#as in like. it would get a bronze medal at the killing people olympics

[gynandromorph]

Most of you are convinced that eating vegetables is more relevant to your health than the 3rd most common cause of death, only behind two incredibly broad categories that include dozens of pathologies each (heart disease and cancer): Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus the sequel, because you're just built different from the bare minimum 7 million people it's killed in a few years

[melanieph321]

Gabriel Medina x Black Reader - My Heart Belongs To You

+18

I have a new crush, and it's my job to force him upon you too. 🤭🙈

Reader is in Paris trying to book another modeling gig. While there she takes her time to meet up with her long distance boyfriend Gabriel Medina, who has just secured a bronze medal in surfing at the Paris Olympics.

Enjoy!

You were late. Very late. Your heels clicked against the stone covered streets in Paris in search of a bar called La République. You had never heard of such a bar, and you knew Paris. Either way, it's where your boyfriend, Gabriel, told you to meet up with him and his friends. And by friends, he meant the entire Brazilian olympic squad.

"Y/N, you made it!"

The people in the bar, along with Gabriel, turned their heads upon your arrival. You stepped through the door, recognizing neither of the dozen faces staring back at you. Except for Rebeca Andrade. The Olympic gymnast whom you may or may not have cheered for like a maniac after witnessing her gold winning floor routine the other day. You were a big fan. The biggest. If it wasn't for your early career in modeling, you would have begged your parents to sign you up for gymnastics instead.

"Can I kiss you?" Gabriel grinned. "Or would that ruin your makeup?"

"No, it wouldn't. And It's actually the way we normally greet each other in—"

You were brought back. Gabriel catching the back of your head in his hand, tilting your body backward before planting a lingering kissing on your lips. It was swift but sweet, laced with a longing for you.

"Come on," He whispered as he pulled you back. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

Gabriel draped an arm around your shoulders, shuffling you towards the bundle of athletes having a laugh and drinking beer. "Everyone, this is Y/N, my girlfriend. Y/N, meet everyone."

You waved awkwardly. "Hi everyone."   

Despite their reassuring smiles, you couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. You were most definitely overdressed for such a gathering. La République was more or less a dive bar. Most of the athletes, including Gabriel, looked fresh off the field, wearing colorful tracksuits, sporting the Brazilian flag. You, on the other hand, wore lavish leather pants, a designer bag, and shoes to match. You had just come from a whole day of modeling castings here in Paris. And frankly, your feet were killing you. However, Gabriel insisted you'd come tonight. He was so excited to show off his bronze medal in surfing. Although he wanted nothing more than to bring home the gold, just getting to represent his home country at such a major event was truly what drove him. You really admired him for that. Really, really admired him...

"Você sabe... Gabriel não conseguia parar de falar sobre você enquanto estávamos fora." (You know... Gabriel couldn't stop talking about you while we were away.)

"Huh?"

You snapped out your mesmerized trans. You were watching Gabriel as he stood across from you in the bar, laughing with his friends over a pint of beer. A woman with bleached blonde hair appeared before you, her blue eyes regarding you curiously. You were caught fantasizing about your boyfriend.

"I'm sorry." You blushed.

"It's all good. The name is Tatiana." She offered a hand for you to shake. "I was with Gaby surfing in Tahiti."

"Of course you were. Nice to finally meet you."

"Don't mind me." She grinned and moved to stand next to you, joining the admiration of your boyfriend.

His brimming smile lit up the whole room, along with his new found tanned skin and voluminous dark locks.

"Ele é um exibicionista, não é?" (He's such a show off, isn't he?) Tatiana laughed. Her brazilian accent was thick. But not as thick as other people in the bar, some whom you failed to understand a word of what they were saying. Especially after a few drinks.

"We all wanted Gaby to win the gold. Turns out he has the real prize at home."

"He does?"

"Yeah, it's you."

"Me?"

She smiled. "Like I said, he wouldn't stop going on about you while we were staying in Tahiti. João even tells me that you guys were FaceTiming a lot. So much that he was forced to sleep outside of his and Gaby's shared hotel room one night.

"Oh." Instant heat dabbed your cheeks.

"Don't worry." Tatiana laughed. "We all love it for him. Gaby deserves to have someone like you, someone who makes him happy again. However, it's been a long time since I've seen him this happy."

It was true. Gabriel told you about the dark period in his life going through a nasty divorce with his ex-wife. After only two years of marriage.

"We all worried for Gaby during this time." Tatiana reminisced. "It really fucked him mentally, affecting the way he surfed and his motivation to even surf."

"It did?"

"Yes. Luckily he met you."

You admired her for telling you this. For telling you how happy Gabriel was with your relationship. Believe it or not, but you hadn't seen Gabriel for six months while he was preparing to go to Tahiti, where the olympic surfing events were being held. During this time, the two of you had to settle for late night FaceTime calls, while he was all the way over in Brazil and you in Portugal, where you were originally from. A tormenting time for the two of you, having just gotten used to juggling your busy careers.

Being in a long-distance relationship really didn't make things easier. Sometimes, you thought Gabriel should go for a girl more like Tatiana, a surfer. Then a girl like you, making a living traveling the world, rushing through the streets of luxurious cities just to get your face on the cover of some fashion magazine.

"Either way, I just wanted to let you know how happy Gaby was when you told him that you were coming to see him in Paris. We all had to endure an early flight from Tahiti just to shut him up. I'm still hungover from the olympic medal ceremony."

"Right, congratulations." Tatiana got silver for her performance in the women's individual surfing, making it two surfing medals for Brazil.

"Nice to meet you, Y/N." She shook your hand once more. "I hope to see you soon."

The two of you were left acquainted, her kind words restoring your mood for the reminder of the night. You had a good time with Gabriel and his friends. At the end of the night, you even managed to slip Rebeca a used napkin to sign her autograph on. The expression on her face was priceless. However, you were never throwing that napkin away.

"Don't you want my autograph?" Gabriel said, seeing how you victoriously waved the napkin around the streets of Paris. He was walking you back to your hotel, your hand held tightly in his.

"No. Why would I want that?"

"Ouch." He clenching his heart with his hand. "I thought my girlfriend would be more proud to see me more than any other athlete."

"Oh, baby. Don't tell me you're jealous?"

"Jealous?" He snorted. "Of a stained napkin with some gold medalist autograph scribbled down on it?"

"Some gold medalist?"

You stopped in your tracks. Gabriel turned to you, unsuccessfully hiding the twitch of his lips. "Okay, fine...." He sighed. "Of course I'm jealous. While you were at it, you should have gotten me an autograph. I love Rebeca. She's amazing."

"Right! God, I wish I could flip in the air like she can."

"You should try."

"And break my neck during the attempt. I don't think so."

"Not on land." He laughed. "I meant in the water. Like I do with my surfboard."

"Yeah, it's still a no for me."

"I could teach you."

"How? I would die."

"Nah." He pulled your arm, tugging you towards him. "You'd be in safe hands." Gabriel wrapped his arms around your waist, craddling your body by pulling you close. Your back against his front. For a moment, you remained like that. Hugging in the street.

You stood in the middle of the Champs-Élysées boulevard. Now abandoned. The luxurious shops that decorated the streets displayed some of the world's most expensive fashion collections. From stylish haute couture to flamboyant patterned handbags. Here, you found fashion giants like Dior and Louis Vuitton. Not to mention Saint Laurent, who you hoped to hear from after today's castings. It would be a dream come true to walk in one of their fashion shows one day.

"What are you thinking about?" Gabriel's lips pressed against your ear, his breath warm and welcoming.

"I really wish I could work here someday."

"Where, in Paris?"

"Mhmm."

Gabriel tilted his head regarding the manekins displayed in the window shop before you. To him, they were probably just that, manekins, wearing questionable outfits.

"You will." He whispered.

"Will what?"

"Work here some day." His face nuzzled into the crook of your neck, his lips finding your pulse. You sighed, surrendering to his soft kisses, tilting your head back against his shoulder. For a moment, you allowed his touch to distract you. To drift you away to a relm where time did not exist. Just the two of you. You and Gabriel. His rough hands roamed your body, easing their way down your stomach, his fingertips slipping under the belt of your leather pants.

"Wait!" You stiffened.

Gabriel pulled back to check on you. "What?"

"I need to get back to my hotel. I have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Erm...can I come?" He chuckled.

You stared at him blankly, pushing back the panic that rose within you.

"Y/N, is everything alright?"

You shook your head. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"Well, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? You're going back to Brazil the day after tomorrow, that's what's wrong." You wiggled out of Gabriel's embrace, attempting to escape from him by making your way down the boulevard.

"Y/N, wait!" Gabriel rushed to catch up with you, a troubled expression on his face.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like what I said isn't the truth."

"That I'm going back to Brazil?" He frowned. "I thought I told you that over the phone."

"Well...if you're leaving so soon, why did you even bother coming to see me at all?"

"Y/N."

"Don't..." You took a step back, avoiding Gabriel's attempt to console you. You  hugged yourself tightly, the cold night nipping at your skin. "What's even the point of this, of us? I hate having to miss you. It hurts so much."

"It hurts me too." He mumbled. "Trust me, Y/N, I want nothing but to come home to you every night. To be committed to you in every way possible. But I...can't." He lowered his head. His feet shuffling something invisible on the ground. "Trust me." The night breeze stirring his dark locks. "I would... Marry you."

"Baby?" 

Gabriel's eyes were glossy, looking up at you. His lips trembling slightly. You stepped up to him. Your hands settled on each side of his face. He shut his eyes, allowing the tears to run down his cheeks. "I want to marry you. I will marry you someday. I just need to—"

"No."

His eyes reopened. "No?"

You shook your head. "No. Marriage is not what's important to me."

"No. What is then?"

"This." You shrugged. "Being here with you in the city of love. I just hate missing you  that's all."

Gabriel made the effort to dry his tears, lowering your hands from his face. "But we're in love, aren't we?"

"Is that a trick question?" You laughed. Gabriel, however, did not laugh.

"I love you, Y/N." His words sent a spark to your heart. "I love you because you make me the happiest I've ever been. I'm just afraid that I'll depend on you to make me happy all the time. I have to be able to feel happiness on my own, and until I can do that, I don't want us to rush into anything. It would mean making the same mistake as I've made before. And I really don't want to lose you too."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pushing yourself up on your toes in order to peck his lips. "Okay." You whispered, your lips brushing against his.

Gabriel's arms wrapped around your waist, his forehead settling against yours. "Can I take you back to your hotel now?"

"Yes, take me back."

He took you back to your hotel, the Eiffel Tower spotted from the outskirts of the window in your room. The window which Gabriel went to close the curtains, his naked silhouette reflected in the moonlight as he did. He then moved in the dark towards your bed. His hands pressed down on the sheets, tracing the outlines of your body.

"Meu coração." 

He crawled to lay on top of you, his hands finding your hips under the covers, and his mouth....his mouth found your lower ribs as he made his way upwards, tracing kisses until his lips pressed against your lips. His tongue warm against your mouth.

"I feel you, meu coração."

Your breath hitched as his hips grinded against your thigh. His erection growing stiff against your folds.

"Fuck, Y/N. I can feel you." He spoke against your mouth while his hands desperately nipped at the lace of your panties. It was the only pice of clothing you still had on.

"Do you feel me?"

Gabriel's rough hands ripped the seam of your panties. Tossing the piece of fabric in the corner somewhere. His hand then made its way between your legs, his fingers mercilessly creeping into you.

"Gabriel." You moaned, your mouth left open.

"Sssh." He hushed. "Just relax for me baby."

His cheek rested against your breast. He then turned his head and caught your nipple in his mouth, licking the hard pebble, sucking you dry.

"Please, baby. You're gonna make me come."

He hymned in response, his fingers still moving deeply inside of you.

"Shit." You squealed. To which Gabriel hushed you again. "I said I want to feel you, baby. Let me feel you come all over my hand."

"Gabriel, please." Your eyes squinted shut. Your chest heaving up and down.

"Yes baby. Let yourself go for me."

"Baby, I'm gonna....I'm gonna...."

"Yes, yes. Come all over my hand."

As he wished. You squirmed below him, feeling your walls clench around his fingers still curled up inside of you, pressing against the roof of your pussy.

"Baby." You bit his shoulder, dimming your squeals of pleasure.

"Fuck."

He said it. Not you. You were to busy melting into a pile of nothing.

"Was that good for you baby?"

"Gaby."

You nodded, eyelids drowsy. "Now you." You made the effort to sit up. However, Gabriel made sure to push you down with his weight. "Let me clean you up first."

There was no stopping him. He moved downwards, shifting to rest on his elbows with his hands raising your hips towards his face.

"Why do you always do this." You chuckled.

"Do what?" His eyes were foggy with lust, staring blankly at the feast that was presented before him.

"You make me come at least three times before I even get to touch you."

