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So. The idea of a Varian-joins-the-Owl-House AU.
I mean.
I’m not a big fan? Like. I’m not usually one for crossovers. I do, however, kind of think it has the potential to be interesting. Even just as a thought experiment, this is one that I don’t have any plans on writing out in detail.
Now, both of the versions of this I’ve come across (which, to be fair, were really just two takes on the same version) had Varian joining at the end of season one/start of season two, but I actually think the story gets a bit more interesting if you just throw him in from the start. Change the lore a bit so when you pull the door open, you get Luz’s world, and when you push it open, you get Varian’s. Maybe right after Luz came through, it closed behind her and she bumped into it backwards, leaving it ajar to Varian’s world - just enough for it to conveniently appear near him when he’s escaping prison post-villain arc (either during or before the Saporian takeover). He comes through as well, and now we’ve got two humans (+ one very hungry raccoon with an iron stomach) from very different worlds stuck in this one with Eda.
Now, having Varian around would shake things up a fair bit, I think, especially a nihilistic, traumatized post-villain arc Varian who is, I'd argue, basically Luz’s opposite in every conceivable way. She’s an optimistic do-gooding ray of sunshine obsessed with magic, learning magic and becoming a witch (trama-free), and he’s a dry-glassed ex-terrorist depressed to hell and back who loathes magic with every fiber of his little science-obsessed being. Not to mention, Varian has experience and some pre-existent combat skill (even if he primarily relied on alchemical compounds or other inventions) where Luz is totally lacking. He’s already been broken, she hasn’t yet.
I think it’d be the sort of thing where it becomes a sibling-like relationship (though, I think that just on a logical level, Luz would early on get like a puppy crush on Varian if only on the basis of angsty-slightly-older-teen-who-she-thinks-is-cool and also based on her starting expectations for her adventures in the Boiling Isles being based on books like Azura (a lot of novels with a similar premise probably would ship the two similar but opposite souls stuck in an unfamiliar world, so the avid reader part of Luz expects that to be the case for her at first). Varian, on the other hand, starts off being very closed off towards her and is a bit hot-and-cold emotionally (like, annoyance that borders on rage one second and hyper-apologetic the next) because she reminds him so much of Rapunzel (who he’s both mad at and has a lot of guilt towards at this time).
Eventually, it would come to a head when Luz makes some kind of sweet-sounding promise and Varian blows up with, like, “I don’t trust your promises!” or something and has to calm down, realize what he said, and explain vaguely that one of the only friends he ever had broke a very important promise to him when he needed her most and Luz reminds him of her. Things would get better between them from then on.
I like to think that Varian would, starting early on, keep a journal in a similar manner to Philip. It’s a bit more alchemist-y, but nonetheless. Also, Eda will let him take the basement so he and Luz don’t have to share a room. (see later in outline for what I mean by “alchemist-y”)
Specific episode tidbits:
A Lying Witch and a Warden - as mentioned, they both show up here at around the same time. Varian is very much freaking out (negative) while Luz is very much freaking out (positive). Eda takes them both “just in case,” Varian ends up with Luz when they come across the people trapped (he’s baffled that this place has even lower standards than Corona for what constitutes and arrestable offense (cough cough his house arrest before he did anything cough )), and then promptly has a panic attack when Luz pulls him into and shuts the door to the cell to hide from the warden (it really kicks in when the warden takes Tiny Nose off to be tortured).
Luz tries to help, but it’s still going by the time Eda gets back. Eda talks him through it, but not before he spouts something about how he can’t go back (similar to but different from Hunter’s attack in Hollow Mind). Eda, on the spot, tells him that he doesn’t have to go back. At this moment, I don’t think she’s really got adoption in mind yet (that comes with bonding), but she can see something bad happened to him in his world and she’s not about to let him go back to suffering if she can do something to help.
Later, Varian takes King and Ruddiger to safety via alchemy (we can say Varian found the door was pre-takeover, but after his escape with the Saporians; long enough after that he managed to get his stuff and a bag of alchemy supplies, he was planning to meet with Andrew and the Saporians when some guards spotted him) a bit early in the warden fight while Luz and Eda go the original route and free the prisoners. When all’s said and done, he asks Eda if she was serious about letting him stay, she says yes, he decides to at least stay for a little while so he can think things through (recalling that at this point, he does regret his actions [likely from a mix of his own reflecting once the anger finally wore off and a(n un)healthy dose of prison abuse/trama] and doesn’t believe he can be forgiven, his main reservations would be a fear that the Saporians might still manage to successfully take over without him and that, without him there, they’ll aim to hurt). Obviously, Luz still stays for her canon reasons.
Witches Before Wizards - it’s not a necessary episode, but in this AU, it would be utilized for building relationships between characters. I’m thinking primarily that between Varian and Luz. Since I suspect part of why Eda sent Luz out was sort of a toss-her-in-the-deep-end situation — like “if you can’t handle one day out in the town with a guide, you should probably just go home,” with a bit of quick learning the area and the sort of folks you’ll see here thrown in the mix — Varian’s being sent with her as well as King (King’s the only one who knows the town) on the potion delivery errand. He spends a lot of the time at first looking through the potions and elixirs because potions-are-just-alchemy and trying to minimize conversation with Luz. The more she talks, the more she reminds him of Rapunzel, and the more guilt sinks its claws into him. As such, he gets real snappy real fast, possibly even blows up at her and leaves to go back to Eda shortly before they reach the last client (the wizard puppet).
He’s not involved in the chosen one thing, and instead has a bit of a conversation with Eda about ✨trauma✨ (nothing deep for now, just Eda pointing out that he’s being the problem here for getting snippy over nothing — whatever it is he’s been through, it doesn’t matter much to her; it’s the here and now that he can control). By the end of the ‘episode’, he apologizes and swears he’ll try and be better going forward.
I Was a Teenage Abomination - this would be taken as an opportunity to explore the differences between Luz’s and Varian’s views of magic (and, by extension, this world). We can split them up right off the bat — Luz goes through the same plot as canon, but Varian stays back with Eda to ask her about that whole “Magic is wild and unpredictable—that’s why it's so beautiful” thing. Basically, he’s trying to figure out where the line is drawn between science and magic, how magic here differs from that back home, so on and so forth. Because, if I’m remembering correctly, “science” is never referenced in the Owl House (edit: hold up, it is once, by Alador about his abomaton nonsense in Clouds on the Horizon, this strengthens the point I’m making), especially by denizens of the BI — that is, here, it is magic instead of science, not magic vs science.
When he realizes this, he becomes a lot less averse to the concept (especially when the bile sack thing is brought up, which will be this episode for him), deciding that in this world, their magic is his science, just built a bit different (in alchemical terms, he suspects they have a different set of basic elements making everything up, which he’d double down on after they discover the light-ice-plant-fire glyphs [he assumes this is their set of base four instead of the standard air-water-earth-fire system in his alchemy; hence, why the world works so differently]).
