#he isn't necessarily athletic but he is competitive | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starrierknight · 7 months

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╰┈➤ 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖 𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐓 — 𝐐-𝐙

pairing— dom!gn!reader x sub!gojo wc— 750 cws/tags— established relationship, exhibitionism, oral (reader receiving), toys, restraints mentioned, dacryphilia, mentioned alcohol consumption, consenual videos/photos, mentioned masturbation, dick analysis (lmao)

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 | 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 | 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐐 is for 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐄 (their opinions on quickies, how often, e.t.c.)

A big fan of quickies!

Satoru's job as a Special Grade Sorcerer entails a lot of stress, so fairly frequently he'll tug you aside to blow off some steam. Even in a public setting, he has no reservations about whining into your ear about how badly he needs you until you take his hand and pull him to somewhere more private.

It isn't even necessarily about receiving, either. Satoru might be with you and just feel the need to touch you and get you all needy, so he's been known to drag you away just to go down on you.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐑 is for 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? e.t.c.)

No risk, no reward.

Satoru isn't a huge fan of having a sexual routine. This isn't to say that he doesn't have habits he likes falling back on, but rather, that he doesn't want to miss out on anything that could potentially be enjoyable for you both.

Sex, in his opinion, should be fun! Experimenting with toys and positions is part of that fun, and he'll give a shot at trying almost anything once.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐒 is for 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀 (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Satoru is nothing if not athletic. He has stamina for days lol. He can go for a lot of rounds, provided he gets a little room to recover—and he recovers quickly. That being said, if you overstimulate him enough he'll have a harder (haha) time recovering, so that will mean fewer rounds.

Satoru can last a long time, but his restraint is begrudging. He'd rather cum for you as many times as you'll let him, but if you want him to last, he'll last. Not that he won't bitch and moan about it, of course.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐓 is for 𝐓𝐎𝐘𝐒 (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

He's a pretty big fan of toys, for both himself and you. He sees them as a tool rather than competition, so you can expect for him to use/suggest them during foreplay.

While he does like toys, he would rather have his hands all over you. It's a very cute sight if you ever decide to restrain him (think shibari or handcuffs) and use a toy on yourself. He moans and whines the whole time about how unfair it is that you're just making him watch.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐔 is for 𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑 (how much they like to tease)

The biggest tease known to mankind.

Satoru has a habit of coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist, slipping a hand under the hem of your shirt or even your waistband. Kissing your neck and whispering his desire into your skin, maybe pressing his hard-on into your ass.

And then walking off.

Literally, just letting you go and walking off as if it didn't happen... except for a very, very smug grin on his lips.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐕 is for 𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐄 (how loud they are, what sounds they make, e.t.c.)

Satoru is so fucking loud. So loud.

He can't help it, though! You reduce him to a sobbing, moaning, shivering mess—so maybe it's partially your fault. He does the whole spiel: whining, moaning, whimpering, sobbing, groaning... And they are just the most absolutely gorgeous sounds ever.

Satoru is vocal, but usually doesn't do much dirty talk, unless—

Unless he's drunk.

He dislikes drinking, so it rarely happens... But he has the filthiest mouth when he's drunk.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐖 is for 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃 (a random headcanon for the character)

Definitely a big fan of taking (consensual) videos/photos of him and you.

Not only are they the perfect material for him to jack off to if you two are apart, but also in the moment, when you force him to look at the camera so you can get a clear shot of him cumming or begging or crying for you...

If you're away, he's not above taking a photo/video of himself and sending it to you. You'd better pray that you don't open the attachment where someone can see your phone screen.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐗 is for 𝐗-𝐑𝐀𝐘 (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇: #FFE8D6 𝐓𝐈𝐏: #E29D84

Gojo Satoru—a.k.a, go big or go home. Dare I say, the prettiest dick out of all the JJK dick-havers.

Fully hard, he's 7.1 inches long (18cm) and 4.5 inches thick (11.3cm).

Curves upwards, and the tip flushes the cutest shade of pink that gradually fades to his regular skin tone. Heavy balls that flush a slightly pinker colour the more stimulated he gets. Really obvious veins along his shaft that are slightly blue-ish in colour, since he's pretty pale.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐘 is for 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 (how high is their sex drive?)

On the higher end, for sure.

⋆ ˚｡★ 𝐙 is for 𝐙𝐳𝐳 (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Depending on how relentless you've been with him, it can differ. On average, he just wants to fall asleep with you as soon as aftercare is finished. Occasionally, if he is particularly worn out, he might take a power nap right after and then wake up and finish cleaning up with you.

this work belongs to STARRIERKNIGHT . please refrain from plagiarising any of my works and do not repost/translate/modify/copy onto any platforms.

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brf-rumortrackinganon · 3 months

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I love all your analysis! Could I ask you to chime in, if you have the time and the inclination, on my pet theory?

Here it goes: Meghan found it harder than Catherine to be succeed in the Royal family because she's not athletic.

The Aristo crowd is sporty. It's a good marker of privilege - one you cannot fake - to be able to ski, play tennis, row, sail, ride, dive. All these things require lots of leisure time, and money, and the confident, cheerful ease of the amateur sportsman.

Catherine is a good minor athlete - her reaction to the 2007 breakup was to enter a rowing challenge with her girlfriends (she went clubbing with Pips too, sure, but she was out there most mornings in her wetsuit, being healthy and determined). It's hard to explain the mindset of the "amateur athlete in friendly competition" if you've never been one, but it gives you confidence, emotional regulation, and the bone deep knowledge that small constant steps are key to achieving progress and success.

Meghan just knows that "rich people go skiing", and she gets photographed on the slopes in an unsuitable coat, thinking it's the same thing. She looks for the shortcut - and she may fool some of the non-skiers, but it's just a house of cards. It works for an influencer who will quickly move on to the next thing, but the Royal family thinks in decades, and the persona their PR builds for you must have some consistency.

And there would have been nothing wrong with saying outright "you know what, I didn't grow up with that kind of money, I can't ski or row" - she would have got lots of sympathy.

Don't you love "training montages" in movies? She could have had years of upbeat training montage PR! Or she could have gone with an "outsider perspective" PR strategy, where she would have represented the slightly ironic common man faced with the BRF.

But Meghan the Narc can't stand to acknowledge she doesn't know something. She should have been herself, and instead she tried to be Catherine and failed.

It's a good theory, but i don't think it holds much weight when you really dig into it - for exactly what you pointed out: Meghan wasn't herself.

Kate was unabashedly and genuinely herself. Long before St. Andrews or William entered the picture, and she stayed that way after everything with William. The aristo crowd probably prefers that, and Kate doesn't strike me as someone who's impressed by all that. She probably cared more about their art collection than whether they were Duke So-and-So or Earl Whozitsandwhatsits, and that's impressive on its own. (I'm reminded now of the story with Cillian Murphy; he doesn't like it when people fawn all over him and he shuts down when that happens, so a seat-filler who sat next to him at one of the recent awards shows pretended she didn't know who he was and had the most incredible conversation wtih him.)

Whereas Meghan was always playing a role, and badly at that. So it was pretty easy for the aristo crowd to see right through her and know that she was bad news. Especially once she stop pretending to be aristo-like, with the cursing and demanding to sit next to Harry/switching place cards at the dinner parties, the screaming at staff, policing what everyone was saying and confronting them when it wasn't PC (according to her).

I think being sporty/athletic helped Kate, but the vibe I get from the aristo crowd isn't necessarily a sporty set. As a whole, they seem more outdoorsy to me with the skiing holidays, the shooting parties, the horse racing, the sailing. I think William's side of the aristo crowd (like his friends and Anne's family that he's closest to) is sporty because that's what they've connected over, and Kate fits in well with that crowd so it was easier for her to be accepted by them. But there's also the "city" side of the aristo crowd like the Yorkies and the Spencers where they're more known for their holidays, artsy/culture-type activities, and spectatoring sports.

