I am back to ramble about Chloe again 🥰 Tumblr eater of messages YOU SHALL NOT DEFEAT ME
Anyway so I was gonna say what really got to me about Yuri and Chloe is that Yuri actually apologised to her. I was stunned. I don’t think he’s ever (sincerely) apologised to anyone but Yor. The fact that he cares enough about her—about her opinion of him— left me absolutely gobsmacked.
Like, them bickering in the car about calling each other by name and who’s the senior? That was adorable. It was super shippy. But it also felt kind of one-sided because you could tell how close Chloe felt to Yuri, but you weren’t sure if that was reciprocated. Though, to be fair, it’s pretty hard get a read on how Yuri feels about other people in general, since he pretends to be apathetic about everyone besides Yor on principle (more on that later).
But when she slapped him and called him out? I was expecting an explosion. I was expecting self-righteousness and stubbornness and screaming. I was NOT expecting to see Yuri Briar, of all people, genuinely apologise while looking like a remorseful puppy. That shook me to my core.
Because the fact that Yuri actually cared enough to apologise shows that he actually likes Chloe. He genuinely cares about her opinion of him. And not only did he apologise with real remorse - he even asked her for advice on what he should do like??? For all his snarking and quibbling, he genuinely respects her. He cares about her opinion. Like. This is Mr Yor-taku over here. This behaviour from him is so genuinely mind blowing.
Because, again, Yuri pretends to be apathetic about everyone besides Yor on principle. That whole ‘I can’t let her see me cavorting with you’ line isnt a sis-con joke. That is genuinely the way Yuri thinks. I think Yuri believes that he owes Yor his life. Life, his entire life. He operates on the belief that giving any of his time/interest/energy to anyone other than Yor would be a betrayal to her and everything she sacrificed for him. In his head, she devoted herself to him when they were kids, so now he has to devote himself to her. It’s as if the only way he can honour her sacrifice is by making one of his own. ‘This is the woman who put aside her own happiness to raise me!’ That’s why, for Yuri, finding his own happiness is completely out of the question.
Of course, it’s a messed up way to think, but it perfectly illustrates Yuri’s character, because, like everyone in SpyxFamily, Yuri is a liar. He can pretend to have Yor-vision all he likes. He can snarl and scowl and deny it all he wants. But the truth is, whether he likes it or not, Yuri does care about people besides Yor.
He looked genuinely worried when he heard Anya got kidnapped, but immediately tried to rationalise it away by saying he’d be happy if she was out of the way. He immediately focused on how Yor would feel if something happened to her, but used that to justify him meddling to keep her safe. And what happened when the adrenaline wore off? Did Yuri croon about how taking a bullet was nothing for his sister’s happiness? Nope. In his pain, he blurted out the truth: I can’t believe I took a bullet for chihuahua girl!
Similarly, for all his hatred of Loid, he should have been driving them to the court house the minute Yor said she had gripes. Instead, he acted like a child taking his mother’s side in her first fight with his stepdad. He actually told Loid to apologise! Even later, when Yor couldn’t say she loved him, that should have been Yuri’s cue to get rid of Loid Forger once and for all. And yet. Even though it’s so easy for the SSS to make up charges and arrest citizens, Yuri has never and will never do so for his brother-in-law, who he supposedly wants gone asap.
(Also ch 89 has a slight mistranslation - the English version makes it out as if Yuri is planning to make up some reason to get Loid arrested. This is not the case. He actually thinks ‘But wait — let’s say he actually was guilty of something and I got him arrested. Wouldn’t that still end up making my sister sad…?!’ That moment of shock on his face was supposed to be a moment of realisation - that he shouldn’t want Loid to be guilty of being twilight or an adulterer or anything else, because Yor cares about him, and him getting arrested would upset her. Of course the next panel he immediately dismisses this and says nah there’s no way my sister would be sad over that. Again, Yuri is lying to himself. And he knows damn well he’s lying to himself, because he still won’t touch Loid with any charges, real or false.)
At the end of the day, for Chloe to even momentarily get past Yuri’s psychological Yor-barrier is HUGE. That he apologise to her is HUGE. That apology wasn’t for Yor’s benefit. It was solely for Chloe. Also, amusingly enough, in that panel when she calls him a self-serving hypocrite and he gasps - the suffix that is used is ガーン which is the suffix equivalent of 😨 and is usually used for Twilight when he’s dismayed because he thinks Yor hates him. Again, it wasn’t Yor calling him a hypocrite there. It was Chloe. And yet, it got to him. Mr Yor-taku. Enough for him to apologise.
All in all, I am expecting great things from Chloe. She is literally Yuri’s only hope for rehabilitation at this point. For all that Yuri pushes everyone away and refuses to ‘officially’ let himself care about them, he has clearly slipped up with her and I cannot wait to see the continuation ☺️
As a final note I will add - I think Chloe’s analysis of self-serving hypocrisy is spot on, and to truly cover all aspects of Yuri being a lying liar, it should be noted that Yuri did not have to dedicate his life to Yor - he chose to. And I think there’s another self-serving aspect to his sacrifice, besides alleviating his guilt - at the end of the day, it is much safer to devote yourself to your one remaining family member, rather than to risk loving and losing anyone else. Yuri may keep everyone at a distance while claiming it’s to honour his sister’s sacrifice, but I think the truth is that he’s just too afraid to open his heart to anyone else.
And so Chloe has both my blessings and ✨highest expectations✨ to get my boy his own life and happiness, even if she has to drag him there kicking and screaming.
oh hell yeah, thank the heavens you managed to get this post through. Tumblr is always a pain in the ass when it comes to long asks, or sending more than one ask in short of span of time.
Anyway, I liked that. Yeah, Chloe is his friend, he trusts and respects her a lot, but he'll never admit to it since he also is a FUCKING TSUNDERE. Seems that every character in the story refuses to be honest about their feelings for others. Twilight can't admit he loves his family, and also can't admit that he sees Franky as his best friend. Franky, likewise, can't admit that Twilight is his best Friend. Yor can't admit that she wants to bang Twilight until she pulverizes all bones on his body. Melinda can't admit her own love and hatred for her kid. Damian can't admit he likes Anya, and Anya refuses to even let the thought she might like Damian cross her mind.
And yeah, I also have high hopes for her. Honestly, she feels like the wacky and nonsensical comedic sidekick to Yuri, which himself is already the wacky and nonsensical comedic butt of the the story, but she shows that when push comes to shove she has her head on the right place and she's not afraid to put Yuri's ass back into it's place.
just hope she not revealed to be an agent from Garden put there to keep an eye on him, since the group seems to want to keep Yor right where she is.
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