del toros victor funniest guy of all time. tries to steal his brothers bride to be who looks like his mother who died in childbirth of said brother in an attempt to take something from his brother the same way his brother took something from him (their mother) but he can't hack it so he creates life immediately treats it like his father whom he hated treated him in turn leading to the death of both his brother and his bride. and himself. and several hundred innocent bystanders. wants to fuck his mother. turns into his father. recreates himself. forces his other self to live in perpetuaty. dies. 👍
Yuuri’s so me fr because I too would not take a man literally naked in front of me, flirting with me, making declarations of love, and spending 98% of his time with me as proof of anything more than being my coach.
Nothing slapped my shit back into place like someone pointing out that the "genius gifted child with so much potential who got burnout and mental illness" is just the nerd equivalent to the jock "could have been a pro at sportsball if it wasn't for the injury".
there's nothing quite like a random piece of media you consumed ages ago and loved at the time but kinda forgot about after coming back to you years later absolutely out of nowhere like "you thought you could forget about me? don't worry! i'm here to be the only thing you care about yet again" and then the cycle repeats
it's fun but also painful because the intensity of the obsession revived makes it hard to focus on anything else like someone get these fictional people out of my head please
Listening to Adam Rippon sharing his experience with training under Russian coaches in the podcacst The Runthrough, has revealed to me a missing piece in Yakov’s treatment of Viktor that looks like it’s the deciding factor.
In the ice dance lore episode 4, Adam explains (I’m paraphrasing because I won’t tear through an 2:40h-episode again to find the exact quote) that Russian coaches are quick to insult their students, but they’re also ready to defend them like a lioness her cubs when anyone else does. However, the moment you go to another coach, you’re dead to them.
Which immediately reminded me of this:
In the prime of his career—after accomplishing a Grand Slam and winning Worlds and the GPF the 5th time in a row—Viktor hangs up his skates to coach a skater he has fallen in love with. He doesn’t officially retire, which is something every coach can understand and support, but goes on “hiatus” to court Yuuri. As a result, Yakov has a fit and speaks harshly about Viktor when the press brings up the reason for Viktor’s hiatus, is quick to criticise his coaching skills because in Yakov’s mind Viktor’s place is on the other of the barrier, and he’s hell-bent to ignore Viktor when they meet at competitions. With Adam’s report in mind, this reminded me of a couple interviews with Russian coaches I’ve read in a skating magazine which showed me that this is actually pretty common.
There’s an underlying cultural mentality at work here. During the Soviet era, when Yakov grew up, competed, and started coaching students, someone’s contribution to the glory of their country counted more than the individual themselves. Successes were propagandised and failures were blamed on the individual and punished because they don’t support the image the country wants to show to the world (read: Russian athletes are the best). Given Adam’s words and everything I’ve heard about Russian figure skating, this mentality still exists in sports, and you can see it in how they portray their athletes as heroes in case you wonder why Viktor is the “Russian Hero”.
So, what does that mean for Viktor and Yakov?
In a system where sport is state-funded and used as a propaganda tool, his students’ failures reflect poorly on Yakov. To avoid such an outcome, Yakov would scold his students and blame them for their failures, basically passing the pressure that is on him to his students. At the same time, if someone else speaks ill about one of his students, it would make Yakov look bad and so he defends them. Leaving a coach, even if it’s only for going on hiatus, is like a personal insult and a blow to the coach’s pride. Or in other words: there’s no greater insult to Yakov than his champion student leaving him and not needing him anymore after everything he’s done for him. As if Viktor is ungrateful and thinks too much of himself, which we know is nonsense, but to Yakov who reacts like a scorned lover it’s a shield to hide behind.
This shows that some wounded pride is involved here that doesn’t allow Yakov to do some introspection to understand the reasons leading to his best student leaving him. But—and I really want to stress this beause fans seem so quick to put the blame on Viktor—that’s neither Viktor’s fault nor his problem. Viktor is not responsible for Yakov or the solution to his issues. It's the system that needs to change. Viktor is responsible for his own happiness, and so is Yakov.
Viktor’s later confusion with respect to Yakov’s hostility gives rise to the theory that he never expected things he undoubtedly heard of happen to himself, may it be because Yakov has been his coach from the start or because he cannot imagine that the father figure he obviously sees in Yakov would really dismiss him like that. (Note: that some Russian skaters maintain a closer relationship to their coaches than to their parents is not unheard of, some even live with them—and not because the parents don’t love their child or are neglectful.)
The same mentality is at work when Yakov welcomes Viktor with open arms at the first sign that he wants to come back:
… or rather that’s what Yakov's first thought. But: Viktor entrusting Yakov with his own student proves to Yakov that Viktor still holds him in high esteem and needs him.
Viktor will learn what it feels to be dismissed and not be needed anymore when Yuuri tells to retire to the point that he acts like a scorned lover, although Yuuri doesn’t break up their private relationship, showing that he isn't immune to these things himself.
For the longest time I thought Yakov’s treatment of Viktor was mainly caused by anger management issues and dealing with divorce, and while both certainly impact Yakov by making him more irritable and impair his emotional control, the impact of national mentality is hard to ignore once you become aware of it. It’s another detail that enriches the world of YOI and shows that the creators did their homework on the cultures and the ethnicities of their cast.
