EisElle

hugssssss to every satellite, especially those who had hard-earned tickets nooo why did you had to remind me of that

Gosh I still have hard time thinking Worlds are next week... thank you for the reminder!

Henni this is a great breakdown! And I see you've suceedeed in your learning all kind of spins, I'm envious

OT but I finally got my Music with Wings booklet, so happyyyyy 😭😭😭 ETA: to add to the spin discussion, I agree Yuzu's spins are often overlooked, and underscored in comparison to some other top skaters who not only get levels gifted but also get crazy goe. Especially sp spins where he can put more stamina in. I wouldn't say there is no one on Yuzu's level, since there are other skaters with crazily fast spins, very centered, but IMO Yuzuru's big strength is that his spins are both technically high quality and fitting the mood of the program, blended in the choreo, no matter if the program is for comp or for ex. That's why even watching him in UA without music one can tell which program the spin belongs to, even when he hits similar positions (often true for jumps too). Having top notch quality on every single skating element -- many great spinners don't have the same tech arsenal for example, and the stamina and focus to pull off both difficult jumps and high quality spins shouldn't be underestimated -- is definitely one of his strong points. Once it used to be mirrored in the scores too... at times.

Happy 2xOGM anniversary to Yuzu and to all the Planet! I've re-read a bit the Oly thread today, gosh everything is still so vivid! When have two years passed? That day was historical but LOOK AT YUZU NOW, HOW MUCH FURTHER HE'S STILL GOING! Yuzu, you are certainly not a fossil! You are the most amazing (and still kicking hard)GOAT! Mine has been shipped, I will be obsessively checking the tracking for the next few(or many) days... After watching MwW I am twice happy that I got to support them buying the programme! Forever grateful that the option for international shipping was already integrated in the website, I had never used proxy so it felt much less scary than it would have otherwise 😅 This is so true! And all of them had extraordinary talent (after all, without extraordinary talent no way they would have been able to break in the big3 dominion), but they were also nurtured in a good environment. Brian(&team) can be truly proud! And yeah, the poetic revenge for those missed OGM must have made the achievements of his skaters even sweeter...

Afaik, he and others, including Sarah Abitbol, formed a collective that is working to offer some kind of proposal to the ministry (I think like maybe a proposal for a new organization, if things will to go that far, to show that yes, even that is a viable solution). He felt first-hand the disappointment of running against the old establishment only to crash against the insurmountable wall of Didier&co That experience probably made him & those who supported him both distrustful and more cautious. It basically was like attempting a coup and failing, skaters and coaches and clubs who had picked "the wrong side" probably had to deal with heavy retaliation by Didier &co. Maybe Gwendal wants to wait for the next move by the ministry and if there won't be decertification, he will run himself in these elections or officially support one of the candidates. At the moment, yes, he is one of those that inspires more trust (Most info came from the FSU thread linked by @GraceandPower above)

gonna be brutally honest and say that these latest developments -- the interim president defending Didier and the upcoming election with two candidates that... don't really get my enthusiastic support -- are making me increasingly pessimistic about a complete and definitive overhaul. Current environment is rotten (judging from the several people speaking out and all the prominent names involved in abuse and the covering of those abuses) and is gonna stay rotten if the message is that abusers are gonna get away with everything again. There needs to be and exemplary punishment and it looks like that's exactly what is NOT gonna happen.

I was thinking Origin (and almost voted) but Pudding of the Opera with Cheese and Wine is ICONIC and I had to vote that More realistically, I think it could be Origin. Pros: 1) it deserves 2) the COSTUME!!!! 3) that's the program in those ISU Awards nominations LMAO not that ISU would let Yuzu win best costume and best program (and now he switched programs even less so) but still... cons: 1) not making the other tribute guy get jealous by leaving Otonal out 2) not get too tired 'cause he needs to put up with the rest of the ceremony 3) smallish surface available (his chsq with that long IB probably wouldn't fit in... tho the Media day version probably would be better in this regard, Yuzu 😜) I haven't still given up on LGC, the day will come😤 but I don't think that day it will be in Montreal 😅 (There's still the chance of Bieber tho) Ohh that's... interesting Ok THAT WOULD BE ME 😤 (but yeah I could do without that big cross and tbh Origin 2.0.but also 1.0 >>>> than NDP costume anyway) Eta: it turns out si had guessed H&L correctly for 4CC back in Jan 3rd, I thought I had chosen a trollZuzu option but nope, this time I picked the trollZuzu option instead lol

