#2021 Summer Olympics

[sinkat-arts]

Daisuga WIP Wednesday: Angsty Edition

Context: This is mostly an establishing bit of the first chapter to, uh, set the (not super happy) mood and current mindset of adult Daichi. Things... have happened.

--

December 2021

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First: Turn off the alarm. He will not do it for you. He is not there. 

Second: Let your body wake up. Resist the urge to reach for him. He is not there. 

Third: Open your eyes. Do not roll to your left side. He is not there. 

Fourth: Push the blanket away. You do not have to carefully make sure he remains covered and warm. He is not there. 

Fifth: Sit up and put your feet on the floor, first one and then the other. He will not pull you back. He is not there. 

-- >

Daichi made it to the fifth step before breaking his own rules. Turning, looking over his shoulder - that was forbidden in step six, but he hadn’t made it there yet. Muscle memory dashed forward ahead of thought, and he twisted in place, looking back. Looking for a messy cloud of ash gray hair, looking for the familiar shape of his heart, but finding only a crumpled blanket and nothing else. It wasn’t even his bed. This wasn’t even his home. 

<!--Failure Contingency 1: Don’t react. If you’re still in bed, start over from one. Else, repeat the step you failed and carry on.-- >

Getting out of bed was, by far, the hardest part of the checklist to implement, even now. He blamed it on his sleep-deprived morning brain being harder to wrestle into submission. Easier to say it was that than to go one level deeper and acknowledge all the other reasons it was hard. 

This was our time. Just us, starting the day pulling in closer to each other and bitching about the alarm. He’d complain and cling like a damn octopus to keep me there, and I’d pretend to be annoyed and fight a little before giving in and wrapping him up in my arms. I started setting the alarm just a little earlier so we could have more time like that before the day pulled us our separate ways, and he pretended not to notice. 

But he didn’t dwell on that old morning ritual. He didn’t dwell on the way their bodies relaxed into one another, warm and secure in their nest of blankets and pillows. He called his difficulty with mornings sleep deprivation or confusion and didn’t look any further, not any more. 

Looking at it square - going any deeper - hurt too much, and feeling that hurt made him aware of the other reason it was so hard to make it to step six every morning. A reason that was more frightening than painful because that one, taken to its final and logical end, wouldn’t hurt at all. That one made sense… and being able to see the sense in it came with a terrible, heavy sort of numbness that settled deep into his bones and slowed his breath. 

The first few months were a cyclical sort of hell - weeks and weeks passed, living one moment in a hurt that split him into pieces that burned and scattered like embers in the wind, and the next in a state of frozen indifference that had him stuck dangerously in place. Eventually, he’d asked himself what’s the point? and found that he just didn’t have an answer. The reason it was so hard to get out of bed - to keep going out into the world and pretending to be a human being - was that there was no reason. There was no reason to do anything at all, and the logical end to that line of thinking was just that... an end.

But he’d come back to himself and realized he was being stupid. Melodramatic. People relied on him, expected things from him. He had a job to do, and his siblings looked up to him… and his mother, what would she think… So the checklist was made to keep that terrifying logic out of his head. It was his way of fighting back, of forcing a point to exist. If there was a next step, another task to check off, then he would always, always have an answer to that awful question and neither the hurt nor the nothing could catch up to him. 

The point is to complete the checklist. Properly, no shortcuts.

Today was the first time he’d ever made it to five without having to start over. That was progress, and he was tempted to keep just going but… rules were rules, and he had to complete it properly to count. He was technically still in bed, so he started over from one. 

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Sixth: Stand up. Do not look back. He is not there. 

Seventh: Go to the bathroom. DO NOT LOOK BACK. He is not there. 

Eighth: Take your shower. Do not wait for an interruption. He is not there.

-- >

He made it through the next couple of steps, finishing his shower, brushing his teeth (There is only one toothbrush. He is not there.), getting dressed (You do not have to make sure he did not go back to sleep. He is not there.), and stepping out into the kitchen to get coffee and breakfast started.  

The kitchen was just like the rest of the small apartment - a spartan affair. Daichi didn’t have much in the way of knickknacks or personal affects. What he did have was just enough. Just enough plates and bowls. Just enough silverware. Just enough drinkware. Just enough pots and pans. Just enough everything for one person. Any more than that, and he’d have to think about… 

But it wasn’t important. He had enough. He was making it work. 

<!--Thirteenth: Get your mug. Do not think about the one you had with the volleyball shaped like a heart. He is not there.-- >

He set his plain white coffee mug in the single-serve machine, loaded it with a single-serve cup of coffee grounds (Do not think about the big pot that held enough for eight but somehow only held enough for two. He is not there.), and hit start. That done, he grabbed two eggs, sliced cheese, and pre-cut fruit from the fridge. It was the last of the fruit, so he made a mental note to replenish on his way home tonight… otherwise it’d just be egg toast for breakfast tomorrow, and that would throw his routine off. Two slices of bread toasted as he fried the eggs. (Do not worry about whether the yolks pop. He is not there.) As he finished assembling his breakfast - toast, cheese on top of toast, egg on top of cheese so it melts, repeat - his coffee finished brewing. A spoon of sugar, enough cream to turn it beige (Do not think to yourself ‘would you like some coffee with your cream?’ in his voice. He is not there.), and that was done, too.

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Twenty-Seventh: Sit. Do not look at the other chair. He is not there. 

Twenty-Eighth: Eat. He is not there.

-- > 

Finished, he rose and took his dishes to the sink. A quick rinse had them nestled in the dishwasher, ready to be washed after dinner later that evening. He left the kitchen, went to the entryway, put on his shoes, picked up his bag from where he’d dropped it in exhaustion the night before, and opened the door. 

<!--Thirty-Fifth: Leave. Do not say goodbye. He is not there.-- >

#daisuga #daichi sawamura #daichi #haikyu #haikyuu #fanfic #wip wednesday #there are fun and cute parts to this thing #but I hurt them before I heal them #it's a problem #angst #tw: implication of passive suicidal thought #tw: depression #my favorite thing to do is figure out how to cram them full of Issues while still maintaining canon events and behaviors #I promise the Issues will make sense in the broader context of the story #i also haven't decided if the pandemic happens in this #since summer olympics were in 2020 in canon but 2021 in real life

[futarinokinenbi]

Matsumoto Jun Live Stream Part 1 20220624:

0:15

M: In the beginning of this year, I had the opportunity to do Arashi Radio special with Sakurai-kun. That time, it's been a while but he said, let's go for a meal. So I said, sounds good, let’s go! What did I say again? I think, I said, Wednesday. He was like, which day are you free? So I was like, {Wednesday} is free! It was like, in that case let’s save the date then we went. The two of us ate together… what did we talk about again? We didn’t talk about anything important. When was it, he went with Aiba-kun for snowboarding? Skiing? Something like that. But when they met up in the morning, there was somebody else. When he looked closely it was Kotoge! He told me that happily before talking about it on variety. It was memorable. That kind of small talks with no real content. We had a meal together, then we took a bit of a leisurely stroll outside. We were like, we really ate, huh… Then we said bye and went home.

M: About Nino, it’s his birthday recently, I think I had filming that day too, so I messaged him in the afternoon, like congratulations. It’s the last year of our thirties so let’s end it well, I sent a message like that.

M: As for Aiba-kun, recently… his stage play, right? I went to see his stage play. It seemed like it was tough! Did you guys see it? Well, maybe not all of you was able to see it since it’s in Tokyo and all. On Arashi’s Voyage, I think there’s a talk scene with Miyata Keiko. Aiba-kun said that time, he didn’t think he’d have the chance to do it. It became a reality so fast. When I asked him how was it? He said, it’s tough! It It’s a lot of pressure, in a good meaning. You get pushed hard to do it. Lately there’s no experience like that, right? He’s like, it’s very tough but I’m really glad.

M: Oh, that guy, huh. The oldest son! Recently, we only talked via texts. As to what it was about, it’s a genre I’m not good at. I was like, do you have recommendations? Then he sent me 5-6 things, like, I recommend this one, and this one, and this one. When I asked him if he was doing well, he said he caught a cold. So I was like, please rest. I was like, I’m sorry. That kind of conversation. Please take it easy, kind of like that. So it isn’t like we don’t keep in touch. Everyone in Arashi is more or less like this.

