#although i feel yuri is far more realistic imo? takes of flynn are different but he always struck me as very idealistic.

[justicebled]

manifestation of justice. *

while i don’t own the yuri market nor plan to because we all have our own visions of him? i do and stand by the fact that yuri to me embodies justice / pure / true justice. it’s a running theme here since i started last year on tumblr with him. if he was being personal about his killings with ragou and cumore then he would have been emotional. he wouldn’t have soundlessly and emotionlessly killed them and had some ulterior motive. but yuri does not. it’s entirely lacking in self gain. yuri is a trope subverter. you think you’re getting a heartless asshole and yes he can totally be a jerk or a troll, but heartless? flynn words it really damn well.

“ yuri is so single-minded on protecting others. he’s willing to sacrifice himself to do it.”

the game goes lengths to show that what you’re expecting and flip it on its head, which is...an edgelord is ...not what you’re getting.  it’s basically a very kind, immensely unselfish guy beneath layers of sarcasm, biting words and toughness. oh and sarcasm. it isn’t this, i’m killing and i enjoy it. i’m killing and i’m not realizing the consequences. i’m enacting what my completely broken law system in my crapsack world should be doing. and yuri literally does save people by his actions. they’re against the law and i’m not justifying, hey go do crime even if yuri has absolutely no self gain. he’s told often he’s carrying the heaviest burden kinda like atlas and he chose it with full awareness. it’s the ‘hardest job / most thankless job’ in other variations of words by flynn, by raven, by his crew. this isn’t fun for him. it isn’t an emotional / adrenaline outing. 

i just think justice is very subjective and there’s flynn’s more idealistic justice imho, and yuri’s cold realistic justice, which is unforgiving and should be, because emotions could make him falter. yuri stands a single grim light in the shadows to flynn’s own light, and pure in its intentions, it isn’t trying to dress itself up. it isn’t even done in words. it’s a quick swing of the blade and justice and action is done. it’s definitely controversial because you either are ‘team yuri’ or ‘team flynn’ in terms of which you agree with. and that’s okay! or you can see both which is valid imo.

 but it is a pet peeve when people think yuri is some edge lord who has no good heart and is by all purposefully done scenes, a surprisingly very good person who does insanely hard and terrifying, law-breaking things on ‘the other side’ of the promise he and flynn made. 

he is not evil. he’s chaotic good / true neutral . he isn’t doing this for funsies. he literally says it might as well be me. yuri pretty much is giving up his future and honestly his life to help further along the destruction of the system. 

it just isn’t pretty, purposefully heroic, or knightly. it’s cold, in the dark, and merciless. and this massive burden takes a toll on him. but he still is bearing it because he has the fortitude and the moral conviction to do so. so when the deeds are done there isn’t this personal grudge? i’m not justifying murder. but frankly knights murder too. there isn’t a difference. what i am saying is yuri has no self-gain in the pot for this. it’s entirely unselfish and he tries to be as nonpartial and emotionless about the deed as possible so he can carry it out. because he has the fortitude and strength to do it. 

also yuri telling karol he doesn’t regret isn’t because he’s happy he killed cumore, ragou and alexei. it’s him literally saying, ‘you don’t have to be responsible for my actions karol.’ he knew what he was getting into. he agonizes most of part one about what he can do and he alone. and that’s an atlas level burden. for him to show any remorse is for him to be looking back and that makes the deaths pointless, and makes him only a criminal. not the anti-hero we know and love or some of us hate. do yuri and flynn contradict? yeah because they’re human. but to me yuri embodies true / pure justice, and there’s no personal feelings or this ‘power rush’ when he kills or breaks a horrifying law system that MUST be changed. it’s KILLING people. yuri has SEEN it kill people since he was born.

he knows he’s a vigilante, he knows he’s a murderer, he will never accept he’s also a hero.  he’s also the guy who saved the world with his found family, and through his justice, saved myriad lives. killing is killing even if you are on the side of the law save terca lumireis’ law is a joke.  but in his crapsack world where there’s no time to make decisions that are slow going especially in mantaic? he words it perfectly:  " you’d rather tell those people, sorry you had to die today i promise we’ll fix things later?!” 

i really don’t how it didn’t make sense for yuri to be extremely driven and willing to stain his hands to kill cumore. because how long will a law system that cares nothing about anyone take? to me it feels like a last resort action to save lives that could be uh, rotting in the desert or a mansion cell fed to monsters. children.

 it won’t even probably be fixed in either of his or flynn’s lifetime. if yuri was happy to kill cumore he wouldn’t have kicked the door with no look on his face, wordlessly stalked him, and emotionlessly watched him die without partialness. sure he loathes people who abuse innocent / good people. or people who just plain don’t deserve it. but yuri enjoying killing? 

yuri doing all this only because ‘lol he hates the empire’ yeah that’s not really what i think is going on. but yuri has stood the test of time as being very unique as a jrpg protag and. i really just. i’m not going to buy nor portray a petty, murder-happy edgelord who isn’t literally doing all he does and bearing the hardest job for everyone but himself. he’s hardly a saint. but he’s hardly a bad person. he’s fulling aware of his consequences to justice / actions that are pure in intent? only for other’s good ? is still taking someone’s life.  

tl;dr : basically yuri is a really good surprisingly heroic guy who has no self-preservation on what it will cost him if it will help other people. hence him willing to continuously sacrifice himself willfully, not to be glorified or a martyr. he doesn’t want any credit. period. he isn’t looking to be a hero. he’s looking to help innocent people / the oppressed. 

in a world where there is no justice, in my honest opinion this is the last resort while flynn works on building a system of REAL law, yuri will enact unbiased, pure justice, without glorifying whatsoever, no matter how many lives it’s saving.

i saw a youtube vid and it basically said that yuri? he’s his own judge, jury and executioner for himself. and if he strays from his sound, unflinching moral compass and unwavering convictions / beliefs? he trusts flynn to kill him and he will accept the blade if he forgets his true path.