Gabriel shrugged. "What can I say, I like the sounds you make when I make you feel good."

"That's not—"

You gasped with the first swipe of his tounge. Gabriel licked your already sensitive clit, swollen from the previous round. Gabriel didn't mind, however. Devouring the mess he made out of you.

"There." He licked his lips. "All done."

"Fuck." Your head fell back against the pillows, your hand reaching for his head, running through his hair. "Mhhhm." You hymned. The hotel room filled with the sounds of Gabriel sucking and licking you clean. You came hard. A spasm of your muscles.

You watched him with your back against the headboard, curling a finger your way. "Come here."

Gabriel did what he was told, crawling towards you with a sly grin on his lips. He kissed you, opened mouthed. A kiss that went from sweet to filthy in a matter of seconds.

"God, I've missed you." He groaned.

"I've missed you too baby, so much."

He reached for something on the floor. His pants. He found the condom in his pocket and took the time to dress his leaking cock with it.

"Turn around for me, baby."

You whimpered, wanting to see his face when he fucked you.

"Don't cry now baby. I want you like this. Trust me, I'll make it good for you too."

You turned over to lay on your belly. Gabriel then raised your hips with his hand, settling himself behind you. His flesh slapped against your folds, making you flinched as the size of him surprised you til this day.

"Relax." He grunted and with the help of his hand guided his cock toward your opening,  inserting himself slowly.

"Jesus."

He chuckled, moving in and out of you slowly. Thrusting his hips upon you like some beast in the night. He lost control about halfway through, grunting every time his hips crashed against your ass.

You buried your face against the pillows, silencing your cries. It was too much, the pleasure almost unbearable.

"Fuck you feel so good. You have....no idea....how much....I've wanted this." He said between hits. "Meu coração."

"Just like that baby. Arch your back for me."

You met every blow of his hips by arching your back. Welcoming his dick that was shoved inside of you until Gabriel grunted in relief, his body collapsing on top of yours.

You lay still in the night, the after care consisting of lazy kisses and whispers of sweet nothings.

"Fuck Y/N. You're making it hard for me to go back to Brazil."

"The don't." You smiled.

He chuckled. "Or perhaps you can come back with me and travel the world by my side?"

"Perhaps. I might need a day or two to think about it."

"Yes, take all the time thay you need. Just know that no matter wherever I am in the world, my heart belongs to you."

[unhealthyfanobsession]

Opening scene to the (hypothetical for now) Winter Olympics fic I may decide to go ahead with:

Nesta stretched forward until her wrists touched her toes, curled her fingers around the arches of her feet, and let her chest melt into her thighs. Holding the position for ten long, full breaths.

“Can’t do that on the team charter,” Eris said smugly from where he sat on a tufted leather couch across from her.

Nesta spread her legs and reached her hands forward until her chest touched the floor, chin resting on her hands as she said, “Yes, your family’s private jet is one of the two positive things about you.”

“Oh?” He arched a burnt-orange brow, “and what praytell, is the second?”

“Don’t make me say it.”

“Oh no, I think I’d like to hear this.”

Nesta pulled out of her stretch and chucked a pen at Eris’ smug face. “Humility is a virtue.”

“I’ve never claimed to be virtuous,” he shrugged. “Now come on, Archeron. 20 years of skating together. I think the flight to our first Olympic Games is an appropriate time for your first ever compliment to me.”

Nesta rolled her eyes, “You are an incredibly skilled skater, Eris. Graceful and able to land almost impossibly difficult jumps. You are one of the best ice dancers in the world and it is the only reason I haven’t sliced your head off with one of my blades yet.”

“Thank you,” he leaned back in his seat. “You are adequate as well.”

“What laws do you think would apply if I murdered you in foreign airspace?”

Eris only rolled his eyes. “A few hours ago you might have had a shot at getting away with it, but we just passed into Chinese airspace. Extradition treaty all the way.”

Nesta shrugged, “Canadian jails aren’t so bad. Might be worth it.”

“Kill me after we win a gold medal.”

“Good point.”

“How’s your ankle?” Eris’ eyes darkened with the question. Nesta swallowed hard, running her fingers across the exposed expanse of her lower leg.

“It’s fine.” Even she could hear the uncharacteristically quiet, breathy quality her voice took on. Nesta looked up at Eris and then shook her head.

“What?”

“I…” Nesta was not used to vulnerability. Especially not with Eris Vanserra. They were a team, but they were only so good because they were also competitors. They pushed each other. Hard. Off a cliff sometimes. But however much they fought, whatever else he was…

“I’ve never actually said thank you,” Nesta turned her eyes away from his as she spoke, scratching at her arm uncomfortably.

Eris inclined his head, staring down at her in utter confusion. “No. I don’t think you’ve ever said those words in your life.” Nesta scoffed. “As much as I love it when you say nice things to me, Sunshine, can I ask what exactly you are thanking me for?”

“For sticking by me through…” she gestured vaguely at her ankle. The one that had snapped in three places months before the last Olympics. The Olympics that was supposed to be their grand debut. Where they were going in ranked 1st in the world and then…

Nesta swore her heart shattered on the ice along with her ankle.

“No need to thank me for that,” Eris waved a hand dismissively. “You’re the best. Of course I was going to wait. Do I look like someone who would accept a silver or god forbid, bronze, medal, Archeron?”

“So I’m not just adequate, then?” Nesta teased, because genuine conversations were not something she and Eris did.

“You’re the best.” There was no teasing in his voice. “And so am I. There was no world in which I went to these games without you, Sunshine.”

“You being nice is weird,” Nesta wrinkled up her eyebrows.

“Does it make you want to thank me some more?” Eris winked, spreading out across the couch.

“It’s been no for 20 years, Eris. What made you think this was the moment?”

He shrugged, “Maybe after we win.”

“Maybe not.”

*******************************************************

So if I do end up writing this olympics pt 2 I think a big focus will be on chill vibes Cassian vs Uptight precise Eris and it’s a dynamic I’m kind of liking. If people like this, maybe I’ll share the first Nessian meeting in a bit

[lulu2992]

What I learned listening to Far Cry 5′s audio files

The game’s lore, as told by its characters.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Grace Armstrong

Biography

Grace used to be a sniper in the army and fought in Afghanistan. Her dad, the most important person in her life, is the one who taught her how to shoot. He’s also the one who helped her get over her fear of heights. She climbed a tower a little higher each day and it eventually worked. When she was little, she got scared by a fish that rubbed against her legs and stayed away from the water for weeks. Now, she thinks it’s funny she used to be scared by such simple things.

While she was doing basic training, her best friend died. Her drill sergeant, seeing she was slipping, told her to focus on the work, something she can control. Most of the time, she didn’t know the names of her targets but she didn’t miss a single one of them. People love to gossip about how many she killed but no one really knows because there is a classified number and a declassified number. She came back home with PTSD and even though she did therapy, it didn’t solve everything and she still can’t move on.

Grace won an Olympic bronze medal but she says it’s not important anymore. Her dad also trained her for the Olympic Games. She shot grouse as well as apples on high tree branches and practiced maintaining aim on skydivers (whom she didn’t shoot, of course). She still knows where all the good sniping positions are in Hope County but misses her old sniper rifle. When she came back with her medal, people welcomed her with a celebration and she hated it. She doesn’t really like celebrations.

Two weeks before the events of the game, her father, who antagonized Eden’s Gate for years, was ambushed and his car ended up in a river. Grace was with him and survived. He didn’t. She wasn’t ready to lose him and is still in shock. It’s very strange for her not to have him around anymore and she doesn’t fully realize he’s dead yet. He was her “rock”. He used to say, “No matter how bad a day is, one second after midnight, it all turns into yesterday”. She isn’t sure this advice works anymore…

Today, Grace describes herself as “emotionally broke”, so much she almost can’t feel sympathy anymore. It takes a lot of energy for her to get through the day and sometimes, she just wants to curl up in a ball underground and cry. In her pocket, she keeps the last bullet that was left in the gun of the Taliban who tried to kill her to remind herself she’s a survivor. She believes in God and prays to decompress but she wonders if there’s something after death. Grace doesn’t like it when things are quiet because she has “too much time to think, too much time to remember”. She believes God made her a skilled shooter and put her here for a reason, though, and she’s ready to fight. She isn’t a prepper and, even though she doesn’t like to hunt because it’s “boring”, she claims she can kill any animal with only one bullet. Surprisingly, she sometimes cracks jokes to try to work on her “people skills”, as she says. She wonders if she really wants the fight against Eden’s Gate to end because she’s doesn’t think she can ever go back to “normal”. If it does end one day, though, she wants to get in a car and just drive. Grace believes her dad would be proud of everyone for fighting back against Eden’s Gate.

Comments about other characters

Resistance

She doesn’t know what they would do without the Deputy who does what other people are too afraid to do.

Grace had a dog like Boomer growing up. About Cheeseburger, she says “bears shouldn’t be pets”. She doesn’t really trust Peaches because “cats always bite”. Her favorite companion is Jess because they are “on the same page” and both very stealthy. She doesn’t hate the others but thinks they are noisy. She recognizes Sharky as the kid who threw up on her friends’ shoes years ago.

She thinks a lot of money is spent on Clutch Nixon even though he was “a guy who did his damnedest to melt his face off for an audience”. She prefers humbler heroes.

She’s glad Eli is leading the Whitetails because he’s “a good soul”, “a helper”, and “the type to give you the shirt off his back”.

Grace says Jerome isn’t afraid to be on the front lines for people he believes in.

She thinks Kim is “a real trooper” and “the favorite to win Mother of the Year”.

She thinks Merle drinks because three of his friends died in the reservoir when he was in high school.

She says Miss Mable is the last person who would fall for “some cult bullshit” and that she makes good moonshine, even though she isn’t nice (but people say a lot of things about her that aren’t true).

According to her, Zip can fix everything but tends to upsell.

Eden’s Gate

At first, like almost everyone else, she thought they were harmless. She says they can’t shoot and that they all deserve to die. The cult uses the same techniques she witnessed in Afghanistan, such as marking houses, but she thinks what they do is worse.

Grace is confident the Resistance will get Joseph one day. If she’s the one pulling the trigger, she’ll make sure he dies slowly and painfully. She thought she would be the one killing John and believes he’s in Hell now. The sight of his plane falling is something she hopes she will never forget. Maybe she’ll get it tattooed on her. She calls his ranch “hypocrite center”. She says Jacob twists what he learned in the army to serve Eden’s Gate and she doesn’t approve of this at all. Even though she doesn’t hunt, she notices wildlife is scarce in the Whitetail Mountains because of his experiments. Unlike most torture stories she heard when she joined the army, Jacob doesn’t want intel but enjoys what he does and seeing the effects. She thinks he’s a “poor excuse for a soldier” and that his soldiers are just mindless killers. When he’s dead, she wants to destroy every existing recording of “Only You” to erase it completely. Grace is afraid of Faith and her Angels because she’s always been scared of zombies. She’d rather die than become one of them. She says that what Faith did was “inhumane”.

Other people’s comments

Dutch has known her since she was a child. He says she’s “every bit the soldier” her father was and maybe “ten times the shot too”.

Mary May says she’s a “local legend”.

One NPC asks her to stop being so “grim”.

[pllandcompany]

You GUYS. Sanders Sides Ice Skating AU? Sanders Sides Ice Skating AU.

Do I know anything about ice skating? Nope. Am I gonna write about it anyway? Absolutely. Google is a thing, right?

(please don’t ask me what possessed me to come up with this, the answer i don’t know, just let me be great)

Warnings: talk of injuries, performance anxiety, mention of illegal/dangerous performance enhancing practices, disordered eating/body image issues, past minor character death. illness mention, deceit is included in this

Also, just to be clear, the boys all train together on the same team. Under a cut because this 100% ran away from me.

