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idontlikeem · 14 days

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What made Geno your fave?

Oh boy!

For background, I started watching hockey in fall of 2009. I was bored over the summer and decided to get into a new sport. I’d never cared about hockey because my family didn’t follow it (we are football and basketball people), so I had no particular team I had allegiance to, so I did what any reasonable prospective fan would do: I looked up the most recent championship team and scanned their roster for hot guys.

There was Sid, of course. About my age, captain, and oh he’s cute, ok I can work with that. I did some research on his story and found it fascinating, because who doesn’t love a good golden boy narrative? A promising start.

Jordy Staal was also really cute to me, and Flower was pretty. And then we got to Geno, who the first picture I really remember seeing of him is one where he was smiling big, and as we all know he has the BEST smile.

After that, his backstory was just as interesting to me as Sid’s, in a totally different way. I mean, it sounds like a spy thriller, right? It’s crazy. And then he won the MVP that playoffs, and the highlights were up on YouTube, and wow, look at him skate. Look at him and Sid skate together, wow they’re so good. Look how Geno spins and cuts through guys out there, look how quick he is, how fast his hands are moving the puck.

I knew fuck-all about what I was watching but his skating style is so distinctive that I was able to pick him out on grainy 2009 and earlier footage with ease; let me tell you, focusing on ONE player for a full game or even period is such an underrated way to learn the sport. You see what they do when they don’t have the puck and it helps you figure out strategy, how plays develop, what defense is. Highly recommend.

He was still pretty quiet with the media then and I don’t think he was on Twitter yet, but he seemed funny and cute and I really liked his accent! And all the guys seemed to be friends, and I love that in a sports team.

It was summer so I watched a lot of the Pens’ old YouTube features. I learned about Mario and Jagr and the first set of back to back cups, and Sid’s draft, and how the team almost left the city. I learned about the rivalries with other teams, and the way the league worked, and what a salary cap is, and all the different penalties. And as it got closer to the start of the 09-10 season, I watched the road to the cup video for the run I’d just missed (it’s on YouTube now!) and there was that shot of Geno looking up, you know the one, with his scar, and that was my tipping point. The coverage of him in the Carolina series just sealed it.

He fascinates me. He’s shy but loud, funny but so publicly emotional. He’s flawed as hell but he tries so hard. He’s arrogant but he deserves to be, and he’ll never ever allow anyone to give him credit for when he’s playing well, he deflects. He’s accurately predicted the future twice. He’s so loyal it’s to the point of folly, almost. He has an unbelievable smile and rescues alley cats and is scared of big dogs. He’s a bully who’s never met a charity he didn’t contribute to.

And holy shit can he skate. Holy shit does he play beautiful, brutal hockey. He’s vicious with his stick and graceful with his hands.

And, yeah, he’s hot. That’s important to me too and I’m not sorry about that!

Anyway, I like him a lot. Thanks for sending me this ask and letting me talk about why :)

#evgeni malkin #pittsburgh penguins #here have some idontlikeem lore #apologies if there are typos I’m on my phone and this was total stream of consciousness and I can’t be bothered to read for errors #when I’m being sincere I don’t like to edit what I say anyway it makes it feel artificial #posts like this are always genuine and from my heart! I’m not trying to be or sound any particular way #anyway I love him so bad he’s my very special guy #also anything for an excuse to promote the torchtoburn primers #please read them if you haven’t they’re excellent and you’ll learn a lot

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just-here-with-my-thoughts · 2 months

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Day 19: "Please Don't" / Adrenaline Crash

@febuwhump prompt: "Please Don't" @badthingshappenbingo prompt: Adrenaline Crash

Fandom: The Bad Batch Characters: Hunter, Omega, Wrecker, Tech, Echo (Did you read Day 5: Rope Burns / Bound & Gagged and Day 12: Semi-Conscious / Over-the-Shoulder Carry? This is a continuation! Follow the links above to catch up on the story so far) Word Count: ~3005 Click here to read on AO3 Also available in Russian (with thanks to @tech-o-mania for the amazing translation!)

Synopsis: Hunter loses control as he hunts down the mercenaries who captured and injured Omega.

Art by the awesome @collophora of my gorgeous Feral Hunter! Thank you so much for this beautiful pic and letting me post it with my fic, everyone go view collophora's original post HERE and tell them how great they are! <3

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Omega swings her legs as she sits on the edge of the table, watching as Tech methodically extracts embedded strands of hessian from the wound on her left wrist. Her right is already swathed in bandages, the bacta gel bringing a soothing numbness that dulls the pulsing pain to a background throb.