This round could go better but excited for the final round! as always, thank you @Old Cat Lady and congrats for your evil plan working (following ISU and its rivalry narrative? )

THE THEY HAS COME!!!! Finally! ok but for sure I hope it's PERMANENT and that this is just the start of a deep renewal -- and that this can be a signal to other feds too, tbh, and push them to change the 'old (not)good ways. Well, it would be naive to think that one man resigning can change the whole skating world, but it's a start. but please, dear Didier, by all means, you're free to wash the laundry in public, pull all the skeletons out of your closet. I'm sure that many, myself included, would spare a kinder thought for you if you did that...

unbelievable DidierG still hopes to get away with decades of wrongdoings... but also expected, he wouldn't have lasted this long in charge without being a shameless master manipulator used to worm his own way out. I don't see how he can escape, but till he isn't gone for real and like, banned for life from any rink (together with his "friends"), I'll keep fearing everything will just stay the same. At this point, I not only want him to go but ALSO to reveal whatever skeletons he has been stashing in his closets all these years, because they must be some truly damning skeletons if he managed to last till now in spite of everything (to the point he still feels that he can somehow save his backside). It probably goes beyond France FS, given his influence within ISU. He looks like the kind of man who would rather sink the whole ship and make everyone drown with him instead of peacefully stepping away (his refusal to resign kind of proves this). Exposing how rotten his peers are would actually be something I would thank him for But one step at a time. First, hoping that french skating can get rid of him (and of those he covered/who covered him) for good and be in the care of people with a conscience Also, we have further confirmation (if it was even needed) that Cipres truly did what Brennan reported. I remember how french fed threw shade on her reporting not so long ago

wildin' a bit in my predictions (help panic is rising FAST help) I think I have already forgotten most of what I've submitted...

Idk if these had been shared, there were so many updates it's hard to follow all of them This was from two days ago but I had missed it "There is no sexual abuse issue in fs" reminded me of a very similar thing some representative of USfed had said a few days ago, reported by Brennan till they won't admit the issue isn't about just one bad apple or two, but it's something rooted in certain culture within the sport, I doubt things can change. I hope this time there will be real and long-lasting consequence, starting from the definitive removal of Didier G (who should have been kicked out after 2002 already and instead here we are, twenty years after the biggest scandal in fs history, still with the very same people around Then I also thought that JSF also has a history of exemplary representatives and I...😶) btw I was also reminded that we risked having Didier as president of ISU 😨when one must be grateful that speed skating prevailed over figure skating, because imagine having DidierG as ISU president (not that ISU is faring very well but...when you think things couldn't get worse... how is it possible fs didn't have any one better than DidierG?)

why can't Nastya have a good season for once? Poor Vika too, she could have been a contender for a JWC spot

All these stories make me sick, truly, and I am just reading them. How can those who were supposed to prevent or punish the abuse -- those who know the victims in person, those who got these stories from the victims' own voices and that saw the hurt on their faces -- not feel the URGE to do everything in their power to stop those abusers? The worst is that all the stories speak of a larger culture of silence and protection of abusers...and that's just so wrong but so deeply rooted in the fs community, at the highest levels too. Heck, I am not even surprised that Didier friggin coached alongside not one but two of the accused, nor that one of the accused works in the very rink were apparently Cipres is now allowed to train young skaters. FS, with its sweeping things under the carpet attitude and the insufferable fixation on keeping things like they have always been, is such a perfect environment for abusers to get away. And the community failed those girls, and it's still failing them now they are adult women, and it's also failing all the girls and boys those predators are still allowed to coach. And the silence of the ISU is deafening on this matter too. It's as if all those stories of abuse were just matters every country or skating rink has to sort out on their own. As if people like Callaghan weren't tainting the whole sport, as if some of them didn't have official roles in fs institutions, as if the very feds that ISU is supposed to represent and rule on weren't directly involved in the cover-up... but after all, it's ISU, ethics and backbone are perhaps too much to expect I am glad more and more stories are surfacing, and yet how many more we don't get to hear, and every single time there are still the same dumb questions: "why didn't they say anything earlier?" Maybe because they were afraid of a community that places 0 value on their wellbeing? And even when they try and speak, even when there is an investigation, nothing changes (see Callaghan, see now Beyer too)