Logan:

at 24, he’s considered to be what the team lovingly calls a lifer, meaning that skating is all he knows and all he’s ever done since he was born

truth be told, his former NBA cheerleader mother and NFL coach father forced him into several sports when he was small and this was the only one he showed any potential in

spoiler alert: they’re not thrilled that this was the only one he was good at

but they wanted their son to be an athlete so skating it is

fairly well known but doesn’t even acknowledge his own fame

known around the arena for being sort of intense and standoffish leading to him not always being well-liked

also weirdly brilliant? he frequently goes on rants about the physics behind skating that never fail to shock his teammates

despite being a frequent silver/gold medalist, Logan always felt like his parents were constantly disappointed in him so he vowed to train so hard that he would make his first Olympics by age 18

he missed his goal by one tenth of a point and had to wait until 22 to qualify again

also his parents didn’t even attend the competition where he qualified

it doesn’t bother him one bit (just kidding, he is Bothered)

very rigid with his diet and training regimen, sometimes to an unhealthy level depending on how well he believes he’s performing (roman and patton are Very Worried sometimes)

struggles with his height and wingspan, at 6′0 he’s tall for a skater and somewhat lanky which makes certain technical elements difficult for him 

only at first though, when he meets a challenge, it becomes his ultimate goal to master it

ever the perfectionist, he will practice until he nearly collapses and often has to be dragged off the ice and forced to stop obsessing

(the occasional lack of adequate nutrition and/or hydration doesn’t have anything to do with him collapsing. nope. he’s fine.)

his technique is mostly impeccable but he’s a cerebral skater; often criticized for visibly “thinking” while skating and not emoting much

Roman:

23, total prodigy skater, also a lifer

both parents were Olympic skaters; they were actually part of two separate pairs when they met and quickly became both life and work partners

now Roman’s father coaches their team and his mother acts as his manager

very charismatic and magnetic, quickly became a public figure after his second Olympic gold medal

his mother takes every advantage of her son’s charm, constantly signing him up for guest roles and talk shows and commercials without consulting him first

he loves the attention though

sometimes

sometimes he just wants to skate

Roman’s father isn’t as impressed with his antics; he’s constantly on him to stay focused 

the other teammates either genuinely love him or they love him in person and gossip about him in secret

he knows some of their adoration is fake but it’s fine, he doesn’t care what they think (he cares a great deal)

5′8 but very muscular, especially in his legs and shoulders 

has been criticized for his broader body type but he doesn’t care; he loves that he’s Thicc

judges still love him though, he’s a very powerful skater, his jumps are explosive and very accurate and he’s always very connected to the music

he’s always looking for the next challenge, the next risky move or flashy element

at times he can be hard on himself to always outdo his last performance which has cost him his physical health at times; he spent the year leading up to his second Olympics battling a knee injury that almost sidelined him

he and Logan have a friendly/unfriendly competition going on as they tend to consistently trade places with each other for 1st and 2nd place on the podium

Virgil:

21, a newer addition to the team

wicked talented, possibly even more so than Roman

ask him though and he’d tell you he’s the worst one in the rink (which infuriates Logan considering Virgil achieved the very goal he couldn’t)

has severe performance anxiety and will often panic so much before competition that he’s physically sick

5′6 with a slight build; can jump wicked high and very clean lines

his teammates call him the Shrimp because of how short he is

(roman used to call him that too until he found out how much Virgil hated the nickname)

raised by a single parent, his mother worked three jobs so she could afford skating lessons and new boots as he grew

qualified for his first Olympics at just 18, won bronze and a sponsorship that finally took the pressure off his mother

now he wants gold but not for himself

his mother was diagnosed with cancer and the treatments are very expensive on top of the financial demands of his career

he knows if he makes more money, he can provide for her the way she provided for him

when he skates, it’s either damn near flawless or a shaky, inconsistent mess, there is no in-between

fortunately there are people around him to help his anxiety and keep him focused

like

Patton:

25; came to the arena shortly after Logan but unlike Lo was very quickly accepted

he loves everybody

everybody loves him

the other teammates call him Old Man, Dad, or Papa Patton because he’s always looking out for everyone

whether it’s making sure they stay hydrated or nourished or telling them to rest when they need to, he’s always looking out for his skate family

5′9 and somewhat muscular but still lean

not the most technically consistent skater but always receives high praise for his performance and artistry

one of the few skaters who actually loves the dance classes they attend and really gets into them (this confuses Logan greatly)

came to competitive skating a bit later in life, took more time to train and test than average

despite his age and experience, he actually has the least amount of medals among the four and has yet to win Olympic gold

is seemingly unbothered by that fact (this confuses Roman greatly)

also never appears to be nervous or stressed about competitions (this confuses Virgil greatly)

when asked about his calm and cheerful demeanor even in the face of disappointment (by Roman) 

or his ability to display every emotion in the music so readily on his face (by Logan) 

or how he manages not to puke for hours before a big skate (by Virgil), he answers with this

when he was nine, both of his parents were killed by a drunk driver on their way to see him skate

he almost quit skating after that happened

(if he’s honest, he almost quit everything after that happened)

but after the grief settled slightly, he made a promise to himself that no matter what, every time he stepped on the ice, he would skate for them

every turn, every spin, even every practice session is for them and whatever happens doesn’t matter because he knows that his family is watching over him and they are so proud

having discovered a new level of respect for their teammate, the others find themselves complaining much less around him now

Deceit (known as Dimitri):

22, not a member of Roman’s dad club, of Russian descent but skates for Team Canada 

started showing up in competitions shortly after Virgil joined the team

immediately started crushing everybody, knocking Roman and Logan down to silver or bronze and Virgil and Patton off the podium completely

5′8 and the ideal build for a figure skater, judges go nuts over his lines and speed

deadly accurate jumper

the dude honestly seems almost perfect

Roman is Frustrated. Logan is Jealous. Virgil and Patton are Suspicious.

it’s Patton who finds out the chink in Dimitri’s sequined armor

he’s been blood doping for months in secret

but not for selfish reasons

he too was orphaned at a young age but unlike Patton, he was not the only child left behind

he has a sister and two brothers who he is the primary caretaker of

and almost every penny he earns is spent on their schooling, their healthcare, their overall well-being

he has to be the best in order for their family to survive

which is why Patton is sworn to secrecy

if this got out, he’d be done and so would his three siblings

Patton is Very Worried because doping is hella dangerous

but Dimitri will be fine

right?

I’m sure this has been done before but I don’t care, I’m in love with this concept and I can’t wait to write more.

Tagged: @ziallwarrior @apologieslogan @logansmolbean @crofters-jam @asylia5911 @ab-artist @band-be-boss-blog @unbefuckinglieveable @flyingfreeyt @thecatchat @thefallendog @backatthebein

[idontgiveaflyinggrayson69]

Snowboarding To My Heart

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

Requested: Yes – Anonymous

Tagging: @aw-hawkeye @caswinchester2000

Fandom: Snowboarding???  

Relationship: Pre-Established; Craig McMorris x Reader. Bortherly; Mark McMorris x Craig McMorris

Summary: You’re is going to Pyeongchang to see Mark McMorris. On the flight, you end up switching seats so that a kid can sit next to his parent, and who do you end up sitting beside? The one and only Craig McMorris. AKA, the one where you and Craig hit it off.

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: Mentions of past injuries (Mark)

“Your bag is under the seat in front of you, okay?” The mother said, kneeling in the aisle next to her son, who you were sitting beside. “And remember to be quiet and nice to this young lady, okay? I’m in seat 22A if you need anything, but only get up when the seatbelt light is off.”

The kid nodded. “I know, mom.”

“I don’t mean to intrude or anything, but why aren’t you guys seated together?” You asked, unable to stop yourself.

The mom smiled at you. “It was a last minute trip. They didn’t have any seats together.”

“I’ll switch with you if you want?” You said, already unbuckling your seatbelt.

The mom looked like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. “Would you mind?”

You smiled and shook your head. “Not at all.”

You gathered your belongings and made your way to 22A. Sitting next to you was a guy in a hoodie with his hood up and headphones on. You put your bag under the seat in front of you and fastened your seatbelt. Before you knew it, the stewardess was telling everyone to turn off and stow electronic devices before beginning their safety demonstration. Soon enough the plane was taking off and you were in the air.

“You know,” the guy beside you spoke and you looked over at him, your eyes going a little wide as you realized who it was. You took a shaky breath and restrained yourself from having a small fangirl moment. “This is a going to be a long flight, we might as well get acquainted. I’m Craig.”

You forced yourself to smile and extended your hand to him. “I’m (Y/N).”

Craig smiled. “Well, (Y/N), what are you doing going to Pyeongchang?”

You smiled for real and could help the small laugh. “Well, same as you I imagine. The Olympics. Go Canada!”

Craig chuckled softly. “Go Canada! I assume you’re going for a specific event. Hockey?”

You shook your head. “Nah, what’s the point in seeing Canada play hockey at the Olympics if you can’t see Crosby or Toews play?”

He nodded his head. “You have a point there. So what event are you after?”

You bit your lip, deciding whether or not to go all in or lie. “I’m actually going for the same as you: snowboarding.” You answered feeling your face get warm with a blush.

Craig raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching up into a smile. “Oh, yeah?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I, uh, I really hope your brother places. He deserves it.”

Craig nodded. “I hope he does, too.”

The two of you talked for a long time on the plane, the only times you weren’t talking was when one of you were sleeping. But, eventually the long flight was coming to an end and you felt a little sad that you were going to have to say goodbye to Craig.

“Hey, uh, listen,” Craig said once the plane had landed and everyone was gathering up their possessions. “If you come to the event early, I can get you into the VIP area?”

You stopped and looked at him. “Are you serious?”

He smiled and shrugged. “Yeah.”

--

And so, you listened to Craig and went to the slopestyle event early and, true to his word, Craig got you into the VIP section. And he gave you a pass so that you could be in the VIP section for all of the slopestyle and big air events: preliminary, quarter and semi-finals, and the finals. It was amazing.

You were really hoping that Mark would win gold. You wanted Canada to win gold and you wanted it to be Mark. You followed him since Sochi 2014, and after the accident less than a year ago, you really wanted him to win gold this time around. He deserved it.

Alas, he didn’t win gold, Canada didn’t even win gold, but Mark did medal, which was pretty incredible and you totally didn’t cry, it was just the cold wind blowing some of the snow that made your eyes water…

You were just sitting there, waiting for people to clear out so you could make your way back to your hotel room when Craig and Mark, with his bronze medal around his neck, came up to you.

“Where you going?” Craig asked you while your eyes drifted over to Mark.

“Congrats bro! Should have been gold, but still awesome.” You congratulated him.

“Thanks.” Mark smiled.

You turned your attention back to Craig. “I was just waiting for everyone to clear out so I could head back to my hotel. Why?”

Mark bit his lip to restrain a smile, but Craig failed to do so. “We were going to hit a party and we—”

“He.” Mark interrupted.

Craig rolled his eyes. “Okay, Iwanted to know if you wanted to join us?”

You smiled softly at him. “I would love to.”

--

The party was, well, a party.

It was good and you didn’t drink too much because you wanted to remember the night. Mark, on the other hand, got completely shit faced and you couldn’t stop laughing about it. You couldn’t blame him though; it had just won an Olympic medal less than a year after an accident that should have killed him. If you were him, you, too, would be getting shit faced.

You were standing along the outside of the party when Craig came up beside you.

“You’re nowhere near as drunk as I thought you were going to be.” You said with a smile.

“Well, I am the one with class.” He said, looking over at his younger brother.

Both of you burst out laughing at his comment, knowing it was the furthest from the truth. You and Craig had gotten closer over the last few days. You would be bold enough to say that you were even friends.

“So,” Craig said after he stopped laughing. “I was wondering if you maybe wanted to get out of here? With me I mean?”

You looked over at him and saw that he had brought his hand up to the back of his neck and you couldn’t help but bit your lip and nod. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

[healthbetold]

Vacan makes Olympics 17 years after eating disorder forced her to quit racing – The Reporter

Robyn Stevens made an unlikely path to the Summer Olympics in the mysterious sport of race walking.

It probably should never have happened – not 17 years after she quit attending San Jose State because of an eating disorder.

“When I left in 2004, I didn’t see myself coming back,” Stevens said this week. “I was ready.”

Stevens, 38, qualified for the Tokyo Games on June 26 by winning the 20-kilometer race at the US Olympic Trials in Springfield, Oregon. With a winning time of 1 hour and 35.13 minutes, she was the first woman from the state of San Jose to be accepted into a US Olympic team since discus thrower Margaret Jenkins in 1932.

Her friend Nick Christie won the men’s 20 km in Oregon and secured an Olympic place with it.

Racewalking has been an Olympic sport since 1908, although it wasn’t until 1992 that women made their debut in Barcelona. The sport has only two rules, the biggest of which is that hikers must always stand with one foot on the ground. Losing contact with the ground is referred to as “flying,” a violation that is called by the judges on the course and can lead to disqualification. The races are 20 km (12.4 miles). There is a 50K (31 miles) event for men only.

The US has never won a medal in women; Larry Young is the only American bronze medalist in 1968 and 1972. Stevens, who ranks 54th in the world, is unlikely to change that, but it will be on August 7th in Sapporo at the age of 38 go a victory for yourself.

The Vacaville racer looked like a potential Olympic competitor for the 2004 Athens Games until she suffered from eating problems in response to college weight gain at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she began her college career before going to the State of San Jose changed.

The National Eating Disorders Association estimates that 30 million Americans will have an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Top athletes in endurance sports such as running are at greater risk of developing problems.

“In the competitive sports world where there are performance-minded individuals, they’ll do pretty much anything to get that gold medal,” said Katherine A. Beals, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Utah.

Stevens said she had no one to speak to about her condition while she was in Parkside. She returned to California for assistance. Stevens pours water over his head on a hot day at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. (AP photo / Charlie Riedel)

She said to her former youth coach in Solano County, “What I do to my body could kill me.”

