#BUT IM PRETTY SATISFIED WITH MY GROWTH!!!!! i still have more to improve on

[lyqiche]

qi this is me at ur door come to see the apparently 89 other kuroo drawings u have sequestered away 🤲🤲 /pos

also making such a masterpiece on ROBLOX is insane u are so talented fr,, every day i wake up i am grateful that such an awesome artist decided to be obsessed w kuroo bc u do him amazingly without fail (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

HELLO ada... *turns around in my chair stroking cat!kuroo in my lap* ive been expecting u..

most of those kuroos are traditional art and done over the course of 2021-22 😩 beginning of me taking art srsly so its not that good ;; but 2021 chee was ambitious n drew almost every kuroo idea. Including suggestive ones .

exposing my cringe kuroo art!!! headsup for suggestive pieces ahead

VERY FIRST kuroo art. oh god the quotes r killing me its from actual scenes i swear but THEYRE SO OUT OF PLACE AAAGHHHSS ( also u can see my self insert on the bottom left corner... )

the kuroo disease goes deep i fear.. yes that was my take on dilf kuroo AGHH ITS SO BAD

I VIVIDLY RMBR PUTTING A STICKY NOTE OVER HIS ABDOMEN BCOS I BROUGHT THE SKETCHBOOK TO SCHOOL 😭😭 having my friends giggle at this page evrytime they look through it was endearing though... crazy how often i draw him shirtless or exposed somewhat now!!

a fem kuroo phase!! i tried dabbling in digital around this time but gave up 😩 can u tell ive been a boob liker since forever..

oh god. very very first ocxcanon art. 😭 i look far more different now, hair, glasses n all

OK!! heres some more decent ones after all That. theyre from last year,, lookinf back at it i think i can fix them in digital?? especially the first two since its only js proportions issues..

unfortunately tumblr has a limit 💔 the spam of kuroos shall end here...

conclusion : kuroo 's hair can be used as a unit of measurement of lyqiche's art progress!! 80+ kuroo in, and i still have a crisis everytime i get to his hair.

[monstersandgirls-webcomic]

How do you feel about your art style at the moment? Do you feel like it's at a point where you're satisfied or do you feel like it's constantly improving?

I was looking through some of your old comics and I noticed that the painting has become more and more elaborate and even the stories have become more entertaining.

its really funny you mentioned this because i was actually venting to some of my friends a few days ago that i was worried about my art looking worse (i updated my tablet and laptop a few weeks ago so the images are a lot clearer to me) and they told me basically what you said, that they thought the art was improving a lot.

I am also a pretty notorious perfectionist so i may be getting into my own head about it. honestly i'd prefer hearing criticisms about the colors than "oh no woman with big boob and lesbians being romantic. thats bad!"

and thank you for the compliment about the stories! you can definitely tell when i shifted M&G to a basic hobby to a series im pretty invested in. i still want to treat it as a story i write for fun but i started caring a lot more about character interactions and growth. i have an upcoming Lili comic that i'm really excited for.

[vermanaward]

6.4 thoughts: msq + panda

msq

felt a bit like wheel spinning tbh. a lot of back and forth building up to a whole lot of nothing reveals. 'capitalism saves the day part n: garlemald edition' was very zzz. we had this exact same plotline with the ala mhigan refugees subsisting on charity and this being bad for them because only capitalism can give your life meaning or something. brainworms, man. at least i didnt have to be polite to lolorito this time ig.

i did msq before panda only bc i was killing time before my static got their asses online and fourchy getting sulky because i'd left a nightmare in his basement made me smile.

dungeon is neat. music is nice, scenery is pretty, bosses are fast paced and have interesting mechs. gear i think is eden + deepshadow.

the 'zero ran into golbez and dude currently cosplaying golbez back in the day' reveal was obvious as soon as her first exposition came up (even if i didnt call current golbez being the blonde dude right away). personally i would have seeded that reveal earlier but that's me assuming people i write for would pay attention. i've been working for a while on the assumption that the flood of darkness was caused somehow by zodiark's shard being released (maybe that was iggy's bright idea for the rejoining, even; unleash the fragment of her god that was stuck in the shard, only for it to go extremely pete tong). i wish we'd spent more time in 13th!lamentorum. been able to explore a ruined watcher's hangout and find records of how shit went tits up here. voidsent lopporits. pls.

