General Yuzuru Chat

[KatjaThera]

26 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

Btw random consideration, and I know we've already talked about this but I think it needs a little bit more talking: I was thinking I didn't watch a lot of ACI fancams of this year so I watched the 6 minutes warm up of the FS and... wow, I was surprised and not in a good way. 

 

Honestly, at first I empathize and then I find it funny, but after a while, knowing how Yuzuru might feel, I don't find it funny anymore. All that screaming is just rude and nonsense, has nothing to do with sport and our supposed respect for him. I think that we all should settle down a bit and help other fans settle down as well. 

 

Somehow I also think that ACI is always a different competition because there is free seating, so people don't pay +300 dollars to sit in front. I somehow think that in other competitions, being that the viewers are more 'selected' and the atmosphere is more serious, there will never be so much losing control. Or so I hope. 

 

I think we should seriously start considering that so much hyping might be hurting him a little. People were screaming at him just for passing by. That's not okay, imo. We're not 2 years old anymore.

 

Two cents shared, I'm out. 

Honestly, I've said this before, that I felt honestly ashamed of my own reaction, but at the same time, I could not help it. I don't think it has as much to do with how 'selected' the viewers are (people scream over his every gesture at ice shows and those tickets are expensive, especially the front ones and they usually scream the loudest), it was just that the costume was extremely unexpected and I think everyone was prepared to be disappointed and we very much were not. I also think the fact that you could not really see all the details in the costume from the audience - but you could see that there were details to see - also contributed, so the screaming every time he passed by was because we'd get a close up again and be in disbelief yet again. I guess the atmosphere also became such that we all fed off on each other. Explanation or excuse, take it as you will.

 

I don't expect it will happen quite like that at other competitions, mostly because now people know to expect it. I suspect some will still be taken aback, because honestly, it looks quite different in real life than in some of the HQ footage, but there will probably not be the utter shock there was at ACI. I was in shock and I admit my instincts got the best of me, as I'm sure they did everyone else. And I'm pretty sure anyone who knows my posting here can attest that I'm not much given to fangirling and it happens rarely. But ACI Origin costume reveal I could not help it. And I am ashamed of it, though it was also kind of fun. I hope Yuzu found it flattering rather than upsetting, because it was meant to be flattering, but maybe he didn't. I guess that gives me a subject to my next letter to him, though, whenever I'll be able to attend a competition again. An apology and explanation for that moment.

 

I'm sure among those screaming there were also people who look at him as an idol or only like him for his looks or such, but there were also normally serious fans, like myself, who got caught by surprise and lost control. (Funny thing is, a few years ago, before becoming a Yuzu fan, I would never have allowed myself to lose control, but ever since becoming his fan, I tend to be more honest and open with my feelings, so I have less control than I used to. In this case, I guess that was a bad thing.) I know I did not mean to be rude and I'm sure others didn't either, but in cases like this, I guess it's not intention that matters, but how it's perceived by others. It wasn't really just about him being hot or whatever, the whole visual was mind blowing and the visual is part of the program, so I'm not sure it's really unrelated. I really do hope Yuzu wasn't that upset by it, but just in case he was, I will definitely apologize next time I have the chance. Not much else I can do.

[Lunna]

1 час назад, Murieleirum сказал:

Somehow I also think that ACI is always a different competition because there is free seating, so people don't pay +300 dollars to sit in front. I somehow think that in other competitions, being that the viewers are more 'selected' and the atmosphere is more serious, there will never be so much losing control. Or so I hope. 

I don't think it's about money, more like the excitement of the first outing. I think the reaction was also pretty loud when he first presented purple LGC at NHK, there's no fancams at NHK, but even during TV broadcast you can here the reaction.

[yuzuangel]

1 hour ago, Murieleirum said:

Btw random consideration, and I know we've already talked about this but I think it needs a little bit more talking: I was thinking I didn't watch a lot of ACI fancams of this year so I watched the 6 minutes warm up of the FS and... wow, I was surprised and not in a good way. 