Stevens moved to the state of San Jose for the 2003 cross-country season while he continued to struggle with his illness.

Stevens said she survived on two ice cream biscuit sandwiches a day because it only cost her $ 3 and provided the 2,000 calories she thought she needed.

During that time, a San Jose State teammate confided in Stevens that she had eating problems. The teammate even told Stevens about a product that made her vomit.

Stevens didn’t tell the teammate about her own trauma or how she would vomit badly after eating to remove the food.

But she bought the Expectorans the same day her friend mentioned it.

Stevens has since learned that she suffered from the early stages of the female athlete triad, a combination of eating disorders, missed menstruation, and osteoporosis that led to lifelong health problems.

In early 2004, she decided to stop the induced vomiting because it was causing so much pain. But she took the drug again after a cross-country race in which she set disappointing times.

Two days later, Stevens said, racer Al Heppner killed himself by jumping off a bridge in San Diego County after failing to reach the 50-kilometer Olympic team.

“He just gave up,” she says.

Stevens realized that her state of mind might be similar to Heppner’s.

“It’s no different for me,” she thought at the time, “I no longer concentrate on winning. I just concentrate on getting thin. ”

Stevens called her mother to say that she was through with competitive sports because it had become a toxic environment. She would end the season with SJSU and then quit.

“I hate myself and I hate food,” she told her mother. “How do I live?”

San Jose graduate Robyn Stevens celebrates victory in the women’s 20-kilometer race at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials in Springfield, Oregon on Saturday. (AP photo / Charlie Riedel)

Beals, the author of Disordered Eating Among Athletes, said some of the main causes of the problem are pressure to be thin, go faster, and be aware of body image with the kind of skimpy uniforms that distance athletes often wear.

“You put such pressure on an athlete and I’m surprised they don’t all have eating disorders,” said Beals, a retired triathlete.

Stevens struggled for years to feel good, though the condition never required hospitalization or clinical help.

She had several jobs to help fund her college and graduated with an arts degree in 2007. The dangerous behavior of starving, eating, and overtraining to clean the food didn’t stop when she left the SJSU cross-country team. Stevens said she still suffered for years, including symptoms of body dysmorphism.

“Every time I looked in the mirror, I cried,” she says.

When Stevens was fit enough to train again, she stopped thinking about the Olympics. This time she did it for fun.

A friend persuaded Stevens to take part in a 20K race in Sacramento in 2014. Not only did she compete, she qualified for the 2016 US Olympic Trials and even surprised herself in only her second race at this length.

Vacaville Olympian Robyn Stevens is photographed on Thursday July 1, 2021 at Al Patch Park in Vacaville, California. Stevens travels to the Tokyo Olympics after qualifying for the 20K race. (Jose Carlos Fajardo / Bay Area News Group)

Following the success of qualifying for the Olympics, Stevens became concerned that returning to full-time competition would bring a return to her health problems.

“I don’t know if I’m well suited to racing,” she said. “If I wanted to come back to this, I had to know that it would be a healthy relationship and that it wouldn’t cause abuse.”

Stevens kept the idea at bay until he competed in the 2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup in Chile.

The pull was too strong. Stevens loved racing. She made it to the Team World Championship in 2016, but suffered a strained calf about a month before the Olympic Trials in which she finished 11th.

Robyn Stevens of Vacaville (right), a San Jose State graduate, won the 20 km race at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Oregon on June 26, 2021 to qualify for the Tokyo Games. Her friend Nick Christie (right) won the men’s 20K but is waiting to see if he meets Olympic qualifying standards. (AP photo / Charlie Riedel)

The disappointing experience motivated Stevens to apply for the Tokyo Games. She wanted to take part in at least one US test in good health. But it didn’t seem feasible because the racers have to support themselves financially.

Stevens was ready to forget her dream until the owner of the Campbell tax firm she worked for suggested that they devote the next four years to running.

She quit her job to give the sport another chance.

Stevens said she cried the day before the race last weekend in Oregon and remembered all the people who have helped her over the past two decades.

Some of those tears also represented how she found her way back from the dark nearly two decades after her first qualification for Olympic trials.

“This athletic version of me is the best I’ve ever been,” said Stevens.

The post Vacan makes Olympics 17 years after eating disorder forced her to quit racing – The Reporter first appeared on Health be Told.

source https://healthbetold.com/vacan-makes-olympics-17-years-after-eating-disorder-forced-her-to-quit-racing-the-reporter/

[your-dietician]

Amanda Bussey is becoming the gold standard for Special Olympics golf

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/golf/amanda-bussey-is-becoming-the-gold-standard-for-special-olympics-golf/

Amanda Bussey is becoming the gold standard for Special Olympics golf

There’s a strong case to be made that one of the most versatile athletes on the First Coast is 36-year-old Special Olympian Amanda Bussey of Jacksonville. 

She’s certainly one of the most decorated. Bussey has won 18 medals in Florida State Special Olympics competition (seven gold, six silver and five bronze) and more than 30 medals when adding regional events. 

And Amanda has earned those medals in six sports: golf, bowling, basketball, soccer, surfing and stand-up paddle boarding. 

But her ticket to next year’s Special Olympics U.S. Games in Orlando is golf, where she qualified under the alternate-shot format, which pairs a Special Olympian with a family member or friend. They then take turns hitting shots on each hole for a team score. 

In Amanda Bussey’s case, her partner will be Hidden Hills member Jane Verkouten, a retired banker from Charlotte, N.C., who never imagined herself playing a sport on a national stage before she met Amanda – a match orchestrated by Robin Luck, another Hidden Hills member whose son Ryan plays Special Olympics golf. 

To this day Luck, who is a volunteer on the Northeast Florida Region Special Olympics management team, isn’t sure why he thought Amanda and Jane would make a good team. 

“I really didn’t know they would,” he said. “I just threw it out there. I thought Jane might be the type of person who was interested.” 

Amanda had been playing with her mother, but Julie Bussey, a real estate advisor for Engel and Volkers, was concerned her job wasn’t giving her enough time to play and practice and asked Luck to help her find another partner. 

Verkouten and her husband Steve Bona don’t have children together (Bona has one son from a previous marriage) but she doesn’t view the relationship with Amanda Bussey as a mother-daughter or even big sister-little sister dynamic. 

All she knows is that it works, and it has enriched her life. 

“She’s such an incredible, happy person,” Verkouten said of Amanda. “She’s so enthusiastic about playing and gets so excited when we have a round scheduled. I get texts from her all that day telling me how she can’t wait to get on the golf course. I would just describe it as a really good friendship. We celebrate birthdays and Christmas, go to lunch and dinner … and we play a lot of golf.” 

In addition to her intellectual disability, Amanda is deaf because of spinal meningitis that nearly killed her when she was 2 years old. Her mother, Verkouten and other family and close friends can understand her but mostly Amanda communicates with her eyes, gestures and smile — all of which speak volumes. 

And less than year out from the 2022 U.S. Special Olympics, Amanda is already counting down the days. 

“June 5,” she says excitedly, pumping both of her arms in the air. 

And while Amanda has excelled in multiple sports, golf is her favorite, for one key reason. 

“It takes a long time,” she said. 

Her mother explained. 

“It takes longer to play a round of golf than a basketball or soccer game,” she said. “That means Amanda gets to spend more time doing something she loves.” 

A happy baby, then questions 

Julie Bussey, a Bishop Kenny graduate, read all the baby books. She had long conversations with her doctor. She took all of the prenatal precautions. She was more than ready for her first-born child Amanda, who checked in at a healthy 7 pounds, 10 ounces on Sept. 23, 1984 at the Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, N.C., near Fort Bragg, where her father Larry was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. 

In the first few weeks, friends and family fawned over Amanda’s dark brown eyes and curly dark hair. Words such as “gorgeous” and “beautiful” were music to the ears of her mother, who spent long hours cradling a happy infant who smiled frequently, nursed enthusiastically and hardly ever cried. 

“When she was hungry or needed changing, she could make these small sounds, a very subtle fuss,” Julie Bussey said. “She never cried at the top of her lungs. It was more of a pouty sound, and when she got fed or changed, she stopped. Everything was good.” 

But by the time Amanda reached four months old, her mother began noticing little things. She had read enough to know a baby’s timetable: when they could hold their heads up, when they could roll over or when they attempted to get on hands and knees to crawl. 

Months went by without Amanda reaching those milestones. Her mother had her tested at Walter Reed Army Hospital in suburban Washington D.C., and doctors didn’t come up with anything conclusive, other than Amanda had low muscle tone and slow motor skills. 

They eventually diagnosed her with muscular dystrophy, “just so we could start some therapy,” Julie Bussey said. 

Much later, then found out that Amanda had what is now called “I/DD” — intellectual and developmental differences. 

Once again, Julie Bussey followed doctors’ advice diligently and never missed a therapy session or working with her daughter at home. 

She became pregnant with her son Daniel (daughters Rachel and Tiffany would follow), with all four children born within a five-year span. 

It was large, happy family. 

Then every mother’s nightmare came dangerously close to coming true. 

Slipping away … then coming back 

Julie Bussey went to the small bedroom where 2-year-old Amanda had been put down for an afternoon nap a few hours earlier. When she picked her daughter up, Bussey said the feeling was as if Amanda “was on fire.” 

She quickly took the baby’s temperature: 105 degrees. Amanda was rushed to Fort Bragg’s Womack Medical Center, where measures were quickly taken to try to control the raging fever. 

There was little change the next morning. Julie Bussey had not left her child’s side but watching her laying on her back, listless, hardly moving, a horrible feeling began coursing through her body. 

“I saw her leaving me,” Julie Bussey said. “I called for the nurse and told her, ‘I can see her going away … get someone in here. Do something.’” 

Doctors did a spinal tap and more aggressive antibiotics were started. Julie Bussey was told the devastating news: Amanda might not survive the day. 

But it’s also when Julie Bussey found out that she had one tough little girl. Amanda held on … and slowly came back. She was in the hospital for two weeks before being discharged. 

Julie Bussey said one other child in their neighborhood caught meningitis but never really found out how Amanda contracted it. 

Later, they found out one lasting effect: Amanda was completely deaf in her left ear, and she is unable to hear high-frequency sounds in her right ear. 

The meningitis also slowed down Amanda’s physical therapy and timetable for crawling, walking and talking. 

However, she more than made up for lost time. 

Catching up and being a kid 

By the time Amanda was 5 years old, her motor skills began catching up to what was considered typical for a child that age. Her mother moved her and her brother and sisters back to the First Coast in 1990 and soon after, Amanda hit every kid milestone on time: learning to ride a bike, swim and more than that, keep up with her siblings and the other kids in their Atlantic Beach neighborhood. 

It was almost as if Amanda had some catching up to do. 

“Physically, she caught everyone and there wasn’t a thing that the other kids were doing that she couldn’t do,” Julie Bussey said. “And we treated her as normally as possible. Her brother and sisters were always great with her, and the kids in the neighborhood accepted her, once they learned to understand her challenges as far as her hearing and speech.” 

Family friends expressed some surprise that Julie Bussey made the same demands of Amanda as her other children. 

“She had to clean her room, clear the table after dinner … everything the other kids had to do,” she said. “People would actually be surprised about that but Amanda was the one who wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

The difficult part was when Julie Bussey’s other children began going to Fletcher High School, getting their driver’s license and getting after-school jobs. Amanda simply couldn’t engage in most of the rites of passage for teenagers. 

One place where Amanda wasn’t held back was sports. She has been competitive in every sport she’s attempted but golf is what got her to the U.S. Special Olympics, where she and Ryan Luck are the only two of an estimated 1,200 Special Olympic athletes in Duval qualified in golf, and among 17 statewide. 

Going for the gold 

Once Amanda started winning Special Olympics medals, there has been no stopping her. And it’s to the point where silver and bronze aren’t good enough anymore. 

“She hates to lose,” her mother said. “You can tell that when she’s on the podium with the other athletes to get their medals, she’s not happy unless she’s standing on the higher step for gold.” 

Amanda Bussey began playing golf 12 years ago when The Players Championship sponsored a clinic for special-needs adults at the TPC Sawgrass. Her mother had no idea how good her daughter would be but it only took one swing to convince her. 

“She started hitting the ball and it was like anything else she’s tried … she’s a natural athlete,” Julie Bussey said. “I kept thinking, ‘wow’ … one more thing she can do.” 

Special Olympics golfers have to progress in stages. They must first perform in a skills challenge not unlike Augusta National’s Drive, Chip and Putt competition, then progress to the second phase, playing alternate shot with a non-Special Olympian. 

That’s where Verkouten came in. The two then had to win a gold medal at the Florida Special Olympics and then go into a lottery system 

They found out in mid-June that Amanda and Verkouten had made it. In Orlando next year, they will be competing against more than 200 other golfers from the U.S. representing all 50 states. 

