#junior japan 2017

[figureskatingcostumes]

Riku Miura and Shoya Ichihashi performing their Charlie Chaplin themed free program at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

(Source: David W. Carmichael)

[cheriladycl01]

Best Secret Santa - The Grid x Driver! Reader

Plot: in which everyone wants to have Y/N as their secret Santa because she is the best gift giver and never fails to make peoples day by going above and beyond for it!

2017

“So Y/N this is the first year of Secret Santa, how excited are you!” The F1 interviewer asks!

��I’m so excited! I love gift gifting it’s one of my love languages to show people that I know them, and I listen to them!”

“Okay are you ready to open your gift then?” She asks pushing forward a small bag that had presents wrapped up very nicely inside. You take the bag and look at the wrapping paper, it was well wrapped and good quality.

You open the first which feels as if it could be a wooden box but doesn’t really indicate what it could be.

You see that you were correct and a wooden box with your favourite paint brand is there on the top. You unclip the clasp that’s holding the lid down seeing the various paints.

“Oh this is a good present, but not many people know that I paint on the grid.

“Who knows you paint in the grid?” She asks you.

“Hmmm Romain Grosjean, K Mag, Kimi”

“So do you think it could be one of them?”

“Maybe… potentially Kimi, he knows me very well and has really helped me as a Red Bull Junior Driver and in my Rookie Year this Year”

“I think if you open the second present you’ll know who your secret Santa is” she explains and you take the second present of the table, it was pretty weighty but not as heavy as the paints.

“This feels like a book, like a hard back” you say as you start to tear into it. And it was, it was the Romain Grosjean book.

“It’s Romain!! He’s my Secret Santa?” You look at the F1 with a massive wide grin making her smile back at her!

“Wait, come with me” she becons the lady and camera crew to follow her. She walks through the building they are all in, in Abu Dhabi until she finds Romain.

“Romain, Romain wait up wait up” you shout running after him making the camera crew follow!

“Ahhh i see you received my gift!” He exclaims and she pulls him into a thankful hug.

“Please can you sigh it Mr Grosjean, I’m a huge fan of your work in Haas!” You exclaim, handing him a pen making him chuckle but still sign the book he gifted to you!

“Thank you for you time” you giggle before the cameras cut, and they decide to do Romains secret Santa while he is there.

*Flip*

“And now we are here with Lewis Hamilton who we’ve interrupted from getting ready for his Mercedes After Party for his 4 time world championship” the F1 lady smiles at Lewis Hamilton and he kindly smiles back.

“So your Secret Santa went all out, we’ve had to set the cameras a little further back and you’ve got some sizeable gifts here but they requested you read the card first”

“Holy shit” Lewis says as they start to bring in a huge box (big enough to fit the likes of Toto Wolff inside) followed by a smaller bag to the left that had three neatly wrapped presents inside.

“Who, what the fuck” Lewis says looking at the camera as if he was on the office. He looks at the F1 presenter who just shrugs her shoulders and waits for him to open the card.

“Dear Lewis, Here are 4 gifts to commemorate your 4 World Championships! Have a great winter season, and here’s to many more championships ahead! Love, Your Secret Santa” he reads seeing the little doodles inside the card.

“Any ideas on who it could be” she asks.

“No clue, everyone on the grid would know how many championships I’ve won, so this doesn’t give away much” he offers with a laugh. He grabs the bag wanting to leave the big present till last.

“Ohhh a Vegan Cook book, so they know I’m Vegan and a Japan Fridge Magnet. Okay so this is either Max or Y/N as they shared a podium with me, I’m sure off it!” He grins before taking the next present out the bag.

“What is this” he says unwrapping a rather small but oddly shaped present.

“Oh that’s so cute it’s a Dog Collar for Roscoe! Wait, holy shit it’s personalised from Dior. Surely this can’t be Max, is it Max?” He asks and the F1 presenter just shrugs.

“Thank you, this honestly is very thoughtful as Roscoe is one of my favourite things and I love the brand and wear it all the time!” He grins.

“Okay, how about we attempt to open this bigger present. I don’t actually know how you’ll get this through customs”

“I’m scared to see what it is” Lewis laughs before tearing the box open. Inside is a surfboard that is hand painted on either side with Lewis car and many other little doddles to cover the board that has something to do with Lewis.

“Oh woah a custom made board, this must have been really expensive to have made” he says observing it before picking out all the different doodles and talking about them.

“It’s not custom made, your Secret Santa actually Hand Painted this themselves” Lewis head snaps away from the board to look at the presenter in shock.

“Oh it’s got to be Y/N”

“That is correct”

“Y/N you are the cutest. I will use this board today here in Abu Dhabi before I make good use of it in the off season! I’ve never actually had anything like this before so thank you so much, you are so very thoughtful and you have the kindest soul! Thank you for everything and I hope to share a podium with you in 2018” he smiles grinning before turning his attention back to the surfboard.

2018

“Hello Y/N it is now November 2018, after the final Grand Prix of the 2018 season. So you know what time that is!” The F1 presenter asks.

“SECRET SANTA!” You scream, pulling forward the presents, there was a medium sized box in front of you.

“Can I start”

“Of course”

You pulled the lid of the box off and immediately gasp at the first thing that isn’t wrapped that you can see what it is!

“Oh my lord, how - I’ve been needing new camera lenses and a case for mine! I take pictures of everyone around the paddock! So it could be anyone, but I was talking to Max, Pierre and Dani about needing new lenses …” you admit looking to see if the F1 presenter would give you a reactionary hint.

“Oh and there’s a small envelope. I hope you enjoy this retreat with your new lenses, maybe gain a new perspective before 2019” you read out before out of the envelope you pull out flight tickets, and a small cabin hotel booking confirmation for Italy.

“No no no stop this is too much” you say tears filling up in your eyes.

“Who do you think it is” the F1 presenter asks.

“It’s Dani Ric” you cry, the words coming out strained as you look around to see if he is watching you.

“How’d you know” she asks.

“Because we had a talk about how I felt shit about this season and that the Torro Rosso wasn’t built well this year. And how him leaving Red Bull wasn’t an easy choice but it was one he had to make” you sob. The presenter comes over and pull you into a comforting hug rubbing your back and you hug into her more.

“Hey Squirt” an Australian accent comes from behind you and you fling yourself off the presenter and turn to look at the reason for your tears.

“You made me cry on camera” you say pointing to the camera and then your gifts.

“Aw I’m glad you like them! I was worried I hadn’t done well enough!” He grins rubbing your head before pulling you into a tight hug.

“I love them! And I’ll do better next year for you! I promise” you smile and he grins back at you!

*Flip*

“Hello Charles, how are you!”

“I am very good thank you. I see that there is a lot of presents here, all varying in size and it worries me. This is my first year and I don’t know many people that well!” He says looking between all the presents.

“Well here’s the card that came with it” she says passing over the red envelope that he opens the second his gets his hands on it.

“Dear Charlie, hmmm there’s not many that call me Charlie. Amazing first year in Alfa Romeo, can’t wait to see what you do in Ferrari” he reads out thinking of who it could be.

“It’s Y/N for sure. Between the amount of presents here and the note saying Charlie it must be her!” He exclaims before tearing into his first present. There were Alfa Romeo socks, with little jelly snake candies.

“Ah to remember my time in Alfa Romeo, these Candies actually look so good! Thank you!” He says observing the candies.

“This box is small, but heavy” he observes before pulling out a watch box.

“Oh my god, it’s a Ferrari watch. Look at this beauty! I will wear this now I think” He offers showing the camera the Ferrari official watch you’d got him. He places it on his wrist, looking at it before grinning and showing the camera.

“Okay this next one looks very very big, and oh it’s super heavy. I don’t even think I can lift that up”

He starts to tear off the paper, showing a cardboard box with a stamp on top, of what Charles assumed to be the place she’d got it from.

“Antiques Auction House? What is that?” He asks not knowing.

“It’s a place you bid to get rare objects” the F1 presenter grins and Charles looks up in shock. He carefully takes the tape off the lid and pulls the heavy hunk of metal out of the box. He pulls down the bubble wrap to reveal a Ferrari paddock sign.

“Is this real?” He gasps looking it over.

“Yes, maybe take a look at the race it’s from and the year” the presenter asks pushing him to look at the front a little closer.

“Monza 1996, that’s the year I was born! This gift, is so thoughtful and I will put it in my apartment where my sim is so everyone is able to see it when they come over! Hopefully this will bring me luck in Ferrari and in Monza next year so thank you Y/N”

He picks up the next gift which is small and flimsy. He immediately thinks it’s clothing.

