I Do All The Following and All The Liking

Art by Awase

(Because I’ll never be done interpreting this show)

I think one of my favourite things about YOI is how they managed to create such rich, nuanced, layered characters despite the entre show being just 12 short episodes. A lot of the characters appear one way on the surface but they’re really something different and it’s illustrated so brilliantly:

Yuuri - As the main character he obviously has the most development. On the surface he’s anxious, lacking in confidence and self-belief, but there’s a whole other side to him who is determined, confident, impulsive and competitive to the max. Over the course of the show he has to take on the show’s bad guy - his self-esteem - and with Victor’s help reconciles these two very different sides to himself. Yuuri’s story isn’t just about him finding love, or finally starting to succeed, it’s about him coming to accept himself, know himself and appreciate himself. His story is bookended by his dime-a-dozen skater comment – at the start he believes this to be the case, oblivious to the fact he is his country’s number one skater by a huge margin. At the end he repeats the statement, but the delivery is so different, it’s like it’s become a personal joke to himself because he now knows his worth, he’s gently teasing his past self for thinking of himself like that, and it’s another sign of his acceptance of his whole being.

Victor - Although Yuuri’s the most developed character, I believe that Victor is the most complicated character due to the masterful, purposeful misdirection of his introduction. When he’s introduced, he’s smiling and winkng to the cameras, gives a perfect performance at the Worlds and poses – again smiling – with his medal afterwards. He appears in total control of a very successful life. When his path finally crosses with Yuuri there’s another little misdirect - Victor’s face is unreadable as he watches Yuuri’s video, and when he arrives in Hasetsu, he’s accompanied by a literal cold weather front…So when it’s turns our Victor is happy to be in Hasetsu of his own accord we’re relieved to learn he’s not an antagonist (as he was extremely briefly framed to be), and don’t examine much of the behaviour exhibited in his introduction (it’s designed to try to stop us from noticing his smiles are fake). But his overly friendly and flirtacious behaviour with Yuuri leaves us wondering about his true intentions. We’re left wondering at times if his actions are sincere or selfish. We soon realise he is sincere but due to us not having all the information we’re still left puzzled by his behaviour until Barcelona, when his character snaps into sharp focus - rather than being the happy, confident and in control athlete at the top of his game we were introduced to, Victor is actually a depressed, lonely and rudderless mess who took no pleasure or happiness in his successes, and put on a facade to deflect attention away from how he really felt. He was desperate for companionship and love and normal human interaction, and he jumped at the mere prospect of just having some adult fun with Yuuri (who being in drunk and confident mode at the banquet hadn’t been intimidated by his celebrity or deferential to him in any way). I think Victor was thinking he’d do this for himself - go to Hasetsu and have fun with the cute figure skater who treated him like a human being, not an idol - but probably dreamed of something more than just a fling. He wasn’t in love with Yuuri yet, but he was dreaming about it. When Yuuri didn’t act how Victor was expecting once he got to Hasetsu (treating him as an icon rather than a person at times), Victor panicked and spent several episodes figuring out Yuuri and adjusting his behaviour accordingly, falling completely in love with him along the way. Victor’s arc doesn’t have as complete an ending as Yuuri’s does though - while Yuuri finds himself by the end, Victor although older is still lost and figuring himself out - going back to skating to keep Yuuri happy, despite not being over-enthused by the prospect, is a throwback to his earlier behaviour of doing things he doesn’t really want to in order to keep others happy. And he remains reserved around most of the other characters with his facade still firmly in place - unless Yuuri’s around that is.

