#atp I am wondering if it’s all worth it

[digitaltohru]

I can’t do this anymore

[killerpillar]

any book recs? looking for something to hold me over inbetween your updates! anything you’ve found yourself pulling inspo from for your fic or that you think a fellow levi fan would love?

hi!!! ofc, i've got plently of fic recs, i'm pretty sure i've read 80% of all levi fics on ao3 atp😭 I sadly have not had the time to read as many fics nowadays like I used to, but here are some of my all time favs!!

(also i apologise, my summary skills are terrible and so it's just me gushing over the fics for a whole paragraph🧎‍♀️)

Death's Door by SongsOfApollo

one of the first fics I read, and a fic that has literally never left my brain since then. It's amazing. It's very popular so I'm sure you've heard about it already if not read it, but if you haven't, it's a must read!! levi x doctor reader!

Dust, Diamonds by maokitty

the best way i can describe this fic is that it drove an iron stake through my heart multiple times, pulled it out, then delicately rearranged the pieces and stitched it back together with gentle fingers. take it how you will but after a certain chapter i stopped reading it bc it was too painful, and then came back two months later to finish it off AND I AM SO GLAD I DID.

A River Of Three Crossings by maokitty

this fic literally ruined my life it was so fucking good but its incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2020 i am SO SAD. but please read this, it's so good, so heart crushing and sweet and amazing I love it sm

ALSO I JUST FUCKING REALISED ITS THE SAME AUTHOUR WHILE WRITING THIS LIST😭

reciprocal sin by captain-hawks (@captain-hawks)

SO UNDERRATED!??! must read, i cannot say anything else but READ THISSS. its a kinky smutty oneshot so make sure you read the content warnings, but its sooo good😭 amazing writing too!

silver soul by oi_levi

sadly this one is incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2021, but it's brilliantttt. if you're craving some good post-war levi fics, then this one's really good!!

also read In the Land of Gods and Monsters by them for a fun time😊

a sip of sunshine by taomyou (@taomyou)

speaking of post-war fics, this one is amazinggg. super cute and fluffy, angsty ending for part 1 (😭) but I know for sure their next part will be worth the wait. also they've got a complete modern au fic called The Romance Of Reimbursements which is so fucking beautiful, definitely read this!!! (also mchs, acoc... yeah just read all of them tbh)

silver underground. by tothestrongones (@amywritesthings)

this one's a recent read, but omfg i cannottt get enough of it. absolutely love this, it's levi x underground reader, amnesia trope done right. 10/10 must read!!!

we all bleed red by littlerequiem (@littlerequiem)

also a recent read, but omfg this fic is so good. it's vampire au, victorian era, slowburn brilliant writing, and healthy communication!?!? no way. checks all the boxes for me😫

Percolate by heichoe

modern coffee shop au, its so good omfg. it's such a cute fic, classic grumpy levi, friends w benefits, lots of smut and the DRAMA gosh. i was so invested, it was so good. (also ur gonna need an account on ao3 to read the fic!!)

this is a story of the sea by shinzouing

this one is levi x erwin x reader (i read it for the levi x reader bc erwin was gonna die anyways lmao) but i fell in loveeee with it!! wonderful writing, amazing story, 10/10 angst & slowburn, a definite must read! (also 20/10 smut, it was so fucking good)

(also literally every fic by wellitcouldbeworse3 on ao3 is amazinggg, check them out if you haven't already. which i'm sure you have, and that is the only reason i haven't listed out all of their fics here😭 The Feeling's Mutual is my fav modern au fic of all time no questions asked)

THIS IS A JUST A FEW!!! if you want more, then feel free to ask, i will gladly rec more <33 and ty for reading my fic btw!! LOVE U LOADS🤗

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 2, episode 2: the running man

day 2 of @tristampparty!! i have less to say about this episode than the first one so hopefully this will be a shorter post than yesterday LOL

iirc this is 98 knives's seiyuu on the radio, right?!!! i am only about halfway through my jp 98 watch and can't recognize him by ear (yet) but i think it's very neat that the original seiyuus have cameos :')

also vash keeping the photo with him What If I Ate Rocks

he is such a kicked puppy of a man

why does roberto say revenge. what does he mean. what does he know. what has he figured out from knowing vash for maybe like a few hours. or is he just throwing that out there without realizing how close he is to the truth. partially, anyway. he didn't guess the savior complex part.

i'm not entirely sure what meryl means by honor...? but money is a pretty normal reason to want a plant, as we've seen and as we'll continue to see.

i like how meryl has a fear of bugs... i can relate lol. i think this character trait comes from the manga when she was kidnapped by zazie and was grossed out? i think here it also serves to reinforce her being sheltered, still unfamiliar with the world at large since worms are everywhere--WAIT HOLD ON.

PAUSE. ZOOM. ENHANCE.

RAI-DEI SPOTTED?!?!??!?! this rewatch is becoming an I Spy game with the wanted posters, jfc.

man i'm so glad i finally downloaded tristamp so i can appreciate the visuals without the crunchiness of streaming video... i can't do the animation justice with just screenshots but i love watching vash scamper around like a... i don't know. he scampers like a cockroach in 98, but this is giving a different vibe. like a... something. like a creature.

i also want to take a second to appreciate how gorgeous the backgrounds are, like,

i loooove the backgrounds, it looks like... maybe a mix of markers and colored pencil... i love the detail and the colors are so pleasing. this is such a gorgeous anime to look at, i don't know how anyone could possibly say it looks bad without them just blindly hating it because it's 3dcg. god i'm getting so distracted looking at the backgrounds that i'm missing the action AND the subtitles LOL

wasn't there a post somewhere that actually calculated how much a bullet is worth based on this information. i don't remember what conclusion it came to. but i'm thinking either food is expensive (tbh, likely) or bullets are inexpensive and vash is just poor (also likely). also it's funny that the dub changed this to donuts. ...where are the donuts at in tristamp anyway...

roberto lmao 😭😭😭😭😭 i guess that's one way to guarantee it doesn't spill

roberto up until this point has acted like meryl is dragging him along unwillingly, but here he's the one telling meryl to get in the car so they can get a move on, lol. yeah yeah we all already know he's actually a softie and that he really cares underneath his aloof demeanor.

which brings us to this scene... i don't want to say that he has vash "all figured out" because obviously he doesn't, but he's got SOME of vash figured out at least. definitely more than meryl atp. he knows vash is running from knives... i wonder how this conversation would have gone if they weren't interrupted.

yeah i don't really have that much to say about this ep, relatively speaking... i don't have any deep thoughts about the nebraskas, they're just comic relief villains anyway, i don't care about them that much, even though tristamp kind of tries to make us care a little bit by the end of this episode...

next episode is gonna be a doozy though. ohohohohohoho.

[castlebyersafterdark]

I never do this, im not even a fan, but the idea of you, vinny, a romantic creative and film appreciator, going to see gladiator 2 having never seen the first is an abomination to me and i must put down my sixpence's worth hahahhaa

PLEASE DONT. see gladiator 2 by all means if you want. but the original is considered a modern classic and was an instant classic when it came out. its still referenced in film classes. it's influenced so many films, mainly in the way the ending pans out (v interesting if youre into storytelling and writing craft...) and also in the way it influenced film scores, and also most famously for the shot that has been Copied A Thousand Times in movies since: the hand thoughtfully stroking through the grass. I'm sure you will have seen this shot in other films and recognise it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enGTk409iQk

its a cliche atp lol

so yeah. i wouldnt even call myself a gladiator fan, seen it once or twice in my life. but the idea of people seeing the second when the first objectively did not need a sequel and is just a perfect complete story that is an icon of cinema... hoo boy haha

Oh wow, I am LOVING your passion!! I'll take your word for it and watch it sometime soon!! It's interesting hearing it's this huge impactful classic when... I don't really know all that much about it? Huh. What rock have I been living under. I literally know nothing about the original. And I don't think it has to do with it coming out when I was a literal toddler, because I know about and enjoy so many movies so much older than it, this is just very interesting. I guess it was one of those things where I heard "Gladiator II? Why is this getting a sequel now?" And had me wondering if it was one of those movies that has barely anything to do with the original. I stand corrected and informed!! If we decide to go I'll make sure I've seen the classic now!! I never knew it was considered an icon of cinema - just thought it was an older action movie. I'll admit when I'm lacking knowledge!!

