#{-Lead Down The Wrong Path | Varian-}

[tirednshet]

I keep getting random tts ideas in my head-💀

This is for a weird-ass story that I came up with in my head where a 18-year-old Varian is experimenting in his lab during a dark stormy night and then he gets up to go get sm. But his experiment is fucked up by some dark entity or some shit so when Varian gets back and puts something else in, he goes unconscious and travels to a fucked up version of Corona...and gets traumatized. A lot. You'll know what happened once you read below the cut. It's like the story Eugene told but majorly fucked up.

‘Millennia ago, a drop of Sun and Moon fell from the Heavens and descended to the corners of the globe; two elements longing to reunite…’

‘The Sundrop ended up in the hands of the king and queen of Corona, and the Moonstone ended up in the hands of the Dark Kingdom.’

‘The Sundrop was used to heal Corona's queen, who was pregnant, and very ill. But the power of the Sundrop itself was infused with the queen's unborn daughter, Rapunzel. So when she was born, she was born with beautiful, golden hair, along with the powers of the Sundrop. The king and queen celebrated their daughter's birth by sending floating lanterns into the sky. But alas, this happiness wouldn't last forever.’

‘One night, someone broke into the baby's tower and took her. The person was Mother Gothel, who desperately wanted her Sundrop flower back. When she realized that the Sundrop's healing powers had infused with Rapunzel, she took the baby and fled. The guards were alerted and wasted no time chasing after Gothel, but she was too fast, too agile. It almost looked like she was going to escape with the baby. Almost. Fortunately, the guards that were chasing her caught up to her and arrested her in front of her biological daughter, Cassandra. As a result, the Captain of the Royal Guard took Cassandra in as his own daughter, and Rapunzel was returned to her parents.’

‘But as Rapunzel grew older, her parents were more protective of her than ever due to her nearly getting kidnapped as a baby. They realized that they had to keep the power of the Sundrop protected and away from the wrong hands at ALL COSTS. But then, the black rocks came to the kingdom. The rocks destroyed infrastructure, terrified their subjects, and ultimately caused misery. The king and queen knew they had to do something, but they didn't know what, so they stayed put. But one day, while their daughter was out with the guards, she touched one of the rocks. The rock blew up, creating a massive crater in the town center, and rendering their daughter unconscious. That's when the king and queen knew they had to act. If these rocks were a danger to their daughter, then they would have to go.’

‘The king tracked the rocks to see if he could discern a pattern based on their locations. He soon realized that the rocks were forming a path that led somewhere. That somewhere, the king and queen realized, was the source of where the black rocks had come from. The source of all their misery. The source of their daughter's suffering. The king sent out a small scouting group to follow the black rocks to the source, and they found a kingdom- the Dark Kingdom. The king wasted no time in organizing an invasion of said kingdom. Before you know it, the king, his son, and his guards are taken prisoner, their people scattered across the land, and the Moonstone, discovered within the very heart of the palace in the Dark Kingdom, is sealed up in a chamber deep below Corona by the orders of the king. This leads us to today, a supposedly peaceful kingdom with no black rocks around, but in reality, it is a tyrant to its subjects and its prisoners who did nothing wrong…’

If y'all have any better ideas or spot any plot holes, comment down below. This is still a work-in-progress.

[rxcksswxrd-blog]

@alchemyxnotxmagic liked for a starter

“You’re sure this experiment of yours is going to work? I don’t know, I’m getting all kinds of bad vibes from this already.”

[noperopesaredope]

Fics That I Really Like A Lot

So, I just wanted to make a post uplifting some really great fics I’ve read/am subscribed to or still keeping up with. I like to let people know about other creators, and I just wanted to mention some works I think people should check out.

(Note, this post was made on Sep 2, 2021, so when I say something is recent, I mean compared to when I made this post)

Tangled the Series Fics (Mostly Varian Fics):

Walls of Stone (Finished)

Varian and Whumptober 2020 (Series) (Finished) (Sidenote; I really like this author in general, but there is just so much great whump and extreme angst in this series! Says they are but a humble freshman, but I say they are a very skilled freshman!)

How Pneumonia Stopped a Stubborn Alchemist from Descending into Villainy (Finished)

Screw Treasure, I got Trauma (Finished)

Tangled One-shots (Series) (Finished? I Think?)

Voluntary Manslaughter (Finished)

I’ll Always Lend an Ear (Finished)

Drown Your Past, Burn your Future (Series) (Unfinished, but still going strong)

Scars of a Child (Series) (Unfinished)

Unrelenting Silence (Finished)

Where was the happily ever after? (Finished? Unsure)

All our Dreams (Down the Drain) (Unfinished)

Not All Falling Stars Grant Wishes (Finished)

Alchemy Lullaby (Series) (Finished)

Insignificant (Finished)

Second Chances (Almost finished)

The Pawn Decides Its Fate (Finished)

Unsaid Emily (Finished)

Today, Today (Finished)

The Pride in Your Eyes (Unfinished, but still somewhat new)

Monster (Finished)

You Are Enough (Finished)

An Alchemist’s World (Unfinished, but the first four chapters could definitely work as a standalone fic, so, in my eyes it’s finished)

Too Smart for Your Own Good (Unfinished, going strong)

To find the Sundrop (Unfinished)

There’s More in You (Unfinished)

The Science of Love (Unfinished, going very strong)

Season 2 But Gayer (Unfinished, going strong-ish)

On My Honor (Series) (Unfinished, going extremely strong with consistant updates)

A Prince and His Bodyguard (Series) (Unfinished, going strong)

Rocks, Wolves, and the Moon (Series) (Unfinished, going strong)

Return to Me (Unfinished, going strong)

Perilous Night (Unfinished, possibly discontinued, but worth a bit of the read)

Nomad (Unfinished, author is working on multiple projects, so IDK)

No Reward for Second Place (Unfinished, but fairly new and somewhat well updated)

Oath of the Lawbreaker (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

New Quest for Varian (Unfinished, fairly new)

My Dear Son (Unfinished)

Insignificant (Finished)

Indentured (Unfinished, same author as Nomad)

Enter the mind, remove the sins (Unfinished, going pretty strong)

Darkness exists to make the light truely count (Unfinished, going strong. Updated about every month or two, with consistency)

Creeping Crystals (Unfinished, but going somewhat strong)

Blood of My Brother (Unfinished, going as one of the strongest in its fast updates)

Cyclorama (Finished) (Companion to Blood of My Brother)

Chemistry in Motion (Unfinished)

Away from Home (Unfinished)

Alone? (Unfinished-ish)

It’s just a mild inconvenience (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

Gauze in the Wound (Unfinished, pretty consistent last I checked)

Blood Makes the Knife Holy (Series) (Unfinished, but each part could work as their own fics, and it’s still going)

A Progression of Events (Unfinished)

He Needs Me (Unfinished, going strong)

Or So They Though (Unfinished, going pretty strong)

The Long Road Back to Home (Unfinished, hasn’t been updated in a bit, but is pretty long and each chapter could take about a couple months to finish, and even longer if the creator is stuck/has other fics. Still worth the read)

The Road Home (Different) (Unfinished)

Reunion at Sea (Unfinished, going strong)

Elements of Angst (Unfinished, probably updated soon)

Arson (Unfinished, every time it think that maybe it’s been discontinued, it comes back)

Unconventional Family (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

To find the Sundrop (Unfinished)

Wayward AU (Comic) (Unfinished, pretty consistent)

RWBY (Mainly Oscar Fics):

It’s Venomous (Finished)

Will you stand and be brave or be broken? (Finished)

Oscar Gets Himself a Coat (Finished)

Who You Belong To (Finished)

Imperfect Light (Finished)

Shell (Finished)

Blood on Both Hands (Finished)

Tell Me that I am a Fool (Finished)

If i believed in destiny i'd have to hunt it down and punch it in the face (Series) (Unfinished, can have the occasionally long hiatus, but the creator comes back)

Is Oscar okay? no but the answer is b (Finished)

Running From Memories (Finished)

Rescue Me (Unfinished)

Souls of Love and Bravery (Unfinished, relatively consistent updates)

Revert To Last Save File (but it's the wrong file) (Unfinished, but still going)

Broken Body and Souls (Finished)

Camp Camp:

David’s Family (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

Horror Camp (A little too much child whump for me, but it’s very whumpy) (Unfinished)

Inconvenience (Unfinished)

Still Here (One of my favs) (Finished)

Hetalia (Mainly America and Canada Centric):

Recovering the Broken Pieces (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

Hetalia 2020 - WWIII and more (Unfinished)

(More fics in the crossover section)

She-ra (Quite a few Kyle ones):

The Chronicles of Kyle (Unfinished)

Sunflowers (Finished)

She-Ra: In the Wake (Unfinished)

Princesses and co. work through their issues (Unfinished)

What is Heard (Cannot be Unheard) (Finished)

Long Way Home (Unfinished)

The Hollowed of Etheria (Discontinued. For now at least. Author might revamp it)

Hordak and the Orphans of the Horde (Unfinished)

Big Sis (Finished)

Ex-Horde (Finished? Pretty good on its own though)

Prisoner of Conscience (Unfinished, still going strong)

Tales of Arcadia (Mostly Douxie Fics):

The Immortal Bonds (Unfinished, going strong)

I Can Make RotT So Much Worse (Unfinished, going strong)

Not After 900 Years (Finished)

A Different Path (Finished)

Half-Remembered (Finished)

Shattered Timelines (Unfinished, going strong)

In the Fullness of Time (Unfinished, updated recently)

One Last Time (Unfinished, updated recently)

Tales of Arcadia Watch Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Unfinished)

Crossover Fics:

Sold (TTS/HtTYD) (Finished) (Author is really good at angsty oneshots that should be made into full fics)

Varian’s Mysterious Transport (TTS/Infinity Train) (Unfinished, unexpected updates)

Of Rocks and Robots (TTS/Big Hero Six) (Series) (Unfinished, very consistent)

(Like the moon) I'll sway the tide and lead you astray (TTS/HtTYD) (Unfinished, haven’t read in a while)

Heathers and other fandoms react to stuff (Multifandom Crossover Fanfiction) (Unfinished, confusing update schedule, not every fandom gets much spotlight, still incredibly fun)

Chemistry in Motion (TTS/Big Hero Six) (Unfinished)

The Weight of Both Worlds (Hetalia/RWBY) (Series) (Finished) (My favorite fic ever)

Infinity (Hetalia/BNHA) (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

G8 china in UA, 1-S class! (Hetalia/BNHA) (Unifinished, possibly dicontinued)

That Which Makes Up This Land (Hetalia/ATLA) (Unfinished, author is editing and reposting all their series, which could take about a year, but it will be back)

A Waterbending Quirk (ATLA/BNHA) (Unfinished, going strong)

Other Fics:

Earth is Odd Enough (Sanders Sides) (Unfinished)

UA Faculty Tiktok OCs (BNHA) (Webtoon) (Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63lWYueDsek&t=208s, she’s amazing) (Unfinished. The Tiktoks, on the otherhand, are very much still going)

Harry Potter and the Lack of Lambsauce (Harry Potter) (Finished)

Grinch x Tony the Tiger (You know) (Unfinished)

Flowey is Not a Good Life Coach (Undertale) (Finished)

It Wears a Mask (MCU Spiderman) (Finished)

A Different Fate (Harry Potter) (Finished)

A crack in the glass (eye) (ATLA) (Finished)

Identity Saga (MCU Spiderman) (Series) (Unfinished, author is very dedicated to fic and is incredibly determined to finish it, so highly unlikely to be discontinued)

Bakery Enemies AU (Miraculous Ladybug) (Comic) (Unfinished, going strong)

Authors I Like:

AquaQuadrant aka @aquaquadrant (probably know them if you’re in the Varian fandom. Ridiculously talented)

bethhigdon (in the TTS fandom and the Big Hero Six fandom, but also other stuff)

Cate_9xBlue aka @cate-9xblue (known best for their TTS fics)

Royalsciencenerd (Writes amazing TTS Varian fics)

HoneyxMonkey aka @honeyxmonkey (Writes TTS fics and talks a lot about Tales of Arcadia on their blog. Has some great ideas)

Sand_wolf579 (Has a large and varied catalogue)

ExploretheEcccentricities aka @exploretheeccentricities (Lots of TTS fics)

ShadowSnowdapple aka @shadowsnowdapple (RWBY Oscar fics that are amazing)

Widowfics (Great TTS writer)

AMax76 (Wrote the amazing Blood of My Brother)

violetsaren_tblue (has some great TTS fics I like)

Time Traverser (Excellent Hetalia America and Canada Fics)

Aloneintherain aka @captainkirkk (Just started reading their stuff, SO many excellent Spider-Man fics)

So yeah, just giving some appreciation for all the fic creators out there and their creations!

[askthemysterkids]

Evil-ish MK

Inspired by the evil Coraline ask, I found my old notes on “evil/dark MK.”

When trying to make the list of reasons why they would turn into villains, for a lot of the kids it was found out that that would be very hard to do. They are just so honorable you know? Well, aside from possession or something, here’s a list of the kids and why they might go to the dark side!

Dipper: Surprisingly he has a lot of reasons. One is that he could have some sort of need to prove himself that goes horribly wrong. Another is that something made him curious that could affect him. Easiest reason is that he found dark magic and pulled a Dragon Prince. (Went evil due to dark magic.)

Coraline: As hinted in the previous ask, she could have been faced with some hard choice that led her down a darker path. Essentially she was forced into this.

Wybie: Something happens to Coraline and/or his grandmother and he ends up in a Varian-esque situation. In other words? He snapped, thinks he’s doing something honorable, but he isn’t.

Lili: These notes weren’t entirely clear but basically the utmost important thing here is that Raz is not around. He would be able to ground her too quickly. What could turn her to the dark side is that something happened with the Psychonauts or her dad which makes that group more sinister. She would then be stuck in a three-way of morals where she’s torn between the MK (her friends), the Psychonauts (her dad and essentially, her family), and proving herself (she’s shown to want to do this in the first game.) And again, Raz has to be away at least for a little while.

Raz: The boy thought that he was doing good, but was tricked. He apparently had been digging himself deep into a hole of trouble so now at this point, it’s hard to escape.

Neil: Honestly? He has to be forced, brainwashed, something like that. He’s too good for this.

Norman: For him to go evil, he has to suspect that something is wrong with the MK. This could lead to doubting friendships and those bonds becoming strained. Resentment could then fuel him. Then, he’d be perfect for mischief.

Mabel: This is the least serious one in my notes. I’ve got it written down that someone took Waddles for ransom so now Mabel has to do the bad guy’s bidding. Of course, Waddles could be changed to someone else also.

Evil au’s are great!

[bestworstcase]

i’ve been thinking about this post from a couple days ago and how i shared my four questions of character development but didn’t actually give an example of what my answers look like and it’s bugging me a bit because it occurs to me that it’s kinda just. lobbing a tool out there without documentation on how to use it properly rip

so uh. further details with examples ft. the bitter snow cast.

