#yes season 3 has problems but also it has javi

[spacedlexi]

Who’s your favourite twdg protagonist?

clem easily but mostly because at the end of the day its Her story. its hard to choose tho because i also love lee and javi very much

lee i mean do i even have to say anything. i love that man. incredible protag and the courage they had to kill off the pc i still think is huge. the ending of S1 is just......................... i mean do i even have to say anything. its so good. still makes me ugly cry every time and thats because of the incredible job they did developing lee and his relationship with clementine. and i like that his ghost haunts the narrative

and javi :) i love him too. after the depression session that is S2 he was such a breath of fresh air. hes like lee 2.0 to me as a protag. well meaning guy who fucked up his own life and also hes a little goofy with it. "oh yeah the cell you threw me in was totally 5 star" i love him. i think his little surrogate uncle/niece relationship he has with clem is also very cute. he lost his niece and she needed someone to help give her a little guidance and support. javi is up there as one of my fave characters of the series with lee and clem

[jakeotters]

Would you be able to take a request for Scott from Twisters and a reader who is new to Storm Par? The plot and everything else can be up to you

omg yes ofc!! the “scott x reader who’s new to storm par” has been one of my favorite self inserts tbh

An Ego Problem (scott miller x reader)

this ended up being longer than i anticipated

warnings: swearing, scott being an ass (per usual)

a/n: this is my first time writing in a while so i apologize if it’s not the best! also writing for scott means i can use all of my fancy weather knowledge (i’m a meteorology major) and that’s very special to me <3

You aren’t new to storm chasing. You’d grown up in tornado alley— you were more than used to the hell that the sky unleashes.

Tornadoes don’t scare you, you’ve always been fascinated by their power; the way that the atmosphere is capable of creating something that can produce catastrophic damage in a matter of seconds. You were so drawn by it.

But, here you are, driving through the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, and you’re nervous. You don’t know the last time the thought of chasing made you nervous.

“Y/n?”

The sound of your name snaps you out of your thoughts and you blink, your head perking up.

“You nervous?”

Your friend Javi turned his head to look at you, eyes leaving the road momentarily. You’d known Javi since college, and you’d chased with him before, but you were chasing with his crew for the first time this season.

“Nervous? No.”

You turned your head to meet his gaze and managed a smile. You tried to keep from fidgeting, feeling more and more uneasy as you neared the gas station his crew was waiting at.

“You sure? You seem awfully quiet.”

Javi knew you better than anyone, it wasn’t hard to tell that you weren’t yourself. He knew that chasing excited you more than anything, it was weird for you to be so reclusive.

“I’m fine. Promise.”

You didn’t mean to be short with him but you couldn’t help it. Javi shrugged, not believing you but not pushing any further. You swallowed thickly as he pulled into the gas station.

Javi parked before shutting off the truck and hopping out. He opened your door, helping you out of the passenger seat. You stepped out and looked around. Storm chasers were crowded in the parking lot, preparing their instruments and looking at laptops. You watched the groups of chasers as Javi walked you towards where his crew was standing.

You turned to look at his crew as you were introduced. They were dressed in white button downs, Storm Par sewn onto the front pocket of their shirts, shirts tucked into their black pants. You’d never seen storm chasers dressed so neatly. They looked so professional— it was a stark contrast to the chasers around them. Even you could admit that it was a little… odd.

Javi told you where everyone had gone to school, who was with the National Weather Service, who had PhDs, this and that. You scanned the group until your eyes landed on the guy standing in front of you. He was tall, iPad in his hand, hat on his head, and sunglasses hiding his eyes. He was looking at you, the expression on his face serious. Javi said something about him going to MIT. You instantly felt intimidated by him.

“This is Scott,”

Javi put his arm around the tall man, but his expression never changed.

“He makes up for it with his beautiful, amazing personality.”

Scott gave an insincere smile before his face went back to his stern, blank expression. You wondered what his eyes looked like behind the veil of his sunglasses.

“So, y/n, where are we headed?”

Javi took the iPad from Scott and handed it to you. You looked at Javi before looking at the tablet in your hand. A radar image was pulled up, the colorful blobs of developing thunderstorms dotted along the screen.

“I, uh- um-”

You stuttered. Your mind couldn’t seem to focus, it was like you’d forgotten everything you knew about weather and storm chasing. You immediately felt embarrassed as you felt the eyes of Javi and his crew on you, but the feeling of Scott’s eyes focused on you made your cheeks flush bright red. He was standing close to you, too close—

“What’s wrong? Can’t read a radar screen?”

Scott’s voice rang out above you. He raised an eyebrow when you looked at him. He’d taken his sunglasses off and tucked them into his shirt pocket, his blue eyes bearing into yours. The condescending tone in his voice pushed out any embarrassment you felt.

“Excuse me?”

Scott looked at the iPad and looked back at your face, a sly smirk forming on his lips.

“Need help knowing what you’re looking at? Do I need to teach you how to read radar?”

You stood there. You knew he was trying to push your buttons, obviously testing you. You knew you were good, you’d been chasing longer than most of the people in this parking lot, but his comments stung. You pushed the iPad into his hands and walked away, not wanting to show your emotions in front of the crew.

It wasn’t long before Javi found you, standing on the grass at the edge of the parking lot, watching the sky. You felt his hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, don’t let Scott get to you. He’s like that with everyone, must be an ego problem.”

You chuckle at Javi’s comment.

“Am I riding with you?”

You didn’t take your eyes off the tall clouds that formed the building storms in front of you.

“Actually, no. You’re gonna have to ride with Scott.”

Your head immediately snapped towards Javi. You felt like the air had been taken out of you.

“What?”

“Don’t worry, it’s just for today.”

“Oh.”

Your voice became small and you swear you could feel your insides coil up.

“Javi! Time to go!”

You heard Scott yell from the distance. You didn’t want to move from where you were standing, in fact, you wanted to run in the opposite direction. You wanted to get as far away from this place, and Scott, as possible.

“Sorry, y/n. It’ll be fine, just listen to what Scott tells you to do.”

Javi sounded sincere with his apology. He squeezed your shoulder as the two of you walked towards the vehicles.

———

You sat in the passenger seat of Scott’s SUV, Javi’s truck not far ahead. He hadn’t said anything to you, minus the grunt of disapproval when you got in the vehicle with him before the two of you pulled out of the parking lot.

Scott kept his gaze on the road, eyes occasionally traveling to look at the towering supercell that took over the sky in front of you. You watched his jaw move as he chewed his gum.

“So, how’d you start chasing?”

You attempted to make conversation, even though he intimidated you, you hated to sit in a silent car. Scott made a noise in his throat.

“I’m surprised you picked the right storm.”

He finally spoke. His tone was flat, just like the expression on his face when you’d first seen him. You weren’t sure how to answer.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like what I said?”

That stupid, sly smirk played at Scott’s lips again.

“You have a lot of words for someone who isn’t calling the shots here.”

Scott scoffed at you.

“Not calling the shots? Honey, I’m the reason Javi has Storm Par. I’m the reason he’s able to do any of this.”

You stared straight ahead, watching a wall cloud lower just a few miles away. The rotation was evident and you tried to focus on the counterclockwise motion in the sky.

“Can you tell me what we’re looking at or do you need me to teach you that too?”

You could see Scott’s eyes move to look at you from under his sunglasses. The smirk was still on his lips, he looked so cocky.

“Wall cloud with rapid rotation. Supercell has a defined meso. Tornado is imminent.”

Your tone was serious, almost as stern as Scott’s. You wanted to tell him to fuck off, to pick on someone else, but you didn’t. You could tell you shut him up by the way his jaw clenched. His stare was fixed straight ahead again.

It wasn’t long before a funnel emerged from the wall cloud, condensation meeting the ground in a beautiful, perfectly lit cone. That was the perfect tornado, the tornado that made chasing worth it. For a few seconds, you forgot that Scott was in the car with you. You felt as mesmerized as you always had. It was peaceful.

———

Scott pulled into the parking lot of the motel you were staying at. He shut off the ignition and got out without saying anything, you were weary to get out but you did. You hadn’t realized just how tired you were until the drive back, you almost fell asleep in the car.

You got out of the SUV, ready to get to your room. You began walking past Scott, not in the mood to talk to him— or deal with him.

“Hold on.”

You felt Scott grab your arm as you walked past. He was strong and his grip was tight, almost too tight. You sighed and rolled your eyes, not wanting to hear what he had to say.

“The fuck do you want?”

You didn’t care that you swore at him, you figured he deserved it. You stayed in his grasp, afraid he’d only make it tighter if you did.

“You don’t like me.”

His blue eyes were focused on yours.

“How’d you know?”

You scoffed, wanting to laugh at how stupidly obvious his observation was.

“Javi made you out to be the best there is. He painted a picture of you that made you seem like you’re a saint. I can’t say I agree with that.”

Scott’s stern expression didn’t change. He was sharp and direct with his words and you felt yourself squirm.

“Well, I’m sorry that I think you’re a dick-”

“Uh-uh, honey. You’re gonna be on this crew, then you’re gonna have to learn to like me. After all, I’m the one who calls the shots here.”

Scott’s eyes looked over you before he let go of your arm. You watched him walk away, joining the other Storm Par members next to their vehicles. It was clear he wanted some kind of authority over you. You sighed, too exhausted to let him upset you. You walked off to your room, glad to be away from him.

An ego problem, you thought to yourself.

my inbox is open for requests! rules for requests

[marie-scary]

saw someone do this with Glee, so i decided to try my swing at yellowjackets as Grey’s Anatomy characters🙂‍↕️

(only from seasons like 1-10is. bc that show (as a fan) has no business being that long) also most of these are crack😭🙂‍↕️

Shauna: Meredith Grey, slutty mistress, need i say more?

Lottie: Jo Wilson, they’re both goofy and dorky, and if i remember correctly when jo and alex were drinking she talked about stealing something. (i’ll rewatch and confirm this🤝🏼)

Misty: Cristina Yang, one of the twisted sisters. Cristina is very cutthroat and i feel like the misty killing jessica robert’s is pretty cutthroat. also yang is just super fucking smart, and so is misty. (i would like to note cristina yang would hate misty)

Javi: Andrew Deluca, just bc he’s sweet and he dies in the end. like i’m sorry bro but yeah😭

Tai: Owen Hunt, my fav sleepwalking adulterers <3 no but the way they both deal with trauma is so funny. like no let’s not deal with it. lets repress it and act like im not the problem (tai is not the problem tho, women are never the problem)(i actually hate owen hunt. fuck that bitch ass ginger (this is just a slide at owen. other than that ginger women {bc i don’t fuck with the male specimen} are so hot. thank you for existing))

Laura Lee: April Kepner, do we even have to ask that? i love me some bible thumpers. also i like how their environment challenges/strengthens their faith. holy women for the win ❤️🙏🏼

Mari: Lexie Grey, honestly i’m still not sure about this one, but idk i think they’re both so cute and goofy and bc mari is pit girl and lexie died in the woods😔

Gen: Callie Torres, gives off mean vibes but it’s lowkey a cutie. but also a total bad fucking ass

Ben: Arizona Robbins, twinnsss😝🤞🏼(arizona got one up on him with the prosthetic and being able to be openly gay tho😔)

Akilah: Izzie Stevens, something about hallucinating shit that isn’t there is crazy. but idk what’s crazier. hallucinating having a pet rat but it’s actually been dead the whole time or hallucinating fucking your dead ex-lover/patient/someone you stole a heart for?? idk chat, shits wild asf😭

Van: George O’Malley, only the good parts bc those parts george was sweet and cute and all fun go lucky.

Travis: Preston Burke, arrogant, narcissistic, sexist, fucking douchebags, god complex’s 😒(but also burke, like travis, had his good moments. i will say i do favor travis’ character more tho. bc he’s a kid and that’s understandable. but at his big fucking age burke knows better (okay i’m sorry let me stop before i get heated😭) anyways yeah)

Nat: Alex Karev/Amelia Shepherd, let’s be honest here, alex is so nat, when it comes to the brooding, dickhead, boyfriend, who came from a tough childhood and swears he’s tough as shit just bc he boxes. but is a fucking puppy dog and follows you around and laughs super hard at shit you say even tho you just said that persons shirt looked weird. she’s also very Amelia coded. and yes bc of the drugs and the daddy issues with seeing him get shot. maybe not the same circumstances or relationship but it played a big role in her life.

