#Sour Bunch Figure Skater

[gummywurm-gaming]

So surprised tumblr hasn't torn this man to pieces yet (probably because they don't have a name)

[kokouro]

Okay... I need to say this...

Why we don't have more fan content about the Dark Figure Skater [dunno how to name him] and Peach???

Okay into fiction, there wouldn't have a lot to say, I understand.

But into art...

There is so much opportunities to take!!

They are dancers and plus on ice and they have opposite roles so imagine the good poses and tension you could draw!!

Until now, I just found two fanarts and one of them corresponds exactly what I have in my mind is this:

It's so frustrating to not see more fan contents like this one srl!! 😫😫

Please do it if you can aaaaaaaah-

[koronbain-tenshidere]

Same energy???

[j0vialmoon]

Alright

@crystalmonk5579

I got around to drawing some of the Sour Bunch members

I’m drawing the other members currently.

[stormvanari]

remembered that Grape mentioned about how it was a pain in the ass to imprison the Swordfighter Sparkla.

assuming that it also applies to the other Sparklas, it got me thinking what it was like right after they got shoved into their lockers basement doors:

-Originally, Swordfighter was to be wrapped in vines, but they managed to slice ALL in their way even having to go through a labyrinth of vines. They kept getting lassoed and bodied by the vines (which is why this Sparkla didn't land on their feet unlike the others) but kept fighting back. Enough was enough, Swordfighter was held by dark magic instead and the Dark Knight was assigned to stand guard and watch over the Sparkla.

-Mermaid cannot stfu (singing to escape) and Grape hated it, so the latter sealed her inside a clam and let it dance away from Grape's sight.

-Patisserie was very. VERY hesitant to bake for the Sour Bunch to continue acting in their twisted plays. Grape ordered Dark Baker to take over. Literally.

-Kung Fu must fight the "Dark Master" to exit the former's prison but got exhausted at the end because the rogue was too good.

-Detective, too, ALMOST made it to the exit, but got fooled by its false counterpart disguised as a glass cube trap where deducing to escape is impossible at that point. Ninja had a similar situation too (but it involved a lot of cautious sneaking to reach the exit, as opposed to Detective who had to rely on investigating instead), but it was a different trap that got them finally captured until Peach arrived.

-Dashing Thief was also a pain in the (smart)ass! They managed to disable trickier electrical traps along the way after escaping from countless cages but bumped into an electrical forcefield. Sparkla got shocked by its bolts, and they were whisked away to a new cage that can only be unlocked by Dashing Thief's rescuer, who is Peach.

-Mighty got into a fight with an army of UFOs but was eventually knocked out unconscious and transported to the Sparkla's cell.

-Figure Skater had a competition with the Dark Skater but lost to the latter when the Sparkla became dizzy after the Sour Skaters tormented Figure Skater by spinning and passing them around.

-Cowboy was rounded up on the spot upon landing in their twisted dimension.

[starryluminary]

Unfortunately I was entirely serious about Ten and the Sour Bunch figure skater. Please someone tell me you understand where im coming from

[satoshi-mochida]

Princess Peach: Showtime! ‘Transformation: Act II’ trailer, screenshots

From Gematsu

Nintendo has released a new trailer and screenshots for Princess Peach: Showtime! introducing new transformations Figure Skater Peach, Dashing Thief Peach, Mermaid Peach, and Mighty Peach.

Get the details below.

Each transformation gives Peach the distinct dramatic flair she needs to save the day—and the play—from the Sour Bunch. The ensemble cast featured in today’s showing are Figure Skater Peach, Dashing Thief Peach, Mermaid Peach, and Mighty Peach!

Introducing:

Figure Skater Peach – Use her practiced poise to take to the rink and put her foes on thin ice. Join a dazzling performance filled with quick-timed spins and jumps, and skate around the competition to help your fellow dancers!

Dashing Thief Peach – Traverse, infiltrate, and swing through this daring performance with various gadgets and sneak by the defenses of the thieves of the Sour Bunch. Embrace the thrills (and charms!) of espionage, then make your dramatic escape.

Mermaid Peach – Being beneath the sea won’t stop Peach from carrying a tune! Use her magical voice to control schools of fish and harmonize with an aquatic orchestra. Direct these friendly fish to reveal pathways and help solve puzzles.

Mighty Peach – Look toward the sky: It’s … Mighty Peach! Go from hero to superhero and defend the locals with powerful punches and superhuman strength. Fly, fling objects and fight enemies in an action-filled spectacle in the sky and on the ground.

In Princess Peach: Showtime!, Peach teams up with Stella, the Sparkle Theater’s guardian, to save the theater from the wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch. Using the power of Sparkle, Peach must take the stage of each show, transform and confront Grape’s evil acting troupe. As Peach, players will take on a bevy of leading roles – including a swordfighter, detective, ninja, patissiere, kung fu master and cowgirl. It’s going to take plenty of panache to bring this play to its triumphant final bow.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is due out for Switch on March 22.

Watch the trailer below. View the screenshots at the gallery.

Transformation: Act II Trailer

English

Japanese

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Everything You Should Know About Princess Peach: Showtime!

   After waiting over 18 years for a new leading role, the stage is set for everyone’s favourite video game royalty to take centre stage in Princess Peach: Showtime! Peach finally gets her own spinoff again, the first one since 2005’s Super Princess Peach on the DS, a natural progression to the more active heroic roles she’s taken in some of the more recent Super Mario games. No longer the damsel in distress, Peach is ready to take off on her own adventure, with her own new allies against her own new antagonist! Showtime is coming to a Nintendo Switch near you on March 22nd, but before then, read on for a handy collection of everything we’ve learned about the game from various trailers and teasers. Actors, take your places - it’s time for a show-stopping performance!

Characters & Plot - Casting Call!    The star of the show is, of course, Princess Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, longtime ally of the Mario Bros. (when she isn’t in need of rescue, anyway). Attending a strange new theatre show that has popped up out of nowhere, the Sparkle Theatre, Peach finds herself trapped when the theatre is attacked and overrun by the Wicked Grape (above; yes, Peach’s new villain is named Grape). Grape and her minions, the Sour Bunch, take over the theatre and start terrorising the theatre’s remaining staff, the lightbulb-shaped Theets. Stella, the guardian fairy of the theatre, teams up with Peach to bring the fight to Grape and her troupe, retake the theatre and save the day! With a new power dubbed Sparkle, Peach and Stella can aid the Theets and fight off the Sour Bunch, restoring the Sparkle Theatre back to normal, one act at a time - the show must go on!

Gameplay Basics    The game features 2.5D sidescrolling levels, with each level portrayed as a stage play. Peach can attack enemies and interact with stage props and Theets with help from Stella, using her ribbon like a whip or grapple. The gameplay shifts genres from stage to stage - the first level revolves around hack-and-slash platforming, followed by cooking minigames of all things in the second level. Clue-sleuthing mystery-solving, sneaky stealth levels, rhythm games - there’s a level for everything, all depending on a central, thematic transformation Peach can use. Much like the Power Stars of Mario games, the main collectables of Showtime are Sparkle Gems. There are 10 Sparkle Gems per level, either rewarded for clearing certain parts of a level or beating challenges, or just hidden around the levels - so keep your eyes peeled! Near the beginning of each level, Peach can use Stella’s Sparkle power to transform into various different costumes, each with their own unique abilities and gameplay. Let’s take a look at them all, shall we?