💜💜💜💜💜　　　

0:47:50

M: I heard about Sakurai-kun writing rap lyrics for KAT-TUN. Was it when we ate together… No, I think it was before that. Year-end? Beginning of the year? No, it was at the beginning of the year, the day after we went eating, it was the day of KAT-TUN members' recording. He said something like that. Not the KAT-TUN version, but the version Sakurai Sho sings, he sang it for {KAT-TUN members}, the temporary version of the rap. I feel like I listened to it. I was like, hey, hey, this is a nice groove!

❤️💜　❤️💜　❤️💜　❤️💜　❤️💜

Matsumoto Jun Live Stream Part 2 20220917:

0:07

M: About Sakurai-kun. Is he doing okay? About two days ago, he messaged me. I thought talking through the phone would be faster, so I said, is it okay {if I call you} now? He said it was okay so I called him and we talked for a bit. He sounded lively. When I asked him if he was okay, he said something like, surprisingly, I'm okay.

💜💜💜💜💜

0:32

Nakajima: The first time I ever stood on the Tokyo Dome stage, it was for an Arashi concert.

M: Eh? When?

Nakajima: It was... in 2008. M: If it's 2008, then it could be Time or Dream-A-Live.

Nakajima: I suppose so. M: Was it when Sakurai-kun broke his bone?

M: He didn't break it? He broke it in a Tokyo concert.

Nakajima: It broke? During the concert? M: Was Tokyo after he broke it?

❤️💜　❤️💜　❤️💜　❤️💜　❤️💜

Sakurai Sho Voice Live Stream 20221014:

0:04:30 S: Matsujun... Matsumoto-kun did a video live stream recently, right? I thought, that guy is really amazing. How should I say it, his consideration... I thought, he's a kind person because when he starts shooting for the taiga drama, he loses the chance to appear on media for half a year or so, so that's exactly why he wanted the fan club members to see his face. I thought, he’s such an amazing person.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

0:15:10

S: Was it the day before yesterday? I moved to a new place. Don't you usually have cardboard boxes you leave unopened? So, I opened it. Then, I found things from 2010 or 2011, around those years. Ah, wait, am I wrong? Was it 2008? Well, whatever. At any rate, it was during the Beijing Olympics --the first Olympic I had the chance to take part in was the Beijing Olympics-- I found notes I used for the Beijing Olympics, Sochi Olympics. So I have them! They're not lyric notes but memo... I'm sorry I'm going off topic but... Then, various photographs emerged. The last group photograph from Arashi no Shukudai-kun, with the staff too. Everyone is in the picture but only Matsujun's face is gold because it's covered with gold powder. Everyone is normal-looking and only Matsujun… I think he was doing the Curse of the Tuthankamun. I was like, what the heck is this? So, I took a picture of it. Then there's another one, "2011 Purikura" is written on it. It’s a small envelope. That one is also maybe, Arashi-chan... It was maybe taken on Himitsu no Arashi-chan... A two-shot purikura with Matsujun appeared! It was quite funny so I sent the group picture where only Matsujun's face is gold-colored and the purikura photograph. Then, I received a reply from Matsujun, while wearing that warrior helmet and armor, that is, using a smartphone, he took a picture of himself reflected in the mirror wearing a warrior helmet and armor. He said, "Battle ongoing." (Laughs) I'm sorry, but... So I was like, "Sorry, sorry! Battle ongoing? I'm sorry." What kind of conversation was that. Wearing a warrior helmet and armor but using a smartphone is funny... It must be tough. I’m sorry.

#2022 #jun keeps bringing up that broken bone incident #he also did in blast in hawaii documentary #sho is so chaotic #i can only think of that one purikura set shojun did #so it’s probably that one #this is of course to celebrate satoshi-kun’s birthday #happy birthday to our dearest leader #please enjoy your summer vacation #we started 2021 with a junba date #then there’s that yama thing during the tokyo olympic that made me cry #then in 2022 we find out that ninoai videocalls #also #congratulations on the birth of your second daughter nino!

[toasttt11]

ethereal

February 20, 2022

It was supposed to be the happiest day for her, she just won gold at the olympics again, breaking history and accomplishments dreams she never thought were possible to accomplish. It was supposed to be a day she was going to celebrate all night but instead it was a day that she knew was coming.

Fredrick and Vera were two peas in pod since the moment they met, the two connecting in a way that was just ethereal.

They quickly become one of the best pairs in history. Most days were spent together training, laughing, smiling, spinning around the ice together.

They grew up together as their friendship grew with them. Fredrick and Vera had a beautiful connection anyone could see it by the way Fredrick treated Vera with love and affection, the way he always was softly touching her, always gently picking her off the podium, Fredrick never once dropping her ever, The wha Vera would light up around him, the way she always relaxed fully again him, how Vera talked about him whenever someone asked about.

Fredrick and Vera just had a connection that was priceless and special and it slowly turned into something more even. In January of 2020 they admitted what they felt for each other and it just grew from their, it was so natural and passionate between the two anyone would think they would be together forever.

Except they weren’t.

Vera never knew when it changed but it did. One day, slowly but surely the sweet boy who use to bring her flowers and make her laugh turned into someone she couldn’t ever recognize a flash of. The boy she fell in love with was gone.

Vera noticed the way he slowly moved into the guest room and on the road suddenly ever room had two bed. The once loving and affectionate touches became nonexistent, the only time she felt his touch was when they were on the ice. And the once sweet comments and lovingly words she received turned into cold condescending words or pure ice cold silence and ignoring anything they came out of her mouth.

Vera noticed it at the end of the summer of 2021 they had been together for a year and half and everything was great until it wasn’t anymore.

Eventually the more she was treated this way she noticed she was falling out of love with him, and at the end of the day she could handle losing his love and losing being in love with him but she missed her best friend.

Vera planned to split up their partnership after the Olympics were over because she was done trying fighting to save something that he doesn’t even want to save.

She knew she made the right decision when they went to sign their contract for the next year of being pairs when she read the requirements. He wanted her to pay for everything. Everything for skating or to do with skating was to be payed by her. The money they receive from winning would not be spilt but would go all to him and Fredrick had the finally say on everything.

Vera slowly looked up from the contract looking right into Fredricks eyes as she picked the contract up ripping it down the middle, “No.”

“What why not?” Fredrick angrily snapped, the lawyer looked between his two clients nervously, having seen the requirements but was told by Fredrick they both wanted them.

“No i won’t sign this. I won’t sign another contract to continue being your pair.” Vera slowly stood up still maintaining eye contact, “You forgot something Fredrick, i never needed you. But you have always needed me.” Vera turned around walking towards the door, hiding the heartbreak from showing on her face.

“You’ll regret this.” Fredrick yelled towards her back slamming his hands on the table. Not ever been known to control his temper.

Vera held the door knob in her hands before turning around, “No i wont.” She turned around ready to leave before she turned her head once more to see the fumes coming from Fredrick, “Oh and if you couldn’t tell, we’re over.” Vera shut the door behind her walking out the hotel confrence room heading straight to the elevator, she clicked her phone on calling to have her plane ready in a hour to go back to California.

Vera walked down the hall to her hotel quickly opening the door slamming it behind her, sliding down against the door hitting the floor burying her face into her hands.

Apollo and Aries jumped off the bed where they were sleeping and ran right to their mother, Aries nudged his nose into her hands and Apollo leaned his body on Vera’s side.

“Thank you my loves.” Vera whispered to her two babies cuddling with them needing the comfort more than ever. She took a few minutes to just hold her dogs before she gently let go of them getting up and starting to pack up their stuff, she packed all of her stuff back into her large suitcase and all of her dogs stuff into their suitcase she clicked on the leashes for her dogs before exiting the hotel room with the two suitcase, her backpack on her back, her purse on her shoulder and both of her dogs on the leashes.

Vera walked out of the hotel into the car that was waiting for her, thanking the driver who took took her bags before hopping into the back with her two dogs.

The drive was quick to the the airport and she quickly climbed up the steps into her plane, nodding at her employees before heading to her bedroom she has in the back of the plane she closed the door and un clicked Apollo and Aries leashes and sat on the bed pulling her knee to her chest resting her forehead on her knees feeling both of her boys sit on either side of her. Aries layed his head on her arm looking at his mom with sad eyes giving her a small whine, Apollo leaned his whole body weight into Vera’s and licking his mom’s arms.

Vera remembered meeting Frederick when they were young, only just kids and when they went onto the ice together for the first time they just clicked and they knew they had to be partners, their connection was so natural and so easy for them. It was a connection many other skater’s envied wanting to be that connected to their partner.