Jackie: Derek Shepherd, let’s be so fucking fr rn. of course jackie would be charming, annoying, stuck up, pretentious, McDreamy, loyal to a fault, himbo man. “it’s a beautiful day to save lives” headass😭im sorry but i totally see it. also they both die in crazy ways after both surviving a plane crash. if anyone needs to be studied, it’s them.

[pennyserenade]

I almost strained my neck from nodding in agreement so hard fyi (not really I’m being dramatic but !!!!!! YES!)

i'm so glad you understand this and agree bc this is such a niche thing i've been thinking about FOREVER lmao

but the similarities don't end there: both ran off to foreign countries to avoid the grief that lingered at home, both avoid intimacy on platonic and romantic levels, despite the fact that they are both deeply caring individuals (javier gets away with this more than mulder, but i believe that's only because mulder has scully and she so perfectly suited to him, and someone he is happy to confide in, whereas javi got steve). they both indulge in sex work/sex as a means of emotional release, even when it doesn't make them feel better (javi in the beginning of season 3 with that girl and mulder when scully got abducted, with that vampire). they blame themselves more than they want to admit, and they believe that they, singularly, were destined to solve these problems they find despite the fact that these problems are all bigger than themselves, and go so deep no one can see the end anymore. they get burned and burned again and they go back for more because they think that this one time will absolve their guilt, and yet the guilt is never absolved, it only grows. they are men who feel they cannot be understood or wanted by 'normal' people because they've seen and been through things that have removed them so from a normal existence it makes them sick sometimes. what they wouldn't give for the suburbs and a simple life, but also what they wouldn't give to find the answers, the truth, no matter how bitter and wrong and horrid it might be. this is their forever catch 22

[purplesurveys]

1032

survey by danceamydance

Have you ever witnessed a birth? Never have. I wasn’t present when my mom gave birth to my younger siblings and other than that there’s been no reason for me to be around for the birth of my other younger relatives.

What pattern does the closest tissue box have? I don’t have one in my room, but the one in our bathroom is brown. I think. I never actually checked even though I use it everyday lol.

Where did you lose your virginity, if you have? I truthfully didn’t really keep note of what counts as the first time because we had already been fooling around quite a bit. I’d guess either a hotel room or my room, or maybe hers. The one thing I can remember was that I was 18, so there’s that.

What color car(s) do your parents drive? We have two white cars and one teal. I still don’t know why my dad got a teal car when none of us in the family are into colored cars, but according to him getting the Vitara in white would’ve looked like an FX (a form of public transport here), so I’ve learned to make my peace with the teal car lol.

What are your views on getting rid of the penny? I can’t relate, because we don’t use pennies.

Which Asian country would you most like to visit? Aside from the ones I’ve already gone to, I’d love to take a trip to Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and India.

Have you ever had a nosebleed? Nope. I fear the day I get one; I’m scared of blood haha.

How far away do you live from your birthplace? Maybe around 30 minutes without any traffic. A realistic drive to Manila would take me anywhere between 1 to 1.5 hours.

Do you have bangs? Yep, and they’re starting to get pretty long as well so thanks for reminding me that I’ll have to trim them soon. I want to get rid of them already as I’ve had my fun with them, but NO ONE HAS SEEN ME WITH BANGS loooool so they are still staying. 

Are you a good driver? I wanna say I’ve been better through the years? Hahaha the consensus is that I drive a little crazy, but my friends still always pick me to drive them whenever we go somewhere because everyone apparently still finds me the safest driver to ride with despite my temper on the road. Having a tiny car, being bullied by bigger pickup trucks and SUV through the years has helped toughen me up.

Have you ever kissed someone underneath the mistletoe? No. My ex and I always celebrated Christmas separately, with our own families, so we never got the chance to do this.

Do you watch the Olympics on the television? No. It’s not really something that interests me.

What was the scariest experience of your life? The time I nearly crashed into a car that I didn’t realize was stopped in the middle of the road while I was going 80 kph, and having like 3 seconds to hit the brakes.

Do you have a Tumblr account? I mean...

Are your nails painted right now? What color? Nope.

Have you ever played truth or dare? Several times, though I always pick truth because I’ve never had a problem saying it. I also hate picking dares because my friends would usually make us do dumb things, like dance, or worse, make out with someone in the circle.

How long is your driveway? Not very.

Are there any tv shows you keep up with religiously? Mmm it used to be The Crown, but I probably won’t be watching it for a while despite the new season because 1) I used to watch it when my past relationship had still been smooth-sailing, so watching it would just remind me of that; and 2) Gabie loves the shit out of Gillian Anderson and she was brought in for season 4 lol. 

Right now my focus is on a new Korean drama called Start-Up, which is currently ongoing and is so fucking good. Nam Joo Hyuk is also there, so it’s a sweet bonus for me <3

What is your favorite iPhone app? I’m using YouTube the most these days, so it may as well be my favorite.

Where is your mother right now? She’s at work.

Do you know anybody named Carl? I don’t think so. The only person that came to mind is an uncle named Carlo who I haven’t seen in more than a decade. My dad’s college group used to be super tight-knit and I used to be friends with his friends’ kids, so it’s sad to see them kinda grow apart and notice the others be more reclusive over the years.

Are you more of a night owl or a morning person? Morning person. Ugh, work is changing me as a person haha.

What is your favorite song at the moment? Saw You In A Dream by The Japanese House has taken the top spot again. It’s just too goddamn good of a song.

Do you have a weak stomach? Very. I’m awful with car rides, bungee jumping, fair rides, you name it.

Have you ever been to a party where people were drinking underage? Hmm, yes. Kaira’s 18th birthday – it was held in May but most of the people at her party weren’t going to turn 18 until the end of the year, so it was a lot of 16 and 17 year olds drinking. I had just turned 18 then, so I allowed myself to take my first sip of a margarita.

How many stores are in the mall closest to you? Malls here are generally packed compared to what people may have in the US or other countries, so even though our local mall isn’t anything notable, it still holds 200+ stores.

Do you know anybody who has been diagnosed with cancer? Yes, but they’re all outside of family. My mom’s side is very weird about cancer and never share information about family members who may have it and only ever refer to it as ‘the c word,’ so I may have more relatives who have cancer than what is made known to us.

How far away is the closest McDonald’s to you? We have one literally right beside the main entrance of our village but because our house is at the very end of the village, what should be just a couple of steps away is instead a 10-minute drive for me.

Would you ever meet someone in person that you met online? Yeah I’ve done that with a few people in the wrestling circle. Jila I met unexpectedly while we were both in line for the WWE house show in Manila in 2016; Javi I met when I lent him my Chris Jericho memoir; and Rafie was the one who gave me a free ticket to said WWE show. Rafie’s a local celebrity now and he has such a huge following, so as weird as it is I’m also glad I have that little memory with him before he blew up.

What was the last film you watched? That Thing Called Tadhana, but I was unable to finish it. I’m into TV shows these days and I’ve been all over Start-Up.

Does it snow where you live? Never has.

Have you ever been to an art gallery? Of course, I’m a sucker for those. I always go to one whenever I can; there are a lot of malls here that’ll randomly have pop-up art exhibits, so art galleries here actually aren’t limited to just museums.

What are your neighbours like? A lot of them have kids, that much I know because a lot of them play outside in the afternoon and make some noise. We all keep to each other, though, so I don’t know any more about them; the only time we get together is when the neighborhood organizes its own Christmas party for the community.

Do you visit your town’s library often? I would if we have one, but public libraries are not a thing here. If you needed to go to a library to find a book, you would have to go to a university.

Have you ever had to take care of an intoxicated person? This just gave me college flashbacks haha. Of course I have, and the most notable people for me are JM, Andrew, and Angela.

What flavor was the last ice cream you ate? It’s a red bean ice cream sandwich that also has a bit of vanilla ice cream in it.

Can you do a cartwheel? No but I definitely tried a thousand times as a kid.

Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone? Can I do video calls instead? I haven’t done phone calls in a while. The last people I was on a call with were Ysa and Bea.

^ What did you talk about? Secret work stuff.

Which website do you spend the most time on? YouTube, Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter.

Have you ever kissed someone of a different race? I haven’t.

What can you smell right now? My coffee chocolate chip cookie.

Do you read fanfiction? If so, what fandoms? I haven’t checked on my favorite authors since college, mostly because they went MIA at some point and moved on to different fandoms as well. But when I did, I mostly read ones for AJ/Punk and HHH/Steph.

What accent is your favorite? Man this question is asked a lot...

How did/will you celebrate your birthday this year? Gab gave me a cute digital present, I think I may have spent the whole day playing the Switch, and Hans and Angela sent over a box of sushi for me.

Are you more introverted or extroverted? I’m both depending on the people I’m with. If I’m with a crowd I don’t know all that much, I turn my volume down.

Do you tend to repeat yourself all the time? Yeah. I got it from my mom, who unconsciously repeats stories all the time.

How was the last chicken you ate cooked? Fried.

Is there anybody you always find yourself thinking about? Yes, but it has gotten easier to manage/ignore altogether these days.

What was your last argument about? Haven’t argued with anyone in a hot minute. It was probably my mom as always, but I no longer remember what it could have been about.

Are/were you part of any extracurricular activities in school? I had clubs in high school since it was mandatory. In college, I was in yearbook and a journalism org.

Do you want to get married someday? I don’t know about that anymore.

What colors are on your country’s national flag? Blue, red, yellow, and white.

Would you go back to your ex if he/she asked you? I’m pretty stupid when it comes to this, so yes.

[mirokloses]

this is a niko support text, don’t read if you don’t like him.

ok. i wasn’t going to say anything because well… i spent last season all quiet just ranting to my friends, but i think nicole and carol just had enough of my $h*t, so i’m going to post here and be ignored like it should happen after all i’m just putting things out of my chest…

ok

ok

it’s just the beginning of the season and there are people already saying “kovac out”, and i guess you don’t like niko etc etc, but seriously??? BAYERN HAD SOME BAD GAMES AND YOU STARTED ALL OF THIS CRAP AGAIN?

let’s remind you guys that even before the pre-season niko said that he needed at least 6 new players – a striker, a number 6, a winger and two more players for depht. what he got was lucas (who is a good player but is prone to injuries), pavard (that i still don’t get why, just because he won the world cup doesn’t mean a thing, mustafi and schürrle also won with germany, so?), arp and cuisance (both aren’t ready to play, so sorry) and perisic & coutinho aren’t 100% in “bayern mode”, especially because these two wasn’t in the pre-season.

just here you see that at least two positions that niko wanted new players he just didn’t got, because müller (who isn’t playing well for some seasons already i love you thomas but that’s the truth) and gnabry could play as a striker, and javi could play as a 6.

i believe there’s some major problems with bayern, one of them are the players that aren’t tHAT GOOD ANYMORE. the club spent 7 seasons depending on basically just 5 players, never got a rotation or new faces to mix the team and make a transition between one dinasty to another, so they’re paying hard for this by now. when you look at bayern last games you can’t see at all a good transition between the defense to the midfield, because the player who should do this isn’t doing properly (this goes for thiago and javi), and that’s why when kimmich played in midfield the team was more stable. the answer to this is playing goretzka and tolisso together in a 4-2-3-1, or javi-goretzka-tolisso in a 4-3-3, this may change because of opponents. reasons?

bayern almost doesn’t shoot outside the box, and when they tried they scored some (kimmich, tolisso);

goretzka plays beautifully the role of a box-to-box midfielder and i believe this is something that could be better explored;

after some time on bench, colisso is playing regularly and if he keeps the pace this could be really good for the team

and i’m just talking about midfield, up front it gets worse since the only reliable players are lewandowski and gnabry. coutinho has class and if he gets in his old form he can really help the team, but i can see this happening soon. perisic still pretty much unknown, he could play a bigger role? yes. will he? have no idea. müller is just playing for his name. like seriously, the best trait of thomas last season when he was marking because of his tactical role, no more than that, offensively he was basically useless. coman i don’t even know how to start, he’s too selfish and most of his attempt to cross are $hitty. also he loses lot of BIG CHANCES.

on defense apart from niklas, manuel, kimmich and alaba, the other position is up to anyone, because well… said it earlier. and the “thing” that happened with mats, he just wanted to be sure on the starting eleven, as he didn’t got this at bayern he went for dortmund who was thirsty for a good defender. i can’t say much more, if you just look at them right now you’ll understand.

as for now you can see how many problems bayern has with this players. maybe is a good squad for bundesliga, but i don’t believe they can win the champions league like this, i miss the passion and power of will… and this isn’t something that came with niko, but an old problem.

