diff --git a/src/qtshit/qvariant.zig b/src/qtshit/qvariant.zig
index e69de29..852fea7 100644
--- a/src/qtshit/qvariant.zig
+++ b/src/qtshit/qvariant.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+
+const QVariant = union {
+    int: u32,
+    short: u16,
+    byte: u8,
+    string: []u8
+    stringlist: std.ArrayList([]const u8)
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/qtshit/read.zig b/src/qtshit/read.zig
index 29a06e7..70922f1 100644
--- a/src/qtshit/read.zig
+++ b/src/qtshit/read.zig
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const std = @import("std");
+const QVariant = @import("./qvariant.zig").QVariant;
 
 pub fn get_int(reader: anytype) !u32 {
     return try reader.readIntBig(u32);
@@ -32,3 +33,25 @@ pub fn get_stringlist(reader: anytype, allocator: *std.mem.Allocator) !std.Array
     }
     return strList;
 }
+
+pub fn get_qvariant(reader: anytype) !u32 {
+    var type_id = try get_int(reader);
+    // TODO: make nop variants work???
+    _ = try get_byte(reader);
+    return type_id;
+}
+
+pub fn get_variant_t(reader: anytype, type_id: u32) !QVariant {
+    switch (type_id) {
+        1 => {
+            var byte =  try get_byte(reader);
+            return QVariant{ .byte = byte };
+        },
+        else => {},
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn get_variant(reader: anytype) !QVariant {
+  var type_id = try get_qvariant(reader);
+  return try get_variant_t(reader, type_id);
+}
diff --git a/src/qtshit/test.zig b/src/qtshit/test.zig
index 1f7aa50..86815fe 100644
--- a/src/qtshit/test.zig
+++ b/src/qtshit/test.zig
@@ -63,15 +63,13 @@ test "read/write stringlist" {
     try arr.append("Hewwo");
     try arr.append("World");
 
-
     try write.add_stringlist(byteList.writer(), arr);
 
     var fBS = std.io.fixedBufferStream(byteList.items);
     var val = try read.get_stringlist(fBS.reader(), std.heap.page_allocator);
 
-
     try expect(arr.items.len == val.items.len);
     for (arr.items) |str, index| {
-      try expect(std.mem.eql(u8, str, val.items[index]));
+        try std.testing.expectEqualStrings(str, val.items[index]);
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}