#yoi meta

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Viktor Nikiforov is an adult character with adult problems and anxieties. However, unlike for Yuuri, whose struggles couldn't be more obvious to the audience, Viktor's issues are portrayed with subtlety. Which is ironic since, of the entire cast, Viktor is confronted with the most drastic life-changing choices and changes.

We meet Viktor as a competitive figure skater who has reached a point in his life many people eventually end up. The initial excitement for your profession has long since withered away and you're stuck in a life that is making you miserable. You're only staying out of convenience, the fear of change, the fear of taking a risk, or due to a lack of opportunity—or a combination thereof.

That's where Viktor is in episode 1. You can read the misery in his fake smiles and in his empty expression when he skates—an activity that once has been his passion (we know because creating your own programmes demands a creativity that is the result of passion). There are rumours that he might retire, and when being asked about his future plans, we see again the empty expression of a man who has lost his purpose. He has accumulated quite a fortune through sponsorships if his expensive clothes are any indication of that, but money can't buy happiness.

For twenty years, Viktor has lived for his sport and neglected his private life over it. His body might keep up for a couple of more seasons, but his mind is weary and his creativity is running dry. Twenty years is a long enough time to make even a decisive person think that that one thing is all you will ever be good at.

When you're stuck like that, maybe even to the point that it affects your mental health, it's hard to make it out of the slump on your own. Having someone showing you an alternative can work wonders to shift your perspective and enable you to take matters into your own hands again. For Viktor, this shift comes in form of a cute and utterly drunk fellow skater who not only seems to have a crush on him but very explicitly voices his wish that Viktor becomes his coach.

Viktor is a master of his craft. He choreographs his own programmes, he has music composed for these, and he has twenty years of experience in figure skating. Before that fateful banquet, Viktor already showed low-level coaching tendencies like when he gives (unsolicited) advice to his younger rinkmate...

or when he encourages him to become junior world champion without a quad jump and agrees to choreograph his first senior programmes.

These examples indicate that Viktor has a hidden skill he might not have been aware of during his active career as a skater. He could build on that if the sets his mind to it.

While it's true that Viktor only decided to become a coach when he saw that video (see Sayo Yamamoto's episode commentary), his feelings for Yuuri played a major role his decision because he felt a connection. That's important because feelings ignite passion and provide you with new purpose. It's tempting to assume that Viktor went to Japan for a booty call, but this totally disregards the complexity of his situation and the key role feelings play in igniting passion in someone and giving them new purpose.

"People shine brightest when they understand what kind of love sustains them."

Turning your life upside down and leaving behind the safety and convenience of a job you're good at but that you learned to hate, comes with fears and requires a certain readiness to take risks. Many people don't go to such lengths unless 1) their current situation is insufferable and 2) they have a very strong motivator to start all over. Like love or passion. As both stem from the same place, I'm equating them in the following.

Taking your first step into the uncharted territory of your new future IS scary. It can be one of the hardest things you have ever done. Especially if it means a complete reorientation. But burning for this future—be it out of love for your new subject/field, a specific person you will work with etc.—is a truly inspiring experience that fills you with the confidence that you can actually do it. So far, Viktor has been on the receiving end of coaching, but his feelings for Yuuri, his experience as a skater, and his resulting dedication to the task ultimately turn him into a good coach for Yuuri and help him succeed where Celestino failed. And it's obvious that Viktor really loves being Yuuri's coach.

Viktor Nikiforov is a true inspiration for everyone who faces the choice of staying on in a life or work situation that is making them miserable or going full risk by following one's heart. I cannot thank Sayo Yamamoto and Mitsurou Kubo enough for creating a show with so many mature characters that are dealing with realistic adult issues and I'm happy that one of my favourite YOI characters is one of them. I wish that Viktor would receive more appreciation for this.

I want to thank the reader of Thousand Spotlights whose comment about my portrayal of Viktor inspired me to finally write this post 🩷 Also many thanks to @cecebeanie for reading over it in advance 🩷

Please note:

In some cultures, changing your job frequently is normal and thus not a big thing for people, but the concept I've discussed is the universal.

This meta doesn't attempt to be a comprehensive analysis of Viktor's situation as this would have gone beyond the cope of this post (I have written other metas that discuss some of these). Viktor shows signs of depression and/or creative burnout that might or might not have to do with focusing on skating for most of his life. Depression can manifest itself differently in different people and no one's experience is less valid than someone else's.

If you enjoyed this meta, please consider giving me a follow or checking out my works on AO3 (link in bio), which build upon my analyses.

