#☆ ! ;; ' katsudon ' katsuki yuuri

[cosmiclion]

Wow guys Yuuri's so cute I wish figure skaters were real 😔

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

On Love Eros is a textbook depiction of how a figure skating routine evolves over a season

If you watch figure skating, you might have noticed that skaters grow into their programmes as the season progresses and that sometimes elements (usually jumps) are rearranged or replaced because the skater struggles with them or to increase the base score of the programme. In Yuri On Ice!!!, there is a lot of this, most prominently in Yuuri’s and Yuri’s programmes. In the following, I will break this down for Yuuri’s short programme On Love: Eros as this provides the most comprehensive data on the subject.

Presentation

Figure skating is, to somewhat extent, acting. A programme can require a skater to slip into a role (I’ve heard of skaters who take acting classes for this), but even for a programme that portrays a skater’s feelings basic expression and projection skills are useful. Yuuri skates at his best when he skates true to his feelings and because of this, he gets high programme component scores (PCS), which help him make up for messed-up jumps. But when Viktor assigns On Love: Eros to him, Yuuri has no idea how to skate it. For how shall he express something he hasn’t experienced before?

Yuuri has never thought about love much less had a relationship. He says of himself that he didn’t pay attention to the things happening around him because he focused on skating since laying his eyes on Viktor for the first time. However, Viktor’s demonstration of On Love: Eros has given him an idea of a possible story:

A playboy comes to town and bewitches the women left and right. He decides to pursue the most beautiful woman in town, but she isn’t swayed. As they play the game of love, she finds it difficult to make the right choices and ends up falling for him. Then, he casts her aside as if he’s tired of her and goes off to the next town.

Which pretty much describes the situation in episodes 2&3 as Yuuri perceives it, including a possible scenario that Viktor discards him for coaching Yurio. (It also represents Viktor’s misperception of poor drunk Yuuri at the banquet, but that’s beside the point.)

Yuuri very keenly feels that he’s not at all like the playboy in his story as he considers himself physically unattractive and lacks confidence. Thankfully, Viktor’s old costume inspires him to swap roles and play the woman in his story as her part is closer to “how he feels”. To win, he must change the story and make Viktor stay. It’s unclear whether “how he feels” also refers to his unique notion of sexiness as a queer man, but as queer people are less likely to adhere to cishet stereotypes, it can very well be an additional factor. As a result of his revelation, he asks Minako to teach him to move more femininely. In the show, this is expressed in Yuuri using female pronouns during the first two times he skates Eros (the female Japanese “I” is “atashi”) and his voice being softer compared to when he’s off-ice. To cover up for his inexperience, he thinks of his favourite dish, which he’s only allowed to eat when he wins. Ironically, katsudon is a wrapper for everything Yuuri wants besides eating this food: he wants to win and he wants to eat katsudon with Viktor, representing his wish for Viktor to stay his coach (and maybe other things concerning Viktor he may not yet be able to express).

Yuuri's approach to expressing Eros reminds me of how actors approach the portrayal of an experience they never made themselves or that is hard to conjure. As a writer, I do this a lot too when putting myself in a character’s shoes. Switching the viewpoint character is also super helpful when a scene just doesn’t work the way I want it to (which is kinda what Yuuri does, too).

In episode 5, the story Yuuri wove around his programme has changed. His portrayal of Eros has evolved, but it’s not yet perfected. He still impersonates a woman and a tasty katsudon (“I’m a katsudon fatale that enthrals men” using “atashi”), but now it’s the woman who discards the man and goes off pursuing the next man.

Yuuri predominantly focuses on trying to include Viktor’s advice when he was flirting with Yuuri in the rink coaching him (“dance more like you’re trying to seduce me”). Only close to the end, he remembers the story of his programme: “On the conclusion for the love-crazed couple… how did it go?” which is kinda distanced compared to his thoughts about Viktor flirting with him and might imply that he doesn’t fully identify with the role.

As a sexually experienced person Yuuri’s coach, it’s evident to Viktor that Yuuri is still wrestling with his portrayal of Eros (which must be strange as he remembers how Yuuri was at the banquet lol). However, between episodes 5 and 6, something important happens: Yuuri and Viktor finally get together and thus the nature of their interactions changes (I discussed Japanese dating culture and how this is portrayed in YOI here). Because of this, Viktor instructs Yuuri to seduce him as himself the next time when he skates Eros in competition, which is at the Cup of China. And Yuuri’s reaction says it all.

Yuuri promptly starts using the same pronoun he uses when he refers to himself in his dialogue lines throughout the anime (“boku” is the Japanese standard male pronoun for “I). The programme is no longer a story with a protagonist Yuuri has to impersonate and identify with to some degree, but about him actively seducing Viktor with his own charms. It’s unclear whether he keeps the “female” skating style despite the pronoun change as this exceeds the limits of the animation (skating scenes are super difficult to animate so the pronouns might serve as a proxy for what the creators couldn’t translate into images). However, as Yuri!!! is super queer, I headcanon this style to become less exaggerated as it evolves into a natural expression that is 100% Yuuri as he fully blooms into his unique notion of Eros as part of his queer journey and his deepening relationship with Viktor.

However, it’s beyond doubt that the evolution of Yuuri’s portrayal of Eros is also closely tied to his relationship. Taking Viktor’s pep talk, Yuuri’s inner monologue while skating (“I am the only one who can satisfy Viktor”), and their exchange in the kiss and cry into account, skating seductively isn’t the only thing Yuuri thought of doing to Viktor *cough*, and they both know. As a result, he delivers a stellar performance with a new personal best.

