Suko

Bakery Sculpts an Intimidating “Loki Alligator” Completely Out of Bread

Benicia, California-based One House Bakery has created a creature out of bread that’s as terrifying as it is tasty. The massive character is called dough-Ki, inspired by the Marvel television show Loki, specifically the alligator that is a variant of Loki—a Loki from an alternate universe. One House Bakery co-owner Hannalee Pervan, with the help of her mom, fashioned dough-Ki completely from carbs by using buns and loaves to mimic the scaly texture of an alligator. They also included the character's defining feature—golden horns. The result is amazing; who knew bread could look so intimidating?

A love of Loki is what inspired Pervan to sculpt dough-Ki. “My mom and I were talking about how much we loved Loki alligator in the show,” she tells My Modern Met, “and my mom got super excited and said we absolutely had to make him out of dough this year!” To give the creature the look and feel of a real alligator, they used leather tools. “We had to adjust the consistency of the dough to be a bit stiffer so the patterns wouldn’t bake out when they went into the oven,” Pervan explains. “My mom made each scale and cut it out and then we glued them on individually or stuck them into wet dough.” This was a long—but well worth it—process that they started in August and finished just in time for the spooky season.

Dough-Ki was created as an entry in Benicia’s 2021 Downtown Scarecrow Contest, in which local businesses fashion their own versions of scarecrows and the public votes for their favorite. If you’re local to the Bay Area, check out dough-Ki in person outside of the One House Bakery.

Benicia, California-based One House Bakery has created a giant bread sculpture inspired by alligator Loki from the Marvel television show Loki.

Called dough-Ki, this sculpture is made completely of carbs.

One House Bakery co-owner Hannalee Pervan worked with her mom to create dough-Ki. Here's a peek into the process:

One House Bakery: Website | Instagram | Facebook 

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Hannalee Pervan.

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READ: Bakery Sculpts an Intimidating “Loki Alligator” Completely Out of Bread

I feel like the best way for me to introduce Wisdom Kaye is to present this recent video of his with no context.

Ngl this might be my favorite video pic.twitter.com/ZFVNv5LF7g

— Wisdom Kaye (@modsiwW) October 19, 2021

The Iron Man suit montage leading to a Black Panther transition is doing things to my fangirl heart. It’s so smooth, and the looks are so good! I can’t get over the visuals of the Doctor Strange portion of the video, like, he took the time to have a moment JUST for the cloak, and the multiple arms?

This is what they mean when they say “he understood the assignment.”

If you’re new to fashion model Wisdom Kaye, let me be the one who lets you know that he does this quite often. The Marvel heroes are just the latest edition of “omg how did you make the Hulk look like he frequents runways in Paris?!”

Here he is doing a montage of Marvel villains.

Y’all mind if I pic.twitter.com/PHImAVoGaB

— Wisdom Kaye (@modsiwW) October 17, 2021

It’s not just Marvel and comic book characters, he’s also dabbled in anime. A lot. That’s where I first saw his work.

I’ve made 5 of these so far but this is for sure the best one pic.twitter.com/9aKeJgEYil

— Wisdom Kaye (@modsiwW) September 8, 2021

I’m in awe of how he can take characters in plain outfits (such as L from Death Note) and elevate them to levels that make you forget that their original outfit consists of jeans and plain white shirts. I also adore the accessories he uses to capture elements like Vegeta’s blue hair. It’s a lot of fun seeing these characters recreated like this, as you would imagine someone grabbing huge, elaborate outfits for fashion, not “basic school uniform character wears in every episode.”

But Kaye makes it work.

pic.twitter.com/VEbyvcJj4h

— Wisdom Kaye (@modsiwW) September 26, 2021

According to Vogue, Kaye posted his first video on TikTok back in January 2020. “[At first], it was just a compilation of the outfits I was wearing the past couple of weeks,” he says. “I posted a couple on TikTok and Twitter, and they actually blew up on Twitter first. After a while, they racked up over a million views [on TikTok]. At that point, I saw potential and started making more creative content on TikTok that went beyond just a standard outfit compilation.”

