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bestworstcase · 4 years

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more than once you've said "the tts fandom can't write x character, or can't write y character," but have you considered that maybe they can write them fine, you've just built up your desired interpretations of these characters? you give off this condescending attitude, like ONLY YOU can write tts characters accurately, ONLY YOU understand them, & any interpretations that don't in some way align with what you think are WRONG. this has become more apparent as you've worked through bitter snow

let’s discuss king frederic, and how he is often characterized in fanworks vs how he is characterized in the show.

now... i think we can all agree that frederic is at best a mediocre father and a not especially good king, that in his worst moments he steps over the line into emotional abuse vis a vis his treatment of rapunzel, and that the avoidant head-in-the-sand approach he takes to the black rock problem in s1 causes widespread pain, unnecessary panic, and does not improve the situation whatsoever.

he is widely disliked in the fandom for very good reason

however! it is difficult, though hardly impossible, to find fic where frederic acts or speaks... like frederic, for one very simple reason: the fandom, by and large, as a group, writes frederic as an angry, abusive man who blows up when he is confronted with the many, many things he does wrong. often this takes the form of a character, or characters, getting up in front of him and rattling off his list of crimes, real or perceived, followed by him basically throwing a tantrum.

canon frederic, to put it bluntly, does not do that.

exhibit a: caine’s confrontation of frederic in before ever after.

caine sets up exactly the scenario that in the average tts fanfic would end with frederic yelling / blustering / furiously denying the accusations, plus she does it while rounding up all his guests and putting them in cage to haul them off and, presumably, kill them somewhere. like. the stakes are life or death and this is an extremely stressful situation for everyone involved.

and this is how that conversation goes down:

FRED: Release my guests immediately!

CAINE: What’s the matter, Fred? Am I ruining your perfect day?

RAPUNZEL: ...The Duchess?

CAINE: Oh, honey. I am no Duchess.

RAPUNZEL: I don’t understand.

CAINE: Of course you wouldn’t, Rapunzel, but try to follow along. This is all your fault.

RAPUNZEL: What?!

CAINE: You see, after your untimely... disappearance, your father locked up every criminal in the kingdom... including a simple petty thief. My father. I saw him thrown into a cage and hauled off like some animal, never to be seen again. So... I thought I’d come back, and return the favor.

[the wagon rolls in]

CAINE: Load ‘em up, boys! Your turn, Your Majesty.

[Frederic moves to shield Rapunzel; Caine snickers.]

CAINE: Oh, come on, you didn’t think we’d leave our prized pig in the pen, did you?

RAPUNZEL: [as Caine’s gang drags Frederic toward the wagon] Dad—

FREDERIC: Rapunzel, stay back.

RAPUNZEL: But—

FREDERIC: No. There’s nothing you can do. As your father and your king, I command you to stay put.

there are two key points that i want to make here, because they diverge significantly from the way frederic is characterized in analogous scenarios in fanfics, like, 90% of the time.

1) fred doesn’t get angry. he doesn’t bluster or yell. he orders caine to release his guests, and when she refuses, he gets quiet. he does not interrupt caine’s rant, he does not even try to deny her accusations, and he doesn’t stomp around escalating the situation even while caine is prancing around waving a sword in his daughter’s face or literally poking him in the chest.

he stays calm.

2) fred’s primary, overriding concern is for rapunzel’s safety, and the safety of his guests. not his own. he does not struggle when caine’s men lead him away. he protests on behalf of his guests, but not himself, and he attempts to physically shield rapunzel from harm before he is dragged away. he doesn’t waste his breath trying to argue with caine, but he does tell rapunzel firmly not to put herself in danger trying to rescue him.

now... there are plenty of ways to interpret why frederic behaves this way, and my personal take is certainly not the only possible one. but the behavior itself, the staying calm in the face of a crisis, while someone is in his face threatening him, his family, and his guests and making pretty charged accusation, is a) objectively playing out on the screen and b) directly at odds with the way frederic most often acts in fanfics.

exhibit b: mood-swapped frederic blows up just like fanon frederic constantly does

and this is the only time we ever see frederic lose his temper like this in the entire series. again, this is not a matter of interpretation: this is just plainly what happens on the screen. when he is in his right mind, frederic is not a “scream accusations, whip out a sword, and impulsively declare war or attack someone because he’s mad” sort of person, and to say that he is really like that, deep down, is just as silly as trying to argue that cass really is a peppy, soft-hearted, affectionate pushover, or that eugene really is too riddled-with self-doubt and anxiety to make any decisions, or that rapunzel really is a grouchy, moody, misanthropic person. the mood potion makes everyone act like fundamentally different versions of themselves; their behavior is, literally, out of character for their normal, not high-off-their-asses-on-a-magical-potion selves.

exhibit c: the angry mob in secrets of the sundrop

like with caine, this confrontation kicks off with a premise that should be pretty familiar to anyone who reads any fic featuring frederic at all, ie everybody is pissed at frederic and there is literally an enraged mob screaming for justice in the throne room. and that goes like this:

[everybody shouting in angry panic]

FREDERIC: People... [raising his voice to be heard] Citizens, please! Listen to me!

[Max rears and whinnies to get everyone’s attention, and the shouting dwindles away.]

FREDERIC: I will not lie to you any longer. Corona is in grave danger. The queen has been taken; over half our royal guard lie wounded; and these black rocks draw ever closer.

[the shouting begins to pick up again]

EUGENE: Uh, sir, hi, yeah—if there’s a ‘but’ in this speech, you probably want to cut to it right now.

FREDERIC: But I look at you, and I don’t just see subjects. I see friends, family; strong, brave individuals who have stood by each other, side-by-side, and have never, ever backed down from a fight! Today, we face a danger like none before. As your king, your friend, and as your brother, I ask you to fight one more time. For Corona!

again, key points:

1) frederic does not deny, bluster, shout down, or otherwise attempt to refute the basic point that he bungled the black rock situation. he did bungle it, and he knows that [this scene is preceded by him spelling out the full extent of his failures to rapunzel and openly admitting guilt]. through his behavior, he demonstrates that he accepts culpability for the situation and implicitly accepts the legitimacy of the crowd’s anger.

2) he raises his voice only so he can be heard above the shouting, and as soon as folks quiet down, he drops to a reasonable volume again. his mood is grim, but he isn’t angry. he projects calm.

3) eugene is nervous about frederic losing control of the crowd and accidentally causing a riot or something; frederic is not.

4) instead of denying the crowd’s anger, frederic tries to reframe the problem for them: yes, things are bad, but they are strong and brave and we can all work together to put things right. he doesn’t shout them down; he seeks to inspire them.

and 5) when frederic says “we face a danger,” he means that. the very next thing he does after giving this speech is go straight to the frontlines to fight in the same battle he’s asking everyone else to join in. he's not asking them to do anything he isn’t willing to do himself.

which... i would argue even more than the caine confrontation in BEA, is diametrically opposed to the way the typical fanon frederic would respond to an angry mob situation, because the typical fanon frederic is a very angry, aggressive man, and that... simply isn’t who frederic is. he’s calm, he’s knows how to work a crowd, he knows how to use his authority to achieve his goals without browbeating or threatening.

even when he does get angry—such as his instinctive reaction to arianna’s kidnapping, when he jumps first to “we will invade old corona”—he doesn’t yell or stomp around or throw tantrum. he gets stiff and rather cold and makes an impulsive judgment call... but then he takes some time to brood by himself, calms down, talks things out with rapunzel, admits his failures, and doesn’t follow through with the impulsive order he made in the heat of the moment.

like... flat out, he is not an angry man.

and it’s frustrating, when i go to read fanfic and frederic is overwhelmingly characterized as this hapless angry shouty abusive person, because it is breathtakingly far removed from how he acts in canon, and i like frederic as a character. i find him very interesting, and it’s not fun to read fics where everything that makes him interesting is taken away and replaced with this sort of one-note Shouty Angry King/Bad Dad Whom Everyone Hates. and that applies, unfortunately, to a very large number of the types of fics i like to read (namely, long canon exploratory or canon divergent fics, etc)

anyway,

i am perfectly happy to read interpretations of the tts characters that do not mesh well, or are even wholly incompatible with, my own.

but i do expect, as a minimum, characters to behave more or less the way they behave in canon unless there is a clear reason for them to be different. i expect varian to be nerdy and chaotic and a bit of a disaster, for example. i expect adira to be aloof, blunt, and perhaps a touch arrogant. i expect cassandra to be ambitious and frustrated and prone to self-sabotage and envy. i expect lance to be laid back and eugene to be a bit vain. i expect the captain to be gruff and very tight-laced. and i expect frederic to act like a politician who is in control of his feelings but sort of cowardly at heart, because that’s how frederic acts in the show.

i hold myself to these standards too. a ton of my editing process is “hm does this character really talk like this? is this how they would react to this situation?” and then going through and rewatching scenes or whole episodes and trying to find roughly analogous emotional beats or situations to sort of gauge whether i’m hitting the mark or not; it’s very difficult and i work hard on it and do not always succeed... and this does make me a bit picky about characterization in fics i’m reading, yeah, because it’s... always at the forefront of my mind. and then yes i post about it here, because this is the hyperfixation landfill where i dump my tts-adjacent thoughts.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

of course, you’re welcome to unfollow me if you do not enjoy reading what i post. it’s important to curate an online experience that you enjoy! if my general demeanor irritates you, you don’t need to inflict yourself with it.

#thank u for your input anon <3 #Anonymous

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whitecatindisguise · 4 years

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Strangle

So, I got inspired again. Thank you @wheredomelodiescomefrom for creating yet another amazing art (which you can find here).

------

"Cassandra, please!" Varian begged, running up to the woman and grabbing her wrist. "You don't have to do this."

"You are wrong." She snarled and yanked her arm free. "I HAVE TO do this."

"Cass, I know what it's like. I've been there." The boy tried to persuade. "But becoming the villain is not-"

"Is that what you think I am?!" Cassandra snapped and pushed him away.

He backed away, almost tripping on his legs. His eyes widened as the woman came closer, rage in her eyes.

"Ca-Cass. I just want to help!" He cried, and flinched, when his back hit the wall.

The blue-haired woman stopped only inches before him, looking over his smaller body. His terrified eyes locked on her enraged ones.

"I don't need your help!" She shouted, clenching her fist.

The tower rumbled and Varian tensed, eyes darting around in panic. Cassandra grabbed him forcefully and he yelped in pain and surprise.

"Don't move." She hissed but she didn't really have to say it. His mind went blank, body frozen in terror.

Something closed around his neck and his eyes widened, hand subconsciously reaching towards it. He froze again, when his fingers met a rough, spiky surface instead of skin.

"Cass, what-" He started but the woman closed her fist and suddenly something squeezed around his neck.

