impiren

[impiren]

Not to me, not if it’s you.

[impiren]

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#archive of our own

[impiren]

Try This one?

Trying to remember ...

Can anyone help? I’m trying to remember the name of a modern AU Rayllum fic in which a set of parents (Rayla’s?) learns of their relationship through the media and there is the ensuing awkward phone call and the promise for the OTP to visit the “offended” family. Does this sound familiar? Am I conflating stories? Fabricating something I’d like to see/read that hasn’t actually been written? Thanks for suggestions!

[impiren]

Game Night

Chapter 42 - Thump thump thump

Story Rating: Explicit

Summary: Rayla goes to Nyx’s house for a game night and meets one of Nyx’s coworkers, Callum. Things get awkward when they’re partners for ‘Acts of Insanity’, AKA 'NSFW charades’, but Callum is a gentleman. They hit things off with a laugh, and pretty soon they have a first date! But history makes things… nuanced, and there are lots of secrets and pain to avoid.

Excerpt: Chapter link

“Oh, I would,” he pushed her hair away from her neck, “And as payback– *ARGH!*” he growled before nibbling on her neck.

“AH! Stahp it! Stahp!” she wriggled and squirmed on top of him, “That tic- tickles! Ahhhhh! CALLUM!”

“Oh? Stop?” he slackened his arms and went limp underneath her. “Oh nooooo, she doesn’t want me any more. My throbbing head turned her off.” He also threw in a wink at the end, just as extra confirmation.

“Oh, nooooo!” she wailed and started kissing the side of his head, “Your head turns me on so much! Just look at it! All… head like. Hair. Yum.”

Read it all here!

Artwork of Rayla’s eye done by letsbethebadguys located at https://www.tumblr.com/letsbethebadguys/180758602696/another-piece-of-the-dragon-prince-fanart-i-just?source=share

#tdp fanfic #rayllum #the dragon prince

[impiren]

2023 November (I hope there will be no further delay I hope)

The showrunners apologizing for the awful use of humor this season and promising to avoid it in the future says so much about them and honestly triples my respect for them both as writers and as people

[impiren]

My issue is: Even if the second time is done well, for me it’s still unlikely to be nearly as good as the very obvious alternative would have been.

In part this is probably because accomplishing something just feels inherently less rewarding if you were already there and then simply got thrown back for no reason. Ask Sisyphus.

And then there is the fact that after season 7 that might just be it. Every big and small and happy, moving, dorky or hilarious moment that we’d love to see but which won’t have room because of the drama … might simply never happen.

#starting watch this show in 2021 because Rayllum #like there are thousands of ways to write a healthy relationship #but nooo here comes drama

[impiren]

folks this is it we have to climb together

#lol #fucking funny #star wars andor #sw: andor

[impiren]

I ventured into the cesspool that is the TDP subreddit to bring you these updates.

#shit #rayllum

[impiren]

"Lantern Lit"

            

Disclaimer: I love writing rayllum fiction, but none of it edited/polished up. Bear this in mind while reading; I’ve tried my best. I don’t have the time to pour into this a lot of time since I’m focusing seriously on finishing my own fantasy series. 

But I hope you enjoy these little fictional whims and quick snippets! <3 

This is a fanfic pieced based on theories from those postcard "spoilers". I doubt this actually happens, but the spoiler postcard shots from the writers inspired this ficlet! Enjoy <3

Word Count: 2943

“Well, this place is—”

“—spooky?” Callum finished.

“I was going to say ‘cheerful’, ‘welcoming’, something optimistic,” Rayla quipped, shrugging indifferently; Stella chittered nervously in her ear, “but ‘spooky’ works, too.”

“Let’s just find that ruinous pool, free your family, and get out of here,” Callum shivered, his breath coming out in a mist as he huffed. 

They slipped from shadow to shadow, past moldering headstones and monuments of stone that had begun decaying centuries ago. The place was in such disarray, the two of them were surprised anything was left of it at all. After a few minutes of disquiet, Callum took Rayla’s hand and pressed it anxiously. She didn’t know whether it was to reassure her, for his own comfort, or some combination of the two. 