From there, he’ll take even more of an interest in this world’s potions and in general he’ll be applying his alchemical knowledge and scientific reasoning to the materials of this world. Eda might mention that she was a potions tract kid/had a talent for potion making in school, which makes him respect her a lot more. Therefore, this doubles as an episode for solidifying his relationship with Eda, and this when he finds himself certain he wants to stay stay and not just temporarily stay.
The Intruder - Again, Varian is interested in the whole thing with the bile sacks (maybe even tries to grab that scroll so he can study it) but otherwise, he’s not so interested in learning that kind of magic. He’s a potion man - sorry, alchemist - first and foremost. He’s curious about how magic in general works here, of course, but not so much in learning how to draw circles in the air himself (possibly, he’s already deduced that he wouldn’t be able to do that anyway and chose not to bring it up yet so as not to crush Luz’s dreams. Also, by now, he’s commandeered the basement for alchemy). Side note, during King’s little lesson at the beginning, he’s not disinterested in demons, but is much more interested in Luz’s phone than the demon stuff because Luz-what-the-heck-is-that-no-we-don’t-have-phones-in-my-world—
Otherwise, fairly similar to canon.
Covention - So. I think it starts to change a fair amount more here. For one, it’s a chance for Varian to actually get to know Willow and Gus a bit (this would be what I’d primarily want to focus on in this episode). For another, I think Varian might be inclined to listen to Eda’s take on covens being a form of oppression more than to all the positive garbage surrounding them (he, at this time, has more of a rapport with Eda than anyone else and he still has a bit of a problem with government authority [Fredrick sent an army after him before he’d even done anything—]). Yet further, when he hears about the witches’ duel Luz signed up for, he will very much be shoving a variety of alchemy bombs at her to use. It’s further from cheating, since they’re arguably potions and by all means potions should be legal in witches’ duels. As such, rather than her only holding her ground based on cheats alone, she’s at least partially holding her own legitimately.
Also, again, we’d focus a lot on Varian talking with Willow and Gus, trying to get an idea of what’s so great about the covens and the emperor (and in general both parties getting first impressions of each other). Varian hears them out, asks a few obvious questions but keeps most of his skepticism to himself. These two seem nice, and seem to really believe in this whole coven thing, so if he’s going to speak ill of it, he wants proof first.
Hooty’s Moving Hassle - Varian is either filling the responsible-older-sibling role or fully on board for revenge. There is no in between.
Lost in Language - two bisexuals have a crisis. ‘Nuff said. (Varian would probably stick with the twins. He doesn’t know Amity as anything but that girl who picked a fight with Luz that one time, so Luz can go handle it. He’ll deal with telling off the twins for being assholes).
Something Ventured, Someone Framed - Now, this one can genuinely change almost entirely for one specific reason; we have two humans, and Varian has never been to Hexside. There’s no need for sneaking Luz around. In fact, the main issue is that Varian has no idea how to highschool — his world doesn’t have big, public education systems like this. There are small school houses if you happen to live near one and most villages at least have some nice adult who teaches the local kids to read and write and all, but Varian’s never had anything like that, and there is nothing like this. He was taught the basics by his dad and is otherwise entirely self-taught. He doesn’t know how to people, and frankly, has a difficult time being in such a crowded space (the last crowds he probably saw were armies, mobs, and prison processions).
Because of that, I honestly think he might sympathize with Mattholomuel even more than Luz does? Like, even after Matt’s little turn for the drama-seeking (maybe Varian did something earlier in the school day like drop a smoke bomb in the cafeteria during lunch [prompted by his massive anxiety at being in such a crowded space, compounded by over a year spent in near solitude] and, while on the same page with Gus about it this time, still winds up being hunted down by the trouble smellers) Varian has that bit of understanding that it probably is founded on insecurity, and he gets that.
Anyway. Ends similarly, though Varian might choose not to become a student (if he does become a student at all, it would take a solid bit of convincing from Gus, Eda, and who knows, maybe Mattholomuel.) (Actually, I kind of should decide that sooner rather than later, there’s a fair few episodes that end up taking place at hexside) (do potions count as spells? For the minimum-two-spells thing?)
Varian just stays home for Escape of the Palisman. No sports for ya boi. He will also gladly spend Sense and Insensitivity searching for obscure textbooks and potion books.
However, that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be other substitute “episodes” thrown in here, particularly ones that would build on Luz and Varian’s relationship. After all, I did bring up that thing about Varian’s coldness towards Luz breaking only after she tries to promise him something.
Yes, after WBW, he has been trying to not be so rude, but it’s hard, and he’s still overall very closed off towards her. He never talks about where he’s from or what happened to him, nor about his family, nor friends, nothing. This would have been a through line with all episodes up until now (like, I’d want to make a point about once an episode to have him dodge such questions). It also just makes sense that Varian would get into his own share of trouble that even Luz managed to avoid in his pursuit of witch alchemy/potion making.
For the first of those, I could totally see some situation happening that parallels The Alchemist Returns among Varian’s other interactions with Rapunzel in some ways (at some point, either here or earlier on, I would want to have Luz say something along the lines of “we are going to figure this out” in a manner that parallels the end of Great Expotations). Maybe Varian was hunting for materials to experiment with in the forest, Luz followed, Varian was annoyed about it, they have a bit of a tiff and manage to stumble into a mysterious cave system, no way to climb back out. There are some indications that they’re not the first ones to come down here, and Luz brings up the possibility of booby traps (though, she does it in that bright eyed oh-what-an-adventure way she has this season), Varian denies it and wow that’s a lot of deja-vu sets off one. The first two they activate aren’t very similar to the ones he and Raps came across (the first does fire off a spell and the second traps them in a room that Luz figures out the puzzle to, but there’s no darts or closing in walls), but the third is a near-identical pitfall.
The more parallels they come across, the testier Varian gets. Where at one point, he was playing off of Luz and hypothesizing about why these caves would be trapped in the first place, he eventually becomes just quiet. Soon enough, they come to a dead end, and Varian’s testiness boils over in the form of deep annoyance/anger. Luz tries to gently talk him out of it, and at first, it looks like it’s working, but then she makes a promise that they’ll find a way out together. See prior plan for a “I don’t trust your promises!” moment that leads to him realizing what he said, apologizing, and opening up about Rapunzel — though not dropping names, titles, or the exact premise of her promise. Still, it’s a start.