Not to say that the two can't blend - they do, obviously, and everyone is probably really good at code-switching to navigate between the different segments of the aristo world (William and Kate especially as the future King and Queen, who have to be both representational and aspirational to all segments of the populartion, not just the aristos). And maybe the more culture set are sporty too (like how Diana danced and the Yorks skiied) but sport isn't how we think of those aristos. The latter crowd is what Meghan expected because that's the world Diana inhabited and as we all know, Meghan views royalty through Diana exclusively, so when she saw Kate in that sphere, she tried to emulate that side of Kate (the evening-gown wearing, gala attending, world-traveling, tennis-watching, polo-wifeing Kate) not knowing that it's just a small piece of who, and what, Kate actually is.

It's why the role she tried to play fell flat; Meghan didn't know the whole character, she just had the PR version of Kate to work with. Or, in acting parlance, Meghan had the character notes for Kate the Bit Player. She didn't get the character profile for Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, a main character.

Going back to what you originally said, that Meghan didn't integrate as easily as Kate did because of the athletics, I'd say it's bigger than that. It's because she didn't have any hobbies or interests. Everyone in the aristo set has hobbies and interests. Meghan didn't/doesn't have a single hobby and that made/makes it hard to connect with people on any level. She didn't need to have the same hobbies or interests as everyone else, she just had to have something. But she didn't. She had nothing.

All she had was Harry but Harry assumes the personality of whomever he's dating...which is the same thing Meghan does; she assumes the personality of whomever she's dating. So when there are two people being each other, they end up with nothing. Or they end up being his mother. Which isn't that much better either.

#ask #brf #theories

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ofpathways · 11 months

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Ethan Quentin

Age: 17 Birthday: August 29, 1998 Height: 5' 11" (180 cm) Weight: 135 lbs Hair color: Strawberry blond Hair style: down, straight, falls to his ears Eye color: light hazel Lineage: human, born to a hunting family Interests: Sports, camping, running, current events, history, supernaturals Likes: Cheeseburgers, computers, cars, guitar, hard copies, grasshoppers

Appearance: Ethan presents himself as a very stoic and serious individual. He has strawberry blond hair that comes down to his ears and hazel eyes. His build is lean-athletic, and he's very interested in sports. As such, he's very competitive and has a tendency to taunt those he's facing. However, he isn't someone many would describe as arrogant. Ethan's a very calculating and patient individual despite his rare temper.

Abilities: He trains religiously and has a very keen skill for mechanics. He's very inventive and sees opportunities in common items someone might overlook. He's very intuitive as well.

Susceptibilities: Anything that can harm a general person.

Notes: Ethan has never killed a supernatural being before. He does support the idea when justifiable reason, but he's not really malicious towards supernatural beings.

Summary: A high school student. He is a novice supernatural hunter trained by his grandfather after his parents ‘retired.’ He considers himself to be a very moral person and holds his values very close to him. Ethan believes judgement should not be hasty. However, he won’t hesitate to jump to action. He’s a very competitive person; likes sports. Particularly, he does well in soccer and hockey. He’s rather disagreeable and reluctant to make friends. “Bubbly” people tend to exhaust him. A very devoted individual. Ethan considers himself to be very calculating. He makes his own hunting equipment from sportsgear.

History: Ethan was conceptualized and is loosely based on Teen Wolf lore, specifically the character Garrett. In that series, hunters are based in deeply rooted family lore. The Argent family (the main hunting family of Teen Wolf) trains their sons to be soldiers and daughters to be leaders. This code isn't necessarily true for Ethan's lore, but I like the idea of it. Ethan is based in the US, but I will happily follow lore of other countries and have him crossover to other universes. For example, he would hunt kitsune and demons in a Japanese setting.

Both sides of Ethan's family were heavily involved in hunting supernatural beings, until his parents retired after an unfortunate accident. Roughly fourteen years ago, his parents (along with several other hunters) were involved in a fire designed to slaughter a pack of werewolves. When his parents discovered several of the victims were regular humans living among werewolves, they decided to never get involved with the supernatural again having taken a devastating blow to their own sense of morality.

Too young to understand, his parents opted to never share this story with Ethan. He was fully aware of the existence of the supernatural at this age. Ethan knew his parents "ensured good people were protected," which was why he couldn't fathom their reasons for quitting their invaluable job. They were protectors of the people; why would they leave that life behind? However, he didn't resent them for their choice. Ethan merely didn't understand… until his own first encounter with a werewolf.

At age fourteen, Ethan and his friend were walking home together from their after school soccer practice. Night hadn't even fallen, but his best friend had seemingly vanished in an instant. Ethan's young and untrained eyes couldn't follow what had occurred, until he stumbled upon a gruesome sight. To this day, that image burned within his mind. From that day forward, he requested his paternal grandfather to help aid in his training to pick up the family mantle. If his parents weren't going to prevent incidents like this, then he would bear that responsibility.

The Beginnings of a Hunter

Ethan's parents did not support his choice to pursue hunting, but they didn't attempt to stop him either. He found a sense of purpose and identity within his role, and he learned skills unlike anyone else would. Of course, crafting one's own limited budget gear wasn't exactly something to put on a resume; it was still worth something. Much of his gear and weaponry were built from retired sports equipment and recycled items he found around the house. Every now and again, his grandfather would buy him something more standard and conventional (but those pieces were among Ethan's collection's minority).

He considers himself relatively withdrawn, and he's not a very forthcoming person. However, he is considerably social and not afraid to make comments when he deems them "funny enough" or necessary. He is firm in his principles and has a strong sense of self, which makes him come off a little rugged at first glance more often than not. Still, he's quite loyal to those he cares about. He does his best to protect anyone in need.

#( about page. )#( c. Ethan )

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freifraufischer · 11 months

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2019 Nostalgia Part 1: the Before Times, and a Desire to Return to a USA Dominated Normal and/or The Lost Age of Russian Gymanstics

This isn't a unified theory or an attempt to explain something to my readers but me trying to work through a mix of elements that I've been struggling to put together. I'm breaking this up in parts mostly because I think there are a few things going on and rather than writing one novel length post why not write more than one...

So please read these as a bunch of as of now a disconnected jumble of ideas:

So what do I mean by 2019 Nostalgia and why now? If you were in elite gym fandom after August 2021 until June 2022 you would have noticed a strong current of some fans talking about how elite gymnastics wasn't exciting, that the people competing essentially weren't worth watching. It came in two distinct flavors Russophiles who saw the sudden shift in geopolitics in early 2022 that pushed a resurgent Russian gymnastics into exile and a USAian view that saw excitement a constant pushing of the envelope in difficulty and what they saw as progression of the sport in the figure of Simone Biles. When both Russia and Simone exited the picture of elite gymnastics many announced that there was no excitement anymore. In some ways these two sides are presented as the old artistry versus power struggle within the sport even though I would certainly argue that Russian gymnastics does not necessarily mean artistry (though USA gymnastics has typically in recent years focused on difficulty if not power).

I expect these two impulses within the fandom to continue to be at odds. I certainly think there is something to be said for the fact that Russian gymnastics was essentially removed from the global picture just when they had established their own kind of parity. After a decade of of US domination in WAG you had a Russian olympic team gold and what was probably the most promising gymnast of a five year period (I don't want to go as far as to say her generation) coming out of Russia at the same time. And fans are going to continue to ask how would Viktoria Listunova or Vladislava Urazova compare to the worlds or Olympic field. I do think there is something be be said for the focus on the two young gymnasts who can be excused as having no say in the political uses they are put by their government and the relatively much smaller discussing of Angelina Melnikova who many perceive as being more responsible for her own statements and actions. People will continue to look to Russian domestic an alternate competitions even with the scoring crazy for some sense of that "lost era" of post Tokyo Russian gym world domination.

