I keep forgetting to upload these chapters, so please just tell me it's been a long time when you get impatient.
Fact of the Chapter: We've talked about the jumps, which hugely contribute to the technical points which a skater can get, but let's talk about the Program Component Score (PCS). There are five components which are judged in a program, and today we'll talk about the first: Skating Skills.
Skating skills are the foundation of figure skating (in my humble opinion) and when judging skating skills there are a couple of things to consider. There is speed, which is essentially how fast a person can skate but also how well they can accelerate and slow down by will. There is one-footed skating, since there is obviously a huge difference in using one or two feet to skate. Then we have edges, flat skating is easier than skating on deep edges. Although steps and turns are often associated with step sequences and transitions, all the in-betweens are judged in skating skills, which include how difficult the movements are. As an example, having a lot of crossovers (simple skating movement usually used to generate speed) is not something which would give a skater many points for skating skills. These are the basics for skating skills and I have definitely talked too much now. On with the chapter.
Katsuki Yuuri's life is great. That's what he thinks as he slowly wakes up. A ray of sunshine escaping the gap between the curtains is resting on his face, and he holds up a hand to block it from his eyes. Makkachin's warm body is pressed against his back, and though Viktor isn't currently in the bed, it's still warm on his side of the bed and Yuuri reaches for his pillow and hugs it close to his chest. He can smell the faint herbs coming from the kitchen where Viktor is cooking. He's probably thinking of serving Yuuri breakfast in bed, and Yuuri has no reason to ruin those plans, so he stays in bed. It's already past ten in the morning, much later than when Yuuri usually gets up, but both him and Viktor are having a rest day. It's only fair. Viktor had only just gotten home last night, and how could Yuuri possibly concentrate on anything but the fact that he finally had his beautiful fiancé back to hug, kiss and love as much as he wanted. Life really is great, he thinks again and almost dozes back off to sleep.
But there is a loud noise from the kitchen, one that Yuuri can't place, and his eyes open wide as he sits up, waiting for the next sound. As he silently sits on the bed, Makkachin also having woken up beside him, he listens as he hears Viktor's voice. Which is rare. While the kitchen isn't far away, Viktor is usually very careful with keeping his voice down whenever Yuuri is sleeping. Yuuri can't make out what Viktor is saying though. His speech is fast-paced and definitely Russian, and through the bedroom door, it just seems like angry growling. Which is what makes Yuuri leave the bed, because Viktor very rarely gets angry.
He slips on a robe to cover his naked body, and makes his way to Viktor, Makkachin following him as he goes. He walks quietly, almost afraid to disturb Viktor in whatever he's doing and is surprised to find Viktor on his phone. He has his back turned, so Yuuri can only see as his shoulders look more tense than he would like, and see as he clutches his phone in what Yuuri can only describe as anger.
Viktor responds once again to whatever is being said, and though he doesn't yell this time - Yuuri assumes the loud noise had been Viktor yelling - he's definitely furious. More so than Yuuri has ever seen him. His voice is low, frustrated, and he runs his hand through his hair to perhaps calm himself down. Yuuri would do it for him if he wasn't afraid of startling him by suddenly intruding on his conversation. In Viktor's response, Yuuri can only understand that Viktor is dissatisfied with some decision that has been made. By who, he doesn't know, but it's clearly someone Viktor can't persuade to change their mind. If it was, Viktor would be giddy, optimistic and possibly smiling.
Viktor then starts pacing and that's when he spots Yuuri. He stops abruptly in his tracks as he looks at Yuuri, and he pauses in the middle of a reply before picking up where he left off. He stops pacing and goes to Yuuri instead. He takes his arm and guides him over to the stove, where their breakfast is sitting abandoned and half-cooked. Yuuri takes the hint that there is nothing he can do, and finishes up breakfast as Viktor continues on with his phone call, Makkachin trotting around him in circles, trying to cheer Viktor up.
Yuuri almost drops the plates he's setting up for them as Viktor exclaims something that sounds suspiciously vulgar - which ones again sets off a million red flags. Yuuri keeps score of how many times Viktor has cursed, and the counter possibly just went up to two. He then hangs up, throws his phone on the couch and slumps into Yuuri's arms, even though he's currently holding two glasses that could be dropped at any moment.
