(no subject)
A SKATING FANDOM PRIMER
OR: WHO ARE ALL THESE FIGURE SKATERS APPEARING ON MY FLIST AND WHY SHOULD I BE READING ABOUT THEM
This started out as lemniciate telling me that reading skating rpf was hard, seeing how she didn't actually know what Evan Lysacek looked like. This is the result - it got a little out of hand.
Basically, this is a compilation of things you should know before delving into skating fic - I've mostly avoided linking to any actual skating videos, and instead focused on the most popular skaters and pairings (read: Johnny/Evan and Johnny/Stéphane) in the fandom, for those who don't really care about the ins and outs of skating, and just want some background knowledge before reading the porn.
This is Johnny Weir.
(If you didn't know this, you have clearly been living under a rock for the last five months.)
He is a three time US champion, world medallist, and two-time Olympian.
He is fabulous. However, this mostly goes unnoticed by the international skating community, and he's faced a lot of criticism for skating in sparkly onesies, appearing in editorial photoshoots wearing high heels, and generally speaking his mind.
He placed 6th in Vancouver this year, and was widely regarded as being underscored (although not enough to deserve a place on the podium). There was a lot of controversy over some asshole commentators who made comments about him needing gender testing, and Johnny handled it in a really classy way - probably because he's heard shit like that throughout his whole career.
He also has his own reality show, Be Good Johnny Weir, in which he spends a lot of time in various states of undress, while occasionally pretending to be Russian. (He loves everything about Russia, and speaks the language pretty fluently - his coach, Galina, is Ukranian.) His best friend, Paris, is seen on the show, but isn't a skater.
As a result of all this, he's been quite visible lately, attending events and hosting awards and generally going around in tight pants and pointy shoes and occasionally headbands.
This is Evan Lysacek.
He is a two time US champion, 2009 World champion, and the Olympic gold medalist in Vancouver this year.
His nickname in fandom is 'orange bro', for reasons that should be apparent. He hasn't always been so orange:
His skating is very different from Johnny's; Evan has amazing technical ability, whereas Johnny is more about the artistry and making things 'look pretty', no matter how many points they get.
Evan is also generally in the favour of the US Figure Skating Association (USFSA) - he's what they consider a good role model for skating, emphasising the power and 'masculinity' of the sport. However, it's pretty clear that he's worked his ass off to get where he is today - he's already at disadvantage, being 6'2, and the amount of time he spends training is mind-boggling. His coach, Frank Carroll, is kind of scary, doesn't like it when the skaters cry, and once slapped Evan (at his request, but still) before he went on the ice. You can't fault Evan's dedication.
He's currently one of the celebrities on Dancing With The Stars (now down to the top four!), dividing his time between skating in the Stars on Ice tour, and rehearsing for the show with his partner, Anna Trebunskaya. He dated figure skater Tanith Belbin for three years, but they're no longer together. He also has an unfortunate habit of speaking in a monotone voice, as evidenced by the above interview.
This is Stéphane Lambiel.
He's a Swiss skater, two-time world champion, and the 2006 Olympic silver medallist. This year, he placed 4th in Vancouver. Afterwards, he announced his retirement, and now is a professional skater, meaning he no longer skates competitively.
If Prince Charming was a real person, he would be Stéphane. He's just a mix of adorable and hot and good hair, and speaks five languages.
He's often referred to as 'zebra' in fandom because of this costume he wore in his 05/06 long program, which was meant to tell the story of 'a sparkly zebra with wings, seeing snow for the first time'. Yeah. He's also kind of the slut of the skating fandom, mainly due to him being overly-affectionate, hugging everyone, and having sexual chemistry with just about everyone in the world.
Evgeni Plushenko, a Russian figure skater who won gold at the 2006 Olympics and silver in 2010 (as well as a shitload of other gold medals throughout his career - he's probably the most successful skater still competing). He's kind of arrogant, but we love him for it
Brian Joubert, a French skater who's won Worlds once and the European Championships three times, had a total disaster in Vancouver but got his shit together to kick ass and take bronze at Worlds this year. He likes to be naked a lot, which his fans appreciate.
Tanith Belbin, an American ice dance skater, who used to date Evan, and shared a room with Johnny at the Vancouver Olympics.
Patrick Chan, a Canadian skater who won bronze at Vancouver and silver at Worlds, is generally disliked for being kind of arrogant and often over-scored, and also possibly has a stalker-like crush on Yu-na Kim.