She draws her breath in as a hiss though her teeth at a particularly painful pull, and Tech glances at her to check she is okay. He doesn’t continue until she nods to give him permission to do so.

The com at the engineer’s wrist crackles to life. “Come in, Tech.” It is Wrecker’s voice, low and urgent.

Tech pauses his ministrations to answer the com. “What is it, Wrecker?”

“I need backup.”

The big clone’s voice over the com is deadly serious, none of his usual joviality.

“What is your status?” asks Tech, his voice taking on a more clipped edge.

“It’s Hunter.”

Tech quickly looks up at Echo, and Omega doesn’t miss the alarmed look that passes between them.

“Will you and Omega be alright by yourselves?” Tech asks, putting the tweezers back in the medkit and standing.

Echo nods, resting a hand on Omega’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about us. Go help Wrecker.”

“Help Wrecker with what?” asks Omega, getting to her feet and looking first at Tech, then Echo. “Are they in trouble?”

“You are still in need of treatment,” says Echo firmly, trying for a smile which comes out too tense to be reassuring. “I’m sure Tech will manage without us.” He gestures back to the table. “Sit back up, and I’ll finish your wrists.”

Tech is gathering his equipment, and Omega leans past Echo to see him set his pistol to stun.

“I want to go with Tech,” she protests softly. “I want to check that Hunter and Wrecker are okay.”

Echo and Tech exchange another look. Omega is getting pretty tired of the unspoken conversations they share with their eyes.

“Finish attending to Omega’s wounds,” says Tech eventually. “Then you may follow… carefully.”

Hunter’s pistol is in his left hand, balanced on his forearm which is crossed in front of his body, vibroknife held blade outwards. The hum of adrenaline is in his veins, pulse pounding, slowly building to a tense knot of pain at the base of his skull which will surely become a migraine later.

Two more mercenaries up ahead, just out of sight. He can hear them.

Hunter doesn’t have to think about softening his footfalls. The predator’s stealth comes naturally to him.

In moments he is around the corner and the two men are ten paces ahead, weapons out as they scout the corridor.

They don’t know that death shadows their movements.

In his ear, the com pings. Hunter shakes his head, shutting it off irritably. Not now. Whatever his brothers want, it can wait.

He rolls to his toes, picking up speed. Closes the gap in a sprint.

One shot with his pistol. The laser-burn eats through the first man’s skull. The second turns but Hunter is on him, and the vibroknife tears out his throat before he can cry for help.

Hunter pauses for a moment, surveys his work. That makes four of them he has eliminated now. Four of them who harmed his Omega. Four of them who will never threaten her again.

A high-pitched whine, like tinnitus, sets up in his head. He pulls his helmet off, rubbing his ears, trying to chase away the source of the sound.

His helmet is dropped to the floor, forgotten, as he sets off to find the rest of his quarries.

Tech tilts his datapad towards Wrecker. “I have picked up the bounty hunters’ com channel. They seem concerned that they cannot raise a number of their companions.”

Wrecker looks up from fitting binders to the two mercenaries he has captured. “Hunter won’t waste any time,” he says gruffly.

“He may have deactivated his com, but I can still track his locator beacon,” says Tech. “Leave these two here. We must catch up to Hunter as soon as we can.”

Hunter crouches on the narrow gangway, watching the knot of mercenaries in the hangar below. Five left. Their conversation drifts to him but it is just noise. He can’t make his head understand the words.

It doesn’t matter what they are saying. Hunter will be among them soon, and their words will give way to screams and then they will be dead. He plans to make sure of that.

The migraine closes its vice-like grip on his consciousness and Hunter pulls his bandana off, trying to ease the pressure at his temples. A faint aurora halos his vision, sparkling in the periphery. His back teeth ache.

He creeps along the perforated metal walkway, feeling it sway a little from the suspension cables that keep it aloft. He holsters the pistol, curling the fingers of that hand around the rail instead. His right hand continues to clutch the vibroknife like it is an extension of himself.

Almost directly above them. From here he can drop onto the group, break his fall with one of their bodies, before wreaking his vengeance.

Hunter climbs silently to the railing. Leans over the edge, gravity pulling at his body, braced now on the outside of the walkway.