Transformations    The main attraction: Peach’s transformations! From left to right, we have Patissiere Peach, Ninja Peach, Kung-Fu Peach, Cowgirl Peach, Swordfighter Peach, Mighty Peach, Mermaid Peach, Dashing Thief Peach, Figure Skater Peach and Detective Peach.   Swordfighter, Kung-Fu, Cowgirl, Figure Skater & Mighty Peach are all seemingly more combat-oriented transformations; Swordfighter with fancy fencing and dodging moves, Kung-Fu with more focus on fighting game-style attacks and combos, Cowgirl lassoing enemies and chasing them on horseback, Figure Skater, well, skating around and battling foes while constantly moving, and Mighty being able to fly about and battle enemies superhero-style with gadgets and super strength.   Ninja and Dashing Thief Peach are more stealthy, with Ninja Peach hiding in the environment to sneak-attack unsuspecting enemies and Dashing Thief parkouring across rooftops and hacking security systems.   Detective, Patissiere & Mermaid Peach are more utility-themed, minigame-centric transformations - search for clues, interview witnesses and gather evidence as Detective; create tasty treats in timed challenges as Patissiere; and direct fish to grab out-of-reach collectables and beat rhythm minigames with Mermaid’s singing.   Each transformation has a specific stage centred around them; Showtime includes a Super Mario 64-esque hub level, with doors leading off from the main room to the actual levels. Each door is labelled with a symbol to represent whichever transformation that level is themed around, with the very first level starring Swordfighter Peach. Better start practising your dodging skills!

      That’s just about everything there is to know about Princess Peach: Showtime! before it releases on March 22nd, 2024! I know I’m excited - let me know if you are too! Feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated, and thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[crowleycringe]

Probably spoilers of princess peach showtime

NINTENDO FIX YO SHIT 💀💀

WHY DO HALF OF THESE SPARKLAS OR WHATEVER THEYRE CALLED HAVE NO NAMES

I spent the last couple minutes trying to find their names only to find out THEY DONT HAVE ANY

WHAT EVEN ARE THEY

I KNOW THEYRE LIKE SOME KIND OF COUNTERPART OF SOUR BUNCH BUT THAT DOESNT HELP WITH ANYTHING BECAUSE WHAT ARE THEYYY

It would’ve helped if they at least had some like “figure skater boss” titles but i guess nintendo just don’t like naming things i guess 💀

[geekcavepodcast]

Princess Peach: Showtime! Transformation Trailer: Act II

The latest trailer for Princess Peach: Showtime! spotlights the Figure Skater Peach, Dashing Thief Peach, Mermaid Peach, and Mighty Peach transformations.

Grape and the Sour Bunch have taken over Sparkle Theater and Princess Peach and the theater's guardian Stella are the only ones who can stop them.

Princess Peach: Showtime! launches for Nintendo Switch on March 22, 2024.

[mvkolas]

🌦  «  andrew  garfield.  cis  man.  he/him.  thirty-nine.  »  was  that  MYKOLA  “NIK"  SOKOLOV  walking  through  the  doors  of  amorelux  ?  i  heard  they  just  moved  in  to  apartment  1403  from  LONDON,  ENGLAND  and  work  as  an  airline  pilot.  they  seem  erudite  &  affable  but  don’t  get  on  their  bad  side  !  they  can  be  forthright  &  testy  which  makes  sense  since  they’re  an  AQUARIOUS.  you  know  they’re  home  when  you  see  a  flash  of  tired  eyes  hidden  behind  thick  frames, the  reflection  of  streetlights  on  the  pavement  after  it  rains,  the  frayed  spines  of  paperback  books,  &  disheveled  hair  after  running  your  hands  through  it  one too  many  times.  ↷. @amoreluxintro​​​

BASIC STATS

 NAME:  mykola  dmitrievich  sokolov  ♡  BIRTHPLACE:  kharkiv,  ukraine  ♡  NICKNAMES:  nik  &  accepts  nicky  depending  on  the  person  ♡  SEXUAL  ORIENTATION:  bisexual/biromantic  ♡  OCCUPATION:  airplane  pilot  for  alaska  airlines  ♡  BIRTHDAY:  february  16th  ♡  NATIONALITY:  ukrainian  ♡  EYE  COLOR:  dark  brown  ♡  HAIR  COLOR:  light  brown  ♡  HEIGHT:  5"10’  ♡  SPOKEN  LANGUAGES:  english  (  fluent  ),  ukrainian  (  fluent  ),  russian  (  fluent  ),  &  spanish  (  conversational  )

BIOGRAPHY

 okie  dokie  so  nik  was  born  and  raised  in  kharkiv,  ukraine  to  an  average  middle  class  family  where  he  lived  for  the  first  eight  years  of  his  life  ,,  his  dad  was  an  aviation  pilot  for  the  ukraine  international  airlines  while  his  mom  is  an  ex-olympic  figure  skater  who  ended  up  getting  disgraced  by  purposely  injuring  her  competitor  (  was  tonya  harding  his  mom  ??  who  knows  but  she  didn’t  get  any  movies  made  about  her  )  so  now  she  sells  makeup  and  jewelry  at  a  small  boutique  she  started  up

 apologies  to  anyone  having  a  conversation  with  nik  bc  his  accent  is  thick  and  all  over  the  place  from  influences.  it’s  still  heavy  ukrainian  accent  but  also  elements  of  the  london  accent  once  he  moves,  so  his  vowels  are  all  over  the  place  like  it’s  v  much  ukrainian  but  also  v  british  lad  and  slang  so  it’s  all  v  confusing

 his  mom  victoriya  is  kind  of  a  shitty  person  ??  just  to  be  blunt  about  it  since  on  top  of  her  injuring  her  competition,  her  redemption  was  stalled  by  finding  out  she  was  pregnant  again  with  nik  after  his  older  sister  and  it  only  goes  downhill  from  there.  which  ..  kinda  sucks  bc  nik’s  dad  dmitri  is  a  true  gem  who  loved  his  kids  and  his  wife  to  the  moon  and  back  and  just  wanted  the  best  life  possible  for  them  but  it  was  around  the  time  of  her  pregnancy  with  nik  that  her  behavior  went  south

 her  attitude  was  sour  majority  of  the  time  and  never  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  whatever  her  husband  did  and  the  drinking  began  after  nik  was  born  since  she  liked  to  think  he  was  the  reason  behind  her  figure  skating  career  never  taking  off  again  and  not  her  disgraced  name  ??  this  behavior  was  a  -10/10  and  dmitri ��put  up  with  it  for  eight  years  thinking  that  she  would  change  but  it  never  did  and  it  was  around  nik’s  8th  birthday  that  he  announced  the  divorce,  got  custody  of  nik  and  his  sister  nina  and  moved  the  two  of  them  to  kingston,  u.k  just  outside  of  london  upon  a  job  offer

 it’s  in  his  new  environment  that  nik  begins  to  thrive  ..  finds  an  intense  love  for  literature  and  just  reading  in  general  ??  he’s  a  naturally  bright  boy  and  is  excelling  in  his  classes  where  he  gets  top  marks  and  notes  on  his  report  cards  saying  how  lovely  n  intelligent  of  a  boy  is  ,,  though  he  does  have  trouble  with  making  friends  which  ))):  some  of  his  classmates  are  a  bunch  of  twats  and  like  to  pick  on  nik  since  he’s  the  new  kid  and  has  a  strong  accent

 but  aside  from  that  overall  his  childhood  was  chill  and  was  known  as  the  class  clown  who  got  along  with  everyone  and  generally  just  liked  making  people  laugh  ??  just  a  v  happy  go  lucky  lil  boy  that  as  he  aged  just  looked  like  a  typical  lad  and  not  the  highly  intelligent  boy  who  had  promise  to  attend  oxford  or  cambridge  or  even  any  school  he  wanted  to