His eyes went wide, breathing hitched as he tried to pull off the rocks. They pushed on his windpipe, cutting out the oxygen.

He went into complete panic mode, wheezing and clawing at the collar around his neck. Blank spots danced at the corner of his vision, a sure sign of the lack of air.

He fell down, still desperately trying to pry off the rocks. The hold was getting tighter and tighter, less oxygen getting to his lungs. And the fact he was hyperventilating wasn't helping the case.

Then, as sudden as it started, the squeeze receded and he gasped for air, panting heavily. His ears rang, sound muffled and vision blurred.

Cassandra was saying something but he couldn't understand a word. She must have noticed that, because she gave a frustrated huff and created more stones, trapping the exhausted alchemist.The last thing he remembered before finally losing consciousness was the feeling of wind tugging on his hair.

~~~~~~

“Use the Sun to see the Sun? What does that even mean?!” Varian let out an exasperated huff and threw his goggles and scroll. The parchment, luckily, got stuck on one of the bars of his cage, goggles hanging from another spike.

He crossed his arms and sat back, leaning over the rock surface. A ray of light caught his attention and he looked at the scroll. The sun was being reflected in the glass from his goggles, revealing hidden text on the other side.

His eyes widened with realisation and he scrambled closer, a geeky smile appearing on his face.

“Of course! The incantation was hidden with photochromic ink! Demanitus, you genius!” He cried out happily, admiring the parchment.

He was so invested in deciphering the words, he barely noticed someone calling his name. He turned and squinted his eyes, noticing long blonde locks of one of two figures standing in the entrance to the tower.

“We’re going to get you out, kid!” Eugene called and the boy’s eyes moved to the scroll. He took a moment before answering.

“Not now! I’ve found the final incantation! It was hidden with photochromic ink! Obvious, right?” He called back, letting out a small chuckle. The grumble from the opening told him they weren’t that much interested as he was. “But I need the constant ray of light to read it. Something like prism or...”

“Crystal?” Rapunzel asked and he saw her taking something out of her bag. Eugene seemed to be genuinely surprised and pleased.

The two exchanged few words, before the man kissed Rapunzel on the cheek and started to make his way towards the alchemist’s cage.

Varian was looking between Eugene and the sun, anxiously waiting for him to finally deliver the crystal. The sun has almost set and they needed to hurry.

“Eugene, the sun is almost gone!” He called out and saw the man wobble and fall, barely grabbing the rocks to stop himself from falling.

“I’m going as fast as I can, kid.” The brown-haired man grumbled in response and shuffled closer, reaching out his hand towards him.

Varian quickly caught the object and tilted his head as he noticed it being a ring. An engagement ring, to be exact. He decided to not dwell on it, turning to his work.

Eugene gasped sharply behind him.

“Kid, what is that?!” He asked and Varian sent him a confused look.

“It’s Demanitus scroll, Eugene.” He replied, not sure why the man sounded so terrified.

“No, that’s- I know it’s Demanitus scroll!” Eugene’s eyes wasn’t on the parchment, but rather on... “What do you have around your neck?”

Varian froze for a moment, before one of his hands slowly rose to reach the questionable part. His eyes widened in realisation as fingers brushed the rough surface. Oh, right. The collar.

“That’s...” He trailed off, looking away. What should he say? That Cassandra put a collar of black rocks around his neck? That she tried to strangle him with it?

“Did Cassandra do that?” Eugene asked and Varian looked away, opting to focus on the incantation. “No, of course she did. No way you did it yourself. It’s made of black rocks, for Sun’s sake!”

“It’s working!” Varian shouted happily, for a moment forgetting about the collar around his neck.

He cried out, when the scroll caught fire. He wasn’t paying attention and the concentrated beam of light wavered too long in one spot. He scrambled with one hand for the paper and pencil, writing down the incantation as fast as he could.

He let go of the last piece of scroll, sighing in relief at the piece of paper with written down final incantation.

“I got it!” He gave the man a toothy grin and Eugene smiled in response, before his eyes fell on the boy’s neck again. The former thief frowned, smile wavering.

“What happened?” He asked, eyes full of worry. Varian looked away.

“I... I tried to talk to her but...” He reached to tug on his gloves, the collar suddenly seeming to suffocate him. “I think I only made her more mad.”

“Kid, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Eugene reached through the bars and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. He seemed to want to ask something else, but then the cage shook and moved back towards the tower.

“Eugene?” Varian’s eyes were filled with fear. Eugene grit his teeth and reached out his hand for the boy to hold onto.

“Stay close, kid.” He said, before they were pulled inside.

Only moments later Eugene was pulled away, encased in black rocks, Cassandra squeezing the man mercilessly. Varian looked around and noticed Rapunzel pinned to the wall just few feet to his left. His eyes fell on the note he still held in one hand.

“Rapunzel!” He cried, reaching out the hand with the note through the bars. “I have the final incantation! You have to-!”

His words were lost as the collar suddenly tightened, pushing on his windpipe. The note fell from his hold as he struggled to breathe.

“Varian!” Rapunzel and Eugene both cried out, as the boy lay on the floor, wheezing and clawing at the collar.

“Rapu... the inca... plea...” He mumbled, not able to get out a coherent sentence as he got less and less oxygen.

“Cass! Stop!” Rapunzel cried, eyes watering.

His vision was blurring, sounds muted. He felt like he was being held underwater. Unable to breathe. Unable to hear. Unable to see.

So this is how I’m going to die?, he thought as it was harder to keep his eyes open. He thought he saw something grabbing the note from the floor, but he might have as well been hallucinating.

And then, the hold on his neck loosened. He gasped, taking deep breaths, filling his lungs with oxygen.

“Kid! Varian!” He heard Eugene call out to him with terror in his voice. “Varian!”

“I... I’m okay...” He somehow managed to reply, voice raspy. He rolled to his back, staring at the ceiling, breathing heavily. “I’m okay.”

Eugene opened his mouth to say something more but a sudden explosion startled them both. Varian looked up to see Rapunzel and Cassandra stuck in a duel, two coloured energies clashing with each other.

The wind picked up and suddenly there was no cage holding the boy in place. He started to move towards the ridge and his eyes widened in terror. He didn’t even notice the collar crumbling away, too focused on his body sliding away.

“Eugene!” He called out frightfully. Then, before any of them managed to react, he was pushed away and fell.

~~~~~~

They were back at the bottom of the tower. The moment Eugene and Rapunzel walked through the door, they ran up to the alchemist and locked him in a tender embrace. It took only a moment, but when he was wrapped in a tight hug, the dam finally broke.

The kidnapping, the drugging, the collar and being strangled, being locked up in a cage hundreds of metres above the ground, strangled again and finally falling to his death. It all came back at once, and he teared down, desperately holding to the two adults.

He didn’t know how long was he crying. At some point Lance, Catalina and Kiera joined in, all lovingly embracing him, as he cried his eyes out. When he finally had no more tears, he slowly released the two adults he took hold to.

“Better now?” Rapunzel asked softly and he nodded, wiping the last of the tears from his eyes.

“Sorry...” He mumbled, eyes downcast. His hand subconsciously went to his neck, startling when he actually managed to touch it.

“Erm, you might consider wearing higher collars for some time.” Eugene said as he eyed the boy’s neck. “Or a scarf.”

“That bad?” Varian asked and Eugene stared for a moment before nodding. The boy sighed tiredly.

“Dad’s going to have a fit.” He said and chuckled nervously.

“Want me to come with?” The man offered and Varian smiled in response.

“Nah, I’ll figure something out.” He replied. “Not the worst of the injuries I had over time.”

“Kid, that’s not reassuring.” Eugene shot him a concerned gaze and the boy laughed.

------

So... I didn’t really include the handcuffs from the pic. I tried, I really did. But they didn’t make any sense to the idea I came up with. Hope it’s not that much of a trash. Not my best but... I hope you enjoyed it.

#tts #varian #oneshot #fanfiction #strangling #art inspiration

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polymathart · 4 years

Text

Moon!Varian Alternate Story

Varian goes with Rapunzel and Co. to the Dark Kingdom.

All throughout the journey, Varian remains bitter towards all of them. But slowly he begins to warm up to them again. But he refuses to admit it.

In Vardaros, Varian has an extremely brief “date” with Vex. It is in Vardaros that Varian actually gets his bad boy outfit. He also stumbles on some hints that his mother might have once been in the city...

He bumps into Hugo for an extremely brief second among the crowd.

Throughout “Keeper of the Spire,” Varian is in the background trying to steal books and documents. Cass is always the one to catch him and make him return it.

During “Happiness Is...” Varian envisions his dad. He among all of them is the most livid and bothered when the Idol is taken away. While everyone else agrees to what happiness really is, Varian broods in the background, still feeling robbed.

When Eugene is “stabbed” during “Max and Eugene in Peril on the High Seas,” even Varian is shocked. This is the first indication that Varian is beginning to care about everyone.

Adira mentions that Quirin was part of the Brotherhood. This new information occupies Varian’s focus for most of the episode.

Cassandra still sings “Waiting in the Wings,” but this time the only person who overhears her other than Hector... is Varian. Varian talks to Cass and insinuates that she should help turn on Rapunzel, but Cass refuses and storms off.

When Rapunzel faints in the Great Tree, even Varian is worried for her but immediately rejects his compassion for her and anyone else, saying that they deserved whatever could’ve happened to them there and he wouldn’t have been heartbroken one bit.

Varian reluctantly agrees to help Rapunzel and Eugene during “You’re Kidding Me!” In fact, for a brief second he offhand mentions that he doesn’t think that they would make bad parents at all.

Varian meets Zhan Tiri who pretends to be Demanitus. She claims she can free Quirin and reunite Varian with Ulla. She also guides Varian in translating the scroll.

Cass is still Gothel’s daughter but she doesn’t turn on them. Instead she is angry but upfront about it with Rapunzel and it takes a while for her to reconcile.

Varian finds out about Cass’ background and the two bond over their struggles and their negative feelings towards Rapunzel. Varian secretly angry that Cass reconciles with Rapunzel, as if she, too, betrayed Varian and was siding with Rapunzel.

Varian goes AWOL. The gang returns to Corona where the Saporians have still taken over. They have raided Varian’s lab and combined his alchemy with their magic to create their bombs.

Rapunzel frees Quirin when Corona is liberated. She tells him about Varian. She also confronts her father for being part of the reason Varian turned dark. Cassandra at the same time decides she needs some time alone after all this fighting. She and Rapunzel are still civil, but it is clear to Rapunzel that something is changing in their relationship.

“Beginnings” still happens with Rapunzel wondering if she and Cassandra’s friendship was reaching its end. She realizes that if the two of them made it work in the past, there’s still a chance they can be friends again when all this is over. She is also reminded by Eugene that she will figure out how to reunite with Cass, and perhaps even Varian...

