?

That doesn't surprise me (but at least I don't have to worry what my subconscous is thinking this time!!)

Mind you, had she googled, her breathless description of his beauty (which, as I mentioned before, I don't disagree with) might have been shaded by Memeface and Murderface... Don't mind me.

Can I ask something? I have this mental image (maybe I dreamed it, which is a worry) of a photo where Jason and Yuzuru had switched gala costumes - Jason in the pale blue flowered top is burned into my brain. Does anyone remember or have a copy of such a thing?