udon_tea | Trigun Figure Skating AU brainstorming

This is the masterpost/brainstorming document for my Trigun Figure Skating AU!
Last updated: 2025.02.01

It's a tradition of mine by this point to create a figure skating AU for every fandom I join. Trigun is no exception. This AU is the brainchild of myself and Lia, with help and input from our friends, and is by far the most detailed and involved of the FS AUs I've worked on. It's not directly based on any figure skating media, but heavily inspired by some of my favorite athletes and stories from real-life competitive figure skating.

Present day of this narrative is the 2017/2018 season, leading up to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Quick cast rundown:

Vash Saverem - USA - retired (formerly ladies' singles*)
Nai Saverem - USA - men’s singles (formerly ladies' singles)
Meryl Stryfe - Canada - ladies’ singles
Milly Thompson - Canada - ladies' singles
Nikolai Volkov (Wolfwood) - Kazakhstan (training in Russia) - men’s singles
Elendira Krasnova - Germany - pairs
Livio Feng - Russian skating for Germany - pairs
Legato Bluesummers - Spain (training in USA) - men’s singles

* Note: until the 2021/2022 season, the women's singles discipline was referred to as "ladies' singles". Yes, this is a very archaic and sexist sport.

Art:

Vash wearing figure skates, smiling and waving with his right hand, empty left sleeve tucked into his pocket.

Knives wearing an athletic bodysuit and figure skates, holding a bottle of coconut water.

Vash and Nai Saverem.

Skater Wolfwood gets a pep talk from Vash, his coach, at the edge of an ice rink.

Wolfwood performs his figure skating program.

Niko and coach Vash for the Working WV event on X/Twitter.

External links:

In addition to fan art, the story of this AU is going to be presented in the form of character profiles formatted in the exact same style as real-life International Skating Union (ISU) skater bios. Because I’m crazy.

Example of what these bios look like: Michelle Kwan (Women's singles, last updated 2007), Denis Ten (Men's singles, last updated 2018), Aljona Savchenko/Bruno Massot (Pairs, last updated 2018).

Vash SAVEREM - USA - Retired (formerly Ladies)

Date of birth: 21.07.1988 (age 28-29)

Place of birth: Santa Fe, NM, USA

Height: 173 cm

Home town: Santa Fe, NM, USA

Profession: figure skating instructor

Hobbies: hiking, dancing, cooking

Start sk. / Club: 1994 / Santa Fe SC

Internet / Social Media contact: Twitter & Instagram: vash_saverem, YouTube: Typhoon on Ice

Coach:

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2005/2006
?

Music Free Skating as of season 2005/2006
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto

BIO

Vash and Nai had been skating since they were tiny kids, still being raised as girls, and started competing in the “ladies’ singles” discipline. Vash was a rising star, quickly noted for his charisma, innate artistry, and flexibility. He was also known for his huge and “terrifying” jumps, which had so much speed and distance covered that he had difficulty controlling the landings, leading to many rough falls. For this he earned the nickname “typhoon”.

Having loved ballet before figure skating, Vash always wanted choreographies that showed off the lines of his body and expressive acting skills to the audience and the judges. He favored fun, energetic programs, and spent a lot of time decorating colorful costumes with Rem’s help. (Nai always called them tacky, even though his own costumes were equally dramatic, only with less saturated colors.)

As teenagers, he and his twin rose to the international stage and medaled at the U.S. National Championships and World Junior Championships. After a brilliant senior debut in the 2004/2005 season and unexpectedly winning the bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, Vash suffered a terrible accident that resulted in the transhumeral amputation of his left arm.

Though he returned to the ice as soon as he could, the loss of his arm prevented him from executing many of the mandatory elements of the singles disciplines. His competitive career was cut short at age 16.

He was distraught, but couldn’t keep himself off the ice. He went to college for physical education and works as a figure skating instructor for children and adults at the beginner level. Nai thinks Vash is wasting his potential by teaching little kids and adult figure skaters (those who have taken up the sport as adults) instead of coaching the next world champion, but Vash wants to cultivate little ones’ love of skating.

He participates in ice shows around the world and posts fun educational videos aimed at skating enthusiasts and beginners on his YouTube channel.

