Okay, so as I’m sure you’ve already heard,
Stéphane Lambiel will appear in episode 12 of Yuri on Ice as himself (he’ll be voicing the animated version of himself, how cool is that?)
And just in case you weren’t sure Stéphane Lambiel
is sort of a big deal in the figure skating world.
Of course, he’s not Plushenko or Johnny Weir but he was an amazing skater in his time too, which resulted in his becoming the two-time (2005–2006) World Champion, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2005, 2007) Grand Prix Champion and a nine-time (2001–08, 2010) Swiss national champion.
Not to mention that he’s just a beautiful, beautiful man with equally beautiful performances.
Watch his program to “Don’t Stop The Music” from 2011 and you’ll understand what I mean. (Skating in a suit? Yes, please.)
But wait there’s more!
He retired a few years ago and now works as a coach and a choreographer – this season for
Deniss Vasiļjevs.
How is this relevant to the YOI fandom?
You may recall this tweet/picture:
Yep, that’s them.
Not to mention that people (including the staff of the anime) have been saying that they’re the closest to the real life versions of Victor and Yuuri you could find, not on the romantic level, but more in the sense of physical closeness and working together well.
I mean
They have a point.
And shall we talk about their selfies? Both of their twitter accounts are full of their selfies from all sorts of events and trips. (Stephane’s is here, Deniss’s is here).
And that’s just one of them.
Okay, so where am I going with this?
To this last photo, from the recording studio where
Stéphane
was doing his lines for his character in the anime:
See that blond haired boy in the lower right corner?
Stéphane
took Deniss along for the recording session, and I just find it incredibly sweet.
I’m sure some people will fight me on this, but for real–Viktor Nikiforov at the beginning of YOI is probably the closest depiction of my experience of depression that I’ve ever seen in any media, including anything I’ve ever created.
* lack of interest/emotion * repeatedly forgetting important things (like promises to Yurio) * depression is triggered strongly by success * deals with it by deciding to–in a matter of hours–toss away a wildly successful career that is making him miserable to do something incredibly rewarding that his former colleagues think is a joke * incredibly good at faking it * ability to fake it only worsens depression * not parsed by anyone around him as depression because, heh, he’s not SAD and he’s SUCCESSFUL and how could he be depressed
There’s a lot of talk about Yuuri’s mental health issues, and those are amazing, but Viktor starts off the show in what reads to me as a pretty deep depression. Episode 10 and 11, when he’s finally experiencing emotions again, and is grounded in the moments that he is in, instead of free-floating outside them, are incredibly meaningful to me.
It took me more than 30 years to understand that what happened to me was depression, and I so rarely see depression as I experience it portrayed anywhere, so…
So @tamariini pointed out that Phichit is holding his
bronze hamster, and I didn’t think much of it, but…
HE LITERALLY HAS A GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE ASSORTMENT OF
HAMSTERS??? aRE YOU FUCKING WITH ME RIGHT NOW KUBO. IS IT REALLY THAT DEEP KUBO??? CUZ I AM SHITTING BRICKS RN LAUGHING AT THIS POSSIBILITY. IF PHICHIT ENDS UP WITH BRONZE I’M GOING TO VOMIT OUT OF SHEER HILARITY
I had no idea that i’d get so balls-deep into yuri on ice that i
would believe hamster meta but with the creators of this show, who even fucking
knows anymore smh
EDIT: Adding onto this, a few people have pointed out that Phichit’s shoulders are actually positioned like a podium! Gold on top, silver raised slightly above bronze…
What the actual fuck are you tRYING TO DO TO ME, KUBO??? I TOLD MYSELF I WOULD NEVER GET DRAGGED INTO THIS HEAVY-ASS ANALYSIS BULLSHIT THEY’RE HAMSTERS THEY ARE FUCKING HAMSTERS FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THINGS HOLY WHY AM I STILL LOOKING AT THIS??
An original AU inspired in part by Guang-Hong’s FS, The Inferno. Inspired also in part by many, many other things, including but not limited to Mad Max: Fury Road, and Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind >.>;
WARNINGS for this AU as a whole, not necessarily this specific post: BLOOD, VIOLENCE, CHARACTER DEATH (temporary), world-appropriate OOC-ness, vampires(?), zombies(?), mutant monsters, post apocalyptic setting, dystopian world, sci-fi, fantasy, mafia/secret agent/spy AU, original world with too complex explanations, unsanitary consumption of blood, inappropriate use of ice skating blades, a lotta guns, a lotta swords, global warming, pollution, overthrowing the government, too many references and crossovers to count, wow i never expected these things together
Nothing but My Aching Soul 