#yuri on ice #viktor nikiforov #yoi #yoi meta #my yoi meta #yuri on ice meta #victor nikiforov

[neutronice]

Vitya

I sometimes (a LOT) think about Victor. I think about that bone-deep exhaustion we see come across his face when not even a minute after the gold medal ceremony, he's being asked about his next program.

I think about how lonely it must be, being an untouchable idol held to a standard with no one there to share it with him.

I think about those moments, his dog the only being in the world he lets in all the way, wondering when his world started to look gray. When "strength must be found on your own" became a slow and monotonous march toward misery.

When skating stopped feeling like a passion.

I think about Victor wondering what ever happened to Yuuri Katsuki, who got drunk and danced with him, who proclaimed be my coach only to disappear into the ether again, even though Worlds was in Tokyo.

I think about that trudge, when Victor is looking at two programs that both don't feel quite right, hearing about Yuri Plisetsky the new Russian phenom, who Victor obviously would be passing the baton to. How much more lonely that would be.

I think about Victor, sitting by himself at his apartment, snuggling his dog and watching Yuuri Katsuki suddenly blow up his phone again with a rendition of Stay Close to Me.

And remembering Be My Coach

I think about Victor's butterflies leaping from his stomach as he rehearses the perfect opening line, naked in the Katsuki onsen.

Then I think about Victor, adopted by the Katsukis and Hasetsu, falling in love, and watching as Yuuri falls in love in kind, not with the mask, not with the idol, not even with the skater.

With Vitya.

#yoi meta #i've been sort of down in the dumps today #thinking about happy victor helped #victor nikiforov #vitya #victuuri #yuri on ice meta #viktuuri

[jewishvitya]

So of course talking to @stammiviktor about her tags gave me a lot of feelings about these two.

It's a moment where Yuuri pulls Viktor down to earth.

"Yuuri touching him in this spot he’s clearly never seen on camera before; a portion of Viktor he’s never been privy to before. and there’s something about Viktor being self conscious of that, being so ridiculously dramatic. I don’t think Viktor’s hair is really thinning and I don’t think that’s why Yuuri touched him there, but it’s so fucking ENDEARING that Viktor immediately collapses in embarrassment. I think part of it is embarrassment too but the other part for Viktor is just like the mortifying ordeal of being known, help."

And I love his hair not really thinning because I love the idea of his insecurities being completely baseless. It makes him so human. And ridiculous. I love him being ridiculous.

And she pointed out that this is after like 13 jumps and seeing how much better Yuuri's stamina is. He's at the top of the sport, of course it can make him feel a bit insecure even before Yuuri touched him.

Yuuri seeing Viktor's insecurities for the first time. Viktor getting to be a person. Yuuri seeing that the person he idolized is human.

And now I'm thinking about Yuuri internalizing it and allowing himself to see that he's really on the same level as Viktor, he just needs the confidence.

#riki babbles #yoi #yoi meta #yoi gif #yoi thoughts

[arom-antix]

Why Yuuri (before 2017) should not be allowed to write an autobiography

Okay, to those who might not follow figure skating as closely, I just need to point out that Yuuri, despite what he insists (unreliable narrator), did not do badly in the Sochi GPF.

We know from the flashback in episode 5 that Yuuri during his free skate fell on at least two of his jumps and touched down on one and it can be assumed he didn't do too well on his others. He says in episode 4 that he falls on jumps and makes up the gap with Program Component Scores (how artistic it was) which can also be seen on the protocol from his short program where his PCS is higher than his Technical Element Score (how technically sound it was). This is not how those scores usually relate except in certain cases (see Jason Brown, also known for his high PCS and (relatively) low TES though this is by choice).

This is Yuuri's short program protocol. If you don't know how to read this then all you need to know is that his total score was 82.80, 40.42 of that being TES and 42.38 being PCS.

Now, to relate that to the real world, in the 2015 Grand Prix Final, Daisuke Murakami scored a total of 235.49, scoring 83.47 in his short program and 152.02 in his free skate and placing 6th. As we can see, that's pretty darn close to Yuuri's score (82.80 in the short, 149.79 in the free, 232.59 total) and I would not be surprised if they were inspired by his scores since they're also PCS centric.

Sidenote: Looking at Yuuri's PCS here and comparing them to Murakami's, Yuuri's are higher, not having anything lower than 8.00. Based on the fact that he was likely very off-kilter, I'd say this is still a very respectable score (duh, Yuuri just can't accept that he's good). Boyang Jin who took 3rd in the short, 5th overall in the 2015 GPF had way lower PCS scores.