Varian finds the wreck of the caravan. Instead of Cass destroying her portrait with Rapunzel, Varian finds Cassandrium among the wreck, revealing Cass kept it the whole time rather than throw it away. Confused and enraged by both his feelings for her and her “betrayal,” he shatters the necklace.

During “Be Very Afraid,” Cassandra returns and accompanies Rapunzel to the Demanitus Device. They visit Quirin who gives them Varian’s amber potion. Cass sees Varian’s blue ribbon and invention from “Great Expotations” and admits that she, too, hopes Varian will reform. At the Demanitus Device, Cass and Raps bond over the very first time the two of them were there. Rapunzel briefly senses Varian on the other side of the rocks. Cass also sees her fears of being cast aside as second-fiddle to Rapunzel when she is Queen. Varian witnessed this through the rocks.

“Islands Apart” does not happen. Instead it focuses on Rapunzel again making Frederick see the wrong he did to his family and to his kingdom. Cass has a conversation with Cap about his plans to retire so that Cass can finally be Captain. However, Cassandra reveals that she is questioning if Captain of the Guard was still her real dream.

“Race to the Spire” is still mostly unchanged. Varian takes the Brotherhood Mind Trap. Rapunzel meets Zhan Tiri. Varian activates the Mind Trap, unaware that Quirin is out of the amber and thus also affected by the Mind Trap.

“Cassandra’s Revenge” is now “Varian’s Revenge.” Cass is the first to confront Varian. First Varian tries to use Cass’ fears that he witnessed thru the red rocks to sway her to join him. “Nothing Left to Lose” happens with roles reversed. Cass is taken prisoner by Varian. Eugene stays beside Cass while she’s trapped. They bond especially over their feelings about their parents and also that they care about each other despite all their rivalry. Varian is blown off the Tower. Cass, Raps, and Eugene all look for him but he is nowhere to be seen.

Outside Corona, Varian finds Quirin free. At first Varian wants to find a way to free Quirin from the Mind Trap’s power, but when Quirin begs Varian to surrender the Moonstone, Varian once again feels betrayed. He also believes his whole quest to try to free his father has been in vain as well as hijacked by Rapunzel. He briefly wrestles with Quirin for the Mind Trap. Varian has no other choice but to activate it and order Quirin’s allegiance. Varian is mortified at his own actions but nevertheless forces Quirin, Adira, and Hector to follow him before anyone warns Rapunzel of his arrival.

“Once a Handmaiden...” is now “Once an Alchemist...” Varian realizes who “Demanitus” really is. She claims that Ulla is still alive and can only be brought back by her. Varian has two options: continue helping Zhan Tiri so that he can find Ulla, or make amends with Rapunzel and stop Zhan Tiri. Varian has a breakdown and decides to make amends with Rapunzel. But when he sees everyone up in arms, he breaks. He summons the Brotherhood and takes over.

During the Eclipse, Varian wanders the halls while spitefully destroying anything remotely related to the Royals, Eugene, Cass, etc. He stumbles into Rapunzel’s room and sees the villain portrait she made of him, believing that that’s how everyone had and always will see him.

Zhan Tiri takes over while briefly comparing Varian’s downfall to Ulla’s. Rapunzel and Varian finally talk to each other. Rapunzel shares the wisdom she also shared with Cassandra: Plus Est En Vous. She explains that even though he has done so much harm, she still believes in Varian to change and do the right thing, and that he is capable of being far more than just a villain. The rest mostly plays out the same. This time both Cass and Eugene are the ones who perish on the Castle Steps. Rapunzel brings them back. Rapunzel, Eugene, Cass, Angry, Catalina, and Lance hug. And Rapunzel yanks Varian into the hug.

In the end, Eugene is Captain. Varian is ready to begin his quest to find Ulla. Cassandra knows what it’s like to not have someone there to call her mother, let alone a good mother. So joins him both for the adventure and to help him find his mother. And their very first stop is Vardaros to pick up a certain Hugo who might be able to help, too...

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somedayonbroadway · 4 years

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Hmmmmm. Tangled The Series Henris AU? I love that series.

Okay, this show was so interesting and Henry’s is a really intriguing ship and I’m finding that I actually like it more and more. I do have to be honest, I don’t think I actually watched every episode of this show. I think I missed a lot. I need to watch the whole thing.

So for this outline I will be using a lot of the characters that I typically put more in the background. This will be interesting.

So….

Tangled: The Series AU

Characters

Henry — Rapunzel

Morris Delancey — Eugene Fitzherbert

Mush — Cassandra

JoJo— Varian

Oscar Delancey— Lance Strongbow

Mike and Ike — Angry and Red

Specs — Maximus (but human)

Snyder — Mother Gothel

Seitz and Bunsen — The Stabbington Brothers

Bryan Denton — Captain of the Royal Guards

Jack Kelly — Hook Hand

Crutchie Morris — Hook Foot

Henry (Rapunzel)

Henry had always been special. Ever since the day he was born.

He wasn’t the only one who’d known that.

On the night after his birth, he is stolen, taken far away and held captive (unknowingly) by a greedy man who wants to have the power Henry was born with for himself in order to keep himself young and live forever.

For the first eighteen years of his life, Henry is unaware of this and believes this man to be his father, growing to trust and respect him.

But Henry had always had a dream to go outside and see the world, though he was never aware.

He has a dream to see the floating lights that always appear on his birthday.

When one day a thief breaks into his tower, mean to him at first, Henry takes his chance and gets out, going on an adventure that changes his life forever.

Along the way, he falls in love.

Now, he’s back with his family, at home at the castle, suddenly a prince who has no idea what he’s doing.

Forced to adjust to this new life, Henry tries to learn everything he needs to know. Taught for the most part by his trusted Valet, Mush, adopted son of the captain of the royal guard.

Mush and Henry are fast friends, pulling together after Mush finds Henry crying alone in his room, overwhelmed and terrified that he was going to screw up somehow.

Henry’s parents adore him, despite not knowing him for the first eighteen years of his life. He loves them just the same, but is hurt when his father placed restrictions on his freedoms.

See, in order to learn about the kingdom, Henry loved to ride through it and see every bit of it as often as he could.

He and Morris, the thief who’d stolen his heart and then kept it close, would go on nightly rides with Mush following them close behind

Henry’s father says it’s too dangerous.

That same night, the rehearsal for Henry’s coronation is scheduled and Henry is already on edge, feeling as though the walls were closing in on him.

Being locked in a tower for eighteen years seemed to make him a bit restless and a bit claustrophobic

When Morris proposes to him that night, the stress of everything and the thought of never leaving the castle again gets to him and he declines, running off to his room and trying to figure out what to do.

Mush suggests they run away that night.

Henry and him sneak out into the kingdom, actually leaving the walls of Manhattan altogether and stumbling across some mysterious rocks that Henry just seems to be drawn to.

Despite Mush’s insistence not to touch the rocks, Henry does anyway, unable to stop himself

While his hair does not grow back, his powers do, but this time it’s energy sources from his hands.

Mush rushes Henry back to the castle and helps him hide away, not wanting anyone to know.

It’s painful for Henry to keep such a secret from Morris, but he does for a while, not wanting anyone to know he’d snuck out.

Nightmares haunt Henry’s dreams after this happens, making him fear that bad things are coming to Manhattan

While Henry doesn’t necessarily have all of his healing powers back, he finds he can create force fields around him and those close to him to protect them from harm.

With the help of a young Alchemist named JoJo, Henry and Mush set out to find out just what the rocks did to him.

After confessing how his powers returned to his boyfriend, Henry explains to Morris why he couldn’t accept his proposal

The two remain in a relationship, getting married years later after all of the chaos is placed far behind them

Morris Delancey (Eugene Fitzherbert)

Growing up an orphan with only one brother, Morris learns how to be a thief out of necessity, finding that it came naturally to him

He is not necessarily a people person, but always did try, as the oldest of the orphanage he grew up in, to keep the littler kids entertained and hopeful and happy

He loved to read stories of a devilish, daring adventurer by the name of Flynn Rider

After aging out of the orphanage, he adopts the name until he nearly drowns and confesses to a certain magical boy with long brown hair that he’d tried to become a fictional character who had everything because it was better than being an orphaned kid with nothing

While parading around as the mysterious Flynn Rider, Morris begins to get more and more daring, eventually working up the courage to trick to other thieves into helping him steal the crown of the lost prince of Manhattan

After getting chased by the royal guards through a deep forest, Morris stumbles across what looks to be an abandoned tower, changing his life forever.

He meets the boy who would become the love of his life there, sending them both out on an adventure where Morris realizes that he wants to be able to turn his life around

After being arrested, escaping, dying and coming back to life, Morris is ready to turn over a new leaf, after being pardoned for seeing to the safe return of the lost prince

Morris is unaware of his parents origins for a long time, believing them to be explorers who he’d hoped were one day going to come back for him growing up

Even when they don’t, he still has hope.

It is eventually revealed that Morris and his brother were both sons of a king and queen who had to evacuate their kingdom and separate themselves from them when a threat awaits to plague and destroy their entire kingdom

The kingdom became known as The Dark Kingdom and was eventually reduced to ruin, the king and queen barely managing to escape

The queen died a few years later, but the king continued on, searching for his lost sons

Morris eventually reconnects with both his little brother and his father who he is stunned to see after so many years.

After returning Henry to his family and castle, he is relieved to know that the boy he’d fallen for still wants him around, even as he’s moving up in the world

Realizing that his heart no longer belonged to him, Morris gets ready to propose, fearing rejection all the way

When he does get rejected, he doesn’t know how to react.

Morris and Mush never really get along too well, constantly at odds with each other, though they both truly do want what’s best for Henry in the end

After not being able to see or talk to Henry for days, at Mush’s insistence, Morris climbs up the side of the tower to see him, shocked to find that his powers are somewhat back and he has no idea how

Despite finding out this secret, Morris is still left behind when Mush takes Henry to find some more help

Hurt by this, Morris follows along anyways, meeting a young boy by the name of JoJo who claims to be his biggest fan

Morris grows to like JoJo for a while, though is constantly suspicious of him, knowing that, despite his sunny disposition, a kid like him, who never had much, would do nearly anything when he got desperate

Overall, Morris does his best to constantly prove to Henry how much he loves him and how far he was willing to go to make him happy.

Mush (Cassandra)

Mush is a royal visor for Prince Henry

Adopted at a young age by the captain of the royal guard, Mush is very skilled fighter and spy, having been in training nearly his whole life

After the lost prince returns to the castle, Mush, who wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a royal guard, is assigned as his royal visor.

