Art by 青燁|お仕事募集中
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JVL
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
trying on a metaphor
hello vonnie

roma★

izzy's playlists!
cherry valley forever
sheepfilms
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Janaina Medeiros
will byers stan first human second
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2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
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I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
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@refuzed
Art by 青燁|お仕事募集中
Posted with Permission (reprint/edit and/or commercial use prohibited)
i can't decide the color scheme
Yuri On ICE skill levels x
Is anybody ready to talk about Minami Kenjirou being 5/5 experienced with girls, and Viktor having literally 0 cooperation skills? LESS THAN JJ??
@kiaronna This may have turned into some craziness with @shemakesmeforget where I wrote a whole thing in chat about how Minami has this reputation because he runs the Katsuki Yuuri Support Group and is totally THERE for all the heart broken girls. And they all give him plushies when he skates because he’s just so sweet about their crushes and supportive… and they support him and his big gay crush on Yuuri right back.
And of course Minami doesn’t even realise that he has this reputation at all…
Then it may have devolved into how Minami runs a discord for the group called Katsuki Yuuri’s ASSets.
AHAHAH OH MY GOSH Minami totally does that!! And, of course, there is now a Minami Kenjirou support group where girls go who initially had a massive crush on Yuuri but then bonded with Minami and developed a crush on him, instead :D I LOVE IT. MINAMI DOESN’T EVEN KNOW. YUURI’S ASSETS
My alternate HC to this is that Minami does, actually, know. Minami is a fanboy first, but playboy comes in a VERY close second.
“I can’t believe he talked to me!” Minami screeches to his coach. “He TOUCHED me right on the back and it was amazing!” Five minutes later, Minami is throwing sultry winks and smirks at girls, who are fainting left and right.
“MINAMI IS SO COOL,” they obsess to one another.
He’s really not, his coach thinks with a sigh, as Minami very unsubtly pulls out his Limited Edition Katsuki Yuuri 24″x36″ poster for the older skater to autograph. He lifts up his shirt, debating whether to have Katsuki sign his stomach. A girl swoons at the hint of abs there. Really, really, he’s not.
Cheer up comic to remind myself I can art. Yurio and Minami being silly Yuuri fans.
I blame the people in YOI bang server, especially @writingordinaryrealities, for making me think of the dynamic between those two.
You know who would actually probably be good friends? Guang-Hong and Yuri Plisetsky. I present to you:
PINK LEOPARD PRINT CURTAINS
You should already be convinced, but there’s more. The evidence is very substantial.
They both like to hang with musical, cool guys, though I’ll openly admit Otabek is “dark and brooding” while Leo is more “calming sunshine.”
Finally, Guang-Hong and Yuri are both considered these tiny, sweet boys– some of the youngest at their level– but both are fierce, under a lot of pressure, and much more than meets the eye. Guang-Hong has canonically thought about murder and espionage, while I’m pretty sure Yuri P. muses about murder on the daily.
ALL I’M TRYING TO SAY IS. When they actually interact, I’m pretty sure Yurio’s going to dismiss marshmallow-soft, friendly Guang-Hong until he casually makes a reference to he and Yurio’s favorite bands or movies or something: Death Tiger Puma Blades. Supercool Jungle Explorer 4. Then, they’re off to the races! Their fans are delighted! Guang-Hong’s coach is terrified about the influence! Yakov is… really confused?
Guang-Hong figures out Yurio is kind of a jerk sometimes. He’s cool with it. Yurio figures out that Guang-Hong is genuine in what he says and does, and consequently becomes cool with him. They drag Otabek and Leo across international cities as a group of four, which is totally fine because Otabek and Leo just solemnly trade earsbuds while Guang-Hong and Yurio discuss (AHEM argue) the newest action flicks and who gets to wear leopard-print out to the club scene that night.
(Yuri wins a suspicious amount of these arguments. Guang-Hong may have leopard print curtains, but he also has clothing standards.)
gang calling Yuri for a walk
Okay but please consider Minami owning a bunny. He probably wanted a dog at first but his mom is allergic so they get him a rabbit when he was 13-ish. At first they’re worried he won’t like it and they right. Instead he LOVES the bunny. I can see him naming it Hunnybun or something like that.