The warmth that came from Callum’s hand was startling but welcome; Rayla hadn’t realized how cold the haunted place was. She slipped her fingers through his; the first shy, hopeful smile in a while flitted across lips.

They threaded an uncertain, clumsy path through the long grass and uneven ground, walking around abandoned bits of stone or tumbled pillars. After a while of searching, Callum pulled up short as a pool with stone arches stretching across its circumference rose before them. Somehow, miraculously, the pool was the only thing that seemed not to have been fallen apart in the graveyard.

Moonlight flickered off the carved arches, filling the deeply etched runes with silver and shadow. It was less frightening than the graveyard around them, but it still managed to be foreboding and ominous.

“This is it,” Rayla said holding up the slip of paper, “the runes on the arches match the writing and everything.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Rayla?” Callum asked. His look was doubtful, perhaps even afraid. 

“I’m sure,” she nodded.

Rayla slipped Stella from her shoulders and into Callum’s hands. The wee monkey sprang up his arm and perched on his shoulder, her big eyes peering nervously at Rayla, while Callum busied himself with lighting the lantern with the spell the Elf-huntress had given them. But while she watched, Rayla tried burying her own fears, doubts, and worries about what they were doing; the uncertainty Callum had expressed the entire journey there made it harder to see this through. She suppressed a sigh, if only not to alert Callum to how she felt. Rayla steeled herself and clenched her hands while Callum drew the rune and lit the lantern. It was a special light that would allow Rayla to find her way back from the dark, in-between world she was venturing into.

Callum stood up and held the lantern up, looking at it then at the moon overhead.

“The lantern’s lit and the moon is full, so—it should go well—or, at least to plan. I hope.”

Rayla nodded, her heart pounding. She clenched and unclenched her hands nervously before taking the three cursed coins from her pocket and gripping them tightly. They turned and faced the pool. The wind skimmed the surface, and ripples rose across it, distorting the reflection of the moon. Rayla shivered visibly, and Callum laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Okay,” Callum said after a while; he took a deep breath to steady himself and hung the lantern from a hook in one of the arches. “If that huntress wasn’t lying to you, then—then this will help you find your way back—” 

Callum broke off, unable to finish. He never looked from the lantern to Rayla. Rayla could only guess that it would be too much if he actually looked at her. Itwas clear how torn Callum felt about what they were doing. He wanted to help Rayla, but he also wanted her safe. A moment of quiet passed between them; the only sound was the shrill but low squeak of the lantern swinging in the wind. 

“—I hate this so much, Rayla,” the confession tumbling out without warning. Callum still refused to look at her. 

“I—I know you hate it,” she admitted, looking away as guilt flooded her. His expression was heart wrenching.

“I know you have to see this through, and I’m not angry,” he went on, “but—”

“—thank you, Callum,” Rayla told him, placing a hand on his arm. She smiled gratefully, and he finally met her glance.

“Just—come back, okay?” he said, meaningfully. “I know we’ve been through a lot, and there’s a mess hanging over us, but—but I want you to come back, Rayla. I really do.”

“I will come back, Callum,” she promised earnestly; her hand never left his arm. 

Rayla ached to reassure him just how much she meant to come back to him, how she wanted it just as much as he did. But her promise must have sparked something like hope in Callum because he smiled for the first time since they’d entered that horrible graveyard. And in the chill and in the abysmal dark, the shared hope warmed her. He believed her, and somehow it steadied the turmoil inside her and made her a little braver.

She made a motion to step into the pool, but Callum stopped her by grabbing her arms firmly but gently. He stooped in to kiss her sweetly. The gesture surprised Rayla, but she responded to it, resting her brow to his after. A forlorn smile tugged at her lips; Callum had made it harder to leave and do what they need to.

“If you get lost in there—if something goes wrong, just—remember to look for the light,” Callum reminded her. His fingertips tightened into her arms anxiously. “It’ll bring you back to me.”