Vera and Fredrick had met Alexandra who quickly became their other best friend, the three quickly became a trio. Becoming each other’s safe space, where they didn’t feel as the whole world was watching. Alexandra and Vera becoming platonic soulmates the two pushing each other to only become better on the ice. Alexandra and Fredrick finding a sibling in each other and having a very teasing relationship.

Traveling the world and spending most your time on the ice you tend to grow close with the people you skate with and Alexandra and Vera don’t know what was wrong with Fredrick but Alexandra slowly stopped respecting her once best friend that was a big brother to her when she saw how he was treating her best friend.

Alexandra could see how hard Vera just wanted their best friend back and she only hoped that Vera will get her happy ending one day.

Vera woke up hours later running a hand through her hair seemingly to fall asleep with her dogs cuddled with her and checked the time realizing the flight was over half way done and decided it was time to get away from California and fast and she knew exactly where she wanted to go.

New Jersey.

New Jersey a place she’s always loved staying in and the biggest factor as it has one of her most favorite people in the world living their her big brother Nico, and the Devils who have all become like family to her and one of her closet friends Jack.

She pulled up the apartment complex she knew Nico and Jack lived and quickly found an apartment that would be perfect for her and her dogs and quickly applied for the apartment and was surprised when her request was immediately approved and the contracts quickly emailed over for her to sign and put into the money and she would already have the apartment. Vera quickly finished everything letting out a small smile seeing how quickly everything fell into place.

She pulled out the book she was currently reading to past by the rest of the time and before she knew the plane was landing and she was waking up her dogs putting their leashes back on and grabbing her backpack and purse.

She walked down the stairs to the plane heading into the car that was waiting for her and got into the car, the drive to her house was quick and she quickly thanked the driver before unclipping the leashes of the dogs and walking into her house in California, one of her more favorite places and had made some of her closest friends here and the first place she bought a place not rented.

She breathed out a sigh of being home and for once she thanked Fredrick for having moved out a while ago so she didn’t have to worry about him coming over to get anything that is his.

She took out her phone as she walked up her stairs towards her room and texted her group chat with Trevor and Jamie telling them she is home and she knows they don’t have a game today or tomorrow before throwing her phone on her bed and heading into her bathroom and taking a long shower.

Vera walked out of the bathroom with her hair freshly washed and brushed before grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants and a purple loose long sleeve, she slipped on a pair of fluffy socks and walked down stairs and across the long hall to the living room and throwing the throw blanket across her lap as Aries and Apollo layed on both sides of her.

Vera heard the door open and knew exactly who it was especially when her dogs tails started excitedly wagging.

“Honey we’re home!” Trevor’s voice echoed through out the house.

“In here babes!” Vera called back not getting up.

Trevor and Jamie walking into the living room making Aries and Apollo jump up and run over to the two. Trevor set down the bag he brought and kneeled down petting them like crazy as Jamie softly petted the top of both their heads before looking at one of his best friends nothing the dimmed look in her eyes that has been more common recently and the way her lips were naturally more downturned.

Trevor bounced up from the dogs jumping onto Vera, “Congratulations VeeVee!” Trevor hugged his best friend tightly.

Vera tried not to think of everything that happened but she couldn’t help and starting sniffing in the hug from the comfort from her best friend, she burrowed her her head into her chest feeling the tears running down her face and her shoulder began to shake.

Jamie and Trevor looked at each other with concern, Trevor hugged her tightly as Jamie sat on the other side of them brushing a soft hand through her wet hair.

The two let Vera cry all her tears out onto Trevor’s hoodie before she slowly calmed down.

Vera lifted her head looking between her two best friends, Trevor wiped off her tears as Jamie looked her in concern, “What happened Vee?”

“He wanted to sign a contract to continue our pair and it was fucked, he wanted me to pay for everything including all of his expenses, all the earnings were to go to him and he had final say in everything, so i ripped up the contract and broke up with him.” Vera fiddled with Jamie’s hands as she told them what went down a day ago.

Trevor clenched his jaw hearing about Fredrick, Trevor having known Vera before she dated Fredrick and with Vera living mostly in California he was one of the few who truly saw how much their relationship got extremely toxic and how much Vera has been heartbroken over the last year.

Jamie frowned looking at one of his best friends, “Is that why you came home early?” He knew she was supposed to be there a few more days celebrating her gold medals.

“I had to leave.” Vera mumbled resting her head on Jamie’s shoulder while Trevor laided on top of her.

“Well i for one am glad you broke up with that asshole!” Trevor grinned looking at Vera making her let out a soft laugh.

“Of course you are ZeeZee.” Vera fondly smiled knowing how much Trevor hated seeing her in that relationship getting hurt.

“How are you feeling.” Jamie looked towards her in concern.

Vera took a deep breath, “Honestly kinda free, obviously it still hurts to think about losing him as my best friend but i’m relieved to have finally cut that part of me.” Vera for the last year as she noticed Fredrick slowly changing she had hoped everything would get fixed and she could have her best friend back but she knew she really needed to end things with him.

“Good.” Jamie kissed the top of her head.

“I got an apartment in New Jersey.” Vera blurted out into the comfortable silence.

Trevor’s head popped up from where he was laying on Vera, “What! Why?”

“I thought maybe a fresh city to live in could do some good, besides my new location will be opening there soon and Nico apartment complex had an open space and Jack will be there too.” Vera explained her thoughts to the boys.

“I think it will be good for you.” Jamie reassured her thinking a new city could be good for her.

“As long as you don’t forget about us!” Trevor pouted, “And we have a lot of games in New York and New Jersey so we will be able to see you a lot.”

“And i’m keeping my house here in California and i still have to come out here a lot anyways so it won’t be that bad.” Vera reassured the pouting Trevor.

“Alright but as long as i’m still you favorite hockey player best friend, Jack cannot past me.” Trevor looked at Vera extremely seriously making Vera and Jamie throw their heads back laughing at their silly best friend.

#verahischierau #jack hughes x reader #nhl x reader #jack hughes #jh86 #luke hughes #quinn hughes #quinn hughes x reader #nico hischier x reader #ch86 #nico hischier #jamie drysdale #trevor zegras #trevor zegras x reader #alexandriazegrasau #nhl #nj devils #luke hughes x reader #simon nemec

[triptychgrip]

Chronology of events for my post-canon 200k+ Yuri!!! on Ice fic series

One inevitability of writing such a massive post-canon Yuri!!! on Ice fic series that spans 5 years -- including 2 different Olympic Games (2018 PyeongChang Games and the 2022 Beijing Games) -- is that I've found myself at times struggling with second-guessing the continuity of events that I've built into my fic-verse ('Gold's On The Inside, Elevated My Feet'). This is especially the case b/c in my series, the 2018 Winter Olympics were marked by a scandal (note: not doping) that catalyzed a ton of events that followed in the realm of Yuuri and Viktor's relationship, and in the world of elite/competitive figure skating in general.

It got me thinking recently that it might be helpful to post the chronology of events (both personal, as well as the sports politics-related) that I've been working from, beginning from the time Viktor was born. My hope is to post this soon as part 6 of the series, and prior to uploading Chapter 15 (which, if you're new to my work, will detail the Men's Singles Short Program at the 2022 Beijing Games).

Other authors that have worked on stories spanning multiple big events or time periods: how do you manage to keep everything consistent and ensure that your continuity remains throughout? And, have you found it helpful to share your timeline of events in some kind of listed chronology for your readers?

I think I've been doing a decent job so far, but every so often I'm like "Oh wait, damnit, who did I write as the silver medalist as the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships, again?" or, "Hmmm...I originally noted that Yuuri and Viktor would move to Fukuoka, Japan in 'summer 2019', but when, specifically did I mean???"

And then I panic, worried that I've somehow contradicted myself somewhere LOL

#yuri on ice #yuri on ice fanfic #my fic writing #writer problems #viktuuri #victuuri #katsuki yuuri #victor nikiforov #fanfic authors #yuri!!! on ice

[icedbatik]

I always breathe easier when Geno's back in the U.S. ...

From TH, September 5, 2023

The KHL is setting a scary precedent with the handling of Russian prospects who were drafted by NHL teams.

A timeline, to catch you up:

June 2015: Flyers draft goalie Ivan Fedotov in the seventh round. Fedotov develops into one of the top non-NHL goalies in the world.

2021-22 season: Fedotov signs for a year with the KHL club CSKA. CSKA is owned by a Russian state-run oil company.