And oh, totally know that field shot in homage, that's wild. That's such a common shot. Love finding out stuff like that, just assuming it's a oft repeated cliche, but I guess that cliches come from an origin.

[bpdbunnyy4ngel]

yup!!!! not me having spent an entire year thinking of him and only him and preparing myself in my head for a life with him and have smth irl :)))))) bc he kept telling me he was at a real bad place so i waited :)))))) even tho i carefully kept reminding him i love him :))))) but i wasnt worth anything to him and none of my love mattered :))))) and he wasnt even gonna talk to me abt it or tell me abt his feelings and tell me 10 months after i told him what i felt for him that he doesnt feel anything for me :))))))) i am the most pathetic person on the planet :)))))))))))))) i let him break my heart over and over again and then just kept waiting for him to simply talk and communicate with me :))))))) all i ever wanted was for him to be honest and talk to me but he hasnt been talking to me at all only putting more and more distance between us which hurts so bad bc what was between us meant everything in the world to me but means nothing at all to him!!!!!! :D bc he could just let go of it easy peasy and not even think abt it or want to try to talk it out wit me no he could just throw me to the side without even mentioning he was doing that and then just whoosh have someone else :))) while im stuck in this bc once again he has told me that im the only one he did feel even a bit for atp in his life :))))) so i mean i just went off what he told me hahahhaha :)))))) but guess u cant do that bc all ppl do is lie and switch up their feelings without even being merciful enough to talk to u :))))))))))))))) not me wanting to do everything for him and love him and love him but.... thats so humiliating bc i wonder if he even loves me a sliver of what i feel for him. which is .. only how it is. it just hurts that he gave me hope several times only to be cross with smth i did on my blog and punished me by pulling away and not even talking to me and then i just wait to talk to him bc maybe he just isnt in a headspace to do so now :))))) bc he's said he feels things for me and he admitted there was some energy between us but then he just drops it and doesnt even think im worthy to explore it or talk abt anything :)))))) and i keep loving him bc i love him so much even if the way he talks makes me feel like he doesnt really feel anything for me even as a friend :))))) and i kept waiting because i love him so much and only thought he just wasnt able to talk abt things now, bc he has told me and made me feel like he actually does want me in some ways and he has felt things for me but 10 months passed since i told him i was in love w him and wanted to work things thru even if he was struggling and he hasnt even told me anything at all abt what he felt and what he feels and all during this he just has someone else now :)))) i truly am nothing at all im not even worth communication hahahahha i wanna fucking die :)

[lewkwoodnco]

Okay I’m just so proud of this edit I just havee to talk abt some of the scene choices hehe🙈🙈

Mon, pine - ngl i completely forgot this scene existed until I randomly stumbled upon it while looking for some other screencaps and thank god I did cuz it fits SO WELL??? Lucy’s possessed by Annabel who’s talking abt someone else obviously but just LOOK at Lockwood’s face half of him wants to snap Lucy out of it/make sure she stays safe and the other half is just mesmerised by the sight of her looking at him like that. And the dialogue??? YOU LOVE ME, DONT YOU????? And he so obviously does but can’t say it/ is too scared to and it’s frightening to see lucy like this but he can’t look away he’s drinking in the sight like a man starved 😭 just the juxtaposition of lovkwood’s pining and the cheekily on-the-nose ‘you love me don’t you’ line creates this delicious tension ARGH the writers were sick SICKKK for this

Tue, long - as soon as he first laid eyes on lucy it’s like he can’t help but let his gaze linger over her and even though she’s the candidate being interviewed the way he tries to impress her as he gives her the tour (the basement training area, the ‘high security’ storage room, her room in the attic) it’s like you can tell he’s already desperately hoping that she’ll join as if he’s longing for company like hers

Wed, ache - love is nothing if not pain like other than the obvious physical pain of being in such close proximity to a flare explosion etc bro is HURTING with regret for putting her (and george) in danger just cuz he insisted they take the case and now they’re in so deep and its all his fault but also he just wanted to fix the 62 sheen road fallout keep his agency open (it’s almost like he wants to prove to her that he/lockwood and co. is worth sticking with) but it’s all gone so wrong and he’s just drowningggg in physical and mental anguish only love can hurt/ACHE like this frfr

Thu, sigh - but at the end of the day lockwood is still a 16 ish year old boy who sucks at expressing his innermost feelings and doesn’t know how to deal with jealousy in any way other than being moody about it/suppressing it and this scene is like yea these are kids fighting ghosts night after night but for five minutes they get to be regular angsty teenagers and have the air between them hang heavy with unspoken words and it’s all so dumb and frustrating but also they’re teenagers what ELSE are they going to do HHHHHHH like look at his face!!! bro is befuddled. dumbfounded. bamboozled even. (what do you mean you’re going out with Kipps i thought we’ve been playing house tgt what)

Fri, lament - as funny as this scene is it’s oddly sweet how he’s ranting so openly to Lucy and like the way she tries to reason with him (he probably signed the same NDA we did) and he STILL stomps around throwing a fit aurgghh it’s so adorable just kiss already

Sat, crave - just look at him. bro is down bad for every single part of lucy it’s like he can’t get enough of her, he’s not even hiding it here like look at him watch her like she’s the most precious thing in the world ughhh

Sun, yearn - ooh this scene is like the breaking point of all the accumulated hidden feelings and thoughts between them and he’s messed up so badly atp even lucy is properly pissed (where’s that incorrect quote - my girl is mad at me I am going to KILL myself) but he’s just too paralysed by 16-year-old-boy syndrome to respond to her (tho he finally gets his head on somewhat right in the next scene) so he just stares at her and takes the scolding wondering how things got this bad when all he had done was care and love and yearn for Lucy (can’t you see his heart clawing out of his chest to get to her)

Also I think it’s so hilarious that in the scene in the top gif he’s talking to lucy aka the very person that has him BOOKED AND BUSY with longing 😭😭

a week in the life of London's youngest agency head (insp.)

[insideoreoshack]

2.21.2024

things are getting rough again. before i rant fully i just feel so so so insecure? like i hate how heavy i am i wish i was skinnier and yes i do want it faster. i want my stomach to be flatter im tired of all these rolls and double chins i wanna feel petite. one day i will be and i know that but god i wish i could lose that first 10 already. and liking someone who’s been my friend for years i mean holding their hand and getting to lay with them like it isnt fair that they wont see me like that, it feels so secret and yes its fun but my brain just tells me im not good enough to be his. i know my worth for sure, im a wonderful girl i know im funny and pretty and kind hearted but im not stupid. they see the rolls and the stomach and it doesnt matter if i have nice boobs or a fat ass they cant see themselves with me and it hurts, because there will always be someone prettier or skinnier thats why she actually had a chance even though the similarities to me are so obvious shes just skinner and lighter and not as close. i can respect the friendship thing but atp it feels like an excuse after this much flirting, the flirting is only a joke anyway i cant really believe anything he says bc it probably isnt real and its less painful to think hes just joking all the time. hes never serious and he wont ever be serious about me im learning to be okay with that.

in regards to my insecurities, im avoiding mirrors again. my skin is tweaking so i need to wax my face soon again and i wish my hair was straight and just easier to deal with. i cant describe much else without wanting to hate myself but i dont? i try so hard to fix the self narrative but i dunno its hard. idont want to self deprecate or be mean to myself bc i am worthy and i am beautiful but sometimes i do not believe it.

[pinklovedrops]

why valentine’s day of all days.. what was the reason.

I can’t talk to anyone else about you now.. but in here I can. One day, for one day I can miss you. I miss you. I know I shouldn’t considering you broke me apart and u probs don’t care anymore and have forgotten all abt it lmao, but atp I have stopped questioning it. You were my first love, first that mattered anyways. I was happy, so happy.