-Was confused over the gender and calls it captain Hunnybuns instead
-probably has a instagram dedicated to Hunbun
-Is a proud father
Also another headcanon is that his hair wasn’t always in that spiked winged-look and that he dyed his hair that red part because he wanted to stand out more in competitions.
Please just talk about Minami with me c’:
Ask blog is now open!
minami and yuuri training together like yes i approve (requested by @firofee !)
minami week #3 - future!!!
Ok so I lied about resuming my rewatch, turns out going straight from a part-time job to a full-time (round of applause victory lap end zone dance it took ALMOST THREE YEARS since I moved without a backup plan maybe think twice about doing that kids) one without even a day in between and having to set a real sleep schedule is exhausting!
And tonight I only have time for one episode, but that’s okay, it’s episode five, which is perfect because the rest pretty much come in sets!
Anyway, EPISODE 5!
Yuuri’s kind of a jerk in this one, I love him so much. He like low-key thinks he’s above a regional competition (to be fair… he was), and that really feeds into his embarrassment about being there, and sure he can say it’s about being the oldest one there, but still, what’s wrong with that, tell me please! And poor Minami got the same lack of recognition from his obvious hero in this episode as Yuuri got from Viktor in the beginning.
I know some people debate whether or not Viktor actually didn’t recognize Yuuri or was just being distantly polite (in a way he actually often is), but idk, the narrative mirror here would seem to agree with the former. Although, Yuuri at least has the excuse of most of a year having passed. Just goes to show that they both get wrapped up in their own mind and sometimes hurt other people’s feelings without realizing…
Which is of course important later.
I love Yuuri and Viktor’s relationship here, they’ve come so far in just four episodes. They don’t fully understand each other yet, but they’re comfortable enough to let their jagged edges out, to be disagreeable and bitchy and sarcastic. But also playful and supportive and affectionate. Arguing with people you care about sucks, but they’re also the only people who are worth spending the energy to argue with, ya know? So yeah, they both get their moments of being crabby and mean here, but it’s a good thing! I love Yuuri grumping about Viktor telling him to take it easy, and the outfit change (he just wants to be taken seriously, Yuuri! And look good doing it! That’s not a sin!), and being salty and sarcastic about world records being just soooo easy to break. ❤️ And my babie Viktor, with the petty little comments and the pouty little face and the hug. ❤️
Yuuri’s inner monologue during his Eros performance here will never NOT make me die of secondhand embarrassment but it’s okay I still love him for taking it so seriously.
I love Yuuri with my whole heart, so know I say this with the utmost affection, but he’s like… so self-absorbed. Which, people in individual sports do that for a reason, I guess? It’s funny because he’s also so outwardly self-effacing, but he really tends to forget or ignore that the way he sees things is not the way everyone sees it. And that other people’s thoughts and feelings are also valid. Viktor disrupts this pattern with him, and it was good of him to call Yuuri out for being rude to a fan.
But also Yuuri’s murder face and power walk was totally giving Minami an Awakening, and then here comes Viktor with the lip balm and the poor boy doesn’t know what to do.
I FORGOT THAT VIKTOR HAD NARRATIVE TIME IN THIS EPISODE. Is it coincidence that during his monologue about Yuuri’s performance, we’re also seeing Yuuri at some of his most handsome and graceful, looking like he’s all leg, long lines and pretty?
I think not. One of the reasons the art quality and style changes from time to time first of all highlights certain moments they want to call attention to, but also inform the viewpoint. How Viktor sees Yuuri, which we know if we’ve already seen through to the end, but not if you’re new to it!
And then Yuuri goes and just gushes all these schmoopy feelings all over that press conference in his bad tie and calls his family and friends abstract, cracked out on victory, and the poor dude running the show be like:
S2 Speculation
Other Skaters & Skating-Related Characters:
Otabek Altin
No-Skip
Otabek is yet another character with something to prove. He’s the Hero of Kazakhstan, so like Phichit, he will likely spend S2 using the Four Continents and Worlds as a platform for redeeming himself post-GPF.