In this post I assumed that Yakov once was a skater himself, because most skating coaches at some point were. Even if he wasn't, he's surely been a coach for a very long time.
I'm gonna post a more refined version of this on my website sometime when I had time to dig deeper into this fascinating subject because I'm not Russian myself and I'm want to get a better understanding of the underlying mentality for my own writing. Thanks to my beta for sharing her thoughts on this!
Writing reflection: Katsuki Yuuri and the illusion of control
I've posted 62 fics for Yuri on Ice on my main writing account, adding up to 449,595 words over the last 8 years. That's a very big number for a very slow writer like me. YOI is the hyperfixation that keeps on giving <3
Disclaimer: Fandom is for everyone, and I'm not writing this as a way to present my perspective as the "correct" one. Everyone can engage in fandom in whatever way they enjoy. This is just a personal reflection of the considerations I have when writing. If you feel differently, that's totally cool and I respect that. Life would be boring if we all thought the same.
What I think about when writing Yuuri:
Katsuki Yuuri is my favorite fictional character of all time, my top blorbo. I am absolutely fascinated by this fake little guy. He has so many layers, so many contradictions, despite coming off at first glance as "generic sports protag".
Yuuri wants to be in control.
He wants control how other see him, to present himself as perfect, and will work himself raw to do so. He wants to meet Viktor on the ice as his equal, and not one minute before then. This includes control of his body—which gains weight easily in a sport where the physics doesn't allow that—and his emotions, of which he has so many he can barely keep them under wraps.
He practices figures over and over to get them just right, precise, perfect, exactly under his control.
It is flatly impossible to be perfect at all times and hide his whole heart (Viktor appears to be able to, which Yuuri idolizes, of course he does), and that sets up a big conflict within him.
Yuuri believes he must be perfect before he is worthy of love.
He has impossibly high standards for himself that he cannot meet, so he doesn't connect with people easily. He's not "ready" for those connections, because he's still working on "fixing" himself to meet his ideals; he'll presumably make those connections once he is perfect, but he thinks that's far off. He avoids his family and his few friends, leaves his beloved dog in Japan, and after disappointing his coach and skating federation at the GPF, when all his hard work and sacrifice in search of perfection goes up in flames, he is completely ashamed.
Yuuri feels deeply.
He doesn't want to be looked down upon or pitied, but even his ISU profile mentions how much he cries. That means, to him, he fails there too. His skating is emotive and beautiful, but he can't let himself get too lost in what he's feeling or he'll risk losing his control. Nerves are a very real issue, and his performance is inconsistent. His strong emotions are a strength and a weakness.
Yuuri has ambition and pride.
Despite his mental hangups, he's secure in his talents when he's thinking clearly. You don't accidentally get to the top level of a sport like figure skating, it's the result of lifelong effort and a lot of sacrifice, on his part and on his family's. He takes it seriously that he represents Japan, and Saga, a prefecture that is looked down upon. He has the ambition to stand at the top, he wants to reach and dethrone the "Living Legend" himself!
Yuuri is very brave.
Because his emotions are strong and difficult to hide, and he feels failure deeply, deciding to put himself forward takes courage and drive. There's a reason the kanji for 'brave' is in his name.
Yuuri's standards are impossible to meet, and so he self-destructs.
He's prone to doom spirals, shame spirals, etc. He'll overeat, avoid things he needs to deal with, shut off his phone and curl up in misery. He will drink 16 glasses of Champagne in a roomful of his peers, fully knowing he's a wild drunk, and do things sober Yuuri would very much not. He wants Coach Viktor to teach him the secrets of how to be perfect—unimpeachable, just like him—and it torn between utter happiness and the desire to crawl under rocks and hide forever. If Viktor is going to teach him, he's going to have to see him, and he's not ready yet.
Yuuri is selfish.
His perspective is so selfishly tight, locked to himself alone, at the expense of other's feelings, which he has a hard time accepting or understanding. He'll make big choice that affects other people and not see the consequences coming ("Let's end this"). He doesn't pay attention to his fellow competitors well (Minami etc) because he's so focused on his goal (the ideal version of himself, and reaching Viktor)
With Viktor, Yuuri learns to accept love.
The story of Yuri on ICE involves Yuuri learning that he can be loved even if he's not perfect. It's him seeing the love that was always there around him, and realizing that there are some dreams you can't reach alone.
His nightmare is Viktor seeing him as a pathetic mess, but when it happens at the banquet—drunk, nearly naked, after BOMBING his performance, grinding on him and pathetically begging for him to be his coach—Viktor is so enamored that he uproots his life and travels across the world to do just that. He didn't have to be perfect to do it. Viktor saw him at his lowest and fell for him anyway.
What a powerful message! A complete rejection of Yuuri's worldview! That's fascinating. Fascinating enough to me to write nearly 500k lmao.
This explains why I love writing sub Yuuri in fic. At his core, I see Yuuri as someone who wants to be in control. So for him to open up and submit... it would be a take SO MUCH EFFORT. So much trust and vulnerability!! He can learn (just as in YOI canon) that he doesn't have to be perfect to be loved, that even if he gives up every scrap of the control he clutches so tight and lets himself feel freely, he's worthy of love and care. Ugh. So good. I want him to let go of control so that he can relax and experience love, and I think that's why I write about that topic a lot.
Anyway, that's my little personal retrospective brain dump. Fun!
snowghoul
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