As he tears open he holds up the t-shirt bursting out laughing looking at both sides.

On the front it was a radio from his that year printed on saying “woHooooo, Oh Yes! That feels good! - France 2018” and on the back there were words that were printed on there saying “Ask me what happened in France 2018” as a funny sexual innuendo from how crude the radio has sounded with no context behind it!

“This is hilarious and Y/N never fails with these joke gifts. That’s something I’ve noticed, I know this has only been done 2 years now but last year she had two jokey gifts for Lewis and 2 really nice thoughtful ones. This year I have similar! She’s a really good gift giver! She goes above and beyond!”

“She really does! I always get excited, just to see what Y/N gets her Secret Santa each year!”

“I think after this, if they didn’t before, everyone wants her as their gift giver!”

“Okay last gift Charles”

He open up to see a plastic CD cover, decorated by Y/N. He opens it up seeing a note inside.

“For when you finally record something on the piano” he looks up at the presenter and he shows her the cute cover the artistic grid member has designed.

“This is beautiful and I will fill it with tracks I will share with you Y/N thank you again and Merry Christmas Cheri!” He grins.

Y/N definitely spend over her own private budget this secret Santa but she couldn’t help having a small crush on the Alfa Romeo, future Ferrari boy.

2019

“Y/N, you know it’s my favourite time of the year just because you are here serving us once again with your amazing and seemingly limitless gift giving skills. I do have to ask how did you get that Monza pit board”

“Well, my dad is good friends with a Motorsport enthusiast, who has an auction house for Motorsports and Cars, and I won it in August, and was going to give it to Charles as an end or year well done/ Christmas present, but when I got him for secret Santa it made sense to put it in his gifts” you explain.

“Amazing okay so here are you presents for the 2019 season!”

“Oh my gosh I know who this is already! It’s K Mag” you exclaims seeing the pottery set! You’d been saying to him how you wanted to start getting into pottery and how you’d just brought one of the proper stoves to bake them in.

“We spoke about this before, and of course this Metallica Funko Pop would have given it away if the pottery didn’t! Omg I can’t wait to make you and your wife a vase! Thank you so much! I will bring it with me at the start of next season!” You exclaim looking in awe at the two presents in front of you!

*Flip*

“Lance Stroll, I think this year might be your lucky year, you’ve got a decent size bag with three presents” the presenter says cheerfully making Lance smile back.

“I’m excited to see what’s been brought for me! Okay first one obviously we have to open the card and see the message.

“Dear Lance, Starting as rookies together was so much fun! Beating you was even better! Oh it’s either Y/N or Gasly, we all had our rookie year together in 2017!” He exclaims before pulling out the first present which was another envelope.

“You know this is gonna be a voucher of some kind or like, a this was supposed to be your present but it’s not here. What could it be!” He asks opening it up.

“Tennis lessons … WITH ANDY MURRAY? It’s gotta be Y/N right? They are both from the UK, and I’m guessing someone she knows him? How the hell does she know him?” He laughs, he was really into tennis, if he ever had to quit motorsport he would got to tennis as his secondary option.

“This is amazing, thank you Y/N” he smiles genuinely.

“I think him and Y/N were invited to meet the Queen. She wanted to meet Y/N for breaking records around women in motorsport. They’ve played tennis together and she’s driven him round Aintree in her Lamborghini”

“Woah that’s crazy, so they are like friends? Well thank you Y/N and Andy watch out coz I’m coming for you!” He says as he reaches for the next present which is very badly wrapped.

“I think this just be the joke present she gets alongside her good ones” he says shaking it nothing giving away what it could be. He rips it open, to find a mug and a bottle of maple syrup!

“Ah yes as a true Canadian, maple is necessary! And oh a mug”

“Turn it round Lance, what does it say?” Laughs the presenter not actually knowing this was one of the presents.

“It says Daddies Little Boy” he laughs, knowing the joke in the paddock that he wouldn’t ever loose his seat in F1 until he no longer wanted to race.

“That’s hilarious, thank you Y/N I’ll be sure to show my dad this one. Okay onto the last”

He opens it up seeing a James Bond Limited Edition, signed Car from the movies in a mini form.

“It’s so funny, me and Y/N have arguments about this all the time. So they basically got her in Casino Royale as a stunt driver for one scene as she looks like Eva Green from the back. So she will always say that Casino Royale is the best Bond film, but I disagree I think it’s Quantum of Solace! Thank you Y/N for all of this! I can’t wait for my Tennis lessons!”

2020

“What a year it’s been with this virus Y/N and what a stressful year it has been for you drivers. However you’ve had some amazing drives, you had your first win this year with the new name for Toro Rosso under AlphaTauri! And we couldn’t be happier for you. But, your moving up the ranks aren’t you!” The presenter grins happily.

“Yes as of 2021 I will stay in the Red Bull family but move alongside Max into the Red Bull Racing Honda team!” You exclaim! You were so happy to have been given the chance and had worked your but of last year in AlphaTauri coming P5 in the drivers championship. Christian Horner came to you and offered you the seat as you’d done better in the Tauri than Alex in the Red Bull.

“This is just amazing news for you Y/N and we are excited to see what you can do alongside Max Verstappen in 2021!”

“Okay here are you presents for this year!” She says, you pull your mask up a little as it had dropped down as you were talking it repositioning it up and in the correct way.

“These feel like drinks?” You question as you shake the box, when you peel it down you burst out laughing at the crate of Red Bulls in front of you. Everyone knew you were moving to Red Bull so this could literally be anyone.

“Oh my gosh, and Lego Star Wars! LOOK ITS THE FALCON” you yell excitedly. During COVID, you’d streamed alongside Alex, Charles, Lando and George as you liked playing games already and it was more fun with your friends. But you also did streams where you’d answer questions while building Lego’s.

“Guys, Christmas Falcon building stream??” You ask wiggling your eyebrows, however you didn’t know if they’d be able to see them with the Santa hat currently on top of your head.

“Who did you think it is?” The presenter asks.

“I feel like this one is so hard this year, everyone knows I’m moving to RedBull and everyone knew I streamed, and my love for Star Wars” you sigh, a hand rising up to your face in a thinking motion.

“It’s gotta be someone kind and funny. Lando? NO? hmmmm …Dani Ric again? No? Pierre Gasly? NO? Oh my lord, erm I’m not sure who is it??” You ask genuinely having no clue!

“It was George Russell!” She exclaims and you grin widely!

“Thank you so much George! I really appreciate this and I hope you drop in the steam where I’m building it!”

*Flip*

“Max, what a year it’s been for you! Between some amazing races and coming P3, what can we expect from you in 2021”

“Becoming a world champion for sure, I think Y/N moving over to redbull at this time in my career is exactly what I need. She was giving me a run for my money in a mid field car this year, pushing it to its limits every race and outperforming the car. I think she’s going to be competitive and push me further as both a teammate and a rival. I’m excited to have her on board” he smiles nodding.

“Okay so here’s your presents, they are numbered in the order you have to open them in!” She says pushing them forward.

“Okay present one, oh what is this OMG tickets to Moto GP. Beside F1 that is my favourite sport! And it’s during the summer break, that’s incredible! Thank you so much! There’s two so that means I can take a friend I presume! Can I take the gifter?” He asks looking at the F1 presenter who nods, knowing you most likely wouldn’t turn that down.

“Next one! Oooo woah, this is nice, look at this. This one here is me in, Malaysia I think. My first ever face win! Austria in 2018 is here, you can see the Bulk from the Red Bull Ring, oh and here is I think this must be my win in Brazil last year I want to say? And then Abu Dhabi from this year? That race was only yesterday, how did they… this has to be Y/N I don’t know any other person who is this good at art” he says pointing the painted canvas.

“Okay, this is the last one, so this has to be her joke one right?” He asks looking towards the people.

“Read the note here first, now that you’ve worked out who it is” she smiles pushing the letter forward.

“Dear Max, I can’t wait to drive alongside you next year. Or maybe in front of you, we’ll just have to wait and see. Y/N

“I am very excited to drive with her next season. It’s going to be a very close season with the changes I’m sure will occur” he says as he starts to pull from the bag.

“A Y/N pillow, this will travel with me as a travel pillow! Oh and a Y/N signed red bull cap. You’ll be signing a lot more of these next year, but I’m honoured to get the first ever one!” He smiles nodding before looking at the camera for them to stop rolling.

