Semblance of Solitude

A collection of smols.

OK I NEED TO SAY ME A THING, but I think it’s very much intentional, that most of the skaters’ thoughts or themes relate to, parallels or act as foils to viktor, yuuri and yuri.

I don’t mean to diminish otabek’s thoughts and his own motivations(!!!) of course but I felt like it was really a huge momentous move on kubo’s part to introduce his character, have him established as someone who has looked beyond yuri’s demeanor to see the soldier that our smol child was, see him for his drive and determination rather than the greatly misconceived images people associate him with, and have his thoughts build up to his performance in what was a very emotionally conflicting and shocking moment for yuri

everything under the cut:

Original art by いなり (Pixiv | Twitter)

Idk if its a translation thing but if it isn’t, here’s a whole new world of pain.

In episode 1, Viktor’s FS is named “Stay Close to Me” (at least the song was so I’m also assuming that’s the name of his skate). 

Sento una voce che piange lontano/I hear a voice crying far away Anche tu sei stato forse abbandonato/Have you been abandoned as well? Orsù finisca presto questo calice di vino/Come now, let’s empty this glass of wine soon Inizio a prepararmi/I’ll start getting ready Adesso fa’ silenzio/Now be silent.

Con una spada vorrei tagliare/With a sword I wish I could cut Quelle gole che cantano d'amore/Those throats singing about love Vorrei serrar nel gelo le mani /I wish I could seal in the cold the hands Che esprimono quei versi d'ardente passione/That portray those verses of burning passion

Questa storia che senso non ha/This story that makes no sense Svanirà questa notte assieme alle stelle/Will vanish tonight along with the stars

Se potessi vederti/If I could see you Dalla speranza nascerà/From hope L’eternità/Eternity will be born

Stammi vicino/Stay close to me Non te ne andare/Don’t go Ho paura di perderti/I’m afraid of losing you

Le tue mani, le tue gambe/Your hands, your legs Le mie mani, le mie gambe/My hands, my legs I battiti del cuore/The heartbeats Si fondono tra loro/Are fusing together

Partiamo insieme/Let’s leave together Ora sono pronto/Now I’m ready

Lyrics from http://yohao88.tumblr.com/post/151438830208/parry-repost-theme-from-victor

As established in many many metas before, the skate is about the singer pleading to his lover or someone special to stay by his side. The singer is lonely, looking for love, pleading desperately for it to the point where he wants to kill love because he’s afraid of losing it.

Viktor and Yuuri skates this separately. But its artfully synchronized with each other.

Viktor skated Stay Close to Me in episode one after meeting Yuuri. That’s after the banquet where Yuuri stole his heart dead drunk and doesn’t remember it.

Viktor’s skating because he’s calling out to Yuuri. And Yuuri? He’s unknowingly calling out Viktor with this skate as well. Yuuri was looking for something to continue skating again.

…..and Viktor answered.

Now let’s go back to episode 12. The skate is now named “Stay By Me”. Again, I have no idea if this is a translation thing but now “Stay By Me” is the program name.

Stay By Me, the name itself, is already a lot more definite compared to Stay Close to Me. Stay Close to Me implies that the person you are talking to is faraway from you, that they may not stay because they’re so far. It’s a plea.

Stay By Me implies that the person is right there beside you and you are telling them to stay. It’s kinda like “Stand By Me” - you’re telling the person to stay and support you and never leave you. It’s a command.

Episode 12’s skate is the perfect end to the series because after all the drama and the build up, Viktor finally has Yuuri. He’s found the special someone from the first skate. Yuuri keeps Viktor and his career for one more year (or five).

Back to the lyrics,

Sento una voce che piange lontano/I hear a voice crying far away Anche tu sei stato forse abbandonato/Have you been abandoned as well? Orsù finisca presto questo calice di vino/Come now, let’s empty this glass of wine soon Inizio a prepararmi/I’ll start getting ready Adesso fa’ silenzio/Now be silent.

When the programme opens, Yuuri skates alone. The first verse of Stay Close to Me is kept, the singer is still lonely and yearning for his lover.

Stammi vicino/Stay close to me Non te ne andare/Don’t go Ho paura di perderti/I’m afraid of losing you

Then Viktor joins him at the chorus and they both skate together. The female singer also joins in at this point. They’re skating together.

Le tue mani, le tue gambe/Your hands, your legs Le mie mani, le mie gambe/My hands, my legs I battiti del cuore/The heartbeats Si fondono tra loro/Are fusing together

Partiamo insieme/Let’s leave together Ora sono pronto/Now I’m ready

The angsty part about killing love has noticeably been cut and for good reason.

The singer is no longer lonely anymore because now he’s joined by his lover. They’re both telling each other to not leave because they’re both afraid of losing each other. They’re telling each other that no matter where they go, they’ll always be ready to go together.

And what do we have as the final scene? Yuuri has moved to Russia and probably lives with Viktor since he’s running with Makkachin.

Stay Close to Me is the song that provides the narrative for Victuuri’s romance up to this point. It’s masterfully altered to have different meanings at the start and end of the series. It showed off how they both fell in love and ultimately got together in the end, promising each other that they’ll always be together.

It’s so, so beautiful.

Vikturi morning routine regime!!