“She loves the game and she keeps getting better,” Verkouten said of Amanda. “She hits incredible tee shots, but like every other golfer, she’ll have some good and bad shots, good and bad putts. We’re both kind of unpredictable that way. But she will play as often as she can get out there.” 

“Putting is hard,” Amanda agreed. 

She then pointed to a leather tag on her golf bag that has become their mantra: “No water, no sand.” 

Out on her own

Amanda Bussey moved out of her mother’s house five years ago and lives at the Arc Jacksonville Village, a residence for adults with special needs who are able to live and work on their own. 

She had a job at Steinmart for 16 years before the chain went out of business, and now works at Marshall’s. She has three nephews and nieces and is the “fun” aunt, according to her mother. 

“She loves babies and they’ve loved her right back,” Julie Bussey said. “She’s an adult but she’s still such a kid at heart. It’s why she loves sports so much.” 

Golf may become the fastest-growing sport for children and adults with special needs. This past spring, Amy Bockerstette of Paradise Valley Community College near Phoenix, already believed to be the first athletes with Down syndrome to play college sports on scholarship, achieved another first, playing in the National Junior College Championship women’s championship in Ormond Beach. 

Modern sports psychologists who work with golfers stress staying in the moment, not worrying about results and putting both good and bad shots behind. Julie Bussey said that’s exactly how her daughter not only plays golf but approaches life. 

“She takes joy in hitting every shot,” she said of her daughter. “I wish I could live in her world just for five minutes – not worry about work, the cable bill, food prices – just live for every moment. That’s the blessing she gives all of us.” 

Verkouten said her relationship and the days she has spent with Amanda on the golf course have taught her a valuable lesson.

“When I’m having a bad day at golf, I just think of how happy it makes Amanda to just be out there,” she said. “Then you don’t worry so much about a bad shot.”

About Special Olympics

• The Northeast Florida Region of Special Olympics has more than 3,000 athletes — around 1,200 in Duval County.

• There will be 17 athletes from the Northeast Florida Region who will represent the state in the Special Olympics U.S. Games in Orlando June 5-12, 2022.

• More than 4,000 athletes and 10,000 volunteers will participate in the U.S. Games.

• For information on the programs offered in Northeast Florida Special Olympics, visit the web site at specialolympicsflorida.org/northeast.

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[skygemspeaks]

You know, running in the same vein as Yuuri’s friends not knowing he’s famous, Yura probably has to deal with the same thing.

Except for him, it’s less of “I’m too shy to talk about my achievements” and more of “how could they not already know.”

‘Cause he’s kind of a really big deal. 

So imagine this boy, going to college (not the same one as Yuuri though because fuck him), and he’s loaded all his classes onto two weekdays, so he can spend as much time as possible training.

(He needs as much training as he can get. His body recently started changing, and because he wasn’t able to get a good handle on his jumps in time, JJ was able to snatch gold from him at the last Worlds and he’s furious.)

And straight up, everyone in his classes are fucking terrified of him.

He’s intimidatingly gorgeous, with his slender limbs and pouty lips, his waist-length silky blonde hair always braided in some kind of elven prince hairstyle (courtesy of Viktor, who’s had years of experience with his own hair).

And also, the first time some jackass tried to poke fun at his masculinity and call him homophobic slurs, Yura kicked him in the fucking jaw. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay,” he growls, fingers clenched into fists.

The next day, they find out the guy has been expelled. No one has any doubt whatsoever Yura had a hand in it.

So yeah, when they get a group assignment in one of his classes and Yura says he can’t meet up with them to work on their presentation because he has training, none of his groupmates can find the courage to complain. They don’t ask what kind of training it is.

It does kinda help that he does his part of the project without complaining, and emails it to them well before the deadline they had decided on.

When Yura says again that he can’t attend their second group meeting, one of the guys in his group finally says something.

“What do you have to do that’s so important you can’t work with us on a project that’s worth 20% of your overall grade!?”

Yura shrugs, not even looking up from whoever he’s texting on his phone. “I’m going to be in Japan then.”

Everyone is too stunned to ask why on Earth he’d be flying to Japan in the middle of a semester.

His phone rings, and he walks off before they can stop him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on my way to the parking lot right now. Would it kill you to be a bit more patient, dad?”

The last word is said sarcastically, but there’s unmistakable affection there.

At the third meeting, Yura again opts out. His groupmates expect it by now, and they don’t bother about asking why. He still does his portion of the work, so they can deal with him being an antisocial shit.

They’re taking a break from studying and schoolwork to go out and get some lunch, and lo and behold, guess who’s at the restaurant they go to?

He’s sitting at a table with two others, his usually immaculate braided knot exchanged for a messy bun that looks no less stunning. He’s still got the brand name clothes, but they’re comfier, not as bright or showy.

The two men he’s with are sitting with their backs to the door, but they seem to be listening intently as Yura talks excitedly about something, his eyes bright and hands gesturing wildly.

His classmates have never seen that kind of expression on his face before.

He notices them as they approach the register, and his face softens into a smile as he waves them over. They’re kind of scared. They’ve never seen him in such a good mood.

As they walk over, the two men he’s with turn around curiously.

Predictably, they’re every bit as gorgeous as Yura is.

Yura introduces them all to his....dads?

The silver-haired man grins proudly, talking about how excited he is that his little Yura is making friends.

Yeah, definitely dads. It suddenly makes sense why Yura had been so furious about that jackass’s homophobic slurs back in the first week of classes.

Yura’s face turns a bright red at the man’s gushing, and he yells at him to, “SHUT THE HELL UP OLD MAN!”

The man laughs, but doesn’t say anything more.

Yura introduces the man as his figure skating coach, Viktor Katsuki-Nikiforov, and his husband Yuuri Katsuki-Nikiforov.

“You figure skate?” he classmates ask, surprised.

The three at the table stare at them all, dumb-founded.

Viktor and Yuuri start laughing uncontrollably then.

Yura turns red and shouts at them to “FUCK OFF!! KATSUDON YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO LAUGH!!”

Yuuri gets his laughter under control, and he turns to look at Yura’s classmates.

“He medalled at the olympics last year,” he informs them. 

Viktor nods enthusiastically at them.

“Both my Yuris were on the podium!!” he informs them happily. “But Yura’s still mad he only got bronze.”

Fanfics based on this post:

A Little Like Whiplash by @realisticallycynical

Educational Fieldtrip by StarlightPhoenix (@cleverlittlejay)

First Impressions Aren’t Always Right by tomorrowsdreams

Like Perfection by Seito (@seitosokusha)

Observing the Transfer Student by Lia_Thal

People You Meet by Mayarene Rose ( @katsuki-nikifcrov)

~If you want to officially gift your work to me, my AO3/FFN penname is SkyGem!~

[geneshaven]

The Newbies (a report card)

As season 5 closes out, I wanted to take a look at how the Newbie’s fared during its run. I haven’t seen a whole lot of meta’s or analysis’s on them, and this isn’t one either. I just wanted to look closer into them as characters, and how they strike me. They are Team Arrow now, so why not.

 Curtis (Mr. Terrific)

Curtis is technically not a Newbie. This is his second season on the show, but the two are vastly different. I don’t know, but is seems to me that he has kind of been all over the place this season.  When we were first introduced to him in Season 4, he was funny and smart and a bit eccentric. He was a good match up with Felicity and the two of them worked off of each other, showed good---dare I say chemistry. Even though the writers didn’t delve into his character all that much, we got a sense of who he was. He was in a happy marriage with Paul. He won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics. He liked to base jump. He is a brilliant inventor (I give you Felicity being able to walk again.)  So, what’s not to like?

But when Season 5 began, Curtis seemed to regress away from all that, away from the potentially great character he could and should be. I didn’t really feel a whole lot of new motivation for him. It was: do this, stand there, say that, cry, fight (sort of), help Felicity with the tech stuff. It wasn’t the vibrant person from Season 4, more of a cut out version, a bit darker, because this season hasn’t really been about legacy, but more like darkness. Curtis had some moments, but nothing that made me want to break out the Kleenex, happy or sad.

To be fair, Curtis has had some good moments this year. He officially became a member of Team Arrow, and not a chasing robotic bees kind. He is fully in. His stint on the salmon ladder, and afterwards he and Felicity admiring the view when Oliver climbed on in his Mayor suit was memorable, more like the old Curtis from last year.  Giving Oliver a shot of truth tea in 502 was good. Any time another character besides Felicity can give Oliver pause and make him think about his decisions gets another positive mark on the report card. He showed grit and determination when Oliver was beating the crap out of him, you know, during ‘training.’ But he kept coming back for more, so… admirable. He could have been a better sounding board for Felicity, but he lost that battle before it started. Felicity’s darkness had more depth than Curtis’s. She was out of his reach---she was out of everybody’s reach. Losing Paul was painful, but it seemed to strengthen Curtis, make him more determined to get beat up more---as pain and grief will do to a person. Being Felicity’s bodyguard in Russia was hilarious, some good comic relief from out of the darkness.

So overall, Curtis has been both good and bad. At times he was tepid and irritating, but also familiar and someone to pull for. Like it or not, he is part of Team Arrow. Whether he becomes a true representation of Mr. Terrific, aka more meatier scenes, (perhaps a flashback of his Olympic training or his courtship with Paul) is another story, perhaps one that hasn’t been written yet.

Grade: B+

 Rene (Wild Dog)

Out of all the Newbies, Rene has rubbed the most people the wrong way. He is abrasive, self-reliant and fiercely independent---almost to a fault. He can be disrespectful, (is there a Blondie in the house) a loose cannon and a closed book. He is angry, argumentative, hard to impress and hard to impress on the people around him. He is a wildcard, a wild spirit---uh a wild dog.

It’s because of all those things; I am one of the few fans who like him. There is something good and decent about him. His whole purpose and motivation in joining Team Arrow was to fight against the bad people in the world, at least in Star City. He is a survivor, as we got a look at in some of his past---a failed military career, a murdered wife and orphaned daughter. There is some potential there to build his character into a strong one. Would it be OTA worthy---yeah, right, as if.  

If Oliver would let him, Rene would be the first one in and the last one out where dangerous situations are concerned. He is unpredictable, but dependable. He wasn’t at first trustworthy, but he will always have his team members backs. He is defiant, loyal, arrogant, and knows how to take one for the team---the torture and near death sentence from Church as an example. He is a father, a warrior, a partner and could become a lover (wink*Dinah*wink.)

Again, the writers crammed all of these traits into Rene without really endearing him to their audience. I think we’ve seen some potential with his interactions with Curtis, with Lance and definitely with Oliver. Rene is compassionate and despite his indifference at times, he is aware of everybody else’s strengths. He respects Curtis’s talent with technology. He respects Lance’s experience and wisdom. He respects Dinah’s fighting skills (and probably her beauty as well.) And most importantly of all---he is totally behind Oliver’s crusade. Would he die for it? You bet your ass he would. He sees in John as having a new big brother---as I’m sure everybody on Team Arrow does. And despite the Blondie stuff, I think he feels a connection to Felicity’s pain and loss. He has experienced something similar with his wife and daughter, not on the same level of killing tens of thousands of innocent people, but he knows about tragedy.

This might seem far-fetched and probably unpopular, but once Rene is tempered and solidified into a complete person, he could be just like Oliver. No, not as badass, but a leader, one who could take the reins of a crusade, the type of person who can instill admiration and faith and belief to those around him. You know, a hero.

Grade: A

 Rory (Ragman)

Rory was quite simply---Havenrock. At first, that is. He was the bridge leading Felicity into the aftermath of her involvement and guilt from destroying his home town and killing his family.  Rory was the writer’s way of opening the door to Felicity’s downward spiral. He was put in her face as an unwanted reminder.

After Felicity was motivated by Curtis to face her issues, she finally went to Rory and confessed her sins. Rory was understandably shocked and angry and hurt, a whole gambit of emotions that could have easily pushed him over the edge and made him into a monster, one that was capable of devouring Felicity and anybody coming to her rescue.

But instead, he walked away, torn between vindication and forgiveness. He chose forgiveness. Out of all the Newbies, Rory was the easiest to accept.  He made sense. His character was tortured, yet approachable. Sad, but optimistic. Angry, yet forgiving.

And his rags were awesome. The invincibility they gave him, and through him, Team Arrow as well---it was a great weapon for the arsenal. Also what was awesome was the bargain and promise he made with Felicity, to help each other stay afloat in the guilt and self-pity they felt they were mired in. To watch each other’s backs in the chaos. It was the definition of who he is.

Ironically, and unfortunately, Rory’s finest moment was his last one on the show. Protecting Felicity, and probably the tens of thousands around the warehouse where Walker put the nuclear bomb, was the ultimate look into a hero’s heart.