i did like zero's character growth though. figuring out what trust is. what a friend is. [zero voice] 'the wol is friend shaped' /sage nod

yshtola's assumption that the death of the partially rejoined zodiark would have dissipated the rest of his shards though felt like. why would you ever assume that. like when ardbert died that didnt kill the wol. ??? lady you are making no sense

as much as im glad we didnt get a full rehash of iv with golbez being mind controlled by zeromus etc it's still. kind boring that he's a souped up voidsent. golbez being teased with endcaller in the pll feels more like a bait/switch. i still want zodiark (savage) (or dog forbid zodiark (ultimate)) but unless 6.5 seriously pulls the rug out im not expecting much.

normal trial is a lot of fun. took me i think 4 or 5 pulls at like 1am? which you dont often see a normal trial which takes multiple pulls. most people were first time ofc but. the ex should be fun. much improved over rubicante but. low bar etc. music is pretty pog, its more a fantasia on ff4 themes than Yet Another Four Fiends Rearrangement. weapons are all pretty nice too.

panda tier 3

athena came in swinging a steel chair and i love herfor it. mad scientist mothwoman wife. didnt call hermione simping for her but honestly same. i enjoyed that eric told her to fuck all the way off.

athena: you're useless. >'( eric: yeah, and who literally just admitted to deliberately making me that way!!! >(

love that man. deserves much better parents than he got stuck with.

bananabread being bananabread is simultaneously the most boring and narratively satisfying option. to begin with i was like 'im not 100% you're that scenery chewing nutjob i know and meme on' but then he re-embraced his id and im just. okay nm yeah you're him, 100%

part of me is disappionted we never got to Say The Line to lid and part of me is kind a relieved they didnt go there.

the heart of sabik kinda came out of fucking nowhere, did nothing, and then fucked off. confirmed for a shard of the high seraph, i guess. when the scientist guy was holding it at my wol at the end all i could think is that it would be taking every ounce of her self control not to snatch it out of his hand and run off giggling like a gremlin. gib ultima plx.

(something something if athena/bananabread/eric/lid are them but made from memories stamped onto a soul, then... not to be a fraywol shipper on main, but....)

fights were fun. arenas are all gorgeous. p9's music is... weird but either it will grow on me or i'll just listen to something else. p10 and p12 do some cool things with the arenas. p11 manages to avoid being Seat Of Sacrifice... 2! but ig we'll see how savage shakes out. p12 i'm hype for phase 2 just bc Ultima's Perfection (Endwalker).

gear i am aggressively meh about most of the armour but the weapons are all v nice.

[discountshostakovich]

How to make Be More Chill a good musical

Be More Chill is a show I have a huge soft spot for- it’s a fantastic premise (both the idea of the Squip and the elements of parodying all the shitty tropes we have in stories about youth) and there’s some pretty clever and fun music.

However, in the transition to Broadway, the producers of the show compounded on the flaws of the original, while moving farther away from what made the Two River version likable- most notably, trying to pander to the fans of the show that boosted it into popularity on social media. Not even a bad idea, but they did it really poorly. The way they ought to have gone was to rewrite the leading characters, among other stuff.

But first, I’ll quickly go over what works about Be More Chill that spoke to me when I first stumbled upon it- defining the paradigm of the concept makes it easier to understand why I’d change what I’d change.

