#There’s trust and bonding despite how you’re sus for knowing stuff you shouldn’t

[stormgardenscurse]

h ghe hheh,,, for the drabble/headcanon event,,, you are the villain of an otome game and you either die tragic deaths or suffer fates even worse in all the routes. you reincarnate one day with this knowledge and decide to change your destiny, whilst doing so you accidentally catch the interest of ace and deuce, two of the romanceable character, an they try to win your affection instead of the main heroine's

Event is still open for submissions here!

General things:

Since I do love my otome villainess manhwas, I’ll be basing this AU in a typical royalty setting!

You’ve played this game before, so you vaguely know the plot - but things are very different because you got isekaied before the canon game’s start point.

As such, the only logical thing to do is prepare for what will come next year, right? When your fate will truly be thrown into the hands of the storyline, and you’ll have to try your best to not end up dead.

Ace

No matter what world you were in, having money is one of the essentials if you plan to escape from the academy you’ll be enrolled in 1 year from now, where the game story starts to take place. You’ll need to pay for transport after all, and loose lips can only be sealed with an adequate amount of gold coins…

As the story’s villain, you do indeed have a wealthy noble background, however just relying on that won’t get you very far if you planned to survive on your own after running away. Thus the first thing you try to do is start connections within the merchant circle, and potentially expand to commissioning mercenaries.

Perhaps you could find one that’s skilled enough to be a hired bodyguard? That’d certainly be helpful in case one of the love interests tried to attack you to protect the protagonist… (Many things are up in the air at this point, so it can’t hurt to be flexible).

You’re exiting a tavern after a meeting when you bump into Ace - literally, as he pickpockets your pouch and walks away. If it wasn’t for the important magic trinket inside of it, you might not even have reached for said pouch to check if it was there and connected the dots, breaking into a chase after the thief.

You didn’t recognise Ace as himself at first (you didn’t manage to finish playing his route, though your friends loved to gush over him), and was surprised to find that he was the one that stole your belongings.

Suffice to say, by surprising Ace (calling out his brother’s name), you managed to tackle him to the ground and demand your items back.

Seeing as he didn’t just teleport away (a signature move he used to save the player once), you deduced that Ace hasn’t had his magic training yet, and seemed to be living as a thief before being found by his master? He was dressed well though, so you believed there might be more to the story than meets the eye.

What would your friends have called this… ah, a secret route? Or was it a DLC? Anyways, you supposed that finding out more about Ace wouldn’t hurt your survival prospects, thus you threw your pouch of coins back to him after you retrieved the most important item inside.

You’d frequent the city after all. If Ace is as curious as you remembered, you’d be meeting him many more times after this even without a contract or deal.

He’s surely wondering how you knew his brother of all people, and will only grow curiouser when his brother tells him he’s never heard of anyone like you~

Deuce

Honestly speaking, Deuce was one of your comfort faves when you played the game. So when you see sign-ups open for a knight apprenticeship that you recognised the name of, you’re quick to write your name onto the form with bated breath.

All you knew is that Deuce trained here under the same master. You weren’t sure if he was still here though since the storyline is only a year away - he might’ve graduated already and was preparing for the academy’s entrance exam.

You later learn that Deuce is your senior as you spot him during a training drill, and he surprises you by flashing you a friendly smile. When you’re practicing alone (modern muscles were not meant to train like this), he walks over and you think you can hear your heartbeat in your ears, only for the anticipation to shatter as he offers you a drink. 

Right. He doesn’t know who you are, and you’re in the villain’s body of all people - Deuce probably just wanted to say hi because he’s just that nice, not because you caught his eye or anything.

(You actually did catch his attention; you’re a member of higher nobility, but despite how you could easily afford private mentors you chose to train here instead. Deuce gives you the benefit of the doubt and assumes you’re hard-working, since why else would you be running drills even after your session ended?)

He sees a bit of himself in you (the desire to improve quickly), but advises you to not push yourself too hard since he’s hurt himself before by overworking his body. Yet when Deuce invites you to have lunch together with his friends something irks you at the back of your mind. Despite your better judgment, you let it slip from your mouth:

You ask him if he’s here out of pity, since it’s evident that your peers have been avoiding you in light of your gaps in status. It comes out coldly and causes surprise to flicker through Deuce’s eyes, but he’s quick to smile and shake his head instead.

