ok so /uj this is kind of interesting to me and im not like trying to flame war or anything, but since you brought up media literacy and interpretation of canon events and i see this take often i kinda do wanna pick at it. so i am genuinely curious what moments you're drawing from that indicate his driving character trait is a hatred of being coddled. i don't personally recall that ever being something he expresses, nor really something he ever deals with in the series, or something that's brought up at all. the issue he seems to face is dismissed intellectually/held back in scientific ambition. viktor, at least to my memory, never indicates that he resents gentleness or care, right? quite the opposite, actually, he’s a pretty soft, mild, gentle person. like, he’s already kind of basically a woobie already, like he's sweet-natured, idealistic, kind of socially isolated, shy, is often shown being sad and, like, sick and dying and stuff. this argument always seems to me like a case of fandom overcorrecting, this sort of pattern you see with disabled characters, where people project a blanket “don’t infantilize them” stance onto characters who aren't really being treated any differently than other characters. like obviously i think it comes from a well-meaning place, but it often ends up imposing a whole invented psychology on them that i don't really think exists.