OH, for not make room for someone to say that i’m trying to clean niko’s mess, which i’m not because i always criticize him when i think he’s wrong, i really believe he could make some subs faster and try to be a little more bolder tactically. some even dare to say niko doesn’t know tactics or strategies, but he did an amazing and beautiful job in eintracht being really bold and witty, yET HE CAN’T SHOW THIS ON BAYERN SINCE THE BOSSES DOESN’T APPROVE AND THE PLAYERS SAID HE WAS TOO FOCUSED ON DEFENSE (look at this mess right now lol)

this actually reminded me of something lol because since i spent so much time on twitter i can see a lot of hate niko receives (and i’m only thinking about the replies from iMiaSanMia acc) talking about the lack of rotation, but well… last time niko tried to make a healthy rotation on the team everyone was saying he shouldn’t.

pLUS A LOT OF THIS HATE HE RECEIVE ARE FROM NEW-BAYERN FANS WHO ACTUALLY ONLY CARE ABOUT TITLES AND SUCCESS, WHEN FOOTBALL IS WAY BIGGER THAN THAT. there’s even a video from DW where bayern fans really talk about this and they recognize this is a problem (if you ask me i can send to you). as a chelsea fan for a long time i can understand what’s going on since i saw this happen to my team, and the very first time something bad or disappointing happened, these so called “fans” (plastic fans for yall) walked away and are now supporting another team. this happened twice actually, after the champions league and after the booming first season with conte. now there are way less chelsea supporters on social media (and i saw so many of tott*nham, c*ty and liv*pool appearing out of nowhere kk plastic fans everywhere). this is happening with bayern and probably in the next trip they’ll be supporting another team.

if you disagree with me and can’t actually see what’s really going on with bayern, just look at united and how bad they’re right now. a big club? yes. but they haven’t prepared for the future and are so far trying to find themselves, trying to get their dna back. chelsea also had some problems, but we got some key players from one generation to another (azpi and now lamps and cech) so things are going smoother and we still have our dna of not giving up.

bayern has changed the manager in the past seasons because they’re only thinking about now instead of trying to pave the future and get back even stronger, and this will probably cost them a lot. guardiola left not just because it was an easy league, but also because the board wasn’t singning any big names, they only got thiago for him and that was it. also, don’t forget the fact that pep has to change the way he wanted bayern to play because of internal issues (being honest pep football was ugly and boring). ancelotti, my dear… you deserved so much more – he had to deal with this crap all over and i still get to see some fans saying now that ancelotti was good (even tho they were trowing hate at him at time). now it’s niko turn to get all the hate not only for his mistakes, but also for the board and players mistakes. i even got to see someone saying niko doesn’t have any sort of mentality nor passion/desire, and this makes me so angry because they’re just saying things without even get to search a little bit about niko and his carreer, specially as a player and the things he did. he inspires me to be better everyday, i really can’t stand these kind of comments. you can say whatever you want about his late subs, but doesn’t dare to say a thing about his character, especially when you don’t know a thing at all.

i’ll end this huge text here because i’m tired, but feeling a little lighter. nobody’s going to read all of this, but i really needed to put it out. i’m just watching and following bayern because of niko as i did since he was croatia’s coach, but the treatment he’s receiving at the moment really pisses me off in so many levels that i couldn’t just keep quiet. honestly, i really dislike this fc hollywood.

i believe in niko and the fact that he’ll turn things around. but i also hope from the bottom of my heart that he leaves bayern and go to a club where he’s appreciated. i don’t believe he’ll get back to eintracht, but maybe b04? (i can only dream of)

ps: remember that dortmund fired klopp after a bad season and two years later he was in live*pool winning the champions league and probably this year the premier league… firing coaches is easy, but you can’t see what’s going to happen next.

[aesthetic-survivor-of-twd]

Sometimes I feel like the only person who liked season 3. I know t has its flaws... but i liked it. Imagne a season 3 in the season 4 grahics, and we got to play as clementine, but javier in the flashbacks...

Nah you aren’t. I know a fair amount of people who really liked season 3.

I think if they got rid of the orange tint that made it physically difficult for me to play the season as well as fixed some of the characters and interactions/choices I would have had a better experience.

Because if I look at Season 3 from a purely objective standpoint, I actually think I have less problems with that season than I do Season 2 weirdly enough despite liking S2 more-so.

It’s a shame a time skip happened and Richmond was implied to be in the middle of a war, because I actually wouldn’t have minded playing as Javi again without Clem this time. As in a purely separate story that could be it’s own little series (though the S3 ending choices would be insanely hard and time consuming to adapt into a new season). Because I actually really did like Javier and his family. Also, Javier in TFS graphics? yes please.

[lynnneposts]

[Huffpost exclusive interview] Brian Orser speaks Junhwan Cha, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Yuna Kim

Even though they’ve been separated for eight years, Orser is still proud of Yuna Kim.

At the Gangneung Ice Arena, where the figure skatng competition for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics was held, there was a person who was the busy like nobody else.

On the day of the men’s competition, he had to change his clothes three times, and run around here and there for his three skaters. He’s a familiar name for Koreans. It’s figure skating coach Brian Orser.

After his retirement, the 1984 and 1988 silver medalist took Yuna in as his first student and led her to the top of the world. Although their relationship didn’t end on a good note, Yuna won silver at Sochi after their separation and Orser raised world class athletes even after Yuna.

Orser sent five athletes in total to PyeongChang. South Korea’s Junhwan Cha, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, Spain’s Javier Fernandez, Canada’s Garbrielle Daleman, and Elizabet Tursynbayeva are the names.

Junhwan ended up as 15th in the individual event and succesfully completed his olympic debut, and Yuzuru Hanyu became the two time consecutive olympic gold champion. It’s the first time since in 66 years, since Dick Button of the United States. Fernandez also won the bronze and made it to the podium with Yuzuru. Daleman and Tursynbayeva ranked 12th and 15th respectively.

What did PyeongChang mean to Orser? Did he feel anything new since it was Yuna’s home country? On the 22nd, the day before the ladies’ free skate, Huffpost met with Orser in Gangneung and asked about his experience at the olympics. Before he was even asked about his past students, Orser brought up Yuna’s name. Although their separation is still a topic of discussion, to this day, Orser is still proud of Yuna Kim.

— first, congrats on your students. how did you feel when yuzu and javi stood on the podium?

“very proud. it was a great experience for me as a coach since i’ve spent quite a long time with both of them. 7 years with javi, 6 years with yuzu. it was wonderful to see them both on the podium.

this olympics was very important. since yuzu, javi and my students were competing at the olympics again, it was important to be with them. yuzu was looking to become a two time olympic gold medalist along with a gold medal.

yuzu was very happy to stand on the podium with javi since he was 4th at the last olympics by a small margin. but since he ranked fourth then, we could see him for three more years. if javi had won a medal four years ago, he would have retired then.

i thought this comp would be a showdown between javi and yuzu. i can’t pick one over another since i coached them both. when you were young, whenever you asked your parents to pick their favourite child, they always replied the same since everyone is special. i’m feel the same. i love all my students the same. they each have different personalities and traits. i’m not much different than a parent.”

— you were called the busiest man at the ice arena. you had to change twice, and coach five students. what are some things to keep in mind when coaching multiple students at once?

“attention to detail. i have to wear a team spain jacket when javi’s in practice. the same goes for yuzu, junhwan, gabby, and elizabet. it gets a bit complex when they’re in the same warmup session. i wear neutral jackets then but prepare team jackets as well. planning is important. before i leave the village, i check if i have all the jackets and draw the path i have to take in my mind. it’s not that hard if you plan accordingly.”

— how was the opening ceremony?

“the opening ceremony felt very special to me. the last part where Yuna lit the torch was truly beautiful. I almost had tears in my eyes. I have pride in her. I know how important this olympics was to her. She was part of the bidding and the organizing committee.

— we all had tears in our eyes when Yuna appeared.

“that’s right. Especially for me. It was a great scene, and a perfect choice.”

junhwan

— this was junhwan’s first olympics. what kind of goals were on his mind?

our first goal was to get a spot for the olympics. this was the first year he could vouch for one. in Korea, there’s three skaters in the men’s field competing for the spot. except for junhwan, the two have some experience at Worlds and senior comps.

we started preparing at July but he had an injury back then, a problem with the skates, along with the need for a new program. we weren’t prepared.”

it was also physically challenging. he’s grown so much in the three years i’ve been with him. in figure skating, the body’s axis is the most important. when your body grows, the axis changes as well and you can’t spin as fast as before.

we went through a series of frustration. along with junhwan, i was a bit disturbed as well. the parents, who don’t know much about fs, were also worrying as well. so we had to be patient.

in the first qualifying comp, junhwan was 24 points behind. in the next one, he was 3 points behind. he had to win by over 27 points in the last comp. so i reminded him of how he won over the two skaters by 5-60 points in a competition last year. and he won the spot.

i think the fed chose the right person since they have to think about the future. we need to consider what the olympic experience would mean to junhwan, and what effect it would have on his career in the future. Junhwan didn’t disappoint anyone.

— what do you think of junhwan as a skater?

“do i think he’s in the top 5, 6, 7th in the world? yes. do others think so? no. the judges are also people. they already think about the scores skaters would get in their heads.

junhwan’s skate was impressive, but they may be afriad of him getting a score they didn’t anticipate. but if junhwan skates well in the future, the judges would be able to trust him more.

junhwan’s standing at a 8 point barrier. when he’s capable of producing 8 points, he’ll move on to 9 points. we must take our time. it will happen someday. we just have to wait with patience.”

— does junhwan have any weaknesses?

“not really. if i had to pick one, it would be ‘responsibility.’ when he was young, he couldn’t lead his daily trainings. he was used to doing what others asked him to do, and maybe used to thinking what others wanted him to think.

but now, he has his own opinion and his own voice. i want to teach him to express his opinions to me. if he doesn’t like the music, choreo, or element, i hope he speaks up. i think he has grown enough to voice his own opinion.

he was able to grow into the young man he is due to the olympics, and he’s ready to take responsibility for his own decisions. Junhwan is ready to go for the next step.”

— does junhwan feel pressured to do quads?

“junhwan is capable of doing quads and he already landed the quad toeloop. but i don’t want him to jump quads too quickly. i don’t want him to get hurt. i saw too many skaters who got injured because they were overdoing quads.

the important thing is whether they are able to land quads combined with other elements. quads themselves are important, but it’s more important whether a skater can land a quad toeloop after a triple axel. that would be true art and something that you rarely see.

personally, i don’t want to get caught up on quads.

you wouldn’t want to forget the essence of figure skating just for quads. if skaters don’t get points for skating skills, transitions, choreography, speed, and power, we can only resort to quads. it would be very sad if that happens.”

— junhwan’s next goal?

“preparing for the grand prix season. i hope he gets taken as a serious competitor and i also hope he medals. he’s ready for that. i hope his growth spurt ends so he can finally adapt to his body. he’ll be able to practice quads once he maintains his balance and axis.”

— yuzu had a three month gap due to his injury. how did he spend it?

“yuzu was in Toronto the entire time. It was very gloomy at first. I was sad to see him on crutches because i knew how much he wanted to train.

Instead of training, he imagined training in his head and practiced on land. He was very serious about it.

the turning point came three weeks before the olympics. a road seemed to open up. he started training from then, and had to do all the elements we planned. so i gave him confidence and planned a strategy. and he did it.

it’s a miracle that he produced these results. i never underestimated him, but it felt like he was a ‘superpower’ from a different planet. i’m not surprised that he produced these results. i’m just happy since i know what he went through to get them.”

— some criticized yuzu for reusing his 15/16 season program. what do you think about this?

