#honestly i just want to rant about all of VM and how much I love their arcs and stories | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maximotts · 1 year

Text

that fun end of year appreciation ❥

so it's no secret that I've had a bit of a year from the depths of hell and I am more than ready for it to be over. but also in these past twelve months I've been so lucky to make new friends, grow friendships, and write a bunch of fun stories; that's the positivity I want to take from this year and move into 2023 and I just wannaaa tell everyone how much I appreciate them!

@wellsayhelloaagin -> I had to list you first obviously because well, I love you most. I could write essays about how wonderful you are and what an absolutely amazing girlfriend you are to me, but I'll keep it short and just say thank you for being not only my partner, but my best friend. I love you I love you I love you

@didujustcallmedumb -> Nay you absolute delight of a human being, you're one of the best people I know. I love that no matter how busy we get, we both know how much we love and care about one another; you're the best kind of friend and I'm so so lucky to know you

@kitmoas -> KITKAT!! I'm so so glad we're friends honestly and I hope we never stop being buds! You're so funny and always down for a good chat whether it be for feral thoughts or long ranting vms about random gripes. Please always stay in my pocket (I'll provide juice) thank you very much

@radbearx @immortalityisbliss -> I'm putting y'all together simply because in my head you're like, a cute pair... likeee.. Finn and Jake! Also we're in our lil gc together so ya know, evil paddsters for the win. N e ways, I want to bundle you both up and snuggle you so hard forever and ever and ever; the both of you never fail to make me laugh and I just cherish y'all so very much, okay?

@wandasbb @wandasdolly -> My Besties In Complaints, y'all are so very special! It's great to know we can always come together and be just a lil bit bitchy together, but also support one another when needed!! Mwah ily

@twilight-99-tm @caroldantops @scarlettwlw -> idk how y'all have put up with me for over a year now but I adore y'all and look up to you and your amazing selves so much!! Sorry I keep sending you cursed foods silver but also Not Sorry

@tastetherambeau -> I feel like I've told you this before, but if not, I'll say it again!! You're so admirable, so sweet, so talented.. I wuv you!! I wanna give you the biggest hug!! And also shake you for the devastating rollercoaster that is Flatline ! But affectionatly!

@wandas-honey @temptationsbrew @stealth-kittyy @thatsimplepoet @togrowoldinv @themidnightcrimson @didntalwayslookthisrough @wandasobsession @scarlet-clarity @a-real-fucking-legacy @houseofwm @innocentdxll @crescent-witch @therunawaykind @wandanatsversion @wndaswife @wndalovebot @fandoms-writings @family-house-of-m and all my other lovely friends and mutuals I've made over this past year: I love you so so much, whether we talk every day or every few weeks, you all have a special place in my heart. I can only hope I'm even half as good of a friend as you are all to me!

Also to every one of my followers: thanks for being patient and understanding as I try rolling through these ups and downs this year. You're so great for sticking with me truly I couldn't wish for a sweeter community of people! Cheers to a new year and many more fun things to come ahead!

#just a fun lil appreciation post #motts speaks.

63 notes · View notes

k-s-morgan · 2 years

Note

TW: Honest (bit harsh) opinion about Tomarry fanfics!

Do you mind if I rant a little Kat? I'm currently in the hunt of good Tomarry fanfics (all 7k of them on ao3: slash and no fem!Harry for now), and honestly a lot of what I read, even some that are popular (10k+ Kudos...) are just BAD. A lot LOT LOOOOT of writers just don't know how to frame Tom/Voldemort's character with all his flaws, personality disorders, qualities, wits and charisma... Seriously, it's borderline cringy sometimes, especially the kid/teenager Tom in the time-travel tropes or the redeemed Voldemort who is suddenly a do-no-wrong! I cannot stand it as a picky reader. I appreciate their dedication and effort, I also have some fanfic ideas that I would love to write but I still won't allow myself to until I study psychology, personality disorders and even child development in depth so that i put out quality content. Isn't research part of the writing process? Only a handful (for now) have managed to really nail the darkness of Tom/VM and twisted romance (about 7 including you). I know I will be told "don't read them then", but this is just my opinion feel free to disagree.

No problems, rants are always welcome!)) I understand what you mean. I’m a picky reader myself, and in most fandoms, I don’t like the majority of even the most top-rated stories. Just, they don’t work for me at all.

In the end, though, I think it comes down to our subjective preferences as readers vs. writers’ motivation for writing something. Every reader is going to look for something specific. Like you, I favor darker, more canonical versions of Tom, and when I encounter his innocent depictions, in most cases, I reject them. At the same time, despite not liking good!Tom, I love dark!Harry a lot. There is no logic here because dark!Harry goes against canon as much as good!Tom does, yet I love the former and dislike the latter. Many people hate both; others love both. It’s difficult to understand why this happens, it’s just how it is. In my other fandom, Shadowhunters, both protagonists are good. I can read about a dark version of MC1 (Magnus) but not the other (Alec). No idea why.