Ready to drop.

Echo spots the pair of bodies before Omega does. He stops her with a hand on her shoulder and ventures forwards cautiously, already knowing what he will find.

He is surprised to see the half-skull of Hunter’s helmet staring up at him from between the fallen mercenaries. He scoops it up and checks the wiring. The com is undamaged. It has been deliberately disabled.

Behind him he hears Omega.

“Tech, come in. Did you find Wrecker and Hunter?”

She has her bandaged hands pressed to her com, trying to raise her brothers. Echo hurries back to her, Hunter’s helmet in hand. Omega’s eyes go wide as she sees it.

“Is Hunter okay?” she asks in a fearful whisper, reaching out to brush the side of the helmet. The fresh bandages across her palms come away stained red.

“Don’t worry,” mutters Echo, “it’s not his blood.”

There is a moment of confusion before the meaning of his words dawns on Omega. She leans past him to peer down the corridor. Two bounty hunters. Not unconscious. Dead.

“Oh,” she says in a small voice. Then, looking up at him with a determined frown, “We need to find Hunter.”

Wrecker and Tech press tightly to the door-frame, one on either side of the corridor that has brought them to this hangar. Tech’s datapad says this is where Hunter should be, but all they can see are the clustered mercenaries.

Wrecker is the first one to look up. His hands move in a quick signal sequence, drawing Tech’s attention to their brother in his ambush position.

“Hunter,” breathes Tech. And as though it is a command, Hunter drops.

The chaos is immediate. Hunter is amongst the mercenaries, pistol forgotten, knife indiscriminately biting through cloth and armour into flesh. Panicked cries answer his sudden appearance. Blaster fire greets him.

Tech and Wrecker recognise Hunter’s grunt of pain like it is their own. They take a single moment to share a nod, and then they too join the fray.

Wrecker charges in, shoulder down, crashing into a mercenary and knocking him away from Hunter. Tech skirts the edge of the hanger, diving into a roll to evade a stray blaster bolt. He comes up with his pistol ready, gaze flitting over the knot of combatants before choosing his target. He knows this is the quickest way to end this.

Omega’s voice comes over the com but doesn’t answer. He needs all his considerable wits about him if he wants to take down his younger brother.

He steadies his aim.

He fires at Hunter.

Somewhere beyond the roaring in his ears Hunter is dimly aware that he is injured. There is a lingering trace of heat as the laser-burn crawls against his skin, softened from deadly to merely painful by the layer of his armour. It slows him, but he doesn’t let it stop him.

He ducks a wild haymaker meant to knock him to the ground and comes up inside the man’s guard. The mercenary yells as Hunter’s forehead connects with his nose, blood gouting from the broken cartilage, and Hunter winces at the shout pierces his already tender headache.

The migraine is stabbing behind his eyes now, his vision winking in and out in bright flashes. He has to finish this fight soon, or he won’t be able to.

The sudden jolt of a stun blast catches him in the back. He feels the sensation ripple forwards across his chest, electric, followed by numbness. The blast threatens to short out his enhanced senses.

With difficulty he fights the blackness that follows the stun bolt, dragging his awareness back to the fight. Two others still standing. To his surprise, he realises Wrecker is one of them.

Then Hunter feels an attacker leap onto his back. He howls in panic and anger; instinct directs him to dip his body, rolling the assailant over his shoulder. He grabs them and slams them into the floor, a blow designed to stun.

Recognises the helmet. The goggles.

“Tech?” he slurs in confusion.

And, “TECH!” The shout is echoed by Wrecker, scooping up their fallen brother.

The final mercenary takes advantage of the distraction. Two blaster bolts hit into Wrecker’s back, staggering him, and he clutches Tech to his chest protectively. Hunter watches as the bounty hunter retreats, fleeing for the bikes they came in on.

His prey's footsteps are still reverberating at the edge of Hunter’s enhanced hearing when others approach from behind him. He whirls, sees Echo and Omega.

“What happened?” demands Echo, crossing to Hunter. With one hand he pushes Omega behind him, making sure she doesn’t step round and see the Sergeant. Doesn’t see the feral gleam in his eyes, the sharp and dangerous expression of his open-mouthed panting.

“I’ll find him.” Hunter’s voice is a subhuman growl. “I’ll end it.”