Yurio’s development is – on the surface at least – more straightforward and conventional. He’s a pubescent teenage boy who’s full of angst and bravado and desperate to prove himself in order to measure his worth. Our first impression of him is one of arrogance and ego. Where his development becomes more complex is when we consider the inner workings of his character and how that eventually affects his goal. It’s easy to just read Yurio as the impatient boy genius out for gold, but it’s much more than that. Yurio’s home life is hinted to be not so ideal for a 15 year old - his father doesn’t seem to be around and his mother is distant. His main emotional support - his grandfather - lives hours away from him and Yurio - still a child – has just been thrust into the adult world of figure skating on his own. The media has all but crowned him to be Victor’s successor, which sounds great on the surface, but to an isolated boy with all that pressure on him, it must have felt like part of his agency was being taken away from him. Yurio tries again and again to assert himself as a being different to Victor - he’s the “Ice Tiger” not the “Russian Fairy” after all. He goes out of his way to act as differently as he can to Victor as well, so instead of being full of cool, confident smiles, he’s almost permanently belligerent and hot-headed. Much later he goes on to pointedly tell Victor that not all skaters look up to him (even though he clearly does). Yurio’s so busy rather childishly trying to show everyone that he’s his own person that it’s easy to overlook the sheer scope of his dedication to his craft and his admiration for his fellow skaters. He pays close attention to everything and has a firm handle on Yuuri’s strengths and weaknesses long before Victor probably does. He learns that to give a good performance he must be willing to act a part, and so in performing Agape he leaves himself open to becoming the “Russian Fairy” he doesn’t want to be, because he knows the program elevates his skating. He also grows his hair out because he feels that once puberty hits, his aesthetic will probably end up changing like Victor’s did (from the new art we know it didn’t - he just got a bit more muscular), He has to use every advantage and every part of himself in his performance. His actions at the Grand Prix Final as well are fascinating. He deeply admires Yuuri as a skater and like Victor knows that there’s a well of untapped potential in Yuuri. Yurio as a dedicated student of his craft wants to see this and doesn’t want Yuuri to bow out with his long-coveted gold, so in the end Yurio’s sole motivation for getting the gold isn’t to win it for himself, but is to stop Yuuri from retiring. His performance isn’t perfect as a result of this desperation and we can interpret his tears at the end as him feeling he might not have done enough. In the end his willingness to give his all to his programs, and he dedication to win the gold not for himself but for Yuuri’s sake is at complete odds with the Yurio we first meet - Yuri Plisetsky prickliness is mostly just a front - behind that front lies a dedicated athlete and artist with surprisingly little ego.

I won’t write as much with the next few characters because all the rest are far less developed, this is just some notes:

Otabek - he arrives looking quite indifferent - aloof and almost bored. We soon find out he’s perhaps the hardest working of all the top flight figure skaters with a mental tenacity that is truly admirable. He has fought tooth and nail for every success.

Chris - Poor Chris. We’re introduced to Chris as a bit of a joke character who is probably a bit of a sex addict. In reality Chris, who has been desperate for his shot at being the number one has spent so many years focused on Victor as his rival, that once Victor is no longer there he badly miscalculates and basically blows his last chance to become number one by allowing Yuuri, Yurio and JJ to surpass him. While Chris shrugs off his early under-performances, we can see just how gutted he is in the Kiss and Cry at the Grand Prix Final. He is devastated and is doing his best to hide it.

JJ – JJ is a character with surprising depth. Initially we’re introduced to this brash, unlikeable teenager who seems to have all the confidence of a fully grown man. He’s from figure skating royalty with a legion of fans and a beautiful fiance. He is honestly intolerable and most of his competitors have little time for him given his rather mean-spirited treatment of them (dismissing Yuuri to speak to Victor and mocking Yurio being two examples). But then everything changes and we see a very different person. JJ has been privately buckling under the weight of everyone else’s expectations. He’s worried that Isabella will leave him if he underperforms and is – surprisingly – very aware of just how talented his fellow skaters are. It leaves us wondering how much of “JJ Style” is actually a coping mechanism. It’s very telling that despite how grating he might seem to most people, when the pressure gets to him and he completely screws up on the world stage, his girlfriend and parents are genuinely upset for him, and he has the guts to keep going despite what’s just happened. If we do get to see him again I hope we find out who JJ really is behind all the posturing and gimmicks because those closest to him genuinely love him no matter what.

Art by 古泉リウ

So, follow me on this:

On his forehead, Victor has a little paper with the word "Gay" in it (Yurio's idea)

Victor: So, am I a person?

Yuuri: Ah...technically...kinda?

Victor: Okay...am I handsome?

Yuuri: Not exactly

Victor *dramatically shocked*: Yuuri!

Yurio: Focus! Keep asking

Victor: Okay...so I'm not myself, right? Cause I'm handsome, right?

Yuuri: ...well...I mean...*he looks at Yurio and then looks back at Victor* ...technically it's you...?

Yurio: It's a part of you, technically, yeah

Victor: A part of me that isn't handsome? We will be sitting here forever cause-

Yurio: Yes. We know. You are the Brad Pitt of ice skating. Processed with the questions

Victor: ...am I a body part?

Yuuri: No

Victor: Am I a personality trait?

Yuuri *looks at Yurio*: Kinda?

Yurio: Kinda? That's his whole personality!

Victor: ...my personality is ugly?

Yurio: Yes, but that's not the point.

Yuuri: Yurio, you are being mean.

Yurio: No. I'm being honest

Victor:

Victor: I'm charming?