Anyway, here's Murakami's free skate protocol.

Murakami has 8 jumping passes in his free, 7 of which he lands with a two-footed landing on one and a stepout on another. He only falls ass on ice like Yuuri does once on his second quadruple salchow (which was supposed to be a combination. The << and REP are explained at the bottom of the protocol). He does not touch down at any point. Otherwise his jumps look fine to me, most of them barely having any ice spray and only his 3Lz+1Lo+2S combination getting a warning for an unclear edge.

If you don't know, falling is (kind of) the worst mistake you can make on a jump and the judges are required to both give a certain negative GEO (grade of execution) and a deduction of 1 point. Other mess-ups just give negative GEOs.

Murakami's FS score is 73.26 TES and 79.76 PCS which would mean Yuuri's scores are likely very similar. But he fell on two jumps, not one meaning his PCS would likely have been higher to make up the difference.

And if Yuuri's insinuation that he flubbed all his jumps in some manner is true (which I find highly unlikely, have some confidence) and he missed elements by either popping (opening too early which costs rotations but saves you from a fall) or just not doing them, his PCS would have needed to be even higher to make up for that.

Missing elements, like popping a double, triple or quadruple axel into a single (at least one double is required), results in that element not being counted at all. Zero. Zip. Nada. You get nothing for it if you can't make up for it later in the program. Even falling on a jump is better because that's at least a few points. So if that happened, he'd have a big gap to make up with his PCS.

To sum up: with everything that could have gone wrong for Yuuri, this is still a very good score, even on the international scene. And to highlight that, Murakami is happy when he finishes, even fist pumping.

And yes, there was still that 103.17 point gap between Yuuri and Viktor which is the same (okay, 94.95) for Murakami and Yuzuru Hanyu who took gold in the 2015 GPF. But, and I cannot stress this enough, Hanyu broke 3 world records with that score meaning Viktor likely did as well. No wait, scratch that, I know he did because Hanyu's score was 330.43 which Viktor beat by 5.33 points. Of course it's not going to be even close, are you kidding me?

Looking at the World Championships in 2016, Yuuri would, with that 232.59 score, still have taken 11th place. He'd have taken 16th in 2023 and that's with a single quad (I don't trust his quad salchow yet) in the age of quads (and that quad being the one with the lowest base value). I'm positive he'd have been able to do a Jason Brown whose PC scores are so good that he in 2023 placed 5th without a single quad and would have placed 3rd in 2016. Now, take that and throw Yuuri's quad toe loop and some confidence in there and you've got a Worlds podium finish before the series even starts.

And then in the season the show is in, he has his quad toe loop, quad salchow and quad flip. He might even have gotten the quad loop down in the 3.5 months between the Barcelona GFP and Worlds. I definitely see a world champion on the next level (if they'd give us it >:[ )

And scores always get higher over time, the world record having gone from Hanyu's 330.46 in 2015 to Nathan Chen's 335.30 in 2019 still standing in 2023 which is still less than Viktor's Sochi GFP score (335.76) (yes, the system has changed since 2015 but it's close enough that it doesn't really matter in this context. Viktor is OP no matter what).

Really, the fact that Yuuri's in the GFP at all should be all we need to know that he's insanely good. It might not technically be Worlds but my stars, Yuuri, it does basically make you 6th in the world.

BE. PROUD.

#trust me i love an unreliable narrator but would you please look at the facts yuuri #that was your first grand prix final of fucking course youre not going to get viktor scores he was 34.30 points ahead of second place #especially not when the man still holds the irl world record 7 seasons later #im sorry but i get that they wanted viktor to be stupidly op but like that post about how insane stammi vicino is #the scores in this show are bonkers #they definitely succeeded in making him op #yuri on ice #yoi #yuri on ice meta #yoi meta #yuuri katsuki #katsuki yuuri #arom antix

[itsbeahoney]

i feel like victor saying “skater’s hearts are as fragile as glass” is so telling to what he has seen and experienced throughout his career… pouring ur emotions out of the ice and getting scored on it… there were definitely times where he left his heart on the ice. maybe that’s one reason why he started anew every season. that way, nothing from the past can hurt him. he’s left it behind.

but he wasn’t just talking about himself or yuuri. he said skaters. all of them.

how many peers did victor watch crash and burn? run out of funds and disappear from the skating world? have accidents or career ending injuries? and yet all those years later, there he was. i’d bet very few of the skaters from his junior days made it as far into the seniors as he did.

after all, the ice is cold and unforgiving. there’s no give when you fall. one bad fall, everything is over. your career rests on under 10 minutes of performing at each competition— how many people’s hearts shattered, and they couldn’t shake the loss?

idk this is not a very coherent thought it’s late at night just take this crumb y’all

#victor nikiforov #yoi #yuri on ice #yoi meta

[pre-reform-voice]

A plea for imperfection

Warning: Random rambling ahead.