The flip side are the USA fans who have tried to find their own normal after an era when "we have Simone so we will win." People were very quick to be angry at Tom Forster for relying so much on that that he didn't think he needed to work with or towards building up other gymnasts. Or maybe many other gymnasts because Skinner, Carey, and McCusker were certainly athletes he thought mattered. But I've come to the conclusion that for many USA gym fans the post Tokyo criticisms were relatively shallow. We've already seen how fast "Simone will win because she's Simone" and "Simone is Super Human" returned to US gym fan discourse as well as signs that it exists in the program too if the words of Asac's husband are any indication.

Now what the fandom does may or may not matter other than being deeply annoying to others in the space (though I'd argue that the blurry lines between fan spaces and gymnasts in this sport complicates that question). But for me the comments from Brady Quinn are a huge red flag. While many of us are celebrating the ability of gymnasts to stay active in the sport longer I have also worried about a lack of opportunities and development for the next generation (or potentially two generations) of early career American gymnasts. Not only is it hard to make a name for yourself (which has financial implications now as they may or may not go into NCAA without name recognition) but when even the fans of their own program often can't be bothered to learn their names it becomes harder to justify the expense and time commitment of an Olympic dream.

I believe that the US program is in danger of losing the next generation of athletes. I'm not about to invoke Romania and the endless dragging back of Ponor yet... but I do wonder what the moral is like for the 14-16 year old athletes in the US program. And the fact that that is a black box because it would be social suicide for any of them to say anything about it I think is also a subject to bring up.

Maybe the Russian and USA situation are disconnected but I can't help but feel like part of the Russian fan feeling of opportunity lost is a sense that the USA is weak and the USA fans elation at the return of Simone, Suni, Carey and Jordan for an Olympic "redemption" tour is driven in part to prove to everyone that what happened in Tokyo was a fluke.

There is certainly an element of resentment at COVID delays and how the pandemic robbed the sport of the Olympics people expected after the 4 year build up to 2020. The answers I don't have (among many answers I don't have) is how much people really think that 2023/24 will play out how 2019/20 "should" have gone.

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sunskate · 1 year

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Figure skating is a toxic sport in so many ways, and to become a successful coach means that you will be interacting with toxic people on a fairly regular basis. It was Scott and Tracy’s choice to stay in this sport. You can argue that they will try to clean it up, but you can’t clean something up without getting your hands dirty. Their reputations will not always be spotless, because that’s impossible to do when you interact with sludge everyday. The focus should be on what they do themselves, and the actions they take to clean things up.

i've only been to a handful plus of competitions, but just people watching at them, you see some of the same faces and find out that someone who runs a skating club with bunches of skaters is also a judge, and they're always talking to the fed people. not that there's necessarily anything wrong there, but that the lines are pretty blurry

that coaches and skaters check in with the fed people - some of it feels like genuine working together but other interactions you can feel who has the power in the situation. that bigger skaters get treated nicer by the organizers and their feds. that everyone knows everyone and that someone famous in the sport is never not "on" at events - the fans are the least of it unless it's a huge event with a big crowd

some disciplines feel worse than others- the one pairs competition i went to felt gross and toxic - it was small enough that everyone was in the same space, so maybe that contributed, but it was tense and not friendly between anyone that i saw. there was an overall jaded and judgey vibe that was yuck and it almost turned me off of going to events. while the dance competitions have felt much better. teams bts were focused and in their own zones, but without that near hostility like the pairs one. some high emotions but not aimed at others. i'm sure insiders would have a lot to say about the dynamics, but that's just my little experience of it

it's probably true that you can't be in the sport at that level and not interact with toxic people or keep your hands completely clean. Scott sat down for an interview with Ted Barton Friday night at the Skate Canada Yukon/BC section annual general meeting. Scott, who hates how Russian skating operates, sitting down with Ted the Eteri supporter, Ted whose leadership and rink was just called out in a major way for its abusive culture. Ted talks effusively about Scott and the Moir family on broadcasts, said on the stream that he enjoys talking to Scott so much, so they have at minimum a cordial relationship

i'm not sure i agree that their reputations won't always be spotless - Scott is new to coaching, but Traci has been coaching for years, has been at Cricket since 2006, so if her reputation is still spotless, not sure that would change.

i'm not banking on them doing anything more than running their own schools in a clean, positive way. if they do more beyond that than voicing support for making the sport better, that would be a pleasant surprise. more schools with a culture of nurturing and respect for their athletes as whole people will make the sport better. but it's imperative to get rid of the ones who are doing harm, and the burden seems to be falling on survivors which is awful. Figure Skating needs to do better, yet USFS just sent a clear signal that it's business as usual with their latest hire

i'm not sure who you mean when you say the focus should be on what they do and the actions they take-- whether you mean their focus or our focus, but we as fans can keep the conversations alive, pay attention and connect the dots, ask questions so the topic never dies down, show the feds that we're noticing and that we care that the sport we love isn't doing harm, especially to the young people in it

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anewbeginningagain · 1 year

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I was thinking about the MIDA vibe and why we all found it a bit sterile, and I think I know what they're trying to go for. You know how Montreal are considered the "artists", and now we have IAMO who are kinda the "feelers" but also have strong technical? And even within these camps, you have Marie-France who is kinda the creative visionary, Patch who is the tech master/manager, and Romain who brings the entertainment value and performance. In London, we have Scott as the heart and overall leader, Madi is clearly doing wonders with the students' confidence and performance quality, and Adrian is emerging as the gifted choreographer of the bunch (with Sheri as a dark horse here as well). Even back in the day, we had Igor who was branded as "the technician" and Marina was "the choreographer".

Right. Well. I think MIDA sat down and thought about how they're going to market themselves within this landscape, especially given who their geographical competition is, and what they've settled on is "the professors". I think they're having a rough time, they've bitten off more than they can chew, and think they have to look "serious" in order to keep their head above water on the one hand, and on the other to differentiate themselves in some way. The problem is that they don't have the mettle to back it up and got handed free political points based on their pedigree alone. We know from Charlie's commentary that he can be nitpicky to the point of being petty sometimes, but I don't think he's the kind of person who necessarily knows how to create the missing ingredients, he can just diagnose them. Now, we saw Scott struggle in the beginning too and it's understandable, but the thing is, Scott is much more emotionally sincere. They, on the other hand, I think are panicking right now, people are comparing them unfavorably to the other camps, WolfChen are having a trainwreck of a season, and G/P's momentum from last year has all but been reversed. So what do they do? "Oh, we went to college, we're affiliated with UMich, we're assigning essays to our skaters, we're intellectuals." Except... They kind of have nothing. They don't have that balance of warm, people-first coaching with strong results that the skaters who graduated from IAM have because they've never experienced it, having been with Marina and/or Igor almost their entire athletic careers. And they aren't bringing in the kind of creative talent that they so painfully need, so I don't know how they plan to move forward with this. I actually think Madi and Adrian will decide to stay in London long-term because this setup is working out so well, there's a magic to that crew and their skaters are radiant, the girls in particular are glowing. Anyway, I think Chanith & Co. are out of their depth and they're trying to overcompensate, but it isn't coming off great, especially in contrast with the other camps, and I won't be surprised if at least one team jumps ship next season because I don't see MIDA producing any sort of creative vision. Just my 2c, I hope I managed to explain what I mean, I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, just being real.

Well, this is actually a fascinating take. I think I really agree with the stuff about I.AM and I.AM Ontario, I think as you said I.AM managed to create a clear identity for their school and a clear identity for the main coaches - as you said Patrice is the technician and the manager (he manages the ice time for the insane number of teams they have), Marie France is the mama bear with the artistic vision, and Romain is the entertainer who knows how to work a crowd. At the same time, they are all more than that, just thinking of how Scott shared how inspired he was by Patrice's calm and focused energy by the boards. With I.AM Ontario like you, I think they are really finding their groove, I think Scott is and will always be the beating heart, but Adria and Madi bring so much to the table just like you described, and I think his family members who have so much experience are really managing to utilize it in the best possible way now, including giving some of the senior teams a bunch or really strong programs.

