#Varian is cool too I do love him - just not as much as Eugene

[morganlyfe]

I did not expect to become obsessed with the Tangled animated series in 2023 but here we are.

I love how all my friends were convinced I’d want to cosplay Varian but I’m over here screaming about how great Eugene is.

[theatricalmage]

The brainrot took over and so here's a vat7k hadestown au!! Don't know if I'll develop it fully but I liked designing it at least!

More info under the cut:

- Varian, the Coronan royal alchemist, tasks himself with deciphering an incantation capable of bringing the world back into tune. Times are tough, and the royal family + Quirin are doing their best to cope with the meagre crop yields and desolate weather (Corona not really being the sunshine kingdom - hasn't been for a while). He wants to help and do good and I think he'd be a good Orpheus.

- Hugo, having moved about from place to place, still has his interest in alchemy and does what he can to get by. He plans on temporarily staying in Corona before looting, but he encounters a certain like-minded scientist at the Snuggly Duckling. I think him being selfish works especially well in Eurydice's role, having a more pessimistic view of the world. It also works with how he gets drawn to Donella's offer of working for her later on, leading him to his death.

- Ulla as Persephone! I was initially stuck on whether to have Rapunzel (and either Eugene/Cass) as her (and Hades) but I was drawn to the connection that Hugo has to Donella and the Donella/Ulla relationship in vat7k just works too well. In this case, Ulla won't be Varian's mother. She's still gonna be somewhat of an inspiration to him though, being the previous Coronan royal alchemist and for her intelligence. For half the year, she'll return to Corona with food, drinks, and alchemical compounds/inventions, bringing Spring and Summer to the world, if only for a bit.

- Donella would be such an interesting Hades, losing sight of her love for Ulla, heart filled with fear and hurt, leading to bitterness and cruelty. Ingvarr being Hadestown and how by being the esteemed Ingvarrian engineer, she'd be in charge of major technological advances across the kingdoms and so would wield a significant amount of power (like how Hades is literally the ruler of the underworld). Ingvarr essentially being a near death sentence for its workers while also displaying its technological prowess, all still shrouded in mystery and corruption - a place so otherworldly compared to the rest of the kingdoms.

I didn't want to modify the outfits too much nor the personalities,, if anything I imagine the general plot beats being the same as the original musical/story but with slight differences that'd you get inherently as a result of these characters. I wouldn't want it to be the case where it's just the show but the names are changed. I'd want this to still make reasonable sense in this AU, with the actions being understandable for this particular cast of characters.

For Hermes, I ended up picking Xavier, as he's most knowledgeable of old legends and stories, which would work in reference to the Hades and Persephone myth (and so Donella and Ulla)! He'd act as a mentor figure for V, someone who can guide him in uncovering the forgotten incantation. Quirin would still be the good supportive dad he is (even if he doesn't fully understand his son's project).

Last but not least, the fates!! often lurking in the background, I'm still a bit stuck on who it could be? I'm tempted to have it be Raps, Cass, and Nuru as they've had celestial connections at some point (and ya know how stars can represent fate), but I also love the freckled siblings dynamic so much. Also Team Radical... Maybe Raps and Cass can be their normal selves but their Sundrop/Moonstone counterparts are the manifested physical forms of the fates? They wouldn't be visible to the characters though, just voices in the wind.

Anyways yeah!! Those are my thoughts. Do let me know if you've got any cool ideas or questions. I'm really combining my interests at full force and there's nothing anyone, not even myself, can do about it quite frankly. 😮‍💨

[antiquepearlss]

sinces its basically fall i have an itsy bitsy question for u

who in the tts cast do u think likes pumpkin spice drinks/food/idek atp and who do u think, thinks its a big fad/dislikes it?

personally i think rapunzel likes it, varian is kinda "eh" about it(he enjoys hot cocoa more), eugene thinks its a big fad(but he dabbles in it from time to time), lance likes it more than raps, catalina and kiera DESPISE it, and cass doesnt like fall that much bcuz shes allergic to pollen(she also hates spring bcuz of pollen)(cass being allergic to pollen hc)

I’ve now seen two people say Varian wouldn’t like pumpkin spice lattes, but I disagree. I headcanon him as both a coffee drinker and a sweets lover, so naturally he would love very sugary coffees. Not necessarily 99% milk (like Rapunzel) but he’s always getting sweet lattes, frappes, and various affogatos and cappuccinos. And I think as someone who grew up eating a lot of pumpkin pie and various pumpkin treats (as Quirin is a pumpkin farmer), I think he would enjoy a psl, especially if it includes real pumpkin. But yes, hot chocolate is the superior beverage to him.

I agree that Rapunzel and Lance also love them, and Eugene doesn’t really care for them but will drink one for the sake of being trendy or for matching instagram pics with Raps or Lance. Eugene is someone who is committed to being trendy and setting trends (to an extent ofc) meanwhile Rapunzel and Lance just like them. Even if Rapunzel more often than not gets cream based pumpkin spice Frappuccinos than lattes (look she doesn’t really like coffee okay.)

And yeah, I can’t see the girls liking them either. Cat doesn’t like coffee, she prefers tea, and Kiera thinks they’re too sweet, she prefers diet mtn dew. Same with Cass and Hugo, they don’t drink it either. She drinks her coffee with like, one sugar packet and an ounce of milk. (I can see Cass and Cat drinking pumpkin spice chai tea) Hugo also strikes me as someone who prefers his coffee black, because it’s more practical and “cooler,” and he really doesn’t care about being trendy. If anything, he doesn’t drink them to avoid being “basic.” (also I hc he hates pumpkin)

I can see Cassie liking fall but hating pollen, and despising spring, so she prefers winter. She likes it when everything is dead and isn’t bothering her (like bugs or Rapunzel stopping her every twenty seconds to point out a cool flower.) Also I love her being allergic to pollen that’s weirdly funny to me.

[paintbrushnebula]

How would you have fixed/ wrote tangled the series if you were the executive producer/ creator?

How would you have fixed/ wrote tangled the series if you were the executive producer/ creator?

Hoooboiiii good question!! Haha because like, I’m actually kinda prepared to answer this, because I’ve thought about what I would’ve liked out of a Tangled sequel and, tsk I gotta tell you it’s very VERY different from the series XD 

However even though the series isn’t my idea of a Tangled sequel, if I was at this moment granted a wish that would allow me to magically alter the series as a whole, retroactively, I wouldn’t remove anything that the series introduced, because I like a lot it. I like Varian, I like Lance, I like Adira, I like Bruce Campbell, I like all o’ dem fools. Oh and the bangin’ SONGS YELL HEAH! Good food ^^. I also think the Sundrop and Moonstone stuff, the Demanitus stuff, even the Zhan Tiri stuff all sound cool on paper. Queen for a Day was pretty unforgettable for me so I’m not itching to change that in any major way. I honestly wouldn’t want to change the whole series in any major ways. Just, y’know, fix what’s there. Improve the flaws. Develop the underused characters and backstories. Make Eugene’s story mean something and matter. Make Quirin’s note mean something and matter. Add more moms for crying out loud. Explore Rapunzel’s trauma and actually SHOW us her recovery iIn full detail. 

Oh wait. Actually I WOULD make a dramatic change: Arianna is the focal parent NOT Frederic. That’s literally going hand-in-hand with “write Rapunzel’s recovery better.” She needs to see what a good mother looks like. 