That might’ve been the case a moment ago, but your words are catching his interest; you seem to have something else lingering on your mind despite standing before him, and Deuce somehow feels inclined to offer his company to you.

Strange, it’s as if he was talking to someone he met a long time ago… Must be his imagination, right?

Additional thoughts/comments are at the end of my tags, if you're curious!

Commissions are also open for September if anyone's interested in AU type things like these 👉👈 (might take 2-3 weeks to write though, depending on wordcount and how busy I am!)

[takaraphoenix]

Okay, so how about for Iron Hawk Tony first learning that Clint is deaf and learning ASL for him. (hmmm. How about he does only to find out due to only partial deafness Clint has actually been using aids since he was a kid and lost hearing and never bothered to learn sign language himself?)

Tony was used to working alone in the workshop. Even now that all of the Avengers shared a living space. Usually when Tony really got lost in his work, the others would flee. Tony knew mostly they were down there to give him company. Most of the things they did down there could be done anywhere in the compound, but the true purpose was to spend time with Tony.

The compound that Tony had designed, where the Avengers had relocated after a Hydra agent had put horrifying images into the head of a scientist named Hank Pym, resulting in a dangerous killer robot named Ultron. The Avengers had taken it out and had arrested the two Hydra agents.

In the wake of it all, they had moved places. Had moved into the compound and were currently working on expanding the Avengers. The team of six that had started out, well, the world needed more heroes than a ragtag team of six people.

The first addition had been Rhodey, through Tony.

Then, with the fall of SHIELD, Sam Wilson joined them. Well, together with all left-over trustworthy SHIELD agents and Maria Hill, who coordinated the agents now.

The latest addition had been Hope van Dyne, daughter to Hank Pym. She had been the one to alert the Avengers early on – despite her father's hatred for the Starks (a reason why Ultron had been born, because the delusions the witch had put in Pym's mind had made him afraid of a world where Tony Stark and the Avengers turned on everyone, resulting in a very faulty security program).

Hope was not her father. Tony knew what it felt like to stand in the shadow of one's father. She was a brilliant woman who had opposed her father on many occasions. She used a suit that shrank and could fly, giving the Avengers additional aerial support.

They all integrated well into the team and the team tried to spend time with each other outside of missions and training, to bond, to form trust and to truly learn each other's ways. The others knew Tony was a busy man though, he had more than just the Avengers – he still had Stark Industries to work for and take care of and he took to upgrading most weapons and suits for the Avengers himself, trusting no one but his own capable hands to make sure his team was safe. So the other Avengers knew that bonding time with Tony was best achieved by joining him in the lab.

Sometimes, Steve would sit on the couch in the corner and draw.

Bruce was a regular down here, working with Tony on multiple projects.

The same went for Hope, who preferred to update her suit and stings herself.

What Natasha did – well, Tony wasn't entirely sure, but she was there occasionally too.

Even Sam spent quite some time down here, ever since Tony had upgraded Red Wing and installed a simplistic AI that gave the robot enough personality (enough to befriend Dum-E).

But once Tony really got into his work though, blasting his music at top volume, most would leave the lab and leave him to it. Tony wasn't sure if it was consideration because they didn't want to disturb him when he was truly concentrated, or if it really was the loud music.

There was only one person who always stayed. And while Tony appreciated that the others were considerate, he really enjoyed having someone who'd always stick around. And that person was Clint. He'd usually be down at the workshop to tinker with his arrows. He had a vast array of trick arrows and special arrows, most of which Clint had either designed or even built himself.

At one point, Tony started to suspect that maybe Clint simply shared his passion for AC/DC. He knew for a fact that it was that band in particular that chased Bruce away. Too aggressive and loud, not what the harborer of the Hulk needed. Which was fair enough. Steve too, not a fan, though he wasn't big on music anyway. Adn Natasha, she preferred classic music over modern. Sam liked them alright, though not at the volume Tony preferred. And Hope just generally didn't like music when she was at work because it was distracting to her.

