the more that I dream

CJ | she/her | tired yet reluctantly motivated by the power of victuuri

[queenlua]

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one that added 35k extra words to the projected length of this fucking story ahgeilahgleiag

[stammiviktor]

Honestly part of what makes yuri on ice such a masterpiece is the complete 180 Yuuri and Viktor’s power balance does over the course of the show, from the audience’s perspective. Because we’re seeing everything from Yuuri’s perspective, we start the show thinking Viktor is 100x the skater Yuuri ever was and that Viktor, as the coach and Completely Superior Skater, is the party holding most if not all of the power in the relationship. Since he’s presented as Yuuri sees him—the unbeatable legendary skater and suave, unattainable bachelor, in every way superior to Yuuri—that is how we the audience perceive him as well. It colors how we see all of their interactions, especially since Yuuri is so uncomfortable with this perceived power differential.

But as the show goes on that starts to change. We start to see Viktor as more vulnerable than he lets on, with the subtle moment on the beach, or Viktor applying Yuuri’s lip balm or kissing Yuuri’s skate. And then there are all of Yuuri’s attempts to prove with skating that he is deserving of Viktor’s time and effort, like transforming his Eros for onsen on ice, adding his jumps back at the regional block competition, landing the flip at cup of china, or skating his SP perfectly at rostelecom partially because he knew all of Russia wanted him to prove that Viktor was too good for him. And there’s the physical things too- blowing him a kiss from center ice, grabbing his tie, those moments that put Yuuri solidly in control. Viktor always goes along with these happily, and in episode 7 Yuuri’s actions make Viktor, previously tightly controlled in front of the media, lose his sense of propriety altogether and tackle-kiss Yuuri on national television. All these moments, culminating in Yuuri buying the rings in Barcelona, lead to their relationship becoming almost even in power in the eyes of Yuuri and therefore the audience.

And then the twist: turns out, for Viktor, the roles have been completely reversed the whole time.

In light of the end of episode 10 and our first real peek into Viktor’s point of view, nearly everything we know about the development of their relationship changes. From the beginning, Viktor felt like Yuuri was the one who had all of the power. Moments from the first few episodes that at first glance seemed to establish Viktor’s dominance (him greeting Yuuri in his own home with his dick out, him announcing he’s going to be Yuuri’s coach as if Yuuri has no say in the matter or else no reason to ever say no, his early pushy physical advances, him assigning Yuuri sexual love as a theme, something he is so clearly unfit for, him making Yuuri prove his worthiness in onsen on ice, etc) now read as Viktor doing his best to read and predict the man he’s so clearly pining for and taking risks as a result (Yuuri barging in on Viktor in the onsen when he clearly knew Viktor would have been naked and Viktor logically assuming, based off of this and the last time they met, that Yuuri is very comfortable with nudity and standing up to greet Yuuri with his dick out, Viktor announcing he heard Yuuri’s call to him and remembers and wants to follow through on Yuuri’s request to have Viktor as his coach, Viktor coming onto Yuuri because last they left off Yuuri was humping his leg and what else could Yuuri possibly want from Viktor Nikiforov besides sex and skating advice, Viktor assigning Yuuri eros because that is _clearly_ in his wheelhouse based off of Viktor’s one other time meeting him, Viktor creating onsen on ice as a creative, face-saving way to determine if Yuuri actually does want him as his coach, and on and on). It is Viktor who is constantly putting himself out there, Viktor who is constantly being rejected, Viktor who is so clearly head-over-heels in love with this boy who is giving him like fifty mixed signals per hour. From Viktor’s point of view, he starts out the series completely at Yuuri’s mercy, and that starts to change throughout the show until they end up in a loving relationship where they both know they are equals.

And that (is one of the many things that) makes Yuri on Ice’s storytelling so brilliant— that the show’s huge back-half twist seems, at first glance, to be no big deal, because yeah okay cool they met beforehand and Yuuri was absolutely wild, that’s funny, and Yuuri asked him to coach him, ok that makes more sense, cool. But the more you think about it, the more you realize that this isn’t just some amusing backstory. No, it’s much more than that— it completely revolutionizes the way both Yuuri and the audience perceive their relationship and their love story by flipping that initial power imbalance in its head, and therefore the show as a whole.

In the end, it’s a show about two people who think they’re unworthy of each other’s love and affection that do everything they can to try to prove themselves— only to realize that never needed to do that, because they each have been respected, cherished, and pined-after by the other since the very beginning. It’s two people learning how to love each other and how to be loved in turn. It’s two people creating a relationship beautifully _equal_ because it’s founded off of their mutual and infinite love for each other.

[vyctornikiforov]

THANK YOU FOR THE RINGS MAPPA 🙏🙏🙏

[chismosavirus]

is this how this meme works

[vyctornikiforov]

Third official illustration released of YURI!!! on ICE, drawn for their 5th anniversary.

