#YURI NATION WE HAVE WON

[karver518]

NO LONGER IN CONCEPT ART HELL???? HELLO??

[jewishvitya]

Hi, I stumbled upon your political posts (and then Yuri, you might get me to watch it now) and I find your perspective fascinating. Maybe it's because I grew up with rather a lot of exposure to Palestinians and various peace movements, but your experience is alien to me, and I am really thankful to be able to read it.

I would like to ask, what do you define as Zionism? As the last month taught me that no two people define this term the same. For me it is the ability for the Jewish people to control our own life in a land that we are bound to, and that has no contradiction with the Palestinian doing the same on this land, that they are bound to it as well. No pressure to answer, just pure curiosity.

And if I may offer some hope for our future? On the fourth day of the war, someone who helps in one of the donation centres for the displaced Israelis ask in the group chat if there is a way to pass the extra clothing and equipment to the people of Gaza. In the past two month I got invites for over a dozes or meeting between Israelis and Palestinians, meetings were both sides shared their sorrows and hopes. When an acquaintance was raising money to help a Bedouin family whose house was hit by a rocket, he has to tell people to stop donating. People in my surrounding have been talking about the day after, building plans so they could help build a better place for both people. A long-fought battle in the courts was won, and a group of settlers were ordered to evacuate Palestinian land. Activists have been going to assist in the olive harvests in the West Bank, despite it all.

There is hope for us here.

Hi! Thank you! If you do watch YOI I hope you enjoy it lol.

I know my experience is not very common. Even other Israelis get shocked by the depth of the hatred and the indoctrination sometimes. I try to emphasize that it comes from the most extremist community we have, because I have no idea what the schooling looks like in other areas.

And sure, I'll try to explain, and maybe also why I choose to label myself as anti-zionist.

I don't know that I can give you a dictionary definition, because I define zionism mainly by what it did in practice - the colonizing of Palestine. And when I say colonizing, I'm not making claims about indigeniety or lack of it. I'm defining it through our tactics and our actions. Especially because early in the movement they openly used colonialist frameworks.

Some of the softer definitions of zionism, things like our right to self determination, our right to seek safety - these aren't things I'm against. And I understand that within zionism there were other proposed ideas that weren't necessarily meant to end up with an ethnostate, resulting in ethnic cleansing. So I know zionism is more complicated than what we see in Israel. But what we see now is the reality people are living as the outcome.

If we came here and said "we've been longing to go back here for such a long time, we suffered so much abuse, we want to live alongside you in our shared homeland, can we find a way to ensure our safety and yours" - this would have been a different conversation. Still complicated, because mass immigration is complicated, but different.

In reality, we destroyed communities to manufacture an ethnic majority. Tore a whole society apart and shattered it, spread it all over the world. We killed and expelled and traumatized. I called it the cycle of abuse on the scale of nations - taking horrors we suffered and inflicting them on others. So given the practical results of the zionist movement, I can't treat those softer definitions as the "true" definitions that people should go by.

I keep thinking about Jewish refugees being given the homes of Palestinians with meals still on the table. Because of course we have a right to food and shelter, but not at their expense. And I know you agree with me on this.

When I say I oppose zionism, that's generally because I'm talking about the reality, the impact the movement had on human lives, not an idealized version we might imagine or a philosophy someone wrote about that never came to be.

For me, if I want to talk about our safety in our ancestral homeland and detach it from the horrors committed by Israel, zionism isn't the right framework. And after all the destruction we caused the land to conquer and colonize it, if I want to talk about our connection to it, I think zionism shouldn't be the word I'm using.

There's also an aspect of, by insisting on defining zionism through a nicer idea rather than harm done to real people, I see it as taking away a language that oppressed people are using to talk about their oppression.

I hope that makes sense.

I really want us to find a different way to work towards safety, without it being at the expense of another group of people.

And thank you for that last paragraph. I definitely have hope. It's hard, seeing videos of our soldiers being so gleeful about the destruction. I lost a friend of over ten years because of the callous and cruel things he said over the past couple of months, and I can't bring myself to repeat them. But I know that better things are possible, and I'm glad we're building towards them. I'm terrified that our government won't let us move in that direction, but we're going to push there anyway.

[melyapperofthecentury]

YURI NATION!!

WE WON!!!

NEW YURI ISAMI CAAARDDDDDD LET'S GOOOOO PRAY FOR ME I NEED HIM I NEED YURI CARD I HAVE BEEN MANIFESTING A NEW YURI CARD FOR SOOOO LONGGGGG YURIIII MY BABYGIRLLLLLL 😭🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏✨✨✨ IM SAUR SAVED RN!!!!

[alagaisia]

Obviously this is not going to have the spread of the Lunar Landing Day post and that’s fine but as my notes go crazy once again I just need to voice several things I’m sure I have already said in past years

1: so glad people are having fun but I do regret not using the words Lunar Landing Day in the post. “Moon day” is so silly and unserious 😔 obviously it’s not a Serious Serious concept, it’s meant to just be fun, but I like the more official sound of Lunar Landing Day (or even Moon Landing Day, but I’m pro-alliteration). I do think it should be a real holiday! With a real name!

2: I’m not pro- US hegemony. I understand that the goalposts of the so-called “space race” were repeatedly move so that the US could claim they had won when the USSR beat them to several previous space exploration milestones, all of which are also incredible scientific and technological achievements and wonderfully showcase the indomitable human spirit of curiosity and discovery. And I’ve loved learning about Russia’s Yuri’s Night and Friendship Day in Brazil and other celebrations of space and space exploration around the world! I don’t actually think that the reason the moon landing should be celebrated is because of the political impact; I mentioned it in the post as part of why I’m surprised it isn’t already widely celebrated, even if partly for the wrong reasons. I think it should be recognized because space is very cool, the space program has led to countless advancements in technology and scientific understanding on earth, and because regardless of political context, a human being setting foot on another planetary body for the first time seems to me like a monumental achievement for our species (and saying so doesn’t exclude other similar achievements such as Yuri Gagarin’s historic orbit of earth).

3: I know there were Nazis in ranks of the US space program. I’m Jewish. I’m not saying we should have a Wernher Von Braun celebration, or that we should ignore or brush aside any broader criticism of the US political climate in the 1960s and how that played out at NASA, including nazi involvement and segregation. I think those things should absolutely be in the public consciousness. Also, I think it’s important to recognize and uplift the diversity that did exist within the space program, and figures such as Margaret Hamilton, Katherine Johnson, and countless others, and tell their stories. I don’t think the presence of bad people and bad policies outweighs the hard work and dreams of the many, many others who worked to make the moon landing possible, and fought to participate even in spite of discriminatory policies and other flawed practices, because they believed so passionately in the core mission at hand.

4: I also know and have been excited to learn that today is international moon landing day. I think that’s very cool! It also does not invalidate the point of my post, which is that I think that the occasion should, a. Have broader recognition in my country and communities, and b. Be treated as an important national holiday, with a day off of work, annual acknowledgement from organizations and employers and elected officials, with news articles and education and even cheap party decorations and sales on barbecue supplies. I think it would be fun. We’re far enough removed from that problematic political context that I don’t think it would slip into nationalistic ire, but rather be celebrated purely for the joy and wonder of the achievement.

5: please stop telling me that you think the moon landing was faked or making cynical little comments about how the reason it’s not celebrated is because people think it was faked. Personally, I think that would not be nearly as much of an issue if it were more widely celebrated! You never see anyone saying “I don’t think the Fourth of July actually happened,” even though there are of course valid criticisms and reasons to not be comfortable with the holiday. It’s a normalized and accepted part of our social culture and history, whatever else surrounds it. I think scientific achievement across the board is not celebrated or acknowledged nearly enough, and maybe having a major public holiday in that area would/would have help(ed) to combat the widespread anti-intellectual and misinformation surrounding scientific research and breakthroughs (such as vaccinations!) that’s such a problem in particularly the US right now. That’s not what I was thinking of when I originally made the post, but it seems to me like an obvious possibility.

6: I wish the very happiest of birthdays to everyone whose birthday is on July 20th who has ever been mentioned in the notes of the Lunar Landing Day post! It’s always so fun and silly and the main very repetitive comment that I do not at all mind seeing hundreds of times. Any reason to celebrate is a good one, and I’m glad so many of you are so excited to share an important day with such a cool event.

[chimerafflesia]

the odds were against me, they tried to keep me humble, they said predaplant was tier 3, BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW ME!!! 💜🌿🩷

this was probably the most difficult ranked season I've ever played. like, jesus christ. I ranked down from Legend 5 to 3 TWICE. I lost two different KOG rank up matches. I got super poly'd 100,000 times. one of my losses was posted on the duel links subreddit. but I knew I could do it and I just couldn't give up. AND I DIDN'T. KOG OFF PURE PREDAPLANT BABY THIS ONES FOR THE YURI NATION ‼️‼️‼️

I think something comes over me when I play this deck because I'm just so excited and happy to be able to play as Yuri (even months later) that I just lock the hell in. as always here's the decklist

last month's KOG post was me being humble but this month I'm just proud. in a hero/salamangreat tier 1 meta nightmare I STILL did it! and yes predaplant is competitive and yeah the skill is broken (although compared to some others it seems pretty decent to me) this still wasn't easy (predap is admittedly a bad match against salamangreat and oh boy there was a lot of that) but idk man this was just pure love of the game for me. I thought about giving up like 5 times but in my mind I just knew I could do it.

big love to my Yuri like I said I think playing as him just automatically gives me a boost because how can I lose when I've already won by playing as my fav? <3

^ live footage of me on the ranked ladder when I'm already insane off seeing 12 Jaden's in row but by god I got one more in me.

(even though we don't have our super poly anymore it feels appropriate to bring back the original #YuriSweep image. we can put it in a new context: this is me prevailing over all the super poly I had to deal with‼️)

at the end of this day I just really love this game. thank you. 🥰

[odinsblog]

Arnold Schwarzenegger, MAR 17, 2022

Full transcript below the cut

Hello everybody, and thank you for sharing your time with me. I'm sending this message through various different channels to reach my dear Russian friends, and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine.

I'm speaking to you today because there are things that are going on in the world that are being kept from you—terrible things that you should know about. But before I talk about the harsh realities, let me just talk about the Russian who became my hero.

In 1961 when I was 14 years-old, a very good friend of mine invited me to come to Vienna to watch the World Weightlifting Championship. I was in the audience when Yuri Petrovich Vlasov won the World Championship title, becoming the first human being to lift 200 kilograms over his head. And somehow a friend of mine got me backstage.

All of a sudden, there I was, a 14-year-old boy standing in front of the strongest man in the world. I couldn't believe it. He reached out to shake my hand—I mean, I still had a boy's hand. He had this powerful man's hand that swallowed mine, but he was kind, and he smiled at me. I will never forget that day. Never.

I went home and I put his photo above my bed to inspire me when I started lifting weights. My father told me to take down that picture and to find a German or an Austrian hero. He got really angry, and we argued back and forth.

He didn't like Russians, because of his experience in the second World War. You see, he was injured at Leningrad, where the Nazi army that he was part of did vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people. But I did not take the photograph down, no. Because it didn't matter to me what flag Yuri Vlasov carried.

My connections to Russia didn't stop there, by the way. Oh, it actually deepened when I traveled there, with bodybuilding and for my movies and met all my Russian fans.

And then one of those trips I remember I met Yuri Vlasov once again. It was in Moscow during the filming of Red Heat, which was the first American movie allowed to film in Red Square. Now, he and I spent the day together. He was so thoughtful, so kind, and so smart. And, of course, very giving. He gave me this beautiful, blue coffee cup. And ever since then I've been drinking my coffee out of it every morning.

Now, the reason why I'm telling you all of those things is that ever since I was 14 years old, I've had nothing but affections and respect for the people of Russia. The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me.

And that is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in the Ukraine and what is happening there.

No one likes to hear something critical of their government. I understand that. But, as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say. And may I remind you that I speak with the same heartfelt concern as I spoke to the American people when there was an attempted insurrection on January sixth last year, when a wild crowd was storming the U.S. Capital, trying to overthrow our government.

You see, there are moments like this that are so wrong, and then we have to speak up. This is exactly the same with your government. I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine. Denazify Ukraine? This is not true! Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president. A Jewish president, I might add, whose father's three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.

You see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people's war. No. As a matter of fact, let me tell you, what you should know is that 141 nations at the U.N. voted that Russia was the aggressor. They called for it to remove its troops immediately.

Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact. See, the world has turned against Russia because of its actions in the Ukraine. Whole city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a children's hospital and a maternity ward. Three million Ukrainian refugees—mainly women, children, and the elderly—fled their country, and many more are trying to seek to get out.

It is a humanitarian crisis. Because of its brutality, Russia is now isolated from the society of nations.

You're also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on Russia itself. I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed. They have been caught between the Ukrainians fighting for their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest.

Massive amounts of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down upon innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country. Those who don't deserve it on both sides of the war will suffer.

The Russian government has lied, not only to the citizens, but to its soldiers. Some of the soldiers were told they were going to fight Nazis. Some were told that the Ukrainian people would greet them like heroes. And some were told that they were simply going on exercises—they didn't even know that they were going into war. And some were told that they were there to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine. None of this is true.

The fact is that Russian soldiers have faced fierce resistance from the Ukrainians who want to protect their families and their country. When I see babies being pulled out of ruins, I think that I am watching a documentary about the horrors of the Second World War, not the the news of today.

Now let me tell you, when my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. And when he left Leningrad, he was broken, physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain. Pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years. And pain from the guilt that he felt.

To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of the truth that I've been speaking. You have seen it with your own eyes. I don't want you to be broken like my father. This is not the war to defend Russia that your grandfathers or your great-grandfathers fought. This is an illegal war.

Your lives, your limbs, your futures, are being sacrificed for a senseless war condemned by the entire world.

Now, to those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you: Why would you sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?

To the soldiers who are listening to this, remember that 11 million Russians have family connections to Ukraine. So every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or a sister. Every bomb or every shell that falls, is falling not on an enemy but on a school, or a hospital, or a home. I know that the Russian people are not aware that such things are happening.

So I urge the Russian people and the Russian soldiers in Ukraine to understand the propaganda and the disinformation that you are being told. I ask you to help me spread the truth. Let your fellow Russians know the human catastrophe that is happening in Ukraine.

And to President Putin, I say: You started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war.

Now let me close with a message to all of the Russians who have been protesting in the streets against the invasion of Ukraine: The world has seen your bravery. We know that you have suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been arrested. You have been jailed. And you have been beaten. You are my new heroes.

You have the strength of Yuri Petrovich Vlasov. You have the true heart of Russia. My dear Russian friends, may God bless you all.

(source)

[megaboy335]

Anime and Manga of 2024 Review

It’s that time of the year again. Below is my overview of the anime I watched and the manga I read throughout 2024. There will be spoilers and remember it's just my opinion.

1. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End When I make these yearly lists I consider anything that ended within the year to be eligible so of course the top anime of the year is without a doubt Frieren. I’ve been following the manga since it began and I knew right away that it would be a massive hit someday. Frieren is about the passage of time with an Elf who realizes how short the human lifespan is. She comes to realize that despite always being with Himmel and his party for 10 years, she barely knew a single thing about them nor treasured the time together. So with a new party and a renewed goal of reaching Heaven for one last conversation with Himmel, she sets forth on a quest that is part making new memories while retracing old events. I thought the anime was the most perfect adaptation I’ve seen in a long time. They nailed the atmospheric slow pacing, they went all out on the action scenes, and the seiyuu cast brought out the best of the characters. I would even argue it’s an overall improvement on the manga. The manga is good, but the paneling isn’t the most exciting and the art can be plain looking. I can’t possibly recommend this anime enough. I’m eagerly looking forward to season 2.