Clint however, he would stay. Regardless of what music Tony blasted at what volume. In fact, when Tony would go really loud, Clint would always have a smile for him. And no, that was just a random bit of information, it had no significance. It didn't mean anything to Tony when Clint smiled at him in that teasing, crooked kind of way. Any fluttering in his heart was due to a malfunction of the arc reactor or something like that, nothing else.

/break\

Natasha had one eyebrow raised as she took a sip from her coffee. It was still quite early. Sam and Steve had just gotten back from their morning jog and they were currently bickering over what to make for breakfast. Natasha had already been awake for two hours, training. It was however rare for Clint to be up this early. Yet here he was, sitting opposite Nat and grinning into his mug.

"AC/CD? Is that Tony's mug?", asked Natasha with a frown.

Clint shook his head at her, a smug look on his face. "Mine. He gave it to me."

"You've been wearing an AC/DC shirt yesterday too", noted Sam curiously. "I thought you didn't like them. Don't tell me Tony converted you, huh?"

"Awful music", replied Clint casually. "But Tony's been giving me stuff? I'm not gonna decline it."

"You could buy your own clothes and then they would actually advertise what you like", offered Steve slightly bemused. "You shouldn't abuse Tony's generous nature like that."

"What? Abuse-", echoed Clint irritated. "I'm not-"

Natasha raised her eyebrows curiously at that. How very interesting. Clint was hoarding AC/DC merchandise not because he liked it but because he liked the person he got it from. Tony. She filed that information away for later usage, knowing fully well it was going to be very useful.

/break\

Hope smiled as she listened to Bruce's latest theory on their way to the workshop. Though she was only listening with one ear, if she was being honest. Her main focus was on what Natasha had told her. The two women had grown quite close. Partially through sparring with each other and partially due to being the only female team-members. That did forge a tight bond; they were fighting hard in a boys' world. And while they were both tough in nature, it wasn't easy that they were never allowed any weakness, to a far greater extend than the men.

Anyway, Natasha had cued her in on something very interesting. Apparently, Clint had a crush on Tony. Now, Hope was rather close to Tony. Surprisingly enough. Then again, Hope had always opposed her father and she knew what it was like to stand in her father's shadow so when meeting the Avengers, she had given Tony Stark the benefit of the doubt. He was as much Howard Stark as Hope was Hank Pym. The two scientists had hit it off pretty well from the get-go.

So while Natasha provided intel from Clint's side, Hope was supposed to poke around and see what Tony's opinion on it all was – and if Tony was even aware of what was happening around him.

"Tony, can we please turn down the music?", asked Bruce gently and a bit amused.

When Tony was really in the zone, he was in another plane of existence really. It was fascinating to watch and even quite charming. Hope remembered all the press coverage on Tony Stark throughout the year. The playboy, the drinker. No one ever showed Tony Stark, in a ratty tank-top with holes in it and grease in his hair, grinning like a maniac as he gently talked to his bots and invented things that threw them all decades ahead of their time. The narrative really mattered.

"Su—ure thing, Brucie-bear. Jay, you heard the man." Tony sighed forlorn as the music dimmed down. "Why can't you all appreciate a good AC/DC like Clint does?"

Hope raised her eyebrows and exchanged a look with Bruce. "You really don't know that he doesn't even like AC/DC, huh?"

"What? No. Of course he likes it. He's been wearing the shirt this morning!", argued Tony.

"The shirt you gave him", tagged Bruce on, a little amused.

"...So?", asked Tony confused and sat down on his bench.

Hope sighed and shook her head. "Tony, if you want to get your boyfriend clothes, get him clothes of a band he actually likes, because this... isn't one."

"But he always stays, regardless of how loud I play it?", asked Tony, not minding the boyfriend comment for now because he was still too confused. "He never complains about it."

"...But you do know that he's deaf, right?", asked Hope very slowly. "That he just turns off his hearing aids when he doesn't want to hear something. Mostly Cap's debriefings. And this."

