#skater yuuko

[yoificfinder]

Thank you so much for your patience with endless requests and for your dedication to tracking everyone's desires down to the best of your abilities. I would like to please ask you and the collective fandom hive for any recs of AUs where Yuuko either never stopped competitive skating or went back to competitive skating. Singles. Pairs. Ice dance. Whatever. Thank you.

This is the only one I can think of:

The Power of Love by @kiaronna [T, 66K]

“The two Japanese singles medalists make a beautiful pair! Here, at the 2009 Tokyo GPF, we have the start of this power couple’s reign!”

Yuuko and Yuuri dominate the singles skating competition as Japan’s power couple—except they aren’t a couple, and when their old skating idol stumbles into their personal life, everything rapidly goes downhill.

Other recs are welcome!

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

New story idea: Teenage Yuuri

Writing on one project frequently results in ideas for side projects when the characters' backstory develops.

This particular idea has been brewing in me for quite a while now, but gained momentum now that I'm writing on my post-canon story In Love and War again.

I'm going to write a story about teenage Yuuri.

There's so much to unpack here which the anime only shows in short flashbacks or hides in subtext. Some of these key aspects I've discussed extensively in my metas and hinted at in my novelisation, but this story will become more like an in-depth study of young Yuuri, including:

how his obsession with Viktor shaped his path as a skater

friendship

growing up as a queer kid in a rather heteronormative environment (Kyushu is rather rural, hence less diversity)

being bullied for his obsession with Viktor as well as for being a little bit chubby (I will approach that subject sensitively)

early signs of his aceness and how that sets him apart from other Viktor fans like Yuuko or Minako (Yuuri is ace-coded, I wrote several long-ass analyses about that, see my metas, and I will make use of the split attraction model)

his reasons for leaving Hasetsu and training abroad

My teenage Yuuri project will be part of my "A dream too large to bear alone"-universe, which means that every take I use will be directly supported by canon and be backed by the source material or be a logical extention thereof as far as that's possible based on the little backstory the anime provides and the personality of adult Yuuri. Unlike Vitya's backstory (about which I've been unsure because I don't want it to be associated with the movie), I'm really looking forward to posting this story once it's done. I don't think such a story already exists and it probably won't be the kind of story that will attract many readers due to the lack of popular headcanons, which I believe is even more reason to write it.

(This is definitely going to be a shorter project (50k), planned for the first half of 2025.)

Are you interested in reading that? Is there anything in particular you would love to see my take on regarding that part of Yuuri's life?

[jewishvitya]

Looking at the trivia part on YOI wiki just for a bit of fun. Ignore me, I’m not doing well in summer, the heat is killing me.

Kenjirou was planned as Yuri's Planned Design.

Help, Minami is what Yurio was supposed to look like. Yurio was supposed to be an angry chicken nugget.

Georgi is known in Japan as the "pigeon".

DFJGLJGHJLHKL WHY??

Seung-gil has an extreme aversion (a strong dislike or disinclination) to women and vegetables while he likes meat and dogs

Dislikes women and vegetables. That’s the same category. I hate cabbage and also half of humanity. Where’s that meme. “You’re gay because you love men. I’m gay because I hate women. We’re not the same.”

Seung-gil doesn't look good in anything, but he wears sportswear when he dresses himself as he basically has no interest in fashion since he's so devoted to his sport

SDKGHJLSHFGLKFHSLDH “DOESN’T LOOK GOOD IN ANYTHING” WHY SO MEAN TO HIM. He didn’t do anything, he just wanted to skate as a rainbow parrot.

He also has many mischievous friends.

This is about Otabek. What does it meannnnn. I wish I could read the source.

According to SNS, Phichit is one of the Three Most Adorable Men's Figure Skaters in Asia.

The others are Minami and Guang Hong. I love that this is a thing.

The caption on his Instagram post during the credits reads "Reunited with bae".

This is about Chris. Captioning a post with his cat. I want to know if that’s the cat’s name or if he’s just being ridiculous. Probably just being ridiculous.

Chris is near-sighted. He uses contacts when skating.

See, Yuuri, you don’t have to skate practically blind.

Emil does extreme sports during the off season, which makes his coach nervous.

dhfghdjhghjkfg I did not know this. I love. “I swear to god if you come back with a broken leg--”

It is likely that Celestino has a low alcohol tolerance.

The way this is phrased compared to the image of him passed out on the table with Phichit taking pictures

Toshiya does not know much about figure skating as he is more of a soccer fan.

That’s not an excuse, Toshiya, your son started doing it when he was a child.

On the official site, she is described as "the woman of Yuuri's dreams"

About Yuuko. I’m. What fgjhghjlfhkjg Even with my interpretation of Yuuri being bi, this is a lot.

According to Mitsurou Kubo, while the staff did their best to portray the appeal of the skaters, they didn't try very hard with Takeshi. 

GSLJHSLKDGKHJLDH SO MEAN

Mila is seen during the Sochi GPF banquet taking pictures of Yuuri Katsuki pole dancing.

And I want to see her pictures too. We got pictures by others, give me hers too.

Sara's Instagram is sala-crispino

And I find this now, years after we had the naming discourse.

Michele is ironically described as a virgin.

The “Ironically” is the part that kills me here.

A portion of Michele's free program is skated by Yuuri Katsuki in the opening credits

Does he deserve the honor? And he was so rude to Yuuri too ( ᓂ︿⁾⁾⁾)

Actually this made me think about Viktor deciding to get back at Mickey for disrespecting Yuuri, and encouraging Yuuri to skate his program just because he’ll do it better. I think Viktor is that kind of petty.

Some part of one of Michele's skate program "Serenade for Two" have been a part of Yuri Plisetsky's skate for the opening of anime.

Definitely Viktor’s idea. And Yuri was in on it.

[rikeijo]

Hi! I've heard somewhere that some lines of Yuuri's speech at the press con in episode 5 were mistranslated and that because of this, the speech comes across as if Yuuri doesn't know what exactly he is feeling for Viktor. I can't tell if it's really mistranslated, but I always found the subs in this scene a bit confusing. So, I'd love to know: how would you translate his speech?

Hi! Thank you for the ask!

I must admit that I've never properly watched Eng sub or dub version, and even though I bought the US edition to someday discuss some translation choices (that's imo super fun thing to do ✨) my only laptop that had a built-in DVD player broke down >.<

Sooo, I searched online for his speech in subtitles, but I'm not sure if the subtitles I've found are official...

"My theme in this year's Grand Prix series is "love". I've been helped by many people in my competitive skating career thus far, but I've never thought about "love" until now. Though I was blessed with support, I couldn't take full advantage of it. I always felt like I was fighting alone. But since Victor has showed up to be my coach, I've seen something totally different. My "love" isn't something clear-cut like romantic love, but the more abstract feeling of my relationships with Victor, family and hometown... I was finally able to realize that something like love exists all around me. Victor is the first person I've ever wanted to hold on to. I don't really have a name for that emotion, but I've decided to call it love. Now that I know what love is and am stronger for it, I'll prove it myself with a Grand Prix Final gold medal!"