Be More Chill, in a lot of ways, is/was a deconstruction of the School Musical- think Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Dear Evan Hansen, and, to an extent, Heathers. That deconstruction is pretty half baked because it focuses too hard on being funny, but all of the pieces are there. For example, Jeremy being the stooge that he is allows for some commentary about the nature of the milquetoast, inherently relatable protagonists we’ve gotten too used to. Michael, the stereotypical best friend who would do anything for the protagonist, is a vessel for the show to ask us to think about the plot-devicey nature of these characters- are they people with feelings, or do they exist for the protagonist to bounce off of? The ever-present trio of popular girls seem to be bratty queen bees, but we get to peek into the dysfunction and insecurities that drive that behavior. (This is the pretty much the only aspect the Broadway show nailed almost perfectly.) You get the idea for the other archetypes- the immaculate Love Interest, Dorky Dad, Jock, Bully, etc.

Keeping that in mind, the way to make this a good show is to reframe Be More Chill as a revision of the cultural staple of those tropes into a modern context. Those rewrites I mentioned start to really fit into a more cohesive and satisfying narrative when you do so.

Character rewrites: Michael and Christine, as they are now, exist as characters that enable Jeremy to develop- realistically, yes, that is the job of every supporting character, but that doesn’t exclude them from having their own arcs and development.

Michael: Michael in The Bathroom is so effective- not only is it a punch in the gut, but it’s a big moment where the archetype is ripped open and the audience realizes that Michael actually matters and how harmful Jeremy’s actions are. However, the show does nothing with that- Michael goes right back to existing solely for Jeremy. For Michael, I’d suggest that his ending isn’t just straight up forgiving Jeremy unconditionally- Michael is willing to take the shot, to come in and save the day, perhaps in a reprise of MITB where he decides that he’ll be brave enough to confront his friend’s stupid actions. After working with Jeremy in the Play, he is reassured that he and Jeremy are good friends who work well, but he makes it clear to Jeremy how hurt he was by his treatment and that Jeremy needs to be a better friend. As such, Michael learns that he is worth being treated well by others and most importantly himself. That gives him an arc- he starts dependent on Jeremy, anxious, and using his love for his friend as an excuse to ignore his own issues, and ends having learned how to healthily give and take in a relationship and to respect himself.

Christine: Christine, on the other hand, is an object on a pedestal for Jeremy to attain and literally almost nothing else. There’s a little bit to her- Christine is afraid of life skipping her by, and wants “things to be easy”. So, instead of being the cardboard cutout she is, Christine should be motivated by finding the easiest way to meet her self-imposed standards of being fulfilled- successful at Theater and in a happy relationship. This characterization displays the problematic nature of the generic love interest for love interest’s sake. Christine dates Jake not because Jeremy needs a motivator to embrace the squip, but because she’s afraid and lonely. “A Guy I’d Be Into” and “Upgrade” would feel disingenuous and artificial, which both explores how wrong Christine’s forcing a relationship is, and the trope-y teeny bopper song. At the end of the show, she fights to break put of the trance, which leads the Squip to bring up Jake, offering Christine the chance to become that fulfilled person she dreams of. Christine refuses, and she becomes the one to deactivate the Squips. That way, both Christine and Michael’s decisions to do the best thing allow them to be heroes alongside Jeremy. (Jeremy’s moment of redemption comes anyway, when he decides to try and break the Squips hold on the school, but fails because of his previous surrendering of control to the machine.) When Jeremy finally gathers the strength to ask her out, she declines, saying that she doesn’t really know Jeremy all that well and that she just isn’t ready for a relationship- but she won’t close the door. So, her arc goes from feeling helpless and needing to meet arbitrary standards to finding the independence she wants for the rest of the world in herself.