Rayla grasped her heart gently and smiled at him. “I will come back to you, Callum. Always.”

One of Callum’s hand lingered on her arm even while Rayla stepped into the icy shallow of the ancient, stone pool. His hand didn’t pull away until she was too far for him to reach. Rayla lowered herself slowly into the awful shallows until she floated on her back, her hand tightening once more around the coins.

“Ach, I hate the water,” she muttered, but Callum was already drawing a series of runes in the air, grimly reciting the incantation after he had finished. 

A dim light flashed and then sparked, dissipating overhead and falling around Rayla’s floating figure; the thousands of pinpoints of light disappeared in the icy waters. The last words Rayla heard as she slipped into a bewildering, murky darkness and Callum seized her hand: “I’ll be right here—”

* * * 

Rayla had found them: her father and her mother. The way had been dark and frightening; a memory that would haunt her dreams until the day she died. Rayla had wandered further into that strange place in betwixt the world of the living and the dead. She’d gone deeper and deeper, further into the black, swirling waters until she’d finally found her family.

It was them, but it wasn’t. They were ghost like, frail, and empty shadows of who they had been. Whatever curse Viren had used to draw their souls into the coins had all but destroyed them. But they had recognized Rayla, smiling gently but sadly as she sprang into their outstretched arms and held them close.

“It’s been so long!” she sobbed. “I can’t believe I found you!”

“But how did you find us?” Lain asked her, pulling back and smiling at her in disbelief.

“I don’t have time for that,” Rayla said. She looked at them both, already guessing the answer. They already looked too far gone. “You—you can’t come back with me, can you?”

“It’s too late,” Tiadrin told her. “In a few days, we’ll be gone too—”

“—too? You mean Runaan is—?”

“You came too late to say goodbye, Rayla,” Tiadrin answered sadly. “He’s gone.”

“But that doesn’t matter now,” Lain said urgently. “We’re happy to see you, Rayla, but you can’t stay. You have to go, or you’ll die here.”

“I know, but I had to come and say goodbye.”

“We’re glad you came,” Tiadrin said, kissing Rayla’s cheek and holding her close. “We’ve missed you so.”

“Do you know how to find your way back?” asked Lain, and Rayla nodded.

“But can’t I stay, even for a little bit?” Rayla asked.

Tiadrin and Lain exchanged unhappy looks before turning to Rayla again. Grief pierced her. She didn’t have to hear the answer; she already knew.

“We wish you could,” Tiadrin told her, “but you don’t have much time. You have to leave—now—before our fate becomes yours.”

“Can you find your way back?” Lain repeated.

“Callum’s waiting for me. I have to go back to him,” Rayla wept. “I have to. I don’t want to leave you here, but I promised him. I can’t hurt him again—”

“—we know, dear heart,” Lain replied, cupping her face. “We want you to go back—to live. We’re so proud of you.”

“We love you, Rayla,” her mother whispered, “we’ll always love you.”

“I love you, too—so much.”

And the darkness had separated Rayla from her parents, her last glimpse of them etched deeply into her heart. But as soon as they had gone, Rayla found herself lost in a bleak place. Near total dark eclipsed her. 

She was lost.

The cold dark filled her soul, dragging Rayla deeper, further into the grim despair of that awful place. Even though she’d seen her family for a final time, Rayla was panicked with the thought it might have been a mistake going there. She looked frantically for Callum’s light, but everywhere she looked, there was only darkness. 

For the first time since she and Callum had entered the graveyard, she felt despair opening hopelessly beneath her, pulling her in to consume her. 

“Callum, where are you?”

Her cries were shrill and frantic in the dark. No-one answered.

“Callum, please! I know I messed up, but I—I can’t find you. Where are you? Please, help me.”

No-one answered her, and the silence invoked the first time she’d realized she’d been ghosted by her people. 

Maybe the silence was the answer. Maybe Callum had heard her but wasn’t answering because—because she’d already left him once, and she’d left him again. Maybe her promise to come back wasn’t enough.