The way Tony stared at her told Hope that Tony did in fact not know this. Bruce shook his head before he went to his work, giving Tony the time to digest this information.

/break\

Clint blinked a little confused when he found a glaring small genius blocking his way. It was hard to take pouting Tony seriously because he was just... so short? Glaring was more effective when glared down at someone, not up at someone. All Clint wanted to do was pet Tony's hair (it was very fluffy. Good for petting), but he had learned his lesson. Last time he did that when Tony was furious, no electronics in the entire place had worked for Clint. The toaster, the washing machine, the dryer, the remote, nothing at all, not even the damn internet connection. Never again.

"How did you never tell me you're deaf?", asked Tony, gesturing widely at Clint.

"I... generally don't advertise it?", countered Clint a bit confused.

"Well. Yes. I mean-", started Tony frustrated, gesturing even more now as he started pacing. "I'm Tony Stark. You're walking around with those... mediocre hearing aids and you never thought of telling me that you're deaf? I could have whipped you up something proper years ago!"

Tony moved on to poking Clint in an accusatory manner into the chest. This whole exchange was utterly confusing for the archer, so he decided to move on toward the kitchen, having the genius trail after him. Was Tony angry with him for not sharing this? That seemed... odd.

"Wait", grunted Clint as he realized, slowly turning around to look at Tony. "Are you angry because you think I... don't trust your tech, since I didn't ask you to build me something?"

Tony looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie-jar. "I... No? I just... As your team-mate, I think you should have the best of everything. That, of course, includes hearing aids."

Clint hummed and tilted his head. "Honestly, I just... never thought of it? I've had these hearing aids for years now, they've just been... a part of me, for me, mostly. I never really thought about Stark Tech upgrades of them. And, in my line of work, I've learned not to draw too much attention to them. When people hear I'm deaf, they like to conclude I'm not fit to be a spy, an Avenger."

Tony frowned at him. "I... get that. But I want to... help."

It made Clint smile a little. Oh, he loved this small genius so much. Every time Tony had a new idea how to improve Clint's arrows or armor, he'd be so excited – well, with everything of everyone. And even when Clint didn't understand half the things Tony said in explanation, it was so captivating to listen to him. It made Clint wonder for a moment why he had never told Tony.

"I lost my hearing when I was a teen. It was a crazy circus accident", explained Clint softly. "It was... hard, at first. But with the hearing aids, most of the time... I don't even think on it. Or, I try not to. Ever since I entered SHIELD, I had to work against people who thought I'd prove too much a risk on the field – what if the aids fail, what if no one can contact me anymore then. Not to mention a potential lack of communication in general then. Nat was the first person who learned ASL for me, specifically. Just so she could tell the agent who had voiced those doubts to fuck off in ASL. Because it's a language that exists, that people would just have to learn."

Clint paused and jumped onto the kitchen counter, grabbing an apple. "Kids at school, they're encouraged to learn Spanish or French or... or Latin, which is like dead, you know. And that's cool. Languages are cool. But no where are they encouraged to learn ASL, a language that's literally the only means of communication for many people in the US."

Chewing on his apple, Clint watched how Tony sat down, staring at Clint in curious wonder and just listening, which was somehow a nice change from the usual. "It was how Nat and I became a team, you know. After that, we went on a mission together and... ASL actually proves to be really handy for spies, what do you know. Not being required to talk, or be in hearing distance, to communicate can actually be really useful. Shesh."

With a small smile of his own did Tony tilt his head. "So, why do you always smile when I play AC/DC then, if you don't even like it and turn your hearing aids off?"

"Who snitched?", sputtered Clint. "Was it Nat? No, Nat loves me."

"Actually, it were Hope and Bruce. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?", asked Tony. "Because I think I get now why you didn't tell me you were deaf, but why would you take all of that AC/DC merch and let me blast my music if you don't even like it?"

"Well, those are two different questions", started Clint defensively. "I let you blast your music, because... it doesn't bother me. I can just turn off my hearing aids and let you have your fun. I know it makes you happy to listen to your music, so there's that."

The blush suited Tony. "...Okay. That's... nice. But, doesn't explain the AC/DC hoodie you are literally wearing right now, Barton."

