Well... So When’s The Third Child, Huh? :sob: 

new YOI official art….and as always, the attention to detail for little figure skating references from MAPPA blows me away, and i need everyone to appreciate it too. welcome to yuuri katsuki’s 2022 beijing olympics!

to start, this is very clearly the official beijing rink; even without the logo or rings (which would have been too much of a hassle to use copyright-wise, i’m sure, but would also take away from the subtlety), it’s very clear from the colors and the mountain pattern, as seen here behind nathan chen:

next, victor is wearing the official team japan jacket, as seen here on team japan’s singles skaters yuma kagiyama (left, silver medalist in the men’s individual event) and shoma uno (right, bronze medalist):

…as far as i know, however, only skaters got team japan jackets, not their coaches. which means victor is wearing yuuri’s jacket. cuuuute.

next up, yurio’s practice outfit has to be based off of skater andrei mozalev of the russian olympic committee:

…so since yurio here is being based on mozalev, naturally, mappa chose to put yakov in the same coat that kirill davydenko, mozalev’s coach, wore at the boards!

i’m sure that otabek’s practice clothes and the mysterious ass-haver’s are a reference to something as well. since the tragic death of skater denis ten of kazakhstan, whom otabek is based on, there hasn’t been a strong enough kazakhstani men’s skater to make it to the olympics, but these are probably practice clothes denis ten wore once upon a time, or something!

finally, this last one isn’t a reference to the olympics in YOI–rather, the opposite! the makkachin tissue box seen next to victor was seen at the olympics, used by skater alexandra trusova of ROC!

so what is yuuri pointing at and looking so mad about? personally, i think he’s probably upset about the hole in the ice that made him pop a quad salchow…

but we may never know.

Will I ever get tired of drawing these two in pretty clothing? I think not.

UYEAH!!!1

I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING

VICTOR HAS TEARS IN HIS EYES

THEY ADDED THE RING

I'M-

Victor and Yuri are a gift to the world

srsly it gave me so much serotonin i am crying happy tears

** Permission to post it was granted by the artist Do not repost/edit the art without permission Please, support the artist on their pages too **

Artist : ヴィクトリア・ニキゴルフ (pixiv / twitter)

Source

I could speak endlessly about the things that make Victor and Yuuri an amazing couple, but this one really stood out to me: their insecurities.

(some of this is kinda headcanon, but it’s based on what is implied in canon)

It’s evident from the beginning that Yuuri sees himself as not enough. He doesn’t think he’s good enough, attractive enough, sexy enough, or talented enough to be Victor’s student. These fears introduce his struggle with anxiety long before he enters his first Grand Prix competition. He doesn’t think he’s good enough to deserve Victor’s attention, he doesn’t think he’s talented enough to beat Yurio, he doesn’t think he can keep Victor in Hasetsu with him when the world wants him back in Russia, competing.

And although his confidence grows throughout the series, his self-doubt is still very evident in their argument in episode 11. Yuuri doesn’t think his career is worth more than Victor’s career. Yuuri doesn’t even consider the romantic value of their relationship, only comparing the success of their careers, because even with all the validation he receives from Victor, he doesn’t know just how much his love means to Victor, and he’s scared of overestimating it. Yuuri’s ongoing fear is not being enough.

Victor, on the other hand, is an enigma. Throughout the show, Yuuri’s unreliable narration makes it difficult to know exactly how Victor feels. Victor is scared of being too much. When he arrived in Hasetsu, he was expecting a very different welcome— something akin to the sensual, sexy, confident dancer he encountered at the banquet— and is instead greeted by a shy, unconfident skater, who can’t grasp why Victor would be there to coach him of all people.

Though Victor initially tried to coax Yuuri out of his shell by being extremely forward, he realized that he needs to give Yuuri his space, and meet him in the middle— not force Yuuri to let him in when he’s not ready. Yuuri challenges Victor in episode 4 by telling Victor to be himself. For so long, Victor had been performing in every aspect of his life; every season wiping the slate clean and beginning again, constructing a new persona for himself. He was seen as a force of nature, a whirlwind, a god. Nobody has ever asked him to be himself before. He’s afraid he’s too messy, too impulsive, too Victor to be what Yuuri wants, which is why he asks Yuuri to give him a role in the first place.

Although Victor’s extra-ness is far from lacking in the following episodes, he’s significantly toned down how direct he is, and instead motivates and challenges Yuuri through his small touches and words. When Yuuri is crying in the parking garage in episode 7, Victor doesn’t know how to react, and slips back into a suave bachelor persona— “Should I just kiss you or something?”— in order to keep his messy self hidden; the kind that doesn’t know how to handle when people cry, the kind that acts impulsively, the kind that really doesn’t know what he’s doing. And Yuuri challenges him again. He doesn’t want Victor to be fake, to hide his true self behind a mask. He just wants Victor to stand by him, as himself. This could be another reason why Victor was so angry when Yuuri wanted to end things for the sake of Victor’s career. Victor had given himself, all of his whole, messy, impulsive, imperfect, balding self to Yuuri, who wanted to give it up for the sake of Victor’s suffocating career, his persona as The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor, God of Figure Skating, Victor Nikiforov. It felt like a rejection of his true self, the one that was shown to Yuuri after he painfully tore down all the walls he had to protect his fragile heart. Victor is afraid that his true self is too much.

But together, they fit together like a puzzle piece. When Victor is afraid he’s too much, Yuuri embraces all of it— all of the messiness, all of the tears, shattering those masks one by one and letting them pick up the pieces together. When Yuuri is afraid he’s not enough, Victor helps him build himself back up, showing him that he is strong and deserving of everything he has.

They are perfect for each other.

AHHHHHHHHHHH

YALL THIS OFFICIAL ART GOT ME IN A CHOKEHOLD

INTENSE YUURI

WHAT IS HE POINTING AT

MASKED VIKTOR

MARRIED VIKTUURI + ARM GRAB

YAKOVS BOI HAND

YURI ANGRILY BLOWING HIS NOSE

PHICHIT BUTT

OTABEK GENERALLY BEING AMAZING

THE MAKKACHIN TISSUE BOX IS STILL THERE AFTER FIVE YEARS

I’m never going to recover