Similarly, writers treat writing in very different ways. Some strive to create canon-compliant narratives with perfectly canonical characters; others prefer complete AUs rooted in research; many writers simply want to have fun. They don’t care about realism or canon or historical accuracy, they just share their ideas and enjoy the process. Research can be a part of fanfiction, but it’s not obligatory - fics aim to bring joy and provide entertainment. I’m sure that for absolutely every fic, there is at least one person who is going to love it.

Love, I think, is the main motivator for writers. They are passionate about characters, they want to share their dramas, joy, porn without plot, humor, etc., and so they do it - just because they want to. If they loved writing their story, whatever it is, it’s already rewarding.

For instance, maybe someone wanted to redeem Tom or Voldemort as soon as possible - this was their major goal for writing because they liked the idea, related to Tom on a personal level & wanted to explore this hope for a quick redemption, were simply bored or curious about this kind of plot. People also have different perceptions: for example, sometimes I read a story about a serious argument between the characters and I feel like it was resolved too unbelievably quickly. I grow frustrated, go to see what other people said, and discover that mostly everyone loved the resolution and felt it was realistic.

WHGTB is similar in this regard. Some people side with Tom; some side with Harry. Whatever the resolution is in the last chapter, I have no doubts there will be those who’ll hate it. Some will think it’s unfair to Tom; others will think it’s unfair to Harry or to both or to the story as a whole. I actually saw someone discuss how Tom became too good and they lost interest in reading - but there are other people who think Tom remains a monster. There are no writers or readers with wrong positions in these scenarios, people just perceive things very differently from one another.

Of course, some stories are written with more skills than others - age and experience can play big roles here. I’m embarrassed of many things I wrote in the past, but at the time, I thought they were pretty great :D As readers, we can’t automatically know who wrote what and why, but all stories have their audience. It’s unfortunate to be unable to find enough fics I specifically would like - I probably like 1 fic in every 10 I read, but I’m grateful for the ones I do enjoy, and there is always writing. It’s so gratifying to write and express my vision. Besides, every writer contributes to the extended life of their fandom, whether they have a wide or small circle of readers.

I hope you’ll start writing when you feel like it and that the process will bring you a lot of joy, too! Writing can be pure magic.

#my fics #fanfiction #tomarry

65 notes · View notes

tutuandscoot · 1 year

Note

I didn't watch Ellen show (it was never on TV in my country and I didn't have interest to watch), so I didn't have any opinion about her, but after the interview I started to dislike her so so much that I thought I was getting crazy because everyone loved her and loved the interview. She didn't respect them, not even for a minute, Tessa is better at hiding, but she didn't look comfortable and Scott was looking like he rather be dead than be there.

💯 agree with you. I watched it a bit as a kid (my mum had it on tv so I just saw it occasionally) and thought it was fine but yes later on I started to notice how BS it was. If an actor I liked was on it I’d watch (not the whole show just the interview) but everytime unless it was one of her besties (a middle age white woman) she was so disrespectful, roll her eyes, just ask the dumbest questions and then ruined it by pulling out some farce (like scaring the guest- thank fkn god she didn’t do that to Scott I would have killed her).

So yeh I watched the VM interview when it aired and you just knew she was gonna be so disrespectful. As I’ve said I’ve never subscribed to the shippy stuff so no amount of dumb arse Ellen asking over and over was gonna convince me it just made me mad 😡. No way she actually watched their performance or bothered to learn anything about them- she would’ve just been briefed on them being super sensual and their performances making people tweet that they were pregnant. She just perpetuated all the shippy stuff by only talking about that and not acknowledging their athletic achievements. And people get mad at vm for always answering with ‘we worked so hard and so much care and trust goes into it, we are so proud of how we have managed our careers and worked together we take such pride in that’ which for the record I love when they said that because ITS THE FUCKING TRUTH and damn straight they would be proud of it and each other and it’s so ignorant of people that they could t just accept that.

TS were obviously so uncomfortable. That she kept pushing the ‘they dated when they were 6+8’ bit is BS coz I don’t care what anyone tells me THAT IS NOT “DATING” in the respect it means anything- it’s cute but they themselves say they don’t know wtf was going on and didn’t even talk, their siblings ‘set them up’ and they just went along with it so a 60 year old woman continuing to push that when there is nothing there or nothing relevant to TS now being 28 and 30 is just feeding the insane people (sorry I’m ranting over and over I have a lot of grievances about this).