I don’t think I need to elaborate on the off-ice activities the two likely have engaged in between the Cup of China and the Rostelecom Cup. As a result of his deepening relationship with Viktor and the subsequent experiences made, Yuuri scores even higher when he skates Eros in Russia. Being far away in a place where people might resent him for stealing Viktor from the sport, fuels his possessiveness which is one aspect of his Eros and ends in him getting an even higher score. His short programme has reached a stage at which he can hardly improve it any further with its current layout.

Before I’ll talk about the last time we see Yuuri skating Eros, let’s dive into the technical side.

Technical aspects

Eros is a super difficult programme for a skater with lots of stamina. All the jumps are in the second half and every entry into a jump is more difficult than the previous one, starting with a spread-eagle into the 3A and ending with a lunge entry into the 4T+3T combination. The step sequence which covers the better part of the first half looks quite demanding, too, as it has to match the pace of the music. All this makes the programme pretty ruthless, matching the theme. The initial layout includes a 3S as the second jump, which Yuuri decides turns into a quad in an attempt to beat Yuri at the Onsen on Ice because he is that desperate to win. Of course, this doesn’t go as planned, but Yuuri had to take the risk. As a side effect, it makes the entire routine even more daring. (fun fact: many irl skaters struggle with the 4S too)

As said above, Yuuri skates at his best when he skates true to his feelings. This is especially true for jumps as he is prone to flub them when something is on his mind or the programme isn’t working for him for whatever reason. To successfully land a quad jump, everything going into the execution like technique, timing, speed, power of takeoff, the moment of opening the body before landing etc. must be finely tuned. So, it’s no surprise that Yuuri nails only the 4S when he fully settled into the programme in episode 6.

For the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri changes his jump layout of Eros one last time to maximise its base score. Again, it’s a risk he’s willing to take to win. He’s been taking risks all season by changing jumps, most prominently in his free programme when he included the 4F to surprise Viktor, and now he plans to jump the 4F in Eros as the final jump, while the 4S remains in the second jumping pass but is combined with the 3T whereas the 4T is omitted.

For reference: these are the base values of the jumps in question as they appear in Yuri!!!*:

3S: 4.4

4S: 10.5

4T: 10.3

4F: 12.3

The 4F is a jump so far only Viktor could land successfully in competition and so it became his signature move. It symbolises everything Viktor is to Yuuri and expresses his desire to become as good as Viktor or even surpass him, as well as his romantic feelings. Including it in Eros, adds a possessive layer to the many things the 4F represents like showing the world that Viktor is his now, but also Yuuri’s ambition and growth as a person including his newly-discovered confidence. Remember the flashback to the rink between the Rostelecom Cup and the Grand Prix Final when Yuuri had already proposed to Viktor? “You want to see me land a quad flip in the short programme, right?” “I do!” It sounds a lot like a second proposal—all this is ultimately part of Yuuri’s Eros, too.

In the end, Yuuri doesn’t nail the 4F and ends up in fifth place after the short programme as his mind was more occupied with winning than with seducing Viktor. I like to believe that Yuuri succeeds at the next competition and that he continues refining his SP throughout the rest of the figure skating season as his relationship with Viktor deepens and evolves further. But as the anime ends mid-season, this speculation is mostly based on watching irl figure skating and my headcanon.

Closing remarks on queer presentation

What sometimes is referred to as “female” expression in dance sports is a soft and sensual movement style as opposed to the cishet male stereotype (strong, shows little emotion etc). It basically describes a gay stereotype. However, how a queer person presents can apply to a variety of queer labels. Being queer myself, I don’t feel comfortable deriving labels from isolated information for an individual be they real or fictional. I don't want to promote stereotypes, and because of this, you won't find me jumping to conclusions about their unique queerness.

Japanese pronouns

For further reading about Japanese pronouns especially when used by queer people, I recommend this comprehensive article. Having read this, Yuuri’s switch to “atashi” during the first two times he skates Eros, makes even more sense to me.

*these base values were the same in the seasons I checked starting from the 2014/15 season to the 2016/17 season, which encompasses the time Yuri!!! was produced.

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[hoshi-kawaii]

Okay I am pissed that I didn't learn this eight years ago when the YOI Fandom was super active.

So I have reached a lesson in my duolingo where they are literally teaching you how to play Jankenpon (Japanese Rock Paper Scissors) and there in the sentence that translates to "Rock beats Scissors" is a funny new verb that I'm learning: 勝つ, which means "to win".

勝つ is pronounced "katsu".

So Yuuri eats Katsudon when he wins because it's a fucking pun. When he wins he eats the "winning bowl".

What a fucking nerd. I love him so much.

[somethingyoirelated]

Happy Birthday, Yuuri! 🍲

Enjoy your katsudon, hope to see you again some day.

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[crisdrawsandcries]

Some new tweaks to an old sketch

[pluto-incognito]

Katsudon with a side of Yuuri~ ♡

[glowingsand]

shhh he’s practicing…

[triptychgrip]

Tfw you’re gripped by inspiration in the dead of night to write a crack-y one-shot instead of working on your multichapter fic…

—————

“Yes! Please, I want it all, every mirin-flecked morsel, every scrap of scallion!”

Nalini snickered; Viktor’s breathy, absurd alliteration had her feeling slap-happy.

His voice sounded quite strained, the words bracketed by heavy panting.