"It's cozy?", shrugged Clint. "Besides, it's rude to decline a gift."

"...Sure", grunted Tony, not buying a word his friend was saying.

Clint's eyes widened when he saw Natasha poking her head around the corner of the kitchen with a deadly death-glare. She signed Tell him it's time before crossing her arms over her chest in a very definite gesture, just standing there in the doorway behind Tony. Steve, Hope and Sam stuck their heads out to peek in curiously too. Clint made a face at them, confusing Tony.

"Okay, so maybe I accept them because they're from you", grunted Clint with an edge of defensiveness. "It's... nice. A lot like, you know."

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking", huffed Tony a bit frustrated.

"Like wearing your boyfriend's clothes, that's what it is", whispered Hope.

"Because he lo—oves you", whispered Steve.

"He wants to date you, he wants to kiss you-", tagged Sam on in a sing-sang voice.

"Okay. Enough. You're like children", grunted Natasha unimpressed, ushering the Avengers off.

Tony stared startled at them before he turned back toward Clint. The archer was properly flustered by this, covering his face with one hand and muttering to himself about what he had done to deserve any of this. Sure, he had pranked Hope by putting pink dye in her shampoo last week and maybe he had painted over Steve's shield with hearts and perhaps there had been that one incident where he had replaced Sam's favorite vanilla pudding with mayonnaise, but still he did not deserve this.

"You like me? Why? How? When? What?", asked Tony stunned.

"Believe me, it was as much a shock for me as it is for you now", drawled Clint dryly. "But you're... you. Not the press you I was debriefed on. The real you. The cute, excitable genius with the heart of gold who does everything for everyone he cares about."

"So... you... want to go on a date?", asked Tony unsure. "I mean, is that-"

"Yes", interrupted Clint and nodded wildly. "Only if you-"

"If I may interrupt, Miss van Dyne has taken the liberty to booking a table at sir's favorite restaurant for today, 7PM. Doctor Banner assures you that if anything comes up, 'the Big Guy will take care of it' so you should not worry about anything", interrupted Jarvis.

"...When did they...", muttered Tony surprised.

"After your conversation last night", replied Jarvis.

/break\

Clint looked very pleased in his Iron Man hoodie, drinking out of his Iron Man mug. This was the perfect compromise. Instead of merchandise of things he wasn't interested in, Clint now got merchandise of something he was very interested in. His boyfriend. Okay, okay, some merch was also of the other Avengers, but most of Clint's things now were Iron Man themed.

"I finished them!", exclaimed Tony as he came running into the kitchen.

A bit startled, Clint looked up at the very excited looking genius before being handed... hearing aids. Smaller than his, less obvious. And with a Stark Tech logo on them. Clint blinked surprised.

"Wait, Tony. Did you seriously...", muttered Clint.

"Of course", huffed Tony nearly offended. "My boyfriend needs to have the best of the best. And I've been meaning on branching more out."

Clint took a moment to appreciate the effort and time that must have gone into this – was this the secret project that had Tony locked into his lab alone lately? Even without Clint. To make it a surprise? What a total dork. Grinning tentatively, Clint took his old hearing aids out before putting the new ones in. Tony tilted his head like a curious puppy, watching him eagerly.

"How is it? Does it work? Is it comfortable?", asked Tony anxiously.

"It's perfect. Like everything else you do, Tones", answered Clint fondly.

He got up and pulled Tony into a hug, kissing him softly. In the background, Sam made gagging noises that somehow, Clint could hear even clearer than with his old aids.

"Shove it, jealousy doesn't suit you, Wilson", signed Tony over Clint's shoulder.

The entire team had learned ASL in the past weeks, after Tony suggested it, echoing Clint's words about him and Natasha. Nat had taught them and while some had picked it up quickly – Tony and, surprisingly so, Steve – others, such as Sam, struggled more with it. Sam huffed at them.

"You don't have to be all cute in front of my breakfast though", grunted Sam.

Tony grinned broadly, hanging off Clint's neck. "Can't help it. I'm always cute."