Would he leave her there? Or maybe he’d already left. Maybe she’d spent too long in that place, and the sun had long since risen. Maybe days had passed, or years; it was impossible to tell how much time was passing in the real world. Maybe Rayla would lay in that pool forever, a soulless body and a bodyless soul wandering the black mists of a strange netherworld. 

If Callum had left her there, he’d be right to do so; she didn’t blame him. Not after what she’d done. She could only imagine what he must think, and more than anything, Rayla wished she could tell him how hard she was trying—or had tried—to come back. She didn’t want him to think the worst of her— Callum would never know how hard and impossible it was for her, floating there in the black waters of the abyss. Fighting, struggling, clawing her way through a black curtain of nothingness to find the light he’d lit for her.

Hours passed, and no answer came to Rayla. She was alone. Maybe after all this time, she would die alone: unable to find her way to Callum or back to her parents.

A sob burned in her throat, and Rayla curled into herself, drawing her arms in and her knees up to her chest. Tears spilled into the cold waters around her as Rayla wrapped her arms around herself—a last, frail attempt in seeking comfort.

“Callum, I’m so sorry,” she cried out into the dark. “I just want to come back to you. I don’t want you to think I left you again. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I want to come back, to make it right. But I can’t. I’m so lost, and I can’t find you—I love you, Callum.”

Her breath caught; she clenched her jaw, aching for the familiar warmth of Callum’s presence. He’d been the only one who really understood her. And she’d left him.

“I love you.”

Almost, the darkness seized Rayla’s mind for its own as she began yielding to the temptation to just give in to despair. She was going to die, and Callum would believe the worst—

—but then a whisper drifted to her in reply, interrupting the spiral of despairing thoughts: kind, warm, and dreamlike: “I’m here, Rayla. I’m right here.”

Was it Callum, or someone else? Maybe it was the abyss tormenting her for being a failure? It was familiar, whatever else.

“Look for the lantern, Rayla; it’s lit—you have to find your way back. Rayla, you have to—please. Come back.”

It was the first prick of hope to touch her heart since going down into the darkness, and Rayla could remember everything she loved the best about Callum: his warmth, his loyalty, and his ability to see the best in her, even when she was a mess. She’d been stupid for thinking he’d believe the worst. He never would, no matter how much she’d messed up. Not Callum. 

He’d be heartbroken and miserable, so lonely going home without her, but Callum was too kind to think Rayla would’ve given up trying to get back. He would know that she’d tried to come back—that she’d tried everything and the evil place was more than she could navigate alone.

Something warm and tangible brushed her hand and began tugging at her, drawing Rayla around and away from the dark—towards itself, towards a dim, flickering light. It seemed so far away—so impossibly distant. But the familiar voice began calling her name again. It was urgent and frantic, this time; it filled her with life, and she began to breathe once more.

Rayla threw herself desperately towards the light, clinging to the hand that was pulling her back to itself. The light grew and banished the shadows surrounding her.

Without warning, Rayla found herself awake and sitting upright in a gasping, shuddering panic. She thrashed wildly in the shallow water, searching for something to cling to, but Callum was already dragging her from the water.

Rayla fell to her knees on solid ground, choking and gasping for air; Callum threw a blanket around her shoulders and began rubbing her arms quickly to encourage warmth back into her.

“Are you okay?” he asked urgently; Rayla nodded, still unable to catch her breath. “Did you find them? Can they come back?”

Rayla looked up at him for the first time, but Callum must have seen the answer in her eyes. His mouth began to open, and his face softened as he shared the ache of her loss.

“I found them, but—” she stopped and looked away, grief piercing her for the first time now that panic was ebbing. “I had to let go, Callum. I had to say goodbye, or I was never going to find my way back. I’d never make it back to you—”

“—Rayla,” he murmured.