“i think it was a wise decision to display the program again after time had passed, since it’s a very special program. isn’t it something you would see at the olympics? i think doing the program two years ago was too early for the olympic-worthy program.

the same goes for the short program. it’s beautiful and exquisite, and you never get tired of watching it.”

— was it yuzu’s choice?

“it was 100% his decision, and i supported him. he made the choice with responsibility. he always has good ideas. i think the press talked a lot about his decision. but a lot of people wanted to see this program. the judges especially liked it.

when yuzu broke his world record with this program, some judges remarked that ‘it was the best moment of my life to be able to watch and judge this wonderful and magical performance.

the judges who weren’t able to watch that competition live was able to watch it during the olympics, so i think it was a good decision.”

— how many skaters do you coach at the moment?

“except for the skaters that competed at the olympics, i have 4-5 more that i work with on a regular basis. i don’t know what yuzu’s decision is going to be, but i know javi is going to retire after the olympics.”

— what’s your secret in finding young skaters?

“luckily, they tend to come to me. there’s something that’s more important than teaching skaters. it’s spending time with them in order to learn more about them.

when i train with top skaters such as junhwan, javi, yuzu, and gabby, i spend time with each of them. i couldn’t do the same if i had twelve students. that’s why i choose skaters selectively and limit their numbers.

i’m not the right coach for a skater that needs a quick fix. it takes about a year and a half to see results with my teaching. it takes about a year and a half to establish basic foundations of skating and to see change.

i’m planning to take in one or two new students when the olympics is over. these students, as my current ones have done, should be able to accept that progress takes time.

it’s like learning piano. learning theory and practicing scales all day is very boring. but you need to set the foundation. you can produce a richer and fancier sound with a good foundation. the same goes for skating.”

— any traits you look for in a young skater?

“they have to love figure skating. i want to see them fly on the ice. i want to see them show off their beautiful skills when they’re practicing edges with the other skaters. most of all, they truly have to love skating.”

— any young skaters you’re interested in?

“i’m coaching a young but skilled skater. he’s debuting as a junior this year and i’m planning to prep him for beijing 2022. He’s Canadian Stephen Gogolev. he turned 13 two months ago, but he can land all the quads. he landed a triple lutz at the age of 10. although we did coach him, God himself gifted him with the skills. He is a beautiful skater, and was born to rotate and jump. but since he is still growing, there are obstacles that we’ve yet to overcome.

i’m also watching junhwan. i’m not sure whether Gogolev, who’s 3 years younger than him, would jump better quads, but in terms of flow and maturity, junhwan is much better. beijing would be a battle between the two [junhwan and Gogolev]. they may become rivals, but it would be interesting to watch.”

— did Yuna love skating?

“when i first started coaching her, it seemed as if she didn’t really love skating. it felt like a challenge at first. but after the year and a half of training, she established the basics, and Yuna came to love skating. it seemed like she started loving training because she became better at skating. during training, Yuna seemed to realize her jumping skills and beautiful movements that she didn’t notice before.

yuna’s delicate movements were breathtakingly beautiful. it was enjoyable watching her grow up to a great skater.”

— how did you feel when Yuna announced her retirement?

“we separated on a sour note, and to this day, it still feels confusing to me. but i had to move on and continue with my work. after the separation, we met a couple times and we treated each other with great kindness.

i know that Yuna is proud of my accomplishments as a coach. when we met at Sochi, she congratulated both Yuzu and Javi on their performances. In my opinion, I think she is proud that I’ve produced great results with other skaters. So i hope to meet Yuna here, at pyeongchang.

we’ve been together for a long time. we had our good moments and the bad ones, but we were always together. I was sad when she retired. Everyone loves it when Yuna takes to the ice.”

— did you get to meet Yuna at PyeongChang?

“not yet. it’s a bit hard to approach her since she’s so famous. Yuna’s busy with her olympic schedule, and I’m busy with mine. Maybe we’ll meet at the ladies free skate. i hope we get to say hello at least.”

— what do you think about diversity in the olympics?

“it’s a world stage to spread great messages. Adam Rippon is spreading his message with positivity and helping out teens that are going through hard times. this kind of education is appropriate for the olympics. the olympics is the perfect stage to promote diversity since everyone is watching and listening.

somewhere in a small village, a young child would gain confidence watching the olympics instead of falling into depression or thinking that there’s something wrong with them.

there’s also a pride house in the Canada house. I’m proud as a Canadian. they had one at the last olympics, but the one at pyeongchang seems more visible.

it takes time for people to understand diversity. some may never understand. but that’s okay. everyone is entitled to their opinions, and they have different thoughts, religions, and teachings. people should be a bit more sensitive towards each others different traditions and cultures.

— Korea is developing into a society that embraces diversity. what do you think?

“I visited Korea for the first time in 1988, exactly 30 years ago. Ever since i visited Korea as I started teaching Yuna, I could feel change in the role of women in this society.

women began to gain convidence and a voice. I think Yuna had a lot to do with it, since many women look up to her. The world isn’t just for men. The world has changed.”

— what is orser’s next goal?

“i need a break. the past few years of my life was dedicated to the olympics. i couldn’t do a lot of things because of it. my partner waited for me and understood that my world revolved around the olympics.

i was often awake due to the time difference between Toronto to Korea and Japan. In the past year before the olympics, I only took a break once, for a week. And during that week, I kept checking my emails when my partner wasn’t looking.

I also had some health issues. my partner was so concerned. i think it’s because of stress. stress causes all kinds of diseases, doesn’t it. so i need a break. Worlds are coming up. I think i’ll take a week off after then.”

original article found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.kr/entry/brian-orser_kr_5a8fd6bbe4b01e9e56ba48cb?utm_id=naver

[the-real-xmonster]

Hello Alice, have followed you for a while and learned a lot, thx! Could you explain the relationship bet. (excessive) prerotation and full-blade take-off in toe pick assisted jumps? Does the former necessarily lead to the latter? I think for example Shoma’s 4f has both? Also, is “full blade take-off” explicitly included in “weak take-off” in the rule book? I almost never see anyone getting goe deduction for take-off technique problems other than lip and flutz, or am I mistaken? Thanks!

Hi there! There is a correlation between full-blade takeoff and pre-rotation, in that picking with your blade instead of your toe does increase the risk of PR. I also discussed this in my old post on toe jump takeoff. Basically, because ice is (literally) slippery, when a skater pushes with their blade instead of their toe, their blade tends to stay and rotate on ice for a fraction of a second longer, which leads to pre-rotation.

For a toe loop in particular, when a skater picks with their blade, their starting point is usually already at a wider angle compared to a pure toe pick. Consider these 3 quad toes from Yuzu, Javi, and Shoma:

See, because Yuzu picked only with the tip of his toe, his pick was placed on the ice at more or less 45 degrees. Whereas, in Javi and Shoma’s cases, their picking feet were placed on the ice at a wider angle, 60-70 degrees for Javi, and about 90 degrees for Shoma (because he used more of his blade compared to Javi. This increase in pre-rotation is a natural result of them picking with their blade. Try mimicking the toe loop takeoff motion and placing your left foot behind you, aim first with your toe and then with the ball of your foot, and you will see what I mean: if you pick with your toe only, it’s very awkward to place your foot at anything more than 45 degrees (it’d require some really flexible hip joint).

In a flip or a Lutz jump, when the skater picks with the foot opposite the rotational direction, the angle of the pick is less of a concern, but you can see very clearly that effect of a full-blade takeoff equating to more on-ice rotation. See these two flips from Shoma and Nathan:

The thing with that flip of Shoma is he did begin the pick with his toe, however, instead of picking and pushing off the ice immediately, like Nathan did, he kept pushing his blade down and rotating his body without leaving the ice, the result of which was, as you see, a full-blade takeoff and excessive PR.

You see this pattern of PR quite a lot in Lutzes and flips. Here’s another example using one of Satoko’s Lutzes:

However, there are cases in which (1) a full blade takeoff doesn’t result in PR of more than 180 degrees and (2) a toe pick takeoff still comes with excessive PR. That’s why I said it’s a correlation, rather than definite causality.

I’m going to use Zhenya as example for both.

Here is one of her flips this season, taken off on a full blade, but the PR is limited to 90 degrees:

Here is another:

On the other hand, here’s one of her triple toe loops in combination, which is taken off from a toe pick, but is still PR-ed to around 180 degrees because she kept rotating on her toe instead of leaving the ice immediately:

This issue of a PR-ed triple toe in combination is pretty common especially among the ladies. If you want another example, here’s Gabby:

Conclusion: full-blade takeoff is a useful indicator, but not an infallible one when it comes to identifying PR error. In many cases, it’s worth zooming in to the takeoff itself for a confirmation.

As for your last question, no, the ISU doesn’t explicitly specify what counts as “poor take-off” in their technical handbook. Under current rule, there is no mandatory deduction for full-blade takeoff in toe jumps, unless it results in other jump errors, such as excessive PR or lack of height and distance (ah yes, fun fact of the day: poor ice coverage is a legitimate error defined by the ISU as worthy of GOE reduction).  

[wherespacepooh]

Brian Orser Interview at Y.H. 2017-18 Media Day

“I’m merely the coach, but when he skated that program, I thought it was an honor that I was there in that space at the Grand Prix Final. It was that much of a masterpiece... All the judges... felt that it was an honor of a lifetime... The people at the stands, the fans, the judges seated at the panel––they will talk about it for the rest of their lives... We want to rekindle the magic once again.”  –– Brian Orser

Yuzu talks a lot, Brian talks even more ❤️ – gladi

A note: this is a translation of a translation. Brian spoke in English for 30 mins.

Basis of the text is Figure Skate Magazine (B.B.Mook) with Q’s omitted. <…> = Figure Skate Japanese Representatives 2017 Memorial (Quadruple) {…..} = Kiss & Cry (Tokyo News Mook) |…...| = World Figure Skating (Shinshokan) 

[…...] = my own rephrasing for clarity/English’s sake 

Translated by gladi. Please do not repost without permission. Original text and images belong to the respective publishers. 

Preparations pretty much complete even if the Olympics were to take place next week

{Q: Please tell us about Hanyu’s training period this year?}

Yuzuru came back to Toronto right after the World Team Trophy in April, worked on choreography with Shae-lynn Bourne, and then returned to Japan for Fantasy on Ice. The next time he returned was during the first week of our summer school––6 weeks ago. [Summer sessions] started on June 21. Yuzuru also started training at the same time, and he has stayed here since. That means, he has had 6 full weeks––almost 7––of training.

<Q: How is Hanyu’s condition?>

Condition is great. From what I’m seeing, even if the Olympics were to take place next week, you can say he is pretty much prepared. He is in really good condition and taking good care, but very focused and driven in training. He is tackling all aspects, not just jumps, and he has further increased his training time.

I’ve seen him pay attention to speed and overall condition, work on cardio exercises, and practice spins a lot with Paige Aistrop. Working hard on every single thing. Practiced his programs with all their quads in place. Incorporating the spins and the steps, skating with emotion from start to finish. Although the Olympics is in February, he seems to be practicing with a greater sense of purpose compared to past years. You can say he is well aware of the Olympic season. As if the Olympics is right around the corner, about to start any moment now.

<Q: Hanyu and Javier Fernandez. Are there different plans that best fit each respective skater?>

Javier and Yuzuru––they have different approaches. In Yuzuru’s case, he started training right away. His way is to begin program practice at once, making the necessary changes, working on conditioning, and practicing jumps. (t/n - skipping rest of paragraph on Javier’s summer vacation).

Say the Olympics is right here (t/n probably gesturing at a spot in space). We know that Yuzuru is headed towards it from this direction, and Javier comes from that direction. But they practice at the same time, in the same place. And there, again, the differences in culture and personality come out. Of course, both are working really hard. How the two of them tackle this season <and work towards their goals> will be very fascinating.

{Q: How about your way of approach as a coach?}

Yuzuru beginning training right away and Javier taking a vacation to mentally adjust before coming back are both normal to me. As a coach, regulating [their condition] is what I do. Regarding Yuzuru, I think there will be times in this season when I'll have to hold him back.

<Q: What are the pros and cons of Hanyu heading into the Olympics as the world champion?>

Because I have direct experience of this myself, I am able to share that feeling with Yuzuru. It's immense pressure. But, no matter the scenario, for Yuzuru's sake, and for him to approach the Olympics with confidence, becoming world champion once more was what he needed. Because the chance had escaped him twice. Javier was champion in 2015 and 2016, so Yuzuru's turn came in 2017.