If TS were to have done any American interview I’d much rather they did Colbert or something. There would’ve maybe been a joke but then he would’ve moved on because he actually has class and respects his guests and knows how to interview people- I think Scott esp would’ve been much more comfortable coz he had mentioned watching the daily show (which Colbert was on). I mean Adam Rippon did Colbert after the olys so it was just coz VM had that “relationship” question going that they got pushed into doing Ellen because it was those people- mostly middle aged white woman in that audience coz sorry they are so gullible and tabloid media is literally made for that audience, they’ll believe anything no matter how fantastical it is (apologies I’m generalising here but you know what I mean- just look at the statistics for the middle aged WW who voted for T****).

And yes on a more personal note I can’t stand her. All the charity stuff and advocacy for gay rights was great but it just got out of hand I’m not surprised at all that all those things started to come out about her being a tyrant and a bully, honestly when you (sorry but she is a lesbian) have an audience full of screaming middle aged woman worshiping you… idk I don’t want to get nasty but yeah that can go to the head.

I feel so bad for VM and I don’t want to say that they had nothing to do with the decision to go on Ellen obs it was their choice but there’s a very good chance their manger/s were taking advantage of the buzz they got post olys. (I’ve complained before about just how much media they did esp morning shows where sorry but the hosts and producers tend to not be that intelligent (basing this off those kinds of shows in my own country). Obviously TS knew who Ellen was but I can’t imagine they knew it would be that bad with the way she treated them (they are used to the ‘relationship’ of it all but nothing this bad) you know, they trained all day every day (no time for day time tv) and not that I’m from there but I have a feeling there isn’t that hype for these kinds of ‘American celebrities’ in Canada- they seem to have more of their own identity in their pop culture despite the close proximity (idk that’s my take on it obs isn’t the same for every person)

So yes anon I was disgusted by it I hate that it happened.. I don’t blame VM for it they were only doing their job and to their credit they always pushed the truth of their partnership and shone a light on the strength of their team and the Canadian team and how proud they are to come from where they do and be really wonderful representatives of their country. Ellen is a troll I hate her I’m so glad that show is over she had no class or respect and I’m sorry I know I try to refrain from talking about people like this but the fact is she is true “celebrity” who is really just famous for being famous where as people like VM are real people who didn’t ask for any of this fame, why worked so hard at their very specific craft and are incredibly kind people who got all this crap for simply doing their job (skating) and chasing their goals. I only take comfort that in these difficult situations they have each other and take refuge in each other which unfortunately only made people go crazier. I wish people would just respect them for who they are.

*catches breath* 😰. rant over

#sorry anon this was long #at least Scott was a cutie with all those funny faces

4 notes · View notes

smollilbaby · 11 months

Text

DAY 6

Its day 6 and honestly, its not that bad when you're adapt to the absence already. But then cannot. Nnt dah terbiasa absence, kacau jiwa nanti HAHAHA But its cute la how we have small talks at night like ahhh i've been wanting to hear ur voice for the longest time. I miss listenting to you ranting, talking about anything. I could listen to you all day baby. It soothes my ears to hear your voices everytime. I miss you so much baby, do u know what? I really cant wait for you to come back to my arms. I want to hug you and everything. I want to claim my 10 days 9 nights without you here. I dont care what , i dont care who, i want to be with you 24/7 for the 10days and till forever baby. You're my everything. You're my forever baby. Its you or nobody else. I just want you, i need you in my life. You completes me in every kind of ways. You make me feel thousands of feelings. Im so attached to you, obsessed with you and so clingy towards you. I've been talking to you and just you, no one else. You're the only one that i need and loves so much. No words could describe what im feeling these days without you, but i know, you're in my heart all the time. 4000+ km but i can always feel you in me. Thank you mylove for having the time to talk to me, vm me and spammed me pictures of you while you're there. I could as if feel like im just there with you. I miss you so much mylove. Hurry come to arms. I miss everything about you. Few days to go baby, im so excited!! I know you dw to come back cause u're stressfree from reality. So enjoy while it last mylove HAHAHAHA Reality is awaiting for your arrival here. Till then baby, enjoy your few days more at korea. I love you so much, dearest!

#day6 #imissyou #iloveyou

0 notes

ventureawaybitches · 2 years

Text

Campaign 1 Finale Feels

Ok, @lost-in-the-cosmos-lovely asked so here we are. Obviously contains major spoilers for campaign one, discussion of canon-typical violence, major character not-death, Rem apologist (kinda) musings.

This is all purely personal and probably incomprehensible. I also haven't listened to the last 15 or so episodes in A While so I hope I remembered everything correctly.

Character development feels: How the Maidens operate as a group has changed so much, from the first fight against Ethan where they didn't communicate at all and ended up killing him, to spending the first half of the episode discussing what they wanted to do and making sure that everyone is clear and fairly ok with the plan (there's also the whole mechanic of the boss battle that was basically the power of friendship), this is kinda a player thing but it's also totally a character development thing and it made me so happy. The power of the Squad Walk and Hug Unit.