“I almost lost myself in there, Callum” Rayla confessed; her eyes were fixed now on the horrible pool that had nearly claimed her soul. She didn’t know whether it was shame or fear she felt, but she couldn’t bear looking at Callum just then. If she did, he would see how deeply she was hurting. “I saw my parents—Runaan was already gone. I talked to them, for a bit; but it wasn’t long before I knew— I could never bring them back, not without it being terrible or unnatural.”

“It must have been hard for you, letting go?” he questioned as gently as possible. 

“It was, but it was harder thinking I couldn’t find my way back. And I had to come back, Callum. I had to. When I was there, I realized something—” she looked at him, a sob catching in her throat “—I never want to lose you the way I lost them. They were already gone, but you’re not. You’re here; you’re alive and—real— You’re real, Callum, not just some ghost in my head that I spent chasing for two years— I’m so sorry I left you, that I ruined what we had. If it’s not too late, then I’ll do anything to make it right, Callum. I swear it.”

Broken sobs racked Rayla’s body, but she held Callum’s gaze. He looked shaken and wretched, both hurting for her as well as unnerved by the thought he’d almost lost her again, but this time for good.

“You didn’t ruin it, Rayla,��� Callum told her earnestly. He seized her face suddenly but gently, stoking her jawline with both his thumbs. There were tears in his eyes too. “It—it hurt, but you came back, both times. You’re here. That’s all I want—” 

Callum’s arms wrapped around her, pulling Rayla into himself before she could reply, and she let him. She hid her face in his shoulder and sobbed violently, clinging to him. 

“I’m sorry you lost them, Rayla,” he murmured, “You know I hated that you wanted to do this, but I didn’t want—”

“—I know, Callum,” she whispered. “I know.”

“I’m so glad you’re back,” he grit out, sobbing and holding her so tight it hurt.

“I am too. I’m never leaving you again, Callum. Never.”

#tdp fanfic #rayllum #the dragon prince

[impiren]

the one on the left

ALRIGHT!

Calling on my Dragon Prince fam. WHO IS THIS?

I feel dumb and I cannot for the life of me figure out who this is. I even paused at the end of episode 4 and still could not get it. I think it may be Claudia but I'm not sure?? The outfit is unfamiliar.

NEW SKETCH WHO DIS???

[impiren]

Hi! from a reader with love!

Do you think Rayla will have nightmare about Callum being possessed (and maybe force to kill him)? since her fear always been losing him.

In my headcannon it's like in S3 final when she has to kill viren but in her nightmare it's the possessed Callum she has to kill.

Also, in your fanfic master post, I think the link to A Path of Darkness is mess up with the link to Little Moments.

Hello dear @impiren!

Always so lovely to see you!

OMG, YES! I totally agree! In fact, not long after I wrote Callum having post Aaravos nightmares, I started to ponder something similar. It’s all very rough at the moment but perhaps in the next few weeks…

I am so soft for Rayllum nightmare hurt/comfort. 🥺

And thanks so much for the heads up on the pinned post. You inspired me to actually go back and up-date it. Something which has been long over due!

#thank you zuppi #the dragon prince #rayllum

[impiren]

'Show not Tell' really wasn't a thing in season 4. Pity they did that so well in season 1&2&3

Also some weird writing choice here and there.

My thoughts about season 4

(tagged as tdp critical because I’m focusing on the negatives. It’s long enough as it is although I tried to keep myself short) We don’t really need yet another review, but I wanted to understand why I found season 4 so underwhelming and thus wrote this stuff, so why not post it as well.

tl;dr The storytelling was often immersion-breaking. Many things seemed to happen because the plot needed them to happen, not because they made sense. Irrespective of that, the story felt shallow. There weren’t enough conversations about all the important stuff going on, the dragang just travelled without much character development.

I think my main issues are with 1) the overall storytelling and 2) the characters within the story. Season 4 often chooses the lazy, convenient route (I’ll use the word “convenient” a lot here). In isolation, many of my points don’t matter that much or could be explained by some head canons, but they add up. There were just so many immersion-breaking logical errors and weird behaviours, and also some design choices I simply disagree with.

