I was thinking last night that maybe one of the more important experiences in my life was how this girl who spent an entire school year bullying me ruthlessly at recess wound up being one of my good friends a couple years later when we were in orchestra together. We didn’t recognize each other for a while. It was strange.
This isn’t my *only* experience like this, but it’s one of the ones that really cemented his idea I have that, like…. circumstances matter. Sometimes you just weren’t in the right place or time or headspace or context to connect and communicate as humans, but almost anyone *could* be a friend if life went the right way.
Maybe this is why I like the “opposites sides forced to work together” and the “enemies to friends” tropes so much, but it’s just… fascinating to play with context in fanfiction. What does it take for two people to understand each other?
It is important to
Midorima that Takao knows he is not ashamed of him. He doesn’t know the full
specifics, but he understands that this was (in varying degrees) a factor into
why Takao’s previous two relationships ended.
“Yamamoto is a good
guy,” Takao explained once, “And it was probably unfair of me to break up with
him. I just didn’t want to be someone else’s dirty little secret again, you
know?”
Midorima still
remembered the night Takao explained about how his middle school romance ended,
and how furious he’d felt about that. He didn’t know how Takao could talk about
it so easily now, how he didn’t seem to wish any of them harm, despite the fact
that Midorima was all too happy to hurt them. It bothered Midorima a whole lot
that anyone could do that to Takao, to the point where he still wishes
he could hurt everyone who had hurt his boyfriend.
But that’s not what
Takao wanted. What Takao wanted was to make sure it didn’t happen again,
and Midorima will make sure it never happens again.
He’s just not sure if
he’s doing it right.
*
They don’t tell their
parents. First because Takao had said, “Oh God, Mom is going to gloat forever
if she finds out,” and Midorima had pictured having this conversation with Dr.
Kishitani and it had all seemed far too embarrassing.
(Then it became clear
that Dr. Kishitani was dating Takao’s mother, and all things considered, maybe
it was best if they continued to not tell their respective parental
figures about their relationship).
And this is something
they mutually agreed upon but it still makes Midorima wonder if Takao feels
like Midorima is hiding his relationship from his guardian. He worries a lot
about whether or not this is something that bothers Takao.
*
To compensate, they
don’t hide it at school. Not that they do anything different at school than
they ever did before they started dating (although, since everyone seemed to
think they were dating before they started dating, maybe they didn’t need to do
anything different), but if anyone asked, Midorima made sure to always respond
truthfully that they were dating.
“You’re usually such a
tsundere, Shin-chan,” Takao teases after the first time he hears Midorima
declare, “Yes, Takao and I are involved romantically,” to someone’s question. “I
can’t believe you just came out and said that.”
“I don’t know what
you’re talking about,” Midorima says, “I am always very open about my
feelings.”
He’s not quite sure
why Takao laughed at him.
*
They go everywhere
together, with Takao often driving Midorima in his rickshaw, and that doesn’t
feel like they’re hiding anything although Midorima is not entirely sure how
much of a couple they look.
But it is important to
him that Takao knows that Midorima would never hide him, would never make him
his secret, so one day they’re out in the mall and Midorima decides, To hell
with it, and he kisses Takao right there where everyone can see.
He does not expect
Takao to pull back, beet red, sputtering, “Shin-chan! Wh-what—?” and then eyes
him suspiciously and says, “What’s your sign?”
“Pineapples!” Midorima
says, indignantly, remembering their long ago code, “Exactly when would I have
been switched out for Kise or a clone?”
“I don’t know but I’m
not ruling anything out,” Takao says, still blushing. “What is with you?”
Midorima scowls
because this is all incredibly unfair. “I just wanted you to know. That I’m not
hiding you. Or anything.”
Takao buries his face
in his hands and Midorima wonders if maybe he did something wrong but then
Takao looks up and says, “OK, my boyfriend is adorable. Also, not hiding does
not mean making out in public, we are Japanese, not Americans, come on,
Shin-chan. Further also, we need to go home right now where I can make out with
you properly and maybe take off your clothes.”
“Don’t be so
shameless, Takao,” Midorima says, his turn to blush.
“Oh, you never get to
accuse me of shamelessness ever again, stud,” Takao says, dragging him by his
collar.
as a long-time figure skating fan, i’ve been really looking forward to yuri on ice, and i wanted to talk a little bit about the skating in episode 1. i worry that maybe people who aren’t as into skating don’t understand how RIDICULOUS that program viktor did was.
this is not in any way a complaint. the program was completely unrealistic, but not because anyone involved with the show neglected to do their research. it was clear they actually put a ton of research & work in, and then intentionally designed something that was the skating equivalent of your power level being over 9000. viktor (and yuri) went out there and threw down the skating version of a level 100 mewtwo. it was DELIGHTFUL.
so first of all:
four quads is… not technically IMPOSSIBLE, but right at the very edge of what is currently possible in men’s figure skating. a quad (jump with four revolutions) is REALLY DIFFICULT. as recently as 2010, the olympic champion in men’s skating didn’t even have ONE quad in his program; i remember as recently as five years ago scott hamilton saying TWO quads was “superhuman.” the highest score EVER received in men’s skating was yuzuru hanyu at the grand prix final in 2015, where he performed three quads. the second highest score ever received was javier fernandez at worlds last year, where he also performed three quads. skating fans can correct me if i’m wrong but the only skater i can think of who has EVER performed four quads in one program is boyang jin, who is tiny and has made jump rotation his whole life. to have a seasoned 27-year-old skater performing four quads is completely delightful nonsense.