 

Honestly, at first I empathize and then I find it funny, but after a while, knowing how Yuzuru might feel, I don't find it funny anymore. All that screaming is just rude and nonsense, has nothing to do with sport and our supposed respect for him. I think that we all should settle down a bit and help other fans settle down as well. 

 

On twitter I wanted to point out that Yuzu might not like the over-the-top cheering that could disturb his opponents but got attacked for implying that there shouldn't be any cheering at an arena (which IMO you need to be intentionally trying to pick a fight to interpret it that way) and that this is somehow policing/censoring fans. 

 

But I was at ACI and to me, the cheering came off obnoxious at times. I was sitting pretty close to the front and I was able to see Yuzu's expression relatively clearly, and to me he seemed a bit tired of it. Again, this is all my impression, but before this year's ACI I was squarely in the "When faced with the beauty of Yuzu and his skating, we are loud and unable to control ourselves, and we shouldn't have to if we're not being disrespectful" camp, so I was surprised to notice myself being concerned with the cheering. 

 

I'm sure he feels that 99.9% of his fans raise him up. And I know I cheer so much at all of Yuzu's competitions that I usually lose my voice for days, so it's not just about the cheering. But to me a small number of fans felt like they were competing with each other on who could be the loudest, most passionate fans, and the behavior felt unnatural to me, as if it were less about Yuzu and more about them. It felt like some fans would scream at the top of their lungs whenever Yuzu so much as glided by their section doing nothing at all, and it didn't feel like an emotional reaction, but rather a concerted effort to make noise and get noticed. There are other things, too, but there's no point in getting into all the details. Everyone makes mistakes, including me, and this discussion has led me to reevaluate stuff that I do and how I could improve as well. 

 

Just to make this clear, the vast vast majority of fans were beyond amazing. For those who feel personally attacked, though, maybe they should wonder why that is  Just my two cents.

[Cynthia]

14 minutes ago, yuzuangel said:

 

On twitter I wanted to point out that Yuzu might not like the over-the-top cheering that could disturb his opponents but got attacked for implying that there shouldn't be any cheering at an arena (which IMO you need to be intentionally trying to pick a fight to interpret it that way) and that this is somehow policing/censoring fans. 

 

But I was at ACI and to me, the cheering came off obnoxious at times. I was sitting pretty close to the front and I was able to see Yuzu's expression relatively clearly, and to me he seemed a bit tired of it. Again, this is all my impression, but before this year's ACI I was squarely in the "When faced with the beauty of Yuzu and his skating, we are loud and unable to control ourselves, and we shouldn't have to if we're not being disrespectful" camp, so I was surprised to notice myself being concerned with the cheering. 

 

I'm sure he feels that 99.9% of his fans raise him up. And I know I cheer so much at all of Yuzu's competitions that I usually lose my voice for days, so it's not just about the cheering. But to me a small number of fans felt like they were competing with each other on who could be the loudest, most passionate fans, and the behavior felt unnatural to me, as if it were less about Yuzu and more about them. It felt like some fans would scream at the top of their lungs whenever Yuzu so much as glided by their section doing nothing at all, and it didn't feel like an emotional reaction, but rather a concerted effort to make noise and get noticed. There are other things, too, but there's no point in getting into all the details. Everyone makes mistakes, including me, and this discussion has led me to reevaluate stuff that I do and how I could improve as well. 

 

Just to make this clear, the vast vast majority of fans were beyond amazing. For those who feel personally attacked, though, maybe they should wonder why that is  Just my two cents.

 

I think this is why we have to remember Yuzuru Hanyu is still a human being with his own thoughts and individuality. Only a small portion of his fans think like that while everyone else puts him on a pedestal. Moments like the ones that you just mentioned are when it's actually starting to bother him a bit. When I was at the event, during the men's practice there were still some cheering for him and I clapped along even though I was also trying to pay attention to the other skaters' practice too. I even felt uneasy during these times because I felt guilty for getting distracted by that applause. We need more considerate fans like ourselves so it doesn't feel like we are alone empathizing with him.