His biggest regret is not being able to participate in the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics.

TRIVIA

Zodiac: Cancer | Earth Dragon

Favorite food: doughnuts, pizza

Electrolyte of choice: generic sports drink, pickle juice

Favorite skater: Shizuka Arakawa

Signature elements: Biellmann spin, cantilever, step sequences

Model/inspirations: Daisuke Takahashi, Kristy Allison-McDonald

Nai SAVEREM - USA - Men (formerly Ladies)

Date of birth: 21.07.1988 (age 28-29)

Place of birth: Santa Fe, NM, USA

Height: 173 cm

Home town: Seattle, WA, USA

Profession: athlete

Hobbies: reading, playing the piano

Start sk. / Club: 1994 / Santa Fe SC

Internet / Social Media contact: none

Coach: William Conrad

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2017/2018
BWC 639 - Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ (from Solaris) by Johan Sebastian Bach, performed by Leonid Roizman

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2017/2018
The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky

Personal Best Total Score [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Short Program [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Free Skating [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

BIO

While both Vash and Nai received a lot of attention for being twin skating prodigies as kids, Nai always felt the pressure more than his brother. To this day he idolizes Russian ballet and figure skating, and his style focuses on perfect form. He was described as a balletic skater, but shy and withdrawn. Unlike Vash, who was shy in his personal life but a born performer on the ice, Nai had trouble projecting and finding his artistic style as a child. Their technical competence was roughly the same, but Nai was more consistent while Vash was reckless, trying riskier elements and on occasion changing up his program layout on the fly to make up for early mistakes. Nai would chide him for not taking competition seriously.

Beneath his competitiveness and perfection was a dual fear of being surpassed by his twin, but also of becoming too different from him and drifting apart. Both of them realized their transness at the onset of puberty and were supported by Rem, their adoptive mother, but were afraid of seeking any medical interventions due to the difficulty of it, the risk of bullying at school, and the almost surety that they would not be accepted by US and international figure skating institutions. Vash was more openly a tomboy, which did negatively impact his image with judges. Nai was secretly resentful that Vash seemed to be able to shake off the pressure to be an ideal feminine girl and "ice princess", while he couldn't.

Rem's death at around age 14-15 drove a deep wedge between the twins. Nai made plans to leave Santa Fe after finishing high school to train under an old family friend, while Vash wanted to remain in their hometown and was considering leaving competitive skating so that he could have a quieter life and transition. Nai was furious that Vash wanted to "abandon" their life and dream of skating, and they had a confrontation shortly after their 16th birthday that resulted in a terrible accident in which Vash lost his arm. (I haven't figured out the details of this yet; accepting suggestions if you have any ideas!)

With Vash no longer able to continue skating, Nai made the move to Seattle to train under William Conrad. His next few seasons saw him making the podium at the 2006 Winter Olympics and being crowned the 2007 US and World champion.

On his 18th birthday, in the summer of 2007, he caused an enormous scandal when he came out by announcing his intention to compete in the men's discipline. He faced years of public backlash and resistance from the US Figure Skating Association, which he had anticipated. Everything was meticulously planned between him and his team. It lost him an entire competitive season, but he eventually succeeded in qualifying as a male skater (always under intense scrutiny and regular invasive "anti-doping" tests). He paved the way for future trans skaters and trans athletes in other sports as well.

Partly because of that, he's an extremely private person. He rarely talks to the press and has no social media under his name. He does have many pseudonymous accounts on various websites which he uses to poke around on forums and, on occasion, debate people online. Not just about figure skating; a lot of it is niche and extremist political/philosophical movements.

After transitioning and growing into adulthood, Nai found his confidence and style, becoming a terrifying athlete, a balanced blend of technical prowess and artistry. He's often called the GOAT, the closest thing to a perfect skater. He's known for intense, dramatic programs based on classical music, operas, and Russian ballet, and his huge triple Axel.

Despite their officially listed heights being the same, Nai is a tiny bit (~1 cm) shorter than Vash, likely due to him continuing to skate.

TRIVIA

Zodiac: Cancer | Earth Dragon

Favorite food: coconut water (“Nai, that doesn’t count as food!”)