Johnny/Evan - aka Swangoose
If you like your pairings angst-y, confusing and with brilliant potential for hate!sex, this is the one for you!
I'm not going to attempt to condense their rivalry (a full timeline takes up 2 separate posts on ontd_skating), but the basics are: up until around 2007, they were mostly friendly rivals, and then something happened that turned them against each other (speculation ranges from a brief, torrid affair, to the USFSA telling Evan to act more hetero if wanted to do well - the possibilities are endless).
Interestingly, up until this point Johnny was usually the better skater, and then from the 06/07 onwards, Evan overtook him, becoming new national champion and generally winning more titles. Evan also started talking about wanting to 'put the focus on the skating instead of the glitter', which, whether aimed directly at Johnny or not, certainly fit with what the USFSA wanted for the sport. In return, Johnny's said things like, '“I respect Evan as an athlete, but as a person I don’t really like him. There’s nothing special about him to me. We would never be friends, and I wouldn’t even know who he was if we weren’t competing against each other.”
Watch this interview for more awkwardness and passive-aggressiveness.
And now, they're pretty much at war, with Johnny possibly insinuating that Evan is gay in an interview with Chelsea Lately (he winked after talking about Evan's ex-girlfriend - I can't find a link though D: aurora_84 is amazing: watch from 2.00 to 2.30),
and Evan suggesting that Johnny wasn't invited on the Stars On Ice tour because 'they only hire the best of the best to skate'.
'Swangoose' refers to their nicknames, as used by each other:
Evan has called me Swan since the Olympics for obvious reasons, sometimes he even says 'Little Swan' in a Russian accent, but in general, Swan. - Johnny
The 'obvious reason' is Johnny's costume for the 05/06 short program:
“I started calling him the swan ‘cause he wore that funny swan outfit, and then he started calling me a mongoose, which I don’t even know what that is." - Evan
There was also that time that Evan borrowed Johnny's pants (watch the first 20 seconds, and then from 3.55 for an explanation):
And that time that Johnny practically had sex with a foot massager while Evan was in the room next to his in the hotel:
So, yes. They retcon their rivalry practically every week, with a various conflicting statements about whether they were ever friends, whether they hate each other now, and what they think about each other. It's entertaining, but VERY frustrating.
Recs!
Too Far Around The Bend by audiologic, aka the au where Johnny and Evan are a pairs skating team.
the stars and sea, by formerlydf, which is gorgeous and based on this fanvid (also recommended watching!)
Be One Traveller, by passe_simple, the one where Evan wakes up in another universe where he's dating Johnny.
If you like your porn with a healthy dose of d/s, run don't walk to read Siamese Fighting Fish by tyrannicides. For less kinky, still hot, also kind of hilarious porn try Cohabition and its sequel Saybrook Sage, also by the same author.
And finally, I know it's a pain to rec WIPs, but any lawful impediment is the drunk!marriage fic on the kinkmeme that is pretty much legendary in the fandom already. It's 29 parts long and going strong!
Johnny/Stéphane - aka zebraswan (swanzebra?)
If you prefer your pairings made of sparkles and glitter and everything magical, this is the one for you!
Stéphane and Johnny have been competing against each other since they were juniors. For a short time in 2008, they trained together and shared the same coach, when Johnny said:
“If you take the top 10 men's skaters in the world, I can’t imagine one I’d get along better with than Stéphane… He’s a good guy, a great skater."
That's them practising the pairs routine that we all pray will one day be completed and performed. Here's a video:
(Johnny, unlike most skaters, jumps clockwise, so here you can see Stéphane attempting to do a clockwise jump, presumably for the routine. This is proof of their TRUE LOVE.)
There's also this, in which Stéphane actually nuzzles Johnny's face and then tickles Johnny, who responds by flapping his arms like a little girl. This was at Kings On Ice, a show in Russia last month, also starring Plushenko and Joubert (OT4 generally refers to these four).
In conclusion: Prince Charming + Fierce Bitch = a winning combination.
Recs!
Sadly, there seems to be a lot less good fic for this pairing - or if it's out there, I haven't found it yet (links please!). Most noteworthy is Outtakes, bykartography, which deals with their relationship while Johnny's filming his reality show - it's pretty amazing.
All Life Turns to Words (But Just the Sounds), by lordessrenegade is another one that I love, mainly for the smoking hot sexual tension, and great porn. And that's all I have bookmarked!