 

[yuzuangel]

10 minutes ago, Cynthia said:

 

I think this is why we have to remember Yuzuru Hanyu is still a human being with his own thoughts and individuality. Only a small portion of his fans think like that while everyone else puts him on a pedestal. Moments like the ones that you just mentioned are when it's actually starting to bother him a bit. When I was at the event, during the men's practice there were still some cheering for him and I clapped along even though I was also trying to pay attention to the other skaters' practice too. I even felt uneasy during these times because I felt guilty for getting distracted by that applause. We need more considerate fans like ourselves so it doesn't feel like we are alone empathizing with him.

 

I wouldn't say only a small portion of his fans think he is a human being with his own thought and individuality. I think most fans think like that -- definitely the majority -- but by definition the fans that are trying to be the loudest usually are. Most of us also put him on a pedestal, too, because well, he belongs there, but we still understand that he's human and feels all that which comes with being human.

 

Most fans at ACI were great sports, and so many people cheered for so many skaters that it warmed my heart. The way people were cheering for Harry Mattick (and his adorable reactions to those fans), and the way the crowd supported the Filipino skater (Edrian?) who lost steam halfway through his program was all really nice to see. The skaters sure looked like that appreciated that. I wouldn't be surprised if going to ACI were both an intimidating but also awesome experience for skaters just because Yuzu would most likely attend and "bring" his loud and fun fanclub in tow

[Old Cat Lady]

I admit I really only watched Yuzu when he was on the ice but I made sure to stop myself from cheering for him when it was other people's run through's and made sure to clap when I heard everyone else clapping.  I guess I couldn't be sure it was for the person skating their run through without looking but I figure it's mostly about making the other skaters feel like the love is shared.  tbh though, I'm not much of a screamer anyway. 

 

Actually, the loudest fans I dealt with were screaming for Keegan. I literally had to plug my ears because a couple women seemed to be purposely trying to be louder than the rest of the arena - ironically, in their effort to make the cheering for Keegan louder, it prevented me from cheering for him, which I would have if I wasn't genuinely concerned about my ears 

[yuzuangel]

3 minutes ago, Old Cat Lady said:

I admit I really only watched Yuzu when he was on the ice but I made sure to stop myself from cheering for him when it was other people's run through's and made sure to clap when I heard everyone else clapping.  I guess I couldn't be sure it was for the person skating their run through without looking but I figure it's mostly about making the other skaters feel like the love is shared.  tbh though, I'm not much of a screamer anyway. 

 

Actually, the loudest fans I dealt with were screaming for Keegan. I literally had to plug my ears because a couple women seemed to be purposely trying to be louder than the rest of the arena - ironically, in their effort to make the cheering for Keegan louder, it prevented me from cheering for him, which I would have if I wasn't genuinely concerned about my ears 

Honestly, I don't even see anything wrong with cheering when Yuzu lands a big jump during someone else's runthrough. You don't see beautiful breathtaking quads every day, and a runthrough is still just practice. Welp, maybe some of the fans that I felt were trying to out-scream each other were Keegan fans, lol.

[mercedes]

Before Yuzuru my idols were dancers and of course you don't scream inside a opera house,I've been to tons of rocks concerts and of course screaming and singing is pretty much the rule.

I've never see Yuzuru skating live but I gather it's a pretty life changing experience and if you guys were cheering loud it's because probably in that moment you couldn't help it...now i have no idea what Yuzuru thinks but just the fact that you're all thinking about your behaviour just shows how special you all are.

[liv]

You know what's funny: Everyone here talks about cheering every time Yuzu landed a jump, or skated by, or took off his costume. i was the exact opposite at ACI. I was more silent so that I could appreciate what I was seeing in front of me.  I remember back in the 80s or 90s, commentators would say that someone skated so well that people didn't make noise because they were so enthralled. That is how I react as well.