Jeremy: Christine and Michael’s new arcs, of course, both define the growth Jeremy needs to undergo perfectly. Jeremy needs to learn how to expect respect from others and for himself, and he needs to learn that dating Christine and being popular aren’t the keys to his happiness. As a result, the supporting cast enables Jeremy’s development by teaching him by example while still being relevant and alive characters. However, Jeremy doesn’t deserve the happy ending he gets. I addressed that he shouldn’t magically become all chummy with Michael and Chrstine already, but Jeremy’s decision to decline the Squip only earns him the chance for redemption. It makes no sense that everything is perfect with his dad and the rest of the school all declaring themselves his unconditional friends. Brooke should be rightfully upset at being used by Jeremy, Mr Heere should be furious at Jeremy for his misbehavior, and so on. Jeremy made the mess, and it will be a lot harder for him to earn forgiveness. At the end of the story, Jeremy should instead come to the conclusion that he has a long way to go to become happy, and begin the climb to self improvement- the current resolution is only half of that. (“Of all the voices in my head, the loudest one is mine/So I guess I’ll start the uphill climb/It might be hard but that’s just fine! [Im no lyricist, but you get the idea.]) So, the story ends on a high note, with the people who did the right thing succeeding, and Jeremy repairing the damage he’s done and to earn his happiness- a modern refinement of the ending of these kinds of stories, thus completing the deconstruction.

Other stuff:

Transitioning away from character fixes, the show has an awful flow from song to song- numbers like Halloween and the Smartphone Hour are vestigial little criticisms of youth culture that jack up the pacing of the thing and rip you out of the story. You know something is wrong when someone burning down a house is irrelevant to the plot. The way I’d fix that is to more closely involve Jeremy in those parts of the plot. Jeremy should immerse himself fully in the party, singing his own lyrics about his transition into the lifestyle the Squip wants for him. The audience can be aware of how dangerous this is- the drugs and alcohol at the party, the gossip loop about rich, Jeremy’s awful treatment of Brooke, and so on, but Jeremy is invested in it and loving it. That makes his decision to fight the Squip after seeing Christine’s disgust at him taking one that much more impactful- it’s the turning point of the show, and yet it is irrelevant in the plot compared to the Play.

The show tries to be too much to be liked by its younger fans- Loser, Geek, Whatever is the worst example of this. Just because a line  makes someone go “SKDKSDSKDJSKDS MICHAEL IS SO GAY I CANT” or “JEREMY IS SUCH A GOOD PORTRAYAL OF G.A.D. OMG” online doesn’t mean it’s good writing. Some other examples where pandering ruins stuff: the “Do you love him?” joke in the Pants Song, “My mothers would be thrilled!”, that god awful ADD joke in Play Rehearsal, Rich coming out as bisexual.

I love the idea that the squip adopts the persona of someone it knows the victim will trust and idolize- it’s great worldbuilding that lets the viewer participate in the story by thinking about who theirs would be. However, that doesn’t mean you go all in on the Keanu Reeves joke! Jason Tam’s quip is so bad! Stop the stupid Keanu/Surfer voice! Please!

[evaninepercent]

Top 9 Trainees ft my feels

The final members that successfully debuted as Chinese boyband 9percent:

First place (center): Cai Xukun

when this child was announced as center 

i was ecstatic but not surprised

like my bOY DESERVES IT

tbh if he wasn’t chosen as center yall know who’s gonna burst into iqiyi’s HQ screaming like a banshee

he looked so nervous when he was finally called out?? im-

boy the whole world knew you were destined to be center except you

all in all he’s gon be an aesthetic center and im gonna fite anyone who says otherwise

2nd place: Chen Linong

Expected 2.0

because every group needs a ball of sunshine and linong is it

i cannot imagine the group w/o linong

aLSO DID YALL SEE MY BOY RAPPING IN MACK DADDY

baby to daddy in 0.1 secs

when he went up with xukun i was like woah this is devaju

*flashback to the first evaluation*

when he flashed his smile during his speech i was-

i was mush

 and bc the connection was shit i get to look at that blinding smile of his for like 10 extra seconds

iM proUD OF MY CHILD and imma protect him forever

3rd place: Fan Cheng Cheng

EXPECTED TM

also i was rlly shooked when i saw his hair bc it reminded me of my tablecloth like did he steal it and draped it on his head or smth

but still mucho love him

my mood aspires to be as consistent as his ranking

The lord of thrids has granted cheng cheng his blessings

now the group will have two official memes *cOUGH juSTIN*

yall brace yourself for the amount of screenshots imma take when they start promoting bc he’s is definition of quality memes

alSO PROUD

likE,, my heart is swelling

from crying in the first ep bc he forgot his lyrics to this

chengcheng has rlly improved a lot 

the amount of happy is like seeing my son grow up and get ready for prom

4th place: Justin Huang

THE maknae of 9Percent

and im just a lil touched?? 

