I know (most of us) love Yuri P for all his loudmouth comic foil ways. The audience can see he’s a poorly socialized teenager with about ten different complexes and possibly a frustrated crush on Yuuri K. But I would like to see more fic where is his attitude problem is an actual problem, because in real life a teenage boy being that rude that aggressively is going to suffer serious social and professional setbacks.
Teenage white boys do get away with a lot! But no one likes a disrespectful jerk. See: the way they all react to JJ (who actually turns to be a sweet but sheltered kid who’s overcompensating to project confidence. ~parallels~). Yuri P and JJ actually have somewhat similar abrasive hyperconfident personas, but Yuri P is given more leeway by his fellow skaters likely due to his age. And probably also his smaller stature. The day could come when people get up and leave when he walks into a room, because it stops being funny after a certain age. Or if one grows enough to be perceived as being physically threatening.
Like it or not, playing politics is a necessary part of life, we all have to do it. Learning to effectively manage one’s negative emotions and chaotic impulses is essential in getting ahead in life. You can’t cuss out your boss, and you can’t go around kicking people and yelling at them in bathrooms. My kingdom for when Viktor grabs Yuri P in episode 10. However complicated their relationship is, Yuri P is running out of road for people writing his ill manners off as kid stuff, and someone ought to be letting him know.
That face says “I’m about tired of this shit!”
(Also, I am in the camp that thinks Viktor is a sweet bean with Yuuri, and a steely-jawed professional with most everybody else. His behavior in Hasetsu with the Katsukis and Co., following and also kind of in the middle of his quarter life identity crisis, is not necessarily representative of his behavior before his breakdown or in general. His jetting off to Japan wouldn’t be widely considered shocking if he were known for flights of fancy or unprofessionalism. But more on him later.)
It would be hard to be unlikable in a judged sport. There’s already so much playing national favorites and reputation boosting and coach bonuses. Technical score is one thing, but judges can choose to see or not see certain mistakes. They push a narrative for entertainment value and also sometimes for personal gain. Sponsors would be trepidatious of someone who makes a habit of offending people, that’s just business. Rumors of unsportsmanlike conduct can be doggedly persistent. A certain collision at 2019 Worlds continues to get brought up online, and whether it was intentional or not doesn’t matter, there will always be people who speculate.
I’m just saying. I enjoy Yuri P as a character, and within the structure of a sports anime he’s a classic archetype. And iirc, at least Lilia is attempting to teach him some manners, so there’s that. In real life the urge to slap would be *so strong!* I am an adult who manages my unkind thoughts and reactive impulses, so I wouldn’t. But I’d definitely make every effort to avoid such a person. In fic, which people generally make the effort to imbue with more versimilitude, it would be nice sometimes to see him run up against the very real wall of Acceptable Behavior By An Adult Who Wants To Get Paid.