As for the idea of Varian getting into trouble on his own, I think somewhere either here or earlier on for there to be an episode focused on Varian and King bonding. It could also be an opportunity to demonstrate the start of Varian figuring out how to alchemy with the local materials. Maybe even the start of incorporating glyphs with potion magic, since it is implied that for the typical witch, some inherent magic does go into potion making (see: Eda’s initial difficulty with making high-quality potions following her power drain). I think the relationship explored between Varian and King is one of those older sibling-younger sibling relations where the older sibling (Varian) is kind of dismissive of the younger (King) at first, but eventually King is the one to suggest something that actually works to solve the problem (sort of like that Vat7K idea for how Varian is towards Yong at first).
The problem they’re trying to solve? Eeeeehhhhhh figure it out later, maybe one of Varian’s experiments blew up as they tend to do in such a way that it locked them both in the basement with some condition slowly worsening until Varian has basically no choice but to actually listen to King for once.
Adventures in the Elements - No, seriously, do potions count as spells? Mind you, I don’t think Luz has managed to learn to make potions from scratch like Varian without referencing the recipe, but I’m talking about Varian here, because while I think he’d learn glyph magic, it’s not his specialty. If he’s used it himself at all, he’s tried to see how it might interact with potion making (I think there’s an argument to be made that instead of performing two spells, Varian would fully invent two brand new potions and ramble about how he did it until Bump agreed to let him take potions classes).
Anyway. Eda would still force him to join them on the knee, which… yeah, PTSD and all that about snow and cold weather. It’s not a snowstorm, so it’s not as bad as it could be, but from the moment they catch the first glimpse of snow, he gets a lot quieter and displays signs of nervousness. When asked if he’s okay, he brushes it off with something about it being cold. He’s partially able to shake it off (enough to tease Luz about how she’s trying to impress the Blights), but it will undoubtedly come back full force to the level of a panic attack when he sees the ice glyph in action (too much like the black rocks springing from the ground). This would be when they rush out of the cave and Luz launches the thing with the massive pillar.
At first, he’s just frozen and quiet, so in the chaos of it all, he goes unnoticed. I’m struggling to choose who should notice first, so — I have rolled a dice, Edric notices first. The dice gods have spoken, I am but a messenger for their will (I got a 1 on a d6). While Eda is praising Luz for the second spell and Emera is teasing Amity about finally getting the fire spell, Edric hears a quiet, sharp intake of breath and turns to find Varian shaking, staring at the ice pillar, his eyes out of focus. Edric reaches out to help, drawing attention to Varian’s panic, and everyone takes notice. Eda makes sure they don’t crowd him and helps him through it. He might mumble something about the black rocks, but it’s very unclear. They fly home instead of launching into the air via ice pillar.
Back home, Ruddiger is part of the conspiracy to overthrow King (look, I promise if I actually wrote this, I’d make an effort to include Ruddiger throughout — he’s Varian’s emotional support raccoon. He deserves his screentime).
The First Day - No, seriously, does Varian become a student there? I’ma roll for it. Low is no, mid is yes but with special circumstances, high is yes. That’s a five on a d6, so yes, but since it’s not a six, I’ll still throw the caveat on there that since he doesn’t know how well he’ll be able to adjust to the populous environment, it’s on a trial basis (full time student, no special circumstances, but they’re all aware he could drop out at any moment). Yes, he does do the literally-invents-two-potions thing. He’s quick to choose potions at the start, unlike Luz, and possibly teases her about her weak stirring arm. He manages to avoid detention and is part of the breakout efforts, allowing some more bonding time with Willow and Gus (would focus on Willow, since she’s now the one he’s been around the least now). (Sidenote: When Luz gets detention, Bump says something along the lines of “Maybe you should have stayed in class/out of trouble, like your brother.” Luz does not get a chance to correct him).
His tracts, when they’re allowed to have multiple, will end up being potions (primary, because alchemy), plants (for materials), beast keeping (animal materials are still materials [do you know how many potions call for ingredients from animals???]), bard (he canonically has a guitar and plays piano come on [clarification for those who aren't as far down the rabbit hole as me: the guitar is quasi-canon, it appears in the zoomed out shot for his room in the storyboard for Be Very Afraid]) and abominations (closest thing to common automatons here). So, everything except construction, illusions, oracle, and healing.
Understanding Willow - Hear me out. Gus tries to interview Varian. Interesting? He’s disclosed almost nothing about his past or his world to anyone. Accomplished? (he took over a kingdom on his own at the age of fourteen- cough–) he’s picked up advanced potion making in record time. Noteworthy? He’s one of the only humans on the Boiling Isles.
Of course, Varian does not want to be interviewed and that makes the process very difficult, but Gus is determined. The bell ringing can’t be heard over a screaming match that breaks out between the two, which stops when Varian says something that goes too far, Gus stomps out, and Varian has to go and apologize. He explains a lot more calmly that it’s hard for him to talk about anything from his old life because it’s all so recent and painful. Maybe he even lets through some hint about something that went on, like he mentions being isolated, relates to Gus’ underappreciated smart kid syndrome, or references having done something bad that he deeply regrets and fears that if people here knew about it, he’d be outcast all over again. Gus, in turn, apologizes for pushing when Varian didn’t want to talk about it, and decides to interview someone else instead… but who? (que reference to King and Eda vying for the spot of interviewee) (Varian very much did not want to go into Willow’s head anyway and would point out that hey, you might need someone who actually knows her to help repair the memories).
Enchanting Grom Fright - okay. How did I accidentally like kinda subtly half talk myself into shipping Varian and Edric in this AU? Damn you d6 in AitE, you did this (and that little moment where he tells the twins off in LiL too). It wouldn’t even be crush level yet if we did commit to that, more of Edric having gained both a respect and curiosity towards Varian due to the previous two encounters and therefore trying to talk to him, get to know him, etc. Maybe it got to the point where he was planning to join the Twins in going to Grom as friends. The very idea of facing his biggest fear gives him chills because ✨trauma✨ and also, he’s very aware that it would be repeating his biggest mistakes (similar to his fear in Be Very Afraid) but in this world. As much as I’d love to force him to face Grom’s wrath, I honestly think he’s more likely to avoid it with all he has and possibly try to talk Luz out of facing it because it’s clear that she doesn’t know what her actual greatest fear is. Also, he thinks it's funny that no one else has noticed Amity’s massive crush on Luz (he put it together that morning, with the whole thing about the note).
