#but I feel like set certain hints that Cass was essentially losing her mind

[dulcewrites]

Fmo ask did alys have Aemond's kid if so was it a boy or girl?

Nah she’s went to a better place before that could happen if you know what I mean lmao. But more than likely it would’ve been a boy like in the book (though in my headcanon I like the idea that alys and Aemond had a girl. #girldadaemond5ever).

[originaldisneydescendants]

So some time ago I had a kind of weird Tangled dream... and it turned into a theory... I won’t tag for spoilers since it IS all just a hypothesis but if you don’t like them then I might suggest you keep scrolling just in case.

Before you start reading though, keep in mind that if you think I ship these two in ANY way that is inappropriate for their current ages or Disney in general, I will PERSONALLY put together a large southern gospel choir to knock on your front door and sing you a very loud and glorious “NO.” I don’t even ship Rapunzel and Eugene that way and we KNOW they get married. SO WIPE THAT FROM YOUR THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW!! THIS. STAYS. INNOCENT.

EDIT: Please read the WHOLE thing before sending me messages.

After I had noticed how many parallels there were between Rapunzel and Eugene with Cassandra and Varian (both in Great Expotations and in general: EX. both involve an older character that starts out rather cynical and guarded who began life as an orphan then slowly lets down their defenses with the younger, perky, passionate, creative, buck toothed, freckled, son/daughter of some influential leader, (that’s not even all of the similarities) and if Eugene really IS 26 and that’s what the show seems to be suggesting with him appearing with his adult design in a flashback that takes place 8 years prior, and if Cass IS 22 as I suspect she is, then that would mean they have the EXACT same age gap and all four characters are four years apart from each other). I... don’t think that’s sheer coincidence. Along with what could be read as possible foreshadowing (Ex. Andrew calling Cassandra “Cassie” in an episode set immediately after Great Expotations and “venomous cobra man” is a lot more suiting now than it used to be, etc.), I started to wonder if maybe it was possible that they could end up someday, being a foil pair to our romantic leads?

HEAR ME OUT.

I didn't think much of it at first because I’ve been way off on predictions before, I wasn’t in full favor of shipping them yet, and I thought I could simply be misreading and the parallels are all just coincidence until the very night that this occurred to me, I dreamed of the episode 'What the Hair?!' and everything was the same except when everything came crashing down the dialogue was switched so it was now Cass and Varian saying Raps and Eugene's lines and even making the same expressions, holding hands etc. but they were still in the same locations that they actually were on the show (I've had a lot of theories for a lot of shows but as far as them making it into my dreams, this is a first).

I woke up very confused because I thought it was canon and was wondering why fans weren't paying any attention to it. You'd think they'd be losing their minds! After I woke up a little more I thought...

"Wait! That never happened! It couldn’t have! 1.) 14 and maybe-20-something? They can't get away with that! This is Tangled, not The Garden of Words! 2.) They just met like five minutes ago! YEESH! That’s fast even by Disney fairytale standards!!"

^^^That boy's face says "I LIKE you, but not in a 'You mean the world to me' kind of way, more like a 'Wow, I just noticed how attractive you are. Are you free this Friday?' kind of way."^^^

I almost outright dismissed it as disturbingly nonsensical but didn’t because the more and more I thought about it, the more the possibility of them ending up together at some point down the road actually started to not only seem plausible... but actually make perfect sense for a LOT of reasons!

Think about it! First off, if the show itself is centered around Rapunzel and Eugene's romance then wouldn't you expect any secondary relationship on the show to be just that? A foil? A complimentary opposite? Classical music vs Rock and Roll? The very earliest they could really even suggest that Cass maybe starting to reciprocate or that she could someday have romantic feelings for Varian would probably be at the very end of the show when he is likely to be more matured both physically and emotionally and all conflicts have been resolved. This would also explain why it seems like it's always hinted at that Cass could have a romantic interest in the future, but a real one hasn't been introduced yet (at least not one that we'd recognize right away). This also makes sense in that the crew behind the show might not want to develop another romance on-screen and risk overshadowing the main pair with new characters.