2021

“Y/N, what an amazing year you’ve had a RedBull, coming in P3 and winner the constructors championship for Red Bull, how has the year been?”

“Yeah it’s been phenomenal, driving with Max has really made me push myself to the limits. I think I’m still warming up in the Red Bull this seasons and I made some mistakes which I’ve been focusing on improving each race and I think you can see that in my performance in the second half of the season. I’m thankful to max for pushing me to be a better driver and I’m excited for 2022 with Red Bull, and Honda!”

“Obviously it’s our favourite time of the year! And we are going to be opening some presents!” She says pushing forward a small box. You grin looking at the very precise and very neat wrapping.

You open the box to find one of those cute adopt a penguin with the little plushie.

“Awww it’s so cute!” You exclaims holding up the little penguin.

“And I think there’s a note in there about something else” the F1 presenter directs.

“Hello Y/N it’s your fav mentor. Join me to meet this penguin on a Antártica cruise! K.R”

“KIMI, KIMI, KIMI! No this is too much!” You say looking at the presenter in panic.

“Your idol wants to go on holiday with you! How do you feel”

“Blessed! I’m so happy! I can’t wait to go see the penguins with you Kimi!” You smile, hugging the penguin plushie close to your chest.

*Flip*

“Lando, you’ve got some large gifts here”

“Yeah it’s Y/N” Lando immediately says looking at the wide array of gifts.

“You haven’t even opened at them yet” she laughs.

“No I know Y/N and she’s the only one that puts THIS extensive effort into this! I’ve nailed it tho saying it’s Y/N” he smirks.

“Okay what have we got here” he says picking up the first which is a thinly wrapped envelope.

“Spa vouchers …” he says before shaking his head trying not to laugh and look mock angry.

“I crash in spa, and this is what I get… thanks Y/N. Oh there’s three vouchers. You can Max Fewtrell can come with me. Oh and some … Valorant lessons? Are you saying I’m bad at Valorant, just because your a sweat and your like Ascendent or some shit!” He grins out.

He grabs the next box, small yet heavy. He opens it seeing McLaren x Richard Mille.

“A watch! Woah this … I’m so happy to add this to my collection!”

“And it’s the only one ever made!” The presenter adds making him gasp and look underneath the watch at the engraving. A blush comes onto his face thanking the girl for the watch.

“Okay big box next!” He grins tearing into it.

“Oh Y/N! Y/N” he says with a hand slapped to his mouth.

“Wait no stop” he says pulling the personalised helmet she made him with a note explaining it was for a good start to 2022.

“Thank you Y/N and I can’t wait to wear this next year it’s amazing!” He smiles showing it to the camera finding more and more funny things to laugh to himself about that were inside jokes between the pair of you.

2022

“Y/N the fight between you Max and Charles was so close this year, and you only were a few points behind Charles in the end, taking a storm of a constructors win for Red Bull, so do think you and Charles will have a chance in 2023”

“Yea of course! I’ve renewed my contract with Red Bull until 2025, so I’m very excited at what it will bring!”

“As usual it’s time for the best part of the season! Secret Santa, let’s see what you’ve got this year!” She directs pushing forward the presents in front.

“A bottle of Sake! This will be from Mr Yuki Tsunoda, a Japanese delicacy that he introduced me to this year at the Grand Prix! Thank you Yuki! We’ll have to drink this together!” You smile before going to the next present.

“Oh my gosh, a Bonsai and new tools! This is perfect for my garden in London! Look I have to show you!” She smiles showing the F1 presenter pictures of her garden going off on a rant of where she could place the new bonsai.

“Thank you so much Yuki! Can’t wait to race with you in 23” you smile at the camera.

*Flip*

“Alex! Hopefully Williams has been treating you well” the interviewer smiles happily.

“It has, I think I got a lot out of the car this year which they can learn from in the future! It’s been a year of learning for all of us and we’re happy with the improvements we made” he smiles.

“Well it’s Secret Santa time. Here are your gifts”

“This first one feels like a shirt” he admits feeling up the packaging. He opens it and unfolds the top laughing at what was on the front putting it down and laughing into his hands.

“Show us what you got Alex” she asks. He holds up the gifted top that’s a picture of you and Lily holding hands walking through the paddock looking at each other loving. Above the picture in writing says ‘this woman stole my girlfriend’.

“Lily will force me to wear this, I know it and she will agree with it and come running to the menace of a Secret Santa that gifted this to me! Thank you Y/N” he smiles charmingly at the camera.

“Okay, up next oh? Private golf lessons, with Lily at Hotchkin Course. It says here’s the course is ours for the whole day! Woah, not only will I appreciate that but Lily will also enjoy that day out! Thank you so so much Y/N as usual you are the best!”

“Hand painted golf balls, oh look so this one has the Thai flag on it, this one has the Williams logo on it, this one has a Lily flower on it, okay that’s cute! Look at this detail” he says holding the ball up close to the camera!

“This is perfect! Thank you Y/N and have an amazing Christmas”

2023

"Y/N you and Max have had an amazing season this year and have dominated formula one in Red Bull. You came P2 in the championship, not too far behind Max who won his 3rd championship!"

"Yes, its been an amazing year for us and I'm hoping that next year it will be me winning the Championship!" you grin looking at the presenter.

"Okay, so its the 7th year of Secret Santa on the grid! Are you excited! Because i am!" she says shoving the small bag towards you. You grin excited.

"Yes, okay so ooooo, I know who this is straight away and I think the fans are going to be really happy over this" you grin after you'd peeled the bag back seeing the first gift that was unwrapped and open for the eye to see.

You pull the object out showing hair bleach, toner and little tools and foils, and a note saying that you'll both dye it together and be matching blondes.

You show the camera, knowing fans will not only go wild for blonde Alex, but wild for you finally going blonde after saying for months that you would.

"This is a great gift, and we are going to get Lily to do this for us together!" you smile, before dipping into the bag and pulling the next gift out.

"Steal my GF coupons! OMG finally thank you Alex, i can finally get MY girlfriend Lily back. Guy's seriously when you next pan to her when she's in the paddock, please caption her as Lily Professional Golfer and Partner of Red Bull Driver Y/N Y/L/N. Please I'm begging you!" she laughs and the presenter writes something down on her phone.

"Thank you Alex for these amazing gifts and I will be sure to use both the coupons and the hair dye!" you grin, observing the contents of the hair dye.

"This is a good brand no? Lily must do a good job" you nod, hoping that Lily knows how to dye hair considering Alex's looked good the last time he had it done.

"Yes, its what they use for most of the KPOP Idols in Korea, you know how they dye their hair lots? This is what they use in order to keep it really nice and smooth"

*FLIP*

"Okay, here we have our all time favrioute Daniel Ricciardo, so happy to have seen you driving for AlphaTauri this year. Hopefully 2024 will be a good season for you and we can get some podiums back up there!" she smiles at Daniel who has his typical huge smile back.

"Thank you, lets get down to the real reason we are here! I want to see the presents whoever this is"

"Okay, so ooo a bike helmet. Hmmmm I've been saying to a few on the grid that i need a new one, but this is a really good brand. Okay next one" he smiles moving the bike helmet to one side.

"Ohhhh what the hell, someone has got me Talladega Nights, but they've photoshopped me into Ricky Bobby's place. Look at this. Did you guys get Jensen Button to join in this year?" he laughs showing the camera, the photoshopped version of the popular film among the drivers.

"That's really funny so i bet its got to be one of the young one. Maybe Lando? Or Y/N? or even Oscar my Aussie brother?" he says observing the disk before placing it against the bike helmet leaving it on show.

"A honey badger plushie... okay this is Y/N Lando no way would get me a plushie thats this cute" he jokes.

"Okay last one, holy shit. Do you know how the hell she managed to pull some of these gifts off?? I swear she's the actual St Nick sometimes!" he says looking at his final present. It was an envelope explaining something that you would do for him.

"So she's booked a venue, for her and Heidi in Milan to do a fashion show of my new clothes line that I’ve made in-front of anyone who wants to attend… that’s so thoughtful. Thank you Y/N I’m sure you and Heidi will look amazing on the runway! Thank you and see you on the track more next year!” He smiles.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall@sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me

[yuzurujenn]

[2024.08.05] AERA x Yuzuru Hanyu: 24.8.12-19 No. 37

person in focus

"After all, it's frustrating when I can't perform well."