the news about Alena Kanysheva were so unexpected my first reaction was just disbelief... so apparently it was an "old" injury that got esacerbated and got to a breaking point? (and does it mean that at gpf18 she was competing injured and kept competing injured for months?). mmm it's nice that she sounds positive and thanked all her coaches, but a couple things in that post sound...dubious tbh. Well, injury can happen any time, on any element (and even off ice), but for Alena, in spring and till test skates it looked like everything was just fine... training a full layout of triples, training the quad, even talking about chances of putting that into a layout for comps (which means quad training wasn't done just once in a blue moon)... and then wd after wd... few news... and now this Well, at least her injury isn't as bad to prevent her from competing and skating altogether.... that's the positive in this, I suppose, to be somewhat reassured that her healthy isn't completely ruined at fourteen (tho fs at competitive level is a very punishing sport for the body even when one can avoid big injuries). At least we might get to enjoy her ss again (tho the 3Lz will be missed ) The announcement about Ted commentating JrRusNats would have made me at least moderately pleased any other day but today my feelings range frkm numbness to annoyance, because Ted is the voice of JGP and Alena was supposed to be one of the stars of this junior season... and instead here we are... (but then, all of this made me remember that Nastya Tarakanova wasn't skating at SrNats, so I hope she's recovering )

LMAO how did I end up with a respectable placement despite bombing the men and most bonus question too? I guess most of us equally bombed men predictions and I should be thankful that some of you forgot P/C also, thanking pair and ladies, must be the first time I get ladies 100% correctly wow thankful for the omission of 4CC men predictions, especially after what's happened at Euros the fear of jinxing would have been too much

as long as I get Yuzu-cam broadcast and the Patrick&Yuzu-being-besties footage that's long overdue, I won't complain not too much Also, Zu made boring bowling shirts look cool ETA: idk, is Patrick's going this year too?

hey HYK is the least taxing of them all tbh, only 3Lo and one delayed axel It would surprise me tho But Zu is unpredictable (and I have started my prayers for him to be in one piece and healthy for gala too, because between virus outbreak, Zu's asthma, unknown layout and most important the fact that we are kinda giving for granted that he's gonna stay healthy and really manage to do SOI in April for a change, I'm starting to get nervous (sorry guys, didn't meant to bring this in this thread but it kinda wrote on its own)

LMAO looking at the stats didn't help much I kinda expect Sasha Samarin to do better than Dima now (sorry Dima), and while I am betting against Sasha Trusova this time, I think she'll do much better in Euros compared to GPF and Nats (she must be HUNGRY for a win now) so I truly feel like calling her vengeance upon me predicting her "only" for another bronze The question about ladies getting higher tes... (while doing the predictions I have realized that I expect italian skaters to get pewter at most it would be nice to be positively surprised)

Thank you @Old Cat Lady 😊 I will try to do my predictions tomorrow after checking all the PB stats to try to have a not-so-wild guess for Men (whole Men podium is mightly hard to predict... for ladies at least one can easily guess a russian sweep in whichever order😅) Tho it looks like my results in this prediction game have been getting worse and worse