A friend of mine is beta reading my YoI fan fiction and in the second part (Love Aims At One Scope) she got really mad at Viktor. She's only seen the anime once, and when he makes a rather nasty, off-hand statement to an OC who is trying to make him feel better, she couldn't see it.

But here's the deal, Viktor isn't as clean as he seems. He is the epitome of a person who has no filter.

In the real world, a lot of people who say that about themselves use it as an excuse to be cruel. They put others down intentionally and enjoy it, and when that person has the audacity to tell them they're hurt, they claim they were only joking or gaslight the person in some other way.

Mind you, that is NOT how I see Viktor.

He's a great guy, he cares, he's affectionate, he can be incredibly kind and understanding - and sometimes he talks before he thinks through what effect his words will have. And that sentence in my fic - as bad as it is - I think is completely in character. I really contemplated changing that, or at least have him say something that isn't THAT bad, but it's something I can see. That sentence will stay.

I love Viktor. He's a wonderful human being. But he's also an incredibly flawed deuteragonist who hides his shortcomings behind his charms so well it works in the real world, apparently, not just within the universe.

My friend has since decided she has to watch it again for several reasons, and she'll keep a lookout for this. Currently, she has Viktor as much on a pedestal as Yuuri did, it seems. But for me his less-than-wonderful traits are what make writing him so amazing. It makes him feel real to me, and relatable, and even if I sometimes want to whack him with a wet towel (the original version in the anime and my own), I still think he's a walking green flag. Most of the time. When he actually uses his brain.

#yuri on ice #victuuri #yuri!!! on ice #yoi #viktor nikiforov #yoi meta

[alexseanchai]

so on the one hand, Yuuko's massive nosebleed in ep 3 is an obvious example of the anime trope in which nosebleeds indicate sexual attraction and/or arousal, and the comically large volume of blood is equally obviously an indication of the strength of that attraction, exaggerated for effect

on the other hand, there's no scientific basis for sexual arousal to relate to nosebleeds:

and I'm not sure how to estimate the volume of blood Yuuko is shown losing, but it's plenty enough that Yurio shouting for help (in the English dub) or asking Yuuko if she's sick (in the Japanese dub) is an entirely reasonable reaction:

and after all, Yuuri and Yuuko would both be well aware of this anime trope, and there's no reason to think Yurio would be; it makes sense that neither Yuuko nor Yuuri would be concerned, but the fact Yurio is, and he's making no effort to pretend otherwise—Yurio, who until now has made such a point of growling at Victor and hurting Yuuri in order to not look like he cares about either—

and a week later, when Yuuko sees Yurio in what must be a costume from one of Victor's first two seasons as a junior, age thirteen to fifteen to Yuuko's eleven to thirteen at the time:

ah, so someone told Yurio about the nosebleed-indicates-arousal trope

fascinating characterization all around

...speaking of nosebleeds:

and I'll link to both these metas as soon as I find them again, which I'd appreciate assistance with since I'm blanking on who posted either:

one observed that Victor noticed Yuuri flubs his jumps when there's something on his mind, and that we don't hear Yuuri's thoughts for most of his free skate in ep 5, but we do see him screw up the last jump, and the final scene in the episode is Yuuri's love confession to Victor—which suggests Yuuri realized on the ice that he loves Victor, the mortal human he's been learning the past five months, even with all the ways Victor frustrated Yuuri earlier in ep 5

the other observed that Victor was wondering who Yuuri's defiance of his coach reminded Victor of, and he was surprised to realize it's himself, a thought he had only after Yuuri took his final pose—which suggests Victor was also surprised by Yuuri's final pose

connect those two dots and we get, Yuuri changed the final pose on impulse, same as he changed the final jump in ep 7 on impulse, because he realized on the ice he loves Victor

can't help but suspect, given the nosebleed and everything, that he's thinking of sexual as well as romantic love

#yuri on ice #nishigori yuuko #yuri plisetsky #yuuri katsuki #victor nikiforov #victuuri #yoi meta #by alexseanchai

[stammiviktor]

I just rewatched YOI ep 9, and was wondering about something. At this point, Yuuri is still planning on retiring at the end of the season, right? But then what exactly was his point in asking “please be my coach until I retire?”