2. Hibike Euphonium Season 3 A running theme in 2024 was new seasons for anime that I highly enjoyed from several years ago, the strongest of which was without a doubt Hibike Euphonium. The new season gave me a good reason to watch the recap movies and then the 2023 special to get myself back up to speed, and let me just say WOW. Hibike Euphonium is just as good as I remember, maybe even better since I’m older now and appreciate some of the finer storytelling techniques. Liz is also worth watching. I’ve been on Tumblr for so long that I have my thoughts on record about season 1 (poorly written) from back in the day. Season 3 is all about Kumiko’s 3rd year of high school. She’s now club president and must deal with all the responsibilities that come with managing the underclassman. However, her Eupho position comes under threat from the transfer student Mayu whose skills on the Eupho are just as good as Kumiko, if not downright better. This stirs up tension throughout the season which continues to build and build to the climax. Kumiko and Mayu are presented as foils to each other in a few aspects. Mayu is good at the Eupho while not seeing herself as someone overly committed to the club. Kumiko in contrast feels inferior to Mayu yet feels earning the coveted position on the Soli is a given her seniority status in the club. Everything comes to a head when Kumiko and Mayu have to compete against each other for a spot in the nationals performance. The club had to vote for which was best, and it came down to Reina’s tie breaker. Even though she couldn’t deny Kumiko's music from sound,  Mayu was obviously the better player. We then had a super emotional scene on Mt. Daikichiyama that mirrored season 1 (I visited this location earlier this year). Easily one of the best anime moments this year. So with this season, Kumiko’s story has come to a close. I couldn’t believe KyoAni actually changed the ending of this arc. In the novels it was Kumiko who won the competition. The change to Mayu was so seamless and honestly always felt like that’s where the story momentum was going. Also Shuuichi was more or less banished from the story so season 3 had plenty more Yuri baiting. Anyhow, KyoAni anime only comes out 1-2 times a year and everytime I’m quickly reminded why they are the best. I can’t wait for City and the Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid movie in 2025.

3. Monogatari Off & Monster Season Speaking of long awaited new seasons, this year also featured a new installment of the Monogatari series. This season covers 3 stories from Off Season and the first volume of Monster Season. Right away it was obvious that the direction style was changed to be a blend of the original Bake era and the style used in later installments. I can only describe it as a return to form of what made the anime so attractive in the first place. It's an approach that still perfectly compliments Nisio’s out of the box writing. The first major arc this season was a Nadeko retrospective story where she has to literally confront her past selves. It was the closure to her previous arcs that I didn’t realize I needed. From shy to outgoing to becoming a god, then reverting back to normal, Nadeko has been on a journey like no other. In Nadeko Draw she comes to accept every aspect of herself and how each moment played a role in bringing herself to where she is today. Ironically she’s become more in-tuned into the world of aberrations than ever before. The second major arc revolved around Shinobu and her backstory. We learned that her beauty brought death wherever she went until she encountered the vampire Deathtopia. It's a very Nisio concept to explore the interaction between someone who can kill all and someone who can’t die. It really put into perspective why she treasured Seishirou and Araragi so much later in life. This backstory was a prelude to Shinobu Mustard. A story about Araragi trying to figure out the vampire targeting Kanbaru’s basketball team. It was great seeing Araragi again after all these years. Between more Monogatari anime and Cipher Academy, I’ve been spoiled on experiencing more Nisio writing lately. The man is a non stop writing machine yet he still has the magic touch to make compelling stories.. Surely there will be another installment of Off Season and Monster Season since there’s still plenty more to cover.

4. Too Many Losing Heroines I am no stranger to the losing heroine archetype as someone with over 15 years of experience watching my heroines lose over and over. This Tumblr blog is themed around Kosaki Onodera, the losing heroine of Nisekoi. So when a series comes along that follows the pov of losing heroines from various archetypes then you know I’m in. Too Many Losing asks “What happens afterwards?” We follow Yanami Anna, the stereotypical blue hair losing heroine who took too long to confess and loses her standing to the new pink hair transfer student with large breasts. It’s a troupe as old as time which even Kosaki fell victim to. The story begins at what would be the climax of Yanami’s story.  She is pushing Sosuke, the male character of her story, to see the heroine one last time before she departs. It's the exact moment when so many losing heroines formally lose to the new heroine. We then meet Lemon (the athletic tomboy) and Chika (the shy bookworm type) along with the cast of characters for their respective stories. From here we basically get the aftermath to each one. Our losing heroines can’t simply let go of their feelings after seeing their guy hook with another girl. They all join the school’s literature club and take comfort in knowing each other. I’ll be the first to admit the writing could be stronger, but I think the series works with a solid base. Yanami is one of the funniest characters from this year. The author recently confirmed how they were inspired by Darling in the Franxx’s Ichigo who certainly had an attitude on her shoulders, just as Yanami. We can only imagine how the losing girls act when they’re off-screen and this series provides a glimpse into the characters. It’s written with earnest love for the genre. I’ve picked up the LNs so maybe I’ll have more thoughts to report in the future.

5. Girls Band Cry Lastly, we have a show that came out of nowhere. Girls Band Cry might initially turn off viewers for its CG, but I assure you Toei is the one studio you can trust to give a CG model the personality it needs. Just see all the Precure EDs, some of the movies, and DB Super Hero as recent examples. I too was foolishly dismissive at first as well, but I should have known better. This quickly became one of those shows that defined the odds and grew rapidly in popularity during the season it aired through word of month alone. Girls Band Cry is about Nina moving to the big city in hopes of changing her life. She wants to get away from her strict family and rediscover herself through the escapism of music. There she meets Momoka, Subaru, and a couple other band members to fill out the group. Nina is quite a bundle of rage who always seems ready to blow at any moment. She gets easily misunderstood by everyone around her. Nina is the type who often times believes she is always right to a stubborn degree. A major point of her character arc is getting Momoka to be less dismissive of her own music as Nina struggles to convey how much it changed her own life. They argue, they fight, and in the end they become closer. This better get another season. The Nari character designs are charming. I want to see the group make it big plus Rupa had no episodes for herself. There’s plenty of room for the band to grow and many more challenges to overcome. The CG allowed the series to stand out in a way that I think surprised a lot of people. Between this, Bocchi, and Girl Meets Rock on Jump+, there’s been a strong streak of girls playing bands lately. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best OP/EDs of the Year: 1. One Piece Opening 26 - Perfectly captures the energy going into Egghead and teases everything that will happen in this set of episodes. Also directed by Megumi Ishitani like the previous OP. 2. Tying the Tie with an Amagami Sister ED 1 - Sung by the main seiyuu with pretty visuals. Better than usual for a rom-com ED 3. Bleach TYBW Cour 3 ED - Rare case of ED being better than the OP. I love the stills of each character + there are 3 versions 4. Nadeko Draw OP - A visual adventures in Nadeko's imagination with Yotsugi is very cute. Felt like a continuation of her previous openings 5. Hibike Euphonium Season 3 OP - The Perfect kind of opening that got me in the mood for the episode each week. KyoAni visuals perfect as usual. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wonderful Precure: Precure is usually on my top 5 list, so what happened? Put simply, after 20 years its gone to the dogs. I know how some years of Precure are better than others and the 2024 series had especially big shoes to fill so I had to keep my expectations tampered. Initially I was not pleased with the animal theme or the lack of fighting and minimal plot. However I come out not completely disliking Wonderful Precure. In my All Stars F post I mentioned how one of Precure’s overarching themes is Bonds. This year we explored bonds between pets and their owners through Komugi/Iroha, Mayu/Yuki, and Satoru/Daifuku. On the opposite side we have the wolf Gaou-sama who completely detests humans after being betrayed and seeing his species nearly go extinct. Its got more depth than you might think from the start. The 2025 series will be idols so that’s already promising. While I wouldn’t list these in my top 5, this was a generally good year for Weekly Shonen Jump (and Jump+) anime adaptations. My Hero Academia came and went with another season. Same issue as usual but I’ll give them credit for improving the drawings. We got a shaft-like experience with Undead Unluck that made the anime stand out in ways I didn’t expect. Unfortunately there were pacing issues in the middle and the back half wavered compared to the start. There will be a 1 hour special in a year so we can only hope for another season after that. Dandadan from Science Saru came out swinging. It was always going to be impossible to adapt Yukinobu’s spread compositions to screen yet that made up for that with superb character animation and voice acting. Dandadan Episode 7 was one of the best this year. Bleach TYBW Cour 3 added several much needed scenes for Uryu. Each week I remember how much I enjoyed Bleach and how we didn’t appreciate Kubo while he was around. The Elusive Samurai is definitely one of the best looking Jump anime in a good while. I never would have expected that one to get such strong animation direction. Matsui was overdue to have one of his manga adapted with such style. It's only held back by there not being more right now.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the single best anime episode this year was One Piece Fan Letter, directed by Megumi Ishitani. She honestly might be too good for directing normal episodes at this point. The special was framed around the normal people within the world of One Piece. How do they see those with crazy powers? How is the shifting times affecting them? Do they engage in power scale conversations? It’s a side of the story focused on a point of view that we never experience. It was such a treat to revisit that turbulent time after Marineford within the world of One Piece. Toei please give Megumi Ishitani a full length movie to direct next. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manga Section: The Year of Long Runners Ending

As for manga this was a major transition year for Weekly Shonen Jump. My Hero Academia ended an impressive 10 year run in the magazine and Jujutsu Kaisen concluded just weeks later. As of the time of this writing Undead Unluck and Mission: Yozakura Family are looking to likely be ending in the first weeks of 2025. This will put Me & Roboco as the 2nd oldest series in the magazine and its only a 5 year old title.

Quick thoughts rundown of numerous long runners that concluded this year: 1) Edens Zero - Basically FT in space, could have ended better but I liked the adventures 2) Call of the Night - The kind of romance story you could only get from Kotoyama, loved the atmosphere 3) Twin Star Exorcist - Finally one of the long running Jump SQ series ends after 10 years. Didn’t hate it, but still long past its prime 4) Orient - Got better as it went along. Shame the objective switched to finishing the serialization after it went monthly 5) Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable - Hokkaido Gals are indeed adorable. Very heartfelt harem series with a lot of color pages to enhance key scenes.(Best girl was Sayurin) 6) Jujutsu Kaisen - The battles were 10/10, the plot was confusing nor reached its peak for me. 7) Oshi no Ko - Great journey and I think the ending is misunderstood. Ruby has surpassed Ai by being more relatable to her fans. Everyone knows her mom and brother are dead, so they find her performing with a smile to be endearing and inspiring. 8) My Hero Academia - I wrote a long piece on this ending Looking at the Jump graveyard, as always we lost a couple of series that I thought had promising potential. Mamayuyu’s Yoshihiko Hayashi is a mangaka to remember for the future. Their design work and page compositions are already far beyond the skills of a rookie. He only needs to make his writing easier to understand. Green Green Greeens from Kento Terasaka was surprisingly endearing despite some writing faults. It was about discovering how a new passion can completely change your life. Martial Master Asumi from Kawada was just too cultured for normal readers to understand with character writing that was perhaps too nuanced for a shonen audience. And finally my favorite series to die early, Cipher Academy from Nisioisin and Yuji Iwasaki. It was another instance of “Nisio still has it”. Weaving character development and world building through puzzle solving is the most Nisio thing ever. Solving the puzzles on your own as a reader wasn’t important, the hook was how the characters approached each one. However, that did sort of defeat the purpose of having puzzles in the first place.. Overall it lasted just over 1 year and finished the story fairly conclusively. Iwasaki’s art was crazy good and I hope they find themselves drawing on a major hit someday.

Bonus Section:  Catalog reading 1) Fire Force - I should have finished this sooner. It has very strong highs late in the series and tying it into Soul Eater is a fun touch 2) Bakemonogatari - Oh Great was maybe a bit overly ambitious in trying to bring all the Hanekawa arcs together, but they are still one of the best weekly artists around. Very much a unique take on the story that differs from the anime and original LNs 3) Tokyo Ghoul - Its alright and I got what Ishida was going for. I’m simply glad to check it off after all these years. 4) MHA: Vigilantes - This is definitely one of the best spin-off series I’ve read to a popular main story. It holds up surprisingly well on its own while expanding the MHA world in substantive ways. The upcoming anime will be a must watch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking to 2025: The future's looking good for Weekly Shonen Jump. Kagurabachi has risen to become a new flagship title for the magazine. Osamu Nishi and Shiro Uzasaki have teamed up for Ichi the Witch. A manga about the first male witch in a world where only females are supposed to have magic. Ichi overcomes challenges in absurd ways and Uzasaki’s art has already reached new highs within these first several chapters. I’m excited to see how the story unfolds. Tokyo Revenger’s Ken Wakui also showed up in Jump and his series is pretty decent. Astro Royale a yakuza story about unifying the gang after an apocalyptic event. Himaten looks to be holding its own. I hope the characters can become deeper overtime. Nue’s Exorcist is a series that still exists. Kill Blue is an underrated title in the magazine that has grown on me a lot. I will be hoping that Tsutsui Tashi’s Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery can defy the odds and survive. Weekly Shonen Jump also has plenty of anime to pump out throughout the upcoming year. I hope the Witch Watch anime gets the series more traction. I’m weary of Sakamoto Days from the trailer so far, so we’ll see. Akane Banashi is on deck for an anime announcement next. Please Please Please be in good hands. Jump+ is doing fine by coasting along with anime based on the hits from the last several years. Kindergarten Wars will likely join the ranks by the end of 2025. Girl Meets Rock is doing well, but I think in the grand scheme they’re in a hit lull right now from the new titles. Cheers to another year in the books!!

[houkagokappa]

I went to Desucon Frostbite this weekend :3

The head organizer commented that it was their 10th year attending Desucon events, and that's actually true for me too, Desucon Frostbite 2014 was one of the first cons I ever attended (never forget and please let me forget).

I always attend the opening and closing ceremonies. This year they did a small performance spoofing Death Note and sentai stuff, which was well made as usual and I'm always impressed by, considering the performers are volunteers and not professionals.

This year's guest of honor was composer and musician Yasuharu Takanashi. He held a concert on Friday night together with Finnish metal musicians I feel some amount of national shame not knowing, because they seemed like fairly big names. I'm not big on metal music, but it's always nice listening to live music, and it was fun to get something to do on Friday night, since most con activities don't start until Saturday. I also attended Takanashi's panel on Saturday, and although I wasn't familiar with the music he composed to Naruto or Fairy Tale, he was an entertaining guest (comes with the profession, some writers/directors they've had in the past have been a little awkward). Me and my friend spent the entire time hungering for a Show By Rock!! mention, as he had apparently worked on that as well, but alas it wasn't brought up and we didn't dare ask him about it during audience questions.

As for other programs, I attended a lecture on character and clothing design in Suisei no Majo, which was really nice and informative. I haven't read any staff interviews on it, so I didn't know anything about the designing process or the people behind it and it was fun to learn about it. I also went to a lecture on analysing yuri, which was disappointing, since it contained little to no actual analyzing on what makes yuri "yuri". They made a lot of jokes about the famous Iori Miyazawa "Yuri Made Me Human" interview and I would've loved to hear their takes on the whole "yuri of absence" concept, how much truth or weight we should put on it, why the yuri classification matters, or if it even matters, considering the freedom and joy of your own interpretations vs. the importance of representation and author intent, or how expectations and readings differs in the West compared to Japan, etc.. Their lecture was on the shorter side and went over some common misconceptions over terminology and reader demographics, which I guess was nice, although I feel like (or at least hope) most people in the room would already be aware of those. Overall I think the lecture description might've been at fault here, because it gave me the impression there would be more actual discussion and analysis on these topics/I misinterpreted what the lecture would be about. At least people seemed to enjoy the jokes.

