Don’t go flying off the handle. Then all that you’ve done would be for nothing.
I literally can’t help but appreciate this dialogue, directly after Ragou gets mere slap on the wrist following his capture. Flynn, remember, is the lower-quarter brat that always advises Yuri to keep his composure, then starts the bar fight. He’s ironically the one less in control of his emotions, and because of this, he’s more prepared and alert when he starts to get worked up. He’s emotional despite his err toward logic. Meanwhile Yuri is much more matter-of-fact, to the point where he represses his emotions to his own detriment. It’s fascinating how these two feed off each other, and how because of this bond, Yuri is so willing to sacrifice himself ( metaphorically, of course- I think people can agree he never wanted to kill or sought it, but he believed it to be the best course of action, and one that would propel the Empire, those he cared about, and even Flynn toward the future they all longed for ) in order to keep Flynn on his rails. Because without Yuri? I highly doubt someone like Flynn could. Yuri is the logic and reason that Flynn always veneers himself with. But if he hadn’t had Yuri all of this time, I can definitely see him as a much more angry and confrontational person.
tl;dr
Flynn: always acts out of reason, is ruled by emotion
Yuri: more likely to act off emotion, guises it as logic and reason
Flynn wants to be the justice in this world, but if he doesn’t do it right, he won’t be able to face those who would seek to follow him. And Yuri is so willing to be the dark half to him and lurk in a shadow, even with the very obvious competitive attitude between them. AND FLYNN HATES THAT DON’T EVEN ACT LIKE HE DOESN’T but I will likely come back to that later. Right now I’m just sobbing over how interesting and convoluted their support system is for each other. Because it’s just so clear how close they are and how important they are to each other, and not once do either of them ever reference that. They don’t need to in order to understand each other seamlessly and effortlessly. Just. FRICKIN. BESTIES. I WEEP.
If he’s above you, you just go even higher. And then-?
“Some day I’ll create a legal order that treats everyone with equality. I have to.”
It’s like they’ve rehearsed this or something. They just know.
Good. And I’ll do things my own way.
The way Yuri says that definitely catches with Flynn- it’s that first pull on the lure when you know the big fish is snared. He knows the implication immediately, but he’s hoping that Yuri wouldn’t put himself in that sort of position. I’m waiting for the line in the game to come up, the one that Flynn shouts at him that he always chooses the option that is the worst for him, for Yuri that is. Flynn is nothing if not altruistic, but not to the hazardous extent that Yuri is; and that sort of thing terrifies him. That he can lose Yuri not just in livelihood, but in moralistic or emotional ways is petrifying. He doesn’t want his ambition to cost him his friend, much less if it ironically serves him.
How would you go about punishing the villains that the law can’t touch?
“I’m still trying to figure that out.”
Flynn vc: what was that about don’t fly off the handle ‘caussssse sounds like that’s what you’re doing.
He just wants more time. Yuri, though, seems to have as much patience as I do. So that’s not gonna happen.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to get rid of that damn lock.”
Please. Never. Forget. That Flynn. Is a lower quarter brat. Too. He is. A. Good. Boy. He Protecc but Also he Attac.
But seriously, the fact that he has enough faith in Yuri to recognize the events and come support him, recognizing his position and mobility as opposed to Yuri’s in this situation. . . even when they’re shitting on each other and giving each other flack, they’re still pretty much totally in synch and I’m just ;A;
“Your Highness, please bear this no mind.” Please don’t make him explain that people are calling his childhood best friend ‘daddy’ and he’s super not into it.
He can’t decide if he needs to scold Yuri to take responsibility for the kids that call him dad, or beg the populace to understand that Yuri is not a man fit for parenthood.
“Each and every one of these folk left the empire of their own volition and joined a guild. There ain’t a soul in this town so spineless they’d go runnin’ ta you guys fer help.”
There isn’t much more to this scene, but I cannot express in words how simultaneously irritated and also completely empathetic Flynn is to that concept.
ON ONE SIDE:
He signed up to join the knights, to pursue higher positions, so that he could protect those who needed protecting, be meddlesome when the time was right, do good for the people struggling right in front of him ( sound familiar, Yuri? ). So to see that and have to acquiesce to someone who is very clearly in a position of power that is well above his own station and also opposing his alliances is frustrating to his core ( and if you haven’t noticed by now how conflagrant Flynn’s temper can be, subdued and internalized as it may be. . . )
ON THE OTHER SIDE:
He’s totally right. These guys ditched the Empire. As a knight, he has no obligation to help them, and is in fact spurned for that sort of empathy and kindness that would lead him to help those who have shuffled off his leaders.
