❀ ♬ ilona =:) ★ ㋡

These words from today’s article about his short program music hit many of us hard: “Definitely I wanted to kind of show this new side of me, this new vulnerable and this very emotional and sensitive side, to see maybe that can change how people think about me.” ‼️ Ilia Malinin, when will you finally understand that you are loved exactly as you are? Loved like no one else in this sport: fiercely, passionately, tenderly. There are countless words for it. ‼️ You love physics, don’t you? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And so, alongside that enormous love comes its opposing force: a legion of haters. If you were unoriginal, let alone mediocre, neither the love nor the hate would exist on this scale. Look at your fellow skaters’ posts, Adam’s or Nika’s, for example, with a fraction of the likes and comments yours receive. They are wonderful skaters, yet so few people seem to pay much attention. Even your fans find it sad to see how little support they receive on social media. BUT they barely get any hate either. No action, no reaction. You are unique. And that inspires passion, both positive and negative. Your haters turn on notifications for your posts too, just to be among the first to see them. And just like your fans, they lay awake that night wondering how you were going to pull off this short program. They were expecting Spider-Man 🤡, something along the lines of Nika’s short program, with a few “tricks and twizzles” thrown in. But you, with all that audacity, decided once again to reach for something far greater. And no, Ilia, they won’t see another side of you. They are already drawing comparisons, questioning whether you even have the right to skate to a theme like this because Hanyu explored something similar in Requiem of Heaven and Earth. That tragedy affected him personally, they say, while this one supposedly didn’t directly affect you. So it will continue, gathering momentum like a snowball. And there is NO POINT in trying to show them who you are. They won’t see it. They can’t. They will only soften towards you when you retire. That is literally what they want most. And the moment you do, they’ll start remembering you fondly. Don’t doubt it. So the only sure way to win your haters’ love is to leave the sport. And since you still have so much left to say and do, and you aren’t going anywhere, stop giving them any power over you, Malinin. Once and for all. Stop trying to please them. It gets you nowhere, and it eats away at you. YOUR people need you exactly as you are. You don’t have to show us some “other side.” We already see all those sides of you, and we love them endlessly.