Kara: Kara's character development from chaotic neutral to lawful good honestly makes me melt. From her impulsiveness and blind rage to how she's driven by justice and uses her rage tactically *chef's kiss*. Her decision to let Rem live (I was surprised, also that the others all deferred to that decision) no way would she have considered that at the start. Also the Order of the Furies is such a badass name. Kara matured so much and it feels silly to say I'm proud of her but I am.

Arrnodel: my Arrnodel feels mainly come from the legacy game, after the total breakdown of her relationship with Aaron at the climax of the story (it was a long time coming) the fact that they decided to stay together, to start over, to go to couples therapy and work on their communication. Wonderful. Also Arrnodel being the one who takes no damage in combat? Queen.

Sawyeh: Sawyeh's development from naïve and trusting (her terrible insight checks) to no we have to kill Rem otherwise it will come back to bite us, she had to learn the hard way and it's brilliant but also it hurts me cos the bath scene in Faelyn "In a sense I think of her as a sister, I mean we are sisters[...]I just want to understand and I want to listen, I want to know why she did what she did,[...]and understand what she's going through" she held onto her hope that Rem would reach out, that she would trust her enough to tell her what was going on, even after Rem rejected her she still wanted to help. Then Rem slit her throat at The Veil.

Fera: I am here for I worship the gods of fate cos it means that what is meant to happen will happen and I can just chill to as insurance I'm going to grab myself a demi-god and use their powers in case something happens to mine, fuck the gods of fate, fuck you for using me. Yass queen gain your independence and take control of your life.

Rem: I spent nearly a year whining to myself, my cats, and occasionally my mum that I knew something else was going on with Rem, that given what we had seen from her before it made no sense that she was actually evil (sidenote: the complex morality in VM is awesome). Freeing mortality from the control of the gods would always make Rem the villain, was she aware of what she would have to sacrifice? (I have no doubt that she genuinely loved Isolde and she must have known that Isolde would suffer so much for this, and the feels that she asks after her at the end, my otp, I should probably rant about them in a separate post). How long had she wanted to destroy fate, was it while she was still working for her father or after? What had she gone through that she decided that this was her only option? When did it become an actual possibility? Was it for the best? This is just a load of questions, we shall move on.

Overall feels: the whole story and the finale especially feels like a parallel with how society tells people (anyone who isn't a cishet white man) what they have to/should do/be and what they can do and (Celeste saying men have told her she shouldn't advertise she's a woman so much with her dnd work) the main characters choosing to say fuck no to their fate, to what they were told to do and that's so. Fucking. Powerful. The whole thing is about deciding your own path, not letting anyone control your life or tell you what to do and it's just what Celeste said in the kickstarter launch party vid

"You are powerful. You live in a world that constantly tells you you aren't but you are"

The finale was such a good ending (although it was left very open and the legacy games are a thing) because I wasn't dissatisfied with anything that had happened, all the character arcs worked. I don't find that many things empowering but Venture Maidens really really is.

#good for you if you read all that #i hope that was somewhat enjoyable #venture maidens #ramblings #musings #venture maidens podcast #spoilers #venture maidens spoilers #legacy game spoilers #venture maidens meta #venture maidens fate #fate spoilers

7 notes · View notes

the-poutine-routine · 6 years

Note

Have you talked much about Valse Triste? Could be fun to go back to their first senior fd!

Ok… let’s do this *cracks knuckles* *plays vm spotify playlist*

Hi anon! I mean I’ve mentioned Valse Triste I think...? But never have I ranted about it in great detail, so... um yeah... I guess I’ll do that now.

Overall thoughts:

I think as a whole Valse Triste was super fitting to who Tessa and Scott were as skaters at the time. The music had both a sense of levity and of maturity that matched the situation of being a couple of kids thrown into a competition with a whole bunch of seasoned ice dancers. I guess the main thing that stood out to me as they performed was- to steal one of the commentators’ phrasing- how automatic they look. Even after skating together for only ten years (I know, it’s such a short amount of time), they fall into hold together so easily, they always know where the other is on the ice. Moreover, they look so prepared, they go through all the elements so smoothly and precisely as if they never have to even think about what’s coming next.

They look like they have something to prove.

So I love Valse Triste, it’s probably one of my favorite programs of theirs (that’s a lie, they’re all my favorites). I guess I see it as almost a pre-cursor to Mahler. It has the same sort of mood that I can’t quite find the words for right now... a brightness and joyfulness but with the faintest undertones of melancholy (damn, I sound like a pretentious asshole).

It’s almost like with Mahler they’re just a couple of kids dancing, showing the world what they’ve got; while with Valse Triste they’re just a couple of kids dancing, showing the world that they have something to give.

