on phichit and his role in yoi
now that i’m on a roll here i think we do need to emphasize how important phichit is. i think that–and no offense to the other skaters–after yuuri and victor and yuri, phichit is the most accomplished character and honestly deserves to be the main character.
i mean, think about the themes of yuri on ice. it’s about finding yourself, knowing yourself, making history. i mean title of the opening song is “history maker(s)”. phichit embodies so much of this. right off the start, even before the events of yuri on ice, he’s already doing so much by being the first southeast asian skater to advance onto the grand prix finals. his thai identity and his skating are tied really closely together. it’s what motivates him and moves him.
“Until recently, I bet no one thought that a Thai skater would land a quad at a Grand Prix Series event! I’ve always believed in myself though!”
like. this is really big, considering that winter sports aren’t really a huge thing in southeast asia obviously because of the weather. but phichit is paving a way for future generations of southeast asian skaters to shine through in a sport that he loves, not only by making it through to the grand prix finals, but also implementing his “phichit on ice” dream. like, phichit wants to make ice skating accessible for his people and that’s so inspirational. he could have been like “yes, i am an accomplished thai skater, the first one!!” but he really went above and beyond to reach out to his people because he loves skating and he loves thailand. he is truly making history. a few years from now in the yoi universe soemone will be writing a history of figure skating and you bet your ass phichit chulanont will be there as the “first ever southeast asian skater to break through to the grand prix finals/win gold/etc etc AND helped bridge the gap between winter sports and southeast asia”
aside from that, it’s also worth mentioning that phichit is one of, if not the only best friend yuuri has. yuuri, the main character of the show who tends to be closed off and anxious to other people. aside from yuuko and nishigori, i can’t think of anyone else he’s as close as he is to phichit. and even yuri still seems closed off towards yuuko and nishigori at times. we see selfies of phichit and yuuri where yuuri looks completely comfortable with him and it seems like they tend to skype each other regularly (as seen in episode 4). and i think that says a lot about phichit’s character and his importance to yuuri’s life. and i wish we saw more of that because i think, especially after yamamoto’s quote about phichit and yuuri, it’s one the best relationship dynamics on the show.
and i guess that brings me to my criticisms about how phichit is treated. like, phichit has accomplished so much yet sometimes all i see from fandom is the characterization of phichit as the “social media obsessed skater who ships his best friend” which is first of all really weird and second it’s just plain disrespectful to phichit’s character and all that he accomplished. i know you’re saying “but we’re just having fun, celine! stop being such a soilsport” well i’ve seen too many of this characterization and i’m tired. it’s hard enough going through the tag and ao3 and only seeing phichit as the sidelined character when he could be so much more.
and to the creators, i know that there wasnt enough time for every other character’s story to be fleshed out, but where’s all the bonus content for phichit? where’s a snippet of “phichit on ice”? where are all the interview tidbits about phichit that gives us an insight to his life? what does he do offseason while in thailand? what’s his backstory? how did he rise to the occasion to be a se asian skater? (this may be a stretch but it’s good to consider: there may not be homophobia in the yoi universe but is there racism se asians that could have potentially be the reason that he placed last?) we can get stuff about guang-hong and yuri’s cat, why not insights into phichit’s life?
phichit is such an important character to me and even important in the yoi universe if we look at the themes of the show and his association with yuuri and i just think that he deserves so much than how the creators and fandom treat him (or ignore him)
one more thing? stop whitewashing him hes a brown dark-skinned asian he has melanin let! him! be! dark!
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
baratheonpilled
jacobvanloon
origamiaround
vaporwave
discoholicmusic
romaincrisis