OH KRIFF ONE MORE THING XD yeah Cass being Gothel’s daughter is SOO OUT XD 

Moonsandra can stay but she’s gotta have better motives and an actual set goal or smth Jesus

The Zhan Tiri disciples song a villain song. Heck, Zhan Tiri gets a villain song. OOOF could you imagine Zhan Tiri getting a song in the same vein as “In the Dark of the Night” from Anastasia??? That’d be so cool, oh jeez. 

Also I’d have the broadway stars be casted a little more creatively, like, I love what they did with Eden Espinosa, Jeremy Jordan, and James Monroe Iglehart, but I wish they went even harder with it. Gavin Creel being casted as that disciple (I dont remember his name) is exactly what I mean. Get Andre De Shields as someone! How about Susan Egan? Ooooh please could we get Aaron Tveit in there somewhere? Sigh, in my dreams I guess. 

Oh, and make sure they actually get to sing ^_^

One last major change would be to make Eugene’s mom live alongside Edmund. Literally I dont get the big issue media has with doing the “estranged parent” trope and restricting it to one parent (who is usually the father). Like what is it with Hollywood and writing BOTH parents? What’s wrong with a seasoned older husband and wife reuniting with their son, becoming key supporting characters in the story? 

I like Edmund too much to get rid of him, so. Why not have two cakes? 

Oh btw Eugene’s mom would be Susan Egan. No debate. 

Also I’d have the score be directed a little differently. Have actual leitmotifs that aren’t using music from the songs (as much as I like when that happens). Give Rapunzel and Eugene a “love theme” that also gets used for any time any other character is growing as a person or going through changes, like some type of “dream” theme that represents that character having and pursuing a want or goal. Then when Cass or Varian become evil, you twist that “dream” leitmotif to sound sinister because their “new dream” is something dark and twisted. Then you take that and incorporate it into their themes to make villain themes. Could you imagine if Varian and Cass had leitmotifs used when they were good, then when they betray Rapunzel, those leitmotifs are musically altered to sound sinister??? 

WOof, sorry, this was ramble-y and has poor grammar/sentences. I hope this is all readable XD

[zonerobotnik]

Which Epic songs and animatics do you like best so far?

Well, you know this one, with "Ruthlessness". I have watched it over and over so many times that it's hard to compare it to others. But, I'm eager to see what WolfytheWitch comes up with. Honestly, though, that's probably the only one I particularly like of the Ocean Saga. Speaking of WolfytheWitch, I really love their animatics for "Warrior of the Mind" and "My Goodbye". Actually, I'd say that I watch their animatics the most. I also like "Open Arms", it's a fun little song and I actually had it on repeat while working on my DemonDipper&GoddessMabel picture that I posted recently. It also makes me think of Rapunzel and Cassandra during "Freebird", up until the lotus-eaters part. Another song I like, that is a little underappreciated, is "Fight Little Wolf". In a sort of unrelated but also kind of related note, I kind of picture these kinds of moment with Varian and Eugene during the week he kept trying to go back to the Capital. That reminds me, I need to go back to writing that... And then there's the two Hermes songs which are just...a vibe. Here's a bonus animatic of "Dangerous" by the same person that did the second animatic I linked with "Wouldn't you like". I don't like it as much as the first, but it's still cute. "King" is always cool to listen to, and I'm looking forward to it being finished so we can hear it's final version. "Hold Them Down" has some interesting animatics, but this song, especially the second part, makes me feel ick like "Blue" from Heathers. It's an intensely uncomfortable song to listen to. "Polyphemus", "Survive" and "Remember Them" are all really intense songs, and I don't really listen to them unless I'm watching an animatic. Then there's some songs I'm not especially fond of but have some cool animatics, like "Penelope: The Challenge", "God Games", "Done For", and "There Are Other Ways". I dunno, I just don't care for those as much as the other ones. Though, "Done For" is wriggling its way into being one I like. "There Are Other Ways" is giving me "Say No to This" vibes, though he at least had the decency to not do anything without being blackmailed into it.

Special mention for "Legendary". It's a neat song, but I don't know if it's a fave yet. The animatic is cute, though, and I'm looking forward to the final recording. I am not even going to touch on the Troy Saga songs. They're good, they are, they just...it makes me want to punch Zeus in the nuts with a battering ram for making him do that. And there's some really good animatics for them I have seen, but I can't bear to rewatch them after the first time. I really can't. As a mother, seeing him drop that poor baby...it's too much for me. Well, aside from "Full Speed Ahead", that's a good song. Wait, is that in the Ocean Saga? It might be. Since most of the musical isn't done, it's hard to know my final opinion on it, but this is what I think so far.

[meganwasbored]

I posted 5,515 times in 2022

That's 5,318 more posts than 2021!

193 posts created (3%)

5,322 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@placid-skies

@incorrect-tangled-quotes

@nerdasaurus1200

@meganwasbored

I tagged 669 of my posts in 2022

#tangled the series - 206 posts

#varian - 186 posts

#tts - 174 posts

#tangled - 145 posts

#rta - 127 posts

#rapunzel - 109 posts

#rapunzels tangled adventure - 87 posts

#incorrect quotes - 81 posts

#varian the alchemist - 74 posts

#eugene - 67 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#‘come to our movie it has tom holland in it and look at that he’s got a nice smile and guess what ladies sometimes he’s shirtless’

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hiccup headcanon that’s already sorta canon:

He’s really good at archery. Like really good. Like can-hit-a-bullseye-while-flying-on-the-back-of-one-of-the-fastest-dragons-known-to-man good. Well, maybe not a full speed, but you get the point. When he was designing his shield, a built-in bow/catapult was the #1 thing he wanted it to have because carrying an entire bow around every mission along with the shield would be too much of a pain. He discovered this talent when he was little, but he was never that proud of it because it wasn’t a big heavy weapon so he thought it wouldn’t impress people much because his strength was his biggest weakness at that point. After he trained the dragons, he realized exact how good he was (back to the can-hit-a-bullseye-while-flying-on-the-back-of-one-of-the-fastest-dragons-known-to-man thing again). He doesn’t use this talent that much on missions because, well, he’s got a flying war machine.

573 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

#4

If Hiccup lived now he would definitely be one of those ppl who have headphones in 90 percent of the time.

730 notes - Posted March 12, 2022

#3

I love how Httyd girls have names like:

✨Astrid✨

✨Heather✨

✨Mala✨

✨Atali✨

And then the guys are all like:

👹Hiccup👹

👹Snotlout👹

👹Fishlegs👹

👹Mulch👹

900 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

#2

I hate how Httyd 3 is just like bad fanfiction. Everything is ooc where do I even start? Toothless playing stupid games with grimmel when it would’ve taken one shot to annihilate the old man. Toothless not absolutely destroying the light fury the second she shot at Hiccup. The dragon riders just letting the mind-controlled deathgrippers get crushed and electrocuted when all they had to do is take the tube off of them and bam new dragons on their side. Why exactly is Berk overpopulated??? What happened to dragon island??? What happened to all the other islands Hiccup has on his map??? What happened to the giant mountain of empty space that they just aren’t using??? You’re telling me not ONE of those places can house the dragons??? Where exactly are their allies? I get that they weren’t there in the second movie because rtte didn’t exist yet but why not now? The third movie was supposed to be more for the ppl who have been in this fandom for years so why not give them their allies from the series? I’m just mad, this wasn’t what we wanted nor what we deserved.

