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raayllum · 11 months

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Let’s break this baby down symbolically

Originally this post was longer but my draft didn’t save so I’m doing a quick notes version; if you want more thoughts or have a clarification question please feel free to drop them in my inbox, but hopefully everything will still carry across

Light and dark motif with Callum unintentionally / unknowingly getting close to the darkness, with Ezran and Rayla more in the light. The surface world does not seem to be particularly stormy, more so bright and happy, which is a departure from the previous promo art(s) really highlighting the storm, and how often storms in TDP foretell transformation and disaster (1x01, 2x04, 2x05, 2x07, 2x08, 3x01 when Ez comes home, 4x01, 4x04 before Aaravos possesses Callum at dawn, etc).

The light-dark duality mirrors Callum’s worries of “What if I’m on a path of darkness” due to its associations with Aaravos: “In darkness, gaze upon a Fallen Star” and “already tainted with darkness, ad destined to play right into my hands.”

Darkness = dark magic; octopus tentacles have associations with dark magic (Claudia) specifically being used to drag people down (the boys) or catch them (Viren) in terms of control; dark magic / octopus tentacles = control. Control is attached to Aaravos

This is doubly true with associations of water and destiny (“Life is like a river - don’t try to control where the river goes”). If you’re interested in more thoughts on that, check out this meta

Callum perhaps being lured in with curiosity or magical impulse, only to realize he’s in way over his head / being dragged down by something he can’t escape (tentacles having similarities to puppet strings) and/or mirroring his dark magic dreams from 2x08

Ezran being closer makes sense, as he is emotionally closer and currently more reliable to Callum than Rayla has been due to their separation.

It’s also a nice parallel to Ezran saving Zym (another brother / soulmate) under the ice as well as Rayla and Callum then working to save him, as well, with now Rayla and Ezran working together to save Callum, especially since Ezran almost drowned and Rayla has a specific fear of drowning/water.

In the S1 novelization, Ezran states that his mother’s spirit helped guide him through the darkness to find the glowing (light) egg of the Dragon Prince. Given that Sarai also helped guide Callum towards the Sky arcanum, Ezran possibly carrying / embodying his mother’s spirit while saving his brother would be really beautiful.

As stated, Rayla being further away makes sense, but it does align her further with the light, and I do think her reaching for Callum (as opposed to a more generic swim pose) is purposeful due to Rayllum (and the show’s) consistent reaching motif.

Rayla’s fear of water isn’t literally about the water (after all, she saved Bait 1.5 days in when she and the glow toad had an immense mutual dislike of each other) but what it represents: shame, self-reflection, fear, guilt, trauma. Rayla left in TTM because she didn’t know how to love Callum and be scared to lose him at the same time in a healthier manner, leading her to majorly hurt both of them. Her swimming through the water could symbolize 1) helping to save Callum (per other foreshadowing as well) in addition to 2) her beginning to learn how to deal with that fear in a healthier way that also lets her stay and be/do what she wants to do.

And as always, the foreshadowing that Aaravos’ specific prison (darkness, dark magic, tentacles, ocean, etc) is underwater and it will be found / we’ll get some answers about the cube in S5:

#water motif #tdp #tdp spoilers #s5 spoilers #brotp: we're in this together #broyals #rayllum #if there is longing on the mirror of my heart #light and darkness motif #the dragon prince #s5 #analysis series #analysis #arc 2 #promo art #official art #two pillars

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jelzorz · 11 months

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143.

Opeli had never really paid Viren's children much mind, in part because they were Viren's children and they can't be all that different from him, and in part because she'd never needed to. Claudia was growing into a lady quite well before all the drama with Azymondias, and Viren's short-lived coup, and the Battle of the Storm Spire (even if her interest in dark magic felt less than savoury), and Soren'd always been destined for the Crown Guard, and she'd never really had much to do with them. In Harrow's day, High Cleric had meant her presence on the council and her duties to the goddesses of the realm. These days, it's a bit more involved than that, if only because she's somehow become a sort-of regent and a sort-of guardian to Ezran, Callum, and, for a little while, their new elven friend, Rayla, which had been something of a shock in an of itself—

But if there was anything more surprising than all of that, it was the shift in Soren's behaviour when they returned from the Storm Spire.

Admittedly, Opeli hadn't known him well before that, but she'd gotten the impression that he was a bit brash, a bit of a bully, even, to Callum and Ezran, which she frowned quietly upon but couldn't do much about because Viren had simply brushed off her concerns. When they came home from the battle, battered but in good spirits, Soren was kinder, wiser, surer of himself but in maturity rather than just in skill.