A session with photographer Mika Ninagawa for the first time in a year. In a long interview exclusive to this magazine, he talks about the ideals he pursues.

Writer: Takaomi Matsubara

Professional skater Yuzuru Hanyu

Born December 7, 1994 in Sendai. 2009 Won the Junior Grand Prix Final at age 14. 2010 Became the youngest Japanese male to win the World Junior Championships. 2011 While practicing at a rink in Sendai, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and he had to live in an evacuation shelter. The rink where he was training was temporarily closed. 2012 First participated in the World Championships, coming in third. 2013 Graduated from Tohoku High School. Enrolled in a correspondence course at the Faculty of Human Sciences at Waseda University, studying human informatics and cognitive sciences. Won his first Grand Prix Final. Won four consecutive titles thereafter. 2014 First Asian gold medal in men's figure skating at the Sochi Olympics. First World Championship win. 2017 Second World Championship win. 2018 Second gold medal in men's figure skating at the Pyeongchang Olympics. 2020 Won his first Four Continents Championship, becoming the first man to win all major international junior and senior competitions. 2022 Participated in the Beijing Olympics. In July, announced his professional career. The ice show "Prologue" was held in Yokohama in November and in Hachinohe in December. 2023 In February, the ice show "GIFT" was held at Tokyo Dome. In March, the ice show "notte stellata" was held in Miyagi Prefecture. In March and April, he appeared in the ice show "Stars on Ice" (Osaka, Iwate, Yokohama). In May and June, he appeared in the ice show "Fantasy on Ice" (Makuhari, Miyagi, Niigata, Kobe). In November, the ice show "RE_PRAY" tour began at Saitama Super Arena. The following year, it was held at SAGA Arena in Saga in January, Pia Arena MM in Yokohama in February, and Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Miyagi in April. 2024 In March, the ice show "notte stellata" was held in Miyagi Prefecture. In May and June, he appeared in the ice show "Fantasy on Ice" (Makuhari, Aichi). On September 15th, he will be performing in the "Noto Peninsula Reconstruction Support Charity Performance Challenge" in Ishikawa Prefecture.

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It has been two years since he made a new start as a professional figure skater in the summer of 2022. In 2024, he led three successful ice shows: "RE_PRAY" (Saga, Yokohama, Miyagi performances), "notte stellata" and "Fantasy on Ice".

The shoot with Mika Ninagawa for the first time in a year began with a cheerful greeting from each other, "Thank you for your continued support this year," and "Thank you." When she said to him, "You're still as young as ever!", Hanyu replied with a smile, a little embarrassed, "I'm almost 30."

"Move freely."

With those words, he made expressions and gestures as he pleased.

Various scenes were set up in the vast studio. Hanyu, who changed costumes and was photographed in each scene, moved and made expressions freely, sometimes under instructions and sometimes as if he was imagining (creating) a story himself. The people watching repeatedly let out gasps of amazement as the images were displayed one after another on the computer monitor. It was nothing short of amazing how he instantly exuded various moods - from boyish with a hint of innocence to cool and seductive.

His creativity was not limited to the way he behaved as a subject. When the BGM was played during the shoot, his body naturally responded to the music, and he also requested songs himself when he saw the costumes. There was also a moment when he saw a prop that had been set up and asked, "Do you have one more of these?" This revealed his high level of creative awareness.

The shooting has completed.

"Thank you very much," he said, and there was something light-hearted and cheerful about it. After a year, what he showed in the studio was a more mature and expressive side to him.

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Exclusive interview with this magazine

[In pursuit of a distant ideal]

He is now in his third year as a professional figure skater. Reflecting on his days of taking on unprecedented challenges, he spoke about what he has gained from them and what the future holds.

Photo: Mika Ninagawa    Writer: Takaomi Matsubara

Yuzuru Hanyu, the journey continues

hair & make up: Noboru Tomizawa  styling: Masataka Hattori costume: NEEDLES    BED j.w. FORD    YUKI HASHIMOTO  prop styling: Ayumi Endo

Yuzuru Hanyu started out as a professional figure skater in 2022. In his first professional ice show, "Prologue," he performed the first solo ice show in history. He skated for nearly two hours, with a structure that richly conveyed his skating career. Following "Prologue," he then performed a solo show at the Tokyo Dome for the first time in history, "GIFT." The ice show filled the gigantic venue, which had never been seen before.  After "Prologue" and "GIFT," he held the performance "notte stellata" in March 2023, which was filled with thoughts and prayers for March 11. It has been a year since our interview last summer, following those three performances.

Changes in the "depth" of thinking

"When I was interviewed a year ago, it had just been a year since I turned professional. I had a desire to grow and learn more specialized things. In the year since then, I think that my technique, expression, and many other aspects have changed. Among them, I feel that I have had many more opportunities to think about expression. I have been thinking about expression even in my daily life. I think that the way I think about my show, the way I think about each program, the depth of those things has clearly changed." He talks about what triggered the change in the past year. "First of all, I had to spend more time thinking about writing a new ice story after GIFT and also about my own performance.” The new ice story was "RE_PRAY", under the title "ICE STORY 2nd".  It opened on November 4, 2023 at Saitama Super Arena. It was performed in Saitama for two days, on that day and the following day, and in the new year it was performed in Saga on January 12th and 14th, and in Yokohama on February 17th and 19th, for a total of six performances in three cities. After the premiere in Saitama on November 4th, Hanyu said the following. "First of all, I myself have learned from games, manga, novels, and various other sources, about what life is all about, how precious life is, and other similar things that everyone else roughly feels.

In games, the concept of life is really light in a sense, and you can repeat it, so you can use characters to do all sorts of things and push forward with curiosity. If you apply that to the real world, you might be a person who has the drive to grab hold of dreams, or conversely, from a different perspective, you might be a very terrifying person. But if you could do it all over again, I'm sure people would try it."

24 hours a day, always skating

In this story with a game motif, the question of "choice" is often depicted. We make choices in our lives, even if we are not aware of it. What if you choose a different option than the one you originally chose? Or would you choose the same option? This story asks the audience, which serves as an opportunity to reexamine their way of life. Of course, just like "Prologue" and "GIFT," the fact that this story was completed and received with overwhelming acclaim was due to the performance of Hanyu, who was the sole performer. And even after six performances, he did not try to stay in the same place. He continued to evolve. There were many evidences of this growth at the final performance of the Yokohama show, for example. The movements in the performance of "Chicken, Snake and Pig" where he moved forward as if resisting the shackles. The performance of "Megalovania", following a silent performance without music with only the sound of his edges resonating, was more integrated with the music than in previous performances. Not only in the production aspects, but also in the details of Hanyu's performance itself, there were traces of refinement here and there. After the Saga performance, Hanyu spent his days preparing more rigorously for the Yokohama performance.  "Of course, I trained and restricted my diet. Well, how should I say it, there are 24 hours in a day, but I spent the entire time on nothing else but skating. In other words, skating was always present, 24 hours a day.” "That's right. To put it simply, it felt like I was spending every day just working on 'RE_PRAY'." The reason he spent all his time facing skating was because he had regrets about the Saga performance. "After all, it's frustrating when I can't perform well." However, the standards of frustration have changed from when he was a competing athlete.

Still not enough

"Gradually, the focus is shifting from scores to an evaluation. If something technical that I had planned didn't go well, then my evaluation vector changes and my perspective shifts. I couldn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish in Saga, so I was simply disappointed." After spending 24 hours focused on skating, the Yokohama performance came. After the final performance, he said, "I feel a sense of accomplishment like winning the Olympics." While he felt a sense of fulfillment, he wasn't completely satisfied. He also felt that his ability had not yet caught up with what he wanted to do. "So I feel like there are still things I need to study more. Of course, I think I'm evolving. I think I'm getting better. But I still feel like it's not enough. As I keep digging deeper and deeper, my ideals become higher, and the things I want to express are becoming more and more specific. The more my ideals become more concrete, the more I feel like I'm not catching up." He is aware that he still has areas where he needs to improve, especially in the finer details. This is something he realises now, which he didn't feel this way when he was competing in the sport. "It's impossible to realise this when you're a competitive athlete. After all, if you can jump, you win. To be honest, if you couldn’t jump, there was no point in talking about it, as the outcome of the competition was pretty much decided by how many types of quadruple jumps there are and where you put them in the program. For example, what memories do you have of this song, the background of this song, what is the story you want to express, how will the story and the song fit together, or what meaning is in the choreography, to be honest, there’s not much room to think about them. You have to complete all your technical elements in one go in the four minutes of a competition (free skate), so that's all you can focus on."