Electrolyte of choice: coconut water

Favorite skater: Alexei Yagudin (gets into arguments with people who like Evgeni Plushenko more)

Signature elements: triple Axel, Ina Bauer

Model/inspirations: Yuzuru Hanyu

Meryl STRYFE - CAN - Ladies

Date of birth: 14.02.1996 (age 21-22)

Place of birth: Toronto, ON, CAN

Height: 145 cm

Home town: Toronto, ON, CAN

Profession: university student

Hobbies: photography, writing, skiing, shopping

Start sk. / Club: 2002 /

Internet / Social Media contact: Twitter & Instagram: merylstryfe

Coach: Roberto De Niro

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2017/2018
?

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2017/2018
?

Personal Best Total Score [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Short Program [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Free Skating [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

BIO

Meryl is a city girl, born and raised in Toronto, who inherited intense expectations and work ethic from her immigrant family. By the time she was born, her parents had become relatively wealthy and they often spent winter holidays on retreats practicing various winter sports, which is how she was introduced to figure skating. She switched from her childhood coach to Roberto De Niro at age 19.

She’s known for her impeccable skating skills and Rippons—jumps holding both arms over her head, which increases their difficulty. However, despite her beautiful form, her small jumps tend to get points deducted for under-rotation.

TRIVIA

Zodiac: Aquarius | Wood Pig

Favorite food: mapo tofu, ice cream

Electrolyte of choice: Pocari Sweat

Favorite skater: Michelle Kwan

Signature elements: Rippon jumps, arabesque spiral

Model/inspirations: Satoko Miyahara

Milly THOMPSON - CAN - Ladies

Date of birth: early 1997 (age 20-21)

Place of birth: Dauphin, MB, CAN

Height: 176 cm

Home town: Toronto, ON, CA

Profession: university student

Hobbies: writing, reading, cooking, baking

Start sk. / Club: 2002 /

Internet / Social Media contact: Instagram: millybear97

Coach: Roberto De Niro

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2017/2018
?

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2017/2018
?

Personal Best Total Score [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Short Program [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Free Skating [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

BIO

Milly Thompson was born to a large family, being the youngest of 7 children. She grew up in Dauphin, Manitoba and practiced both ice hockey and figure skating with her siblings, but when it came time to focus her attention on only one sport, she opted for figure skating. After graduating high school, Milly moved to Toronto for university and to train under coach Roberto De Niro, where she became best friends with fellow student Meryl Stryfe.

She’s known as a “flutz queen” for her tendency of flubbing Lutz jumps by taking off from the inside edge of her skate instead of the outside edge. (The Lutz is considered the second hardest jump, after the Axel.)

TRIVIA

Zodiac: ? | Fire Ox

Favorite food: pudding, cakes

Electrolyte of choice: huge cup of iced coffee or tea from a chain coffee shop (e.g.: Tim Horton's)

Favorite skater: Stéphane Lambiel

Signature elements: triple flip, combination spins

Model/inspiration: Carolina Kostner

Nikolai VOLKOV - KAZ - Men

Date of birth: 28.12.1998 (age 18-19)

Place of birth: Almaty, KAZ

Height: 180 cm

Home town: Moscow, RUS

Profession: student

Hobbies: reading, wood carving, motorbiking

Start sk. / Club: 2005 /

Internet / Social Media contact: VK: Niko_Wolf, Instagram: NikolaiVolkov

Coach: Chapel

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2017/2018
Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2017/2018
Music from Pulp Fiction

Personal Best Total Score [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Short Program [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Free Skating [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

BIO

Nikolai Danilovich “Niko” Volkov was born in Almaty to a Russo-Kazakh father and a Soviet Korean (Koryo-saram) mother. Both of his parents went missing when he was a small child, and he was raised by his paternal aunt, Melanie. Because she had to work long hours to support them, Niko learned to be independent and help around the house from a very young age.

He started skating at age 7 and practiced at seasonal outdoor rinks and shopping mall rinks, quickly developing a passion for the sport. At age 10, he traveled to Moscow for a competition, where he was spotted by coach Chapel, who offered to take him under his wing. Melanie saw this as an opportunity not only to give Niko better resources to succeed in skating, but to offer him more opportunities for his education and to be closer to their relatives in Russia. Together, they made the move to Moscow the following year.