Wing It Like Witches - Blegh. Sports. Varian no likey. (Replace it with an episode of Varian and Edric hanging out? [Look, if I’m going to do the crack ship, I’m going to commit–])
Agony of a Witch - You are talking to the guy who stole the most valuable item in Corona, kidnapped the Queen, outsmarted the King and Princess and brought a kingdom to its knees single-handedly. He’s going to help her steal that freaking hat. Successfully. (At the very least, they get a lot closer to success. The failure is due to Varian’s lack of knowledge about magic security systems and the Emperor’s castle in general, but they do get significantly closer to success). Possibly, so close that Varian either manages to escape or manages to make sure everyone else escapes, even if without the hat. No, he doesn’t actually disclose his history with strategy when he helps Luz plan, but it certainly goes through his head (this place is seriously lacking in secret tunnels). Regardless of who escapes, that means we’ve got a two-vs-one (three, if we include Ruddiger the demon raccoon) instead of a one-vs-one, tipping the scales in their favor… but maybe not completely. The whole of the emperor’s coven was watching, after all. Backup could always arrive to even the odds a bit, make it a fair fight (heck, if he sees it's going badly, Belos could send Hunter down to deal with “the spare.” [“Two against one isn’t very fair. Why don’t we even the odds?”]).
Ultimately, Eda is still forced to spend the last of her magic and loses herself to the owl beast. It is only them noticing this happening that ends Varian’s fight with the Golden Guard — neither of them were winning, Varian was stronger than Hunter thought and has a really weird fighting style that he’s not used to, but Hunter has far more overall experience and can teleport out of goo traps.
Young Blood, Old Souls - Um. Varian has acid? Varian has acid. Are those chains acid-proof? Because… yeah, I can see a lot of ways this could go very differently. Luz’s paper spells might not work in her world, but Varian’s potions certainly aren’t realm-limited. Luz managed to get Belos in the eye of his mask on her own, but Varian and his potions? Much closer fight. Still not too close, since this is our BBEG, but enough that… maybe Belos offers him a place in the emperor’s coven, maybe he thinks he senses a kindred spirit (lost to hatred at one point, driven mad by isolation, betrayed, deceived, highly intelligent, willing to go to great lengths for knowledge… this one has potential) and tries to sway him to his side. Varian, obviously, refuses. Even still, I think Belos might be keeping an even closer eye on these two than he did in canon - quite possibly, he would even try to get Varian captured at some point if he realizes that he’s, like, a literal genius. I mean. Yeah, Belos thinks real highly of himself and he has the collector to tell him what to do, but a mind like that is still valuable, and certainly would continue to be once this is all over. Luz is painfully cheerful and sympathetic, but Varian? He might have potential. It’s something to play around with, if nothing else.
…Hold up, hold up, hold up. When they stumbled through the door in the fight with Lilith, did they push it open? Because that matters here. … Okay, it looks like it opens pull-ways on its own, but that’s likely because in canon, that’s just the only way it opens. We can keep that happening, or we can have them stumble backwards into it and catch a glimpse of Corona - meaning, black rocks and ruin, since the portal is closer to Old Corona. Varian, immediately triggered by this, tries to shove them all back through the door instantly. Possibly, someone who happens to be nearby spots them and that report reaches Rapunzel, since this would definitely be post-return at this point, but the portal is closed before they can be followed. His panic, though, those overwhelming emotions, they don’t fade immediately. He’s still struggling to breathe and all that. This is what stops the fight.
To continue that step back (and, in that, actually step ahead), Varian is going to have the most sympathy for Lilith the soonest. I mean, going to drastic, somewhat destructive lengths to try and save a family member from a mistake you caused, only for it to be all for naught? Been there. Done that. After everyone is out of danger, he’s actually going to open up about all that, both because… well, it’s about time, and so Lilith knows she’s, bizarrely, not alone in working through that kind of guilt. A lot of things about him (why he’s so sure of himself about breaking into a castle, why he’s never been keen on the emperor even before they found out he was for-sure evil, his issues with snow and magic and prisons, all of it) make more sense. Also, though, I think Luz tries to prod some hope back into him. Yeah, they might not even have a way back anymore, but if (when) they find a way back, maybe he can use stuff from here, get the help from one of their friends, use this world’s magic to save his dad. Maybe his dad is still alive after all. Maybe. Varian, well, he doesn’t really agree, but he doesn’t tell Luz that. It does get him thinking about it, though.
Separate Tides - So, remember how I had Varian have a fairly close fight with ya boi, the Golden Guard? Obviously, Hunter holds his own a lot better here (the big issue was he lacked experience fighting against Varian’s style, he’s had a little bit now to train against that specifically) but he still overpowers them less than in canon. Like, there’s an actual fight, and he has to fully restrain Varian before he can get a leg up on the other two. In fact, I don’t think he’d let Varian go, since he’s clearly the most competent one of the three (admiration? What admiration? Hunter only admires one person, and that’s Lord Belos). Therefore, forced interaction (Varian gets the beginnings of an understanding that Hunter is absolutely brainwashed. Gods, he’s like a really weird mix of Varian’s trauma & villainy and Rapunzel’s undying but misplaced respect for her father).
Escaping Expulsion - Varian tries and fails to prevent Luz from making bad decisions.
Echoes of the Past - Varian is at least as fascinated by everything as Lilith, but I think leans a bit more neutral in terms of whether or not he acts like he believes King. Which is to say, he’s the “Sure, buddy” *rubs head* kind of sibling, which King will obv. still take as the lack of belief it is. I’m going to say Varian ends up running into Eda a bit after they’ve all split up to search for King, maybe have them have a conversation about why parents choose not to tell their kids important stuff sometimes and how patronizing that can feel to the kid (Varian, at this point, is comfortable enough to directly discuss his own experiences). That’s the most this episode diverges because let's be honest, it was always about King. There isn’t much room for divergence once they’re on the island.
Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances - So. If Mrs. Clawthorn is the Demon Realm equivalent of an anti-vaxer, does that make her an anti-potionist? Because. Like. Varian.
Anyway, I think the real question here is where Varian fits in with the parental issues crew. On one hand, he’s definitely thrown by Eda willingly avoiding her mother (when he was younger, he’d do anything for his father’s attention) so in that, he’s on Lilith’s side. On the other hand, he does understand Eda’s frustration with her mother not listening, at least once Eda gets around to explaining the whole situation. Mostly, he’s probably just vibing in the B plot, so this might be a good episode to either bring up as a mention or attach to the tail end of the previous one since that one might end up being short as well in order to avoid redundancy between the show and the fic.
Through the Looking Glass Ruins - Complete divergence, I’d like to have another episode of Varian spending time with Edric. I will not take criticism on this ship (though it is a slowburn; even at this point, it’s mostly through implication). More specifically — maybe Edric got into a fight with Emira and Varian finds him being a Sad Boi out in the forest while collecting ingredients. Ruddiger is also there, and in this AU, this is when we start to explore Edric’s interest in beast keeping and potions, which we’ll find out has been strongly discouraged by his parents (mostly Odalia, but Alador’s never really understood it either). Que shenanigans regarding the taming of an especially tricky beast (they totally almost die at least once) but together, they figure it out.