A world not in first place

Win the match. In a competition, that is set as a goal. "Since I had already achieved that, there was no way I could go any higher. If you think about it in the world of competition, I won first place, so even if I tried harder, I couldn't get any higher than first place. In other words, I just tried to see how long I could maintain that first place position.

But in the world I'm in right now, even if I think I'm in first place, it may not be. It’s a place where I can think, "I'm still at the bottom". When I look at the various works of art or technically excellent things from around the world, I feel that there are still many things I can't do, so I think that I still have a long way to go." When he moved from the world of competition, which was fixed in a sense, to a new world, it was no longer a confined space. However, whether one knows its vastness or not, whether one feels that there is an endlessly wide world out there, is up to the individual. So even though the world is infinite, some people only notice a limited space. Or, there are those who limit the space themselves.

Right now, Hanyu thinks, "I still have a long way to go." He feels like he's at the bottom. This is because he knows that the world is endlessly vast. The reason he feels this way is because he has the ambition to move forward without being content with the present. So instead of seeing the place he has arrived at as the end point, he knows that there is still space to go beyond that.

Ideals evolve

"I may have surpassed the ideal I had a year ago. But the sense of distance between me and my ideal is probably the same as it was a year ago. For example, if the distance between me and my ideal a year ago was 10 meters, it may be 10 meters, no, 11 meters now. That's how I feel. I'm living and experiencing life, I see information every day, and in the midst of that, my ideal evolves. My ideal gets further and further away. But at the same time, through what I have seen and experienced, I'm sure I’m also one step closer to my ideal." Then, after a short pause, he continued with a smile. "As long as I want to, I think I can continue for the rest of my life." The skater is still on his journey, striving towards the ideals he has built with his own will. 

Source: AERA issue 24.8.12-19 No.37, pg 9-15 Info: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0D89L6LS2

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

ISU released an article about Shoma

Two-time ISU World Champion and three-time Olympic medalist Shoma Uno of Japan has announced his retirement from competitive skating after a long and distinguished career and is ready to open a new chapter in his life.

“I have decided to retire from active competition,” Uno wrote on Instagram. “I am very grateful to have been able to continue skating for 21 years since I was 5 years old, and to have had a wonderful athletic life.”

The Japanese star will talk in more detail about his retirement and future plans in a press conference scheduled for May 14.

The 26-year-old looks back at a career with many highlights and also difficult times, but he always came back, proving his talent and showing resilience. When five-year-old Shoma went to the ice rink in his hometown of Nagoya with his father to have fun, he had no idea that he would become a World Champion, Olympic medalist and super star of the sport. He only knew that the enjoyed skating and kept coming back to the rink, taking lessons. He trained with Machiko Yamada, the coach of Japanese skating icon Midori Ito and also with Mihoko Higuchi for many years and worked his way up in the skating world.

Uno debuted in the ISU Junior Grand Prix in 2011 and was so tiny that he was unable to look over the boards. He won a few medals on the Junior circuit but his breakthrough came in what was his last Junior season in 2014/15 when he qualified for the first time for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final where he claimed gold. Shoma went on to take the ISU World Junior title in 2015, in what was his fourth and final appearance at the event (climbing from 10th in 2012, 7th in 2013 and 5th in 2014).

Once at the senior level, Uno quickly became one of the top Skaters in the World. In his World debut in 2016 he placed 7th but then the next year won silver, his first of a total of four World medals. In his first Olympic Winter Games in 2018, Shoma skated off with the silver medal and returned on to the Olympic podium four years later, earning the bronze. In 2022 and 2023 Uno crowned himself ISU World Champion.

However, in between there was a time of struggle. In the 2019/20 season, for the first (and only) time in his career, Uno finished off the podium in the ISU Grand Prix Series. He had left his coaches since childhood and struggled with confidence.

“At first, to be honest, I was thinking about finishing my career,“ he said in an interview at Skate America 2021 about this time.

“I did not know how much longer I would keep going. But imaging the end (I thought) maybe I'll enjoy the rest of this career as an athlete.“

Uno started to work with two-time World Champion Stéphane Lambiel as his coach and choreographer in fall 2019 and soon came back strong. He grew as an athlete and a performer with beautiful programs that highlighted his versatility: “Turandot” (Free Skating 2017/18), “Great Spirit” (Short Program 2020/21), “Bolero” (Free Skating 2021/22) and “Spiegel im Spiegel” (Free Skating 2023/24) to name a few.

At the same time, the Japanese star always pushed the limits technically and made history by becoming the first Skater to perform a quadruple flip in competition in 2016.

“When I train and want to become better, it's not good for me to work on what I can already do. If I'm satisfied with just giving 80 per cent, I'm not good. The right training for me is to push my limits,” Uno said in an interview.

The Japanese Skater has an independent mind and a fun personality. He has a Youtube Channel where you can meet his three toy poodles Emma, Baron and Toro.

“When I am on the ice, I am totally focused on my sport, but when I'm off the ice, I am sure most people know I am just a lazy slacker, but I thought that would be a good way to show to the people how I am off the ice, but still this is Shoma Uno,” he explained.

When asked who inspires him the most, Shoma’s surprising answer was:

"Myself. Of course, I think I am inspired by many people and heard some good words from everyone, too, but in the end when you break it down, I do feel that it is myself that inspires me and sadly, I don't listen to anyone. Sometimes I listen, but mostly I go with my own mind,” he added.

For sure Uno will follow his own ideas in the years to come but you can certainly expect to see him gracing the ice in shows for a while.

[toasttt11]

julianna hughes

Julianna Rae Hughes

Year: Senior

Height: 5”6

Hometown: Orlando, Florida

Team: US National Team

School: University of Michigan

Olympics

Gold, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Team

Gold, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- All Around

Gold, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- All Around

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- Floor

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- Vault

Silver, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Vault

Silver, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Floor

Silver, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Balance Beam

Silver, 2020 Tokyo- Team

Silver, 2020 Tokyo- Balance Beam

World Championships

Gold, 2015 Glasgow- Team

Gold, 2015 Glasgow- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Team

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Vault

Gold, 2017 Montreal- All Around

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Floor

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Balance Beam

Gold, 2018 Doha- Team

Gold, 2018 Doha- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2018 Doha- All Around

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Team

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Team

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Floor

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- All Around

Gold, 2021 Japan- Team

Gold, 2021 Japan- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2021 Japan- Team

Gold, 2021 Japan- Floor

Gold, 2021 Japan- All Around

Gold, 2021 Japan- Vault

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Team

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Team

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Floor

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- All Around

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Vault

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Balance Beam

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Team

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Team

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Floor

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- All Around

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Floor

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Team

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Vault

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Balance Beam

Silver, 2018 Doha- Vault

Silver, 2018 Doha- Floor

Silver, 2018 Doha- Balance Beam

Silver, 2019 Stuttgart- Balance Beam

Silver, 2019 Stuttgart- Vault

Gold, 2021 Japan- Balance Beam

Silver, 2023 Antwerp- Vault

Silver, 2023 Antwerp- Balance Beam

Pacific Rim Championships

Gold, 2016 Everett- Team

Gold, 2016 Everett- All Around

Gold, 2016 Everett- Uneven Bars

Silver, 2016 Everett- Floor

Silver, 2016 Everett- Vault

Silver, 2016 Everett- Balance Beam

NCAA

Senior (2023-2024)

University Of Michigan

Team Captain.

Received a 40.00 Score, the first time since 1996 and the first time for a Wolverine.

Competed in all Events.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Floor)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Balance)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Vault)

Scored Eight 10 on the uneven bars in her Senior year.

Scored Five 10 on the floor in her Senior year.

Scored Two 10 on the balance beam in her Senior year.

Scored Two 10 on the Vault in her Senior year.

Junior (2022-2023)

University of Michigan

Team Captain.

Competed in all Events.

Big Ten Champions.

Big Ten Regular Season Champions.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Floor)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Balance)

First Team All-Big Ten.

Academic All-Big Ten.

WCGA Academic All-America.

Scored Seven 10 on the uneven bars in her Junior year.

Scored four 10 on the floor in her Junior year.

Scored one 10 on the balance beam in her Junior year.

Scored one 10 on the Vault in her Junior year.

Sophomore (2021-2022)

University of Michigan

Competed in all Events.

Big Ten Champions.

Big Ten regular season Champions.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Floor)

Academic All-Big Ten.

First Team All-Big Ten.