While the looks are absolutely amazing, they also feel like they’re easily accessible. They all feel like clothing items he has in his closet, he just takes a moment to sketch out how they can go together to match the vibe he’s going for. He even breaks down what each piece of clothing is and gives explanations on how he came up with the idea. Of course, we don’t all have designers and name brands on hand, but you do get the sense that you could, potentially, look in your own closet to come up with something your favorite characters would wear.

I love Kaye’s creativity when taking on these characters and can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

You can follow Wisdom Kaye on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

(Image: Wisdom Kaye)

Here are some other sights we saw today:

• brb walking out

  — Most (@Most) October 20, 2021

• For context to the tweet above, Netflix workers have staged a walkout over Dave Chappelle’s transgender comments. (via Reuters)
• New Zealand city is taking their official wizard off the payroll after decades, and—wait, New Zealand had an official wizard? (via NPR)
• Fox News’ Neil Cavuto tests positive for COVID-19, says his situation would be “far more dire” if he wasn’t vaccinated. Maybe they should repeat that message on Fox News all day, every day. (via AP)
• Facebook’s brand is so toxic now there are reports that they are just going to rename it, which should definitely fix everything. (via Vice)
• The Batman trailer got the ’90s animated Batman treatment! (via Nerdist)

What did you see out there today?

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Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

As a fanfic writer who has, most certainly, left many a fic unfinished because real life had the audacity to interfere, I’m always in awe when I run across someone who’s able to keep up with steady fic updates. Fanfic writers truly are out here writing thousands upon thousands of words because they like a media property so much that they have to create more content for it.

Or they hate how it ended.

Or it’s forever on a cliffhanger.

Whatever the case, fanfic writers are writing stories for our entertainment for zero dollars and zero cents. They’re so passionate about creating and sharing their work that they usually end up apologizing if an update is late… no matter what event has happened to cause the delay. As this viral tweet from @/stefimorningstr points out, some fanfic writers will apologize for getting married, navigating through natural disasters, and … giving birth?!

ao3 writers are a whole other bread. i feel so bad for laughing but this is dedication pic.twitter.com/z2JI3zRlqb

— ` (@stefimorningstr) October 11, 2021

The thread keeps going, highlighting fic writers apologizing because of their mental health, surgery, homelessness, getting arrested, all kinds of extenuating circumstances that make you go, “Wait are you okay?! Why are you worried about a FIC right now?!”

capitalism: no one would produce anything without the profit motive

ao3 writers legally disallowed from making money off their work: this chapter written with a burst appendix, sorry it’s so short https://t.co/UsQPsrM4yO

— Ian Danskin Fthagn (@InnuendoStudios) October 12, 2021

The fact that this barely sounds like satire after reading those screenshots is just 😂

— drinking Respect Sakura Juice since 2007 🌸🥤 (@southsidestoryx) October 12, 2021

ahaha their house wHAT

— logannnn (@theotherlogan_) October 12, 2021

I am torn between telling fanfic writers that it’s okay to take a break (especially now because, you know, pandemic), but I also know that fanfic can be a great source of comfort and stress relief for the creators of it. Those apologies, to me, aren’t just for the readers, but for the fanfic writers who use this creative space as a way to deal with whatever it is that real-life is throwing at them.

“Luckily I outlined the next 12 chapters in my head whilst in the coma.”

— Lykyky (@Lykyky4) October 12, 2021

Also?

I’ve … um … done this myself.

via GIPHY

I’ve definitely used fanfiction as a coping mechanism on more than one occasion and have credited it, numerous times, as the reason why I’m still writing today.

In the beginning of May 2018, I was introduced to an anime called My Hero Academia. And y’all. You know that moment when everything clicks for the main character? The background shatters. Their eyes widen. They slap themselves in the face because, of course, how could they not have realized this entire time? That’s what this series was for me, but not in the way I expected, because after I binge-watched it with my partner I did something I hadn’t done in years.

I wrote fanfiction.

