Rivals Series
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches, Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts |
| Author(s): | Reiya |
| Date(s): | December 2016 - September 2017 |
| Length: | 2 parts - 400k words |
| Genre(s): | Alternate Canon, Enemies to Lovers, Drama |
| Fandom(s): | Yuri!!! on Ice |
| Relationship(s): | Yuuri Katsuki/Victor Nikiforov |
| External Links: | Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches, Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts, Series |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Rivals by Reiya/Kazliin (ao3/ tumblr) is a two-part novel-length Yuuri Katsuki/Victor Nikiforov Yuri!!! on Ice fanfiction series.
Series Summary: "An altered universe where a single event changes the course of both Yuuri and Viktor's lives, a rivalry is formed that spans across many years and both of them tell a very different side to the story"
Synopsis
The first part, Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches, is from Yuuri’s perspective and the second part, Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts, is from Viktor’s. Both fics have unreliable narrators. Yuuri and Viktor often fail to communicate what they feel and misinterpret each other’s actions, Yuuri’s perceptions, in particular, being extremely biased because of his anxiety and self-esteem.
It also contains multimedia elements, with news articles and online fan interactions adding context to the events of the main narrative. In the universe of the story, an RPF community develops around the public rivalry between the two famous skaters
Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches
Part 1 of the series. Told from Yuuri’s perspective.
Summary: ‘…Of all the rivalries in the world of sports over the years, perhaps none has become so legendary as that of Russian figure skater Viktor Nikiforov and his rival, Japanese Yuuri Katsuki…’ A single event changes the course of Yuuri’s life, throwing him into a bitter rivalry with Viktor Nikiforov that spans across his entire skating career. But as the years go on, rivalry and hatred begin to develop into something very different and Yuuri doesn’t seem to be able to stay away, no matter how hard he tries. Hatred and love are two sides of the same coin and even though everything changes, some things are still meant to be.
Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts
Part 2 of the series. Told from Viktor’s perspective. It covers the same timeline as Part 1 and beyond, showing the aftermath of Part 1.
Summary: Viktor doesn’t remember the first time he met Yuuri Katsuki.
This however, is what Viktor does remember…
Part 2 of the Rivals series and companion fic to ‘Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches’. One small change alters the course of both Viktor and Yuuri’s entire lives, creating a rivalry that spans across many years and a world where they both tell a very different side to the story.
Rivals - Past, Present and Future
Summary: A one-shot collection set in the Rivals universe, featuring snipppets of Yuuri and Viktor's life in the future, missing scenes from the previous fics, alternate POVs and more
Reactions
As of January 2019, Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches has over 20.2k kudos, 5.8k bookmarks, 465k hit counts, and 8.4k comments on AO3. The fic has the most kudos, bookmarks, and hits of all Yuri!!! on Ice works on the site. The fic is considered a classic in the fandom and is frequently recced.
Reiya was interviewed by viktuurificwriters in June 2017 regarding her success in the YOI fandom: Getting to Know Reiya.
As of January 2019, Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts has 12k kudos, 2.4k bookmarks, 257k hit counts, and 5.7k comments. Rivals, the series, has over 2,000 bookmarks.
As of Feburary 2019, Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches is the most popular work by kudos in the, Rivalry, Hate Sex,and Confessions tags on AO3. It is the second most popular work in the Enemies to Lovers and Hate to Love tags.[1]
Reviews
General: Ah, boy. So much has been written about this series I don’t really have to add a lot. If you are in this fandom and read fic, you will have heard about this story long before this.Just for the record – a “What If” AU, told first from Yuuri’s perspective (UMFB&MHA, complete) and then from Victor’s (OBS&BH, WIP), about what would have happened if one small detail was different and the result would be a rivalry between the two. One of the first fics I read and a DAMN GOOD ONE. Like I said, it’s the only one on this list with actual long lasting ANGST, but it’s also beyond sweet.
Bonus points:
Amazing world building, wonderful characterization, handling difficult issues very well, and very good writing. ...
Reiya (kazliin) is very active here, and answers asks and gives us world building and top ten lists and LIFE I tell you.
One of the best usages of Social Media snippets.[2]
Part 1 rec:Rivals AU in which Yuuri hates Victor and becomes his biggest rival - even my grandma by now has probably read this fic, and that’s because it’s got everything: angst, smut, angst, amazing characterization, great plot, angst and romance. A+ (Soon with a companion fic with Victor’s POV)
Part 2 Rec:
If you loved umfb&mha like everyone else in the fandom, get ready for its amazing companion fic, written in Victor’s POV, aka The Suffering™. She’s back guys. I don’t even have words for how good this is. I just don’t.[3][4]
Rivals AU where Yuuri’s main goal, ever since he was a child, is to beat Victor and win the GPF. SO MUCH ANGST (like, so much) and deliciously hot, hot, hot! You might die from reading this… it’s that good. Thumbs up! [5]
What can I say? This was one of the first fanfics I ever read, and it’s stuck with me so much that sometimes I forget where canon ends and this story begins. Beautifully written, completely in character, it’s the gold standard (pun intended) for writing. Best of all, you get to experience the story TWICE, once from each character’s POV, which makes it feel familiar yet different and gives the reader the chance to empathize with both. Simply the best![6]
Unlike the show, Yuuri and Victor start off as enemies (kinda) and fall in love without realizing it for a long time. The relationship between Yuuri and Victor was developed in such a realistic way where miscommunication, anxiety and low self-image got in the way of two people whose love for each other was clear to everyone but themselves. There is no villain in the story but the characters’ own dark thoughts and repressed feelings as such there is angst everywhere but the happy ending is just waiting to heal our wounds![7]
Links
- Translations are available in Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, and others.
- Rivals Series on TV Tropes
- The author frequently posts extra content on her tumblr (kazliin).
- Rivals Series General Tag
- Rivals Worldbuilding – Posts expanding on the Rivals universe
- umfb&mha general tag – General posts relating to ‘Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches’
- obs&bh general tag – General posts relating to ‘Of Bright Stars and Burning Hearts’
- umfb&mha timeline
- Rivals fanworks index.
Artwork
- Fanart tag on the author’s tumblr
- comic, Stay close to me (And never leave), and chapter 13 by tosquinha
- "Apart" by ifellfromtheskies
References
- ^ Found via the tag search and sorting February 2019.
- ^ Yuri on Ice Fic Rec Mega List, April, 2017. (Accessed January 2019)
- ^ byebyeholocene. Victuuri Must Reads, March, 2017. (Accessed January 2019)
- ^ byebyeholocene. Victuuri Must Reads - Part III, May, 2017. (Accessed January 2019)
- ^ victuurificrec. Completed Victuuri Fics (Over 40k Words), February, 2017. (Archived April 2018)
- ^ Comment by Spinzgirl on International Fanworks Day Feedback Fest 2022
- ^ "The Rec Center #116". Archived from the original on 2024-07-21.