Yurio: In your mind, maybe. But no.

Victor: am I... *sighs, finally realizing what this was about* ...gay?

According to a few colleagues it’s either a plant, an algae, or a fungi. So that’s been helpful.

After a day with some sunlight I think I might be seeing some chloroplasts.

I’m going to be in the field for the next 2 or 3 weeks but soon after that I hope to once again try to ID it.

Any botanists/mycologists who want to help out? I’m afraid if it’s not algae my ID skills are very rusty.

Here it is, in all it’s glory, after 2 years in isolation.

** Permission to post it was granted by the artist Do not repost/edit the art without permission Please, support the artist on their pages too **

Artist : Sagawa (pixiv / twitter)

Art by  ghostly_0910

Xiaojie 'Emily' Tan, 49

Tan, 49, was the mother of Jami Webb, a recent graduate from the University of Georgia. She was a licensed massage therapist and the owner of Young’s Asian Massage, along with other businesses in the area, including another spa and a tanning salon, according to state records. She was “the sweetest, most kind-hearted, giving, never-met-a-stranger person,” a friend told Atlanta’s WSB-TV. Just one day away from her 50th birthday when she was killed, according to USA Today, Tan was described by her daughter as thoughtful, devoted to her family, and looking forward to traveling in her retirement.

Hyun Jung Grant, 51

Hyun Jung Grant was a Korean immigrant who worked at Atlanta’s Gold Spa. Her son Randy Park, 23, shared a tribute to his mother on GoFundMe: He said his mother was a single parent who “dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I.” She loved dancing and sushi, according to Park, who told The Daily Beast, “She wasn’t just my mother. She was my friend.” Park, who now has to raise his brother alone, is not buying law-enforcement officials’ suggestion that the attack was motivated by a supposed sex addiction, not racism. “That’s bullshit,” he said.

Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, 33

Yaun Gonzalez, 33, was a mother of two — 13-year-old Mayson and 8-month-old Mia. She had worked all day on Tuesday at the Waffle House a few shops down from Tan’s spa business. She had been looking forward to having a relaxing night out with her husband, Mario Gonzalez, whom she married only last year, and the couple had reportedly never been to Young’s Asian Massage before. According to Fox 5 Atlanta, family members say that Mario Gonzalez, who survived the shooting, is “taking [the situation] hard.” Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez’s friends and family have set up a GoFundMe to address her funeral costs.

Paul Andre Michels, 54

Michels, 54, was a handyman at Young’s Asian Massage and the owner of an electric company. He was only recently hired for the role and excited to take it on after looking for more work during the pandemic, according to a friend who spoke with CBS46. An army veteran originally from Detroit, Michels is one of nine siblings and is survived by his wife of more than two decades. In an interview with the Guardian, his brother John Michels emphasized his kindness. “He was just a regular guy, very good-hearted, very soft-natured,” he said, while noting that Michels had expressed an interest in getting involved in the massage business.

Gofundme update.

Yong Ae Yue, 63

A licensed massage therapist, she was laid off at the start of the pandemic last year and was excited to finally start shifts at the spa again, her son Elliott Peterson, 42, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday morning. Yue’s youngest child, Robert Peterson, 38, agreed, recalling their mother as a kind and deeply caring woman. If you stopped by her house, she’d sit you down, ask if you’d eaten, and then insist on a trip to H Mart grocery store so she could make a meal.

Gofundme update.

Suncha Kim, 69

Suncha Kim, 69, worked at one of the spas in Atlanta. Her family could not be reached for comment. Kim, a grandmother, was married for more than 50 years, a family member told the Times. She enjoyed line dancing and worked hard, the relative said.

Gofundme update: She migrated to the USA from Seoul, South Korea to provide for a better life for my family. Like many asian immigrants, she spoke very little English and worked two to three jobs. This took immense courage and my grandmother was a fighter. She was married to a loving husband who she planned to grow old with. She has two children. A loving son, a loving daughter, and three beautiful grandchildren.

Daoyou Feng, 44

Daoyou Feng, 44, began working at Young’s Asian Massage in recent months, according to Tan’s friend Hynson. She was kind and quiet, he said. Her relatives could not be reached for comment.

Soon Chung Park, 74

Soon Chung Park, 74, was also a worker at an Atlanta spa. Her family didn’t respond when reached for comment. Park previously lived in New York, where she has relatives, her son-in-law, Scott Lee, told the New York Times. “She got along with her family so well,” Lee told the newspaper.

Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, 30

Art by  ibukisyoh

Art by  zarazara_white