[5:33 AM]-- included for context

SLAMS MY 80K MILTONIAN THESIS FIC ON THE TABLE

*charlie day voice* can we talk about the inherent tragedy of Volo's character, mike?

I've been dying to talk about the inherent tragedy of volo's character

It enamores and vexes me

Because if we take everything at face value, this is a man --

(who ive actually begun to headcanon as being like 19 or 20?? This is post-highschool god complex behavior)

-- who was so, so sure he could fix things, and so, so burdened by the weight of a dead culture. I've read at least one "take it easy on cogita" take (judgment | forgiveness i think) and entirely agree

In fact, the most charitable read of the source text i can manage is that the celestica left hisui and became a diaspora. The heaviest take likely parallels real-world "this entire culture disappeared" reasons that other people have spoken on better than i can

And volo is still there, in Hisui, the only one who KNOWS about arceus and giratina? certainly among the people we meet in-game

Possibly even Arceus' only?? worshipper? And still, he goes unanswered

So he seeks out the opposite (and this is where my thesis comes from; if giratina=antimatter that in no way implies an evil nature and if there's one thing i know about lines like "it is said it was banished for its violent nature" its that i dont fkin trust em)

He is Answered by giratina, and decides this is how he will make himself heard

And the tragedy, the soul-crushingness of it, is that being heard/seen/understood is a deeply, deeply neurodivergent trait; the finger-wagging, the affected smiles/masking, the "pragmatism" of resetting everything and remaking the rules so they'll make sense, so they'll be fair --

This man, in the only way he knows how, CARES. He wants so deeply for things to be made right, both for himself/his people and for everyone around himself he can't bring himself to blame

And then he just LEAVES

my first fic was predicated on "no actually im arresting you, hogtying you and redeeming you because we're too alike to withstand losing you"

i just--

fuck it, im coming back to tag @fl0werseller and @moody-boobs and @shmothman and @franstastic-ideas