To Yuzuru, it was a title that he wanted heading toward the Olympics. In Javier's case, had he won, it probably would have become very difficult for him. Although a 3-time successive world champion in that situation, he would have headed into the Olympics as a world champion. Now, that would have been enormous pressure. For Javi, I think he is in a more favorable position coming in as a dark horse. So I think it has actually <played out perfectly for both of them> and it’ll be a terrific battle.  

Yuzuru needed to go into the Olympics as world champion anyhow, and I think it was very important [that he got the title]. See that display over there? It has the names of all the Olympic medalists and world champions [coming out of TCC], and Yuzuru spends quite a while in front of it. Before heading out to Helsinki, <|several times I saw him standing there, looking up. | He was probably imagining the board with his name engraved on it.> Now he’s doing the same thing again. This time he’s moved over to the Olympic display, staring at the names of the Olympic champions and medalists. Most likely, imagining his name written there. <He is already in the zone> and he feels a sense of purpose.

<Q: Plans for Hanyu to challenge new jumps this season?>

All of the skaters, including my 12-year-old student, everybody is trying out and practicing new jumps. <For young skaters, this is a part of learning skating. Of course, Yuzuru is also constantly challenging new jumps. 4A and 4Lz… although he doesn’t really do the 4F so much, and of course the Loop has gotten quite excellent.> During summer training, it’s normal to train more experimentally, sort of like “Well, let’s try the 4Lz today” and “Today, the 4A.” And so, there are still several weeks until we decide what to do with the new jumps. And, we’ll also have to decide what to do in February at the Olympics. At some point, we’ll have to settle on the jump layout.

Nothing has been decided. More than anything, this is a question for Yuzuru rather than myself. As I’ve said, he’s been attempting jumps like 4Lz and 4A. We have to think strategically, in a smart way. It’s an important year, and there are other skaters who jump 4Lz, 4F, but that isn’t to say we must also follow suit. We have many other ways to compete. At the World Championships {last season}, it was actually very interesting to be able to see the top skaters on the ice at the same time during official practice and six-minute warm-up. The difference in skating skills, ability, and maturity is clear. In my personal opinion, Javier and Yuzuru absolutely stand out. And that leads to the high PCS and GOE for all the elements.

So, if Javier jumps his best 4T, he can easily receive +3. If Yuzuru does his best 4Lo, it’ll be +3. His 4S and 4S3T combination, easily +3 as well. Of course, his 3A is almost always +3. Moreover, Yuzuru is the best spinner in the world, so his spins always get +3. StSq is always exciting and dynamic, complex and difficult, so this too is always +3.

That is why, we must think carefully here. In the current situation, I have full confidence  in our prospects. For both of them. Both Javier and Yuzuru have the capability to win. So it’ll be an interesting season. All the skaters are racing, trying, to bring in better elements, but that leads to injury, leads to a decline in quality which affects PCS. So we have to think carefully, but at the same time, a fighting spirit is also important. It’s like treading on thin ice, and it's a fine balance.

<Q: As a coach, any pressure from [seeking] a third gold medal?>

Is there pressure as a coach? Yes, there is. I feel pressure from only one thing––because I want to have them in the best condition possible. I want them to enjoy the process. I want them to skate their best, with the feeling that they are second to none. I want them to fully enjoy this thing that is the Olympics. They’ve both had experience with the Olympics, so that is their strong point.

Returning to this program from the past is of great meaning to Yuzuru

<Q: Hanyu is doing Ballade No.1 for his SP and SEIMEI for his LP this season. What are the reasons for returning to old programs for both?>

Ballade No.1 and SEIMEI. We’ve been away from those two programs for a while. Last year’s programs, especially the short, carried the aim of developing new facet [of performance]. Everything was for the sake of growth. It was a challenging experience for him, doing it differently from how it’s been so far. In face of the Olympic season, when considering various strategies, skaters often return to programs of the past. In 1988, I went with a short program I’d used before and won. There’s not a single problem with doing a program you’ve used before. Modifications are complete with the short program. We’ve changed a part of the choreography, rearranged the jumps––because we’ve put plenty of thought into the modifications, it becomes a fresh program. I think everybody will love it. Especially with the changes in the jumps, when they see it once again, it becomes this program where they'll probably go “Ah! I sure love this program."

I feel the same about the free program as well. We discussed it, and it was that returning to this program meant a lot to him and that was very important. Why, because the program is very meaningful to him. Both the audience and the judges should feel quite happy to see this program once again. Yuzuru has become a far more superior skater, compared to two years ago, and at the very least, he has incorporated a new jump, the 4Lo.

I know there’ll be criticism, and that’s normal. If we do a new program, people would probably say “Mm, I’m not sure I like this.” And if we return to an old program, they would say, “It’s better not to return to an old program.” You’ll hear such criticism no matter which path you take. I have confidence in this program. Because I love it. Even more than last year's. Although it's from two years ago, it has the highest score ever in terms of PCS, and the tempo of the music is an easy fit for Yuzuru’s skating. The big jumps are laid out in such a way that he can execute them easily. Two years ago, we spent a season to find just the right spot and rhythm for jumping. I know this program means a lot in his heart.

Q: Is there a danger that the judges might be tired of the programs and PCS would go down as a result?

I don’t think so, not at all. The programs have been modified and refreshed. I haven’t talked to him about costumes, but most likely he’ll change them, and he himself has grown as a skater. […] His condition, too, was better than it used to be, and by February he’ll bring the perfect condition to skate these programs. These programs  that he skated in a state of maximum tension two years ago will be done at a completely different level.

When revisiting a program from the past, it is absolutely essential to be markedly better than before. Here, the minute he puts on the music, all the coaches––everyone––would go, “Oh, what a wonderful program!” So right off the bat, we felt very good about having made this decision. A very difficult decision, since everyone wants to see new programs, and that’s normal.

Judges will be delighted that they are able to see this program––when he takes his starting position, at the competition’s first official practice. There are judges who sat at the panels of the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona two years ago and the NHK Trophy of the same year. When he set world records. Those judges were honored to have sat at the panel, they were proud of it. There are many judges in the world who wish to have the same experience, and would love to be on a panel in such a situation. Now at last, that chance has come back.

There are lots of competitions, but when all is said and done, the hope is of course that he’ll bring his best performance at the Olympics, that the judges on the Olympic panel would be pleased that they could see this once again, or possibly for the first time from the panels. I’m merely the coach, but when he skated that program, I thought it was an honor that I was there in that space at the Grand Prix Final. It was that much of a masterpiece. After I left the rink, I went straight to where the panel was. All the judges I’ve talked to felt that it was an honor of a lifetime to have seen this performance right before their eyes. The people at the stands, the fans, the judges seated at the panel––they will talk about it for the rest of their lives. That time, when they were there, and saw it with their own eyes. Just like when Yuna Kim showed her two programs in 2010, the judges sat at the panel and fully savored that wonderful program.

This is my way of approach, we want to rekindle the magic once again. For that reason, we had to make some changes to the program. The build up from two years’ worth of training and his growth as a person over the past two years. That alone raises this program to the next level.

It's my favorite out of all the programs. Isn’t it a special program that also means a lot to you? It’s a very emotionally intense piece––people want to find out what happens, what it means, et cetera. When I saw him skate, I thought, he is skating his soul. SEIMEI is the program where he received the highest evaluations in PCS.

Yuzuru has become a skater of a different level compared to two years ago. He’s advancing technically, and he is also evolving in creativity. He has made progress in skating skills, his speed has gone up, and he’s become much more passionate. He was an excellent skater even then, you can imagine the program [now] at a much higher level. Two years ago, we all, at the NHK Trophy and the Grand Prix Final, had a magical, goosebumps-inducing experience. I thought it was an honor to see this program then and there. I think everybody can agree on that.

At choreography with Shae-lynn, he trimmed out several parts. The StSq has gotten even more delicate, even better. So, I think this is the right decision. I’ll say it again, but it’s become a program worthy of the Olympics.

As a coach, as a skater, sometimes the timing is premature for a program. When we encountered this program, it felt like it would have been right for the Olympics. It wasn’t yet the Olympic year. But I knew then, that he was going to return to this music for the Olympics. So, when it was decided that he would return to this program in the right season, of course I supported him. For both the free program and the short. No one has skated to these pieces at the Olympics, so they will become “the Olympic programs.” Precisely because we got them a little too early, that we are allowed the luxury of having these programs once again. I think everyone will be taken by this program. Whether they see it for the first time or otherwise, be it at the Olympic arena or at some other place.

Yuzuru approaching me for a conversation is something I’m very glad about

<Q: Compared to the year before the Sochi Olympics, what are the biggest changes you see in Hanyu now?>

<There are so many. First is his relationship with the coaches––me in particular.> We [as a team] were still new to the game back then. Having only been through one season together when we went for the World Championships at London, Ontario, we were still at the stage of trying to get to know each other. And then, we experienced the pressure of the Olympics, but even after that, we were still working hard to get to know each other. He was very young––I think he was just about to turn 18 [the year before Sochi]. And then, winning renown in such a way, he has really grown into a man these couple years. [Now] he has his own opinions and sets his own pace. I am there, and Tracy is there, to help guide him.

But––and I especially think so this year––he’s really grown up, and he’s gotten so much better at communication. Whenever the session ends, we would immediately sit down and talk with each other. How does the 4Lo feel, how does he feel about various things, how was physiotherapy going, how is his training progressing...

We only sit and talk for about 10 minutes, but what’s different from before is that Yuzuru himself wants to come to me and talk. That makes me very happy. Communication is the reason why I am here, and discussion is necessary. He is frank––especially with this being the Olympic year, we have to be straightforward and talk, no matter what it is. If he wants to get more out of me, he has to communicate with me. If he wants to be pushed harder, more aggressively, he has to communicate with me. We are now at the stage where we are doing that, and that's great.

{Q: What’s important for Hanyu in order to win against other skaters?}

Where we are now, compared to the last Olympics, I can see that he has a sense of purpose from early on in the season. It’s probably what he learned from the previous Olympics. The road to Sochi was full of difficulties. This time, everything is nicely sorted out in his head, and he’s actually very focused. He’s very determined to be in the best condition, and taking great care of his body. Because we’ve been through the Olympics, we know very well what the Olympic season is like. When the Olympics beckon, you live with and breathe the Olympics every day. You can’t escape from that. Right now, we’re in that condition. Although I’m the coach, I feel the same, and I also feel pressure. Excitement as well. The Olympics are always on your mind. It’s the same for the skaters.

During this period, you can see Yuzuru practicing the 4Lz through video sites, and Javier trying the 4Lo. You can say that now is the time to explore a variety of things. Whether or not to settle is another question. It’s not the time to make that decision yet. More time is needed. I encourage such an approach for my skaters to be competitive. Sometimes in practicing the 4Lz, it becomes easier to do the 4Lo. For example, with Yuna Kim. She had always hated training the 3Lo. But after we put the 3Lo into the program, her problems with the Flip disappeared. Although it was her second weakest jump following the Loop. This is one strategy––when you are working on something difficult, things that are somewhat simpler become more easily doable. Because she did the Loop, she found everything else easier. Do you see what I mean? That is, this is the period where every one of our skaters are taking on their own respective challenges.

The free skate after the failure in the SP at Worlds was not coincidental

{Q: Any plans toward the Pyeongchang Olympics?}

During the season, there will be competitions that we can use to carry out the peaking progress. [Does that mean] we’ll adjust for the Autumn Classic? That’s exactly it. Because it’s the first big competition. We don’t yet know what evaluations we’ll receive there. After that, the Cup of Russia––we’ll continue to raise his level of skating there. This is our current plan. And then, of course there’s the NHK Trophy, the Grand Prix Final, followed by the Japanese Nationals. Then the Olympics. Our job is to manage how he brings his peak, to know that we can manipulate and control the peaking, that we are able to have that confidence. However, critical above all else is that we maintain his good condition.