Mostly, Mush is placed in the position to provide a certain protection for Henry as the king fears someone will still be out to harm his son

Despite his insistence that he’d be more useful continuing to train to become a royal guard, Mush ends up taking a liking to Henry and actually ends up being able to call the other boy his best friend

After sneaking Henry out of the castle one night to try and cheer the boy up, he ends up accidentally getting the boy’s powers back

Now feeling responsible for this, Mush tries to hide Henry away and figure out what happened for himself

Mush ends up crossing paths with a young Alchemist named JoJo who offers to help as the word no is not in his vocabulary

While knowing that JoJo has a small crush on him, Mush views JoJo as nothing more than a kid and, while he does protect the boy, constantly pushes him away

Mush eventually ends up becoming a sort of protector to Henry and anyone Henry unofficially adopts into his family

Mush believes that Henry can do better than some former thief from nowhere, but puts up with Morris as much as necessary because he doesn’t want to upset Henry

He grew up a bit of a loner, not having friends and not really caring to have any

Growing up surrounded by a lot of older guys who constantly made fun of him and teased him, Mush grew to become very competitive

Mush slowly opens himself up to have friends after he meets Henry and ends up liking JoJo and a few others, though he is still very cautious and wary around everybody, especially when it comes to his feelings and his past

Eventually learning that his own father abandoned him after kidnapping Henry and showing the other boy more love and affection than the man had ever shown him, Mush becomes enraged, blaming Henry for all of the misfortune life had thrown at him

After more reminders are set in place to show him how he was constantly placed in tough spots, having to turn down opportunities for Henry, and constantly being stuck in his shadow, Mush finally has enough and, while out on a quest, picks up the all powerful moonstone, making himself the moon to Henry’s sun

This event leads Mush to be Henry’s worst enemy, vowing to destroy the kingdom and everyone who’d ever wronged him

Eventually, he kidnaps JoJo, who he forces to help him, he nearly kills Morris, who he claims he always hated, despite their insistence to get along for Henry, and he nearly lets monsters destroy all of Manhattan

JoJo De La Guerra (Varian)

A teenage Alchemist who does not believe in magic.

JoJo is very smart and is always willing to lend a helping hand, desperate to be needed and wanted and useful

He is the only son of the unofficial leader of Old Manhattan, a small town with old fashioned utilities and traditions

Despite his love for science and his genius mind, he often finds that his inventions get him into trouble as he has difficulty thinking things through

When the prince comes asking for his help, JoJo is more than willing to lend a helping hand, adoring the prince and developing a small crush on Mush

After meeting Morris, it is revealed that JoJo believed him to be the real life Flynn Rider

JoJo grew up poor, having nearly starved on more than one occasion and only having his father to provide for him and the rest of the town on a regular basis

The tales of Flynnagin Rider were a sort of escape for him and he grew to convince himself that these stories were real.

Morris tries to tell him that he was just a petty thief but JoJo doesn’t listen, still looking up to him a lot

However, after trusting Morris with a dangerous secret that Morris ends up spilling in order to save lives, he sobers and sees Morris as a normal person, though he still does look up to him

JoJo’s town is soon threatened by the mysterious black rocks that seem to be after Henry

After pleading at the castle for help and getting nowhere, JoJo feels betrayed and goes to try and destroy the black rocks on his own

An experiment gone horribly wrong entraps his father in Amber and, while at first blaming himself, JoJo makes a promise to himself that he’ll make the kingdom of Manhattan pay for taking away the only thing he had

This leads JoJo on an adventure that changes his entire demeanor, making him go dark

He goes back to the kingdom, stating that he’s forgiven the prince and enlists Henry’s help in finding something that will free his father

Henry goes, believing that JoJo has genuinely forgiven him for not helping him before but it’s quick that JoJo turns on him the second he has what he needs.

After he gets the flower that had been the original source of Henry’s power, he finds he needs Henry himself to free his father and kidnaps the prince and Morris, threatening to encase Morris in the chemical if Henry refuses to help him

After this fails, JoJo is arrested and treated as a criminal

Heartbroken and terrified, JoJo tries to beg for genuine forgiveness, trying to convey how scared he is before he is recruited by a group of bandits and ends up the brains behind a gang trying to tear down Manhattan from the inside out

After learning that Henry had never stopped trying to help him or his father, JoJo eventually turns on the gang and rejoins the quest to find out how to stop the impending threat on Manhattan

I know this ones short, but again, I have only seen bits and pieces of the show.

Let me know if there are any scenes you’d like to see from this one!

For more Mood Boards and AUs, click here!

#panpervinca #newsies #newsies live #newsies musical #newsies au #newsies rp #henry newsies #morris delancey #henris #mush meyers #jojo de la guerra #much love #angst #tangled au #tangled #tangled the series #delancey redemption #oscar delancey

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

Note

I'm so enraged that Varian was basically replaced by a very useless and annoying Hookfoot in S2 (we were robbed of angry boi with his issues and mood swings and recovery of trauma).Instead, Varian probably hit rock bottom in jail and was then manipulated by Andrew. Although the angst tied to it is an interesting take (although not enough exploited), we could have had great dynamics between him and the gang.

TTS is just a waste in of itself

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thecurseoflife · 4 years

Photo

CHAPTER 10 - Free from the curse

This last week had been hell. For everyone. As much for Camalia who had to deal with all of the snakes' twisted ideas than for the prisonners below that couldn't sleep due to the constant torture and screams they heard.

Everyone was tired. Whenever the music mage had a break of pain and suffering, the entire prison instantly fall asleep and desesperatly try to catch up with their lost sleep, until they were woken up by yet another yell.

Varian tried to act like he didn't care, but every single scream made his heart ache. He would never admit it. But to hear that voice that used to laugh and tell jokes to be scratched and destroyed by screams of pain was heart breaking. Andrew and Varian had time to meet, through the sleepless night and the boring days. To be honest, the alchemist did not like the handsome man. The only reason he was still talking to him was because they were stuck in the same room and they had a plan to escape and fix Varian's misdeeds. The last part was probably the one that interested the boy the most. He gave up on asking for Camalia's help, and he needed all help he could help. So far, the plan was mostly just an idea. Overthrow the kingdom and let Varian make a replica of the wand of oblivium and wipe the memory of the entire population.

Up there, Camalia was going through hell every minutes she was conscious. Over time, she learned to welcome the darkness of her mind with open arms. The snakes were more powerful than ever. They were breaking the girl's bone one by one and fixing them then doing it all over again. More than once, she was woken up by being slammed to the ground, opening her wounds again, before the snakes healed them, just enough for her to stand. They were whispering and yelling in her mind, tearing her apart and destroying her spirit. More than once, she lost her mind and tried to break out, breaking her hands and crying, begging for help. More than once, she was found barely breathing on the ground in a pool of blood, and everytime Captain healed her and put her back in the cell, like she asked. More than once her blood was fire when her body was frozen in place, more than once her tears flowed down her face, more than once screams of pain escaped her lips, more than once the lost track of time and space, and more than once she thought of giving up.

But not to give the snakes what they wanted. To give up on this, on everything. To die. But everytime she got back up and launched a swear or a punch to the snakes. She would not let them win, not in any way. Not by playing the melody, not by dying. She will get through this. She will win. She will live.

And anyway, she had a plan.

The thud resonated once again in the prison as Camalia hit the wall and the ground. Witheria hissed with irritation.

-It's going to be a week ! Don't you have quite enough of this ? When will you finally sing this god forsaken incantation ?!

Camalia chuckled as she was slowly getting up, her body trembling, full of cuts and blood.

-I told you, With'. I'll never sing that "god forsaken" song.

The snake slammed her violently with her tail to shut her insolence. She expected the girl to get back up again, but she had blacked out again. Witheria was upset. Decaiera and her had never been that powerful. Feeding on the child's culpability and sadness was really effective. It strongened their hold on the link and allowed them to make more attacks. But no matter what, it looked like nothing could break the girl's will. She sighed in frustration and retreated back into the shadows.

Hours later, Camalia slowly opened her eyes. She tried to get up but a violent headache forced her to lay back down. The music mage reached out for her guitare and played the melody of heal. This time, she played it for a long time, way longer than usual. And this time, she sung the heal incantation.

Flower, glim and glow Let your power shine Make the clock reverse Bring back what once was mine

She took a deep breath, feeling her arm finally being healed, all her cuts and strain slowly drift away. She kept playing even after she was completely fine, having a thought for the prisonners in the level below that had to deal with her torture every night for a week or two with no rest.

It was tonight. And she prayed that it would work. Because if it didn't, then she would give up.

-Okay Camalia, you can do this. You're smart, you're strong, you've gone this far, you. Can. Do. This. I believe in you !

She got up and got rid of all the dust on her clothes. She strapped the guitare on her shoulders and reajusted her hair. Today was a big day. The music mage had to look nice for the occasion. She could do this. She was so nervous she could throw up right then and there, but she could do this.

She closed her eyes and breathed in and out, focusing her magic in her chest. The familiar warmth built up under her skin. She concentrated, opened her eyes and played one powerful note.

With a deafening explosion, the bars of her cell exploded and whammed against the wall across.

Camalia stepped out and with another note, closed the prison's door. She stood in the middle of the corridor, back on the door, facing the empty hallway. One blink, and it wasn't empty anymore. Two giant black snakes were blocking the view, hissing in a alarmed way.

-My name is Camalia, and today I will perform the song from the heart to free myself from my curse ! As long as the melody will play, neither Witheria nor Decaiera will be able to hurt me. This is the condition. If the song failed, it is that my heart has changed. Then through years and pain, the new song of heart I'll have to gain.

She declaimed that with a clear voice. There was no going back now. The song from the heart had been summoned, she had to play it. It's time. Camalia had to focus.

It had to work. It had to.

The first notes played under the enraged glare of the two snakes, and the music mage started to sing.

I was once a lost little child Wandering in the street And despite my past being wild I was finally allowed to meet A place I could call my house

But I still have those doubts But I still have those thoughts Is my life really worth anything ? Should I really be trying ?

Someone tried to open the prison door, and when they realized it was locked, they started to wham on it to burst it open. Camalia casted all the sounds out, focusing all her senses and energy into the song.

Years after years of staring to one wall Forgetting how the sky looks For the sake and security of all I tried to lose myself in books All alone in my hideout

And I keep having all this doubts And I keep having all this thoughts Why should I be suffering ? Why should I be hiding ?

In the level below, the prisonners felt their exhaustion wear off before a heavy explosion was being heard. At the same time, all the cells magically unlocked. Without a second guessing, everyone started to run away.

-Come on, Varian ! We won't have another chance like this one !

Andrew needed the boy for his plan to work, but this idiot was standing in the corridor, listening to the weird music coming from upstairs. When he saw that the alchemist was still not moving, he turned around and joined the others. Better be free than in jail with a plan.