Not just one random fic to share on Tumblr and never look back at, no. I got an ao3 account. I flooded it with stories. I applied for zines, did weekly challenges, and engaged with other fic writers. I felt such a rush of inspiration from the series and its characters that my writing muses switched gears. Instead of feeling like writing was a burden it felt… fun again. I was writing because I wanted to, creating ideas I wanted to delve into instead of scrambling for ideas because gotta pitch something. Suddenly, writing felt like a fresh and wonderful thing that I wanted to share with everyone.

I was 16 again, with a Mead Composition book, and that one pen that let you switch between six colors.

Fanfiction hasn’t just helped me career-wise, though. I’m guilty of having an author’s note section that lays out how real life got in the way of a fic update, leading to comments asking about my well-being. There’s a sort of comfort in those comments, especially if your delay involves someone you care about or is due to circumstances beyond your control.

Here are a few examples of my own personal “sorry I’m late” fic updates throughout the years:

“Sorry I’m late, I broke up with my boyfriend.”

“Sorry I’m late, my dad found out I’m dating a girl and we had a huge fight about it. He’s come around, though.”

“Sorry I’m late, my girlfriend and I had someone break into our apartment and they took our laptops.” No, this wasn’t just a cheeky headline, this really did happen to me in my twenties!

“Sorry I’m late, my girlfriend and I were in a car accident.”

“Sorry I’m late, our cat died and the other one has been pretty sick,” then later, “Sorry I’m late, our second cat died.”

The sorry I’m late was more of a god I’m happy I’m back in this space where all I have to worry about is getting these two characters to kiss already. Even during the positive updates (sorry I’m late, I bought a house/sorry I’m late, I ran off and got married/sorry I’m late, I got a full-time job), it was still a breath of fresh air to go back to what I loved doing.

I miss it, to be honest, as I really haven’t had the time to even think about ao3 save for one fic update a couple of months ago, but I’m sure when I do update again, it’ll come equipped with a “sorry I’m late” post.

And we’ve spent a great deal of time planning *exactly* how we will do that.

— Danika Jordan Alicia (@DanikaJA) October 11, 2021

(Image: Toei Animation/ao3 screencap)

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eldamaranquendi:

Eowyn by https://www.instagram.com/sivakov_dmitry_art/

This cabinet of mysterious origin, now housed in the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, is a miniature apothecary's workshop and collection of natural curiosities. It's a masterpiece of woodworking, as it contains perfectly fitted spaces and an almost countless number of drawers, many of them with secret openings. Scholars don't know who made it, but they do know that it was made for a wealthy physician who wanted a place to display scientific samples.

-via Messy Nessy Chic | Photo: Rijks Museum

super-metroid:

baepsaebot:

decadent-hag:

Where that New England Gothic post

my personal favorite

annabeth-wisegirl-jackson:

funnytwittertweets:

Me trying to shop at the same time as Medusa

uisc3:

bread making around the world + joy!

When an artist renders three-dimensional objects in two dimensions, they normally give it perspective, so that it appears realistic to the eye. However, since the two-dimensional medium (a computer screen or a canvas) has no depth, you can mess around with the perspective part and really have fun. M.C. Escher was a master at such shenanigans. His use of confusing perspective inspired Macedonian artist Fleta Selmani to create the font she calls Impossible Type. Letters are three-dimensional, but their perspective defies reality.

The font is not difficult to read, as our brains perceive basic shapes in total at the speed we read, but if you stop and look closely at the letters, they are mind-bending. You can purchase and download Impossible Type (upper case, numbers, and punctuation) here.

-via Kottke

twelfthhaus:

normal-horoscopes:

nudityandnerdery:

meridianowl:

madamecricket:

beecreeper:

beecreeper:

beecreeper:

2am thought: A tarot deck made up of Gary Larson cartoons

The Magician

The Tower

the fool

four of swords

The Hanged Man

The Devil

The Lovers

The Chariot

someone needs to show this to gary larson

anonbeadraws:

dnd sheet commission for @crackedblackinc of Synn Helvilyl, the simic hybrid druid! 🍄🍄🍄

✨commission info in source link below✨

phoenix-failing:

letmeinimafairy:

A commision for @so-i-did-this-thing​, aurora borealis above icebound Terror on labradorite.