#1: what are they looking for?

all characters have an UNFULFILLED DESIRE that motivates them to action. the more central to the story the character is, the harder this must be to attain, as a general rule. this is, ideally, NOT an exterior goal. instead, it is the intrinsic wellspring from which the character’s goals and aspirations emerge.

EXAMPLES:

cassandra: it’s complicated. she is a character defined more by what she lacks than what she wants, per se; she does not feel secure of her place in the world, she craves trust because she feels she is distrusted, she craves respect because she feels she is overlooked, she craves love because she feels unloved. she doesn’t want to be a servant. she is terrified of insignificance, of being forgotten. she does not fit, and this hurts her. she is riddled with self-loathing and self-doubt because of the discrimination she has endured due to her saporian heritage. but if pressed to explain what she wants… she can’t summon a true answer. she doesn’t know what she wants, so what she is looking for fundamentally is to figure that out.

rapunzel: complicated again. she is a character defined in large part by what other people want from her. a people-pleaser who becomes anxious, persistent—even forceful—in her efforts to make everyone happy. she isn’t accustomed to paying attention to her own desires, and tends to neglect them unless she is acutely unhappy. i think she is looking for herself, more than anything.

varian: he is searching for answers. he wants to understand how the world works, to discover what it has to teach him. simple.

caine: she is looking for freedom. her life has been a long succession of horrific losses: her father was brutally taken from her, her mother became horribly ill, poverty and familial obligation robbed her of what remained of her childhood, she became disillusioned with the faith her aunt tried to share with her, her best friend died in her arms. she wants vengeance, and she also wants to stop carrying these ghosts with her, and she also wants to stop looking over her shoulder all the time and waiting for the next loss to catch up with her.

zhan tiri: she is looking for peace. she is the oldest living being in existence, and she came from nothing, and every single significant moment in her unfathomably long life has been soaked in blood and pain and death. her intrinsic nature is to hunger—always needing, always restless, always empty—and more than anything, she longs to break this endless circle of want.

#2: what’s stopping them?

every character must have an OBSTACLE which DISRUPTS their pursuit of what they’re looking for. it is the thing standing in their way. this is NOT the antagonist—it is the reason the character cannot easily overcome the antagonist. ideally it is something intrinsic.

EXAMPLES:

cassandra: she has, again, a complicated answer—because the very thing she is looking for is the same thing that stands in her way. how can she discover her basic, most primal want if she can’t even articulate her goals? she wants, at the beginning of the story, to join the watch—but not because she wants to join the watch, so much as joining the watch is a proxy for cassandra assimilating fully, for being coronan through and through, for scrubbing herself clean of the stain of her parents’ legacy—and that proxy is itself merely a proxy for her desire to belong—and her desire to belong is, in turn, a proxy for the agony of not knowing herself. she is piling bandaids on top of bandaids on top of bandaids on top of hemorrhages.

rapunzel: she is trapped in her own story. an evil witch kidnapped the magical lost princess, who escaped and came home; a miracle. the sundrop gifted its power to the lost princess; destiny. she a peacemaker and a mediator; it is her job to fix problems. narratives piled on narratives and she’s lost—or rather, never had—the insight to recognize that there is more to her than the stories people tell about her.

varian: his crushing need for approval is the key thing standing in his way. it isn’t just that his father’s disappointment or his village’s distrust make him warier of free experimentation; it is also, and perhaps even more so, that he is afraid of finding the wrong answers. answers that won’t help people. answers that his friends and allies won’t like. answers that change his basic view of the world in ways that feel antithetical to who he is. this fear holds him back from pursuing the truth.

caine: she is looking in the wrong direction; she is trying to not care, as if by not caring she can trick the universe into not taking anything else away. she is someone who cares so deeply trying to sever herself from everything she cares about without actually letting it go, which is of course an exercise in futility.

zhan tiri: what she wants is, quite simply, impossible. this is not a human answer because she is not human. contentment is and will always be something she is not capable of feeling, and chasing it is nothing but another exercise in insatiable hunger.

#3: what are they going to do about it?

this is about ACTION. it is not an option for a character to do nothing; the nature of the unfulfilled desire is that they are COMPELLED to seek it, somehow, by some means. if the answer to this question does not involve the character DOING SOMETHING, you need to return to question number one and fix the answer there.

EXAMPLES:

cassandra: she is going to fling herself headlong and without hesitation after whatever concrete goals feel like they might “fix” the lack she feels. even if a short term goal (like helping rapunzel sneak out) clashes or is contradictory with a longer term goal (like joining the watch). even if it is an obviously stupid idea (like her secret correspondence with rosalia morcant). even if it is an impulse with little if any rational basis (like fixating on finding varian, or joining the fight in socona). she is, essentially, throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, because without knowing what she wants, she can’t form a coherent “quest” for herself.

rapunzel: she is going to follow the path of least resistance with whatever narrative feels the least restrictive to her at any given time. when she is fresh out of the tower, reconnecting with her real family and throwing herself into becoming a princess is that narrative. later, taking adira’s and xavier’s advice to pursue her destiny by questing for the moonstone replaces that narrative. since none of these narratives fully suit her—they are all boxes she tries to fit into—she will eventually grow discontent and cast them aside to try something new, until she finally breaks this cycle.

varian: he is going to fall into a cycle of hesitant side-stepping leading to crisis leading to frantic charge forward until he identifies this pattern and chooses to step calmly but courageously into unknown territory. his instinct is to try to go around, to find an oblique solution, but to get what he wants he will ultimately need to just face his fear head on—and deep down he is willing to do that.

caine: she is going to run, and fight, and keep running and fighting until her legs give out beneath her. vengeance appeals to her, and she’s going to chase it with everything she’s got while trying to protect what she has; her intense drive is tempered by caution, which manifests in a pragmatic approach to pursuit of her exterior goals.

zhan tiri: she is going to continuously and experimentally refine and broaden her definition of “hunger” with the aim of hitting on something that allows her to feel satiated. she is going to line up goals and systematically chew threw them until there’s nothing left. she is, eventually, going to devour the whole cosmos and then probably die.

#4: who do they think they are?

this is a question about the character’s SELF-IDENTIFICATION. how do they PERCEIVE themselves? how do they choose to DEFINE themselves? what do they see when they look in the mirror?

EXAMPLES:

cassandra: she is untrustworthy. she is ignored. she is likable but not lovable. she doesn’t fit anywhere. she’s empty. she’s unsure. she’s drowning in doubt. she is insignificant, unimportant. she has been wronged, somehow. she wants to be a hero. she is someone who wants to do the right thing. she never stops trying. she’s stupid and reckless and incapable and doesn’t deserve any of the things she wants. she probably cares too much.

rapunzel: she is good. she is kind. (she is better than other people, in some small way. she sees the potential for goodness that other people can’t, or won’t.) she is worthless. she exists to make the world a better place. she is a princess, so she has to lead. she is the sundrop, so she has to heal. she is strong. (she is weak.) her determination to be kind and willingness to trust are her best qualities.

varian: he’s probably a lot smarter than most people he knows. he doesn’t know anything, but he wants to. he’s reckless. he’s not good enough. he can’t replace his mom. he’s accident prone. he’s a disappointment. he moves too fast. he thinks too fast. he doesn’t really need to sleep. he’s better with chemicals and formulas and machines than people. he’s not someone people want to be friends with. he could do great things if people—especially his dad—would just believe in him for once.

caine: she is an asshole and there is nothing wrong with her. she’s callous. she’s selfish. she’s out for her own interest first. she’s fine. (it was her fault cornaīn died. it’ll be her fault if her mom dies, or if neasa dies, or if any more of her crew dies, or if cassandra dies.) she isn’t afraid, she isn’t hurt, she’s angry. the only person she can rely on is herself, and the only person she wants to rely on is herself. she’s not anxious, she’s being smart.

zhan tiri: she loves, and it hurts, and she loves anyway. there is a way to break the circle and she is going to find it; it isn’t over until the end; but nothing lasts but hunger. she has done nothing wrong, ever, in her life. she has so many regrets she could drown in them if she weren’t immortal. she is beautiful, stop screaming.

…and that’s the bedrock of a character. 

every individual action, every specific goal, every thought and feeling, is ultimately guided by the clash between this internal core with the realities of the setting, plot, and choices of other characters. cognitive dissonance between answers #1-3 and answer #4 is a breeding ground for inner conflict, and answers #1-3 are the raw material from which the spine of the character’s arc is sculpted.

[bonus round: this method comes from a scene in the pre-broadway houston run of the musical wonderland, wherein a character poses these questions to alice; her answers are:

#1: “i’m looking for my lost child.*”

*this being both literally her child who is lost but also metaphorically her own sense of wonder and discovery, which she has lost touch with.

#2: “i do! i keep getting in my own way, it’s all i do!”

#3: “i’m trying to figure that out!”

#4: “i’m chloe’s mother. i’m married to jack. these people are my friends. i’m a writer. i’m a teacher. i’m the dreamer of this dream. i’m lots of things; i’m my own invention!”

and when i first listened to this audio i was blown away by just how perfectly this distilled the character of alice down to her purest essentials so i immediately adopted it for character building purposes and i have never looked back because it is simple and it works.

in this scene there is also a fifth question, “what are you afraid of?” (paraphrasing: “losing the people i love”) which i have over time sort of just lumped in with how i answer the other four, because i find it to be less evocative on its own. however, it is useful information to know about a character and i recommend keeping it in mind when answering the other four.]

[sonicgetsrawed]

Revelations and Decisions

Le part two of the Varian is captured by Donella fic! Gotta hand it to ya anon you know how to pick them prompts! This is going to be four parts in total! Yes is was supposed to be a oneshot, no I’m not mad. We’ll get you that happy ending damn it!  Enjoy! 

It had taken him too long to come to the startling revelation of where his loyalties lied. The longer Donella talked, the longer he stayed, the more he felt his heart breaking. He shouldn’t feel this way, it should’ve been fine. He had worked for Donella almost his whole life, hell he owed her his life, but this felt wrong. Not in the way that he knew what he was doing was wrong, he didn’t care if he what he was doing was right or wrong to others, it felt wrong in a different sense. A terrible knot formed in the pit of his stomach, a feeling of guilt. It was a foreign feeling, something’s hadn’t felt in ages, and yet it was there. He wanted it to go away, he had known what he was supposed to do from the beginning, he was the only one to blame. But he wasn’t the only one to suffer the consequences, was he? For the first time he was seeing the consequences first hand, seeing the hurt he caused, seeing the destruction at his hands. He couldn’t do anything to fix it, how could he when it was never whole to begin with? Why did he feel so broken, then? Why did he hurt so much? Why did this feel wrong?

“....what do you want?” He didn’t hear what else Donella was saying, only catching the last words. Those were the only ones that mattered, weren’t they?

What did he want? Usually he just took what he wanted, but this was different. He wanted to stay in what was familiar, he wanted Varian, he wanted to know what he wanted. He always wanted what he couldn’t have. And right now what he wanted more than anything was space. “I-I need some air.”

Donella didn’t protest, so he pushed back from the table making his way into the cool night air. It didn’t help as much as he thought it would, only clouding his mind further. The stars reminded him of Nuru’s dress. Were her and Yong safe? Were they scared? Knowing Nuru she was already devising a plan, already searching for him and Varian. How would they react to his betrayal? He brought his eyes up to the sky, a shooting star flying by. He snorted at the irony of it, a symbol of hope here in his darkest hour.

“You’re supposed to make a wish!” Varian had laughed, the sound softer than normal since they were the only two up.

“Seems kinda dumb.” He had responded, he’d say the same thing now.

“It’s not. That’s how I got Ruddiger. I wished for a friend.”

Hugo closed his eyes, maybe it could work for him too, maybe he could have what he always wanted, maybe he could have a family. But he already had one, didn’t he, Donella had been his family once, now he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t felt as safe, as free to be himself, around her as he did around Varian and the others. He forced his eyes open, a stupid wish wasn’t going to fix his problems, he needed to do it himself. He made a decision, the first decision he made in his life that wasn’t for himself, that provided him no benefit. He wanted to wake up from this terrible dream and no one was going to help. So he woke himself up.

It had been surprisingly easy to slip a sleeping tonic into Donella’s and whatever thug she had hired for the week drinks. He grabbed the keys and made his way to Varian’s cell. He stopped in front of it, hesitating, slinking back into the shadows where he belonged, where he felt safe. Varian looked worse than he could’ve possibly imagined. He hadn’t been able to force himself to look at him for too long before. And now he was forced to face his consequences head on. Varian’s eyes were dull, red rimmed and still shining with unshed tears, dark circles hanging heavily underneath them. They stared blankly into the shadows, if he positioned himself just right it looked like they were bearing into his soul, dragging up all his secrets, suffocating him with his own lies. Varian was sitting upright, his hands still trapped behind him. He was shaking, breath hitching in his chest every so often. Tear tracks stained his cheeks, some of the blood from the cuts on his cheek smeared and dried, an angry bruise underneath the cuts. Sweat made his bangs cling to his forehead, most likely from the panic attack he inevitably suffered from, the attack he had gone through alone, all because he had allowed this to happen. He knew what Varian’s attacks could be like, he’d comforted him through some of them and now he had caused one. He could still turn back, leave Varian in his misery, the old him would’ve, the old him wouldn’t even be here right now. Unfortunately, fortunately, Varian had changed him, he couldn’t turn back, he needed to own up to his mistakes, he needed to make them right. So he took a step out of the shadows, heading towards the light, his light.

Hugo’s resolve broke as soon as Varian flinched violently at his presence. He deserved that, he deserved the anger behind Varian’s eyes. “Come to gloat?” The bitterness that seeped into his voice was exactly how he imagined the younger sounded throughout his time as a criminal. All the hurt evident behind it despite the sharpness of the actual words.

“No, I-“

Varian’s laugh sounded crazed, broken, no mirth in it what so ever. “Don’t.” He snapped his eyes up, the harsh blue clashing with his green. “Whatever you have to say I don’t want to hear it.”

He deserved that too. He didn’t deserve to be given the time of day, but he needed to get Varian out of here and to do so he needed his cooperation. He bent down next to him, scooting closer to Varian in order to undo the chains. Varian just moved away. “I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I’m trying to help you.”

“Help me? How does any of this help me?!” Varian snarled, bringing his foot to Hugo’s chest in an effort to keep him from coming closer. It was an awkward position and he probably wouldn’t be able to hold it for long.

“If you would just-“

“Just what? Didn’t you already get what you wanted? What else can you take from me?” Varian was seething, and honestly Hugo didn’t know what hurt more having Varian angry at him or the sobbing mess he’d been earlier. His heart tore at the thought. No, angry was definitely better, he could deal with angry, hell he was angry. He was angry at himself for letting things go as far as they did, angry at Donella for hurting Varian, angry at himself for hurting him too. So like the idiot he was, he took that anger out on Varian.

“That’s enough, Varian! Would you stop being so stubborn and listen to me for one second?!” He regretted the words as soon as they left him mouth, Varian’s eyes were wide in fear for a fraction of a second and Hugo knew he wasn’t present, his mind slipping into a different time. The emotion faded as quickly as it came, anger taking over his features once again, leaving Hugo with all the guilt.