seeing him sit from the sidelines for the P101 finals to this is just-

his rap improved a great deal and his stage presence is more prominent than ever

I can already see that he’s gon be a great artist in the future

tbh although i expected all the 3 yuehua boys to debut its just like,, seeing your dream come true

good grace i wanna fly all the way to China and ruffle his hair just to say that he did a good job

also justin’s reaction when he was announced as 4th bc he will forever be a meme

5th place: Lin Yanjun

ok i will be honest with you

I DID NOT EXPECT MY BIAS WRECKER TO MAKE IT TO TOP 9

bc he has always been below that? 

always at the cursed borderline cut

so when he was announced i was like-

MY PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED

i was always hoping that my bromance ships wld get in together??

yikun and zhangjing w yanjun lol

he literally snatched bufan’s wig

buT,.,, im was really overwhelmed omL

he did such a stunning job as center for It’s Ok i actually drowned in his gaze

AND FOR THE FIRST TIME HE WAS ACTUALLY CRYING WHEN HE WAS PICKED??

i dont rmb him crying in the previous eps so i was sorta crying w him as well

and when he kneeled down to show his respect i was screaming bc i was just so emotional i thought i wld die right there and then 

someone smuggle me to china rn i need to hug him

6th place: Zhu Zhengting

if yall watched the vcr you wld kno how desperately he wants to debut

same thing applies to him as with justin

seeing their growth from P101 is like,, wow how has time flew

i dont think the yuehua boys wld be the same w/o him

just another talented bean that finally got the debut he deserved

7th place: Wang Ziyi

when his name was called i was literally half sobbing

actually i came home late and missed the first half of the live and made the mistake of glimpsing at my fren’s insta feed so it sorta was a spoiler but stiLL-

one of the trainees that i wld actually sue iqiyi for not debuting cuz:

1. One cannot overlook such talent, and

2. One does not simply separate him and cai xukun

fate was literally screaming at our faces that they are bros made in heaven if you didnt get the message then ur pretty damn oblivious

but now wang ziyi has debuted despite all the rumours to bring him down and i can finally rest in peace

8th place: Xiao Gui

eY

tbh i was expecting him too

he was so extra when he was called out lmaO

i sorta wanted xingjie to debut with him? but oh well :(

now im just sorta worried for you changjing haHA IDK WHY THE BANANA SQUAD ARE SO HORRIFIED OF hiM

a well deserved debut and you can say im satisfied

unlike p101 lmao im still highkey salty abt it

9th place: You Changjing

when the 9th place was finally about to be announced

my palms were literally sweating

bc if you zhangjing/ zhu xingjie doesnt debut

i wld be worried on how the others are going to reach the high notes in their songs cuz

Almost the whole of 9Percent are made up of rappers lmao

so when he was announced i was yellin

bc he was always either 9 or 10 and i was losing my shit for him

and if a powerful vocal liek him doesnt debut i will lose faith in humanity

bUT HE DEBUTED

as main vocal and oldest in the group lmAO 

and when he and yanjun hugged i knew my life is complete

the salt left from the injustice of P101 has dissolved from my tears of joy

so if i ever die yall are invited to my funeral to give me sunflowers so that everyone will know i died of happiness

Bonus: Now that IP has ended, I can finally focus on my studies until 9Percent makes a comeback. I initially thought it was gonna be a terrible rip-off but it turned out even better than P101 and I actually love all the trainees? Especially the top 35 bc these boys has made their way into my heart.

Also, im really relieved they debuted under the name 9Percent? Because names like Good9 or Balance are srsly rather horrible name and yall cannot do my boys dirty like that.

Tbh, i was sorta sad when xingjie and caoze didnt make the cut? They have shown such leadership and potential that its sort of a pity the group has only space for 9 and not 11 members.