Then, me and my friend always attend the AMV contest, and this year I left the contest happy, because for once all of my favourite AMV's got honorable mentions or won some of the prizes! The audience favourite award usually goes to some humor video I don't care for, but this year it went to a PMMM video I actually really, really liked!! My other favourites were the PMMM/SKU mashup which worked surprisingly well, and another SKU one. Same series, but very different AMV's lol.

Another tradition I have is to drink the official Desu Drinks, although I should stop because they're small, expensive and not that interesting anymore (Kill la Kill takaisin!!!!). This year I drank "Beck", which contained Finlandia, ginger ale and a slice of lime. It was good, but not "10,50€ good". For Saturday's dinner we went to one of the Indian restaurants that was still operating in Lahti (restaurants DO NOT stay open there). The food was pretty basic, but good, as expected from a place like this.

I brought my Monogatari itabag with me, because I wanted to celebrate the recent Off Season and Monster Season announcements (plus it's fun to use my itabags, and it's quite practical to have a big bag with me even if it weighs a ton lmao). As for merch, I bought Farwell to my Alter by Nio Nakatani at the con flea market for very cheap, and then I FINALLY got my hands on the first volume of March Comes in Like a Lion. I've been wanting to get it from my local shop, but they've never had it when I've been there to look for it. I'm suuuuuper happy to have it in my hands!!!! Then I bought one roll of washi tape from the artist alley with adorable long-tailed tits and plum blossoms. I suppose it's good I didn't spend that much money this con, although there was more manga that tempted me (why must River's Edge be 20€ ugh, maybe next time).

I was also happy to briefly see and chat with some of my kimono friends, and then I finally met up with @akroglam who I've been mutuals with for ...7 years? That was a lot of fun, although I felt like a stalker for all the "I saw that on your twitter/tumblr" comments I made :P

And here you have it, my diary entry for the Desucon Frostbite weekend. Thanks for taking the time to read it :)

[talenlee]

Story Pile: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Media has a context.

2023 for example, was a year where I think the anime offerings were, in the vague and generalised way these terms can be used, ‘bad.’ 2022 was a year where I think that anime in that same generalised way, were ‘very good.’ And across those two years there stood the anime Mobile Suit Gundam, The Witch From Mercury. In 2022 it was one of a number of anime I held up as examples of how the year was going to always sit in history books as overstuffed with quality. In 2023, it was an anime that had a lot of people in the western anime space around me, really, really cross.

Since in this case, I’m going to talk about this anime pretty thoroughly, and I’m going to be making dumb jokes the whole time, you’re probably going to want to decide up front if you want to see something that could constitute a spoiler. That means this is your Spoiler Warning and if you keep going after this point you don’t get to be mean to me about learning things you might not have expected to know.

Rosebud is that guy’s sled.

Anyway, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is the latest as of this minute Gundam mainline anime. Gundam is a franchise of giant fighting robots that has an eye towards creating a really wonderful mix of sick and cool giant fighting robot warfare narratives (which are dope) and real world materially considered war stories, with their meaningful consequences and the idea of militaries as functions of people, operating on and pursuant to those people with power enough to enforce their will. Simplified, it’s a cool big robot show that’s also a gritty realistic war narrative, and that’s how they almost all work.

Even the one that’s about collecting Gundam toys.

Witch from Mercury is a Gundam story set in a space-borne future where humanity has transcended the boundaries of nations and instead are now formed around the much more sensible and coherent and not at all deeply ideologically compromised organisation of extraplanetary corporations. These corporations build robots that aren’t for military purposes as much as they are for things that could be used in a general, vague, sort of schmilitaryish sense. The result is a sort of ongoing perpetual warfare state where corporations are in their aloof, safe spaces away from the problems they’re causing, and contracting around the ways you can make money from, you know, doing the best job of killing the shit out of one another.

In this space, there is a privileged private academy where students partake in Learning To Use Military Weapons (possibly as some sort of prestigious representation of power and as like, iconographic reduction of military ordinance into just generalised positive symbols of technological development) and even do duels with these war machines in virtualised combat arenas to represent strength and enforce a class distinction.

Into this space of high schoolers doing giant robot duels to show how good and cool their uh, medical research technology is, we introduce Suletta Mercury, who is an outsider of this context. That’s super useful because now she gets to have the story explained to her while she goes about the business of having a very busy first day of school in which she finds out about the class structures, and hierarchy and then gets into a duel and kicks the ass of the best boy in school and then in the process steals his girlfriend.

It’s a big day!

But dont’ worry it’s not the first time they met! Suletta met this girl, Miorine, a little bit ago, you know, when Miorine was trying to escape the school since she didn’t want to be part of their games where, again, she got to be a trophy people won in duels.

Like I said, big day!

This is a yuri series. It’s a series about a relationship between two girls. They get engaged in the first episode, they learn about each other throughout the series, they get closer, they develop a greater understanding of one another and what it means to be engaged, they break up, they recommit, they come together, and they get married by the end of the series. The final scenes of the show depicts Miorine and Suletta wearing wedding rings with Suletta’s little sister calling Miorine her sister-in-law.

This, naturally, gets some people mad.

Sure, some of those people are homophobes, which is always a great camp to feel like you’re standing in. But there are also people who are upset about the way this series represents its girl-on-girl marriage. And I get that you may not want the story to be so subtle as to show wedding rings and maybe include more like, making out and cuddling and giggling and living queer life together and sure, that’s a good kind of thing for a story to do, but how is it that the things this story does here, in its representation of its engaged and then married women, is not acceptable? Does this show Lesbians Wrong?

It reminds me a lot of Christian apologetics. That is, the, let’s say the Heteronorm argument is not about what’s likely, or clear, or obvious. It’s about finding a way to interpret the media presented to you in a way that indicates that there’s a chance their interpretation is right, even if it means presenting a sequence of unlikely things upon unlikely things upon unlikely things, that you can then point to and indicate that actually, the show is not presenting the thing, because there’s a chance this position is true.

And this comes from both sides; those that are want to argue the series isn’t ‘even’ gay and actually, Suletta and Miorine are waifus for them to imagine having, or that this series isn’t gay and anyone who likes it for being gay are people who they can then mock for liking something that ‘isn’t even’ what they want. At the same time, there’s people who want to argue that because these two girls who get engaged in episode 1 and married in episode 24, it is inadequate at representing yuri because it should have been something else, should have been even clearer, should have shown more material that forwarded something in this giant robot war story that was less focused on the giant robot war story.

When this criticism is framed as ‘Witch from Mercury isn’t even really a yuri story,’ that’s a categorical kind of argument, and I tend to rankle at those. If it’s ‘I don’t like Witch from Mercury and wanted something else,’ that’s a totally legit approach! Just…

like..

if your queer media criticism feels like Mike Winger arguing about how it’s not impossible that two angels and then one angel were described in the empty tomb, I check out of the argument. Miss me, as the scholar says, with that shit.

What makes this particular position all the more absurd though is that one of the people in the world who has the power to make this kind of ‘well technically’ argument was someone, somehow, who was involved in the production of the show. From the west there were people who saw a narrative that seemed to work where when the anime completed, the official stance was from The Authorities that actually, and the subtitles were being changed for the material release, because these characters weren’t married, because the anime was made deliberately ambiguous.

It wasn’t.

It was so unambiguous that the voice actresess for Suletta and Miorine were talking about the characters as married. This was a fight, and it seemed that one that was going on at levels of authorisation for the anime production, but not the actual making. It’s super interesting as a fight goes because it means someone somehow was non-homophobic enough to make a show about two girls who get married but exactly homophobic enough to recoil at the idea of people calling it that.

What’s even wilder is that it’s not like anime can’t exist in this space of clearly and obviously gay without anyone calling it that in the text. For example, Revolutionary Girl Utena, another anime which exists in the ‘so you’re saying there’s a chance it’s not gay’ straight-baiting narrative space. Why am I mentioning Revolutionary Girl Utena? why, no reason. Why would you compare these two shows to one another?

I mean it is an isolated school environment with overwhelming privilege bestowed to the highest tier of students. It is a high school explicitly made so its graduates and the ramifications of their graduates relate to ‘national’ politics, and are important to the whole world. Our main character is an isolated ace who’s lost a parent, and is trying to take up life in a series of duels after accidentally winning herself a fiancee in the opening. This fiancee is fully comfortable with her environment, and tells her about it while tending to a garden that symbolises a connection to her role as a winnable fiancee.

Oh, and they’re both gay narratives.

Comparisons to Utena are I think, largely superficial. Not that comparing these two requires a superficial understanding of either series, but rather, the comparison between these two, the way the story opens and introduces you to its world is comparable to Utena if you consider the superficial structure of both stories. After all, notice how I referred to them as both losing a parent – which is true! Utena lost a parent! Along with the other parent! But Utena being unmoored from adult ‘ownership’ making her a lone, wandering prince is extremely important to her story, and the way that people want to step into her life as authorities who can take charge of her is explicitly contrarywise to Suletta. Suletta is explicitly not alone – in multiple ways, she’s got her sister and her mother around her all the time.

The way that Suletta is a girl who doesn’t know how to handle attention, turning to her mother and sister for help, is so wildly different to Utena Tenjou, a confident Tomboy who is so used to people pushing at her boundaries that she can rebuff paramours and teachers easily, means that any comparison to Utena has to be seen not as a comparison of media types but rather a series of media references. Utena exists, and it existed in the world before Witch from Mercury ever existed, which means that the way that Witch from Mercury seems to say ‘check this out, it’s like Utena‘ is seemingly not a matter of mimicking the plot or even themes of Utena but instead something I find way more interesting.

I think the details in Witch from Mercury are presented in that opening to say to me, the older anime fan, hey, remember Utena? We do.

That’s… pretty exciting. Utena was not a revolutionary work (hah), because it was always an outgrowth of existing media that was developing in the space. I don’t feel like Utena got to define how things looked or were presented thereafter, in part I think because Utena was such a singular, specific aesthetic presentation. To look like Utena you would do nothing as much as you would look like you were trying to look like Utena.

I don’t know, I feel like somehow Witch from Mercury is using that shape to indicate something. Like, you know, hey, we’ve seen that too, we know what that story is about, and we’re going to do something like that. After all:

They’re both stories about witches.

I think it was Katelyn Gadd who first introduced me to Suletta Mercury, the titular Witch from, and I don’t know if it was her or me who said it, but someone in that conversation described her as The most homeschooled girl ever. This interpretation, to consider Suletta as someone who had a competing want to be good and no good or meaningful representation of what it means to be good, or good at it, in any kind of social context, just immediately gave me a hook for this girl, a character I could empathise with in the first two episodes where she is both incredibly competent at her field of interest and an indescribable bucket of sloppy cringe. That was always going to cloud my judgment for appreciating this narrative.

But it’s not like Suletta is a character that I can just immediately glom onto. After all, her confused adolescent apparent bisexuality, the way she seemingly references a bunch of geek media, the fact she breaks down crying while trying to do a Normal School Task because she doesn’t have healthy problem-solving approaches, her depressing fixation and response to separation from what may be one of her very first friends she could see sharing common interest with, I mean those aren’t extremely relatable experiences that I grappled with myself because you see, I wasn’t a cute girl. I was a very mid boy and how in the world am I going to have those kinds of feelings resonate for me?! And a terrible relationship with a parent but it’s a parent who’s a woman?

Joking aside it colours everything about how I felt about Suletta. I wasn’t homeschooled proper but I did grow up in a tiny repressive microsocial environment – I didn’t even have four peers my own age, and I was deliberately frozen out of social experiences for nonsense reasons. That meant the climax of the first season was something I contextualised to my own experience — which is weirdly, one I’ve had a few times. I know full well the experience, as a child, of being told, being shown, being taught that there are appropriate and morally correct times and places for violence in the face of evildoers, and to then do those things and instead be treated to guilt and reprimand and the confusing complexity of a moral framework around me, of adults telling me that while what I did would have been right and maybe even was right, this time it wasn’t right and nobody was going to treat me like it was right.

Suletta’s life is this kind of two stage thing, where she’s introduced to a big exciting world with all sorts of cool possibilities and the hopeful image of stories she’s been told living large in her mind, and then she hits a hard wall of realising that those stories are just stories, and that glorious violence breaks you as you break the world in its name. And then you learn that your little sibling you forgot was absorbed in the womb of your robot because your mom is all the kinds of crackerpants.

It’s a really universal experience.

Suletta is a wonderful, sweet, goodnatured idiot and I love her dearly and watching her story put her through travails and her insistence on remaining herself throughout that was something I loved to see. I mean what was I expecting out of this Gundam series, not Gundam?

And a Gundam story is typically speaking, going to be at least a little bit tragic. You’re going to see characters who you care about die, you’re going to see War first as a thing presented as it is in our culture, and then the subsequent relationship to that War after people got involved in it through that heroic, idealised presentation. This is an anime in that genre, where every character who partakes in war, and the ensuing sciences and crafts around war, are people who wind up damaged and even broken by it. A Gundam narrative is one that does what it can to engage you in its questions and while you’re waiting for the answers, it uses that as a time to show you characters from a genre you’re familiar with — whether a fun giant robot story or a girls’ romance or a high school bully story — and then show you those characters experiencing the materialities of a war story.

It is a trauma pinball machine.

And that’s the point of this kinda story! A detail that’s so often smoothed over in the story of this story, the way people talk about it, even in its conclusion, is that Suletta comes out of this whole event physically damaged. Miorine has immense emotional scars, yes, but Suletta is phsyically handicapped (and yes yes the social is predicated on its exclusions and so on).

It’s not exceptional as a Gundam story. It’s not out of type. Gundam stories are full of this kind of thing, and almost always there’s some built up point of tragedy, some deeply harrowing conclusion. Almost always these series have moments of some kind of tragic resolution that stands apart in people’s minds. The death of a major character, the destruction of a population centre, the collapse of a satellite into a colony, you know, there’s always this stuff in Gundam stories. Here in Witch from Mercury, there are two major moments of this ilk, and they are both excellent and deeply terrible. And with all those moments, characters emerge from this narrative deeply wounded by the experience of it. Everyone loses something when they engage with this story of war.

Because it’s just a story.

This is a Gundam story where you will get to see sick robots doing cool shit but also will constantly spend the time pointing out these sick robots doing cool shit exist to kill and destroy. The ‘medical technology’ and ‘remote control’ and ‘drone systems’ may have applications in whatever it is you imagine they do, they may be in service of anything you want but you have to remember someone upstream is the person who ordered this piece of art or promotional material to exist only inasmuch as it lets them fill a ledger and continue developing the device that is ultimately dedicated to the final resort of all kings.

Like someone who could say, hypothetically, try to claim this anime wasn’t that gay and change the subtitles.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[nijigasakilove]

Oh my days we ate so good in this one fellas After a week without Hikikomari I needed my weekly fix and it was so good to be back in this world.

Life was hard enough for Komari with one horny servant around now she’s got two who are vying for her attention lmao. Even though the beach stuff was nice, this was technically a business trip to meet with Nelia. Voiced by Farouz Ai, already love her. Komarin’s gotta be careful bringing those idiots around with her for serious meetings cause they almost started a war there 😂

“I’ll have you know I won the national murderer competition” wildest line I’ve heard in a while lmao. Love how they were having a literal murder off.

unexpected yuri

Really looking forward to how they deal with this new threat. If Nelia is determined to make Komarin her servant.. only one way this ends lol

[yuriplisetsky-rp]

So, I know I have talked more about Beka this season than me, but... I'm back to competition? Sort of? Obviously, things are as they are, but we anticipated possibly being able to return at some point (and we kind of are).