Omega paces anxiously, glancing towards the farthest exit to the hanger. Tech is conscious but dazed, propped up against a storage crate as Echo checks his pupils. She worries for Hunter, but she has been told to stay put.

Wrecker finishes restraining the still-living mercenaries and rolls his shoulders, easing out the stiffness of the injuries he sustained. His own blaster is loose in his hands, still set to stun.

The bodies have been hidden to one side, smeared trails of red marking the route they had been pulled. So much for out of sight, out of mind. Omega curls up over her injured hands, rubbing at her wrists through the bandages. The rope burns itch under the healing bacta gel.

“Tech will be fine,” reports Echo, “but one of us should stay with him. Omega?”

“I’m going after Hunter,” she announces, before she can be asked to play medic. She turns and looks at Echo with her mouth set in an unhappy line.

Echo calmly meets her gaze. “Hunter won’t want you to see him like this,” he says softly.

“Hunter needs me.” She is the embodiment of stubbornness. “I know it.”

Wrecker’s big hand touches her shoulder gently.

“I’ll keep her safe, Echo,” he says, voice strained with an ache of worry. He pushes his helmet back down onto his head, the snarling skull hiding the concern in his eyes.

“Let’s go, kid.”

Hunter is exhausted, muscles trembling as he forces them to continue. He has to do this. The image of Omega’s injuries is burned behind his retinas, the scent of her fear cloying. He failed to protect her once. He won’t do so again.

One more mercenary, and the job was done. There would be no-one left to threaten her. And if this group didn’t return, perhaps whoever was hunting them would think twice before sending more agents to kidnap her.

Protect Omega. Blood pounds in his head. Every footstep is a hammer-fall on the anvil of his overwrought senses.

Protect Omega.

A blaster shot hits his right hand. The vibroknife is flung free of his grasp, spinning into the air and embedding in the wall above his head. Hunter startles, the pain in his hand almost enough to stop him from evading the follow-up shot aimed for his heart. He twists at the last moment, the blaster bolt grazing his chest-plate.

Then his feral instincts are back, taking over, shutting down the thoughts that are distracting him and driving him forwards into the fight.

Hunter lunges, closing the distance to his would-be ambusher in a burst of speed that belies his injured state. He doesn’t remember that he has a pistol. Instead he barrels into the man, tackling him to the floor. The two of them roll, fighting for dominance, and Hunter comes out on top. Slugs the man. Pain explodes in his knuckles but he doesn’t stop. Again. And again.

Under the onslaught the mercenary’s face is transforming to a swollen, bloody pulp. He writhes and bucks under Hunter, throwing the sergeant off and scrambling for escape. Hunter leaps after him and they are back to brawling, only it isn’t a brawl. The man is sobbing, arms over his head, trying to shield himself from Hunter’s incoming blows. Pleas dribble with bubbled blood from broken lips. The man weeps for mercy.

Hunter’s onslaught continues. One more mercenary, and the job is done.

Protect Omega. Protect her at all costs.

Omega and Wrecker round the corner and Wrecker pulls them up short. Hunter is locked in combat with the final mercenary, the sickening sound of fist hitting flesh and the crepitus of broken bone reaching them across the otherwise empty room.

Omega recoils, watching the scene with fascinated horror. The brutality makes her sick to her stomach, but she can’t look away.

Hunter’s hair is loose, missing the bandana that usually tames it, and hangs lank and sweaty about his face. Blood streaks his fists and spatters his armour. The air is punctuated by his soft grunts and laboured breath, and the moans and whimpers emanating from the figure that is huddled beneath his fury.

Wrecker lays his hand on Omega’s shoulder, trying to coax her away. “Omega,” he says, and his voice quavers. He crouches in front of her, interposing himself between her and the brutal scene, and pushes his helmet back on his head to lock gazes with her.

“What is he doing?” Omega whispers in horror, brown eyes wide as she searches Wrecker’s face for answers.

Wrecker merely shakes his head. “You should get outta here, kid. Head back to the Marauder, wait for the others.”

He stands and turns away from her, dropping the blaster and moving towards Hunter with his hands held up defensively. It is like he is approaching a wild animal, wary of attack.

“Hunter, stop it. Please, vod. He’s down, he surrendered. This isn’t right.”

If Hunter hears him he gives no sign. His punches keep flying, sluggish but solid. His victim lets out a single broken sob.

Omega’s com chirps.

“Omega, are you alright?” It is Tech, his voice weak-sounding as he recovers from concussion.