I’ve always thought of it as such a bittersweet scene, because they’re so in love but not on the same page: Viktor wants to be his coach until he retires meaning forever (“I wish you’d never retire”) and Yuuri knows this, when Viktor says it, but is still planning on retiring at the end of the season, hence his crying— right?

(but also so why did Yuuri ask, please be my coach until I retire if the plan was already Viktor coaching him through the GPF?)

#yuri on ice #yoi #yoi meta

[ilovereadingandstuff]

OMG, I opened tumblr after a whole day of stuff going on to rest a bit and I forgot that yoi's suffering was still on. I'm once again sobbing in a corner...

I just gotta say, before leaving the app for today because I can't cope with the pain, that Yuri!!! On Ice is one of the fucking best shows i've seen and had stolen my heart in the sweetest of ways.

#yuri on ice #ice adolescence #yuri!!! on ice #yoi meta #yoi

[rikeijo]

Hi, I love your translations! The other day I was rewatching episode 2 and I was wondering whether Viktor's line "Let's sleep together" is as ambiguous in the Japanese version as it is in the subs. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on this?

Hi! Thank you for the ask! ✨

In Japanese, it's "一緒に寝よう", so the same - "Let's sleep together". And just like it English, "sleep with sb" can also mean "have sex with sb".

So, while the way Victor says that line isn't particularly suggestive and it makes perfect sense if it's understood to mean just that - "let's sleep in the same room/bed", I 100% believe that when you re-watch the show knowing about the banquet, it's meant to make you wonder what on Earth had happened there in Sochi, that made Victor want to sleep in Yuuri's bed on his first night in Hasetsu, like it's the most natural thing to do ever... And yeah, he probably didn't want to just sleep in this new context😔

A bit off topic, but that line also shows, imo, a very interesting thing about Victor's personality - that when he is faced with something he doesn't really know how to deal with, he turns to "physical connection".

Yuuri reacts to him in a way that he didn't expect and runs away in ep. 2 -> "Let's sleep together", don't know what to do to calm Yuuri down in ep. 7 -> "Should I kiss you?"

And well, I think the same also happened in ep. 12. Yuuri wants to break up with him -> Victor's hand on Yuuri's shoulder aaaand... cut. He also wears very loose clothes in both ep. 2 and 12, that you can get off in no time, especially the bathrobe in ep. 12.

Just my opinion, but I think that YoI really is even more erotic when you look at little details like that.

#yuri on ice #ask #yoi meta

[heavensgateiowa]

no because yuri plisetsky would not have been pushed to fight for gold as hard as he did if not for yuuri. it’s his senior debut: to have won the silver would have been extraordinary enough. without victor or yuuri as competitors he has enough time and potential to lap victor as five time world champion. but he doesn’t want that- he’s earnestly challenged by yuuri for the first time in his career and it scares him shitless, but it also gives him something to fight for, something real. he can’t stand the thought of losing that. and so he skates a record breaking routine just so he doesn’t have to lose his favourite rival.

#yuri on ice #drafts clearout #yuri plisetsky #yoi meta

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Viktor: "The time to seduce me with beautiful women and katsudon is over. You can fight with your own charm now." Yuuri (suddenly all possessive): "Don't take your eyes off me!" Viktor (utterly clueless): He's so different today. I wonder what has flipped his switch.

Recently, I've found myself coming back to this scene over and over as I was reconsidering the link between the progress of Viktuuri and Yuuri's understanding of Eros. For years, I was convinced that Yuuri had grasped the concept of Eros in episode 6, but (and this is probably controversial) I no longer believe that is true.

So, what happens in episode 6?

While the events during the weeks between the press conference and the Cup of China are open to speculation, the subtext of episode 6 us some cues as to where Yuuri and Viktor currently are in their relationship (the hugging, the cuddling, you know).

In this sense, the short dialogue before Yuuri's short programme, tells us that:

So far, Yuuri hasn't seduced Viktor as himself.

Viktor thinks Yuuri is ready to do exactly that.

They are dating (note the lover's bind aka the lacing of the fingers, which is an expression of romantic intimacy in Japan)

Yuuri's reaction is untypically fierce and possessive.

Viktor has not the slightest clue what triggered Yuuri's response. When put into the context of the whole story, this gives us another hint that Yuuri possibly can't have seduced Viktor prior to the competition. If he had (be it on or off-ice), Viktor would no longer react surprised. (You can actually see the difference in episode 8).

