Skaters And Their Love For YOI.

Yesterday, There Were More of Us (Old Work)

Chapter 1: Yesterday, There Were More of Us

Alexander Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia…

January 1, 2177

They were all sitting down, all of the adrenaline had drained out of them when they were sitting in their separate limos, and now they were in shock from the events that happened a few hours before.

No one saw this coming, except the a few within their ranks.

And that was the number one thing all International Elites fear the most: traitors.

Which is how all of this happened.

Now Nikolai Romanov was thinking about it, The Late Cosmo de Lafayette looked somewhere off in the distance above the reporters and paparazzi.

I guess we’ll never know , he thought.

People around the world call it The Great French Assasination for several reasons: it took place in Paris, many French International Elites were dead via assasination, a motivated personal plan was set up by Holy Queen Georgette of Britannia, thousands of French dead, acres of land and building were razed to the ground. Furthermore, many of the IE’s who had survived it and now were either safe in their country or somewhere in France suffered injuries. And the cherry on top was that Lyanna de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton were captured by the Sheridan’s Rangers.

Tonight was supposed to be a fun night as any International Elite Reunion Gala, but instead, it was full of heartache, tears, pain, bloodshed, and serious diplomatic decisions that will change everything as they know it.

His daughter, Yelisaveta, glared vehemently at them, “I told you all,” she spat at them, “Britannia was going to do something sooner rather than later.” She threw her arms up in the air with suppressed anger, “Now look where that got us: this shithole of a mess.”

A loud exasperated sigh rang through the near silent room, “Yes, you did Lisa,” she punched the bridge of her nose to try to calm herself down, “but we couldn’t have done anything at the time, I told you that ,” she tried to reason with her but to no avail.

The figure skater glared at her, “Well I’m sorry, your Royal Majesty ,” Liska sneered, “I guess I overestimated your power, Sasha.” Before the young Tsarina of Russia could retort, a fist slammed down to an armchair. “Now isn’t the time of dwelling in the past and blaming others,” looking directly both at their daughter and ruler, “we need to make a decision on how we’re going to respond to this for the entire world is looking at us.”

“Grigor is right,” all eyes turned to the third eldest, “we either ignore this whole situation or go to war, both choices will result in bloodshed and scrutiny on both sides of the spectrum, and the entire world.” Evgeniya Brazauskienė, stated with a tone that meant business and absolutely no dilly dallying.

With that, they laid out the fate of Russia for the next few years…

~.~

Osaka, Japan…

December 12, 2164 (13 years earlier)…

Nothing could stop her from smiling, even when her cheeks started to hurt. How could she not? She had just won the Junior Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating with a total score of 219.67 points, her now personal high score.

The sound of trumpets roared through the air, mixing with all the cheerings of everyone in the room.

“ISU Figure Skating Final 2163 and 2164, Osaka, Japan, victory ceremony Junior Ladies,” Mr. Suzuki announced in English, while another, Ms. Takahashi, repeated in Japanese.

Everything was set on the ice: a red and white podium with the symbol of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2164 logo, three medals on three trays carried by three girls, three flowers carried by another set of three girls, all under a gray rug.

The male announcer started, “Third and winner of the Bronze Medal, representing Russia: Yevgenia MAKARAVERA!” Zhenya skated on the ice just as they said her name, her full blue dress sashayed while the background music of River Flows in You by Lorenzo de Luca, then skated to her place on the lowest part of the podium.

“Second and winner of the Silver Medal, representing Russia: Yulia KAIDENOVSKYA!” Yulka was wearing a Bridgerton inspired dress with the music of Material Girl cover used in the show, eventually skating back to take her place as second on the podium.

“First and winner of the Gold Medal, representing Russia: Yelisaveta ROMANOVA-POTEMKINA!” The crowd cheered louder than before, some chanted her name “Lisa, Lisa!”, some waved the Russian flag higher, and some just created flat out noise. Her gold, pink, and purple dress moved along with her as the music of Syrax’s Flight by Ramin Djawadi played but was drowned out by everyone around her. The Russian bowed multiple times, quickly making her way to her place as the winner of the Junior Ladies, but not before hugging her two companions.