February 2022: Fedotov says publicly in interview at Olympics that he intends on moving to the NHL

May 7, 2022:  Fedotov signs one-year deal with Flyers

Early June 2022: Fedotov arrested by Russian law enforcement for suspicion of evading military service and sent to remote military base in eastern part of the country

July 1, 2022: Fedotov becomes sick and rushed to hospital. His lawyer said that Fedotov had been given some kind of injections on the base, and that he and Fedotov's family weren't allowed to see him in the hospital. Fedotov is released from the hospital after a couple of days, but misses the entire 2022-23 season while at the military base. His contract with the Flyers slides a year to 2023-24.

July 8, 2023: Fedotov's KHL club CSKA signs him to a two-year extension, giving him two competing and active contracts.

Aug. 14, 2023: The IIHF completes its investigation of the competing contracts and rules in favor of the Flyers, saying that the CSKA contract is invalid. The IIHF gives CSKA a one-year ban on signing  players for international transfers. Fedotov is also suspended from international competitions for four months, which is irrelevant given that Russia isn't competing in national tournaments anytime soon. The IIHF suspended Russia from international play after the invasion of Ukraine. The IIHF suspension of Fedotov doesn't affect his ability to play in the NHL.

Sept. 1, 2023: CSKA has its regular season opener ... and starts Fedotov. KHL president and former Penguin Alexei Morozov releases a statement essentially saying that because they disagree with the IIHF ruling, they're going to do what they want: “The KHL accepted this roster in accordance with our central database, therefore Fedotov can play. Neither the KHL nor the club agree with the IIHF’s decision, which infringes the constitutional rights of a Russian citizen to work. Russia’s prosecutor general spoke in defense of the player, and sent a message to the Russian Hockey Federation, the club and the league about the consequences of violating his right to work and insisting that Fedotov be allowed to take part in the championship.”

Fedotov allowed five goals in a loss in the opener.

That same day, the IIHF fined CSKA 5,000 Swiss Francs (roughly the equivalent $5,600 USD) for playing Fedotov, and says that if Fedotov continues to play, CSKA will be subject to further sanctions. 

Since then, CSKA has played two games. Fedotov has been dressed and listed as the backup for both. Those are still violations, even though he didn't start.

To sum things up: The KHL is going rogue and setting a dangerous precedent. This is the first time the league has totally disobeyed the IIHF, and it'll be interesting to see how the IIHF moves forward here.

The Penguins have three prospects in Russia: Goaltender Sergei Murashov, drafted in the fourth round in 2022 and the Russian junior league's top goaltender last season; forward Kirill Tankov, drafted in the seventh round in 2021 and playing in the Russian second league after missing all of last season with a broken neck; and forward Mikhail Ilyin, drafted in the fifth round this summer and starting the year in the KHL.

NHL signing rights don't expire for players drafted out of Russia because of the lack of a formal transfer agreement between the NHL and Russia. The Penguins hold onto their NHL rights indefinitely.

Russian teams playing dirty to try to keep their top players isn't new. Evgeni Malkin had to escape to get to Pittsburgh in 2006. His club Magnitogorsk convinced him to play one more year in Russia after he was drafted by the Penguins to show his loyalty to the city and country. He did that, but the next summer team officials followed him to his home and coerced him into signing a one-year deal. The team had his passport, so he couldn't leave on his own. Magnitogorsk had an August tournament in Finland to start the year, so Malkin had his passport, and he hid in Finland for a few days until he could get a U.S. visa and flight to Los Angeles.

With Russian teams and the national teams not playing in other countries now because of the bans due to the invasion of Ukraine, prospects like Fedotov don't have the same opportunity to escape while in another country.

As an aside, this whole situation shows why the hope some fans had to ban Russian players from the NHL because of the invasion of Ukraine is totally misguided. ... You have the league and its government-owned teams doing all they can to keep one guy sticking around at home, even sending him to a military base in Siberia for a year. Giving the KHL all their top players back would be a dream for Russia and the KHL.

#hockey #scary stuff #skipping some tags for obvious reasons

[virtchandmoir]

June 23, 2023

Of course, off the ice, Rielly is part of a Canadian sports super couple, announcing his engagement to Virtue, the Olympic gold medallist ice dancer, back in 2021.

Asked whether he and his fiancée every play each other at hockey, Rielly answered, “Let’s just say that Tessa might be faster but her puck handling needs some work.”

With the summer season starting, the hockey player also said that he and Virtue are “looking forward to relaxing and spending time with our friends and family.”

As for how the wedding planning is going, Rielly is keeping mum, politely declining to answer.

—ET Canada

#tessa #morgan rielly #off ice #candid life #took their shot

[mydaddywiki]

Greg Noll

Physique: Husky Build Height: 5'10" (1.78 m)

Greg Noll (né Lawhead; February 11, 1937 – June 28, 2021) was an American pioneer of big wave surfing and a prominent longboard shaper. Nicknamed "Da Bull" in reference to his physique and way of charging down the face of a wave, he was on the U.S. lifeguard team that introduced Malibu boards to Australia around the time of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He produced a "legendary" series of five Search for Surf films. He died on June 28, 2021, at the age of 84 of natural causes.

Dubbed "Da Bull" at a young age for his big frame and his unwavering composure paddling into building-sized waves. I'd like to think he was given that name for the set bull balls he has. Just let me dream. Noll apparently was a American pioneer of big wave surfing and is also acknowledged as a prominent longboard shaper.

Noll was married until his death. Together, they had four children. Living near a beach city, I never was into surfing but if this guy was around, I'd be at the beach with board bright and early just to see him. Also get into a situation were I could dry-hump him. Again. Just let me dream.

#mydaddywiki sports figures #Greg Noll

[originallandlockedmariner]

2023

Pickleball. Generative AI. Lula takes office in Brazil, Amazon Rainforest throws a party. Prince Harry refusing to stop talking about his frozen penis no matter how many times society begged him to stop. UFOs are real. Viral cat dubbed ‘largest cat anyone has ever seen’ gets adopted. Pee-Wee’s big adventure ends. Musk & X. Turkey-Syria earthquake kills thousands. India surpasses China as ‘country squeezing in the most peeps’. Tucker Carlson ousted. Miss USA and her 30 lbs moon costume. Wildfires in Kelowna and Hawaii. Macron tinkers with retirement age of the French. Paltrow can’t ski. Big Red Boots. Bob Barker leaves us. Alabama mom delivers 2 babies from her 2 uteruses in 2 days. Charles III. Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces as the war drags on. Taylor Swift is Time’s Person of the Year. African ‘coup belt’. Flo-Jo dies in her sleep. Chinese spy balloon shot down. Hollywood writers strike. Human ‘nice mugshot’ Shitstain and his 91 indictments. Highest interest rates in 2 decades. The Bear’s Christmas episode. War in Gaza. Shinzo Abe is assassinated. Alex Murdaugh. Ocean Cleanup removes 25 000 lbs of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Vase purchased for $3.99 sells for $100 000 at auction. Barbenheimer. A third of Pakistan is flooded. Lionel Messi is the GOAT. Travis Kelce. The Sphere opens in Las Vegas. Regulators seized Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, resulting in two of the three largest bank failures in U.S. history. “The Woman In Me”. WHO declares COVID ain’t a thing no more. Titan sub sinks, rich people die. Matthew Perry drowns. Dumbledore Dies (again). Massive sales of ‘Fuck Trudeau’ flags for jacked-up micro-dick trucks. Everything Everywhere All At Once. June-August was the hottest three-month period in recorded history across the Earth. Tina Turner dies. And the Beatles release a new song?! Wow… You got big shoes to fill 2024.

Archives for context:

2020

Kobe. Pandemic. Lockdown. Koalas on fire. Harry and Meg retire. Toilet paper hoarding. Alcoholism. Impeach the f*cker. Parasite. Bonnie Henry. Tiger King. Working from home. Sourdough bread. Harvey Weinstein guilty. Zoom overdose. Dip your body in sanitizer. 6 feet. Quarantine. OK Boomer. Home schooling (everyone passes). Murder hornets. Dolly Parton. Don’t hug, kiss or see anybody, especially your family. Chris Evans’ junk. TikTok. Glory holes. Face masks. CERB. West Coast wildfires. Stay home. Small Businesses lose, big box stores win. F*ck Bozos. ‘Dreams’ and cranberry juice. Close yoga studios, but thumbs up to your local gym. Speak moistly to me. George Floyd. BLM. F*ck Trump. Phase 2, 3 and Summer. RBG. Baby Yoda. Biden wins. Bond and Black Panther die. No more lockdown. Back to school and work. Just kidding... giddy up round 2. Giuliani leaks shit from his head. Resurgence of chess. UFOs are real. Restrictions. Dave Grohl admits defeat. Monolith. “F*ck... forgot my mask in the car”. No Christmas shenanigans allowed. Bubbles. Alex Trebek. Use the term ‘dumpster fire’ one too many times. Jupiter and Saturn form 'Christmas Star'. Happy New Year Bitches!!!! 2021... you better not sh*t the bed!!