I found myself going to class through the same path, trying to avoid where I could run into you. Because Idk how I would react, or way scarier, how you would react. Worst part is, even in avoiding you I keep looking for you everywhere, even if I try to stop. I wonder if u would talk to me, if any feeling would resurface no matter how small, if u would come up and say hi or be brave to ask for a hug like u used to.. but realistically, we would pass each other as though we have never met. Funny.

WHY VALENTINES DAY PTM WHY NOT ANY OTHER DAY WHAT A WAY OF MARKING THE DAY 😭

Anyways, all of this is based on the people we were, because I’m sure you’re not the same. And neither am I. So technically yeah, you’re a stranger. A very familiar one at that. Idk why I’m excusing myself omfg i’m the only one now that can see considering i changed my username. Stop invalidating ur feelings waa buts its hard whenever the subject is you bc why WHY did u do me so wrong and somehow I only remember you fondly HELLAUR

How did the poem went mm.. don’t become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere. Smt like that. Do you remember my voice?

Anyways, I guess I just wanted to rant ab you, but i dont have much to say that matters.. I hope you’re living a happy life, that you know you’re worth as I know mine. I hope you don’t settle for less, that you found peace in your house, that you are able to make your decisions freely now. I’m sure you have grown so much, you were confident in it. I’m proud of you.

I hope the best for you, and happiness and giddiness and love and friends and pink!! Happy(?) valentine’s day.. <3

[phantasy-castle]

February 1st, 2023

I didn't have to go to work until 11 today and I only worked two and a half hours. I was kinda bummed the whole time thinking about Rocky; I'm wondering if I should've taken him to the vet on one of those seven days I called out during my last job. Maybe he'd still be around right now.

Then I was told I'm going to back to Lucerne tomorrow at 8. And I'm going to be scheduled there for a while.

Bruh. I was hyped to work at Greenacres but now I'm back at the dog house. Going to be real fun tomorrow to fight morning traffic all the way to bumfuck downtown Lake Worth, seeing all these people I lied to about moving to Orlando six months ago, and likely case and deliver one of the office's shittiest routes (probably 2, 5, 8, 19, 24, or my personal favorite, 15). I'm not placing any bets.

Still better than my last job.

I'm just going to my best tomorrow. I remember the job. Don't really want to talk to anybody though. Just want to get in, case fast as fuck, load my truck fast as fuck, get my route done around 4, probably get my ass sent over to another, help, and GTFO before I reconsider my life choices again.

I mean, it's what I signed up for. I have 40k in the bank right now. If I work hard for a couple months or this year and don't move out, there's a lot of things I could do with my money. Flight school, grad school, a nice vacation... if I can make around 40k more soon and really save, I can probably do that ATP Flight School or something similar. Or I could probably make regular, get off the OTDL, and then use my day offs to build hours.

Dad keeps selling me on the idea. I don't have a plan though; I don't have any specifics pinned down; he doesn't either. He's just keeps telling me that one of his friends can train me and... what? Am I quitting my job or what? I'll come up with something this month. Mom suggests she'll help with financing, like how she helped Dan buy his truck or Katie buy her house. But I don't know. For now, all I know is that my ass is at Lucerne tomorrow. I'm just going to do my best... I guess. I just got my first paycheck of like $950 which is slightly less than a paycheck from the school district, but I worked way fewer hours. So yeah, fuck that place.

Delivering mail, investigating mail, flying... just anything but sitting in a closet all day. Please.

--

I really, really like the visual style of Hi-Fi Rush. Maybe I'll buy it if it's on sale. I like the Scottish chick.

I also downloaded a fancy shader for Minecraft... might feel more encouraged to play it.

[calamitydaze]

heya i was just wondering if u have knowledge on how snapchat works. bc ive seen people saying its possible to retrieve the lost messages, and im wondering if that is the case why amanda hasn't done that? is it that it takes time to retrieve them? or maybe she has access to them but it is going to court so she can't speak on it / post it?

idk this state of not knowing is just awful id rather just have the bad news and leave entirely rather than be in this awful waiting period where i feel i want to leave but i can't until i know the truth. ive been trying to distance myself but its hard :c i hope ur doing as well as u can be, ur posts have been v reassuring to me in the past few days n i appreciate u a lot

hmmm i’ve never used snapchat in my life so i don’t have firsthand experience on what’s personally retrievable? i have seen a twitter thread where someone is able to pull a lot of data including chat logs in a very short period of time, BUT i don’t know if that’s possible in all scenarios and i don’t really want to speculate on why amanda didn’t do that— it’s worth keeping in the back of your mind for sure, but hyperanalyzing everything she does or doesn’t do just feels victim blame-y. (not accusing you of that btw anon! just explaining why i personally don’t feel comfortable). atp if the law is getting involved she likely wouldn’t be able to post them anyway, so it’s kind of a moot point

they would definitely be able to retrieve more through the legal process, though— snapchat’s info for law enforcement says that account records are saved and can be accessed through subpoenas. i’m not sure if the retrievable information would just be metadata— like the presence and time of messages, which would prove their existence but not content— or the actual snaps themselves. because memories exist i’m inclined to say the latter but idk. and only courts can issue subpoenas, so if they settle (i really don’t see them going all the way to court) it might again be moot. basically i’m not sure of anything LMFAO, I Am Not A Lawyer and all that, i just find this aspect of everything really interesting and that’s what i’ve found in my reading about it!

not knowing is the worst part, i 100% feel you. i wish i could just wake up when this is all over and deal with it then. but although i know i’ve been going on and on about knowing the facts and staying updated, you really don’t have to put yourself through this whole circus if you don’t want to, setting screen time limits and throwing yourself into other things can help a lot with forcing some separation. if it helps, i think the waiting will get easier— it just hasn’t had time to fade to the back of our minds yet, so every day feels like torture. take care of yourself! <3

[sabmichell]

vent - may 22

every single time i even let myself think that i’m getting better, some shit happens and i look at myself in the mirror wrong or the wrong instagram ad for a calorie counter comes up or someone says the wrong thing at the wrong time about my body and then i just feel fucking wrong. and it’s like how many times am i gonna be in recovery and relapse before i just either get over it or die??? bc it feels like an endless cycle that idk what the hell i’m doing atp and is it even worth it trying to heal since i’m obvi just gonna end up doing this again. i’ve dropped god knows how many pounds and at least 3 pants sizes and none of my clothes fit me how they used to and i can’t even get up some days without wondering if i’m gonna fall back down, and yet all anyone can say is that the weight loss looks good!! i’m so so glad that me not eating for days is getting validated and i’m so glad that i’m more pleasing to peoples eyes now. this shit is so isolating because all it takes is me looking too hard at a meal and i can’t eat for the rest of the day. one time, devin made a joke abt a drink i had having a really high calorie count and that just made me spiral. A PANERA DRINK JOKE!!!! my god i’m so sensitive for no reason and it pissed me off that it takes basically nothing to send me down a really bad hole of thoughts but i can’t control it so what am i to do. my hair keeps falling out and so do i, i wonder why!!! so fun to want to cover every mirror in the house and not want to be perceived. and the hunger headaches and lightheaded-ness and just everything that comes from this is awful, but it’s validating and it feels like control and like a reward and that’s so bad and it shouldn’t but it does and idk how to stop wanting it

[the-real-xmonster]

The Olympic Ladies’ Queue - Part 1 (Janny and Alina)

@acrownofbloodandroses​ said:

I’m honestly furious the ISU had the nerve to say they heard our complaints about tech over artistry and proposed all those ridiculous solutions when they can’t even use their own judging system properly. Alina’s PCS were an absolute joke. They’ve done Evgenia such a disservice to ignore all her faults and score her higher and higher each time if they’re just going to throw undeserved PCS at the next skater with an amazing tech score and completely undermine her actual strengths. What a mess. 

Anonymous said:

From Zhenya's interviews: Start of the season :" it's meaningless to upgrade tes without upgrading the quality of your performance". After Olympics :" pcs depends on tes, I need to upgrade my tes" . Ppl complain about jumpers without artistry, but it what judges want. What else can skaters do if they want to stay competitive?

is it just janny and alina's pcs that increase rapidly when they turn senior or does every new senior get this, although maybe not as much? i think i saw that janny's pcs went up more than 10 points from worlds jr 2015 to worlds 2016? i might be wrong though 

You're very good at explaining why skaters get some scores from judges, so even if I don't agree on it at first I can stomach it. So help me understand Alina's PCS for her OGM worthy programs especially in relation to the rest of the field?

