#im gonna write a bigger and proper post on this later perhapsb ut im Dead Tired so for now tkae this

[volot]

wait before i go. i found a post i wanted to talk about again and i have to type this out before it leaves me. 

so in my post about volo’s empathy, i said he wasn’t a heartless person, right. his main issue seems to be derived of his utter complex and his delusionary beliefs and ideas of grandeur regarding himself and generally selfish, tunnel-visioned while still slightly empathetic outlook, but he is at his core, a pretty tragic and lonely person who is consumed by his grief and turned it into rage and ambition, right. there’s a post that sort of moves to the beat of this idea that talks about how they don’t believe every inch of his act is an act, and while i didn’t agree with everything in that post, i do agree with part of the general core idea.

i think the act is really both a mix of him behaving a certain way that he knows will work on people and lower their defenses around him via charm and being buddy-buddy and overly familiar to try and get them to trust him, while also sort of exaggerating some of his base traits. i feel like there are points within the game that do feel a little too honest to be completely and wholly part of his whole ‘funny teehee merchant’ bravado; in particular... the scenes that come to mind are the moments where he’s excitedly talking about his curiosities and eagerly rambling away, when he dotes over cyllene’s abra, the little things like when you refute his offer to gossip, he basically begs you to let him ramble in your ear because he wants so badly to talk about it.

don’t get me wrong. the act is an act; volo is a manipulative person at his center, who is selfish, possesses a cruel streak if he feels wronged, is entitled, possessive, bitter, egotistical, vain, possessing a superiority complex along with his god complex, and remains distant emotionally to connect with and relate to out of his worldview and what has happened to him. but he is also someone who is wildly curious, and despite his exasperation and distaste with/for this world, there are idle pleasures he enjoys, there are things he finds amusement in, there are parts of him that are good traits. he knows how to amplify or exaggerate these traits to appeal to people to the point where they may become dishonest and insincere, yes, because the ends justify the means to him, but there are parts of him that aren’t wholly terrible. there are parts of him that are honest, that are jocular and teasing, that are humoring and considerate and thoughtful and so on.

yes, he’s by no means a great person, even if he believes he is wholeheartedly, but he is not a person composed of solely bad traits, either. he’s a human being, even if he does think of himself as a god.