 it's  when  nik  and  his  family  moved  to  london  that  he  actually  started  going  by  the  nickname  of  nik  just  as  an  easier  way  of  pronunciation  english  wise.  with  his  dad  and  sister  he  goes  by  mykola,  but  he  still  goes  by  nik  just  bc  he's  gotten  so  used  to  it

 but  once  nik  eventually  settled  in  and  made  some  friends  of  his  own,  everything  settled  down  and  nik  grew  to  enjoy  his  time  in  london.  his  more  affable  personality  started  to  come  through  and  would  become  known  as  one  of  the  few  class  clowns  in  his  grade  who  could  hold  a  conversation  with  anyone

 it’s  around  nik’s  13th  birthday  that  his  dad  introduces  him  to  a  new  lady  in  his  life  aka  his  new  gf  named  isabella  who  has  kind  green  eyes  and  a  vibrant  laugh  that  brought  out  her  animated  personality  and  nik  automatically  loved  her.  he  could  see  how  happy  she  made  his  dad  and  after  years  of  watching  his  dad  be  treated  badly  by  his  mom  nik  was  happy  that  he  found  someone  who  loved  him  and  being  around  him

 fast  forward  seven  months  and  isabella  moves  into  their  home  and  nik  finally  feels  like  he  has  a  family  ??  and  it’s  inevitable  that  the  two  get  married  where  nik  is  the  best  man  and  it’s  with  this  new  family  structure  of  isabella  and  her  daughter  sofia  that  nik  feels  stable??  in  a  sense  ??  uses  this  new  found  sense  of  stability  to  further  challenge  himself  in  his  academics  –  finding  a  strong  penchant  for  math  and  science  and  being  insanely  good  at  it.

 while  debating  whether  he  wanted  to  go  to  university  for  something  math  related,  it  was  hearing  his  dad  speak  about  his  most  recent  flight  that  nik  came  to  the  realization  that  he  wanted  to  follow  in  his  father's  footsteps  and  become  a  pilot.  from  there  on  nik  applies  himself  even  more  so  in  his  studies  with  his  sites  set  on  purude  university  in  america.  to  which  he  eventually  gets  accepted  into  and  he  attends

 the  years  in  school  fly  by  for  nik  and  he  eventually  graduates  with  his  degree,  gets  his  abundance  of  hours  worth  of  supervised  training  completed  within  another  two  years  and  by  age  25  he's  flying  high  and  slowly  working  his  way  up

 nik  bounces  around  america  for  a  while,  settling  in  city  airport  hubs  of  delta  as  he  works  his  way  up  in  rank  and  not  settling  down  in  a  place  for  too  long.  eventually  nik  ends  up  in  new  york  city  with  a  base  in  jfk  international  airport  where  he  starts  to  do  longer  more  international  flights  and  it's  here  in  nyc  that  nik  starts  to  settle  down

 some  sad  times  are  ahead  for  nik  though,  his  family  is  extremely  close  and  he  talks  to  his  father,  isabella  and  nina  all  the  time  on  the  phone.  nina  moved  out  to  brighton  for  an  advertising  job  with  her  husband  philip  and  they  have  a  v  beautiful  baby  girl  named  adelaide  and  i'm  !!  nik  is  in  awe  bc  his  niece  is  gorgeous  and  he  adores  kids  jdfnsj  so  he  visits  them  whenever  he  can  and  especially  when  she  grows  up  since  she's  his  goddaughter  as  well

 nik  and  his  family  are  the  type  who  get  together  for  family  vacations  each  year  still  bc  they  genuinely  all  get  along  and  love  one  another.  death  tw  starts  –  it'ss  during  one  of  nik's  long  shifts  where  it’s  proving  to  be  a  tough  day  when  he's  just  finishing  up  one  of  his  longer  flights  and  he  gets  an  international  call  from  england  saying  that  his  sister  and  his  brother  in  law  were  involved  in  were  involved  in  a  car  accident  and  didn't  make  it  –  end  of  death  tw

 being  her  godfather  nik  is  given  full  guardianship  of  his  niece  adelaide  and  she  soon  makes  the  move  from  england  to  new  york  city.  it's  a  tough  time  for  nik  as  he's  thrown  into  a  whirlwind  of  settling  everything  with  paperwork,  getting  adelaide  settled,  and  taking  time  off  from  work  to  acclimate  to  having  to  raise  a  teenager  now.  unfortunately  the  one  long  term  and  healthy  relationship  nik  found  himself  in  begins  to  suffer  from  the  amount  of  stress  and  being  pulled  in  multiple  directions.  nik  and  his  boyfriend  break  up  and  seeing  as  nik  didn’t  plan  to  become  a  father,  he  decides  now  is  the  time  to  refocus  and  dedicate  all  of  his  time  to  raising  adelaide

 after  some  time  adelaide  decides  she  doesn't  like  the  hectic  ways  of  new  york  so  nik  begins  to  apply  to  other  companies  and  once  he's  met  with  a  generous  salary  and  a  flexible  schedule  for  him  to  look  after  adelaide,  he  and  his  niece  make  the  move  to  seattle  and  eventually  settle  into  the  amore  lux  apartments

 nik  truly  does  hope  to  one  day  settle  down  and  taking  on  the  responsibility  of  raising  adelaide  certainly  made  nik  aware  just  how  lonely  he  is  lmao.  he  does  have  hope  to  have  kids  of  his  own  potentially  just  from  how  family  oriented  he  is.  right  now  he's  juggling  work  and  learning  how  to  raise  a  teenager  while  they're  both  dealing  with  grief  and  while  it's  a  lot,  he  and  adelaide  see  eye  to  eye

CONNECTION  IDEAS

 someone  who  checks  in  on  adelaide  when  nik  is  off  at  work  doing  longer  flights.  he  would  say  babysitter  while  adelaide  would  argue  against  it  (  she's  16  thank  you  very  much  !!  )  but  he  just  likes  to  know  that  there's  enough  food  in  the  apartment  or  if  his  niece  has  homework  questions  then  someone  is  there

 some  hookups  !!  nik  is  painfully  single  and  while  still  getting  over  his  ex,  he's  still  a  man  with  needs  so  the  door  is  open

 anyone  with  a  kid  of  their  own  who  can  offer  nik  some  advice  on  How  To  Raise  a  Teenager  When  You  Weren't  Planning  On  Raising  a  Teenager

 a  wholesome  date  where  nik  and  your  muse  went  out  for  dinner  but  ultimately  they  realized  they  were  better  off  as  friends  and  they  continue  to  be  as  such

 an  errand  friend  !!  your  muse  and  nik  oftentimes  like  to  run  errands  together  just  bc  it's  more  fun  and  the  company  is  nice  as  opposed  to  doing  everything  by  yourself

 maybe  someone  nik  was  having  a  casual  friends  with  benefits  situation  with  and  since  he's  still  finding  his  footing  with  relationships  and  moving  on  from  his  ex,  your  muse  could've  ended  up  liking  nik  more  than  nik  understood.  feelings  could've  been  hurt  and  things  are  awkward  now

 friends  please  !!  *black  panther  voice*  someone  give  this  man  some  friends  !!  he's  lonely  !!