If this is the official translation, then well, the overall message is close, I'd say, but at the same time, hmm... If you wanted to base a ""deep"" character analysis on it, it could probably lead you in a wrong direction... Especially the end is just mistranslated.

今年のグランプリシリーズで僕がテーマにするのは〝愛〞です。My theme for this year's Grand Prix series is "love".

今までのスケート人生いろんな人に助けられながらやってきましたが、愛について考えたことは一度もありませんでした。In my life as a figure skater until now, I've come to the place, where I'm now, while being helped by a lot of different people, but I haven't even once thought/pondered about "love".

恵まれた環境にいながらそれを生かしきれず、１人で戦っているような気持ちでずっといました。けど、ヴィクトルコーチが現れて、僕の見ていた景色は一変しました。I've always been in a very favorable ["for me to be a figure skater" in this context] environment, but I wasn't able to make a full use of it and I always felt as if I had been fighting alone. But, Coach Victor appeared and the scenery I see [that is: the way I see the world around me] changed completely.

僕の愛。それは分かりやすい愛や恋ではなくて、ヴィクトルとの絆や家族や地元に対する微妙な気持ち。My love. It's not [general] love or romantic love that is easy to understand, but my bond with Victor, and the lukewarm way I feel about my family and my local community. [This sentence, imo, is often mistranslated, but you can also argue about how it should be interpreted in Jp. However, to do that you have to be able to notice nuance just from the intonation of the sentence... For example, imo, because of where the VA makes a pause in the sentence, it should be "general love or romantic love that is easy to understand" and not "general love that is easy to understand or romantic love", but grammatically both option are possible. "微妙", when you look for the definition in a dictionary, is often translated as "subtle" or something similar ("abstract" is just a mistranslation, tho), but, imo, from the context, it should be the more modern meaning of the world, which basically means nowadays "not bad, I guess, but I don't really know". That's why Yuuko was offended by Yuuri's word choice. Also, based on the intonation and grammar (no need to have two "や"s in one sentence when giving examples) "bond with Victor" and "feelings towards family and local community" are two separate issues.]

ようやく自分の周りにある愛のようなものに気づくことができました。At last I was able to notice the love-like thing that is around me.

初めて自分からつなぎ止めたいと思った人、それがヴィクトルです。The first person that I myself [the vector of the action starts from Yuuri, it's an allusion to what the Nishigoris talk about with Victor in ep. 2] wanted to tie to me [and don't let them go] is Victor.

その感情に名前はないけど、あえて愛と呼ぶことにしました。This feeling doesn't have a name, but I decided to dare to call it "love".

愛を知って強くなった僕をグランプリファイナルの金メダルで証明しますっ！ I'll prove myself, who got to know what love is and because of that became stronger by [winning] a gold medal in the Grand Prix Final. [The way it's worded suggests that Yuuri wants to prove his own "worth", not necessarily that what he says is true - it's not "I want to prove that...", but "I want to prove myself, who...".]

Oh, and by the way, if you read the speech carefully, Yuuri talks about "two loves" here - first, he explains that his theme is "love" and what that word "love" means to him - so "something like love, that is around him", and only then he starts talking about one more feeling - the feeling that doesn't have a name, but he decided to "dare to call love" - and that is what he feels for Victor. Because the word "あえて" is there, and it means "dare to", do something "daringly", to me it always felt as a variation/reference to the famous quote from Oscar Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas' poem "The love that dare not speak its name", but maybe that's just me ✨

[cirrha]

#2) Flowers - Yuuri and Yuuko making crowns to mimic their favorite skater

[triptychgrip]

A Showdown of 'Extraness': my Yuri!!! on Ice x Fruits Basket Crossover

Cutting it close, but I made it in the nick of time for Fruits Basket Mondays!

My attempt to envision what might happen if my favorite anime characters were to meet practically wrote itself, but I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, given that they are the two most extra people in the world: costume designer Ayame Sohma from Fruits Basket (Furuba) and figure skater/coach Viktor Nikiforov from Yuri!!! on Ice. You can now read the story here, which features, among other things:

-An instantly star-struck Yuuri who is dazzled by Ayame's appearance

-Pouty/jealous Viktor who wants to make sure his husband's eyes stay on him (and is even tempted to go against his doctors' advice not to jump quads in this endeavor)

-Yuki Sohma and Yuri Plisetsky, whose blood pressure readings might otherwise indicate they're dead, such is their exasperation with Viktor and Ayame's combined auras

-Mine and Ayame being moved to tears by Yuuri's explanation of his Yuuri on Ice routine

-Haru casually admitting to Yuri that Yuki is his first love

-and protective Yuki, defending his brother's extraness due to a misunderstanding

Ayame, Viktor, Yuuri, Mine, Yuki, and Yuri's meeting is made possible thanks to the meddling of Okukawa Minako, who has been a loyal client of Ayame and Mine's costume design business for many years, and suggests that the Katsuki-Nikiforovs utilize their expertise for an upcoming ice show.

Below is an excerpt that I hope piques your interest!

---------

“Indeed, the very opposite of a battle will be happening today!” Ayame cried out, his eyes beginning to glint with a sort of crazed fervor.

Axel, Lutz, and Loop just stared, for once rendered entirely speechless.

It was hard to tell if it was Ayame’s words or his general aura that had had such an impact on the triplets.

“Yuuri-kun! It’s Vik-chan’s equally extra twin!” Yuuko burst out, turning wide, enraptured eyes onto her childhood best friend.

The range of reactions this elicited truly ran the gamut.

Most pronounced was Viktor’s betrayed hiss of “What do you mean, ‘equally’?! You once called me the most extra person alive!”.

Then there was Ayame and Loop’s delighted clapping, as well as Mine and Axel’s expressions of earnest fascination.

But it was Yuki’s petrified reaction that immediately solidified Yuri’s sense of kinship with the young man, who was silently mouthing “equally?” over and over, with a visage of pure terror.

He knew the feeling all too well.

With Yuuri and Viktor having left Russia in the spring of 2019, he didn’t see them nearly as often as he used to when they’d trained alongside one another in St. Petersburg. As such, any period of prolonged exposure to the extremely over-the-top ‘Skate Spouses’ had to be handled with unwavering resolve.

He’d long accepted it as his cross to bear, and realized that he and Yuki were likely the only ones with a chance of preventing this business meeting from turning into a multi-hour ordeal. Long-winded monologues about the wonders of artistic collaboration and potential duels for Yuuri’s attention were likely the least of their worries.

“I think I’m beginning to understand why Minako was so eager for this meeting to occur,” Yuri cut in, dryly. “Let’s get to the ice. We only have a half-hour before public skate opens.”

With this, he indicated for the triplets to get a move-on, and started to push Yuuri and Viktor forwards (which interrupted the former’s intent examination of the exact dimensions of Ayame’s ridiculously long handkerchief).

As they began to move in an awkward shuffle, Viktor turned to his spouse, whispering urgently.

“Yuranya, I was just thinking: how about I switch up the choreography a bit for my part in ‘Yuuri on Ice’? Even just one quad wouldn’t do any harm, don’t you think? That ending triple flip could be swapped out–”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Yuri bellowed, that blood pressure spike finally taking effect.