"Besides, I don't have time for dreams. My dad taught me at a very young age to focus on the here and now." - Cassandra in Cassandra v Eugene.

I read her keeping the rose Andrew gave her at the end of Under Raps (especially after her earlier expression of distaste in the idea of romance) as her saying "Yeah, the whole thing was a total charade, but I actually kind of enjoyed it and I might not be opposed to having a REAL romance with someone SOMEDAY."

Ways that they would be a foil could probably include how it takes years for them to develop into anything romantic rather than just a day or two, it’s an older girl with a younger guy rather than the other way around, nocturnal animal friends vs diurnal which I pointed out in a linked post above as part of a sun vs moon motif (I've noticed a lot of background imagery tying Cassandra to the moon so there's some theory fuel for ya), and how, while we already know that Rapunzel and Eugene live happily ever after, almost NOTHING is certain about the future for Cassandra and Varian at this point in time like whether or not they’ll even end up still being friends. Neither of them are in the Ever After short so there's that too.

Something else I noticed is when this show tends to emphasize something, it seems like it is subject to change and contrast seems to be a major theme in this show. ( @starxapple ) As ‘Kevin’ pointed out, Varian’s cuteness/sweetness was very played up in the first episode and he called out how this meant Varian would became a villain. By that logic, it’s really played up on how Varian is a kid and, accordingly, how Cassandra sees him as such. Varian isn’t an adult, but he isn’t exactly a child either. He’s an adolescent in that confusing and emotionally turbulent stage right in between. He’s old enough to be held responsible for his actions, but not necessarily mature enough to take that responsibility himself.

This to me suggests that we will most likely get to see him really grow up on this show, backed up by the fact that it is set over a few years and no doubt Varian is FAR from a static character with a great deal of potential for growth.The whole point of his character might be to make a point about maturity and at what point should someone be truly considered an adult? 18 isn’t just some magical age when someone goes from naive kid to wise grown up because, in reality, people mature at different rates and it all depends on individual experiences. Someone lacking emotional maturity enough to be honest about their own faults and limits definitely wouldn’t be ready for a serious romance with anyone, much less an older person like her.

(My friend, Chi and I both explained why the fact that they meet before he is an adult isn’t really a problem in this post here. In fact, if they ever WERE to become a romance in the future, it would actually be essential for SOME emotional connection to be made BEFORE he became a villain for the reasons stated.)  Sorry if this chart is hard to decipher but hopefully my earlier explanation helps it to make sense.

When the show is nearing its end, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started playing up how Varian has grown up (a lot taller, more responsible, calling Eugene by his real name, they may give him facial hair etc). This growth may also be emphasized by Cassandra’s view of him changing from ‘kid friend’ to 'dangerous enemy' then finally to ‘potential romantic interest’ at some point in the future. By the time the show is over, Varian should be at least around 16-17 which (again if I’m right about Cass’s age) would place them both at only slightly younger than Rapunzel and Eugene were in the movie so I wouldn’t be too surprised if the possible foreshadowing became a lot clearer near the end, like the bouquet at Raps and Eugene’s wedding landing in Cassandra’s hands and her realizing that Varian happens to be standing right next to her.

Of course I don’t expect any kind of confirmation or denial on this outside future episodes since, again, that would be a massive spoiler if it were true, but it’s still very interesting to think about.

Also this makes me wonder what other Rapunzel/Eugene things they might paralle--?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! DON'T YOU DARE!!