Um, wow, that turned out longer than expected.
OR: WHO ARE ALL THESE FIGURE SKATERS APPEARING ON MY FLIST AND WHY SHOULD I BE READING ABOUT THEM
This started out as lemniciate telling me that reading skating rpf was hard, seeing how she didn't actually know what Evan Lysacek looked like. This is the result - it got a little out of hand.
Basically, this is a compilation of things you should know before delving into skating fic - I've mostly avoided linking to any actual skating videos, and instead focused on the most popular skaters and pairings (read: Johnny/Evan and Johnny/Stéphane) in the fandom, for those who don't really care about the ins and outs of skating, and just want some background knowledge before reading the porn.
This is Johnny Weir.
(If you didn't know this, you have clearly been living under a rock for the last five months.)
He is a three time US champion, world medallist, and two-time Olympian.
He is fabulous. However, this mostly goes unnoticed by the international skating community, and he's faced a lot of criticism for skating in sparkly onesies, appearing in editorial photoshoots wearing high heels, and generally speaking his mind.
He placed 6th in Vancouver this year, and was widely regarded as being underscored (although not enough to deserve a place on the podium). There was a lot of controversy over some asshole commentators who made comments about him needing gender testing, and Johnny handled it in a really classy way - probably because he's heard shit like that throughout his whole career.
He also has his own reality show, Be Good Johnny Weir, in which he spends a lot of time in various states of undress, while occasionally pretending to be Russian. (He loves everything about Russia, and speaks the language pretty fluently - his coach, Galina, is Ukranian.) His best friend, Paris, is seen on the show, but isn't a skater.
As a result of all this, he's been quite visible lately, attending events and hosting awards and generally going around in tight pants and pointy shoes and occasionally headbands.
This is Evan Lysacek.
He is a two time US champion, 2009 World champion, and the Olympic gold medalist in Vancouver this year.
His nickname in fandom is 'orange bro', for reasons that should be apparent. He hasn't always been so orange:
His skating is very different from Johnny's; Evan has amazing technical ability, whereas Johnny is more about the artistry and making things 'look pretty', no matter how many points they get.
Evan is also generally in the favour of the US Figure Skating Association (USFSA) - he's what they consider a good role model for skating, emphasising the power and 'masculinity' of the sport. However, it's pretty clear that he's worked his ass off to get where he is today - he's already at disadvantage, being 6'2, and the amount of time he spends training is mind-boggling. His coach, Frank Carroll, is kind of scary, doesn't like it when the skaters cry, and once slapped Evan (at his request, but still) before he went on the ice. You can't fault Evan's dedication.
Click to viewHe's currently one of the celebrities on Dancing With The Stars (now down to the top four!), dividing his time between skating in the Stars on Ice tour, and rehearsing for the show with his partner, Anna Trebunskaya. He dated figure skater Tanith Belbin for three years, but they're no longer together. He also has an unfortunate habit of speaking in a monotone voice, as evidenced by the above interview.
This is Stéphane Lambiel.
He's a Swiss skater, two-time world champion, and the 2006 Olympic silver medallist. This year, he placed 4th in Vancouver. Afterwards, he announced his retirement, and now is a professional skater, meaning he no longer skates competitively.
If Prince Charming was a real person, he would be Stéphane. He's just a mix of adorable and hot and good hair, and speaks five languages.
He's often referred to as 'zebra' in fandom because of this costume he wore in his 05/06 long program, which was meant to tell the story of 'a sparkly zebra with wings, seeing snow for the first time'. Yeah. He's also kind of the slut of the skating fandom, mainly due to him being overly-affectionate, hugging everyone, and having sexual chemistry with just about everyone in the world.
Evgeni Plushenko, a Russian figure skater who won gold at the 2006 Olympics and silver in 2010 (as well as a shitload of other gold medals throughout his career - he's probably the most successful skater still competing). He's kind of arrogant, but we love him for it
Brian Joubert, a French skater who's won Worlds once and the European Championships three times, had a total disaster in Vancouver but got his shit together to kick ass and take bronze at Worlds this year. He likes to be naked a lot, which his fans appreciate.
Tanith Belbin, an American ice dance skater, who used to date Evan, and shared a room with Johnny at the Vancouver Olympics.
Patrick Chan, a Canadian skater who won bronze at Vancouver and silver at Worlds, is generally disliked for being kind of arrogant and often over-scored, and also possibly has a stalker-like crush on Yu-na Kim.