2021

“We love you, you’re very special”. Failed coup attempt at the Capital. Twitter, FB and IG ban Donny. Hammerin’ Hank goes to the Field of Dreams. Bozo no longer richest man but still a twat. Leachman, Tyson, and Holbrook pass. The economy is worse than expected. Kim and Kanye split. Brood X cicadas. Dre has an aneurysm and nearly has his home broken into. Bridgerton. MyPillow CEO is a douche. Covid restrictions extended indefinitely. Captain Von Trapp dies. Proud Boys officially a Terrorist Organization. Richard Ramirez. Cancer takes Screech. Travel bans. Impeachment trial (again?… oh and this was barely February? WTF??!!) Suez Canal blockage. Myanmar protest. Kong dukes it out with Godzilla, while Raya watches. Olympics. Friends compare elective surgeries. F9. Canada Women’s Soccer Gold. Free Britney. Multiverses. Residential Schools in Canada unearth children’s bodies. Kate is Mare of Easttown. Cuomo resigns. Disney and Dwayne cruise together. Wildfires. Delta variants. Musk passes Bezos. Candyman x 5. Capt. Kirk goes to space. F*ck Kyle Rittenhouse. Astros didn’t win. Squid Game. Goodbye Bond. Dune is redone. Angelina is Eternal. Astroworld deaths. Meta. Omicron. Three Spidermen. Tornados in December? World Juniors cancelled. Pills against Covid. School opening delayed. And Betty White dies. 2022… my expectations are ridiculously low…

2022

Wow… eight billion people. Queen Elizabeth II passes away after ruling the Commonwealth before dirt was invented. The monkeypox. Russia plays the role of global a**hole. Wordle. Mother Nature rocks Afghanistan. Hover bike. Styles spits on Pine. Olivia Newton John, Kristie Alley, and Coolio leave us. Pele was traded to team Heaven. FTX implodes. Madonna and the 3-D model of her vagina. Pig gives his heart to a human. Beijing can brag that it is the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. Uvalde. $3 trillion Apple. Keith Raniere gets 120 years. The Whisky War ends with Canada and Denmark going halfsies. Mar-a-Lago. Nick Cannon brood hits a dozen. Shinzo Abe is assassinated. Inflation goes through the roof (if you can actually afford to put a roof over your head). Volodymyr Zelensky. European heat wave. Bennifer. Salman Rushdie is stabbed on stage, Dave Chappelle tackled, and Chris Rock is only slapped. Thích Nhất Hạnh. Heidi Klum goes full slug. Cuba knocked out by Ian. Liz Truss and 4.1 Scaramuccis. Taylor Swift breaks Ticketmaster. Human shitstain Elon Musk ignores helping mankind and buys Twitter instead. Riri becomes a mommy. NASA launches Artemis 1. Trump still a whiny little b*tch. Music lost Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie, and Meat Loaf. Democracy died at least three times. Pete Davidson continues to date hottest women on the planet (no one understands how?!) Microplastics in our blood. Alex Jones is a c*nt. So is DeSantis. Argentina wins the World Cup. Meghan and Harry. Eddie Munson rips Metallica in the Upside Down. tWitch. Roe vs Wade is overturned by the micro dick energy of the Supreme Court. CODA. James Corden shows he is a "tiny Cretin of a man". Amber (and the sh*t on the bed) Heard (round the world). Sebastian Bear-McClard proves he’s one of the f*cking dumbest men alive. Latin America's ‘pink tide’. Anti-Semitic rants by Ye. Bob Saget. A verified blue checkmark. Godmother of punk Vivienne dies. And, Tom Cruise feels the need for speed yet again. 2023… whatcha got for us?!? Nothing shocks me anymore.

@daily-esprit-descalier

#me #my words #doodles

[barbielore]

I was always loosely under the impression that the first Olympic tie-in doll in the Barbie range was Olympic Gymnast Barbie for the 1996 Atlanta games, but as it turns out this is not the case.

The 1970s brought us "Gold Medal Barbie", including a range of different Olympic-themed outfits. To break down further, there were also a range of Barbies showing her and her friends competing in different events.

I believe, however, that Olympic Gymnast Barbie in 1996 was the first to be tied in to a specific Games, as well as the start of the trend of having Barbies representing the US in consecutive games going forward with specific tie-ins.

I have talked about Olympic Gymnast Barbie in many other posts before, because this is specifically a doll I remembered growing up with so she is always fresh in my mind.

If I talked about all the Summer and Winter Games tie-ins this would be such a long post that it would probably make people block on sight, so I'll save the Winter Games for a follow-up post.

Sydney 2000 had a wide range of dolls as tie-ins, including Swimming Champion Barbie, Paralympic Champion Becky, Olympic Fan Barbie and Olympic Pin Collector Barbie. There are probably several others as well that I have overlooked.

Barbie took a break again from the Games through 2004, 2008 and 2012 (though there are some non-Barbie fashion dolls produced by companies other than Mattel who are identified on reseller sites as a Barbie), making a kind of return in 2016 in a different way. Although there were no dolls that specifically tied into Barbie as a competitor, the 2016 Games inspired a few tie-in collectors Barbies in the likeness of specific Olympians.

Laurie Hernandez, a solo silver medalist and a team gold medalist gymnast at the Rio Games, and Ibtihaj Muhammad, bronze medalist fencer, were among the "Sheroes" honoured this way.

The 2020 (technically 2021) Games in Tokyo brought a new wave of Barbie competing as an athlete, in a variety of sports.

Most of her outfits heavily featured Barbie pink, alongside a Tokyo 2020 jersey.

No Barbies yet have dropped for Paris 2024, but I have to assume it is only a matter of time, as a range of athlete Barbies really fits with Mattel's branding of the doll right now.

#barbie #barbie history #vintage barbie #olympic barbies

[reborn-from-your-ashes]

Ada Hegerberg on the future of women’s football - The Guardian

I don’t want to come out all firing, it’s too early into 2024 for that and I’ve got a job to do on the pitch, but it is always important to start a new year properly and raise some concerns that I, and other players, have about the women’s game and where it is going.

Sometimes this world of football still manages to shock me. I was shocked when I saw the 2024 international match calendar – and I was not the only one. Many of us have had to compete in back-to-back summer tournaments in with the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the Euros in 2022 and then the World Cup in 2023. This year it’s the Olympics again for some teams, so to see a Fifa window for games in the middle of July was frustrating to say the least.

Obviously, some teams will be competing at the Olympics but not all of us. Many were looking at this summer as a summer of liberation – for our bodies and our minds. But no.

A lot has been made about the intensity of our match calendars and the impact on players who are not given a proper environment for the demands of so many matches, yet here we are, ready to play anywhere between 50 to 60 matches, with games to be played in every month of the year. The decision-making is worrying to say the least. I will be told there was no other month for it, but I do firmly believe a good problem solver can find a way around any matter.

I feel these issues so keenly because I’ve been impacted by them. There are many different causes of injuries, but if we are overworking players, not giving them the appropriate amount of rest and recovery time, and not providing them with the set-up that can match the level of the demands being placed on them physically and mentally, then the risk to player health is increasing exponentially.

I had been injury free in my whole career, year-in and year-out, winning trophies and playing to my best abilities. But in recent years I’ve been unlucky with a stress fracture impacting my body. Very few people knew or understood the extent of this injury, what caused it and whether it would impact me long-term, yet despite that I have lazily been labelled “injury prone”.

Any of us could pick up another injury, but any of us could also have a fantastic year ahead of us. This is the goal I work towards every day, and I feel this is something that we, as Lyon, have done collectively and individually for the past few months. This injury period is behind me. I’m tired of being put in a box. There will always be a “it won’t last” caveat to recognition of my form but I’ve stopped putting energy into answering these questions and so should all players.