Scored Six 10 on the uneven bars in her Sophomore year.

Scored three 10 on the floor in her Sophomore year.

Scored one 10 on the balance beam in her sophomore year.

Freshman (2020-2021)

University of Michigan

Competed in all Events.

National Championships.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Scored four 10 on the uneven bars in her freshman year.

Scored two 10 on the floor in her freshman year.

First Team All-Big Ten.

Notched a 9.925 on the beam in the leadoff spot in back-to-back meets in which the Wolverines surpassed the 198.000 mark for the first time in school history.

Personal

• Born May 14, 2001

• Daughter of Jim and Ellen.

• Has three brothers Quinn, Jack and Luke.

• Getting a degree in Sport Medicine.

[1000sunnygo]

🦉👒The Influence of One Piece in The Promised Neverland (A very self-indulgent post)

The straw hats worn by the girls in The Promised Neverland ch. 47 color cover were a tribute to One piece's 20th anniversary. It has always been Shirai sensei's favorite tpn illustration ever since.

An entire generation in Japan grew up following One piece. Many of the young readers from late 1900s are now the newgen mangaka currently working in Shonen jump.

Kouhei Horikoshi as a high schooler (15yo) sent a one piece fanart to Oda in 2002. Twelve years later, he starts his own manga, now promoted by One piece author Eiichiro Oda himself.

One piece got Shirai into JUMP manga.

I started reading Jump Magazine for the first time when I was in Junior High. One Piece was the trigger that made me subscribe to it like a machine, and then I thought “other manga are fun too!”, and thus became addicted.

-Kaiu Shirai (2020), The Promised Neverland artbook.

Suguru Sugita, the person Shirai submitted his og manuscript to, was Toriko's editor in charge. The following year (2014), Sugita became One Piece's manga editor (later its media editor in 2017). Sugita retired from One piece altogether in 2019, while working as TPN editor from 2016 to 2020.

The Promised Neverland + former One Piece editor, Suguru Sugita. On the right is a doodle drawn by Eiichiro Oda sensei introducing him.

"O-Sugi. This is the media editor, Sugita. Well natured, romanticist. Throws in random onomatopoeia. So drippy from head to toe that the girls avoid him. Compliments juniors on an annoying level. Has a strange dream -> ("I'll get myself a Kansai-ben speaking gf within this year!") Has lots of friends, but daydreams too much so he might not be able to get hitched soon."

From TPN's pre-serialization stage to its final days, Sugita was closely involved with both One piece and The Promised Neverland. Regardless of the difference in genre, One piece's influence in TPN is evident, many of which were suggested by editor Sugita.

Following are a compilation of details discussed in the The Promised Neverland fanbook where the author-editor duo noted the influence of One Piece in its creation.

🦉 The food, the biology

(The Promised Neverland Search for Minerva + final arc spoilers)

In One Piece, the characters can obtain special powers by eating cursed fruits called Devil Fruits (Luffy's elasticity, for example). This served as a basis for The Promised Neverland's demon biology. During early stages of TPN first arc, there was no specific concept involving demon's diet (thus we hear two demons casually talking about eating cats). Post escape, editor Sugita suggested to add the concept of 'becoming what you eat', stated to be directly inspired by One Piece (fanbook ch. 2). It was decided that the demons in TPN would be heavily dependant on human meat to maintain their sentience.

One piece x Toriko official crossover spread, two manga in JUMP where food meant a lot more than simply filling your stomach.

"Food" both a narrative and thematic tool behind One Piece, so much so that a recently popular theory is that (avoid if you want) the protagonist's secret dream at the end of his journey is to throw a massive party that would connect different races together in a brotherly bond. Each arc ends with a scene of partying and singing, a musician was one of the first crewmate positions Luffy wanted to fill in his ship.

Yugo's refusal to eat and join the table subtly hinted his refusal to partake in such bonding. It's another detail pointed out in the fanbook (ch. 3). The food scenes in One Piece had not only inspired Shirai but also Haikyuu author, Furudate Haruichi (stated in Haikyuu databook).

🦉 Characters as Inspirations

[Romance Dawn + Goldy Pond spoiler] One piece character Helmeppo was the inspiration behind Goldy Pond demon, Luce. Helmeppo was one of the earliest characters introduced in One Piece (ch.3), a weak but spoiled child of a marine officer who'd exploit his father's influence to get about anything. Luce, the youngest hunter in Goldy Pond, was the son of Dozza. Helmeppo was redeemed eventually, unlike Luce.

[Shabondy Archipelago + TPN final arc spoiler] The World Nobles in One Piece are arrogant slave-owners hailed as gods on earth for their ancestry. Lord Pupo's flashy appearance and simple-mindedness were inspired by them.

[Dressrosa + TPN final arc spoiler] Bartolomeo, an in-series fan of the protagonists, was introduced in One Piece manga at the time of Sugita's debut as One piece editor in 2014 and instantly became popular. In The Promised Neverland, Lambda kids were supposed to obey Norman in a normal manner. But editor Sugita wanted to lighten up the mood and make them goofy fanboys, inspired by Bartolomeo's success.

[Arabasta spoiler] One piece's first major antagonist Crocodile served as a base for TPN characters, mainly antagonists:

When I was drawing dignified characters for TPN, Sugita-san gave me a piece of advice called the "Crocodile Line". Whether or not Crocodile from One Piece would say such a line would determine whether or not the character (I made) was dignified enough. It was a good method. I love Crocodile so there's that too.

-Shirai in The Promised Neverland fanbook (pg. 196)

(continues in reblog 👇)

[russellius]

NAVIGATION

✨ all / photos / edits / graphics / web weaves ✨

🖤 MERCEDES YEARS : 2024 // 2023 // 2022

💙 WILLIAMS YEARS : 2021 // 2020 // 2019

(click on the team links to see the race tags!)

🤍 JUNIOR YEARS : 2018 // 2017 // 2016 // 2015 // 2014

childhood

places

abu dhabi // austin // australia // austria // azerbaijan // bahrain // belgium // brazil // britain // canada // china // hockenheim // hungary // imola // japan // mexico // miami // monaco // monza // mugello // netherlands // nürburgring // portugal // qatar // russia // sakhir // saudi arabia // spain // singapore // turkey // vegas

1️⃣st: points with williams // podium // pole // win

📚 quotes etc

📻 team radios

🎮 twitch

💭 grill the grid

🎥 dts

🏁 goodwood

🤡 jokes

🗣️ rambling

✍🏻 answers

[kanmom51]

BTS Interviews Masterlist

150505 bts Super Junior’s Kiss The Radio

150629 Park Sohyun Love Game Radio  

Jimin likes JK radio interview

J-14 2017 interview - Jikook

2017 Entertainment tonight interview - RM: “…we don’t have bf or gf…”

Access Hollywood interview 2018

Access Hollywood interview May 2018 again

BTS interview with People TV 18 May 2018

BTS ask anything iv 2018 - what the hell was JM doing?

BTS billboard award Zach Sang interview

BTS 2019 2020 interviews with Skye - BTS being uncomfortable

Iheart radio interview 2020 - what’s going on with JK?

JM’s “I was with JK” at 4 am

Jikook being together at 4 am - what makes it more  

MBC radio interview 14 September 2020

BE launch interviews

BBC Radio 1 2021 interview

Billboard interview 2021

Quiz on the block March 2021

BTS on nightline  

Jikook 2022 weekend interview

Jikook 2022 weekend interview more

Good night interview - Jungkook

Good night interview - Jimin

Melon Proof spotlight 

6 Jan 2019 BTS backstage interview at the GDA (WRONG LINK)

BTS Sweet party Harajuku - what JK likes about JM...

When JM is obvious    

One of those JM staring at JK moments

Jikook what are you doing?

JK being pretty comfortable with JM  

Starry eyed JK

So, what did we have?  

BTS 5 years Seoul tourism ambassadors

12 July 2017 Wings Japan tour documentary.

Can someone please explain to me what exactly JM is doing there???

the Wings Japan tour documentary

Careful JM your heart is showing

JK’s nose boop mission 2018 and the repercussions (?)

JK’s reaction to JM sneezing

JK’s sky and people

JK malfunctioning June 2015?

BTS 77Q 77A interview

BTS message on DisneyPlusHotstar

Can we please look at Jungkook’s “JIMIN TV interview”  

3 significant interview moments

James Corden

OMG!

Late late show announcement

The massage train

And this happened too

JC touching JM - too much?

What you looking at JK?