“Fuck you! Get the fuck away from me right now!” Varian’s voice broke, shoulders shaking with fresh sobs. “Are you fucking happy now, Hugo? Is this what you wanted? You won.”

Hugo’s hand hovered uselessly over Varian’s shoulder. What could he say to that? Nothing would ever be enough. No words could convey how he was feeling, how he felt, how every passing second he felt another crack forming along his fragile heart. This wasn’t a win, this was far from it. He had lost for the first time in his life, fully and truly lost. There was no fixing this, no path to forgiveness, no happy ending for him. He’d been foolish to wish for one on that stupid star, things like that didn’t happen for people like him.

“Hugo?” Varian’s voice was softer this time, concerned. Why was he concerned? His blue eyes were wide, frantically searching his for something he didn’t know, an answer he couldn’t provide. “You’re crying.”

He tilted his head to the side. What an odd thing for Varian to say. He wasn’t even crying, he couldn’t be, he didn’t cry. He brought his hand to his face, fingers coming back wet. Oh, he was crying. It was strangely freeing, he felt lighter somehow, as he wrapped his arms around himself, now that he was aware of the action he couldn’t stop the flow of tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He repeated the words like a mantra, like repeating them would earn Varian’s forgiveness, that he’d regain his trust. He couldn’t stop them, like he couldn’t stop the tears. All he knew in that moment were the tears, pain, and those words. And then the pain cleared, for a second, for a blissful second, Varian leaned against him, an awkward attempt at a hug. It was all he could manage with his arms still behind him, but it was more than Hugo deserved. He cried harder, wrapping his arms around Varian as he cried shamelessly into his shoulder. It was humiliating and liberating at the same time.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, he knew it was too long, the sleeping tonic would be wearing off any moment now. As much as he didn’t want to he pulled away from Varian, the warmth disappearing as well, he wiped the stray tears from his face and removed his backpack. He moved to unlock the chains, purposely not meeting Varian’s eyes. “The totems are all there. You can count them if you want. If you head right it’ll lead you out. I’ll hold off Donella as long as I can.”

The chains clattered to the floor, Varian rubbing his sore wrists as soon as they were free. Hugo pretended it didn’t hurt when he looked through the bag and counted the totems. Varian standing and adjusting the straps, before heading to the exit. “Can I ask you why you did it? Why help now?”

“Because I love you too.” Hugo didn’t hesitate in his answer, it was the one thing he was sure of.

Varian flinched, fist clenching at his side. “She’ll kill you when she finds out.”

“Then I’ll get what I deserve.” He responded, he accepted that fate.

Varian hesitated glancing between him and the exit, a war raging in his head. He surged forward suddenly, pulling Hugo up. “I thought that once, but someone thought different. I-I can’t forgive you, but I can’t let you die either. You can stay with us until we get to Corona. From there you’re on your own.”

Hugo nodded numbly, it was more than fair, he couldn’t expect Varian to forgive him, he’d never forgive himself. So he followed Varian, like the moon in this never ending night. And maybe, just maybe, he would get a second chance.

Previous Next

[littlemisslol-fic]

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules) for Varian and Hugo? I just want dumb boys doing dumb things together,,,, UggHhHH

Hey anon!! Thanks for the ask! I merged both of these into one story, but it’s basically a full fledged oneshot by now so oops. Have some modern-day-au-varigo!!

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules)

“We’re going to get into so much trouble…” 

Hugo looks at him like he’s lost his mind.

“What’s wrong, goggles?” The blond laughs, “Scared?”

Varian bristles at the taunt, scowling. He shifts awkwardly- his shoes scuff the dirt in a way that only accents how stressed out he feels. The forest around them sings with birdsong, the rustle of trees in the wind, and the gentle snip-snip of Hugo’s wire cutters. The moon shines down on them, full and bright, a hole punched in the middle of the sky surrounded with starry shrapnel. 

Varian’s hoodie- Hugo’s hoodie that he’d stolen, actually, not that he’d admit it- is soft and warm around him, the green fabric surrounding him like a hug. Hugo grins like an animal, and turns back to the fence in front of them. Varian watches with apprehension as Hugo snips away at it, chopping an ugly, but functional entrance.

“I’m not scared.” Varian finally mutters, shifting his weight again. The late August air is still warm, but starting to cool the closer they get to midnight. “I’m just… concerned.” 

“Sure, Var,” Hugo laughs, sticking out his tongue as he snips at the last of the fence. “Keep telling yourself that.” 

Varian scowls again, flushing. The woods around them are dark, but Varian isn’t concerned about that- he grew up here in the small town of Old Corona, after all, he knew these woods like the back of his hand- no, what scares him is the idea of getting caught. 

“Seriously, Hugo, if we get caught my dad’s gunna-”

“Flip out?” Hugo blows a lock of blond hair out of his face as he snips at the last of the wire. “Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re not going to get caught.”

Varian grits his teeth. Hugo, content with snipping the final chunk of fence, stands back up and shoves the wire cutters in his backpack. With a rough kick- Varian cringes at the noise, blue eyes scanning the treeline frantically- Hugo’s perfectly cut square goes flying away from the fence, leaving a doorway chopped out of the wire.

“See, easy.” Hugo grins. Varian scoffs, but when the blond offers him a hand he takes it. Hugo leads him through the hole in the fence and Varian follows with a grumble; as much as he’s bitching he’s curious about what exactly his boyfriend is up to. Hugo was nothing if not spontaneous, showing up at Varian’s house at nearly eleven at night and dragging him through the woods towards one of the only dangerous places in Old Corona.

The old fairgrounds, while only recently abandoned, had been locked tight for two years. Varian can’t help but look around in awe, seeing the way that the rusting metal and cracked concrete are slowly being overtaken by nature once again. It’s dark, the kind of inky black you can’t see inside the city, the kind that makes the milky way above so vibrant and bright in comparison- like a river of stars snaking across the night sky.

Varian can’t help but stop, just looking up and into the sky. Hugo pauses, grinning and letting him stare. Varian doesn’t get out much- not with his usual obligations as the mayor’s son- and these are the kinds of things he missed while growing up… the kind of things that Hugo is nothing but glad to show him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Varian hears Hugo ask him. He nods, dumbstruck, but when he looks at his boyfriend- Hugo isn’t looking at the sky. He’s staring Varian dead in the eye. He feels his face grow hot- he must be a shocking colour of red by now- but Hugo doesn’t make mention of it. Instead he holds out an arm, an offering that Varian gladly takes. He worms his way into Hugo’s side, delighting as a strong arm wraps around his shoulders and pulls him close. 

The old fairgrounds are the kind of quiet that sinks deep in your chest. Not that they’re silent- Varian can hear the chirping of crickets and the creaky whine of metal swings as they pass a swing ride- a large tower with a round disk at the top, nearly a hundred swings hanging from rusty chains. When the wind blows they swing along in soft, meandering arcs. Out here, nearly in the country, the quiet is something that seems sacred. The kind of silence reserved for graveyards and churches, shrines and memorials. It feels immoral to break it, so they don’t.

Hugo leads Varian up to a large roller coaster, the wooden frame still nearly perfect. Varian looks at it with apprehension, digging the heels of his hightops into the cracked concrete as Hugo begins to tug him forward.

“We’re not going up there.” Varian declares, “I don’t have a deathwish, and neither did you last time I checked.” 

“Relax goggles.” Hugo grins, “I was up there earlier this afternoon, checked it myself. It’s sturdy. We gotta hurry though, or we’re going to miss it!”

Hugo spins on his heel and hops the metal turnstile, not looking back. Varian scowls, following despite himself. Hugo knows him too well- knows that Varian would follow him to the ends of the earth if Hugo asked it of him. They draw close to the base of the coaster, shuffling up on top of a series of boxes left behind by previous explorers- or maybe Hugo himself that afternoon, apparently. Varian can’t help but scowl… what did his boyfriend even get up to while Varian wasn’t keeping track of him? Risking life and limb to climb unstable ruins, apparently. 

Hugo begins to scale the main hill of the coaster, the path easy as on the left side is a set of metal stairs for maintenance. Varian follows, his hand firmly planted on the railing as they climb higher. 

“Are you just leading me up there to murder me?” Varian calls, shuddering as the wind picks up a little as they reach about halfway up. The hill’s nearly five stories high, easily the tallest attraction in the abandoned park. Varian can almost see the tops of the trees from here. 

“Why would I take you all the way up here?” Hugo asks, turning around and smirking at him. “If I wanted you dead I would have killed you on ground level.” 

“I… that’s not assuring!” Varian gripes, “If anything that makes this worse!” 

Hugo, the bastard, laughs.

“You don’t like bullshit.” Hugo says, and Varian can’t help but melt. Hugo turns around and keeps climbing, his boots making little thunk-thunks on the aging metal. Varian scrambles up after him, breathing in the wind as they finally reach the top. Hugo had been telling the truth, it seems, as there’s already a small setup at the very peak of the arch.

Two small camp chairs, a blue cooler in between, all precariously balanced on a small flat space at the very top. Varian assumes it was once for maintenance, like the stairs; a cluster of blankets hanging from two long flagpoles attached to the safety rails make a little roof, and when Hugo hits a little battery back a series of string lights flick on in a rainbow glow. Hugo crawls down into the little fort, looking back and smiling. Not his usual smirk, but an honest-to-god smile.

Varian can’t help but fall a little more in love. 

He crawls in after Hugo, laughing as they get tangled up for a second. For a second they become a flailing cluster of arms and legs, giggling like children as they trip over each other. Varian gets an elbow to the gut and grunts- Hugo’s arms are suddenly wrapping around his waist. 

“Sorry, sorry,” The blond snickers, “Didn’t account for your stupid legs-”

“What, you just want me to leave them behind next time?” Varian groans, resting up against Hugo’s side with a sigh. Hugo’s warm and solid as Varian leans into him- settles under Hugo’s arm like he belongs there, sinks into the heat of the other’s body, curls into the embrace like he was made for it.

Hugo’s chin settles on his head, and Varian smiles softly to himself. 

With Hugo’s back propped up against the pole, they both face out over the forest. In the distance, Old Corona glows with street lamps and houses and cars. Above them, the stars shine just as brightly, if not moreso. Varian smells pine and something distinctly Hugo- breathes it in and lets it settle deep in his chest like a balm. 

Hugo’s arms tighten around his waist, the two of them looking out towards the distant light of home. Varian feels at peace, the gentle waves of tranquil silence and soft lights from their little makeshift tent soothing the ails of day.

And then, just as Varian’s getting used to the relaxation-

Pop-pop, pop pop pop-pop-pop-

Fireworks scatter across the sky in a rainbow of light and colour, vivid oranges and blues and purples glowing across the inky sky like a scattering of magic. Varian’s eyes go wide, watching with a childlike glee as they fizzle and spark. Hugo’s hold on him gets a little closer as Varian shifts, as if the blond’s scared he’s going to pull away-

“Did you know about this?” Varian asks him, turning in his arms. He can see the reflection of colour in the lenses of Hugo’s glasses- and in the warm look in those green eyes.

“Sure I did.” Hugo says, “I know a guy who knew a guy.” 

Varian snorts, refusing to look away. Hugo’s trying to play this off- of course he is- but Varian knows that he’d probably been planning this for a while. He feels his heart start to thump at the thought, that Hugo had set all this up, had thought of doing all of this for Varian-

He grabs Hugo by the strings of his hoodie and pulls him into a kiss. Hugo smiles into it, leaning into it and pulling Varian close. They kiss for what feels like hours and seconds, Varian can’t tell, before they break. They both breathe a little heavily, gasping for air a mere few inches from another kiss.

“I love you, goggles.” Hugo whispers, like a prayer.

“I love you too,” Varian murmurs, lost to the moment. 

When they meet again, Varian can’t help but smile.  

[cassandrium360]

I’ll See You Around.

Hugo and Varian finished their adventure. And now they have to deal with it ending. I had so much fun getting to write Hugo and Varian’s relationship; their characters as so unique and absolutely amazing. (Inspired by @hugoisthecoolestaround and @royal-engineer-of-corona and their versions of these amazing brothers).

--

“Well, I guess we’re here.” Varian’s voice was shaky despite his best efforts to keep his inflection level.

The village of Old Corona poured out before them, lying just at the bottom of the grass laden hill he and Hugo were seemingly frozen upon. The dawn rays of pale light seemed to make the town glow, beckoning him towards it. But a step forward would also mean a step away from Hugo.

“Yeah. I guess this really is it, huh?” Hugo’s voice hadn’t been this quiet in practically the whole time Varian had known him. Their group had become a lot smaller than it had been at the outset of their journey. Nuru and Yong had been left in their own kingdoms, partings highlighted with tears after so long spent as one unit. Now it was only them.

Hugo sniffed, harshly lifting his glasses to scrub at his tired eyes. “There’s, there’s a lot of pollen out here,” he mumbled halfheartedly, offering a weak imitation of his usual cocky grin towards Varian.

The wind surged towards the north, urging Varian onward into the final stretch before his home. Home. That word now felt unfamiliar in his mouth. He had been away from Corona for so long it felt as if he’d found a new place of belonging in between the chases, trials, and endless flowing throughout the seven kingdoms. But he supposed that adventure was closing now.

And of course, he’s be glad to see the friends he had left behind. But… it felt wrong that it was at the cost of separating from those he could now proudly call his family. He imagined a different end to this chapter; one where they could all stay together, where he could combine his past with his future.

“You gonna be okay heading back to Bayangor alone?” he asked, clearing his throat slightly. “You know you really didn’t have to travel all the way to Corona with me.”

Hugo ran a hand through his choppy blond locks. “Please, somebody had to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed,” he retorted, every ounce of arrogance that had driven Varian crazy these past few years spilling into his tone.

Varian’s heart twinged at the thought it might be one of the last times he heard it from his brother.

“Besides I’m… not heading back to Bayangor.” Hugo glanced for Varian’s reaction from the corner of his eye, not turning from where he stood facing the vast kingdom below. “After getting hired by Donella… I would’ve given anything to fall back into the pattern of life I got used to there. And the old Hugo may have hated it, but he thrived there.”

He let out a long sigh that the wind picked up, soaring it far out of grasp. “But I don’t know if I can fit back into that life. If I want to fall into my old place there.”

Varian bumped his elbow against Hugo’s. “What? No promising future as a con artist?”

“Oh no, very stable career path in that. Think I’ll travel though. See if I can…” his eyes began shining as he adjusted the thick leather backpack slung over his shoulder, “If I can survive all those crazy adventures our team gets thrown into alone, huh? Explore more of the kingdoms. After all, I think I’ve had more than enough of being stuck in a single crumbling city.”

Varian dug the toe of his boot into the dirt, focusing on that point rather than the impending goodbyes as the silence suffocated the seconds before he spoke next. “Y’know… you could always stay here. Corona could always use another alchemist.” He looked up at the other boy hopefully, smile still cracked in half.

“Superior alchemist, you mean.” Varian bit down a retort that his comeback didn’t make grammatical sense. “And… I can’t.”

