Yuuri's Ambition And Determination? The Best Thing Ever.

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.

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.

Some stuff from the Vat7k Sillies server 😼 ENJOY THE CRAZINESS!!

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.

for old times' sake ...

these kissing animations are so damn good. that lip biting (he did bite his lip, I literally took a look inside his head at his teeth lmao) also, Hans' eyes look teary afsdfhghfg

and yes, Henry was shoveling dirt with his damn nose in this save. now I'm playing with trough washing deluxe mod...

todd and wallace episode 5 yaoi compilation in hd because i need everyone to understand just how unhinged this was.

Yuuri Katsuki: the importance of being earnest

There’s a reason that trying to write “fan ascending” is an extremely hard trope to get right, because so often the ‘ordinary Marty Stu’ pairing with the superstar has this air of author wish fulfillment to it that can ring a little bit false.

It’s also why Yuri!!! on Ice is brilliant, because it nailed the fan ascending trope. How did it do this? In a couple of ways.

First and foremost, Yuuri Katsuki is not an ordinary fan. He’s an unreliable narrator who is a Japanese superstar without the ability to see that about himself. He has every bit the ability of Victor Nikiforov, just with much more of it stored up in his potential rather than results and blocked by his anxiety.

That though is not why Victor fell for him. And not why it felt so damn real to see Victor fall for him. Because Yuuri’s power was in who he was inside, and how he dealt with/handled Victor Nikiforov becoming his coach, and importantly, the massive difference between how Victor predicted this arrangement was going to go, and how it actually went.

Victor remembers the drunk and moony Yuuri begging him at the banquet, and then skating Stammi Vicino. In Victor’s “always be camera ready” existence, he probably saw the Stammi Vicino skate as a brilliant marketing strategy, Yuuri making clear he was serious and asking again. And Victor, who was burned out and needed something new probably laughed and said “he got me.”

But… as we know, Stammi Vicino was not about luring Victor to Hasetsu. It was a genuine Yuuri trying to find the things that could bring his love for skating back. It wasn’t meant to be a public call to Victor at all, and so when Victor came and expected cameras and social media and look at me Victor is my coach! He got… something so entirely different.

He got a front-row seat to what it looks like when an entire hometown has adopted their local skater as a collective son. He got a front-row seat to a family who loved their son and supported him no matter what. He got a front-row seat to what happens when sincere hard work and friends who care about the person not the persona band together to help someone reach their potential.

He got I want to eat katsudon with you if I win, instead of I want you to declare to the world that you are my coach.

And for Victor, I think this was a shock.

Yuuri didn’t even fathom the idea of telling the whole world that Victor was coaching him (which we watch Victor decide to do).

Yuuri worried about how he was going to afford Victor’s coaching fees, as if Victor really truly was a celebrity coach, instead of a skater looking for a new way to be inspired.

One scene I have always adored is Victor complaining to Yuuri about coach seats being cramped on the way to Beijing. We know that Victor would easily have flown them both in First Class and not thought anything of it. It means that Yuuri was insistent that he pay for himself and his coach to fly to Beijing. I’ve no doubt he also insisted on paying for both his and Victor’s hotel rooms.

It’s also why the purchase of those rings is so profound. Because Victor knows that Yuuri budgets carefully. Yuuri bought those expensive rings for himself and his rich boyfriend, needing to pay them off in installments, without so much as glancing back at said rich boyfriend about finances. Victor recognized the profundity of the gesture.

And to Victor? Here was a person who made it so plain that he had no intention of ever taking advantage of him. Yuuri’s entire desire with Victor was for Victor just to be himself. Yuuri didn’t need a “oh look Victor is my coach look everyone.” He was over the moon that his idol was there teaching him. He didn’t want a fake kiss and relationship, he wanted a Victor who freaked out when he screwed up.

It meant that Victor who do you want me to be to you? Nikiforov’s mask slowly eroded away. And he found that Yuuri relished in the real Victor. And that it felt good being the real Victor.

All because Yuuri just wanted to eat katsudon with him when he won, insisted on paying both his and Victor’s way when it mattered.

Yuuri wanted Victor, and only Victor. The real one. And in every action, every decision, that Yuuri made, he reminded Victor of that.

It’s a master class to people attempting to write ‘the fan and the idol’ stories. Yuuri wanted Victor the person, not Victor the persona. And in every action, he reinforced that for Victor.

No wonder Victor fell so hard.

!CW BLOOD! ...they fight a lot.

tskym fic recs because i have a lot of free time and it shows (all of them are oneshots)

because @mallgothyamaguchi asked for recs and i am always ready to deliver them

Pre-slash Summer, 1997: sort of an AU? but it still feels very canon tskym to me. freaking creative. WE HAVE AKITERU AND KEI BONDING IN THIS ONE. and tsukihina friendship. check ohmymai's works, they are freaking talented and underrated.

The Choice: discussing where to go for high school. it's sweet.

Canon timeline:

Telephone Lines: it's one of the tskym fics that have really stuck with me. it's just really beautiful. childhood tskym intertwined with current tskym.

i wanna make you mine (but that's hard to say): it's hilarious. like, honestly hilarious. tsukki is so real in this one.

Hum Along: kinda long, plot is freaking creative and beautiful. both of them are characterized incredibly. i can't recommend this one enough.

Feeling like I go too slowly: i put it in this category though it does stretch to tskym's childhood, but it too covers their stay in karasuno. REALLY CUTE AND FUN (tho you have to be a registered user to read this one. anyway, i really recommend you to be a registered user. you'd be missing jewels like this one if not)

Behind Your Back: do not read this one if you haven't read the manga. no timeskip spoilers, but spoilers in the outcome of nationals. if you have read the manga or do not mind some spoilers, definitely read this one. it changed my life.

levels of investment: this too changed my life, but because of how freaking funny it was. really, we need more karasuno centric fics. MORE KARASUNO PRATICE MATCHES CENTRIC FICS.

Post-canon:

Fridgespace: if Hum Along is hilarious, this one is straight up hysterical. kind of a crackfic. love crackfics.