In the two weeks before the kids left again for the Moon Nexus, Opeli watched him grow rather happily into the role of everyone's older brother. He sparred with Rayla and stole jelly tarts with Ezran and even drew up most of the plans for the surprise party they were going to throw for Callum on his birthday—

But they returned from the Moon Nexus another two weeks after that, somehow even more worse for wear than when they'd come home the first time, and noticeably one person down.

"Rayla left," Soren had told her. "Last night. I don't know what happened. Callum wouldn't say."

His behaviour shifted again after that.

It's been two months since then. Soren uses his downtime to teach Ezran how to play cardgames in the throne room. He brings snacks and, occasionally, drinks (when he thinks she's not looking) to the Office of the High Mage in an effort to drag Callum out of his room every once in a while. He finds Opeli the tea leaves Rayla had picked for her to help keep her awake during late nights and long meetings.

"How kind of you," Opeli says one evening, when he appears at her office door with a pot of tea and a plate of jelly tarts. She offers him a grateful smile and steps back to let him set the tray on her desk.

"It's no big deal," he says, shrugging. "I was on my way up to check on Callum. Thought I'd check in on you too."

"You didn't have to do that," chuckles Opeli, "although I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says cheerfully. "Don't stay up too late, yeah?"

"I won't."

He grins and makes a beeline for the door, and Opeli watches, a thought worming it's way forward from the back of her mind.

"Soren," she says.

He pauses, door already halfway closed. "Yeah?"

Opeli purses her lips. "Why?"

"Why not?"

"No. I mean..." Opeli hums and reworks the question. "You were never so kind in your youth," she says after a moment. "Not to the boys, at least—no offense. What's brought all this on?"

Soren's grin falters, just a little. He glances at the ground. "It's that, kind of," he says. "And... I guess I just don't want to lose anyone else."

Of course. Opeli counts them in her head: Lissa. Sarai. Harrow. Viren. Claudia. Now Rayla too. She ducks her head. "Ah," is all she knows to say. "I see. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he says. "You lost them too."

Opeli snorts ruefully. "Yes," she mutters. "I suppose I did."

#sorpeli #sort of #got on this train unwillingly and now im driving it and i have no regrets #also #rayllum #tangentially #in anticipation #a guardian and her wards

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mandaloriandragontrainer · 1 year

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Snow White AU

This idea, as all wild ideas do, came to me in the shower. Mainly, I was thinking about how Kim’dael would get along great with other self-obsessed witches like the Evil Queen and Mother Gothel, and the concept came together. It’s mainly inspired by Disney’s adaptation of the fairy tale, since it’s the one I’m most familiar with (along with a smattering of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty), although I made some alterations so the story would fit the characters’ personalities.

I had a lot more fun than I thought I would than coming up with it, and maybe I’ll flesh it out into a full fic sometime! Special to thanks to @fandomsandflyingstingrays for all her awesome contributions!

In this world, the Bloodmoon Huntress Kim’dael conquered and now rules the Moonshadow Forest, now known as the Blood Forest or Wood of the Witch to outsiders. No one, human or elf, dares to enter for fear of the Blood Queen and her evil magic.

Many years ago, before conquering the Forest, Kim’dael stole an enchanted looking glass from the lair of the Dragon King himself, and the witch eventually made contact with Aarvaos. The Fallen Star helps her hone her blood magic in return for eventually freeing him, but both are so manipulative neither can ever seem to get the upper hand on the other.

Tiadrin, among many others, is killed during the initial conquest of the Silvergrove, and Kim’dael later chooses Lain to be her mate, threatening to kill his young daughter Rayla if he does not comply. Lain agrees not only to protect Rayla, but also in hopes of getting close enough to Kim’dael to kill her—when he tries and fails, he is killed for his treachery. Rayla is then raised by her parents’ friends Runaan and Ethari, though she is still considered the stepdaughter of the Queen.

Although she initially considered training Rayla in her dark craft, as she has no children of her own, Kim’dael grows increasingly jealous of Rayla’s grace and beauty as the girl grows. She orders Runaan to train Rayla as an assassin in spite of her tender age, in hopes she will get herself killed. However, the girl continues to survive due to her natural talent and wit.

When Rayla is 15, Aaravos answers Kim’dael’s daily question of “Who is the fairest of them all?” with the girl’s name. Furious, the vain queen decides to take a more direct approach in dealing with her.

