#vat7k analysis

[bad-holmes-impression]

i see your “varian never saw hugo’s betrayal coming and is furious” and raise you “varian saw hugo’s betrayal coming and is resigned.”

before the library, varian asks hugo if he’s hiding something. hugo says he isn’t, and varian mumbles “i don’t know why i asked that when i knew i’d only believe one of your answers.”

varian bonds with hugo, yes, and part of that is because he is genuinely hopeful that this could be the time that ends well. the other part is self-punishment for deeds he’s already made up for, because he feels like they’re doomed, and all he can control is how much it hurts. (he gets so very close, and it will hurt so very much.)

and then hugo’s standing across from varian, and varian’s connecting the dots he knew were always there. anger flickers across his face, but it fades to tiredness, and varian walks through the portal without another word.

when ulla’s excruciating light has faded from her son’s eyes and varian has allowed hugo to hug him with all the desperation he’s never shown before, hugo asks why he doesn’t seem furious.

varian’s answer is contemplative in a way that can’t fully conceal how much the words hurt him. “i think there is something bad i have in me, or… or some ‘x factor’ everyone else has that i don’t. something about me is easy to betray and lie to and make false promises to and forget about. and being mad at you for it… that’s like being angry at the sky for raining, when it was my fault for trying to have a picnic under storm clouds. you know?”

over the years, hugo will be able to make up for shattering varian’s mixture of faint trust and fainter hope. hugo will be able to convince him that he’s just had rotten luck and lived through things no one should have had to. hugo will be able to show varian that he is worth loving and he deserves not to be let down, but to be cherished.

but that will take time, and right now, hugo can’t find the words for all of that. so he just holds him, and he feels a piece of him break at how limply varian embraces him in return.

[sam0gon]

Height headcanons/analysis

Genuinely, why Varian was is so short? “He’s got that from his mama!”

His mama is tall. She’s taller than Hugo. Even if Varian is afab he should be taller considering his parents’ height, so I suppose he has some problems with height hormones.

Next question what is his height?

I mean he’s definitely shorter than average height, even Nuru is taller. He’s most closer to Rapunzel (her height is 5’1” as I understand? Yep? Nope?), he’s a little bit taller than her. So…

Varian’s 155-160 cm (5’1’’-5’3’’). Hugo’s around 175 cm (5’9’’).

Ulla is around 178 cm (5’10”)

Donella is 185 cm (6’1”)

Nuru is 160cm (5’3”)

Yong is 145cm (4’9”)

Cyrus (and Quirin I suppose) are around 6’7” (200cm) because sixseven and they’re like super big compared to other characters.

[2emmyinthe5lesh]

Y’all do not understand how important the donkey being named Prometheus is.

Okk because we all know how in Greek myth Prometheus gives humans fire which was previously a secret. Obviously fire can be both helpful and hurtful. It can become an out of control blaze, or it can help cook food, something that is very necessary.

Quirin gives Prometheus the donkey to Varian for his trip to the eternal library, the place that is all about knowledge and how it can hurt vs help!

And not only that the VERY FIRST trial being the fire one, about “burning away dross” and revealing secrets like c'mon. You mean secrets like uhh idk FIRE ITSELf!

Also fire and knowledge are very interconnected because, Prometheus gives humans the knowledge to make fire. However they need to meet a specific quota of knowledge because if they don't fully understand how to use and control fire, they wont be able to utilize it. Too much and there are other problems, specifically with control. (fire power wow). Spoiler this goes for knowledge too, especially with Ulla's whole thing in the eternal library being her obsessed with knowledge.

anyway I headcanon that the eternal library spreads like fire instead of plants

We need to talk about Greek myth motifs more within this fandom as a whole tbh may expand on this w/ some cool ol’ diagrams yay :D

[bad-holmes-impression]

trans varian and ulla possessing him.

trans varian and his mother possessing him.

trans varian and her— literally— living vicariously through him. denying him ownership of his body. pulling him along to her every whim.

the symbolism.

the invasion, the control, the long-lasting trauma, the destruction of it.

“how dare you?” says one.

“but i love you,” replies the other.

