ITS THE DAY AAAAAAAA IM SO HYPED, SOMEONE KEEP MY FANGIRLING IN CHECK CAUSE IM BOUTTA LOSE IT IM SO EXCITED

SPOILERS FOR STARDEW 1.6

Ok so in the Stardew valley fair in fall you can walk out of the fair by going behind Pierre’s, but I think that was something that you could always do. However, if you go to the bookseller and look behind the tree that had the prize ticket gift box, there’s another one there! Does anyone know if the gift box randomly respawns behind the tree every once in a while or did I find a secret second gift box?

Xie Lian can thank his lucky stars (ironically) that Mu Qing didn’t wake up cause he would’ve murdered him on the spot (and then Hua Cheng would have subsequently murdered Mu Qing for hurting his hubby)

Whoops

Heavenly officials: Hua cheng is dangerous!

Xie lian: 👍🏻

Heavenly officials: He's challenged 33 gods and made them lose their godhood

Xie lian: 👍🏻 *kisses him*

Heavenly officials: He'll kill you!

Xie lian: 👍🏻 *sleeps with him*

Heavenly officials: Something is not fucking right with this guy.

He’s in love your honor

so i started watching the tgcf anime and i'm gonna loose my mind, they seriously animated hua cheng to look smitten every time he glances at xie lian (as they should) (but also what about my sanity)

i mean look at him 😭😭😭

Excellent analysis of Victor’s choice to go to Japan, yes his feelings for Yuuri played a part in it, but that was hardly the only reason; i love their relationship so much, but as individuals Victor and Yuuri are great characters as well

Viktor Nikiforov is an adult character with adult problems and anxieties. However, unlike for Yuuri, whose struggles couldn't be more obvious to the audience, Viktor's issues are portrayed with subtlety. Which is ironic since, of the entire cast, Viktor is confronted with the most drastic life-changing choices and changes.

We meet Viktor as a competitive figure skater who has reached a point in his life many people eventually end up. The initial excitement for your profession has long since withered away and you're stuck in a life that is making you miserable. You're only staying out of convenience, the fear of change, the fear of taking a risk, or due to a lack of opportunity—or a combination thereof.

That's where Viktor is in episode 1. You can read the misery in his fake smiles and in his empty expression when he skates—an activity that once has been his passion (we know because creating your own programmes demands a creativity that is the result of passion). There are rumours that he might retire, and when being asked about his future plans, we see again the empty expression of a man who has lost his purpose. He has accumulated quite a fortune through sponsorships if his expensive clothes are any indication of that, but money can't buy happiness.

For twenty years, Viktor has lived for his sport and neglected his private life over it. His body might keep up for a couple of more seasons, but his mind is weary and his creativity is running dry. Twenty years is a long enough time to make even a decisive person think that that one thing is all you will ever be good at.

When you're stuck like that, maybe even to the point that it affects your mental health, it's hard to make it out of the slump on your own. Having someone showing you an alternative can work wonders to shift your perspective and enable you to take matters into your own hands again. For Viktor, this shift comes in form of a cute and utterly drunk fellow skater who not only seems to have a crush on him but very explicitly voices his wish that Viktor becomes his coach.

Viktor is a master of his craft. He choreographs his own programmes, he has music composed for these, and he has twenty years of experience in figure skating. Before that fateful banquet, Viktor already showed low-level coaching tendencies like when he gives (unsolicited) advice to his younger rinkmate...

or when he encourages him to become junior world champion without a quad jump and agrees to choreograph his first senior programmes.

These examples indicate that Viktor has a hidden skill he might not have been aware of during his active career as a skater. He could build on that if the sets his mind to it.

While it's true that Viktor only decided to become a coach when he saw that video (see Sayo Yamamoto's episode commentary), his feelings for Yuuri played a major role his decision because he felt a connection. That's important because feelings ignite passion and provide you with new purpose. It's tempting to assume that Viktor went to Japan for a booty call, but this totally disregards the complexity of his situation and the key role feelings play in igniting passion in someone and giving them new purpose.

"People shine brightest when they understand what kind of love sustains them."

Turning your life upside down and leaving behind the safety and convenience of a job you're good at but that you learned to hate, comes with fears and requires a certain readiness to take risks. Many people don't go to such lengths unless 1) their current situation is insufferable and 2) they have a very strong motivator to start all over. Like love or passion. As both stem from the same place, I'm equating them in the following.

Taking your first step into the uncharted territory of your new future IS scary. It can be one of the hardest things you have ever done. Especially if it means a complete reorientation. But burning for this future—be it out of love for your new subject/field, a specific person you will work with etc.—is a truly inspiring experience that fills you with the confidence that you can actually do it. So far, Viktor has been on the receiving end of coaching, but his feelings for Yuuri, his experience as a skater, and his resulting dedication to the task ultimately turn him into a good coach for Yuuri and help him succeed where Celestino failed. And it's obvious that Viktor really loves being Yuuri's coach.