Viktor stays latched onto Yuuri despite the awkward position, while Yuuri tries to maneuver him closer to the table so he can put down the glasses and properly return the hug that Viktor clearly needs. When the glasses are successfully placed on the table, Yuuri picks Viktor up and walk them to the couch, where they can stay intertwined comfortably for however long Viktor wants to stay there.
When the tension starts disappearing from Viktor's shoulders, Yuuri thinks he can ask.
"Who did you yell at?" He starts sweetly, trying to keep a light mood.
"Yakov," Viktor answers without looking up at Yuuri. Yuuri keeps silent though, because he can tell that Viktor is going to tell him what's going on, "Apparently," he says, his voice full of anger and possibly disbelief, "The Olympic committee won't allow me to attend the Olympics both as a skater and a coach. That means that during the competition, I am not allowed to wear the Team Japan uniform, I am not allowed to send you off before your skate or sit with you in the Kiss & Cry. And that also applies to the Team Event, even if I weren't going to participate in it."
Viktor sighs, angry and frustrated, and Yuuri understands, because while it takes him awhile to let it all sink in, he can feel himself get angry as well.
"But that makes no sense!" He blurts out, forgetting that he's really supposed to be comforting Viktor here, "The ISU has had no problem letting you do both, so why is the Olympic committee suddenly saying it's not allowed? No one has done it before, which means that they're specifically targeting us. This has to be illegal!"
"That's what I said too, but apparently it's completely within their right to do so. Which means I either have to withdraw from the Olympics, or step down as your coach for the most important competition."
"That is ridiculous."
"I know!" Viktor jerks up, and now they're really just a couple angry fiancés enabling each other as they begin their ten minute roast of the Olympic Committee, and then the ISU for not having prevented the Committee from making horrible choices.
"I mean, it's not like they're the ones doing the work!" Viktor exclaims, "In fact, making up dumb rules is literally more work than just letting us do what we want."
"And it's not like they're gaining anything from it? Articles like the story about winning in the face of adversity, and any time you do anything unprecedented, it's always a huge deal. No one is going to like this. Sure, they might be the talk of the town for some time, but it's all going to be backlash. This is a bad decision no matter how you look at it."
They continue on like that for quite some time.
"Ah!" Viktor suddenly piques up in the middle of a rant, "Our food is getting cold."
"I think it's been cold for some time now," Yuuri says and looks over to the half-set table that sports some very soggy eggs, bacon set in grease, and some of those pancakes Viktor makes that really do taste better warm.
"Sorry, I was going to make something nice for you, and now… well..."
"It's okay," Yuuri smiles, "We can make it work."
(Viktor takes their soggy breakfast and turns it into bagel stuffing and, honestly, it's one of the most delicious meals Yuuri has even had)
"You didn't invite the whole team over this time?" Viktor asks a couple of days later. He's lying on the floor, playing with Makkachin.
"You didn't seem up for it this time," Yuuri says as he slides the veggie-pie into the oven.
"And I did last time?"
"Well~" Yuuri sings, "You ended up having fun, did you not?"
"I guess," Viktor pouts, losing what was barely an argument. Makkachin then licks his nose to regain his attention, and Viktor goes back to playing with the poodle.
"Let's make bets," Yuuri says after a while, and Viktor briefly looks over to him to show that he's paying attention, "Whoever guesses the winner of the competition gets to choose where we eat for our next date night."
"Is this because you want to go to that Russia place?" Viktor says sceptically. Yuuri has been trying to convince Viktor for months to go there, but Viktor, for some reason Yuuri can't figure out, is not a fan of most Russian cuisine.
"Maybe," Yuuri smiles, "But you probably have something in mind too, right?"
"Definitely. I bet on Chris."
Well shit, "That was going to be my vote!" Yuuri exclaims and Viktor laughs, "Okay, I choose Otabek then. Statistically speaking, Otabek never once placed lower than Chris last season."
"But!" Viktor interjects, "Chris has the best personal score, and they're in France. Chris loves a good audience, and he always performs well there. When was the last time Chris competed in France and didn't win?"
"... Damn, that's a good point," Yuuri says and almost regrets making the bet, "But Otabek is the ultimate dark horse, and Chris is better at pacing himself. Also, Otabek needs a good finish to make it into the Finals. Chris probably just needs to stand on the podium. So Otabek is probably more motivated to win than Chris."
"You make a compelling argument, my love, but there is not way Chris will lose."
"You really have no way of knowing that," Yuuri deadpans, and Viktor just gives him a look.
"Say that we're both wrong then, who wins?"
"Whoever's candidate places the highest," Yuuri says but then reconsiders, "Or, whoever wins gets to choose a place for us. As punishment for us not thinking they could win."
"They could win," Viktor says in fake thoughtfulness, "But not against Chris."
"I really hope you're wrong."
Viktor just smiles.
After the short program, Michele is in the lead, Georgi in a close second, while Viktor and Yuuri furiously send good luck messages to their candidates. Chris immediately figures out Viktor and Yuuri has a bet going, while Otabek just responds with a thanks?
"I suppose Mickey winning wouldn't be so bad," Yuuri ponders the next night as they settle down in front of the tv to watch the free skate, "Who doesn't love Italian food?"
"Oh, my beautiful Yuuri, you're so naive," Viktor sighs dramatically as he drapes himself around Yuuri, "You're forgetting that Mickey's sister is Sara, who is friends with Mila. Any friend of Mila's is a troublemaker, so she would pick something weird, and we would be in for a bad date."
"Damn, you're right," Yuuri says horrified, "Well, let's hope Otabek wins then."
Viktor immediately lets go of Yuuri, looking offended, "Excuse me? Where is this Chris erasure coming from?"
"Oh, he can place second, I don't mind."
"Wow, Yuuri, wow," Viktor says and promptly leaves the room. What a drama queen.
"No~ Viktor~ Come back!" Yuuri tries after a while, and when that doesn't work, "Vitya~" And still nothing. So Yuuri forgets about it, if Viktor wants to sulk, Yuuri is going to leave him to that. In the meantime, he watches as the first group of skaters go through their warm-up.
About halfway through the first skater's program - a Spaniard skating to Charlie Chaplin music - Viktor comes back and sits down besides Yuuri, grinning widely and clutching something that looks like red fabric in his hands. Yuuri decides not to ask.
The first group goes by almost like a nightmare. Two skaters fall hard on the ice, one withdrawing mid-skate and the other popping back his dislocated shoulder before shakily moving on with the program. The two incidents resolve in the next couple of skaters looking slightly shaken by the whole ordeal, and they can't quite keep it together.
And then for the second group. As the six skaters line up for their introduction on center ice, Viktor smiles at Yuuri. When Chris' name is called, Viktor reveals the giant Swiss flag, he's been holding onto this entire time, and almost knocks Yuuri over in the process.
"Go Chris!" Viktor cheers, completely ignoring Yuuri, who's still recovering from almost being hit in the face.
"He can't hear you!"
"Of course he can!" Viktor says stubbornly, "We're connected by the magic of friendship."
"Sure..." Yuuri says and takes out his phone, "Smile for me." And Viktor does.
katsudonyuuri
[image]
Liked by phichit-chu , v-nikiforov and 6.248 others
katsudonyuuri favoritism at its peak christophe-gc control your bff, he almost knocked me out
View all 273 comments
gaycometti tfw your fave stans your other fave #chrisforgold
victor-y lbr i think viktor's actual fave is yuuri
yuri_plisetsky otabek is the real winner #chrisforanythingbutgold
phichit+chu do you have a flag for me too? #bff
JUST NOW
"I look really good in this picture," Viktor says giddily as he likes Yuuri's post, "But how did Phichit like this post before me? I liked it before I even got the notification! He's even commented on it? What is this witchcraft?"
"Just admit it, gorgeous, you'll never beat Phichit in the social media game."
"Oh look, it's starting," Viktor says to avoid admitting defeat, and Yuuri laughs at him and settles in to watch the second group. Viktor drapes the flag over them as a blanket.
Georgi is up first and his free skate is no less dramatic than his short program. He skates to Phantom of the Opera. And the program itself is not without its drama. He starts out by quite spectacularly jumping into the barrier, but gets up like absolutely nothing happened and does a beautiful quad-triple combination. The program goes on with Georgi dramatically singing along to his music and sometimes delivering lines from the movie - none of which are caught by any microphones, but both Yuuri and Viktor have seen (and heard) Georgi practice, so they know.
Then, after two minutes of flawless skating where the first mistake seems to have never happened, Georgi, somehow, manages to both pop his triple axel into a double, as well as fall on it. Which is all kinds of amazing, except for the fact that it's just a bad thing being made worse. He then draws on some of his many years of experience and changes his next jump to a combination - after having missed on the triple axel turned double - which just adds to the drama of it all. He ends the program with his hand covering half his face, as he looks intensely at the judges and, consequently, the camera. Yuuri scoots a little closer to Viktor.
Unsurprisingly, Georgi goes into the lead, but then comes Chris.
"Allez, Chris!" Viktor cheers, and Yuuri almost pulls out his phone again, but decides against it. One post a month is enough for him.
For his free skate, Chris skates to a medley of Elvis songs . It's sexy, mature and actually very cool. The free skate combines Chris' ability to seduce the audience with his natural showmanship and the crowd loves it. By now, all Chris fans has had some time since Cup of China to memorize the music cuts, and they're all singing and clapping along. Viktor was not wrong about Chris doing well in front of what is basically a home crowd. The performance is almost perfect, there are a few mistakes that will definitely go unnoticed by everyone but the judges, and then a hand down on his triple axel, but Chris has, at that point, already racked together enough points to go into first place by a huge amount.
"300!" Viktor exclaims as Chris gets his score, "That will win for sure!"
"You don't know that!" Yuuri protests, "Phichit got 306 when he won China. Otabek doesn't even need a personal best to win."
"In the second grand prix assignment, he won't score that high," Viktor says. Statistically speaking, it is very unusual to see people score their highest early in the season, but…
"If Otabek had a new program, yes, but he's reusing the one from last season. Which means that, unlike Chris, he won't lose a level on his steps, and he's probably worked on all the things he struggled with last season. And!" Yuuri continues before Viktor can interject, "The judges already love this program! There is no reason Otabek shouldn't score higher than Chris. And, of course, Otabek was already ahead of Chris in the short program, so he's got the advantage."
"But that's only if Otabek skates clean!" Viktor says, "Chris has better components, and he had the experience to change his last jumping pass after he made a mistake. Otabek has never done that."
"But he's more experienced now. He's gotten bronze at the last two Worlds, and he keeps growing. I think he has a really good chance."
They don't get to continue their argument, because Mickey is already skating. His music is an Italian piece (unsurprisingly) called Turna A Surriento. Just like his short program, the choreography is passionate, and somewhat romantic, but, of course, those are Mickey's strengths, so it all makes perfect sense. Since Mickey only has one quad, and doesn't put his quad-triple in the second half like Phichit, he needs to be flawless if he hopes to overtake Chris. And unfortunately that does not happen. He puts his hand down on his solo quad toe, stumbles in his step sequence and loses a level on his last spin - probably due to fatigue - and it puts him quite far behind Chris.
"So… Viktor says, it will be either you, me or Emil who gets to decide the restaurant. Emil has a lot of quads, although he rarely lands all of them… What kind of food does he like?"
"I think he's like you," Yuuri says, "Eats just about anything."
"Look," Viktor says and shakes his head, "Even if you made it, I would not touch borscht."
"I don't understand what you don't like about it."
"It's soup served cold!" Viktor says outrageously. They've had this conversation before. "Cold soup defeats the purpose of soup. You might as well serve uncooked bread!"
"That's not remotely the same thing."
"It is, and you know it."
Yuuri rolls his eyes.
Emil's program is a techno piece. It's quite original and helps cover up the fact that he still needs a lot of work when it comes to performance and interpretation. However, he is an excellent jumper. He starts with a quad loop, and lands it. Then he goes for the quad salchow in combination, and he lands it. The second quad salchow unfortunately turns into a triple, but he has another quad planned later. Going into the second half, he lands his quad toe, but stumbles on his first triple axel, shakily putting a combo on the end. Yuuri would personally have discarded the combination, and put it on the second axel, but when Emil falls on his second attempt at the jump, it turns out to have been the right decision to make. But with no components to fall back on, Emil takes fourth after Georgi.
"And it all comes down to Otabek," Viktor smiles, "How exciting."
Watching Otabek is almost anxiety-inducing and Yuuri doesn't know why this dumb bet is suddenly so important. It's not like Viktor is going to take him out to eat fish guts… probably. With Viktor there is really no knowing. But Yuuri likes winning, so in the end it is important.
"Only a level 3 spin," Viktor says as Otabek ends his first spin, "Chris had all level 4s."
"Chris always has level 4 spins. Otabek's strength is performance and powerful jumps. And he has yet to make a mistake on any of those," Yuuri counters.
"Level 3 steps. It doesn't look good, Yuuri," Viktor teases.
"But he landed his quad salchow, and that's in the second half."
"Another level 3 spin. Say goodbye to your Russian restaurant, my love. Chris has got this in the bag," Viktor says when the performance ends.
"Look at the tec score! It's higher than Chris' and he was ahead in the short," Yuuri argues.
"It will come down to pcs, which Chris will win."
"I agree that Chris will win the free, but overall? Otabek has a good chance."
"You're fooling yourself. There is no chance he will even get near."
"That's not true at all."
In the end, four points separate Chris and Otabek, and Yuuri has to admit the defeat when Chris takes home the gold.
"So when do you want to go out?" Yuuri asks as they watch the medal ceremony.
"Well, your birthday is coming up," Viktor smiles sweetly, and Yuuri gapes.
"You're going to take me somewhere weird for my birthday? Shouldn't we eat something I would like?"
"What makes you think you won't like what I have in mind?"
"Because then you would have already taken me there."
"Good point."
Yuuri groans. His birthday is in two weeks. But before they get to that, he has Skate America to win.
It's a bit short, but it's okay, since they were just watching. Next time we'll have Yuuri competing and it will be exciting. Especially since it's the last qualifer! Who will make it to the Finals? Feel free to guess, it obviously won't influence my decision :P
1) Why is Viktor not allowed to be Yuuri's coach at the Olympics? Well my dear readers, if you know anything about the Pyeongchang Olympics, it's probably that Russia was banned from it because they had systematically doped Russian athletes. Some Russian athletes were then allowed to participate under a neutral flag as Olympic Athletes of Russia. Well, obviously, I'm assuming that the YoI-verse is super nice and that they simply wouldn't do something like that. And even if they had, you can bet your ass Viktor would support the Russian-ban because he probably believes fully in athletes winning by their own means. But I wanted some controversy, and therefore, a coach-skater ban was put in place :) But that also means no Russian ban if you were wondering what I would do with that :D
2) Programs!
Michele's free skate is inspired by Matteo Rizzo's Turna A Surriento. It's Italian, passionate and probably plays well into what Michele is pretty good at skating (which is usually what you go for in an Olympic season). It also fits well with the short program I chose for him :)
Georgi's free skate is just... dramatic Phantom of the Opera. I knew from the moment I sat down to give everyone programs that Georgi should skate to Phantom. It's not inspired by anyone really, but here are some examples presented by Yuzuru Hanyu, Patrick Chan and Max Aaron (I think that's about as wide of variety you will get)
Chris' free skate is inspired by Javier Fernandez' Elvis Medley. It'd be pretty rude to leave Javi out, and don't you think him and Chris both have that mature sexiness around them at all times? They even both wear glasses when they dork it up ;)
Emil's free skate is inspired by Boyang Jin's Technological Exhibition . It's from two seasons ago, which means it was before Boyang really knew how to put his personality into a performance (especially in competition), which is more or less where I think Emil is at. Although, Boyang surely had a lot of fun in the exhibition :P
Otabek's free skate is the same as last season. This is because his short program is quite different from what he's probably used to, so he could focus more on that and then just polish up his free skate :)
3) Standings for the Finals
Chris: 28 points (silver & gold)
Viktor: 26 points (bronze & gold) - places higher due to 1st tiebreaker
Seung-gil: 26 points (silver & silver)
Yurio: 24 points (silver & bronze)
Otabek: 22 points (fourth & silver)
Michele: 20 points (fourth & bronze) - places higher due to 2nd tiebreaker
Georgi: 20 points (bronze & fourth)
Emil: 18 points (bronze & fifth)
Yuuri: 15 points (gold)
Phichit: 15 points (gold)
JJ: 15 points (gold)
Guang-Hong: 9 points (fourth)
Leo: 9 points (fourth)
Tiebreakers: placements (1), total score (2) - this may or may not be relevant.
