One of the most remarkable—and
least remarked on—aspects of the Episode Ten Plot Twist is how incredibly little it changed.
The entire show reads
differently now, true. It triggered a fandom-wide rewatch, and deservedly so.
But that’s all in retrospect. It’s all in prior episodes. Absolutely none of my
expectations for the rest of the series have changed at all. Viktor and Yuuri
are still going to tackle the Grand Prix Final together as Skating’s Cutest
Couple. The other competitors are still going to do their damnedest to win
instead.
Compare that to the “Viktor is Evil and Wants to Break Yuuri’s Heart
Because Reasons” theories (I’m sorry, I have difficulty taking these theories
seriously. My default is to mock). Any of those revelations would have led to
Yuuri and Viktor breaking up, Yuuri trying to deal with his heartbreak in time
to win a gold medal, and my God, I bored myself just typing that. Can you
imagine having to watch that?
Instead, what we have is the same characters in the exact
same situation, with the exact same goals, with an added layer of meaning to
the whole thing.
Ok, so after a while of marveling at how strong Victor’s leg must be for him to be able to wall sit with one leg on an ice skate I came to notice he wasn’t wall sitting. He is SITTING ON YURIO’S LAP. Victor doesn’t have the shadow Yurio does, and not just because Yurio is the angsty teen, it’s because he is using Yurio’s lap as a chair to rest his royal ass. That is why he has that expression, he is literally trying to support himself and Victor. On ice skates.
Viktor and Yuuri would never have gotten together if Yurio
hadn’t shown up in Japan.
Consider: when Yurio first arrived, Viktor was still
extremely physically forward with Yuuri. Enough to make Yuuri uncomfortable
(see the “wild” lip-touch). Yurio intentionally disrupted Viktor’s horrible
attempts at flirting, dragging Viktor’s attention away from Yuuri, and allowing
Yuuri to become more comfortable with it, and even have to fight for it—to
realize he wanted it.
Yurio refused to let Viktor push his relationship with Yuuri
(staying in the onsen with them, refusing to give them time alone that Viktor
probably would have used for yet more come-ons).
Viktor had to take several steps back from flirting, flirting, flirting and go
back to what connects him and Yuuri at the beginning: skating.
Establishing
this helps them even after Yurio leaves in episode four, although skating is
not what ultimately brings them closer in episode four (talking is. Talk more, boys, communication is
important). But Viktor doesn’t tackle that conversation head-on, either. He
doesn’t walk into it saying, “You’re avoiding me, why, stop it now.” He talks about seagulls.
He talks about being vaguely homesick and noticing something for the first time
only once it was gone.
Not being able to be his straightforward self while Yurio
was around allowed Viktor a chance to approach that conversation in a softer
way that wouldn’t immediately scare Yuuri off.
Yurio also showed
Yuuri another side to Viktor that Viktor probably would have had difficulty
articulating, if he ever chose to do so. Yurio, not Viktor, is the one who told
Yuuri about Vikor’s inspiration difficulties and pointed out many of Viktor’s
flaws before Yuuri had to discover them the hard way. Yurio being present gave
Yuuri that wonderful moment of genuine, warm laughter from Viktor as Yuuri left
to go sort out Yurio’s room situation.
Teasing Yurio made Viktor laugh genuinely for one of the
only times in the entire show, and we saw
Yuuri’s startled (and, in my opinion, rather enamored) reaction to this new,
open, softer side of Viktor.
Yurio’s arrival reminded Yuuri in a real way that there was
a real human inside of the figure skating god.
Given Yuuri’s Imposter Syndrome, having won a tangible
contest almost certainly helped at least some part of Yuuri accept Viktor’s
time and attention as a coach. He had earned it. He wasn’t just a diversion for
Viktor anymore.
And if he wasn’t a diversion…then maybe Viktor’s flirting
was the real deal.
So yeah. Yurio inadvertently got Viktor and Yuuri together.
One of the things I truly love about Yuri!!! On ICE is that Yuuri can handle his mental illnesses all on
his own.
It’s not perfect, of course. No mental health management is.
But his family? Not much help there. He’s an adult and they leave him to his
own devices. Minako? Well, she lets him dance out his anxieties, but she also
pressures him a lot. Viktor actively makes
things worse.
There’s a weird trend in fanfiction where Viktor is amazing at managing Yuuri’s anxiety, and
sometimes all I can think is, “What show you been watching?” because honestly.
Viktor has the EQ of a rock and didn’t realize intentionally “Breaking Yuuri’s glass heart” would make Yuuri cry.
Viktor, I love you, but no.
Just no.
Maybe he gets better post-canon, but we have no evidence of
this in the show itself. He didn’t seem to notice any of Yuuri’s anxieties
leading up to the GPF, given how blindsided by Yuuri’s decision he was, and
then he was too hurt to really deal with Yuuri’s problems (which is valid, but
it does leave Yuuri on his own here).
And the AUs where Viktor is amazing with anxiety before he
even meets Yuuri? I guess some people have difficulties seeing why Yuuri would
fall for someone who messed up so bad, but that’s the thing.
That’s the thing.
One of the many things I love about YoI.
Yuuri’s mental illness
does not define him.
Viktor has the EQ of a rock and Yuuri loves him anyway, because
mentally ill people have personalities outside of their mental illnesses, and
they care about people for reasons unrelated to people being fantastic at
handling their mental illnesses.
And this is also part of the reason that everyone who says
that YoI is a story about falling in love “fixing” mental illness bothers me:
it’s not. Viktor doesn’t fix Yuuri. Yuuri takes care of himself.
In fact, Viktor makes the problems worse in real, tangible
ways. On accident, sure, but he still does it.
But Yuuri? Don’t worry about Yuuri. Yuuri’s got it handled, and
wouldn’t appreciate your concern anyway. He’s 23 (24, now), and he’s been
living like this for a long time. He knows what helps. He goes skating alone,
he dances with Minako, he goes for a run with a cute dog. He turns his phone
off and takes a nap.
He…gets bored of being depressed, so he…stops being
depressed? Yuuri, teach me your secrets.
And sometimes, he slips up and stalks new articles about his
failures and spirals, because no mental health management is perfect.
But he pulls himself back out again, always. Always. He’s so
strong. So accomplished. He functions. He more than functions.
To me, that’s hope. That’s the light at the end of the
tunnel.
Never take Yuuri’s strength and independence and autonomy
from him.
In fact, here’s something to consider: Celestino is seen
telling Yuuri to put his phone away and ignore the news about himself. That’s
great advice for anxiety, actually (it didn’t work, but that’s not the point).
And part of Yuuri’s complaints about Viktor’s coaching is that he’s too
inexperienced to deal with something like anxiety in a skater.
Ergo, Celestino is probably great at handling mental
illnesses like anxiety disorders.
But Yuuri didn’t start reaching for his potential until he
left Celestino and partnered with Viktor, who, again, stresses Yuuri’s mental
health in new and unique ways.
There’s a theory to be drawn here that Yuuri couldn’t have achieved
what he did without having to handle
his mental health on his own.
It’s not a hill I’d die on, but it’s there to be read if
someone wants to take it that way.
BRAND NEW ART FOR SAGAN TOSU (AND THE EARLIER PIECES)!
Victor, in Jersey 32, is for Victor Ibarbo. Yuri and Yurio in 17 (with their own names, same as Victor’s one for double meaning) which is the Sagan Tosu Fan’s Number!
Nothing but My Aching Soul 