Viktor Nikiforov is a true inspiration for everyone who faces the choice of staying on in a life or work situation that is making them miserable or going full risk by following one's heart. I cannot thank Sayo Yamamoto and Mitsurou Kubo enough for creating a show with so many mature characters that are dealing with realistic adult issues and I'm happy that one of my favourite YOI characters is one of them. I wish that Viktor would receive more appreciation for this.

I want to thank the reader of Thousand Spotlights whose comment about my portrayal of Viktor inspired me to finally write this post 🩷 Also many thanks to @cecebeanie for reading over it in advance 🩷

Please note:

In some cultures, changing your job frequently is normal and thus not a big thing for people, but the concept I've discussed is the universal.

This meta doesn't attempt to be a comprehensive analysis of Viktor's situation as this would have gone beyond the cope of this post (I have written other metas that discuss some of these). Viktor shows signs of depression and/or creative burnout that might or might not have to do with focusing on skating for most of his life. Depression can manifest itself differently in different people and no one's experience is less valid than someone else's.

If you enjoyed this meta, please consider giving me a follow or checking out my works on AO3 (link in bio), which build upon my analyses.

This is the most adorable thing ever

Yuri on Ice Sanrio

SO TRUE I only just recently watched Yuri on Ice for the first time and it’s already a comfort show for me xD Before YOI I only had one comfort movie but I now have a comfort series; just—the beauty of the skating and music combined with the themes of love is SO ENDEARING

you know what?? I never really got what people were talking about when they said they had comfort shows/movies/books. but after rewatching Yuri on Ice for the [redacted] time, I think it's finally clicked

Bam took that advice and shinsu black hole-sphered it out of existence

I don’t normally do essays but on a serious note that scene in s3 made me tear up. In the grand scheme of things we don’t get a lot of scenes with Bam and Khun together, so Khun being there to comfort him as he’s struggling to deal with the fact that he had to burn the souls is such a sweet moment. Their relationship has evolved so much over the years, and despite there having been so many times when they’ve been apart, they always come back to one another and still find that they are never more honest and relaxed than when they’re around each other.

It shows how much Bam trusts Khun now, that he goes to him for comfort when he needs it most, because Khun gives him a safe space to just cry and come to terms with the worst of what he’s been through. And this is even after he confirms it was Khun who helped White get his power back. Bam fully trusts in Khun’s judgement and plans, and doesn’t even express doubt about what he did, only that he would’ve liked a heads up.

It shows how much Khun cares about Bam. He understood that burning the souls would be tough for him to come to terms with, and so was immediately there for him when he realized what Bam did. And despite Bam saying he was fine, Khun knew better. He knew it was tearing him up inside, and so gave him the words of support and reassurance that he needed. You can also see how much Khun admires Bam in this moment, because he mentions how he didn’t feel any guilt for using the souls to save his friends, unlike Bam. Bam is such a genuine and empathetic person, and he truly hurts every time someone gets hurt or dies. That is why Khun followed Bam, and why he is still following Bam. And just like Bam showed his trust in Khun, Khun shows his mutual trust in Bam by telling him never to doubt his feelings, because they are what allow him to be such a kindhearted person, and what Khun loves about him the most.

And while by season 3 Bam has become much more composed and less naive in that he is aware he cannot save everyone, this scene showed that inside he’s still the same Bam as ever, with a heart that bleeds for others and that wants to save as many people as possible. He has grown a lot, but he is still driven by love. His need to protect the friendships he has made and the people he loves is what drives him. But it is not easy, and especially by season 3 he knows he will have to make a lot of difficult choices. Yet he also knows that the people he is fighting for will always be there for him. And it is so much more poignant when that person is Khun Aguero Agnes, who was his first ever friend in the tower and who still supports and believes in him after all this time.

MY BROTHER IN CHRIST

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...no comment...

This is so cute to imagine, Xie Lian is definitely a Stardewer. He convinces Hua Cheng to play with him and Hua Cheng is chopping down trees and making upgrades and taking care of the crops, meanwhile Xie Lian is wandering around collecting random shit and giving out the weirdest gifts to the villagers.

Every time Xie Lian is short on something he needs, Hua Cheng just magically pulls out a secret stash of that material, and Xie Lian happily goes on with his day of mining or fishing or foraging or more likely all of the above

stardewlian

It's been more than a week and I can't this image out of my head.

I'm 100% sure Xie Lian would love to play Stardew Valley. It would be his favorite game. It has so many things he would love, specially the combat in the mines. But he would have so much fun fishing, and farming, and collecting things that he finds around, and raising animals. He would yap nonstop to Hua Cheng about every little thing he'd do too. I can see him spending hours lost in the game.

Ok FIRST OF ALL I fucking love Dramaturgy it’s one of my favorite songs, and SECOND OF ALL you made the aesthetic fit KhunBam so well, like this is beautiful, Khun cutting the strings that imprisoned Viole when he was essentially a puppet under FUG, represented by the eyes in the background, AH everything is perfection

Dramaturgy

3rd entry for @/apotelesma_tog fanzine