[tickly-trashcan]

Sleepovers {Reki, Langa, and Miya}

A/N: Hope you don’t mind, but I decided to merge these two together because I just love the idea of Reki and Langa messing around with Miya hehe. I think this is my first Sk8 fic?? Im so excited to write for this bunch of cute characters, I’ve been itching to try them out. Hope everyone enjoys! :D

Summary: Reki, Langa, and Miya are sleeping over at Reki’s house. They decide to play some video games, but when Miya wins and starts acting smug, how will Reki and Langa react?

Word Count: 1.6k (under the cut)

“I got the chiiiips!” Reki sang, dropping a bag of doritos and a bag of sour cream and onion chips onto the table that was currently already overloaded with goodies and snacks.

Candies, soda, popcorn, everything you could imagine that definitely wasn’t good for you was on that table, and Miya only looked up with Reki with a slight cringe on his face.

“You’re gonna get way sick,” he said, turning his attention back to his little DS, tapping away at the buttons as he cleared level after level.

“Everyone knows if you drink a soda with it it cancels out, right Langa?” Reki said confidently, sitting down on the couch next to Miya and reaching across to fist bump Langa, who hesitantly fist bumped him back.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, but sure,” He said, picking up the remote that sat nestled between a bag of chocolates and a box of gummy worms, turning on the TV.

The three of them had been practicing their skateboarding at the skate park all day, practicing ollies and whatnot until the sun had almost set. Now, they were at Reki’s house, where they planned to sleepover… er, less of a sleepover, and more hanging out. With all that sugar they were about to consume, there was no way they’d be falling asleep anytime soon. 

Reki popped open the bag of sour cream and onion chips and stuffed his hand in, grabbing a few and munching on them before offering them to Miya and Langa. Langa took a handful and ate one at a time while Miya only took one, too focused on his DS game to grab any more.

“Miya, did you bring the switch?”

“I always bring the switch, slime.”

Miya hopped off the couch and dug into his bag, pulling out the console and setting it up on the television set, handing controllers to Reki and Langa before sitting down between them, his own controller in hand.

“What games do you have?” Langa asked as Miya switched from the cable to the switch on the television set with the remote, shrugging.

“I have stuff like Animal Crossing and Super Mario, but we should probably play Mario Kart or something, since those are multiplayer games.”

“What’s the difference between Super Mario and Mario Kart?” Reki asked curiously, and Miya scoffed.

“Of course a slime like you wouldn’t know the difference.”

“Hey!”

Miya grinned smugly as he booted up the game and Reki grumbled, turning to Langa who only shrugged. Langa reached for the box of gummy worms, taking a few and popping them in his mouth, Reki reaching for the chocolates.

“Which buttons do I press?” Langa asked, inspecting the controller.

“Nothing right now, but this button helps you accelerate and you steer with the joystick,” Miya explained, pointing at the controller as Langa nodded. He showed it to Reki as well and they selected their characters and karts, Miya finally starting the race once they were all ready.

They took off, Miya almost immediately taking first place while Langa and Reki struggled to stay anywhere close to him. Reki and Langa moved their controllers around as they moved, strained looks on their faces while Miya remained completely calm and just moved his thumbs on the controller, easily retaining his winning spot.

“How are you so good at this?!” Langa cried out, running into a wall.

“He’s probably cheating!” Reki whined, getting hit by a red shell.

“I’m not cheating, I’m just better than you slimes,” Miya said cockily, and Reki sent him a glare, which turned out to be a mistake as he got stuck in last place. He groaned in frustration as Miya chuckled, taking first easily as Langa came in seventh, with Reki in dead last.

Miya looked at Reki and Langa one at a time, the same cocky grin on his face as he looked at them before he reached to the table, pulling out a few chips and munching on them, the grin never leaving his face. 

Reki glared at Miya as he started the next race, and an idea popped into Reki’s head. He glanced over at Langa and winked at him, Miya too busy focusing on winding up his kart, and Langa looked at Reki confused. Reki pointed at Miya and winked twice, hoping that Langa would catch on, but the race was already underway, and Langa was now too busy trying to catch up to Miya to figure out what Reki had been suggesting.

Langa weaved through racers, obviously having learned from the previous race and was now right behind Miya. Miya looked over at Langa quickly before throwing a banana behind him that he had been saving, knocking Langa out who groaned in frustration.

“That was just rude!” Langa said, trying to regain his second place status and failing.

Miya only chuckled, and Reki decided to put his plan into action. He waited until he was at a part of the race where he was going straight, not needing to steer, and reached over to scribble his hand up Miya’s side. Miya squeaked, jumping up and nearly dropping his controller. A few people passed him, including Langa who now took first place, grinning happily from ear to ear. 

“Okay, now that was cheating!” Miya complained, quickly catching up to Langa once more when he felt a prod at his other side from Langa. Miya squealed, twisting away and falling behind again, now Reki having passed him. Miya grumbled, trying to catch up but only managing to squeak and flail as Langa and Reki poked him every so often.

The race eventually finished, Langa in first, Reki in second, and Miya in dead last. Miya puffed his cheeks and turned to Reki, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

“You’re such a cheater! I totally would’ve beaten you slimes if you didn’t cheat!”

“Hmm, but you still lost Miya… Do you know what happens when you lose~?” Reki sang, wiggling his fingers at Miya. Miya started to back away from Reki, only bumping into Langa, who was also wiggling his fingers.

“Grab him.”

Miya was about to jump off the couch and run but Langa already had his hands on Miya’s hips, squeezing as he pulled him back down, making him squeak. As soon as he was back on the couch Langa hooked his arms under Miya’s, holding them up and exposing Miya’s torso. Reki grinned, pouncing on the dark-haired boy as his screeching laughter immediately began to echo throughout the room.

“STAHAhahahap! Stuhuhuhupid slime! Let me gohohoho!”

“This is what happens when you lose to a bunch of slimes!” Reki teased, scribbling his fingers all over Miya’s ribs, poking and prodding between each one as Miya kicked his legs around, nearly hitting Reki.

“Whoa there, almost hit me!” Reki said, grabbing Miya’s legs and squeezing his knees, only making him kick more as he cackled.

“Not thehehehehere! I hahahahate you!” Miya wailed, Reki traveling back to Miya’s torso and digging his hands under his arms, making Miya squawk as he kicked furiously, knocking Reki in the gut. 

“Oof! Alright, you asked for it!”

Reki got up slightly positioning Miya’s legs in a leglock, sitting down on them so he couldn’t kick anymore. Langa let go of Miya, who instantly started to try and claw at Reki before Langa buried his hands under Miya’s arms, making him screech and fall back against the blue-haired skater.

“NOHOhohoho! Not yohohohohou too!” Miya exclaimed, squirming from side to side and flopping like a fish out of water as Langa continued to scribble under his arms as Miya practically screamed with mirth.

“Tickle tickle, Miya,” Langa teased, his voice sounding unenthused despite the huge, amused grin on his face as Miya thrashed beneath him, his face bright pink as Reki grabbed onto his socked foot, scribbling up and down as Miya yelled.

“NahahahaHAHAHA!! Reheheheki, not thehehehere!”

“You’ll say that no matter where we tickle you! Langa, try his tummy!”

“Ahahahahanywhere but thehehere!” Miya wailed, but Langa didn’t listen. He raised his hands above Miya, who squeaked in fear through his hysterical laughter. Finally, Langa’s fingers dove down, clawing at his tummy as Miya shrieked loudly, bucking wildly and laughing harder than before if that was even possible.

“Wow, looks like someone’s got a ticklish tummy!” Reki teased from his spot as he switched back to kneading Miya’s knees as he tried to kick his legs and get away from the horrible sensations, but he couldn’t. 

