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“Her eyes are classic novels and poetry.” - Isaac Marion

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“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” - Phil Jackson

Team Canada + name meanings

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one year since pyeongchang  >>  Nathan Chen, Mao’s Last Dancer

From 17th place after the short program, he set a new personal best and Olympic record in the free skate to finish fifth overall.

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No matter how you feel about Alina, she’s such a sweet kid. I still find images of her and Tessa’s hug at the end of the olympics gala so moving.

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you know… something absolutely tragic happened when i was sixteen, and it was only tangentially related to me, something that only had an impact on me because we went to the same school and in a student body of five hundred people, the loss of one reverberates across the entire group, but it’s going to be six years in april and every time i think about it, it feels like i’m back in my aunt and uncle’s kitchen three days later when what it meant finally hit me and i broke down in the middle of a family dinner.

i still mess up sometimes and say the wrong thing or say something when i shouldn’t have said anything at all, but sometimes people say things that make me think about him, that make me think about what could happen if i wasn’t as strong as i am now, if they were saying those same things to me six years ago, and i just… i wonder if they have any idea of what their words can do. i wonder if they have any idea of what their words can take away, if they’ve ever even thought about it.

my guess is no. i hope they never have to find out the potential consequences of their actions. i hope they never have to carry it with them the way that some of my schoolmates have been carrying their own guilt for over half a decade. i never want someone else to pay the price for their cruelty. those consequences never leave you, even when it wasn’t directly your fault.

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Ivan Bukin’s Instagram Story (2/5/19)

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Alexandra Trusova, FS The Fifth Element || Russian Junior Nationals 2019

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Oona Brown / Gage Brown

2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships Junior Ice Dance (RD)

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Hi! Just popping by to let you know I absolutely love your story "Under the Rose", it's so interesting especially because there's a two year gap between tessa leaving and her daughter being born, so you've got me so curious about who the father is!! I'm so excited for new updates, wondering if you had an estimate? Anyways amazing writing keep it up :) !

Oh, thank you so much for your lovely message! I had no idea there were still people interested in reading more of the story. I’ve been pretty busy these past couple of weeks, and thus have not had much time to write. Now that life is a little less hectic, I’m hoping to work on the next chapter some more and get it up within the next week or two! Thanks again for your sweet message. It really made my day <3

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Heading to 4CC? Introducing Paint Anaheim Teal. A campaign to support survivors in the figure skating community, by wearing teal (or light blue!) to 4CC in Anaheim, California, on February 7-10th, 2019.

Last year, I attended the gymnastics meet at UCLA that was basically “Survivor day”. They encouraged everyone to show up wearing teal, and when they did, it really popped on camera and was a great show of universal support. Given that many within the skating community have shown their support for an abuser over the accused, I can’t help but wonder what it would mean for a survivor of abuse who may be watching or attending 4CC to see a message that those negative, shaming voices are not everyone. That we see them, we believe them.

I understand that teal is a hard color to find, however I chose it in order to connect it to gymnastics (where the abuse culture is the exact same and they’re an example of how make this into a huge deal), and because the seats at the Honda Center are a dark red, and this will pop the most on camera. However, I’m not going to sit here and tell you when you’ve already spent hundreds on tickets to go buy a new wardrobe. Light blue will work just FINE.

It is important that we get as many people to show up wearing teal as possible. To do that, I need your help. There is strength in numbers, so I ask you to share this as much as possible, everywhere you can. And to continue up through the event. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr. Everywhere is fair game.

A note on those bringing banners too: I have been told those will not be allowed in the Honda center. However, posters should be fine as long as they are tame enough, and follow a certain size. I will call the Honda center myself personally and update with any clarifications I find them. However, if posters are allowed, I ask that you please make them teal too! We can do this.

We won’t let abusers win, the truth be stifled, or for abuse to continue to run rampant in a sport we love. We will protect children everywhere. This is about them. This is for them.

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hi guys, a twitter user posted screenshots of the email she sent to safesport and I have it typed out now for anyone who may be short on time to write a letter themselves, but would like to be involved. please feel free to copy n paste or edit/add on to the letter as you wish, or simply use it for inspiration for what you would like to tell safesport. safesport can be contacted at safesport.org/contact. 

the original tweet https://twitter.com/wallawow/status/1088331055059353600

Keep reading

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Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, FD SOS d’un terrien en detresse || Canadian Nationals 2019

congrats to the 3-time Canadian champions!

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Oona Brown and Gage Brown, Junior Ice Dance

RD: La Cumparsita, Tangled Up | FD: Still Got the Blues, Parisian Walkways, Still Got the Blues

ISU SB: 55.48 RD | 78.35 FD | 133.83 Total

Road to US Nationals 2019

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SO PURE!

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people severely underestimate the impact they make just by existing. there’s this weird idea that in order to matter or be remembered, one has to “do” something. There’s never a specified thing one has to do, but it always has to be paradoxically more than what the person has already accomplished. there’s this notion that if the boxes are not ticked, everything has been for naught. You wasted your time. It wouldn’t matter if you weren’t alive anymore.

but it would matter. you can never know the amount of influence or impact you’ve made on another person, or what it really meant to them. you’ll never know if the smile you made in passing to that stranger on the bus made their day. you’re never going to know who’s going to remember you or tell stories about you, for the smallest reason. you’re never going to really know if something you said to someone changed their life for the better. you can’t fathom how significant incidental things can be.

and the people who love you, love you. there is no requirement of major labor on your part for them to care about you. you don’t have to “prove” yourself – the mark is there. indelible. when people love you – genuinely love you – there’s no need for a constant battle to prove your worthiness to them. you’ve never had to in the first place. presence is enough.

and if for some reason, one day, you went missing, your absence would be noticed. it would matter. because you were a part of something – whether it was big or small – and no one can take that place. no one can be you. you, in the span of the rest of our collective existences, will never happen again.

the most momentous thing you’ve ever done is occur.

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alina and nathan appreaction post aka legendary cutest pals post (✿◠‿◠)

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How to make my heart explode exhibit A