LOL really? 😆 Reminds me of the time I was binge watching YT Yuzu vids and saw a freshly uploaded vid of LGC (from 4CC17). That was how I learned that Yuzuru was competing right then... and that he had botched his SP yes, my first OMG-Yuzu-is-competing-OMG😱😱😱 experience was for 4CC, a comp that till then I hadn't even known it existed (in hindsight, that comp and the whole naughtySal&YOLO + the scoring should have been a wake up call for me to RUN away as fast as I could) I have only been following updates about YOG on twitter and watching selected performances, it's better for my peace of mind to learn about scoring robberies afterwards (I am very pleased for Yuma, very happy for UtaShin and very pissed at Chris Howarth) Sorry for double post, I still don't know how to edit with a nee quote on mobile

Happy to learn that Yuzu spent quality time with his family on Christmas, he deserved it Also nice that the axelwithwings team has a website, twitter isn't the best platform when you have lots of stuff to archive (and hopefully the archive will keep growing lol), very timely also because I hope that people getting interested in FS after watching Spinning Out will prove to have Taste and will find their way to our spacekitren overlord Zu yes, I am aware that would mean even fiercer competition for tickets, but whenever I see new fans falling into the orbit of planet Hanyu I feel like a proud auntie 🤗 (LMAO only a few years in this fandom and I feel like some seasoned veteran 🤣🤣) I see you have already got your reply, but I wanted to expand a bit So, short answer to your question is: Yuzuru has a... complicated history with the flip jump Long answer (seriously, it's LONG) Anyway, it's true that theorically (from mechanics POV) 4Lz should be "harder" than 4F. But we also know that a 3A should be easier that any quad and yet Sasha T landed 4 types of quads before going for 3A, Anna S too has 3 quads but 2A still, and many male skaters land 4Lz before getting 4T or 4S or both (and the struggles of Patrick Chan with 3A are legendary, and Nathan, too, even if he is landing it most of the times these days has much more confidence in his quads) 😅😅 so a lot depends on the individual skater (and also on what is the current ISU standard for "quad" and "lz", otherwise we would see only a few 4Lz on protocols)

I saw drawings of Yuzu's outfit! Last one is so CUTE (Amazed at the detailed info, 8:2 9:1 wut) o_O So happy to know the MusicWithWings booklet is available for int fans too! (I am still haunted by my cowardice in not trying to buy CiONTU merch when it was available sob)! I love such a thoughtful organization! We are happy to get our items, they are happy to get our money, everyone is happy sharing the Yuzu love all around Also happy the Planet is working again, thank you as always mods&admins, we know you work hard behind the scenes to keep the Planet running and beautiful (also better for all the hiccups to happen now instead of when we are all panicking during comps😅)

Didn't Kozuka also had issues with Hisaishi's music too, though? Tbh knowing Lurker!Zu keeps updated about everything, he must know by now that LGC is in VERY HIGH demand (and has been so for long 😅). Yuzu gave us regal gold&black costume, LGC hair, Masquerade, that utter beauty of a costume that is Origin 2.0... and heck, he was using LGC as encore in gpf16, wtt17 and FaOI17 and he can't have missed the crowd going wild. Maybe LCG isn't his fave buddy among his programs, but he looked like he was having fun skating to the stsq, doing the knee slide, playing with the audience😆 I don't even think it's matter of picking a less taxing program (and obviously no one would expect him to jump 4Lo and 4S3T in a EX). So if he isn't skating to it anymore IMO it's just because he cannot use the music anymore (there was also the issue of LGC not being included in his DVD) Maybe at 4CC Yuzuru will prove me and my reasoning wrong(I'd love that), but I don't really expect LGC, though it would be kind of poetic H&L has my vote, he has skated to it as an EX already and while the flow is somewhat incomplete without whole 4.30 secs, I am too much in love with the stsq into 3F, I would be delighted I hadn't thought about Chopin but, since Yuzuru knows the choreo by heart, it would probably make an ex program requiring less dedicated training compared to others (anyway I still can't believe he is really going to 4CC too, we are so blessed) Anyway his chosen EX will be tied to Korea for sure, we love one thoughtful boy ....(I wouldn't mind being trolled with Sex Bomb though 🤣🤣🤣)