We know who we are, where we are now, and where we came from. Injuries are an important part of the game whether we want it or not, but not the decisive factor as to who we are. Female players deserve to have the competence and quality around them to help them to keep delivering on the pitch.

At the moment, there are too many variables from environment to environment to blame the players or their bodies for the injuries they pick up. Playing any sport is an injury risk but we are not defined by our injuries. We are defined by what we are able to bring to the pitch and the sport.

Giving players better environments with more competence around them is key. There is a lot of talk about the need for research, and rightly so, but not enough about how the research, when done, is then filtered into the women’s football ecosystem for the benefit of all players. If you really want to see the women’s game grow you must keep players available. Right now, that’s a hell of a challenge. I had to dig deep to lift me out of the injury hell I was in for a short period, getting the right expertise and knowledge, and I was lucky because I had the people around me to help me do that. Not everybody gets that.

On a global level, players need help. We need a better communication between players and governing bodies. We need better communications between clubs and federations. We can’t keep having contradictions in the way things are done. Having a health expert panel put in place is a great thing, but how good is it for when you’re told you have international games to play mid-summer? The stress that is put on players physically and mentally makes no sense. The demands on players and their bodies are growing and while this is something we’ve all been asking for, the tools are not yet here to deal with those demands.

Will it change? I hope so. We are so damn lucky to be professional footballers. To me it is one of the best jobs in the world. But being lucky doesn’t prevent all of us from being smart. There are, and there will always be, bigger issues to solve in the world, but taking care of one another in our area is a start, and that gives a foundation for us to help greater causes. Football, and other sports, can serve so many bigger purposes.

#she never misses #ada hegerberg #woso #women’s football

[machine-saint]

there's a rhetorical thing i've noticed in the way people talk about resource consumption (especially in the context of technology) where people will talk about large absolute numbers but not bring up the context.

as a concrete example: this AP article mentions that microsoft's yearly data center water consumption in 2022 was "nearly 1.7 billion gallons, or more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools", up 30% from 2021, likely due to an increase in AI usage. that's a lot! ... and then you look at the total US water withdrawl in 2022, which was 322 billion gallons per day. so microsoft's data centers (worldwide?) are using less than 1% of 1% of the total US water usage. (note that this isn't strictly an apples-to-apples comparison, since microsoft's number subtracts water returned to the municipal water system but the US number doesn't. but it's still a valid order-of-magnitude comparison.)

of course, this is massively complicated by the fact that water usage is localized in a way that electricity generation isn't. so we look at this paragraph near the end:

In July 2022, the month before OpenAI says it completed its training of GPT-4, Microsoft pumped in about 11.5 million gallons of water to its cluster of Iowa data centers, according to the West Des Moines Water Works. That amounted to about 6% of all the water used in the district, which also supplies drinking water to the city’s residents.

(note that water usage is higher in the summer since during cooler times, air conditioning is good enough)

6% is certainly nontrivial; this should have been near the start of the article, but 11.5 million gallons isn't as eye-catching of a figure ar 1.7 billion gallons.

also note that the article is clearly trying to tie together Microsoft's Iowa DC water usage with OpenAI training GPT-4, but doesn't have any actual numbers on how much of that water usage is due to OpenAI! we know OpenAI used Microsoft for training, but we have no clue how much compute they used, what data centers they used, and so on.

#discourse

[yuzukahibiscus]

ZUKA LIVE (MINAMI MAITO)

(Hey this is Hibiscus! This is a scheduled post but happy Shonichi for Minami Maito’s dinner show “ONE AND ONLY”! I’ve pre-translated this 2-page feature from Takarazuka GRAPH March Issue in 2021. Hope all is well for Maiti and other performers today!)

— Stars respond to readers’ questions and requests!

Q: Please tell us your routine before you go on stage! Usually when I want to focus, I’d eat my favourite lamb congee! (~From Summer is Lamb Congee)

A: I see~ What would I be doing…2 hours before the performance I’d have entered the dressing room, done some warm up and my makeup…it’s usually set with this rundown, but depending on my conditions and feelings on that day, the specific routine would change. If there was a way that would make my performance better, I won’t however decide it on that “this was it!”

Q: If you were an athlete competing in the Tokyo Olympics, what sports event would you join? (~From Maiti’s Eyelashes)

A: You’re my eyelash!? (LOL) Then I’d hope you’d be a longer and thicker eyelash type (LOL) What event would I do…if it’s gymanstics, maybe something closer back to the gymnastics that I’d do. I want people to be surprised [with the event that I participated] that it suits me, and finds it amazing I can achieve that kind of balance! I’d like to do those that involve the “mattress”, but my back is hard so I think if I were to do a back flip, I’d probably break my bones (LOL).

Q: I can always receive Minami-san’s cheerful energy. So my question is, have you eaten something that would make you feel good? Also is there something you’d see as a treat to yourself? I want to know what keeps Minami-san so hyped up. I will keep on supporting the cool and wonderful Maiti♡ (~ From Hikaru Mama 🐣)

A: Thank you! Hm, I just realised this but I don’t think I’d get hyped up from eating…But in rest days and before the long holidays, when I’m having grilled meat, Korean dish, pasta and could eat food with garlic without worrying about it, the feeling of “Oh, I’m taking a rest” really becomes so real to me and that would be a treat [for myself].

Q: Was there the funniest thing that happened recently? (~From Aachan)

A: During the Special Live “Aqua Bella!!”, I sang a song in “Senhor CRUZEIRO!”. During “Senhor” when I sang this song, I’d go down to the audience so there was no choreography for this song, this time I thought since it’s just myself so I was teaching everyone around me how to do the Samba step. When I tried dancing and singing this out during my self-rehearsals, I added unnecessarily excessive vibrato to my singing (LOL) and everyone was erupting in laughter.

Q: Could you do a pair of sexy pose and cute pose that fans would feel happy about, please? I’d like to see the gap! (~From Norino)

A: How should I do the cute pose…Tadaa~

Q: Do you have a quote or motto in your heart that you would encourage yourself to cheer up when you faced some setbacks? (~From Yuri)

A: This is really difficult because I have plentiful quotes (in mind). Rather than a motto, I’d say that I have to believe myself even more in this time. If I thought “I can’t do this”, then I really wouldn’t be able to do it, and I’d be overwhelmed by that absence of confidence. Frustrations are the next thing to conquer, but honestly if you’re feeling down for a long time, you really can’t finish one good thing out of it, so the next thing should be trusting in yourself, and thinking of how to make things work in the time to come.

Q: In the Senshuuraku (last day) performance of “Haikara-san ga Tooru” you said to Tamaki, “You’re in love with me, right” did you think over that line when you said it? Also, did you think of saying this line before Senshuuraku? (~From Girl S who couldn’t forget that line)

A: After the marriage scene where (Shoui saves Benio from the fire), the order of the cast members saying the lines are all ad-libs. We really didn’t think about it beforehand but I was thinking if there was anything I could say during the Senshuuraku, so I asked Kurisu (Oto) who played Tamaki if she thought of anything, but she didn’t and we were quickly entering into Act II (LOL). I wanted to allow the audience to enjoy the two’s relationship, how Tamaki is somehow trying to pursue (Onijima) but not in a “clingy” kind of way…I kept thinking about it, and then it clicked my mind when it was my turn to go out!

Q:  I’d like to know about your awareness when dancing with the musumeyaku, or the enjoyment you felt when dancing in pairs! (~ From Erina)

A: It’s really~ fun because when I dance in pairs (with my partner), I’m dancing while feeling their gaze and also their breathing and the nuance of the dance itself! And beyond anything else, musumeyaku-san are cute! We’d constantly have the awareness to dance well in order to let our partners look well, so when if it’s about the timing to lead the dance, I’d think about how to lead my partner well and practice many times with them, so when I can fully demonstrate it, the dance won’t feel too heavy and it feels great!

Q: In the Takarazuka 1st photobook, Seo [Yuria]-san praised you saying, “Before the summer she was still skinny, then after the summer she became a Muscle Man”. It’s around 1 month for the summer…? How did you gain muscles in this short time? I know this is done by accumulative effort, but could you please tell us? I’m looking forward to know! (~From Dry Eye)

A: I’m sooooooo embarrassed [about that comment], but I’m probably just chubby (LOL). In those strict Yokasei days, in order not to fall asleep I thought “I must eat”. Anyway, the outcome of all those calorie intake [from eating] is having firm muscles in May already that are “buff! buff! buff! buff!” and thus coming to the condition where I was having muscles all over my body. Seo was probably busy that she didn’t realise it before, so when she has free time and finally realised it, she said that [in my photobook] (LOL).