I think that the skyrocketing pattern in Janny and Alina’s PCS in their respective first senior season is very problematic. Take their FS for example, Janny’s PCS for her FS at JWC15 was 59.21, by WC16, it was 72.34, a 22% increase. Alina’s PCS for her FS was 62.21 at JWC17 and 75.02 at OWG18, another 21% increase. It’s worth noting that neither of their PCS increase was driven primarily by the more technical areas, TR and CO. Their PCS went up equally for SS, PE, and IN - areas which call for certain degree of maturity and refinement and usually take skaters a lot of time and practice to improve. I know some of you would tell me it’s meaningless to compare across disciplines and time periods, but I’d like to point out, nonetheless, that it took Yuzuru Hanyu exactly 2 seasons on the senior circuit to increase his PCS by 20% (69.40 at JWC10 to 83.00 at WC12). You can try re-watching his FS at those two events and shout at me if I’m overly biased, but I do detect a lot of visible improvements in his skating across those 2 years. 

More importantly, in Yuzuru’s example, you’d see that at WC12, after factoring in the increase, his PCS still adequately reflected his ability, at that point, in relation to the rest of his field, most notably, Patrick Chan’s 90.14 and Daisuke Takahashi’s 85.78. I absolute adore Janny, but at WC16, her PCS being as much as 6 points higher than Satoko’s was unthinkable, especially so in SS and IN. Same goes for the free skate at PyeongChang last week, for both Janny and Alina’s score to be that close in SS to Caro's, or their PE, CO, IN to be that close to Kaetlyn's, and that far ahead of Satton’s, is completely baffling. 

The only clearly observable correlation here appears to be between the two girls’ PCS and consistency: the more events they won, the higher their PCS became, which, of course, gives them an edge over the other girls in subsequent events and further tilts the odds in their favor. In Alina’s case, add on top of that her superior base value and you have a pretty much unbeatable formula for success. I am not saying that it has been easy for either of them to deliver so consistently, but figure skating score should be awarded based on the specifics of a performance, not the skater’s entire career history, and I don’t believe the ISU judges are keeping that very important point in mind. 

If I may bring in a different sport for analogy, the ISU judges’ behavior in over-rewarding Janny and Alina in PCS, if applied to tennis, would call for the ATP giving Rafael Nadal an automatic 3-0 start in every set he plays on clay, because he has been so dominant on the surface and they somehow need to reward that by giving him even more advantage by default. Continuing along that line, the tennis equivalence of giving skaters more PCS (and GOE) because they have higher BV, would be giving players double or triple points, for, say, a service ace - it’s a disproportionate reward given to athletes who excel in only one area of the game. Neither of these examples would be remotely acceptable in any sport, and the fact that both are so prevalent in figure skating is a massive issue.

This issue makes the judging inherently unfair, and worse, it incentivizes skaters and their coaches to approach their skating in a highly unbalanced, lopsided manner. Did it honestly come as any surprise to any of you when Janny said she needed to upgrade her TES? Would it shock you if next season she starts to backload all of her jumps in the second half for the FS? She is already very nearly maxing out on PCS so there’s no practical incentive for her to spend more time on it, and her lost at the OG was a direct result of lower BV. With the way judges are behaving, there is no other means for her to win except raising her TES. For the rest of the ladies in the field, they’d look at Janny and what they see is the sheer impossibility of winning a competition on PCS, even if you were a two-time World Champion going up against a 15-year-old who just turned senior. Is it any wonder if we’ll see more and more focus on TES?

That was a very long and tired rant which probably didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know about the current state of figure skating. The scoring in the ladies’ field is a mess (ant that’s not to imply that it isn’t a mess in the men’s field), just thinking about it makes me exhausted. The only thing I want to remind you of, to end this largely pointless post, is that none of these things is any of the girls’ fault. The system is awful and we definitely should continue talking about if, if only on the off chance that us fans’ opinions may actually penetrate the ISU’s layers of bureaucracy, but do remember that none of the competitors is to blame for this mess. 

[kitten4sannie]

raaaa ty for the tag ariadne!! i love to yap so ty for giving me the opportunity <3

first member that caught your attention: mingi mangooo 🥭 specifically during the 2020 mama awards when he opened his shirt and absolutely ate up wonderland i was like WHOAAA MAMA WHO DAT 👁️👁️

second member: captain hongjoong~~ i couldn’t keep my eyes off of him in that one vid where they had to stay still while listening to music. his mullet was so majestic and he’s just so, so handsome i was LOSING ITTT i need him to have a mullet again 🙂‍↕️

first bias: jongho!! back in the day i actually bought a shit ton of fake pcs and filled up like three pages worth of a photo album skskwhw i was down tremendously for baby bear (still am 🫡)

bias wrecker: YUNHOOOOOOOOO i feel so normal about that man so completely and utterly normalllll *eye twitches*

current bias: hmmm i wonder…. 🫣 yeah i’ve been a slave to san since forever and atp just put pudding on my gravestone <33

fave duos/units: woosan hands down,, their soulmate vibes have me clawing my eyes out at every opportunity UGH i seriously love what they have sm. yunsan is a close second bc their dynamic is so RHRHWHW i eat it up every time nomnomnom. then yungiiiii my beloved my heart my everything i need them to get married (platonically or otherwise) i just AARRGHJJHG

first song you heard: answer!! that shit blew me away i was like WHAT IS THAT MELODY??? and then i had to look them up and little did ik i’d end up here 🥹💕

current fave song: EMERGENCY BITCHHH. i listen to it every day before work bc it just emits that big cawk energy that i need to get thru the day ✨ plus im actually obsessed with the way san says la vida locaaa URGHH and ofc WHO HAS GOT MY BACK??? WHOOO HAS GOT MY BACKKKKK?????

current fave mv: oh fuck….. BOUNCY. i want to inject that mv into my veins bro it’s so fucking good i’ll never move on never everrrrrrrr

current fave album: AHHHH it’s a toss up between outlaw and will bc i go back and forth between them constantly

gh song i’m most excited for: all of them ofc but esp excited for work and blind!!! and empty box bc i love to cryy

tagginggg: @bunny4yungi @cottoncandy-girl @stardragongalaxy @svintsandghosts @roodles17 @hongjoongsart @ja3honey @starlitmark @woosanbby + anyone who’d like to join <3

Questions For Atiny:

First Member That Caught Your Attention: yeosang

Second Member That Caught Your Attention: wooyoung

First Bias: seonghwa

Bias Wrecker: yunho^^

Current Bias: can’t choose but ig seonghwa?

Favorite Duos/Units: matz, woosan

First Song You Heard: inception

Current Favorite Song: still here (kr version), precious

Current Favorite Music Video: turbulence

Current Favorite Album/EP: treasure epilouge: action to answer

Golden Hour Song You're Most Excited For: blink, work (got a furr coat so i make it purr)

[wsmith215]

On Behind The Racquet, Noah Rubin brings tennis players’ mental, emotional struggles into focus

“This sport has a way of making you feel irrelevant while at the same time giving you this sense of entitlement … Chances are if you were once ‘talk of the town,’ that will quickly diminish over time.” — Noah Rubin, Behind The Racquet

AS THE CLOCK crept toward midnight and the winds blew off the Mediterranean and into the Puente Romano Tennis Club, Noah Rubin hunted for an escape. It was March 2018. Rubin had just lost his fifth straight professional tennis match, a disappointing two-and-a-half-hour roller-coaster ride that was a microcosm of his career.

The grounds of the chic club, founded by Bjorn Borg on the Spanish Riviera in 1979, had long ago emptied. Groundskeepers had switched off all the lights except for the ones for the court where Rubin had just lost. Security closed and locked up the café. Rubin, more than 3,500 miles from his New York home, gathered his belongings and headed into the darkness. Four courts away, he found a set of empty cement stairs. He sat down. And began to cry.

