So, Otabek

[prillalar]

I'd like to write some more substantial OtaYuri but I don't feel like I'm really getting Otabek. So here are my rambles; please feel free to add your own.

He's definitely quiet and seems introverted. He also has the resting bitch face. I love how dour his offical site image is. But that doesn't mean he's unhappy. Des his outer stoic appearance reflect a calm inner nature or is he roiling inside?

I'd like to think he has deep feelings that build up and build up until they finally explode.

His birthday is October 31. I'm not quite sure what to make of that. Obviously birthdays are somewhat significant: Chris is Feb 14. Victor is Dec 25 and Georgi (♥) Dec 26. To me, Oct 31 yells Halloween but that's a very North American POV. All Saints Day? Eve of Winter?

Yurio's birthday is March 1 and I'm not sure about that one either.

How about that motorcycle? Looks cool but how stupid can you be to ride around on a rented death machine right before a hugely important international competition? This feels like an episode of Grey's Anatomy waiting to happen.

That makes me think: he's still a young guy and he's also used to making his own decisions. I wonder if he also does it on purpose to look cool.

Based on their interaction, it seems like Otabek and JJ already know each other. We know Otabek did some training in Canada. This feels like one of those times where I might have to write some past Otabek/JJ first to sort him out before going on to Otabek/Yuri.

In conclusion, I am still unsure. How about you?

Comments

[naraht]

Is there anybody sitting with him on the kiss and cry? I thought there wasn't but if there is, I didn't leave me with an impression.

He does have someone sitting with him, per the screengrab in this tweet:

https://twitter.com/frankiium/status/809634007407153152

But I agree that the traveling around must have led to, or been caused by, a lot of upheaval in terms of his coaching.

[mousapelli]

oh you're right! but yeah I don't think we even see them talking at any point, but then again there's too much skating in the last pair of episodes to get much of that. Well I hope this guys gets along with him better -- i see Otabek as just eventually being like, fuck it, I can do it myself, and that's never a good choice for a teenaged skater.

[naraht]

I can't quite imagine a competitive skater actually going without a coach – but he certainly doesn't need any more upheaval in his life!

One possible outcome that I've seen in fic is for Otabek to move to St Petersburg and become Yakov's student. It doesn't seem entirely unlikely – it's pretty clear that Yakov is the best there is.

/massive Yakov fangirl

[prillalar]

I wonder how many skaters Yakov can handle. I haven't researched at all but even four seems like a lot at that level. Have you looked into it?

One of the Yuuri moments I really loved was him thinking about Victor as having a coach all to himself. <3

If there were a manga spin-off about young Yakov, I would be in skating heaven.

[naraht]

Not until now. But, per Wikipedia, Brian Orser has at least six noteworthy students currently – two of whom (Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez) are at world champion level. Plus he seems to teach group classes and suchlike. So my sense is that Yakov can definitely handle it.

I loved that moment too! Really a luxury, even if Victor is a little deficient in the coaching skills department. ;)

As for young Yakov, I do have a fic on the drawing board where the first scene is the story of his meeting with Lilia. So much backstory to develop! In particular I was itching for some Soviet-era athletics, since I can't quite believe that even Victor is almost a post-Soviet baby.

[prillalar]

Wow, six is a lot more than I expected! I've been kind of thinking about Yakov like Kamogawa in Hajime no Ippo and he mainly handles only two boxers. (That's really the only other individual sports anime I've followed; the rest are all teams.) But it makes sense.

[mousapelli]

well he probably has to spend a lot less time on people like Victor who are old pros and are picking their own music and choreography and making decisions for themselves. The off-ice planning time must be reduced significantly if they already have a training regimen/practice schedule that's been working. Conversely younger skaters or skaters entering a new division, would need more of the attention.

I'm sure Brian Orser is an outlier, but then again, Yuzuru and Javier don't even train in the same place anymore, so he can't be spending that much time on them.