Hunting Palismen - … I’m going to roll a dice. If it’s high, he gets a palisman, if it’s mid, he doesn’t get one yet, and if it’s low, he doesn’t want one anyway. That’s a three. Here’s the idea: Varian, at first, shrugs off the palisman stuff. Ruddiger is enough for him, and anyway, he doesn’t want to force any of these small creatures to bond with him or whatever. He is still there for the ceremony, though, and maybe at some point, either in muttering to himself or to talking to someone near the pen, mentions something about who he wants to be — an alchemist, who can actually do some good for once and not fall back into his old ways. One little palisman was listening, and we get a hint of that, but Varian won’t accept (or even notice) that palisman for a while yet. However, he will notice an odd little creature that Ruddiger seems to have befriended on the way home. I’m yet to decide on what the animal is, and this is one of the last episodes I plotted, so I don’t even have a clear idea of where it would fall in a final version of the AU. Probably around Labyrinth Runners?
As for the rest of the episode, well —
”What do you mean, you were with the Golden Guard? LUZ!”
Eda’s Requiem - So hear me out on this one. Varian gets kidnapped.
I know, I know, it’s a little out there, but like. He’s kidnappable. He’s very kidnappable! I don’t know what else to say. I might switch which episode this is attached to. Regardless, it will immediately change a large part of the episode immediately following it, if not fully add a new episode, unless I let him escape within the same episode he’s captured in. IT’S STAYING HERE I’VE DECIDED see the idea in Follies for why, I’m very happy with this decision.
Anyway. So, while Luz and King are busy with their race thing (blegh, sports) and Eda is getting wrapped up in the thing with Raine to distract herself from thoughts of her kiddos flying the nest, Varian is having what is honestly the most normal time of his life. He’s been forced to take a break from trying to figure out the portal thing for Luz (they hit a roadblock anyway), so he’s back to experimenting with potions. He’s been trying to combine all the new glyph magic with potion making and he’s had a fair few successful ventures already, including a long-needed upgrade to Eda’s elixirs (he’s able to make a small sample batch of a more potent, longer-lasting version and has plans to make more). This means that he winds up home alone, other than Hooty. When he goes out to gather some more potion materials, he’s snatched up the moment he’s out of Hooty’s sight. Later, the Owl Gang will find only his goggles left behind.
It wasn’t Hunter who grabbed him, because Hunter is still grounded after Hunting Palismen, but the two of them will probably interact a fair amount in the time to come. For now, Belos is the first person to have a chat with him when he wakes up, initially trying to get him over to his side through debate, but ah, well, he’ll do what he must — including getting that illusion head to deliver a full report on Varian’s memories, his world, his past, etc. The potion they’ll give him to brainwash him is designed to bring back that hyper-determined genius, ruthless strategist from his villain arc, and it will at first.
It’s going to be at least a few days before Raine, Darius and Eber can pull him off somewhere hidden away, cure him, and explain the situation. In that time, Varian has already been introduced to the portal door (he’s back to the mindset of relentlessly looking for a way to save his father) and been given a special rank in the Emperor’s Coven, not one that commands power really but certainly higher than a scout or anything like that).
Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door - Goes similarly, but there’s an undertone of worry specifically around Varian’s disappearance that is more to the reason for all of them being teetering over the edge at once. Hooty’s efforts are more so about taking at least one thing off their plate and giving them a bit of a morale boost so they can focus on finding/saving Varian more effectively.
Can include a “meanwhile” of what Varian and the CATs are up to. This shouldn’t be a particularly long episode so we can avoid redundancy, but I do think it should still be its own chapter due to vibes.
Eclipse Lake - See Requiem and Follies for Varian’s current mental state (post CATS intervention, but what he’s supposed to act like). I kind of want Varian to insist on accompanying the expedition to Eclipse Lake, or for him to sneak over there with Hunter. The latter indicates that he’s built some sort of rapport with Hunter, so that’s fun. Could also be that they both snuck out separately and ran into each other (Varian’s excuse is played directly off Hunter’s reasoning, which is to say he makes it out as a desire to be trusted with field missions instead of his work being confined to the lab and portal rooms. This, of course, leads Hunter into the awkward position of trying to discourage this without sounding too much like a hypocrite or revealing Varian’s pre-existing history with the Demon Realm and its residents [love some dramatic irony with Varian already knowing about all that and just letting this socially awkward idiot flounder]).
Varian desperately tries to stay out of sight of the Owl gang, is happy to hear Luz and Amity finally got together, has a moment where he’s faced with just how much Eda and King care about him (Hunter doesn’t think Varian hears them interrogating him about Varian, given Varian doesn’t bring it up after, but he does hear and he feels bad for having to keep his current condition a secret) and possibly breaks Hunter out of their capture a bit early to keep up appearances (he has a mask and refuses to speak, he ain’t an idiot).
Later, he’s there to comfort Hunter when the lake turns out to be empty… and takes a sample of the dirt. It may be nothing, it may truly be dry, but there’s always the possibility something seeped into the soil, and he’s going to see if he can find a way to extract it. Not for Belos. Belos doesn’t need to know, especially if he does manage to succeed, but it may be Luz’s only way back. Now, when Amity and King show up, they overhear Hunter’s panicking to Varian about the whole thing and see who to them is a mysterious, cloaked & masked figure (though not in any traditional Emperor’s Coven Scout masks) comforting Hunter and tucking a jar of dirt under his cloak. Or, well, Amity notices the second thing, King doesn’t.
Amity still tries to reach out and a fight for the key still breaks out, but Varian’s largely unarmed (whatever he did to break out Hunter would have been more resourceful cleverness than potions) so it goes very similarly to canon - if anything, Varian is trying to pull Hunter away (he tries to make it seem like it’s out of concern, and it is, just for both he and Amity rather than just for Hunter), but Hunter has tunnel vision on the key. Still, he might be distracting enough that Amity drains even more of the blood from the key before Hunter takes it. Also, Varian catches the common mold.
Yesterday’s Lie - Varian has the common mold. (Back with the Owl gang, they go through with making the portal - Luz thinks, if Varian has been taken by the Emperor, she might be able to use a working portal as a bargaining chip, plus it’s not like she’s not still desperate to get home).
Follies at the Coven Day Parade - Alright, I don’t have anywhere better to put this idea, but here’s the idea: After Varian was kidnapped and brainwashed, the CATS trio (Darius, Eberwolf and Raine) manage to undo the brainwashing and let him in on their plan. They offer to try and break him out, but he turns them down - he’s a good liar, and he can get more done from the inside than from the outside, especially knowing that Belos is working on making his own portal. Now, that’s all stuff that could be mentioned in Eclipse Lake, so here’s the big thing: Varian gets out a message to Luz after or during the Coven Day Parade in the form of some journal or even just a letter written in alchemical code - allegorical code (Some alchemists would encrypt their work by writing out stories that symbolically explain their alchemical process or research — this is part of why so many alchemical texts read as basically gibberish and nonsense in the modern day, when we don’t possess the same understanding of the symbols that would appear in such texts that alchemists once did). This is what he writes his personal journal in as well, and at some point before this, (pick an episode or two and make a point of it) he’s explained it to Luz. She didn’t entirely get it then, but she knows enough to, after reading it a couple times, realize that’s what this is, and piece together (most of) what he’s telling her.