his first jump is a quad lutz. for some context, the rough ranking of skating jumps from easiest to most difficult is something like: toe loop, salchow, loop, flip, lutz, axel. you might notice a lutz is the SECOND MOST DIFFICULT JUMP POSSIBLE, and actually more difficult than the axel for some skaters. accordingly, MOST quads are toe loops or salchows. since a quad axel has literally never been performed, a quad lutz is the SINGLE MOST DIFFICULT jump ever landed in skating competition, EVER. although people have been trying to do quad lutz since the early 2000s, you can probably count the number of skaters who have landed it successfully on one hand. this jump is nearly ALWAYS underrotated or even downgraded to a triple. in my lifetime as a skating fan i can only think of a couple times i’ve seen this jump landed as cleanly as viktor does it here.
if that wasn’t enough, the lutz usually has a very specific set-up where the skater glides backward on one foot for a couple seconds before turning their skate blade onto the outside edge. that’s how the technique for the lutz jump is TAUGHT. it’s extremely impressive for someone to be able to throw a lutz out there without this setup. viktor does it and gets four full rotations.
then he follows it up with:
the first quad flip IN HISTORY was landed for the first time LAST APRIL. APRIL 2016. i also remember people trying this one back in 2010-2011, but it wasn’t successfully landed until THIS YEAR. and it’s viktor’s SIGNATURE MOVE!!! and he does it immediately after landing the other most difficult jump in skating!!!!!! he just pulled out two jumps most skaters can only dream of ever landing maybe once in their entire careers, BACK TO BACK.
again, the HIGHEST SCORE EVER AWARDED IN MEN’S FIGURE SKATING, EVER, was given to a program with one quad salchow and two quad toe loops. jumps SIGNIFICANTLY easier (but still extremely difficult) than viktor’s two opening jumps. and he’s just fucking getting started.
he does a flawless triple axel and then some footwork and spins. then he throws out something maybe a touch less superhuman:
for any real life skater, this would already be one of the greatest performances of their career. but viktor isn’t done yet.
he does a long (gorgeous) footwork sequence, triple lutz, triple flip, and:
i already mentioned how ridiculous four quads is, but this is even better. skaters will typically put their most difficult jumps near the beginning of the program, because they’re easier to land before your legs get tired. recognizing this, the scoring system gives you an extra 10% bonus on the jump’s value if it’s in the second half of the program. viktor pulls out a quad-triple combo, still one of the most difficult jumps in figure skating, as his LAST JUMP. HIS LAST JUMP. a free skate program lasts four and a half minutes. after four and a half minutes of grueling, exhausting activity, viktor soars into a quad-triple so beautiful it could be used to teach the combination to other skaters.
AND YURI KEEPS UP WITH ALL OF THIS. YURI, WHO CAME IN LAST AT THE GPF. YURI CAN DO THIS TOO. this program is significantly more difficult than anything that has ever been competed irl, and this show has TWO SKATERS DOING IT SIMULTANEOUSLY. WHAT A GREAT SHOW???
for any skating nerds out there, here is my breakdown of the jumps in viktor’s program:
4Lz – 13.60 4F – 12.30 3A – 8.50 4S – 10.50 3A+3Lo+2Lo – 15.40 3Lz x – 6.60 3F x – 5.83 4T+3T x – 16.06
to explain what this means. the world record score in men’s figure skating was given to yuzuru hanyu in 2015. for that program, the base value for the jumps alone (so not even taking execution into consideration, just the sheer value yuzuru got for completing the jumps he did) was 79.87 points.
the total base value of the jumps viktor (and yuri) performed in this program was 88.79.
this program would have handily crushed the world record. and yuri throws it out there in his home rink when he’s out of shape during the off-season.
AWESOME post (thank you for all the pro insights!). But adding two things:
2) To clarify, Yuri did not land all four quads in “Stay Close to Me.” The show deliberately cuts away from him for most of the jumps in that program, and then Yuri explicitly tells us in episode 3 that he can only land the quad toe loop comfortably and the salchow only during practice/not in competition. He even asks Yurio, later in the ep, to teach him how to land the quad salchow. Later in the series, Yuri learns more quads as he studies under Viktor. But in episode one’s performance of “Stay Close to Me,” Yuri definitely did not/could not land all the quads that living legend Viktor Nikoforov did.
this is fantastic information, thank you!
i had a rough idea that they were performing at a rather cinematic ability level. i never skated except for a bit of neighborhood hockey, but i did legwork-heavy sports like fencing and taekwondo, and i know how four minutes of it is a damn eternity. taekwondo, particularly, is three two-minute rounds, and it’s exhausting, by the end of a bout if you’re well matched your lungs are on fire and your ankles feel like crumbly cheese. i figured these routines were like going for spin kicks to the head in the third round, which is how you either get the most points or end up facedown on the mat, usually the latter.
but apparently it’s even more impressive than that. like spin kicks to the head in the third round one right after the other, with a little breakdancing in between, en pointe, while singing hallelujah.
Male writer creating a male character: This is Bruce Killshot. He has over 10,000 confirmed kills and is the top spy in the Super Hard To Get Into Spy Organization Of The World. He is a master of every martial art and can use virtually any weapon with ease. He’s not only a Real Gruff Man but a Ladies’ Man who smokes cigars while Having Sex With Beautiful Women but he never gets attached. He’s a Hard Whiskey Drinking Man who once killed an elephant with a toothpick and bottle of glue.
Men: this is so realistic wow such a complex character….
A woman: This is Angela, she’s the protagonist of the story and the chosen one who comes from a mystical bloodline, she has a natural talent for magic and can-
Men: THIS IS FUCKING SELF-INSERT MARY SUE TRASH ARE YOU KIDDING ME
just moving along like everyone else 