Anyway, so, after two years away, I won both of my qualifying events (as if there was any doubt), and have officially won my 4th national title. (Yes, only fourth.) So... 2026 Olympics, here I fucking come.

Short Program

Yuri Altin - 107.74

Alexei Yevtushenko - 106.01

Vasili Gorbachev - 105.04

Andrei Egorov - 102.65

Sergei Ivanov - 99.62

Oleg Amelin - 97.85

Fedor Litvin - 97.56

Maxim Ivanov - 97.40

Matvei Zhuravlev - 96.28

Vadim Orlov - 96.22

Konstantin Baranov - 91.09

Ilia Rabinovich - 90.93

Dmitrii Andreyeev - 85.05

Nikolai Volkov - 77.48

Artem Rogov - 76.99

Arytom Donchenko - 67.44

Fyodor Chekanov - 64.28

Mikhail Kalashnik - 62.88

Free Program

Yuri Altin - 218.59

Alexei Yevtushenko - 209.46

Maxim Ivanov - 205.22

Sergei Ivanov - 205.01

Matvei Zhuravlev - 200.82

Ilia Rabinovich - 190.72

Oleg Amelin - 185.17

Vadim Orlov - 177.35

Andrei Egorov - 175.64

Konstantin Baranov - 172.87

Vasili Gorbachev - 169.03

Nikolai Volkov - 168.35

Dmitrii Andreyeev - 167.67

Fedor Litvin - 156.60

Fyodor Chekanov - 156.15

Artyom Donchenko - 155.91

Mikhail Kalashnik - 147.84

Artem Rogov - 125.00

 Results

Yuri Altin - 326.33 (1, 1)

Alexei Yevtushenko - 315.47 (2, 2)

Sergei Ivanov - 304.63 (5, 4)

Maxim Ivanov - 302.22 (8, 3)

Matvei Zhuravlev - 297.10 (9, 5)

Oleg Amelin - 283.02 (6, 7)

Ilia Rabinovich - 281.65 (12, 6)

Andrei Egorov - 278.29 (4, 9)

Vasili Gorbachev - 274.07 (3, 11)

Vadim Orlov - 273.57 (10, 8)

Konstantin Baranov - 263.96 (11, 10)

Fedor Litvin - 254.16 (7, 14)

Dmitrii Andreyeev - 252.72 (13, 13)

Nikolai Volkov - 245.83 (14, 12)

Artyom Donchenko - 223.35 (16, 16)

Fyodor Chekanov - 220.43 (17, 15)

Mikhail Kalashnik - 210.72 (18, 17)

Artem Rogov  - 201.99 (15, 18)

[newstvbihar]

Shining Stars: Notable Alumni Making Their Mark from Towson University

Towson University, located in Towson, Maryland, has a rich history of nurturing talent and fostering academic excellence. Beyond its reputation for quality education, Towson has been a launching pad for many remarkable individuals who have gone on to make significant contributions to their respective fields. In this article, we will take a closer look at some of the notable alumni who have emerged as shining stars, making their mark on the world.

Michael Phelps - The Olympic Legend:

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, is a name that needs no introduction. He has won a staggering 23 Olympic gold medals and has set numerous world records in swimming. His dedication and excellence in the pool have earned him worldwide acclaim.

Jonathan Kromm - A Journey to Space:

Jonathan Kromm, a Towson alumnus, achieved the extraordinary by becoming a NASA astronaut candidate. His journey from Towson University to outer space serves as an inspiration for aspiring astronauts.

Paula Boggs - A Legal Luminary:

Paula Boggs, a Towson alumna, has had a remarkable career as an attorney, musician, and social justice advocate. She served as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at Starbucks Corporation before pursuing her passion for music.

Michael Higdon - A Pulitzer Prize Winner:

Michael Higdon, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is another Towson graduate who has made a significant impact in the world of media. His dedication to investigative reporting led to his recognition with one of journalism's highest honors.

Regina T. Jefferson - A Legal Scholar:

Regina T. Jefferson is a distinguished legal scholar and educator who has dedicated her career to the field of health law and policy. She has made significant contributions to academia and is recognized for her expertise in the area of health law.

Charles G. Bacarisse - A Renowned Educator:

Charles G. Bacarisse, a Towson alumnus, is a respected educator who has served as the President and CEO of various prestigious educational institutions. His leadership and dedication to higher education have left an indelible mark on the academic world.

Jeong H. Kim - Innovator and Philanthropist:

Jeong H. Kim is an accomplished engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He founded the Yurie Systems company and later became the President of Bell Labs. His innovative contributions to the field of telecommunications are widely recognized.

Elizabeth Talerman - A Communications Maven:

Elizabeth Talerman, a Towson alumna, is a highly regarded communications and marketing expert. Her firm, Nucleus Marketing, has been at the forefront of creating impactful brand strategies for various organizations.

Michael R. Buell - Environmental Steward:

Michael R. Buell is a dedicated environmentalist and conservationist who has made significant contributions to protecting the environment. His work with The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land has garnered widespread appreciation.

Brooke Lierman - A Public Servant:

Brooke Lierman, a Towson alumna, is a dedicated public servant who has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Her commitment to public policy and advocacy has made a positive impact on her community.

Our Service:- 

the Oakland University Calendar

Florida National University Events in 2023

Colorado Technical University Course Catalog

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[callingofstars]

an ENTIRE. SECOND. ANALYSIS POST about the hsr 3.5 livestream because i’m still not done :)

( more spoilers below another cut )

the theme of this trailer, and the livestream in general, felt subtly different from every Amphoreus post thus far.

this trailer is unlike any previous due to the title not containing the version name, and instead getting its own special name. hoyoverse is being very heavy-handed on the symbolism of the trailblazer becoming the deliverer.

another thing being the trailer is completely un-voiced, not due to strikes or va complications, but because it was their intention to have no speaking lines here. there could be any number of reasons for this, but i have a feeling it’s going to have narrative significance.

the length was also significantly shorter than usual, though I don’t believe this feeds into any symbolism.

the description for the trailer is also. emotionally damaging. and it seems as though they’re circling back to the idea of a romantic story, whatever that means.

speaking of. phaidei crumbs. i present you phaidei crumbs.. because it’s absolutely cruel that Mydei was the only chrysos heir to not get a visual during this trailer </3

personally i’m truthing for the real romantic story to be Cerydra and Hysilens BECAUSE???

personally this is one of my favorite character dynamics, something about servitude and love and characters who view one as an act of the other. the way it’s Cerydra holding the blade but for once she’s beneath the one who serves her .and perhaps she views that act of having her life taken as the most intimate thing she can offer Hysilens.

Hysilens’ character being so focused on a blade that she loses sight of who she turns it upon is such a powerful dynamic. especially as Cerydra guides the sword to her throat because she wants her to know that it’s the right thing to do. i’m interested to see how Hysilens goes about the situation, if she hesitates, if she’s angry at being backed into such a choice, or if she shows no emotion at all.

this doomed yuri is going to doom me <3

another thing i’m particularly interested in is this visual, as well as the symbolism behind Dan Heng’s character as a whole. little is known about the path of permanence, but its name carries significance to Dan Heng already due to the solidified nature of his past and long, regret-filled lifespan ahead of him.

this form seems to be a combination of his five and four star forms, his spear having changed into a blade though still seeming to have (relatively) the same combat style.

looking out upon the grove as vines spread across his weapon was also a significant choice in visuals, and i’m quite excited to see more depth brought upon this part of his character. the themes of past, present, and future are so deeply intwined in the express trio’s dynamics and offering lore on all three at once is going to be huge.

okay there goes my last braincell. yuri nation we won, yaoi nation im praying for y’all, back in the time loop I go

HSR 3.5 TRAILER FRAME BY FRAME ANALYSIS!

( spoilers below the cut )

if you’re expecting major theories expect again because i am so sleep deprived right now, this is just a breakdown of what we’re seeing

upon closer inspection, the structure we see emerging from Kastrum Kremnos is a hand - this could hypothetically be Mydei’s, given its armored appearance, but since it’s shown at a separate point from the other Chrysos Heirs visuals (and he isn’t an adult, much less a chrysos heir, in this cycle), we could be seeing his reincarnation as the titan of strife. or potential Lygus shenanigans.

^ what March eats here is a coreflame, though it’s unclear which one. the aspects of her design, including her fighting style and summon-like visuals, lead me to speculate that she’s going to introduce the path of elation.

this, i think, is an extremely important detail in what they’ve shown and told us. this cycle, the trailblazer is going to take the coreflame of worldbearing and become the new savior of Amphoreus.

from the first half of this story, we can gather that the role of the deliverer isn’t kind to its bearer, or the people they love. the ending visuals show Dan Heng, March, Cerydra, and Hysilens running alongside Caelus - but ultimately they disappear into splashes of color that absorb into and fuel his final attack.

it sounds similar to Phainon’s story and gameplay, those that help him move forward are left behind to fuel his final act to the world. do i think Dan Heng or March will die? not particularly, but the theme is something to watch out for.

SPEAKING OF DAN HENG! his draconic form is deeply tied to the aeon of permanence, Long.

during the holy grail event, Dan Heng’s information page blatantly name drops a draconic transformation tying into the path of permanence. in the story page for Terravox, the dragon of the earth titan in Amphoreus, the top of each page says the following:

“the dragon spent their childhood in darkness.”

“the giant dragon walked the earth alone.”

“ever since they opened their eyes, the giant dragon rarely returned to slumber.”

these stories mirror Dan Heng’s backstory in depth, how he was raised in the shackling prison and wandered as a traveler upon being freed, before finding his home on the express. the description of Terravox reflects on their dreams of another dragon, similar to them, coming from beyond the sky.

i don’t believe i need to say more about this page. this is ..so blatantly about Dan Heng hdkfjsjshs

his model has medium-length hair and a tail, while March carries an umbrella !!!

another thing I’ve noticed is the instances of the screen cracking - Cyrene is guiding him to the exit of Amphoreus, the star she summons in her second form eventually opens into a gateway where Caelus jumps through. her memory plays a role in leaving and potentially destroying Amphoreus (given the final visuals of the trailer).

alrighty…i’ve reached the maximum image limit on mobile. i still have so many more thoughts about this patch, namely Hysilens and Cerydra, which will be contained in other posts because that deserves its own tangent.

i hope this was helpful!! (๑>◡<๑)

[mari-rosa-skiess]

omg i love your writing sm😳❤️ I JUST REALIZED THAT IM THE SAME AGE IF YURIO AGH ITS A GREAT DAY TO BE 15😩👌 also, may i request yurio who meets the reader in japan (like he met her maybe after viktor chooses his program) and she's a skateboarder so like she accidentally skates into him! i feel like it'd be really innteresting to see an ice skater and a skater together as a couple haha (bonus if she's won national skateboarding competitions😎) have a great day and remember to stay hydrated!❤️

-

yes !!! i love this idea !! i went on a hiatus again, so sorry it’s VERY late, i hope it’s worth it though LOL

i’m personally not a skater, so i’m sorry if this isn’t accurate to how people skate :(

-mari<3

Navigation

Warnings: None I believe, just some swearing!

Pronouns: she/her

Words: 1.5k

-

You always enjoyed skateboarding. It was your favorite activity since you’ve been younger. It was kind of the way you were able to let stress go and have fun, especially since you are in your mid-teens. Things get rough at age 15, but there’s always skating there to help you.

You were skating down the streets one day in Japan, your (h/c) hair was flowing in the strong breeze since it was a significantly colder day, it was winter after all. There was snow on the ground, but only on the side of the roads and sidewalks, but it was all pretty melted.

You closed your eyes for a second because it felt like the wind was making your eyes shrivel up, but a few seconds later, you fell to the ground with a small ‘hmph’ leaving your lips.

You opened your eyes to see a shortish boy standing up, he looked pissed to say the very least.

“WHY WEREN’T YOU WATCHING WHERE YOU WERE GOING?!” the blond feminine boy screamed.

You stood up and dusted off your clothes, for some small pebbles and dirt got on you when you fell.

“I could say that same about you,” you crossed your arms, raising an eyebrow.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO RAN STRAIGHT INTO ME!” He screamed, although it was kind of difficult to understand him because of his thick Russian accent, especially because he was screaming.

“Well, you could’ve simply stepped out of the way when you saw me skating towards you, you could’ve simply stepped aside when I was like four yards away,” You pointed out.

“It seems you also were not paying attention to your surroundings,” you spoke in a snarky tone, smirking.

He went to say something else to defend himself, but he was dumbfounded, not to mention exhausted from the strenuous training from figure skating.

“You’re lucky I’m not in the mood to argue today,” he sighed, picking up his bag he had dropped.

“Yeah, whatever you say,” you replied, dropping down your skateboard.

After you got a closer look at his face, you realized he seemed familiar. You’ve seen him somewhere, but you’re not sure where. Maybe in a store? No, that couldn’t be it.

“Where are you going?” you asked him, slowly skating by him while he walked.

“Figure skating practice, Viktor doesn’t like it when I’m late,” he softly said.

“What’s it to you?” he added, slightly raising his voice.

“I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere,” you stared at him blankly, but still paying enough attention to the control you have on your skateboard so you don’t lose balance and topple over.

“You’ve probably seen me on TV, I won Grand Prix gold,” he stated.

“Oh, Yuri Plisetsky, that’s where I’ve heard of you,”

Yuri blushed at how you said his name, it sounded so beautiful the way you said it, almost as beautiful as he found the rest of you. It didn’t take him long to notice your features after he cooled down from his baby tantrum.

He just looked away and went quiet, not saying anything else. After a few minutes, you guys arrived at the rink. Viktor was waiting by the door.

You picked up your skateboard and just held it since there was no reason for you to just stand by it.

“Yurio, you know how I feel about you being late,” the tall man with silver hair stated in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Yeah, whatever,” he mumbled under his breath.

Viktor’s eyes flickered to you and a grin appeared on his face.

“Oh, I see, you were out with your girlfriend! Why didn’t you tell me you have a girlfriend?” Viktor excitedly exclaimed.

Yuri’s face turned red, so did yours.

“No, we just met a few minutes ago,” you shook your head.

“Yeah, this bitch carelessly bumped into me and knocked me over,” Yuri crossed his arms.

“Bitch?!” you asked.

“Okay! I see I was wrong,” Viktor nervously chuckled.

“Why don’t you guys say bye to each other then you can meet me inside, Yurio?” Viktor suggested.

“Okay, fine,”

Viktor said goodbye to you before walking back in the rink, going to get his skates on before Yuri walked in.

“Well, hopefully we don’t cross paths again,” you said irritated, dropping your skateboard back down.

Yuri let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

Yuri was surprised by himself. He never apologizes for anything, it’s just part of his personality to be a dick, but here he is, apologizing!

“What was that?” you asked, turning your head.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke up.

“I didn’t mean it, I’m just a dickhead, you’re not a bitch,” Yuri looked down, blushing.

“Alright, I forgive you...I think,” you said, questioning your own words.

“I’ll see you around,” you spoke.

“Wait, what’s your name?” Yuri asked you.

“Oh, right, it’s (Y/N),” you smiled.

He was shocked that you even had a beautiful name.

“Okay, see you later,” he flashed a small smile before walking into the skating rink.