Varian never liked people keeping big secrets; that never helped anything. So the letter explains to her the plan, his part in it, and why it needs to be kept secret, as well as why he couldn’t just tell her outright (Belos has eyes and ears everywhere). Luz lets Eda and King in on the situation and none of them are happy about it, but they can’t blow his cover, so. Yeah.
Elsewhere and Elsewhen -. Obv. complete divergence because he’s not there, but maybe it’s around this time that he successfully pulls some titan’s blood out of the dirt and tries to hide it. …Belos finds out. Orders him to get more.
Any Sport in a Storm - For some reason, Hunter hasn’t been able to talk to Varian much lately. He’s going stir crazy, the episode is largely canon paralleled otherwise — possibly combo this with the previous episode.
Reaching Out - Varian’s… Varian’s made a truth serum before- heck, he might have brought a spare vial with him. He’s not here for this, but Eda might have found that vial and considers using it. Might test it first, though, suspecting and confirming that it doesn’t have the same effect on demons as it does on humans. (At this point, Varian has extracted enough titan blood from the lake soil to fill the key halfway. He’s not happy about it, but it could have been more).
Also, Edric is concerned about the fact that he hasn’t seen Varian lately (we can say it’s taken this long because there was a school break or Varian had a habit of taking days or weeks off at random since he’s not used to public school) and gets the short explanation that he’s “missing”/“been kidnapped” (if Amity didn’t tell him, Luz, Eda, and King definitely aren’t going to get into it, especially not any of the stuff that even Amity doesn’t know yet). In helping Eda with the potion if we do assume they’re still going to try to make one the normal way, at least part of his understanding of what he’s doing references back to his lil adventure with Varian in TtLGR (not all of it, I don’t want it to seem like all of his intelligence is contingent on Varian, but it nothing else it could be made evident that he’s let himself explore his interests in beast keeping and potion making a lot more since that episode and because of that episode).
Them’s The Breaks, Kid - Not present so no change. We’d instead explore Varian’s deal with the CATs a bit further, like how probably it’s Raine that helps him keep himself unpoisoned by the brainwashing tea and that sometimes, if they’re not around, he has to bite the bullet and drink it and forget until Raine, Darius and Eber can cure him again. If we really want to go wild, we can even explore how that looks from Hunter’s point of view, and how, to him, Varian seems to have good days where he’s kinder and more understanding and bad days where he doesn’t even seem to remember they were friends on the good days.
Hollow Mind - Varian goes with them. He made the potion part of it, in fact. It’s the first time he’s been out of the castle since Eclipse Lake. He’s standing on that fourth circle, closest to the ally’s exit, and Hunter grabs him when he jumps out to apprehend them. He gestures for Raine and the others to go without him - they hesitate, but they see the logic in it. Frankly, they wanted to try and pull him out as soon as possible anyway, especially with the titan blood thing (even slowing the process as much as he can, he’s drawing blood, and they don’t want Belos to have enough to fill that key). With Luz here, he’s fairly certain he’ll be able to find some way out, and he’s hoping he can convince Hunter to come with. For now, he’s keeping his face hidden and tries to get away, but Hunter keeps a grip on his arm. The spell still activates, and Varian wakes up first. He tries to keep quiet at first, but Hunter is mad and just winds up tearing his hood off. Hunter freaks out (negative) more at this, Luz also freaks out (positive) but with a little less surprise (since she knew about his whole double-agent bit). The rest of the episode is at least as painful as it always was, if not a bit more. When Hunter runs away in the end, Varian follows.
Edge of the World - I have chosen to throw Varian at Hunter instead of Luz, so he’s not there for that.
Labyrinth Runners - Varian tried to convince Hunter to go to the Owl House, that he’d be safe with Eda and Luz, but Hunter is stubborn and fearful. “They’ll look there first. It’s not safe.” And, well, he’s not wrong, so the two of them hide out at Hexside together. Varian does stop him from pretending to still be GG, and explains the base most of what’s going on to Gus. As much as he doesn’t like keeping secrets, especially when it helps nothing, he does know how to recognize when something isn’t his to tell, so he doesn’t go into detail on the mindscape, the grimwalker thing, or much else. Just that yes, Varian’s alive, he was taken by the Emperor’s Coven and now both he and Hunter are out of it and in hiding, and that the Owl House isn’t safe for the time being.
The rest of the episode is a struggle against redundancy as I can’t think right now of how else to twist it away from canon. Honestly, I’m struggling to think of how to do it in a way that doesn’t disrespect the awesome bonding between Hunter and Gus we got in canon.
Oh Titan, Where Art Thou - Not Present: figure out what Varian, Hunter, and the Hexolios would have been doing during that time frame (according to Willow, that’s like a week of time at least).
Clouds on the Horizon - Varian joins back up with Luz at the same time as Hunter, Willow, and Gus. Since we would’ve spend the last episode on what the four of them and Hexide were doing in the meantime, we can just jump into this point more or less.
Omg wait Varian & Edric reunion— (I would so go down with this ship if I were to actually write this AU). I do think V would give Luz the courtesy of reuniting with her official GF with some privacy, but I think Edric will tackle Varian with a hug the moment he sees him (Edric seems like a hugger). We’ll have the twins a bit more involved from the moment Luz busts them all out of their room, which is to say, they’re part of the plan from the start. Varian will be going off to cause a distraction with them while Luz and co go looking for Alador. This also gives us an opportunity to make sure Ed and Em are up to date with the bigger plan surrounding preventing the apocalypse. There’s probably a moment where while Ed and Em are being taken off to who-knows-where, Varian gets shoved in the force sphere thing with the others, bit of a dramatic call out between Varian and Edric, fun lil moment. Alternatively, the three of them get put in their own sphere, and he escapes with them separate from the others, leaving those three stranded while the others take off on an airship. Third alternative is Varian, in view of everyone else, gets put on the ship or a different ship, etc, with the intent of shipping him back to Belos. That one is likely to end most similar to the first route, since Kikimora is the only emperor’s coven person to escape. The only reason it would end differently and make it a full alternative is if she took Varian either alongside or instead of Luz disguised as Hunter. This is a dice roll situation, but it doesn’t matter too much for now.
Regardless of what happens, the goal is that Edric and Emira will be a bit more involved in this and the next episode. Somehow, they’re all joining back up again before the final fight.
