I didn’t see it mentioned so far, but it’s something I really liked in episode 7 of Yuri on Ice :
His face is distorted, his mouth misshaped, his nose is all red, about to run (he even blows his nose after, like yes finally a tissue used for his proper purpose after crying, meaning blowing your nose, not drying your tears), he cries big tears and his voice breaks.
And he does it in front of Viktor. And Viktor just don’t give a shit about if he’s ugly or not while crying. His lover is crying and he wants to do something. It doesn’t affect his perception of Yuuri (he realizes stuff about Yuuri, but it’s not just the fact that he cries, but rather the reason of him to get so anxious).
Remember in the first episode ? Yuuri crying alone in the toilet stall ? Not even crying on the phone when it’s his mom ? Drying his tears before going out to see Yurio ? Trying to be silent ?
And just in general, his tendency to isolate himself when he’s not feeling well ? (how he goes training outside during the japanese competition, how he avoids Viktor in episode 4) How he reacted when Viktor “caught” him having an anxiety attack in episode 3 after watching Yuri’s Agape ?
And then Yuuri let himself cry in front of Viktor. He was pushed over the edge, dead anxious, and Viktor’s awkward attempt at motivating him was the last strand. So he cried, which he probably hated.
But Viktor didn’t give a shit. Yuuri showed himself in all his vulnerability. That’s why we all like this scene, it’s because it’s really intimate. Yuuri is showing himself vulnerable in font of Viktor. And Viktor listen to him, understand him. And support him. He doesn’t take advantage of it, he doesn’t act any differently than before, he even pays attention to stay close to him (physically and mentally). And Yuuri feels better. It’s said that the cry helped him to feel better and release anxiety. And letting out his thoughts to Viktor while crying helped a lot. And Viktor doesn’t care about how he looked. Viktor saw him being at his sexiest, and at his ugliest. And Viktor love all sides of him. Viktor loves him whole, at his highest as much as his lowest (like come on he started to coach him when he was so depressed).
And it’s important. Both that they showed ugly crying because you don’t always look Beautifully Dramatic™ when you cry, especially in those situations where you’re falling apart from anxiety and stress. And then that he finally cried in front of Viktor, being vulnerable, and that it didn’t affect Viktor’s perception of him (no loss of confidence, no “you can’t do it after all”, nothing of that, even better, a “you’re stronger than I thought; I’ll stay by your side”).
Because now, Yuuri knows he can be “weak” in front of Viktor. He knows he has at least someone he can freely cry in front of. Someone he can show his vulnerability, talk about his fears, his insecurities.
And I think it’s so important, both for Yuuri’s character development, but also for their relationship development, and how healthy it is.
(Edit: not to mention an actual ugly crying is so much more realistic, heart-pinching, heart wrecking to me. It looks way more truthful, an actual expression of his feelings.)
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