However, Yuuri and Viktor are in entirely different headspaces, which becomes obvious if we think back to the events in the mixed zone. Viktor feels that it's time to gently nudge Yuuri towards a more intimate stage of their relationship. However, Yuuri is upset because just learned that everyone wants Viktor to give up on him and return to competition. He is convinced that Viktor's fans will deem him a poor replacement for Viktor if Viktor keeps coaching him. He thinks that he would disappoint his own fans if the returns to where he was before Viktor. The only option left is pressing ahead on the path he's already on and thus works himself up into wanting to be hated as the man who took Viktor Nikiforov from the world.

With that mindset, Yuuri steps onto the ice.

Viktor's confused reaction when Yuuri storms off shows us something else: He doesn't have the slightest clue that Yuuri is upset because of things that happened right before the short programme. The subtext of the scene implies that he interprets Yuuri's reaction as a sign that Yuuri is indeed ready to seduce him. The lip-licking and all the sensuality Yuuri pours into his immaculate performance must seem from his perspective as if Yuuri truly wants him. He's not entirely wrong about that, but he isn't entirely right either.

Yuuri's eros is dominant and possessive. Several months have passed since the first time he skated Eros to seduce Viktor, but their relationship and Yuuri's understanding of Viktor has deepened since. His eros has evolved into a violent force of nature. His skating no longer is about "seducing" Viktor to stay his coach, he's showing the world (and Viktor) that Viktor is his and his alone and that he is all that Viktor wants ("I'm the only one who can satisfy Viktor. I'm the only one who understands Viktor's love"). And he goes out puling all the stops. And at the next competition, he's going to double down on that. Sounds kinky? It absolutely is.

Ever wonder why Viktor is so flustered right after Yuuri's skate? That's why. This precious boy felt seduced through-and-through by Yuuri's performance.

Viktor: "Yuuri, did it feel that great?" Yuuri: "I was hoping everyone else felt great watching me." Viktor (basically talking about himself): "Of course, they felt great watching a performance like that."

Remember that I said that Viktor has a totally different grasp of the situation than Yuuri because he doesn't know what Yuuri is going through? Viktor projects his own state of arousal from watching Yuuri on Yuuri. But Yuuri is not a second Chris and his response reinforces the implications made above based his inner monologue before and during his performance: He wanted to give "the audience" a good time aka making Viktor feel seduced and convincing the skating world that he is worthy to skate in Viktor's stead.

Learning that "everyone" (and most of all Viktor) had a "good time", is an important step for Yuuri in mastering his short programme:

In episode 6, Yuuri truly understands the power he has over Viktor and what he can do to Viktor with his skating alone.

So far, Yuuri has had a hard time grasping eros, using all kinds of workarounds (food, women etc.). He has refined this understanding as his relationship with Viktor deepened, he has learned to express himself in a sensual manner, but it doesn't come naturally to him. In episode 6, he finally understands that he has the power to turn Viktor on and what exactly he must do to achieve that. He's still using workarounds and these are 100% Yuuri, and because of that, they are successful. Even if he never understands eros beyond the abstract theory, he now has acquired the set of tools to hone is performance and to seduce Viktor if he sets his mind on it. (Yes, this anxious katsudon fatale has some massive kinks and they work for him and Viktor, and I will die on that hill.)

But what about the banquet?

Drunken horniness due to dancing physically with his celebrity crush. Friction is a thing. And let's be honest: otherwise, the whole "grasping eros" story arc would make no sense. Either you have an innate sense of that concept or you don't, and memory gaps can't explain that away.

(No, I'm still on a break from posting meta, but I've been agonising over this for quite a while and had to get it out of my system because I'm currently fixing some stuff related to this in my novelisation.)

If you like my meta, please check out my works on AO3 (link in bio).

Last but not least many thanks to cecebeanie for a discussion that set this thought process in motion 💜💙

#yuri on ice #katsuki yuuri #viktor nikiforov #yoi meta #my yoi meta #viktuuri #yoi #yuri on ice meta #one love: eros #this took me only 3 years to figure out because I wasn't aware I didn't get eros either lol #discussion is appreciated but please stay respectful and polite #please don't respond to this post if you only want to argue

[neutronice]

Yuuri's free skate music.

Imagine you're Ketty Abelashvili, the composer who put together the music for Yuuri's skating career back in Detroit.

You're in school, trying to tease out of him anything that could help you, but he's so shy and withdrawn and seems to be completely allergic to talking about himself in ways that don't sound lukewarm and hard to parse.

So you do your best. And are not all that surprised when Yuuri apologizes (profusely) that he can't use your composition for his skate. He's gone with something that Celestino gave him.

