Varian
"It's also the same compound that encased my father. You know, the red rocks make everybody else see hallucinations, but what I see? Is something that really happened. This stuff ruined my life. Because of this, I did- I did terrible-" Tangled
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They say there's a thin line between genius and insanity. Varian not only straddles that line, but he's set up a permanent base on it. Science, and especially alchemy are his lifeblood, and he's at his happiest when he's creating inventions or mixing new alchemic concoctions. It has made him something of the village weirdo, and before Rapunzel showed up on the scene, he clearly didn't have any friends outside his pet raccoon. Though Varian likes people plenty, he tends to gloss over that maybe not everyone is as interested in science as he is. He tends to yammer on about whatever he's working on to his friends like an excited puppy, not picking up that they're not really all that interested in what he's talking about. Even when they outright tell him so. It makes him on the socially awkward side at best and dismissive of people's interests at worst. He's very eager to share what he knows and show people what he can do- there's a deeply ingrained need to please people there. It's this desire to please others that cultivates one of Varian's most glaring flaws. Varian desperately seeks validation from his loved ones- particularly his father, Quirin. He wants nothing more than for his father to be proud of him - a motivation that pushes him through the first season while also being one of the root causes for his descent into villainy. Quirin is their village leader- a tough, hardworking man with a dark past of his own- a hundred years away from his science-minded, curious son. There's definitely a gap between them, personality-wise, and Varian does his best to bridge it, wanting his father to see what he does and be impressed. The thing Varian wants most in the world is to be praised for his efforts, to be told he's doing good and helpful things- that he can make a difference in the only way he knows how. He creates an entirely new element to impress Cassandra, who he holds a torch for, admitting that "if I could show you what I was capable of, you would see something in me, something special." He's treated as something of an oddity- with a mind beyond his time, so he tends to be ostracised, marked as 'a wizard' and 'dangerous' by the citizens of Old Corona. He's misunderstood by everyone who speaks to him, and this only makes him more determined to show what he can do and earn their praise and acceptance. The kid has a streak of righteousness to him. Varian cares, an awful lot, sometimes a little too much. He wants to make the world a better place with scientific progress- and later wants to use his knowledge to help people fight forces that might otherwise destroy them. He feels that he sees things others either don't see or choose to ignore. When the Black Rocks started taking over Old Corona, his was the loudest voice shouting to do something about them. He could see the threat they were to the village (and likely the world at large) and studied them to try and find out how to remove the threat. When his father not only refused to do anything about them but then later lied to the King about the fact they were a problem at all, Varian lashed out- arguing that their home was being destroyed and he seemed to be the only person who cared about it. Quirin, knowing the true nature of the rocks and trying to protect his son, forbade Varian from experimenting on them. This was something Varian utterly disregarded- believing his father was burying his head in the sand instead of trying to save their village. Later, Varian was the one Rapunzel entrusted with the Demanitus Scroll, knowing that he has the drive and passion to decipher what it means and would not rest until he understood how to use it to protect Corona. Once Varian has set his mind on something, very little will deter him. He's very determined, once he's decided he's in the right. Unfortunately, this righteousness and his desire for validation means Varian often fails to understand the consequences of his actions before it's too late. He has a tunnel vision when it comes to his experiments and creations. He sees what his end goal is and is willing to reach that no matter what. To him, the end always justifies the means, even when those aforementioned means dip into morally grey areas. This results in his inventions often backfiring on him or causing severe harm to those around him- simply because he failed to think through what might happen if he achieved what he was aiming for. He almost blows Old Corona sky high trying to create a hot water system for them (to make the villagers happy and his father impressed!!!) and his focus when things go wrong was that he "couldn't let it happen again" - trying to fix his mistake- rather than admitting he probably shouldn't have done it in the first place. He does, at least, try to resolve the problems he inadvertently causes. That said, most of those problems could have been averted if he'd thought about if he should do something before thinking if he could. Varian is a sassy little so-and-so, he has a sarcastic streak a mile wide and has no problem with unleashing it on people. Eager to please as he might be, he doesn't suffer fools gladly. He doesn't have a lot of patience - especially with people who might not be on his own wavelength. Lance especially tends to be the subject of his ire- delightful himbo that he is. This isn't ideal when he's usually the smartest person in the room. Ironically, for an alchemist, he has a short fuse. If he's been irritated or had any of his buttons pressed, he has explosive (hah) angry outbursts. While usually a relatively harmless trait- he cools off relatively quickly- this anger can (and did) turn into something much darker if it's allowed to fester in him. After Rapunzel was unable to help him save his father, Varian felt betrayed - and this, added to his aforementioned righteousness and anger issues turned him against his friends. He felt that "everyone turned their back on (me)" and resolved he would find a way to free Quirin by any means necessary. His tendency to allow the means to justify the end resulted in him crossing beyond the shades of grey he usually exists in and following a darker path. He