1,449 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I’ve always loved the foreshadowing in Httyd 1 in that scene when the terrible terrors were trying to steal fish from Toothless so he shoots a little fireball in its mouth and it lit the gas inside of him (or however that works idk dragon biology) and Hiccup said “not so fireproof on the inside, huh?” and then at the end of the movie in the battle with the Red Death instead of trying to hit it on the outside (because he knew that wouldn’t work) he shot it on the inside only this time it’s big dragon so big explosion. I just think that highlights how observant and resourceful Hiccup is because that was one moment on a random day that most of us would’ve forgotten and he remembered it while fighting the biggest dragon he’s ever seen in his life and used it. Hiccup is so cool.

1,641 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[readbyred]

hello, here to request varian x female or gn reader dating headcannons!

reader is just absolutely SMITTEN with varian.

she’ll talk ab him to rapunzel, lance, shorty, xavier, basically anyone who’ll listen

she loves sketching him and you can tell its taking all of her willpower not to squeal in happiness at how much she loves him

and maybe just how he’d react? like eugene cant keep a secret so he goes to varian and is like “sooo, y/n talks about you ALL the time” and varian is just flattered and whatever lejdkskd

sorry if this was long or hard to understand!

Varian x smitten!fem!reader

I don't think anyone would purposefully try to hide that from him actually

Like, everybody just goes “eh, young love” and continues living their lives

Monty would always ask Varian about his ‘girlfriend’ everytime he comes around to the store

And Lance would send him a conspiratorial wink every time you crossed paths with Varian

So, though it wouldn't be any actual news, it would be common knowledge

You come in, ramble about your crush, exchange town gossip, mention Varian again, talk about current events, say something about Varian and go

That was simply your thing since you fell for him

But no matter how unamusing it is to the townsfolk

This boy can't get over the fact that

You??

Like????

Him?????

Like how when and why

He’s a certified simp

We all know

But he never had anyone like him back (bc our guy went for an adult-)

He's not even too used to people liking him for him

Even platonically

And the way you’re smitten with him just sends him over the moon

He’d always ask around if you’ve been saying anything about him lately

Tries to play it cool but can’t

Cassandra just wants to do her job but every time she gets pulled into giving him a report on what his crush said

He tries to act like he doesn't care but everybody knows how much your comments mean to him

No matter how long you two have known he still gets blushy when you draw him

In return he calls you “m’lady” and tries to flirt

Which ranges from sweet but silly to downright hilarious

Also he talks a lot about you too

And makes things for you

Like he's always tinkering and half of the times he's making you a gift

Rapunzel is your biggest fan I swear

And Eugene loves to give Varian advice

Very bad advice

Like pls somebody stop him-

In general I think it's good for him that you don't shy away from giving him affection

The way you praise his looks and personality helps him when his self-esteem gets low

You just make him feel wanted and loved

And he's very thankful for that

[pansy-picnics]

I need more next gen. I am starving. Pls. What are UD/varigo like with their niblings. Is Eugene the fun uncle. Who had a hero crush on Hugo. Stuff like that.

IVE BEEN MEANING TO DO SOME CONTENT OF THIS FOR A WHILE HEHEHE THANK U….. i’ve been collecting sketches for this for a while so it’s gonna be a long one

emery loves their aunties and uncle and rapunzel and her partners all spoil them to DEATH its so fucking cute

they’re very into botanical and herbal sciences, so she does a lot more hands-on and in the moment studies than varian and hugo, who usually stay cooped up in their lab most of the day. rapunzel especially loves going out with her on hikes or nature walks whenever her dads are busy, and they do field journals and stuff…. sometimes others will join them on their little trips but for the most part it’s just something the two of them do together. they garden a lot too, obviously, and raps listens to her infodump for hours on end

em also absolutely ADORES her aunt cassie, as she has dubbed her (it definitely got varian a few death glares at first, but he swears up and down he didn’t teach her anything). she loves hearing all the stories about her adventures and is especially fascinated by her cartography. cass also loves to collect weird things, like feathers, funny looking rocks or crystals, animal/fish bones, reptile skins or wings of insects, various things from deceased creatures she’s come across on her travels. emery finds this stuff incredibly cool, since they love animals

whenever cassandra travels out of corona for a bit she brings home lots of flowers and herbs and things for them to study, along with plenty of pretty trinkets and baubles for both them and the twins <3

that’s jusr like one of her love languages she’s like a crow. just gives people shiny rocks and sticks she found, and sometimes jewels/little hairclips/rings/generally very fancy things she definitely stole. sometimes nobody knows what to do with them but they keep them because they love her

eugene is absolutely the fun uncle but like, only when yong’s not around bc he easily solos eugene any day. no hard feelings it just is what it is

but yeah eugene always does the best storytime voices, especially with the flynn rider books bc hes been doin this for YEARS hes got DECADES of experience bro. sometimes the kids encourage him to act out the scenes in which he tries his best but fails miserably while lamenting about his old man bones

rapunzel and cassandra both laugh at him and sometimes will try to pick up where he left off

and, speaking of flynn, with another kid in the castle eugene finally gets another chance to play his favorite game: how long can i have this child convinced that i am the REAL flynn rider in the flesh

the answer is quite a while and it will eventually lead a very pissed off alchemist to storm into your room ready to beat the shit out of you

eugene definitely helps them get away with shit especially considering he’s trying to get revenge on the years varian and hugo spent being menaces to the twins. it is actually CRUCIAL that hugo and varian stay childless for a good 5-7 years after the twins are born because they get that long to be Goofy Ass Uncles and nothing more

no bc theyd literally be the worst most irresponsible mfs imaginable bc they’re both fucking around the whole time trying to impress the kids but they start getting rlly overly competitive about who they like more and fighting about it while the twins are just along for the ride

so. they DO still end up being the favorite uncles just. not for the reasons they think

they’d be like, showing the kids all sorts of projects they have around the lab but theyre just so much more hyperfocused on one upping each other- varian would do tons of interactive experiments so they can get involved and be hands on with everything. it’s just simple stuff obviously, baby science

but hugo on the other hand is more keen to giving them eye candy. fancy machines with cool lights and noises and the like. he does this with kids in town already, they always know him by name and like to play with olivia so he knows how to get the attention of children, but varian thinks it’s cheating so they get into a really stupid argument about it

varian: HAHAHA hugh you’re KIDDING right. that’s nothing they dont even know what’s going on its just a big machine that makes fancy lights and noises

hugo: ??? ok but that’s all you really need isn’t it?? it’s not like kids are all that hard to impress. plus you cant get on my case when yours is just some vial that changes color. you can at LEAST give them something cooler than that

varian: ??? HUGO I CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH THEYRE LIKE FOUR😭 at least MINE is educational. it teaches them about alchemy while helping them develop critical thinking and motor skills

hugo: oh my gods var it’s not that deep😑 like work smarter not harder you know what i mean?? it’s not like they’re our kids we don’t have to worry about that stuff

varian: IT’S NOT EVEN ABOUT THAT THOUGH it’s about captivation and keeping their attention. kids have really short attention spans, fancy gadgets may look cool but they’ll get boring in like five seconds. if you get them involved with the process and allow them to understand the craft they’ll be WAY more interested and-

varian goes into a rant before hugo cuts him off being all “ok fine well if you’re so confident lets ask what THEY think” and varians like “FINE” and so hugo turns around in a huff and realizes both the toddlers are Gone.