@frenchy-and-the-sea

Temperance/The Cold Equations for the Literary Tarot

Tini Howard paired the short story The Cold Equations with Temperance, a card of moderation, balance, and serenity. In the story, a pilot charged with delivering life-saving medicine to a far-off planet discovers a stowaway, and due to the added weight and use of fuel, must decide between saving the stowaway, Marilyn, and saving the medicine. This story/card pair was chosen not just for the most literal core of balancing the equations, but for Barton’s calmness and awkward kindness in the face of this choice, and Marilyn’s grace as she comes to terms with it. 

For this card I very much wanted to focus on the two people involved: Marilyn in the moments after understanding the two terrible outcomes, wrestling herself back under control, and the pilot Barton, resigned from the first page to what’s going to happen, wishing like hell that wasn’t the case, trying to give Marilyn both the space and privacy to compose herself and at the same time offer what scant reassurance another presence can offer. In the foreground is the dashboard, lit red with the urgency of the problem; in the background are the stars. The equations present are (unless I have fucked something up! which is possible!) the rocket equation, and an exponential return, referencing the whole issue with fuel and weight that forces this dilemma in the first place.

tradchad:

greatpostsonline:

record scratch, freeze frame. bet you’re wondering how i got here huh? me too bud. well, let me take you back, to where this whole mess got started. footage rewinds…

haha, no keep going, we’ll get to this part later. 

there it is. that’s me. innocent little monkey. wouldn’t hurt a fly. and that screen? well, that’s about to activate my mk ultra assassin programming.

greatest post online

nymika-arts:

nymika-arts:

nymika-arts:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep 🍃🍂

Part 2 🍃

I think I accidentally deleted half of this post so here’s part 3 and 4 again lol enjoy

vital-information:

“The Opposites Game,” Brendan Constantine

sosuperawesome:

GDBee on Instagram / Tumblr / Society6

pascalcampion:

Hopeful

#pascalcampion

uncannycookie:

somebody said ed feat. tony-hawk-syndrome and I very much agree

historical-nonfiction:

African-American cowgirl Nellie Brown, and her horse. Circa 1900 - 1915.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Capuchino Cosplay (@capuchinocosplay)

Capuchino Cosplay offers this fresh take on Marvel cosplay. Here is a Rococo-style rendition of Captain America and Iron Man. The pair of heroes are ready for the masquerade ball.

You’ve probably seen a man knitting at the Olympics, and it is none other than everyone’s favorite diver, Tom Daley! The Great Britain teammate has been found in the stands as other dives are going on, just knitting away, and he even finished a sweater for himself for the TeamGB! And what better way to spend the time?

From listening to music to just watching the other competitions in the stands, the athletes have their ways to keep calm while at the Olympics, and this just seems to be Tom Daley’s. And when you make beautiful sweaters like Daley does, no one can blame you!

Tom Daley completed his ⁦@TeamGB⁩ Olympic cardi and gave us a little try on video 🧶🇬🇧 (📹: madewithlovebytomdaley via IG) pic.twitter.com/YUWdfB8zpY

— POPSUGAR UK (@POPSUGARUK) August 5, 2021

If you head to Made With Love By Tom Daley on Instagram, you can see more of his work and also see the raffles that he has set up to try to raise money for the Brain Tumor Charity.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tom Daley (@madewithlovebytomdaley)

Also peeps, the reason why Tom Daley was knitting today is because of this.

He is raising money for charity.

Makes him all the more adorable doesnt it? And makes you think, “what have you done for the world today?”