“How bad do you want it, my love? Say it,” came Yuuri’s commanding, forceful response. “Tell me how starved you are for this hot, succulent katsudon.”

Nalini nearly choked on the handful of banana chips making its way down her esophagus.

---------------

When Nalini Samudra – hired to plant-sit as well as dog-sit Makka – bungles Viktor’s fancy stereo operation instructions, she accidentally begins playing his and Yuuri's sex tape in broad daylight, on crystal-clear surround sound.

She knows it’s a gross violation of privacy to continue listening but how can she possibly suppress her intrigue when she gets to hear a whole new side of Viktor’s unassuming fiance?

Especially when he says things like “Every grain of rice, every bit of fluffy egg, Vitya, I’ve been saving it all for that hungry mouth of yours.”

[oneesanmarket]

Yuri!!! on ICE x AnimePlaza: Yuri Plisetsky & Katsuki Yuuri -  Acrylic Keychain with Parcoara

Size: 6 cm

Price:7€/12 USD

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[cosmiclion]

[Viktor voice] Solnyshko 💙

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

I love how Viktor lacing Yuuri’s skates gives me vibes of “preparing your lover for battle” like Achilles helping Patroclus don his armour or that scene from The Last Samurai. I don’t know if the creators thought about this when they wrote ep. 8. It could as well be a reference to Cinderella given how fond Viktor is of fairy tales.

Characterisation in YOI happens a lot through comparing Yuuri and Viktor’s relationship to the relations between other characters. Viktor's chivalrous behaviour in this scene is the counterpart to Mickey making a show of kissing Sara on the hand just a few minutes before. The siblings' dysfunctional relationship points out a possible future path for Yuuri and Viktor, a wrong turn they could take if Yuuri fails to find confidence within himself and instead continues relying on Viktor just like Mickey relies on Sara. It would poison their love just like Mickey’s abandonment issues and his possessiveness poison the relationship between him and his sister.

Luckily, Yuuri manages to find this confidence in ep. 9. Unlike Mickey and Sara, he and Viktor have grown into a functioning team built on mutual trust. The love between them is pure and shines through each and every interaction. It's the small gestures, the short dialogueless scenes like this one which are the most powerful displays of their love. The subtleness with which their story is told makes following the progress of their relationship so compelling. How can you look at this scene and not see Viktor’s undying support and how it makes Yuuri flourish as a person and as a skater? How can you look at this scene and not see how madly in love they are?

[neutronice]

Mother's Intuition: the Importance of Vic-chan

I have watched YOI now more times than I can count, and even though I can recite so much of it from memory, I am still noticing new things. This time, it was something massively small…

Namely, the understated but incredible Katsuki Hiroko.

When Yuuri arrives home for the first time in five years, and people ask why he’s not at the World Championships, Hiroko immediately comments on how great that is because it means Yuuri has finally been able to visit. She doesn’t just blunt the blow, saying “I get to see my son!” Full-on body-blocks Yuuri’s shame. It reminds Yuuri that he is adored and welcomed by his family, and even when he professionally fails, mom is going to be there to give him a ray of light.

But that’s not what I noticed. No. It was something from just after Victor arrived in Hasetsu. When Minako comes barging into Yu-Topia needing to see Yuuri because of the rumor about Victor.

What does Hiroko say? She says, “oh Vic-chan Is already here! And he’s sleeping soundly.”

Hiroko’s son is a professional skater. She knows the highs and lows and ups and downs that come with that, and she can read Yuuri probably better than nearly anyone else. And to me, the fact that she’s already using such familiar diminutives when Victor has waltzed in has meaning. It’s that when she looked at Victor Nikiforov, she saw beyond his mask and his bluster, down to the exhausted person who had escaped to her little corner of the world to coach her son.

She could see Vic-chan was not there on some rescue mission just for Yuuri. That he looked as lost as (if not more lost than) her own son, and by calling him Vic-chan, she’d already made up her mind what that meant.

It meant Katsudon, extra large. And happily cleaning out their banquet room to give Victor a place to stay. And probably many more things behind the scenes that didn't make it to the show, giving the two lost boys in her house a safe place to regroup and recover. (Three lost boys once Yurio arrived).

Yes, of course she knows that this is the skater Yuuri has been obsessed with for over half his life. But that’s not why she calls Victor Vic-chan. She calls him Vic-chan because he needs someone who will call him Vic-chan right now, someone who will cook him piping hot katsudon after a long day, someone who sees beyond the mask to the kid who probably hasn’t been mothered since he showed promise in skating, and stepping in to give him some of what he’d lost.

Hiroko could see Vic-chan within the first few minutes of meeting Victor, so it’s not much of a stretch to believe that Hiroko understood that Victor was a permanent part of their family within a week of that first meeting.

Mothers always know, after all.

[slusheeduck]

In Which Yuri Plisetsky Definitely DOES NOT Have A Crush

This is an oldie that I wrote for an anthology that ended up only having two chapters, but it's still something that consistently makes me smile when I read it, so I figure I could share it again on its own.

----------------

                As much as Yuri liked to say that he knew he was right about everything, he was painfully aware that sometimes he made mistakes. He usually managed okay, because he was awesome and yelling seemed to fix most problems. Case in point: he found Viktor after flying to Japan despite not knowing a lick of Japanese purely because he yelled his name a lot. Yelling worked.

                But, after this mistake, yelling didn’t work. Punching his wall didn’t work. He even tried to flip his bed, but it was too heavy, so he kicked it over and over. But that didn’t work, either. So, for the first time in his young life, Yuri had to think about how to fix a problem. And he might…

                …have to talk to someone.