[bad-holmes-impression]

it is interesting how some parts of the fandom will turn varigo into, essentially, a straight ship, with hugo as the “male” figure and varian as the “female” figure.

they’ll have a running joke of hugo groping/sexually harassing varian in a number of ways and laughing when varian “gets flustered”, and there’s usually a theme of varian being head-over-heels for him from first sight despite this. the whole thing reads like some comic book from the sixties written by an incel, except it’s gay and modern!! so that must make it different!! /sar

there’s probably some internalized homophobia that goes into this. making them both act like the young men they are is really drawing attention to the fact that it’s a gay pairing. (whether or not you believe one of them is genderfluid, they’re still men at least most of the time).

there’s just… a lot of mischaracterization with this trend, i feel. yeah, maybe hugo would be creepy because he’s trying not to form attachment, or because he doesn’t know how to handle any budding feelings, but varian would shut that down immediately. and if he couldn’t for whatever reason, nuru and yong would call it out. and when they’re dating, hugo is way too much of a loser to be the only suave one. (and varian wouldn’t be a flustered mess The Entire Time.)

also, kay and anna have said that hugo and varian are intellectual equals— there’s no reason to lessen one in favor of the other.

let them do traditionally masculine things! let them both be “the traditionally masculine one” in their relationship! the world will not implode, i swear!

[bad-holmes-impression]

i feel like i’m going crazy— somebody validate my “varian sees andrew in hugo”

just. cocky, pretentious, self-assured, handsome, not that trustworthy (but varian wants to trust him). he lives with this guy for months. (trapped.) there’s an objective that both he and this guy are trying to achieve. varian would risk his life for him (but would he do the same if varian was in danger?) there’s a sense of waiting. (everything is not quite right.)

is he imagining things, reliving memories he hasn’t gotten over, or is history repeating itself? (time is a flat circle.)

[bad-holmes-impression]

so, @w3tlettuce posted a brilliant and beautiful animatic about varian and andrew meeting again (to phrase it rather lightly). that got me thinking about all the ways varian could react if that situation did happen.

there’s the “bravado” option. scornful back talk, plowing over andrew’s monologues, telling him he’s a loser, etc. (maybe varian even has a plan for escape in the works). that’s the option the animatic went with, and— again— it turned out very well.

i do love this route, especially for that inevitable shift in power. you know the one: it’s a subtle set of a knife on a desk, andrew getting a bit too close in varian’s space. it could manifest in a yell that has varian flinch and cut himself off. no matter what, the dynamic shifts, and varian’s taunts no longer work.

or there’s the “silent” option: a complete lack of response on varian’s end. this could be displayed by him ignoring andrew/trying to pretend he isn’t there, being speechless/in verbal shutdown (neurodivergent varian is practically fact), or disassociating.

this may seem more in line with a younger varian. these are all childlike avoidance tactics, and, if we’re talking about vat7k, varian would be eighteen.

but i think that’s the point.

andrew represents the most powerless time in varian’s life, hands down. andrew represents when varian was willing to do nearly anything to gain some facsimile of safety. andrew was a support net and a constricting trap all at once. andrew is overwhelming and frightening and fills varian with hate and— and he holds a piece of home, because varian was with him for a whole year. a year that wasn’t so long ago at all.

abusers have a way of shrinking us, and i think it’d be incredibly realistic for varian not to be a wisecracking annoyance. he’d have no way to prepare for seeing andrew again.

now, i’m not saying that the “bravado” take isn’t incredibly valid. we’re talking about mr. sang-his-way-through-a-blizzard. varian has incredible willpower, and he can probably disassociate enough to pretend he doesn’t care that andrew’s right in front of him.

all i’m saying is that the other possibility doesn’t make him weak.

it just makes him hurt.

[bad-holmes-impression]

varigo would have a bit of a problem with jealousy. not in the typical hollywood way, where it’s glorified, but in a way that they’d work to figure out.

there’d be the funny parts, where varian and hugo are rivals and they each shouldn’t even notice that people are talking to the other! but they do notice. and they are very miffed.

then they begin to realize, which is very harrowing. and then many events occur, and varian has to recover from all of those. then they are dating.

they both struggle with permanence. anyone can die at any moment, or leave, and they’re keenly aware of this. they’d have to fight not to see attention from other people as a sign that their relationship is ending.

they want the best for one another, though, so they’d talk about it. and, logically, if they’re both a bit too possessive of each other, that means they want to be together, right? it means they’re high priorities.

that would help them to loosen up, and they’d get to that healthy point where they both see someone hot, make eye contact with the other, and mouth “WHOA”.