#there’s a huge swath of people that made themselves certafiyable

[tutuandscoot]

I know this moment has been gifed before but since I want to kinda have a different discussion about it I felt it best to do my own post on it)

As you all know by now I don’t see anything wrong or questionable with anything they have ever done- moments that spurred conversation.. for me and more importantly them (the only ones that matter in this) there is a completely justifiable reason for all of it. It only concerned them, their business is their business and literally everything we have ever seen is confirmation of how truly special they are to each other. So let’s dive into some of that and think about a moment like this a bit differently, because it’s actually, I think a glimpse into their very intimate, finely tuned sensitivity towards each other’s beings which is kinda magical in a way.

Firstly, there’s no need to be so precious over this tushie tap. He’s amped up, he’s ready to go, wants to get on the ice, full of testosterone, he needs to channel that energy somewhere. There’s been other times where he’s smacked the boards, he does those knee bounces as well- and with Patch he could have a little guy on guy moment (you know what I mean- that reassurance from his male role model). But, in every instance- in the form of them actually skating, then moments like this as well, that energy and fire goes into Tessa.. they are a team and they feed directly off each other’s energy. He’s not hurting her, he’s not violating her, he is channeling he’s energy and anticipation into her because he knows she is feeling the exact same way. He’s amping her up. This is not some random girl he is tapping on the butt, this is the person he’s more close with than anyone else in the world. He is constantly touching her. He has been for for 2 decades. You can even see in the fact that she doesn’t register it at all how normal this is and how accepting she is of it. It’s him channeling his energy, testosterone, anticipation into her- she is his team mate, his best friend, the person she trusts with her life both physically and emotionally, this is nothing but teammates interacting, getting ready for the skate of their lives, and with some positive reinforcement. Another moment of connection for them.

The second moment though is what I find super fascinating.

There’s been other moments caught on camera and therefore surely moments before every skate, several we’ll never see- so thousands probably over their whole career, is this a really subtle interaction of their needing to connect with each other.

Having thought about this lots (and not being any kind of expert in any of these fields of study) it’s gotten me thinking about the way the nervous system reacts/interacts and how it seeks out that comfort and reassurance- in their case each other, being each other’s person. It’s kind of an impulse, then when it’s met with another system it knows so intimately, can inadvertently respond and communicate without.. permission from its.. host or brain of the body it’s in.. (fuck me I sound like I’m writing a sci-fi script.. anyway let me continue)

She reaches out for his leg and begins to pat him, in a similar area to where she last received that physical communication from him, which was also a patting motion- that was the last thing she felt and the rhythm of movement most present to her feeling, it’s the most recently recognised/understood. That physically then becomes an invitation for him to respond, reach out to connect with her. At this immediate moment you can see in their eyes they have become completely closed off to everything around them. It’s as if the aux chord is pulled and there is just static, or that dull humming you hear when it is more silent than silent. A void of any noise but their two synchronised heartbeats.

Also at this exact moment that he makes contact with her, instead of energetic patting, a gentle soothing caress. At this exact moment, her physical motion immediately becomes in line, in synchronicity and harmony with his. THIS is their nervous systems talking to each other! Without any instruction, outside/third party impetus, this is her response to his touch and her tuning to the same frequency/ speaking the same language/ whatever analogy you want to give it. They are moving with each other in the exact same rhythm.

The moment from Sochi where their TE FD warm up ‘kiss’ is caught on camera, the commentator in the background mentions that ‘sometimes they can get so caught up in the dance, and each other…’

This is seeing them get caught up with each other. They are so in tune to each other on a level that doesn’t require any decision making/outside impetus, just on an internal, fibre optic level pulsing signal to connect to that person standing next to them that they become shut into their bubble and the whole world fades away. This sometimes I guess has happened when they perform- the times T has talked about falling into a flow state (coincidentally this SD performance to follow she said was one of those). But that, for people watching is harder to tell how and where that exactly happens, and while admittedly in this instance it has taken me more minutes than i’d like to admit staring at to realise this is maybe what’s happening.. it’s incredible to witness even for a few seconds, them making themselves totally isolated from everything around them- wordlessly, just through their touch on each other they can tune into being completely on their own frequency.

This lasts a second or two, them caressing each other to the same rhythm, their eyes locked on each other’s communicating wordlessly (he may be saying something it’s hard to tell but if he was it feels like that’s not what’s controlling all this physical stuff). Then, what probably to them feels from a distance, but in reality about a metre away from them, that faint interruption that they have to line up ready to step on the ice. Even as that happens, they don’t suddenly fall out of their bubble; oh no because time for them has seemingly slowed down as they pulled each other into that formidable place of security, that place that has been their home for 20+years, that nervous impulse even brings them out of it. They give each other a final reassurance ‘up & down’ rub- so in sync I’m quite literally not sure which of them initiated it, and they turn their heads away at the exact same time, only fractionally out of sync.

It’s the same thing I’m assuming happens in the hug- that nerve impulse though is their breathing. They almost get to a point where neither one of them is initiating it. They can turn their minds off and connect on a much more pure, instinctual, human level. They kinda exit the world around them for a few moments where it is just those subtle human impulses and hold on each other keeping them present in the moment.

They don’t just know each other as friends or work partners.. they literally know how to respond to each other’s innate humanity- the systems keeping their bodies alive know how to find and connect and synchronise with each other’s. And not only can they do that.. they wanted their bodies to be able to do that.

When people ask me why I love them so much and what makes them so good and special.. it’s shit like this… because where in the ISU manual does it say pairs or ice dance teams have to be in sync down to their vital human organs??? It doesn’t say that and it’s never gonna say that and medals will be handed out with this never being on anyones mind.. which is why I just can’t see TS anymore in relation to the environment in which they competed (I can on technical aspects but not a human/artist level).

Everyone left dumbfounded by these two not being “”together””, well here I am sobbing into a pillow over the fact these two managed to train and actively wanted their nervous systems to (seemingly) communicate with each other and simultaneously shut the entire world out.. they wanted their freaking hearts to beat at the same time.. she wanted to only connect with him because that’s where she felt safest, he only wanted to go through all these rollercoasters of emotions with her, they wanted to be so inextricably connected… oh yeh and then go and dance as beautifully as they did and act as well as they did with blades on their feet and win a shit tonne of medals for it.. Ok whatever……

(Still sobbing)..