Initial notes on the limitations of my analysis:

Normally I like to give my overall thoughts (see above) at the end of these nonsensical rants, but this got insanely long and in depth (and illustrated) so I’m adding a break.

ALSO, normally when I’m doing analyses it’s from a specific competition and I’m comparing vm’s scores to another team, however, with this one, I’m not really out here arguing that Tessa and Scott were lowballed, so more than anything, I’m comparing them to themselves at present. I’m not saying that they were better or worse at any given time (although obviously Valse Triste was more than ten years ago, so they did make a lot of improvements from them until 2018...)

And, as always, I am no ice dance expert so everything that I say may or may not be complete and utter bullshit.

Oh, one last thing! I get super in depth about the program and all its elements yadda yadda, but then I have a blurb about why IJS isn’t that great of a judging system at the end so that might be worth while to read even if you don’t care about the rest of my rambling soooo yeah...

Ok hi! Hope you’re doing well!

Anywho, here’s the video that I watched. I used Worlds because, in theory, that should be their best skate / the best representation of the program as a whole.

Ok, so here’s the protocol:

The judging, base values, component scoring, etc. have all obviously changed quite a bit since 2007, however I’m too lazy to re-learn IJS based on the 2007 system, so we’re just going to have to make do with my knowledge of the 2018 system. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Technical Element Scores (aka me blabbering incoherently because I wrote this part after doing PCS and my brain no longer wants to be organized):

The first thing I noticed about the TES when looking at the protocol was that while vm got everything called (because they’re freaking legends. Oh my god.), they didn’t have super great GOEs. I guess this kind of makes sense, particularly in the lifts you can kind of see them setting up for them rather than letting them flow with the program.

I think to give this entire shit show of a post a bit more organization, I’m going to break each element down by type and give some quick, spur-of-the-moment, rapid-fire thoughts. Kapeesh?

Lifts:

I think it’s interesting how accurate of a representations Tessa and Scott’s lifts can be to the timeline of their career. The lifts in Valse Triste are all very low to the ground. Tessa has her head almost touching the ice in the straight-line lift, for example.

While the strength and balance needed to execute the lift are very obvious from looking at it, it’s not big or reaching outward like good ol’ cunniliftus or the curved lift from Prince and Moulin Rouge do. However, this isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually more fitting with the program and with who they were as skaters at the time. While they were spectacular ice dancers even back then, they also were just a couple of kids. Having huge lifts in this particular program probably would not only not fit musically, but also almost make it seem as if vm were trying too hard... if that makes sense? (Sorry, it sounds like I’m throwing shade, I promise I’m not, I really do like the lifts and think they’re perfect given the program).

Step Sequences:

Although this isn’t necessarily a technical attribute, I guess what stood out to me most about the step sequences were their confidence. They execute each turn so exactly, there’s no long drawn out edge going into them, every thing about the step sequences ooze self-assuredness, sort of like they’re saying “We’ve practiced this ten trillion times. We know what we’re doing. We’ve got this.”

Spin:

Honestly, I don’t have all that much to comment on this. A spin is a spin is a spin. What I notice more than the spin itself is the transition into and out of it, how quickly they execute it, and the speed with which they move out of it.

Twizzles:

Again, not much to say here... they’re twizzles... Scott does get a bit off on the second one but somehow manages to save it and come out at the same time as Tessa which is pretty amazing hehehe.

Program Component Scores:

Obviously, little baby 2007 Tessa and Scott had a bit of work to do before they became the Ultimate Ice Dancers Supreme™ that they are now, so there component scores were all in the 6-7 range (which is still pretty darn respectable), rather than maxing out in the 9-10 range like they did (crying that I have to use past-tense) in their later career.

Skating Skills:

Honestly, they’re fine? I mean yes they’re very good, but they still do have some work to do. I don’t know… they have very good edges and extensions as per usual, but they do seem to lack a bit of the up-and-down smooth knee bend movement that is super representative of Canadian skating and that they have boatloads of later on in their career. On a bit of a tangent, however, areas in which they do need to improve their skating skills almost lend themselves well to the program (the power of negative space, eh?). They add to the sense of innocence and youth of the program? As in as much as I love the Valse Triste, I think a lot of its meaning and pizzazz would not at all be fitting to a present day vm.