Poor Yuuko tripped over Ayame’s handkerchief in alarm, but at this point, the “train” of his rage had already left the station, barrelling right through the departure doors.

“Do I need to remind you of what your doctors said last week, YOU IDIOT?!?” he continued in a roar, hardly daring to believe Viktor’s foolishness. “You must be out of YOUR GODDAMN MIND– ” (“Yura! Language!”) “ –if you think I plan on spending the rest of the day in the emergency room, ALL BECAUSE YOU LET YOUR INSECURITY OVER SOME ATTRACTIVE STRANGER (“So you admit it! You do think he’s attractive!”) “ –land you FLAT ON YOUR ASS in the middle of the rink WITH A BUSTED KNEE!”

[diedraechin]

I suppose I could share a bit of the next chapter...

Sometimes I stare at chapters for ages and can never make that one scene work, but other times I open the file and know exactly what was missing. Like magic.

And other times I was trying to add in something that wasn't really needed and could just be scrapped. The next chapter was a little of everything.

I know everyone wants to see what Viktor is up to, but there is still a whole day of competition at 4CC left and a banquet... Do you really want to miss all that?

“When are they supposed to arrive?” Takeshi shifted from foot to foot. He didn’t know what he should do with his hands. Should he just put one in his pocket like Yuuri was? No. He’d look foolish if he did that. He didn’t have that look of affected boredom that models like Yuuri could sport at the drop of a hat which made the whole 'hand in pocket, casually standing around' thing work.

He crossed his arms instead, but then felt like he probably looked like a hockey player out of place in a fancy suit, so dropped his arms to his side and looked at Yuuri again who was looking at his phone and not paying any attention to Takeshi’s dilemma. “They should be here already, right?”

Yuuri looked over at him, frowning as Takeshi shoved his hand into his pocket and then pulled it out again. “They just got here and are heading to the elevator.” Yuuri paused. “What are you doing?”

Takeshi huffed. “I don’t know what to do with my hands.” He held one out to Yuuri. “See this hand? It usually has Yuuko’s hand in it at these things, but she’s not here because your friends stole her!”

Laughing, Yuuri nodded. “That is correct. She’s been kidnapped, held against her will as my friends offer their designer cast-offs to her and Keiko.” He bit down on his lip. “Let Yuuko have this, Takeshi. Let her go and enjoy getting ready for a fancy party with a bunch of other women around her age. She’s getting her hair and makeup done by professionals, they’re going to dress her up in expensive clothing, and let her wear shoes that I’m sure that I don’t want to know the cost of. It might all seem overkill to you, but for LOVE-ly this is just another function where they’re expected to present themselves at a certain level. So yes, Yuuko could have just worn the same dress that she wore to the last banquet she attended and get ready in the room with you, doing her hair up the same way she’s done a million times, but why not let her be spoiled? Why begrudge her this?”

Nishigori shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the elevator doors. He didn’t begrudge his wife anything, especially not this. He just worried that she’d think he was too boring or something after living the high life.

From the corner of his eye, Nishigori saw Yuuri nod and then look back at his phone, pulling his hand out of his pocket and typing something on it with his thumbs. The elevator door opened and a bunch of skaters, none of them his wife, poured out. The gold medalists in ice dance, the Americans Matt and Caro, paused and stared at Yuuri.

“It’s a new suit,” Matt whispered.

His partner smiled at them. “It is!” Caro dropped her hand from the crook of Matt’s arm and took a step forward until she was standing in front of Yuuri, forcing Yuuri to look up from his phone. “Hi, Yuuri.”

“Hi, Carolyn…san. Can I help you with something?” He blinked at her.

She hummed. “Just Caro. I swear we already had this conversation. Call me Caro.” She smiled. “Nice suit, is it new?”

Yuuri nodded. “Yes, well, sort of. I got it after nationals for a New Years thing.” 

“We should take a picture!” she stepped into the space next to him, and looped her arm through his, turning to look at Matt. Yuuri's eyes went wide and panicked. So maybe there was something of the awkward kid left in his friend. “Say cheese!”

“No! No pictures on Scythecapades!” Yuuri groused as Paul walked between the pair and where Matt was standing with his phone camera pointed at them.

Matt laughed. “Not even this one?” He walked over to Yuuri and showed him the photo.

Yuuri blinked, staring down at the picture, the corner of his lips eventually twitching up. “All right. You can share that one, if you absolutely have to.”

“Share what?” Yuuko’s voice came from next to Takeshi and he whipped around to look at his wife.

He opened his mouth to say something, but forgot what words were.

“You look lovely, Nishigori-san!” Matt stepped forward and quickly lifted Yuuko’s hand to press a kiss to the air just above it.

“Arigatou, Smith-san,” Yuuko beamed. 

Her chestnut hair had been curled into loose waves, and some of her bangs brushed to the side, held in place with a flower clip that matched the multitude of flowers that covered the dress she was wearing. The neckline of the dress was no different than most of the higher necklines that Yuuko preferred, but the entire top was made of a sheer mesh that disappeared under the flowers that made up the rest of the dress, but not before showing just a little cleavage. The flowers were mostly bright pinks and corals with sparse accents of spring greens and ice blues, made all the brighter against the black fabric. The dress itself came in tight at her waist and then poofed out in layers of fine black tulle covered in even more flowers, some just visible in the topmost underlayers too. Takeshi thought his wife had rarely looked more beautiful, and the times he did, she was unlikely to agree with him, their wedding being the sole exception.

Yuuri brushed past him and smiled down at Yuuko. “ゆうちゃん、きれい！そのドレス似合ってる。(Yu-chan is beautiful! That dress looks good on you.)”

His wife giggled. Giggled! “Yuu-kun, arigatou.” And then she turned expectant eyes on Takeshi and he didn’t know what to do. Yuuri had literally stolen his line. The one that Yuuko had taught them both when they were still kids and had told Mari that she looked weird when she’d gotten all done up that one time. 

Kanon came up next to her and leaned in to whisper something into Yuuko’s ear that made Yuuko blush. What did she say?

“Kanon-chan!” Yuuko turned to look at her with eyes wide. “I couldn’t! I promise to be careful.”

“Are you already causing trouble?” Yuuri asked the idol.

“I just told her that I was always going to let her keep the dress, but that if her husband ruined it, I definitely didn’t want it back!” She winked at Takeshi. “Go on, tell her how cute she looks.”

“Kawaii.” It sounded like a frog had taken up residence in his throat, and Takeshi started coughing. 

[askyuurikatsuki]

What drew you to Victor's skating? Why were you such a huge fan?

OOH OKAY I am down for this question anon. I could talk about my husband all day.

So, anyone who knows about me knows I was a massive fan of Viktor's before we started dating. He was my first real crush. I remember the first time I saw him, really saw him. I'd heard the name, of course, but I hadn't really paid much attention until then.

It was the 05 Junior Worlds, his last and the one he won. I was blown away. He was incredible, even at so young an age. The way he moved, jumped, and spun was something no one had ever seen before. He won the Olympics the following year, and for good reason.

My friend Yuuko and I used to gush about him. I'm sure Takeshi (our friend and her now husband) probably got sick of it. I copied him long before the viral video of me skating to Stammi Vicino. I looked up to him a lot.