With MIDA I think you really nailed it by calling out how much they are lacking the variety of experience with different coaches, Charlie trained with Igor and Marina for most if not all of his competitive career, Tanith too with only her last two competitive seasons being with other coaches, and Greg also was only coached by Igor and Marina and worked for years with Igor. That's an alarming lack of experience with other coaching styles and philosophies tbh. And with USFS so eager to make them the US answer to I.AM (at least imo) they gave them too much too fast and MIDA for some reason chose not to use outside choreographers when it feel like they very much needed to.

The thing about the vibe is that Tanith for example came across as very warm and energetic in her commentary style, so it was more than odd to see her so reserved and cold by the boards. Charlie usually had the energy of a puppy dog but here he was also very reserved and severe looking. And Greg is Greg, I usually feel like he gives me nothing tbh. And the thing is, there's a significant level of being performative to being by the boards, some do it naturally because they are passionate people (Romain, MF, Scott, Adria, Barb), some have a strong fierce presence to them even if they are more stoic (Patrice, Madi) and some just feel warm (Pascal). With Charlie and Tanith it just feels like there's a lack of connection with their own teams and that's what the most alarming in it all. It's not that I think it necessarily says something about them as coaches, but it does come across in a very odd way.

But really enjoyed your take on it all, it got me thinking quite a lot.

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sketchguk · 4 months

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This is random but I was thinking about athlete jungkook on my way to work, and I couldn't Stop thinking about seeker jungkook going to durmstrang , and they visit for a tournament or something and he gets a little close with mc and bothhhhhh mingyu and soonyoung get mad about it ummhhhhhhhh

You love to torment me :')

Soonyoung is totally peacocking Jungkook, trying to scare him off LOL. He's so fucking weird (I want him so bad). He definitely does it in front of mc as well, and she's pissed off at him, as per usual. She can't ever have nice things because he's such a menace!! Is Jungkook intimidated?? Yes LOL. He back off, telling her they'd catch up another time

Mc wants to smack Soonyoung, and although he's smug for now, he realizes that she's right (as always), and he's wrong (as always) 😔. But that doesn't mean he isn't the type to back off either. He'll continue to intimidate Jungkook, just so he's aware Soonyoung means BUSINESS !!!

Mingyu almost considered Jungkook his friend (he showed him around campus and bought him lunch), but not when Jungkook is trying to smooth talk his girl !!!

While Jungkook and mc are in the middle of a conversation, Mingyu would be the type to swoop in, ask if she wants to watch him practice, and that would be enough for mc to follow him on his heels. But she doesn't necessarily want to leave kook behind either, so she invites him to join as well.

Jungkook shows him up on the field, and Mingyu is pissed !!! He didn't expect him to show off !! How dare he be so talented. He almost wants to cover mc's eyes so she doesn't look at the competition lol

#are you living in my drafts because i'm currently cooking up athlete jungkook...#ask #anon #horanghae agenda

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allyear-lff · 1 year

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The swimmers.

Summary: Damascus 2011, a couple of well off middle class girls, trained as competitive swimmers, are forced to flee their country becoming asylum seekers, nevertheless they continue to pursue their dreams.

Plot and musings: the film is an odd piece of work perhaps because the main characters don't fit our ideas of how Syrians in general, but Syrian women in particular, are in real life.

The teenage girls at the centre of the plot, Yusra and Sarah, have fun parties in a swimming pool like if they were in California, they are modern, westernised and speak English with their friends, during the birthday of Yusra the Syrian Civil War gets started, they don't know it but their lives are going to change forever from this day on.

The film moves to 2015, the girls are in another party, older but not necessarily much wiser, they dance and have fun ignoring the bombing that feels perilously close, all this naiveté starts to crash down when later on they get news that on friend of theirs has died bombed, after that we see the girls attending a swimming competition and the swimming pool is bombed and they barely escape unhurt, at some other point marauding soldiers are shown getting bolder in the harassment of the girls as we witness a very tense scene in which a bomb comes as a welcome saviour when one soldier seemed ready to pounce on his prey, at which point one knows they are in an untenable situation.

After much arguing amongst the family it is decided that the girls will leave with a male cousin for Istanbul with the express idea not to cross by sea to Europe since everybody knows how dangerous it is, but once in the road moving as an asylum seeker takes a life of its own, so the only and early opportunities to cross to Europe are only by sea, the cousin arranges matters with a smuggler and this way they start the perilous journey to Europe.

The most tense moments of the film are during this sea crossing, initially it seems like if they have been conned and seem to be abandoned in the coast, while there they make some acquaintances and realise that their fellow travellers come from the world over, finally the smugglers arrive with a dinghy that has seen better times and which clearly shouldn't be used anymore, but the asylum seekers are in no position to chose and are crammed into the dinghy and pushed to the sea to meet their fate, needless to say the journey is very dangerous, at some point the girls take matters in their own hands and save the day thanks to their athletic training.

But making it to Europe is only the first part of their journey, they face hostility even though they have money to pay for things, but since they are used to be privileged they realise that showing confidence is all what it takes for people to treat them not as asylum seekers but as privileged people again, they make use of this for a few days but eventually have to move on since they intend to claim asylum elsewhere.

During their trip they face all kinds of peril, from being rammed into a lorry having to wear oxygen masks to breathe, being separated, more hostility and Yusra was almost raped, being saved only by a smuggler wanting his reputation as an smuggler intact.

When the situation is getting desperate and they are running out of money Germany announces they will be taken most of the refugees in Europe and they finally make it there where they feel safe, but this starts a long winded, obtrusive and blunt bureaucracy which by taking too long deprives the from the right to bring their parents under a family reunification visa.

Yusra hasn't abandoned her idea to swim competitively, her dream, trashed by the war, was to compete in the Olympics, she decides to stay in form by doing whatever exercise she can in the refugee camp, but that isn't enough, Sarah has the idea to join a local swimming club, so they attend one in the area where they are held and meet Sven, a swimming coach, he doesn't want to get involved with the girls, but after he sees that they can actually swim properly, specially Yusra, he has a change of heart and starts to coach them, he realises Yusra is an above average swimmer so he suggests she may fulfil her dream if she tries to join the Refugees' Olympic team.

Yusra is reluctant at first, she always wanted to Swim for her country, but realising this may be her only chance of Olympic glory she applies to join the team and is accepted, so she goes to the Rio Olympic Games, once there she faces the rejection of other athletes that think refugees don't deserve to be there, but Yusra competes and wins her heat (a weak one to be fair).

The closing titles, as often films based on real people do, bring us up to date with the life of the real people in which the film is inspired, Sarah became a pro refugee activist and the Greek authorities, shamefully according to Human RIghts organisations familiar with the case, accused her of hideous crimes that would carry a long jail sentence, fortunately to this day she remains free and her case seems to be tilting on her favour.

This is an enlightening film which highlights the plights of refugees at a time in which many politicians play to be though with this group of people which has few means to defend themselves from the barrage of allegations hyped against them, I don't expect it will change the minds of people that don't want refugees in their own countries but it should give material of discussion to those more humanely minded.

Rating: 4/5

68 of 168

Date: 2 December 2022

Venue: Curzon Victoria

The list of films in the LFF 2022

#lff2022 #lff

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rondocapri · 2 years

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Hi, could you explain further what you mean by saying they're trying to "push this man out of the sport", I'm quite new and probably not seen the full scope yet. I know many fans say judges underscore him, commentators only care about winning and losing and suggest he should retire but what else is there to it and what do you mean by saying the sport has become corrupted (besides the situation in women skating, which I know about)?