I never asked to be cursed None of this is my choice This is never what I wanted So please listen to my voice

The hits on the door stopped, as if the person behind it was finally listenning. Varian made it to the last step. His heart missed an heartbeat when he saw the two giant black snakes of his dream, in the exact same position, and with Camalia facing them, except she wasn't dead. She wasn't dying, she was singing her heart out.

Because I kept on yelling and screaming, and pleading, and begging and whimpering But no one ever came And the voices said "you should be ashamed"

Camalia took a deep breath, ready to nail the final lines when she saw her friend and her eyes widened. Noticing the change, one of the snake started to slowly turn to Varian, making him go white with fear. Camalia purposefully missed a note, focusing the snake's attention on her.

-Eyes on me Witheria !

The blue hair strip boy tried to stop the crazy beating of his heart as Camalia resumed her singing.

And I keep having all this doubts And I keep having all this thoughts Why should I be the one crying ? Why shouldn't they be dying ?

The last sentence shook both Varian and Captain behind the door. But nothing could distract the girl anymore and she kept going.

And I keep having all this doubts And I keep having all this thoughts Is this really what wants my heart ? Please someone just help me out

Oh~

And I keep having all this doubts And I keep having all this thoughts Oh how I wish I could be

Anyone but me.

The song ended and everything fell silent. No one moved. Camalia was staring at the two snakes, with hope and despair. Please. It had to work. A soft hiss started to fill the room, until the snakes laughthers were all anyone could hear. Camalia felt everything fall apart. No, it had to work. It was supposed to work. Why didn't it work ? Was her plan to ambitious ? Was she being too confident ? What had gone wrong ? Her legs were numb and her throat was aching, but she couldn't cry. It was too horrible to cry about it. Nothing mattered anymore. It didn't work. It was all Camalia could think about, over and over again. It didn't work. It was her big plan, her last chance. She bet everything on this. And it didn't work.

-Why didn't it work...?

Her voice was nothing but a whisper. In front of her, as she was being swallowed by dark thoughts and as her spirit finally died, the two snakes were laughing and laughing.

And behind them, Varian was seeing his dream come true. He hated Camalia for what she had done to him, but... With a burst of bravery and loyalty, the alchemist jumped over one of the snakes tail and ran to Camalia. He brutally took his former friend by the shoulders and energically shook her.

-Camalia ! Snap out of it ! Stop focusing on what has gone wrong ! You never give up ! You're... You're smart, you're perseverant, and you're happy to be alive, no matter where or how ! I don't know what's going on, I don't know what you are doing, I don't know WHY there is two giant snakes in the hallway of the prison, but I do know you are giving up. But don't ! Don't give up, it's not an answer, it's... It's not a way out, it's a dead end ! Please... You're a great person, Camalia, and I-I don't want you to die.

The girl seemed to emerge at last from her distressed self. She stared in the blue, worried eyes of her friend, like she was seeing him for the first time. She frowned, and took a deep breath.

-Y-Yeah you're right. I don't why it didn't work but... I am not going to stop fighting them. I am not going to give up.

Witheria and Decaiera had stopped laughing, observing what was going on with a lot of interest. The alchemist had a relieved smile and let go. He stepped back behind her. There was nothing he could do against those... Monsters anyway. Camalia stood her ground again, straighten up and glared at the snakes, with determination and confidence.

Witheria narrowed her eyes and an amused smirk appeared on her face. She was about to say something when a surprised squeak was heard beside her. She turn to the horrifyind sight of her sister slowly fading away, as if she was disentagrating into fin air.

-Decaiera !

Witheria tried to move toward her, but she couldn't. She looked down and her tail was gone. The snake chocked, terrified. She couldn't be dying. They were the girl's curse. She couldn't get rid of them, it wasn't possible... It wasn't... On that thought, the giant monster gave her last breath.

Camalia was staring at the now empty corridor, hardly processing what just happened. She felt tears flowding down her cheeks and her knees finally gave up of standing. It worked. Thank all existing superior beings it worked. She started sobbing on the ground, relieved and still worried that it was just another sick torture of one of the snakes. But minutes passed and nothing happened. Varian kneeled behind her and gave her a hug. Of course he was still upset at her, but it was not the place nor the moment to express his feelings. His totally former and past friend needed to be comforted, and since he was a really nice guy, he was there for her. That's all there was. No friendship behind this hug. Just two complete strangers hugging in jail. Nothing to see here, move along.

The slamming on the prison door resumed, making both of the teenagers to jolt. Camalia dried her tears and got up.

-We can't stay here, we have to go.

Varian hesitated. He didn't really want to be on the run again. But if Camalia was about to leave, and she could save his dad... He stood up as well and nodded. He started to run toward the stairs that lead to the level below but Camalia grabbed his sleeve and stopped him.

-What... Are you doing ?

-Escaping ! All the other prisonners went this way, so I thought...

-They did ? Wow, they're dumb. It's a dead end down there. Technically, the only way out is through there.

She pointed at the door that was about to burst any moment from now.

-But lucky you, I know another way.

Camalia started walking in the corridor, counting the cells. She stopped at the 8th one. She entered and started to touch stupidly the wall. Varian followed her and watched her do so with a hint of concern. The music mage's hand sunk in one of the stone, making Varian jump in surprise. He rapidly got closer, only to realize that her hand hadn't been eaten by a rock, she just pushed it, and now an entire underground tunnel was facing them.

-Ta-daaaa !

Varian was in awe.

-How-

-How did I know this was there, right ? Well, it's quite easy, I saw a prisonner escape from the prison through here. Cap and the guards never found out how he did it, and this hasn't been used since. I remember Captain yelling "FLYNN RIDER !" It was a really fun moment. Anyway, it's here now, and we can escape.

-Eugene ?

Camalia turned to him.

-Nope, my name is Camalia. But good try.

She looked quickly outside the cell. The door should be able to hold a few more seconds. The girl rushed in her own cell, took a table stand and went straight back to the tunnel. She grasped Varian in her way, and just as the door exploded in shards, she locked the secret passageway again. It was pitch black in there. Camalia held her guitare, ready to play a melody that'll enlight them, when it strucked her.

-Hum, Varian ?

-What ?

-I... Don't have a melody that produce fire nor light.

The alchemist rolled his eyes in the darkness and took the table stand from her hands. He searched blindlessly on the ground until he found what he needed. He took the two stones and started hitting them together, producing little sparkle every now and then. He took some roots that were sprouting on the ceiling and set them on fire. Then, it was easy to transform the table stand in a torch.

-Woah... How did you do that ?

-Frictions between two matters form energy, heat. If the matters are appropriate and the heat high enough, it can become fire, and so light. Friction between two stones makes sparkle that can caugh dry herbs on fire. Friction between two piece of wood at high speed make smoke, and no smoke without fire. It's just basic physics.

Varian started walking down the gallery. During all his explanation, he didn't look to her even once. His face was shut, and his voice cold. He was still mad at her. Camalia's heart started to ache, but she took a deep breath and went after him. Maybe he was still upset, but he decided to go with her anyway. It was going to be fine.

They were going to be okay.

WHAT’S THIS ? FIRST / PREVIOUS / Next

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codynaomiswireart · 6 years

Text

Varian and Ruddiger One-Shot

Inspired yet again by some discussion we had on the TTS/RTA discord the other day! I didn’t really have a particular plot line or AU in mind while writing this, so feel free to picture pretty much whichever one floats your boat. Hope you enjoy it!

Rating: T

OC info for those curious: (x)

[Warning: Contains angst, mentions of blood, pain, and a near death of a major character. I’m sorry!]

Varian cringed, hissing hard through his teeth as he tried to rise onto one elbow from where he lay on the dusty ground, and his brain buzzed with a frightened urgency as the wild kirlok began to close in on him again. Varian blinked several times, and shook his head as he attempted to clear it after taking such a hard hit from the bear-like beast. Fortunately, the light armor Varian had on prevented him from getting any deep scratches from the animal’s strong paws as it struck at his side. But the force of the creature’s swipe had still sent Varian flying, tumbling, and skidding across the turf, and it must’ve been only by some miracle that he hadn’t ended up with anything worse than some cracked ribs and some painful bruising.

As Varian felt the creature’s heavy footfalls vibrate through the ground beneath him, drawing steadily closer, his hand scrambled desperately at his side, reaching for his shoulder pouch where he had a few more goo balls and alchemy vials left at his disposal. If he could just manage to aim his throw right, he could probably stop the angry beast in its tracks, and then be able to make his escape from there.

But, to Varian’s horror, he found his hand only pawing helplessly at empty space, with his alchemy pouch nowhere in sight! With a new wave of terror, Varian’s eyes scanned rapidly around him; looking for something, anything that he could use to get out of this situation. But the only thing his eyes caught hold of was his staff glowing a few feet away from him. Varian knew it wouldn’t do much to deter an enraged kirlok, but his fight-or-flight instincts had taken charge now, and Varian quickly lunged himself at it as the kirlok now came at him in a full charge.

In desperation, Varian grabbed his wooden staff with both hands, and held it above him defensively as he saw the kirlok make its own final lunge for him, its fangs glistening in the light of the moon. His courage now spent completely, Varian found himself taking one last look into the beast’s steely eyes before scrunching his own tightly shut, Varian now only waiting helplessly for when he would hear and feel his staff snap underneath the kirlok’s strong paws, and feel its teeth and claws begin to tear into him like the prey that he had become.

From behind the darkness of his eyelids, Varian suddenly heard both a great roar and yelp pierce through the air around him, and heard loud thuddings and snarlings follow immediately afterward, with their source getting further and further away from him. Varian’s eyes snapped open at this, and as he scrambled to sit up from where he lay on the ground, Varian caught sight of what had interrupted the kirlok’s attack on him. Some other giant animal had now joined the fray, and had engaged the kirlok in a vicious fight as their two, shaggy forms flailed about in a ball of claws, horns, fur, and teeth, and it was only after they pulled apart again for a moment that Varian recognized the other creature for what it was.

Or rather, for whom it was.

“RUDDIGER!” Varian cried, his brain both frightened and confused at seeing his loyal little friend somehow redonning his giant feral form. Then, Varian remembered his missing alchemy bag, and immediately concluded that in his own act of desperation, Ruddiger must’ve taken some of Varian’s animal mutation serum and ingested it to make himself large enough to fight the monster that had threatened Varian’s life.

It was a terrible thing to watch and to listen to as the two giant creatures clashed with one another. Varian remembered hearing and seeing once a fight between two barn cats in Old Corona some years ago, and it was a sight and a sound he had never wanted to encounter again. But now, here, it was like seeing that all over again, except on a much larger and louder scale, and with far more at stake than some petty feline row. Varian could only watch helplessly as the two beasts went at each other, Ruddiger constantly getting himself between Varian and the kirlok, and Varian feeling his own phantom pains on Ruddiger’s behalf as the raccoon took several hard knocks from the kirlok’s horns, and lost chunks of fur as its claws tore at his chest and sides. But Ruddiger was the more nimble of the two titans, and more than once did the kilok miss its target, and Ruddiger managed to get in a bite and swipe at the creature’s back and shoulders as he tackled it to the ground.