He brushes it off, but there's a good reason he's considered the GOAT. What he had - and still has - was something that will never be matched. At least in my opinion. That's the good thing about sport being subjective; there are many opinions! Many of today's top skaters - if not all of them - looked up to Viktor, and for good reason. He was special. He was great at everything and brought it together in a way no one had before.

He was the youngest Men's Singles Champion in history. Yuri would beat, but that was a team event medal, so for Singles Gold, that record still stands and is unlikely to be beaten. His Russian Nats and Euros records will probably never be beaten. He has others that have been beaten or are tied, but it still doesn't change what he did for the sport. None of the skaters who came after him - myself and even Chris included - would have been the same without him.

When he first started coaching me, I had to learn who Viktor the man was, as I thought he was a literal god on ice. I'm so glad I did. I'm honored to not only be his husband but to be his co-coach, so we can help guide the next generation!

Love you, lyubov!

@theviktornikiforov-rp

[harocat]

ooh, I am torn between "untitled document" and "reverseAU". Please pick one for me!

I only included untitled document because it's funny to me, so it's good you chose two.

This is the whole of untitled document. To this day I have no idea what it is.

'reverse AU' was a classic Yuri on Ice prompt that was essentially just a role reversal of canon. I really liked the way my idea played out, but I sadly never got around to finishing it.

Anyway it's a good chunk of words, and I'm pretty certain I'll never finish, so I'll just put it behind a read more. Yuri on Ice fans come get your food.

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

Victor had slipped in after public ice time was over, after the last of the beginner skating lessons were done for the day, and kindly asked Yuuko Nishigori, the young woman who worked at the rink, if he could have some private ice time.

He was surprised when she recognized him, professing that it’s not every day a world-famous figure skater came into their rink out of the blue and asked to skate. Victor didn’t think he was particularly world famous, but he supposed, if you were a skating fan already, he might be recognizable.

“You can use the rink while we’re closing up. That should give you about forty-five minutes? If you want more ice time than that, you’ll have to schedule it with us and pay for it in advance.”

Victor nodded, pleased that the woman spoke English well, because he didn’t know more than the most basic of Japanese.

He was still feeling the effects of jet lag, so once he’d laced up his skates he spent a good ten or so minutes just skating around the rink, orienting himself with the setting and breathing in the crisp cool air of a rink well loved.

And then, he began to skate. It was a program he knew down to his very bones, better than his own programs from that year, which to be honest, considering his last experience in competition, he’d rather forget anyway.

When Yuuri Katsuki skated, it was like he made music with his body. Victor thought that, even if he went out there and skated a program with no music playing, it would hardly make a difference, would hardly diminish its beauty. Yuuri was the music itself; it flowed through him and was expelled from his fingertips, from the silver of his blades flashing and gliding across the ice.

It took Victor’s breath away, but he hardly cared. Even if Victor could no longer breathe, he was sure he could survive on Yuuri’s skating alone; on the serenity of his smile, on the grace and poise he moved with.

If Victor could skate like that, if he could skate even half as well as that, he would be happy. If he could stand on the podium with Yuuri Katsuki, know that Yuuri had watched him skate, had been impressed by it, then it would have all been worth it; the pain in his leg that occasionally still ached to this day, the years of recovery from an injury that could easily have been career ending, the biting commentary and the cynicism the media had had about him; ‘just give up, Victor Nikiforov is over’ for season upon season. The Russian skating federation would rather be done with him, he knew it. There were new stars on the rise; junior world champion Yuri Plisetsky for one. And even Georgi Popovich, his longtime rink mate, had managed a top six finish at worlds in Victor’s absence just days before.

There was no music as he began the program; Yuuri’s program, the one he’d just won his fifth world title with, his fifth grand prix final gold medal. It was the program that Victor skated every single day because he loved skating, and this was the one thing that could remind him of it.

He heard the piano in his head as he skated, listening to the sound of his blades across fresh ice, allowing it to soothe him as he ran through the elements of this ridiculously difficult program that he loved so much. His jumps were coming easily, and he breathed a sigh of relief at that. The tiny amount of pain in his leg, he knew, was because it was still stiff from the plane ride.

Victor knew that even at his best, he lacked Yuuri’s grace. He’d been told growing up, back when he was fresh from his second junior world title, back when he was on the trajectory to shake up the senior world, that he was an excellent all-around skater. But Yuuri, Yuuri was art. It could have been his ballet background, but Victor had known other skaters with a similar background, and none of them moved like Yuuri.

He let the imaginary music carry him through the second half of the program, making the decision to downgrade a quadruple loop into a triple (he’d never managed to master that jump), and closed his eyes as he launched into the step sequence, the element Yuuri was most famous for and the thing Victor was least confident in. It was almost too much for him, Yuuri moved quick as lightning during this part and Victor thought that perhaps, if the music were playing, he may have fallen behind. But…

The last jump was a quadruple flip, and Victor was still amazed at how Yuuri put it at the end of his program, but laboriously, because he was tired, and he was feeling the burn in his chest and his legs, he launched into it, landing it cleanly and with a flourish.

He ended the program, his hand over his chest and his other arm reaching out toward the edge 

of the rink.

For a moment, he closed his eyes, imagining applause, imagining that he’d successfully skated a clean program in competition, and one as difficult as this.

When he opened them, there was no applause, but there was an audience.

Yuuri Katsuki stood at the edge of the rink, his eyes wide behind blue frames and his mouth wide open.

Victor almost fell over, only narrowly stopping himself from falling on his ass in front of Yuuri Katsuki himself. Sure, he knew this was Yuuri’s hometown. That’s why he’d come here. But Yuuri didn’t live in Hasetsu, he trained in Detroit, and how was he—to show up right now, of all times? Victor breathed heavily, exhausted and winded from the skate, as Yuuri made direct eye contact with him.

“You cut your hair,” Yuuri finally spoke, and that was what he’d said? Victor touched the back of his head, feeling the freshly shorn locks. It still felt strange to him. He’d had long hair since he was a preteen, but despite it being a big change, he didn’t think it was that high on the list of things Yuuri would want to comment on at the moment.

“I—I—yes?” Victor finally managed.

Yuuri let out a short laugh, and Victor swore that his cheeks pinked, just a little. “Sorry, I was surprised so I just… said the first thing that came to mind. That was weird.”

Victor felt his nerves, which had been taut as a bow string, loosen at that. “It’s okay. I just wanted a change, I guess.”

“I get that.” Yuuri paused and cleared his throat. “Victor Nikiforov.”

Victor nodded, a smile blooming on his face, because Yuuri had said his name, knew who he was.

“That was my program.” Yuuri’s grip tightened on the edge of the rink, and did he look nervous? He dropped his eyes to the ground. “You’re in my tiny hometown, which no one ever visits, and you’re skating my program?”

Victor grimaced inwardly. When he said it like that, it did sound like Victor was a bit of a weirdo. Victor just nodded, because what could he say now?

Yuuri lifted his hands from the barrier and squeezed them together, as if trying to stop himself from fidgeting. He let out a deep breath. “It was beautiful, Victor.”