King’s Tide - To generalize for the sake of three possible ways of getting there, I’m going to be referencing our parties as Team Luz, Team Ed & Em, and Team Redemption (cuz Alador, Amity, and Hunter are all there). Team Redemption goes very similar to canon because there’s not a lot of room for change. Team Ed & Em have a much harder time getting to the head, but ultimately, that is still their destination. They probably have to jailbreak their palismen and fly that way, flying near the ground to avoid airships and going stealthily. This means they’ll arrive a bit later than Team Redemption, but not by much. Team Luz is also going to go similar to canon, but obv. if Varian were part of that one, the mini initial fight and Belos’ speech would go fairly differently, since it’s 2 v 1 and Belos has different ammo against Varian than he does against Luz and some inclination to try and keep him alive.
The final fight is basically going to be an attempt at balancing three extra characters while still making it a very close fight and trying to keep the energy/hear pumping factor of that fight. So. Wing it, I guess? The only thing I know for sure is that Team Ed & Em arrive probably around when Belos breaks out of the vines/King disappears down the stairs.
Half of them end up in Luz’s Realm with Luz, and the other half end up in Varian’s Realm, including Varian. As a note, Belos ends up wherever Hunter goes. If I were to do that, I’d want to send Edric, Hunter and Gus with Varian since he has more of a relationship with them than he has with Amity, Emira and Willow, and I want to keep Gus and Hunter together. Plus, it’s always possible Willow, Amity, Emira and Vee still come across the rebus; it’s going to be our second crew that has the more difficult time getting back.
Here’s how that goes: Varian notices Luz trying to play hero, goo-bombs the portal and pushes her towards it. He doesn’t go through, though - he’s the one that grabs King and tries to keep him with. Hunter goes back through to help him and so do Gus and Edric. Luz goes to try, but King does his scream, pushing her back through and… closing the door. Varian hears it slam shut, slam back open, realizes what’s about to happen, where they’re going, and is overcome with panic. It’s too late to stop it though, as he lands on familiar soil in a familiar world and watches the door flicker out of existence, leaving the four of them trapped in Varian’s world. No glyph magic, little/no magic alchemy, potentially no flapjack (might leave him with the others so they’re guaranteed to find the rebus). Nowhere to go.
Things just got a whole lot more difficult.
Thanks to Them - Okay, obviously we’re delving into this time frame further. Big thing to figure out is how long has it been? Where are Raps and crew in their story, and how has that changed without Varian there? I’m thinking it’s definitely well past the Saporian takeover (even easier to subdue without Varian helping the Saporians), but probably pre-red rocks. It’s been like six months, we’re just going to let ourselves assume it took that long before the red rocks incident. The Varian sighting in Young Blood would have been three months ago (we’re assuming each season of TOH encompasses three months). (The outline’s going to be a bit sloppy for a minute, so bear with me)
Varian’s Return - The immediate instinct is panic, but between adrenaline that’s hitting fresh all over again and whatever logical thought he can grip onto, Varian’s not too far gone for the time being. He grabs Edric, Hunter and Gus and books it for the nearest place he knows he can hide (probably that tunnel system under Old Corona). They’re spotted, but they get away for the time being (they have two illusionists on hand, they’ll be fine).
Now, mind you, Ed, Gus and Hunter haven’t gotten the whole story of Varian yet. They wouldn’t know nothing, he’s been a bit more open since he let it all out to the Owl gang, but they only have bits and pieces. Someone broke a promise, Varian did something really bad, he was in jail for a while, the basics. Enough to understand why they’re hiding. Now, though, he has to explain a bit more. Specifically that it was the princess who broke that promise and he committed high treason that one time (what the hell, Varian, you know what actually that explains a lot–). He explains this because he knows that when Rapunzel hears about him, if she’s back (he suspects she’s back by now) she’ll come after them herself. Oh, also about the weird magic hair and rocks (not like your magic, hers is weird. It’s inconsistent, it doesn’t have any replicable properties-). He’ll mention that too. For now, they need to get to Varian’s lab so he can salvage some things, maybe make some extra alchemy balls because glyphs don’t work here and so they can make a game plan (it’s so strange — this is the first time he can remember that he’s had to struggle to recall the recipes for compounds he used to make on a daily basis). This means the next arc for them would actually be the latter part of RTA season three, so let’s say a big hello to those episodes.
Till We Meet Again - So yeah, obvious Raps and the former thieves are coming after ya bois. That wasn’t a question for anyone involved here. Here’s the thing: She’s not the first person they run into, and far from the first surprise they find. Rolled a dice, got a six, Raps has already freed Quirin and he’s alive. So, when they get to Varian’s lab, they find… nothing. No amber. No encased father. Even some of the rocks seem to have receded (though not all). Varian’s alchemy stuff is still there, but it looks like it’s been cleaned up and then left to gather dust. His chair’s been moved to the center of the room, facing his desk, as if someone had come here and sat in it just to take in the place.
Varian is, reasonably, freaked out by this (Edric, Hunter and Gus get a rushed, only half-coherent explanation of why). Ed suggests the obvious, “Maybe someone got him out?” and Varian does not have a response to that (it was impossible, he couldn’t get his hopes up, but what else could it be? What else could have happened? Where was-?) At first, he pushes the issue aside. Even if Quirin is free and somehow alive, that doesn’t mean the four of them are safe (for the love of god, cover up your ears ). Potions and plan first, figure out what’s happened while he was gone second. He doesn’t want to stay here long, plans on making a hideout somewhere else since this place will be the first they look, Gus raids his non-alchemical stuff (Tales of Flynnigan Rider shrine- cough ) and Hunter takes a turn trying to calm Varian down. Because Varian is panicking, even if he’s doing a not-shabby, not-great job of hiding it. Varian tries to brush him off, says something about finding a way to make them a portal home so they can save the Boiling Isle, or at least make a portal to Luz’s realm so they’ll be safe, but Edric calmly takes over with a different approach. Before he can really talk Varian through it, though, the door opens, and the four of them immediately go invisible (two illusionists babyyyyyyy). It’s Quirin’s voice that calls out to them, and Varian freezes. It’s the heartwarming/heartbreaking reunion you’d expect, with a side of “Please don’t tell anyone — we can’t go to jail, not now!” / “I’m sorry, we?” And Varian will, with great caution, introduce Edric, Hunter and Gus, who are trying very much to make it look like they didn’t just pop out of thin air. It’s explaining time.
Now, the jail thing. Let’s think about this for a second. As far as Raps and crew know, he helped Andrew escape and was conspiring with the Saporians, then disappeared when the guards still in Corona tried to pursue him. He wasn’t seen for three months, then was spotted by a citizen traveling between Old Corona and another village shortly after Raps returned with a few strange people and vanished again through a door attached to nothing that disappeared once closed, and then another three months went by.