😉 pic.twitter.com/HO9pid4g08

— Daddy T 🏴🏴🏴 (@dirrtyterry) August 1, 2021

Twitter, though, has been obsessed with his knitting throughout the Olympics, just watching as Daley sits in the stands to support his teammates and knits along. Even the official Olympics account has joined in to talk about his knitting (especially the Olympic sweater he finished while at the games).

tom daley is again caught knitting pic.twitter.com/mzQwXjEDsk

— aneq hates chemistry (@aquekraisis) August 4, 2021

If my future husband ain’t knitting like Tom Daley so what’s the point of having husband? pic.twitter.com/3UexnS8Qqt

— puffy cheeks duo (@puffycheeksduo) August 4, 2021

Tom Daley’s knitting designs are so fun, dude is really good… pic.twitter.com/ZPbLokEG5Z

— maryam 2.0 💫 (@luckyloopss) August 2, 2021

not tom daley knitting at the olympics i- pic.twitter.com/E70zamUhvk

— sarah (@livrodcloset) August 1, 2021

🚨Tom Daley Update🚨

He’s still knitting. pic.twitter.com/6tqua1DEXU

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2021

Tom Daley is knitting at the 3m women final #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/cyR5rGRRxE

— Dal Bologknees 🍝 (@DalBologknees) August 1, 2021

Oh this? Just Olympic champ @TomDaley1994 knitting in the stands while watching the diving. 🧶 pic.twitter.com/o17i6vsG2j

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 1, 2021

important tom daley knitting update: he was making a dog jumper and it is finished pic.twitter.com/9bdr31mmdc

— jess (@theonlyjessxo) August 2, 2021

Urgent update: Knitting action is back underway at the Aquatics Centre. This time it is a @TeamGB jumper! 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/tJlueScIp1

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 2, 2021

It’s become a fun aspect of the Olympics this time around, and it’s hilarious seeing everyone join in to see what Daley is up to in his knitting journey. Tom Daley just keeps knitting and it is honestly the cutest thing I have ever seen. Knit away, Tom!

(image: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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laxsara-deactivated20210802:

laxsara-deactivated20210802:

the meaning of life is summed up in the story elmer bendiner tells about how when he was a pilot the second world war, his plane was hit with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire from the nazi forces but the crew survived. and how everyone was saying it was a miracle until they investigated the shells that got in the fuselage and found there was no explosive charges in any of them. in one they found a note scribbled in czech, written by the person who had been forced to manufacture the shells, and it just said ‘this is all we can do for you now’.

every time i see someone acting tough online about how harm reduction is pointless and in some convoluted way worse than doing nothing i think about that person in some soul-destroying nazi factory in occupied czechoslovakia removing all of the explosive charges from their anti-aircraft shells and writing a note that they must have known would probably never be read, just to say ‘this is all we can do for you, and we’re going to do it’. they are trying to make us kill you and we refuse. i do think that maybe it’s all going to be okay.

I have been waiting all my life—or at least since sixth grade—for an adaptation of bestselling author Mercedes Lackey’s wildly popular Valdemar fantasy novels. Now comes the news that Radar Pictures has secured the rights to the Valdemar literary universe, and they are developing an ongoing TV series.

The initial season is set to adapt Lackey’s Lambda Award-winning “Last Herald-Mage” trilogy, which features a young man named Vanyel Ashkevron who eventually becomes one of the most powerful magic-users in history. Radar’s press release describes Van as “the first openly gay heroic protagonist in the fantasy genre.”

The first Vanyel book, Magic’s Pawn, was published in 1989. While queerness had been present in fantasy and science fiction prior to this—including sympathetic depiction in Lackey’s debut trilogy “The Heralds of Valdemar” and Ellen Kushner’s gorgeous and groundbreaking 1987 mannerpunk novel Swordspoint—Vanyel was a character most of us had not encountered as young readers (or older ones). His sexuality is always in the foreground and unflinchingly part of the story and characterization that he grows with for three novels.

He is a fully-realized queer protagonist who must confront homophobia both internal and external, but falls madly in love, has a sexy sex life, overcomes many traumas, and is every inch the hero. I can close my eyes and still recall how it felt to first meet Vanyel and experience what he did. As an adolescent, Lackey’s books meant more to me than any other, and I “lived” in them for years. At an early age, through Vanyel, I learned about queerness and tolerance—and that the queer lead could love deeply and be loved, and also save the world.