He and Yuri’s friendship will likely develop further, and…I don’t really know what else. There is a slight implication that he and JJ actually know each other from where Otabek trained in Canada. So perhaps we will see Otabek forming relationships with more skaters besides Yuri, perhaps encouraging Yuri to do the same.
Skip
If there is a time-skip, I think it’s safe to assume that Otabek and Yuri’s development happens off screen. By the time, we meet them again, they will likely be much closer. If Yuri does indeed undergo a dramatic growth spurt, then Otabek will likely play the role as Yuri’s rock in this difficult time in his career.
As for Otabek’s own careers, it would all depend on how well he did at Nationals, Four Continents, and Worlds the year before. If he did abysmal, he’s still on the road to redemption. If he actually did okay or fairly well, then he may remain more in the background development-wise. To be honest, Otabek is already one of the more balanced characters. He doesn’t really have any issues to work through, making him a prime candidate to remain tertiary in S2 like JJ.
Minami Kenjirou
No-Skip/Skip
I don’t think it’s likely that we will see Minami outside of Japanese Nationals, but since I am not overly familiar with who moves on to the Four Continents from Nationals (just the Gold medalist, or the whole podium?) I will not say that is impossible that Minami will follow Yuuri all the way up through the Four Continents.
In the case that he does follow Yuuri up through the Four Continents and/or there is a Skip, I would say that we will see him and Yuuri develop more comradery than the idol-fan dynamic. After a Skip, Minami would be 18, so him being a year older makes it slightly easier for him and Yuuri to be friends.
Mila Babicheva
No-Skip/Skip
This girl is going to have a lot of fun in S2. The main characters have given her so much material to work with. Teasing, endless teasing.
Unnamed Russian Skater (Someone has to pay attention to her)
No-Skip/Skip
Since we will be in Russia, I imagine this chick will at least appear again in the background, maybe actually get a name, and maybe develop more of a character outside of making fun of Georgi with Mila. Who knows? Maybe she’ll become one of Yuuri’s best friends.
Celestino Cialdini
No-Skip/Skip
Celestino is going to continue being an awesome coach no matter what.
My only request is that we get further elaboration on his relationship with other skaters. Apparently, he worked with JJ once upon a time. It would also be nice to see how Yuuri ended up skating under him.
The Mystery Woman
You did not misread that. Remember the pretty lady who always sat next to Phichit and Celestino in the Kiss & Cry at the Cup of China? I need to know who she is.
Best Guesses
>Phichit’s choreographer? Possible, but disputable since by the sound of episode 4, Celestino choreographs all his skaters’ programs. Unless Phichit’s performance was so special he looked for outside help.
>Celestino’s wife? The series seems keen on minute details, and correct me if I’m wrong, the lady does not wear a ring. There is also the question of why Celestino’s wife would be in the Kiss & Cry with him and Phichit. There was never any implication of Celestino coaching alongside a wife à la Mr. and Mrs. Leroy, since Yuuri only ever talks about Celestino coaching him, and we never see the woman doing any coaching with Phichit.
>Celestino’s Assistant coach? Again, there is no implication of Celestino having assistants outside of the mystery woman’s mere appearance on screen.
>Phichit’s girlfriend? I am actually of the school of thought that she is someone important to Phichit’s personal life. But there are still hurdles. Like why the camera-happy Phichit wouldn’t be putting JJ & Isabella to shame with his & Mystery Woman’s cute couple photos? Unless he’s actually quite private about his love life, perhaps at her request? It would add something to Phichit’s character but…
I really just want someone to acknowledge this lady in S2. Maybe give her a name, clarify her place in this universe a bit more.
The Mystery Man
No-Skip/Skip
He might as well have walked into the series with a sign around his neck reading: I’M GOING TO CAUSE DRAMA IN SEASON 2 AND PROBS MAKE CHRIS CRY. ALL WITH FABULOUS HAIR.
But seriously, I do have a feeling that he was introduced in the last two episodes with the express purpose of setting up drama between him and Chris in S2. As I stated in Part 1, loose ends were left deliberately with our main characters, but most of the side characters either had their threads tied up by the end of their GP events or didn’t have much of a character arc to begin with.
