Like Yourself!

Look, we all joke in the YOI fandom that when Victor says he was drawn to Yuri because of the way his “body moves to the music” he means WHEN YURI IS STRIPPING WITH A POLE, but I’m starting to feel like when we do that, we’re a) treating Victor like a bimbo and b) buying Yuri’s line that he’s just another dime-a-dozen skater.

Let’s not forget this glimpse we have here in the very first episode, of Victor in the hallway, right before he goes out and performs a routine that wins him his fifth consecutive Worlds title. What’s he doing? RUNNING OVER A STEP SEQUENCE.

Yuri never has to run over his step sequences. Before he performs, he’s busy psyching himself up, trying not to panic (which will make him ruin his jumps).

And let’s not forget it’s his performing, his step sequences, that get him Yurio’s attention as well.

Neither of them can handle their alcohol. But they are in love, so it’s ok.

im not used to drawing them yet so forgive the mistakes haha

based on this post 

“when i first met him… he was like a little boy running through the swiss meadows”

He’s always described himself as a mediocre third-rate skater… but he qualified for the Grand Prix Final last year, so he had to have medaled a LOT to pull that off. He’s intimidated by Minami who beat him the previous year because Minami is obviously a superior skater… but Minami looks up to Yuuri as an inspiration for skating. He describes himself as a disappoint and a failure, but background shots of his family’s inn show that he has a crap ton of trophies, and his entire home town thinks he’s a hero.

And now, at long last, the show has given us the biggest twist yet. Yuuri has convinced the entire  audience that Victor is the desirable one, Victor is the catch, Victor is the unattainable idol to be pursued, but he’s not.

The snow.

They probably weren’t watching the weather forecast there in the first two shots, they were watching the news. This cold front came literally out of nowhere, as, like the announcer says, it was supposed to be a perfect day for hanami, ergo going for a picnic to watch the cherry blossoms. But instead, lots of snow.

Now, for those of you who live in colder areas, like myself, you probably just went “well, unseasonal snow happens sometimes, I remember once we had snow in mid-May.”

For those of you who live in warmer areas, you probably went “idk how snow works, so I guess that sounds legit???”

No.

Snow in April on fucking Kyushu is beyond ridiculous, okay. They barely even get snow in the actual winter months. This is happening on April 11th - or even later - and they should be having temperatures in the 15-20°C/60-68°F range - or maybe even higher. And they probably were, before this. That’s why Yuuri’s so surprised and confused.

So why would they even bother including this?

Victor. It’s all about Victor.

In part, I suspect it’s a literary/poetry reference, even if I can’t quite place it, because “he came from the north, bringing ice and snow” is something of a universal literary image.

But mostly, it’s because, in Japanese, when someone does something highly unexpected and uncharacteristic, like, say, me cleaning my room, you express your surprise by saying “wow, does this mean it’s gonna snow tomorrow?”

Here you have Yuuri “I skate for Victor and he is my number 1 motivation and drive I want him for myself” Katsuki not even hesitating to order Victor to go back to Japan and saying he will be fine by himself, because he knows what Makkachin means to Victor, and he doesn’t want Victor to go through the same pain and regret Yuuri went through with Vicchan and being too far away to be there for a beloved pet one last time (btw I think Makkachin is going to be fine, don’t worry).

And here you have Victor “he’s too self-centered/selfish to care about anyone but himself (or so they say)” Nikiforov adamantly refusing to leave Yuuri alone during such an important competition (and you can tell he is deeply conflicted, as he should be because it’s Makkachin, but he still refuses to leave) until he spots Yakov. And then be pleads with Yakov, who has given him nothing but scorn since he left to coach Yuuri, who told him not to even speak to him again unless it was to ask to come back to skating, to please be there for Yuuri for one day, so he can leave with peace of mind. And it’s the most vulnerable we’ve seen Victor so far.