What Common Conflicts Appear In Viren X Aaravos Fanfiction Plots?

Man, you can just feel the writers’ need for any scrap of chemistry those two had in ‘The Dragon Prince’ and crank it up to eleven. The top theme, hands down, is ‘Enemies to Lovers’—but it’s never just that. It’s specifically Viren’s slow, terrifying realization that he’s not manipulating Aaravos, he’s being manipulated right back, and that twist into genuine obsession is everything. You get a lot of ‘Dark Mentor/Apprentice’ but flipped, where Aaravos is the ancient, bored star-touch teaching Viren forbidden magic and watching him unravel. A huge chunk of stories are just pure ‘Corruption Arc’ studies. They explore how Aaravos doesn’t just give Viren power; he methodically dismantles his morals, his loyalty to Katolis, his relationship with his kids. It’s about Viren losing his humanity piece by piece, and whether there’s anything left to salvage by the end. I’ve seen a few that frame it as a gothic horror romance, which is a mood. Then there’s the ‘Deal with the Devil’ trope played straight, but with extra layers of political scheming. The fics that focus on the two of them ruling together, a dark king and his imprisoned god, planning conquests from that creepy mirror chamber, are a particular niche I love. It always circles back to that terrifying intimacy of being the only person who truly sees the other’s ambition.

There's a weird tension with those two that almost never gets written right. Most stories treat it like straightforward enemies-to-lovers, but the dynamic in the show is way more lopsided – Viren's desperate for validation, Aaravos is playing a very, very long game. Good fics nail that imbalance. They don't build trust so much as they depict Viren getting slowly addicted to the 'special attention,' misinterpreting manipulation for mentorship. The rivalry feels hollow because one party isn't even really competing; he's just steering. I read one where the 'trust' was entirely Viren convincing himself he could outsmart Aaravos eventually, keeping a mental list of perceived weaknesses that were all planted. The tragedy wasn't betrayal, it was the realization there was never a partnership to betray. That's the core for me: exploring how a character builds a rival in his own mind to feel less like a puppet. Ending on Viren's increasingly frantic internal monologues works better than any grand confrontation.

Honestly, I've had some luck on Archive of Our Own using the specific relationship tag. But filtering by 'slow burn' alone doesn't always work because some writers don't tag it. I usually search for longer fics tagged 'Viren/Aaravos' or 'Dark Magic Student & Startouch Elf', then sort by word count. Anything over 80k tends to develop the tension more. There's one called 'A Study in Patience' that's basically all subtext and shared glances across a century, which is exactly the vibe. Tumblr's a decent secondary source if you follow the right blogs. People recc fics there that sometimes slip under the AO3 tagging radar. The key is looking for posts discussing their dynamic rather than just 'fic rec' lists. I found a fantastic, unfinished one through a screenshot post analyzing Aaravos's dialogue in s3.

For me, what sticks out is the mentor-student thing flipped completely on its head. Viren starts off thinking he's the one in control, the human mage using this ancient, trapped elf for power. But the fics that really dig in show how Aaravos is the ultimate puppet master. It's not even subtle sometimes; he's just waiting, dropping hints, letting Viren think every terrible idea is his own. The power shift is slow, almost invisible until Viren's sacrificing his own kids and Aaravos hasn't even left his mirror. A lot of writers play with the intimacy of that, which ties into the power thing. Aaravos is literally the only one Viren can talk to without pretense. That creates a weird dependency. Who holds power when you're the only person someone can be vulnerable with? The best stories don't make it a simple 'who's stronger' question. It's about who needs whom less, and Aaravos clearly doesn't need Viren at all. He's just passing time. It makes you wonder if Viren ever really had any power in that dynamic, or if he was just a convenient tool from the start.

Yeah, Viren and Aaravos stories? They've got a really specific flavor. The classic is the 'Dark Apprentice' trope, but flipped—Viren's already a dark mage, so it's more about Aaravos elevating him, teaching him real power beyond just primal stones. It feels less like training and more like a very intimate, terrifying corruption. A lot of writers lean into the 'deal with the devil' dynamic, but Aaravos is already inside the mirror, so the initial contract is a given. The tension comes from Viren realizing the cost is his sanity and free will, not just some abstract soul. The best fics I've seen play with Viren's deteriorating grip, showing him trying to justify each step deeper while Aaravos just watches, amused. You also get a surprising amount of body-sharing fics after Aaravos gets that caterpillar into Viren's ear. The psychological horror of two minds in one skull, with Aaravos slowly overwriting Viren's personality, is a niche but really effective angle. It's less about romance and more about a horrific merger.

Viren and Aaravos are such a complicated mess, and that's exactly why they're so fun to write about. It’ s not just power dynamics, though that’s a huge part—it’s the sheer intellectual arrogance they share, that feeling of being the smartest person in any room, finally meeting someone who might actually understand them. The conflict comes from that initial recognition curdling into resentment. How do you handle a partnership where you’re equals in cunning but never in vulnerability? Viren’s got all this human pettiness and ambition, and Aaravos has seen empires rise and fall. The stories I’ve read often hinge on that imbalance: Viren wants Aaravos’s power and approval but hates needing it, and Aaravos finds Viren fascinatingly flawed but disposable. You see a lot of plots where Viren tries to assert control, to prove he’s not just a puppet, and Aaravos either indulges him like a child or coldly reminds him of the terms of their deal. The emotional core is that sick, co-dependent need. Viren’s humanity—his love for his children, his twisted loyalty to Katolis—clashes with the amoral, ancient perspective Aaravos offers. Does Aaravos even have emotions in a way Viren can comprehend, or is it all a performance? That uncertainty drives a ton of the tension. Is there genuine connection, or just mutual use? I’m always more interested in the fics that lean into the horror of it, the slow realization that you’ve tied your soul to something profoundly alien. It often ends with Viren broken by the weight of what he’s embraced, while Aaravos remains utterly, chillingly unchanged. That’s the real tragedy the good fics capture.