#minami maito #flower troupe #senka #takarazuka #takarazuka revue #hibiscustranslation

[artfightdramaconfessions]

So, this year I did my first Art Fight; I had joined in 2021 but kept myself as a spectator to observe it and see what the rules would be like, how things are done, the general etiquette of it - and I think, being involved in the fight is very different from watching it.. Wholesome, sweet and kind on the outside; very distant, lazy and disorganized on the inside.

Personally, however, I had a wonderful time! I think I pumped out loads of art and I am proud of what I did for others; high-quality, fully-rendered, respect being given to character features and everything being on-model. I drew exactly 80 pieces, majority of them being waist or fullbody, and only about 5 simple-shaped characters and 3 mass attacks. It was heartwarming to see much of it later being posted on Toyhouses, in the character's reference pages, and elsewhere. All around, I was satisfied in what I was able to provide and enjoyed drawing characters I wouldn't personally design, like drawing really cute girls and ferals when I usually lean to monsters and men! I found unique designs, novices and beginners, all sorts.

And while I got a quarter of defenses in return which I absolutely cherish and some sweet comments on a majority of my pieces, I saw how others have complained about not being given responses for work that they've poured hours into... That made me wonder if that's just.. Generally the mentality of artists now; either too introverted to show appreciation to fellow artists in spite of us collectively knowing how challenging it can be to make art, or just joining to farm and then acting too tired or busy to actually participate. - And then the other half almost kill themselves and psychologically drain themselves in the parasocial cycle that Art Fight has to offer in its "trading environment". Sure I could be classified in the latter group too, but I still practiced self-care and got shit done compared to the burnout horror stories I see. It's quite a wild contrast to observe, and leads to psychological turmoil on both sides when one only gives and the other only takes.

There's also the case of people joining the fight and not contributing at all; just picking a side, dropping some characters, (sometimes a broken promise) and then disappearing. I do not want to hear the "they have real lives off the internet, they were busy" excuse, either - I too have a life: I am a teacher during the week /and/ I have a weekend job. When it is summer holidays for the Northerners, I am down in the Southern hemisphere, dealing with the winter, working and freezing my hands up to the point I don't want to create art sometimes when I get home - but I was still perfectly diligent and on top of things.. But hey, maybe I'm built different, and some people are simply just lazy and want rewards without the effort, or quickly assume they deserve more than what they should.

On the bright side, I'm glad I didn't deal with anyone hostile or disrespectful, and I only encountered two genuine art farmers who pretended they didn't know how to draw or "weren't skilled". Always the same excuses, at some point we have to stop giving them the benefit of the doubt so often; As gatekeepy as it is, I'd imagine a game for artists should be reserved for artists, it's not like an unfit marine biologist would want to participate in the Olympics, let alone be allowed to, so why should people who otherwise hate drawing or don't want to learn the skill and deliberately say such things want to join? In a sense it feels like a mockery towards art and the exchange of creativity in general, and I've been on porn sites that check the quality of your art before they post it better than this! There should be at least an entry requirement for signing up for Art Fight where you send in an artwork before the mods verify your account; there would be a fuckload less farmers, for certain.

I'm hoping that maybe, just because it was my first Art Fight, that /maybe/ this high-attack low-defense ratio of mine is to be expected, and if I just manage to spread my art to even further crowds and find new people to attack, I'll find others who will like my designs and be eager to draw them with the same level of eagerness I had to draw theirs. All that matters to me is if I find people who /want/ to draw my characters, not feel obliged to, in the same way I was never obliged to draw that pink, ridiculously-well-endowed Succubus or stocky, angry little Pokemon - but I did it anyway! I simply enjoyed the spontaneity and diversity of character design and unfamiliar fandoms. In the end, after all I've said, it doesn't matter how much art you get in return, it's about how proud you feel about what you contributed to the fight, and what you learned and discovered in the fun little world of character design.

I don't feel discouraged to draw less next year, I'm going to simply relent, but I can see why other artists hang their heads after their first time when they encounter hostility, are ignored, or don't get what they want out of it.

I think these are some things that I would want to improve if I could:

The ratio should calculate points, that will really incentivize people into prioritizing quality over quantity with their attacks. If you want to see how many attacks VS defenses someone has, just go and check on their front page (if you want it to specifically see how many attacks and defenses they had in one year specifically, they should add a sorting filter for that). The only "downside" I can imagine is an increase in mass-attacks, a joy for some but not for others.

After July, I think that we should still be able to submit Revenge-Only attacks during August - and to not have revenge chains be exploited, only be able to post a revenge once on a Level 1.. Level. I see a lot of people seeming guilty for not being able to attack back within the month or being a minute too late to submit a revenge, and then also just being too shy to submit the attack off-site / not being able to do it offsite / not thinking it's worth it without getting points / etc. - and easy resolve would be to allow revenges to still be posted during August, and Moderators can calculate the event scores and winners in September; trying to cram all of the admin into 12 days is insanity and I am speaking from a perspective that deals with a painful amount of admin. Also, get a fucking search bar that's accessible for everyone, holy Hell.

I'm.. Not sure if my tangent was in good spirits or not, it's rather just thoughts that have been rolling around in my head while I've been reflecting on my experience. Hope everyone else had a good Art Fight and reached their goals, or met and made some friends through it. :)

.

#art fight #artfight #artfight2023 #submission

[dayslynthesix]

i got this ideia on my mind for a couple of weeks now so here it is, as i need to say: this is fictional, and does not have any compromise with reality, the teams here are real and are the teams i support during the volleyball season, this will be a short one

The Beginning | Lewis Hamilton Imagine | Prologue

pietra caspari is one of the most successful volleyball players in the world for the past 5 years, bronze medalist in rio olympics in 2016 and gold medalist in tokyo olympics in 2021, combined with lewis hamilton, 7 times world champion, they made one of the most genuine couple on the 2022 grid, but they story started years before.

2014

everything started in 2014. "lewis hamilton signs with mercedes" was the news it was on every motorsport vehicle, the magazines, blogs, the radio, tv, everything was about hamilton going to mercedes and it was when alan caspari decided he wanted to join the formula one world, he was rich, had a successful company and he made an offer expecting mercedes to say yes, and they did, so when hamilton signed with mercedes, alson alan became one of the main sponsors of the racing team.

2014 was also the year priya left college and went to her first pro season in turkey, she was playing with vakifbank, she was in her last year of college when someone from turkey went to watch the ncaa finals, and they liked what they saw, they picked two young players and offered them an adaptation season, if the girls outperformed they had the interest on keeping them. priya and dahlia went to turkey knowing that pro life in volleyball was cruel, tough and very different from college volleyball.

2014 was a year of turning over, hamilton signed with mercedes and became a two time world champion, on the other hand, vakif season wasn't great, they won the turkish supercup and it was all. priya was already thinking about options, where she could go if they choose to not renew her contract? does she had was it was necessary to play in the biggest volleyball team? does she had what it takes to be a volleyball player? she knew the difficulties about that life and she choose it anyway, and she didn't regret it.

2015

considering that the turkish season ended earlier for them, they got the chance to watch the spanish gp and monaco gp; because during 2015 summer break priya and dahlia were summoned to the usa national team, the were a year from the olympics and they wanted to put a solid team together and seeing what the girls could do together, the smartest decision was to put them together again. they spent the whole summer training in california, they got closer with the other players, they grew as a person and as a player.

it was during the spanish gp that priya met lewis for the first time, she went alone to spain, it was a family time - a much needed one after the exhausting season, her parents and siblings were there, sitting inside mercedes garage, watching the race from the most privileged spot. nico rosberg won that one, it was a win-win to the constructors championship, but it wasn't him who got priya's attention, it was the british man. lewis went to say hi to your father and introduced himself to you and your siblings, samuel, who was just two years younger than you was already one of his biggest fans, and lewis treated him so well that warmed your heart, even the youngers who were 16 and 14 and didn't exactly see the appeal about it got hypothesized by him, and when he extended his hands to introduce himself to you was the moment you fell in love with the sport. it was all it take, a spain gp and a hand shake and you were watching all the races from that day on.

the 2015 season started pretty nice for the turkish team, priya was playing with olympic players, she could see the biggest opposite from all the times every day at practice, and she learned so much that season that she wouldn't make any moment different.