and he’s just “,,,,,hey um. hey var. love….where did the twins go” and varian whips his head around like “YOU FUCKING LOST THEM????”

so obviously they both freak the fuck out and are scouring the entire lab making sure they arent off drinking some dangerous chemicals or some shit but like, both of them are smart as fuck so it turns out they just walked off in the middle of their argument and went to go steal sweets from the kitchen. cass, raps, and eugene all chew them out for it later. they get more responsible when emery comes along but like….yk not that much AUDJSJDHDSNS

on the topic of stupid uncles, i should mention that though they love all of them dearly…lance is kind of the favorite like 90% of the time

cuz see eugene along with hugo still continue to be a bit overprotective and paranoid with the kids at times. varian is usually very laid back but when emery hits her teen years he starts to worry a lot more, while hugo mellows out considering that’s where vars own life went downhill LMAO. if there’s anyone who will indulge them and let them get away with ANYTHING it’s lance.

there’s such a blatant and vast difference between your first time parents who are always overthinking everything and worrying about whether they’re good parents or not and your cool, unmarried uncle who already adopted and raised two teenage kids in his 20s, is in the prime of his life and doesn’t technically have to take responsibility for you at all

granted though, the twins have had everyone wrapped around their little fingers since their birth

immediately after the twins were born, everyone in the castle (and even those who weren’t) all collectively pitched in to help as much as they possibly could. especially considering rapunzel struggled a lot mentally in the first few months of her kids’ life, the whole family was very determined to make the time as stress-free as their abilities would allow

one thing they found out quickly was that the twins absolutely adored varian. which obviously confused the alchemist and left him feeling quite helpless considering 1. kids hardly ever liked him (he usually got bullied by them) and 2. because of this he. didn’t really know what to do with kids. ryder once fell asleep in his arms and he lowkey panicked bc he had NO idea what he was supposed to do

when the anxious new parents were finally able to let people be alone with the babies, varian ended up being a pretty regular sitter. to the point where he would have little baby slings in case he needed to hold them while he was working on small projects or something. people would even frequently assume they were his and he eventually got tired of explaining they were actually his niblings so he just let people think whatever

before theyre born hugo jokes around like “lmaooo i dont even like kids” but he’s lying thru his fucking TEETH. hed die for them.

also alina thinks hugo is SO fucking cool (obviously considering he cut her hair based off of his) but also em admires hugo more than either of the twins could ever possibly comprehend. i havent drawn it enough since most of what i’ve drawn of them is them bullying each other but thats just their love language of course emery picked up on it. past the age of like 10 emery would rather die than admit how much she looks up to her father but hugo Knows <3

its not to say em doesnt admire varian, because she loves both her dads equally!!! but because hugo also came from an orphaned past being with him made emery feel a lot more safe and understood during her first few years at the castle. hugo knew what it was like to suddenly go from having nothing to having Everything and he knew it could be really stressful, especially for a little kid….having someone who understood that was really comforting to emery.

because of this though hugo tended to be the paranoid mother hen type, especially compared to varian who was a LOT more laid back and wanted to give them the freedom to trust their own judgement and make mistakes. it was tough to balance these styles at first but emery genuinely loved them both, even if hugo’s fussiness was a bit annoying sometimes

in fact the reason emery dubbed hugo “mama” in the first few months was not because they could sense his massive amounts of Gender (well like, partially, but it was about a month or so after that before the ‘are you a boy or a girl?’ question finally came up), but instead because hugo’s constant doting on her reminded them of their birth mother

varian and hugo dont know much about emery’s birth family or what happened to them, considering she doesn’t say much in her younger years and eventually forgets most of what she didn’t; but she seems to have cared a lot about her birth mother, and frequently still misses her presence.

whenever those waves of emotion are too much for her to bear, hugo is there to comfort her- and he assures her that despite never even meeting them, he still misses his birth family, too, but that it will get easier, and no matter what, she’ll always have people who love and support her

anyways thats all i have rn *opens my head and puts my brain back in it like the little frankenstien dude from nightmare before christmas* idk when ill have more content of them but the next time i do it’ll probably be that drawing with rapunzel kissing both her partners on the lips and both of them being so romantically in love with her /hj

[crowniko-ink]

I am alive :D

And to prove that here are some random tts headcanons teehee

• Varian has abandonment issues HAHA

• The gang sometimes low-key forgets that they're all only-children, like, they all adopted each other and forget they're not each other's real siblings LMAO

• Someone: So, your highness, as an only child, you-

Rapunzel: What-... but I'm not an only child tho :/ ....OH YEAH WAIT-

• For someone so small, Varian is able to buy a whole cake and eat it all by himself in one sitting

• Varian is very twitchy is the kind of a person that can't stand/sit still and has to at least bounce his leg or something or do something with his hands

• Arianna teaches Rapunzel french

• Maybe Raps even tries to flirt with Eugene in french GKGJFVJ

• Rapunzel: Tu est très béant :)♥️

Eugene, who knows french: ...What-

• She meant to say tu est très beau/You are very handsome and instead she said "you are very gaping" but she's trying her best okay :(

• Eugene hides his trauma and pain with humor (that's basically canon tho)

• Like, he claims that he doesn't want people to see him cry because he's an ugly crier but that's just a funny way hiding the fact that he doesn't wanna cry in front of people because he thinks it makes him weak :( I guess growing up on the streets just makes you have this mindset

• Lance loves braiding Catalina's hair (cuz he's bald HAHA)

• Rapunzel loves braiding her own hair too, but after she looses her hair, she can't braid it much, so she braids everybody else's that's longer than hers!

• So now everybody in the castle has little braids in their hair <3

• Rapunzel has a special pair of shoes that she wears specially for Varian's lab (cuz of broken glass ect.) so every time she's walking in the castle wearing them, everyone knows where she's going

• Cassandra sends everybody letters after she leaves Corona and they're usually accompanied by some cool thing she found on the road (usually some kind of a weapon tho lmao)

• Like for example a baseball bat with hammered nails in it that she sent to Rapunzel!

• Aka "ur gonna need better weapons that kitchen utensils to defend urself raps"

[nerdasaurus1200]

*cracks knuckles*

Okay so

Regarding the brotherhood, I've seen the headcanon that Adira is autistic floating around a lot, especially lately. I find it really interesting, cause it's cool to see adults Adira's age with disorders. I feel like we don't see a lot of that in media. For Edmund, as sad as it is I LOVE the headcanon that the reason he thinks out loud so much is because he's talking to his late wife. And before DC, he was probably talking to baby Eugene too. I dunno if it's a headcanon or not but I love that the fandom has just taken Hector and been like "Dis is feral boy. He takes naps in bushes and just lives out in the woods and Moonstone only knows when we'll see him again but rest assured he will pop up." For Quirin, I think my favorite headcanon is that he was the leader of the Brotherhood. It makes sense in my head cause he's clearly the only brain cell. And bonus round, my favorite headcanon for Vedis is that he betrayed the Brotherhood before the evacuation.