You skated off, actually feeling good about having a new friend. You did find him cute though, and you were sure he’s sweet when he’s not mad. You kind of mentally beat up yourself for not getting his number, but hopefully, there will be other opportunities.

---

It’s been a few days since you bumped into Yuri, and you still thought about him occasionally, as did he. You decided to skate by the rink to see if he was there. Since he couldn’t drive, there was no way to really know if he was there unless you looked in.

The place was rented out, so if it was closed, the doors would probably be locked.

You picked up your skateboard and walked over to the door and pulled on the handle. A small smile appeared on your face when it opened. You walked inside and heard music playing.

You didn’t want anyone to see you because you didn’t want anyone to think you were creepy, so you kneeled down by the part of the skating rink wall that didn’t have a window and watched through the window part.

Yuri was elegantly skating around the rink, his routine already seemed flawless - to you at least - you weren’t used to seeing many people figure skate. He actually didn’t look annoyed for once, but he did look sweaty.

Very sweaty.

You looked down and noticed your skateboard started rolling away from you. You silently cursed under your breath before trying to grab it without making any noise. You ended up grabbing it, but you accidentally launched it because you lost grip of it while you were trying to set it up against the wall.

It made a loud clattering noise before rolling and hitting the wall. Since the room was so big, it echoed and caused Yuri to mess up his routine.

Viktor facepalmed and turned off the music.

“It was great until that noise distracted you...what even was that?” Viktor asked, looking around.

Viktor and Yuri both skated over to the exit of the rink and stepped out, looking around the lobby. You were hoping they wouldn’t see you despite you being literally four feet away from them. 

Viktor saw you and you flashed a nervous smile before standing up.

“Yurio, you got a visitor,” Viktor spoke before walking back onto the rink.

Yuri looked over at you and he surprisingly wasn’t mad.

“Sorry for messing up your routine,” you apologized, looking really nervous.

“Oh... it’s just slightly annoying, I can always redo it,” he blushed.

“It was really good before I distracted you though,” you smiled.

“Oh, thanks,” his face reddened.

A few seconds of silence passed before Viktor walked back off the rink.

“Yurio, take a short break,” he said.

Yuri nodded before taking off his skates while still standing.

“Do you know where your board went?” he asked.

You looked around on the floor before spotting it, you walked over and picked it up.

“Why do you skate so much?” Yuri asked.

“I- Uh- It’s a hobby, and I’m also a competitive skater...with skateboarding, obviously,” you nervously said.

“That actually sounds interesting,” Yuri spoke.

“That’s surprising coming from you,” you smiled.

“What do you mean?” he asked confused.

“I mean, you are a dick,” you smirked and crossed your arms.

He rolled his eyes with a small frown.

“Joking!” you exclaimed, giggling.

“Anyway, we should hang out sometime if you’re up to you,” you smiled at the blond.

His face went back to the red shade it was previously at.

“A-Alright,” he stammered.

You pulled a small slip of paper out of your pocket that you wrote your number down on pre-hand in case you ran into him.

“Here’s my number, I’m free most of the time, just text me,” you smiled at him.

He took the slip of paper from your hand and put it into his pocket.

“Alright,” he smiled.

“I’ll let you get back to what you were doing, see you around!” you exclaimed with a smile while waving as you walked out.

“Bye!” he shouted.

Let’s just say, he did text you a lot when he got home.

[rebelliouslala]

A Man Who Plays Volleyball.

happy birthday my beloved little anime boy, Ushijima Wakatoshi!

summary and warnings!: OC!Yuri-Chan (they are there as you, the reader!) x Wakatoshi, fix it fic! Shiratorizawa wins to go to the Nationals; angst, descriptions of parental abuse, descriptions of anxiety, flashbacks, a form of s/lf h/rm, accidental cause to injury, unwanted touching, a creepy guy, divorce drama, this story describes the suppression of men’s mental health, a good spoonful of fluff at the end

word count; ~10k words

a/n: this was SUPER rushed. but, i love him. you have no idea how much i saw myself in satori. in wakatoshi. i love shiratorizawa. may this alternate universe make the original ushijima wakatoshi smile :)

The Shiratorizawa volleyball player, Ushijima Wakatoshi walked home. He carried his volleyball clothes in a duffel bag. He wore a white hoodie with a purple outline. It said, printed, “Ushijima #1” on the back. He walked in silence. Because he preferred it. He felt tired.

The Miracle Boy felt tired. The crickets in the warm farm fields began to buzz with the swift wind that came from behind. He closed his eyes and stopped. He softly smiled as he looked up at the cloudy autumn sky. The sun was setting.

How long has he waited for this day; His eyes, to anyone else, would be dull. But that day, after his battle against Karasuno, they sparkled like freshly oiled olives. His hairdo was gently ruffled as a train passed by to his left, and he took a deep breath. He pumped his fist as a tear went down his cheek.

“I won.”

Once the Miracle Boy arrived home; He placed away his uniform in a laundry machine, and gently sucked on a popsicle. He blinked a few times, watching the machine churn and churn and churn and churn and churn and churn and- His lower back ached. He leaned against the wall, continuing to gently bite the tip. Satori once called him insane for biting ice cream.

“Doesn’t it hurt?!” Satori cried during their summer training. Wakatoshi had offered his land to use for training. Coach Washijo had taken the offer with happiness. He had bit his thick popsicle in response. “No.”

Wakatoshi turned to a sob from the threshold. There sat on its diaper ass one of the Ushijima twins, Kazane, who blinked. She had a straight bob and palm green eyes. She whined.

The boy sighed. He gently bent down and picked her up. She babbled stupidly and gripped at his hair, then whined more for his popsicle. “No.” He continued to bite it and he frowned as Kazane started to whimper. Wakatoshi now began to bounce her and he looked at his uniform as it continued to wash. She stopped making noises and instead clung onto him.

“Wakatoshi? Wakatoshi have you seen—?” He let his mother find him as she sighed. She had straight black hair, one that was in a messy bun since she gave birth to the twins.

“Hello Oka-san.”

“Wakatoshi, you know she can’t have ice cream!” She said, exasperated.

“I know that. She is trying to take it.” He continued biting it.

“Here, gimme,” Ms. Ushijima took Kazane, and let her soft cry in her neck. Wakatoshi simply continued to look at the swirl of his clothes. “I called your father.”

Wakatoshi turned, and he blinked. Once. Twice. His eyebrows furrowed, but he straightened himself up. “Is he not busy?”

“Yeah, but you know, it’s nice because you‘re going to Nationals-, isn’t that what you wanted, Wakatoshi?”

The boy sucked on the stick as the machine stopped. He went down to take the uniform, and began to fold. “Yes.”

She sighed, “Stop acting dramatic. I know you’re happy. Oh- I also invited your girlfriend over.” Wakatoshi now walked past his mother, and his baby sister as he went to his room. He hung his shirt and pants. Ms. Ushijima followed him, “I suggest you wear some nice formal wear, got it? And I want you both in the family room.”

“I was thinking of a nice berry bush, a purely platonic meeting. In the back—?”

“Ugh, fine. Whatever. Sure. Remember to change Mayumi’s diapers.”

Yuri had met Wakatoshi at the side door of his house. Yuri hopped up and gave him a kiss to his jawline. “Good afternoon, ‘Toshi-Chan!”

Wakatoshi blushed. He held his cheek. “Afternoon, my flower.”

The wind that messed up Yuri’s hair passed, and Wakatoshi with no hesitation helped them fix it, after a soft question if he could. He gently petted their hair back.

The couple sat peacefully in the bushes. Yuri, after the wind, then went to the strawberry bushes and started to pick. They hummed as they put them in a small bucket, as Wakatoshi instructed them to, and rinsed them in a bucket his Grandfather made. After that, they handed the small fat berry to his hand, as he cut off the top part of the berry.

“The leaves are edible, but are annoying to the throat. It’s better to mush them together, since they have good properties for the body.” Wakatoshi explained. Yuri giggled in response, continuing to pick a few more, with a here and there bite to the smallest one.

Yuri might even turn around, and coo, “Look at this, ‘Toshi-Chan! Aw, it’s no bigger than my thumb!” At which Wakatoshi leaned over, uncomfortably on the small blanket his Mother gave him, before nodding. “Do you want to name it? Like a child?”

“Oh great idea! How about, hmm, Plate!”

“Hm?”

“Because strawberries, and plate berries!”

“Ah.” Wakatoshi nodded, and he gave them a small side of the mushed leaves. “This should be enough for both of us. Do you think so?”

“Mhm! Oh, how are the twins?”

Wakatoshi leaned back and took a deep breath. Kazane cried so much he had to wake up Grandmother Nijiko for it. She complained loudly, but went over and in a few hours the silence was gone. Mayumi singlehandedly ate the rest of the prepared milk bottles his Mother made. Wakatoshi lost approximately 3.26 hours of sleep. “They are well.” He said.

“Oh! They’re the cutest!! With their little soft lettuce cheeks-! I can’t wait until I can feed them little berries!” Yuri popped one in their mouth.

“Mayumi-tan loves blueberries. Especially playing with them. Kazane-tan prefers spitting the strawberry seeds in my hair.”

“No wonder you take so many showers, Wakatoshi-Chan!” He ate a bit of the mush, and he looked above at the clouds. Yuri laid next to him, and dipped their finger in the mush.

“Satori-kun told me- you- uh, you got mad. I was wondering where you were after the game.”

“We had to celebrate. Besides that, I could not charge my phone. The TV crew took up all the outlets.”

“Aw, bummer! But still, Wakatoshi-Chan~,” Yuri poked his side. He twitched in response. “You got mad. It was a close game.”

Wakatoshi ate another strawberry dipped in mush. “I won. Do not worry. I am okay.” Yuri laid on their stomach and pouted. “Promise?”

“I would never lie to you, Yuri-Chan.”

“Good. Then critique me on my violin, okay!”

He nodded, as Yuri brought out their violin case. Being best friends with Satori, all sorts of little stickers were on it, especially a large Pokémon one. Wakatoshi crossed his legs as Yuri took their violin out, and their bow. They hummed quietly, tuning the violin and hastily rubbing rosin on the bow. They used the bow on the violin, once- twice -the first made Wakatoshi fear the twins would wake up from their nap- before Yuri played.

The Swan.

Wakatoshi laid back. Yuri closed their eyes, leaning into their instrument, and played. The wind picked up again. And Wakatoshi closed his eyes.

Yuri and he met in freshman year. Wakatoshi saw Yuri come in, shy.

“I am so sorry! I thought this was the auditorium.” Wakatoshi had just worked out. He assumed in their vision, this would be attractive and more romantic. To him he felt more comfortable and relaxed.

“It’s a few more blocks down. But I believe the Coach will not allow music.” Seeing Yuri’s jolt of embarrassment, Wakatoshi added, “But I believe outside is a perfect place to play. I would help you, but I know the plants shall tell you what to do.”

And here, as the wind guided Yuri’s fingers, their bow, the soft and intimate touches to the strings, did Wakatoshi hear how his advice had really counted. From Day 1 to Day Now, their improvement let him smile quietly in pride. They were perfect.

After a few days of waiting for a response from Wakatoshi’s father, it was settled and official. He would join them that night for dinner.

Yuri held onto Wakatoshi’s arm, their middle finger writing characters he could not decipher. He looked around at Grandmother Nijiko holding the twins. Kazane was in a little blue robe and Mayumi in red. His mother opened the door to the wardrobe for Wakatoshi. He wore a tight white shirt, and black sleek pants. He observed a royal purple kimono.

Yuri gulped as they watched his mother gently pinch his ear, “Nuh uh, do the Atlantic Blue.”

“I believe it is Pacific Blue.” Wakatoshi responded as he took that instead, and dawned it. He helped Yuri with their kimono.

“Wow, your family is like, really traditional, Wakatoshi,” they said quietly, looking at Wakatoshi.

“It’s my father’s arrival. Oka-san likes it like this.” He paused, before he continued to help them put it on, “and Oba-san, of course.”

Wakatoshi could not admit it, but he did appreciate it too. The clan was well, they just valued the importance of continuing to be perfect. It was only in their strict rules he did not want his new siblings to be subjected to. Wakatoshi glanced at his left hand. as he tied Yuri’s pink clothes together.

“‘Toshi, remember to smile.” Ms. Ushijima reminded him.

Wakatoshi grimaced. “Yes Oka-san.”

Yuri squeezed his hand, and looked up at him. He gently smiled back.

“Yuri-kun, make sure Wakatoshi doesn’t go on about volleyball again!” Grandmother Nijiko said. His smile faded.

His mother went from the twins, to going to him and attacking his stance.

Ms. Ushijima went on her tippy toes, muttering and complaining about his height, then how his hair was so dry, how he needed to use lotion more, and how filthy he was.

Yuri only stared at their feet. The Ushijimas stared at Wakatoshi, having his mother flick his ear and pinch at his stomach. “Stop eating so much rice! Obviously this sport isn’t putting off enough weight, eh?”

The doorbell rang. Finally, Wakatoshi took a gulp of fresh air as his mother went to the door.

It opened. Wakatoshi couldn’t stop smiling.

Everything seemed to blur and fade into each other. Wakatoshi took his coat. Yuri was taken away. The twins began to cry and whine for food. Ms. Ushijima said nothing.

The dining room in the Ushijima home was tiny. The dinner table was small, made of driftwood from Wakatoshi’s great grandfather. The clinking of dishes were mixed in with the twins crying. Yuri sat uncomfortably. Wakatoshi only ate as he looked at his father.

Mr. Utsui Takashi barely had hair- he was balding. He had a curly like stubble though, and he had developed an annoying, wheezing-like cough after inhaling any sort of food. It seemed his vision got worse, since he had thought the twins were identical. He had to take a double take to Yuri and Wakatoshi before laughing and embracing him tightly. His hands were disgusting. He smelled of fish and B.O.

But Wakatoshi put his face in his neck, and embraced him thrice as tightly once he had seen him minutes ago. Wakatoshi nearly lifted his father from the ground. Now, as Wakatoshi picked at his small serving of possibly 382 pieces of rice and steak, he watched his father talk to Yuri.

“Ah, Wakatoshi, she is so cute! Ooh~,” he pinched Yuri’s cheek who giggled and thanked him, a little awkward. Wakatoshi ate his steak, a little curve on his lips from their interaction.

“Utsui-san, I am so excited! I cannot believe you came all this way, because ‘Toshi-chan is going to nationals!” Yuri smiled.

Wakatoshi’s grandmother stopped feeding the twins and sighed. “It’s not why he came.”

The young man felt the steak he swallowed start to froth in his mouth. He forced it down, and turned to his father. “What is the news that you have?”

“I got fired from my job.” Mr. Utsui said, a little weak. “Well, they laid us off—,”

Ms. Ushijima stood up and gathered the plates. “Your father is coming back to live with us until he finds something good. Hopefully in Tokyo so he can move out again.”

“Y-yes...” Mr. Utsui slouched, but he continued to eat his rice.

Wakatoshi ate his steak, and he quietly let his mother take it as he looked at Yuri’s hand. “Will you be taking care of the twins, then?” he said.

Mr. Utsui opened his mouth, a little confused, but he only sighed, “Ah- well yes. I will. I am also discussing that matter with your mother.”

“Do you need to go to court for it?” Wakatoshi continued to sit as Yuri held onto him, adjusting their feet from the long period of sitting on them.

“No, Oba-san will handle the matters.”

Wakatoshi nodded, and quietly asked his grandmother to be excused. Once she nodded, she eyed his left hand as he helped Yuri up.

“Your lover cannot go. I need to ask them some things as well.”

“Oba-san.” Wakatoshi bowed his head, “they need to stretch out their feet.”