Initially, they probably thought he either used the Saporians for his own escape so he could keep hunting for a way to free his father or had a last minute change of heart and ran off to start a new life. Raps hopes the latter, though she still wants to find him (she wronged him too, after all - she knows that). The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between, but they don’t know that.
What they do know is the story got complicated after that sighting three months ago.
What was that door? Who were those people? Was it something to do with Zhan Tiri, with The House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow, with magic? Varian didn’t mess with magic, why start now? No one knew what to think. The fact that he ran back through immediately, didn’t even try to stay, did tell them one thing, though; he hadn’t meant to come back, probably didn’t want to come back. Because he was running, some said, because he was too cowardly to face his punishment. Too scared to face the reality of what he did to Corona, to his friends, his father. A small, hopeful few believed something kinder. That he had changed, and yes, he was afraid, but he was also trying to be better somewhere else. After all, why would a stalwart scientist mess with magic if not because he’d changed? Then there were those like Rapunzel, who wanted to believe that hopeful idea, but had seen doors appearing and disappearing out of and into thin air before, and knew it as dark magic, used by the followers of the demon sorcerer. That he might be being misled, used by, or worse, purposefully helping the wrong person.
He’s scared, either way. That much is obvious to them all. And a few realize he’s right to be scared: he’s a kid who’s made big mistakes and spent the better part of a year in prison with a really horrible cellmate because of those mistakes. But besides that? No one knows. Less so do they know what to do when they find him. Arrest him at first, sure, for appearances at least, but Raps at least would like to talk to him after that. Figure out what's up, what he’s been doing, so on. So yeah, I suppose he is still on the list of people to be apprehended.
Anyway, that was a very long tangent, which was all to say Varian would very much like to avoid jail, but most of Corona would like for him to be in jail.
To make a long story short, Raps and co will end up going to Old Corona and asking Quirin, tentatively, about whether he’s seen any sign of Varian. Quirin, trying to be a better father than he once was, lies to her face, but someone with her (I imagine she would have struggled to convince all of the guards to stay back, and even if she did, Eugene is there) would ask if they can check out his lab anyway.
Be Very Afraid - “You know, I thought I’d dodged a bullet with not facing Grometheus, but I guess this is what I get for running from my fear.” All four of them keep referencing Grom and no one knows what the heck they’re talking about, Gus and Ed are a bit baffled by the not-illusion magic- but-still-illusions (they’re not illusion magic, they don’t feel or work quite the same and their magic doesn’t counteract them, but they’re clearly illusions of a sort), they all have serious trauma but they still manage. More generally, this is the proof-of-redemption episode.
It’s about here that I lost steam on this AU entirely. As you can see, I had some idea of where I wanted to take things from the remaining titles on my list, but little plan besides. My notes here-on are written entirely for the sake of posting this outline to AO3
Forgetting & Forgiving - I know this was going to be an entirely non-based-in-canon episode which would deal with the final stretch of Varian getting back in at least neutral terms, if not on good terms with some of Rapunzel and her crew. I didn’t have a lot of specific plans besides that, but probably I’d also have to take this as an opportunity to properly introduce and important characters who haven’t met yet (so, making sure Ed, Gus, and Hunter are acquainted with Eugene, Lance, Maximus, Rapunzel, and the girls [actually, Varian has to meet the girls too, come to think of it]) and possibly bring up some important things V’s missed (Catalina being a werewolf comes to mind).
Cassandra’s Revenge - This would probably have to go very differently for a few reasons. For one, Varian won’t have had as much time to study the scroll, which means either he’s definitely pulled some cram sessions/all nighters or he’s had some serious help from Gus (I would say Gus, Edric, and Hunter, but while Hunter’s a nerd I don’t know how good he’d be with puzzles and Edric is kinda a himbo). For two… I mean. Hunter, Gus, and Edric are there. Things are going to be different. I just don’t know how.
Race to the Spire - I wasn’t settled on doing this one, but I at least wanted to address why on earth the mindtrap even exists and, well, Varian appears here in canon, so it makes sense he’d at least hear that it’s happening. Otherwise, I might have actually used this more for Varian, Hunter, Edric, and Gus’ side of it to zone in on more of them figuring out Corona and starting to work on how in the Seven Kingdoms to make a portal home, since they’d necessarily have to be done with the scroll by the time Cassandra’s Revenge rolls around.
Blood Hunt - I saw this episode title and I was like “Wait, huh-” and then I remembered: Titan Blood. This would have to be an entirely custom episode, and it would deal very heavily with figuring out how to make a portal home. They’d probably do so by looking into legends surrounding Demanitus and Zhan Tiri, given the idea of Zhan Tiri being from another realm is brought up once or twice when her legend is referenced, which would lead them to Demanitus’ tomb and the portal plans. The problem is by default, that portal opens to the Lost Realm, nowhere else. Varian suspects they need something like titan’s blood or similar to focus the portal’s destination on the Boiling Isle’s instead, but he doesn’t know where, and of course he’s stressed out of his mind and feels horrible about Ed, Hunt, and Gus being stuck here with him, so y’know. Intense emotions all around. I’d want at least a few more scenes of him and Ed specifically with Gus and Hunter bonding across the room (they defo get obsessed with the Flynn Rider books) in order for me to push my Edrian agenda (still don’t know how one dice roll made me kind of ship that, but honestly, I think it’s fun).
Once an Alchemist - By this episode, we’re getting to the point where Varian is locked in on the portal, but also has a moment alone with his dad where the question of what Varian plans to do if/when he gets the portal to work comes up. Varian… doesn’t know anymore, actually. Sure, there’s a lot he has to go back to there, and he definitely has to make sure they can clear up whatever’s happening with that Collector kid, but his dad is here, and Quirin is probably going to be staying here. It’s going to be weighing on his mind for this whole episode (while also Cass comes in and wreaks havoc) and probably into the next. Ultimately, though, I think at this point, Quirin is the only tie Varian has to Corona; in this AU, I think the natural conclusion would be for him to move to the boiling isle full time.
Plus Est En Vous - Zhan Tiri happens, wow they cannot catch a break with these eclipses, we’re honestly going to be putting more focus into the portal and making that work. Maybe Varian has to give up that palisman I decided he might have only on this final runthrough of this outline as the closest proxy for titan’s blood. Oh, yeah, actually; I almost forgot, but Belos would have been a nuisance around Corona this whole time, and it’s probably around here (maybe even in that fight with Zhan Tiri if we want to be dramatic) that he comes out to play. So. Yeah.
For the Future & Watching and Dreaming - This is where I’d really be lost if I were to actually be writing this AU. The balance of respecting the original while also diverging enough to make an interesting fanfic gets especially tricky with this many moving parts and so little room for error (lest they get turned into toys). If anyone does want to pick this up and write it yourself, I’d have to leave this up to you, and I’d applaud you for figuring out literally anything with it.