“The medals will be presented by our honored guest: Representative Violet Hill.” As the Canadian placed the medal on each girl before Yelisaveta, the crowd cheered respectfully, while they shook hands. As the elderly woman raised the medal, she bowed down for the gold piece to be hung around her neck. Ms. Hill was quite careful of her long hair that was wrapped in a low bun. The temperatures clashing between the cold, youthful one and the warm, wrinkly of the other.

“The flowers will be presented by ISU Representative Maratelle Romano.” This time, the Italian shook their hands before giving out the flowers, each looking identical. “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem of the winner.”

As they sang their motherland’s anthem, the Russian flag was presented in front of them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, our medalists!” They all posed for the small group of photographers in front of them.

“We invite the skaters to take a victory lap around the ice.” The winner looked at her friends with a questioning look. While she was down to do it, Yelisaveta wanted to make sure that they were too.

With the biggest smiles they had, they took their time taking their lap around the rink; making sure to high-five the hands in the crowd.

One spectator gave them flower crowns with their favorite flowers: Yevgenia with daisies, Yulia with jasmines, and Yelisaveta with lilies.

After much posing for pictures, it was finally time to get off the ice and do the most painful part of it: the interviews.

Immediately after they got off the ice, they were hounded by one of the three devils also known as their coach. “Zhenya, you’re right leg was off. Yulka, you’re simply not good enough. Lisa, do better than whatever abomination of that bow was.” Ekaterina Tupincina hissed at them, “We practiced this for weeks!” Thankfully, she stopped when a cameraman came a little bit too close, but they all knew that it would be worse later. It was like a switch in her personality when she later instructed them cheerfully to prepare for the hounds.

Flashes were all around, along with the irritating screaming. How amazing , Yelisaveta thought, just after winning the Grand Prix, we get this monstrosity . Thankfully, Yevgenia shut them up by saying -more like yelling- that they will start if it was quiet. They all looked at Lisa, the de facto leader in the room. But as soon as she raised an eyebrow, the yelling resumed.

“How does it feel to win bronze/silver/gold yet again, Zhenya/Yulka/Lisa!”

“Is true that Tupincina another version of Eteri Tutberidze, but worse!”

“Are the three of you going to continue the Russian domination for figure skating!”

“Why do you think that you qualify for the Olympics in the next two years, Lisa!”

The last question struck a nerve in the said girl. How dare they try to downplay her skating? Everyone knows that she’s been undefeated so far since figure skating has been held tightly by the Russians.

Yelisaveta felt the entire room’s eyes focused solely on her as well as every camera. The weight on her shoulders was back, the judgemental eyes of the reporter who asked the question, the worried look that was surely plastered on Zhenya’s face, and  the concealed look of smugness disguised as indifference from Yulka.

Steeling her emotions for the incoming onslaught that will come later, the gold medalist answered, “Since I’ve been able to compete in competitions, I’ve been winning through all of them. This is because the judges see my skating as the best out of all of the girls, and that is shown by the point values that I received. And because of this, I may qualify for the Olympics when the time comes, but we just have to see if I’m capable for the next two years.” Humbling yourself was the best way to get out of that situation, but behind closed doors, her coach will likely reprimand her for that. As long as she doesn’t humiliate herself in public, then that’s all Yelisaveta needs.

The rest of the interviews were a whirlwind of emotions: sadness, anger, disgust, fear, envy, smugness, the list goes on. At the end of it, the three medalists only wanted to go back to their hotel to finally relax from the pressure and expectations, even for a few hours.

OMG! In ep6, after watching the “nude hug” photo Phichit uploaded to INS, Yuuri imaged the news title of his losing is “The result of frantic love(乱れた愛の果て)”. 

What are you thinking about Yuuri😂

Victor’s Remarkable Evolution

I was watching (okay okay rewatching for the billionth time) Yuri on Ice, and something struck me. Specifically something about Victor. Namely, the slow and soft march of Victor’s evolution in the series, from the self-absorbed icon to a vulnerable and loving partner and coach.