Sure! When I say it is an attempt to push Yuzuru out of the sport, I am referencing the way that the judges often underscore him while over scoring other skaters. This is not always the case, but often times the judges will lowball his deserved PCS or GOE. For example, his 3A meets all the GOE bullet points as defined in the rulebook, to get a +5 GOE nearly every single time he jumps the 3A. But he is often not rewarded +5 across the board. Yuzuru has the best 3A in the business (as evident by the fact he just had the first certified 4A in history, you need excellent 3A technique to do so). Sometimes with PCS it's not so much underscoring him, but over scoring other skaters to the point in which PCS is meaningless. Because the judges award PCS based on technical elements which should not be the case. Now some people may say that PCS is subjective, but that isn't necessarily true, the rule book highlights the breakdown for how PCS should be awarded, and as judges they should be able to recognize what is truly deserved. There are certain standards of quality that the judges are aware of. However there is no real regulation for what is good transitions or skating skills, etc so the judges can get away with boosting or demoting PCS depending on who they favor. I could go on, and perhaps I will make a post comparing certain skaters PCS scores vs actual performance skills (as anonymously as I can) if people are interested.

The thing that I think most clearly highlights the desire of the ISU to push him out of the sport is the base value assignment for the 4A. Currently the base value of the 4A is 12.5 points, only one point higher than the 4Lz. I think we can all agree that this is absurd given how the 4A is 100000x more difficult than a 4Lz. Now lets look at the difference in base value for each rotation. 1A-1Lz=0.5 difference in base value. 2A-2Lz=1.2 base value difference. 3A-3Lz=2.1 difference. It appears as tho the difference is doubled for each rotation added, so by going by that standard the 4A should be FOUR points higher than the 4Lz NOT one. I think it is clear how unfair that is. By having the difference be only one point, it discourages skaters from trying to attempt the 4A because the reward is much less than the risk. This shows how they are trying to push him out because as of right now, Yuzuru is the only person who is close to landing a 4A (as a mentioned earlier his 4A from yesterday is the first ever to be certified). Because of course, if the BV was correct and he landed it, he would probably win. And they can't have that can they?

I don’t consider the media telling Yuzuru to retire as part of the push to get him out of the sport, simply because the ISU doesn’t actually control that. However I do think it is emblematic of the way the media demonizes athletes when they have a bad day.

Now when I say the sport has become corrupt, I am referencing the way the judges favor skaters from the US or Russia. This bias can be seen in ALL disciplines (not just the mens) and has been a topic discussion for many many years. These past four years (or the last Olympic quad) have demonstrated that bias in a much more prominent way. Judges will often over score the skaters from those two federations, and overlook certain mistakes if they aren’t extremely obvious such as under rotations or edge problems. While at the same time judging skaters from smaller federations much more harshly. When certain skaters are constantly being over scored it makes it very difficult to watch or enjoy competitions. Those who do know the rules and go by them know when a skater is being over scored REGARDLESS of how they feel about them, it’s just whether you choose to ignore it or not (if you know, not if you are unfamiliar with the rules). You can fully love a skater and still acknowledge that the judges tend to favor them, though we shouldn’t blame the skaters. If you are interested in learning about the rules and how judging works the handbook is available free online on the ISU website if you search it up. There have been times in the past where judges admit they were bribed, so it’s not such a leap of logic to consider that many of them probably are as well, when you examine these patterns of favoritism.

Furthermore, coaches with abuse allegations are allowed to continue coaching so long as they have results. Mie Hamada and Eteri Tutberidze are both still coaching despite the abuse. Eteri was even awarded by the ISU for her coaching. She and her coaching team go through young Russian girls like they are cheap dolls, you can follow the pattern of her skaters to see that they retire very very young. Now there is the doping scandal, in which she and the other adults in charge convinced a 15 year old girl to take heart medication.

I hope this clarifies, and I am definitely willing to explain more if needed!

#long post #figure skating #yuzuru hanyu

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my-fragment-of-peace · 3 years

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I have a lot of thoughts about the M*x and Ch*co interview/video so I'm just gonna share them here.

- First off, I wasn't honestly that surprised that M*x said what he said. I've always made note of the fact that he's a talented driver and athlete, which he is, but he has always struck me as an asshole person based on comments he's made. Which is why I've also always mentioned that I wish he had better influences/mentors around because then maybe he wouldn't be such an asshole.

- As an F1 fan who happens to be a woman, I've become aware very quickly of how much misogyny there is within the sport. Women fans are not taken seriously and are assumed to only be interested because they think the guys are hot or whatever. Because of course, women could never be interested in things like engineering, or cars, or the competitive aspects of a sport. So I'm not at all surprised the comment was made, just because in general, F1 tends to alienate women from its fanbase (this is regarding the fandom overall, so it's not necessarily a direct comment on F1 as an entity).

- As a woman in my late 20s, this kind of comment was not shocking to me at all. I've heard so many misogynistic things throughout my life, even from guys I've dated (and then promptly broken up with), that this sort of thing is just like this guy's an asshole, so what he's saying is in-one-ear-out-the-other type thing. Like I'm not personally affected in any way. BUT. What really, really bothered me about it was that the two doing the interviewing seemed to be quite young. For them, talking to these two men, who they likely look up to, who are older than them, this is very dangerous. The implications of the comment are that men can own women and have all this power haha what a funny joke. I hope they have a good support system around them to teach them that this ideology was wrong. This, to me, was the worst part of it all. The influence that comment might have over younger people who don't know better. Thankfully, judging by their reactions, they knew it was wrong in some capacity. But holy shit. If y'all wanna talk like this and be assholes in private, then that's on you, but the minute you start publicly saying shit like this to and around young people, you do have some sort of responsibility.

- I'm more disappointed in Ch*co. He's always been one of my favorites, so perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I really thought with him being happily married and having kids of his own, he might be like "hey...this isn't okay." But he just laughed and even encouraged it.

It was just super gross. As I said, I'm not at all surprised by it, but I am bothered by the fact that it was said to such a young audience and with the opportunity for other impressionable young people to hear it. I'm also bothered by the fact that people are writing it off as "just a joke" and not fully understanding the implications of what was said. Jokes aren't made at the expense of other people's autonomy or equality. It's not fucking funny.

#it was just so gross please i hate that i watched it #anti max verstappen #kinda but not really #just anti him being an asshole #f1 #formula 1 #formula nonsense #formula fuckery

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chronic-claire-universe · 3 years

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Hey =)

Happy Birthday babes, you are getting old =)

lol, anywho, can I request for the match up, not sure how to…so imma do it here ok? Sorry if it bothers lol, kinda new-

Gender: female (bisexual), in appearance, well, 5’6, I wear glasses and kinda messy hair? Like yeah…messy is what they are and dark brown. Not exactly skinny so kinda average and bit of an athletic build, like not very prominent but it’s there.

Physics major with business minor cuz lolz and also cuz these two are the only subjects along maths that I understand…

I’m not asking for nsfw so…imma just put some stuff bout me? I am, simply put, very competitive and like being at the top of things and better than most people. I do have a crude sense of humour, which can at times offend people but ig i give good advice. I won’t be the most emotionally stable person but I will be able to tell you nice ways to get away with murder. And I like dancing, like overall sports too but not mainstream, dancing is better prefered.

Mbti: estp, 7w8, 738

Fandoms: Tokyo revengers and jujutsu kaisen

thanks a lot for taking in the request if you do…and even if you dont, thanks for existing =)

Babe I watch you from afar your blog and let me tell you: you're awesome! For my birthday party you're going to have special escorts, enjoy it and take your time

Tokyo Revengers - Ran Haitani

Braid guy loves how much you're competitive towards others, he loves how much you get blunt and he never feels offended about your attitude, girl you got balls to respond in kind to Roppongi's king.

Ran respects you and finds himself amused with you, he's used to girl that want him for his appearance, money or power but you're not like the others, cause, as I said before you're not afraid to go against him!