I miss Rory, his calm, his being the only one it seemed worried about Felicity and her inevitable journey down the rabbit hole. During his stay, he reminded the team that no matter how dark things get, no matter how painful things become, no matter how impossible it seems to overcome that which can destroy you---it is through compassion and love and grace that one can make a difference, not only in your own life, but those around you as well.

Grade: A+

Dinah (Black Canary)

Okay, sonic cry aside, Dinah is another new character that brings potential to the table. Add her fighting skills to the sonic badassness (by the way, those fighting skills are light years in difference to what Laurel was capable of) and we get the full package. She also fits in because she comes from a background of tragedy and suffering, of loss and rage and hopelessness. It seems to be the right kind of resume to secure a place in Team Arrow.

Oliver recognized it. So did John and Rene. Even Felicity, despite her natural state of cupcakeness and providing light when darkness intrudes---they all recognized how pain and suffering can damage one’s soul. Dinah found her place on Team Arrow, because she was shown what a team truly can be. She found a way to make sense of things again. And maybe, she will find a way to love again as well, (wink*Rene*wink.)

Grade: A

 Evelyn.  (Artemis)

She is a traitor. And possibly evil. She started out as a Newbie, but ended up being just a plot point. A way for Chase to get deeper into Oliver’s head.

Grade: D

 Thanks for reading. Any one of these Newbies could end up playing an integral part in saving the day when the dust settles, not as individuals, but as Team Arrow. And I can’t wait to give OTA and Olicity their year end grades too. I might be able to give them an A+ right now, but I’ll wait until Oliver and Felicity are (willingly) marooned on Lian Yu when everything is over.

@hope-for-olicity @louiseblue1 @almondblossomme @tdgal1 @dmichellewrites @ruwithmeguys @swordandarrow @ibelievenu @graviolabr @callistawolf @candykizzes24 @c0bra5nak3

[amygym]

Aliya, Larisa, Simone, Cata, Songsong, Nastia

NOTE: I am gonna break these into two posts so it’s not sooooo long!

Aliya

First impression: WOW. I loved her confidence and how she kind of just went mostly under the radar as a junior (everyone was distracted by Nabs) and then BAM she turned senior and was killing it!Impression now: Queen. I will never underestimate her! She can look like she’s about to die in podium training and then by event finals she’s looking flawless and full of life so I have just learned to give her the benefit of the doubt! Every interview I read she seems so down to earth, intelligent, and normal! She never takes the bait when people try to get her to discuss the drama of the moment, and she seems like such a supportive teammate. Favorite moment: There are so many! 1) When she was a BAMF at Worlds in 2010. 2) When she was a BAMF in London 2012 after Valentina was downplaying her abilities. 3) When she won that surprise floor bronze in 2014. 4) When she showed up in Rio and was like hmm let me just upgrade my bars routine so it’ll be more competitive and casually slayed the entire competition (aside from that beam “series” incident we won’t discuss)Unpopular opinion: Umm...I probably don’t have a really unpopular one. I do find her to be extremely elegant but sometimes her choreography is super lackluster and arm wavey. She deserves better choreography because she could definitely pull it off. I also think her twisting form is super fug and I don’t understand why they haven’t fixed it when she has a history of knee issues.  

Larisa

First impression: Pikachu leo! I was excited for Romania to have a junior who seemed like they would actually be able to survive their transition to the Senior ranksImpression now: LOVE. She’s so naturally talented! I wish she would stop doing her triple full off beam because I’m afraid she’ll injure herself, and she deserves a wonderful quad after the crapshow that was 2016 for her.Favorite moment: When she won an AA medal in 2015, you could tell how much it meant to her! I also saw her in Glasgow after Worlds and they were ushering her quickly through the waiting crowd but I screamed her name and waved this autograph card I had printed with her Pikachu leo design on it. She literally dragged herself away from her handler and ran back to where I was standing! Unfortunately I couldn’t get close enough for a picture but my friend Catherine was up front and was able to get Lari to sign the card for me! Hopefully one day I can get my picture with her to go with the leo card!Unpopular opinion: Some people don’t like her quick tempo on beam but I like it! She’s very deliberate in what she does and she moves quickly from skill to skill with confidence. 

Simone

First impression: So much raw talent! I loved how you could tell Aimee was pacing her to slowly incorporate upgrades leading up to 2016. I also loved seeing how she looked up to Kyla whenever she wasn’t sure what to do at international meets!Impression now: I am so happy she made it safely to Rio and had an amazing competition! I was sad for her to have that mistake on beam but it definitely showed everyone that she is human. I hope she will take 2017 and 2018 off, enjoy being a normal person for a while and take advantage of all her post-Olympics opportunities, but I really want her to come back for 2019 and 2020 because she’s so talented I don’t want the Simone era to be over!Favorite moment: Probably when she won the AA in Rio even though it was hardly a surprise to anyone! It was so great to see her achieve this goal she had been working towards for so long. Most recently I really enjoyed watching her on DWTS, I thought she did fabulously and she definitely improved over the course of the competition. America did her wrong voting her off before the Finals! (even though I totally think Normani would win even if Simone was in the Finals, Simone deserves to be there too)Unpopular opinion: Not sure if this is unpopular but I don’t think she MUST work with Aimee Boorman again if she comes back to elite. No question about it, they work great together, but it could be interesting to see how another coach might help her in new aspects of her gymnastics.  

[calacuspr]

#BlackLivesMatter – Sports stars and brands MUST do more

The death of George Floyd has shocked the world, broadcast across social media channels after disturbing footage of a police officer kneeling on his neck went viral.

It has provoked riots and protests across the United States, leading to more incidents of police brutality with even reporters being arrested or shot at by law enforcement officers.

The uproar over social injustice in the United States and beyond has prompted sports stars and organisations to speak out – but is it enough?

Going back almost a century, the legendary Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, embarrassing Adolf Hitler and his belief in Aryan supremacy.

Owens was perhaps the first major black athlete to become an international star, his excellence in track and field acting as a symbol of hope in an era of tyranny. It is telling that, amongst other things, he ended up working as a gas pump attendant after his retirement.

At the peak of his success in the mid-1960s, Muhammad Ali was convicted and banned from boxing after refusing the draft to fight in the Vietnam War, a conflict he opposed on religious and political grounds.

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali commented, using his time on bail to promote African-American pride and racial injustice.

Black athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a black-gloved fist during the US national anthem after winning gold and bronze medals respectively in the 200m final of the 1968 Olympic Games.

They were protesting at a time when, much like today, there were protests about civil rights, this being the year that Martin Luther King had been assassinated and the US experienced more race riots in its cities.

LeBron James and the late Kobe Bryant were among several NBA players to wear “I can’t breathe” t-shirts in response to Eric Garner being killed by the NYPD back in 2014.

And we’ve seen in recent years that Colin Kaepernick has been vilified and accused of being unpatriotic for refusing to stand for the national anthem, his ‘taking the knee’ response effectively ending his American Football career.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback explained: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”

Drew Brees, the NFL quarterback, said that kneeling during the anthem was 'disrespecting the flag' and has since apologised for the comments but it could be argued that the damage was done by his initial reaction.

The fact that there have been protests about racism and equal rights across the world in recent days, the death of George Floyd a clear tipping point, suggests little progress has been made.

Global sports icons such as Lewis Hamilton, Coco Gauff, and Michael Jordan all shared their outrage and despair at the killing and continued societal racism.

Sports brands such as Nike and Adidas have also joined ranks with those protesting, but they need to do more than jump onto the latest hashtag and to provide genuine opportunities for black and ethnic individuals.

Adidas, for instance, has a superb track record supporting black athletes, but has only 4.5% black employees, according to a New York Times report last year.

And the Boards at many major brands, sports clubs and associations have few if any black members, while across Europe, the number of black coaches, in football, for instance, bears no reflection on the number of players involved in the game.

Whether a policy similar to the NFL’s Rooney rule needs to be adopted across all sports is a matter for further debate.

Much more needs to be done.

If the campaign to eradicate racism is to have any long-lasting effect, it needs to be unrelenting.

FIFA have indicated that players should not be punished for supporting the protests or displaying political slogans related to it.

Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, for instance, unveiled a t-shirt after scoring against SC Paderborn while Chelsea and Liverpool players took the knee in training in a change from recent years where any ‘political’ statement was punished by the authorities.

We have seen previously that football clubs and associations get lenient fines when found guilty of racism, usually committed by their fans, and we have even seen players such as Brazilian Taison sent off after reacting to racist chants when playing for Shakhtar Donetsk against Dynamo Kiev.

Sports authorities must make it absolutely clear that those who voice their support for #BlackLivesMatter or any anti-racism/LGBT or similar causes linked to systemic prejudice will not be punished – and that any club or national federation that does not take serious measures to address bigotry if it occurs will be punished by more than small fines.

Most of the memorable protests against racism have been instigated by black athletes – but to inspire real change, sports men and women of all colours and creeds must consistently speak out, not just side by side with their black team mates or opponents but whenever they have the opportunity. Anything else is just tokenism.

Of course, sport cannot fix all of society’s ills.

Ultimately, though, while it is heartening to see such outrage at injustice and discrimination, the world of sport can play a leading role in setting a positive example and continuing to shine a light on the issues to ensure the same controversy and conversations are not being discussed 50 years from now.

[clobov]

LONG VALLEY, N.J. -- The gunshots rang out from the back porch of the farmhouse, a little ways off from the stables and Olympic-level dressage arena, the improbable sound rising over the 53-acre estate. A woman had been shot twice in the chest by a man well known not merely to her but also to just about everyone in the rarefied dressage community: Michael Barisone, an Olympic rider, the owner of the farm and the woman's trainer. The shooting was the shocking culmination of a landlord-tenant dispute that the woman, Lauren Kanarek, had documented all summer on social media, openly fearful of what might happen. "I'm afraid," she wrote, five days before the attack. "I'm being bullied." Barisone, who was charged with two counts of attempted murder, said that he shot Kanarek in self-defense. In the week before the shooting, Barisone had called 911 several times, claiming that she and her fiance were squatters on his farm and were harassing him; in one call, Barisone described the conflict as "a war. And it's going to be dealt with." Kanarek survived the attack but was placed in a medically induced coma. Finally, after an extensive surgery to repair damage from a bullet to her left lung and more than a week of hospitalization, she had recovered enough to start reconnecting with the world. The first thing she saw, she recalled, were comments that "wished I was dead." "They know there is a person suffering multiple gunshot wounds, bullet wounds," she said in an interview, her voice raspy where the ventilator had damaged her vocal cords. "To say those things, is something no one could ever imagine." Seldom do attempted murder cases elicit sympathy for the suspect; rarer still are cases where the victim is blamed. And yet Kanarek somehow found herself the target of an online lynch mob. "Yes, you were shot by an obviously provoked man … but you accept zero accountability," reads one direct reply to Kanarek on an online forum hosted by The Chronicle of the Horse, an equestrian publication. "What a narcissist. It's always someone else's fault." The blind sympathy for Barisone lies partly in his standing in the dressage world; he served as a reserve rider on the U.S. dressage team in the 2008 Olympics and coached Allison Brock, one of the riders for the U.S. squad that won a team bronze in the 2016 Olympics. Few fans could fathom his involvement, and many who tried to find reason behind the shooting ended up focusing on his claims that Kanarek had serially harassed him. Just before the shooting, Kanarek had asked the Division of Child Protection and Permanency to investigate Barisone for potential abuse of a child of his fiancee, according to Jeffery Simms, the lawyer who represented him at the arraignment. "The alleged victim is not a victim," Simms told reporters then. "She's a villain." Kanarek said she did not recall placing the call to child services. Barisone's supporters also point to Kanarek's inflammatory social media presence. She has at least one pending charge against her for cyberstalking in North Carolina, where she used to live."Lauren Kanarek took her bullying too far. Everyone has limits," Susan Wachowich, who runs a popular site covering the sport, wrote on Twitter the day of the shooting. She wrote that the site "100% supports Michael Barisone in his actions." The post has since been deleted by Twitter as a violation of its standards. Wachowich did not respond to a request for comment. As is her way, Kanarek is fighting back. In flurries of posts since her attack, Kanarek has replied to strangers, friends and foes, unspooling her version of events and reminding the people who pile up on her that she was nearly killed. "No matter what -- I was shot twice. It was not in self-defense. While plenty more story exists, what else matters?" she wrote in one response. "Do you condone trainers shooting their students trying to kill them? Sure looks that way." Kanarek met Barisone at a horse competition in Wellington, Florida, in 2018. She decided to move her horses from North Carolina to his Hawthorne Hill farm in Long Valley, in the heart of New Jersey's horse country, for the chance to train with an Olympic great, she said. As part of the arrangement, she and her fiance, Robert Goodwin, would live on the property, in an apartment in a farmhouse where Barisone lived. Tensions grew after a flood in the farmhouse forced Barisone and his fiancee to move into a barn on the property, Kanarek said. Barisone tried to kick Kanarek and Goodwin out of the apartment, according to Kanarek, so he could live there; they refused. A month before the shooting, Barisone began contacting people who had online disputes with Kanarek. He told them that he was trying to build a legal case against Kanarek and Goodwin, and eject them from his property. Joey Ann Stagaard, a hair restoration specialist from New Jersey, received one such call about a week before the shooting. "'I know that you are a victim of this girl Lauren's torture, and she is on our farm,' " Stagaard recalled Barisone telling her over the phone. "He said, 'She is causing nothing but havoc here; we are losing our minds.' " Stagaard has been embroiled in a long online spat with Kanarek, whom she has never met, over a former shared love interest, she said. Her public animus toward Kanarek has continued even after the shooting. Stagaard was one of several women, including a North Carolina-based horsewomen named Kathryn Parkinson, who filed a complaint last spring to the U.S. Equestrian Federation and SafeSport, a nonprofit organization that investigates various forms of misconduct in Olympic sports. They accused Kanarek of bullying. The federation said the complaint was investigated and found not to merit any action. "It seemed to us more like a personal matter," said Vicki Lowell, a spokeswoman for the federation. Separately, Kanarek said she had complained to SafeSport about Barisone this summer. Dan Hill, a spokesman for SafeSport, said he could not confirm whether a report was filed.In the meantime, the situation at Hawthorne Hill worsened in the weeks before the shooting: Police were summoned to the farm at least six times, according to recordings of 911 calls placed by Kanarek, her family and Barisone. "These people have been living here, and they're causing us hell," Barisone told the operator July 31, according to recordings obtained by news site Patch. Three days before the attack, on Aug. 4, Barisone called 911 a final time. "I'm taking my life back," he told the operator. When police responded the day of the shooting, they found Barisone pinned beneath Goodwin, a black and pink 9-millimeter Ruger pistol under both of them. The police report indicated that he also shot at Goodwin but missed. As medical personnel and police officers circled through, Barisone was overheard repeating the same sentence: "I had a good life." Barisone is being held in a Morris County jail, after being refused bail by a judge. His current lawyer, Edward J. Bilinkas, did not respond to multiple emails and calls requesting comment. To Kanarek and her lawyer, the details of the spiraling conflict between trainer and student, whether bandied about in the courtroom or on Facebook, are beside the point. "She is the victim here, and she was fighting for her life and trying to recover, while at the same time being attacked," her lawyer, Andrew O'Connor, said. "A disconnect that a lot of these trolls can't get over, is that, 'I've seen this guy from afar, and I see his bronze medal, and so it must be her.' "Kanarek concurred, saying that it was difficult to "go online and see every single person talking about you." She pulled up her blouse to reveal two entry wounds in her rib cage. "Every part of my body and soul and mind is just thinking, I should be on my horses, riding," she said. "Instead, I was shot." This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8870618 https://yhoo.it/2P40HK3