And now for the main gang!

Rapunzel- I definitely enjoy the headcanon that Rapunzel has a lot of internalized toxicity. Sometimes I'm honestly surprised that's not confirmed canon by someone. Also, the idea (I think @kazoosandfannypacks came up with it) that Rapunzel will randomly stick her hands in Eugene's pockets. And the headcanon that Rapunzel has BPD

Eugene- I love the idea of him becoming an author post series. And the idea that Eugene has adhd is slowly growing on me

Cassandra- Literally anything having to do with her disorders. OCD, dissociative amnesia, synesthesia, dyslexia, gimme all of it

Lance- I love the headcanon of him eventually getting a kitty named Clovis

Varian- My favorite headcanon for Varian is probably him being partially deaf from all the explosions he's next to, and him having ADHD

Keira- Oooh this is a tough one...I like the idea of Keira becoming part of the Corona guard eventually. Like as a hitman or something

Catalina- It's very obscure but I love the idea of her and Yong becoming a couple sometime post series

Pop quiz! What’s your favorite headcanon about the Brotherhood and the main Tangled gang?

Pop Quiz? Oh no, was I supposed to have studied all my previous headcannon posts??? I AM NOT PREPARED!!!

Lol, but in all honesty, I think one of my favorite headcannons about the Brotherhood would be that Hector and Adira are both neurodivergent (Adira being Autistic and Hector having ADHD, specifically). Not only does it explain some of their behaviors in the show, but the fact that I have both Autism & ADHD makes it easier for me to explore/explain them as individuals in my fanfics.

My fav headcannon for the main gang would probably be that Raps has internalized a ton of toxicity from her years with Gothel, but she doesn't want to be a toxic person. Her intentions of helping others, seeing the best in everyone, and being a bubbly, kind person are genuine. But because of her upbringing, she doesn't have the skills to accomplish those goals without trampling on the boundaries of everyone around her. (That doesn't excuse her behavior, it just provides an explanation for why she acts that way.)

I think these headcannons also summarize my two deepest and most strongly held writing goals when it comes to fanfiction. 🤣 Thank you for the ask @nerdasaurus1200 ! Now it's your turn, what are your favorite headcannons for the Brotherhood and the main gang?

[justaaveragecryptid]

Random headcanons because I was hit with ideas (light very light angst warning for some of these besties)

-Hugo loves winter and when he and Varian where traveling with the whole vat7k gang they got hit with some snowfall, nothing to serious, and Hugo loved it. When he went to tell Varian and the others Yong and Nuru got excited but Varian just shut down. Hugo figured Varian wasn’t a winter guy and left but found him having a panic attack later that night, he helped Varian through it and heard a little bit about the blizzard and Quirin getting trapped in amber.

-speaking of the blizzard, Varian suffered from frostbite that went untreated for sometime, luckily he found a doctor who worked with criminals so Varian wasn’t worried about judgment, but he did deal with some nerve damage and can’t feel much in his fingers. He and Cass often talk about their damaged hands and even joke about it

-the girls (Catalina and Angry) often still steal some things out of habit, usually from their friends and they always return them after a few days to a week. Later they learn Eugene did this too

-whenever Varian and Hugo are next to each other with expensive items behind them (candelabra’s and stuff) you can comically see Hugo sneakily grab it, Varian taking it from him and putting it back, and Hugo grabbing it again just in a repeating cycle all while their still talking and holding eye contact with them

-Cassandra has to get her burnt arm amputated for various reasons, it messes with her head for a bit but she gets used to it, and Varian makes her a super cool prosthetic arm

-speaking of which, you know how a lot of people give Hugo a prosthetic leg in fics, I imagine like two years after Hugo loses his leg Varian loses an arm in some sorta lab accident of course in the beginning hugo is terrifying and comforting his lover but after a couple years they joke about it and love to show how functional their prosthetics are (bonus: they make all the pub thugs with missing limbs prosthetics too)

-this one’s kinda random but I like it, faith is a lesbian. The first person she tells is Cass who assures her “it’s okay to like girls instead of boys” and it just becomes and lesbian older sister telling her younger, also a lesbian, sister how to talk to girls (Cassandra’s advice sucks and never works) and such

-varian and faith are surprising besties, part of it is their just the same age, but also because faith used to live in old corona, and the kids are all super close and if your bullying on of the other kids your kicked out of the group. Varian and faith immediately recognize each other and even say their childhood nicknames for each other, just rushing up and saying “var-var?!?” “Fae?!?”

-Eugene and Varian are constantly doing weird bs that’ll totally backfire later, all the castle staff just see them running pass them and are like “oh! There’s Varian and Eugene” “I wonder what their gonna do with three barrels of hot sauce?”

[roseworth]

Ooooh how about 9, 10, 11, 12 for Tangled/Series with the salt asks?

salty ask list

9 - Most disliked character(s)? Why?

fuck i know this is such an obvious answer but zhan tiri, mostly because in my head shes sort of the representation of a lot of the wasted potential of the series :( the entire show was building up to a Big Boss Fight with zhan tiri but then it was just cass and rapunzel while everyone else was dying on the ground :/ and then it ended with her just. connecting her wrists and everything was solved. that is so boring! give me a cool fun big fight! why are so many of the main characters not there for the final battle against the big bad! at LEAST let lance eugene and varian be there??? theyre main characters too??????? anyways i am angry and bitter. zhan tiri ended up being such a boring villain (her final form wasnt even cool?? all the stories and flashbacks looked so sick but then she was so. Nothing.) and it was clear that there was so much backstory with zhan tiri and demanitus that we didnt get to see! like they had one flashback that we saw that was missing context and didnt even explain what happened or what was going on :( AND AND AND zhan tiri's history with gothel was just brushed over :/ :/ she even has a line to cass that was like "run! just like your mother!" or something like that and its like WHAT! ARE! YOU! TALKING! ABOUT!!! what did gothel do! why should we care!! bitch!!!!!

anyways. long story short. i dont like zhan tiri because she should have been better.

10 - Most disliked arc? Why?

hhh i know i just talked about this earlier today but. cass's villain arc drives me up a fucking wall. it should have been so good it should have been about her relationship with rapunzel and how she was always outshined. i wouldnt even mind the gothel twist that much if they had used it as a jumping off point instead of her entire motivation! if it was just the final straw for cass feeling abandoned, then i would be fine with it but instead it was literally the only thing used in the important episodes :( there were even little moments throughout season three where we were teased with the possibility of another motivation, but then once we get to cassandra's revenge its just "grrrrr rapunzel you killed my mom that hated me!" and its just weird and i Do Not Like It. i said a little more about it here too if anyone is interested in me being a bitter hag

11 - Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

stalyan :) i do love to angst and make headcanons about her being abusive but its not canon (theres a little bit of canon that you can use to support it but sometimes i choose to ignore that bc cool girl is cool)

idk! i just like the idea of her kinda just being influenced by her father to act on her worst instincts then once she gets some distance from him shes like "okayyyy so that was fucked up, oops" and moving on with her life outside of the baron's empire! i just think shes neat :) she has done many things wrong but i am willing to forgive her

12 - Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

listen. i LOVE the terapi island arc. i get that people dont like it because it halted the plot for a few episodes and threw them off course but i just think that its soooo much fun :') first of all rapunzels dress is so cute (green dress supremacy), and i think that there were just some nice moments from the characters in all the episodes and it was nice to just let them hang out on a weird island for a bit! i really liked serafina (seraphina? idk) i think shes a cutie and her episode was fun (shoulda been a lance episode though, every day i wish that hookfoot wasnt in season 2). i get everyones problems with it and i agree, however i am willing to look past all the issues because i had fun

[tangledbea]

So excited for your Eugene project! Also a bit sad that he isn't as appreciated as he should... What would you take as iconic or visually beautiful moments in the series, about him alone or New Dream? I'm genuinely asking because I do remember cool scenes of Raps and Cass before taking the moonstone, in the last episode, reenacting the film... but not with Eugene (apart from some cute kisses and the last proposal and them floating with lanterns, which is rather from the film). Thanks a lot!