This profound realization was not unique to me. I have several friends who felt the same way about Valdemar and Vanyel, and I used to hook yet more friends into reading them. Readers on forums like Reddit still discuss how essential Vanyel’s books were for them. There appears to be a similar case amongst the creatives who are adapting Lackey’s work, Kit Williamson (Netflix’s EastSiders) and Brittany Cavallaro (the “Charlotte Holmes” book series). Per Radar’s press release:

“Vanyel in “The Last Herald Mage” series was one of the first gay characters I encountered, and as a recently out 16-year-old I can’t stress enough the impact that these books had on me. The “Valdemar” series was far ahead of its time in the portrayal of LGBTQ characters, and Lackey’s writing afforded them a level of depth and complexity that is still very rare, especially in genre storytelling,” Williamson said in a statement.

Of their longtime friendship and love of Lackey’s universe, Cavallaro shared, “It’s an absolute dream to be adapting the Valdemar books alongside Radar Pictures and Kit Williamson. Twenty years ago, Kit and I became friends at boarding school, and bonded over our love for Mercedes Lackey’s work, and we’re so excited to begin the process of bringing it to the screen.”

It’s extremely exciting to hear that there’s a pair of lifelong Valdemar nerds at work adapting Van’s journey. Since we’re told that the first season is about Vanyel, it stands to reason additional seasons could follow characters with their own popular Valdemar-based books further down the line.

Will we see Talia’s tale? Elspeth’s? Tarma and Kethry? Kerowyn? (Please give us Kerowyn.) Skif? Karal? There are so many excellent characters to be uncovered here, not to mention the witty telepathic horses, that it’s shocking to me Lackey’s world wasn’t one of the first ones to the screen. But the runaway success of adaptations like Game of Thrones, The Witcher, and Shadow and Bone has shown studios how hungry audiences are for immersive, multi-season fantasy TV. It’s more than Valdemar’s time.

There are a few caveats worth mentioning. While Lackey’s portrayal of queer characters was nuanced and light-years ahead when it was published, in many ways—happily—some of Van’s struggles feel outdated. Though it’s an important narrative to affirm, the arc of a character realizing their queerness, dealing with self-loathing and familial shunning, and eventually finding reconciliation is a very ’90s plotline. And there’s some extremely disturbing sexual assault in Magic’s Price that it’s difficult to imagine could make its way to the screen. There will also need to be sensitive, informed, and thoughtful treatment of the Tayledras, a clan of magic-users who play a large part and that the Valdemar fandom wiki describes as “strongly analogous to the native peoples of the more wooded Eastern United States.” I hope that “The Last-Herald Mage” adaptation will stay true to the heart of the books while also updating some of the elements for our current era.

Though I’m dearly attached to Valdemar as a whole, this news is big for other reasons. The commitment to develop an entire season of a fantasy show that revolves around a queer protagonist whose queerness is a massive part of the plot is extraordinary. Queer characters, when they’re on fantasy TV series, tend to be more minor characters or sidekicks. No longer.

As for Mercedes Lackey herself—well, she’s ready:

As the first adaptation of her work gets underway, Lackey beamed: “I have hoped for decades that “The Last Herald-Mage” would be adapted for television. Now that Radar has optioned the trilogy, I am nearly breathless with excitement! I could not have chosen a better organization to take my work in hand, and Kit and Bri, the producers, absolutely know both their stuff and the material. I love the fact that this is going to be a longform series: episodic TV gives the story all the room it needs. I hope our fans will be as thrilled to see their favorite characters come to life as I am.”

In addition to Williamson and Cavallero, who will write and produce the series, Anthony Tringali, Maria Frisk, and Michael Napoliello will produce for Radar, and Ted Field, a longtime producer and executive producer of the upcoming Wheel of Time TV series, will executive produce.

OK, let’s talk dream casts. I think they should get some up-and-coming fresh faces for Van, Tylendel, and (eventually) Stefen, but Vanyel’s aunt Savil should be an incredibly badass long-established actress. Same for the voice of Yfandes. Who would you want to see populating Vanyel’s Valdemar?