He must have imagined the way that Yuuri’s eyes were shining when he lifted his head, must have been seeing things to think they looked like they were glittering with unshed tears.

“T-thank you,” Victor finally managed, breathless. He dared to skate closer to the edge of the rink, closer to Yuuri Katsuki, who was here and real and in front of him and thought he skated beautifully.

But Yuuri’s expression quickly shifted from one of amazement to one of--- irritation; anger? 

Victor wasn’t sure, but his eyes grew wide and he skated a few steps backward.

“Why weren’t you at worlds?” Yuuri asked, and he sounded upset; angry even. It wasn’t like Yakov’s anger when he was shouting, or Yuri Plisetsky’s anger… pretty much all the time. This was something else entirely; anger edged with hurt, frustration, betrayal?

“I-I did badly at nationals and didn’t qualify,” Victor replied, confused. Why was he eliciting this reaction from Yuuri?

“If you’d gone and skated like that, you would have been on the podium!” he raised his voice. “If you’d landed the quad loop, you might have even been able to beat me.”

“I don’t think I---“

“I had no idea you could skate like that! Giacometti is good, but what you just did was,” Yuuri took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, “it was incredible.” 

Victor gulped, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. “You think so?” he asked, and it was quiet, but there was an edge of excitement to it. 

Yuuri crossed his arms. “Sure, yeah. You would have placed above Chris and Otabek easily.”

“And you?”

Yuuri nodded, and there was something like a spark in his eye. Victor didn’t know what to think of it. “With a little bit of work, yeah.”

“You’re not just saying that because you’re underestimating yourself, are you?” Victor let out a short laugh. He knew from years of experience, of watching interview upon interview and reading every magazine that he could get his hands on, that Yuuri could be modest to a fault. He skated to the edge of the rink, closing the distance between the two of them until he was only a foot or so from Yuuri Katsuki.

It’s not as if it was the first time he’d ever seen him. They’d competed against each other several times before; at worlds, at the Grand Prix final, and at a couple of Grand Prix events throughout the years. But Yuuri was reserved, choosing to surround himself with only a few close friends, and although in general other skaters liked him and found him friendly, he wasn’t close to many of them. Victor had exchanged a few short snatches of conversation with Yuuri, but nothing lengthy, and certainly nothing like this; where it was just the two of them, alone.

“I’m not,” Yuuri replied.

Victor took a deep breath and placed his hands on the barrier of the rink, right next to Yuuri Katsuki. Their fingers were only inches apart, and Victor took a moment to imagine…

“I um, came to Hasetsu because it was your hometown,” Victor began. “After what happened at nationals, skating was difficult for me. But then… I decided to practice with your free skate from this year, and it really helped.”

Yuuri blinked, confused. The rink was so quiet, just the two of them, their breathing, and the fans that kept it cool.

Victor let out a brief shudder.  “My coach, Yakov, thought I was obsessed, but he didn’t understand that this program was what was keeping my skating alive.” His lips quirked up in a small smile. “He told me to take a vacation.”

“So you came to Hasetsu?” Yuuri leveled him a look.

“You’ve always inspired me, Yuuri, from the first time I saw you when I was a child. I thought, if I could visit the place my inspiration found his inspiration, maybe that would help me.” Victor felt his cheeks flush despite himself.

He must have imagined the way Yuuri’s cheeks pinked as well. “I inspire you that much?”

“You don’t think it’s creepy?” Victor let out a nervous laugh.

Yuuri shook his head in the negative. “No. It’s… nice, actually.”

Victor’s face brightened at that, his smile wide and beaming. “Yuuri!”

“But I didn’t expect this, that’s for certain.”

“Well I didn’t expect you to be here. I thought you lived in Detroit.”

Yuuri pushed his glasses up and brushed a stray hair out of his face. “Oh I do, but since Worlds was in Tokyo this year, I decided to come back home afterward for the off season. I just got here, and I have a key to the rink so…” He let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry, I just can’t believe you visited Hasetsu just because I’m from here.”

“And memorized your program,” Victor muttered.

“That too.”

Victor reached up, hesitant, and placed a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. “It shouldn’t be that surprising. Do you have any idea how much you’ve inspired people?”

[alexseanchai]

options for explaining Yuuko's glee over Victor Nikiforov winning the Junior Worlds with the highest score in history:

the 6.0 system was retired earlier in YOIverse than RL, such that there was more than the then-current season's scores for Victor in spring 2005 to beat

the 6.0 system was retired later in YOIverse than RL, such that Victor's 2005 Junior Worlds victory was the last time he skated under the 6.0 system, and he smashed the records on that scoring system's way out

Victor in his last juniors season curbstomped not just all the other juniors but also many if not all of the seniors

now, Yuuri saying Victor at that Junior Worlds had already established himself as the greatest skater in the world might be partly projecting Victor's career as of 2016 onto Victor of 2005, and it probably is partly Yuuri declaring Victor of 2005 the greatest because he's the one Yuuri likes best and never mind if the numbers back this up

and enough history is different that scooting the scoring system change either forward a year or back a year-or-four is the simplest way to resolve this

but!

the required elements for juniors differ from those for seniors!

specifically, in the RL 2004-05 season:

junior men's short programs were required to have a double axel, where seniors needed a double or triple axel

junior SPs needed a double or triple loop, where seniors needed a triple or quad not otherwise specified

junior SPs needed to combine either a double and triple or two triples, where seniors also had the options of combining a quad with a triple or double

junior free skates had thirty fewer seconds and a smaller maximum number of spins than seniors had

so while it took till 2015 (for the short) and 2017 (for the free and combined) for the junior men's records to be higher numbers than the senior records were as of spring 2005? that's because the juniors weren't and aren't allowed to compete with programs that have as high base technical scores as seniors in the same season

and we know Victor in Juniors got in trouble for jumping quads

so it seems entirely plausible that Victor, as of no later than his 2005 Junior Worlds victory, did not actually outscore most of the senior division, but he did prove he could, just by publicly skating a version of his short program that season that had upgraded jumps such that it fit senior but not junior requirements, and a version of his free skate that included that fourth spin

...

hey so how did it affect Yurio's score in the competition we see in the ep 2 flashback to jump that 4S instead of the 3S he was supposed to jump? did they score it like it was a 3S (overrotated or otherwise) or mark him down as missing an element or what?

[neutronice]

hello!! I really wanted to say that your yoi meta is spot on and I love them! Thank you!!! (P.S. I am really curious as to what you think about yurio's arc because I just...find it a bit confusing at the least)

ANON thank you for the pair of asks! And thanks for the birthday wishes!

Hoo boy, I have thoughts about Yurio. Don't worry, all lovable ones about our favorite angry kitten. Be warned, it's long. And it's under the cut.

Yurio's Changing Understanding of Love and Weakness

Yuri Plisetsky says something to Otabek that I really think defines him and his arc. Not only for Otabek's on-point observation: "Yuri Plisetsky had the unforgettable eyes of a soldier.", but also for how Yurio replied.

"I was desperate. I'd decided that I wouldn't complain until I was good enough."