[rockstaryuzu]

5 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

Honestly, I've said this before, that I felt honestly ashamed of my own reaction, but at the same time, I could not help it. I don't think it has as much to do with how 'selected' the viewers are (people scream over his every gesture at ice shows and those tickets are expensive, especially the front ones and they usually scream the loudest), it was just that the costume was extremely unexpected and I think everyone was prepared to be disappointed and we very much were not. I also think the fact that you could not really see all the details in the costume from the audience - but you could see that there were details to see - also contributed, so the screaming every time he passed by was because we'd get a close up again and be in disbelief yet again. I guess the atmosphere also became such that we all fed off on each other. Explanation or excuse, take it as you will.

 

I don't expect it will happen quite like that at other competitions, mostly because now people know to expect it. I suspect some will still be taken aback, because honestly, it looks quite different in real life than in some of the HQ footage, but there will probably not be the utter shock there was at ACI. I was in shock and I admit my instincts got the best of me, as I'm sure they did everyone else. And I'm pretty sure anyone who knows my posting here can attest that I'm not much given to fangirling and it happens rarely. But ACI Origin costume reveal I could not help it. And I am ashamed of it, though it was also kind of fun. I hope Yuzu found it flattering rather than upsetting, because it was meant to be flattering, but maybe he didn't. I guess that gives me a subject to my next letter to him, though, whenever I'll be able to attend a competition again. An apology and explanation for that moment.

 

I'm sure among those screaming there were also people who look at him as an idol or only like him for his looks or such, but there were also normally serious fans, like myself, who got caught by surprise and lost control. (Funny thing is, a few years ago, before becoming a Yuzu fan, I would never have allowed myself to lose control, but ever since becoming his fan, I tend to be more honest and open with my feelings, so I have less control than I used to. In this case, I guess that was a bad thing.) I know I did not mean to be rude and I'm sure others didn't either, but in cases like this, I guess it's not intention that matters, but how it's perceived by others. It wasn't really just about him being hot or whatever, the whole visual was mind blowing and the visual is part of the program, so I'm not sure it's really unrelated. I really do hope Yuzu wasn't that upset by it, but just in case he was, I will definitely apologize next time I have the chance. Not much else I can do.

I don't think you need to apologize for an honest reaction. I was there and I was at ACI last year, and I feel that the screaming for last year's Otonal  was worse than for this year's Origin. And an initial reaction upon first seeing such a costume is, as you say, impossible to hold back. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

5 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

But to me a small number of fans felt like they were competing with each other on who could be the loudest, most passionate fans, and the behavior felt unnatural to me, as if 

This. I agree with this. 

 

There are always going to be people in the audience seeing Yuzu for the first time who are overcome and can't control their reaction, and we shouldn't spoil their first experience of seeing him by trying to squelch their joy.

 

At the same time though, he's not a K-pop idol, and I do feel that there are some fans who take their cues for appropriate fan behaviour from that kind of thing, which can lead to  crossing the line of what's acceptable. The question is though, what do you do about it? For that reason, I was actually really grateful to the fans who were distributing those yellow "We Love You Yuzuru" banners, because using one gives people the option to cheer without having to scream or yell or even make a noise at all. 

 

Anyway, maybe the answer is put a time limit on the loud cheering. Like, do it if you need to, but only for a count of ten or something. If everyone falls silent after that, so will the over-enthusiastic ones, but at least they'll have their chance to cheer. 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

4 hours ago, Old Cat Lady said:

Actually, the loudest fans I dealt with were screaming for Keegan. I literally had to plug my ears because a couple women seemed to be purposely trying to be louder than the rest of the arena - ironically, in their effort to make the cheering for Keegan louder, it prevented me from cheering for him, which I would have if I wasn't genuinely concerned about my ears

You just reminded me of something I noticed at last year's SCI. 