Hugo turned to face Varian, eyes red from holding back tears he refused to let fall. “I still wanna see what’s out there. My place in it all.” He gestured out into the open summer air; away from Corona. Hugo levelled his gaze against Varian’s then in a sad sort of manner. “Thanks to you, for showing me a bigger world than I’d ever imagined.” His voice was quiet in the way it got when he chose to open up.

“I don’t suppose you wanna travel with me?” Hugo’s voice was heartbreakingly calm in a way that suggested he already knew the answer.

“I… Corona�� my dad… my friends.” Varian’s breath hitched as his mind, usually so prepared to argue his point vied for the smallest handle of what to say. The seconds that had droned on minutes ago were now falling through his fingers much faster than he could hope to keep a grip on.

Hugo held up his hand to stop Varian’s ramblings. “I get it. You’re needed here.” His smile was soft now, nonexistent if you didn’t know how to look for it. “I’ll… see you round though. Couldn’t leave my little brother behind forever.”

The tears crashed through Varian all too quickly. He threw his arms around Hugo, pulling him into a tight hug as his cries silently slipped off of his cheeks. The older boy hugged him back, every bit as much heart thrown into it.

Neither wanted to let go. They knew that once they did, the other would fade away. Their adventure had finally reached its’ ending.

Hugo was the first to step back. A few minutes had passed in the world outside of them. He roughly ran his sleeve across his damp eyes, blurry vision looking towards Varian one last time before they parted. “Thank you. For everything.”

Varian picked up his worn bag from where it had been thrown on the ground, “I love you, Hugo.” It broke his heart to say goodbye to the brother he hadn’t known his life needed, but he managed to smile anyway. This was where their paths had to lead them. And they wouldn’t be apart forever.

“Love you too, Goggles.” Hugo ruffled Varian’s hair in the way that used to drive him crazy, but now only made his heart ache. “I’ll see you around.”

Hugo turned, slowly forcing his way down the opposite side of the hill from Old Corona. Varian watched after him for a silent moment.

“I’ll miss you.” Varian couldn’t tell if his whisper had carried over the gentle winds.

[varibean]

Amalgam

this is a secret prompt exchange for the varigo discord server! i got the prompt Amalgam for the wonderful and talented @dr-chalk!!!! i hope yall enjoy (and here’s the fic on ao3 too *wink*)

Summary: After relying on Ulla’s notebook to help them through their journey, the gang find that the next kingdom has little to no notes on where the next trial takes place. Their only clue is a location that might have a lead on where to go next. However, after a royal mess up on Hugo’s part, they’re left up the creek without a paddle. Not only are tensions high, but emotions as well. One thing was certain though: Hugo and Varian did not mix well.

Varian and Hugo didn’t mix, that much was clear to see at first glance. Hugo was rough, so many edges and layers of grime applied through falsities and smarmy charm. Meanwhile Varian was more true, more honest with himself and with others, but that often led to him being volatile at the wrong times and too quick to action based on emotion. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best combination. 

_____

Hugo watched as Varian stormed into the campsite where the caravan and Prometheus were kept, the latter grazing at a few nearby apples and scraps that his owner had left behind. Needless to say, the young alchemist was furious. 

Behind him Yong trotted along with Nuru, both with dejected looks plastered over their faces. Even from a distance Hugo could hear Nuru trying to mumble comforting words to the small boy, a smile on her face despite the recent hardships. And lastly, heading up the rear, was Hugo himself. His face was blank, almost unreadable save for the smallest of frown lines forming beneath his softly twitching lips. 

No one was in a good mood and no one wanted to talk about it.

Yong went over to the fire pit and mumbled about getting the food ready for the night with Nuru which only resulted in a jerky nod from Varian before he headed into the makeshift lab tent. As each member went about their separate tasks, Hugo was left standing at the edge of the camp, arms crossed and the facade of normalcy fading. 

He knew he had to do something, had to make this all right. They had been so close to discovering the path to the next trial, but he’d been reckless and wanted to show off. Now they were down a crucial key to getting to the next trial and morale and it was all his fault. 

A sigh escaped him before he decided to move his feet. Yong and Nuru would probably be the easiest to apologize too; Nuru already didn’t like him before this but she was also smart enough to set bitter feelings aside and Yong was so happy-go-lucky that all it would take to earn back his favor was a brightly colored sparkler. They would be easy to win over. 

That’s exactly why Hugo walked past them and instead headed into the lab tent. The area was small and cramped with everything from books to test tubes to chemicals that had to be carefully repacked every time they wanted to move. Even though they’d set it up together, Hugo could feel the shift in the area after his most recent blunder. 

This was Varian’s space and he was intruding on the alchemist’s domain. 

The man in question was muttering to himself, flipping through books and slamming his fists down as he closed volumes that didn’t have the answers he wanted. Honestly he was quite terrifying like this. Hugo, despite his outward teasing, had a healthy mix of both fear and respect for Varian, seeing how the other was never one to back down. 

In the moment, the fear was predominant. 

As much as he would’ve loved to have stood there forever, watching the other work so nimbly even in the mists of anger instead of confronting him on the issue, he knew that he couldn’t do that. 

“Hey, uh, Varian. So about back there-” Hugo’s words were cut off before he could finish them. Suddenly Varian was striding over to him, face contorted in a particular anger that was more hurt and disappointment than malice. 

“Yes Hugo, let’s talk about ‘back there’. I would love nothing more to talk about ‘back there’ so lets do that shall we? What part of ‘back there’ do you want to talk about? Maybe the part where you fought me for ten minutes on which direction we should go in. Or maybe the part where you insisted on using your own chemicals to open a doorway and instead got everyone a nose full of stink bomb. Or maybe! Maybe it’s the part where you almost got all of us fucking killed by setting off a trap!” Varian was huffing by the last line, his breath leaving his body in shaking bursts that made Hugo’s own chest constrict. 

“Varian, listen-”

“No! I had my time to listen, now you’re going to listen to me. My mother’s journal can only lead us so far; whatever was in that cavern was going to take us to the next trial location inside the kingdom. Now we have no cavern, no lead, and almost lost our lives. Instead of finding the exact location we’re going to have to spend...I don’t even know! Days? Weeks! Searching this kingdom to find the trial chamber. All because you don’t trust anyone but yourself!” 

The words stung Hugo more than any reprimand Donella had ever given him; more than any punishment he’d ever gotten from the other goons in the gang. It was blistering, scalding. He’d never felt so bad about messing up because, until Varian, he’d never messed up. 

He never messed up because he’d never truly tried to help others. 

But with Varian that’s all he wanted to do. And he fucked that chance right up. 

“Can I please just-” Hugo started, but Varian was clearly determined to not let him say anything. 

“No, you can’t. You want to know what we got for all of this? For almost losing our lives?” Varian turned around and pulled out his satchel, removing a fist sized filthy crystal that was no prettier than a dirty rock. “We got this. And only because it fell on me!” 

Hugo stood there, trying not to let his shame show through. Yet again, he was downfalled by his hubris. It was just different, working together as a team. He’d never had to trust or rely on anyone else besides himself. Apparently, he wasn’t very good at trusting others. 

In front of him Varian slammed the crystal rock down in a compound that Hugo recognized as hydrofluoric acid. Hugo thought that the other would break the beaker or hurt himself with the force that he threw the crystal rock down and suddenly worry overtook his shame. 

“Hey, careful!” He reached out to check Varian’s hand, but the other batted him away. 

“That’s enough, Hugo.” Varian said. The sound of his voice, the disappointment and rage, sent a shiver down Hugo’s spine. But he wasn’t just going to stand there and take it. If the other wanted to ignore his attempts at an apology, that was fine by him. 

Without another word, Hugo turned on his heels and headed out the tent. 

“You know,” He started, turning his attention to Nuru and Yong, who were currently on the ground after trying to scamper back to their places, “You two do a piss poor job of eavesdropping.”  

_____

Five days went by without them speaking to each other. Five days of curt nods and stiffly eaten meals and as little contact as they could manage while still trying to figure out how to make it to the next trial. Hugo and Varian’s foul mood affected everyone; even Ruddiger was beginning to eat his apples with less enthusiasm. 

The group’s searches in the city for how to begin their trial proved to be utterly fruitless. Varian’s journal was no use, and they’d expended the only other key that they had. 

Overall, not the most fun few days. However, Yong and Nuru were becoming less concerned with the trial and more concerned for their two alchemists. 

“He’s not been sleeping a lot.” Yong said. 

“Varian never sleeps.” Came Nuru’s halfhearted reply, even though there was worry in the pit of her stomach as well. 

“But this is different. Usually he just stays up because he’s in his tent...or putting out a fire I started. Right now he’s just doing nothing.”

“Yeah.” Nuru sighed. She knew she couldn’t deny it. Things were getting bad and no one knew how to make them better again. “Hugo’s been pretty quite too. Which I thought was going to be a good thing but now believe it or not I’d give anything to hear him say one of his stupid jokes again. At least then that would mean things were normal.”

Both of them knew that it wouldn’t be that simple. At first they’d tried plots and schemes; fake notes left by the other, arranging meet ups between the two that never came to fruition. After several attempts over the last five days, both Yong and Nuru agreed that whatever needed to be fixed, Hugo and Varian would have to do it in their own time. 

They just wished the two worked faster.

_____

Hugo couldn’t sleep and that really sucked for him because all he wanted to do was sleep and pretend like his current life was nothing more than a bad dream. 

Varian’s words still echoed around his mind, stinging him when he thought too hard on it. He knew he’d been in the wrong but for once in his life he had been trying to apologize and this? This is what he got out of it? 

Not worth it.

That’s what he told himself, it wasn’t worth it, it wasn’t worth it, it just wasn’t worth it. Of course, that just wasn’t true. 

He hated to admit it but Varian’s forgiveness was worth it. It was worth its weight in gold because it would be from Varian. In the days that he’d spent avoiding Varian physically, he couldn’t escape the other alchemist in his thoughts. He was longing to make up with him, something he never cared about from anyone else. 

There was something about Varian that made him want to be better, to earn his favor. The idea that they could make up, that they could get along, that maybe one day they would do more than just get along…

Hugo smacked his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts before they could manifest. He did not like Varian. Not in that way. No, he couldn’t allow himself to like Varian any more than the regular amount. 

He was a spy after all. A double agent. It was basically traitors 101: Don’t fall for the guy you have to two-face. 

He always sucked at following rules. 

Knowing that he wasn’t about to get a lick of sleep any time soon, Hugo got up from his sleeping bag and exited his tent, hoping that maybe a walk would clear his mind from his unpleasant (or, perhaps, too pleasant) thoughts. 

As he got out he saw that he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. The lab tent had a dim light shining through the flaps and through the still wind Hugo could barely make out the sound of someone muttering. 

‘Varian’s up too huh?’ He thought to himself. 

His goal was to stay away from Varian, but the light in the tent called to him like a moth to a flame. There could be no harm in just walking by it, right? 

He slinked over to the entrance, pepping inside to see that Varian’s back was turned away from the entrance, head in his hands as he sat in front of several test tubes and scattered papers. 

“What am I supposed to do, Ruddiger?” Varian softly asked the raccoon who was clearly asleep on the ground. 

“Just one big screw up after another,” He continued, “It’s all turned into a mess in just a couple of days. How can I possibly-”

This was a mistake. Hugo shouldn���t have been here, spying on Varian. And of course the other was still mad at him, for good reason. He’d screwed everything up after all, made things one big mess. 

Hugo sighed, wishing he’d just stayed in bed. But before he could leave he heard Varian continue.

“How am I ever going to tell him how sorry I am?”

Hugo paused at those words, taking a moment to linger outside of the tent before quietly slinking in to hear what else Varian had to say. 

“I was just...so upset. He could’ve died and it would’ve been my fault for arguing with him so much about the direction and the traps and everything else. And now he probably hates me right? I just wish I could tell him I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed everything on him. But he’d never accept that.”

“Well maybe if you asked him.” Hugo said, a smile suddenly playing on the edge of his lips. 

Varian jumped, nearly sending all of his chemicals flying and hastily tried to correct himself. 

“Hugo what-what are you doing here? You should be asleep an-and you know it’s rude to spy on people, I was having a personal moment here with Ruddiger and you can’t just walk in here and ruin our heart to heart-”

“I’m sorry.” Hugo’s words stopped Varian dead in his tracks as the other balked at him. 

“What did you say?”

“I’m not used to working with other people, so I didn’t want to listen to you. I wanted to do things my way and maybe even show off a little. But it just cost us a piece to the puzzle and...almost hurt you. I mean, almost hurt Nuru and Yong too but,” Hugo reached out and took Varian’s hand into his own, “I was worried about you the most.” 

He might’ve added the last line to sweeten Varian up just a little bit, but deep down he knew it was true. He’d been more worried about Varian than he’d been about his own hide, which was really saying something. 

He smirked seeing the other’s face turn red in the dim lantern light. God he was cute. And Funny. And charming in his own nerdy way.

“Well I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have-”

“Oh, shut up, I already heard your apology.” With Varian’s hand still in his own, he leaned forward, his face even closer to the other man’s. 

There was a beat of silence between them, stirring in both of their breaths as they studied the other’s face. They were so close, so tantalizingly close to the other. It would be so easy just to lean down a half inch more, taste Varian's delicious looking lips on his own. Up so close, Hugo could see the plumpness of the other’s bottom lip, the slight shine it had in the warm light from him licking his lips in worry. Just one more half inch. One more. 

Hugo stepped forward. Varian stepped back. 

And the sound of a beaker tipping over and smashing could be heard throughout the night. 

“Fuck!” Varian helped as he turned over and tried to find the broken glass in the soft light. “Shit, shit, I think that one was the hydrofluoric acid. I hadn’t changed it out since I put the crystal...in...it…” 

Hugo peered at him curiously as Varian’s voice died down, a look of puzzlement on his face as he leaned down to examine the pile. The blue eyed alchemist tightened his glove on his hand before gently reaching down into the rubble pile. 

The acid, over the course of a few days, had melted the crystal down. Revealing, in its place, a golden coin that had been left inside. 

Varian stood back up, coin in hand, and held it to the light. 

“That’s the emblem for the city we’re in right?” Hugo asked, looking at the coin curiously.

“Yeah. The emblem and the fountain in the square. Only...hand me a coin. One that we got from the market the other day.”

Hugo did what Varian asked with no hesitation, and the two examined the coins side by side. 

“The lady in the regular emblem on the coin is pointing down. But this one-”

“Is pointing left.” Hugo interrupted.

“Right. I mean, left. I mean-yes. You’re right that she’s pointing left. That’s where the Kingdom’s sewer main entrance is. To the left of the fountain. And the covers! They all have the emblems on them too.” Varian said. 

“I think I remember a few of them pointing in different directions but I thought that was just a pipe thing but what if-”

“They’re directions! It would take us forever to explore the entire sewer system but if they are all pointing in different directions, we start by the one at the fountain-”

“Follow them throughout the city-”

“Until we finish at the right one!”

The last line they both said together excitedly after finishing each other’s sentences.

Varian smacked his hand excitedly against Hugo’s chest several times with a wide grin. 

“And that’s the entrance to the next trial!!! This is amazing! The answer was right here in front of us all along!”