At a press conference, when asked about whether Victor went off to become Yuuri’s coach, Yakov shouts: That man only thinks of himself!

And honestly? I agree. I think that the show’s creators wanted us to view Victor through that lens. He was bored. He was stagnant. He decided he wanted to try out coaching because that sounded kinda fun and cool. Yuuri Katsuki idolized him, and skated his routine beautifully. Victor could combine seducing the gorgeous Japanese skater who idolized him with taking the mental break from skating he needed to return refreshed.

Image quote: So, a magic spell to change the little piggy into a prince…

This… is not the attitude of someone who is taking the coaching seriously. He presumes he can waltz into Japan, take this cute little Japanese skater under his wing and transform him into… a prince, all the while getting laid.

It’s why Victor squealed at the challenge that Yuri Plisetsky put forward: choreograph both programs and watch two skaters battle over… him. He got to choreograph the two skaters: one who represented his youth and one who represented his lust. 

Victor wanted to watch Yuuri seduce him on the ice (in one of his old costumes), and decided the way to score more points was to put all jumps in the second half. Even Nishigori called that choice spartan.

Yuuri suspected, talked to Minako about it, and decided even if this was some sort of Victor vacation, he was going to take full advantage, and Victor is lucky that Yuuri was the type who devoted everything to this experiment, to Victor as his coach, even knowing that Victor’s heart was maybe not entirely in it.

Indeed, throughout the beginning, Victor was enjoying playing coach without really being one. He teased Yuuri enough that Yuuri started to avoid him. Finally, Victor actually made an effort to connect. And… Yuuri let him in.

This is also one of the first times in the animation that Victor’s face is that soft. He’s having a real moment, not a manufactured one here. Talking to Yuuri does that for him, and for the first time, alone and out of the spotlight, you have to wonder if that felt kinda good. It makes it pretty clear that Victor was entirely serious about being Yuuri’s boyfriend, though that moment was probably also to put Yuuri off kilter, because that’s what Yuuri had done to Victor.

Unfortunately, by the regional qualifier, Victor is a little back to some of his bullshit, picking a flashy suit to advertise his debut as a coach. He made that moment about himself, not about Yuuri. Yes, thankfully he had moments where he actually gave good advice (that Yuuri needed to… pay attention to his fans), but mostly it was still Victor thinking mostly about Victor.

That though… started to change. When Yuuri did his free skate, he openly rebelled. He changed triples into quads without asking, and… Victor found himself watching Yuuri with interest. He started to see Yuuri, noting that he skated in time with the music, and that there was something about his impatience on the ice that meant Victor couldn’t look away. He even internalized that Yuuri’s rebellion to his instructions was a whole lot like him. This was the moment that Victor finally started to take coaching seriously.

He stopped thinking of it as a performance, and starting thinking about himself and Yuuri as a team. He’d wear suits (he’s Victor Nikiforov after all), but it was no longer only the Victor show in his head.

Then Yuuri declared his love for Victor on a televised event. Victor’s facial expression says it all.

Yeah, he heard it. Ugly tie and all. Victor succeeded in scoring the adorable Japanese skater. Thankfully though, he’s in a much different headspace now than he was when he showed up naked in the onsen.

It does mean that the next time we see Victor, he is much more affectionate. On the way to Beijing, Victor is draped over Yuuri on the plane. He’s holding him while they watch the other skaters or run to hold each other at the kiss & cry.

China is also where Victor’s biggest breakthrough happens. Yes! He finally takes being a coach seriously. Yes! He roots for his pupil to win and believes in him. Yes! He tries to do his best for Yuuri, forcing him to nap (with snuggles of course, Victor’s self-control only goes so far…) before his free skate.

Then… Yuuri being on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Victor… doesn’t know what to do. He gets Yuuri away from other skaters to warm up, he forbids him from doing jumps in warmups (Yuuri rebels). And then…

Boy screws up big time. Trying to shatter Yuuri’s heart to motivate him. Victor admits he has no idea what to do when someone is crying in front of him, asks if Yuuri wants him to kiss him. (Um, no Victor. Not right now). Yuuri tells him what he needs.