 

A lot of the skaters who are competing will sit in the audience when they're not busy with their events, and will scream like mad for their teammates. Sometimes they're the loudest and most obnoxious cheerers in the arena - for example Team Canada always has a section with posters and flags and jerseys and their family members screaming away. I don't think anyone would or should ever have a problem with this, because cheering for your teammates is an essential part of being an athlete. 

 

So while we're busy wondering whether or not cheering is appropriate or out of control, we absolutely must take into consideration who's cheering and why. And of course, govern ourselves accordingly.

[shanshani]

2 hours ago, mercedes said:

Before Yuzuru my idols were dancers and of course you don't scream inside a opera house,I've been to tons of rocks concerts and of course screaming and singing is pretty much the rule.

I've never see Yuzuru skating live but I gather it's a pretty life changing experience and if you guys were cheering loud it's because probably in that moment you couldn't help it...now i have no idea what Yuzuru thinks but just the fact that you're all thinking about your behaviour just shows how special you all are.

eh, depends on the opera house. it's normal for the audience to heckle the stars at La Scala, and led to a few walk-outs. that opera house is pretty legendary for its, uh, loud and opinionated patrons, actually. 

 

anyway, I think people are wringing their hands too much over people just having some fun. idk, I think people get way too worked up over supposed fan bad behavior in FS. other sports like hockey and football literally cause riots. figure skating fans being a bit extra rowdy? doesn't really strike me as a serious issue. plus, I think it's pretty ungenerous to impute onto rowdy fans motives like “they were trying to making it about themselves,” any more than it would be right for them to say things like “you're complaining about us because it gives you a feeling of superiority.” a bit of silliness, rowdiness, and over-passion is just part of being human, and part of following a sport. let us be the ridiculous creatures that we are!

 

anyway, if Yuzu dislikes it, then let him make that clearly known, and fans will either respect his wishes or get fairly criticized for not doing so. he's an adult and fully capable of expressing himself, and should do so if he has strong feelings and preferences about this. he's not a child in need of coddling, we don't have to protect him from every little thing that could plausibly cause him the tiniest bit of unease. trust him to speak up if he feels the need. meanwhile, we shouldn't jump to conclusions about his inner life based on stray expressions either. impressions of other people's thoughts and feelings can often be wrong, and even though we feel like we may know Yuzu, of course, we really don't. (And people misread the feelings of people they know well all the time too.)

[shanshani]

6 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

You just reminded me of something I noticed at last year's SCI. 

 

A lot of the skaters who are competing will sit in the audience when they're not busy with their events, and will scream like mad for their teammates. Sometimes they're the loudest and most obnoxious cheerers in the arena - for example Team Canada always has a section with posters and flags and jerseys and their family members screaming away. I don't think anyone would or should ever have a problem with this, because cheering for your teammates is an essential part of being an athlete. 

 

So while we're busy wondering whether or not cheering is appropriate or out of control, we absolutely must take into consideration who's cheering and why. And of course, govern ourselves accordingly.

at GPF there were some team russia skaters sitting behind me that were so loud and repetitious it did genuinely get a bit annoying. but at the end of the day it's only mild annoyance, plus it was cool for them to be there and support their teammates. also, though it's not figure skating, remember that gif of Scott Moir heckling the hockey refs at the Olympics? 

 

again, there is no great harm being done by cheering too loudly, and even though we might sometimes think some people around us are a bit over the top, we have to remember there's a lot of subjectivity and cultural conditioning that goes into that judgment. I think we should remember that FS fans come from all kinds of backgrounds, and what is normal audience behavior for them may differ significantly based on where they're from and their past experiences. So I think a bit of forbearance is in order for our fellow fans, and of course fans of other figure skaters as well. 

[rockstaryuzu]

54 minutes ago, shanshani said:

also, though it's not figure skating, remember that gif of Scott Moir heckling the hockey refs at the Olympics? 

Yeah, poor Scott, everyone thought he was drunk but he was just being a hockey fan LOL!