Oh there is so much great Eugene and New Dream!:

The race to the wall at the very beginning of the series

Rapunzel walking into her coronation and Eugene exclaiming an awed, "Wow!"

Eugene's entire heartfelt confession (when he thought he was talking to Rapunzel but it was really Pascal)

Their first window seat chat at the end of TBEA

As Varian's lab is coming down around them and Rapunzel tells Eugene to go and he says, "I'm not leaving without you! I love you!" and she says, "I love you too. More than you will ever know."

The cheek kiss on Max's back that melted our hearts

The training montage in "Fitzherbert P.I." (one-armed push ups and wink, anyone?)

Her pinching his cheek after he was "complaining" about being "second place to a frog"

Her first time in the snow, when she's overjoyed and playful and he's all hunched in on himself and grumpy

Their farewell in "Queen For a Day" when he's going off to find her parents

At the end of SotS when she passes out from using all that power and he rushes up to catch her and she wakes up and kisses him and says, "Hi!"

"Beyond the Corona Walls" - the whole episode. So much iconic and visually beautiful stuff in that episode.

Their date at the beginning of "Vigor the Visionary"

Him getting stabbed on the boat and dropping

Her playing with his nose in "The Brothers Hook"

The climax of "Lost and Found," when her hair regains its magic and levels the entire maze and when it parts from its protective shell, Eugene is looking up at her in absolute awe and then stands up and hugs her

"Everything I Ever Thought I Knew"

All of their parts in "Stronger Than Ever Before," like him spinning her under his hand and them holding hands and twirling, supported by lanterns, or them walking down the isle arm in arm or her sliding down the banister into his arms

Them sitting on the rooftop together at sunset

"Tsk, tsk, Captain! Never bring a crossbow to a sword fight."

Him sipping tea with his pinky out, barely containing a smile

Him climbing into her reading nook to hold her as she falls apart

Them signing the new Day of Hearts book together, and being the first signatures in it

The way his jacket moves as he's fighting multiple Casses

Rapunzel presenting Eugene with the ring she intended to propose to him with and him realizing what it's for

Them chatting and snuggling on her bed at the end of the adventure

"This room is full of magical artifacts aNd I dOn'T kNoW wHaT aNy Of ThEm Do!"

And I literally and deliberately did NOT list everything.

(And you are talking to the wrong person if you think Rapunzel and Cassandra reenacting any part of the movie was beautiful, because I just thought it was cringy at best and infuriating at worst.)

[finnoky]

AU where Quirin takes and raises Eugene after the DK falls

•| Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts |•

Oh you have no idea how much this enables me - I stand by Quirin raising Eugene until the end of time bc it’s what they BOTH deserve

1) Oki so, here we see Eugene taken away as a baby without disclosing an EXACT location — that will not stop Quirin though, who had a stance against cutting him off completely despite it being Edmunds orders [It made sense to send the boy away but to send him to an ORPHANAGE was another story] Quirin finds Eugene a month or so after they get separated, during that time he found a house and a stable farm to raise a kid on [Gotta have an income] and then promptly goes to the orphanage and adopts Eugene.

By then, Eugene’s name has already been changed and frankly... Quirin thinks it suits him, though he occasionally slips up and calls him Horace. He feels a duty to raise the Prince but also kinda has a “My son now” mentality! Disagrees with Edmunds choices + decides... His kingdom is doomed, so he’s gonna ensure Eugene gets a stable upbringing with KNOWLEDGE of the Dark Kingdom without necessarily telling him “Oh BTW you’re the prince”. Being a father is hard and he struggles a lot, esp in early days, it’s a whole new challenge from being a knight but... Not one he really regrets?

Cue some fluff! Knight-dad trying to raise a baby and establish a life in a new country — Over time he grows and becomes Village Leader + Develops a bond with the monarchs based on his knowledge and previous high-rank in society from being a knight! Gets offered a guard position but turns it down in favour of spending time with his toddler son. Eugenes first word is Dada and Quirins never felt so content. Baby fluff of Eugenes milestones — Quirin has Eugene helping on the fields as soon as he can toddle without tripping (tho it’s mostly Eugene playing and running around while Quirin works) Toddler Eugene is a little darling and knows exactly how to use his cuteness to get praise and sweets

2) Eugene starts thievery / acting out soon after Quirin dates and marries Ulla, though it soon become a hobby he usually indulges in with his friend Arnie [though they take on the names of the coolest book characters Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow!] Quirin thinks it’s just a phase and leans into the whole calling Eugene ‘Flynn’ because... He really loves the books, that’s not too odd? Though he doesn’t know of crimes + just thinks they go out to play a lot. Eugene ignored Ulla for the first few weeks because he doesn’t like the idea of someone new staying around — He doesn’t hate her, it just raises a lot of questions about his mum that Quirin doesn’t know how to answer... He resolved on the explaination that she was very sick and couldn’t take care of him anymore, though loved him dearly — it’s enough to placate him.

Eugene doubles down on stealing when he’s 10 and suddenly there’s gonna be a new baby in the house. [He doesn’t WANT a sibling + worries Quirin will love the baby more than him since he knows he’s adopted & all that though is too scared to ask] Eugene grows an attitude and Quirin finds himself exhausted and constantly caught in petty bickers as Eugene keeps running away + acting up, especially to his wife (Who loves Eugene very much, of course) ‘Flynn’ declares he wants to travel the world and be far away from step-mums and nasty babies, uhhh Domestic fall out stuff?

Things change when baby gets here and suddenly Eugene is a big brother and Quirin is MORE distracted, sometimes they forget to even read him a story and he can’t stand the squirmy little creature... All it does is cry and take what little attention his misbehaviour had earned him... So naturally, petty crime continues + Eugene starts caring less about getting caught, so it becomes more risky. He and Lance befriend some bad influences and start taking Big Kid Crime. It’s fun! Until Eugene is brought home by a guard and Quirin gives him the silent treatment for the next week. Quirin... He loves his sons, both of them, but he just isn’t sure how to handle a distressed 11 year old and a baby, it feels like there’s not enough hours in the day and Eugene is SET on making life harder for everyone.