<Q: Any interesting episodes during practice sessions this off season?>

[Over the weekend] some time ago, we practiced new hydroblading technique.  We weren’t making much sound on the ice, and [the rink] was quite empty. <We tried other skaters’ variations, and Shae-lynn joined in as well (laughs). Since it is a move that Yuzuru has in his free program, he is of course very good at it.> Because what we were doing looked really interesting, several other skaters tried as well. So Yuzuru helped them––raise your hand like this, do it this way, lock your arms like this, and then do it here, raise the leg some more… It was difficult, but he was laughing a lot and enjoying himself. I thought it was great. Although it isn’t like that every day, I’m happy that we can have times like these.

This summer, Ann Schelter came twice. You’ve heard about “Annie’s Edges” (t/n: world-renouned workshop on skating skills), right? She’s a very good friend of mine, and to me, she is like the master of skating. She is the No.1 in the realm of skating skills. Yuzuru was enjoying the classes a lot. <The technical portions of the masterclass this time seemed to be of particular interest.> Afterwards, we had “theatre time.” We turned off the lights, put on music, <Ann held a gong, and we just skated freely>, relaxing ourselves. Especially as the Olympics draw near and every one tenses up––so we asked Ann if we could hold a couple of these skating sessions. Focusing on skating skills, taking time for something like Theatre on Ice, enjoying skating from the heart. When you see him doing this, you get how important that is. Why? There are six months left right now until the Olympics. We can’t possibly zero in on that alone and chase that every day. He is not the type who takes a lot of time off, so when he is here, we have to think of ways for him to relax somehow.

{Q: With the increase in communication after training, have you had any conversations of interest?}

In my conversations with Yuzuru, there isn't anything particularly surprising. The only thing that’s important, is that he comes and talks. Finding the time to talk about the session––that in itself is critical. He isn’t {usually} a fan of talking {during the session}, he prefers to focus on the training. We discovered that last year. It was especially the case these couple of months. But, after the session ends, we’ll even chat about technical things. We also talk about the programs. What’s our sense, what he plans to do the next day… Mostly limited to these things, but when we’ve had a very good session, why it was such a great session, his energy levels…we talk about that too. It’s helpful for my work, and I think it’s great for him to be able to talk with somebody.

Yuzuru has become much more proactive. About his schedule, his planned events going forward, travel… things about himself that need to be communicated––he’s being very clear about everything. That’s such a great thing, I no longer have to go around him and find out from people surrounding him. I can go directly to him, listen to his answer… and give him my own answer!

{Q: Javier mentioned that you were his dad in Toronto. What are your thoughts?}

We have a professional relationship with all the skaters we coach, but they all have their own respective needs. {Javier lives alone and has to do everything himself, including housework, so there is a need to support him. Mainly with resting and recovery.} As for Yuzuru, in terms of recovery, he has been doing very well this year. On very important days, for example, today is probably going to be intense. It’s necessary to work on recovery when he goes back home after this ends. Not only massages and acupuncture, but also always taking an icepack along with him. Especially for this season, he understands very well the importance of resting and recovery. Most skaters feel guilty about rest. Javier’s probably different.

{Q: Have you ever had a conversation about mental control with Hanyu?}

Pretty much every day, between Tracy and me, we are always thinking about the strengthening of what we call “mental conditioning.” Not only during the competitions, [mental conditioning] has to be incorporated into everyday training. We need to study and look into building up [skaters’] energy levels, knowing what practice we have to do, and how that reflects in training, what we should do to get even better the next day. Because we’re aware of this in the day-to-day, when we’re at competitions, who needs to be handled how––we’re able to know if we’re implementing it better and steering towards the proper direction.

Speaking from last year’s experience, after the short program ended in Helsinki, we had a lot to do. Because of course Yuzuru wasn’t happy about the results of the short program. So there was a need to support him heading into the free program. At such times, he gets resistant about taking breaks and overtrains. Again and again, he wanted to go over the runthrough, but Tracy and I told him, “You are fine. There is no more need for runthroughs. It’s better to just practice a couple jumps and leave the rink ahead of time."

Maybe it was a shock to him, but we knew that was necessary. What we had to do, was for him to regain his self-confidence, to be conscious of the fact that there was no longer need to practice. He’s had plenty and enough training. That we trust the training we’ve accumulated up till this point. We told him that and it all went well. It wasn’t coincidental, he didn’t just happen to do well. We talked about how we wanted to approach the free––in what form, and how to practice. Yuzuru listened to what I said and didn’t miss a single word. I told him, “There is no need to prove to anyone that you can do a proper Salchow.” He always, even during official practices of the championships, gives off the feeling that he has to prove to the world. That’s why we stopped him. And, when the time came to prove his strength, he proved it.

(fin)

Amazon.co.jp links to Figure Skate Magazine (B.B.Mook), Figure Skate Japanese Representatives 2017 Memorial (Quadruple), Kiss & Cry (Tokyo News), World Figure Skate issues used and referenced in this post. Please consider supporting their work.

[neoglows]

Kpop squad as Avatar: The Last Airbender

Also known as “My bitches as Avatar: The Last Airbender”.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s on Netflix, it’s amazing, go watch it or perish. If you have watched it, you’re perfect and I love you.

Okay, first things first. In the ATLA universe, the world is divided in 4 nations (fire, earth, air & water).

Some people are capable of “bending” one of the elements (controlling them). So there’s airbenders, waterbenders, earthbenders & firebenders.

One individual, the Avatar, is capable of bending all four elements and is responsible for maintaining harmony between the world's four nations.

There’s also people who can’t bend shit, which is the majority of people, but for the sake of our egos let’s pretend we would all be benders <3

Victoria

Earthbending

Earthbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the geokinetic ability to manipulate earth and rock in all their various forms.

The key to earthbending is utilizing neutral jing, which involves waiting and listening for the right moment to strike and, when that moment comes, acting decisively. In other words, earthbenders generally endure their enemies' attacks until the right opportunity to counterattack reveals itself.

Alternative skills

Kyoshi warrior fighting style. 

The Kyoshi Warriors are an order of female warriors named after Avatar Kyoshi, who founded them to protect her homeland, Kyoshi Island. Each village of the island had its own band of warriors.

Though their fighting style and clothing mimic those of Avatar Kyoshi, they seemingly did not implement any of the bending arts in their physical movements. They are clad in ornate, armored, green kimonos, metal headdresses, and white-faced makeup designed to intimidate opponents. The Kyoshi Warriors used metal fans as their main weapons like Avatar Kyoshi, but also implemented katanas and retractable shields.

Javi

Firebending

Firebending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the pyrokinetic ability to control fire. It is unique among the bending arts, as it is the only one in which the performer can generate the element.

Fire is the element of power, consisting of overpowering force tempered by the unflinching will to accomplish tasks and desires. Firebending draws its power from the sun, and the first human firebenders derived their firebending techniques from the dragons.

Alternative skills

I think she would also have lightning generation skills.

Lightning generation is an advanced sub-skill within firebending that allows the user to produce lightning by separating the positive and negative energies internally, before directing it up through the arm and out the fingertips. The technique is extremely precise and deadly and is referred to by some as the "cold blooded fire".

Bárbara

Waterbending

Waterbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the hydrokinetic ability to control water in all of its various forms.

Water is the element of change. The moon is the source of power in waterbending, and the original waterbenders learned to bend by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides.  The fighting style of waterbending is mostly fluid and graceful, acting in concert with the environment.

Alternative skills

I think she would also have healing skills.

Healing is a sub-skill of waterbending that allows the bender to heal wounds; by using water as a catalyst, they can redirect energy paths around the body, concentrating more energy into a wounded area and allowing that area to heal at an accelerated rate

Nani

Airbending

Airbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the aerokinetic ability to control and manipulate air.

Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly problems and concerns; finding peace and freedom was the key to solving their difficulties in life. Airbenders continually sought spiritual enlightenment, and, as a result, all children born into the Air Nomads were benders. The first airbenders learned their art from the flying bison.

Alternative skills

Chi blocking is an ancient technique that has been practiced in secret for centuries.Blocking someone's chi renders the victim's muscles useless and temporarily disables a bender's abilities. It is mainly used by nonbenders as a way of self-defense or even to attack.

Characters

Javi

Sokka

"That's all I got. It's pretty much my whole identity. Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy." - katara’s brother

- he doesn’t have bending abilities but he’s the strategist of the group

- very sarcastic and very done with the bender’s shit, but still supportive

- always making bad puns, thinks he’s the funniest person in the world

- protects his loved ones to death 

- tragic love life

Vic

Zuko

"I used to think this scar marked me – the mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

- the honor guy

- son of the fire lord, tried to be the bad guy in the 1st season but he was very bad at it

- seemed dark but actually he was just emo, having issues w his family and struggling with his identity

- kinda socially awkward but u can’t help but love him

- angsty, went trough a lot of emotional issues but it just provoked him to lash out and isolate himself bc he wouldn’t let himself be the emotional bitch he actually is

- turns out to be a huge softie, who asks random frogs for advice and just wants friendship & acceptance

Bárbara

The Cabbage Man

"My cabbages!"

Okay I’m kidding

Katara

"I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!"

- the last waterbender of the southern water tribe, sokka’s sister

- squad mom, but she’s of a very protective nature in general and will literally aggresively fight for anyone she thinks deserves it even if it’s a fucking stranger she’s never seen before

- the term INTENSITA was created in her honor

- has a lot of love in her heart and wants to believe the best in people

- very compassionate, warm and caring but also powerful and kind of a badass

- lots of inner strenght & resilience

- not so good at making jokes or letting go of the past tho

Nani

Toph

“I am the greatest earthbender in the world! Don’t you two dunderheads ever forget it!”

- runnaway rich kid, blind earthbending master, literal fucking legend at the age of 12

- very stubborn and direct

- values her independence a lot and hates being treated like a weak little girl

- confrontational and a sarcastic little shit

- quite carefree and adventurous though

- shows affection trough teasing and/or hitting but she really does love and is there for her friends always

- loathes being told what to do & wearing shoes, loves uncle iroh so yes i relate to her stfu

Characters interactions

Vic & Javi

Javi & Bárbara

Nani & Vic

Vic & Bárbara

Nani & Javi

Bárbara & Nani

[dropping-a-toaster-in-the-bath]

Walking Dead Game [S3] : Tripp VS Ava and Why I Hate This Choice.

Welp, its over. As of now, Episode 5 has been released and Walking Dead Season 3 has FINALLY concluded. A really good season, i’d rate it just a TAD higher than S2 simply because of my personal enjoyment and clever usage of the main choice mechanic and mainly the better way they treated the characters this time around. Except, two characters that honestly deserved way better but got shafted either because of time-constraints, or simply poor writing. 

Why is this a choice? Seriously. Why is this a choice? Lets be honest, most of you picked Tripp, even if the last time I saw the percentages- it was probably because people knew that Tripp would survive if Ava was chosen. And theres nothing wrong with picking Ava, but lets be honest, theres literally no reason to picking Ava other than you wanting brownie points with Clem and David. Ava barely gets room to shine as she simply lacks screen time because of her position with The New Frontier. You really dont see her other than with Clementine for those first few scenes, and then a quick meeting with her in the city, and then thwarting Joan towards the end. The time you get with Ava is not even close enough to the time you get with Tripp. Which makes sense, Tripp is part of your group and on your side most of the time so it makes sense hes always somewhere around. But the problem here is that you get WAY MORE TIME WITH TRIPP. To the point where you know jack shit about Ava when you get to this option other than some positives presented by dialogue and David. You’ve been with Tripp for 4 episodes now, and you pretty much know this guy would allow you to kill his family and somehow forgive you, dudes way too nice honestly. He loves Eleanor but gets friendzoned, hes close friends with Conrad, and generally will support you if you agree with him, i’d call him Kenny 2.0 simply for how he just seems like a dialed back Kenny. 

