droptheious: (RUH ROH)
Varian ([personal profile] droptheious) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-01-02 05:41 pm

[Open] Keep it locked up, keep it sealed tight

Who: Varian and YOU!
What: Varian's final corrupted days, his beasthood turn and the aftermath. See his corruption/monster page HERE!
When: First 2 weeks of Jan- before the event.
Where: Around the city!

Content Warnings: Applicable content warnings go here. Mentions of death, corruption, dissociation.



Hope you've stocked up - Last days of corruption

Anyone who's close to Varian will have noticed his slow corruption growth over the last two months. By the time January rolls around, things have gotten worse instead of better. By now his skin is made of a thick, black rock. This same black rock has turned his teeth into sharp fangs and his nails into claws. two amber horns sprout out from his head, and his elbows and one remaining ankle have spurs of the same stuff- as is the tail he's since gotten, flicking nervously as he paces around- firey red eyes darting around furtively.

He'd largely been keeping himself out of sight, trying to handle this alone, but his hallucinations have driven him onwards. He stares at things seemingly only he can see. If he comes across you, he'll grip your arm tightly (sorry if those claws hurt, he's not even thinking about it). He points at an empty spot of nothing, worry on his face.

"Eugene!" you are definitely not Eugene, but it's clear that's who he's seeing right now. "We- we gotta deal with these rocks before they take over everything! There's...there's got to be a cavern around here somewhere so we can cut them off, right?"

It's a long night - Monsterdom (Gaze and surrounding area)

Regardless of how much or how little help he gets in his final days of corruption, eventually, Fern decides enough is enough and the best way to handle this is to Fistfight God. Which is to say, he goes off to confront The Tower about this and gets himself killed by Never Mind in the process. Varian got there too late, and being the driving reason behind his boyfriend dying again was the final nail in the coffin for him.

The transformation is quick and sharp, and what's left is a a ten-foot rock monster spewing fire everywhere. His leg is still missing in this form, at least, which should help anyone with a quick ID-check. Varian himself rages through the city, slamming against buildings and breathing fire at anyone foolish enough to come close. It's definitely attracting the attention of nearby hunters- so perhaps finding a way to talk him back down before there's another death today would be for the best?

Nothing good is meant to stay - Aftermath

Eventually, Varian lets his friends in, lets them talk him down and the best hood fades. Parts of corruption still cling to him- his skin is still an unhealthy grey colour and his nails aren't quite back to normal yet. He's also sitting in a ball on the floor- partly out of shock and partly because he can't go anywhere without his leg - if someone could fetch him that, that would be awesome.

Or perhaps you come to him in the days that follow. He mostly stays near the Disaster House in Cassandra, as he waits for Fern to come back to life. He can be found inside the house, or sometimes sitting on the front porch, people-watching. Though he's certainly not better yet, day by day the signs of corruption lessen. Any visitors will get a tired smile, he's still a little withdrawn, but he's getting there.

"H-hey, thanks for checking in," nothing has changed how awkward he is at least! "Um...how are you doing?"

Because obviously, you're here for him to check up on you. Obviously.


[[OOC: The monster battle is intended to be open to any CR who want to take part. No ONE character will be responsible for talking him down from monsterdom, it is intended to be a team effort- hammering home that Varian is able to rely on his support network. Feel free to make separate threads, team up with other players, thread hop, etc. Do what you like, and we can wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey it so it happened around the same time- to make it easier than players trying to keep to one concurrent thread! Go nuts! As always please hit me up on [profile] teeeff for anything! ]]
demonicbeauty: (Thoughtful)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-11 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not as hard as you think," she said. "I've seen it happen more than you would think."

She sat up straight, pulling her feet up into the lotus position, resting her hands on her ankles. "One of the strange things about being a servant in a court is that you see a lot of things. Even though no one sees you. By design. You're not supposed to be seen. But it means...I know how easy it is to miss the idea of someone."

It happened. It happened all the time.
demonicbeauty: (Annoyed)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-13 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
"Varian! Your existence is not a mess." She gave his shoulder a playful shove, with all of the strength of a wet noodle. But enough was enough! She didn't want anyone talking that way about her friend. Especially her friend. "You've just taken a rockier path. A lot of people do. And so many of them find it rewarding, in the end. I think because they come to know themselves, a lot more than those who follow the easier path."

Which was about as far as she got with metaphors.

She dropped her hands on her heels again. "But...I know what it's like to wonder. And I don't think it's a bad thing. Just don't let it drive your every waking moment, or you'll forget about the life you are living."
demonicbeauty: (Playful)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-13 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well," she said, "if you have friends and family here...that doesn't sound like an approximation of happiness. That sounds like, you know, happiness." She shrugged one shoulder, her braid falling off of her shoulder. "I mean, I know it's hard to imagine that we can have happiness, after all the scary stuff that happened in Deerington but...it seems possible to me."

He gave her faith. If only she'd known him sooner, somehow, Deerington wouldn't have been so bad.

Any sparkle of optimism she could find was always precious. Like pearls she collected on a string.

"But that's just my way of looking that things."
demonicbeauty: (Default)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-16 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
She gave him another wet noodle slap to the shoulder. "That's what I'm here for, Varian. To find the best possible way of looking at something. So, if you ever start to feel kind of sad again, I want you to immediately come to me, and I'll find a way to make you smile again."

And she meant it too. Both because he was her friend, and because the multiverse needed a little optimism. Which she was more than happy to illuminate.

"Which," she continued cautiously, "I hope makes me one of those friends we just talked about. Okay?"
demonicbeauty: (Cheerful)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-17 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
She'd come to take care of him. But instead, he was making her feel better. It probably wasn't fair, but Ariadne was hard-pressed to feel guilty. Especially when it felt like her heart was glowing just a little bit.

Content, she leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes for just a moment.

"No question."
demonicbeauty: (Confused)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-17 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
It was inevitable. Probably. A great and perfect and wonderful moment like that couldn't last forever. Especially not for someone with Ariadne's linguistic mind.

"Ironed?" she said.

Because, of course, she didn't know that figure of speech.

And was suddenly trying to figure out what, in the bedroom, was made out of iron and had somehow contributed to their conversation.
demonicbeauty: (Amused)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-20 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh."

She understood. Sort of. She'd never actually used a clothing iron. But she was vaguely aware of the idea. Servants talked. And sometimes complained. And she knew that an iron had been part of that, at some point in her life.

So she smiled. And wrinkled her nose at herself. "Fewer wrinkles, anyway."
demonicbeauty: (Default)

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2022-01-20 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"That works out well," she said, settling down again. "Both of us are much too young to have wrinkles."

Although they would be tested. She was more at peace with the notion than she might have been before. The multiverse wasn't easy. But nothing worth doing ever was.

They'd figure it out. They always did.