Chris is an interesting case because he was built up at the Cup of China as possibly the biggest hurdle—outside of himself—standing between Yuuri and Gold. But when he appears again in Barcelona, he becomes much friendlier and ceases to be a threat because by then, JJ has been established as way more intimidating and Otabek’s wildcard status had us all anxious. Then Chris doesn’t even make the podium. Unlike other characters, it’s less like his thread was left untied and more like it was straight-up dropped.
Coincidentally, around this time, the mystery man is introduced, which to me marks a changing point in the narrative of YOI as a whole. The moment this guy made his entrance, it’s like the series had all but announced S2, and the fact that his presence had no effect on the remainder of S1 yet he still appeared consistently is proof of that in my opinion.
So while I did briefly mention the idea of JJ and Isabella serving as mirrors/foils to Victor and Yuuri in S2, I am going to have to put my money on Chris and the Mystery Man filling those positions (which lends more credence to the idea that JJ is going to be the major secondary character to drift into the background in S2.)
Cao “Where did this motherfucker go?” Bin
You better believe this fucker is going to appear in Season Two.
Keep reading
Yuri on Ice BD booklet translation (with Mitsurou Kubo interview) - Volume 1
The BD/DVDs were available in stores today, 3 days earlier than the official release, so of course I went to Animate to get my copy even if this meant waiting in line for almost 30 minutes, hah. I’m sure screencaps are being posted all over the net already, but I haven’t watched the BD yet because, guess what, I was translating the booklet.
The booklet has 3 parts: 1) Character introduction for Yuuri and Victor, which is mostly information we know already except for a few extra info (for example, I don’t think it was ever mentioned so far that Victor is fluent in French?). 2) “Topics”, in other words random curiosities. This is the same as above, information we already know plus extra tidbits. 3) Interview with Mitsurou Kubo, from which among other things you can understand that she is probably having fun reading all kinds of fan theories found on the web, lol (though mostly the Japanese ones I think).
Have fun reading, while I finally go watch my BD…
P.S.: I was actually meant to post the translation of an interview with Georgi Popovich’s seiyuu Wataru Hatano, but after being obscured by Victor’s birthday he also managed to be obscured by the early release of the BD… Poor Georgi. I will post that tomorrow or on Thursday possibly.
***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it*** ***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***
Will the piglet become a prince?
Yuuri Katsuki voiced by Toshiyuki Toyonaga
Height: 173 cm Date of birth: November 29th Blood type: A Born in Hasetsu City
Past record: Grand Prix Final 6th place Professional Japanese figure skater
Introduction He finally manages to participate in the Grand Prix Final, but ends up last. Following that he is unable to display his potential in the Japan National Championships and his season finishes there. 23 years old. He is called “glass heart” and the success rate of his quadruple jumps is low, but the peculiar rhythm of his steps has a good reputation. He was rumored to be retiring soon, however after Victor Nikiforov becomes his new coach he decides to aim for victory at the Grand Prix Final on his last season. He is a Kyushu boy who is actually very competitive. The source of all his problems is his lack of confidence, but he has made up for it by training hard and is currently the ace of Japanese male figure skating. Since he tends to gain weight easily, he has decided that he will only eat katsudon (900kcal), his favorite food, when he wins a tournament. His romantic history is top secret.
A new legend is about to start.
Victor Nikiforov voiced by Junichi Suwabe
Height: 180 cm Date of birth: December 25th Blood type: private Born in Russia
Past record: 5 times consecutive winner of the Grand Prix Final 5 times consecutive winner of the World Championships
Introduction The living legend that from the age of 23 years old has never lost a World Championship and has kept on surprising the world. He is not only considered a legend for his brilliant results, but also because he creates his own choreographies and is a pioneer always looking for new ways to express himself. He can perform 4 quadruple jumps, among which the quadruple flip that is considered his signature technique. His splendid and unlimited performing skills capture the hearts of skating fans and athletes from all over the world. Beside Russian, he is also proficient in English and French. Although he is always smiling and ready to provide fan service, his innocent and uninhibited remarks coming from his absolute confidence never fail to create tension in the Russian skate federation. Christmas is celebrated all over the world as the birthday of Victor Nikiforov.