“LEHEHeheheave me alohohoHONE! Stuhuhupid slimes!” Miya cackled, his face almost red now as tears started to trickle down his cheeks from the sheer intensity of the tickling.

Langa slowed his fingers on Miya’s tummy, now just tracing light circles as he looked over at Reki.

“Think he’s had enough?” Langa asked, slightly concerned with how Miya was wheezing and laughing as hard as he was.

Reki glanced over at the feline-like boy, who was clearly exhausted by the tickling he had just endured. Reki shrugged and nodded, figuring he had definitely sustained more tickling than needed and got off of him, Miya panting heavily between them.

“Y-You two are the wohorst,” he said, a few giggles still escaping his lips as he laid between Langa and Reki, who only chuckled at him. Langa ruffled his hair and Reki poked his tummy a few more times, making Miya whine.

“Let’s play one more round, and no cheating this time!” Miya finally said, picking up his controller. Reki and Langa nodded, picking up theirs as well before Miya started their final race, winner takes all!

[bxllafanficc]

¡Skate/sing your hearts out! (Yuri Plisetsky x reader)

(part four)

Part one. Part two. Part three. Part five. Masterlist

Summary:After last year's cancellation of Figure Skating Grand Prix, Yuri Plisetsky finds himself unable to bring out his inner skater after a year of doing nothing but enjoy life like a regular teenager. That's when you enter the picture; We Are Voice Grand Awards's currently hottest competitive vocalist come first place two years in a row. Just like the other competitors of Grand Prix, it turns out that Victor and Yuuri faces the same issue. With an arrangement between Victor and Yakov, they agree to travel to Japan and hire you as a mutual coach for Yuri and Yuuri to help bring back the emotion into their performances like before, maybe even more intense than ever. Yuri however, who's never experienced issues with his coaches before, for some reason finds this one particularly difficult to coexist along with in their (reasonably) odd partnership. Warnings: none

*Your POV*

Your eyes scanned through the fully stocked room that came to be yours a couple of days ago. Fairly large and a great window where the sun came to welcome you each morning. Not even the blinds could stop it. Now it was fairly dark inside since the sun was about to go down. You reached for the light switch and scanned through all your products and belongings for things that you could possibly move somewhere else.

The grunt of the Russian skater behind you caused you to turn around. As you did, he stopped and returned your stare, as if waiting for you to announce something. There was a lot that you needed to clean up. If you had known that you'd be expecting a roommate, you'd already have done so. Guess Victor forgot to mention that too, eh?

The visible twitch in the corner of your left eye was impossible to force back. Just at the mere thought of unintentional (?) screwups of the one and only Victor Nikiforov. Now, just because he was your childhood friend, it didn't mean that he wouldn't receive a massive ass-whooping if he as much as repeated the same mistake three times the same day now the few remaining hours of the day. If only you could get that message through.

And, you kind of did. Just not to the man you intended. Yuri at the receiving end of your stare was just about to open his mouth to say something, what you assume, sour when he noticed the twitching of your eye. Surprisingly, it shut him up before he started. He kind of shielded himself behind one of his bags and eyed you carefully.

Shit, wrong Russian dude.

"Sorry, that was meant for Victor." You let out a sigh and helped him with one of his bags out in the hall. You got a simple nod from the boy just before you passed him in the doorway.

He's been acting all quiet and confused ever since you tended to his wounds. Was something you said unclear? Maybe you should make sure the two of you were on the same page. 'Later...' you thought.

Yuuri and Victor hurried to the entrance of your room with a couple of more bags.

"So what do you think about it, Yuri? Pretty special eh?" It was Yuuri who spoke up, probably just as an act of friendliness. Though, you could understand how a punk like Yuri might take it as teasing.

"I'm not staying here. There's- there is no way I'm sharing a room with another person. I should have my own room. Why can't Victor and (Y/n) share a room and I get my own?!"

Ah, there he is. You were starting to get worried that he might actually turn nice. Then you'd have to call an ambulance just to ease Yakov's mind if he ever found out.

"With that thief? Nuh-uh. He already owes me an entire bottle of lotion, a mascara and a lipgloss. And for some reason, my throwaway razors are gone too. I'm not endangering any more of my stuff to him!" You shot a glare at Victor but he intentionally pretended not to hear nor see you. Seriously?

"Just lock them up or something, I don't care. Maybe I should just sleep on the couch. Give me one reason why it's worth sharing this room with you."

You didn't really know why you felt so opposed to the thought of him sleeping on the couch. You should be relived that you wouldn't have to share room with The Russian punk. But you still mumbled the one sentence after taking a brief moment to carefully word out your reason.

"What did you say?"

"... I have a cat."

The silence following almost made you feel like the scene of these weird soap operas that streamed on tv once in a while. But you did have a cat. A beautiful sacred Birman with the eyes of an ocean. And you knew about Yuri's fascination with them. Victor mentioned it somewhere along the lines when discussing his arrival days ago. And if you had to give him one reason, then that would be the one. It's probably the only reason too.

"Where." It wasn't a question. It almost made you giggle but you kept a straight face. Victor who knew the reason behind your words, almost cracked under the pressure.

"He's probable sleeping under the blanket on my bed, as always-"

Yuri pushed Victor aside with a stern 'move' and headed for your bed. A little anxious, you followed him through the entrance, afraid that he would be like one of those crazy catpeople who never stopped bothering their cat. You worried because you were one of those people. But because your cat was rather clingy too and you always had a bunch of stuff to do daytime, it kind of evened out the contrast. Two crazy people were too much, you figured.

"Well, we'll go off now and let you two bond now. Don't forget that we're having afternoon tea in an hour!" And with that, Victor and Yuuri was out of the picture. For awhile.

A round uneven pile under you blanket made Yuri stop at the end of the bed. You stood beside him as he lifted the blanket, revealing the fuzzy ball that was your cat. Round eyes stared up at the both at you and the cat stretched it's back, making a 'u' position.

"His name is Magnolia. You'll have to apologize to him for interrupting his sleepy time though." You half expected Yuri to scoff at your statement, thinking you were taking the animal too seriously. But the baby voice he used to communicate with Magnolia next almost had you taking a step back.

"Hi, Magnolia... 'm sorry, pretty boy. You'll have to forgive me, I'm afraid." He kept on talking to the sleepy cat as he extended a hand for him to smell. Magnolia yawned and gave the hand a sniff before sitting up, eyes intensely staring into the boy's soul. You could tell by the hesitation of Yuri's petting hand that he really wanted the cat's approval. He cat kept staring him straight in the eyes which usually means bad. Though, the purring heard from his belly said the opposite. You finally relaxed a little. Magnolia is very picky with who gets to touch him and you were expecting a bite, honestly.

"He's always been so stare-y... I've figured that he only stare at people he like or something he finds very interesting." You crouched down beside Yuri and rested with your arms at the bedside.

"Like owner, like cat, I guess then. I feel like he has the exact same piercing gaze you gave me earlier." Yuri grinned smugly at you and turned back his attention to the ball of fur who stood up, stroking its back to your chin. A little heat rose to your cheeks and you hoped Magnolia covered it up well enough with his body. It was kind of true. And you couldn't really deny it. You always did watch things a little to intense. But just because you found people very interesting, always seeking to improve your understanding and emotional range at any given time. So you shrugged your shoulders and coughed a little when the cat made sure to get his butt all up in your face too. This habit, you had noticed, was a trait almost every cat held within them.

"You're going to object or what?" Yuri caught your attention again and Magnolia moved away from your face just in time. So he was expecting some kind of denial.

"You're not wrong... You've just got the wrong idea of it."