Fifteen months earlier, there had been another walk, onto the famous blue court of Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for a second-round Australian Open match against Roger Federer. Rubin threw everything he had at Federer that sweltering January afternoon. After breaking Federer’s serve in the third set, he instinctively pumped his fist and screamed “Come on!” The outburst irked the tennis great, and Federer stared through Rubin during the subsequent break.

2 Related

“I was like, ‘I pissed off Roger Federer,'” Rubin said. “How amazing is that?”

Rubin lost in three sets that day but won the belief he belonged. A little more than a year later, after this first-round qualifying loss on the ATP Challenger Tour, tennis’ version of the minor leagues, the swagger was gone, replaced by anger, embarrassment and a plummeting sense of self-worth.

“I just didn’t feel I was worth anyone’s time,” Rubin said.

The story is a common one in tennis. Young star tastes the big time but struggles to escape the clutches of the game’s proving grounds. It’s a grueling climb, one athletes rarely discuss publicly until it’s over. Their competitive shield is too thick, the fear of vulnerability too strong. Rubin believed he had the talent — and work ethic — to be a top-50 player and build a comfortable life playing the game he loved. But he couldn’t crack the top 150 and was barely breaking even.

“I could just sort of feel my soul slipping away,” he said of that night in Spain. “I just sat there thinking, ‘What am I doing that I’m so upset and so miserable on the tennis court?’ It was my lowest point. It was also a beginning.”

“People forget we aren’t robots. People see this fantasy world and guess that everything is kind of perfect. There are true struggles that each and every player deal with that are far more important than winning or losing.” — James Blake, Behind The Racquet

NINE MONTHS AFTER the disappointment in Spain, Rubin sat in his childhood bedroom in Long Island, jet-lagged from his most recent trip to the Australian Open. It had been another up-and-down stretch for Rubin. He temporarily numbed the pain of six straight losses with an August 2018 upset of fellow American and then-No. 9 John Isner. But he then began 2019 with a second-round qualifying loss in Melbourne.

“He was down on himself and struggling, big-time,” said Tallen Todorovich, Rubin’s agent. “He was this blue-chip recruit who thought he would show up and have immediate success.”

Noah Rubin defeated Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, among others, on his way to the 2014 boys title at Wimbledon. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

As the clock pushed past 3 a.m., Rubin scrolled through Instagram while watching “Inst@famous,” a Netflix documentary about social media influencers. He thought about “Humans of New York,” the social media project turned New York Times bestselling book profiling random New Yorkers blurred in the shuffle of the largest city in America. He wondered about applying a similar concept to tennis players lost in the pursuit of their on-court dreams.

The idea was simple, combining his passion for tennis, photography and journalism. Athletes would pose for a picture hiding their faces behind the strings of their racket. Then, in their own words, they would reveal the human struggles behind chasing greatness. Within an hour he had a name, “Behind The Racquet.” He quickly registered Instagram and Gmail accounts and purchased the URL https://bit.ly/2LKyq8l for $750.

On Jan. 19, 2019, Rubin posted the first picture for the project. It was a shot of himself, his face slightly blurred by the lime green strings of his racket. Below the photo, he revealed his greatest fear: letting down the people closest to him. It was an emotion he felt from an early age in a tennis-loving family. Rubin’s grandfather, a self-taught tennis star, passed the game on to Noah’s father, who put a racket in Noah’s crib when he was 1.

Noah’s dad was his coach early on, and Noah saw him lose work after his boss would give him an ultimatum about choosing the boy’s tennis tournaments over his work commitments. He saw his mom, who worked in education, sacrifice her summers to work at a local sports facility so Noah and his sister could receive free lessons. Then he saw his parents’ marriage fall apart. They divorced when he was 12.

“I always felt this yearning to pay my parents back,” said Rubin, now 24. “I would ask myself, ‘Am I doing enough for all their time and effort? Is all this worth it for them?’ Tennis is one of the most financially grueling sports. We were not wealthy. We were fine. But they used basically hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for this. That’s tough.”

To the outside world, it all seemed worth it. By the age of 7, Rubin was beating kids five years older. By 12 he was competing internationally as one of the top-ranked players his age. Then at 18, with his dad watching from the stands, Rubin won the Wimbledon boys’ championship. Lawrence Kleger, the director of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, tagged Rubin the best player to come out of New York since McEnroe himself.

It all led to a young man growing up fast. A young man sitting in his childhood bedroom on that January night in 2019 still trying to process it all. His place. His purpose. An understanding of what happiness and contentment actually looked like. Why was the game he loved making him so miserable? He’d begin to find answers through sharing the struggles of others.

“Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn’t want. … I was just lost. I was confused and overthinking if this was what I wanted or what others did. It took many moments sitting, thinking and crying.” — Coco Gauff, Behind The Racquet

IN THE 16 months since launching Behind The Racquet, Rubin has shared more than 135 stories while building a following of more than 40,000 people on social media. The posts have shown the human side of sport, shining a spotlight on everything from eating disorders and speech impediments to the death of a parent and battles with depression and anxiety.

“These are humans. They have pitfalls,” says retired American tennis star James Blake, who has contributed to the site. “It’s great for young players to get that perspective. In the past, it was all kept secret. But this will help so many realize they’re not alone. It’s OK. And it’s a positive to get help.” Blake believes the pressure in tennis and other individual sports is unlike any other.

“That’s why some of the best talent isn’t always the best performer,” he said. “Every tennis player can tell you about a guy who beat them in practice but couldn’t put together the results when it came time to perform.”

Rubin does the interviews for most of the posts, then paraphrases those conversations into the subject’s voice. In one of his early interviews with his friend Darian King from Barbados, Rubin discovered that King had lost his mom in 2010 to pancreatic cancer, which he did not previously know.

“I stopped the interview,” Rubin said. “I just felt so sorry. I felt like an awful friend. But it wasn’t on him or me. It was on everybody. There just isn’t a platform to feel comfortable talking about things like that.”

Noah Rubin has featured Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova and other stars on Behind The Racquet. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

In early 2019, Rubin connected with Jolene Watanabe, who upset Jennifer Capriati in the 1997 Australian Open. Watanabe was fighting appendix cancer and wanted to spread a message of hope and resilience. Rubin planned to run the post a few weeks later. But then he received a message from Watanabe’s husband, Sylvain Elie. The couple had just returned from the Mayo Clinic, and the news was not good. Doctors told Watanabe she had two weeks to live. She was saying her final goodbyes. Elie asked Rubin whether he could put her on Behind The Racquet before she died.

“She was basically bedridden,” Elie said. “She wasn’t using her phone that much. I told her you might want to check Behind The Racquet. She was emotional about it. It meant a lot to her.”

Added Rubin: “Here’s this dumb idea I had jet-lagged, and it becomes one of someone’s final wishes. I can’t even compute and articulate what that means. If anything, it just shows I have to keep doing this.”

In April, L’Equipe, the daily French sports newspaper, included Rubin as one of six active players in its list of the 20 most influential people in tennis. The other five: Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. The paper referred to Rubin as a “lanceur d’alerte,” a whistleblower.

There’s now a Behind The Racquet podcast, merchandise and long-term talks of a docuseries and a tabletop book. Rubin hopes to share the stories of athletes in other sports while also connecting with Talkspace, an online therapy platform, and developing mental health camps through the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“It’s grown into something far bigger than I could have imagined,” Rubin said.

“It always affects me when people judge without any thought. It is one thing to argue but to think your opinion is the best never makes sense.” — Daniil Medvedev, Behind The Racquet

IF THERE’S ONE thing all professional athletes know, it’s that everyone has an opinion. For Rubin, it started with the passive-aggressive comments of neighborhood parents when he would miss a birthday or bar mitzvah for a tennis tournament. As a professional, it’s become the gamblers, who Rubin says reach out on social media with everything from “Your mom should die in hell” to “Hitler should have killed your people.” “The most racist, homophobic, sexist, anti-Semitic comments you can imagine,” he says. “It’s incredible.” Now the topic is Behind The Racquet. There are those who insist Rubin is complaining because he is not good at tennis, others who suggest Behind The Racquet is a distraction getting in the way of his tennis potential, and still others who insist just the opposite, that tennis is getting in the way of Behind The Racquet and his mental health work.