But the kirlok was a beefy animal, and it was all Ruddiger could do to remain on his feet as he was thrown, kicked, and knocked around over and over again by it. Varian tried repeatedly to rise to his own feet, and to help Ruddiger somehow in the fight, but the shock and fear of everything had all but paralyzed him, and Varian could only wait with pounding heart, shaking knees, and rapid breathes as the animals’ fighting sillhouttes stood in stark contrast against the light of the moon; being permanently burned into that part of his brain specifically reserved for the things to fuel his nightmares.

While the fight may have lasted for only a few minutes, to Varian it felt like forever as he watched his friend get torn to pieces by the kirlok. Then, with one last exertion of will, Ruddiger threw his entire weight into the kirlok, sending the both of them off the edge of the cliff and down into the gorge below, with each of their frightened roarings echoing off the rock walls and deep darkness below.

“NOOOO!” Varian screamed as he saw his friend disappear over the side, and heard the sounds of crashing rocks and sliding soil coming from below. Then, silence.

Varian all but dragged himself towards the cliff’s side, with hope, denial, and despair all raging a battle of their own inside of him. “RUDDIGER, NO, PLEASE!” Varian shouted. “PLEASE NO!”

But then, as Varian came to within a few feet of the gorge’s side, he heard a series of low growling’s and whimperings, and to a relief so complete that Varian felt like fainting, he saw Ruddiger’s paws come one after the other up and over the side, and with one last great push, Ruddiger’s great form flopped down onto the side, his strength now utterly spent as he lay panting hard.

“RUDDIGER!” Varian shouted yet again, and attempted to make a dash towards his friend to see if he was all right. But as Varian got close, he shielded his eyes as a bright blue light enveloped Ruddiger’s body, and Varian couldn’t help but cringe as he heart the sounds of bones, muscles, and tendons shrinking back to their original size. After the light had passed, Varian knelt down quickly beside Ruddiger, his little friend curled in on himself, breathing hard, and with dark mud caking his fur.

“Oh Ruddiger-” Varian began as he made to pick up his friend, but his voice stopped in his throat as Ruddiger cried out with sharp pain, and Varian realized that it was not mud that was splattered across Ruddiger’s fur.

It was blood.

“Oh no-!” Varian gasped, his small moment of relief now replaced with a whole new wave of sick fear. “Oh no oh no oh no! Hang on Ruddiger, hang on!” Varian pleaded as his brain raced to figure out what to do, and he tried again – more carefully this time – to pick Ruddiger up and cradle him in his arms.

“Wh-where did you find my pouch, boy?” Varian inquired to Ruddiger as he rose shakily to his knees. Following Ruddiger’s eyes, Varian made a dash to where a few bimberry bushes grew close together – very near to where the kirlok had sent him skidding before – and found his pouch tangled up in their branches. After extracting the pouch from the bushes, Varian gently laid Ruddiger down on the work apron he had stowed inside it, and immediately set about to applying whatever first aid he knew how to do. It was hard going though, as Varian’s hands were so shaky, and the sight and smell of so much blood nearly made him faint or throw up.

But Varian had to do this. It was clear now that Ruddiger’s wounds were of the severity that his life was now at risk, and Varian knew he would never forgive himself if he lost Ruddiger due to his own weak constitutions.

“It’s-it’s gonna be ok Ruddiger,” Varian tried to tell his whimpering friend as he did his best to clean Ruddiger’s wounds and apply pressure to where they bled. “It’s gonna be ok. I promise. You’re gonna be all right. I’ll-I’ll figure this out…”

Varian continued to mutter on like that to Ruddiger as he worked, but as the moments ticked on by, Varian began to realize that Ruddiger’s condition was beyond Varian’s skill to handle. While Varian may have been able to slow the bleeding, he did not have the right materials for applying stitches, nor did he know how to set any broken bones either.

Ruddiger was running out of time. Varian had to find help.

As quickly yet gently as he could, Varian wrapped Ruddiger up in the apron he had laid him on, and slinging his pack over his shoulder, Varian took off as fast as he could into the night, cradling Ruddiger in his arms. Varian remembered passing by a town not too far from them. Perhaps there was someone there who could help save Ruddiger!

“Hang on Ruddiger!” Varian began saying to his companion again as he jogged his way back down the path, Ruddiger’s face both frightened…and tired…

“Stay with me Ruddiger! Stay with me!” Varian cried between breathes as he stroked a hand over Ruddiger’s head, trying to both comfort and rouse him. “We-we'll get you help! Just hang in there! Just- NO! Don't fall asleep Ruddiger! Don't do that!” Varian exclaimed, feeling his heart leap into his throat as Ruddiger’s eyes threatened to drift shut, and Varian dreading the idea of them never opening again. “I-I know you're tired! You fought so hard! You were so brave! But y-you gotta stay awake, ok? Just s-stay with me boy! You got this!” Varian paused in his words to swipe a quick hand over his nose, and tried hard to keep his feet going forward and his breath giving him enough air as the sobs now broke his voice. “I-I know you do Ruddiger! Just…just keep fighting! Keep going! I'll get you there! I promise!”

On and on Varian ran, talking to Ruddiger the whole time and trying to keep him awake, until finally Varian caught site of a dim glow through the trees, just off to the side of the path. Varian didn’t recall seeing any settlement on their way up the path earlier that day, but now there was no mistaking the presence of a thatched-roofed cottage that sat there, with its front gateway marked by a small lantern.

“Please!” Varian prayed as he picked up his pace, and shoved himself in passed the front gate and up the front walk. “Please! Let this be someone who can help save Ruddiger!”

As he sprinted up to the front door, Varian began pounding on it with all his might.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! “PLEASE! ANYONE!?” Varian yelled as he knocked. “MY FRIEND HE-HE NEEDS HELP!”

Varian waited a few seconds for some sort of reply, but there was no answer. “No…” Varian thought to himself, shaking his head in denial as he knocked again, even louder.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

“PLEASE! SOMEONE! ANYONE!” Varian all but screamed at the top of his lungs, and now dashing from window to window and peering in to make sure that no one was there. But from what he could tell, the inside of the house was as dark and vacant as the silence testified to.

“HELLO!?” Varian now shouted aimlessly in the air around him, staggering a little as hopelessness began to sink in. “HELP! SOMEONE! PLEASE, HELP!”

But only the silence of the forest around him met him in reply, and Varian looked down at Ruddiger who lay limply in his arms, with his eyes half-lidded and looking glazed. There’s no way they would be able to make it all the way to the village in time now.

“Please…” Varian now only whispered through quivering lips and heartbroken sniffles as he again tried to keep Ruddiger conscious. “Please! Someone…h-help!”

In response to his master’s crying, Ruddiger used some of the small amount of remaining strength he had to bring a weak forepaw out of the folds of the apron and up to Varian’s face. Ruddiger didn’t have the strength to wipe Varian’s tears away, but he was able to guide Varian’s face downward towards his own. “It’s ok…” Ruddiger seemed to be trying to say as he nuzzled feebly into Varian’s cheeks. “You tried your best. I know you did. Thank you Varian. It’ll be ok. Don’t cry.”

Varian’s heart broke as he sank down onto the lawn of the cottage, doing his best to offer Ruddiger what little comforts he could as despair began to take hold of the alchemist’s heart, and he did his best to keep Ruddiger dry as he could feel raindrops begin to fall on his head, shoulders, and back. It seemed as if all of heaven were now also weeping with Varian for the pure, brave life that was soon to leave the earth.

“I’m sorry Ruddiger!” Varian cried between sobs. “I’m so sorry! D-don’t leave me, please!”

But Ruddiger only let out a weak trill in response, doing his best to reassure Varian as he grew more and more tired. They both knew Ruddiger wouldn’t be able to stay conscious much longer, and Varian found himself half humming and half singing to his friend for reasons he didn’t quite know what. But it seemed right somehow, and Ruddiger was grateful for the gesture, and felt at peace with the idea of his last moments on Earth involving being held by Varian, and the boy’s voice being the last thing his ears would hear before darkness took him.

But then, as Ruddiger’s eyes threatened to slip shut one last time, there was something else the raccoon heard in addition to Varian’s voice.

It was the sound of footsteps running up the path, and making splashing noises as they dashed through puddles and up the wet cobblestone front pathway to the house.

Ruddiger then heard what sounded like a lady’s voice coming from somewhere in the air above them, and then felt Varian pull his face from his own quickly, startled by the sudden appearance of another person. Ruddiger tried hard to hear Varian’s words in reply, but the world was all a confused blur now, and Ruddiger could barely make sense of anything as he felt himself sink further into Varian’s arms.

Then, Ruddiger felt a hand (not one of Varian’s he knew) touch his forehead, and thought he heard the lady say something more, and for a moment Ruddiger almost thought he understood her words as the world suddenly took on a sharp, energizing clarity for a moment, and he felt as if his whole form had been immersed in some kind of hot soda water. Or at least, that was the best way Ruddiger could’ve ever thought to describe it, as his nerves and skin all tingled with an almost bubbly, electric kind of feeling all over – one that left him with a pins and needles sort of feeling, but also not excruciating pain.

Ruddiger had no idea what was going on, and for a moment he wanted to wriggle away and flee from whatever was happening to him, and whatever/whomever was doing it. But before he could even attempt to do so, Ruddiger felt himself fading into unconsciousness, almost certain that this was the end for him now.

“Goodbye Varian,” Ruddiger purred as he felt around him blindly, and finally laid a paw on his master’s chest, right above where he could feel Varian’s rapidly beating heart there within. “I love you…”

Varian sat staring intently as Sabine dressed the last of Ruddiger’s wounds, and moved to place him carefully on a cushion by Varian’s bedside. “Well, I’ve done all that I can for now I’m afraid,” Sabine said as she began to clean up her medical tools and concoctions, and looked at Varian kindly with her one good eye as she turned to him. “But he is a fighter, for sure. If he makes it through the night, he should be in the clear. I can’t promise he will, but from what I’ve seen, I do believe he stands a good chance.”

“…Th-thank you…” Varian managed to reply in a raw voice, feeling again both hope and anxiety rise within him in a splendid mess as he settled himself down beside his companion, feeling Sabine lay a gentle hand on his own shoulder as he did so. Involuntarily, Varian flinched away at the contact, remembering what had happened to Ruddiger when she had touched him as he had been hanging on to the last threads of his life but an hour or so before.

