Unshackled

You must have seen this coming.


Oh... well. Let's go.


I just love how Yuri on Ice ended the way it did.
First off, it was adorable how Yuri wanted Victor to stay as his coach for the rest of his life at first, and it was like a marriage proposal.
But even better than that was the fact that Yuri realised, all on his own, that asking that of Victor was a selfish thing to do- alike to when your spouse tells you to resign from your job for the sake of marriage, 'settling down', or out of 'love' for him/her.
It's basically wanting someone to give up on his passion and dreams in order to devote his life to you, and while this is cute and sweet and loving at first, eventually it'll kill you because your life and personality is robbed away from you, and you're left with nothing but the love that you have chosen to devote yourself to.
It is actually the fastest way to killing yourself,
And it's stated rather clearly by Yuri in this last episode: "But that'll kill Victor slowly on the inside, as a competitive skater. Your time spent with me as a coach wasn't wasted, and I'm the only one in the whole world that can prove that."
Aka, Yuri really appreciates and loves Victor for doing what he did, because that's what got him to where he is now. But he can't tie Victor down like this, for it isn't right nor is it good for him. Instead, true love is when you choose what's best for your partner- in this case, it's Yuri ensuring that Victor remains an independent individual with his own dreams and passion.
The best part about it is that Yuri doesn't retire either, and this is inspired and reinforced by both Victor and Yurio.

I've done a lot of summarizing up till here, which is bad for a commentary,
But damn I just wanted to spell out how absolutely surprising and beautiful this is,
That the relationship they have between them is so so much stronger than mere physical attraction,
Or gratitude, or chemistry, or a mere sharing of common interests.

It is so mature that it shocks you,
And it really does go beyond the traditional 'I love you and will do anything for you, including the sacrificing of my own life in every sense of the phrase.' trope that we're so used to seeing in shows, where it's romanticised into unconditional love..
When in truth it's basically offering your heart and soul up to be killed,
To reduce the perimeters of your world by your own accord,
And to make yourself boring and dependent on someone who gets to see the world whilst you play the supporting role.

A true relationship consists of both parties surpporting one another,
Just like how Yuri ensures that Victor doesn't abandon his dreams,
And Victor tells him to 'in exchange, become a five-year world champion at least'.

They'll become rivals in ice skating whilst their relationship reaches new heights of being able to deal with that, of choosing to retain their passions in life whilst pursuing each other as a romantic partner, all at the same time.

Frankly, this is one of the rare kinds of relationship that will work for sure,
Because neither of them will cause the other's downfall,
And it's because of the fact that they remain individuals unshackled by love,
That they continue to be what the other fell in love with at the start.

They will continue to fall for each other, over and over, repeatedly, till the end of time.


Ah, well,
That's the idealistic side of me speaking.
But they're fictional, so that's kinda what happens, wouldn't you agree?:)

Anyways the one thing I've always thought about when it comes to marriage is the fact that many of us would ask for the other to give up something for the sake of love,
And while marriage is a compromise,
It shouldn't be a sacrifice.
And women shouldn't give up their jobs to take care of potential kids,
Passionate people shouldn't give up on their dreams to be 'less busy',
Etc etc.

If you're too busy for love, you can't be making promises for commitment.
And if someone falls in love with the driven, independent and focused you,
They shouldn't want for you to turn into someone else just for the sake of them.

This hardly covers what I'm trying to say
But I think I'm getting boring here, so I'll stop.