"What do you mean?"

"You should probably start getting yourself settled here. We only have one hour."

"You didn't answer me." Yuri's remark left unanswered as well as you stood up and threw a bag at him. A light 'oof' slipped through him as the heavy thing hit him right in the stomach.

"Hey!"

You grinned and opened another bag, pouring the internal onto the floor. Tons of clothes splattered on the floor. Everything in-between black training clothes to underwear and a pajamas with cat prints. A keychain with a chibi cat and a stuffed animal of a tiger fell out on the floor lastly on top of the pile. Yuri quickly made his way to the clothes and gathered them in his arms, trying to hide them away. It was worth taking an extra look at the blush staining his cheeks. You wondered if you'd just met a fellow catmerch fan as instense as you. No, this was far crazier than you! Especially as you recognized the keychain being a print of his own cat that you'd seen on a social media Yuri Plisetsky fanpage once.

"Y-you can't touch my stuff! Nor see it!" His voice was a good blend of anger and a thick stain of embarrassment.

Maybe it wasn't ideal poring someone else's belongings onto the floor. But you knew that look that Yuri bearded only moments ago. The cat had taken him as his loyal servant and Yuri wasn't intending to move until he had satisfied Magnolia's every need. If you let that happen, it would take the entire hour you had to clean up the room. And you clearly didn't have that time.

"Just hurry up and help me then if I'm not allowed to touch it!"

"Fine! And move your stupid clothes and stuff over to your half of the room!"

(A/N: Shoutout to my cat who gave me the entire butt-in-face idea through experience. I really owe you one, you little jerk<3 Also, what have you thought of the story so far? I bet you Victor has planned a familiar exercise for tomorrow's day of training. Just a little helping hand to get Yuri back into shape, y'know;))

[daesungfmd]

hwang daesung + skateboarding! 

headcanon 5  /  wc: 955

daesung’s been skating since early 2014 (quick story: started skating because he saw skateboards on the set for impulse’s debut music video and suddenly decided He Wanted to Learn!), but his first year of major improvement didn’t come ‘til 2019 because impulse’s promotions finally slowed down that year (kind of) and he had more time to go fuck around at skateparks.

but not being ~good~ didn’t mean he took it any less seriously. the moment that he decided it was a hobby that he WASN’T going to drop within a month (shocking!), he started collecting boards and learning how to do his own set-ups, trying to learn abt the history of skating just ‘cause he was interested!

quickly became his second love after music <3 

has always looked for every opening to practice skating. brings his current favorite board w/ him when impulse goes on tour, practices in parking lots, goes street-skating when he can’t sleep at night, etc. obsessed with constant improvement

also likes skating whenever he can because it helps him NOT think!!! that shit is so rare for him, like... his mind moves a mile a minute and most of the time, it’s ~whatever~ but it’s nice to have something he can do that actually gives him some happy static in his brain for once!!!!!!

even though he’s been skating for seven years as of january 2021, most people (mainly fans) still think he’s really bad at it </3 fair enough because all behind the scenes footage of him fucking off with a board is JUST that. fucking off. looking like a fool. and he mainly posts his fails on his social media. but what ppl don’t understand is that you can be a good skater and still eat shit! if you’re pushing yourself, you’re gonna fall... that’s the fun of it. but he just lets his fans (and whoever else) tell him he sucks and that he’s a poser in the comments because it’s funny

shows off every once in a while if his pride is wearing thin

prefers alien workshop, evisen and santa cruz decks

doesn’t really have a fave skatepark? he switches it up pretty often to keep his fans from figuring out where he likes to hang out & he also likes to just go street-skating sometimes so he’s all over the place

honestly not that big of a deal because he blends in pretty well anyway! tends to wear hats (mainly bucket hats and safari hats) along with a facemask, so his face is covered well enough that no one’s gonna think he’s an idol?? even when it isn’t, he lets his hair grow out when he isn’t promoting, doesn’t rly shave unless he has to so the stubble comes out and doesn’t wear any makeup on off-days other than eyeliner so all of his flaws are out in the open </3 just looks like your average scruffy skater boy, esp when he’s hanging with other skaters

ofc he IS still an idol, though, and he DOES still have fans, so he’s been spotted quite a few times. usually really chill about it, will definitely sit and talk with fans if they agree to not go talking about it to everyone. will even skate w ‘em if they skate

what does daesung carry in his skate bag, you may wonder? too much shit, probably. skate tool, wax, extra parts, mini first-aid kit, headphones, portable charger, box cutter, snacks, money, extra clothes, towel, painkillers, shoe goo for quick repairs. used to shove a bunch of water bottles in there, too, but eventually realized it’s more convenient to lug around a 1gal jug of water that he can refill at fountains or... wherever. also used to carry spare shoelaces but now he wears his spare shoelaces as a belt LMAO

this mf makes friends so easily when he’s skating! super supportive, will help people with tricks if they ask or will just offer moral support. not the type to catch an attitude or rage-throw / break boards. just there for a good time

lies about his identity a lot RIP no hate to idols but sometimes he doesn’t wanna feel like one!!! “oh, my name?? i’m hyunwoo”

so sometimes he’ll go to a skatepark after Not going to that particular place for a while and people will be calling him by random ass names and he has no idea they’re speaking to him....... it’s ok tho he’s just an airhead

definitely the type to attempt tricks that he has little to no chance of landing and just do...... stupid things..... want to know what it’d be like to push a ramp up against that shed and drop in from the roof but don’t want to do it yourself??? daesung will!

as a result... he eats shit a lot. as i mentioned above, falling is a given, but he takes BAD falls simply because he’s impulsive and likes to take risks (+ wants to show off and is willing to try even if the chances are slim). always has some weird scrapes and bruises going on. acts like he doesn’t know why his joints hurt and then goes and acts like a crash test dummy in his free time

it’s really a wonder that he hasn’t gotten a bad injury yet

doesn’t usually listen to music when skating. has a lot of friends that he skates with and if he’s not with his friends, he’s usually at a public skatepark. the nice thing about the skater community is that they’re SUPER friendly people (usually) and they absolutely WILL talk to you (usually) if you’re giving the same vibes back out, so he likes to keep his ears open for communication

but sometimes the vibes are sour or he’s street-skating by himself, so here’s an idea of some of daesung’s favorite songs to skate to:

molly // mindless self indulgence  ·  oops! // yung gravy  ·  witapoke // kylof soze  ·  money machine // 100 gecs  ·  king // impulse  ·  like that // doja cat  ·  vacation // bambam, luga  ·  hot mess // cobra starship  ·  when i grow up // the pussycat dolls  ·  in the ayer // flo rida, will.i.am  ·  back foot // dinosaur pile-up  ·  burn it up // iamnot  ·  movinglikeazombie // ericdoa  ·  that’s rock ‘n’ roll // green day  ·  dragula // rob zombie  ·  aquaman // beenzino  ·  chanel // frank ocean  ·  noizy // sik-k  ·  blew // nirvana  ·  jealous // eyedress  ·  shake it off // taylor swift

[thepencilnerd]

- 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲 - 1

➳ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

➳ Pairing: Mark Tuan x Reader 

➳ Summary: AU! The members of GOT7 take a year off from being idols and decide to go back to school. Mark is the jerk with a temper, but what happens when he meets a girl with an attitude to match his own? 

➳ Genre: AU, fluff, angst, enemies to lovers

➳ Word Count: 1.4k

➳ Warnings: Swearing, bad manners

♪ Gravity- EDEN 

a/n: Masterlist & links to other parts can be found @ my main URL

“Which genius thought it was a good idea to go back to school?” Mark whined for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour.