It was probably one of the first times in Victor’s life that he really messed up, and really hurt someone he cared about. He feels stupid for not asking Yakov what to do, and looks pretty broken when they return for Yuuri’s free skate.

Luckily… Yuuri seems to be driven extra hard by Victor screwing up, deciding he’s going to add a quad flip to the end of his program. Something not even Victor has done. And well, we all know what happened next.

Before this moment, we see a lot of “fake Victor.” Even around Yuuri, he threw on that fake charm. But, after Beijing? Around Yuuri, the mask came off.

Victor and Yuuri were a team. Victor was Yuuri’s coach, and he loved it. And the change in the animation is stark. The fake looks were only when Victor was forced to mug for media. When he was looking at Yuuri? His face was as soft as when he said “you’re not weak.”

JJ Leroy ignores Yuuri and walks straight up to Victor? We see open hostility. Yuuri skates another wonderful one? Victor gets down to kiss his skate. Yurio shows off true agape? He’s genuinely excited.

And then Yuuri sends him back to Japan to be with Maccachin (who got into the buns.) Victor doesn’t even hesitate to run up to Yakov and ask him to coach. No ego, nothing. (I don’t think we need to ask why Yakov said yes. Because he recognized Victor as a coach now too… and Yuuri deserved it.) Just… doing the best he could to make sure Yuuri got through his free skate.

Yuuri did. And… this was their reunion.

You cannot tell me that the Victor we met at the very beginning would have done this. This is a Victor who lives for someone other than himself, who has found someone he loves more than skating. The person who opened him up and accepts him as he is… and runs just as fast and just as desperately to get back to him too.

Yuuri is the reason Victor changed, evolved, grew better. Yuuri is why Victor took coaching seriously enough to fall in love with it. Yuuri is the person Victor is entirely himself with.

It means we get to see his soft side. We get to see what a man on top of the world is like when he falls uncontrollably in love. Who’s opened his heart enough that it might break.

Yeahhh Yuuri is an idiot… (I wrote about that already), but if Victor were not this Victor, open and vulnerable, Yuuri would not have skated the program he was capable of (rising to the occasion and scoring higher than Victor’s WR), and would not have committed to staying in skating.

Victor is not going to give up coaching. He loves it, just like he loves Yuuri. He is less afraid of trying to climb to the top again, not when he’s found things that make him truly happy.

Victor changed, evolved, and in the process, he found the happiness and meaning he was always seeking. And in the process of that journey, he found a husband and his next calling.

I actually don’t think Victor ever wins gold again. But I also don’t think he cares. Yuuri getting a gold medal would mean more to him than 10 more for himself. It’s that sort of growth that makes this series so beloved. Because the growth was organic and natural, even as it was extremely profound.

Yuri!!! on Ice Podium Family Mobile Wallpapers [540 x 960] 🐶 🐷 🐱

Victor Nikiforov in five different styles! ✌️

Yours truly, Ghibli, Demon Slayer, Ranma ½ and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne. This was fun but also difficult. 😅

T H E G L O R Y 2022 || directed by Ahn Gil-ho

color palettes and the lovely aesthetics <3

I figure out how to draw them fancy crush caps and went a bit over board. 

Lyria when Regulus asks her out.

‘—until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old—’

as i see it, arthur and a lot of people may have naturally looked to alfred—his eldest son, the heir, the industrial colossus—for deliverance. but it’s matthew who is by his side from the start. matt’s the second prince; the one at times overlooked and taken for granted by arthur. but it’s matt who steps into the breach in 1940; sending men and women and food and weaponry, so disaster doesn’t turn into annihilation. matt, reliable and grimly prepared to do the crucial job of holding the line, whilst america’s interventionists contended with its isolationists. in my headcanon, he’s quieter and cuts a seemingly less bold figure than his brother—but when the time calls for it, he’s icily steadfast and ruthless. the new world stepping forth to the rescue and liberation of the old? yes, but in more ways than one.