Commitment... Devotion... Call it what you will, we'll call it love. @viktuuri-week day 7.
Yuuri very likely didn't intend to propse to Viktor at the airport but his heart knew what it (and he) truly desired and twisted his words into a proposal—or rather something akin to a proposal that resulted in a spontaneous engagement.
Let's unpack this.
Yuuri returns from the Rostelecom Cup with his mind full of things that he wants to tell Viktor. While we don't learn the details, his inner monologue in the previous scene gives us a good idea of the things he's mulling over.
Yuuri has convinced himself that Viktor will abandon him after the Grand Prix Final. Thus, that competition is his final chance to win gold and he's determined to fulfil the promise he made in his speech in ep. 5 and win that medal. But even if doesn't win gold, there is one thing that he feels he needs to do after seeing skaters and skating fans react to Viktor becoming a coach at two consecutive competitions.
Regardless of how much Yuuri has profited from Viktor's support, he is very conscious about the fact that Viktor belongs to the ice. Or at least that is what his anxious brain has convinced him of. In this sense, giving up his own career so that Viktor can resume his own is an act of love and the only possible solution for them to stay together (in Yuuri's brain).
We never learn about the end of Yuuri's contemplation, but the subtext of the next scene implies that breaking up with Viktor is not an option. Or if it was an option, it was off the table once he was back in Viktor's arms.
Since Yuuri has anxiety, it's safe to assume that he has been overthinking his talk with Viktor over and over during the flight, going through all kinds of scenarios based on Viktor's imagined reaction. After hours on the plane, his brain must have been on the verge of exploding, casting poor Yuuri into a state of total overwhelm. If you have anxiety, you can possibly relate.
However, the moment that he spots Viktor, his mind goes blank and instinct takes over as he runs into Viktor's arms and instead of whatever speech he has prepared, he just blurts out the following line:
僕も考えてた。引退まで 僕のこと— お願いします! "I've been thinking, too. Please take care of me until I retire!"
The English translation is a bit messed up here. In the original, Yuuri never uses the word coach in that line. "Please take care of me" is Japanese proposal language. The translators probably didn't recognise this nuance and sadly, the nuance is still lost in the Bluray version.
But that's why Viktor recognises the proposal in Yuuri's words.
However, based on the details given and the illogical ways anxious brains work, Yuuri intended to inform Viktor about his retirement plans and to voice his desire to make the most of the little time he thinks they have left. But that's not what his heart wants. And since episode 5 we know what that is:
初めて自分から繋ぎとめたいと思った人、それがヴィクトルです
A more accurate translation of that line is "The first person I want to tie myself to and never let go is Viktor" because 繋ぎとめたい means wanting to tie someone / something to you and never let it go (see this translation error masterpost).
Of course, Yuuri doesn't want his relationship with Viktor to end and no matter if his anxiety his skyrocketing in the face of the GPF looming ahead, that desire has taken root in his heart and brain. However, his anxiety stops him from proposing actually and turns his addition "until I retire" into a gentle prodding to find out whether he and Viktor are on the same page.
And of coruse, they are.
And it's all Yuuri has wished for. He's been anxious the whole time. Until Viktor recognises the proposal and response with a yes in the same fashion that Yuuri has asked.
To wrap all of this up:
Absence nurtures desire and in this case, the time apart has shown Yuuri and Viktor how much they want to be by each other's side. Because he missed Viktor so desperately, Yuuri's heart wins over his anxiety for once and enables him to tell Viktor his deepest desire. By recognising said desire, Viktor is able to accept the proposal and the two boys are now officially engaged. And that's yet another beautiful aspect about this show.
Unfortunately Viktor didn't really catch the part about the retirement, which will result in him thinking that Yuuri wants to break up when Yuuri announces his retirement plans in Barcelona. On the other hand, knowing that Viktor wants to stay by his side forever is a huge relief for Yuuri and allows him to enter the GPF without any emotional baggage.
Bonus: look at that cute tiny smile right between Viktor recognising the proposal and the second hug.
For further readings related to this please check out:
Japanese dating culture in YOI
Unwrapping "Let's end this"
On Yuuri's top-secret love life
If you enjoyed this meta you might like to check out my YOI canon works on AO3 or just support me by reblogging this post.
Doodle of the ice guys
Victor “A True Artist Gets Dumped After A Party And Milks That Pain For All It’s Worth” Nikiforov
I see you, here in the darkness Blinding light right where your heart is.
a little yuuri art! <3
A Viktor POV playlist for @kazliin‘s wonderful fic, Until My Feet Bleed & My Heart Aches.
Listen on: Spotify | YouTube
I know there are about eight thousand playlists for this fic already, but here I am showing up 15 minutes late with Starbucks anyway. I spent way, way, WAY too much time on this. I finished the track listing before Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts started posting, so all my choices are drawn from UMFB exclusively.
This is maybe the most Extra thing I’ve ever done, which I guess is appropriate for a Viktor playlist. SO under the read more you will find a track listing with fic excerpts and lyrics because why the fuck not.
(All excerpts drawn from UMFB. Some have been cut for length or because Yuuri’s inner monologue is not that helpful for identifying Viktor’s thoughts and motivations.)
P.S. I’m also working on a Yuuri POV companion, but that one is being stubborn so it’ll be up later. (like I said THE MOST EXTRA)
Keep reading
Well, I fulfilled a crossover with the two things I love the most: Yuri On Ice and Resident Evil 💗⚡️⚡️⚡️ AND FEELS FREAKING AMAZING. Might repeat it next year, just to see how much I’ve improved. And because who else will give you this strange crossover, than me? ✨🫢
※ Authorized Reprint for Tumblr || artist: _nii21 ☑ Do not remove source link || edit illustration|| change caption|| upload to other websites! ☑ Before repost someone’s art, be sure you have asked an artist’s permission!
i drew these two once years ago, so it's nice to do it again now that i'm better at drawing. don't remember shit about yuri on ice but I do remember that Yurasik and Beka are cute
they're a part of the portrait thing that i draw from time to time
(continued from this)
oh god im sorry im so sorry a twitter thread with @onlyou718 went a little (a lot) too far and now im in anime crossover hell..
heres a gem from that thread tho
Hi, I'm mae! I made this after re-watching the anime and crying over the movie and falling in love with reiya's rivals fic
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