Eugene stays against ‘Varian’, frequently makes the baby the villain in his games and makes him cry on several occasions. It gets even worse when he starts crawling bc now he can’t get anytime alone, it’s just frustrating! The solution probably comes when Varians starting to talk and he says ‘Oo-gee’ as one of his first words — ‘Lisa’s first word’ style — and Quirin and Ulla admit that Varian is obsessed with Eugene. It’s sorta a wake up call for Eugene to start trying to get along with the kid, and it works! He finds it fun to teach him things & have someone to talk to (even if he just babbles back) By the time Eugene is 12 he’s calling Ulla mum and love spending time with his little brother

3) Right! When Eugene is about 18 he picks up theiving again, mostly because he isn’t suited to the farm life and it’s easy money (Plus how else is he gonna achieve his dream of financial independence?) He moves out the farm under the guise of finding a new life with his best friend, though they quickly realise it’s not amazing when they get tangled up with the Baron + his antics. Eugene visits home every so often and claims everything is fine, it’s going great, he doesn’t need any extra help + his life is just dandy. His dishonesty mostly bc he doesn’t wanna worry Quirin and there’s been a bit of a strain since Ulla passed away.

Life keeps on like this. Eugene ages, steals alchemy supplies for Varian and hides his true income source because he wants to make Quirin and Varian proud! Varian grows up to be more headstrong in what he wants because he has someone standing up for him and telling him he’s proud, though the longer Eugene spends away the harder it gets? He loves it when Eugenes here! But the house feels empty without him, and Quirin is so busy + stressed from Varians experiments that there’s still that desire to do more, prove himself.

4) Movie diverts a bit! Eugene finds out about the hair glow and thinks... If one person knows about this then it’s him, and takes Rapunzel to Old Corona over night rather than a campfire. Varian is ecstatic to see him though gets confused by a random girl Eugene claims to have just found — He’s about to ask questions when Eugene asks if Varian could do his magic thing to find out about her hair. Varian insists it’s alchemy and agrees, dragging Raps down into the lab! Boop gothel talks to her when Varians gathering all the equipment and talks her ear off about how cool Eugene is and asks how they found each other since the story is weird... Experiements start!

Meanwhile Eugene is talking to Quirin, when Quirin pulls out a wanted poster and puts it on the table. He finally found out about how bad Eugenes crimes are and wants answers. Now. Eugene sits and tries to explain its not what it looks like, but Quirin doesn’t wanna hear it. The disappointment is evident and Quirin criticises “I thought you grew out of this, what role model is this for Varian?” Eugene doesn’t have an answer but argues his case that it was to be reliant — and he doesn’t wanna do it anymore anyway! Quirin accuses him of using the girl, while Eugene insists her name is Rapunzel and he’s just helping her, get the crown, be set for life and never have to bother him again.

Their argument is cut short by a Varian coming back upstairs looking frazzled, says there’s something about the magic that’s familiar but he can’t place it — sure is strong tho, and continues gushing and asking Eugene for all the details of what he’s been up to. Eugene... Explains, his usual light-hearted rendition of a great quest, while Quirin leaves and stays upstairs the rest of the night.

Varian sees them off in the morning! Hours after they’re gone Vari is still looking into the magic thing — that’s when he remembers the old legend about a sundrop... about how it saved the Queen... About the Princess. Varian sneaks out the house and heads up to the lantern festival to tell Eugene and Rapunzel his revelation, but he gets there just as Eugene is being lead away by guards. Varian finds Max and tells him how they need to free Eugene + basically... Helps him escape with fewer pub thugs and more alchemy. When they get to the tower Eugene tells Varian to stay on the floor and climbs up to help Raps - Varian stays at the bottom of the tower for approx 10 minutes before finding the back entrance and climbing up. Figure he gets there just as Gothel deages, it’s suddenly and before anyone knows it Varian is the one pushing her out the window bc he saw a stabbed Eugene and put two and two together. Then! Cue New Dream scene, except Varian is sitting on the floor in shock a distance away... After New Dream hug Eugene looks at him and Varian admits that “Ok, magic isn’t that bad”

5) Oh god the series! First off — Raps is closer with Varian in this (that’s becoming a theme...) so doesn’t just throw him out into the blizzard when he comes asking for help. Instead he and Eugene go back to Old Corona together after the storm, Varian isolates himself from guilt + has a tough time dealing with what happened, but he lives in the castle as Eugene starts getting angrier with the king and wants answers for what happened. He’s the one that finds Dark Kingdom stuff and he and Varian work on it together... Eugene has a suspicion he came from the Dark Kingdom so when the rocks start pointing there he’s like dope!

No villain Varian joins them on the trek to the Dark Kingdom + it’s all fun and games, Eugene tries to get more answers from Adira as they travel but she says it’s not her place to say... All he needs to know is the kingdom fell, and everyone was evacuated... She’s almost annoyed as she explains it, then Hector is treble annoyed when he finds out Eugene was raised by QUIRIN since that went against the direct orders... Though Adira defends it and says he was doing his duty of keeping Eugene safe, it’s basically a rift between them that’s confusing until they get to the DK and the revelation happens.

I feel... Moongene could be a thing in this AU? but since I’m running out of points I’ll leave it with Cass taking her canon role! I will point out! when Quirin is freed initially only Varian runs into his arms... Eugene hadn’t really spoken to Quirin properly since their movie fallout & he’s not sure he belongs... Until Quirin holds and arm out to him and pulls him into the hug too (PARALLLELS) and we get a happy reunited family (tho with some issues to work out regarding somethings... they need to rebuild trust, but work on it slowly. Edmund stays ‘Edmund’ to Eugene. He sees Quirin as his father & doesn’t push as much to reconnect with Edmund... Though that makes it easier in a way. There’s less pressure once Edmund understands and they form a friendship, but Quirin is Dad 100% (Sometimes Edmund gets called Dad 2))

[zonerobotnik]

HC time:

Rapunzel and Eugene have twins, a boy and a girl.

Varian gives them his whole heart.

Loves being an uncle.

Spoils them rotten to the nth degree and invents enough toys to fill out the playroom in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow.

Then things get awkward.

When they are between 8 and 12 years old one of them says "I will marry uncle Varian and he will always be with me."

The other says "No, I will marry him."

That becomes a sort of running gag.

Until they are teenagers and the hormones kick in and they actually start having a crush on their cool uncle.

And Varian isn't going to do anything about it aside from politely tell them that he's not interested. By the time they're teenagers, he will be in his 30s, assuming they were born when he was still in his teens and not in his 20s, and the fact they are like family to him makes them even further off-limits. They can crush all they want, but he will just say "you'll outgrow it" and "you'll find someone else. I did." if they actually made it known to him. He likely also discouraged the "I'm gonna marry you" comments with a "By the time you're old enough to marry, you'll find someone else" reply. He loves them and spoils them, but his affection for them will never go beyond platonic. Not only because of the fact that they are like family to him, but also because he respects their parents too much to even try anything with either of their children. Eugene and Rapunzel would never forgive him if he did, because it would put a lot of question into his closeness with them before if he starts becoming romantically and sexually involved with children he helped raise.

[aj-illustrated]

*pulls up a 97-slide PowerPoint* I’m so glad you asked

Ben is an OC co-owned by me and @finnoky! The short of it is that he’s an orphan who Varian helps save from a life of crime, and who later gets adopted by Quirin!

More about him under the cut:

Age: About 12

Birthday: He has no idea, but thinks it might have been sometime in the autumn.