But... DANGFLABBERGASKIT that ALSO kinda makes sense!! We've seen twice already that Varian feels an impact whenever Cassandra saves his life. The first time likely being what caused him to start crushing on her to begin with (seeing as how before that point, if anything, he was probably more intimidated by her and otherwise didn’t pay much attention to her at all in favor of the princess and his believed-to-be-hero) and the second time he voiced how it moved him that she chose him over her guard duties to Dr. St. Croix. This is purely guessing but how much do you think it would impact him if she got HURT saving him a third time even after EVERY terrible thing he did and in the same way that caused his dad to get encased in the first place?

I've seen other redemption arcs for other characters and it's not uncommon for their turn around to be triggered by the hero(ine) making a selfless act on their behalf despite everything they did. In fact, if they HADN'T done such terrible things, the scene where they apologize would be nowhere NEAR as powerful. Storytelling 101. If Yukine’s stealing a skateboard didn’t contribute to his friend facing painful death and his careless disregard for that fact didn’t happen then his weeping/screaming apologies would have come off as a bit overkill rather than emotionally powerful. 😝

And since there are no more healing powers and Cass isn't in the Ever After short, the stakes are high enough that it could still have a huge impact on the audience as well. Not to mention what it would say about Cassandra's growth as a character since it's emphasized in Not In The Mood that the area she could use the most growth in is compassion.

Both of their individual relationships with Rapunzel are the ones that get the most focus, which is fitting since she's the main character, so I'd be hard pressed to imagine that she isn't directly involved in some way.

GAAAAHHHH HAVE MERCY!!

For those who argue that what he felt for her was a puppy crush, I’m not going to say that isn’t the case but here’s the thing. After Varian becomes a villain, it’s pretty obvious that he no longer feels the same affection for Cassandra that he did before. If he did, safe to say he probably wouldn’t have tried to crush her. This is emphasized by how he calls her Cassandra when ‘Cassie’ was clearly meant as an affectionate nickname for her. If there was a puppy crush, it’s most likely gone already. Whoosh! Bye-bye! This would leave room for more mature feelings to become a new foundation after a redemption arc. A relationship built more on that common connection they shared in Great Expotations, rather than an action she took that may or may not really mean anything.

I can actually imagine this all happening and when the show is over, we'd be hearing things from the production team like "This was the idea all along. We didn't just decide to throw them together halfway through because people seemed to like it enough, it was always going to be part of the story. Just like how we always knew Varian would become a villain, when the episode What The Hair?! was being written, we already knew how it would end with these two."

Huh... this would actually put my dream into perfect context if true. After all, it is a complete story and Chris has said that the course of each characters' story has been planned out from the beginning. There is freedom for the writers but the backbone was set before casting, character designs etc.

I'll be honest, I wasn't that surprised to hear that it sounded like there WAS an answer but I wasn't going to get it directly from him. The fact that it seems implied that SAYING Cassandra’s age could potentially be a sort of spoiler leads me to wonder if this might be why? I mean, it is assumed that Cass is somewhere between Rapunzel and Eugene in age. Maybe I’m reading too much into it but why bother with not having a clear, direct answer, instead suggesting that it will be hinted at, unless there was real significance behind the exact number? I wonder if by "hints" he means more flashbacks since, again, The Return Of Strongbow seemed to hint at Eugene's age.

With all that said, I am 100% in favor of us getting to the series finale and having Varian acknowledge that he is STILL NOT ready for a real relationship with Cassandra just yet for two reasons. One, it would show how much he has matured with him being able to recognize that he isn’t emotionally prepared for something, and two, it would be another Rapunzel/Eugene parallel with the series premiere where Rapunzel tells Eugene that she isn’t ready to settle down and marry him just yet. I would expect Cass’s response to parallel Eugene’s with her now more developed patience and understanding giving him time to catch up with her.

All in all, I see the possibility of a romance between Cassandra and Varian as being like an acorn. Someday, after years of growth, it could be a beautiful oak.

But for now it's just nuts.

Yes, I know shipping slow burn romances is torture but because I’ve managed to convince myself that their chances of being canon in the future are actually pretty good, I signed myself up. *Puts on helmet* Bring on the pain.