YURI!!!’s TOPIC
TOPIC 1: Poodle Looking at the pictures of Victor and Makkachin, Yuuri also decided to get a poodle and named him “Victor”. His nickname was Vicchan. Now both his smartphone case and background picture feature poodles. His dog Victor lived out his natural life span when Yuuri was at the GPF, but Makkachin came to Hasetsu together with Victor! Yuuri’s first thought when he sees Makkachin is “so huge!”. Indeed, even though their faces are identical, Victor was a toy poodle, and Makkachin is a standard poodle. The size is completely different.
TOPIC 2: Blade The blades each athlete uses are different depending on their personalities. Yuuri’s blades are a standard type. Yurio’s are a new lighter model said to make it easier to perform jumps. If you look closely, the shape of the parts under the sole that support the blade is different. Victor’s blades are golden. Even the sound he makes when he glides the ice is beautiful. The personality of each athlete can also be seen in the color of the edge case used to cover the blades when the skating shoes are not used.
TOPIC 3: Hasetsu City A castle town by the sea in Kyushu. …Or so it’s called, but the castle is actually fake and has a ninja house inside. It’s famous for its marine products, however due to the decreasing population it’s somewhat of a lonely place. The monument in front of the station that Yurio found gross portrays the local “yuru-chara” (mascot characters), a squid and a sea urchin, which are not very popular among the locals either. The popular menus of Yuuri’s house, daytime onsen “Yutopia Katsuki”, are squid sashimi and katsudon. The sweet potato shochu “Makai e no Izanai” was also appreciated by Victor.
TOPIC 4: Russian yankee Yurio’s fashion style is Russian but it also corresponds to the style of Japanese punks (“yankees”). Or the style of old ladies in Kansai. His favorite design is leopard print and tigers are his favorite animal (he owns a cat). His meticulous aesthetic sense, with shoes, clothes, edge case, suitcase and even disguise mask all in the same style, makes his fans a little uneasy. However, his most hardcore fans “Yuri’s Angels” consider him a fashion leader.
TOPIC 5: Ice Castle Hasetsu Skate rink at the base of Hasetsu Castle, one of the few in Kyushu that are open throughout the year. It’s the place where Yuuri started skating and also his current training base. Thanks to his friends, the Nishigoori family, working as staff, he is allowed to use the rink to train even outside normal business hours, which is very helpful. It’s rare for a Japanese rink to have light coming in through a window, and to Yuuri this is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The names of the mascot characters are Ikahime and Ikadono.
Original plan / “name” (manga storyboard) / character plan Mitsurou Kubo interview
A story where Yuuri seizes things with his own hands.
The first time I met director Yamamoto, 2 years ago, she told me that she wanted to create an anime about the deep bond between a coach and an athlete. How to concretely shape the story is something that we decided after carrying out extensive research on figure skating and studying it. The director taught me a lot and I also checked out stuff on my own, while at the same time keeping in mind the feelings of an amateur, as it’s important to understand what would catch the heart of someone who doesn’t know anything about figure skating and has their first approach to it through an anime.
-The feelings of the creators emerge in their work-
The director doesn’t follow single athletes, she really watches everything, ice dance, single, pair, and she has respect for everyone, both past athletes, current athletes and even young ones. For example, she always calls all athletes with the “-san” suffix (common Japanese honorific), including the junior skaters. And not only in front of them, she does it when she speaks with me too. I think it’s the small things like this that emerge in your work. I believe that it’s important to act freely within our creation, while treasuring the feelings of respect and support for the athletes and without feeling superior. However, you don’t really feel like enlivening the story with someone getting hurt. At least within the anime, you want everyone to stay safe from injuries. Since in real life it actually happens often…… But then, when the series started airing, I saw people worried that someone might get injured or die, and I realized that maybe it’s actually that kind of things that people look for in fiction. If it were a long serialization it could have been possible to accurately portray someone going through that kind of hardship, but this time we only had one cour. That is why we chose to limit the worries of the protagonist Yuuri Katsuki to his talent and his psychological weakness, instead of having the people around him put a lot of pressure on him or having someone that disapproves of his choices. We wanted to show someone who has trouble progressing while being surrounded by kind people who don’t step too much into his territory, thus diminishing the enemies. I was careful because I didn’t want to make a story where he would put the blame on someone. I was very happy when, after the show aired, I saw people comment that they can watch it over and over because they don’t hate any characters and so they don’t feel stressed.