"That you are", agreed Clint fondly, kissing Tony's cheek. "Thank you, Tones."

------

Read this here on FFNet & here on AO3!

[sleepingprinceonice]

Georgi, the 3rd Yuri - Part 3

DISCLAIMER: This is a long meta. I wrote this along with a friend and we spent pretty much a week analyzing a lot of stuff, from the anime scenes to interviews and even song lyrics. There’s a ton of text, many links and it can get kind of pretty image heavy in some parts.

To help with this, and for organization’s sake, we divided this meta in 4 parts.

Part 1 - Georgi, the Chekhov’s Gunman and 3rd Yuri in Yuri!!! On Ice

Part 2 - Georgi, Victor, and The Sleeping Beauty

Part 3 - The types of love and Victor’s long hair

Part 4 - The romantic songs and Victor’s first love

The types of love and Victor’s long hair

Eros, Agape, Philia, Storge... We all know that the Greek are responsible for many ways of thinking and questioning society, so it’s not surprising that they developed an analisys over something as abstract as love.

One of our biggest mistakes is to think that love englobes all kinds of affection. Recognizing that there are many faces for this feeling makes it easier for us not to get dissapointed in life but also makes it easier to understand Yuri!!! On Ice.

We wouldn’t have so many details, so many stories, come they or not from the protagonists, if the narrative wasn’t trying to tell us something. And it’s so obvious that it throws at our faces - or, better, at Yuuri and Yurio’s faces - two of the types of love: Agape and Eros. This chase of Yurio’s for unconditional and selfless love wouldn’t be so important if it wasn’t valid for the plot, and neither would’ve Yuuri’s quest to find his Eros if it wasn’t applicable to the narrative and for his future (or even a canon past that we still don’t have).

Let’s take a closer look at those definitions of love?

Starting with Agape, that looks so simple and easy, but needed so much effort for Yuri Plisetsky not to understand, but to accept it. For him, it’s hardd to bring out the essence of this feeling during the interpretation of his short program and, when he can find it in the memory of his loved grandpa, he loses himself in the middle of his performance. Why is it so painful to accept Agape, Yurio?

We’re taken to believe that since he was very small, his life was surrounded by responsabilities that shouldn’t belong to a child. To go far away from his family, from his mother - and later from his grandpa - to dedicate himself to the ungrateful figure skating career. Even though it’s so beaufiful to watch, we all know how this world has their favorites and how short an athlete’s life is on the competitive area.

Your career is short and you need to take the maximum that you can from it; any mistake can mark you, the favorites outshine you, the sponsors pick carefully who’s worthy of their investments and, desperately, Yurio wants to bring the judge’s and world’s attention to himself. So much focus on this harsh world made him harden; if he accepts so easily love and its weaknesses, he fears not being able to go forward. Plisestky doesn’t like to feel weak, doesn’t like losing. Each medal he doesn’t win, each place lower in the podium is like having his record stained. How can someone so young get lost in so much fear?

And this quest for the denied Agape is hard, but rewarding. Yurio recognizes with time that he always had selfless love close to him. He has the love and support of his beloved grandpa, the trust of his coach, Yuuko’s friendship, the reception of the Katsuki family during his stay in Japan, the newly discovered friendship with Otabek... And all of this love and affection given to him without the need to receive anything back made him discover the best of himself. After so much time seeing love as a weakness, the feeling is now the origin of his strength: Agape was found.

But if this love is selfless and considered the purest side of the feeling, Eros is its total opposite. Does it mean that it’s bad? No, it only means that it isn’t eternal.

If for Yurio recognizing Agape in his life was a problem, imagine it for Yuuri, who’s a man so modest and emotionally blocked, to accept the desire he kept inside? To have these two Yuris skating to such contrasting feelings makes it look like, at first, as a proposal because they have nothing in common with them, however, they don’t want to admit that they have inside them those versions of love, since, as the Greek says, we all have all of them inside us.

And we can clearly see Yuuri’s wish to be desired when he decides to explore for himself, when he decides to incorporate a seductive woman, since he can’t bring out the playboy at the moment.