2015 was also the year that lewis became a three times world champion, the caspari family went to the last race of the year, and at that point all of them (lauren's exception, the third daughter) were mercedes supporters. and they celebrate that win. priya did insane things that weekend on november 2015, she took a flight in turkey on saturday afternoon and landed in abu dhabi on the same night, she watched the race, celebrated the win and on monday morning she was inside a plane again. that celebration night was also the first time pietra and lewis kissed each other, and it was a deep kiss, it was full with luxury, the adrenalin was high, they were feeling so much in so short time, the kiss led to more than a kiss and when the morning arrived that november 30rd, priya was collecting her clothes from the floor, she left like she had never been there.

2016

it was olympics time, once the 2015-16 season started everyone knew it would be a shorter season, after all, all the world would watch the show who was getting ready in rio.

2016 was a great year for vakif as a team, they won the turkish league, they were silver at the supercup and the european league, but what it was amazing for pietras caspari was being one of the twelve names on the rio list, she was there, dahlia was there, they would share one of the happiest moments in her life. when the team went together for the first time the coach said to team for them not to let it grow, they were coming in case of a much needed inversion, they already have an excellent setter and a better outside hitter. in one hand, team usa got the silver medal on the other hand, lewis lost the championship to his teammate.

2017

the 2016-17 season was a great season, vakif was europe champions, they won against conegliano and became champions of the europe and it was priya last season in turkey, but it was also the season she becamefor the first time champion of europe.

2017 was the year lewis gave everything, he was a four times world champion, and once again pietra was there to the last race, they celebrated all over again, exactly how it was in 2015, it was like a big deja vu, but on monday she had to left again, that time they said goodbye, they properly shake hands and moved on.

2018

at the end of the last season priya received an offer to play in brazil, in the minas tênis club team, they were one of the biggest teams in the country and the national league there was really strong, her contract with the italian team was just for a season, so she packed it up and went to brazil for the next 2 seasons, 2017-18 and 2018-2019 and watching the races became harder than she expected, but her professional life was better and better, she kept growing and evolving day by day.

2017, 2018 and 2019 was also years lewis won the championship, he was a 6 times world champion, she was there for every last race and they celebrate all of them in the exactly same way. they spent the night between expensive sheets, they knew each other's bodies like their hands and yet, all the 3 years they said goodbye on monday.

2020

it was when everything changed. during one hard match in january, priya shattered her left knee, everything she had done all these years were falling from her hands, when she landed after spiking that ball she felt it, she knew something was wrong, she kept thinking "my career is ending here or i still have a chance?"

alan put her inside a plane as soon as the team doctor said it was better for her to recover from home, after all these years in formula one, priya's mom who was italian convinced the family to move to california to south italy, but she never went to italy, she went to monte carlo, an expensive hospital with one of the best orthopedist and the best physiotherapy in europe, she had her contract terminated because of injury and was when she and lewis switched more than moans and a few words.

he was there, every step of the way, he even let priya to have angela taking care of her once she could walk again, and they became closer, all the nights they had in past stayed in the past, they were starting over, they were grow up adults and the days where hooking up with someone for one nigh each year was gone. they became friends, and more than friends, and thats how the story starts, from here.

#lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton imagine #formula one #formula one imagine #lewis hamilton x oc #formula 1 #f1 imagine

[mountrainiernps]

NPS/T. Stoker Photo of an elk grazing in a subalpine meadow on Mount Rainier.

Monitoring Elk

Mount Rainier National Park is home to several large elk herds. Elk are monitored by the North Coast and Cascades Inventory & Monitoring Network (NCCN), which also monitors elk in Olympic National Park and Lewis & Clark National Historic Park. Elk can have a large impact on ecosystems and are an important species to monitor to understand ecological change.

Monitoring includes trends in the estimated abundance, spatial distribution, bull:cow ratio and cow:calf ratio of elk present in selected subalpine areas during late summer. The surveys are conducted from helicopter between August 15th and September 15th each year. In Mount Rainier National Park, surveys were conducted in two areas that correspond with primary summer ranges used by the North Rainier Herd, which winters outside the park to the North, and the South Rainier Herd, which winters outside the park primarily to the South. From 2008-2017, 13 surveys of North Rainer study area and 15 of South Rainier study were conducted, finding an average of 359 elk present in North Rainier and 477 elk in South Rainier. Summer surveys at Mount Rainier are jointly supported by NPS, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Learn more about elk monitoring. Statistics are from Jenkins, K.J. and Others, 2021, “Elk monitoring in Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks: 2008-2017 synthesis report”.

~kl

#Rainier Science #mount rainier national park #elk #wildlife #wildlife monitoring

[female-buckets]

Brittney Griner eager to wear Team USA uniform at 2024 Paris Olympics

The past 20 months have been some of the hardest for Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner. While playing overseas in Russia for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA offseason, Griner was arrested and detained by authorities in February 2022. After being sentenced and held in a Russian penal colony, Griner was freed in a high-profile prisoner-swap exchange in December 2022. 

Besides the obvious, the whole ordeal was jarring for Griner, who grew up wanting to be in law enforcement and initially planned to enlist in the Marines until basketball entered her life.

In April of this year, Griner said she would never play overseas again — unless it were the national team. It looks like she’ll get another chance to don the red, white and blue next summer as she is currently training with Team USA in Atlanta in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

She’s not sure exactly what will happen when she steps out on the court for the first time with the Team USA jersey and hears the national anthem in Paris. But she knows it will be a special moment, considering her circumstances. 

“That moment, listening to our anthem, watching our flag go up…it’s going to be a lot of emotions,” Griner said Tuesday in her media availability. “I probably won’t be able to hold that one back. I’ll have to release it, regroup and go out there and perform. But it’s going to be a lot. Very, very, very few people will understand that emotion. I can’t wait for it though. I know that. I’m so ready for it.”

“There were a lot of times a year ago where I didn’t think that I would play ball,” Griner added. “I didn’t think I would ever wear this jersey again. I didn’t know what the future was.”

Griner won’t be the only one feeling the weight of the moment. Her Mercury teammate and eventual Hall of Famer, Diana Taurasi, is gearing up for her sixth trip to the Olympics.

“It will be surely a big moment for her in her life,” Taurasi said. “I’ve been there through it all. It will be a very satisfying moment for her professionally, personally and just being an American.”

Griner was happy to just get the call from Team USA.

She was sitting around at home after the conclusion of the WNBA regular season, not really sure what to do with herself. She nearly went into construction mode.

“I almost tore down my whole house and rebuilt it,” Griner said. 

She was eager to get back out on the court and start working out again after being out of the game.

Right now, Team USA is in training camp participating in exhibition games and practices in the first meeting for this group of players. They have already played the University of Tennessee on Nov. 5 and are set to play Duke University on Nov. 12. 

After the training camp, the next step in Olympic preparations will be the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hungary in early February, where they will have to qualify for the Games. But Team USA, which has won seven consecutive gold medals, is one of the favorites to win again in Paris. They will also host a training camp during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland in April.

There’s a feeling-out period right now as the team adjusts to learning to play with one another.

It helps though when you have a player with five Olympic gold medals on the roster, like Taurasi does, who is one of the most accomplished players in the sport. This roster is different than years past, and that was most evident when Taursai when to text Sue Bird to go get coffee on Tuesday morning — except Bird retired after the 2022 WNBA season.

“It’s a stark realization that it’s just me here now,” Taurasi said. “I miss her dearly, we’ve obviously gone through this for a long time together. On the flip side, it’s been really fun to get to know some of these young players that I haven’t spent a lot of time with.”

The roster isn’t the only new aspect of the team. Dawn Staley led the team in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, but later stepped down as coach. Cheryl Reeve, the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, is now at the helm of Team USA.

While it’s early on, the veteran likes what she sees so far.

“Coach Reeve is top-notch,” Taurasi said. “When you talk about someone who has had so much success in the WNBA obviously with Minnesota, she’s just brought a level of standard of play, a focus on detail that’s been really amazing and fun. Her WNBA experience of knowing the game, knowing all the players on this squad has made that transition pretty seamless for a lot of people.”

“I think you saw that against Tennessee, where we had two practices together, but we really found a way to play with each other and play very fluid,” Taurasi added. “That’s all credit to Coach Reeve and how she implements certain things throughout the week to get us prepared to play like that.”

#wnba #phoenix mercury #diana taurasi #brittney griner #usabwnt #usa basketball