When You're Crying About The Cancellation But Remember How Good YOI Was To You

Things to read while Can You Hear My Heartbreak is on vacation #2

A Song of Fiery Birds and Endless Winter

Summary:

“Why are you helping me?” Viktor was silent for a while. “Your skating makes everyone watching feel the love you have for this sport,” he then said quietly. “It has the power to revive a heart that has withered away. It’s what drew me to you.” What is he saying? Yuuri blinked, trying to process the words. “But I thought you love skating, Viktor.” Sochi, 2014 Figure Skating legend Viktor Nikiforov knows that these winter games will be his last, for not even the magic of the Olympics can melt the winter in his heart. Having just suffered an embarrassing defeat, anxiety-ridden Katsuki Yuuri scrapes together the pieces of his confidence for the men's individual event. Neither of them could have foreseen the sudden turn their stay in Sochi takes when Viktor watches Yuuri’s group practice. As the pair gets closer, Yuuri and Viktor realise that their encounter has brought to life more than new passion for the sport they love, and their Olympic dream is no longer the only dream they share. But what happens at the Olympics, stays at the Olympics—or so the saying goes.

Tags: canon divergence, alternate first meetings, Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, slow burn, depression, anxiety, Phichit is the most intrusive best friend, dorks in love, Vicchan lives

Words: 70,535, Chapters: 15

Art by loadingbones. Posted with permission of the artist. Do not repost.

This story was part of the YOI Daydreamer Big Bang that, unfortunately, never banged. But I posted it anyway because me, my beta and my artist had poured so much work into the project.

If you love yourself a cute slow-burn that is a homage to the figure skaters that inspired the YOI characters and that handles mental health issues sensibly, this story is for you.

This is by the way the story that ended up on some anti-rec list because "Yuuri is a creepy fanboy". Please judge for yourself.

Reblog appreciated 💙💜

im sorry heres more cis swaps from twitter because a whole new world of lesbian jokes has opened up to me and i have no self control

part 1

When you were born to make history but your studio preferred shonen

a cruel katsudon

Them

That's it that's the post

Imagine if Ice Adolescence came out just in time for the Olympics...

I know it's the Summer Olympics, but still

It would've been just as hype as when Blue Lock aired while the World Cup was happening.

Like, the movie was obviously gonna be set during the Olympics

Yuuri's even wearing the team Japan jersey from the 2022 Winter Olympics

this is what they took from us 😞

I’ll miss them forever

We need to talk about this

because Yuuri's reaction here is a result of his anxiety disorder and his tendency to self-deprecation and having depressive thoughts. That he ends up here is being carefully foreshadowed throughout the series:

First, Viktor said a couple of things that made Yuuri believe that Viktor only wants to coach him until the GPF:

This

and this

is enough to convince and anxious person like Yuuri that Viktor has no intention to coach him beyond the GPF. Note that Viktor never explicitly states that he will coach Yuuri only for the first half of the season - it's the natural conclusion an anxious brain will draw. And that's neither Viktor's nor Yuuri's fault.

And then this, while Yuuri is within hearing distance:

I'm getting a queasy feeling in my stomach just from watching this scene because I relate to Yuuri so much. If I had eavesdropped on this interview, I would have freaked out internally. Like what does that even mean? Is he talking about his career or is this a carefully crafted answer to convince the press to leave him and Yuuri alone for the next couple of weeks? This secret is probably between Viktor and the YOI creators alone (I have theories, but I'm not going to discuss them here because this post is about Yuuri).

Second, although he becomes more confident throughout the show, the self-deprecating part of Yuuri has a low opinion about his own skating. From his perspective, his contribution to the sport seems less valuable than Viktor's, even when he starts to understand that he's far more than a dime-a-dozen skater. The realisation that he is as least as talented as Viktor, only drives home the moment he breaks Viktor's world record.

Because Yuuri has such a low opinion of himself, he doesn't understand how much Viktor enjoys watching him skate, which is another aspect factoring into his decision.

Third, Yuuri genuinely believes that Viktor wants to return to the ice and would rejoice when Yuuri retires. Having seen Viktor watch the other skaters at the GPF cements the decision he made at the Rostelecom Cup. The fact that basically everyone has told him throughout the last 11 episodes that he's keeping Viktor from skating gives more weight to the idea.

Yes, you got that right. Yuuri deided to retire, before he proposed to Viktor and before he bought two matching rings and put one of them on Viktor's finger. However, now Yuuri knows that Viktor would coach him for as long as Yuuri wants to keep skating, which forces him to release Viktor from his duties at the point he believes Viktor wanted to stop coaching him initially.

"Let's end this" is not about breaking up. Yuuri is releasing Viktor as his coach. He is sacrificing his career so that Viktor can keep pursuing his own career which Viktor once sacrificed for him.

Of course he's surprised that Viktor bursts out in tears.

Yuuri has the right to retire whenever he wants. He doesn't need to consult Viktor. If he thinks (for whichever stupid reason) it's time, he can make this decision on his own.

Is it selfish?

Lol no. Only Viktor thinks it is because he's conflating the coach and the partner and takes it personally. He's hurt and feels rejected because he doesn't understand that Yuuri did it for him and that causes a drama Yuuri was not prepared for.

Is it stupid?

Absolutely. But poor communication skills, Yuuri is too caught up in his mental issues to even think of having a discussion that would lead them to a solution with which both would be happy (both training in St. Petersburg *wink* *wink*). It's not malice, insensitivity, or shitty behaviour that drives Yuuri to this point. It's all about his mental issues. And love.

These two *clutches heart*.

Commission for @neutronice 's fic Fool's Gold. ✨

@ yuri on ice…. give me a wedding…… let phichit be the best man…….. my family is dying