JM JK and the ocean

[thistledropkick]

Since New Japan is wiping most of the NJPWWorld archive soon, I wanted to recommend a few older matches that won't be available once the new version of the service launches. These aren't in any order and they're just my personal recommendations based on my own taste. I'll post more of them as I think of them but here's the first one.

El Desperado vs Kushida - Destruction in Hiroshima 9/16/2017 - for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight title

Japanese commentary - English commentary

Desperado recently referenced this match in his post-match comments to Kushida during this year's Junior Tag League. I suspect his history with Kushida will come up again and he'll get that singles rematch he's hoping for. When he does, it'll be a big contrast to this one, from the height of his cheating Suzuki Gun days.

The Desperado of 2017 was very different than he is today, back when he was living up to his nickname "the rogue luchador". I loved his work back then and I love this match.

Desperado won the chance to challenge for the belt by beating Kushida in the BOSJ that year (a match that you can watch here) and then went all-out trying to win the belt from him here, in true Suzuki Gun style, and with the desperation of a wrestler who had never held a singles belt in his entire career.

Desperado brings a guitar case with some poetry written on it to the ring for this fight, but unlike when he challenged Ibushi, this guitar case doesn't hold a bouquet of roses. (Also the poetry on the guitar case is from the Hellsing anime)

[rinkasisopods]

Marin Honda, the 2017 Junior World Champion, completes her short program at her last Nationals. Behind Kaori Sakamoto, she is the skater with the most All Japan Championships qualifications with 9 🥰

[figureskatingcostumes]

Haruno Yajima and Daiki Shimazaki competing in the 2018 World Junior Championships.

(Source: David W. Carmichael)

[harajukucorner]

From the 1970s-1990s

Japanese Street fashion, also known as Harajuku Street fashion refers to a number of styles of contemporary clothing in Japan. It can be considered a cultural revolution that discards the norms of the past and replaces them with modern trends and styles. As a lover of fashion that integrates culture, Harajuku Street fashion and its evolution has always been an interest of mine and here, I share this interest with you. 

In the 1970s, a sense of generational solidarity was felt amongst the young people which caused them to band together against the grownups. This decade appears to mark the beginning of Japanese street fashion. The later half of the 1970s featured the rejection of traditional principles in favor of new fashion patterns. Admiration of adult lifestyle came to fruition in the 1980s, preppy magazines such as JJ and POPEYE are examples of this. 

In the middle of the 1980s, youth and change stood out again, where the culture of the children, rather than the culture of the adults provided the essence of style. This started with the rise of the DC (meaning “designer” and “character”) trend which was the first trend to originate from Japan instead of mimicking overseas fashions. Again, the focus was switched and toward the end of the 1980s there was an interest in maturity and stability. The bodikon (body-conscious) and shibukaji (Shibuya Casual) trends appeared. Bodikon fashion symbolized an era of female ascendancy, an age where ‘Hanako-san’ (a woman like the women depicted in Hanako magazine) would extend her energy into both work and play on the equal level as men. Shibuya Casual symbolized the passing of the torch from the shinjinrui (new breed) generation to the dankai junior generation as the young people who drive street fashion.

 Around 1990, Shibuya Casual fell mainly into the interest of high school students in the Shibuya area whereas college students based their influence on the Yamanote fashion, which began as a Japanese interpretation of BCBG.

resources used!:

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/tokyo-street-fashion-and-culture-1980-2017-across/hQWBPmGdPtB7Iw?hl=en

https://janbox.com/blog/japanese-street-fashion/#:~:text=History%20of%20Japanese%20street%20fashion,local%20stores%20catering%20to%20Americans.

[rviner]

Ines & Isla: Timeline

@waterfallswords

1993-1999: United States (Washington D.C.)

Isla (Born December 1993):

Ines (Born September 1999):

1999-2002: England (London)

Isla (Age 5-8)

Ines (Age 0-3)

2002-2005: Japan (Tokyo)

Isla (Age 8-11)

Ines (Age 3-6)

2005-2007: Mexico (Mexico City)

Isla (Age 11-13)

Ines (Age 6-8)

2007-2010: Brazil (Brasilia)

Isla (Age 13-16)

Ines (Age 8-11)

2010-2013: France (Paris)

Isla (Age 16-18)

Ines (Age 11-14)

Isla returns to the U.S. in 2011 for her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, spending summers in Paris.

2013-2014: United States (Washington D.C.)

Isla (Age 18-19): Freshman year at Georgetown University.

Ines (Age 14-15): Spends a year in Washington D.C.

2014-2016: Russia (Moscow)

Isla (Age 19-21): Sophomore and Junior years at Georgetown, with visits to Russia.

Ines (Age 15-17)

2016-2018: China (Beijing)

Isla (Age 21-23): Senior year at Georgetown and first year of her Master's at Oxford.

Ines (Age 17-19): Returns to the U.S. in 2017 to start her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, spending summers in Beijing.

2018-2023: United States (Washington D.C.)

Isla (Age 23-29): Finishes her Master's at Oxford, then moves back to Washington D.C where she begins her career within politics.

Ines (Age 19-23): Sophomore and Senior year at Georgetown University.

New York as of November 2023, following their parents deaths in the September.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

I often think about how much Shoma deserves an olympic gold medal. Not just because it would be great, but also because i don’t think in the future he’ll be regarded as the incredible skater that he is without it unfortunately. He‘s truly exceptional. But he got „unlucky“ in that most of his career he had to compete against two skaters who had historic results. Both Yuzu and Nathan are insanely talented skaters to go up against. And the olympics are only every four years. While I still wish there was a chance, right now it seems unlikely… to me and a lot of his fans, he‘ll always be special.

I agree with you. Shoma would deserve it so much, but it doesn't seem as if it's Shoma's goal at all. Shoma himself doesn't put the importance on an Olympic title, so we shouldn't be sorry he may not get it. (I mean there is a huge chance he'll retire before the next Olympics but at this point there is also still a chance he stays until then)

BUT Shoma is very special with or without an Olympic title. His skating, story and achievements are one of a kind. To get back up after many points where others would have ended their careers and to still skate is amazing. And Shoma made history himself. It may not be in many WRs (though he did gain a few in his junior and senior career) or titles after titles, but still his name is written in the skating history books with being the first to land a 4F, with having 3 Olympic medals, with the double victory for Japan at the 2017 Worlds and 2018 Olympics etc.

I agree that Shoma is a bit unlucky in that regard that he faced Yuzu and Nathan in his career, but on the other hand I don't think Shoma would be where he is today if he wouldn't have faced those two skaters and took them as inspirations. Everything happens for a reason.

Shoma's name may never have the same impact as Yuzu's bc Yuzu's story, achievements and scale of fandom is a rare exception (if I am being honest I wouldn't even wish it for Shoma as Yuzu's scale of fame is kinda scary at times and isolating) , but Shoma is not unknown in the skating world or Japan and there are future generations who name Shoma as their rolemodel or favorite skater. He will live on in future generations skating.

And tbh at this point we won't know how big Shoma's impact on skating will be as such things can only be seen after a while. There were many Olympic or World Champions in skating but only a few are still mentioned and their influence seen today.

Just saying without meaning to put anyone's achievement down: I think the importance that is put on the Olympics is a bit whack...it's every 4 years but it's actually just another high level competition and depends a lot on luck to be born at the right time and be able to get there. And it says nothing that you could win the Olympics if you don't have any other results over a longer period of time. An Olympic title is insignificant for the value a champion brought to skating. (Just look at the Tutberidze girls or Sotnikova to see that not every champion made an impact afterwards)

Imo the only big difference of the Olympics and things like Worlds is the attention Olympic games have internationally and this is the only reason I would wish an Olympic title for Shoma (and for the stupid haters who hold it against him that he lacks this one title but that's simply a thing I'd take as personal victory) Just to make everyone aware of Shoma being an extraordinary skater.

[foxes-that-run]

Karlie and Taylor fall out timeline

2015

18 February - Karlie, Taylor and Derek at fashion show

30 April - Karlie and Derek Blasberg in New York at Infinity Awards. Taylor in LA with Calvin. 1989 World Tour starts in Japan.