Likes: Quirin, Varian, farmwork, tending to the sheep, his dog (Achilles), the Challenge of the Brave (spectating and later competing), adventure stories, head pats, strawberries, friendly roughhousing, drawing

Dislikes: Cramped spaces (he’s claustrophobic), people hugging him, carrots, books with complicated words, cold weather, any kind of tight or scratchy clothing

Fun Facts:

Ben meets Varian about nine months after the end of the series.

He’s good friends with Kiera and Catalina! They’re the only kids his age who can beat him in a fair fight.

He eventually grows to be taller than Varian, and absolutely uses that fact to tease him.

He’s an excellent pickpocket, though he hasn’t stolen much of anything since Quirin took him in.

He’s got a knack for drawing— he’s not too good with words, so he finds it easier to express himself with pictures. He’s also a leftie!

He’s been almost adopted several times, but Quirin is the only foster parent who kept him around for longer than a month.

Backstory: Ben is an orphan who’s been given a raw deal in life, and as a result is kinda pissed off at everyone and everything all the time. The orphanage he grew up in was lacking to say the least, and he spent much of his early childhood being routinely abused and neglected, often lashing out in aggression at those he deemed to be a threat (which was most people). He eventually starts getting into trouble with the law and is tossed in prison for multiple counts of petty theft and assault, and it’s around that time that he meets Varian, who is helping to reform Corona’s prison system and is disgusted to see that they’re still punishing children as if they were adults.

He gets Ben out of prison, but the orphanage refuses to let him come back, so Varian convinces Quirin to take him in. Quirin agrees for a few factors: 1. Ben reminds him of Varian when he was going through a rough time, and how Quirin wasn’t able to help him then, 2. He’s not getting any younger and could use some help around the farm (plus Varian has been worried about him getting lonely, now that Varian has basically moved into the castle), and 3. The kid deserves a shot at having a healthy, stable home life.

Ben only agrees to go live with Quirin because trying to survive on the streets is no picnic, and also because he’d really rather not stay in prison for any longer than he has to. He figures that it won’t last, anyway— Quirin will lose patience with him and kick him to the curb, just like every other foster parent/guardian he’s been handed off to. He gets very confused (and a little annoyed) when Quirin turns out to be incredibly patient and willing to give him as many chances as he needs. In response, Ben acts out and does everything he can think of to convince Quirin that he’s rotten to the core, but nothing works.

Ben doesn’t want to get his hopes up or let himself get attached. He manages to annoy everyone else: the other villagers, Varian, even Eugene (who visits sometimes), but never Quirin. The most he ever gets out of him is an irritated sigh.

Throughout all of this, Ben is also finding out that he kinda likes helping out on the farm, and he’s pretty good at it, too. He’s very strong for his age, and a fast learner.... except for one thing: he can’t read. The orphanage had tried to teach him, but it never really clicked and they had long since given up on him, so he just never learned, instead relying on pictures and context clues to figure out the meaning of written words. As he continues to grow more attached to Quirin, he starts wanting to be better, to deserve the love and acceptance Quirin is offering him, so his self-consciousness about reading (among other things he doesn’t like about himself) really starts to bug him.

While he's sociable and generally gets along with other children, he does have the flaw of a short temper. So when he's targeted and called out for his apparent lack of academic intelligence, things get ugly, fast, and he gets in a fight. When Quirin asks later what it was about, Ben is reluctant to tell him, and is even less enthused when Quirin later suggests enrolling him in school.

He eventually admits to Quirin that he’s illiterate, expecting to get belittled or even compared to Varian (who is an actual genius and is kind of intimidating to Ben). But Quirin.... he doesn’t care that Ben can’t read, and even offers to help teach him or find him a tutor if he wants to learn. It’s after letting himself be vulnerable and accepting Quirin’s help that Ben starts to wonder if maybe... maybe he has a shot at being part of a real family.

He starts to let himself feel at home in Old Corona, thinking (or rather hoping) he’s found somewhere he belongs... as much as he hates to admit it, he really likes it here. So he tries to keep on the straight and narrow so he can stay longer, even making an effort to be nicer to Varian (who is more than happy to help him with his reading and is the one to introduce him to the Flynn Rider series). For the first time, Ben’s future is looking bright.

Until he loses his temper again.

On a visit to the capital, he passes by his old orphanage and gets in an argument with one of the kids he used to know (and wasn’t on particularly good terms with). The argument quickly gets personal, and then physical, and Ben takes it way too far— by the time the guards arrive on the scene to break it up, the kid Ben was fighting is a bloody, mangled mess, about a minute away from passing out. The guards don’t care what awful things that kid said to Ben; all they care about is that this boy with a history of violence and petty crime just savagely attacked another child, and Ben is swiftly arrested and taken to the dungeons.

At this point, Ben has cooled down enough to realize just how serious his situation really is. Even if they let him out of prison to go back to Quirin, he’s sure this is the last straw and that Quirin won’t want anything to do with him— he’s violent and dangerous, and no matter what he does he can’t seem to stay out of trouble, even when he really does try his best to be good. He hates himself for blowing his one chance at finding a home and family, and consoles himself by thinking that it was only a matter of time and at least the wait is over (boy’s got some raging self-loathing issues if you haven’t noticed).

Varian gets word that Ben’s been arrested and heads down to the dungeons to hear his side of the story, but Ben is too ashamed to even look him in the eye. Ben was told by the guards that, although he won’t be left to rot in the dungeons or thrown onto a prison barge (as per the new regulations regarding juvenile justice), he’ll be sent away to a correctional facility for delinquents— aka, reform school. Ben has no idea what to expect, but based on what the guards have been saying about it (very loudly, just outside his cell), it sounds no better than regular prison.

Varian is having absolutely none of this and contacts Quirin to tell him what’s going on— Quirin is up at the castle within the hour to try and bail Ben out, or at least renegotiate his sentence. However, since Quirin is not yet technically related to Ben— for the past year or so, he’s legally been closer to a parole officer than anything else— the law states that he can’t actually do much to interfere with Ben’s bail or sentence, especially since the boy is a repeat offender and is now classified as a menace to society.

Instead of giving up on the situation, Quirin decides to become Ben’s legal guardian right then and there, whipping out the adoption papers he’s been keeping in his vest for weeks— he’s been wanting to ask Ben if he’d like to be adopted for a while now, but he could never find the right moment. Now seems to be as good a time as any.

It takes a day or two to sort things out (Nigel and Fred both aren’t too keen on releasing a violent criminal for any reason, even if that criminal is like twelve), but Varian is able to pull some strings with Raps and Eugene to give Quirin full guardianship over Ben. Meanwhile, Ben is expecting he'll be shipped off any day now— when he sees Varian come back down to the prison with a guard, he expects it's to say goodbye... not to remove his shackles and lead him back upstairs to the throne room, where Quirin and Rapunzel are waiting beside a stack of paperwork. They only need one more signature to make the adoption official: Ben’s.

Luckily, Varian and Quirin have been helping him practice writing his name, and once he signs, Quirin tosses Raps the bail money (which she had whittled down to like two coins) and they head back home— Ben’s permanent home.

Ben’s story is a result of many many rambles between me and Feen on Discord, and I don’t think we’re gonna be stopping anytime soon— Ben is such a fun OC to flesh out XD

Feen and I are actually running a Q&A for Ben over on Feen’s Instagram story, y’all should go check it out!