My hearts also aches for Ruibin and Wenjun. They are such sweethearts and have really worked hard too. They werent given much screentime like the other popular ones, but I could see their passion and i really do hope I can see them again on a different stage.

Anyways, please do continue supporting the trainees as well as 9Percent!! (they legit gon be the first cpop band im gonna stan)

(( wow this post was longer than expected and gdi i just looked at the clock and its sorta glaring at me for procrastinating so yeah bb))

[jinlian]

i’ve always sorta wondered, but what did sayokubo hope to achieve with yurio’s narrative arc? like, i wanna believe that they were going somewhere with it but ran out of time but at the same time im just sorta?? i want to like all the characters in yoi but like idk the storytelling and characterization just fell flat.

this is a question i can’t really answer, though i’m inclined to agree with you that they had an idea, just totally missed on the follow-through due to time constraints or some other reason. i’ll give them the benefit of a doubt, because the storytelling — up until the last two episodes, and even pieces within those episodes — is otherwise quite solid. but they definitely dropped the ball on this one.

the problem, in my opinion, is that they got too stuck on the story they had decided to tell rather than the one they were telling. they have said that they planned to have yuuri come in second from the start, and i believe that, because it genuinely is the only thing that makes sense to me when the rest of the narrative develops to point to a very different outcome. the romance was unplanned and developed during the production process, so i have no trouble seeing how the story could have evolved along the way in a way that didn’t quite match up with their initial plans.

the results of the grand prix final did no one any favors, yurio absolutely included, and it left me, as a viewer, extremely unsatisfied with the storytelling. sayokubo said they thought yuuri winning would be too predictable so they decided from the beginning to have him place second, but there are a few problems with the way they executed this

first of all, they’re actually pretty incorrect when they say sports anime protags just win predictably all the time. i’d say the opposite: more often than not i’d definitely say i’ve seen the protagonist lose at the big final game for a ~character development~ moment. this is fine when that’s what the story needs, but that isn’t want yuuri’s story needed even if it were not a common, predictable outcome.

here’s the thing: predictable writing is not necessarily bad writing. in fact, sometimes it’s extremely good writing when it’s “predictable” because the narrative threads have pointed in a certain direction. and it’s very satisfying as a viewer to see when a very relatable gay mentally ill protagonist overcomes his own self doubts and fears and recognizes his own capabilities and finally, finally achieves the dream he’s always had through being supported and encouraged in a mutually beneficial relationship.

it’s really, really important to note that “learning that people will love him if he wins or loses” is absolutely not a lesson that yuuri needed to learn. in fact, yuuri makes that clear as early as episode four, when he explicitly says on the beach that his friends and family have always supported him no matter what. that’s not the point, that isn’t what he needed. yuuri needed someone to push him, to give him something other than lukewarm “we’ll love you no matter what” sentiments that he already knows are true, and victor gives that. it then takes yuuri nine episodes to say aloud that he has always competed with the thought that he wants and plans to win. nine episodes. nine episodes. nine episodes while he’s in the middle of competing through an anxiety attack and pushing himself to do exactly what he needs to do to qualify for the grand prix final.

yuuri never needed to learn how to lose. he’s spent his entire senior career on the international circuit learning how to lose. yuuri needed to learn how to win.

people have this idea that if yuuri had won, he would have retired. that’s of course what yuuri was saying he was going to do, but that’s definitely not what the narrative was telling us. yuuri is talking throughout the entire season about how much he loves skating, how he wants to compete at victor’s side, you have junior skaters telling yuuri how much they look forward to competing against him on the senior circuit, and yuuri decides to keep competing while he’s watching yurio, before they know the results of the competition. the whole point is supposed to be about yuuri’s love for skating, how much yuuri has left to give to the sport, and it would have been ridiculously easy to have him win and go wow, i’ve only just started achieving my full potential, i love skating and i want to keep going especially if victor is coming back. this just kinda makes it look even more like yuuri only wants to keep skating to get a win and then he can quit. it isn’t satisfying. at all.