“I don’t care. Sit by me, Yuri-tan.” Yuri looked back, and shooed Wakatoshi off. He bowed, only slightly, before sliding open the doors, and going outside.

The Ushijima Land stretched for only a couple of square acres. Wakatoshi sat down awkwardly by the lake.

It was technically a marsh but his mother never liked him calling it that. He fondly remembered how he invited his team here to train. Goshiki nearly passed out in the fields further West, if Grandmother Nijiko had not taken care of him. Wakatoshi smiled remembering how she pinched his cheeks and cooed, “Goshiki-Bo.”

“Wakatoshi.” He turned, slightly, and Mr. Utsui sat down next to him with a bit of difficulty. “Ah, what a nice night, hm?” he tried to hide his cough.

“Yes.” the young man said.

Mr. Utsui sighed, tapping his fingers and looking off at the side, towards the stars. “H-How is Shiratorizawa?”

“We won against Karasuno a few days ago. My team and I are going to nationals.”

Mr. Utsui smiled. “Ah, perfect, perfect, good for you. I’m happy that it makes you happy.” Wakatoshi looked down. He did not feel anything. The dream that had woken him up this morning has scared him. He had no idea why. “You trained hard for this, hm?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad my son has come all this way. You’ve gotten so big and strong! Tell me, do the twins bother you? I hope the farm work isn't too much either. But you’re 18 now, and-,”

Wakatoshi stood up. He took a deep breath. He simply took off his kimono.

Mr. Utsui blinked. “‘Toshi?”

“I’m going for a run.” The boy ran without a word to his father. He was glad Mr. Utsui didn’t follow. Because Wakatoshi began to cry.

After a good ten minute run, Wakatoshi took yet another shower once he got back. He now wore his pajamas. A big shirt he had been gifted once from Mr. Utsui, and Pokemon themed pants he got from Satori a year ago.

Wakatoshi went to the entrance of his home, holding Yuri’s hands. It was time to say goodbye to Yuri-Chan. “Your Grandma is so weird.” they giggled, trying to hush their voice. That made no sense to him, really. Grandmother Nijiko heard everything.

“She is my blood. I got it from her.” Yuri giggled and kissed him softly, and he did in return. “You’re so weird~,”

“Yes.” He wanted to go inside already. He needed to think of what the matter was with his father. But he needed to also stall for Yuri to feel safe.

“Heh, okay, tomorrow is my practice.” They pulled him close and cooed, “I’ll see you?”

“Of course.” He stared at their features. He remembered hearing a few opposing volleyball players try to bully Yuri. He made sure they lost within two sets. For Yuri was like a flower to Wakatoshi- they had a timeless beauty. He loved staring at the shape of their eyes, how their nose scrunched ever so slightly when they smiled, and especially, when their irises dilated. He never felt such an intense feeling pull himself toward her.

They hugged him tightly. “Love you, ‘Toshi-Chan.”

“I love you too.”

After another kiss, Yuri-Chan’s aunt pulled up in her car. With another wave, Yuri had disappeared from his grasp. Wakatoshi was all alone.

☆彡

The Last Set. Wakatoshi took his stance as one of the outer blockers. He watched the ball be served by the Karasuno Crows. The Samurai Crow, Asahi, paused before spiking, causing Wakatoshi to miss his timing on the block. On the next turn, when Kenjiro sets, Wakatoshi returns his point as he spikes against the block. In games, he lets Satori do the blocking, since he is better. Wakatoshi is smart, he has no doubt about that in this sport, but he knows his teammate’s instinctual guess is better than anything. When Satori went left, Wakatoshi followed and blocked it correctly. He quietly nodded as Satori beamed with pride.

After another few more scores, Wakatoshi blinked at the sudden point Karasuno took. His eyebrows were raised as he drank his water. He was surprised by the new attack Karasuno made. Never in his years of volleyball research, of play, did he believe it could work against his strong team, or actually score. They were extremely fearless.

Wakatoshi frowned at himself when Reon missed. But now he can make a point to honor him, and also win back the lead. As he spiked, he spotted the little short Libero, the Lightning Bolt Crow Yu. He frowned, and he spiked quickly to his left. It was quick, causing a jolt of pain to his shoulder, but it did the trick for them to get a point.

Despite that, the Blond Crow, Kei, tried to go against him. Which made him annoyed. This tiny blocker, tried to go against his immeasurable strength? Wakatoshi huffed quietly. 

Wakatoshi hated how Kei knew how to one touch, how to time his spikes perfectly. But he didn’t even have the strength like Satori did. He was just a wannabe Satori. And no one is like Satori. And such thoughts, that the young man had, made his strength greater with the stress of the Blond Crow. Kei made a grave mistake. Pissing off the Miracle Boy.

With the next point to be made, and with his new power up that Kei unknowingly gave Wakatoshi, the Miracle Boy then, out of pure anger, made sure he could not play. Using his entire body weight, he made sure that Kei was out. Against Kei’s perfect block, Wakatoshi had spiked so hard to Kei’s right fingers, he heard the crack.

As Wakatoshi landed, he turned away. He had scored. And Kei would be gone.

After Karasuno’s kerfuffle of Kei’s condition, now Wakatoshi could serve. Now that the Blond Crow was gone, just a few more points were made by him and Wakatoshi could see Father.

“Bring it!” Karasuno yelled.

Bring it? Wakatoshi thought. How amusing. He will. He threw the ball up, jumped, and struck it hard. The Samurai Crow hit it in the air, his skin turning red from impact. Typical. Karasuno was playing yet another synchronized attack. But Wakatoshi saw how Satori eyed Sugawara’s shoes, and jumped immediately. The Captain relaxed at seeing Satori’s correct guess, and watched. He watched Satori glare down at the boy, a blush blooming on his pale cheeks. Wakatoshi could not help but smirk to himself as well.

The Eagles were soaring far above the Crows.

The Last Set. Wakatoshi, being a not loud person, clapped for Satori as the rest of his team screamed. Satori’s blocks were always one to be celebrated. His skills were amazing, and were an important asset to the team.

After switching sides, Wakatoshi served. But he can feel himself getting tired, as he jumped he got a blurry vision and hit the ball to the net. He makes a genuine apology, deciding to let his team do some more of the heavy lifting. After all, the Blond Crow was gone.

But seeing the Chibi-Chan, Shoyo Hinata, Wakatoshi stood taller. He scowled at the boy. Kenjiro sensed his anger, and set the ball to the Ace. Now he spiked it down. But no. As if the boy was blessed only with his speed, he saw, in awe, how the boy caught the damn ball with his face. Satori missed his spike, the two comrades tched at the boy. Wakatoshi could feel his and Satori’s hatred at the boy’s talentless smile. Even more so, what made Wakatoshi steam further was that Shoyo still scored points. Not only was he reckless, he always just went for his head. It made the Ace sick to his stomach. Ungrateful runt.

Wakatoshi had not doubted he wouldn’t win, but now he wanted to crush the small boy. He wanted to win just as bad as he did.

After the next loss, due to Satori’s overthinking, Wakatoshi tried not to chuckle at seeing Satori get yelled at by the Coach. Despite the hilarity, now the Captain had to make up for Satori’s lost concentration. Right now he couldn’t depend on him. Right now he needs to win. Even if Satori can’t pick up his slack.

The first years’ reckless quick attack. Wakatoshi hated it. Speed was all he had. Nothing like the great rival Wakatoshi had expected him to be; no, just Stupid, Small, Sly Shoyo.

Wakatoshi can hear Yuri-Chan cheer loudly from the bleachers with his school. He heard his school cheer proudly after Eita’s no touch serve, only to find Karasuno's ridiculous cheering. Now he turned around, to his team, and he furrowed his brows. He looked upon their glistening faces. “We Shall Finish This.” Now all of Shiratorizawa sang aloud. Perfect. A traditional song. A traditional strength of his. He will beat all of Karasuno, if he has to, to the ground.

Wakatoshi watched as Shoyo reflected his spike, and made what should’ve been his point, theirs. He never wanted anything more than to crush Shoyo as he did to Kei. He clenched his fists and turned away.

Goshiki talked. Gushed about the Shrimp. “Can you believe it, Wakatoshi? It’s like his speed can power through your strength!” The Ace said nothing in response.

Stupid Shoyo....he shouldn’t have done that at all.

Goshiki was trying to prove himself, to help Wakatoshi’s previous loss- Wakatoshi felt like he was trying to watch paint dry.

In retaliation, Wakatoshi hit hard against the New Crow despite the Samurai Crow’s time block that he copied from the Blond Crow. But now he felt his arm throb. Store. He would need to wait until he can use all of his strength to beat them. To finish this. But first, Wakatoshi needed to calm himself down.

He needed a replacement.

Wakatoshi turned to the smaller, youngest member. He put his hand on his shoulder, and made strong eye contact. “Goshiki. Do not panic, you have much talent. Let us finish this.”

Wakatoshi moved out of the way, and he caught his breath. Goshiki made a great point. As he planned. As he should. So he can finish beautifully. It was often like the paintings his Uncle Hideaki would make, little colors mixing in, adding up to the pine forests next to the Ushijima Acres. What Goshiki did was pure art. With a serve to get them back in the lead. With Goshiki’s now flared ego, Wakatoshi knew he could lead this. He had successfully stored up enough energy, and calmed himself down- 

A tie.

He noticed Coach staring at him. As Captain, as Ace, as a Volleyball Player. He needed to win for him as well. He lowered his stance. Kenjiro made the set to, The Traditional Wakatoshi, The Traditional Strength, The God, spiked hard to the Libero Crow. The ball flew past.

One More Point. Wakatoshi heard. One More Point. Because they are stronger.

But who came running back? Just as they were winning, for one more point. The Blond Crow had flown back to the game.

The Last Set. 15 Shiratorizawa. 14 Karasuno.

Wakatoshi wanted to crush his dreams, and now his other fingers. Yunohama came in, but Satori read failed on a part of the play against Tobio. Wakatoshi wanted to say something to the Blond Crow. But he realized he did not despise him like Shoyo. Only found him as an obstacle to crush.

Wakatoshi reminded Kenjiro. “Use me mercilessly.” He had enough stamina. He needed to be ready to beat the dreams of these foolish crows. As Reon made the ball go up, Wakatoshi struck Kenjiro’s fake set, right at Kei. He stared him down during their fall. He felt himself puff out his chest. He talked with his glowing eyes, as if saying, I can beat you.

Wakatoshi needed to serve again, but at the stupid Libero. He felt his thighs shake as he readied himself. He leaped up high, and hit the net to fool them.

But it didn’t work.

Satori couldn’t block the return attack. And now Karasuno was in the lead. Despite how hard Wakatoshi used his strength to get through the Blond Crow. During Coach’s timeout, Wakatoshi squeezed the pouches the twins had packed for him. Every game. Every practice. The twins packed him a little juice pouch.

He relaxed. His legs really needed to sit. A lot. Despite how tired he was from that run, he caught his breath. Kenjiro asked if he can still be used. He saw his teammate’s red, exhausted faces. This game was worrying them. Karasuno was in the lead.

Wakatoshi agreed with a warm smile. Because now he can win, with real, strong teamwork. Everyone depended on him. “Use me.”

On the court, the Libero saved it from the Samurai crow’s attack. Meaning he can serve, and he- It didn’t count. He tried to push it far. But his shoulder ached. Stupid Shoyo. Too late. He was too quick. Wakatoshi felt his muscles ache, like quiet screams.

This time, he spiked inside. Stupid Shoyo.

Wakatoshi was breathing heavily. But, he looked up, and grunted out of happiness. Stupid Shoyo!! He thought to himself.

Reon served. But, Shoyo made the next point.

Stupid Shoyo.

Wakatoshi smiled though, when Shoyo tried to quick attack, and Satori blocked it. But he didn’t grimace out of disappointment. He only kept thinking.

Stupid Shoyo.

Wakatoshi watched the ball on the next attack. He watched Hinata not jump. His legs froze. Stupid Shoyo. He congratulated Goshiki on the new point, with a nod as he went to the net.

He watched the ball slowly fall as a new play began. Another point-

The Libero. Wakatoshi felt the ball slip through his block. He hated the feeling as he grimaced at the passing and quick sting to his pinky. Wakatoshi stood and watched the Blond Crow figure out their attacks, he couldn’t help but now feel the same sense of annoyance as with Shoyo. He needed to truly show them who was going to win.

The Last Set. Hinata served. They do a minus tempo back attack. Shoyo spiked at Taichi. When he failed, Wakatoshi picked it up and yelled at his server. It’s time. Merciless Attack.

He wanted to hit. He wanted to hit Stupid Shoyo’s face so hard. Kenjiro noted Wakatoshi’s burning fury. Goshiki whimpered under his breath as he ran. But Wakatoshi flew up, and he spiked it to three blockers. But he spiked it right at their setter.

No point. The ball went up.

His nose flared, and he grunted underneath his breath.

Those crows.

Those.

Those damn crows.

THOSE BASTARD CROWS DARED DEFY HIM. HE HAD NEVER FELT SUCH HEAT IN HIS BODY; AS IF LAVA HAD BEEN SPURTING OUT OF HIM IN RAGE. SUCH ANGER INSIDE HIM AS HE SAW THE KARASUNO CROWS WEAKLY FIGHT; SUCH ANGER INSIDE HIM AS HE SAW THE KARASUNO WEAKLY TRY AND CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINST HIS STRENGTH. HE WAS PINNING THEM DOWN.

THE BALD CROW PICKED IT UP. CHANCE BALL.

WAKATOSHI COULDN’T STOP. HE NEEDED TO FIGHT.

STUPID SHOYO NEEDED TO LOSE!

This time, Shoyo flew up in the all out quick attack. Wakatoshi saw the ball. Where it went. Down. On his side. He felt his throat being choked, by someone.

Beneath him.

Wakatoshi saw it. He shook Shoyo’s hand and walked away. His face was grim. He saw Coach;s face staring at Shoyo. He noted how Satori was painted, with a tear falling down his face. How Goshiki sobbed. Reon staring at his hand. The Libero panting, his face a bright red.

Wakatoshi heard it. A flat thanks. No one spoke. Except the single mutter, “I thought we couldn’t lose.”

Wakatoshi smelled the salt, he saw the youngest shake and cry, hugging his broad body. A single, disappointed turn from the Coach. A flat, “hit 100 serves when we get back.”

“Wakatoshi, didn’t you get mad?” Satori asked.

Wakatoshi felt his body relax. His inner thigh was being stretched out. He paused. “I wanted to say I am stronger than them. Isn’t that childish? I wanted to say it.”

“Childish reasons are what drives us. What a great game.” A pause. “I’m quitting volleyball. I’m going to watch you on TV and brag about how we were best friends.” Satori giggled. “It’ll be fun to be interviewed about you when you get big and famous!”

21 Karasuno. 19 Shiratorizawa.

He turned away to the bright smiles of the first year duo. The Great Eagles had lost their feathers.

Wakatoshi woke up with a gasp as he held his throat. He panted, beads of sweat dripping down his bare chest. He groaned quietly, and he held his head.

It was a dream. A Dream.

Stupid Shoyo...he had invaded his dreams. And Wakatoshi looked at his left hand. He held the trophy.

He had held the trophy. Not the Karasuno Crows. He did. He touched it. And no one else could ever take that feeling away from him.

Wakatoshi turned on the bath again in his personal restroom, and got in. He sat in complete silence, and he filled the bucket with water. He dumped it upon himself. It was cold. He let his body shiver. He let himself sink as he weakly washed himself.

He heard his dad snore a few rooms down. But the worst thing that Wakatoshi did that night was cry.