Insinuating, seductive... Yuuri knows who he wants to get to, knows who he wants to seduce. Victor’s the worlds most desired single, his friend Nishigori asks him if he can seduce Nikiforov. Does he thinks so? No would be the obvious answer, but we see Yuuri wanting to try to prove the contrary, who wants to show his Eros and become an object of desire to conquer the Russian and to show the world that, yes, he’s capable of taking Victor away from the world - even though he never says this out loud.

It can be seen in his actions, in his skating... It’s a challenge to conquer his emotional, the anxiety and discomfort with his body, still, Yuuri does all of that. “I am Eros and Eros is me?” he asks. Yes, Katsudon, you exist in Eros and Eros exists in you. It’s okay to be a sinnamon roll, you’re doing a great job.

His intentions are clear; while part of him is embarrassed over so much skin exposed and feels invaded with the public displays of affection, Yuuri has lust enough to free his desires as he does a full pole dance performance, asks for Victor to keep his on him and only him, almost declares a cold war with the Russian public in the Rostelecom Cup when he shows them all the love he has to offer, plays with the judges, blows kisses, gets more and more audacious in his programs and, discretely, revealing not to be as closed to the touch as we imagined at first.

After all, if this was true, he wouldn’t have let Chris grope his butt when they met at the Cup Of China, and wouldn’t have shared with Giacometti his seductive performance made of drinks and almost no clothing.

He is the playboy of his story and he knows that. For this reason and because he’s embarrassed to bring this out, it’s easier for Yuuri to agree that “a seductive role is not for him”. Of course it is, playboy. You proved us enough already.

In this we enter one of Yuuri’s biggest challenges, that maybe confuses him about the depth of his feelings for Victor. We’re talking about Nikiforov, the living legend, his country’s pride, loved by the world, the best of a whole generation, desired single and star that’s printed in every poster all over all over Yuuri’s room. It’s almost a dream to have a man like this at your side, and even more to have him saying that he’s going to train you, bring out the best of yourself. And is it Victor that does it? Or is it Yuuri that, dazzled to have his childhood and teenagehood star at his side, starts to try to keep him close?

“I’m the only one that can satisfy Victor.”

Now look at his pretentiousness! He’s good and he knows that! He’s seductive, yes, maybe not with a sex appeal as explicit as Chris, but he does have his own Eros! To have Victor at your side, with his eyes only for you - as Yuuri challenges him -, that’s something to inflate anyone’s ego. Wouldn’t you be satisfied to have the world’s best figure skater’s gaze for you only? To be, even as the public calls for him, the center of attention?

Overwhelming, strong, sweeping, explosive... And ephemeral. Passion is like fire over straw, fast, intense, it dominates you completely and then, as fast as it comes, it goes away and leaves nothing behind to tell the story. Does it mean that nothing else will exist between Victor and Yuuri? No, it only means that what they have right now will end someday. And, while Eros is the biggest responsible for trying them together, if it goes away what’s left over the couple that almost doesn’t speak sincerely when they’re not skating?

Yuuri is the playboy of his tory and no one doesn’t even suspects it. But you remember what happens after the most desired woman in town is seduced, right?

Contrary to the transient love that is Eros, Philia is more lasting, and also more loved and praised by the Greek. Defined as the love between friends and the camaderie of brothers in arms, Philia is based mostly on loyalty; with the friends, with the job, with the country. It’s the love that commits itself, but that also lets it go if it’s better for the other party.

And who’s better to represent Philia if not Georgi Popovich?

A sensitive soul, dedicated to his art and his sport, a diligent student that always listens to his coach’s orders and advices, loyal to his friend to the point of traveling with them to Moscow just to watch their performances and the other’s as well. This is Georgi, someone who incorporated Philia in his life - actually he is Philia in its purest essence.

Not only that but he is also one of the characters that talks the most about love during the course of the series; and, considering that he's also a Yuri, nothing more fair than to have him represent one of the Greek words for love. And, just as Yuuri has his own Eros that was denied for a long time, and Yurio searched for his own Agape despite the conflitant and painful feelings, Georgi also has Philia inside him, even though he - maybe - doesn’t know this completely.