“Everything changes depending how I played that day,” he said. “I’m always like, ‘Just pick one, people.'”

Ignoring some fans’ wishes, Rubin intends to continue pursuing both his tennis passion and his work in mental health awareness. Barrington Coombs/Getty Images

For now, Rubin’s plan is to pursue both lanes. It’s become normal for Rubin to compete at a tournament and have a competitor tell him that he appreciates the site or that he’s thought about how he would share his own story.

“On the most basic of levels, it’s gotten people to think about these things, maybe even speak to others about them,” he said.

Rubin has spent the coronavirus pandemic back in New York with his girlfriend, practicing on the streets while using his free time to focus even more on Behind The Racquet. He says he has more than 30 interviews in his queue.

On a personal level, he has finally found a balance of happiness and contentment. His game is as strong as it’s been, he insists. And even when he does inevitably struggle, he has learned how to handle it better.

“It’s become an extreme form of therapy,” he said. “You have these deep conversations and begin to understand there is more to life than tennis. There’s more to tennis than tennis. And you can’t give up your happiness to get to the top.”

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[thisdaynews]

Premier League predictions: Lawro vs tennis star Andy Murray

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/premier-league-predictions-lawro-vs-tennis-star-andy-murray/

Premier League predictions: Lawro vs tennis star Andy Murray

Liverpool took the local glory in Wednesday’s Merseyside derby but who will be celebrating when the red and blue halves of Manchester meet on Saturday?

“Manchester City are still a very good team – that has not changed just because they have had the odd bad result this season,” said BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson.

“They would love to beat United, and they are the better side – so that is what I think will happen.”

Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.

This week he is up againstformer tennis world number one Andy Murray.

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Murray predicts big win for Man City in derby

Murray’s grandad played for Hibs so he grew up as a fan of the Easter Road club.

“The whole family supports them so I used to go to a lot of games,” he told BBC Sport.

“It has always been difficult to watch them when I am travelling because the Scottish league is not on around the world, whereas with the Premier League you can see it anywhere.

“So I follow Arsenal now too a little bit but, yes, I am definitely into my football. I used to play a lot when I was younger, but I had to choose between football and tennis when I was 14 or 15.

“It is difficult to keep doing both and commit enough time to both of them, but there is a lot of stuff about football that I miss.

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Wimbledon and World Cup 2014: Murray’s amazing keepy-uppy skills

“I like the team element and playing alongside your friends, but at that age it was a lot easier for me – because they had a ranking system in tennis from the age of 12, I knew really what level I was at in terms of European standards.

“Whereas with football, I was all right in my team, but I was probably rubbish in the grand scheme of things so I am glad I made the choice to go for tennis.”

Murray could still have a future in football, however, if he follows up his past addiction to Football Manager by moving into the dug-out in real life.

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Andy Murray tells BBC Radio 5 Live about his injury, rehabilitation and return to tennis

He explained: “I played a lot of Football Manager growing up – it killed a lot of time on the road – but it also became a bit of an issue when I was staying up late to play it.

“I had to cut back a few years ago. When I was in Spain, myself and a friend would have two teams each – we were staying up until 3am, and we would start training at 8am, so I had to stop playing it.

“As far as football coaching goes, I have been asked if there were any other jobs I would be interested in doing, and I would like to do something in sport.

“Football is something that has always interested me and, it would be a fun thing to try.

“A lot of people think they could do a good job, and that they know what teams should be doing, but there is a lot more to it than that.”

‘Resurfacing’, the story of Murray’s return from major hip surgery at the start of 2019 to win an ATP title less than a year later, is available now to watch on Amazon Prime.

Premier League predictions – week 16 Result Lawro Andy SATURDAY Everton v Chelsea x-x 1-1 1-2 Bournemouth v Liverpool x-x 0-2 1-2 Tottenham v Burnley x-x 2-0 2-0 Watford v Crystal Palace x-x 1-1 1-1 Man City v Man Utd x-x 2-0 3-1 SUNDAY Aston Villa v Leicester x-x 1-1 1-2 Newcastle v Southampton x-x 2-1 1-1 Norwich v Sheff Utd x-x 1-1 1-2 Brighton v Wolves x-x 2-1 0-1 MONDAY West Ham v Arsenal x-x 2-0 1-1

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth10points. The exact score earns40points.

LAWRO’S PREDICTIONS

All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless stated.

SATURDAY

Everton v Chelsea (12:30 GMT)

Things just went from bad to worse for Marco Silva so it was no surprise to see him sacked by Everton on Thursday. Whatever he tried, it was just not working.

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Silva says pressure has led to his players making mistakes

Duncan Ferguson has been named as the Toffees’ temporary manager for this game and I think we will see a reaction from their players, just because there will be someone different in charge, even if it is not Silva’s permanent successor.

Chelsea are going well and picked up another three points against Aston Villa but, now they have made the change, I just fancy Everton to get something from this one.

Lawro’s prediction:1-1

Andy’s prediction:1-2

Bournemouth v Liverpool

In contrast to Everton, whatever Liverpool do at the moment just keeps on working out for them.

I was at Anfield for the Merseyside derby and my thoughts when I saw Jurgen Klopp’s much-changed side to face Everton can be summed up in one word – ‘gamble’.

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Jurgen Klopp pleased with ‘sensational’ Liverpool goals

It paid off though. I understand the players he brought in had been working extremely hard in training and Klopp just thought ‘fresh legs, give them a go’ and it could not have worked out any better for him.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, are struggling. They have lost four league games in a row, with their latest defeat coming against Crystal Palace’s 10 men on Tuesday – I don’t see them having any joy here, either.

Lawro’s prediction:0-2

Andy’s prediction:Liverpool have won a few tight ones lately. 1-2

Tottenham v Burnley

Burnley are another team to have hit the buffers a bit, suffering back-to-back home defeats against Crystal Palace and Manchester City.

Tottenham did not really get going at Old Trafford in midweek but I am expecting them to be far better this time. If so, they should win pretty comfortably.

Lawro’s prediction:2-0

Andy’s prediction:2-0

Watford v Crystal Palace

It looks like Watford’s interim manager Hayden Mullins will still be in charge for this game as the Hornets search for their third manager of the season.

This is a tough game for Mullins, because Crystal Palace are going great at the moment.

But Watford are at home, and the fact they are going to appoint someone soon might bring something extra out of their players. They might be wondering who is watching.

Lawro’s prediction:1-1

Andy’s prediction:1-1

Man City v Man Utd (17:30 GMT)

I know United played very well in their win over Tottenham on Wednesday, and that they have had some good results against the bigger clubs this season.

But from their wins over Chelsea and Spurs to their draw with Liverpool, those results have all come at Old Trafford, and they have still only won once away in the league – at Norwich.

City were impressive as they beat Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday night and for Gabriel Jesus to score twice was more good news for them.

Lawro’s prediction:2-0

Andy’s prediction:If Paul Pogba were to be back that would help United a little bit, but I am going with City. 3-1

SUNDAY

Aston Villa v Leicester (14:00 GMT)

Leicester are on a fabulous run – they have won their past seven league games since losing at Anfield on 5 October.

But their results mean people are realising what a good side they are and they are reacting to the threat they pose by making plans for them.

I think teams will realise they cannot be open against the Foxes because they will undo you on the break.

If Villa do keep things tight, I think they will pick up a point.

Lawro’s prediction:1-1

Andy’s prediction:1-2

Newcastle v Southampton (14:00 GMT)

Saints are on a good little run with seven points from their past three games but I’ve been impressed by Newcastle recently too and they are starting to allay any fears of relegation.

Their home form was not great at first under Steve Bruce, but they have only lost once under him at St James’ Park and their results there will have helped him win the fans over.

The Magpies got a very good win against Sheffield United on Thursday night and I am backing them again on Sunday.

Lawro’s prediction:2-1

Andy’s prediction:1-1

Norwich v Sheff Utd (14:00 GMT)

Sheffield United slipped up at home to Newcastle in midweek but they are still unbeaten away in the league, although they have drawn six of their seven games on the road.

I am going to go for another draw for them here, although I am not really convinced by Norwich.