☆彡

Wakatoshi knocked on the door to Coach Washijo’s room. “Wakatoshi-kun, come in.”

The boy walked inside, and blinked softly. He wore his school uniform, freshly ironed. “Coach Washijo. May I sit down?”

“Of course.” Wakatoshi pulled out the chair, and sat, he looked at his feet. Coach Washijo sighed, and he looked to the windows. “You know it, hm?”

Wakatoshi nodded. “We do not deserve this trophy.”

“I am already surprised you finished your punishment. I am extremely disappointed by the fact you brought the Chibi-Chan on our school grounds before. And for the game itself, Captain.”

Wakatoshi moved the chairs aside and he got on his knees, bowing his head. “I do not deserve the title as Captain.”

“Neither does anyone else on the team, son. But, I was the one who called you in here,” Coach Washijo went to him, and tapped his back. Wakatoshi slowly got up, and looked down. “I am proud. Don’t tell the others this, Wakatoshi-kun. That was a close game. I need you to practice with everyone. Get everyone ready for the Nationals. You deserve it.”

Wakatoshi bowed. “Thank you, Coach.”

As he left, his mind became fogged. How, how could he have even let himself be seen like that? Coach knew. Coach and he are the only ones, only ones who know the Karasunos were so, so so close to becoming the winners.

So.

Close.

Wakatoshi turned to the restroom quickly, and he began to breathe heavily. He loosened his tie as he stared into the sink. That close. Two points away from his dreams, his father, everything he had known into the sink, washed away because of Shoyo. 

“STUPID SHOYO!”

With the force of thunder, he punched the mirror. He panted, and looked at his reflection. The mirror didn’t shatter. The boy sighed as he turned on the sink, and washed his face. He rinsed it, as the water turned hot. Hot. Hot. Hot-

He held onto the sink, gasping for air. He remembered it. He remembered his mother scrubbing him fiercely with a wood scrubber. “Wakatoshi you need to start scrubbing!” She picked at his hair. “You need to start getting off those dead skin cells!” She ripped off anything that came off him. “Or else no one will like you! You wanna end up like your Dad? I married him out of pity! He was supposed to give me money!”

Wakatoshi held onto the sink, panting again as he washed his face. No. No he did not want to be like his father. Injured. No, that's why he ate well. He treated his body well. Run no less than five laps around the acres. Avoid the tree stump to the right. He could never, ever end up like his dad. 

He threw his head up and panted as he stared at himself. His skin was pink. He felt nothing on his skin. He only sighed. He grabbed the paper towels and wiped his face. He started to cry.

He was so close to ending up like his Dad. Like Tooru. No. He is strong. He got to Nationals.

He’s living his true, and only dream.

Then why is The Miracle Boy panicking?

☆彡

The lunch room was bustled, filled with happy and chattering students from the game that happened a week ago. The chefs served sushi today. Yuri was away in the auditorium for practice.

Wakatoshi ate with his team. Satori smiled. “Wow! Did Yuri give you good luck concerts for their concert, Wakatoshi-kun?”

“No.” he responded, eating a salmon roll after.

Eita sighed, “Well, I hear they’re playing with that new transfer, Choboyo-kun.”

Wakatoshi looked up, and scowled. “Oh.”

“Ooh, Eita-kun you’re going to get Wakatoshi-kun so angry!!” Satori laughed. 

Wakatoshi continued to eat, and he frowned as he looked down. It was one of his worst flaws. Jealousy. Shoyo. Tooru. Despite how they collapsed, how they looked up in anger, he knew they still probably had nice days. Tooru probably was nice with his nephew. Shoyo had hugged his best friends. Wakatoshi had his teammates and the twins. Yuri and he had been dating for a year, four months, and 27 days. The thought of Yuri being with another boy, of course it was rational he would get upset.

Besides, Yuri never told him of anything remotely close to the concert for that night. He continued to eat. He would tell them later.

☆彡

Wakatoshi slammed the ball against the ball in a beat. One two, one two three. He remembered the beat from a lullaby his Uncle Ushijima Hideaki sang to him. He threw the ball up, and ran, staring at the ball. He wanted nothing more, like Left Handing Hideaki, than to show his strength. He hit the other side of the net.

Satori, Goshiki, and Kenjiro were across Wakatoshi. Taichi and Eita were with Wakatoshi. He watched as Satori took the first hit, giving Kenjiro time to serve to Goshiki. Wakatoshi moved with Taichi to go for a block. Wakatoshi jumped early, but blocked Goshiki’s spike.

“One touch!” Taichi yelled. He jumped down, as Wakatoshi quickly caught the ball and moved it up. Eita made a pretty decent set. Wakatoshi did not want to upset him by saying it was much too far from the net, but he jumped.

Satori jumped perfectly. A great timing block. 

Wakatoshi froze. He saw Satori’s crazy blood red eyes flash into the Blond Crow. Wakatoshi smacked down the ball.

“FUCK!”

The game stopped, and everyone went to Satori’s hand. He winced quietly, and he flexed his middle finger. His comrades gasped out of grotesque. “Wakatoshi-kun! Shit-, you do scare me!”

“Sorry.” Wakatoshi panted. He was sweaty. He was sticky and sweaty. He wanted to shower.

“Is everything—?” Coach Saito started.

“Let’s put Hayato in while we practice.” Wakatoshi grabbed the ball, walking over. “We need to make sure we win the next game.”

“Captain, we did win.” Goshiki gently took Satori close, wrapping his fingers with a tape.

Wakatoshi scowled. He didn’t want to admit to his comrades they barely won. Stupid Shoyo almost took away their name of the Great Eagles. But he turned away. “One more game, then Eita and I shall take Satori to Nurse Yui.”

Everyone gave a hesitant agreement. Wakatoshi sighed, he banged the ball against the wooden ground. He looked across the net.

Six players in black and orange uniforms. Goshiki’s hair had faded to the Captain Crow. The foolish Lightning Libero Crow. Kenjiro looked so much like Tobio.

Wakatoshi twitched. He threw the ball up. Not again. Not again. He leaped into the air, and he felt- no he saw Goshiki move. Shoyo. He spiked hard, past Hayato, past Goshiki’s defense, so hard the ball had flown to the ceiling, and had gotten stuck in a beam.

Wakatoshi panted, his muscles spasming, and he looked at Goshiki with anger. He showed him. He showed him he is the strongest. He showed him no matter how hard he would train like Tooru he would not—

Satori gripped his arm. Wakatoshi stopped breathing. His best friend frowned. “Wakatoshi. You won.”

☆彡

Yuri smiled and they held Wakatoshi’s hand. They had been wandering the neighborhood for awhile, and now Yuri was just beginning to look at the music stores and babbling about their new deep desire for something about a gem. They said it would make the music sound crystal clear.

“Is it not clear already?” The boy asked.

“Silly! No!! It needs to be perfect for the concert!”

The concert. Wakatoshi followed them around, and after the eighth story about how they loved little stuffed animals, he asked, “Who is Choboyo?”

“And- huh? Oh! Choboyo-Senpai! He’s in university, so he offered to play with me! He’s a little bit much though...”

Wakatoshi went closer as Yuri continued in telling their story. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Yuri looked over and sighed. “Because look at you! Wakatoshi-Chan, you’re slouching. Don’t worry, he’s only in the background of my performance for tomorrow. Now come on! Chin up~! I need to pick out a good outfit for tomorrow! I wanted you to help!”

Wakatoshi was too tired to disagree, despite him having promised his mother to babysit the twins. That morning. He knew Grandmother Nijiko would tell Ms. Ushijima, and he knew he would be subjected to the marsh cleaning, but, seeing Yuri’s smile as they picked out a strawberry shirt for their suit, was enough for him to think;

 “Who cares?”

Wakatoshi was benched. Coach Saito had explained to Wakatoshi that he had to maintain his speed before he could be put back on the court. Which was perfect. During lunch, privately, he practiced. It was better for him then.

No more Karasuno Crows.

But tonight, the concert hall had changed. However, Wakatoshi's face was non wipeable of his scowl. He wore a hand me down of Mr. Utsui’s suit. It smelled horrible. It was stiff.

“Ah~, Yuri-kun!” Choboyo was indeed a young man, with a stubble, messy and sleek white hair, his eyes a never-ending black.

Wakatoshi scowled as he watched Yuri hug him. Yuri wore a lovely green suit, their hair pulled back.

They were so beautiful.

“Choboyo! This is my boyfriend, Ushijima Wakatoshi. He’s a volleyball player- He’s going to the National Championship!”

The young men stared at each other. Wakatoshi nodded. “Good luck.”

“We say break a leg, actually.” He only despised him even more, now. “Come on, Yuri,” Wakatoshi eyed his hand. His right hand lingered on Yuri’s waist, on their shoulders, and on their hands.

Wakatoshi sighed to himself.

Yuri turned. “Is something wrong?” Choboyo also looked, raising a white eyebrow of his. Wakatoshi gripped his fists and he scowled at Choboyo.

“You like Yuri-Chan. My partner.”

“Wakatoshi—!”

“I won’t lie.” Choboyo took his hands off Yuri, “They’re very attractive.”

Wakatoshi widened his eyes. He didn’t expect the man to just admit it. It was almost like he was trying to be a pervert.

“E-excuse us,” Yuri put a hand to Choboyo’s chest. “I-I’ll be right there.” Yuri sighed as Choboyo smirked to himself, kissed their hand, and walked away.

Wakatoshi stepped closer. “Do you not see this? He’s a pervert.”

“It’s one performance,” Yuri said, rubbing their arm. “Don’t you realize this is why I’ve been asking you to be with me? W-why I’ve been playing more around you, and not practicing here? I know.” 

He blinked. He wanted to say something. Anything. He gulped. He blinked. “Yuri-Chan. I do not think you should play with him.”

Yuri looked up with teary eyes. “If you’re not going to be here to support me right now, I-I want you to leave. I can’t do this right now, ‘Toshi. I want to take a break.”

He gulped. “Yuri, perhaps you should think straight. D-don’t—.”

“I’ll see you around.” They turned around, and just like that, Wakatoshi again, was alone.

☆彡

Wakatoshi locked the door behind him. He sat on his bed. It creaked. Across the hall, he heard the twins.

The twins.

He got up as fast as he could, and he went to their room. Everything in the room was painted pink, and had little birds that twittered happily with the characters of bird songs next to their beaks. The room was split into Mayumi’s play space, and then Kazane’s.

Wakatoshi squatted down. 

The twins were on the floor, Mayumi’s foot was in her mouth. Kazane was trying to climb back in her crib. Her left hand was on the crib. Wakatoshi picked up Kazane, and started to hum.

Before he had heard his mother and father fight, he actually wanted to sing. He remembered seeing his father’s sisters all perform and sing. It made him stare in awe. The twirling of their batons, of their voices, their silks. Wakatoshi adored it. He once thought of himself there, dancing.

It was Grandfather Ushijima Touma who frowned at catching him. “Nijiko.” he had stated firmly. “He is pretending to be a daughter.” Wakatoshi had never felt such pain as he did that evening.

But being an artist was worse. That was when they discovered he had a tendency to write with his left hand. Just like the exiled Uncle Hideaki. He was supposedly in Germany.

“You had let him draw?!” cried Ms. Ushijima. Her parents stood next to her. She gripped his hand. “Does this look right to you? Huh, Takashi?!” 

It was only his father. Little, nothing for brains, Mr. Utsui, who stood in front of his son. “He’s just a boy! He’ll use it for-for something great! You just wait!”

Wakatoshi picked up Mayumi as well, and began to hum. He began to quietly sing the lullaby. An old song. It was about change. About the discovery of an island. About how the tide changed with each roll onto the warm sand. Yes, everything to the nude eye was the same, but change happened. With tradition, came slow, but sure, change.

He lifted his baby sisters above him. He teared up. “This forbidden, new world, on a summer day we meet.” Mayumi was the only one awake now. He hummed as he knelt beside her. “On a summer day, we will meet again, Imoto-san.”

“Wakatoshi?” The boy turned, with teary eyes as Mayumi drifted into sleep. Mr. Utsui stood there, his mouth slack open. He closed it. “I didn’t know you sang.”

“Me either.” Wakatoshi stood up.

Mr. Utsui looked away, “Ah- well, Wakatoshi, why don’t we go outside?” He nodded and stood, awkwardly following him outside.

The sun was setting to the west of the Ushijima Acres. Wakatoshi sat on an old swing. Mr. Utsui sat next to him. Wakatoshi made sure not to look at his father; for he smelled horribly.

“Son, I- well, I have some news about you and your sisters.” Wakatoshi looked at him. Mr. Utsui had gained many splotches of white on his face, and wrinkles.

“Yes?”

“I got a job out of Miyagi Prefecture. I’m taking the twins with me. You will continue to live with your mother.”

Wakatoshi paused. He looked out at the sunset. “No.”

Mr. Utsui wheezed out of his age, “I beg your pardon?”

“You have not been here for the divorce. You were not there for Oka-san when she gave birth. You were not there to take care of the girls. You were not even here for me.” Wakatoshi looked at the sun, and it disappeared.

“You do not deserve the twins.”

The boy got up, before he stopped. His shirt was caught on something. He tugged. To no avail. He tugged and he- Wakatoshi had stumbled, back, he was trying to regain himself.

But everything flashed.

Yuri. 

Kazane. 

Mayumi. 

Mr. Utsui.

Ms. Ushijima.

Grandmother Nijiko

Grandfather Touma.

Kei.

Shoyo.

Himself.

Wakatoshi had fallen into the marsh, and he had passed out into the water.

☆彡

Wakatoshi awoke, to Kazane biting his finger. He gasped, and he groaned. He began to gently flex his body, and groan again. “O-oka-san-?”

“Hold still.” Ms. Ushijima scrubbed his body. “You nearly drowned in the lake. Ugh, look at the water! Oka-san!” she cried. She wore a bra- she never wore such things. Sweatpants?

Were Satori’s theories true? Did alternate universes exist?

“Oka-san- agh- I-I cannot-,”

Ms. Ushijima smacked his face. Satori was wrong, alternate universes did not exist. “Still, I said! You banged up your knee pretty badly.”

Wakatoshi sat up, practically leapt up, but he moaned loudly in pain. “N-No, no. No-  O-oka-san- please- I can’t-!”

“Shut up, you’ll heal if you sit still!”

Wakatoshi looked up, and started to cry. “I-I won’t win. Oka-san,” he hugged her, he cried in her neck. “I-I won't a-able to play! I’ll fail at nationals! Tell me!!” He held her tightly as he looked at her.

Ms. Ushijima stared down at her son.

Wakatoshi had clear snot on his upper lip. His tears were salty, and stained his cheeks as they dripped down into the tub. He was only in his bare underwear. The water was marshy. He had a rose colored bruise blossom on his knee.

Ms. Ushijima took his chin. “Listen to me, Wakatoshi. If you sit absolutely still, I’ll see what I can do. Just,” she heard the baby whimper.

“O-oni. . .” one of the twins started to cry.

Wakatoshi sniffled, and he looked at Kazane. Ms. Ushijima gave the baby to him. “Kazane-kun, go comfort your Oni-tan.”

“Oni~!” Kazane wrapped her chubby arms around him, then Mayumi as Ms. Ushijima placed her on him. Mayumi, adorably, finished her sister’s sentence, “tan!”

Wakatoshi smiled, and he softly cried, as Ms. Ushijima lifted up his right leg. “It’s alright, Wakatoshi-tan, I’m here.” She held it with care, and repeated, quietly as she wet some rags, “I’m here.”