Linking Footwork / Movement:

So I’m going to equate this to the part of the score that’s now called “Transitions” because… yeah… I just am, I’m assuming it’s more or less the same thing. The transitions were actually one of the main things I noticed upon my re-watching of this program. I don’t want to say that their transitions were simpler than they are now, per se, as that makes it seem like they were bad back in the Valse Triste days, but they kind of were… simpler. Rather than using turns and footwork to link together elements, Valse Triste more used crossovers, mini lift-like moves (Tessa looping a leg over Scott, etc.)

and body movements to move from one element to the next. Now, in some ways, this is nice- especially as someone who is not an expert on every. single. ice. dance. element. (particularly those from 2007)- as it really accentuated … oop, writing pause, Come What May just came on and I need to take a sec to look forlornly into the distance … OK SO it really accentuated where each element ended and another began. However, if we’re thinking about flow, which is something that every program really should have, more full? (that’s a weird word, I know) transitions help the more modern vm programs to seem a lot more cohesive than much of their earlier work.

Choreography:

I know that technically on the protocol sheet, “Performance” comes before “Choreography” ties in to what I just blabbered about regarding transitions so… Ok so yeah, not going to lie to y’all, I’m not really a huge fan of Marina-esque choreography. She uses a lot of hops (brief side note: apparently vm got criticism for using hops to pick up speed, but this was literally part of the choreo. What gives?) and pauses as transitions which not only breaks up the elements and takes away from the cohesiveness of the program as a whole, but also doesn’t always make sense given programs with particularly um… ethereal… music, such as Valse Triste, or Mahler, or Seasons.

That being said, something that the choreography does do very well, is being matched appropriately with the music. Although some of this obviously plays into the “Musical Interpretation / Timing” score, the fact that specific body movements or elements were chosen to go at certain points in the program as the mood and temp of the music evolves is very telling of a well-choreographed program. A prime example of this is how the circle step sequence (starting here) is set to a much more lively piece of the music, which makes sense choreographically as they are required to complete multiple turns in quick succession.

Performance & Interpretation / Timing:

So, I’m just going to lump these two together because I’m lazy, because I can, and for reasons that I’ll explain in a hot sec. As always, I think Tessa and Scott did a stellar job of performing this program. Something that they excel at more than probably any other team ever…? is portraying characters and I think this program is a prime example of that. They make use of every body movement and ensure that everything is timed perfectly with even the smallest accent in the music.

Ok so sort of a choppy transition here, but in skating, I am kind of a huge fan of facial expressions (which doesn’t necessarily make sense, as I’m totally one of those people who will beat someone up if they say that figure skating isn’t a sport, but that’s besides the point). The video is not the best quality because like… 2007… but even without being able to see specific minute details of either of their faces, you can tell that they are emoting. For example…

…here you can sort of see their faces and what they’re doing with them which is great, obvs, but more than that you can almost tell the emotion that they are feeling / portraying from their extensions and from their overall body language / movement. They really emote through their entire beings which is a skill that many ice dance teams don’t even come close to doing.

The limitations of IJS:

That hot sec that I mentioned in why I lumped Interpretation and Performance together? That one? Yeah, that hot sec is right now.

Ok, so, one of the things I struggled with in trying to separate out each specific program component to look at is that any skating program is meant to be viewed as an entire entity. Yes, there are individual elements and individual components that all make up the program, but any skater and choreographer worth their salt (is that a saying? I don’t know) will try to add some sense of musicality and flow to a program, whether it be through having a storyline for the program or simply having certain movements that tie everything in the program up in a neat package from beginning to end.

This being the case, it’s really hard to look at a program and parse out which movements are part of choreography, what pieces are thought up by the skater themself as part of the performance, etc. So… yeah it was hard.

Another thing to note is that judging bias is a real thing. In this case I don’t think any biases necessarily came from judges being paid off or playing favorites or anything, but simply due to expectations. It’s not even anything to do with vm themselves, but with every newer senior team. First of all, when a team is placed higher in world rankings, they will skate in a later group at Worlds. This means that in the later groups there is a much higher expectation for the teams to do better and thus when a newer / lower ranked team is particularly good, the judges might be blindsided a bit and not give them that high a score simply because they did not expect that team to be good and consequentially do not see them as good (psychology, anyone?).

Another result of being in an earlier group is that the judges and tech panel aren’t going to want start right off the bat by giving all +3 GOEs and 10.00 component scores. There needs to be somewhere for the scores to go throughout the competition. So pretty much the earlier teams might be scored particularly harshly as they are pretty much setting the bar and being a baseline off of which all the other teams are going to be judged for the rest of the competition. (I mean technically, teams aren’t supposed to be compared to one another but like………)

Wow wow wow ok you made it! Yup, that was very long and probably made no sense and had like twenty different moods because I skipped around while writing it, but maybe you thought it was worth the twelve hours it took you to get through it? Probably not...

Anyway, thank you so much anon for inspiring my ranting :)

#Anonymous #anon #ask #rants and stuff #valse triste #tessa and scott #analyses #wow #I hate that I just wrote this whole thing #If I put this much effort into the rest of my life #...I could be so successful #ok #well have a nice night all!