“So Varian, what you’re saying is, that I actually did the right thing and I can retract my apology now.”

“Don’t push it.” Varian tried to act stern but the grin on his face gave him away much too easily. “It’s almost morning, I’m going to go wake the others. And Hugo?”

Before Hugo knew it was coming he felt Varian’s lips press against his cheek for just a fleeting second. His eyes grew wide and he found himself at a loss for words to come back at him with. No that he really minded. 

“We, uh, have a few things to talk about after this.” 

_____

Varian and Hugo didn’t mix, at least not at first. Hugo was rough, so many edges and layers of grime applied through falsities and smarmy charm. But there was something good underneath. Something worth finding. Meanwhile Varian was more true, more honest with himself and with others, but that often led to him being volatile at the wrong times and too quick to action based on emotion. But sometimes a bit of emotion was needed to clear the air, sometimes being volatile could lead to being vulnerable. They were a curious amalgam of two things, both brought together to make something brilliant.

[daylighteclipsed]

I’ve mentioned this before, but I really like how Varian is such a nice balance between Rapunzel and Cassandra’s characters. All 3 of them have some stuff in common, such as issues with their dads, animal companions, and having to learn how friendship works. Having to learn how to be a good friend to somebody else because they lack that experience.

There are parts of Varian’s character that are unique to him, but what’s interesting is that he does have these traits found in Rapunzel or Cassandra that sort of oppose each other but exist in him simultaneously. Varian is wildly creative like Rapunzel for instance, but he puts his creativity towards science, something more practical and rooted in reality, which is how Cassandra approaches things.

He’s a skilled illustrator like Rapunzel, but he draws technical drawings and diagrams, which again is more practical like Cassandra. He likes helping people like Rapunzel does, but it’s usually out of an ambitious drive for validation, to prove himself, which is Cassandra’s motivation. He’s excitable like Rapunzel, but sarcastic like Cassandra. He often does not think things through like Rapunzel, but he’s also cautious like Cassandra.

He has a nocturnal pet like Cassandra, but his pet has no practical use/is out of pure friendship like Rapunzel’s pet. His dad is hard to please like Cassandra’s dad, but his dad also keeps secrets like Rapunzel’s dad.

He knows what it’s like to feel ignored, unfairly treated, betrayed, and he’s let bitterness lead him down the wrong path before like Cassandra is, but he’s willing to open up about his feelings, willing to forgive and trust again like Rapunzel is. He understands both sides. He‘s been on both sides. He is both sides.

Even his design is kind of a mix between them. Varian has black, unruly hair like Cassandra and sun-kissed, freckled skin like Rapunzel. He’s a mix of the sun and the moon. It’s really interesting.

[infinitely-orange-paracosm]

Paramay challenge - day 4: Home

Paras: Varian (human, he/him - from Tangled the Series (go ahead, judge me)), Kazary (zorquix, they/them)

"But anyway, welcome to The Bridge! Home of far too many powerful ex-villains whose only reason of not ruling the entire world is that partying is a lot more fun!"

"Uh..." Kazary wasn't convinced that they will be able to survive one day in this strange town. Sure, everyone has been friendly thus far - but maybe even a bit too friendly.

"Don't worry, they are really nice people once you get to know them," Varian added. "And they will be nice as long as you don't do something stupid, like disrespect them."

Kazary shook their head. "I don't get it. Why are you so... helpful to me? You don't know who I am, I could literally be your worst enemy, and yet you still show me around like I'm your best friend. How... how can you trust me like that?"

Varian shrugged. "It's just how it is here, I guess." He continued his walk but quickly noticed that Kazary wasn't following him. "What?"

"If there's anything my people have taught me, it's that strangers who are nice to you always want some favor in return." They took a deep breath before continuing. "So skip the niceties, and tell me: what do you want?"

Varian let out a long sigh, and gestured towards a nearby bench. Kazary followed him, and they both sat in silence for a few seconds.

"As I said," Varian began, "The Bridge is home to a lot of ex-villains. Most of whom turned to evil due to circumstances out of their control. Which, of course, isn't an excuse to what they - to what we did... but now that we're no longer on the side of evil, we want to help anyone who could be in that situation. We know what it's like to be alone, to be scared, and to make bad decisions because of that - it leads down a path of wrongs until eventually, you either believe what you're doing is right, or you don't even know why you're doing it anymore. We want to help people return to the path of good. We want to prevent people from entering the journey of bad." He paused for a moment, thinking. "I... hope that makes sense."

Kazary looked at him, still confused, but seemingly much less scared. "I... guess...?"

"Let's just continue, alright? And then, if you still don't like it here, you're free to leave." Varian stood up, and Kazary soon followed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ah, yes, The Bridge... a place of anarchy, chaos, and an absolute lack of reason, but also forgiveness, redemption, and safety. Most of the main paras live here, for good reason - and to be honest if someone gave me the chance, I'd move there no second thoughts.

On another note, Varian is one of two main paras who are more or less directly taken from an existing piece of media (the other being Ink from the Undertale AU Inktale). In both cases, however, I lifted them a long time ago, meaning their personalities and story arcs are a lot different than their original counterparts - and with so much added content to their lives, I almost consider them just as original as any other para in the paracosm. (So to put it in other words: I took the concepts and built characters around them, rather than just taking the character itself.)

[comesassylostchild]

Why Cass IS Worse than Varian and Also A Worse Villain

Alrighty let me just start by saying NONE OF THE BAD THINGS EITHER CHARACTERS DO IS EXCUSABLE OR OKAY Now with that out of the way I’m sick to death of people excusing Cass but still treating Varian like a horrible person  So lets take a moment to actually analyze the differences between them Lets start with this The main excuse for Cass is that she is being manipulated by ghost girl. Remember that MANIPULATED she’s not being controlled she’s being manipulated. Cass has the power to not listen to ghost girl, actually think about what she’s doing and stop doing bad things but she chooses not to. All for the sake of getting power that she wants to satisfy her personal issue of wanting something Rapunzel doesn’t have. Rapunzel and Varian have given her multiple opportunities to back out of the villainous path she’s on and even work out the problem and she still chooses to keep going. All of this to make herself feel more important while she throws herself a jealous pity party. A tragic event that happened when you were 4 doesn’t justify her behavior especially when Rapunzel didn’t have any choice in the matter. As for her current life, I do understand that she is in a job she doesn’t like and wants to do more with her life. I also understand how it must feel to be the lady in waiting to Rapunzel and feeling like your dad kept something important from you. But I’m sorry to say, most people get stuck in jobs they don’t like and have something more they want out of life. That’s just the way life works out a lot of the time and you have to make the best out of it. She’s also an adult and can just leave to find her own path if she isn’t happy. She’s an adult she is capable of making her own decisions of not doing bad things and can choose to leave if she isn’t happy. And again she’s being manipulated not controlled so she has the ability to not listen to blue girl but chooses to do what she tells her to despite Rapunzel trying to solve the problem and work things out with her. I know it must be hard for her to be Rapunzel’s lady in waiting when others tell her she’s a servant and Rapunzel has some big destiny and Rapunzel can unintentionally say or do something to make her feel less important. But Rapunzel has at every opportunity done everything she can to show Cass that she values her as a person and friend. Cass is the one who refuses to talk things out even to solve a problem between her and Rapunzel so you can’t fault Rapunzel for not being able to read her mind and I know Rapunzel can slip up and say or do the wrong thing that hurts Cass unintentionally but Rapunzel is still learning how to interact with others and deal with the world. She’s only been a part of the world for around two years of course she won’t perfectly handle complex issues and emotions. Cass also is flat out rude to other people including Eugene and sometimes even Rapunzel and she gets upset when Rapunzel unintentionally makes her upset but Cass refuses to talk things out. Cass has not only gotten angry at her own father but even attacked him for not telling her Gothel was her mother but attacked him without even letting him explain himself. Cass makes an assumption that her own dad lied to her out of selfishness and attacked him even though he has only ever tried to be a good father to her and she attacks him without even a chance for him to explain himself. The problem with Cass is that she is hurting people when no one is trying to hurt her or even treat her like a villain. She attacks Rapunzel and even tries to kill her even though Rapunzel is trying to work out the issue with her not fight but Cass refuses to listen and fights anyway She attacks her dad even though he has only ever tried to be a good dad to her.  The kingdom isn’t out to get her but she says ‘give me the scroll and I’ll leave Corona in peace’ meaning she would attack the kingdom if Rapunzel didn’t give her the scroll. Cass is being a villain to people even when no one is trying to hurt her. She’s deluding herself into thinking there’s a war when there isn’t. Yes I know that’s what blue girl is trying to trick her into thinking but one tragic backstory doesn’t excuse her for not being able to think logically like an adult 5 seconds and see that what she’s in the wrong. She has the power to choose but always makes the wrong choice. Cass is also upset about not getting a chance to shine but she was awarded for taking down Andrew, given a chance at a guard assignment and being trusted to lead the battle against Corona. She gets what she wants but its never enough for her Now Varian Let me start off by saying I know his actions are wrong and I know they were his own choice. But there is a big difference between Cass and Varian 1. Varian was in a really bad situation that he was trying to get out of just going about it the wrong way and was pushed to his breaking point while Cass is fighting a war that only exists in her head which I will always say I know is ghost girls manipulation but Cass has the power to choose and see what’s right and wrong and chooses wrong anyway 2. Varian had the kingdom against him before he did anything wrong while Cass is hurting people even though everyone wants to resolve the issue, she’s the only one making this into a bigger deal then it should be, she’s starting a war where there isn’t and refusing to resolve the issue. Once again I know that’s ghost girls manipulation but Cass is still capable of making choices and she’s given multiple opportunities to resolve the issue but refuses every time. Also Varian was very much a kid on his own and scared while Cass has people reaching out to her that she refuses to listen to.  3. Varian was fighting for the specific goal of saving his dad he just went about it the wrong way until he hit his breaking point and snapped while Cass is fighting for vague destiny that doesn’t belong to her but she says it does like a child and wants to hurt Rapunzel who has basically done nothing to her while Varian actually had a reason to be angry at Rapunzel who let him down in his time of need (it wasn’t her fault during the storm I know) and didn’t bother checking on him so he suffered a great loss alone. Cass gets angry at Rapunzel for saying wait when Rapunzel has no idea why that bothers her while Varian gets upset that Rapunzel said promise when Rapunzel would know exactly why that would bother him, because she broke an important promise to him. 4. Varian blaming Rapunzel is wrong no doubt about it and we know the amber is in part his own fault. Firstly though part of the reason Varian even touched the rocks when he was told not to is because Quirin wouldn’t be honest with him of why he should stay away from them while the situation was getting worse. While things were getting worse Quirin just expected Varian to take his word without being honest why he should listen to him. Varian still disobeyed him which was wrong but it was partly Quirin’s fault for not being honest. Varian not excepting his own fault in Quirin’s encasement and blaming Rapunzel is wrong. But Remember, as far as Varian knows his dad is dead, which means accepting its his fault would mean Varian accepting that he killed his father which is a terrifying thought for any kid. Its wrong that he blames Rapunzel but its the reaction of a scared kid terrified that he killed his dad. Cass simply targets all her anger at Rapunzel because she needs something to be angry at. Both Cass and Varian are kind of the same for blaming Rapunzel just because they need something to blame. But Varian at least has the reason of being a kid who is terrified of being the reason his dad is dead. Cass has 0 reason to blame Rapunzel other than she’s sad and needs someone to blame even though she’s an adult targeting her anger at someone because she needs someone to blame like a child. Cass and Varian do most of the same things so lets look at it side by side Choosing to take the sun/mooddrop Varian did it because he was in a desperate situation running out of options because knowing Varian he defiantly tried everything he could to free his father but nothing was working and the sundrop seemed to be his only hope of getting his dad back. Tricking Rapunzel was the only way of getting it other than force because the kingdom already hated him for attacking the princess when he didn’t. He even was driven out of his own home by the kings men trying to cover up information, There was no way he was going to get the flower other than tricking Rapunzel or force and he had to trick Rapunzel because he knew she likely wouldn’t let him have it either. And he has a point that it is just sitting there rotting and this is his only chance he has of saving his dad. Also we see later that Varian crushes it so the sundrop is gone and it doesn’t effect anything. The kingdom is against him when the flower being gone doesn’t effect anything and it does not belong to the king.  He wanted it to save his dad but of course he wouldn’t get it other than tricking Rapunzel or force because the kingdom was against him for attacking Rapunzel which he didn’t. I will say Rapunzel begging him not to take the flower was his only chance out but he thought he had the solution to his problem and everything would be over while Rapunzel had no solution to offer and already let him down which makes it understandable why he didn’t back out when Rapunzel told him to stop. But that is the only time someone tries to actually reach out to him. Varian didn’t have everyone reaching out to him like Cass did which he desperately needed and would’ve taken while Cass just keeps turning down people reaching out to her. And before anyone says anything whether or not Varian unintentionally hurt Rapunzel a little in his panic it was clearly obvious that he was scared and begging for help so the kingdom being against him for attacking her wasn’t fair because it was only an assumption that he attacked her when he was clearly begging for help and scared. So Varian only chooses force to get the sundrop later because he has no other options and the entire kingdom is against him. I am in no way saying that makes what he does okay but Varian was not given any other options  Cass stole the moonstone knowingly putting the fate of the entire world on the line for her own personal gain just because she’s jealous and wants her own destiny. She’s only thinking of herself not caring that she’s putting the world in jeopardy for her own personal satisfaction of destiny. At the very least even if what Varian was doing was wrong which it was it was to save someone’s life.  Using the truth potion  Both Cass and Varian used the truth potion to get information. However with that information Varian was only planning to steal the flower to save his dad, he was not planning to use that information to hurt anyone. Cass used the potion to get information she would use to hurt someone. Varian did drug the palace as a distraction. But he had done it by giving adults cookies so he used a trick and didn’t force anyone into take the potion and adults were dumb enough to fall for off colored cookies from a stranger in a bush. Varian didn’t force anyone into taking the potion, adults were just dumb enough to fall for off colored cookies from a stranger in a bush and Varian didn’t mean any harm to the palace by doing it or any harm with the information. Cass drugged an unconscious minor to get information with the plan of hurting someone. Cass drugged an unconscious minor which is giving him literally no choice in the matter. Drugging a conscious adult with an off colored cookie from a man in a bush at least means the adult had the chance to see the red flags and they weren’t forced into taking the potion. Varian literally had no choice in the matter because Cass drugged him while he was unconscious. She also put an entire bottle of potion in his mouth while he was unconscious which he could’ve choked on and used an entire bottle on one person. And let me just say Part of the reason people are disturbed by Cass drugging an unconscious minor is because of the real life uncomfortable territory. Drugging a kidnapped minor while they are unconscious to make them give into what the adult wants. That is very uncomfortable territory that I know the tts crew was in no way trying to allude to but it is uncomfortable that they wrote that in without thinking of the real life uncomfortable territory that the scene is unintentionally treading around making the scene a bit uncomfortable. Both Varian and Cass threatened people Rapunzel cares about to get to Rapunzel. Both are not okay. Varian at least has the reasoning of not only trying to get at Rapunzel but his kingdom failed to help him when he desperately needed help and the kingdom was against him even before he actually did anything wrong which made it why he grabbed Arianna and Cass who were innocent. Not only to get at Rapunzel but because the kingdom failed to help him and hated him before he actually did wrong. And no one ever reached out to him which is why he went as far as he did while everyone is constantly trying to reach out to Cass but she turns them down. Cass even decides to hurt Eugene similarly to Varian hurting Arianna and Cass but Eugene literally had nothing to do with the conflict so she is involving and hurting Eugene just to get at Rapunzel and no other reason. Varian was a desperate kid in a really bad situation who needed help and no one reached out to pushing him to him to make bad choices. Cass is a grown adult acting like a child wanting to hurt someone for selfish and petty reasons just to make herself feel better and and her excuse of being manipulated doesn’t work since she is being manipulated not controlled she has the ability to choose but chooses wrong every time because she’s too busy wallowing in her own self pity to listen or think clearly. Varian did what he did because of a really bad situation. Cass is doing what she’s doing because she’s wallowing in self pity and making a mountain out of a molehill.