“We found Hunter,” she whispers, riveted on Wrecker’s careful advance.

Wrecker nears Hunter and his victim, one hand extended. “It’s me, Hunt,” he says, softening the brash edge of his voice. “Time to stop. Okay, vod?”

Hunter doesn’t hear him. Or ignores him. It is hard to tell.

“Is Wrecker able to handle the situation?” asks Tech.

Omega shakes her head. “No,” she says, voice trembling with determination. “But if Wrecker can’t make Hunter stop, I will.”

“Be careful, Omega,” Tech warns her, and she steels herself for what is to come.

She steps past Wrecker, ducks to evade his grasp as he tries to stop her. On shaky legs she closes the distance. Hunter, her Hunter, is a creature she does not recognise. Ruthless, bloodstained, no glimpse of gentleness or mercy.

Hunter leans back, winding up for a huge hit. Omega darts in front of him, catching hold of his fist, levelling her intense brown-eyed stare into the wildfire of his fury.

Omega positions herself directly in front of the exhausted sergeant. Hunter is on his knees, tattooed face glazed in sweat and blood that almost certainly does not belong to him. His shoulders heave as he gulps in great lungfuls of air.

“Don’t,” she says. A plea. A command. “Please don’t.”

For a moment Hunter’s eyes turn glassy and unfocused, pupils trembling with rapid dilations before he eventually blinks and manages to fix his gaze on the girl before him.

“Omega?” he croaks weakly, and staggers to his feet. He sways a little, then replants his feet and braces a hand against her shoulder to steady himself. “You’re meant to be with Tech.”

Unexpectedly, he retches. Omega takes a startled step back as Hunter heaves bile, his whole body trembling. When he is done he wipes his mouth slickly on the back of his hand, glancing round in confusion.

Wrecker steps forwards, caution still written in his posture. “Hey, Hunter,” he says softly, a greeting to his brother as he returns to his senses.

Hunter sags against Omega, his arms going round her in relief, and she can feel the uncontrolled quaking of his body as adrenaline fatigue truly sets in.

Quickly Wrecker steps in to support him, taking some of his weight from Omega. But Omega wraps her arms tightly round Hunter’s waist, pressing her face against his chest, ignoring the scent of blood and blaster-fire as she feels his trembling hand run through her hair.

“I forgive you, Hunter,” she whispers, fingers digging into the cracks of his armour as they both cling to each other with equal ferocity. “I forgive you.”

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burnthatbridge · 6 months

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still not sure what inspired the software update {made using this template by @jessource}

#buck buckley #evan buckley #911 #911 fox #911 abc #911 edit #taylor swift #the eras tour #taylor swift eras #cw: flashing #myedit #i cannot look at this anymore #please excuse how wiggly 6b buck is #i am but a photoshop noob and i did not have the skill (or patience) to cut him out better #i have tried to go for important things/pivotal moments for each season/era but more on the positive side #though i was very very tempted to just do all the bad things #in my obsessed with templates era #found this cool one and really wanted to use it #i cannot overstate how excited i was when i realised that there are 10 eras and if you split the As from the Bs 911 has 10 parts of seasons

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hurricanek8art · 3 days

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Okay SO I've never Bad Batch posted beyond reblogs but there's two episodes left and I'm going insane so my big giant theory for why the finale is titled The Cavalry Has Arrived with a sprinkle of Tech is Alive Yes I Am Delusional:

Tonight's episode is going to end with the Batch, Omega's gang, and CX-2 all colliding in one of the hallways.

Big Western faceoff, tumbleweed, yadda yadda y'know.

Right before the shooting starts, CX-2 tells them their escape plan through whatever hallway they're planning is strategically ill-advised, because *insert tactical explanation here*

Hunter: "Oh yeah? What, you trying to help us or something? No thanks."

CX-2: "It was worth the attempt. It's not as if we've ever followed orders anyway."

BIG PAUSE, CLOSE UP MONTAGE OF EVERYONE AS THE WORDS SINK IN

Omega: "...Tech?!"

Tech: *removes helmet to reveal it's him* "Well, I thought it was obvious. Shall we liberate some clones together, then?"