The Canaries looked like they were turning a corner until they went to Southampton and lost on Wednesday, and they really need to start building some form at home soon.

Lawro’s prediction:1-1

Andy’s prediction:Sheffield United have been on fire. 1-2

Brighton v Wolves (16:30 GMT)

Wolves have not lost in the Premier League since 14 September, and are clearly a very well-drilled side with a clever coach in Nuno Espirito Santo.

They have scored some important late goals in that time too, which is a useful habit to have, but I just have a feeling that their run will end here.

Brighton will cause them some problems – the Seagulls will have to work hard to hold out though.

Lawro’s prediction:2-1

Andy’s prediction:0-1

MONDAY

West Ham v Arsenal (20:00 GMT)

Both of these teams have got problems, but Arsenal’s away form is probably the biggest issue here.

The Gunners’ defending is not getting any better either and, if West Ham turn up for this one, I think they will win.

Until Arsenal appoint a manager, it is difficult to know what direction they are going in – but it appears to be downwards at the moment.

Their chances of securing Champions League football for next season by making the top four are starting to look remote.

Lawro’s prediction:2-0

Andy’s prediction:They are both struggling at the moment. Let’s go for a draw. 1-1

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

How did Lawro do last week?

From the midweek fixtures, Lawro got five correct results, including two exact scores for a total of110 points.

He beat University Challenge star Bobby Seagull, who got six correct results, but with one exact score, for a total of90 points.

+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO’S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION TEAM P W D L PTS +/- 1 Man City 15 14 0 1 42 +2 2 Liverpool 15 13 2 0 41 -1 3 Chelsea 15 11 2 2 35 +1 4 Tottenham 15 10 4 1 34 +4 5 Arsenal 15 9 4 2 31 +5 6 Leicester 15 8 3 4 27 -4 7 Man Utd 15 7 5 3 26 -1 8 Burnley 15 6 3 6 21 +4 9 Wolves 15 6 1 8 19 -4 =10 Aston Villa 15 5 3 7 18 +6 =10 Everton 15 5 3 7 18 +8 =12 Bournemouth 15 5 2 8 17 +2 =12 Watford 15 5 2 8 17 +8 =12 West Ham 15 5 2 8 17 +3 15 Newcastle 15 4 1 10 13 -4 16 Southampton 15 3 3 9 12 +1 17 Brighton 15 3 2 10 11 -4 =18 Crystal Palace 15 2 4 9 10 -11 =18 Sheff Utd 15 3 1 11 10 -9 20 Norwich 15 0 5 10 5 -1

GUEST LEADERBOARD 2019-20

Score Guest leaderboard 160 Gabriel Luna 140 Arnold Schwarzenegger 100 Adam Peaty 90 Helen Housby, Jo Harten, Bobby Seagull, Geraint Thomas 87 Lawro (average after 15 weeks) 80 Stephen Graham 70 Michael Johnson, Craig Mitch, Alex Scott 60 Sonny Bill Williams, Stefan Ratchford 50 Chelcee Grimes, Reece Parkinson, Sam Warburton 40 Stephen Fry, Neil Jones, Tommy O’Dell 30 Seth Rollins

Total scores after week 15 Lawro 1,310 Guests 1,100

Read More

[zonechin48]

How To Keep Your NAD Levels Elevated (Without IVs) For Staving Off Aging, Cellular Health, Full Body Repair & Much More.

From pills to creams to meditations to exercises, it seems there is a multitude of oft-confusing ways to avoid aging out there. You may know I’m a bit inclined toward ensuring I research some of the more off-the-beaten-path methods of anti-aging and am happy to be the guinea pig who takes cold showers, does stem cell treatments, monitors my telomere length, and injects, swallows, and mainlines many different safe vitamins and well-researched anti-aging health supplements to see what works and what doesn’t. Of course, I also do incorporate many of the natural and free strategies I talk about here. 

Among the many things you may have seen me talk about in my quest against aging is NAD (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) and experience with 8-hour IV drips of NAD and faster NAD push-IVs.

After all, when we talk about anything relating to aging, what we’re really talking about is cellular degeneration. Many of the signs of aging are often just the symptoms of a failing cellular mechanism or mitochondrial damage. And what do many cells need to operate at peak health? NAD. It’s crucial to many of the processes a cell carries out which benefit our bodies in numerous ways. This is why I believe increasing NAD in the body should be a top priority for anyone trying to support their health as they age. You’re about to discover why, and how to do just that.

The Signs Of Aging

There’s nothing like discovering your first gray hair or looking into the mirror and realizing even when you stop squinting the lines around your eyes stay put. The signs of aging are abundant, and yet you may not be noticing the less obvious warning signs that should be convincing you it’s time to take action to prevent the decline in health and body that occurs as you grow older. You may have already seen or are on the lookout for any of the following easy-to-notice physical signs of aging that can be determined even without the type of bloodwork I talk about here:  A Deep Dive Into How To Interpret The Results Of Your Blood Testing – Ben Greenfield Reveals & Walks You Through His Laboratory Results From WellnessFX.

Hair Loss/Thinning – More hairs going down the drain than usual during showers or finding more strands in your brush or on your clothes.

Hair Graying – Transition of hair color to either gray or white depending on your genetics.

Receding Hairline – Male-pattern baldness or thinning at the temples.

Turkey Neck/Sagging Skin – Loose skin you can gather between your fingers or even just the hooded eye skin drooping its way down your eyelid.

Sagging Breasts – Your bosom may simply not quite stand to attention the way it used to.

Sun Damage – This includes everything from spots on your hands, face, and shoulders to dryness and “leathery” skin.

Fine Lines And Wrinkles – Some of them become less “fine” than others and the grooves only get deeper as the years go by.

Bunions – From years of wearing the wrong footwear or walking irregularly due to injury, risk for these tend to increase with age.

Yellowing Teeth – Even if you lay off the coffee and wine, enamel depletes with age and your teeth show the signs of a weakened state.

Decreased Testosterone & Growth Hormones – Along with this comes decreased drive, sexual dysfunction, hot flashes, mood swings, and a host of other unwanted side effects.

Insomnia and Bad Sleep – Your circadian rhythms get thrown for a loop as you produce less melatonin.

Forgetfulness and Memory Loss – Not to be confused with Alzheimer’s, dementia or any major mental illness, but a decline in cellular energy means your brains have less cognitive power and begin making errors.

Weight Gain – Usually this has more to do with a lack of energy, a lowered metabolism, and bad diet, but finding it harder to lose or maintain weight is also part of aging.

General Fatigue – This is (in many people’s opinions) the worst symptom of aging and involves losing the energy to exercise, keep up a social life, and even do meaningful work (which just feeds into the myth that we become less capable as we get older).

Everything mentioned above is only the eventual outward symptoms of what’s happening inside our bodies at a cellular level. As you age, your cells decline in their ability to be able to resist stress and damage, resulting in a gradual loss of cellular function that leads to many of the physical issues listed above. So it stands to reason that if you can prevent cellular aging, you can prevent the signs of aging in general.

A molecule called NAD can help support cellular health. Even if it can’t solve every problem associated with aging, it’s worth learning more about.

What Is NAD?

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD, is a coenzyme discovered over 100 years ago by scientists studying fermentation. NAD aids in the cell’s process of turning nutrients into the energy is necessary for metabolism. Your cells turn the energy stored in the food you eat into cellular energy (ATP). As part of the whole assembly line of operations that occur within a cell to get your organs to function, NAD is a crucial factory worker. If you appreciate your heart pumping, lungs breathing, muscles contracting, food digesting, etc. then you already have a healthy appreciation for NAD and the cellular energy it helps to produce.

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The second role this molecule plays within our cells is to boost the activity of sirtuins, which are important proteins used by cells. When sirtuins are activated and doing their jobs, they support cellular maintenance and repair. Sirtuins have been implicated in influencing a wide range of cellular processes like aging, transcription, apoptosis, inflammation and stress resistance, as well as energy efficiency and alertness during low-calorie situations. Sirtuins can also control circadian clocks and mitochondrial biogenesis.