Now, my first thought was “Haha- yeah no Ava- sorry, Tripp for li’-OH SHIT” proceeded by 10 minutes of anger and then looking up the alternate option and sighing in relief. Then waiting a month and then seeing Ava dying then realizing, yep, Tripp is definitely fucked too. (I’ll ignore that this whole choice makes no sense because you just end up shooting at Joan and attacking her earlier could of saved both of them but w/e- choosers gotta choose.) I have problems with this choice, but my main problem with this choice is the result it brings. There are positives to this choice, and I want to talk about them first just so you know i’m not all negative. This is actually one of the first reverse choices in the game, looking back, there really hasn’t been a choice where the person you chooses dies and you’re stuck with the other unless im forgetting any. Its a clever way to show just how fucked up Joan is. Joan knows whoever you pick is probably who Javi cares for more. Making her shoot the one you picked even more sinister, (although it is cool thinking that if the player is aware to how this option plays out you could view it as Javi outsmarting Joan by making her kill the person Javi cares less about but thats dumb and way too over-thought of me) and even better at representing how corrupt she really is. Making shooting her in the face EVEN MORE SATISFYING. WOO! Another good thing about this option is that it allows players to get a different perspective and showing that just because they can choose doesn’t mean it’ll work out how they planned. Most people that didn’t like Ava, chose Tripp, probably because they just didn’t care for Ava but now they’re stuck with her thanks to Joan. This would of been a great time to let the character that lived shine. If we picked Tripp, and got stuck with Ava, it would of been great to get some more time with Ava and learn more about her RATHER THAN JUST CHEAPLY KILLING HER OFF WITH A FALLING ZOMBIE. It’d allow us to learn more about her and maybe even consider “Huh, well, maybe I am kinda glad she made it.”, players might not be happy they didn’t get what they want, but there is possibility in actually interesting the player with a choice like this. Now that i’ve established that, lets get into what this sets up that makes me hate this choice. Tripp and Ava die, no matter what. Why? Oh, Ava gets one-shot by a falling zombie after her hilarious “BE CAREFUL” and Tripp gets stuck because of course he does, thanks helicopter. Yes, I get why these options might of been originally considered. Oh well, the player wanted Ava and not tripp, so yeah, we can just kill them off in the next chapter. WHY? You had the perfect opportunity to REDEEM the character in the players eyes! Its even more disappointing the game pretty much prefers you have Tripp in this scene as he makes it one obstacle farther, and pretty much spits on Ava’s death, fuck its like the scene knows we came here after seeing Ava’s death. I don’t like this outcome at all, its sloppy and a bad way to resolve two characters that deserved better. Tripp falls off and thats it, the only mention of him past his death is the moment he dies where they acknowledge what just happened, the picture at the end, and I think some dialogue from Conrad at the end if he made it in your playthrough. THE GUY WAS WITH YOU FOR 4 EPISODES. Yet, you’re willing to just be like “Yep, he died guys.”- Its obvious the game meant for you to get him killed by choosing him as it makes Eleanor’s rant more justified..but they could of at least provided some bonus dialogue if he survived past Ava, and they could of at least gave Ava SOMETHING instead of the WD’s cheapest death.

>Rant over- I can’t really express what I mean here in a satisfactory way but I wrote too much to want to delete this, blah blah. GIVE ME TRIPP BACK. Also- IN THE FUTURE, PLEASE STEER CLEAR OF THIS. If Conrad can survive til the end, Tripp (and Ava) deserve that ability too. Their deaths just feel too forced by the weird ass shenanigans that were Ep4 and Ep5. 

>PS: I’ll also ignore the fact that what was under them appeared to be water and Tripp doesn’t even consider trying to jump into the water (Yes its water I spent like a solid 5 minutes trying to distinguish what the fuck that was) and or doing a last-ditch chance at jumping to the helicopter. 

>PPS: After searching around, a lot of people think the sudden deaths were simply like that for s4 and I don’t doubt that this could of been done to set up another KENNY survivor for S4, but even if thats it, I still don’t like the way they handled this, it feels rushed. 

[skyshipper]

blog tag

I was tagged by the very sweet @the-blind-assassin-12 (who has the cutest dog in the world in case anyone is wondering). 💛

1. Why did you choose your url?

Oh man, I fucking HATE coming up with blog names because everything I come up with is usually taken.  I started this blog several years ago to celebrate my love of Nick & June from the Handmaid’s Tale. I hadn’t been on tumblr in quite a few years and that ship brought me back to fandom land. I chose “sky�� because when I’m on tumblr I feel like my head is in the clouds and “shipper” because I was here to post about a specific ship. Idk, I don’t love it and it’s not even a good concept but it’s staying forever because I loathe coming up with new blog names. I also get really confused on my own dash when people change their urls?? Lol, I’m a visual person. So anyway, that’s it. That’s the name. It kinda sucks but here we are.

2. Any side blogs?

Yep, but I pretty much abandoned it. I’ve found that one blog is more than enough to manage for me. I originally created it when I wanted to post stuff for shows outside of The Handmaid’s Tale. Then I decided that was silly and I should post whatever the hell I feel like. It’s very easy on social media to get caught up in likes, followers, reblogs, etc.....but ultimately I’m here for me.  I know 95% of the people who follow this blog came here for content for another show, but they don’t have to stay and that’s fine. I’m just out here doing my own thing, curating a list of shit I’m into at the moment.  If you’re into it too, then cool!  If not, that is also cool. 

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

I’ve come and gone many times. I think I had a blog around 2014 for a show/fandom that shall not be named, which I rage deleted in a fit one day.  Then I had a lurker blog for a few years.  I think I’ve had this one for maybe 2-3 years??? I don’t think I logged in for the majority of 2020, because the pandemic rollercoaster took an emotional toll on me just like everyone else. I’ve made a conscious decision this year to only spend my free time & social media time on things that are making me feel happy, not anxious, frustrated or sad. Din Djarin brought me back here but I’ve stayed for Pedro Pascal. Pedro makes everyone happy, bless his beautiful soul. ❤️

4. Do you have a queue tag?

Nope. I tried queuing posts for a while but I just found it to be too much work. Now I just reblog/like stuff on the spot. 

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

To celebrate my love of Nick & June from The Handmaid’s Tale. I’m not really into the show anymore because the writing is total shit, but season one (when they were working off of Margaret Atwood’s novel) is still a masterpiece. 

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Because Javier Peña is hot as fuck, that’s why. Listen, I have a hard time picking an icon and get irrationally attached to it when I do. There are so many great Pedro pictures and characters to choose from.  I still think of going back to my original Pedro icon from that Vanity Fair photoshoot because it’s one of my absolute favorite pictures of him and I still love it so much. I’ve been messing around in Photoshop trying to make a cool background for it and have failed miserably to create anything I like thus far.  So for now, Javi is staying.

7. Why did you choose your header?

Once again, because Javier Peña is hot as fuck, that’s why.  I never held a handgun in my life, but ohhhhh, so sexy when fictional characters I love do it. Same with the cigarette smoking. Good lord just thinking about this is making me feel things. 😅

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

This weapons set I made for Din. I’m still shocked that happened because that is BY FAR the most notes I’ve ever received on a post and it will probably never happen again. I peaked too soon, haha!  I just got Photoshop in February or March of this year after making mediocre gifs with a series of phone apps for years.  That was maybe the second or third set I ever made in Photoshop, so I was kind of stunned it took off like that. What can I say, everyone finds Din’s weapons as sexy as I do, I guess.  I do sometimes look at it and wish I would have made better quality gifs but I was, and still am, learning. Now when I look at I try and use it as a reminder that my gifs are slowly improving (at least I hope so anyway) and that makes me happy. I still get notes on that post daily which both surprises me and makes my heart all warm and fuzzy. 

9. How many mutuals do you have?

I’m not really sure because I never went through and counted??? Maybe 30ish?

10. How many followers do you have?

1363, at least 1200 of which came here for Nick & June. I hope all of you like Pedro Pascal & Star Wars because I’m going to be stuck in this mode for a long time!! 🤡

11. How many people do you follow?

157

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

No, not that I can remember anyway. Tumblr & fandom in general are way more fun for me when I spend time focusing on good things.  Life (this past year especially) is hard enough. I just want to bask in the glow of Pedro’s beautiful heart and face, live in the fantasy worlds of Star Wars, read smutty things from amazing writers, and enjoy beautiful gifs & edits from content creators. All of these things bring me joy and that’s why I’m here. This is a positive vibes only space for me.

13. How often do you use Tumblr each day?

Too much??? I like to keep my work tabs open on my computer and then peak at pretty things throughout the day as a little reward when I get stuff done.  Sometimes that leads to unexpected breaks (like reading fanfiction at 11am on a Tuesday) but I’m not sad.  I work for myself so there is no one to get mad at me, just a pile of work that keeps growing because I’m screwing around.

14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Nah. I’m here for pretty things, wonderful writing and nice people. If someone is an asshole I just block them, problem solved. Which has only happened to me once that I can recall and it was years ago. I try to only follow people that cultivate a space for kindness and positivity as well, that way there is nothing to argue about......just mutual pining over lovely things.

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

Ugh, love/hate relationship. I definitely understand why people who create things want as many people to see it as possible. It takes a long time to create gifs/edits/write stories so I see the value in reblogs and user tags as a way to boost posts to get your stuff out there in front of as many eyes as possible.  Personally, I feel like people should reblog things only when and if they want to do it.  I never want anyone to reblog my creations because they feel like they have to do that.  I want them to reblog it because it made them happy and/or they liked something I created. Believe it or not, I notice when a follower of mine is a person that usually only “likes” my posts and then suddenly reblogs something with the nicest tags about a post saying it’s pretty, they love it, etc.  For me, that’s extremely rewarding because something I made resonated with that person.  I also believe that if you’re creating things only for reblogs or likes then you’re focused on the endgame and competition (getting the most notes, etc.) which is never a good headspace to be in for creating things. I know that can be hard because social media creates anxiety, depression and imposter syndrome, but the amount of notes on a post really and truly does not always equate to the best content.  So much of it is timing, or a post getting boosted by bigger blogs so more people see it.  I try to create things for myself first and foremost and if I am doing that and enjoying myself in the process, who cares how many people see it/like it/reblog it? At the end of the day I want to like what I create and feel like I’m improving my Photoshop knowledge & skills. That’s why I’m here and that’s what I try to stay focused on all the time.

16. Do you like tag games?

Yeah, I do. Except the music questions.  Why are there so many music/song questions?  I’m the kind of person that lets someone else pick the music most of the time. I also listen to a genre to fit the mood I’m in rather than a specific artist 95% of the time, so I find those song questions really difficult. I also like tag games because I really love to learn more about other people here. I’m really flattered when someone tags me in something because it means they want to get to know me better and since I’m both introverted and shy I always find that really nice. 🥺

17. Do you like ask games?

Yes!! I always want to do those but if I’m being honest, I’m shy and anxious so I always feel like no one will send me any asks if I do it.  Lol, that is peak anxiety my friends. Let’s just say I’m working up to doing one someday. I absolutely love reading them when others do them.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous?

Certainly @javier-pena ......I mean, those Din Djarin’s hottest moments and Javier Peña’s hottest moments are straight up iconic. Also @sirtadcooper whose icons/headers are absolutely amazing, instantly recognizable and rightfully used by so many people because they are fucking awesome!

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Oh yeah, so many.  I have creator crushes on tons of people that are not mutuals too.  Jfc, there are so many lovely people here creating amazing things.  I will say that @sirtadcooper is honestly one of the sweetest, kindest people I have met in this fandom and one of the most amazing content creators here. A true beacon of original content that I admire greatly. I love that I can pick out her work so easily and that she has a clear style. I aspire to get to that point with my creations some day. @javier-pena makes the mostly insanely crispy gifs and has been very kind about helping me with gif questions in my obsession quest to constantly learn how to become better.  I think her gifs are magic at this point because I just don’t understand how they look that consistently amazing all of the fucking time?? Idk, I’m just glad she shares them with us. @trashcora makes some really amazing gifs that I just don’t even know where to begin. Sometimes I look at stuff like this of hers and wonder if people really appreciate the amount of time it takes to create things like that??  Same goes for @millenniumsfalcon where I just can’t even begin to think about how to create gifs that complex and beautiful. I don’t even know what to say, I’m just going to continue to admire these creations from my little corner of the web. As for writers, I absolutely adore anything @frannyzooey writes. I mean, I’m suddenly living for Dave York porn and I’ve never even watched that film??? I’m convinced anything she writes is pure gold. TMTC is one of the best pieces of fanfiction I’ve ever read. I must confess I’ve only read about 3% of the amazing fanfiction in the Pedro/Mandalorian fandom because I get stuck on Masterlists like hers that are so consistently fucking amazing. That and most of my free hours are spent clowning around in Photoshop. I can’t wait to read more stuff from so many other people here. I promise I have a list much longer than I have time for, but I’m getting there!