[demitgibbs]

Adam Rippon Talks Finding His Gay Power, Fetish-Inspired Costumes

Being yourself can take you places. If you’re Adam Rippon, born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, it can take you all the way to Pyeongchang, South Korea, where the 28-year-old set fire to the ice last February, becoming the first openly gay male athlete to win a medal — a bronze — for Team USA in a Winter Olympics.

Rippon’s mere existence as a brazenly gay global inspiration with a tongue as sharp as the blades on his skates is notable. Writer Peter Moskowitz recently celebrated Rippon in a piece for Splinter titled “The Faggy Magic of Adam Rippon.” And at a Stars on Ice show in Detroit, Michigan, in April, Rippon garnered by far the most enthusiastic response, winning applause from tween girls, a squadron of proud queers, and suburban moms, alike. Reese Witherspoon loves him. So does Elmo. And like any good mother, Sally Field tried to set him up with her gay son.

Rippon would make his Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) debut a couple weeks after our call, slaying a Vogue-fortified cha-cha to RuPaul’s “Sissy That Walk.” I caught up with the phenom via phone as he put on his face inside the locker room of a Rhode Island arena (a Stars on Ice stop). Rippon opened up about how booze kills his wit game and what he tells guys on Tinder who want a second chance, all the while, being his irresistible self.

WATCH:

[Editor’s Note: This issue of Hotspots went to the printer before ABC’s live DWTS finale, so as you may know, Adam Rippon and his partner Jenna Johnson won the Mirrorball Trophy]

I want to give you a phone hug and say thanks for giving this 35-year-old man a new level of realness to aspire to.

I’m hugging you back.

You stood next to Britney Spears at the GLAAD Media Awards recently for a pic. I hear she liked the way you smelled.

Yes, she did. I congratulated her on her award, and she was like, “You smell really nice,” and I was like, “Thank you so much, ’cause that’s so important to me.”

Your fellow gay Olympian, [freestyle skier] Gus Kenworthy, kissed you on stage that night. How exactly would you describe your relationship with Gus at this point?

Umm [laughs], so, I mean, we’re just friends, obviously. His boyfriend was backstage laughing at him, and so he was just trying to be funny. Gus is a nut.

But you’re so close. And both of you being gay Olympians, it seems you’ve really bonded.

Oh, absolutely. We’re just like brothers — brothers who kiss, I guess. But no, I love him. He’s so nice, and we’re very good friends.

What was it like competing against Tonya Harding on Dancing with the Stars?

It’s not a super big deal, but I think she’s got a lot going on, so I’m just gonna let her do her own thing, probably. Probably best.

Team Tonya or Team Nancy?

Well, I mean, Tonya tried to kill someone, so I’m Team Nancy, probably.

What did you think of I, Tonya?

I loved it. I thought Margot Robbie [who played Harding] was great. Amazing.

Who would you cast as Adam in I, Adam?

Well, Margot did so well. So, maybe Margot Robbie?

Who inspires your on-ice style?

The skating world inspires it a little bit, and then…  you’re gonna know that I’m trashy. I look at like, um, sex stuff and stuff people wear — harnesses and stuff — and the design is quite amazing. I bring [stuff] to my costume designer, and we make them more appropriate for a competition.

For a PG audience?

Yes. Actually, it’s not for that audience. But I make it for them.

That harness you wore to the Oscars in March: Where is it?

It’s in [fashion designer] Jeremy Scott’s office. The suit was by Moschino, so it was from Jeremy’s office and he lent it to me. I’m obsessed with Jeremy. He’s amazing.

Do you get to keep these costumes?

I keep my own costumes. Because, like, I bought them, outright. But the Oscars outfit was for the runway — so, from the red carpet back to the office.

Hard to give that up. So many opportunities to wear something like that.

I know! Like to a wedding. The grocery store.

Were you a sassy kid?

I don’t think I realized how sassy I was till I was at the Olympics and people were like, “Ahahaha, you’re so sassy.” And I was, “Ahahaha… you think so?” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, you’re, like, sassy.” And I was like, “I just thought I was fresh?” And they’re like, “No, you’re sassy.” Oh. OK.

Who inspires your sassiness?

The person who inspires me to be sassy is my mom.

So it’s in the blood.

[Laughs.] Yeah, it’s definitely in the blood. It’s something I can’t control.

Born this way.

Born this way, for sure. Genetics.

Your future: What’s off the table? Where do you draw the line?

Like, I’m not gonna do porn. That’s drawing the line, I guess. I don’t think I would do a reality show — I mean, I did Dancing with the Stars. That’s a reality show. I’m not gonna do, like, Big Brother or anything.

You’re getting a lot of offers. What percentage are you turning down?

I’m talking a little bit to everybody. But honestly, my schedule’s so crazy right now, I barely even know where I am.

The media loves getting you drunk.

Here’s the thing: I don’t drink a lot. Barely anything. And so everyone’s like, “Haha, come on the show and just have drinks!” And I’m like, “OK.” So, I’ll have a little bit, but I feel like I’m way funnier not drunk. I’m not as sharp, I’m not as witty; I’m not myself when I’m drunk. I mean, I like to be in the moment. If I’m in the moment, I can focus, and then I can be quick and witty.

You’ve been on this wild ride: the Olympics, Stars on Ice, Dancing with the Stars. How will you spend a day off when you finally get one?

Um, probably napping.

The whole day?

The whole day.

You have a new man, Jussi-Pekka Kajaala. He’s very good-looking.

I do. He’s super cute, but more than that, he’s super nice and funny.

Before you met, what criteria did you have for a boyfriend?

I really wasn’t looking for anybody. I was on Tinder just for fun. If you’ve ever been on Tinder, you know how you swipe left and right, and it basically turns into this game?

Oh yeah. It’s like the new Hot or Not.

It’s absolutely that. My criteria for a good boyfriend would be somebody who has passion. Passion is super important to me because, no matter what you do, if you have passion for it, then that’s kind of what life is all about — that you have passion for something. [Laughs.]

I’m being so serious. Usually when I get asked this question, I’m like, “a job, goes to the gym” — which is also important.

How many people on Tinder believed you were really Adam Rippon?

Nobody gave a shit that I was Adam Rippon. But I can tell you that everyone I ever matched with who ghosted on me has messaged me since the Olympics. My favorite is, “Oh, it’s been a while. How ya doing?” And I’m like, “Bye.”

You give them more than they deserve, honestly.

Usually I don’t answer.

Do you expect there will be a day when an openly gay figure skater can just be a figure skater?

Yeah. And I hope there’s a day that an openly gay Olympian will just be an Olympian. But I think right now it’s important to share your story.

For me, it’s not being gay that I share; I share my coming out. It’s not like, “Oh, I’m gay and I’m powerful” — which is, like, so true. It was [during] my coming out experience when I started to really own who I was and that’s where I found a lot of power. I was always me, but I didn’t always own it. And when I owned it, that’s when I found I was my strongest.

Have you had any particularly moving exchanges with young queer fans?

Yes. There’ve been many. I’ve run into a few young people who told me they tried to kill themselves at one point, which is incredibly hard to hear, especially from really young kids.

It’s bizarre to be thanked for just being who you are, and for someone to tell you that you really helped them, it’s incredibly humbling. I was not expecting that kind of response after the Olympics.

Do you feel pressure to act or be a certain way because of that?

No more than the way that I’ve been acting.

Good. To end, which Golden Girl are you?

Probably Blanche. Isn’t everyone Blanche? And I’m a little — OK, I’m mostly Dorothy.

It’s the snark.

It is the snark.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/24/adam-rippon-talks-finding-his-gay-power-fetish-inspired-costumes/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/174210916115

[cynthiajayusa]

Adam Rippon Talks Finding His Gay Power, Fetish-Inspired Costumes

Being yourself can take you places. If you’re Adam Rippon, born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, it can take you all the way to Pyeongchang, South Korea, where the 28-year-old set fire to the ice last February, becoming the first openly gay male athlete to win a medal — a bronze — for Team USA in a Winter Olympics.

Rippon’s mere existence as a brazenly gay global inspiration with a tongue as sharp as the blades on his skates is notable. Writer Peter Moskowitz recently celebrated Rippon in a piece for Splinter titled “The Faggy Magic of Adam Rippon.” And at a Stars on Ice show in Detroit, Michigan, in April, Rippon garnered by far the most enthusiastic response, winning applause from tween girls, a squadron of proud queers, and suburban moms, alike. Reese Witherspoon loves him. So does Elmo. And like any good mother, Sally Field tried to set him up with her gay son.

Rippon would make his Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) debut a couple weeks after our call, slaying a Vogue-fortified cha-cha to RuPaul’s “Sissy That Walk.” I caught up with the phenom via phone as he put on his face inside the locker room of a Rhode Island arena (a Stars on Ice stop). Rippon opened up about how booze kills his wit game and what he tells guys on Tinder who want a second chance, all the while, being his irresistible self.

WATCH:

[Editor’s Note: This issue of Hotspots went to the printer before ABC’s live DWTS finale, so as you may know, Adam Rippon and his partner Jenna Johnson won the Mirrorball Trophy]

I want to give you a phone hug and say thanks for giving this 35-year-old man a new level of realness to aspire to.

I’m hugging you back.

You stood next to Britney Spears at the GLAAD Media Awards recently for a pic. I hear she liked the way you smelled.

Yes, she did. I congratulated her on her award, and she was like, “You smell really nice,” and I was like, “Thank you so much, ’cause that’s so important to me.”

Your fellow gay Olympian, [freestyle skier] Gus Kenworthy, kissed you on stage that night. How exactly would you describe your relationship with Gus at this point?

Umm [laughs], so, I mean, we’re just friends, obviously. His boyfriend was backstage laughing at him, and so he was just trying to be funny. Gus is a nut.

But you’re so close. And both of you being gay Olympians, it seems you’ve really bonded.

Oh, absolutely. We’re just like brothers — brothers who kiss, I guess. But no, I love him. He’s so nice, and we’re very good friends.