                But who? Grandpa? No, Grandpa would listen, but he wouldn’t really get it. Mama? No. Ugh, god no, she’d coo over him and tell him how cute he was being. Mila would do the same thing. Georgi would start crying probably. Maybe Yakov? He wouldn’t get it. He did still have Viktor’s number…

                No.

                Viktor could never know.

                Surprisingly, this whole…issue didn’t start until after the Onsen on Ice bullshit. Clearly, whatever weird practice regimen Viktor was doing with Yuuri was working, because he ended up winning. Even though Yuri was clearly the better skater, the minute that stupid pig got on the ice, something changed. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Yuri wasn’t sure if it was Katsudon’s face or steps or some sort of weird black magic demon stuff (which, admittedly, would have been really cool.). So he decided to watch some of his old videos to find out what it was. Know your enemy and all that.

                This had been the mistake.

~

                Before this, he’d only seen the pig skate at the Sochi GPF. He’d been impressed with his short program—and even more impressed by the death glare he’d given the camera while waiting for his score. Most skaters were all smiles or tears in the kiss and cry, but not Yuuri Katsuki. That’s the kind of skater Yuri wanted to be next year: stony-faced after success, too confident to be moved even by a personal best score.

                Yuuri Katsuki was so cool.

                But then there was the free skate. And Katsuki had just fallen to pieces. He fell, twice. What was wrong? Was he sick? Yuri wondered if buying one of his posters had been a bad idea. Maybe it had jinxed him.

                If Yuri’s faith in Katsuki had wavered during that terrible skate, it was renewed when he went to the kiss and cry. Again, there was that death glare to the camera! So cool!! Yuuri Katsuki didn’t give a shit and it was awesome!

                Once the final was over (Viktor had won again, big whoop. Yuri would fix that next year) and Yakov was off yelling at Viktor for whatever reason, Yuri slipped away. He was going to find Katsuki. He had to meet this cool, collected skater face to face. He’d probably have better tips for next year than Airhead Nikiforov.

                Yuri pulled the hood of his jacket up and stuck his hands into his pockets, slinking through the halls. He had to look cool when he talked to Katsuki. It wasn’t like he was a dumb fanboy or anything. He was basically an equal. They were just gonna talk. Like skaters. Cool skaters.

                It took him a minute to realize the nerdy guy with glasses walking down the hall was actually Katsuki. He looked so different on the ice. Maybe it was to deflect the tons of fans he probably had. He was so much smarter than Viktor; stupid Viktor just kept making the fan problem worse. Maybe getting a pair of glasses would get those damn Yuri’s Angels off his back.

                Well, he’d get cool glasses. Like, cheetah print ones. But still.

                Yuri focused as he watched Katsuki slip into the bathroom, phone out. Huh? What was he doing in there? Maybe he was going to fire his coach for making him lose! Ohh, that’d be cool to see! Yuri slinked out from the hall and leaned against a wall for a moment. He didn’t want to be creepy. So he waited, just for a little bit, then slipped into the bathroom.

                Immediately, he heard sniffling from the middle stall, and someone speaking in a language he couldn’t understand. Probably one of the sucky Juniors. Yuri was always surprised at what babies the other competitors could be. Some of them were even older than him.

                Well, let that baby cry. He was looking for Katsuki. He had to be in here somewhere, letting his coach have it over the phone. But all the other stalls were empty, save for the one the crying was coming from. So…

                No.

                NO.

                Yuri stared hard at the stall. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t. It couldn’t be Yuuri Katsuki crying in there. But he was so cool! So collected! He looked like he was gonna murder someone in the kiss and cry! So how could…why would…

                As Yuri’s view of his new idol crumbled before him, he shook slightly. Rage began to fill him, and before he could stop himself, he kicked the stall door as hard as he could. A little yelp came from inside. Then, slowly, it opened.

                Yuri glared at the man—if he could even call him that after crying like a little girl!—who opened the stall. Stupid Katsuki with his stupid glasses and his stupid falls. Katsuki froze up right in front of him, looking terrified. That just made Yuri even more angry. Where was the scary face he was wearing earlier?

                Where was the Yuuri Katsuki he had seen on the ice?

                He tried to find what to say. How could he bring back the other Yuuri Katsuki? The cool one? He glared for a moment longer, then pointed at Yuri.

                “Hey.”

                Katsuki didn’t respond. Yuri grit his teeth.

                “I’m competing in the Senior division next year. We don’t need two Yuris in the same bracket.” Yuri spat out the name. To think, just a few hours ago he thought it was cool that they had the same name. “Maybe you should just retire already…” The rage bubbled out of him, and he shoved his face as close as he could to Katsuki’s as he yelled, “LOSER!”

                He deliberately kept his walk slow as he exited the bathroom, making sure his words resonated with Katsuki. Hopefully he’d see it as a challenge. If one Yuri loved facing a challenge, the other would, too, right? Right?!

                As he slunk down the halls, he came across Yakov.

                “There you are! I swear, Yuri, you’re just as bad as Viktor when it comes to…” Yakov trailed off, catching the glower still on Yuri’s face. “Yurochka? What’s wrong?”

                “I don’t wanna talk about it!”

~

                This dumb…thing did kind of explain a lot. It explained why he put up with Katsudon’s drunk bullshit at the Banquet. Sure, at first, he’d taken the dance contest as Katsuki’s attempt to challenge Yuri back. But…well, he was kind of fun and actually not a bad dancer (though Yuri was better) and…

                Ugh. No. Focus, Yura.