13 notes · View notes

tutuandscoot · 2 years

Note

Hey, you seem to be one of the few sane vm fans left, so i wanted to talk to you about something. I also believe the two of them aren't romantically involved and quite possibly never even were. I have a feeling that the reason why they don't do public collaborations and in general distanced themselves is bc the fans were so crazy. The only way they could have a normal life was to separate themselves so people would leave them alone. So people who so desperately wanted them together actually contributed to them distancing themselves from each other (at least publicly). I don't know why people think they hate each other now or don't talk at all. I think it would be smart of them to keep their interactions private since people can't behave themselves. I 100% believe they are still friends but prefer to keep it quiet so they can lead their lives without constant whispers and everyone analyzing them for the slightest clue they are together. I look at old blogs from 2018 and i cringe so badly, i cannot image how awful it was for them to see all that crazy. To have a wonderful relationship questioned at every turn and to feel like they can't be themselves because someone will interpret it a different way. It makes me sad, we kinda brought this upon ourselves. They felt the need to distance themselves because there was no other way for them to have a normal life. If they toured today people would still talk about their relationship and trash morgan and jackie. It is maddening. Sorry, this was kinda a rant, but i had to get it off my chest.

OMGGG Anon you have no idea how much I agree with this!!!!! This is so ridiculously on point and tbh I was actually thinking similar things the other day. Also… I LOVE RANTS so you’re rants are welcome here. Now settle in for one of mine ✌️

So firstly- while I wasn’t on blogs/Twitter any of that before like November last year- and in 2018/19 my extent of following VM was just following them on Insta. Basically everyday I’m so glad I have a blog about them NOW rather than 4 years ago coz I would not be able to handle it. I’m so sensitive and feel a lot about the people I admire (not just VM, others too: dancers, mentors, etc) and I would not be able to handle the hate- much like you even now with the small samplings it makes me sad. I have an VM Insta page as well and the other day someone just decided to drop into my DM’s and say ‘how could they have broken each other’s hearts’ and it made me so angry. I just deleted the msg coz I wasn’t gonna waste my time. 🙄

I 100% believe they were never romantically involved. I’ll do my best not to lay out all my points in another 5000 word essay but essentially what I see that others may constitute as ‘too lovey, familiar, comfortable with each other, etc..’ I put down to two things.

1. They are dancers. I’m a dancer and I’ve had to do similar stuff to what they do some programs (carmen, MR) with people I’ve just met, let alone known for 20years or was romantically involved with.

2. They are very very close friends who were by each other’s side for 22 years. They’ve been through everything together. They are so comfortable with each other. They love each other, they care about each other, but they can also be silly together and tease each other like best friends do. They themselves say they are each other’s family. Each other’s parents, siblings are as much their’s as their own.

But especially what people would freak out about during and post-PYC, the TTYCT and RTR, (according to some of the more toxic blogs) is they are mature adults who are obviously very secure in their sexuality. They know how to control themselves but are also very aware of their physicality and interactions together. And honestly, I think they are attracted to each other- they just don’t want to fuck each other. This along with the fact they had been partners for over 20 years. I think that’s the main thing people would forget when they blatantly objectified them: that VM don’t know any different. Being so close is all they know and if they were to have that taken away from them- not by their own choosing I think would utterly crush them. [The way they have managed it so well and are so at peace with it is because retiring was their decision and they did it exactly how they wanted] That’s how they show and express their love and after 20 + years of being under the microscope and so heavily scrutinised by judges, coaches, audiences and internet trolls, they become each other’s safe place. For ex: all the hugs/cuddles at the end of MR:

The soft face caressing and almost kisses (chore or otherwise):

Lovingly staring into each other’s eyes during interviews, endless complements for each other:

X X

That’s not them being romantic. That’s literally them being in their safe space. The figure skating world is harsh enough, let alone add on all the internet a**holes trolling coz they have nothing better to do with their lives. Those cuddles and caresses and looking into each other’s eyes is like home for them. I was thinking earlier how when they take their bows + leave the ice (more during shows but I guess also competitively) they almost always very quickly retreat back into each other. I don’t get the vibe they are overly comfortable under the spotlight (literally the rink lights but I guess also just in the public eye). They love performing, acting, dancing, skating and telling a story together, but I don’t think they crave that audience appreciation. Some performers do, which is fine. But they don’t. They do it for each other. So when a program ends and they cuddle/kiss/hold each other close, squeeze hands and tap tushies, etc, they are just being grateful for each other and probably do it as a comping mechanism for the screams and cheers and the odd feelings that causes. It’s like they say- they could not cope with being singles skaters. The only reason the do what they do is each other, and because they only feel safe in those uncomfortable environments because they have each other.

