#i'm so pissed off at that part with idia man so annoyed when i had to go back to the event to take these notes

[h2llish]

rollo rambles. they're kinda all over the place but hopefully you get the gist of what i'm saying right?

rollo, upon first meeting him, seems rather cold and serious, perhaps even a little skeptical and wary of who he interacts with. he's respectful in the way he talks and quite professional, outside of the occasional annoyance he displays and does rather well at hiding.

he doesn't seem very open, regardless of how close to a person he is, he may not even have the intention of forming relationships that would lead to him opening up about himself.

when the nrc students met rollo, they commented about his lack of expression, how he wasn't smiling, assuming that he must be angry. he probably makes this impression a lot, seeing as he doesn't seem very expressive of himself.

i think rollo, while naturally indifferent and closed off, has also crafted his persona into what it is and into what he's shown others. he masks a lot of anger, although his lack of expression can cause people to think he's angry all the time, no one knows just how deep that anger runs. his indifference and respectful way of speaking is a part of that carefully crafted persona, he's probably used to people complimenting him, like the way trein praised him for his manners.

he occasionally (slips up and) expresses his disapproval about something or someone. he also seems to think a lot more people share his views, and when people don't, he gets upset. apart of that disapproval involves the disgust he showed towards the towns people using magic (although it was minor as he did well at hiding how truly annoyed, he was). but these were all comments made behind a hand and hardly able to be heard by everyone.

another thing about rollo, is he's also dedicated and hardworking. knowing and learning all he has to know about the nrc students, and remembering everything he read afterwards. and how he was meticulous in the way he planned the release of the crimson flowers. he must've been planning for years, by how it's presented in the game.

now on gt the psyche of rollo, it doesn't seem like rollo was ever allowed to grieve, or perhaps never received the proper grieving counsel he needed after not only losing but witnessing his brother die. when going into psychology of grief, one often needs support in their grief, to have someone help them along the process and help the grieving understand their grief is valid in whatever form it takes. however, it doesn't seem like rollo ever received that support. perhaps he felt as if he shouldn't be allowed to grieve, perhaps he was guilty or ashamed, and no one was there to help him navigate through the difficult emotion that may come with grief.

now i'm not saying that if he did receive proper counsel, his hatred for magic would've gone away. however, perhaps it wouldn't be so disastrous if he had people there to help him process his grief. it may have stopped him from making the decisions he did, to eradicate magic entirely.

rollo kept a journal where he not only spoke about his plans with the flowers, but also his brother, possibly the rest of his childhood as well. this makes me believe that rollo might've been a bit aware of himself during the process of planning. but then again this could've also been his way of grieving, as some people who grieve choose to keep a journal on the reason for the grief. and also his way of making him believe what he was doing was "right".

rollo really doesn't seem to see anything wrong with what he did. he really does believe he was the "hero" for trying to rid the world of magic, and that anyone who doesn't share his views, or uses magic, are villains. he doesn't seem to realize the hypocrisy of it all, as a magic user himself.

during the event, the gargoyle comments of rollo's diligence for both the bell of solace and the gargoyles, mentioning how rollo seemed to care a lot about the bell and the tower. the gargoyle even went on to say that he doesn't think rollo was faking it at all. the gargoyle was worried and also cared for rollo despite what rollo had done. because of this, i believe, while rollo may not be completely truthful in the character he has shown others, and is also greatly clouded by hatred and anger, he is capable of caring for others he just isn't close to anyone to show that. i think he really did care for the gargoyles and showed parts of himself to them he hadn't shown others.

rollo lost his brother young, he witnessed his brother lose to magic, he witnessed his brother die. witnessing death, especially death of a loved one, at such a young age, can largely affect a person, and shape them into a person that probably wouldn't exist had they not witnessed such a traumatic event. and it did largely affect rollo. while i don't know the exact age rollo was when his brother died, i do know that he was young.

rollo seemed to understand what was happening at the time and felt helpless. his brother was a prodigy, manifesting very strong magic at a young age, but the same couldn't, or wasn't, said about rollo. and then rollo had to witness as the mages around them did nothing to help. and so his grief built into hatred and anger aimed at magic and mages.

grief is a hard thing, especially for children in rollo's case. losing a sibling can be difficult for a child. children who lose a sibling often feel guilty, or that they failed. it's even harder when that child has to witness that death. that shows itself when rollo witnessed his brother go up in flames because of his magic, while yelling out for rollo, and was unable to do anything. a child grieving may have misplaced anger at the world or a specific group - as it was with rollo.

rollo was heavily affected mentally after his brother's death, and that only got worse when he didn't receive the proper grief counsel as he got older.

during the final battle during the event, he showed no signs of caring for the amount of magic he was releasing while fighting idia, malleus and azul. it's said with the flowers draining so much of his magic with the large spells he was releasing he must've been in a lot of pain yet showed no signs of stopping. malleus commented that he must have strong mental fortitude but i don't think that had anything to do with it, i think rollo simply did not care. he was in pain, a lot of it, but didn't care because he was so focused on reaching his goal.

rollo was a child when he lost his brother, and his parents did not seem at all active in his life.

he's hated for being based off frollo yet he and frollo don't have much in common.

rollo is an interesting character and his trauma runs deep.

anyways i'm done hope you guys enjoyed this and it wasn't too confusing <3