“Um, wh-what did you do to him?” Varian couldn’t help but ask now, not daring to look up at Sabine’s face as he did so. “Out there on the lawn I mean?”

Sabine’s voice was kindly and full of understanding as she replied, “I’m sorry if that starled you. ‘Tis a jolt when one sees a spell for the first time.”

“A…spell?” Varian asked hesitantly, the skepticism very clear in his voice.

“Only a minor one,” Sabine replied as she adjusted the purple strip of cloth that covered her left eye. “It…Oh, how should I explain it? I suppose you could say it put your friend into a few moments’ suspended animation, during which time the spell could also work some restoration magic while his bodily functions and organs were temporarily frozen in time. It really can be a lifesaver that one, but it doesn’t always work. And had I gotten to you but a few moments later, it would’ve definitely been too-”

Here Sabine cut herself off as she noticed Varian’s growing distress at her words.

“Well, I do believe it worked and in time for this little one,” she continued on, stroking a wrinkled hand across Ruddiger’s head fondly. “Though, he certainly had some strange injuries I must say,” Sabine commented, noting Varian’s fallen countenance as she hinted at an inquiry, and Varian making no effort to respond to it. Not tonight. Though by the way the boy himself looked so worn out, Sabine could hardly blame him.

“Perhaps we can discuss that in the morning,” she opted to rounding things off instead as she gathered up her medicine kit, and made her way to the bedroom door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to bring you a light supper, and then I’ll leave you both for the evening. Though please feel free to fetch me at any time if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” Varian replied again as he watched Sabine leave. After she had closed the door softly behind her, Varian turned his attention again back to Ruddiger, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully as his side rose and fell with slow, deep breaths.

Varian cringed as his eyes scanned over the bandages all over Ruddiger’s body, and he felt his eyes grow misty again as he thought of how close he had come to losing Ruddiger that day, and how they still were not out of the woods just yet. Very softly, Varian scooted himself up closer to Ruddiger, laying his head down next to Ruddiger’s so that their foreheads touched, and Varian stroked his finger’s tenderly atop Ruddiger’s head.

"You can do this Ruddiger,” Varian murmured to him as he shut his eyes. “You've gotten this far. I believe in you. You're strong. SO strong Ruddiger. I know you can make it. You will make it. You...you were always there for me. Now I'll be here for you, too…You got this…"

Soon enough, Sabine came back into the room carrying a plate of fruit, cheese, and crackers, only to find Varian finally passed out beside his friend. With a sympathetic smile at the two of them, Sabine carefully made to quietly take her leave for the night. …Though not before casting a small spell for a dreamless sleep over the both of them as she did so.

“No nightmares tonight,” Sabine said to herself as she closed the door softly behind her…and Ruddiger nuzzled himself a little further into Varian as the warm embrace of the night made to bring them both safely into the new day tomorrow.

A few hours later, as the first traces of dawn streamed in through the clear glass windows of the safe house, Varian felt himself awakened by the feeling of something tickling his cheek, and the sound of snuffly breaths near his ear. Blinking his bleary eyes open, Varian was soon sitting bolt upright as he saw Ruddiger peering back at him with bright, and very much alive eyes.

“OH RUDDIGER!” Varian exclaimed as he gingerly but enthusiastically cupped Ruddiger’s head in his hands, and planted a kiss on his friends furry forehead before nuzzling him again with his cheek. “You did it Ruddiger! You did it! I knew you could make it!”

And Ruddiger trilled happily in return.

And Ruddiger lives y’all! (My gosh though, it’s definitely gonna be a while before I try writing something quite like that again. My poor pure raccoon baby! D’x)

Also, the kirlok that Varian and Ruddiger encounter here is not one of the ones owned by the Keeper of the Spire or Calliope, but is a wild one.

And a special shoutout to @dj-chan who had the idea for the scene at the end of Varian waking up to Ruddiger snuffling his cheek (so cute!), and for giving some good general feedback on the discord as the scenario was being developed. Thank you!

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pridewaited · 5 years

Photo

it’s cat day in japan so here’s a kitty boy edit based on @starxapple‘s design!

varinyan, son of purrrrrin who lives in old clawrona

#varian #° ★ 。☾ ❛ the little boy enraged ——— » ❪ visage. ❫#mun art.#an edit counts right?

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anthai-of-stormwind · 6 years

Text

The Storm Gathers - Priyha, Priest of the Alliance

Written by Matt Rossi

Her dreams were never frightening.

Oh, they should have been. Priyha knew that seeing the faces of thousands melting, screaming, dying in horror should have filled her with dread, despair, anger, or anguish, but whenever she was in the dream all she could feel was a leaden disappointment at how predictable it all was. Dreams of disaster and death, of friends and loved ones dying horribly.

They were not imaginative dreams. Sometimes green flames leaping luridly across roofs and down the walls of homes, sometimes black inky tendrils erupting from the ground to swallow people whole. The specifics varied, but the overall message was always the same. Everyone would die, and it was all her fault. Her fault for failing. Or her fault for succeeding.

She shook the dream off and sleep sloughed away in its wake, leaving her awake in her bed. She took a moment to push her hair back out of her face and again wondered if she should shave her head. Her hand instinctively moved to close around a dagger, but the dagger was gone now – as it had left all its previous wielders, it had left her, too.

She hated that she missed it. Missed the whispers that mocked and goaded her.

She stood out of bed and for a moment saw the puckered scars on her arm, from a time long past now. When the dragon had burned Stormwind and she'd gone to the Cathedral to pray, to beg the Light for some sort of answer. Why? Why did horrors like that thing exist, to come diving out of the sky in flames and madness to destroy whole sections of the city? She'd been afraid, then.

* * *

"My child." She'd been so focused on her half-formed terrors that she hadn't heard the Archbishop enter the Cathedral. Back then, she'd been a mere acolyte in the Church of the Light, just recently arrived from Northshire Abbey. Benedictus had seemed serene, a rock of stability in changing times. "What is it that ails you?"

"I'm sorry, Archbishop, I—"

"Please. Exalt me not." His smile, so much like her own Pater's, her father's father. Her father had died in the invasion of Stormwind, when the Orcs sacked the city and burned everything, and she'd been an infant in her mother's arms on a boat to the north. She'd grown up in Lordaeron, only heading south once King Wrynn had completed the rebuilding. Her memory was full of moments of chaos and hardship – masons rioting, the King disappearing, the Defias attacks on Westfall – and she'd chosen the Church of the Holy Light because she'd felt a deep need for something stable, something unchanging. Even after the city had burned, the Light had returned to sustain it. But now it was all happening again, and her thoughts whirled with it. What do I tell others when I can’t stop being afraid now?

"But you..."

"I am but a humble seeker, as you are." He laughed gently, his large hands calloused from years holding a staff. "I have merely had more years to question. Will you share what ails you? Perhaps I can help."

* * *

That memory made her laugh. At first just a chuckle, but the look on his face – so kindly, so concerned for her, wanting to help – forced the laughter out of her like bubbles in sparkling wine and soon she was shaking with it.

"Perhaps I can help!" she cackled, sitting back down on the bed while she heard the laughter twist into something ugly, hateful. "You helped, old bastard. Oh, you helped." The purplish marks on her arms were the signs of his first real lesson, his hands on her forearms as he called the Void to burn itself into her, grant her the first vision.

It had been death that time, too. This world is corrupt. The Light holds us here, pinned like moths on a board, while all around us everything falls to death and rot. But the Shadow can free us. The Shadow sees all roads, knows all paths, and it knows one of those paths is an escape from this prison that houses us. Will you join us, sister? Help us end all things so that a new world can replace them? His voice, smooth, loving. He'd meant every word. That was the worst part – Benedictus never lied to her. Every utterance of concern, every offer of help, every statement of equality was deeply felt.

He just meant to kill everyone to fix it.

She washed in the basin provided her, then dressed in robes she found basic enough. It had been years since Benedictus died, and she'd kept on the path he'd set her...but not to the same ends. Destroying everything didn't appeal. If your garden has weeds, you pull the weeds, you don't burn all the crops. If your house has vermin, you kill the vermin. Benedictus sought a quick, easy solution to the world, but Priyha didn't see the world as her enemy, just the horrors in it.

The dagger had laughed at her, called her a fool. My wonderful idiot, how useful your naivete is. She'd still used its power, but underneath there was a growing certainty that every gift it had given her – every mote of power granted, every monster defeated, every demon destroyed – had served it more than her. Even so, her hand felt so empty without it. Shadows crawled up the scars on her arms, demanding that she use them. Showing her so many visions of the future. Everyone will die because you weren't strong enough, because you didn't use what we offer you.

She dressed and walked from her room, into the day dawning outside.

"I don't need you."

Without us you are nothing.

She walked along the canals towards the Cathedral. Since the Legion had fallen, she spent her days in seclusion, but on that day she felt the need to see the old familiar spires. She walked past the rebuilt park where King Wrynn lay buried. She'd been busy fighting the demons and hadn't had time to mourn or really, any inclination to. So what if the King died? There would be another King, always, and...

That stuck. There would be another King, always. The shadows skittering around in her head shifted as she mulled this over. She hadn't known King Varian well. She knew his successor even less. It had been a long time since she'd considered herself a member of the Church, but she knew Anduin Wrynn was apparently a Priest of the Light, beloved by it. King and Priest on one throne seemed such an odd thing to her. What did he tell people when they came to him in doubt? Did he answer as their ruler or their minister? Did he offer them orders or...

She was in front of the Cathedral before she arrived at any answers to these thoughts. A statue of Uther the Lightbringer had replaced the memorial to Alonsus Faol. Faol was dead. That didn't stop him, however – she'd met him in his new, undead body while fighting the Legion. It was inspiring in its way. Death hadn't prevented him from serving his people, and she envied him a little. Life, that had been what had turned her away. Life, in all its contradictions and obstacles, where you could never build a home because it would always burn, or fall, and there were always new monsters. You could never rest.

Yes. You see now. The world itself rots away. It must be purged.

She looked up at the Cathedral. It had been rebuilt after the Second War. She remembered kneeling that day, begging the Light for answers. Benedictus had come instead. The Light hadn’t.

"Well?" She spoke to Uther's statue. "They say this is all futile. That there's no point to any of it. Nothing to do but destroy it all and make something better from the ashes. I've tried..." She stopped, a hitch in her breath. "I've tried pulling weeds. Are they right? Is there no point, does the garden have to burn? What can I do?"

The statue didn't answer. She hadn't expected it to. She felt a hot rush of embarrassment as she realized what she must look like – a woman standing alone, angrily demanding answers from a statue of a man who'd died when his favorite student stabbed him to death. Always more weeds.

"Every day we start over."