You enjoy a lot your home dates, Ran loves seeing you in an apron preparing finally an homemade dinner. Music plays in the kitchen and arms hug your waist, here your boyfriend hums the song refrain.

This led to you swinging your hips from side to side in motion with him, this isn't necessarily a turning on, actually he genuine loves it. It's not all about sex and Ran knows how to remember it!

Jujutsu Kaisen - Suguru Geto

Your mbti and your attitude bring me towards hot chill out motherfuckers, this describe perfectly Suguru Geto!

Suguru loves your sense of humour, he has fine taste and being really cultured, he can understand easily your attitude.

He is your safe anchor for your tortured mind who sometimes needs to feel at ease and not in competition with everyone. Geto knows how to relax you, sometimes he adopt simple cuddles or dinner where he cooks for/with you, or simply going to play sports you like together!

Dance together? Mmm no it's really difficult to convince him but I'm sure he loves you doing it, that's why he gifted you some virtual reality game where you can dance, he loves seeing you shake your body while smirking to the vision!

#claire birthday event #claire milestone #tokyo revengers #ran haitani #tok rev ran haitani #jujutsu kaisen #suguru geto #jjk suguru

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oldblognotusedyh · 2 years

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heyy, i know u get lost of questions and you probably don't have time to answer all, but your last post made me think - where would you draw the line with posting (or even just taking) unnoticed pictures? i know some people go to competitions and they want to share the moments so they post behind the scenes stuff that isn't necessarily seen on tv - would that be okay? because they obviously know fans are there and stuff, so random pictures getting online is inevitable...but i agree about the pics from personal moments, just because someone is a famous person it does not mean you can validate their personal life

Hi, I don't get as many questions as you think, haha. But I like answering question when I do get them.

In my opinion, pictures from competitions are okay, even if they are behind the scenes so to speak. Especially at major competitions, Yuzuru is for sure aware that even behind the curtains there are/might be cameras of media and/or fans. I believe that to a certain extent, pictures from competitions are quite alright. Realistically speaking, I'm sure that there are people who have taken "sneaky" pictures of Yuzuru and never posted them anywhere, so even though it's somewhat weird, it's relatively okay since not the entire world gets to see them (I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to explain this, but it's like not bad, not good, just in between - fans will be fans and I can't sincerely say that if I saw him randomly on the street I wouldn't try to take a sneaky picture for myself with my "special" Yuzu encounter). Pictures from competition practices, shots of him going from place A to place B inside the venue, I'd be surprised if there weren't fan pictures of those moments.

As I said in my last post, the video from the hotel, that was too much. I have seen a photo of him at a grocery store clearly unaware that he was being photographed. I also recently saw this video where he was at an ice rink, I don't remember who wanted to take a picture with Yuzu, and then there was a flood of people who wanted to take a picture with him as well. To be honest, I felt bad for him then too, but I guess he is used to that, and if he gave his consent, it's fine. But I can't help thinking that he was somewhat thinking "Just let me skate in peace".

Anyway, quite a lengthy answer, but in short: private moments such as where he goes outside of the competitions or what he is doing in his private time should not be taped/photographed. Taking a picture with him if you see him randomly, sure, as long as he consents to it and you're not being rude.

However, in the end, Yuzuru has been dealing with this kind of attention for close to a decade now, so I'm pretty convinced that he isn't that bothered by these kinds of things from normal people. Maybe he'd be more bothered if it was the media that followed him around. That's just my take on it.

P.s. My opinion applies not only to Yuzuru, but also to all the other people who experience fame be them athletes, musicians, movie starts etc.

Edited for some typos 😅

#asks #yuzuru hanyu #privacy discussion

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gravitywonagain · 3 years

Text

The Olympics are back on which is making me want to write an au where Lan Zhan is a gymnast and Wei Ying is a sport climber.

LZ and LH are the twin jades of Chinese gymnastics, a traditional sport that requires just all the goddamn arm strength

There's probably a Lan dynasty of gymnasts that all practice at the secluded and elite Cloud Recesses gym

Many rules, very strict, legacy and all that

LZ's second Olympics? LH's fourth or something? idk but they've been doing this thing. it's still exciting but not new

WY is a sport climber. More accurately, he's a bouldering specialist who is not overly excited about how much he had to train speed climbing to prepare for this combined thing (I have feelings about this, okay...)

He really just enjoys climbing, prefers outside to the gym, but very much likes the competition of it so he trains both

This is obvs his first Olympics and he's very excited about it

This is an Olympics in my head so there's no more pandemic, the IOC isn't racist as fuck, and it's just a lovely meeting of athletes for sports purposes that fosters unity and healthy competition. Let me live in my fantasy world.

They meet during the opening ceremony or something

LZ doesn't think sport climbing should even be an Olympic sport, WY doesn't necessarily disagree (cue rant about combo scoring "it's like if they forced you to compete in rhythmic, too" "rhythmic does not allow men" "but you get my point" "no")

WY thinks LZ's shoulders are amazing

They watch each other's events and both do well (chalk is "confidence powder" to climbers and WY will make fun of LZ for how much he uses -- even though WY uses a ton, too)

They definitely fuck in the Olympic Village at some point

After the games, WY takes LZ climbing and has to tell him to stop relying on his arm strength for everything ("yes, I know you can just pull your way up the rock, but you don't have to! it's bad form!")

#sorry #i'm excited about sport climbing in the olympics and i just watched the podium training last night #my brain does things #wangxian #olympics au #my writing #will i write this?#maybe later #probably later #why am i like this?#fanfiction #fic inspiration #my nonsense

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himbeaux-on-ice · 3 years

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Hello! I was wondering if you could please explain to me what Robin Lehner said yesterday about vaccination and competitive edge? English isn't my 1st language and from what I gathered NHL and PA promised VGK that if they get vaccinated the restrictions on them will lessen and they can freely leave their houses. And when they players got vaccines, NHL changed their promise and said players can't do that until all of the teams across the league are evenly vaccinated (shitty move from NHL, 1/2

2/2 as always). But what did Robin mean talking about competitive edge? I rewatched the video 3 times and I still don't understand :( Did the league make it a competition between the teams? "The sooner you all get vaccinated, the sooner there'll be no resctions on you?" I hope, I'm not completely missing the point, sorry about that. Big respect for Robin for speaking up and calling out the league. I'm really happy seeing players speaking up for themselves and their teams

Hi anon! I’ve spoken about this already a bit here and here, in case you haven’t seen those yet and think they might answer some of your questions. But I’m happy to elaborate further! I hope I can clear this up for you.

First, just as a note: Right now it doesn’t seem to exactly be clear what the NHL and NHLPA did or didn’t promise players in terms of easing restrictions, but it seems like Lehner was definitely given the impression by somebody that a team getting fully or mostly vaccinated was the ticket to not being under such strict isolation. The NHL for their part seems to be claiming they promised no such thing, but it’s hard to know right now whether that’s just them covering ass, or if there was just a misunderstanding somewhere in which what they actually said was not fully clear to the players. [Elliotte Friedman voice] More news may be yet to come on this.

Right. So as far as “competitive edge” goes, I can definitely explain that. You’re only a little off the mark. What he means in this case is that the NHL is concerned that letting more fully vaccinated teams live under a less intensely restrictive set of internal rules (regarding things like dining together, exercising together, sitting next to each other on planes and busses, having more group off-ice social time, sharing hotel rooms, having in-person coaching meetings again, etc) will lead to that group having an on-ice advantage in their play over other teams who are less vaccinated and still have to live under full restrictions.

Because the NHL is intensely obsessed with “parity of sport” (trying to make the conditions of competition the same for all teams regardless of outside factors wherever possible), they always in as many situations as possible want to eliminate any potential leg up one team could have over others. This is why we have things like the salary cap, rules about scouting players, rules about how draft picks are distributed that try to make sure struggling teams have a chance to draft well, rules against signing your best players for 20-year contracts so nobody else can have them, etc.

