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

[branchandroot]

He's stubborn as all getout. Figure skating, even for the men, is pretty strongly reliant on ballet forms, and we get a good long moment to view how balletic movement is not Otabek's friend. He doesn't have the flexibility for it, even when he's busting his butt. But instead of training intensively to get more flexible, he says "fuck a whole lot of this" and develops a skating style that doesn't rely on flexibility. That's risking a lot of style points, doing that, but he does it anyway and makes it work. He's not a diva about it, but holy wow is that boy stubborn and my-pace about life. Which I think ties in with the motorcycle type things. If that's what he usually rides, than that's what he's gonna ride, fuck it. Just... fuck it in a very reserved and self-contained way. I lean toward thinking his feelings don't explode in the way most people expect, they explode into quiet, unstoppable action.

[naraht]

Really good question! I don't quite feel like I get Otabek myself. I enjoyed watching his developing friendship with Yuri but he hasn't really grabbed me as a character.

I'm sure he has deeper feelings underneath that stolid exterior but, like branchandroot, I don't really see him as explosive. Just emotional in a reserved, quiet, intense way.

Another side of his character: that teddy bear! Obviously based on Denis Ten's Ted: https://twitter.com/frankiium/status/809634007407153152

October 31st is a funny one... is it a question of what it means to the creators or what it means to the characters? (For instance, Victor's birthday is obviously on the traditional day of Christ's birth, but it's not Russian Christmas.) This gets us into the question of religion in Kazakhstan but All Saints Eve is not 31 October in the Orthodox church. So in conclusion I dunno.

What ethnicity do you think Otabek is? Ethnically Kazakh, or Korean like Denis Ten?

I'll be really interested to hear what other people say about Otabek.

[mousapelli]

I totally subscribe to the theory that he knew JJ some time ago when he was in Canada and JJ wasn't exactly the same hot shit he is now. I'm not sure they would have been friends exactly, but I think he just finds JJ's whole schtick to be amusing rather than annoying, whether because he's picturing 15yo JJ throwing a tantrum or whether because he thinks it's just a stage JJ will grow out of. I'm sure he tells Yuri to give JJ a break at least like 17 times a competition.

Oh yeah the motorcycle thing is definitely teenager having been alone way too long with no parent or coach, and i'm sure he would just argue it's practical - driving licenses are expensive and a pain in foreign countries, motorcycles are much cheaper to rent -- but if he'd had a regular coach with him, they'd have definitely put a stop to that. I wonder if these days he might be converted to ubering -- cheap and safer. 3bro in DC does the uber almost exclusively now because with him + girlfriend it's only the tiniest bit more expensive than taking the metro, and you don't lose 30-60 minutes of your time either way.

I think that three days of intense competition aren't at all enough to see much of his personality. And it doesn't seem like he has anybody there he's even a little friendly with, too. so I can see it either way, I think given the fact that he's Kazakh and almost undoubtedly comes from large and affectionate and boisterous family, it's completely possible for him to be much more open/relaxed usually, or maybe this is really him but just right now because he can have a sulky teenager phase the same as anyone else, or maybe he's stoic quiet type all the time. I see people writing it all three ways and I can agree with all of them.

Personally I like to write it that he's playing it cool in front of these other people plus is also suffering from serious competition nerves and doesn't want to be distracted, but that in reality he's a reasonably big marshmallow on the inside and that starts to show as soon as he gets more relaxed (like clapping for Victor/Yuuri). I also am a big believer in him and Yuri being relentless huggers, since we've already seen Yuri pounce his grandfather, and see above what I said about Kazakh families. Writing all that wedding stuff got me thinking about that a lot.

Does he even have a coach at the thing? I feel like game face I'm alone but i can do this Otabek would be a lot different than steady home steady coach steady best friend Otabek.

[merit]

He probably was the best in Kazakhstan, even when he was a child (hence why he was able to go to train to Russia, the USA, Canada - so even if he's a stoic type he probably has been state sponsored his entire career, so he's probably done lots of publicity when he's back in Almaty). Seeing Russia's ice skating standards, seeing Yuri (who's three years younger than him) perform at a higher level to him was probably a kick to a system. But rather than giving up, Otabek decided that he was going to skate his own way. Maybe that's why he's been switching between countries as well, trying to find someone who will support his vision of skating. Considering what we know about him, he probably wasn't the type to verbally defend himself (English could be his third language? Russian is pretty common there). Maybe that's something he also has in common with JJ - JJ switched coaches (to his parents eventually) to get someone who understood his way of skating.

Kind of want Otabek/JJ now :P

[orcofnewyork]

They were definitely thinking Halloween to go along with the other holiday themed birthdays in the cast. Halloween celebration and iconography have exploded in popularity in the last ten years here in Japan. So brooding and mysterious are built right into that.

Also for the record, I think he is meant to be Kazakh despite the Denis Ten parallels.