[rxcksswxrd-blog]

@vcriicn liked for a starter

“You know, for Quirin’s son, I wasn’t expecting you to be so small. It’s hard to imagine you taking after your father’s footsteps like this.”

[coltdancer]

You Matter to Me (A Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure Short Story)

A security breach of the alchemy lab results in a daring decision that has consequences for Varian.

Set after Eugene and Rapunzel are married, Varian has explored, learned, and returned to Corona as the Royal Engineer/Alchemist and Cassandra has completed her personal quests and returned to serve Corona as a member of the guard.

Inspired by CJeanne's/OriginalDisneyDescendants absolutely beautiful work here on Tumblr (not sure it’s around anymore), she graciously allowed me to run away with my own story. This is pure hurt/comfort FLUFF, my people. My happy place, my M.O., my zone. **AND NOW THERE IS ART by @lizpotentielle​!  

“What did he take?!” Cassandra shouted, dodging the ornate vase launched at her head, nearly careening into the wall of royal portraits when the move shifted her balance but did not account for her speed. “Uh...I’m not sure, exactly!” 

“What did he take?!” Cassandra shouted, dodging the ornate vase launched at her head, nearly careening into the wall of royal portraits when the move shifted her balance but did not account for her speed.

“Uh...I’m not sure, exactly!”  

Ahead of her, his long legs giving him an advantage, Varian lunged toward the Soporian thief and very nearly made an impressive tackle, but the body-check inadvertently shoved their target through the door leading down to the dungeons and aided his escape. 

Cassandra sprinted past and Varian scrambled to his feet to join her.  

“We can catch him when he hits the cells!” she huffed, concentrating on skipping steps without twisting an ankle.  

“Not if he beats us to the sewage outlet; it’s how he got in. It will already be open,” Varian panted just behind her, and they hit the bottom to find that indeed, the doors leading through the main thoroughfare of the dungeon were all hanging wide open, providing the bandit a clear path.

With a straight and unhindered shot, Cassandra pulled the bolas from her belt and hurled them towards the Soporian’s legs with a grunt.  It was enough to make contact and wrap around the man’s ankles, sending him pitching forward.  He writhed impressively mid-air to skid across the floor on his shoulder, the glass vial he had stolen skittering from his pouch and across the bricks, out of his reach.  Varian pounded past him, dodging the swipe of his arms and making it to the end of the hall to shove the wooden door closed and block his exit.  

Cassandra breathed with relief when, panting heavily, he stooped to scoop up the vial and inspect it.  Because Varian had interrupted his heist, the vial likely wasn’t what the thief intended to make off with, but Cassandra knew that any number of the alchemical compounds Varian held in his main lab could be potentially serious or deadly in the wrong hands - the negative rumors and town talk that would create buzz in the neighboring kingdoms almost as much so.  

Best to keep these things quiet.  And most definitely out of the wrong hands.

Cassandra placed her knee between the Soporian’s shoulder blades to finish rolling him onto his stomach, reaching for his free arm to pull behind him, when he suddenly flipped onto his back and had her by a fistful of tunic and a dagger blade to her throat.  

Varian’s cry of warning was swallowed with a gasp.  The edge of the blade was close enough that her skin prickled and she froze, daring to make eye-contact.  Cold, brown eyes - so dark they were nearly black - narrowed with malice and she sat back as the thief used his impressive core strength to right himself, the knife never wavering from its precarious position against her jugular.  Even had she been wearing her armor, her neck would have still been exposed.  She made a mental note to rectify that if she was so lucky, her jaw clenching when he drew his legs close enough toward himself to reach down and release the bolas around his feet.  

“I was warned about you and your skill, my dear,” the thief breathed silkily, leaning in close enough that Cassandra could smell his breath and sweat.  It was repulsive.  He was rising smoothly to his feet and guiding her with him, a cruel twist to his mouth as she felt the cold metal press against her skin.  She held her breath and stood, his free arm unnervingly blocking a counter-attack to his midsection. She chanced a glance at Varian.  He looked slightly horrified, but surprisingly calm, and stock-still.  She knew his mind was racing with calculations and weighing his options.  She tried to shake her head to warn him not to do anything, but a nick at her neck and her stronger arm wrenching painfully behind her made her stop.  The muscle in Varian’s jaw clenched and he made a move to reach inside his vest.

“Ah-ah,”  the thief warned, “You keep your hands where I can see them, pretty boy. And unless you plan on accompanying me, just hand that tube over, and I’ll let this little wench go.”

Varian’s eyebrow shot up at the insult and something dangerous flashed in his eyes that Cassandra recalled from long ago, and then it was gone, replaced with a resolve that she decided in an instant she did not like one bit better - just as he threw his head back and swallowed the entire contents of the vial. 

“Well, can’t say it will do much for you now…” he responded dryly, suppressing a shudder, both Cassandra and her captor gaping in shock.

“It might if I slice you open and siphon what drains from your guts…” the Soporian snarled, just before he drew back and head-butted Cassandra in a rage.  

Spots and stars exploded from the contact and she felt herself tossed to the ground as the man lunged forward, swinging.  There was a whoosh and the clang of iron as a cell door slammed shut.  Cassandra shook her head and squinted, wincing at the sound as Varian locked himself safely inside and away from the blade.  His eyes darted to hers and back again, assessing that she had not yet recovered from the blow. 

“Wow, that’s exceedingly graphic.  You Soporians are so violent,” he quipped, keeping the focus on him.  “How about ‘no’? I rather like my guts where they are, thanks.”  

“They said you had a smart mouth, you little traitor. Didn’t know when to shut up.  Perhaps I should just let you keep talking and at least garner the satisfaction of watching what it does to you.”

And he did sound just a little too eager for that, Cassandra thought, blinking widely and trying to focus on Varian.  The alchemist almost looked bored, his shoulders dropping with a long-suffering sigh. “Absolutely nothing,” he responded.  

“What nonsense is this?”

“Do you even know what you took?”

There was just the briefest of pauses.  “Yes.  It was Belladonna.”

“Or you grabbed bimberrry juice,” Varian rolled his eyes.  “Tell me, did you actually see ‘belladonna’ or did you just snatch a vial marked with a letter ‘B’ on it, because that’s all you could read?”

The Soporian’s eyes were practically bulging and all he could do was splutter, and Cassandra felt her stomach unclench.  She wanted to laugh.  Instead, she felt for the hilt of her sword.  

“Yeah, that’s what I figured.”  

The sound of metal releasing from its sheath as Cassandra brandished her own blade grabbed their attention then, and with one last glare and clang on the iron bars of Varian’s safety cage, the Soporian bolted down the corridor toward the sewage grates.  

Cassandra lunged after him, but halted abruptly, rushing back to the closed cell.  She was patting down her pockets and looking around frantically on the floor, but the keys were nowhere to be found.  She looked up to find Varian dangling the keyring over his index finger. When had he snagged those?

She choked out a laugh. “ Why do you keep bimberry juice in your lab?”

He shrugged.  “For medicine. Makes it taste better.”

“Oh.  So it was really just bimberry juice?”

“No, it was belladonna.”

“ WHAT ?”

“Cassandra.  That low-life is getting away.”

“We have to get you out of there.”

“Go catch your man.”

“What - no!  Open the door.  We have no idea what that stuff will do to you!”

“I’m pretty sure I have a good idea.” “I am going to kill you.”

Varian tilted his head, a wistful, amused expression crossing his features. He shook his head.  “Sorry, but I’m not going to need your assistance this time around, Cassie.”

Her eyes widened with realization and she gripped the handle, rattling it furiously.  

“ Varian . This isn’t funny. Please tell me you have some kind of antidote.”

He smiled, but the beat of silence was too long.  “Of course.”

Cassandra’s stomach dropped like lead.  “ VARIAN. OPEN THE DOOR -- ”

With a huff of a chuckle, Varian stepped forward and through the bars pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, stunning her momentarily speechless in its acceptance.  “He’s getting away, Cass. Let me handle the science stuff. You catch the bad guy so he can answer for this.  Go on, now.”

She was horrified and angry and... scared ...which made her angrier, still, and she whipped around with a howl of fury intended just as much for the fleeing criminal as the maddening man she was leaving behind to potentially die a slow death.  

 Corona did not see a lot of high crime; the populace had nearly as infamous a reputation for squelching suspicious activity as the kingdom guard.  When the infrequent circumstances arose, however, the reaction was generally well-executed and swift.  Today’s heist was no exception, but it had created quite a stir.  The chase had resulted in Cassandra pursuing the Soporian interloper through the drainage tunnels below the dungeons and out the spillway into the moat, a sure test of her endurance, before gaining enough ground to make him change course right into the trap Eugene and his guard had waiting.  

And then it was over.

Cassandra had been anxious to report to the Captain, but he’d taken one good look at her, pulled a face, and insisted she shower first.  He might also have alerted her best friend and Princess to her need for a good meal and in the meantime paid his own visit to the newly occupied dungeons to question their captive.  She was begrudgingly grateful for the respite.

Now, as lamps were being lit and the sun dipped low on the horizon, Cassandra finished giving Eugene her version of the events and he scribbled notes in his parchment book about as furiously as she recounted them.  He had grown so very efficient in his role and Cassandra could not help but be impressed - they squabbled to the point of aggravation sometimes, but she knew he took the role seriously and worked hard.  She had often dreamed of holding that position.  However, even as Eugene carefully closed the book he was writing in, his fingers lingering over the cover that reeked of Rapunzel’s handiwork with a small smile, Cassandra found she did not harbor ill will or even any resentment.  She’d made her choices.  The fact that she has been able to return to Corona and work her way into duty at all was rewarding, and the capture they made today proved once again that she was capable and Eugene’s faith in her was justified.  But with the recounting of that chase and how she wound up jumping into the muck after their criminal, she was freshly reminded that she had left another man behind.  That was not a decision she could commend, no matter how logical it was.  No matter how confused it left her.

She blinked and looked up.  Cassandra wasn’t sure how long she had been silent, mulling it all over again.

Eugene leveled her with a penetrating gaze before standing from behind the desk.  He was disconcertingly adept at reading her. “C’mon,” he barked, and just like that Captain Fitzherbert was put away and he was “Eugene” once again.  “Rapunzel was getting Varian a change of clothes.  Let’s go check on him.”

Cassandra tensed, but knowing Raps had been with him and Eugene had procured his statement of events earlier as well...that had to mean Varian was fine and nothing untoward happened as a result of his daring strategy earlier.  Her shoulders relaxed marginally and she cleared her throat, rising to follow him from the room.  “How...how is he?”

Eugene snorted as he opened the door, sweeping his arm toward the threshold in a polite motion to usher her through first.  “Been puking his guts up all afternoon, but whatever that nasty stuff was that he concocted and choked down seemed to do the trick.”  He shuddered and grimaced.  “Did you see that stuff?  I’ve seen Shorty consume more appetizing sludge than that black tar-slime he mixed up.  But...I guess if you’re poisoned, you’re not too worried about the taste, eh?” 

Cassandra felt her jaw clench, ire returning as they walked down the hall toward the infirmary.  She could see Rapunzel hovering at the door and as they neared, a bundle of clothes clutched in the princess’ hands. “Since he was foolhardy enough to do it to himself instead of oh, I don’t know , smashing the bottle on the bricks, I’d say that’s what he gets.”

Beside her, Cassandra could practically feel the dubious eyebrow Euguene was lifting.  “A split-second to take a single course of action and save the Kingdom’s face - oh! and you,” he unnervingly summarized, and she just knew he was wearing that smug, all-knowing expression on his face as they came to a halt, muttering a “Yeah, it scared the hell out of  me, too.”

Eugene bent to kiss his wife on the cheek.  Worn thin by her concern (not that she’d admit it openly), Cassandra glowered at him and rather unceremoniously snatched the garments from Rapunzel’s grasp, continuing on for the infirmary door.  Rapunzel stammered, unsettled, and reached out to halt her progress into the room.  “Cass - I don’t think now is a good time -”

“Ah, Sunshine?  Why don’t we just let Cassandra go on in.”

“But Eugene -” the princess hissed, even as the Captain of the Guard began to wrestle her away.

“Trust me.”

And God bless Eugene as he tugged on her arm and Rapunzel fell silent.  Cassandra yanked the door open and stalked into the softly-lit antechamber, marching across the floor toward the only partitioned area that held anyone at the moment, on a mission to give Varian a piece of her mind for the worry she’d been fighting all afternoon - 

And was halted at the edge of the make-shift curtain by the unmistakable sound of retching.  

It took a moment for her to compose herself before she took a step forward to peer around the curtain where Healer O'Shea, a kindly man with silvering strawberry-blond hair, was positioned in front of an obviously still very ill alchemist. The doctor glanced up at her briefly, one eyebrow arched in silent query.  He was bracing Varian with a gentle hand to the shoulder and supporting a basin as Varian’s whole body strained forward with a round of horrible, empty gurgles that made Cassandra cringe.  Finally, he coughed and spit with a pained gasp.

“That’s it, lad.  I think you’ve just about got it all out - and then some.  This should be slowing down, now,” the physician murmured with approval.  “Let’s try a little bit of ginger tea this time around, see if we can settle that stomach and start getting you rehydrated.”

Varian, if he registered what was said, did not outwardly respond.  In fact, he seemed unaware of anyone standing there at all.  Chalky white and panting for air, he was slumped over a bolster wedged between his arms and his stomach - the only thing that seemed to be holding him upright on the edge of the cot.  Cassandra nodded, subdued, as the healer dipped his head in silent excusal, leaving her alone with Varian and feeling exposed.  Whatever she was expecting after speaking with Euguene, it wasn’t this.  

He looked... dreadful. 

And just like that, she felt her anger dissipate.  If it was even truly anger, to begin with.

“I’d rather you not see me like this…” 

It was such a low rasp she wasn’t sure she heard it.  But a few moments later, Varian mustered the strength to lift his head, the hint of a smirk in his voice, “Unless you came to make good on your offer?  You’ve got your sword, right?”