SMASH CUT, ROLL CREDITS, THE CALVARY HAS ARRIVED BECAUSE THE *ENTIRE* BATCH IS TOGETHER AGAIN AND THEY'RE GONNA SAVE THE CLONES.

end conspiracy theory rant. 🥴

#EDIT: SORRY LEFT OUT A BIT OF TECH DIALOGUE I PUT IT BACK JUST IGNORE THIS 😭#no matter what happens the callback to “i thought it was obvious” re: tech and the omega/chip discoveries is required. okay. it just is.#that's his line i need to hear it again okay #also please excuse hunter's dialogue being kinda generic #if it's someone with an accent saying more than a word or two I have to put thought into writing dialogue & this was completely off the cuf #i don't have as much a problem with it as tech because i am also autistic i speak his language 🤣#ANYWAYS i am delusional but i have also been able to predict story beats with fair accuracy for like 10 years so #speaking it into existence. manifesting? i'm still new at tumblr speak sorry 🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭#K8 Rambles about Star Wars #star wars #the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #sw the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb #the bad bad spoilers #sw the bad batch spoilers #star wars the bad batch spoilers #sw tbb spoilers #tbb spoilers #tbb tech #tbb cx-2 #tbb cx 2 #tbb hunter #tbb omega #tbb wrecker #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #i tagged the whole batch because even if they're not referred to by name they're in the post in spirit

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dabokolo · 7 months

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I had too

#video #earth wind and fire #21st of september #one piece live action #usopp #you know he would jam out to this every year #please excuse the bad editing lol

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regwishesshehadmagic · 9 months

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"I'm a wanderer."

#please excuse the bad editing on the last one i'm tired #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #arthur morgan #rdr2 photomode #rdr2 photography #virtual photography #reg wishes she had magic

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the-wardens-torch · 9 months

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Some suddenly-much-more-relevant Mamool Ja lore from the Great Gubal Library hard mode!

#dawntrail #mamool ja #tural #tullioyalli #ffxiv new world #please excuse the shit editing job #I don't have photoshop #my PC won't let me use MSpaint anymore #and MSpaint 3D is so bad it doesn't deserve to lick MSpaint's boots

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winged-wolf-dreamer · 1 year

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Some (Unorganized) Musings On A Year In the Unoverse

With Worlds 2023 over, it has been officially a year, more or less, of me having become a fan of Shoma, as I started following him at Worlds 2022 (so not exact year but I figured Worlds is easier to track than exact dates, sue me), so I felt like sharing some unasked for thoughts.

So this whole mess started with the Olympics, when figure skating was trending just about every day on tumblr. “But Wolf,” you might say, “Didn’t you say you became a fan of Shoma at Worlds?” Well, yes, cause see, it wasn’t Shoma that caught my attention, it was Yuzu. I saw gifs of him and people stressing over him showing up and found it mesmerizing, so I decided to follow along with his short.

Well, we all know what happened at the short. The cursed hole.

Anyway, I watched a few of his other performances, mainly Notte Stellata and Hope & Legacy at Worlds 2017 and Ballade No. 1 at the 2018 Olys. And during all this, the doping scandal was going on and I got to watch, real time (I would look at live updates on the figure skating subreddit) as all that drama unfolded and got to witness the nonsense that was the IOC and ISU. Well, that soured me some, I feel, that plus the Olys being in Beijing and not having the energy to watch it all for one skater meant I didn’t watch the free, alas. I tried watching the gala, but that was my first real experience with how garbage skating coverage is in the US, but I did get to see Haru Yo Koi. It was beautiful.

And, by all indications, that was going to be it.

But wait, isn’t this supposed to be about Shoma? We’re getting to that, be patient! Why are you reading this anyway, I’m not important. This is just me rambling. Unorganized rambling where I’m getting the order of things and the exact circumstances confused...

Anyway, fast forward to Worlds a month later. I didn’t really care, tbh, I was still watching the subreddit, I think. And thing is, Yuzu wasn’t quite clicking with me. He is an amazing skater, but something wasn’t clicking with me that clicked with other people. I still liked him, and I loved watching his performances, very moving, but something was... missing for me. And as he would retire after Worlds, I may very well have left my brief look into figure skating at that.

Unfortunately, I saw this other Japanese skater wearing this gorgeous red costume do happy hops after completing his short at Worlds and I went, “oh I love him.”

AND I WAS DOOMED, I TELL YOU, DOOMED.