Yuri P.'s attitude really demonstrates how he feels about weakness. In particular, when we first meet him, he sees emotional vulnerability as weakness. His soldier eyes? His determination not to complain until he deserved to? That came likely from the skating and competing combine he's been in since he was very young.

It speaks a lot that Yurio finds his unconditional love in his grandfather, who came to his practices. The practices his mother did not come to, the ones that Yurio said he didn't need her to come to, even as he promised he would get better and better.

That is where we first meet him. Sitting and listening to Yuuri Katsuki, who he watched fall apart on the ice, cry big fat tears while hiding in the bathroom. Yuri got mad, because that is not what a skater does. Skaters fight and they are stoic and they don't complain until they're good enough. Yuuri Katsuki was violating all those rules, even as he had fantastic musicality.

And Yuri is 15 years old. His closest family lives in Moscow. All he does is train, and because he trains like an adult, no juniors were able to rival him.

How would a 15yo who thinks crying and being vulnerable was a disgrace and a sign of weakness vent his emotions?

Through anger.

Yurio yells because that's a way he is "allowed" to emote. And he's young and he's smol, so people just sort of accept that attitude from him (Yakov ain't helping either, given we see Yakov's outbursts too.)

So, he goes to Hasetsu because Victor promised to choreograph for him if he proved himself (and he did), and he sees the "weak" crybaby there, the one who Victor chased, the one who disappeared until he reappeared and skated Victor's program.

Yurio probably was very confused. He was used to a dog-eat-dog world, and Hasetsu just wasn't like that. Mari nicknamed him Yurio affectionately, not mockingly. Yuuko genuinely supported him and valued him. Yuuri asked him, without ego, to help him land the quad Salchow.

Then Yurio watched as Yuuri Katsuki the weak wiped the floor with him in the skates. He hated it, because to him losing meant being weak, and it had probably been a long time (ever?) since Yurio had lost.

It's why Yurio followed Yuuri (and only Yuuri) so closely. Because somewhere inside he was angry about losing, because losing was weakness, but somewhere in there too, Yuuri Katsuki and Hasetsu were Yurio's first real exposure to genuine friends (and a rival who was a friend in Yuuri). In the flashback as Lilia talks about Yurio's program, we see the Hasetsu crew as part of the discussion of Yurio finding the type of love that sustains him.

And throughout the series, we see Yurio start to question his own definition of weakness. Was weakness crying after losing? (We can imagine he might have found out about Vicchan while in Hasetsu). Was flubbing a jump weakness? Was letting your coach fly back to Hasetsu to be with his ailing dog and leaving you maybe to fall apart and not medal weakness?

It wasn't. Yurio didn't think it was anymore either. Yuuri Katsuki was not weak, and Yurio recognized that. Yuuri was as much as soldier as Yurio, but expressed in very different ways.

That was... until... Yuuri Katsuki almost showed himself yet again to be weak.

By deciding to retire from skating with a Grand Prix Final gold.

Yurio wanted Yuuri as his rival, sort of to the exclusion of pretty much anyone else. He considered beating or being beaten by Yuuri to be worthy of thought and attention. So Yuuri taking the weak way out and retiring rekindled that fire. And Yurio expressed himself, expressed his desire to keep skating against Yuuri, by throwing everything he had on the ice and then some.

Yuri Plisetsky skated for gold in the GPF as much for Yuuri Katsuki to stay as he did to win.

And that was what Victor meant when he spoke of Yuuri helping not only Victor to find his L-words.

Thanks again for the prompt! I hope my randomly assembled birthday thoughts were interesting!

[thisloveforyourmom]

been reflecting on yuri plisetsky's role in yoi recently because on the surface it's kind of weird that he's one of the main characters....like victor and yuuri, clearly, but yuri's not just a main character, he's one of only three characters that get to be in the title sequence. there are several episodes he's just not even in. he's not the love interest or lead. why him specifically

and i think more and more the biggest theme of yoi is inspiration. yuri's initial role is to create conflict and make us really believe and understand that yuuri feels like the skating world has it out for him - that his competitors are cold, that he is taking up space in a major scene in which he doesn't belong.

and then...yuri plisetsky gets put on a narrative bus back to russia. why? because yuuri isn't ready to confront the true nature of their relationship. it's not time for that yet.

in early story, we see a lot of yuuri finding inspiration in the people around him. in victor most of all, because he's always found inspiration in victor, but in yuuko when he first performs stammi vicino, and in his family when he needs a reminder that he's valuable outside of skating, and in the love he's been shown from various sources all his life.

except...not various sources, exactly. sources that inspire him, but in a one sided way - sources he feels intrinsically lower than or, for lack of a better word, submissive to. older people. family. people with seniority. he sees that relationship as one-sided. victor inspires yuuri, but of course he does - victor is victor! but yuuri couldn't possibly inspire victor. yuuko inspires yuuri, but of course she does, she's kind, stable, successful, in a loving family. yuuri is just yuuri.

and that mindset is painted as something that affects mostly just yuuri. it poisons his relationships, but only because he can't see how kind and selfless and successful he really is, right?

well...no. because in the regionals, we meet minami kenjirou for the first time, and get to see a side of yuuri that even yuuri, with all his issues, isn't aware enough of to beat himself up for: his selfishness.

and it is selfishness. it's selfishness inspired by such cripplingly low self-esteem that he doesn't see how he could have an impact on other people, but still selfishness. and it's not really a red flag to yuuri - or to the audience, who sees things through his eyes - until victor gives him a wakeup call and gets genuinely upset with him for some of the things he's been saying and doing with the younger skaters. it's how insisting like he doesn't matter hurts more than just himself; it hurts everyone he's close to by invalidating everything they're trying to communicate to him.

it's an issue yuuri doesn't fully solve in the series (hello, being shocked that victor, his fiancee, cried when he said he wanted to end their relationship in episode 11). but it's the start of yuuri seeing for the first time that his responsibility to be kind to other people extends into and influences his responsibility to be kind to himself. and it begins here, with minami.

doesn't it?

well, no, actually. because later on we find out that yuri plisetsky was inspired by yuuri, too. that he thought his step sequences were amazing, and only followed him to - like yuuri did with victor at the banquet night - spend time with him. meet him. see what he was really like. and the angry, dismissive yuri we've seen thus far in the series isn't just teen angst, but another result of yuuri's improper understanding of his own position in skating. he's not jealous, he's disappointed, because he's the kind of skater who'd never give up, and hoped yuuri would be that person too. no matter how valid yuri's disappointment with yuuri is or isn't (and much of it isn't - but he's only fifteen, and he's going to have emotions that aren't as fair to other people as they ought to be), the fact remains that it was inspired by yuuri's behavior.

and does yuuri need to be an entirely different person because of yuri's expectations? no, of course not. yuri does have some unreasonable expectations for him, and they met at yuuri's lowest, in a mental state where his only priority could be himself. and growing past those expectations is yuri's character arc, as we see later on when he admits to himself that he wants to keep skating with and against yuuri even though yuuri still very much struggles with his mental state.

yoi as a whole is an exploration of inspiration, how it influences you, how it influences your loved ones, how important it is to nurture and respect and protect even in the smallest of ways. and victor and yuri are two sides of the same coin with regard to yuuri. victor is someone he's inspired by, yuri is someone he's inspired. yuuri's arc is learning to use that inspiration responsibly - not as a yoke to be feared or a standard of comparison, but as the precious gift that it is.