                It also explained why he didn’t immediately tear up the poster of Katsuki when he got home. He’d actually put it up on his wall, naturally, as a reminder of who he had to beat. Next year was going to be a competition of honor. He was going to make Katsuki work if he decided not to be a loser and retire. And maybe once in a while he’d laid in bed and stared at it while marveling over how Katsuki was so nerdy and awful off-ice, but how he was absolutely breath-takin—

                Goddammit.

                Anyway. Back to after Onsen on Ice. As mentioned earlier, he’d pulled up every video he could of the pig’s skating before the Grand Prix Fuckup, as a way to gauge what he did that made him so spellbinding. He watched his routines from Juniors, from the Japanese Nationals, from his practice sessions in Detroit. He watched them all again. And again.

                The question of why Yuuri Katsuki was so amazing on ice wasn’t answered.

                But the question of why Yuri was so obsessed with him was.

                And he hated it.

                So now he had to win. He had to train harder. And he told everyone that it was because that stupid pig had taken Viktor from Russia, so he had to prove that he didn’t need Viktor to win the GPF this year. And every time he saw an update of Katsudon’s progress, he was that much more motivated to be better than him.

~

                Yuuko was the worst thing that ever happened to him. She reminded him of Mama, honestly; all enthusiasm and  supportive of him even from abroad. She even kept texting him after Onsen on Ice and listened to his bitching about Lilia and Yakov.

                That wasn’t why she was terrible. She was terrible because she kept giving him updates about the pig. Sure, some of them were prompted by him, but damn it, it wasn’t like he could stop himself from asking about stupid Katsudon! She should know not to tell him!

                She was also terrible because she was teaching him Japanese. “In case you come back,” she said, sending a stupid little heart emoji. Granted, it was hard to learn Japanese via text. But one of the things that stuck was how to write his name.

                ��ーリ. プリセツキー.

                If he’d had literally any other name in the world, that would have been cool to know. He’d write it everywhere, because Japanese looked cool and he could brag about it. But one idle thought, tapped out in a moment of weakness, had ruined this forever.

                “is that how the other yuri spells his name too?”

                Given the amount of emojis that followed, Yuuko’s nose was probably gushing blood. (Because that was just a thing that happened to Japanese people???) He shut his phone off immediately and hid in his room for the next eighteen hours.

                Most of that time was spent kicking his bed enough to scare poor Potya off of it while blasting loud music over his headphones to drown out the shame.

                A very small, insignificant part of it was spent listening to some dumb love song he’d downloaded on a whim. And, while listening, he definitely didn’t get teary over the injustice of being so misunderstood in the seriousness of his situation, and he sure as hell didn’t write out, in tiny, tiny characters, “Юрий + ユーリ”before scribbling angrily over them.

                He wasn’t some sap.

~

                Yuri really needed to burn that damn poster.

                He’d brought it with him to Lilia’s to motivate him. To remind himself why he was fighting so hard, and whose beautiful STUPID UGLY FAT FACE he wanted to smash into the ice with his GPF victory. It was brought solely because of that reason. Definitely not because, after all of his purely academic searching of images, he thought it was one of the best official portraits of the pig yet. Certainly not because he found himself admiring the way Katsudon held himself in that pose. Absolutely not because it’s one of the few portraits where you can see that the pig’s eyes are a soft brown and a few pieces of hair had fallen across his forehead and his lips are slightly parted and maybe once or twice or five times in the middle of the night a stupid thought had entered Yuri’s head and he might have stood up on tiptoes and leaned forward to…

                The first night Lilia wakes up to find Yuri Plisetsky screaming into a pillow, she worries. After that, she just lets him keep going until he feels better.

                God knows she did the same thing at his age.

~

                Mila prodded him into watching the Cup of China. “We have to support Georgi,” she’d said.

                Hag. She knew exactly who they were going to watch, and it sure as hell wasn’t Georgi.

                But he’d be fine. He’d be fine. He’d already seen the Eros routine, like, eighty times. He could probably skate it himself if he wanted to.

                Skate it himself and look better doing it.

                He tried to look as indifferent as possible as the pig got on the ice. He watched the tv with complete disinterest. His heart definitely didn’t jump as Yuuri the stupid ugly pig landed a perfect quad Salchow, using the exact method Yuri had taught him. When Mila pointed out that he’d tugged his straw out of his juice box during Katsudon’s performance, he loudly informed her that he’d done that on purpose and anyway juice boxes were for babies.

                Due to some bad luck and thirst, his juice box was empty. Otherwise, he absolutely would have sprayed fruit punch right into Mila’s stupid face due to the smug look she gave him.

                Even so, he managed all right with Eros. Basically complete disinterest. But then came the pig’s free skate the next day. He hadn’t seen that one fully.

                Goddamn, he hadn’t been prepared.

                His eyes were transfixed as he watched Yuuri skate. If he had been spellbinding before, he was an angel now. Yuri couldn’t even get angry about the falls and over-rotation. Katsuki was the picture of grace: neck outstretched, arms graceful, step sequence flawless. Yuri stared, jaw dropped and throat tight, as Katsuki tried to land the quad flip. It didn’t work, but the fact that he even tried to do something on Viktor’s level…

                Yuuri finished, hand outstretched toward the camera, chest heaving and brown eyes wide and clearly so, so proud of himself. Yuri felt his heart flip. A part of his brain whispered, Let yourself have this. Succumb. Let yourself acknowledge that you have a cru—

                And that’s when Viktor kissed the pig right on international television.