(image: DAW Books)

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A number of sports have made their debut on the Olympic schedule this year. Surfing, sport climbing, karate, and more are all happening at the Tokyo Olympics for the first time. But there’s probably no new sport we’re more excited about than skateboarding–specifically women’s skateboarding, thanks to the incredible girls at its forefront.

The three athletes who took the podium this weekend after medaling in the street competition have a combined age of just 42. The gold medal went to 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya of Japan, while 13-year-old Rayssa Leal (Brazil) won silver, and 16-year-old Funa Nakayama (also Japan) took bronze.

Holy cow. The three medalists in the Women’s Olympic Street Skateboarding competition are 13, 13, and 16 (in that order). Future is looking bright for the sport 🛹

— Ben Bertoli (@SuperBentendo) July 26, 2021

Updated: pic.twitter.com/O6uAkppJrs

— Olympics (@Olympics) July 26, 2021

The move to include skateboarding at the Olympics is likely to go far in the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers’ goal of engaging a larger number of young people, both as viewers and as participants.

The Olympics as a whole does not have age restrictions but certain sports within the games do. Skateboarding was introduced into the Olympics without any age restrictions and that’s clearly for the best, as young girls are dominating the sport. (Though the youngest athlete in this year’s games is 12-year-old table tennis player Hend Zaza of Syria.)

Both 13 years old and have Olympic medals 🥇🥈

What a moment between Japan’s Momiji Nishiya and Brazil’s Rayssa Leal ❤️

(via @NBCOlympics) pic.twitter.com/wQ3XCtn3tU

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 26, 2021

Seeing a 13-year-old girl take home a gold medal (not to mention seeing these girls support each other as so beautifully illustrated in that clip above) has the potential to excite a whole new generation of athletes to take up a sport that, even now, has a dearth of women skaters and even less publicity on those who do exist.

Sports Illustrated spoke to several professional women skaters who described coming up in a scene where they had to fight to be taken seriously. 34-year-old X Games champion Alexis Sablone told the outlet that “the industry has really ignored females and given us no spotlight” for a long time.

“You don’t see women on the covers of magazines, and sponsors aren’t paying women. So I think [the Olympics] has given the females in skateboarding a platform that can’t really be ignored. There’s a podium. Suddenly the industry will start paying attention,” Sablone says. “I wish it hadn’t taken this to legitimize us, but it’s a step in that direction.”

Sablone, who placed fourth in Tokyo, also spoke of the impact she and her generation of skaters have had on younger girls.

“We get a lot of messages on social media from young girls that start skating because we skate,” she said. “I just try to be the inspiration that I didn’t have when I started skating. When I started skating, I had no one I could show my dad.”

Now those young girls are her Olympic peers. And they seem to be blissfully unaware of the obstacles their elders have had to face in the field. Leal straight-up told Sports Illustrated, “There is no gender barrier in sports.” Nishiya just said, “Girls can skateboard.”

That’s obviously correct.

As for the lack of gender barrier, here’s hoping none of these girls dominating their sport ever have to think otherwise.

(image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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bookgeekgrrl:

quietnighty:

magnetictapedatastorage:

The equivalent of Antarctic research stations but in fantasy worlds like for example there’s an evil terrible region of rotting and nightmares but like nine miles from the edge there’s a very ugly little building optimistically called Observation Center 1 and it’s full of normal humans just vibing. for like 90% of the year they can’t leave because that’s Death Fog Season but it balances out because they can study the ghost migrations and also hear the whalesong-like calls of The Unspeakable Ones asking you to come outside for a game of checkers but thankfully the checkers set is kept locked up to slow down anyone that gets tempted

@galwednesday

#year 1 they put a lock on the checkers set #year 2 they have a research fellow specifically studying which games are used as enticements and how they correlate to: #1. research staff’s favorite games #2. availability and proximity of games to eldritch figure inviting you to play #3. childhood memories of different games and associated feelings of triumph or defeat (rated on a 1 - 10 scale) #they almost lost a cryptobiologist to a tattered Battleship set identical to her grandfather’s copy but she recovered from the frostbite #and now she can see perfectly in the dark! such an advantage on overnight observation shifts! (via @galwednesday)

theygender:

internet-sentences: