Ice adolescence being cancelled is like the ultimate betrayal by mappa. Mappa's first BIG big hit, its magnum opus, was never jjk or csm or aot. It was Yuri on Ice. It's time they remember their roots, for those roots are gay.
One thing that I like to have fun with in my writing is deliberately having Yuuri and Viktor say 'fuck that' to grammar conventions in Russian and just use whatever pet names/endearments they want, regardless of if they are 'male' or 'female' gendered. As an aside, I find it convenient that 'zolotsye' (meaning 'my gold') is gender-neutral. It's sent me down a rabbit hole of research around what options are available to genderfluid folks who speak/use Russian. As one might guess, they are limited :(
Anyways, just wanted to post this to ask if folks have any favorite Viktor/gender non-conformity stories they can recommend? I would love to see more of it in the fandom (hence, my excitement to post my work when it's done).
disclaimer: this post is a continuation of my previous KCD3 posts on speculation of the events and lore that i'd like to see explored in the next installment(s) of the KCD story. these are only speculations born of my own biased narrative and hopeful bastardizations of real events. this is not representative of ALL the real historical persons and events as there is either info missing on them, they were altered by WH for the sake of the game or i'm plain wrong. PS: i am not a historian. i just like history.
PART: 1 2 3 4 5 _____________________
the part i've been looking forward to the most!
in this post, i'll be going over the most likely locations that will appear in KCD3 according to the real historical timeline and i'll be supporting these speculations with things that were hinted at in KCD2. and we'll be using some real historical maps!
the main antagonists i believe we will be seeing in KCD3 are the following:
Heinrich III von Rosenberg
Sigismund of Luxembourg (again)
Albrecht IV of Austria (?)
Erik
the new allies we might meet are the following:
Jan Sokol of Lamberg
Matěj Vůdce (Matthew the Leader)
King Wenceslaus IV
the main locations i believe were most hinted at in KCD2 were the following:
Podiebrad
Kolin
Znojmo (Znojmo castle)
Prague (partial?)
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so let's start with the who!
so far in the story, king Wenceslaus IV has merely been a name without a face, unlike Sigismund who not only got screen time in KCD1 & KCD2, but also a significant role in the main quest (and in the credits). meanwhile, Wenceslaus has been pushed off screen as we fight for the very same king. which, i guess, was an authentic experience for the people of Bohemia at the time as well.
however, it was in november of 1403. that king Wenceslaus was freed from Vienna with help from none other than our John II of Liechtenstein. i believe that this might be a cutscene we will be seeing likely in the prologue of KCD3 rather than a playable quest due to the fact that Vienna is so far. i believe that if they choose to make this a non-playable cutscene then it would allow the game to advance onto 1404. and its relevant events.
now, i fully believe that we will be seeing Dry Devil, aka Hynek of Kunštát again if the game will indeed be playable in 1404. the reason for that is that there is a relevant event that occurs in the town of Znojmo, or more precisely, Znojmo castle. in 1404. king Sigismund along with Albrecht IV of Austria lead a siege against Hynek and Jan Sokol of Lamberg in Znojmo castle, during which Albrecht was allegedly poisoned and died of dysentery which spread throughout the camp, and even Sigismund was apparently at the death's door.
anyone else see a perfect chance for the involvement of our professional bastard meddler? not only that, but the geography of the area looks very fun. i also believe this would be a convenient event to cover in the game as it's historically pretty vague which would allow WH to have more liberty while writing it.
the next person on our list is Heinrich III von Rosenberg. yes, those Rosenbergs. that name has been present ever since KCD1, if you remember the knight Ulrich of Passau sent to investigate the forging of silver coins in Sasau monastery on behalf of the Rosenbergs.
in the next installment, in KCD2 Rosenbergs get mentioned again. they were the most powerful members of the League of Lords (and one of the founders) and the biggest opposition to then king Wenceslaus IV.
in fact, i believe we saw Heinrich III von Rosenberg himself in one of the KCD2 trailers, seen with Erik and Markvart Von Aulitz in what i presume is Malešov, but he is not there during Henry's infiltration into Malešov in the game.
i believe the Rosenberg crest is etched into the inner elbow of Heinrich's couters. (trailer)
so why is he so important to the sequel(s)?
besides the fact that he was one of king Wenceslaus' biggest enemies, we can also see his banner flying among Sigismund's army during the sacking of Skalitz.
i very kindly circled the banners for you. source: KCD1
you'd honestly think Henry would have a bigger incentive to go after this guy rather than Von Bergow.
there is also an unconfirmed but still very interesting theory that Jan Žižka served Rosenbergs under a false name during a brief period, which makes his efforts of destroying Rosenberg assets starting in 1406.* very funny. i say 1406. only because that was the first time he started appearing in the Rosenberg's black book (acta negra maleficorum) of the Rosenberg estate as an accused bandit. this means his hostilities against Rosenbergs could have started as early as 1404. for the sake of the narrative convenience (wink wink nudge nudge WH?). jokes aside, the lands surrounding Trocnov, Žižka's home, were often under pressure from Rosenberg estates, so i could see his incentives against Rosenbergs easily starting before 1406. because of that regardless of the convenience of the narrative.
whew!
and if you recall the scene where Istvan Toth is sending Erik on his merry way to Malešov, you can hear him mentioning Senitz (Senice).
source: KCD2
i was briefly debating which Senitz/Senice he was talking about, but i took the liberty of visualizing the route from Trosky to Malešov for your viewing pleasure and found one Senice along the route.
(note: this is a modern route using modern roads as per google maps info because i do not have access to a more detailed map of 1400s central Bohemia. it is only an approximate of Erik's route at the time but i think it still gives you a good sense of his path. 90km/56mi.)
so that was another Rosenberg mention. i think it's safe to say that we will be encountering Heinrich III von Rosenberg in the next game.
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and now the allies!
i believe Dry Devil and John II of Liechstenstein will be making an appearance again, and alongside them most likely Jan Sokol of Lamberg.
there hasn't been much proof that suggests we will be seeing him in a sequel, but i don't believe his KCD codex entry mentioning Znojmo in 1404. is a coincidence.
and again, there is the mention of Rosenbergs. i believe that KCD3 will either include the events of 1404. OR it will contain the events of 1404. and timeskip into 1409. because that was when Jan Sokol of Lamberg, Matěj Vůdce and Racek Kobyla waged a guerilla campaign against the Rosenberg family on behalf of king Wenceslaus IV. two pretty relevant periods, i'd say.
as for Matěj Vůdce, aka Matthew the Leader; people have been speculating that the Matthew we encounter as Henry while recruiting Dry Devil's old band is the Matthew. or just another Matthew. i couldn't find the exact year when Jan Žižka met Matthew before the more commonly cited 1409. so i can't say for sure. (however, i'd like to think that a figure that important wouldn't be an easily killable NPC.)
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and now let's go into the where's!
i promise this section will be shorter and more illustrated than the previous one. reminder of the locations i listed;
Podiebrad
Kolín
Znojmo (Znojmo castle)
Prague (partial?) (Wenceslaus event only Prague map?)
i obviously listed Podiebrad (Poděbrady) as that is the location mentioned multiple times in KCD2. Rosa Ruthard mentions her and her family (Ruthards) travelling there at the end of KCD2, and i believe this is where Hans Capon's wedding will be held as well considering Podiebrad was an estate given to the Kunstadts (by Charles IV, Wenceslaus' father), and considering the fact that Botschek and of course Jitka are of Kunstadt, it makes sense.
i also believe Kolín will be there, probably less important but as a potential place where we will be able to meet Samuel again. historically, Sigismund did indeed order an attack on Jews of Kuttenberg and they did settle in Kolin.
the distance between Podiebrad and Kolin is also quite short.
as for Znojmo, it is located some 170km (105mi) away from Rattay which might seem like too far, but here's a reminder on how far Trosky is from Rattay in comparison!
the distance between Rattay and Trosky is 103km (64 mi)
and finally, here is the distance between Rattay and Podiebrad + Kolin.
when you compare it to Trosky and its surrounding area, Podiebrad and Kolin are a lot closer in comparison. i even speculate that Hans' wedding might happen on his way back from Trosky to Rattay, hence why Hanush was so insistent on hurrying Hans up and why Hans was so insistent on staying in the Devil's Den longer with Henry.
and lastly; Prague.
i am still very much on the fence about Prague, mainly because trying to recreate a city of that size in-game would be a Herculean task. not impossible, but very hard. i mention Prague because after stopping in Kuttenberg, that is where king Wenceslaus IV returns to once he escapes Vienna in 1403.
and there could be a lot said about Kuttenberg and that arc in itself (like Hans, Henry and co. meeting the king in Kuttenberg while they're still chilling in the Devil's Den) but i thought i'd rather talk about Prague.
Prague, even in 1403./1404. was already approx. 5-6 times bigger than Kutternberg. which is a Lot. I've already linked this map in a previous post, but here's a reminder on what a reconstructed map of Prague in 1419. looks like;
my frankenprague map. source from this lovely website!
on the other hand it's an insane project that would be lauded for decades if executed successfully because who the hell wouldn't want a walkable map of 1419. Prague ?!
thus i believe that Prague might also become only a cutscene or only a very small part of it would be playable for reasons yet unknown to me.
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okay, that's all for now. i had to cut this post down in size, can you believe it. but i really wanted to make a sort of an Everything post for the possible directions KCD3 might take because i was seeing way, way too many people guessing that the next KCD game will be set in 1419. my brothers and sisters in christ, there are so many important events to cover just from 1404. to 1416., i cannot imagine going straight into the Hussite wars without establishing Henry as a radical on the side of the people through various banditry related events and addressing the collective harem of Bohemian revolutionaries accumulated throughout both of the game's story first. i know a lot of us are here for the tragedy of Hansry in 1419., but i promise you there are many happy years between now and then in the meantime. enjoy them! (and learn more about 15th century Bohemia!)
Of all the events in episode 7, the kiss and the fight in the underground parking get most of the attention, but how often do we discuss the deep care Viktor exhibits for Yuuri in this episode and the difficulties he faces in the process?
Having learned the general aspects of supporting an athlete in competition in episode 5 (I discussed this at length here), Viktor now pays more attention to Yuuri's mood and actively supports him. However, there's a striking discrepancy between his compassion and his clumsy attempts to help Yuuri. Viktor has no prior experience with coaching, and he's not familiar with anxiety either, wherefore some difficulties are to be expected. However, his trial-and-error-informed handling of the situation implies general struggles with putting himself in someone else's shoes.
Let's go through this from the start:
Seeing Yuuri nervous and overtired the morning before the free skating worries Viktor. However, he neither understands Yuuri's feelings nor does he have a clue about what Yuuri is thinking. He thus resorts to his own experience to solve the problem: taking a nap. Note that, whereas this enables Yuuri to catch up on some sleep, it doesn't solve the underlying cause of his anxiety.
However, Viktor underestimates Yuuri's anxiety which renders his effort ineffective. At the warm-up, Yuuri is less than one hour away from his free skating, and his anxiety is getting worse. This forces Viktor to take more drastic action, for which he relies on past observations of Yuuri.
As a coach, Viktor has to weigh the risk of a panicky Yuuri messing up against a calmer but less prepared Yuuri messing up. Yuuri has reached a point where forbidding him to jump during the warm-up is worth a try despite the risk of sending him into the free skating poorly prepared. It's a very savage solution, though. Not that Viktor canonically is savage at times, but in a sport that heavily relies on muscle memory, this instruction borders recklessness. I wonder what Yakov would say to this.
Using observations, past experiences, and logic to empathise with and support someone is a common workaround for people with poor cognitive empathy. Viktor does this a lot, especially in this episode. His low cognitive empathy is also the reason for his canonical bluntness.
In my experience, this workaround leads to mixed results as observation and reason can only compensate for so much. The good news is that it becomes more effective with experience, even more so when one is aware of their issues with perspective-taking. Viktor is only 27 and he's smart and committed; he can totally improve this skill in the future.
Please note that struggling with cognitive empathy doesn't make someone a bad person. There are several empathy types which work together but manifest differently in people depending on personality/neurotype. The emotional empathy, which enables a person to share someone's emotional experience, is not affected by this. In Viktor's case, it works pretty normal as I will detail in the following.
Viktor has learned that a lecture is inappropriate when Yuuri disobeys his instructions (and it doesn't stop Yuuri from disobeying again). As Yuuri is visibly distraught, he thus tries to comfort Yuuri using another method common for poor cognitive empathy: He uses facts and makes it sound as if it's not a big deal. Spoiler: for someone with anxiety, it is.
While facts work great as a great reality check and are more effective than flowers of speech, Yuuri is already too far gone to feel comforted. Facts and logic only work in the early stages of an anxiety episode. From Yuuri's perspective, Viktor's cheerful tone suggests he doesn't take the situation seriously, even though quite the contrary is true. As a result, Yuuri sees his feelings dismissed and withdraws into himself as he spirals into a panic attack.
This image speaks volumes of the isolation Yuuri experiences in his anxiety as well as Viktor's compassion and lack of understanding as he turns away from the camera. This boy is deeply worried but has no fucking clue how to handle the situation as it's uncharted territory. As the free skating progresses, Viktor is under increasing pressure to get Yuuri into a headspace that allows him to skate clean. Again, he relies on logic to solve the situation. However, while removing Yuuri from the anxiety-inducing situation is helpful, it doesn't eliminate the source of his distress.
In Yuri!!!, characterisation is often narrated through minor characters. While Chris's lines express bitterness about losing Viktor as a rival, they also reveal Viktor's change from being 100% devoted to the ice to 100% devoted to Yuuri. And you can see how much he cares for Yuuri on his face.
However, Viktor's efforts continue to be ineffective, which at this point is no longer surprising. So, in the following, we see more clumsy attempts at calming Yuuri in the following:
This entire episode is a textbook example of Viktor gloriously failing at taking Yuuri's perspective. As the situation escalates and Viktor fails to reach Yuuri, he finally starts to analyse Yuuri's distress.
While Yuuri's anxiety dominates the plot, the depth of Viktor's care and compassion is told through small details like expressions and gestures like the tenderness with which he holds Yuuri's face as he covers his ears. Even more so than the scene in the mixed zone, this frame perfectly captures the discrepancy between Viktor's emotional and cognitive empathy.
With Yuuri's free skating approaching rapidly, the pressure to solve the situation is on Viktor, and the inevitable happens: he messes up completely.
I cannot stress enough how much Viktor sucks at perspective-taking. It's already hard for most people to understand anxiety disorder if they haven't experienced it themselves. But Viktor having such a hard time with perspective-taking is a general issue, and it runs like a thread through the entire series. One cannot overcome this by just trying hard enough as it's cause by a differently wired brain.
And so, here in the underground car park, Viktor's inability to put himself into Yuuri's shoes reaches a dramatic climax as he threatens Yuuri with resigning as his coach as a last resort.
While cutting into someone's panic attack by directing their anxiety at something else appears to be an effective emergency exit, it's one of the worst things you can do to a person with anxiety disorder as it creates a new demon in their head. Don't. Do. This. Ever. Yuuri might go into the free skating relieved, but he will agonise over Viktor returning to his home country throughout the next two episodes. As I said above, anxiety defies reason. (I'll write more about how Yuuri's anxiety works in another meta-post.)
Right here, it drives them even further apart, as represented by their physical distance.
Viktor could not be any farther away from understanding Yuuri. He has not a fucking clue what he's doing. He's just trying out what comes to his mind, and it backfires.
Ahh, I love him to pieces but I want to slap some sense into him! I solemnly swear that from now on, every time I agonise over my poor social skills, I will think of how Viktor fucked up in the underground parking and Yuuri forgave him.
Ironically, Viktor's trial & error approach finally succeeds. As Yuuri starts to cry, the underlying cause of his fear is finally unveiled.
Asking Yuuri right away would have avoided this escalation, but that's not how Viktor's brain operates. At least he is aware of his issues to somewhat extent.
To calm Yuuri, he comes up with something I guess is another default that worked in the past:
Nope. This is not how you introduce the subject to your boyfriend, Viktor! Not when he's upset. You could have just given him a hug, but the idea doesn't even cross your mind even though you seem to be a hugger by nature.
On the other hand, Yuuri didn't communicate his needs unprompted, but communication is key. You cannot expect a person with poor cognitive empathy to magically anticipate your needs and read your mind. It just doesn't work that way.
Unfortunately, the Stammi Vicino reference is lost in the Crunchyroll subs, but that's what Yuuri says to make Viktor understand.
Note how close they are again, while people in the corridor are blurred. The creators did an amazing job at letting images speak for the characters.
I doubt asking Yakov would have helped. Not only because Yakov would have used the situation to dismiss Viktor once more as a coach but because Yakov's method is unsuitable for a student suffering from anxiety. However, as Yakov is one of Viktor's to-go-to defaults, he naturally considers the option.
Imagine this scene but with Yuuri. Just nope.
Now back to the aftermath of Viktor messing up and saving Yuuri from going into his free skating with a panic attack by accident rather than design. While Yuuri is relieved of his anxiety, the situation is still awkward as he and Viktor had no time to make up or process the fight.
This small gesture of reassurance is so important as it gives them both closure that enables them to enjoy the free skating. I regard the tissue as a token of peace (I mean it even contains his DNA).
Ultimately, Viktor's trial & error approach to calming Yuuri succeeds. Yuuri, albeit rightfully annoyed, understands the intention and recognises Viktor's affection and compassion in his clumsy attempts to support him, which culminates in him reciprocating his affection by jumping Viktor's signature move.
Does low cognitive empathy make Viktor a bad coach? Certainly not. Viktor is very passionate about the task and his high emotional empathy and his natural drive to support Yuuri with all his heart speak for themselves. Like everyone, he needs to grow into his role and make it work for him. In Yuuri, he has someone who calls him out on his bullshit gives him immediate feedback he can use to improve.
Episode 7 is a major learning experience for Viktor in understanding Yuuri and supporting him in a distressing situation. And as Yuuri can see beyond Viktor's flaws, it brings them closer together.
High/normal emotional but low cognitive empathy is a trait of autism albeit not necessarily limited to it, which is one of the reasons many autistic fans of Yuri!!! including me identify with Viktor. (I have a theory that the creators accidentally gave him a bunch of autistic traits when they applied the socially awkward genius trope, which generates autistic-coded characters per default. I discussed these traits and why autism is a valid interpretation in response to another post that brought up the subject.)
Whether or not Viktor is autistic, his struggles with perspective-taking are so obvious I consider them canon. I suspect this spurred fan theories from Viktor having ulterior motives for becoming Yuuri's coach to labelling him as downright evil. It explains takes like "Viktor became Yuuri's coach because he was bored and doesn't care about coaching at all until some arbitrary point mid-season where he suddenly falls in love with Yuuri". While I believe that everyone is entitled to their own headcanon and can change characters for their fics in whatever way they like, labelling his behaviour as uncaring, ill-intent or assuming a hidden agenda and calling it canon or at least a valid interpretation not only mischaracterises Viktor but hurts and demonises autistics and other people dealing with this issue. So please for the love of god and the YOI creators keep that in mind!
If you enjoy my meta posts, please consider giving my blog a follow or checking out my works on AO3(link in bio). You will find the results of my meta musings in there!
Took me three days, but, here's a loving tribute to the anime which changed my life <3
im still in mourning over ice adolescence cancellation
There’s a reason that trying to write “fan ascending” is an extremely hard trope to get right, because so often the ‘ordinary Marty Stu’ pairing with the superstar has this air of author wish fulfillment to it that can ring a little bit false.
It’s also why Yuri!!! on Ice is brilliant, because it nailed the fan ascending trope. How did it do this? In a couple of ways.
First and foremost, Yuuri Katsuki is not an ordinary fan. He’s an unreliable narrator who is a Japanese superstar without the ability to see that about himself. He has every bit the ability of Victor Nikiforov, just with much more of it stored up in his potential rather than results and blocked by his anxiety.
That though is not why Victor fell for him. And not why it felt so damn real to see Victor fall for him. Because Yuuri’s power was in who he was inside, and how he dealt with/handled Victor Nikiforov becoming his coach, and importantly, the massive difference between how Victor predicted this arrangement was going to go, and how it actually went.
Victor remembers the drunk and moony Yuuri begging him at the banquet, and then skating Stammi Vicino. In Victor’s “always be camera ready” existence, he probably saw the Stammi Vicino skate as a brilliant marketing strategy, Yuuri making clear he was serious and asking again. And Victor, who was burned out and needed something new probably laughed and said “he got me.”
But… as we know, Stammi Vicino was not about luring Victor to Hasetsu. It was a genuine Yuuri trying to find the things that could bring his love for skating back. It wasn’t meant to be a public call to Victor at all, and so when Victor came and expected cameras and social media and look at me Victor is my coach! He got… something so entirely different.
He got a front-row seat to what it looks like when an entire hometown has adopted their local skater as a collective son. He got a front-row seat to a family who loved their son and supported him no matter what. He got a front-row seat to what happens when sincere hard work and friends who care about the person not the persona band together to help someone reach their potential.
He got I want to eat katsudon with you if I win, instead of I want you to declare to the world that you are my coach.
And for Victor, I think this was a shock.
Yuuri didn’t even fathom the idea of telling the whole world that Victor was coaching him (which we watch Victor decide to do).
Yuuri worried about how he was going to afford Victor’s coaching fees, as if Victor really truly was a celebrity coach, instead of a skater looking for a new way to be inspired.
One scene I have always adored is Victor complaining to Yuuri about coach seats being cramped on the way to Beijing. We know that Victor would easily have flown them both in First Class and not thought anything of it. It means that Yuuri was insistent that he pay for himself and his coach to fly to Beijing. I’ve no doubt he also insisted on paying for both his and Victor’s hotel rooms.
It’s also why the purchase of those rings is so profound. Because Victor knows that Yuuri budgets carefully. Yuuri bought those expensive rings for himself and his rich boyfriend, needing to pay them off in installments, without so much as glancing back at said rich boyfriend about finances. Victor recognized the profundity of the gesture.
And to Victor? Here was a person who made it so plain that he had no intention of ever taking advantage of him. Yuuri’s entire desire with Victor was for Victor just to be himself. Yuuri didn’t need a “oh look Victor is my coach look everyone.” He was over the moon that his idol was there teaching him. He didn’t want a fake kiss and relationship, he wanted a Victor who freaked out when he screwed up.
It meant that Victor who do you want me to be to you? Nikiforov’s mask slowly eroded away. And he found that Yuuri relished in the real Victor. And that it felt good being the real Victor.
All because Yuuri just wanted to eat katsudon with him when he won, insisted on paying both his and Victor’s way when it mattered.
Yuuri wanted Victor, and only Victor. The real one. And in every action, every decision, that Yuuri made, he reminded Victor of that.
It’s a master class to people attempting to write ‘the fan and the idol’ stories. Yuuri wanted Victor the person, not Victor the persona. And in every action, he reinforced that for Victor.
No wonder Victor fell so hard.
The science squad says WARE A MASK!!
Credit goes to @kritterart I found this on her instagram account and I really wanted to share it here. I absolutely love this💕 stay safe out there guys ❤️
isn’t it ironic that the media will never understand victor’s personal perspective at his prime despite being so dearly beloved and in the same way us viewers will never get to understand him either because all we have of that is a clip of him skating and yuuri (a fan’s perspective)
So… the Yuri on ice movie got cancelled…
I’m actually so fucking feral right now!
8 fucking years of nothing and then they drop a cancellation
Well done MAPPA you have fucked up royally on this one… probably one of the biggest fumbles in fandom history let’s be real!
YOI singlehandedly saved their fucking company but nooooo they got a bit too bigheaded with their 15 fucking shounen projects that the very fucking anime that put their name on the scene gets completely fucked over!!!
It’s actually fucking bullshit!
MAPPA didn’t deserve YOI and I wish them a very happy fuck you in all their future projects!