-Having viewers get accustomed to the characters-
Indeed, what’s important is that characters are alive within this work. The first thing I thought when I found myself creating a story about sport is that if a saw a person completely unrelated to me that skates, no matter how well they skate I probably would not feel them “close”. If a person that isn’t really interested in real world figure skating watches it they would just think “oh, some skilled guy is skating”, like watching from a distance. I realized that if the viewers don’t become familiar with the characters they will never feel personally involved watching them in a tournament. That’s why we didn’t jump to the matches right away but we spent 3 episodes getting the viewers accustomed to the characters as much as possible. If you can get familiar with the characters and personally experience how it feels when an athlete you really like is participating in a tournament, then you can finally be engrossed in the world of the series. I hope this mechanism works well. I really did my best, because I’m sure that the fiction will not strike a chord in the viewers’ hearts if we don’t create the necessary premises first.
-Is it the same for Katsuki-kun?-
Based on my experience working with shounen magazines, Yurio wouldn’t make for a good protagonist. He shines the most as a rival, but if you use him as a protagonist he is not going to push the story forward, he would probably send it more in a tragic direction. Yuuri Katsuki really pushes the story forward, he’s helped me more than once. Yuuri is indeed the type that doesn’t have confidence, but when you see the interviews of lots of athletes from the real world, who have developed through many battles, you see what a strong personality they have. When you see a skater who is very passionate about training say “I don’t really listen to what my coach says”, automatically you think that maybe Katsuki-kun too doesn’t really listen to his coach when he’s focused. When a kind and sensitive-looking skater says that the judges should “watch me more” in a very blunt way you think that maybe Katsuki-kun too, deep down, has that kind of thoughts about the judges. I like it when real athletes say things that I would never come up with. Still, I use what I hear as a reference when deciding how the characters would behave, but the decision is ultimately based on the personalities that I created for them. Also, I didn’t want to make it so that Victor as a coach would give and teach everything to Yuuri. The driving force of this story is how Yuuri Katsuki seizes things with his own hands. When you have a coach that twists you around his finger you necessarily have to change yourself or to change something to understand how to move forward….
-The difference between manga and animation-
It’s the first time that I’m involved with animation, and first of all, in manga you cannot show music and movements together. Obviously. Recently I’m realizing how much manga actually rely on the imagination of the readers. If you draw someone saying “what an amazing performance!” and then spend a few frames to draw the pose in an impressive way the reader might actually be convinced that they’re indeed doing an “amazing performance”. I draw my manga adding details until I’m satisfied and consider them “completed”, but now I think that might not be true. I feel that this work, that was born from the joint effort of animators, voice actors, musicians and many other people, is now standing on its own. I reckon that there are people who think “since real life skaters are so wonderful, there must be something deep in the world of the anime too”, and so they imagine new things. Among many different languages, sexualities and discussions, there are many people who are bringing out their creative ideas, and I guess to every one of them this work is becoming something special. When I take a look at people’s impressions there are so many things that surprise me, for example how different people will interpret something in completely different ways, and how some people look for deep meanings I didn’t even think about. I have come to find it really captivating that these characters have left my hands and are existing somewhere else. When I see things like that I really feel like I would never get tired to hear the thoughts of people who say they love this work. And at the same time, the feeling inside me that makes me not want to lose to anyone has also become stronger. I didn’t create these characters alone with my own power of course, but more then ever I feel that I am responsible for making these anime characters grow stronger than anyone else! Like Victor, I found motivation.
idk I ended up drawing swapped Yuri on Ice….
idk if Kenjirou Minami was the right choice to be swapped with Yuri but Its late at night lmao……
Give this birthday boy some smecks!