the problem is partly that yuuri’s unreliable narration led a lot of people to believe that he just isn’t a very talented skater, which is so far from the truth and completely ridiculous given the very obvious canon evidence, but somehow despite breaking a world record people still believe this because he placed second at the grand prix final. that’s definitely on the audience, but it’s also on the writing.

victor wasn’t the prize. he was never meant to be, the story was always supposed to be about yuuri.

and before another anon tries to get smarmy with me, i’ve been aware since the final episode that the results of the gpf are arguably a fix-it fic for tatsuki machida, who came in second at worlds by the slimmest of margins to relative newcomer yuzuru hanyu, bombed his grand prix final the following season, and announced his shocking and unexpected retirement at japanese nationals where he came fourth. it gave me some comfort for a little while, but after thinking more and more about it, i just kind of don’t care. an homage to tatsuki, as appreciated as it is, doesn’t override the unsatisfying narrative conclusion in the fictional story told in yuri on ice.

AND NOW ACTUALLY ONTO YOUR POINT ABOUT YURIO –

if anyone needed to “learn how to lose” it was yurio, and he absolutely did not experience that storyline in his grand prix losses to jj. he sort of starts it when he loses onsen on ice, and there’s a glimmer of development in episode 9, but it’s all just tossed out the window.

yurio starts off the season saying things like “i won, so what does it matter?” when victor tries to give him advice to improve. he’s willing to practice harder in the interest of winning, which is cool (but it’s not like any other skater in the show isn’t practicing hard??? yuuri literally goes to practice to work off his own anxiety, he practices so much), but instead of like actively acknowledging that other people are good skaters who maybe deserve to win, too, he just keeps... focusing on himself. he calls yuuri a farm animal to his fiancé’s face, says he’s good for nothing, shoves his feet in the face of a fellow athlete who’s clearly just had an anxiety attack in public, mocks another one who’s also just had a public breakdown, and the whole thing with his hidden admiration for yuuri doesn’t even work when you consider that he doesn’t want yuuri to keep competing for yuuri’s sake — he wants it so that he can beat yuuri.

???

yurio’s agape arc just doesn’t work, either, he skates like maybe once thinking “oh people are nice to me” but he doesn’t reciprocate that off the ice. it doesn’t work. it’s unconvincing. the story also drops the narrative threads of yuuri’s stamina vs. yurio’s, where they keep talking about how yurio doesn’t have as much stamina etc etc and yurio already pushes himself to his breaking point in ep9 — imo it would have been way more interesting to examine yurio trying to push himself even further and having to learn his limits and learn he still has a long way to grow. there’s no indication that he has learned any of this. he just gets justified for his shitty behavior and his “winning is everything” attitude and it’s. obnoxious. we don’t see any development of the agape storyline off the ice, and i’m fairly unconvinced we saw it on the ice too, but that’s a different story.

this is then only solidified in the welcome to the madness manga where yurio cannot handle victor and yuuri having attention for literally five minutes, even though yurio has just won the grand prix final, and pulls “no i have to surprise the audience more”

so like, i get that he’s fifteen and fifteen year olds can be shitty but he’s also a fictional character and from a storytelling perspective there’s just nothing satisfying about this and nothing that in any way actually lends itself to yurio’s growth. they threw in otabek to get yurio to cheer for another skater, but yurio still beats otabek and is still shitty towards yuuri. a really interesting way to get yurio to confront his agape and get some actual growth would be to have otabek beat him, and i hope we see that in upcoming content.

i think it was supposed to be something about yurio seeing that other people are good, too, but it’s not done well. it focuses too much on yuuri with not enough respect given to either character and doesn’t develop yurio’s attitude wrt skating or other skaters in general, which he needed. again, i don’t believe that otabek counts here. “oh good, another score higher than the pig’s.” it also arguably had to do with yurio seeing he has room to grow; again, in my opinion, not done well. yurio needed something more than just being annoyed that he didn’t win by enough.

like the narrative arc literally accomplishes nothing. he finishes the series just as stuck on “winning is everything” as he was when he started. there’s no understanding of why yurio even enjoys skating beyond that he’s good at it and wins a lot. i’m not invested.