What was it like competing against Tonya Harding on Dancing with the Stars?

It’s not a super big deal, but I think she’s got a lot going on, so I’m just gonna let her do her own thing, probably. Probably best.

Team Tonya or Team Nancy?

Well, I mean, Tonya tried to kill someone, so I’m Team Nancy, probably.

What did you think of I, Tonya?

I loved it. I thought Margot Robbie [who played Harding] was great. Amazing.

Who would you cast as Adam in I, Adam?

Well, Margot did so well. So, maybe Margot Robbie?

Who inspires your on-ice style?

The skating world inspires it a little bit, and then…  you’re gonna know that I’m trashy. I look at like, um, sex stuff and stuff people wear — harnesses and stuff — and the design is quite amazing. I bring [stuff] to my costume designer, and we make them more appropriate for a competition.

For a PG audience?

Yes. Actually, it’s not for that audience. But I make it for them.

That harness you wore to the Oscars in March: Where is it?

It’s in [fashion designer] Jeremy Scott’s office. The suit was by Moschino, so it was from Jeremy’s office and he lent it to me. I’m obsessed with Jeremy. He’s amazing.

Do you get to keep these costumes?

I keep my own costumes. Because, like, I bought them, outright. But the Oscars outfit was for the runway — so, from the red carpet back to the office.

Hard to give that up. So many opportunities to wear something like that.

I know! Like to a wedding. The grocery store.

Were you a sassy kid?

I don’t think I realized how sassy I was till I was at the Olympics and people were like, “Ahahaha, you’re so sassy.” And I was, “Ahahaha… you think so?” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, you’re, like, sassy.” And I was like, “I just thought I was fresh?” And they’re like, “No, you’re sassy.” Oh. OK.

Who inspires your sassiness?

The person who inspires me to be sassy is my mom.

So it’s in the blood.

[Laughs.] Yeah, it’s definitely in the blood. It’s something I can’t control.

Born this way.

Born this way, for sure. Genetics.

Your future: What’s off the table? Where do you draw the line?

Like, I’m not gonna do porn. That’s drawing the line, I guess. I don’t think I would do a reality show — I mean, I did Dancing with the Stars. That’s a reality show. I’m not gonna do, like, Big Brother or anything.

You’re getting a lot of offers. What percentage are you turning down?

I’m talking a little bit to everybody. But honestly, my schedule’s so crazy right now, I barely even know where I am.

The media loves getting you drunk.

Here’s the thing: I don’t drink a lot. Barely anything. And so everyone’s like, “Haha, come on the show and just have drinks!” And I’m like, “OK.” So, I’ll have a little bit, but I feel like I’m way funnier not drunk. I’m not as sharp, I’m not as witty; I’m not myself when I’m drunk. I mean, I like to be in the moment. If I’m in the moment, I can focus, and then I can be quick and witty.

You’ve been on this wild ride: the Olympics, Stars on Ice, Dancing with the Stars. How will you spend a day off when you finally get one?

Um, probably napping.

The whole day?

The whole day.

You have a new man, Jussi-Pekka Kajaala. He’s very good-looking.

I do. He’s super cute, but more than that, he’s super nice and funny.

Before you met, what criteria did you have for a boyfriend?

I really wasn’t looking for anybody. I was on Tinder just for fun. If you’ve ever been on Tinder, you know how you swipe left and right, and it basically turns into this game?

Oh yeah. It’s like the new Hot or Not.

It’s absolutely that. My criteria for a good boyfriend would be somebody who has passion. Passion is super important to me because, no matter what you do, if you have passion for it, then that’s kind of what life is all about — that you have passion for something. [Laughs.]

I’m being so serious. Usually when I get asked this question, I’m like, “a job, goes to the gym” — which is also important.

How many people on Tinder believed you were really Adam Rippon?

Nobody gave a shit that I was Adam Rippon. But I can tell you that everyone I ever matched with who ghosted on me has messaged me since the Olympics. My favorite is, “Oh, it’s been a while. How ya doing?” And I’m like, “Bye.”

You give them more than they deserve, honestly.

Usually I don’t answer.

Do you expect there will be a day when an openly gay figure skater can just be a figure skater?

Yeah. And I hope there’s a day that an openly gay Olympian will just be an Olympian. But I think right now it’s important to share your story.

For me, it’s not being gay that I share; I share my coming out. It’s not like, “Oh, I’m gay and I’m powerful” — which is, like, so true. It was [during] my coming out experience when I started to really own who I was and that’s where I found a lot of power. I was always me, but I didn’t always own it. And when I owned it, that’s when I found I was my strongest.

Have you had any particularly moving exchanges with young queer fans?

Yes. There’ve been many. I’ve run into a few young people who told me they tried to kill themselves at one point, which is incredibly hard to hear, especially from really young kids.

It’s bizarre to be thanked for just being who you are, and for someone to tell you that you really helped them, it’s incredibly humbling. I was not expecting that kind of response after the Olympics.

Do you feel pressure to act or be a certain way because of that?

No more than the way that I’ve been acting.

Good. To end, which Golden Girl are you?

Probably Blanche. Isn’t everyone Blanche? And I’m a little — OK, I’m mostly Dorothy.

It’s the snark.

It is the snark.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/24/adam-rippon-talks-finding-his-gay-power-fetish-inspired-costumes/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/05/adam-rippon-talks-finding-his-gay-power.html

[hotspotsmagazine]

Adam Rippon Talks Finding His Gay Power, Fetish-Inspired Costumes

Being yourself can take you places. If you’re Adam Rippon, born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, it can take you all the way to Pyeongchang, South Korea, where the 28-year-old set fire to the ice last February, becoming the first openly gay male athlete to win a medal — a bronze — for Team USA in a Winter Olympics.

Rippon’s mere existence as a brazenly gay global inspiration with a tongue as sharp as the blades on his skates is notable. Writer Peter Moskowitz recently celebrated Rippon in a piece for Splinter titled “The Faggy Magic of Adam Rippon.” And at a Stars on Ice show in Detroit, Michigan, in April, Rippon garnered by far the most enthusiastic response, winning applause from tween girls, a squadron of proud queers, and suburban moms, alike. Reese Witherspoon loves him. So does Elmo. And like any good mother, Sally Field tried to set him up with her gay son.

Rippon would make his Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) debut a couple weeks after our call, slaying a Vogue-fortified cha-cha to RuPaul’s “Sissy That Walk.” I caught up with the phenom via phone as he put on his face inside the locker room of a Rhode Island arena (a Stars on Ice stop). Rippon opened up about how booze kills his wit game and what he tells guys on Tinder who want a second chance, all the while, being his irresistible self.

WATCH:

[Editor’s Note: This issue of Hotspots went to the printer before ABC’s live DWTS finale, so as you may know, Adam Rippon and his partner Jenna Johnson won the Mirrorball Trophy]

I want to give you a phone hug and say thanks for giving this 35-year-old man a new level of realness to aspire to.

I’m hugging you back.

You stood next to Britney Spears at the GLAAD Media Awards recently for a pic. I hear she liked the way you smelled.

Yes, she did. I congratulated her on her award, and she was like, “You smell really nice,” and I was like, “Thank you so much, ’cause that’s so important to me.”

Your fellow gay Olympian, [freestyle skier] Gus Kenworthy, kissed you on stage that night. How exactly would you describe your relationship with Gus at this point?

Umm [laughs], so, I mean, we’re just friends, obviously. His boyfriend was backstage laughing at him, and so he was just trying to be funny. Gus is a nut.

But you’re so close. And both of you being gay Olympians, it seems you’ve really bonded.

Oh, absolutely. We’re just like brothers — brothers who kiss, I guess. But no, I love him. He’s so nice, and we’re very good friends.

What was it like competing against Tonya Harding on Dancing with the Stars?

It’s not a super big deal, but I think she’s got a lot going on, so I’m just gonna let her do her own thing, probably. Probably best.

Team Tonya or Team Nancy?

Well, I mean, Tonya tried to kill someone, so I’m Team Nancy, probably.

What did you think of I, Tonya?

I loved it. I thought Margot Robbie [who played Harding] was great. Amazing.

Who would you cast as Adam in I, Adam?

Well, Margot did so well. So, maybe Margot Robbie?

Who inspires your on-ice style?

The skating world inspires it a little bit, and then…  you’re gonna know that I’m trashy. I look at like, um, sex stuff and stuff people wear — harnesses and stuff — and the design is quite amazing. I bring [stuff] to my costume designer, and we make them more appropriate for a competition.

For a PG audience?

Yes. Actually, it’s not for that audience. But I make it for them.

That harness you wore to the Oscars in March: Where is it?

It’s in [fashion designer] Jeremy Scott’s office. The suit was by Moschino, so it was from Jeremy’s office and he lent it to me. I’m obsessed with Jeremy. He’s amazing.

Do you get to keep these costumes?

I keep my own costumes. Because, like, I bought them, outright. But the Oscars outfit was for the runway — so, from the red carpet back to the office.

Hard to give that up. So many opportunities to wear something like that.

I know! Like to a wedding. The grocery store.

Were you a sassy kid?

I don’t think I realized how sassy I was till I was at the Olympics and people were like, “Ahahaha, you’re so sassy.” And I was, “Ahahaha… you think so?” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, you’re, like, sassy.” And I was like, “I just thought I was fresh?” And they’re like, “No, you’re sassy.” Oh. OK.

Who inspires your sassiness?

The person who inspires me to be sassy is my mom.

So it’s in the blood.

[Laughs.] Yeah, it’s definitely in the blood. It’s something I can’t control.

Born this way.

Born this way, for sure. Genetics.

Your future: What’s off the table? Where do you draw the line?

Like, I’m not gonna do porn. That’s drawing the line, I guess. I don’t think I would do a reality show — I mean, I did Dancing with the Stars. That’s a reality show. I’m not gonna do, like, Big Brother or anything.

You’re getting a lot of offers. What percentage are you turning down?

I’m talking a little bit to everybody. But honestly, my schedule’s so crazy right now, I barely even know where I am.

The media loves getting you drunk.

Here’s the thing: I don’t drink a lot. Barely anything. And so everyone’s like, “Haha, come on the show and just have drinks!” And I’m like, “OK.” So, I’ll have a little bit, but I feel like I’m way funnier not drunk. I’m not as sharp, I’m not as witty; I’m not myself when I’m drunk. I mean, I like to be in the moment. If I’m in the moment, I can focus, and then I can be quick and witty.

You’ve been on this wild ride: the Olympics, Stars on Ice, Dancing with the Stars. How will you spend a day off when you finally get one?

Um, probably napping.

The whole day?

The whole day.

You have a new man, Jussi-Pekka Kajaala. He’s very good-looking.

I do. He’s super cute, but more than that, he’s super nice and funny.

Before you met, what criteria did you have for a boyfriend?

I really wasn’t looking for anybody. I was on Tinder just for fun. If you’ve ever been on Tinder, you know how you swipe left and right, and it basically turns into this game?

Oh yeah. It’s like the new Hot or Not.

It’s absolutely that. My criteria for a good boyfriend would be somebody who has passion. Passion is super important to me because, no matter what you do, if you have passion for it, then that’s kind of what life is all about — that you have passion for something. [Laughs.]

I’m being so serious. Usually when I get asked this question, I’m like, “a job, goes to the gym” — which is also important.

How many people on Tinder believed you were really Adam Rippon?

Nobody gave a shit that I was Adam Rippon. But I can tell you that everyone I ever matched with who ghosted on me has messaged me since the Olympics. My favorite is, “Oh, it’s been a while. How ya doing?” And I’m like, “Bye.”

You give them more than they deserve, honestly.

Usually I don’t answer.

Do you expect there will be a day when an openly gay figure skater can just be a figure skater?

Yeah. And I hope there’s a day that an openly gay Olympian will just be an Olympian. But I think right now it’s important to share your story.

For me, it’s not being gay that I share; I share my coming out. It’s not like, “Oh, I’m gay and I’m powerful” — which is, like, so true. It was [during] my coming out experience when I started to really own who I was and that’s where I found a lot of power. I was always me, but I didn’t always own it. And when I owned it, that’s when I found I was my strongest.

Have you had any particularly moving exchanges with young queer fans?

Yes. There’ve been many. I’ve run into a few young people who told me they tried to kill themselves at one point, which is incredibly hard to hear, especially from really young kids.

It’s bizarre to be thanked for just being who you are, and for someone to tell you that you really helped them, it’s incredibly humbling. I was not expecting that kind of response after the Olympics.

Do you feel pressure to act or be a certain way because of that?

No more than the way that I’ve been acting.

Good. To end, which Golden Girl are you?

Probably Blanche. Isn’t everyone Blanche? And I’m a little — OK, I’m mostly Dorothy.

It’s the snark.

It is the snark.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/24/adam-rippon-talks-finding-his-gay-power-fetish-inspired-costumes/