1) Storytelling

The story of season 1-3 was essentially “in a hostile environment, bring Zym from A to B”, which is all that was needed. What made it great were the characters within the story. So season 4 didn’t have to do something spectacular in this regard, but things were constantly throwing me off, preventing me from getting invested.

No open fire in a huge sunfire elf camp? That doesn’t sound right, there are plenty of nomadic cultures that use fires literally inside of tents. Ancient and medieval and modern armies on the march needed their fires as well. It’s strange that these human-elf misunderstandings only came up after two years. In fact, it seemed as if this plot line hadn’t gotten the memo about the time skip. Because that was the starting point of the whole conflict, it always felt weird. If I ignore that and pretend that there was a believable reason, I don’t have many issues with this story arc.

However, the Aaravos arc had me constantly shake my head:

Zubeia and Pyrrah conveniently leave just when Claudia&Co. climb the Storm Spire.

“The staff of Ziard has been stolen. I’m afraid this can only mean one thing: The Fallen Star has returned.” – Why can it mean only that? It’s a powerful relic, that alone is reason enough for any dark mage to try and get it. Claudia whispered “one step closer to freeing Aaravos” when opening the chest, but if Ibis heard that, he should have simply said “a dark mage stole the staff to free the Fallen Star” instead. But conveniently, this puts the good guys on the right track from the get-go.

Why did Zubeia take the dragang with her? Very convenient that the protagonists are included in the story that way, but there wasn’t really a reason. It’s especially weird that Ezran tags along (the world really needs a 12-year-old boy whose death could cause yet another succession crisis?) and that Opeli just yeets him into this adventure (unless she has a coup in mind, lol).

Why hasn’t Zubeia asked Ezran and Callum about the mirror in the last two years? She knows that it went missing together with Zym’s egg, and someone must have told her that Viren stole that.

For plot reasons, overpowered Zubeia needed to stay behind at Umber Tor, and the collapsed entrance worked well enough. Then the back entrance is supposed to be secret, hidden somewhere in a huge forest, and yet they find it in no time – of course with a local’s help, but they were already conveniently close anyway. Getting to know N’than and earning his trust to a degree that he was willing to risk his life by leading them to Rex was conveniently easy as well.

Rayla told Soren “you better be right behind me”, but after five steps she should have noticed that this wasn’t the case. Conveniently for the plot, she didn’t notice. Of course for plot reasons Soren had to get lost so that he could meet Claudia, but there should have been another way to do that. The drakeriders, including N’than, were pretty much unnecessary and could have made room for more important matters.

TDP usually avoids problems caused by stupid communication, but in the case of Rex it was a close call. Upon seeing him, the first word from the heroes should have been “Aaravos”, followed by “wants to escape, we have to stop him”. Would have saved a lot of time, avoiding drama that didn’t feel real anyway because it was so obvious that it was just the result of bad communication. Why do they even ask for the location of the prison? Would make sense if they wanted to free Aaravos, but they just want to prevent others from doing that.

When even Rex wasn’t immune to the sleep spell, Zym was unaffected for unknown reasons. However, the villains didn’t care about that and let him run away and hide, and then they went one step further and left their sleeping enemies and Soren unsupervised so that Zym and Soren could wake the rest of the dragang (scatter a few more “conveniently” in here somewhere).

Archdragons are intelligent beings. Yet when Rex woke up, he didn’t do the sensible thing – look for Claudia, squash her, then interrogate the others – but threw a temper tantrum like a wild animal, conveniently allowing the villains to escape and forcing the heroes to flee. Conveniently for them, suddenly a hole appeared in the barrier at the gate.

(If season 5 starts with the heroes not knowing where the prison is: Why didn’t Zubeia tell Rex that the dragang are the good guys and get the map from him as well?)