In general theory, being parity-oriented is good! It aims to make sure that the success of teams on the ice and in the standings is determined by the hockey play/skill alone as much as possible, not by franchise wealth or other things they did to get an unfair jump on the competition. And that should make the games more fun and less boring/predictable in most cases! As far as sports leagues go, the NHL has pretty good parity of play overall — there are only a few REALLY good teams and only a few REALLY bad ones, and everybody else performs within a pretty similar range most years. This is why back-to-back Cup wins are so rare in the current era, because due to all the rules to enforce parity there are relatively few teams that are THAT dominant over the competition for a long stretch of multiple seasons in a row, and the odds of any given team winning each year are much more similar. (As compared to like that period in the late 70’s when it was like “who won the Cup? oh surprise surprise it’s the Habs AGAIN 🙄” lol).

However, sometimes the NHL gets unrealistic in its pursuit of making sure everything is exactly the same for all teams. We’ve seen it already this season with the stubborn insistence on making sure the Canucks play a full 56 game season like everybody else, regardless of whether it is safe or reasonable to do so in the time they have left.

This time, the fixation on parity seems to be rearing its head in the form of the League insisting that even if a team has most or all of their players and staff vaccinated, they still have to maintain the same intense restrictions within team spaces as other teams which may be WAY further behind in getting everyone vaccinated, rather than getting to benefit from the lowered risk that being thoroughly vaccinated brings within a closed group like that. And they seem to be insisting on this not because it would be unsafe to change things for vaccinated teams, but rather because of concern that doing so might make that team perform better as a hockey team.

That’s the key part here: The NHL seems to consider getting to (safely) return to a mode of team life that is somewhat more similar to what these guys have been habitually used to pre-pandemic, to be something that could translate into an unfair on-ice advantage in the quality of their play, over other teams who are still doing it all “the hard way” under strict restrictions because they haven’t been vaccinated yet. And because of trying for parity, they want avoid giving teams that “advantage” by basing restriction changes around each team’s individual situation, and instead plan to ease restrictions for all teams at the same time at some point once all teams are similar levels of vaccinated.

Now, US teams seem to be getting vaccinated faster and faster every day, but Canadian teams probably have not started vaccinating their players or any team employees under age 50 at all yet, because Canada’s vaccination process has been painfully slow. So waiting on them to catch up could leave US teams who are already mostly/fully vaccinated still stuck in those restrictive mentally draining conditions for quite some time before the other teams catch up — again, not because it isn’t COVID safe to ease their restrictions if done properly (that doesn’t seem to be a problem), but because the League sees the improvements to their mental state and team morale/cohesion that would come from living a less restricted life together and getting to return to familiar off-ice hockey routines as gaining a “competitive edge” over unvaccinated teams, which would lead to them playing better hockey to a level that can’t be matched as a result.

Which, Lehner is right, is a pretty fucked up way to look at it! “It’s an unfair advantage for you to not be miserably alone and depressed by that and frustrated and doing everything with 16 extra steps you’re still not used to, it’s an unfair advantage to get to actually act like a team off the ice when playing a team sport, so no, we’re not gonna let you eat lunch together or share hotel rooms or whatever” is not exactly a compassionate argument!

Anon I’m also really glad Robin said something about it, and I was glad to see VGK captain Mark Stone put full and vocal team support behind him when asked about it last night on the broadcast too. The mental price of these intense restrictions is something that has been weighing on my mind ever since I first heard they would have to spend all their time on the road locked in hotel rooms alone when not playing and thought “oh god, five months of that is going to be psychologically devastating”. It’s a relief to hear it acknowledged.

I’m not fully sure what the best solution is here, but that mental wellbeing factor absolutely must be discussed in all decisions. It would be fucked up if the League is treating that as something purely technical to be controlled like the salary cap, rather than as a key determinant of health and life (in the short and long term) that is just as important as COVID safety. The old hockey culture of “just suck it up” cannot cut it anymore.

Aside: I think it’s also worth mentioning while we’re here, that I think I do understand why players may be angry about have been talked into getting the vaccine because they thought it would lead to eased personal restrictions, and why I don’t believe that anger necessarily represents an “anti-vaxx” mindset. There are reasons they may not have planned on getting vaccinated just yet which aren’t necessarily “anti-vaxx” cult thinking (though that doesn’t mean they’re smart reasons lol) and would likely seem reasonable to players in-context. I’m gonna put that under a cut though bc this is already really long!

First, there’s the fact that we don’t know what medical conditions some players may or may not have which could make them hesitant to get some of the vaccines out of an abundance of caution. More prominently you also gotta remember, these guys are athletes currently competing their way through an extremely intense and extremely important part of the season as they try to secure playoff spots, playing sometimes as many as 4 games a week. Looking at it that way, it’s understandable why some of them would be hesitant about getting a shot at this particular time which we all know is going to whammy you with a nasty little bout of mild-moderate side effects that hit you like a bad cold for as much as a week. They probably don’t feel they can afford to be laid up with muscle aches, sinus suffering, fatigue, and all the other little fun (and eventually harmless in the end!) things that your body runs through while activating that initial immune response — because in the couple of days that it throws them off for, their team could play 3 or more REALLY important playoff-clinching games, which they could end up underperforming in or having to sit out.

If that is the situation you’re in, and you already feel like the current League restrictions are doing enough to protect you, you can see why you would say “I think I’ll wait and get it during the offseason/during the week break between regular season and playoffs, and just suck it up for these last few weeks dealing with the same ol lonely isolation restrictions I’ve already gotten used to dealing with all season long, rather than be hit with that curveball of possible temporary vaccine side-effects during this time when I need to give it my all every game.” That may sound like a selfish mindset, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is how at least some of these athletes are approaching it, especially ones who may be single guys without families at home to worry about protecting. (Lehner, for the record, has a wife and two young kids).

BUT, if the League told you (or it sounded like the League told you) “Hey, if enough of your team gets vaccinated quickly, we’ll be able to lift some of the internal restrictions for you guys and let you like hang out and do stuff together within the team again”, and if you were REALLY struggling with the mental stress of that isolated living style, you might weigh the two options against each other and say “Okay, I’m willing to power through a week of potential side-effects and get vaccinated with the fellas if it means I won’t have to be so goddamn miserable and depressed every day.” and then you get the shot(s).

And if you did that, and THEN the League said “lol no, even though your team is fully immunized you still have to sit in your room alone every night and eat by yourself and not leave your house, because it’s not fair to other teams if you guys are no longer mentally miserable like them”, well now you find yourself in the worst of both worlds — still stuck in isolation, AND you’ve still got to play through all the potential vaccine side-effects that will leave you a little off your game during some of the most crucial games of the year.

Plus, that leaves you not feeling like you got to give informed consent — you agreed to get vaccinated (ie undergo a medical treatment) under the expectation that there would be certain rewards to be gained in terms of relief for your mental health, which made you decide it was worth the potential dent in your performance for a few games and any other worries you had about the vaccine, because the prospect of that relief was so worth it. And now, you are told by the League “that payoff you expected never existed, we never promised that, what are you talking about? we can’t change things for your mental health because that might make you better at hockey than the depressed unvaccinated teams”. I can understand how that turn of events could leave someone, as Robin expressed, feeling like they were “tricked” or “forced” into making a choice that they may have done differently otherwise. They felt that they were promised something in return that they didn’t get.

Note at the end of all this: Again, we still don’t know whether the NHL and NHLPA actually made any promises, or if they simply weren’t clear enough in communicating expectations to teams and the players misunderstood what was said to mean something else. Regardless, using the idea that being freed from having to be miserably isolated to an even greater degree than most of the US general public is an “unfair competitive advantage” to now justify not allowing reasonable adjustments to the restrictions for fully vaccinated teams is fucked up, and treats mental wellbeing as just another gameplay-impacting factor to be controlled rather than a deeply impactful part of a person’s overall wellbeing which can even threaten their life. The players must be treated as people.