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Last night, I started another rewatch of YOI and I for the first time, I wondered what was going on inside Yuuko's brain while Yuuri was showing her his take on Stammi Vicino.

What do we know about Yuuko?

Yuuko is a big skating otaku. She's not only a fan of her former rinkmate Yuuri, we also see her swoon over Viktor and Yurio (she'd totally be the type who swoons over even more skaters, but we don't know that). When she fangirls, she fangirls hard which can even cause her nosebleed.

Yuuko is one of Yuuri's greatest supporters and someone he can confide in. Together, they copied Viktor's programmes, and she always has his back.

She knows that Yuuri has a crush on Viktor and has been emulating Viktor and striving to become as good as him since they watched the Junior Worlds together as kids.

And then Yuuko, who until that point thought that Yuuri was depressed, witnesses Yuuri skate a perfect copy of his crush's free programme that can be interpreted as a (gay) love song or a yearning for a soulmate (it's a bit more complicated than that, I had started writing a post that analyses the lyrics, but put it on the backburner for multiple reasons) and not only does she recognise the programme by Yuuri's starting pose alone, but goes immediately into full fangirl mode.

That's her face when he stops to perform towards her. In that moment, realisation must hit her that Yuuri is far from giving up skating, that he has not given up on his dream of emulating Viktor and meeting him on the ice as an equal. And he shares all this with her who had been supporting his dream from the very start.

I mean, look at his yearning expression:

Yuuri is fully immersed in his performance. However, being a fan of Viktor herself, Yuuko probably knows what the song is about. And because of that, she is able to empathise with Yuuri and can guess what's going on inside him while skating Stammi Vicino. (Figure skating 101: skaters normally perform towards the judges to increase their presentation mark. But here, Yuuri is alone with his childhood friend and the effect of the move would be wasted if he doesn't perform it towards her.)

Yuuri later explains that he has been practising this programme since the competitions ended for him three months ago. He was hoping to get back his love for skating and to remember how it was like when the two copied Viktor together. Since the disastrous Nationals, Yuuri has been working towards his comeback, even if it's hanging by a thread because he's still missing something that will help him continue and he doesn't know what it is. All he knows is that he wants to return to competition and keep on chasing his dream, and he starts all over where it began (I wrote a long-ass analysis about how Yuuri utilises Stammi Vicino for exactly that purpose here).

As one of Yuuri's closest friends, Yuuko must have guessed some of this already just from watching Yuuri skate. As a fan and a former skater, she immediately understands that he has been practising this programme for some months, and the perfection it exhibits is a telltale of how strong his dream, his obsession with Viktor is still burning inside him. You don't go to such lengths when you're not extremely passionate about something.

And that's oil in the fire of Yuuko's own fannishness. Because Yuuko is a fan of both Yuuri and Viktor, she must be burning like crazy to see them compete against each other again. She's been rooting for Yuuri from the start, she wants him to succeed and be happy and if that includes Yuuri meeting Viktor again, that would be the cherry on top.

If I was her, I would freak out, too.

We're all Yuuko in this scene. But because her character is so underrated, it took me so long to notice.

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #664

Pash! 2016/12, Sagiri Yuuko's comment

-- As the first thing, please tell us how did it happen that you got involved in this project?

Sagiri: It all started, when in January of this year, MAPPA contacted me with a message 'We are producing an anime about figure skating. Would you help us with costumes?' I'd designed costumes for real-life figure skaters before, but this was the first time for me planning costumes that would be worn by anime characters. I came up with around 40 designs, and every one of those is a design that is possible to turn into a real costume.

-- It's a very simple question, but who does normally take care of skaters' costumes?

Sagiri: If there is tear in the costume we can fix it, but I think that usually, it's the skater, that takes care of their costumes. Normally, it's just one piece, that you wear throughout the whole season, so sweat, stains and creases are inevitable, and so, in how the skater takes care of their costume, you can see some of their personality, too, I think. Some skaters don't wash their costumes at all throughout the whole season, and some wash only some parts of it.

[Notes: To not wash your costume the whole season seems a bit extreme 🙀]

[kamelopardaleis]

Outtake 1 - Yuuko & Seiichi Kobayashi

This is the longest outtake of the YOI age reversal AU Something to Give on Ice - Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) [Archive of Our Own].

In the earlier draft of Chapter 4 the plot went differently: Yuuko asked to become part of Viktor’s coaching team at GPF. Yuuko, her husband (with a name and a different characterisation), Yuuri and Viktor meet for dinner right after the short program. Viktor has been jealous and curious about Yuuko over Yuuri, and gets surprised by how the actual dynamic between the four of them turns out.

Basically a lot of jealousy bubbling underneath the nice dinner, Viktor being flirtatious, and Yuuri being a foodie.

>>here it goes<<

Interestingly, Yuuri has told Yuuko and her husband to get lost before Viktor’s short program. 

“Gosh, she needs to calm down.” Yuuri complains, “She’d be a terrible fan. I can’t let her distract you.”

This both amuses and puzzles Viktor, “What about the free skate?”

“We’ll have to see.” His coach replies exasperatedly.

This GPF is definitely off to a strong start.

Today is a day detrimental to Yuuri’s health. After getting surprised by his own skater, and then getting besieged by questions from reporters, he gets ambushed by his fellow coaching staff.

“Yuuri!” 

Viktor sees a flurry of white and blue flying past him and crashing his coach with a hug. 

“Thought I’d find you here!” The blur is a petite woman with a short ponytail; walking after her is a tall, lean man in casual but smart clothing. 

She isn’t paying him any attention though; the next second she’s turning to Viktor in a squeal, “VIKTOR! I saw your short program. IT WAS HOT AF!! I’m swooning.” She clutches her nose, but immediately babbles on, “Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Yuuko, Yuuri’s friend. We’ve met before, actually, but you might not remember me! It was so long ago. This is my husband Kobayashi Seiichi.” 

The man waves in lieu of greeting, but doesn’t say anything.

“Yuuko, Seiichi-san, long time no see.” Yuuri greets the husband with a handshake, then introduces Viktor. 

The couple booked a nice place nearby and would like to invite them to dinner.

Yuuri gives Viktor a questioning look. “Uh, I myself didn’t really go out during competition…” Viktor, however, isn’t the type to get easily disrupted and needs to hole up. He’s just the type of performer that when someone breaks his heart, he’s heartbroken and elated, because now he gets to pour his heartbreak into his performance.

(He’s quite sure he shouldn’t say that though.)

Yuuko already speaks up. “Oh, but Viktor isn’t like you! Viktor, do you want to come?”

It sounds great to him; he’s more than happy to use the time between his programs to learn more about Yuuri’s guests.

He doesn’t get much “learning about Yuuri’s friends” done on their way to dinner, or the first ten minutes before the appetiser arrives, because Yuuko has been gushing over Viktor’s performance(s) (including all the ones in his glorious history). 