That was Shoma after finishing his short at Worlds. I don’t know if I saw it on twitter (twitter, that site I hadn’t logged into for over a year at that point and would wind up deleting once ownership changed, but I could still browse) or reddit or here, but I saw it and I loved it. Something about that grabbed me. I watched him do his free, I watched that glorious step sequence at the end and him claim his first World medal. I was hooked. My attention had been grabbed.

Why did Shoma catch my attention when Yuzu hadn’t, when I didn’t even watch Shoma’s performances at the Olys? I don’t know. Maybe it was cause Yuzu would wind up retiring after Worlds. Maybe it was something about the triumphant nature of Bolero at Worlds. Maybe it was the costumes. Maybe it was *sigh* the atmosphere of Yuzu’s fanbase was... not something I particularly liked. Maybe it was Shoma’s story of him going through a tough coachless year and him finding Stephane and how it all culminated, ultimately, in that first Worlds medal. Maybe it was cause, while Yuzu seemed like a spirit of the ice given human form to grace us with his beautiful skating, Shoma seemed like Just A Guy who went out there and Did His Best (and turned out his best was damn good), and I found him more relatable, ultimately, as I learned more about him as a person who loves sleeping and eating meat and hates vegetables. Mood.

Maybe I’m just gay and thought Shoma was more attractive than Yuzu. Maybe this all happened cause I’m very shallow.

Regardless, I became part of the Unoverse. I wound up keeping up with a lot of relevant twitter accounts even though I could only observe, wishing all of them were on tumblr. I followed several Unoverse tumblrs here (special shoutouts to @myjunkisyuzuruhanyu and @vilyae for all the info and pictures and such), I read the figure skating subreddit. I watched the fans deal with... an annoying amount of hate from others for reasons that infuriated and befuddled me. I learned way too much about the season schedules.

I watched Turandot at the 2018 Olys. I watched his triumphant DOMO at JNats 2019 (god, those twizzles. And that utter happiness during the step sequence). I watched La Vie En Rose at MoI 2019 (that skate is so beautiful and gentle...). I would slowly watch all of his programs at least once over the year and fall that cantilever every single time...

I watched his videos on his own YT channel where he could not do English, even as I myself didn’t understand a word he said. I watched Unowan and him constantly being attacked by puppies. I saved way too many pictures to my phone (as of this writing, 2434 photos).

I watched as the fans waited for him to announce his programs for the season. I watched the first performances of Gravity and Aria in shows. I then... got to experience the joys of watching figure skating in the United States without a VPN or Peacock. I wound up watching Aria from Skate Canada on NBC’s “highlights” broadcast, but for every other performance of the GP (INCLUDING THE GPF, WHY WASN’T THE GPF PROPERLY TAPED FOR A BROADCAST ACROSS ALL DISCIPLINES) I had to stick to embed videos on twitter, ultimately, besides maybe a few here and there on youtube (for whatever reason, it seems to me his programs this season are really hard to find on YT versus every other program he has, it’s annoying). I got to see him finally win the GPF. I got to finally watch a good performance of Padam, Padam from JNats on YT (before it got taken down).

And then I got to witness the emotional roller coaster that was this Worlds as he struggled with injury and I prayed he wouldn’t injure himself further and hopefully take the victory and defend his World Champion status.

And he did. I didn’t watch it live cause time zones, but I watched Aria on NBC’s highlights and saw it. It was a good thing to wake up to. The utter joy and finding out he’s the first Japanese man to win consecutive golds in Worlds.

And now here we are. There’s still WTT, but I still wanted to write this, now. Then the season will be over and we’ll be in the offseason, waiting for shows (including him and Yuzu skating together at SoI!), waiting for new program announcements. For it all to start again. There was a small article about him winning Worlds in my local paper today, and I was so happy. I hope to keep it.

I am... still not all that invested in figure skating as a whole, ultimately. If he retired tomorrow (he’s not retiring, for the record), I would peace out then and there. Even without the... Everything regarding the ISU and such (please don’t let Russia back in...), watching this sport in the US is... hard, and I don’t have investment in other skaters to make an effort, for better or worse. That’s not a slight on them, I just have other things in my life.

Still, I’ll be here until he does retire, and I hope that he’ll skate as long as he’s happy and healthy doing it. And maybe he’ll make it to the 2026 Olys and finally get that gold.

Ganbatte Shoma!

#shoma uno #figure skating #my way too long musings on this past year sigh #I did not edit this for the record please excuse any mistakes #also my memory is bad please excuse if I messed something up #long post

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