5 May - Blind that Karlie moved out of Taylor's apartment. Taylor had everything packed and gave her an hour to move out. Later stories that the friend was fashion reporter Derek Blasberg who later shows up shading Taylor

28 May - Karlie seen at Taylors Apartment for party hosted by Taylor. Jack, Gigi also there and Taylor seen with Calvin that day in NY

30 May - 2 days later Taylor has a show in Detroit where Martha and Gigi join her but not Karlie.

28 June - Calvin arrives in London. Boat on Thames with Taylor, Karlie, Gigi, Joe, Andrea, and Scott. This clean speech

2016

19 April - Karlie and Taylor were seemingly friendly at Coachella

2 May - Karlie, her husband Josh and Taylor hang out at Met Gala

12 June - Karlie and Josh, now husband argue on street

13 June - Taylor rents Cornelia St

Summer - Cara is seen at Taylor's house a lot, she told Variety she moved in with Taylor for a Summer.

3 August - Taylor 'facetimes' Karlie for her birthday, which Karlie posts a photo of to tumblr that looks *really* fake.  "When you're halfway across the world and your best friend still finds a way to celebrate 24 with you," 

14 September - Karlie papped near Cornelia St with Taylors bodyguard, seen in same activewear hours apart so didn't stay

September - October - Taylor seen with Cara and not Karlie

24 October - Taylor at Drakes Birthday, Karlie also there. Karlie posts a photo of them together and Taylor does not like the post

6 November - Karlie and Taylor at Lorde's birthday, this is the last time she is seen hanging out with KK. Karlie posts the photo again and Taylor does not like that either.

8 November Trump elected, KKs husband is connected.

19 November - Karlie posts a photo of herself 'red lips and rosy cheeks', Taylor does not like it.

24 November - Taylor has a friendsgiving in Rhode Island, Karlie is not invited. (Harry MIA in USA)

later

2017 27 August - LAWYMMD video, Karlie not on junior jewels shirt, Kendall tea time reenactment

2017 29 November - Derek Blasberg (fashion journalist reportedly the person KK had in TS apartment that ended friendship) posts a photo of KK sipping tea and asks for captions then comments "I knew brew were trouble when I met you"

2018 26 August - Karlie and sisters attends Reputation, posts about it, Taylor does not like post. Better Man surprise song.

2019 - 10 August - Karlie vacations with Scooter

2023 - 9 August - Karlie attends Eras. 1989 announced

2024 - 24 April - after TTPD is released Kim posts a photo with Derek Blasberg and Karlie

[wrestlingisfake]

Best of the Super Jr. night 1 preview

This is the opening night of New Japan's annual junior heavyweight tournament. Twenty men will compete in two blocks of ten. Each participant will wrestle nine matches, against everyone else in his block. The goal is to finish the block with the best win-loss record. The top two in each block will advance to semifinal matches on June 3; the winners of those matches will meet on June 9 in the final. The tournament winner traditionally becomes the next challenger for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship.

A Block: Titan vs. El Desperado - Titan is the CMLL world welterweight champion, but titles aren't at stake during this tournament. This is sort of a battle of the bridesmaids; neither man has won the tournament, but Despe was the runner-up in 2020 and 2022, and Titan took second place last year.

Despe is a three-time IWGP junior champ, and for the past five years the title has largely been controlled by himself, Hiromu Takahashi, and Taiji Ishimori. On top of that, New Japan is helping him promote his own independent show on June 10. So you'd have to figure he's a heavy favorite to win the tournament. On the other hand, this is the main event of the opening night of the tournament, so you'd have to figure there's going to be a big upset. Something tells me this is going to be Titan's night to shine.

B Block: Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA - Kushida wasn't originally announced for this tournament, but after YOH suffered a shoulder injury, he cleared his schedule. As a result, we get a match between two of the best in the modern NJPW junior division. Kushida won BOSJ in 2015 and 2017; Hiromu won it all in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Hiromu rose to prominence in the junior division just as Kushida was starting to move on to other stuff. So in most of their singles encounters, Kushida was the old ace putting over the new ace--Hiromu leads the series 4-1. Now would be a good time for Kushida to get a win back, to help Hiromu look a little vulnerable before he racks up a bunch of wins. I wouldn't bet money on a Kushida win, but I'm leaning towards that outcome.

A Block: TJP vs. Kevin Knight - TJP appeared in the last two BOSJ tournaments, and finished 4-5 both times. Knight debuted last year with a 3-6 record, so there's practically nowhere to go but up. TJP's big thing now is that he's trying to be an openweight wrestler, and the "captain" of the United Empire. I doubt that'll play into this match much, but it stands to reason that he needs a good showing in the tournament to shore up his lofty ambitions. This isn't a safe match for him, but Knight is still booked pretty much like a young rookie, so a TJP win is pretty likely.

B Block: Taiji Ishimori vs. DOUKI - Ishimori was the runner-up in 2018's tournament, whereas Douki has never done better than 3-6.

Ishimori was injured near the end of last year's BOSJ, during a match with Hiromu Takahashi, and forced to withdraw. So aside from the usual goals of winning the tournament and chasing the junior title, he's no doubt looking for retribution against Hiromu.

Douki's big thing this year is his major victory over Hiromu on February 24. I'm glad he's finally getting wins like that, but that was almost three months ago and he hasn't really accomplished anything since then. He really needs to at least finish this year at 5-4, but I'm not counting on that. Ishimori is probably going to eat his lunch.

A Block: Blake Christian vs. Clark Connors - Christian is a stand-out in the US indy scene, and I'm surprised to find this is his first appearance in BOSJ. Although he's billed as representing Ring of Honor (where he does appear sporadically as a jobber), Christian is surely better known as the current GCW world champion. In fact, it was just last week that he retained the title in a controversial Dusty finish against Danhausen. I don't expect him to be protected at all in this tour, but it is pretty cool for GCW to have their champ here.

Connors is one of the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions. This is his third year in the tournament; in 2022 and 2023, he finished in the middle of the pack at 4-5. As one of Bullet Club's War Dogs, he's going to be more focused on bullying and hurting his opponents than seriously trying to win, and that's going to cost him many key matches. This feels like one of the matches he'll win to keep him out of last place.

B Block: SHO vs. Drilla Moloney - Sho is the IWGP junior heavyweight champion, so he isn't defending his title during this tour, but the tournament will decide his next challenger. (Unless he wins the whole thing himself, which probably won't happen.) Moloney holds the IWGP junior tag title with Clark Connors. Sho's personal best is 6-3; Moloney's is 4-5.

This is technically a Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club match, since House of Torture and the War Dogs are still officially subgroups within the same faction. Traditionally, when two Bullet Club guys face off in a tournament, they try to work out a deal where one lays down for the other, and it always backfires and turns into a vicious brawl, and then they make peace after the match. That probably won't work here, because nobody trusts House of Torture to live up to their agreements, and nobody expects the War Dogs to go easy on an ally. One way or another, though, I figure Sho will bring in enough interference to steal a win.

A Block: Kosei Fujita vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru - This is Fujita's first time in the tournament. Kanemaru's personal best in BOSJ was in 2017 when he finished 4-3, so he's never been a top contender.

Fujita has been a member of Zack Sabre's TMDK faction for over a year, but he's still little more than a Young Lion, so I expect him to finish at or near last place. If he's going to beat anybody in this block, however, it's probably Kanemaru. That alone makes this worth watching, but all the same I have to favor Nobu to pick up the win.

B Block: Ninja Mack vs. Robbie Eagles - Mack, who makes his BOSJ debut here, is the GHC hardcore champion at Pro Wrestling NOAH. Robbie is a mainstay of the tournament, but he's never done better than 5-4, which is a long way from clinching a semifinal spot. This match comes down to whether they want to give Mack a hot start, or if they want to big-league him by jobbing him to a middle-of-the-pack New Japan guy. I'm honestly not sure which way they'll go with that, so this is a pick-'em.

A Block: HAYATA vs. BUSHI - Hayata, another NOAH guy making his debut, is the GHC national champion. Bushi has been in twelve of these things; his personal best is 6-3, which is pretty good, but not always enough to make it out of the blocks. Of all the outside guys coming in this year, Hayata seems like the one they'd take most seriously, and Bushi jobs to pretty much anybody. I'll pick Hayata to win here, though he'll probably finish up around 4-5.

B Block: Francesco Akira vs. Dragon Dia - Dia, representing Dragongate, is a last-minute substitution for Ryusuke Taguchi. Akira, like his tag partner, TJP was in the 2022 and 2023 tournaments, and both times he finished 4-5. Dia strikes me as the kind of guy they'll book like he's just happy to be here, so it's okay to beat him a lot. If he's going to score any wins this year, it'd probably be against someone like Akira. But I think Akira will score the victory this time.