Johnny/Evan - aka Swangoose
If you like your pairings angst-y, confusing and with brilliant potential for hate!sex, this is the one for you!
I'm not going to attempt to condense their rivalry (a full timeline takes up 2 separate posts on ontd_skating), but the basics are: up until around 2007, they were mostly friendly rivals, and then something happened that turned them against each other (speculation ranges from a brief, torrid affair, to the USFSA telling Evan to act more hetero if wanted to do well - the possibilities are endless).
Interestingly, up until this point Johnny was usually the better skater, and then from the 06/07 onwards, Evan overtook him, becoming new national champion and generally winning more titles. Evan also started talking about wanting to 'put the focus on the skating instead of the glitter', which, whether aimed directly at Johnny or not, certainly fit with what the USFSA wanted for the sport. In return, Johnny's said things like, '“I respect Evan as an athlete, but as a person I don’t really like him. There’s nothing special about him to me. We would never be friends, and I wouldn’t even know who he was if we weren’t competing against each other.”
Watch this interview for more awkwardness and passive-aggressiveness.
And now, they're pretty much at war, with Johnny possibly insinuating that Evan is gay in an interview with Chelsea Lately (he winked after talking about Evan's ex-girlfriend - I can't find a link though D: aurora_84 is amazing: watch from 2.00 to 2.30),
and Evan suggesting that Johnny wasn't invited on the Stars On Ice tour because 'they only hire the best of the best to skate'.
'Swangoose' refers to their nicknames, as used by each other:
Evan has called me Swan since the Olympics for obvious reasons, sometimes he even says 'Little Swan' in a Russian accent, but in general, Swan. - Johnny
The 'obvious reason' is Johnny's costume for the 05/06 short program:
“I started calling him the swan ‘cause he wore that funny swan outfit, and then he started calling me a mongoose, which I don’t even know what that is." - Evan
There was also that time that Evan borrowed Johnny's pants (watch the first 20 seconds, and then from 3.55 for an explanation):
And that time that Johnny practically had sex with a foot massager while Evan was in the room next to his in the hotel:
So, yes. They retcon their rivalry practically every week, with a various conflicting statements about whether they were ever friends, whether they hate each other now, and what they think about each other. It's entertaining, but VERY frustrating.
Recs!
Too Far Around The Bend by audiologic, aka the au where Johnny and Evan are a pairs skating team.
the stars and sea, by formerlydf, which is gorgeous and based on this fanvid (also recommended watching!)
Be One Traveller, by passe_simple, the one where Evan wakes up in another universe where he's dating Johnny.
If you like your porn with a healthy dose of d/s, run don't walk to read Siamese Fighting Fish by tyrannicides. For less kinky, still hot, also kind of hilarious porn try Cohabition and its sequel Saybrook Sage, also by the same author.
And finally, I know it's a pain to rec WIPs, but any lawful impediment is the drunk!marriage fic on the kinkmeme that is pretty much legendary in the fandom already. It's 29 parts long and going strong!
Johnny/Stéphane - aka zebraswan (swanzebra?)
If you prefer your pairings made of sparkles and glitter and everything magical, this is the one for you!
Stéphane and Johnny have been competing against each other since they were juniors. For a short time in 2008, they trained together and shared the same coach, when Johnny said:
“If you take the top 10 men's skaters in the world, I can’t imagine one I’d get along better with than Stéphane… He’s a good guy, a great skater."
That's them practising the pairs routine that we all pray will one day be completed and performed. Here's a video:
(Johnny, unlike most skaters, jumps clockwise, so here you can see Stéphane attempting to do a clockwise jump, presumably for the routine. This is proof of their TRUE LOVE.)
There's also this, in which Stéphane actually nuzzles Johnny's face and then tickles Johnny, who responds by flapping his arms like a little girl. This was at Kings On Ice, a show in Russia last month, also starring Plushenko and Joubert (OT4 generally refers to these four).
In conclusion: Prince Charming + Fierce Bitch = a winning combination.
Recs!
Sadly, there seems to be a lot less good fic for this pairing - or if it's out there, I haven't found it yet (links please!). Most noteworthy is Outtakes, bykartography, which deals with their relationship while Johnny's filming his reality show - it's pretty amazing.
All Life Turns to Words (But Just the Sounds), by lordessrenegade is another one that I love, mainly for the smoking hot sexual tension, and great porn. And that's all I have bookmarked!
Um, wow, that turned out longer than expected.