So your cells need NAD and your body is capable of creating it, but as you age, your cells take on a lot of stress and NAD is rapidly consumed as the cells cope. Metabolic stresses such as overeating and consuming alcohol can contribute even further to the depletion of NAD. Worse still, NAD decreases as we get older – a 60-year-old is likely to have half the count of NAD that they did at 40.

So now you’re probably wondering what’s the best way to get more NAD, aside from the costly IVs I’ve spoken of already, and discuss in detail in my last two podcasts with Tom Ingoglia here and here, and also in my recent podcast with Dr. Craig Koniver here.

Preclinical research shows that exercising and calorie restriction can both aid in upping NAD levels. These are two strategies I already advocate for and just make sense as part of a holistic health regimen. However, one of the easiest ways to naturally increase NAD without an IV is via supplements, more specifically the B3 vitamins I discussed here in my podcast with Dr. Charles Brenner (but as you’ll discover later, not all B3s are created equal when it comes to producing NAD).

Through its essential role in cellular energy production, NAD contributes, in early cellular stages, to basically every bodily function we notice or don’t notice but appreciate subconsciously. Here are just a few ways our bodies use NAD each day:

Exercise Performance and Recovery – When we exercise, cells in our muscles go to work generating boatloads of cellular energy. NAD is crucial to this process. After a workout, NAD also helps restore muscles and aids in the work cells perform to build muscle. Our ability to recover from workouts, a thing that seems to get harder as we age, is reliant on NAD doing its job. And working out is essential to avoiding declining muscle mass, another common component of aging.

Processing Alcohol – NAD is required for both of the chemical reactions that detoxify alcohol in the liver. Drinking can lower the liver’s NAD resources as the liver processes the alcohol we’ve consumed. You may notice it takes less alcohol to induce a hangover as you get older or that a little alcohol goes a long way and it’s easier to get tipsy or outright drunk, even accidentally. Obviously, I recommend discretion when drinking and a healthy self-awareness of your limits, but also understanding how your cells help you to bounce back when you’ve had a bit too much comes in handy.

Skin and Sun Exposure – Skin is the largest organ of our bodies and thus requires a massive amount of cells and cellular regeneration to maintain. Your skin is exposed to quite a few stressors, the sun being our skin’s most bitter enemy if overexposure to UVA and UVB occurs. NAD activates certain proteins in skin cells to help signal when and where sun-related damage has occurred. It’s no coincidence wrinkles are among the earliest signs of aging. A wrinkle is basically a line of skin cells that have lost their ability to hold up the skin and have thus caved in. Interestingly, a recent preclinical study with mice linked the appearance of skin wrinkles directly to cellular mitochondrial health.

Circadian Rhythms – It isn’t just the earth that’s set on a very strict 24-hr schedule – your bodies also rely on daily rhythmic biological processes to keep you going. These circadian rhythms are integral to overall metabolism and health.  NAD aids in cells maintaining their daily rhythms by helping to regulate circadian clocks at the cellular level. When faced with the mass confusion of facing a time zone change or spending too much time in the dark, our cells work overtime keeping up those rhythms. As long as our cells keep up the pace, everything can readjust and get back on schedule. When we don’t, boy do we feel it.

Breathing & Oxidative Stress – There are sometimes ways we can give our hardworking cells a break. After all, you do have the option of giving up alcohol or getting more sleep to rejuvenate yourself. But one thing we can’t stop doing is breathing and delivering oxygen throughout our bodies. As this oxygen is consumed by cells, free radicals can be produced that lead to oxidative stress. And the air you breathe contains more than just oxygen. Other sources of free radicals include air pollutants, chemicals, cigarette smoke and other issues I discuss in my last comprehensive article on air pollution. Fortunately, NAD and its molecular cousin NADP can arm your cells to counteract this stress and mop up free radicals.

To figure out how to get more NAD into your cells, you must first understand how vitamin B3 contributes to NAD.

Understanding The Vitamin B3s

There are actually 8 different vitamins that make up the B vitamin complex, one of which is B3. B3 vitamins are precursors to NAD, meaning they are basically ingredients that your body uses to create more NAD through cellular chemical processes. But there are three forms of B3, and the newest one to be discovered, nicotinamide riboside (NR), is the one scientists are getting especially excited about.

The B3 most people are familiar with is niacin (nicotinic acid). Niacin is available in supplement form and is also ingested in food because it is found in eggs, yeast, fish, meat, milk, green vegetables, and cereal grains. Since the 1930s people have used niacin for treating pellagra, which is a B3 deficiency caused by a lack of diet variety. However, niacin has the very annoying side effect of skin flushing and can create a red, warm face, an overall feeling of body warmth and tingly fingers.

The second of the B3s is nicotinamide, also known as niacinamide. This one’s much like niacin, but minus the painful skin flushing and without the useful cholesterol-lowering capabilities. Although it’s an NAD precursor, it deactivates sirtuins, those very useful longevity genes I mentioned earlier.

Then there’s nicotinamide riboside (NR), the most recently discovered B3 and a unique B3 when it comes to producing NAD. I interviewed the man who discovered the pathway that converts NR to NAD, Dr. Charles Brenner, on my podcast and got the skinny on exactly why NR is the superior B3 vitamin and all the benefits that it produces by supporting healthy, well-functioning cells.

NR serves as an NAD precursor and also activates sirtuins to jump in and do their job. Plus, it doesn’t cause flushing. Trace amounts of NR are found in milk, but you’d have to drink a heck of a lot of it to get the benefits of NR and in my opinion, the calories and high amounts of dairy proteins aren’t worth it.

TRU NIAGEN, The NAD Superbooster

If you listened to my podcast or read the transcript of my talk with Dr. Charles Brenner, you probably know a bit already about the supplement TRU NIAGEN, a B3 supplement in the form of NR. After Dr. Brenner discovered that cells can use NR as a precursor to NAD, interest in his work soared. Nutraceutical company ChromaDex licensed the patents for NR from Dartmouth College and asked Dr. Brenner to be their Chief Scientific Advisor.

Together they developed TRU NIAGEN, an NR supplement that has been clinically proven to increase NAD levels. By increasing NAD, TRU NIAGEN promotes cellular energy production. One capsule of TRU NIAGEN contains 150mg of the active ingredient NIAGEN nicotinamide riboside chloride, a patented and FDA safety-reviewed form of vitamin B3, as well as the inactive ingredients microcrystalline cellulose and hypromellose.

There have been over 150 scientific articles published around NR since 2004, many of them reflecting the positive effect NR has on NAD production. These include more than 100 preclinical studies published on the science behind NR and more than 20 human clinical trials published and ongoing. Specifically, the active ingredient in TRU NIAGEN, “NIAGEN nicotinamide riboside”, has been studied in four published human trials, which is more than any other NR supplement you’ll hear about.(See trials 1, 2, 3 & 4) From those trials, TRU NIAGEN has proven to safely and effectively increase NAD. NIAGEN has twice been successfully reviewed under FDA’s new dietary ingredient (NDI) notification program and has also been successfully notified to the FDA as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Summary

Currently, I take 1-2 capsules NR TRU NIAGEN in the morning, then again in the afternoon (it works best when taken twice a day to support normal circadian rhythm). I still do the NAD IVs too, but I use the NR in between the IVs to maintain my levels as high as possible. I also take extra NR after drinking more than two glasses of alcohol, traveling across multiple time zones, or any time I’ve put excess stress on my body.

You can get NR from TRU NIAGEN, and for your convenience, below I’m including all posts and podcasts I’ve done about NR or NAD in the past should you want to take a deeper dive.

–The Next Big Anti-Aging Drug: Everything You Need To Know About “NAD”.

–How To Get Your Own Vitamin and NAD IVs, The Truth About Umbilical Stem Cells, Peptide Injections & Much More With Dr. Craig Koniver.

–Advanced Muscle Building With Science: How To Biohack Body Composition With Stem Cells, NAD & One Workout Per Week.

–The New Darling Supplement Of The Anti-Aging Industry (& The Truth About Whether It Actually Works)

–Biohacking Alzheimer’s, Age Reversal, Young Blood, Stem Cells, Exosomes & More!

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for me about NR or NAD? Leave your comments below and I will reply!

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Source: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/anti-aging-articles/elevate-nad-levels/