                Mila whistled. “Well, guess we should’ve expected this from our Viktor. But that was some performance, don’t you…Yura, are you crying?”

                “No!”

                He definitely wasn’t crying. He definitely wasn’t jealous. He just…

                He wanted to win so badly, was all.

~

                The road to the GPF is hard enough without this…thing. So Yuri pushes it down and focuses. Before, he’d just wanted to win to prove to Katsudon that he was the better skater and that he was the best Yuri and that only losers cried and got kissed on television.

                But then that shithead JJ came along.

                Twice—fucking twice!—that self-absorbed Canadian snuck in and grabbed the gold. Even after Yuri snagged a personal best! He’d been so thrown that he’d actually caved and been nice to Katsudon. (Well, sort of. He’d still kicked him and yelled at him, and most of the motivation was showing how cool his Grandpa was.) He wasn’t even bothered by the fact that he slipped and more or less wished him a happy early birthday (which was November 29th and it didn’t matter how he knew that.)

                Yuuri Katsuki wasn’t his target anymore. Now, JJ was the one to beat.

                He could lose to Katsudon (he wouldn’t, but that wasn't the point) and be okay if it meant that fucking JJ was below him. But god, that first place spot on the podium would be the best place to watch JJ squirm in his failure. So no more Grandpa, no more Katsudon.

                His motivation was ruining JJ’s life.

                And, surprise, it worked.

                The thing creeps up again when he stands on the podium with Katsudon and Otabek (who, by the way, was his new super-cool best friend). Despite losing, the pig is still genuinely happy. Maybe he really is proud of Yuri. Maybe it’s from the engagement (?) or because he’s glad Yuri kept him from retiring like an idiot. But he’s smiling and care-free and goddammit, for a moment Yuri wonders if that whole “skating for love or whatever” thing actually wasn’t bullshit.

                But then he remembers that he won his gold purely out of spite, and that snaps him out of thinking like a sap.

~

                For one bright shining moment after the GPF, Yuri thought he finally, finally had someone to talk about this with. He had a friend. One that he made on his own! Surely Otabek would have some advice on what to do with this.

                But there was one problem.

                Beka…was really, really cool.

                He was a DJ! He skated like he was in a war! He rode a cool scooter and wore sunglasses inside and was technically an adult and went to cool clubs and he was just so cool.

                And the coolest thing of all was that he thought Yuri was cool, too. He said he had the eyes of a soldier. The eyes of a soldier! That was, by far, THE COOLEST thing anyone had ever said about him ever.

                But this whole thing with Katsudon was definitely not cool. He’d just come off as some dumb, drooling teenage fanboy. So Beka could never know.

                But there was a problem.

                The pig had moved to St. Petersburg. So now they were rinkmates. And he’d expected it’d be like when he’d become Viktor’s rinkmate: he’d finally see all of the flaws and how terrible Katsudon was when he was around him for more than a week. He was expecting relief.

                Instead, he was pretty sure he was in hell.

                Shitty Katsudon was nice to him. He invited him over to his and Viktor’s place or when they went to explore the city. He asked for help with translations when Viktor wasn’t around and taught him how to use chopsticks. Sometimes he called him “Yura” instead of “Yurio” and it made him want to die.

                He had to talk about it. He had to get this awful strangling feeling that was nice but also the worst thing in the entire world out of his chest. If he didn’t, he would probably die. And it’d be the lamest way to die ever.

                But again, who could he talk to? Beka was too cool. Lilia would probably tell him to kill that part of himself (to which he would yell back “What do you think I’ve been trying to do, hag?!” And then he’d have to do an hour of grand adages.) Yakov and Grandpa wouldn’t understand, because they were old men. Mama and Mila would be terrible. And Viktor…god no.

                But who? Who would understand the pain of having a…..c     r    u    s    h……..on someone who would probably never, ever think of him that way?      

                No.

                No.

                NooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO.

~

                Hell wasn’t having your crush live nearby and be friendly to you. It wasn’t having your crush be a rinkmate and constantly have to look at his stupid fat beautiful face on the ice while listening to his fiancé gush over how beautiful his stupid fat beautiful face was. It wasn’t having catching your crush making out with said fiancé in the locker room when all you fucking wanted was to put on your skates.

                Hell was your crush being the best option to talk to about having a crush on him.

                “Did you mean to text me this morning?” the pig asked as they warmed up. Yuri felt like he was going to throw up.

      ��         “If I didn’t want to text you, I wouldn’t have sent it, dumbass.” Yuri hissed out the insult to really drive home the fact that Katsudon wasn’t that important to him and he totally hadn’t been staring at his phone for an hour before finally sending the ‘i wanna talk after practice” text to him.

                The stupid pig stared at him curiously, but nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

                “I’ll tell you after practice.” Yuri hopes his face isn’t red, because Jesus Christ does he not need that right now, and he skates away. To try and combat the anxious feeling building in his chest, he does a quad Salchow right there and then.

                It doesn’t help much, but it does look cool.

                 Practice drags on forever. Yakov makes him do drills like some novice. Viktor and Yuuri are all over each other on the ice, giggling and kissing and generally just being gross. Yuri debates calling off the stupid talk and just going home to throw up instead. But that won’t make him feel any better. He has to do this, even if it’s the worst thing he’s ever done.