She nearly jumped out of shock. The unassuming young man at her side – how long had he been there? She took a moment to look at him. Beautiful in his way, with light blue eyes and long blonde hair pulled back in a modest tail. He was wearing a peasant's robe, dark brown, hood pushed back. She'd seen him a few times before in royal blue-and-white and recognized him from his chin.

"Your—"

"Please." He inclined his head. "I'd prefer it if people didn't realize I was out and about." His smile was abashed. "If I'm intruding, I apologize."

"No, just..." She shook her head. "I didn't know you were there."

"I often have similar conversations." He looked up at the statue. "I never met him, but I'm told he was a great man."

"Perhaps." She fought not to shake her head again. She felt that she must look manic. "He failed when it counted, though."

"I suppose he did." The young man didn't look away from the statue. "I suspect he never forgave himself for that. It must have been quite a burden to see someone you love turn, to be unable to stop it all from happening. Forgiving ourselves is often the hardest part, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you mean." She felt cold and stiff, and when he turned to regard her she almost blurted out I have almost a decade of life on you, boy but managed to stop herself. The look in his eyes wasn't pity, which would have enraged her, nor was it condemnation.

"My father died and I wasn't there. Many of my people...those I swore to protect. Even friends have died, and here I am. Every day things get worse. I argue with those I once admired, and I see no path forward to the future I want, save one dripping in blood. More death. We just fought a war for our very survival and we're likely going to fight another one, and this one is small and petty and I can't find a way to stop it." He let out a breath. "So I, too, have failed when it counted. I feel like I can forgive Uther his failings more easily than my own."

She stood there, shadow whirling in her thoughts, and said nothing. He turned back to the statue.

"It's a lovely spot here. I come here, at times, when I can get away. There's always something to do...some weed or another to pull out. It'll never be perfect, but that might be for the best."

"How can that be for the best?"

"If it were perfect, it would be done. A world without strife or change...that's just as dead. The world as it is will always need us, and every day we can stand up and try again. I failed before. I failed my father, my people." He stood slightly taller and Priyha couldn't help it, she remembered being a much younger girl, before the fear had begun choking the life out of her. "I can't change that, but I can decide today if I'm going to let myself fail again. There are always more weeds I can pull."

He nodded politely and walked away, heading into the Cathedral.

She didn't follow him. She didn't look at the statue, or the birds in trees all around her. She was remembering that day, her panic, her fear. The touch of Benedictus' hand on her forearm, her skin puckering away. There are always more weeds I can pull.

Her fingers began to glow, and she looked down at them. Not the seething purple-black of the Void this time, but a pale silver light. Not as it had felt as a young girl her first month in training, not the warm golden color she'd called when she'd healed those who came to the Abbey. But not darkness, either.

Her hand closed and the glow grew stronger, leaking like the moon behind clouds, only it was emanating from her flesh.

It lies it lies you can't save it everything has to burn.

"If it has to burn, it can burn without me." She let the glow climb up to the mottled scars on her forearm. "I have weeds to pull."

#world of warcraft #rp #priyha #patch 8.0

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theodorebennas · 7 years

Note

What if Bennas joined/led the Defias Brotherhood.

Background Music

“For as the Light of Creation shines within all of us, all men andwomen,no matter their station or class, no matter their family name, and nomatter their race, are all born equal! Thus, we should not be ruled by thosewho bear a certain name or bloodline but those chosen to lead by the popularassent by the governed! ” The young Captain Theodore Bennas concluded in the grassy plainof Stormwind’s Mage District. The political atmosphere in Stormwind had beencharged since the economic crash in the wake of the war in Northrend. The youngofficer had returned home to fallow fields in Westfall, transients in thatprovince, Elwynn including Summerfast, and Redridge. It was no wonder that hismessage resonated so well with the poor, the young students and intellectualsin the Cathedral District, and returning soldiers. As Theodore raised a fistproudly to the cheering crowds, he displayed the red band of fabric tied aroundhis wrist.

The young paladin’sfiery rhetoric had attracted more than adoring fans. Stormwind footmen hadbegun to surround the demonstrations. A young Lieutenant barked out, “Captain Theodore Bennas, byorder of the King of Stormwind, His Royal Majesty Varian Wyrnn, cease thisunlawful demonstration and disperse this crowd. If you ever see you preachingrot again, I will arrest you for sedition against the Crown and have your headfor that Defias armband.” The guards raised their shields and stared forward as the crowdhurled insults at them. Most of them had grown up on stories of the firstDefias riots that had taken Queen Tiffin’s life and they would take no chances.

“If you are unwilling to rebut any of my points then you doyourself and the institution of the Crown a disservice. Please! Come have adiscussion with me. If you make peaceable demonstration impossiblethen….” The paladin implored.

“I understand your…feelings.” The guard lieutenant cut Bennas off, “But the law is the law. Nowget moving or we will -make- you”

As the Lieutenant attempted to talk theretired Captain down, a young private’s eyes widened as he swore he saw theflash of steel in the crowd. Panic set in as he reached for his own armingsword As he felt something hard strike against his shield, the youthimmediately imagined the worst and brought the acute steel tip to bear andthrust.

Horrified screams rungout through the crowds as the young guard saw the source of his fear, a youngwoman who had struck against his shield with her fists, and the blood drippingfrom the sword that slide into her throat, “Wa-Wait…Oh Light, I’m so-” The guardsman choked out before the roarof “KILLER! KILLER!”drowned him out. Within moments, the crowd bore down on the stunned, frightenedman, tearing his helmet off. The furious crowd members drew the daggers andknives they carried in their day to day lives and rained blows of steel in thegaps of his armor and onto his now exposed face.

“Stop! Stop!” Theodorecalled out but soon realized his words fell on deaf ears. His eyes drank in thescene as though it were a bitter medicine. Stormwind guards fought back thefurious crowds in vain, taking two casualties for every rioter they put down.The young Captain’s hand shook as he drew his own sword, waving it in the air,“If they will not listen to the will of the people then we shall make themhear!” He cried out before leaping into the crowd as the last of the guardsmenwere overwhelmed, “To the Command Center,boys and girls! There are weapons there!” The crowd roared in approval.

The enraged crowd amob of magical students, furious commonfollk, and ex-soldiers, tore through thecity. The small patrols of guardsmen were too disunified to mount a substantialdefense. With each fallen trooper, one in the ground gained a new sword orcrossbow to add to their meager arms that had previously consisted of daggers,staves, and the occasional blade.

A makeshift barricadestood in front of the Command Center with another being erected as the crowdstormed up the steps of Old Town. The movement’s numbers had swelled asTheodore travelled through Old Town with many of the seedy underbelly ofStormwind, who had suffered greatly under the horrid economy, joining theirranks.

Rifles rose at thecommand of a Stormwind officer’s sword as they trained on the revolutionariesbefore them. A moment of pure silence passed before the first wave ofprotesters swarmed through the barricade, sending the men at the secondarybarricade scurrying.

“AND…FIRE!” The grey-haired Commander Elizabeth Howell shouted, swingingher sword downward. Deadly conical musket rounds tore through the sky and foundtheir mark in the bodies of the unarmored populace. Yet they did not stopcoming. First over the barricade and then up that dreadful slope to the CommandCenter, “RELOAD. RELOAD!” The officerbellowed as she directed her steel at the ones armed with weapons, “TAKE AI-“ She immediately recoiled as bolts of flame and ice returnedfrom the crowd at her riflemen and pistol shots tore through the cool air.

A veteran riflemanlaid on the ground, sprawled out and screaming from a wound that had struck himin the joint between his forearm and elbow. He was mere feet beside her. AsCommander Howell surveyed the damaged remnants of her lines, she turned to seethe rebels closing in, merely ten feet from her, “DRAW SWORDS!FIX BAYONETS IF YOU’VE GOT’EM!” She cried out, “We’re meetingKing Llane today, boys and girls! CHARGE!”

The steel cladroyalist defenders clashed with the ragtag crowd. The carefully ground edge of anarming sword collided with a butcher’s cleaver and oaken staff struck against arifle. Theodore found himself in the midst of the carnage and a target for theactual armor he bore. One such footman surged after Bennas and swung his sworddown on Bennas’ head. Theodore caught the blade with that of his rondel, hisfree hand’s grip holding the man’s armor in place to hold him if only a moment.The Stormwind soldier watched initially in confusion and then horror paladinsimply stepped forward to the footman’s side and sank the tapered tip of therondel deep into the side of the soldier’s neck. Once. Twice. Thrice. He threwthe corpse down to the side, leaning down only to take the fallen man’s sword.

The situation merefeet from him was a hurricane of flesh, steel, fire and lead. Despite theirlosses, the rabid people of Stormwind, emboldened by their outrage, threwthemselves again and again at the dwindling soldiers atop the incline. They hadthe high ground but not the men to hold it. Commander Howell barked for her soldiers to hold the line as her saber sank into a young man’sshoulder, nearly severing his torso in two. She waved the curved sword aroundto rally her men around her as the crowd swarmed their position.

The thunder of aflintlock pistol and a flash of smoke joined by several others tore through thechaos of the riot turned battlefield. Young magical students hurled great boltsof flame into the mass of remaining armored men and women. Screams resounded asthe unenchanted steel armor of the footmen served as little more than heatconductors as the soldiers they were designed to protect cooked alive in theirarmor.

With two rounds in heruniform that came from close range, Commander Howell clutched her bloody sideas she staggered forwards in dogged determination; her fingers wrapped tightaround her saber. Unlike the majority of her soldiers, Howell was outfitted inher dress uniform not her full plate. As the riotous crowds drew near, theCommander did not think of throwing down her weapon in exchange for her life. AStormwind officer does not surrender. Howell slashed at a young woman armedwith a staff but her weak strike was rebuffed and countered with a thrust thatsmashed into her chest. The force of the impact from the ash staff sent thebloodied Commander to the ground with the breath knocked out of her. Elizabethchoked out as she felt the strength leave her body. She brought her backupwards to sit herself up but her body would not obey her. The Commander fellback to the earth as she watched the rebels banging at the yielding door of theCommand Center. Elizabeth could only muster a gasp before her injuriesoverwhelmed her.

As the rebelliousswarm of humanity swarmed the Command Center and looted the military buildingfor any and every weapon, Theodore stood beside the fallen soldiers and lookedto the Stormwind Keep where the King of Stormwind reigned. The newly armed andarmored rebels filed out, looking to the paladin as if asking for their nextmove.

The paladin took abreath, savoring the silence before raising his sword, “Years from now, friends, men and women the world overwill say ‘Here began the fall of the Kingdom of Stormwind.’”. He gave a pregnant pause, letting thethought sink in for just a moment, “And the riseof the Stormwind Republic!”The crowd before him went wild with whoops and hollers as they raised theirweapons in a throng of revolutionary fervor.

This is so much longer than I expected it to be!)

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