She’s fangirling over him with such freedom, the only polite response Viktor can think of is to fanboy over her glorious history (Viktor is good at doing his googling homework) so it’s now mutual appreciation. Understandably, it takes longer to fangirl/boy about things you do know. By the time the main dish arrives, the husband looks a little bit green.

When Yuuko is calming down with the help of food, Viktor tries to make amends by striking up a conversation with the husband across from him. Just his luck then the husband speaks much less English than them, so Viktor needs a translator half the time, who turns out to be Yuuko more often than Yuuri because that man is too absorbed with the delicacies to notice his student’s predicament.

As the husband looks increasingly frustrated with himself, Viktor is seriously tempted to just let him know if anything, he’d be in more danger from Viktor than her, given Viktor’s preference in looks and gender. But Viktor wants to charm Yuuri’s guests, not alienate both of them, so he does the next best thing he can think of.

“Yuuuuri,” he puts on his sultriest voice, “what are you having? It looks delicious.”

Yuuri dutifully pushes his plate towards Viktor, though looking slightly disgruntled, either because he’s interrupted during a meal or he has to share. 

Ha! As if he’s the one competing. 

Viktor bypasses the plate and leans forward to steal the piece on Yuuri’s fork instead. 

“Vkusno!” It’s quite good. He sends the couple a grateful smile for treating them, and holds out his own fork, “Yuuri, do you want to try mine?”

His coach has gone beet red. The husband blinks. Yuuko looks positively gleeful.

Viktor decides the mission accomplished, and licks off his own fork instead. “No? I’ll have it all to myself then.” He smirks at his frozen coach and digs into his own delicious plate.

After tipping the whole table off balance, Viktor has a much better time with dinner. Yuuri is sufficiently distracted away from his food to take a bigger part in the conversation, and Viktor finally gets to learn a bit about Yuuko and Seiichi Kobayashi.

“Seiichi-san was a baseball star in uni!” Yuuko informs him, while the husband listens on, looking both shy and proud. “Though the star part might have more to do with his good looks.” She winks good-naturedly at them.

The husband is more comfortable with them now. Yuuri translates for him and he laughs, turning his face from easy-on-the-eyes to breath-takingly attractive. Viktor can certainly see how the man could be a popular actor.

Viktor talks a bit about his time with Yuuri in Hasetsu, bringing fond memories to Yuuko, who moved away years ago. The couple tells them stories on set and at home, which Viktor listens with interest. Yuuko is planning to start her own business, coming out of childbirth. 

“Triplets!” Viktor exclaims, and Yuuko and her husband exchange a look of such happiness that Viktor knows none of the complaints about the three little girls that follow are for real.

Dinner goes on longer than expected. Viktor thought Yuuri would want to talk more with Yuuko, since they haven’t seen each other for a long time, but Yuuri seems content to listen attentively, not eager to contribute more to the friendly chatters, and excuses Viktor and himself when he believes he needs to ensure Viktor’s rest.

"Yuuko's husband is strikingly handsome." Viktor observes off-handedly, just to break the silence on the trip back home. 

"He is." Yuuri smiles slightly, still staring out the car window. "Seiichi-san started off as this guy of every girl's dream in TV dramas, you know." 

"And I didn't know Yuuko was such a fan of mine."

Yuuri turns, the smile growing wider, "She is. I did warn you, didn't I?" Then his tone takes a teasing lilt, "You don't look much worse off next to her actor husband, you know."

"So you did notice."

"Noticed what?"

"The husband is a jealous sort.” He elaborates. “I wouldn't have thought given how the man looks, plus I'm not the ex on the table."

Yuuri laughs. "Nah, I wouldn't say that of Seiichi-san; it's all you, Viktor. I know where I stand, but you're a terrible flirt. And you're in quite the mood today."

Viktor feels both agitation and annoyance rising in him at the accusation, “I don’t just flirt with anyone.” He says defensively, then remembers who he did flirt with, which makes his conflicted feelings an even bigger mess.

“Oh?” Yuuri says lightly; if he’s thinking the same thing, he doesn’t show it. “I think you flirted with the whole stadium today. ‘A blend of your style and mine’, eh?”

He points out he was trying to rescue Yuuri from his interrogation (by reporters).

“Thanks,” comes the casual reply. “Any more surprises I should be aware of?”

“Not that I know of.”

[triptychgrip]

Several years post-canon: expanding Ice Castle into a Nishigori/Katsuki-Nikiforov skating academy

Chapter 16 of my married Viktuuri 2018/2022 Olympic Games fic is up! It was one of my favorite chapters to write, as it touches upon Yuuri and Viktor's long-term plans once Yuuri retires (after the 2022 Games): partnering with the Nishigoris to expand Ice Castle into a world-class skating academy.

If you've read/are in the process of reading my fic, you'll know that figure skating politics are a huge part of my story, specifically because of a non-doping related scandal that shakes up the 2018 Games and affects the figure skating community for years to come. This same scandal/its aftermath deeply influences Yuuri and Viktor to usher in change within the sport, emboldening them to think through how their/the Nishigoris' future academy could push an aspirational advocacy agenda forward.

Below is an excerpt from this latest chapter, which I hope piques your interest in checking this fic out, or my other Yuri!!! on Ice work.

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“Yuuko and Takeshi are so invested in this vision we have, and they’re sticking their necks out for us a lot. I’m just glad that they’re also so passionate about the waves we’re hoping to make.”

Viktor nodded before taking a hefty bite of his own onigiri, evidently catching on to what he meant.

Even with the preliminary conversations they’d had with the Japan Skating Federation, the four of them knew that some of the core principles of their future skating academy might be a hard sell. However, they were ones that they refused to compromise on, given everything that had happened at the PyeongChang Games (and in the aftermath).

In witnessing the struggle that both Seung-Gil and Yura had undergone to break away from the Korea Skating Union and FFKKR, respectively, the Nishigoris and Katsuki-Nikiforovs were committed to prioritizing at least 4 slots – 2 for the Men’s division and 2 for the Women’s division – for Russian and Korean skaters that wished to skate independently of their federations. But in doing so, they were creating something of a headache for themselves: each one of these prospective skaters would need to find a way to completely self-fund their careers. As such, it would be more important than ever for them and their future staff to acquire some savvy when it came to sponsor recruitment and retention.

Along with this, in a dramatic departure from the way things are typically done, all four of them knew that they wanted their skaters to be well-versed in understanding the politics of the sport.

Though the realities were sobering, there was simply no way that he or his spouse would be able to operate in good conscience and send their Novices and Juniors off to their first ISU competitions without at least some semblance of understanding around how judging worked. Or rather…all the ways it didn’t work.

And by continuing to model the pathways to reform, they wanted their future students to feel empowered to be vocal when it came to ushering in change within figure skating.

The two other priorities he and Viktor decided on with the Nishigoris would be less difficult to garner support around, but even so, they came with their own respective bureaucratic hurdles.

In seeing the way Phichit had hustled to both make and maintain a name for himself in a sport so dominated by the big-name federations, they wanted to reserve at least two spots in their inaugural year for skaters attached to smaller name federations. Working out a fair selection “rubric” would be complicated, and they’d already begun to pick Phichit-kun’s brain as to how one might devise such a process to be the most fair.