                The two Yuris exit the ice while Viktor hangs back to be yelled at by Yakov probably for being an idiot. In the locker room, Katsudon is the one who brings up Yuri’s impending death.

                “So what did you want to—”

                “Not here!” Yuri hisses, then glares down at his skates. “I don’t want Viktor to hear. Just…just you.”

                He chances up a glance at the pig, who looks surprised and…what, touched?...at his statement. He quickly adds, “Will you be able to survive being away from him that long, pig?”

                Yuuri gives him that infuriating smile that says he knows Yuri’s being prickly on purpose, and he says, “I think I can manage for a little bit, yeah.”

                Katsudon doesn’t say any more on the subject, even after they’re changed and marching out into the Russian winter. Yuuri pulls out his phone—probably to text Viktor some gushy love crap—and Yuri tries not to look at him or think about how it’s kind of cute that his ears get red in the cold because that’s a LAME and STUPID thing to think about.

                Yuri leads the way into the first café he sees, with Katsudon following quietly after. When the idiot fumbles his order, Yuri barks it out for him. He orders the same tea with milk at every place, it’s not like Yuri pays attention or anything.

                It’s not until they’re both sitting, hot drinks in hand, in a very cute corner of the café that would be a very nice area for a date that would never ever happen, that Katsudon decides it’s time for Yuri to die.

                “So what did you want to talk about?”

                Yuri fidgets. He takes a long drink of tea. He burrows his nose into his scarf. Yuuri is annoyingly patient with him, watching him with those stupid doe eyes. Finally, Yuri swallows, keeping half his face buried in his scarf.

                “What do you do...when you like someone?” Yuri grimaces and tries to burrow deeper into his scarf. “Like…really like them?”

                Immediately Yuuri’s face softens, and he smiles. “I’m…not really sure I’m the right person to ask about this, Yura.”

                “Yes, you are. Everyone else would be stupid about it.” The pig will probably be stupid, too, but with Yuri’s current condition, he could tolerate that stupidity. He watched Yuuri hard, frowning beneath his scarf, as the pig stayed quiet, stupidly soft brown eyes staring down at his cup. Was he just not going to talk? Was that better or worse?

                “Okay, but really. I…don’t know what to suggest to you. Tell them?”

                “Нет.”

                “Why?”

                Yuri grimaces as he feels his face grow hot. He hated this. Hated. This. Maybe he could just strangle himself with his scarf. “H-They’re seeing someone.”

                “Oh…”

                “I don’t want your pity, pig! I want a solution!” Yuri snaps, earning a couple glances their way.

                Yuuri puffs out a breath, looking away. “I…I don’t know what to tell you.” He gave a small smile, an awful one that made Yuri’s heart ache so hard he nearly punched himself in the chest. “I know you’ll think I’m a loser for this, but…it’s only been Viktor since I was twelve. I spent most of my life pining for someone who didn’t know I even existed. I didn’t think he’d ever see me like I saw him.”

                “That’s exactly how I feel,” Yuri blurts before he could stop himself. “And it sucks. It really sucks!”

                “I know it does.”

                “And then I see him and if he does literally anything, I just…it’s like I’m having a heart attack and it doesn’t stop and I like it but I also really, really hate it, Katsudon. I hate it so much!”

                “Having a crush is the worst,” Yuuri agrees.

                “It is!”

                This conversation is surprisingly…not terrible. Yuri seemed to be doing a good job of keeping Katsudon in the dark, and Yuuri was giving him exactly the kind of sympathy he’d been dying for. Which probably wouldn’t help in the crush department, but in the moment, it feels so good to get it all out. Yuri slumps forward, chin plopping into his hands.

                “The worst is when he skates,” he mutters, looking at his quickly cooling tea. “He’s like something out of a dream. Like the moment he’s out there…”

                “The whole world stops, and it’s just him.” Yuuri says these words slowly, and Yuri starts to nod, but he freezes as he catches the emotions flitting over Katsudon’s face.

                Realization.

                Guilt.

                Distress.

                Sympathy.

                Shit.

                Yuri sits up straight, eyes wide. For the first time in his life, he’s speechless. He fucked up. He really, really fucked up.

                Katsudon knew.

                Was there even any way to recover from this? Should he just die? What was the quickest way to manage that? He was already in hell, so it wouldn’t be any worse than just sitting here, staring at Katsudon who now totally knew that he had a crush on him.

                Just as Yuri was about to throw the table and run, a hand reached out to rest on his arm. If he wasn’t in shock, he would have thrown it off and continued with the table plan. But considering his entire world was crumbling at the moment, he couldn’t do anything more than stare up at Yuuri—stupid fucking beautiful shitty understanding asshole Yuuri—mutely and wait for the inevitable, “Oh, Yurochka, I’m so sorry…”

                It didn’t come immediately. For a long moment, Yuuri simply stared at him. He wasn’t mad—which was good but also not because if he’d been mad then they could fight and Yuri was good at that—but he didn’t look too happy either. After a long moment, he moved his chair closer. What was he doi—?

                Yuri’s crumbling world came to a grinding halt as the stupid pig pulled him into a tight hug.

                This wasn’t like the Rostelecom Cup. He couldn’t fight this; he was in too much shock. So he just sat there, stock still, as Yuuri gave him what had to be one of the top five best hugs in his life.

                “It sucks,” Yuuri finally whispered. “I know it does. It’s the worst thing in the world. And…and it’s really, really unfair that I got the ending I did.”