Cassandra let out the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding, stepping closer.  “You must be joking!”

“Only - mm, only half -” he grunted, then went positively ashen with a small groan and barely managed to find the basin beside him as his stomach heaved again.  

If she thought it was bad mere moments earlier, Cassandra was certain Varian’s insides were trying to claw themselves out, now.  His grip was white-knuckled and desperate as he fought through it, bringing absolutely nothing up, his stomach completely devoid of even the thick and tarry-looking charcoal Eugene said he had been bringing up for hours.  Cassandra found herself reaching out to awkwardly pat at the shirt plastered to his back.  He was hot to the touch and she could feel the muscles coiling angrily beneath her hand; it had to hurt.

Varian folded over the pillow again, trembling from exertion, and she managed to grab the bin from him before it could clatter to the floor.  “Please, jus’...” then his head was in his hands and he gave up trying to talk.  She wasn’t sure if he was begging for her to leave or for it to just be over.

Cassandra felt utterly inept; maybe it would be best to just leave the change of clothes for him and excuse herself quietly.  He was a mess and she did not know what to do.  She would have wanted to be left alone in this sort of scenario, but then, Varian was nothing like her.  He was tenderhearted and tactile and...this was definitely Rapunzel’s department.  The healer had disappeared to make the tea - naturally, she thought, setting the garments she held down on the bed.  She hadn’t planned to stay, for goodness sake, and in no way would have agreed to play nursemaid.  Sure, she and Varian certainly shared a level of comfortable camaraderie with one another; there had been the occasional long conversation when neither could sleep, mutual royal projects or endeavors, one exceedingly rare late night at the Snuggly Duckling when they’d both imbibed a bit too much and had chatted and giggled all the way back to the castle on Fidela.  She looked back at the miserable man beside her and remembered leaving him behind in the dungeons.  While not as powerful as fear, guilt was a fair motivator.  Cassandra would be the first to admit she was no good at the “soft stuff”, but she realized that she wanted to try for him.  

She chewed thoughtfully on her lip, searching the room and wracking her brain, then her eyes landed on the washstand against the wall.  Quietly, she stepped over to it and pulled on the silver levers, letting the water run hot before filling a large basin from a stack of them on the side.  She absently wriggled her fingers under the stream, as she almost always had since her return to Corona, marveling at what Varian had done with all the pipes and his huge fancy boiler mechanism, smiling faintly at a memory - and was quickly reminded of the man across the room.  Cassandra threw a few of the folded rags over her shoulder and slowly returned to the bed as the healer arrived with a small cup of warm, pale liquid.  

“Just a sip or two at first,” he told her and relegated the task by handing the cup off to her once she set her wares down on the bedside table.  She stood there, gaping at the doctor’s back as he traipsed over to his desk and resisted the urge to tell him this was his job.  She was beginning to smell a conspiracy.  

“Hey, you still with me?”  she asked gently, prodding Varian to sit up and relinquish his hold on the massacred cushion beneath his arms. 

His breathing was a little easier and with a pang, she hoped he hadn’t dozed off.  She picked up the tea and held it before him.  It looked inoffensive enough and smelled pleasantly of meadowsweet, but Varian grunted with disapproval, turning a nasty shade of pale and green when she pressed the cup to his lips.  Stubbornly, she waited him out until he finally took a few sips.

“There. Not so bad?” she murmured.

He managed a noncommittal noise in reply.  

Cassandra went back to chewing on her lip, wondering how long it would take for the tea to come back up, if it was going to.  “I bet you have some ideas on how to improve on the formula,” she finally added with forced brightness, and set it down, her smile fading when he said nothing.

Yeah, he was in pretty bad shape. She watched him drag in a deep breath, releasing it heavily.  “You gonna be sick again?”

He seemed to be taking inventory. “No…” he swallowed hard, “...not yet,” he finally whispered, still breathless.  

“Uh...Raps brought you some fresh clothes…”  she offered quietly, but it just sounded silly when he could barely even hold his own head up.  She frowned, and then pursed her lips in frustration.  Why was this so hard?

Time for a purely practical decision.  He needed help, and she ...could help with this.

“What’r y’doin?” Varian slurred, sounding agitated and batting altogether uselessly at her when she reached for his shirt. “Cass -”

“Hey, hey! It’s alright,” she soothed, enclosing his wrist in her small hand, waiting for him to look at her.  He swayed against her and the magnitude of what she was asking wasn’t lost on her.  Suddenly, her gracelessness no longer mattered.  “Can I...Can I help you with this?”

His eyes, dull and bruised, slid closed. To her dismay, a small tear trickled from the outer corner and he nodded. He was exhausted.  

Though she knew he couldn’t see it, she smiled with much more confidence than she felt.  Maybe he wouldn’t hear it, either. She gave his shoulder a squeeze.  “Okay.  It’s okay, Varian. You’ll feel better soon.”

She pulled the sweat-dampened shirt over his head carefully, steadying him as his chin dipped toward his chest. She tried not to, but could not help but notice that his shoulders were peppered with a similar smattering of freckles as his face. It absolutely did not soften her smile.  She turned to the bowl on the table to drop in the rags, swirling them around in the hot water to warm them up.  “You know, what you did today...that was really stupid, Var.”

“This is supposed to make me feel better?” he mumbled irritably, and she cringed.

Speaking of stupid… 

“Sorry, that came out poorly,” she muttered, abashed, wringing out a rag and gently pressing it to the back of his neck.  He jumped beneath the initial touch, then sagged with a mewl of relief that made her stomach feel funny.  Cassandra swallowed and drew the washcloth along the sweep of his shoulders, concentrating on removing the clammy layers of sweat and salt down his back and arms.

“I mean,” she tried again, slowly, “It worked, but it wasn’t worth your life.”

Varian sighed.  “Admittedly really dumb.  I’ll do better next time.”

Cassandra paused then, rag dripping over the bowl as she reached out and snatched his bearded chin, lifting it so that he was looking at her. “No!” she replied, eyes wide with alarm.  “Varian, do not scare me - us… ”  She took a breath, recovering herself and dropped her tone.“Don’t scare us like that again.”

He blinked dazedly but held her gaze until she reached up to gently wash his face, ignoring that funny feeling that came again when his eyes fluttered closed and he trusted her to it.  She placed the rag in his hand so that he could make a pass or two at his front, then helped him thread his arms into the clean shirt, lifting it over his head.  His hair was sticking up in all different directions and she bit down on a giggle. The urge to tame it with her fingers was strong, but Cassandra busied herself with the teacup instead, steadying it when his hands shook and encouraging him to work on it some more.

It did seem to be helping.  With the modicum of relief from his nausea and taking in some fluid, the tension was draining from his posture.  He could no longer keep his eyes open.  She took the empty cup and gave in to thread her fingers through his hair - purely under the pretense of smoothing it back into place - and he leaned more heavily against her. She thought she heard her name, the ghost of a whisper on his lips when he was suddenly dead weight in her arms.    

“Varian?!”  The alarm in her voice and the shattering of the teacup drew the attention of the healer, who was quick to rise from his notes and return to the bedside, helping her ease Varian’s limp form to the mattress.  

Cassandra stood by with wide eyes as he took Varian’s wrist and measured the pulse with practiced ease, gently tilting Varian’s head toward the lantern on the table, pushing back his eyelids and watching the pupils react to the light. He then took a moment to remove the instrument around his neck, listening to the sound of Varian’s breath in his lungs, the rhythm of his heart.

“It’s all right,” he assured her, straightening and reaching to pull up the blanket.  “He’s just finally passed out.  No small wonder.  Maybe he’ll be able to get some rest, now.”

Cassandra let out a shaky breath and pursed her lips together, swallowing hard.  Relief washed over her with astonishing force and she blinked against her silly, watering eyes.  Healer O’Shea was watching her carefully.

“You may stay a bit longer; make sure our winsome engineer is comfortable,” he murmured, skirting the foot of the cot and bending over with a crack of his back to pick up the broken pieces of the smashed cup from the floor.  “But then, unless you wish me to remove you from Captain Fitzherbert’s active duty roster, you’ll let me give you a check-over and will retire to get some rest as well, hm?”

The tumult of the day’s emotions and weariness threatening to overwhelm her, all she could do was nod in agreement.  She knew there was nothing she could do for Varian, but found herself at war with the decision to leave him - again .  He did not budge in the least when she needlessly fussed over the blanket, resting her palm across his chest, reassured by the gentle thump of his heartbeat.  Somewhere, sometime over the course of their friendship, she realized how very much she’d grown to care for him.  In the quiet of the infirmary, now, she could admit how right Eugene’s earlier dig at her had been: today had scared the hell out of her.

“What are you doing to me, you big nerd?” she whispered incredulously. 

Cassandra scoffed then, and rolled her eyes in exasperation, swiping at her eyes once more and shaking her head.  The healer cleared his throat across the room.  She straightened and followed his gesture to a new cot, but not before she took one last moment to return the kiss Varian had bestowed upon her from behind the cell door, her lips pressed tenderly to his forehead as she bid him a silent goodnight.  

 She did feel better, Cassandra admitted, after a few hours of sleep and some breakfast.  Much to Eugene’s chagrin, she even reported for duty.  The Captain, however, seemed assuaged by her reasoning that she needed the distraction and she accepted his compromise to take off after lunch. 

She was returning from the kitchens (making her way through the Great Hall since a steady thundershower rendered the courtyard an undesirable path) when Cassandra caught the back of a familiar mop of black hair heading in that very direction - and likely to the old ammunitions holds that had been converted to his main lab, near the garden.  

“Varian?” she called, both concerned to see him up and about when she’d left him very much unconscious the night before, and relieved.  

He turned at the sound of her voice and smiled wanly, waiting for her to catch up to him.  “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.”  she narrowed her eyes.  “You’re looking…better?” she offered unconvincingly, to which he chuckled sheepishly.  

“Yeah, I know...I’m kind of a mess,” he muttered, gesturing to himself, and she was dismayed at how hoarse his voice sounded.  

“You look pretty peaked, actually,” she revised.  “Are you sure you should be out right now?”

“Released on my own recognizance,” he puffed, but quickly deflated under her stare.  “Yeah, okay.  So, released once I kept down some lunch,” he admitted.  “I just wanted to give the lab a once over, make a few notes.”

“Right.  Where we’d find you slumped over the workbench at dinner time because you lost track of the hour,” she chuckled at the indignant noise he made. “Varian, I know you.  And, I know what you went through yesterday with that stuff - it could have killed you!  May I remind you of the antidote you spent all afternoon and evening bringing up --”

“Okay, okay...keep pushing it, and you can see what I had for lunch, too,” Varian groused, looking decidedly uncomfortable and definitely too pale.  

And darn it, she’d let her blunt mouth run away with her again.  “See?  All you need to be doing right now is taking it easy.”

She stepped behind him to take Varian by the shoulders and direct him toward the other end of the hall, toward the bath chambers.  “THAT way.  Go use those hot showers you made possible.  If you still feel like you’ve got it in you to check your lab, then we’ll talk.”

He spluttered as she began pushing him across the floor, but she could tell he wasn’t putting up much resistance, physically.  “I don’t have clean clothes…”

“I’ll bring you some. Go on.”

Varian planted his feet and glowered at her, but then his shoulders slumped in defeat.  He threw a longing glance at the bath doors and looked back at her. “It....would feel nice…”

Cassandra smiled triumphantly. “Right?”  

When he continued to look uncertain, she could tell he was at war with something he felt he needed to do and what he wanted to do. She frowned and reached out to touch his elbow, lowering her voice.   “Hey.  What’s got you so determined to push yourself right now?”

He was silent for a moment, then met her eyes. “I really should make some notes.  I - I need a way to better track, and secure, my inventory,” he answered ruefully.  “Yesterday was a reminder of the real danger in some of the work I do, and how imperative it is to protect the kingdom’s assets - both from misuse and misconstruction.”

While the solemnity of his response was reassuring, Cassandra couldn’t help but think Varian had completely overlooked another important aspect of the “kingdom’s assets” - his own well-being.  

Security detail was one of her specialties, not his, and before she could second-guess herself, she suggested, “How about you get that shower, take a load off and rest.  You could...tell me what’s going on in that big brain of yours, and I could write the notes down for you.”

Varian’s expression shifted so swiftly to surprise that Cassandra found herself back-pedaling in case she’d offered too much.

“I mean if you - if I -”  she rolled her eyes with irritation at her bumbling and huffed, feeling her cheeks burn.  “If you trusted me to.”

Varian’s eyes softened and the smile he gave her made her stomach do that weird thing again.  His voice dropped.  “Of course I trust you,” he reassured her, and then it was his turn to look embarrassed.  He reached up to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck.  “It’s just...you’ve done a lot already, you know? And this doesn’t really matter all that much to…”

“It matters to you.”

“Well, yes.”

“Then it matters to me.”

Varian blinked, confounded.  “Wow, Cass - that was almost….touching.  Eugene would ask if you hurt yourself.”

“GO,” she growled good-naturedly, punching him lightly in the arm.

Varian flinched playfully and wobbled, off-balance, but even as Cassandra steadied him with an apology, he only chuckled and assured her he was fine, at last giving in to her suggestion and plodding off to the bath chambers.    

She had been right, too, after hurrying back with clean clothes from his chambers - while the hot water and steam had brought back some color to his face, it had also left him rather loose-limbed and, if possible, wearier.  She took him by the arm and steered him toward the steps of the garden tower, prodding him along like a drunken villager to his rooms.  They were cold and felt damp with all the rain, so she set to starting some kindling in the grate of the bedchamber to chase the chill away as Varian kicked off his boots then crawled into his bed and collapsed with a groan.  The flames soon took hold and, after placing some larger logs, Cassandra glanced over her shoulder.  Varian hadn’t moved.

Thunder rumbled outside and a gust of wind splattered rain more heavily against the window, but the chill was dissipating and heat was spreading out into the room, now.  Cassandra poked at the logs for something to do, hoping that if she gave him enough time, Varian would drift off to sleep and actually rest.   It would certainly do him a world of good.  Her eyes wandered over the eclectic arrangement of artifacts and trinkets on the mantle; some of them she recognized, but others she did not.  She tilted her head quizzically at a glass urn, filled with what looked like a marbled mixture of ash and sand, labeled with nothing more than sketched flames. 

“Go ahead, open it,” Varian spoke drowsily. “Spread some of it across the fire.”

Cassandra threw him a wry, “why are you still awake?” look, but reached up to gingerly remove the jar, setting the lid on the mantle’s ledge.  She pulled out a scoop of the fine granules and studied them more closely.  They sparkled slightly in the light of the flames and she found herself curious, scattering them across the expanse of the grate.  The powder sparked and popped, surprising her, but then the flames were suddenly awash with changing color, blazing from jewel-toned blues and greens to bright oranges and pinks.  

“What is it?” she breathed, delighted as the flames continued a steady burn of flickering color.

“Just a mix I’m still trying to get right,” he replied, but she could hear the surprise in his voice at her interest. “Potassium and copper chloride, lithium chloride...some alum. Sugar and salt.”