Niko struggled after the move, feeling uprooted from his friends and community in Almaty to a new country, transferring to a new school where all of his classmates already knew each other and had their own friend groups and cliques. As an orphan who frequently took care of kids younger than himself, he believed himself (not inaccurately) to be more mature than other kids of his age.

He also faced the brutal methods of his new coach, who was often verbally and at times physically abusive to his students. Chapel frequently compared his pupils to each other, instilling fierce competition between them, and was not shy about picking favorites. He saw great potential in Niko and developed expectations that the boy could be molded into a legendary skater, but that meant he pushed him the hardest and punished him harshly for disobedience or not living up to those expectations. Not wanting to be a burden to aunt Melanie or let her support and what he’d already endured so far go to waste, Niko grit his teeth and bore it.

At school, Niko met Livio Feng, a young boy from St. Petersburg who also skated. They grew close, as close as brothers, especially since Livio would spend a lot of his time at Aunt Melanie’s to escape his neglectful, abusive parents. Niko was dismayed when, against his protests, Livio switched from his old coach to Chapel in their early teens.

Niko made waves back home and abroad for his unprecedented achievements as a Kazakhstani skater, winning several minor ISU competitions and medaling at Junior Grand Prix events. His ability to jump was almost compromised by several injuries and a big growth spurt over the course of his late teens, but he overcame it all and added multiple quadruple jumps to his arsenal, including the infamously tricky quadruple Lutz.

He’s known for his lyrical, expressive skating, intense performances, stamina, and ability to “save” a jump even when it looks like he’s certain to fall (which has helped him, as his jump form is not perfect). His costumes are often faux suits.

He’s a big fan of Viktor Tsoi. As soon as the rule change allowing music with lyrics went into effect starting from the 2014/2015 season, he did a program to a Kino song.

The first skating event he watched live on television was the 2005 World Championship, where he fell in love at first sight with Vash Saverem’s skating. It also happened to be Vash’s last competition before his tragic accident. That left a huge impression on Niko, and so did the news of Vash and Nai’s transition later on.

His mother's Korean surname was Woo (우, У), so one could say he's "Nikolai Danilovich Volkov (Woo)" (Nicholas D. Wolfwood).

In the summer of 2017, Niko broke ties with Chapel after an explosive argument. He had been secretly planning to do so for a while, saving money, and considering where to turn to for help, since Chapel’s influence in the Russian and European figure skating world was considerable and he was almost certain to try to sabotage any attempts at finding a new coach. It also opened a deep rift between himself and Livio.

He traveled to the US to attend a training camp where Vash Saverem would be a participating coach. After the event, Niko cornered Vash and asked him to take him in as a student. Vash was completely caught off-guard and tried to turn him down, but after Niko explained his situation in more detail, he was reluctantly persuaded to try coaching Niko over the summer. In the end, Vash couldn’t resist being the hope of a desperate, troubled young man with so much promise. They both traveled back to Santa Fe (Niko did not have money to get lodging elsewhere, so he proceeded to crash at Vash’s home).

TRIVIA

Zodiac: Capricorn | Earth Tiger

Favorite food: noodle soups (laghman, naryn, xiao mian, udon soup)

Electrolyte of choice: water and a snack bar

Favorite skater: Vash Saverem

Signature elements: quadruple Lutz, side lunge

Model/inspirations: Denis Ten, Junhwan Cha

Elendira KRASNOVA - GER - Pairs

Date of birth: late 1995 (age 22-23)

Place of birth: Murmansk, RUS

Height: 168 cm

Home town: Munich, GER

Profession: athlete

Hobbies: fashion

Start sk. / Club: 2000 /

Internet / Social Media contact:

Livio FENG - GER - Pairs

Date of birth: early 1999 (age 18-19)

Place of birth: St. Petersburg, RUS

Height: 191 cm

Home town: Moscow, RUS

Profession: student

Hobbies: gaming, watching films

Start sk. / Club:

Internet / Social Media contact:

Coach:

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2017/2018
?

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2017/2018
?