You're actually sort of relieved.

Then imagine, a year later, getting a message from Phichit Chulanont--you were friends with him in Detroit, because everyone was friends with Phichit--about Yuuri Katsuki. Apparently he wants to give you and your composition another try. He's offering to pay you this time too.

You're out of school now, and you're trying to make it professionally as a musician. It's interesting to hear Yuuri wants to try again, but you're definitely sweating bullets. Then again, you figure you have enough experience now that you can take what he's saying and fill in the blanks with themes and inspiration elsewhere.

So you say yes.

You set up a chat, fully expecting the same downcast eyes and shy expressions of the previous Yuuri, the one you knew from Detroit. And sure, it starts out like that, because you're rehashing Yuuri's skating career. The one you knew about, and the one that is hard to talk about, when he crashed and burned.

Then though, comes the first mention of a name: Victor. You know he's talking about Victor Nikiforov--everyone knows that name, after all.

But what you're not expecting is the change. The way that the slumped shoulders straighten, the way that the quiet mumbles of replies are suddenly dancing from Yuuri's mouth, and he's smiling. No, it's more than that, he's lighting up. It's like he can't contain the joy that is exploding out of him talking about training with Victor, skating with Victor, planning with Victor, showing Victor around. It's so apparent that you almost mention it, but decide instead just to let Yuuri talk.

You can already tell your composition is changing. It's not about Yuuri's skating career anymore, per se, it's about love now. Because Yuuri is exploding with it.

You wonder if he hears himself, smiling and chuckling about "how Victor must not know how intimate putting his arm around a Japanese person is in an Onsen!", as if he truly does not understand that this probably goes both ways. In fact, you're sure of it.

Love that can explode out of someone talking about cleaning up stinky dog poop because a poodle snuck some fish speaks to two sides feeling love.

You thank Yuuri for the chat. You let him know that you will send him your composition in a couple of weeks. You tell him you'll be in touch if you need anything else.

But you don't think you do. Yuuri's love was abundantly clear on his face.

You can't wait to get to work.

#yoi meta #victuuri #viktuuri #it was even obvious to the musician who wrote yuri on ice #that's what i like to believe #its why the music was so gorgeous #inspiration. it hit ketty just like it it yuuri #mel this is your fault

[jewishvitya]

Yuuri's ambition and determination? The best thing ever.

He's so strong. Anyone reaching his level would have to be.

We meet Yuuri at his lowest point in the series: grieving. And he was spiraling from there, and still grieving. We meet him when he's experiencing a crisis, not his normal baseline.

I feel like that initial image makes it easy to characterize him as being saved by Viktor, but this would be wrong.

Viktor didn't save Yuuri. He didn't save Yuuri from his anxiety, Yuuri had working coping mechanisms. We see him going to skate and reconnect to his motivation with the help of a friend. He didn't save Yuuri from retiring, Yuuri's mindset is "I want to skate on the same ice as him" before Viktor reaches Hasetsu.

Viktor supported his growth, and Yuuri showed him how. Viktor didn't make him better.

#old meta-ish thing I wrote on twitter #maybe I already moved it here but I can't remember #so have it again #unless I didn't move it and then this is the first time it's on my blog #yoi #riki babbles #victuuri #viktuuri #yoi meta #yoi thoughts

[musings-on-aching-flowers]

Another YOI opinion inbound, this time on the ending scene of episode 11/first scene of Episode 12!! (I’m sure this has been done a bunch already but I found this in my notes so I thought I’d just throw it out there)

I don’t think the ‘ending’ that Yuuri OR Victor was referring to was ending the romantic interpersonal relationship that they had. To me, after that episode 9 scene where we get to see Yuuri running into Victor’s arms, it’s just a given that they would stay connected in whatever capacity they could, because they can’t stand to let the other go.

No, to me, the ‘ending’ he is referring to is the ending of Yuuri and Victor’s relationship as skater and coach, and the ending of Yuuri’s career as a professional ice skater. We can see from how the comments the other skaters make about Victor’s career, and the emotional impact this has on Yuuri when he overhears them that Yuuri is upset at the idea that he could potentially be ending Victor’s career, Victor’s raison d’être as it were, and in doing so taking away his whole passion away from him. 