Tagging: @keeper0fthestars , @teamnick , & @filthybookworm if you would like to. 😊💛

[tipsoctopus]

Doucoure, Deeney & Deulofeu: How Watford's triple-D can stun Man City at Wembley - opinion

Yes, they may have lost both of their league games against Manchester City this season, but Watford didn’t do badly at all.

We are used to seeing the Citizens swat teams aside by four, five, or even six goals at times, but the Hornets only narrowly lost both fixtures against Pep Guardiola’s back-to-back champions this term. Javi Gracia’s men lost 2-1 at Vicarage Road, and 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

They have 0 points to show for their efforts, but what they do have is a glimmer of hope and inspiration to take into Saturday’s FA Cup final against the same opponent.

Gracia must squeeze the positive elements of his side’s performances during those two defeats and utilise them in his gameplan for the one-off match that could see Watford lift their first ever FA Cup.

Does your club have a legend who is criminally overrated? Fans answer this tough question in the video below…

Now, obviously, City bossed possession in the league meetings between the two this season: at Vicarage Road – they had 70.2% of the ball, and 71.1% of it at their place.

Gracia must not attempt to play them at their own game, or he and Watford will lose heavily.

Two key aspects that happened previously must be focused on: Abdoulaye Doucoure making Guardiola’s life difficult in the 2-1 loss, as well as Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu’s combination play at the Etihad.

In the 2-1 loss, Doucoure had five shots, three of which were on target, and found the back of the net with one of them. The Frenchman was a constant menace throughout the game, winning two aerial duels and also making three clearances; the diminutive City midfield of Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, and David Silva didn’t know how to deal with the powerful midfielder.

Watford left it too late to record a result on the day but it may well have been different had they realised how to hurt the Citizens a few minutes earlier. Plenty of Hornets supporters will tell you an equaliser was on the cards if the match was extended by 15 minutes or so.

At the Etihad, Gracia’s men were undone by a brilliant hat-trick from Raheem Sterling, but again they found ways to stun City on a ground where they only lost one game all season.

Deeney and Deulofeu were subbed on in the 66th-minute with City 3-0 up, and combined to score in the same minute as they entered the field; it was a long knock down from the big No.9 into the Spaniard’s path, who finished well.

Of course, these are two isolated moments from two different games, but Gracia is a good enough manager to collect the positive aspects of his side’s two defeats and turn them into genuine foundations for a solid game plan at Wembley this weekend.

So, what are the main things that Gracia should draw up on his whiteboard in the Wembley dressing rooms before the showpiece event?

Stay solid, compact and resolute.

Get Doucoure in advanced areas and give him free roam of the midfield.

Ensure that Deeney pins Aymeric Laporte back, similar to the way in which Fernando Llorente did after coming on for Tottenham against Ajax, where we know he will win most of his aerial duels against the Frenchman, who has wilted in high-magnitude fixtures already this season, most notably in the Champions League quarter-final against Spurs.

And lastly, make sure Deulofeu, the hero of the semi-final, stays close to Deeney and anticipates the flick on, where his pace will cause a lot of problems if there is space in behind. There most likely will be grass to eat into given Guardiola’s preference to play a high line.

Wigan did it against City way back in 2013, and Watford must believe they can do the unthinkable as well.

from FootballFanCast.com http://bit.ly/2LJLy0a via IFTTT from Blogger http://bit.ly/2HoPa28 via IFTTT

[mancitynoise]

Yes, they may have lost both of their league games against Manchester City this season, but Watford didn’t do badly at all.

We are used to seeing the Citizens swat teams aside by four, five, or even six goals at times, but the Hornets only narrowly lost both fixtures against Pep Guardiola’s back-to-back champions this term. Javi Gracia’s men lost 2-1 at Vicarage Road, and 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

They have 0 points to show for their efforts, but what they do have is a glimmer of hope and inspiration to take into Saturday’s FA Cup final against the same opponent.

Gracia must squeeze the positive elements of his side’s performances during those two defeats and utilise them in his gameplan for the one-off match that could see Watford lift their first ever FA Cup.

Does your club have a legend who is criminally overrated? Fans answer this tough question in the video below…

Now, obviously, City bossed possession in the league meetings between the two this season: at Vicarage Road – they had 70.2% of the ball, and 71.1% of it at their place.

Gracia must not attempt to play them at their own game, or he and Watford will lose heavily.

Two key aspects that happened previously must be focused on: Abdoulaye Doucoure making Guardiola’s life difficult in the 2-1 loss, as well as Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu’s combination play at the Etihad.

In the 2-1 loss, Doucoure had five shots, three of which were on target, and found the back of the net with one of them. The Frenchman was a constant menace throughout the game, winning two aerial duels and also making three clearances; the diminutive City midfield of Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, and David Silva didn’t know how to deal with the powerful midfielder.

Watford left it too late to record a result on the day but it may well have been different had they realised how to hurt the Citizens a few minutes earlier. Plenty of Hornets supporters will tell you an equaliser was on the cards if the match was extended by 15 minutes or so.

At the Etihad, Gracia’s men were undone by a brilliant hat-trick from Raheem Sterling, but again they found ways to stun City on a ground where they only lost one game all season.

Deeney and Deulofeu were subbed on in the 66th-minute with City 3-0 up, and combined to score in the same minute as they entered the field; it was a long knock down from the big No.9 into the Spaniard’s path, who finished well.

Of course, these are two isolated moments from two different games, but Gracia is a good enough manager to collect the positive aspects of his side’s two defeats and turn them into genuine foundations for a solid game plan at Wembley this weekend.

So, what are the main things that Gracia should draw up on his whiteboard in the Wembley dressing rooms before the showpiece event?

Stay solid, compact and resolute.

Get Doucoure in advanced areas and give him free roam of the midfield.

Ensure that Deeney pins Aymeric Laporte back, similar to the way in which Fernando Llorente did after coming on for Tottenham against Ajax, where we know he will win most of his aerial duels against the Frenchman, who has wilted in high-magnitude fixtures already this season, most notably in the Champions League quarter-final against Spurs.

And lastly, make sure Deulofeu, the hero of the semi-final, stays close to Deeney and anticipates the flick on, where his pace will cause a lot of problems if there is space in behind. There most likely will be grass to eat into given Guardiola’s preference to play a high line.

Wigan did it against City way back in 2013, and Watford must believe they can do the unthinkable as well.

[torentialtribute]

Man Utd might have to consider Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future – 10 things we learned

Manchester City wrapped up the Premier League title while Liverpool missed out on a solitary point on the final weekend

Elsewhere, Manchester United lost to Cardiff, Arsenal finished fifth courtesy of a win against Burnley and Spurs played out an entertaining draw with Everton as they secured top four

Here, AMITAI WINEHOUSE assesses 10 things we learned from the last weekend of the top-flight season …

1. The narrative throughout Manchester United's recent slump has been that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now needs better players in the summer. The question should really be whether he is the man to lead them into it.

The last time Cardiff beat United was before a man first went into space. The Bluebirds also took more points – six – than United – five – in their last six games. That's a relegated side, and not a very good one, winning 2-0 at Old Trafford. It also meant they finished the season with just two home clean sheets.

United have now finished 32 points behind the champions, and exactly the same distance from the team in 18th. This beyond some notion that the players are not good or motivated enough.

If challenging for the title, as Ed Woodward wants, is the name of the game, Ole should not really be on the wheel.

If Manchester United want to challenge for title, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should not be at wheel

2. Are we on the way to another team being knocked off their perch? City are not yet at the level of United in terms of a raw trophy but they have won four of the last eight.

Even more, this Pep Guardiola team are relentless. They won their last 14 in a row, with only this team under the current manager bettering that last season. City won 32 again, the same as last season. They were also behind for just 83 seconds.

Once again, they posted a ludicrous haul of points – 98 – which has only been beat by their total last season. They have a long way to go, but a Guardiola dynasty could see their city rivals stuck under a serious shadow.

Pep Guardiola is the way to knocking Manchester United off their perch with his City side

3. Graeme Souness said that like Brazil in 1982 being the best team not to win a World Cup, this Liverpool side being the best team not to win a Premier League title.

He's right too. No side has ever lost just one game in a top flight season and not won the title. Liverpool's tally of 97 points would also have been enough to win the Premier League in all but one of the previous 26 seasons of the competition – last campaign.

It remains to be seen whether they can do this again. Just so – and this will not come as much relief to fans of the Reds – they were absolutely brilliant this campaign. It's a shame for them that someone was better.

This Liverpool side are the best team not to win a Premier League title after just missing out

4. Spurs fans will be dreaming of big money signings in the summer to match their new position at Europe's top table but the most important job for Daniel Levy is convincing Mauricio Pochettino to stay.

He has been far more open about an exit in recent weeks than ever before. Yet this is a man who has led them to four straight top four finishes, which is their best such run since 1959-60 and 1963-64.

Pochettino has changed the expectation there entirely. If he leaves, it's hard to picture Spurs being the same force, signings or not.

Daniel Levy's biggest job for the summer is convincing Mauricio Pochettino to stay at Spurs

5. It feels strange to be a year on Arsene Wenger and still making the same point, but if there is one place Arsenal need to improve it is away from home.

Yes, they won far more games on the road but their defensive solidity has been an issue throughout this campaign. They just kept one clean sheet away from the Emirates, their least in a single top-flight campaign since 1967-68.

This is where defensive improvements come in. Unai Emery needs the talent at the back to hold out when not at home.

Arsenal went all season picking up just one clean sheet away from the Emirates

6. The ridiculous scoreline between Crystal Palace and Bournemouth just shows what happens when pressure goes out of the window.

Palace scored five in a Premier League game for just the third time in their history, showing this attacking flair is not commonplace . So Roy Hodgson clearly let them loose, taking in his 100th Premier League win in the process.

It tells you that there is attacking talent in every side, even if it is not obvious on a week by week basis. And that football can always be fun, even when there's no pressure.

Crystal Palace and Bournemouth played a thrilling 5-3 contest at Selhurst Park on Sunday

7. As a counterpoint, if you want to avoid goals then you would be best turning up at any match between Leicester and Chelsea.

There has been just one goal scored in their last three encounters in the Premier League, and it is not as though these are two teams who have been facing each other in tight, crucial, cagey affairs.

For Maurizio Sarri, this is something of a problem. It was Chelsea's fourth 0-0 of the season, their most since 2013-14, and as a manager committed to entertainment that's a blow to the Italian.

Leicester and Chelsea have a habit of playing stalemates when they meet in the league

8. Rafa Benitez has again underlined why he is so important to Newcastle on the last day of the season – the perfect time for a message to Mike Ashley.

In his first campaign they went down but beat Spurs 5-1 on the final day. Then they captured the Championship at the last, before beating Chelsea 3-0 last season. Meanwhile, their 4-0 win at Fulham was the first time they bagged that many on the road in two years.

Benitez has shown himself to be a classy manager who gets the best out of the talent at his disposal . Newcastle's first port or call in the summer is a new contract for him.

Rafa Benitez has a habit of showing why he is so crucial to Newcastle at the end of the season

9. Congratulations Huddersfield, you truly had an abysmal season. They have managed to crack the top three for the worst campaigns in history.

They joined Derby in 2007-08 and Sunderland in 2005-06 at the bottom of the pile. Only those two (Derby, 11 and Sunderland, 15) won fewer points in a single Premier League season than Huddersfield in 2018-19 – 16. And only Derby (20) and Sunderland (21) scored fewer goals than Town's 22.

It's easy enough to write it off for a team or their size but it just shows how much they need to improve ahead of next season. This was a shambles. At least they did not set a new benchmark.

Jan Siewert and Huddersfield had one of the worst campaigns in Premier League history

10. This has been an exceptional season in the context of Watford's entire history – despite failing to match up to early promise in the league.

They are into an FA Cup final and came 11th, which is their highest top flight position since 1986-87. And it means Javi Gracia is certain to survive into a third campaign.

The Hornets have found the man to lead them. They can keep ticking about like this under Gracia and build something impressive.

Watford lost to West Ham but they had an excellent season under Javi Gracia

Source link