[professionallyclumsy]

Yuri on ice trending without any announcement. 13 injured 4 dead

[lucifer-awaits]

Who is the motherfucker that got yuri on ice trending I thought the movie dropped

[nalu-trashytrash]

i know. i just KNOW that if they released the Yuri On Ice movie, the world would be different. Covid would cease to exist and things would be right again

[cellamare]

[soil-solace-deactivated20210207]

What’s the point of a diary if no one is gonna stumble upon it centuries later and fall in love with you after you’re dead?

[grabdatgem]

Is this a vegan thing? Do vegan bones last longer? i’m confused.

[soil-solace-deactivated20210207]

What on earth are you talking about

[grabdatgem]

Like milk is supposed to be good for ya bones right? But is this like anti-milk/cow product because it stops your bones from coming back to life in the future?

[soil-solace-deactivated20210207]

I need a little more info. Where are you getting milk or bones from in this post

[mutttooth]

Rachel how do so many people read your post as saying dairy and don’t think to themselves for one second they could possibly have read it wrong

[victorianpining]

How much of the Euros Eros meta comes from everyone having binge watched Yuri on Ice just before s4 came out, I wonder

[darksapphire8]

So episode 9 happened. Yes. I passed out from sugar overdose!

There’s been something about Yuri!!! On Ice that I’ve noticed here and there but never really thought to make a proper post about, but two instances in the end of ep 9 made me decide ‘heck, why not point it out in case others haven’t noticed!’. 

So, the ‘something’ I really enjoy seeing in YOI is how much focus the creators put into the characters’ placements. Naturally, it is an anime about figure skating and the body’s movement speaks a lot, but off the ice, simple positioning says so much. Obvious stuff like hugs and sitting close together sure, but the more subtle stuff is really lovely when noticed as well.

I feel like they pay attention to foot placement for example.

Here much earlier on in the eps, this shot was looked at as somewhat provocative. Viktor had one leg closely placed in between both of Yuuri’s. But if you look at it another way, it reeks of power imbalance. Viktor’s only got one foot in (like hello metaphorically one foot in– not certain yet–testing the waters), while Yuuri’s got both of his. Yuuri’s feet are also just placed there without purpose while Viktor’s is directing and somehow commanding. Can you see it? And it’s quite clearly Viktor (’s foot) trying to get closer to Yuuri, it doesn’t even matter context wise who moved, they hold this shot still for a bit and you can see it. 

Then we have this shot from episode 9, and it’s a whole other ball game. Both Yuuri and Viktor have both their feet in, and neither is overwhelming the other in terms of positioning. The feet are placed closely together, but very evenly. Yuuri has one of Viktor’s legs gently placed between both of his, and Viktor also has one of Yuuri’s between both of his. No power imbalance here, no one person walking ahead of the other, no uncertainty. I also feel like pointing that when compared to the other shot (and many more in the show) specifically, their feet aren’t donned in skates. This is a purely off the ice interaction, as people instead of skaters. Seriously, I got all emotional looking at damn shoes when this scene popped up.

Another biggie that jumped at me quite simply were how the characters themselves are placed in terms of the space around them. 

Please look at this shot back from ep 1. There is a very obvious blue barrier rope running along and so clearly dividing Yuuri and Viktor. They are on opposite sides, not even facing each other (heck Yuuri’s walking away–though at least Viktor is looking at him) and on top of that, there are a ton of other people around. On Viktor’s side, on Yuuri’s side, the creators have made the effort to include other people in their divided world. And a decent amount of them are looking, as though viewing some spectacle. Not private at all. 

Now this shot. This shot. I repeat THIS SHOT. It’s a beaut.

Blue barrier ropes are there once more, but now Yuuri and Viktor are on the same side. Not just on the same side, but on the inside. They are between two sets of safety rails, completely blocking the outside world from their space. Where they’re standing in quite literally says  ‘no entry’. No one is walking there, or is going to walk there, that space is all their own. Those that you can see in the airport are out of focus and have their backs to Yuuri and Viktor; it’s intimate and private. Guys, they’re literally in their own world. It’s just them and Makkachin. Makkachin who isn’t pawing at Viktor, and he’s not pawing at Yuuri, no, he’s in a place where he’s reaching for both of them at once. And of course compared to the parallel scene in ep 1, they’re facing each other, they’re hugging, their feet are all power-balanced and all that jazz too, but seriously, the spatial detail of their positioning.. 

This stuff actually pops up a lot I feel in YOI, gdi I love this show. Every week, it gets better and better gdi.

[irl-magicalgirl]

KING SHIT

[piecesofbrokenrecollections]

a good and organic screencap for when you feel sad

[piecesofbrokenrecollections]

who is the idiot that edited Yuuri and Viktor's wikia entries and replaced "fiancé" with "presumed fiancé" what the fuck is your problem

[imakarayaruyo]

[snake-and-mouse]

My favourite part of Yuri on Ice is when you find out about the banquet and realise Viktor was actually acting more rationally than Yuri and it was Yuri's actions that seemed more left field and nonsensical to everyone except Yuri. The best use of unreliable narrator I've ever seen.