Also, interestingly, I’ve seen a lot of people/fanfic writers take Victor’s accusation of Yuuri’s ‘selfishness’ at face value, but what Yuuri is doing here seems objectively selfless. To Yuuri, he is making the altruistic choice of relieving Victor from being his coach, as the entire skating world thinks that to keep him on would be selfish. However, it just doesn’t take into consideration Victor’s own feelings regarding returning to skating or staying by Yuuri’s side as his coach, which is why Victor calls him ‘selfish’. It especially doesn’t take into account Victor’s feelings on Yuuri leaving the skating world, which has long since become Victor’s raison d’être, instead. In my opinion, this is why Victor is so upset - he desperately doesn’t want Yuuri to retire. 

So yes - Yuuri is not necessarily being selfish, even though that’s what Victor says, (and what Yuuri agrees with) because this decision goes against his own personal feelings about keeping Victor on as his coach. Although he does want to see Victor skating professionally again, he also really wants Victor to stay, so this decision actually went against his own personal interests. 

#yuri!!! on ice #victor nikiforov #katsuki yuuri #victuuri #yoi meta #my meta

[itsbeahoney]

I could speak endlessly about the things that make Victor and Yuuri an amazing couple, but this one really stood out to me: their insecurities.

(some of this is kinda headcanon, but it’s based on what is implied in canon)

It’s evident from the beginning that Yuuri sees himself as not enough. He doesn’t think he’s good enough, attractive enough, sexy enough, or talented enough to be Victor’s student. These fears introduce his struggle with anxiety long before he enters his first Grand Prix competition. He doesn’t think he’s good enough to deserve Victor’s attention, he doesn’t think he’s talented enough to beat Yurio, he doesn’t think he can keep Victor in Hasetsu with him when the world wants him back in Russia, competing.

And although his confidence grows throughout the series, his self-doubt is still very evident in their argument in episode 11. Yuuri doesn’t think his career is worth more than Victor’s career. Yuuri doesn’t even consider the romantic value of their relationship, only comparing the success of their careers, because even with all the validation he receives from Victor, he doesn’t know just how much his love means to Victor, and he’s scared of overestimating it. Yuuri’s ongoing fear is not being enough.

Victor, on the other hand, is an enigma. Throughout the show, Yuuri’s unreliable narration makes it difficult to know exactly how Victor feels. Victor is scared of being too much. When he arrived in Hasetsu, he was expecting a very different welcome— something akin to the sensual, sexy, confident dancer he encountered at the banquet— and is instead greeted by a shy, unconfident skater, who can’t grasp why Victor would be there to coach him of all people.

Though Victor initially tried to coax Yuuri out of his shell by being extremely forward, he realized that he needs to give Yuuri his space, and meet him in the middle— not force Yuuri to let him in when he’s not ready. Yuuri challenges Victor in episode 4 by telling Victor to be himself. For so long, Victor had been performing in every aspect of his life; every season wiping the slate clean and beginning again, constructing a new persona for himself. He was seen as a force of nature, a whirlwind, a god. Nobody has ever asked him to be himself before. He’s afraid he’s too messy, too impulsive, too Victor to be what Yuuri wants, which is why he asks Yuuri to give him a role in the first place.

Although Victor’s extra-ness is far from lacking in the following episodes, he’s significantly toned down how direct he is, and instead motivates and challenges Yuuri through his small touches and words. When Yuuri is crying in the parking garage in episode 7, Victor doesn’t know how to react, and slips back into a suave bachelor persona— “Should I just kiss you or something?”— in order to keep his messy self hidden; the kind that doesn’t know how to handle when people cry, the kind that acts impulsively, the kind that really doesn’t know what he’s doing. And Yuuri challenges him again. He doesn’t want Victor to be fake, to hide his true self behind a mask. He just wants Victor to stand by him, as himself. This could be another reason why Victor was so angry when Yuuri wanted to end things for the sake of Victor’s career. Victor had given himself, all of his whole, messy, impulsive, imperfect, balding self to Yuuri, who wanted to give it up for the sake of Victor’s suffocating career, his persona as The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor, God of Figure Skating, Victor Nikiforov. It felt like a rejection of his true self, the one that was shown to Yuuri after he painfully tore down all the walls he had to protect his fragile heart. Victor is afraid that his true self is too much.

But together, they fit together like a puzzle piece. When Victor is afraid he’s too much, Yuuri embraces all of it— all of the messiness, all of the tears, shattering those masks one by one and letting them pick up the pieces together. When Yuuri is afraid he’s not enough, Victor helps him build himself back up, showing him that he is strong and deserving of everything he has.

They are perfect for each other.

#i love them sm u don’t even know #victuuri #victuri #victor nikiforov #katsuki yuuri #yuri on ice #yoi #yoi meta #yoi analysis