Now I’m not a therapist/psychologist, whatever, and I’m not trying to implying that people are dumb, but why is it so hard to accept that that closeness and affection is something more special and even more intimate than being romantically involved?? Maybe, as rare as it is, it’s something even more special that should be admired instead of criticised and probed at endlessly.

I truly don’t get the obsession with making up fake relationships between real people on the internet, I don’t get the point of it, especially when I’m the case of VM in ended in “heartbreak” and anger for the people “shipping them”. What is the benefit of making up and spreading shit about people you don’t even know? How low is that. Why are people so obsessed with people they don’t even know having sex they feel the need to bully people about it? That’s so fucked up to me.

I think it definitely contributed to them becoming more private. I also I think as they prepared for retirement it was a natural evolution. I pray they don’t know the extent of some of the trash online about them- I don’t even know the worst of it and I never want to coz like I said- it really upsets me. I think about that short video of them answering Twitter questions and one of them was ‘what’s the craziest rumour about you’ and the way which Scott says ‘there’s some nasty stuff out there’ in retrospect, breaks my heart, coz there’s stuff that he knows that he considers nasty. And that’s probably not even the worst if it.

They did not/do not deserve any of that. What did they do to deserve this? I hate when people say “it’s their fault, they bring it on themselves”. And while I don’t think everyone commenting that meant it literally- it’s was just more hyperbole, my limited knowledge of the extent of the toxic nature this place used to be says there were people who meant it- and used it as permission to objectify them.

As much as I often comment things like ‘omg just let me live’, I’m not thinking of it in terms of their ‘romantic relationship’ I just mean they are incredible performers, artists, and their partnership/existence together is so beautiful it makes my heart beat faster. And they are so brave for being who they are, with each other despite all the trash talkers.

So yes anon. I think you are very on point in that it contributed to them distancing themselves publicly. And I fucking hate that that’s a possibility. I don’t think it would ever, ever affect their feelings for each other tho. If anything, I think they would mutually feel that it was for each other’s wellbeing and safety, that they didn’t want each other to be affected by any trash.

And after everything they’ve been through, I think they are truly relishing in figuring out their friendship not only removed from skating, but from the public eye. I think that’s something they always looked forward to figuring out and exploring together. They are courageous, brave and creative people who aren’t afraid of new challenges, and while in the physical respect they aren’t as close as they use to be, I think in other ways they are learning to be even closer, and/or understand each other better. And that’s amazing after 22+ years of skating together, 25 + years knowing each other, that there is still more they get to learn about each other, and they aren’t sick of knowing each other. That’s amazing. I could not have more respect for them if I tried.

Something I had talked about recently/while ago, wtevr, was can people not comprehend that T&S know better than anyone in the world where they stand in terms of their feelings for each other. After that long together do people really have the audacity to think they can tell T&S how they actually feel about each other, that they know more, understand more about what T&S have been through. And that T&S deciding to be with other people romantically spits in the face of what everyone thinks is true love.. and them deciding to be with other people means point blank that they hate each other??? WTAF???

Scott committed to Tessa the day of their first competition when he fucked up the steps and she stayed with him. As long as Tessa wanted to do this with him, he would be by her side. He would not be the one to let this incredibly special girl down. Tessa gave up the national ballet school for Scott at just 9 years old because she had committed to him, and she would not break that commitment and because she was already starting to feel a special connection with him that the idea of dancing with one partner and creating these stories together appealed to her more than a ballet career. He stayed with her through her injuries, she helped him through the hard times leading up to Sochi, and they returned to competition TO BE WITH EACH OTHER. How do you just reject and forget all of that as soon as you stop spending every day together. So I don’t know if these online trolls are really that dumb, or just enjoy contributing to the destruction of perfectly stable relationships coz it’s fun.

They may not be able to find the words to define their relationship, but they know what it means to them, and they know it’s one of the most important things in their lives and they will always have each other. There’s no way in the world everything they have experienced together can be undone. And I hate that people can’t just accept that the famous people they wish had some perfect, typical love story don’t, and what T&S have, as unusual as it is, is not only better, but it’s what Tessa and Scott want. And if you claim to ‘love’ them, to be a ‘fan’ of them, you should genuinely care about them and want them to be happy, even if it’s not want you think is perfect for them- how would you know.

Hope this satisfied your feels anon ❤️❤️

*most of these gifs aren’t mine-full credit to owners

#sorry this is stupidly long but I just love this ask I wanted to cover all bases #I’m so glad there’s others on here who ‘get it’#I didn’t know who isolated my opinions and feelings were till I started exploring tumblr #then I discovered the disgusting toxisity #and I felt so alone #but they I found friends and those who share my love for VM and it has become such a happy place for me #so thank you to those- you know who you are #and thank you for this ask #anon #ask #also please read the comments my friends are making some fantastic points

19 notes · View notes