Jinyoung nearly raised his fist at him before being held back by Jackson, forced Jaebum, Young-jae, and BamBam to stifle their laughter. Yugyeom had gotten a free pass and was sick at the dorms, but the other six were huddled together and walking to campus.

"JYP said it’d be a good idea to come back when we grew as ‘normal people’ and not just as idols, so going to school and being a normal person makes sense to me. Don’t you think?"Jackson tried to reason calmly. 

"The only thing that makes sense about this stupid mess is the fact that we all have the same classes. Other than—”

“If he talks one more time, I swear to god I’m going to pound his face into a rice ball,” Jinyoung seethed.

Young-jae was somehow the voice of reason in the situation. “It’s just for a year, you guys. I think it’s a good opportunity for us to take a break off of our workload and have some fun.”

“I hear college parties are pretty cool.” BamBam was currently admiring himself in his compact mirror that he carried around and Jackson would smack the back of his head every once in a while, annoyed at the fact that he was only paying attention to the conversation that had the words ‘girls,’ ‘party,’ and ‘drinks’ in it.

“Screw you guys,” Mark muttered. Unhooking his skateboard from his backpack, he cruised down the campus sidewalk, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from those idiots as possible.

The boys looked at each other in confusion, wondering if they had said anything to tick him off or annoy him. “And I thought I was in a pissy mood,” Jinyoung chuckled, his mood finally lightening up and trying not to laugh at the eldest’s childish manner. However, the second oldest quickly assured them that it was not their fault.

“He’ll get over it, guys. He doesn’t even know where the classrooms are, so he’ll be waiting for us at the gate,” Jaebum laughed lightly. “Come on.”

Making more jokes about Mark’s temper and the potential opportunities the situation could bring about, the six boys couldn’t help but smile brightly and enjoy a sense of normality that they hadn’t felt since their high school years.

“I’m going to fail. I’m going to fail this class. I’m going to fail this freaking class and it’s only—”

“No, you’re not, Claire.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Claire,” I said while grabbing my best friend by the shoulders and forcing her to sit up. “You’re not going to fail. I’m not going to fail. Neither of us is going to fail this class. Yes, the professor is a jerk and grades like a bitch, but you have me and I have you, so stop freaking out, calm down, and let’s finish hanging up this stupid poster so we can get to class. Okay?”  

Her wide eyes stared into mine as the edges of her lips perked up into a smile and she nodded her head. “What would I do without you, mom?”

“Probably have a mental breakdown every two days?” I chuckled, angling the banner to the right every so slightly so that it was straight and even.

“Whose idea was it to be on school committee this semester?” Claire teased.

I scowled at her jokingly, reminding her that we both needed extra volunteer hours just for this semester. “Last time I checked, we made a pact in 4th grade that if one of us goes down, we’re bringing the other with us. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

At this remark, she puckered her mouth and went back to smoothing out her side of the banner. “Welcome back students,” she read. “Couldn’t they have come up with something a little more—”

“Spunky?” I offered. “Motivational? More enthusiastic to disguise the fact that this fall semester is going to be the epitome of Satan’s den?”

“Hmm, something like that,” she shrugged

Laughing at her convincingly sarcastic tone, we grabbed our backpacks and walked out to the central part of campus where we had to go our separate ways. “I’ll see you at lunch?” I double-checked while giving her a hug.

“I’m paying for coffee this time,” she winked, running off before I could make a rebuttal saying that I would pay. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes, thinking about how much I would have to endure this semester. I could do it—right?

Just as I turned my head, a figure on a skateboard came speeding towards me. Rather than focus on what was in front of him like a normal sane person, he directed all of his attention to his phone. Before I could let out a scream, he collided into me with a grunt, causing the both of us to fall backward and roll down the slope of the grass that outlined the concrete pathways.

I groaned in pain at the weight that was on top of me. The figure, now clearly a boy, quickly rolled off of me and onto his back, also groaning at the accident that had just occurred. A group of guys-—probably his friends—came rushing towards us but they all seemed to be more worried about me. One of them helped me get up while the other picked up and dusted off my backpack. I brushed off the grass that was flaked across my sweater and quickly thanked the bunch of unfamiliar faces and faced the boy that was still on the ground.

“Are you okay?” I asked first, displaying the manners that my parents had instilled in me since I was a child. He said nothing and simply scoffed he stood up and picked up his skateboard, shooting me a death glare once he finished swiped off the flecks of soil from his shirt.

“Did you break anything?” I asked again, trying to get some kind of response from him. After checking if he had any visible injuries and only receiving a lingering glare, I still apologized, even though I knew it wasn’t my fault and told him where the nurse’s office was.

“Sorry about him,” one of the dark-haired boys who helped me up apologized. “He’s in a bit of a sour mood today. First day at a new school and all.”

I smiled warmly at his kind nature and willingness to apologize for his friend’s mistake. “It’s okay. I just hope he’s okay.”

“You’re quite the saint, aren’t you?” he chuckled. “I’m Jaebum.” Shaking his hand, he briefly introduced the names of his friends, including the one you crashed into; Mark.

“Nice to meet you all,” I greeted shyly. “I have to get to class, but I guess I’ll see you all around.” They all replied with smiles and waves, except for Mark.

Skater boy was the first to walk away and I took that as a sign that he was fine. His friends quickly patted him on the back as we parted in opposite directions, but not before I heard him mutter ‘idiot’ under his breath in Korean.

“Hey!” I scoffed and paced toward him and his friends. “Usually when you run into someone, you’re supposed to apologize first, not the other way around. Second, if you’re going to insult someone, you need to make sure that you walk far away enough to the point that can’t actually hear you insulting them. Third of all, if you’re going to insult someone, go all the way and add in a few swear words here and there. Don’t just half-ass it and play safe.” My words came out in a flurry of Korean that I didn’t even know I had in me.

Scanning the expressions of him and his friends, all of their mouths were gawked open and their eyes wide with astonishment.

“You—you speak—” Mark stuttered.

“Yes, Einstein, I speak Korean—fairly fluently too.”

“Do you—” he huffed in annoyance, face contorted in astonishment. “Do you even know who I am?”

I stared at him with agitation and disdain. “Am I supposed to know every entitled and preppy asshole that walks around on campus?”

Jaebum and his friends tried to suppress their laughter, but they came out as snorts instead. Mark was still in shock and looked like I just slapped him across the face with a dead fish.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to class.”

As I left him standing in bewilderment, I mentally patted myself on the back for somewhat controlling my temper and silently prayed that I wouldn’t have to deal with jerks like him again for the remaining duration of the semester.

[vspirit8]

Figure skating: Bunch of thoughts based on recent comments I came across

Warning: Long post ahead (apologies to those who are scrolling through on your mobile devices) 

I came across a comment that praised Chen for his mental strength, which isn't wrong, because the kid does have it in spades, but then they also go on to say that Hanyu's is weak because he lets things affect him too much. Which isn't technically wrong per se but....

...seeing their performances during their short program at the Olys side by side and their individual circumstances coming into it, I find it hard to make sense of this claim. I see the point that they are trying to make but I think they may have mental strength and mental fortitude mixed up and they also have a very one dimensional, or perhaps, selective view of what mental strength is. 