The caterpillar was creepy, the Creature was silly (I had hoped for something more menacing to emerge from the chrysalis, maybe something with Koh-the-Facestealer-vibes). The scene where Viren knelt down felt very out of character, considering how disillusioned he had been until that point, and I immediately suspected that they were trying to set up a dramatic moment that could then be interrupted by silliness. The Creature vomiting all over Viren was just that, but because it was so predictable it was neither dramatic nor funny. The Creature didn’t do anything the whole season that couldn’t have been done by the other characters. I’m sure it will become plot-relevant later, but it could have been interesting right from the start. Given enough intelligence, the Creature could for example struggle for agency and free will against Aaravos who just wants a puppet. Or at least give it some cool powers.

So, within the existing story many things could have been done better, but as mentioned above the whole premise was weird from the start. It felt as if the heroes went on the adventure not because it made sense, but just because they are the protagonists of the show.

What should have been done differently? Rough idea from the top of my head: To make things interesting, you can’t have a super-powerful ally such as Zubeia around the whole time. So the heroes’ quest could have been a seemingly private one at first that doesn’t involve Zubeia (or the info-dump that took away much from the Mystery) and keeps them in the dark about the world-threatening danger that is Aaravos. It could have started with Callum interacting with Aaravos through the mirror (not knowing who he is), Aaravos promising knowledge about the missing Rayla, e.g. in exchange for the cube or the map to his prison (framed as a hostage situation, blackmail, a simple trade, anything goes).

The threat would have been more subtle. As things stand now, Zubeia should already fly across all of Xadia to warn everyone (especially the archdragon of Ocean … any others left? Sol seems to be out of the picture) and send a shit ton of dragons to the heroes’ help.

2) Characters

Rayla leaves in the morning as if that couldn’t traumatize Callum all over again, but he doesn’t even acknowledge her return at all when waking up (or later when she comes to the valley of graves), only caring about greeting Zubeia. Then Rayla is gone all day, and we don’t know why – to be fair, a mind-controlled Rayla slashing the Zubeia painting as this fanfic proposed would be an interesting reason. We also don’t learn why she suddenly returned – conveniently right when it’s adventure time.

I’m on the fence about Rayla’s and Callum’s behaviour when they see Viren. We don’t know what’s going on in their heads, but it felt odd that Rayla would just leave again after she has just returned, and that Callum would let her go without offering to come with her. Felt like the plot just needed the Rayla-Claudia confrontation so that Rayla could get the coins. But then the confrontation: Rayla says she won’t make a deal with Claudia … but she also doesn’t say what she does want. Taking a hostage usually does involve making a deal. Instead she just holds a sword to Terry’s throat and stands there. And how does Claudia (conveniently) know that two of the coins are Rayla’s parents? Parents and their children don’t look that similar. Otherwise great scene, Claudia’s smug cruelty was bone-chilling, Rayla’s scream was heartbreaking, Claudia giving Rayla the coins was very intriguing.

But then so many missed opportunities to add some emotional depth to the story:

When Callum gets angry at Rayla in his study, Stella interrupts. Ezran forgives her immediately and never talks about her absence, even though she is like a sister to him and it hurt both him and Callum and of course her as well. When Rayla wants to talk with Callum at the top of the Storm Spire – not necessarily about them, but maybe about Aaravos possessing him – Soren interrupts. When Soren talks to Rayla about Callum, the drakerider fighting the dragon interrupts. When Ezran and Callum talk about Callum’s possession and about Rayla, they don’t exchange more than a few sentences. When Callum and Rayla talk in the lava cave, Rayla leaves after just a few words (including “no one can control you” after she saw Aaravos literally do that). No one ever voices their concern about a world-threatening evil about to return to Xadia, apart from one dry comment from Rayla. No one asks Soren how he feels about the fact that Claudia is responsible for that.

Then there is Soren’s reunion with his family. His talk with Claudia was interesting, but – for valid in-universe reasons – it couldn’t actually go anywhere because Claudia couldn’t be honest. Soren thought that she was alone and wants to free Aaravos just because, when in reality Claudia wants to save Viren. But she can’t tell Soren that, because she needs to stall him until Viren and Terry free her. However, once Viren is there, there is a lot to unpack for the family:

Claudia almost killed Soren with Noctu Igne

Viren almost turned Soren into a fire monster

Viren told Soren to kill the princes, then denied it and made Claudia believe him. Would he feel remorse for any of that now?