talithan replied to your post “cafecliche replied to your post: chris’ coach calls at a time chris…”
“chris gets playboy victor” !! does anyone else
yes!! i think charmingly insouciant playboy viktor is the first impression most people get (minako, for example), and with chris he’s a little more genuine (not so much careless as BLITHE FREE SPIRIT) and a little more goofy, because chris is so, so fun and they bounce off each other in weird and amazing ways. chris’ viktor does not savagely skewer other people. chris’ viktor goes skinny-dipping with you and lets you grab his tie and squeeze his ass by way of greeting and everyone just rolls with it. the little note in some yoi extra content about chris having ‘a calm, adult air’ KILLED ME, maybe they take turns playing only sane man to each other and at the same time enable each other in the best way, please i must know more about this friendship
i think younger skaters (e.g. guang hong) probably get Encouraging Senior Skater viktor, who barely notices anything but always has a gracious smile ready for you and treats you pleasantly, like a rising star to be nurtured, and is mostly based on a fifteen-year-old viktor’s impression of stéphane lambiel
yakov gets to see everything, down to the worst and ugliest parts, because viktor doesn’t give a shit what yakov thinks
#chris doesn’t see uncensored viktor (nobody until yuuri gets to see uncensored viktor not even viktor himself) #but they have a lot of fun together and that’s real and authentic
yes! i love this. i am now thinking about 1) how weird it was for yuri p, from his unique angle, to see incomplete views of different victors and how he definitely thought he wanted a more real version than Encouraging Senior Skater Victor but then wasn’t prepared for any of the other versions at all, and 2) the origins of chris’s victor, and how much of this would have developed as chris was also becoming a new version of himself, and how fun it was for victor to be changing alongside someone (for the first time, possibly?)
yurio’s definitely unique! i think yurio is in a weird place in viktor’s head, because 1. yurio’s very sharp and has little tolerance for viktor’s various masks 2. viktor is colder and more serious to yurio, since yurio’s clearly on a whole different level compared to other skaters of his age. yurio doesn’t fit into the cookie-cutter category of Ah, Promising Young Skater, I Will Encourage Them and he would not react well to the persona viktor pulls out for those situations. he’d interpret it as condescension. imo we only see that dynamic in the flashback promise scene, where viktor is very, Very nurturing-older-brother-figure (and very good at it), and even then yurio shoots back with a response of his own: demanding that viktor choreograph a program for him.
i feel that viktor doesn’t really know what to do with yurio; for that reason, even though viktor’s spent much less onscreen time with yurio than with yuuri (and probably offscreen too - i mean, i can’t see yurio hanging out mostly with viktor at the st. petersburg rink when mila’s much closer to his age and treats yurio basically like a younger sibling?), yuuri & yurio are pretty much on the same level re: how much GENUINE VIKTOR they see. pieces of different viktors, like you said, and it’s chaotic, because there is no yurio’s viktor and yuuri’s viktor like i think there is a chris’ viktor.
if viktor’s anything like me he probably has a few people he classifies as ‘low-effort’, whom i think would be yakov & yurio. yakov because viktor DOESN’T CARE, he runs rings around yakov; and yurio because he just. does not know how to deal with yurio. yurio defies handling. yurio is the only person in the show to have seen viktor’s open anger; viktor doesn’t even bother with the fake smile.
the transition period from tiny-chris-admiring-beautiful-teenage-vitya-from-the-stands to Equals, Best Friends who do dumb shit together must’ve been so fun and interesting. i think it’s mentioned that chris is the closest person viktor has to a rival, could be wrong bc it’s been a long time since i watched the show (and wrong because VIKTOR, also HELLO YUURI, HELLO YURIO), and there is a distinctly competitive light in viktor’s eyes in that shot of him watching chris’ gpf free skate from the sidelines, which is among my favourite facial expressions ever. what a big difference from the way they viewed each other in that brief ep 7 flashback! i adore this relationship. friends who’ve gone through a lot together, and probably DO A LOT OF THINGS TOGETHER, and are close in the way that’s close without really connecting on a deeper level, on a level viktor hasn’t connected with anyone until yuuri. viktor is not about to expose his vulnerabilities associated with the many, many gold medals he’s won and the kind of life he’s led to the guy whose entire career seems to be defined by striving (and failing) to win those very gold medals from viktor