☆彡

It was the night of the concert. Wakatoshi wore his school outfit, despite it being the weekend. He told his parents it’s on school grounds. They did not argue.

Goshiki found out about his injury. He had gotten the word out. Wakatoshi had been numb the entire night. He went to bed the night before, sleeping with his sisters in their room. He had awoken to their stuffed animals on his face.

Mr. Utsui chuckled about how their first word was for their elder brother. Grandmother Nijiko spoke nothing as she ate breakfast with him.

Satori sat next to Wakatoshi, wearing a hoodie, and he smiled. “Yuri-kun looks awfully pretty today, huh Wakatoshi-kun~?”

Wakatoshi said nothing. He only looked down. Strangely, he did not want to get up this morning. He did not want to do anything. He felt as if he should retire from life.

The Miracle Boy was supposed to be strong.

Never to get hurt.

And yet, here he was. Pathetically existing next to his family. He did not even mention to them that Yuri did not love him anymore. He did not tell anyone, either, of his sisters moving away from him.

They sat on his lap though, pacifiers in their mouths.

“Wakatoshi-kun, your sisters are so so so cute!” Satori laughed as he picked up Mayumi. She began to whine, aher pigtails bouncing as her blue eyes stared at Satori in fury. She fussed before Wakatoshi gently put her on his lap.

“She does not like to be held from under the arms. Only by her stomach, Despite her being ticklish there, she loves it.”

Satori smiled softly. “You love them a lot. Were they there for you when-?”

Wakatoshi nodded. “Yes. They were born right after. Oka-san was tired. They kept me company.” He paused. “I do not know what to do without them.”

Satori sighed softly, “I understand.”

The lights dimmed. A hush over the audience. The auditorium was huge and packed.

Yuri, and Choboyo came out. Yuri was so uncomfortable. Their eyes looked down at the ground. Choboyo grabbed the microphone. “Thank you, everyone, for our performance tonight! I gotta say- Yuri has something great planned out!”

The two turned to the middle of the stage. Yuri nodded. They held a different violin. It was not theirs.

Choboyo went to his grand piano proudly, and he looked at Yuri’s body, then at their eyes. They both looked at each other, finally, nodded and looked away. After a few seconds, Choboyo started off.

Wakatoshi hated it. He pounded a key, then followed it as if he was trying to sing a love song for Yuri.

Despite the famous classical song, it was still the one Yuri had played what seemed like eons ago. The Swan.

Here it went by the Carnival of Animals.

But Wakatoshi knew what Yuri was trying to replicate. But their music, their bow, the sound made Wakatoshi cringe.

It was not the joy, peaceful, calm song Yuri played in the land. Here, mixed in with Choboyo’s romantic noise; was their song of sorrow. They focused, as if on the music, and not on their own play.

Wakatoshi looked down. Two birds. One defeated. Another attack for more.

The song ended.

Wakatoshi clapped, his hands smacking like thunder, and Yuri looked at him, just for a moment. They went backstage, and the next duo came out. The song was the infamous Clair De Lune.

“Wakatoshi?”

He looked at his dad beside him. Mr. Utsui showered the night before due to falling in the marsh to save Wakatoshi. He had done his hair. He had also shaved.

“Your mother and I talked, we decided that I’ll live here. After my first paycheck I’ll get a good car, so I can drive in and out of the Prefecture. And, son?” Mr. Utsui moved in closer.

Wakatoshi suddenly teared up. When he was little, he remembered exactly how his father smelled when he protected him from the traditional rules that had ached his once frail bones.

Like hot sand.

Mr. Utsui, in that moment, murmured into Wakatoshi’s ear, as the song had ended, “I am so proud you got into Nationals. Keep working hard. Keep getting stronger for us.”

As Wakatoshi’s hot tears fell, he whispered, looking at his father, “T-Thank you, Oto-san.”

☆彡

Wakatoshi had bounced the ball. He stood firmly on his right leg. He breathed in deeply. He eyed his friend across from him, and Mr. Utsui who held the twins. Mayumi was on the sand, babbling and trying to eat it.

“Imoto-san, do not try to eat the sand, okay?” Wakatoshi looked across to his sister.

“Oni~!” Kazane cried with a laugh.

Wakatoshi chuckled, and he gently bounced the ball. The sand underneath his sneakers. His deep and panting breath. He looked at his friend with a soft smile.

Satori panted himself, his red hair sticking to his forehead. He only smiled widely with happiness.

Wakatoshi breathed deeply, and calmed himself.

Satori and he, underneath the midnight moon.

Wakatoshi served. Satori dived under and threw the ball up, before spiking. Wakatoshi, with great speed, blocked and Satori read him. Satori gathered himself again to throw the ball, set, then spike. Now Wakatoshi served it to himself, and he quickly set it. He now went to the left, and spiked hard right. Satori tried to follow for a moment, before he watched the ball slam beside him. Satori, however, blocked enough to make a dump. Wakatoshi nodded.

A great defense.

Satori smiled with a small breath of relief, “Wakatoshi-kun, I love playing with you, but you scare me.”

The young man smiled as he went underneath the net to get it. “I try my best to be a Strong Monster as well.”

“How scary!” Satori gasped, and Wakatoshi took the ball. He spun the ball as Mr. Utsui cheered happily.

“Go Wakatoshi-kun!”

“Are you okay? I know your dad is back.” Satori said quietly.

Wakatoshi turned around. “It’s okay. I-I’m not happy he is back.”

Satori widened his eyes. “Oh?”

Wakatoshi sat beside him against the barn. The Ushijima space was so peaceful now. Not in a flash as he usually saw it. Wakatoshi took a deep breath again. “He came to announce he lost his job. He told me he was happy and I was happy. Not that he was proud.” Wakatoshi began to practice throwing the ball up and setting, as if it was instinct. “I was thinking. I am not happy. We nearly lost, Satori.”

His friend looked up at the stars. “I wanted to quit after that game.”

Wakatoshi stopped. He looked at his friend. “But you have so much—,”

“Those memories won’t stop flowing. Once we win nationals, Wakatoshi-kun, that’s when I’ll stop. Seeing your smile hold that big, big trophy, that’s when I’ll quit. Because then you won’t need me, and I won’t need you anymore.” Satori smiled. “I love you.”

Wakatoshi opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He closed it. He closed his eyes, before he looked at Satori. “I love you too, Satori. Thank you for being by my side.”

They both, slowly, turned to gaze at the stars.

“So, you’ll recommend me for a movie interview, right Wakatoshi-kun?”

“Perhaps.”

☆彡

Snow drifted down. It fell against Yuri’s umbrella.

“Wait!”

Yuri stopped walking, and took out their earbuds as they turned around. They widened their eyes. “Wakatoshi-ch-? What are you- Why are you running?” Yuri started.

Wakatoshi winced, and he sighed. He hid a huge dandelion bouquet behind his back, with a small box.

“Yuri-Chan.” the young man panted, “I-I am not the strongest. I lost a lot of things in the past few days. I gained some of them back.” He showed the bouquet, and the box.

“I should have focused on you, my flower. On your music. I went to your concert. You did not practice, did you? It is alright. I do not want to jump back to our relationship if you are not ready. I believe we should go back to the beginning, Yuri-Chan. If you like, we can go back to my farm, and I can listen to you play, and play, and play until we fall asleep.”

Wakatoshi, after a moment, opened the box. There was Yuri’s dream sapphire blue rosin. One swipe, said the ad on it, and the bow is brand new.

“I will always love you. But I was not okay. Now, if you take me back, I will be. Then I will never break that promise.”

Yuri looked at his big tearful eyes. “I love you, stupid!” Yuri cried and they jumped on him, tackling him. The couple held each other, with laughter and deep chuckles as they cuddled close in the soft winter wind. In an act of warmth, Yuri hugged. In an act of love, Wakatoshi kissed. 

The couple was late for their classes that morning.

☆彡

Wakatoshi rinsed his face in the sink, lightly with cold water. Goshiki stood beside him by making faces. Reon patted the youngster’s back, and laughed. Eita instructed, but also listened to Kenjiro. Satori sang to himself.

The clinking of the lights above the young man began to go into a rhythm. His eyes tilted up, and he blinked. Once. Twice. And again.

He, and his teammates, were in a full purple volleyball outfit. The Number One on his shirt was bold white. His muscles flexed gently when he looked at his short olive hair. His eyes glimmered seeing where he was. How he was there.

The young man smiled to himself.

“Great Eagles.” The young man who played volleyball said, “Let’s finish this.”

[kaleidodreams]

Lots of great fics recommended already! You can find my personal rec list here, but I'm gonna focus on some of my top, top favorites, with more of a slant toward other pairings since a lot of Victuuri recs have already been made (although I still mention a few):

All That I Want by ratherunnecessary (Mature, Mila/Sara)

Mila just won bronze at Worlds. Her best friend is newly engaged. Viktor’s determined to pull off a skating exhibition like no one’s ever seen. And Mila’s starting to realize that her initial judgement of Sara Crispino as a boy-crazy bubblehead was very, very wrong. This should be the best summer of her life.

So why does Mila feel more alone than ever?

Half A Chance by ratherunnecessary (Mature, Yuri/Otabek, Victor/Yuuri, and one-sided Yuri/Yuuri):

Yuri has never cared about anything as much as he cares about skating. Until, one day, that changes.

Or, Viktor falls in love with Yuuri, Yuuri falls in love with Viktor, Yuri falls in love Yuuri, Otabek falls in love with Yuri, and somehow everything turns out okay.

A Practical Guide to Winning the Olympics (Dos and Don’ts) by Anna (pineconepickers) (Explicit, Victor/Yuuri)

When pair skater Yuuri Katsuki’s career comes to a scandalous end, he does not expect the retired pair skating legend Viktor Nikiforov to suggest that they compete together. But taking on a new skating partner is full of trial and error, and the skating world doesn’t know how to react when the Katsuki-Nikiforov duo, against all odds, starts doing well. The last thing either of them should do, as they strive for their last chance at greatness, is to fall in love. Yuuri knows he is damaged goods, and Viktor knows his body is starting to fail him. They have competitions to survive and medals to win. No, falling in love is out of the question; they’re just very good friends. And even if Viktor felt something, he’d never act on it, and even if Yuuri happened to be hopelessly in love, he’d be mortified if Viktor ever found out.

empty spaces between stars by astudyinrose (Explicit, Victor/Yuuri)

Victor gets just as drunk as Yuuri at the Sochi Banquet, and they disappear together after the dance-offs. They wake up the morning after with rings on their fingers, and pictures of them kissing after getting married the night before are all over the tabloids... but neither of them remembers a thing. They decide to stay married for a while for the sake of Victor's sponsorships, and in exchange, Victor coaches Yuuri through nationals...

Find the New World in You by opalish (Teen and Up, Gen)

Yuri Plisetsky was recovering from a bad fall and had been drafted into playing announcer.

It was guaranteed to be the greatest ice show ever.

Here's to the Mess We Make by fakeplasticsnow (Teen and Up, Otabek/Yuri and one-sided Otabek/Mila)

Puberty sucks. Feelings suck more. In the wake of a post-Worlds meltdown, Yuri accidentally discovers his artistic identity in a jazz dance class with Otabek and Mila. Along the way, Otabek unleashes his inner Channing Tatum, Yuri gets in touch with his inner Georgi, and Yakov probably loses more hair. Welcome to the madness.

it's the life we're living now by vivevoce (Mature, Otabek/Yuri)

“... Did you know you still give me boners?” Yuri asks seriously. Otabek is startled into an incredulous snort. “Don’t laugh, you asshole! It’s tragic and inconvenient and probably going to last until we’re old and can’t get it up anymore.”

“I’m touched,” Otabek replies tonelessly. “You have such a way with words.”

“Yeah, I know.” Yuri grins, all sharp teeth. “Feel free to swoon a little closer into my arms. And on top of my crotch?”

“Fuck off.” Yuri can hear Otabek’s grudging smile, even with his back turned.

“Baby?”

“No.”

“Zhanym?”

“Gross.”

i've told a hundred lies by persephoneggsy (Teen and Up, Yuri/Minami, Otabek/Mila, and one-sided Otabek/Yuri)

When Otabek and Mila start dating, it feels like Yuri’s been punched in the gut. No, correction: it feels like Otabek’s punched him in the gut, and the guy doesn’t even realize it. Worst of all, it’s all Yuri’s fault. He’d been the one to encourage them, after all.

Then this hyperactive little nugget of a skater comes out of nowhere and barrels into Yuri's life and just makes things worse.

Or better.

Yuri hasn't decided yet.

No Nut November by WhiskeyDreams (Explicit, Otabek/Yuri)

"I can't do it." "The 4Lz?" "No! The stupid challenge." "...it's been 3 days, Yura."

- - -

The skating circuit had somehow come to the collective conclusion that doing the No Nut November challenge was a good idea - and turning down a challenge had never been something Yuri considered to be an option. So here he was, three days in, and he had no idea how he was supposed to survive another twenty-seven.

on growing; by crossroadswrite (Teen and Up, Victor/Yuuri)

Yuri Plisetsky glares at him with all the righteousness five year olds possess, and says in heavily accented and clumsy English. “Be more gooder, stupid!”

And then he storms out in a sweep of blond hair and blue and red lights from his Sketchers.

(Or: in which Yuri Plisetsky is Victor Nikiforov's bratty five-year-old and nothing is the same.)

The Next Level by azriona (Explicit, Victor/Yuuri)

The skating season continues (as skating seasons are wont to do), while Victor and Yuuri negotiate the shifts in their relationship, their careers, and their home rink.

Sometimes, things even go as planned.

took me knee-high to a man by thewalrus_said (Explicit, Christophe/Mystery Man and Christophe/Victor)

Christophe Giacometti, ages 14-22. Skating; sex; friendship; love.

Undiscovered Country by shysweetthing (Explicit, Victor/Yuuri)

Yuuri wakes up in Victor’s room the night after the Sochi Grand Prix Final banquet. Did they sleep together? No. Instead, last night, Drunk Yuuri taunted Victor that he hadn’t earned the right to get in his pants…and spelled out exactly what Victor would have to do to get there.

Now, Victor intends to do everything on that list…

Watch The Young Hearts Fade by kiazareni (Teen and Up, Otabek/Yuuri)

Yuri is forced to deal with a lot of issues from his past, when after five years of silence, Otabek is suddenly back in his life. It might be just what he needs to move on, but that doesn't mean it isn't hard, and sometimes, Otabek doesn't make it easy either, especially when Yuri's feelings for him resurface. He refused to go down that road once before, but he is not sure he is strong enough this time.

Winter Song by proantagonist (Explicit, Victor/Yuuri)

The set of Yuuri’s mouth softened into a private smile as Victor squeezed his knee beneath the table. His hands were bare, free from the gloves he so often wore when they were together on the rink, and the heat of his palm burned straight through the denim of Yuuri’s jeans. He slipped his own hand beneath the table and found Victor’s. Hidden from sight, their fingers began to flirt and play. A secret conversation all their own that needed no words.

Yuuri was aware that at some point—a moment in time he couldn’t quite place—Victor had become his boyfriend.

There wasn’t a single instant when it happened. It was a slow awareness, as if Victor had silently been asking the question for months now, and Yuuri had been giving him the answer a little more with each passing day.

And pretty much everything by Allekha!

(For a little self-plug, you can find my YOI fics here. I most recommend the "It's Complicated" series (G to Mature, Yuri/Otabek/Mila), The Baby Question (Teen and Up, Victor/Yuuri), and Good Catholic Boy (JJ/Isabella).)

need your best yuri on ice ao3 fics or fic writers rn this is an emergency