Cassandra shook her head fondly at his list of mostly unknown, scientific ingredients, still mesmerized.  “It’s beautiful.”

“Yes, it is,” he responded groggily, but she could feel his eyes on her, instead.

Cassandra felt her cheeks redden and she offered him a small smile, uncharacteristically self-conscious with the attention.  She felt warm all over.  “How are you feeling?” she asked finally, replacing the jar and coming to stand at the bedside.  

Varian shrugged half-heartedly. “Eh. Head hurts a little, but it’s not too bad.”

Translation: enough for him to mention it, though.  Cassandra frowned, tugging the covers from beneath him and pulling them up to his chest.  She stepped over to his desk and plucked the blanket from the chair. It was obviously one Rapunzel had knitted for him, large and heavy and very soft, its colors mirroring that of Ruddiger’s fur.  It...smelled faintly like Varian.  She wrapped it around her shoulders and then, after a moment’s consideration, rummaged in the armoire for an extra pillow and situated herself beside him on the bed with a quill and one of the parchment books he kept on the table.  Varian wriggled under the blankets and finally settled on his side, snuggled surprisingly - and comfortably, she realized - close to her hip.

“Okay, first things first,” she began, and Varian craned his neck to look up at her.  “You need a better lock.  Maybe more than one. And lock it every time you leave...even for just a few minutes.”  

Varian hummed in agreement, nodding against the pillow.  “I should talk with Xavier.”

“Noted.  How often do you check inventory?”

“I…”  Varian frowned.  “Not enough,” he admitted ruefully.  

“It seems redundant much of the time, I know,” Cassandra responded patiently, adding to the page, “Especially if you’re the only one in there and you’ve not left all day...but, I recommend it.  Sometimes you catch discrepancies.  We do the same with armor and munitions.”

“Makes sense,” Varian yawned.

Cassandra’s mouth twitched and she glanced down at him.  “Line of sight,” she added quietly. 

“What about it?” he asked, fighting to open his eyes again.

“We should rearrange your workspace so that your back isn’t to the door.  So that you always have a line of sight when someone comes in.”

“I hadn’t thought of that...that’s a good idea.”  

“We should also add a sentry. I’ll talk with Eugene about it.” She scribbled down a few more notes and he yawned again.  “I think that’s enough for us to start with,” she assured him, leaning over and whispering, “Get some rest.”

“...Cass, could you….?”  Varian stopped himself short, his cheeks turning pink as he burrowed into the pillow.

Cassandra set aside the parchment book and quill, brow furrowed.  She tried to surmise what he could possibly have wanted or needed that would embarrass him so after everything he’d been through.  Tentatively, she reached out to comb her fingers through the long fringe at his forehead and he sighed as if he had been waiting for exactly that... oh.  When she’d done it for him the night before, he’d finally relaxed enough to let unconsciousness claim him.  She could not help but smile now as it seemed to work again.  He really was a tactile creature.  

“How’s that?” she asked, her thumb circling gently at his temple.

“Mmm.”

“Mmm?”

There was barely a grunt, but he seemed to nestle in just a little bit closer.  She sighed and sank into a more comfortable position, allowing her eyes to close for a respite.  Just a brief one, she compromised with the part of herself that railed against the domesticity of the whole thing.  The rain continued to patter at the window and it was warm, cozy, and... nice , she decided, with Varian tucked against her side and breathing deeply.  She would slip out once Varian was asleep.  Her fingers continued threading through his hair and he hadn’t stirred in the slightest.  As she began to drift off, herself, Cassandra had one last thought before the morning sun would finally wake her hours later:  that Euguene’s ridiculous grooming habits had worn off on Varian and she now had the perfect dig that would drive Eugene bonkers.

Varian’s hair was definitely thicker and softer.

[whitecatindisguise]

Let Me Make You Proud 12

Welcome again. Remember some chapters ago when we brushed upon Moon!Varian? Well, it’s back now!

Enjoy new chapter. We’re almost half-way through the story.

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Chapter 12: Maybe Then You Will Realize

Varian woke up with a start. He looked around in confusion and noticed it was still dark. Somewhere during his tear-up he had to finally fall asleep. But, then, what did wake him up in the first place? 

A creaking noise caught him by surprise and he quickly turned his head towards the sound. The door to his room were open. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the vision didn’t disappear. They weren’t wide open, but there was a slight crack, suggesting they were really unlocked. 

Puzzled, and a little bit curious, he quietly slipped down to the floor and approached the entrance. He gently pushed the door and they opened wider with a loud creak. He flinched at the volume of the sound, his heart thumping. He waited, but no one seemed to come. Intrigued, he pushed the door even more and peeked outside. The corridors were empty, and there was some ominous atmosphere in the air, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. 

He quietly slipped out of the room and sneaked down the corridor, passing by void rooms. There was no sound, apart from the quiet shuffling of his feet. Varian didn’t understand what was going on. Where was everybody? He was aware there were only around twenty people in the compound, but there was NO WAY he didn’t meet anyone on his little stroll. Something was not right. 

Going by his memory, he visited the cafeteria, his lab and the room where he had a talk with Andrew (or more like threat about killing his dad), but all of them were empty. Growing more suspicious by the minute, he tried to visit other places in the facility. What surprised him, however, was the fact he wasn’t able to see anything else. Apart from the places he knew, every unfamiliar turn of the corridor or door seemed to lead to a dead end. 

“What’s going on?” he wondered out loud, staring at another wall blocking his path. He was wandering the corridors for hours now, and didn’t meet anyone nor could visit the places he hadn’t been to before. 

He tried using potions from his lab to melt the walls or even break his way through them with his automaton, but it all turned out to be futile. All it did to him was lower his supply of alchemical mixtures and destroy the automaton he worked so hard on building. 

“What is it with this place?!” He shouted in frustration as he slipped down to the floor and stared at the ceiling. 

Then, suddenly, he heard something. His head shot up, his eyes scanning the surrounding. Was his mind playing tricks on him already? Or did he really hear something except for his own breathing? For a few minutes nothing happened and he started to believe he’s going crazy, when he heard it again. 

A quiet sound, somehow familiar, sounded from one of the corridors. He rushed back up and quickly followed down the track, his ears and eyes open for anything. The sound was getting louder, the further he went, the unmistakable chittering causing involuntary flipping in his heart. 

“Ruddiger, is that you?” He called out and the chittering answered. He quickened his pace and broke into a run, following the voice. He didn’t even notice leaving the familiar site behind him, moving deeper and deeper into the compound. 

He exited the corridor and found himself in an enormous room with only one door leading out. He called out the raccoon’s name again, flinching at how his voice echoed in the room. He heard the answer almost instantly, coming from behind the door. He ran up to them and pushed but they didn’t budge. He tried pulling the doorknob, but it didn’t help the case either. 

“No way… Ruddiger, are you there?!” He pounded on the door and heard a scratching on the other side. He hit the door in frustration. How come he was so close and couldn’t get past the blasted door? “Ruddiger, don’t worry! I’ll find something to open that door!” He called out and turned around. His eyes scanned the room and then he felt his heart skipping a beat. The way he got into the room was gone.

Terrified, he ran up to where he remembered the exit from the tunnel was and started checking the wall, hoping to find some kind of mechanism to reveal the entrance. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He repeated, his hands frantically moving up and down the wall. “How is this-? I’ve just entered through here! It’s not possible!”

“Is it…?” A voice from behind startled him. He turned abruptly and stared in shock at the person standing in the middle of the room. 

“Zhan Tiri” He breathed out, moving closer to the wall behind him. The demon laughed and stepped closer, despite seeing the terrified look Varian was giving her. 

“Nice to see you too, Moon Child.” She said, her mouth forming a malicious grin. “Hope you had a good time, playing with your toys while I was gone.”

“What do you-? Why even-? Where am I?” Varian was stuttering, the demon making him uncomfortable. 

“Not the real world, that for sure.” Zhan Tiri replied matter-of-factly and moved away, her back to the alchemist. “I am sure you remember the first time we met, don’t you?”

“So… this is a dream?” He asked cautiously. There was a malicious giggle and Zhan Tiri’s head turned back at him, the rest of her body staying the way she was. He flinched and let out a startled yelp. 

“Why, of course! Why wouldn’t it?” The answer didn’t sound so calming as it should be. Zhan Tiri turned the rest of her body so she wholly faced Varian now.  

“But why am I here? What do you want?” He pushed. 

“I think I made that obvious, Moon Child. It’s time you’d finally awaken your powers.” She replied and Varian flinched again.

“I-I’m telling you, you are wrong! I don’t have any powers!” He argued.

“Are you sure about that?” Zhan Tiri simply asked and lifted her finger, pointing at his head. Confused, he looked up and shouted in surprise. His hair stripe, the only blue he had since he was little, was glowing, turning lighter by the second.

“What’s going on?! What did you do to me?!” He shouted as he felt (yes, felt!) the rest of his hair turning blue and flowing upwards. He let out another startled yelp, when suddenly a black rock sprouted from the floor in front of him.

“Embrace your powers, Moon Child!” He heard Zhan Tiri’s voice but was too freaked out to actually see her. Everything was spinning and he saw more black rocks appearing around him. “Face your destiny!”

He cried out in pain, as a powerful explosion took place. He felt his body tearing apart from the inside, the unfamiliar power growing inside him. 

~~~~

Varian woke up screaming. His heart was thrumming and it took him few minutes to calm himself. Terrified from the vision, he grabbed his hair and pulled it in front of his eyes to see. He let out a sigh of relief, when they turned out to be as black as usual, except one blue stripe. 

“It was just a dream.” He said to himself, calming down and taking deep breaths. He heard knocking at the door and someone asking if everything was alright. “Y-Yeah, just a bad dream!” He called out nervously and the person on the other side grumbled something about waking people up. Varian took another breath and got down from the bed, readying himself for another day. Something caught his eye, and his heart stopped.

In the middle of the room, sprouting from the floor… was a black rock. 

[bestworstcase]

I am in fact new! You have a very good blog, I just love analyzing and discussing about characters, it gives you a new and different perspective about themes:

welcome then! the reason for the wry response is the varian vs cass villain arc / redemption / forgiveness is something i do talk about an awful lot here. though granted my tagging is messy and inconsistent so i’m sure finding old posts is a nightmare

anyway, i think it’s sort of interesting to compare varian and cass in this sense because... 

1) there’s nothing varian does that cass doesn’t also do in some capacity and vice versa

cassandra slips varian truth serum to get the moon incantation out of him. varian slips everyone in the castle truth serum to cause chaos / a distraction so he can steal the sundrop flower.

cassandra attacks corona, causing widespread destruction with the rocks. varian attacks corona, causing destruction and several serious injuries, first with a repurposed automaton and then with mutated ruddiger. 

cassandra kidnaps varian to bait rapunzel into a trap. varian kidnaps arianna to bait rapunzel into a trap.

cassandra threatens eugene’s life to force rapunzel to do what she wants. varian threatens arianna’s life to force rapunzel to do what he wants. 

cassandra unfairly blames rapunzel for things that were totally outside of rapunzel’s control (gothel abandoning cass); varian unfairly blames rapunzel for things that were only partially under her control (rapunzel allowed varian to be kicked out, and was too preoccupied to check on him immediately, but it’s not her fault that frederic sent people to attack varian and cover up the black rock problem, and it’s not her fault that fred lied to lull her into a false sense of security vis a vis varian’s safety). 

cassandra used the mind trap to force the brotherhood to attack innocent coronans; varian built a whole army of automatons to attack all of corona. 

cassandra attempted to personally murder rapunzel and eugene; varian attempted to personally murder cassandra and arianna. 

cassandra fell in with zhan tiri and ultimately took over corona under her guidance; varian fell in with the separatists and ultimately helped them take over corona. 

cassandra used mind control on the brotherhood; varian was complicit in the magical brainwashing of rapunzel’s parents, and attempted to replicate that brainwashing on a massive scale. 

there’s definitely like... different degrees of severity here. varian drugging the whole palace with truth serum is a lot worse than cass drugging just one person with it; cassandra single-handedly razing corona and driving everyone out of their homes is worse than varian sending a giant mutated raccoon to rough up the guards. but honestly at the end of the day... they were about equal in terms of the amount of damage they did, and how far they were willing to go to achieve their goals. 

2) their spirals into villainy are both sparked by acute trauma + no support network, and neither of them acts rationally

varian is a fourteen year old child who accidentally (he believed) killed his own father. his village hates him. his only friends aren’t there to help him, and he doesn’t understand why. his only companion is a raccoon. he has nobody to help him, either with the quirin problem or with working through his grief in a healthy way. 

so he gets angry, and he externalizes blame, and he lashes out, and he gets himself in way over his head and before he knows it he’s a literal terrorist being locked up in a cell with other terrorists. who then proceed to further radicalize him, probably by showing him empathy and emotional support, so he joins their cause and keeps on digging the hole he’s in. 

cassandra is a repressed adult balanced precariously on top of an enormous mountain of childhood trauma so bad that she repressed all memories of it. infant/early childhood neglect fucks people up for life, childhood abandonment fucks people up for life, and growing up with emotionally distant parents like cap fucks people up for life. any one of these things would be traumatizing. cass had all three. and on top of that she feels neglected and unvalued by her friends, with nowhere to turn for help.

into this situation walks zhan tiri, who says, i see your pain, i see your anger, you’re right, what happened to you was wrong, i’m here for you, i can help you heal. i can help make the pain stop. and cassandra falls for it, for the same reasons varian falls in with the separatists. she’s hurting and nobody seems to care except zhan tiri; that’s a powerful thing. and then once she takes that first step and that first decision to trust what zhan tiri says, it’s easy for zhan tiri to gently lead her down the path of blaming rapunzel for all her problems and acting violently toward rapunzel to fix them, until it reaches a critical mass where cassandra starts thinking that way all by herself. boiling frogs, and all. 

3) in terms of their redemptions, rapunzel actually treats them the exact same way.

rapunzel isn’t the one who decided to toss varian in prison with a terrorist for a cell mate. that was fred. after he promised rapunzel to help varian instead. 

rapunzel’s treatment of varian is this: he expresses remorse for what he’s done, she forgives him, she renews their friendship, and without hesitation she gives him the opportunity to help fix the mess he made. she saves his life by kicking him off the ship before it blows up, even though he was willing to die to save corona / redeem himself. she sticks up for him when others doubt him. 

her treatment of cassandra is the same: she defends herself, her loved ones, and corona itself from cass’s attacks, but she never gives up hope that cass will come back into the fold. and when cass expresses remorse for what she’s done, rapunzel forgives her, renews their friendship, and without hesitation gives her the opportunity to help fix the mess she’s made. cass DOES die to save corona, and rapunzel brings her back (ie the same thing she did when she kicked varian off the ship, except she was running a little late this time, but it’s ok because rapunzel is a necromancer). 

the only difference is that cass then leaves corona and varian doesn’t, but like, if corona was still in ruins from the separatist attacks, and rapunzel couldn’t free quirin from the amber, and varian said “i want to leave corona to search for a way to free my dad,” do you really think rapunzel would have been like “no you need to personally help rebuild corona first”?