Chen is mentally strong in some ways, not in others. Meaning he's strong in coming back quickly from disappointment, but he can't hold it together during the moment of truth where the stakes are at their highest and the competition its strongest, and only seems to be able to perform at his best when he doesn’t have as much pressure or is relieved of it. Hanyu, on the other hand, has proven time and again he can perform very well under extreme pressure, despite his lack of mental fortitude at other times. Chen, like a lot of other skaters, so far seems to implode at the first sign of disaster during his performance, while Hanyu and even to some degree Uno, are able to leave their mistakes right where they made them and focus on delivering what's left of their performances as best as they could most of the time. I say most of the time because there were times when they did implode almost all the way through. But when they did, it wasn’t because they lost focus due to mistakes. It was due to other reasons that they weren’t able to save the rest of their performance (e.g.: rhythm loss due to tech change or bad mentalscape right from the get-go).

Both Chen’s and Hanyu’s strengths and weaknesses are trade-offs of one another and results have shown that Hanyu's less common brand of mental strength (Chen's type is more commonly found) and, uh, acute sense of competitiveness, is the more effective one in getting the exact final result one truly wants.

Uno also has an enviable and less common sort of mental strength that sees him with less of a tendency to get affected by outside influences, something that is especially handy to have as an athletic competitor (and something that Hanyu most definitely doesn't have despite everything else he does have--Medvedeva, however, has it in spades), but the guy himself has acknowledged that what he has is different from what Hanyu has. He can block out pressure by being so immersed in his own little world he remains unaffected, but he also mentions that, had he had to suffer the same kind of pressure and attention Hanyu has been shouldering for years and expected to deliver results on top of it all (this is also something Medvedeva also seems to be able to do) then he's pretty sure he'd be out of the race pretty quick. Say what you want about the kid's jumps and sleepy attitude, but like every elite athlete, the guy knows himself, because he is right and has proven that he does buckle under pressure when Hanyu isnt around to shoulder most of it like he was originally supposed to (JNats ‘16, GPF '17, JNats ‘17 & WC '18#). And while mental strength is good and all, I think the real secret behind these athletes' success is knowing exactly what both their strengths and weaknesses are.

Since I'm talking about mental strength though, I wouldn't undermine Hanyu's one. He may not be able to block out noise as effectively as others nor can he effectively shut off his brain when skating (he only managed it like, what, once?) plus he may take defeat harder than most others (though not in the sour grapes sort of way but more in a self-punishing way), but when he comes back, he does it swinging three times as hard. Possibly harder. In fact, he swings back so hard, it’s more than enough to make all the difference for him to win it all at the end of the day. So if anything, I'd be afraid of it. And would never underestimate it. Not as a viewer, and especially not if I'm a competitor.

There was also talk that if Chen and Hanyu were to both skate clean under the new rules and scores, Chen would likely come up on top due to the trend of judge's scoring so far this season. To a certain degree, I actually agree. It's entirely possible that a clean Chen with all guns blazing can beat a clean Hanyu who doesn't put out ammo to match because that's how the game is played. This was how Hanyu himself had gotten ahead of past rivals who had been ahead of him. Chen may not have beaten his record that he achieved with less quads but that was also during the era before Chenflation so if both skaters skate clean and Hanyu breaks his previous record, there is no guarantee that Chen with his bigger guns won't get even more simply because judges are compelled to score him as such. From what I observed, scores are relative and aren't given according to what's actually put out (or not put out) on the ice. Miyahara's scoring at SkAm is the latest perfect example of this (higher tech score and lower PCS than she truly deserves). Far from being ashamed and apologetic about it, though, they are making it more obvious, as if they are showing the world what they are really about and there's nothing anyone can do about it. And they'd be right. 

Everything is upside down and inside out when it comes to figure skating, and it's not even at random, so let's not delude ourselves that ISU and the sport they govern over will suddenly become the epitome of clean. Nothing that depends on judging ever is. Hanyu certainly hasn't deluded himself and that is a huge part of why he is able to win--or almost win--the biggest comps, season after season. Strategy based on information you gathered on the environment is key. You don't whine about it. You play their game according to their rules and if you're able to outsmart them (and get this, they're really not all that intelligent), you win. Zagitova did just that last season.* Easily. Not that what she did was easy, quite the opposite, but her strategy, although not easy to pull off, was an excessively simple one. If Tutberidze was testing out a theory with Medvedeva and Zagitova, she was proven right. 

Hanyu himself knows this. Which is why he had the 4lo, his biggest weapon at that point that Chen doesn't properly have himself, ready at hand during the Olys. If Chen had skated his SP clean, he wouldn't have held back on his own ammo, wonky ankle be damned. And if both Hanyu and Chen skated clean with their biggest ammo at hand, based on how judges are forced to judge Hanyu when he's at his very best in the past, I still think the edge would go to Hanyu because when two top competitors are head to head, then it's the little things that count. This is something that Hanyu had accounted for and worked into his winning strategy from Day One, even before all these trigger-happy skaters came out from the woodwork. The guy has what a lot of these shortcut athletes don't: rock solid foundation on both his tech and other performance-based aspects, that judges will be forced to take into consideration when they can't use other things as leverage to justify their scoring.

So, in a scenario where both skaters were to skate clean but only one uses all his ammo, the one with the bigger BV may just win simply because of that. But in a scenario where they both have high BVs with only a slight difference between said BVs, and where both skated perfectly, Hanyu will win not just because he is the better skater. It's because he knows what's inside the judges heads and is able to use it. To me, this, and not his skating skills, is Hanyu's true strength.

*Clearly Chen's and Uno's strategy doesn't work for Zhou, like he was hoping it would. Whining about it won't do much because at this point, it just sounds like he's making excuses for himself for giving judges room to doubt him in the first place, and angry they they chose to doubt him instead of giving him the benefit of it. If he truly wants to get somewhere in this sport, he might want to consider taking a page off Hanyu's and Zagitova's** books instead. It is infinitely harder but you get more control over your results. If he can't pull it off, it's simply because he lacks the ability to and that's no one's fault but his own. I know it sounds harsh but that is the reality of the world and situation he's in. He apparently won't be one of the lucky few who can apply shortcuts and make it work. But if he's able to come back with honest to goodness improvements and gain results in that way, then ultimately, he'll be the luckier one. If he's as wise as he seems to want people to think he is, he should be able to come to this conclusion.

**Admittedly, Zagitova's strategy is slightly different than Hanyu's in that hers also has elements of Uno and Chen's strategy of blinding judges with tech prowess (or so-called tech prowess  in Uno's case, but he seems to have other things to blind the judges with, like nice upper body movements). So Zagitova may not be able to bank on her strategy like she did last season as it was wholly designed to game the last system. Her basics aren't solid enough to enable her control even after a system change/revision but she does have her OGM rep so she may be able to completely cross over to Uno’s and Chen's strategy instead. We'll see.

I mentioned Medvedeva in passing when talking about mental strength because that girl is the epitome of it if I've ever seen one. However, what she doesn't have is a rock solid foundation that sees her with few skating flaws. If she manages to fix at least half of them and get her natural mental strength back into gear, she may just stand a chance against the upcoming lady quadsters, if they still have their quads when they turn senior (and Kihira, if her prowess with the 3A also stands the test of time).

#EDIT: I’ve struck WC18 off the list because it has been brought to my attention that it is not like the others on it. That mistake-ridden performance apparently had less to do with Uno succumbing to pressure and more to do with his injuries and not being in an ideal mindscape to overcome them earlier but was able to snap back into it enough to deliver the last bit of his perf (jumps that he apparently also had trouble with in practices but was able to nail during the performance itself). Having only seen that performance once and not being in the habit of seeing practices and warm-ups of any skaters, I might have been too hasty in my judgment of that particular performance. Thanks to those who corrected me. :)