#long post #asks #anon #robin lehner #vegas golden knights #covid 19 #nhl #hockey

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lilmissbacon · 4 years

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Adding Characters to the Big Four (RotBTD)

I've already made a post about just "How the Big Four Work so well (discussion)" which talks about their personalities are and what their stories have in common, as well as what criteria they follow.

So if you want to understand exactly what I'm talking about I'd recommend you read this first:

Now I'm gonna go into what characters would fit and why. So if you want to add other movies to this world, I would recommend Moana, Epic, The Croods or maybe even Hotel Transylvania and here's why:

Moana – Begins with narration but ends with a song. Although it's a song that sums up what Moana had learned and what her people have now become. So it is, its own form of narration. She also goes through the journey of finding herself by becoming a wayfinder like her ancestors.

Moana definitely adds to the groups resources with being friends with the ocean, knowing about the realm of monsters and being friends with Maui & Te Fiti. She would definitely get along great with the big four friend dynamic in many ways.

Hiccup: through their ability to lead and quick thinking. They also both understand what it's like to grow up on an island with their fathers being the leader who expects certain things from them.

Rapunzel: because they understand going against a parent's wishes and working to make their dreams/wishes come true. They also have the same type of bubbly personality and would converse well.

Jack: they both understand what if feels like to be chosen for something they feel they're not ready for and what it feels like to be an outsider from the people around them.

Merida: their tough and somewhat playful nature as well as their diplomacy skills match each other so well. They'd definitely be the closest of the group because of their strong personalities.

Out of a friend group consisting of: the girly-girl, a troublemaker a nerd and a tomboy, she fits into the literary dynamic through being the 'athlete.' In battle, consisting of: a leader/strategist, a healer, a sniper(bow and arrow) and a speed fighter, Moana fits in as the 'close combatant' in battle.

The magic also can still follow the guidelines of rotg. They speak about Gods but what if there really aren't any? The only 'God' we see is Te Fiti, who is the bringer of life. Or in other words; Mother Nature. The God that had raised Maui could've actually been the man in the moon and that would be how Maui was given magic and doesn't age. He goes around, calling himself a demigod but in reality, he's a spirit. And of course he's able to be seen since everyone on Motunui believes in the demi/gods.

Seasonally, Moana would most obviously be put in summer. But there are a lot of people who feel that adding more characters to the big four kind of breaks the seasonal aspect and that's fine.

But here me out.

The seasons effect the land on earth but if Moana is a spirit of the ocean, then she's effecting the rest of the earth's surface. The ocean doesn't necessarily have seasons so you don't need to apply one to her in order for her to add to the group. BOOM! Loophole!

I believe she's the BEST additional choice out of them all. Plus she'd definitely be chosen to become a guardian because *cough cough* SHE SAVED THE WORLD FROM DECAY.

Eep – A lot of applications for Moana fit for Eep too. She has narration at the beginning and end of her film. She'd fit in literarily as the 'athlete' and battle-wise as 'close constant/brawler.'

She also kind of has an arc of finding herself by leaving her cave days behind and following the light with her family. And being that she's from the caveman days –a time even before Moana– she could definitely add to the group with her survival skills.

Eep's dynamic with the others would be:

Hiccup: he understands overly strong women and would be able to keep up with her. She also has an innocent side to her and would be enthralled with his inventions. She'd just sit there and watch him work 😆

Rapunzel: being that Eep is getting a new friend in Dawn (who reminds me of Rapunzel) in "The Croods 2," I would imagine Rapunzel would also be intrigued with Eep's scars/adventures and Eep would be more than happy to boast.

Merida: their roughness and competitive nature would make them the best frienemies. They'd be closer than ever but do nothing but wrestle and compete.

Jack: like how Eep would boast with Rapunzel, Jack would boast with Eep. She would be in love with Jack's magic and he'd be more than happy to show off.

There really isn't a magical aspect to compare with rotg so the world can still fit into the dynamic here.

Eep is witty, optimistic, energetic, speaks without thinking and fails to plan ahead a lot. Therefore, as a seasonal spirit, Eep would bring spring.

MK – Begins with narration but doesn't really have any at the end. She can add to the groups resources by knowing about the leafmen and the whole mini society, of course.

The magic also stays in line with rotg and it probably helps that the creator of Epic was also the author of the Guardians of Childhood books that inspired rotg. The moon is what blooms the pod, so it's possibly the man in the moon passing his magic into the pod so it gives the next queen her powers.

In the literary dynamic, MK would be the 'city girl' friend-wise and the 'reanforcement' fight-wise. Getting along with the rest would be:

Hiccup: she would be a sense of familiarity with MK's dad being a scientist and Nod's sarcastic nature. Hiccup would also be very intrigued to learn more about the Moonhaven kingdom.

Merida: their stubbornness and being able to understand having a parent that doesn't listen.

Rapunzel: their (new) love for nature and exploring. As well as being able to understand the pain of losing a loved one.

Jack: understanding the feeling of being invisible to the people around you. MK definitely felt this way after her mom died and when her dad wasn't listening. She mentioned how she felt alone to Ronan when he brought up the "many leaves, one tree," line.

I believe she could've been chosen to become a guardian because she did save an entire society and forest. Seasonally, I believe MK would be made into a fall spirit. There are certain places that relate to or even represent the seasons. When you think of Fall, you think of trees. Spring relates to a field/garden, summer relates to a beach and winter relates to just about everything being in snow, but usually frozen bodies of water. She's also very dependable, willing to work, disagreeable and easily irritated. All traits that relate to Autumn.

Mavis – Probably the least workable candidate. There really isn't any narration in this movie and she also doesn't really "find herself" either so her movie criteria don't really work here.

But her character criteria still does. The magic still fits because we know that spirits are created by the man in the moon. If we go by the GoC books, the mim is alien magic. But who's to say that earth didn't have its own magic in the form of monsters (which can also fit for the realm of monsters from Moana.) So the magical dynamic still works.

She could also add to the group by knowing about monsters as well as being a vampire herself. She could turn into a bat or travel as smoke to sneak around places to find information if need be.

She'd fit in literarily as the 'gothic (not so much as personality but by style)' friend-wise and the 'sneak attacker' fight-wise. Getting along with the rest would be:

Jack: there are many takes on the Jack Frost myth and in a few of those takes, he's a monster. The reason for this could be because Jack has come across Hotel Transylvania and the monsters could see him (not being human and all) and he befriended Mavis, knowing she was lonely. They have the same type of fun personality and are both great with balancing tricks. I can imagine Jack getting Mavis into trouble through pranking the hotel guests.

Rapunzel: they'd both be able to understand being locked up in some way by a parent and wanting to travel the world. They both also have naiveties about the real world and would be learning things for the first time together.

Merida: through their daily activities and love for food. I could imagine them trying each other's scream-cheese and haggis😂 I'd also imagine Merida being the one to help Mavis socially catch up.

Hiccup: much like Eep, she'd be incredibly intrigued by Hiccups inventions. I think she'd even try anything to assist him while he's testing certain things. I can imagine him also being the one to help Mavis socially catch up as well.

She's very curious, friendly, energetic and tender-hearted as well as undecided and talkative. So seasonally, she too, would go to spring. She unfortunately can't go into sunlight but there are plants that actually do better in darkness. That would be where she specializes.

I hope you all like this. I hope you find this whole thing very interesting and informational. If you have any other characters you think could add to the big four, I'd love to hear it.

#the big 4 #the big four #rise of the guardians #rise of the brave tangled dragons #rotbtd #how to train your dragon #httyd #tangled #brave #hotel transylvania #the croods #epic #moana

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