I feel a little bad because I had to spend time catching up on about 100 pages before posting, but I'm back home! I'm in at work too. Apparently I'm in a great mood according to my boss who said he's never seen me so relaxed and happy returning from vacation before. Yeah, I got a little extra pep in my step, ngl, despite all the sleep deprivation. I skipped the gala and small medals but it all looked fun (I had to get back to the land of the living though)! As for some general reflective thoughts.
I was kind of thinking that I know my feelings earlier weren't popular that it felt like it'd be an all or nothing competition for Yuzu for reasons I couldn't really say (it's just a feeling I got)...but in the end I was kind of right. After the short, it was "nothing" since he didn't even place for the small medals. And then after the long it was all!! So my instincts were actually pretty good! I just interpreted them wrong
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After the short I wasn’t sure what to think going into the free. I was feeling a bit depressed about his chances and knew he’d have to do what he's never done before to even have a shot at winning. I clutched my Pooh bear extra tight at night like I child (we cope how we can). On Friday I was just trying to keep myself distracted and appreciate that I was there and I was meeting so many great people (like some of you guys who were there), including the skaters and their team. I watched the ladies free at the hotel with Jason Brown's parents and some coaches and that was really cool. It's so much better watching skating with people that really know the sport. I saw the final flight of girls rushing out to the shuttle bus (Med in her fur coat) and that was fun (poor Pogo at the time looked bright eyed and determined). But then when that was over I started feeling really anxious again and it was just a matter of me feeling like maybe I'd never be lucky enough to witness my all time favorite skater be amazing in person (yes, after these championships, I can decisively say he is now my all time favorite). And then Saturday happened and I had my Pooh Bear clutched early on in the competition. My friends said they saw me holding him early. My nerves were getting to be too much so I went to get that glass of wine before Misha Ge skated. It helped some but by the time Yuzu's group was to begin I was getting nervous again. So I looked at the warm up and saw him go down on the 3A and I was feeling something awful. And then it was game time.
I just remembered loving seeing him do the 4 Loop in front of me. And then the sal was good, the flip was good. And then he was coming back to my side where I saw him mess up the combo in the short. And then right before my very eyes he hit his best 4sal/3toe in front of me and I absolutely screamed. It was f*cking glorious (excuse my french). I just couldn’t contain myself and wanted so badly for him to hold on. The jumps were just looking exceptionally beautiful this day and I wanted him to keep it up and when he was done, the pure hysteria was something else. It was an absolute privilege to see an immaculate skate like that. I was trying to be reasonable and only wanted to see a clean short from him. He gave me a really good short (just costly with a small mistake). But after the free I knew at the very least he'd make the podium that way, but I was really hoping that somehow he could pull out a win. And then the biggest threats were making just enough mistakes. When the results were in I couldn't contain myself. It was a high I will never forget in my lifetime. And celebrating with all the fans was so amazing. I stayed in the arena while dance was happening and I had the pooh ears and the bear and fellow fans going by...we'd smirk to each other in delight. I found the Pooh Ears couple and we hugged! The Japanese fans were delighted and I chatted with a lot of them, making some new friends and they gave me so many gifts.
Later on I ended up meeting Tracy Wilson (and saw Brian but he was sitting and talking with a group) and I told her how happy I was and congratulated her on a job well done. I asked her how it was sitting in the K&C instead of doing commentary and she said it was very different. I told her we absolutely loved seeing her there (which is as much of a hint I could give that maybe she should do it more often :luv17
. She was VERY happy. I also met some other skaters who were really nice. I actually met Kevin Reynolds and chatted with him in Japanese a bit, and then nearby Japanese fans were impressed haha. *sigh* What a grand day that was.
I think I have some Sasha Cohen PTSD that will probably remain forever. I promised myself I'd never get invested in a skater again like I was for her, but Yuzu, I can't quit you.
Reading Narcissa's account of things reminded me of something; are there any FS warmup fancams that I may have missed?
I have one I have yet to upload (uploaded the SP one but didn't post it here yet). Will probably be a repost with my tumblr recap but as for the SP at least:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tllQfom3oYE
Also just saw that my first practice video upload just topped 100,000 views :eeking:
Which again speaks volume for the level of skating at this competition.
"His Russian wife" being....
Please Yuzu, please!:sad4:
I would have loved to be there too, but really, i feel so happy for all of you who were there supporting him and got the opportunity to see such beauty of a skate 
