Can I just say how much I loved the way their argument was handled? I’ve said it before after the last episode without going into detail, but I really hate the ‘I’m breaking up with you for your own good’ trope. I hate it with a fiery passion.
(And yes, Yuuri was technically only talking about their professional relationship and not their personal one, but on this show, they’re pretty much one and the same. The airport ‘proposal’ was about Yuuri retiring, the engagement about a good luck charm for skating, their possible marriage about a gold medal. If Yuuri ends their professional relationship, that’s bad news.)
So yes, I was very annoyed after the cliffhanger because it was pretty clear after seeing Yuuri’s and Viktor’s reactions during the other skater’s performances that THIS was gonna be the issue.
And it was.
Yuuri has watched Viktor watch the other skaters, and he’s drawn his own conclusions – fueled by his own insecurity. He thinks he’s dragging Viktor down, that Viktor misses skating and is only staying with him because Yuuri is being selfish. And considering Viktor’s final decision, there might be some truth in there. But as we know, Viktor’s feelings concerning his career are MUCH more complicated than that.
And that is my main issue with this trope. Because seriously Yuuri – there are obviously some unresolved issues there, but ultimately, whether Viktor wants to have a comback or not is his decision and not yours. You do NOT get to decide over your partner’s head what’s good for them and what isn’t. You’re not their parent, your their partner and as an adult, they can make decisions themselves.
So I was incredibly satisfied with the way Viktor reacted. Angry/disappointed tears aside, what does that boy do?
He calls him selfish
Slaps his hand away
Yells at him
And literally tries to shake some sense into the guy.
You go, Viktor. Good on you. Show your fiancé what a colossal ass he’s making out of himself.
I hate that some people are so dense that they need disclaimers for every single thing, like when women say “men are…” you know good and goddamn well they aren’t referring to every single man. It’s billions of us, how the fuck would they know all of us?
Whenever I hear these statements, I interpret it as “Not all men, but enough men to make this a prominent issue amongst men”
Same shit with “white people are…” Get the fuck out your feelings and actually listen so you can address the concerns of these people instead of defending people that ain’t shit.
image text: If English is the only language you’re fluent in you have no business making fun of how other people speak English you unsophisticated pest [words separated by hands-clapping emoji]
A lot of the fandom seems to be freaking out about this so let’s talk about it!
This was actually one of my favourite scenes from the episode. Not because of any kind of impending drama but because this conversation has honestly been a long time coming.
After episode 7, there was no relationship talk. Victor and Yuuri have yet to sit down and tell each other straight up what they want out of their relationship (both personally and professionally). Flash back to episode 4 where Victor was asking what he should be to Yuuri. Now they actually are boyfriends (well, even more than that, fiancés) but same as we’ve never heard them state it, I don’t think they’ve really made it explicitly clear to each other either.
I feel that so far they’ve just been letting things evolve as they go. The Cup of China was actually only a bit over a month ago in-series. Their intimate relationship is still very new and it’s been moving really fast. They’re definitely physically intimate (as you can see by the pushed-together beds) but they haven’t quite connected the same way on the emotional level. They definitely love each other and want to stay with each other, I don’t doubt that for a moment, but they haven’t sat down and said “I want to spend my life with you” to each other. They haven’t told each other what their plans are for their professional relationship either.
We know that Victor has been doing a lot of thinking, and it was very obvious in this episode that he is grieving his career, but it’s also obvious that he doesn’t plan to go back to skating competitively.
Yuuri however, being the anxious person that he is, is reading Victor’s grieving all wrong. Yuuri is thinking that not only is their professional relationship (which he could end simply by retiring) but also their personal relationship is holding Victor back from what he “wants” – to go back to being a competitive skater. And thus we get the line that we did here. This is Yuuri’s attempt to “free” Victor to allow him to chase what Yuuri thinks he actually wants, which turns out could not be any further from the truth.
They aren’t going to break up. I can tell you that right now and with absolute certainty. Rather than this being something that is going to create drama, it is actually going to work to solve it. Yuuri needs to hear from Victor that Victor has no intention of leaving and that he wants to stay with Yuuri more than he wants to continue his skating career. Also very important is that Victor needs to say it out loud. Victor is a thinker, he rarely makes big decisions on a whim. He’s been processing what he wants to do with his life for a year now and he has definitely come to his decision (as was evident in episode 10).
Victor has chosen Yuuri over his skating career and this line from episode 11 is just the gateway to the discussion that will firmly cement their personal relationship in place. And the final bow-tie on the gift that is their relationship will be the duet skate at the end of the episode.
Nothing but My Aching Soul 