During one of the interviews, Yuuri’s voice actor, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, says that he feels some Pathos in Georgi. Pathos, just like the words for love, is also Greek, associated with passion, excess, suffering, feeling and affectionate bonds. It is, as well, a method of rethoric and storytelling, used to instigate emotions from the audience with the use of passion, expressivity and metaphors.

If this definition doesn’t match perfectly with Georgi’s profile please correct us.

It’s in this loyalty and passioun about eveything that surrounds him - his art, the way he expresses himself, his silent obedience over Yakov’s denial to join Victor when he asks them to come have dinner with him, in his observations and admiration of the other skaters during the Rostelecom Cup, that Georgi is Philia.

And Philia can evolve and become something bigger: Storge.

If Philia is the friendship’s love, Storge is the family’s. Here we don’t talk only about blood, but also about the families that we cultivate with the bonds of destiny, of friendships that are lasting, that shape and change your life. After all, it’s not always the blood family that we have present, or maybe they don’t always help us - it’s not uncommon to see people that, alone, build their own families with no blood ties.

People like Victor Nikiforov.

We don’t know Victor’s blood family, but he doesn’t seem to be close to them. We know that Victor’s solitary, that he dedicated over 20 years - his whole life - to figure skating, that he spent more time on ice than anything else.

Curiously, however, it is exactly because of skating that Victor creates bonds, and these bonds are now his real family. And isn’t this one of the main points of his character development over the course of the anime? To go from a solitary star at the top of the world to be now someone happy, loved, with a life and surrounded by people with strong, lasting bonds that he can call family?

His respect for Yakov, his relationship with Yuuri, his friendship with Chris, his fondness for Yurio... And, why not, a bond with Georgi as well? After all, both are Russian, are at the same age range, it’s even said in Georgi’s official profile that he’s Victor’s rinkmate. Considering their ages, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that they know each other for a long time now and that they shared many moments together for many years...

Including when Victor was the Lilac Fairy and had long hair.

Ah, Victor Nikiforov with long hair... The few scenes we got with Vitya with this haircut served as fuel for so many breathtaking fanarts, beautiful crossovers, delightful headcanons and even photoshop over the original screencaps, reimagining the story with Victor still showing his long locks. This platinated Rapunzel causes us all a strange fascination, and we don’t even know the reason why. Or maybe this is what the producers wants us to think.

Why so many scenes, so many flashbacks reminding the spectator of this past? It’s not just to settle the story... It would be way cheaper to just have the characters telling us instead of animating them all, taking money and minutes from the episodes. They’re not there to make the anime longer or fill random holes, they are necessary, especially each and every one of them that contains at least a bit of Victor’s past. We may not know all we want about his life, but these hints are extremely important! In then we have the similarities between young Victor’s apparitions.

He looks realized, happy. In the image above Victor doesn’t carry the weight of his career yet, even thought it’s been some time that he’s skating already. How does the happy face above turns into the evident sadness shown in the Victor that we know now? When did the ice stopped to make him happy? Or was it something else?

What are those ten years hiding from us?

Right at the first seconds of the first episode, in the first step of Yuuri’s story, Victor appears at the rink, a common point of interest between the two skaters, performing his choreography of Stay Close To Me in the most absolute silence. And, between light and shadow, Victor goes from his younghood - with long hair - to adulthood - with short hair - right before Yuuri’s eyes, simbolizing all the life that Yuuri spent admiring his idol.

However, it’s not only Yuuri’s admiration that we can see in this situation. Don’t forget that Yuuri wasn’t the only one that watched him grow, it was the whole world. The whole world could see his evolution on the ice, could witness his changes, even though no one knows at what point he matured enough to pass the blades through his hair. Even though the exact moment is still a secret, in this scene we can see - or not - when this happened: in the shadows. Who also lives in the shadows?

Not only this haircut may be related to Georgi or it can be a secret between them, and that’s why it’s “hidden”. And this secret relationship confirms itself in the free skate songs: Stay Close To Me and A Tales of Sleeping Prince (with a big participation of Serenade For Two - yes, Michele’s song).

Continued in the next post. (x)