anyway VERY LONG STORY SHORT i totally agree that it just didn’t work and did no one any favors. yurio got justified for his shitty attitude with “as long as i win it’s fine and also i just want to beat everyone else so people know how great i am” (like i truly don’t care if yurio is just mad that he lost the free skate so he feels “unsatisfied” with winning at the gpf, i truly don’t) and yuuri got screwed over in the narrative process for a lesson he never needed to learn in the first place so that sayokubo could avoid “predictable” writing. they’re better writers than this. it’s disappointing.

all of this is without the bullshit scoring at the grand prix final but kdhjfgsdj it’s fine IT’S FINE. as long as the movie and/or possible season 2 is done well, i’ll get over it.

[celestialoblivion]

hi there, may initial is A. Im stuck in a love triangle situation and i wanna ask ur cards for some help. I wanna know how this guy SP feels about me and how he feels about the other girl SD (i have a feeling like he doesnt really like SD he just wants her there bc its convenient and she seems to be more infatuated with him but im not sure). can u help me out? thanks!

What SP feels about A

Ten of Wands + Page of Wands +  (Rx) 7 of Pentacles

SP somehow feels that he wants something from you. He wants to go for it but feel that it’ll take a lot of effort and work to get it; more than he expected. It seems that he also may feel that he’s responsible for something that happened between the both of you. There may have been issues/conflicts that you guys need to resolve and he’s still trying to figure that out and probably trying to see it through. He also may feel that you’re “high maintenance”.

SP feelings for you may be pretty “young” as in it’s not as deep. It’s feelings that are somehow immature. He somehow feels that he wants to pursue you or approach you but he feels nervous/anxious/afraid to do so and somehow isn’t sure how to even start/do so. This makes him feel confused, but is somehow hopeful that you’ll approach/start to take action instead.

He also somehow feels frustrated that what he’s been doing so far doesn’t seem to reap the rewards/results that he wanted to come through. He’s frustrated about it and possibly even pessimistic due to it. He’s doesn’t really feel as though it’s worth it. Perhaps what he’s trying to do isn’t really working for him. He may feel tired in putting all this work/feelings into it that he may even feel impatient. Maybe he had been dropping hints or waiting for a reaction from you but you aren’t giving that to him.

What SP feels about SD

6 of Pentacles + Judgement + 3 of Pentacles

There may be imbalances of giving and taking between SP and SD. There is somehow feelings of obligation or probably gratitude (whether it be maybe work, school, family, money, favors, love etc) in this relationship and one might be giving more than the other. Vice versa. It may be that one is wanting what the other has to give, the other gives as much as they feel comfortable with or is willing to give. This could be mutually satisfying back and forth or it could be that one is feeling pretty needy and willing to accept anything the other is willing to share; no matter how much or how little.

SP feels that SD awakens certain feelings that reflects deep aspects within themselves that they can’t overlook and is contributing to their growth. He feels willing to forgive either oneself or the other. It expresses the willingness from one person to forgive their past and the desire to change and be more open. Although, it may be that SP somehow feels “judged” by her sometimes. He may feel that through SP, it is an opportunity for growth and change. He feels that SD reflects certain aspects that he needs to change within himself rather than being predominantly  “judgemental”  towards them. But this may just be him feeling out through the relationship/what’s going on between them since it’s still “growing”. He feels that somehow he will be able to start anew and leave the past behind. He may feel as though through her, it is a significant time where trial and errors are being tested.

There are feelings of mutual respect and even admiration with SD or it could be the other way round that he thinks that SD admires him. He’s still building feelings for SD. He may somehow feel that they have to work hard to gain attention and approval from SD. He feels that SD has power and they do not. He works on impressing SD. He may be doing this by earning money or making something, or improving how he looks (working out, dressing up). He  feels that he’s close to getting what they want from her. And they also feel that whatever you’re going to give them in return is worth the effort.

Hope it resonates and works out the best for the three of you x 

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