Soren “killed” Viren’s illusion (which Viren doesn’t know yet)

I wrote a whole fanfic about this confrontation, and even with my hyperfixation on Rayllum I was very much looking forward to it, but what season 4 gave us is … nothing. Nothing at all after S1-3 set up the most interesting family dynamic imaginable.

I’m totally okay with Callum and Rayla not solving all of their issues in season 4, but there were so many opportunities to talk about serious matters, and the season ignored them almost completely. Sure, that can come later … but it doesn’t have to, not all of it. A set-up season is allowed to be interesting as well, and season 4 had the potential for it. The whole “bring Zym from A to B” plot from S1-3 was so interesting because it was accompanied by character interactions and development, things that were missing here.

Some words about the humour:

Honestly, I didn’t mind Claudia’s and Terry’s fart jokes that much. They weren’t funny, but they didn’t have to be and I’m not sure if they were supposed to. They felt in-character because Claudia was always quirky, and if Terry is her boyfriend then it makes sense that he shares her sense of humour. It was humanizing them, making them more than the evil villains who murdered Ibis. Still, the humour of season 4 didn’t convince me (while I often found S1-3 hilarious). I can’t remember many jokes in the first place (were the guardians supposed to be funny? I can’t even tell), much less ones that worked.

So, yeah, season 5 can still fix a lot of things, but on its own season 4 wasn’t great.

#i agree with you #love this show but #tdp critical #the dragon prince

[impiren]

Beyond the Moon Gardens - Extracts (1)

For lack of anything else to post today, I’m releasing some extracts from one of my non-public fanfictions – Beyond the Moon Gardens – as my participation in the @raayllum valentine’s event.

Information on and context of the story itself is below the cut. The 10k of snippets are also below the cut.

(General overview of the content of the snippets: established rayllum, fluff, domesticity, horn care, silliness, cuddling.)

继续阅读

#ahhhhh! #what did i miss #tdp fanfic #the dragon prince #rayllum

[impiren]

their breakup era is their funniest one yet

#tdp #the dragon prince #rayllum

[impiren]

People have been wondering why Rayla is not trying everything to save the dragon in the Drakewood. After all, she has very self-sacrificial tendencies in S1-3. However, I want to emphasize that she was not only prone to self-sacrifice, she also did not consider indirect consequences of her actions for others. Trying to save Pyrrah could have easily endangered Zym as well, but she did it anyway (she would have been a terrible chess player).

This behaviour has changed. Maybe she simply became more realistic while growing older, so now she is doing actual cost-benefit analysis like a sane person (just probably without considering her own life, like a Rayla person). And in this situation getting spotted would mean endangering Callum and their mission. Her self-sacrificial streak could thus still be there, but she might only act on it if she can safely assume that she doesn’t put someone else at risk in the process.

Or, if we want a dramatic flashback scene:

What if at some point during the two years she was in a situation where she wanted to keep person A safe, but was then distracted by person B being in danger as well – resulting either in person A dying or even, because she was half-assing both jobs, in both A and B dying?

#the dragon prince #tdp rayla #rayllum

[impiren]

this has 100% been done before but….

#so good #the dragon prince

[impiren]

"I can't swim."

"But I'm gonna assume I'm already dead"

"I can't swim." No one line in any media has effected me the way that did last night.

The way my gut dropped and the way I had this awful nausea gripping my being because yes. He can't swim. How many others can't?

If you were there, can you swim? I can't, not to the extent that it'd save my life in that situation. I can't swim so I'd be doing the exact same as Kino. I'd know I'd either have a choice to make with only two ways to go and they both end up with me dead - stay and be killed, or try swimming away and drown. It's so real and so heartbreaking.

This is the side of Star Wars that people - that you and me - can relate to. Not the jedi. Not the mandalorians. It's the people that can't swim.

#andor #star wars andor