                Yuri manages a stiff nod. Yuuri just hugs him tighter and he feels himself melt, just a bit, into the hug before Yuuri pulls back to look at him with the most hopeful, wonderful smile he’d ever seen.

                “But Yura, you’re amazing. Look at what you did at the GPF, and I know you’re gonna make us all work three times as hard at Worlds!” His look softened, and his smile warmed. “You’ll find your own Viktor someday, I know you will.”

                Yuri’s soul is forcibly ejected from his body.

                “You think…I…Viktor?!”

                “Like I said, I completely understand, and…” Yuuri’s cut off as Yuri gets to his feet and kicks his chair back. “Yu—”

                “This conversation’s over, pig!”

                  It turned out, hell wasn’t talking to your crush about your feelings for him.

                Hell was having your crush think you liked Viktor FUCKING Nikiforov.

[cannibalismyuri]

had my yuuri katsuki moment (katsudon is SOOOO sexy you guys oh lord) and got a free loid phone ring out of it who cheered 🤭 big win for obnoxious found family and gay shit enjoyers (me)

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #327

Yuri!!! on ICE DVD #1, Characters' profiles

[Notes: Today's translation is actually very basic! I've translated Yuuri's profile before (here), but I haven't thought to translate the rest, for some reason... So Yuuri's is a repeat, but it's better to have it nice and in order, although I still need to find time to fix links that seems to go bad when I unpin the masterlist post... -.-"]

Katsuki Yuuri

His dearest wish came true when he qualified to compete in the Grand Prix Final, but he finished in the last place. A 23-years-old, who, after the GFP, ended the season without being able to show his real strength at Nationals. He is called the “Heart of Glass” and even though he doesn’t have a high success rate at landing quadruple jumps, he is well-known for his unique sense of rhythm he uses in his step sequences. He was even rumored to be retiring soon, but with Victor Nikiforov as his new coach, he aims to win at the Grand Prix Final in his last season.

His true self is a surprisingly competitive virile son of Kyushu. His problem is that he can’t believe in himself, but because he practiced really hard to make up for it, he got the title of “Japan’s Ace”. He puts on weight easily, so he made the decision to only eat his favorite dish, katsudon (900kcal), after he wins in a competition. His history of romantic love experiences is completely secret.

Victor Nikiforov

A Living Legend with five consecutive World Championships' golds - he hasn't lost at Worlds since he was 23. He's become a legend, not only because of his brilliant list of achievements, but also because he's a pioneer that choreographs his own performances and always challenges himself with new artistic expressions. His four quads, which include the quad flip that is thought to be his signature jump, and his magnificent and inexhaustible performances are adored all around the world, by skating fans and figure skaters alike.

Other than Russian, he's proficient in English and French. He's always cheerful and nice to his fans, but his innocently uninhibited statements, which are the results of his absolute self-confidence, make the skating federation of Russia tense. Christmas is celebrated all over the world as Victor Nikiforov's birthday.

[omnitheist27]

The 40 - Commentary on Shark Meat

----

@the-ravenclaw-werewolf, @purplemochi20055, and @hulkchloron99

----

Hey everyone, no new fancomic for today, instead I'll be writing about The 40 giving their commentary by cooking and eating shark meat.

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Spike Spiegel: I've eaten seafood before, but shark meat does have its own different taste.

Levi Ackerman: Hmm…so this is what creatures in the ocean taste like...

Midoriya Izuku: I've eaten plenty of fish, but shark meat has a very different texture.

Zuko: This shark meat tastes quite well compared to the fish I've eaten.

Korra: This...is really good!

Saitama: Taste better than regular fish. I think I'll be diving into oceans to hunt as well.

Mob: Hmm...

Edward Elric: I never knew that shark meat tasted so good!

Ishigami Senku: Hmm...shark meat has been eaten in Peru for over 10,000 years.

Gojo: ...Tastey...

Hanako: It's so good that I have a physical body for this!

Souma: I got to say, the shark meat came out better than I expected!

Mako: *Nom Nom Nom!*

Kobayashi: Hmm~

Tohru: Hmm~

Chika: *Nom Nom Nom*

Haruka: Maybe I'll think of going shark hunting during the summer

Naegi Makoto: Shark Meat tastes so great!

Ciel Phantomhive: I've eaten plenty of delicacies, but shark meat is something new to me.

Katsuki Yuuri: It's good...but I'll still prefer Katsudon.

Shouyou Hinata: Hmm~

Saiki Kusuo: It's not bad...*though I wonder how many ideas are you running out Omnitheist27*

Suzui Ryōta: Hmm~

Heine Wittgenstein: I've never tried a delicacy such as this before!

White Blood Cell / Neutrophil (U-1146): The cells that make up these creatures must be quite different from humans.

Satō Mafuyu: …

Hasegawa Langa: …tasty

Killua Zoldyck: I'm sooooooo going fishing after this!

Kamado Tanjirou: With such texture and taste, I wouldn't mind creating a fishing commune back home.

Kuroko Tetsuya: ...

Okumura Rin: *Nom Nom* So good!

Fujioka Haruhi: Hmm~ The club could use something like this.

Emma: What is this taste and texture!

Serinuma Kae: I can't get enough of this!

L: Hmm…needs some sugar.

Shiota Nagisa: Hmm~

Legoshi: This meat...could it replace herbivore?

Suzuki Iruma: This tastes better than what I used to fish for.

Fujinuma Satoru: ...

Feliciano Vargas (North Italy): Germany and Japan would definitely love to eat this.