thought nothing about being duplicitous to Rapunzel, someone who trusted him (and she, in turn, was someone he once trusted entirely) in order to retrieve the Sundrop Flower. When Rapunzel confronted him about his lies, he turned on her- letting lose how he felt she'd betrayed him and that she'd left him no choice and "it has to be this way". He turned down her attempts to reconcile - too deep in his anger and betrayal to accept the hand offered to him. When the Sundrop Flower failed, Varian thought nothing of attacking Corona. He turned Ruddiger into a mutated monster, unleashing him on the citizens of Corona- not caring what it would do to his beloved pet nor if anyone would die as a result. He kidnapped the Queen in order to lure Rapunzel to his lab. Past the point of simply asking for her help (no longer trusting that she would aid him willingly) he threatened the Queen's life, in order to force Rapunzel in using her hair to try and destroy the amber. When the Queen questioned him what his plans were after he freed Quirin, Varian told her Corona would have to pay for what he felt was a betrayal to himself and its citizens- his righteous streak twisted into revenge. He showed very little regard for anyone's lives at that point, even admitting using Rapunzel's hair against the amber might very well kill her. He no longer cared, he'd crossed his moral event horizon and had a laser-focus on saving his father. If that meant his former friend had to die in order for that to happen, then so be it. When that plan failed, and Varian found he had nothing left to lose, he snapped. All his anger and hurt exploded out of him, and he lashed out at his former friends. He only cared for revenge, and tried to kill both the Queen and Cassandra in front of the princess- he wanted Rapunzel to "endure the same amount of pain and agony I have". It was no longer about the greater good, or saving his father- it was about making his former friend suffer. That anger and hurt still boiled inside him as he was defeated and taken away. Varian had crossed a line and found himself capable of things he never realised he was capable of before. This was something that was used to the group's advantage once Varian rejoined the fold. Though it's beyond his current canon point, Eugene entrusted him with finding a way to stop Cassandra permnenantly. Both knew this was an absolute last resort, but Varian is also one of the few people within the group who can cross that moral line and do what needs to be done if all other options fail. In the lead up to the final battle, installed a stun mechanism in Quirin's helmet- once Eugene pointed out he was likely a sleeper agent under Cassandra's mind control. It visibly broke Varian's heart to harm his father again- but he did what was needed for the greater good. Varian carries a lot of guilt over his past actions. His year in jail gave him the space he needed to actually think about what he did, and where he let his anger and hurt take him. After aligning himself with the Saporians, he decided the only way out of the dark place he'd got himself was to erase what he'd done completely. He desperately wanted to redeem himself for what he did- but he felt no one would give him a second chance, and wiping everyone's memories was the only guarantee he could have for a second chance. He was willing to die in a suicide mission to stop the Saporian plot from destroying Corona- begging Rapunzel to let him "clean up his mess". Even after he earned his redemption and became part of Rapunzel's inner circle again, he is haunted by his shame and guilt. This came to a head when they needed to deal with the Red Rocks- Varian admitting to Rapunzel that what he saw in them weren't visions of his worst fears (as they were for everyone else), but reminders of what actually happened- of what he did. He came clean about how he felt no one would ever really forgive him and how he felt that most of the kingdom hated him- adding that he didn't blame them for this at all- that he did terrible things and he deserved their ire. He tackled these fears, but they have not left him entirely. When he tried to reach out to Cass- to convince her that the path of revenge would not end well for her, he opened up plenty about just how much his villainous period still bothers him. He told her it would leave her with a "permanent mark" and in carrying on this way she would "lose her faith and lose her soul". His desperate plea to her made it clear he's still very much haunted by his past and he's not as content in himself as he's been making out to the others.
Deer info here Varian is a baseline human with no actual magical/powered abilities but he's by absolutely no means helpless. Varian has a genius-level intellect and can create mechanical objects beyond his time period, can create a wide range of non-magical potions, and can study and replicate potions and machinery he comes across. His general... enthusiasm and lack of caring for the consequences of his actions mean quite a few of his experiments backfire all on their own. Here is some of what Varian can definitely create already: CANONPOINT: AGE: 17 (in game) (April 18th) HEIGHT: 5'2" BUILD: Short and skinny HAIR: Black with brown streaks- has a single teal stipe in it. EYES: Blue NOTEABLE FEATURES: Ref one and ref two His right leg is missing just above the knee after dragon!Kurt ate it- it is replaced with a steampkunk prosthetic. A shit ton of feckles. Scar running from his right collarbone down to the crook of his elbow from being knifed by a goblin. Few scars on his torso from his trial death. A scar on his stomach and a matching one on his back from being run-through with a lightsaber. STATUS: In a relationship with Fern Mertens OCCUPATION: 12th Grade High School Student + Petrova Apothacary RESIDENCE: #25 Raccoon Alley w/ Fern & Glitch BACKTAGGING: Y 4TH-WALLING: Y - Varian's a Deer vet and as such is aware of his fictional status. THREADJACKING: Y MIND READING: Y FIGHTING: Y ROMANCE: Y - But only age appropriate! INJURY: Y KILLING: Talk to me first! CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY NEED WARNINGS FOR, BUT CAN STILL PLAY: N/A only warnings needed are for the two things which are a hard no down below. CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY NEED WARNINGS FOR AND THAT I CAN'T PLAY: Images of clowns. ANY talk of cancer. |
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