Personal Best Total Score [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Short Program [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Free Skating [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Elendira

BIO

Elendira Timurovna Krasnova is a Russian-born German skater. Her parents moved from Murmansk to Munich for work when she was only 3 years old.

Elendira's parents initially opposed her transitioning, partly due to not understanding the concept and partly out of concern for the discrimination she would face, both in her everyday life and as an athlete, but eventually relented. She holds Nai Saverem as a personal hero for paving the way for transgender figure skaters.

She’s on the tall side for a female pairs skater, who tend to be a lot smaller than singles skaters due to the requirement of lifts, twists, and thrown jumps in pairs. Her partnership with Livio was most fortunate, since he is able to easily lift and throw her with his outstanding strength.

TRIVIA

Zodiac: ? | Wood Pig

Favorite food:

Electrolyte of choice: schorle (fruit juice + sparkling mineral water)

Favorite skater: Nai Saverem

Signature elements:

Model/inspirations: Aljona Savchenko

Livio

BIO

Born in St. Petersburg, Livio started going to ballet classes as a young boy to escape his home life, where both of his parents were emotionally and physically abusive to each other and to their son. A girl in his ballet class that he grew close to, Jasmine, invited him to try figure skating with her, which he continued to practice after he and his family moved to Moscow around age 12. He befriended Niko, the first kid at his new school who approached him. Livio greatly admired Niko's skating and looked up to him.

He and Niko used to joke about the fact that Niko is only 1/4 Russian but has a Russian surname, while Livio is only 1/4 Chinese but has a Chinese surname.

The abuse he faced from his parents led him to developing Dissociative Identity Disorder. The alter that most commonly fronts other than Livio is Razlo, his protector. Livio was unaware of Razlo's existence for several years, which caused strain in his relationship with his parents and, to a lesser extent, with Niko, since Livio would often not recall conversations he had with them (plus, Razlo was a lot more hostile and distrustful towards Niko).

On the other hand, while Livio respects and fears coach Chapel, Razlo idolizes him. Chapel did a lot to turn his students against each other, and Niko became more distant as Livio aligned himself more and more with their coach, but the real break came when Niko decided to leave to a foreign country in search of another coach. Livio (and especially Razlo) took it as a betrayal.

Razlo does like figure skating and thinks it's "cool", but doesn't enjoy the amount of rigorous routine and training required.

Up until his teens, Livio used to compete for Russia in the men’s singles discipline, but his immense growth spurt heavily impacted his jumps and he wasn’t able to keep up with the increasingly quad-focused field, especially not with the fierce competition at home. At coach Chapel's advice, he joined up with Elendira to compete for Germany as a pair when she sought a new partner.

TRIVIA

Zodiac: ? | Earth Rabbit

Favorite food: shawarma

Electrolyte of choice: Club Mate, non-alcoholic beer (saw German athletes doing this and thought it was cool)

Favorite skater: Nikolai Volkov

Signature elements:

Model/inspirations:

Legato BLUESUMMERS - ESP - Men

Date of birth: xx.xx.1995 (age 22)

Place of birth:

Height: 175 cm

Home town: Seattle, WA, USA

Profession: athlete

Hobbies:

Coach: William Conrad

Choreographer:

Practice low season: ? h/week at

Practice high season: ? h/week at

Music Short Program as of season 2017/2018
I Come With Knives by IAMX

Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2017/2018
Swan Lake

Personal Best Total Score [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Short Program [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

Personal Best Score Free Skating [score] xx.xx.20xx [Event]

BIO

Legato is a Spanish skater who has idolized Nai his entire life. Though his family was wealthy, they regarded him with bitterness and hostility due to the suspicion that he was an illegitimate child borne out of an affair. His uncle began sexually abusing him during childhood, but the rest of the family turned a blind eye to him to preserve a mask of normalcy and avoid tarnishing their reputation. Figure skating was an escape from his hellish home life, and he would spend as much time as he could training at the rink.

His surname is not Bluesummers by birth. He got it legally changed to distance himself from his biological family.

TRIVIA

Zodiac: ? | Fire Rat

Favorite food: hamburgers, anything with beef

Electrolyte of choice: orange Tang

Favorite skater: Nai Saverem

Signature elements: layback Ina Bauer

Model/inspirations: Johnny Weir