people saying that volkov is manipulative/abusive/wrong to ship are. how do i say this. very fucking incorrect?
sure you have colonel yevgeny borsovitch volgin, a dude who is a 6ft smth in wall of electric eel beef. a guy who uses bullets for brass knuckles. a dude who was so genuinely just angry he reincarnated as a man on literal fire (with the help of psycho mantis). a guy who is so sadistic in nature it rubbed off on fucking ocelot of all people, and cost big boss his eye and eva nearly her life (people say that her proctitis is caused by him but i disagree — it could be from something chronic / an sti ++ we dont know how hypothetically old it was either. i mean yes it was recent yes the two were sexually intertwined at one point in time but like also im just sayin). he who is incredibly feared and respected by the rest of the people on groznyj grad due to his strength (and status) alone.
and then you have major ivan raidenovitch raikov. volgin's confirmed lover In The Canon (*not saying that it being canon makes it automatically healthy, but y'know). a dude who also bullies his subordinates probably just for kicks and powertrips. a dude who eats food off of the floor. someone powerful enough that signit and the cia thought it useful enough to impersonate him, along with his own reputation in the west.
volgin, once realizing that bibo isnt raikov, becomes genuinely upset and annoyed, asking what you did with raikov. he also is in disbelief during his boss fight if you have on the mask / disguise, distraught at the fact that who he percieves to be his lover is betraying him.
also, the fact that volgin is putting IMMENSE trust into raikov with things that only he, the colonel, has access to. volgin also intentionally bends rules for raikov, which shows favoritism and an honest liking towards him.
sure is it probably sadist for masochist? yeah. is it abusive? no. i, and i will say this fullchestedly, believe that if raikov Did Not Want To Be There, he WOULD NOT BE THERE. is it some degree of probably unhealthy? yes. is there probably some sort of power enabling going on? go figure tbh.
^^ but if that were the case, then realistically you shouldnt be shipping like anyone with anyone in mgs lmfao.
like. we have an issue with Lightning Guy and His Freakass Boyfriend. and not ocelot (traitor twenty times over and also is absolutely not sane. also aided in being Against bibo at a point in time.) and big boss (while not. exactly traitorous.. he has been the victim to ocelot's whims and ocelot is the reason he's missing an eye).. And Yet.
tl;dr while not sane and maybe safe, volkov is consentual. maybe like mildly unhealthy but also like. who else would the two go towards it's worse and worser paired together.