But that’s not the kind of person he is. He didn’t join the knights so that he could ignore the plight of those suffering, Guild or otherwise. But normal knights don’t care about the guilds; he can’t fault that the guilds will not offer him concession or understanding because good intentions are about as common as Rhybgaros in this sort of situation. Of course they don’t trust him or want his help. He gets it.
But he’s here.
This is all he has.
His empathy is simultaneously one of his greatest strengths and most immense weaknesses.
These are the rules of the life we’ve chosen. It’s up to us to make sure those rules don’t get broken.
Flynn believes that, too. It’s just so vastly different from a guild mentality.
“Holding to your beliefs no matter what’s at stake. . . So that’s what a guild is like.”
It hurts my feelings personally how Flynn and Yuri can both hear that sort of thing and think the exact same thing with such devastatingly different context.
EDIT:
“I’m just doing what I can to help. How’s the repair of the barrier blastia going?”
I may be wrong, but I recall Flynn once telling Yuri that he couldn’t leave well enough alone? Or stay out whenever someone was in trouble right in front of him? How does Flynn think he’s any different when he semi-defies the Don of the guilds in order to assist? Sure, he’s not fighting the monsters or directly dabbling with affairs that would damage the guild member’s pride, but he’s still intervening in what could be considered diplomatically damaging affairs, if someone wanted to get prickly and political about it. . . so much for a low profile or being politically inclined, Flynn. Then again, when has he ever been? “A knight be thou for the people” is very obviously his creed in his soul.
AND THERE HE GOES AGAIN!
“All right, time to clean up the monsters outside the barrier! The guilds won’t be able to complain if we fight monsters outside the city.”
You have cat to be kitten me right meow, boy. He. Cannot. Leave. Well. Enough. Alone. but I love him for it.
He wasn’t doing a good job of comforting her or she wouldn’t be making that face. Damn it. The one person he should be able to actively take care of in this instance, and he’d even end up letting her down if he couldn’t come up with an idea fast. Could they stand to wait until reinforcements arrived? Could they brave terrain to get back to Diedon Hold? How many more monsters remained between them and safety? Was there any other alternative- maybe the Quoi Woods would provide cover. . . or curses and death.
Sodia’s words were ice water as they washed over him, and he balked down at her. Her. . . telling him to leave her? At a time like this, there was- he couldn’t; he could never. And it was that stupid assumption that he could, that err toward self-sacrifice, that again reminded him of someone who could inevitable rub him the wrong way in an instant.
People didn’t just get to decide and get stubborn and die on him again.
“Then neither can you.”
He’d just have to make it work. As sloppy as his form was, the arte would take- he drew his sword, flipping it his grasp and driving it full force into the ground. A crystalline light flourished beneath them, the warmth of Guardian Field washing over them both. It wasn’t the strongest arte- it would likely not do more than staunch her bleeding, maybe partially close the wound- but it was what he could manage at this moment.
It was clear that was all he’d had left, and he leaned on his sword now as he looked down to check. Yup- wound was still partially there, but at least it was no longer weeping. He leaned less against her now, trying to relieve the pressure causing her to wince. Flynn smiled down at her. “There. Now. . . that’ll tide us over for a. . . a while. Where do we go from here?” Neither of them could stay. And he would make this work.
Of course. It should have been obvious. Given how they’d grown up together, relied on each other in the past. Of course I trust you.
It should have been obvious.
Should have been.
But given the status of everything lately. . . it didn’t hurt to hear it. He leaned against the side of the ship, peering out over the landscape so far beneath. If they didn’t find Estellise soon. . .
“. . . so this is the world you’ve been seeing lately.” He scoffed a laugh, still not catching Yuri’s eyes. “. . . you’ve changed.” It wasn’t said scornfully; there was no malice to his tone. It was an observation, conceding. Maybe Flynn had been wrong more than he’d expected up to now. . .
He wasn’t wrong. Maybe that was what made Flynn’s fists curl into balls at his sides, made his shoulders hunch in a clearly indicative way- the way that meant he wanted to turn around and slug Yuri. But he wouldn’t! This time. This time he had others watching him, the weight of the empire on his shoulders. Yuri was trying to get under his skin, just like he had to Yuri back in Heliord.
Instead, he turned tersely on his heel, spitting, “At least I’m doing something. Better to have something to be disappointed by than to just sit there doing nothing.”
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