Kim’dael orders Runaan to take Rayla into the woods and murder her, promising to kill Ethari if he refuses. As proof of her death, he is to bring the queen Rayla’s heart—which she also plans to use in a horrifying spell that will allow her to absorb the girl’s beauty. Runaan, however, cannot bring himself to kill the child of his best friends, and urges Rayla to flee the Forest and never return. He presents the Queen with an animal heart, but his deception is realized when the spell fails. Kim’dael imprisons Runaan in a coin as punishment.

Rayla runs for days upon days, terrified and alone, but still finds the strength to rescue an orphaned baby cuddlemonkey from predators. As a reward for her goodness and bravery, the magical animals of the wood look out for her and show her a safe path out the Blood Forest.

The human Kingdom of Katolis lies just outside the bounds of the Blood Forest (Xadian geography is altered for the sake of the AU). King Harrow forbids his sons Callum and Ezran from going near the woods, as their mother was murdered by the Witch living within. The boys, however, like to secretly play and explore the borders of the forest.

The princes encounter Rayla one day while exploring. Callum is initially suspicious of her, but Ezran learns her story from Stella and the other animals and convinces his brother to trust her. Due to the prejudice against Moonshadow elves (humans believe they all drink blood like their evil Queen), the boys decide to hide Rayla in an abandoned cottage near the forest where they like to play.

Over their time together, the three eventually become the best of friends, with Callum and Rayla in particular falling deeply in love. With Rayla’s encouragement, Callum pursues his interest in magic and develops skill as a mage. However, Kim’dael has been searching for the runaway…

One day, a visitor appears at the cottage while Rayla is alone. She is shocked to see that the stranger is actually her long dead mother, Tiadrin. Though initially wildly suspicious, Rayla is convinced when Tiadrin uses her childhood nickname, “moonberry.” However, “Tiadrin” is, in fact, Kim’dael in disguise. The witch absorbed Tiadrin’s beauty when she killed her years ago, allowing her to perfectly take on her form and access many of her memories.

“Tiadrin” explains that she was not killed, but instead fled the Forest as Rayla herself did. Mother and daughter go for a walk through the meadows together and stop to pick moonberries to make Rayla’s favorite dessert. “Tiadrin” offers Rayla a berry… and the girl drops dead the instant the juice touches her lips.

The poison moonberry spell was provided to Kim’dael by Aaravos, who warned that it could be undone by true love’s kiss. The Queen scoffed at the idea.

Stella, who witnessed the whole thing, scurries back to the cottage to find Callum and Ezran, who just arrived to see Rayla. Callum sends Ezran back to the palace for help and races after Rayla.

He finds Kim’dael in her true form, dragging Rayla’s lifeless body back toward the Blood Forest to harvest her heart for her evil spell. Heartbroken, the brave prince battles the witch with his sky magic. Though it’s a vicious fight, Callum triumphs in the end. But he was too late to save Rayla.

Ezran arrives with Harrow and his men, surprised to find Ethari and a group of Moonshadow elves at the cottage, having gone in search of the Blood Queen. The two bands are prevented from feuding by the sound of Callum weeping over Rayla.

As the humans and elves look on, Callum gently kisses his love goodbye… and she is immediately restored to life.

With the Blood Queen defeated, the Moonshadow Forest is at last free, its inhabitants now able to rejoin Xadian society. Callum and Rayla are formally betrothed, and marry when they come of age. Happily ever after!

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convenient-plot-device · 9 months

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My unorganized thoughts after finishing The Dragon Prince season 5

Finished binging the season!!! I loved it. It dragged in places and that stupid fucking lemur thing is still the bane of my existence but I loved the character development and plot beats! I also loved seeing more of Terry. He has something deeply wrong with him <3. Also liked Viren completing his redemption arc, though I would have preferred the resurrection spell actually require Claudia to sacrifice herself or at least like sacrifice a limb or something to truly complete Viren's arc. He has no attachment to that fuckin homunculus thing, and his reasoning for not killing it being that "Dark magic led Claudia down a dangerous path, I'm not doing any more dark magic" is a little weak. I do appreciate that the way they did it gave us a whole scene of Aaravos talking about "our child" with Viren, peak evil gay, but it did a disservice to Viren's redemption arc. I get that it was kinda the only way, since Aaravos knows Viren would never hurt one of his actual kids at this point in his arc, but still. I also am really interested in how Zubeia being corrupted goes, how Claudia losing her leg goes, and what's up with that magic pearl. Is that really Aaravos's prison? Or is that the key to his prison? Loved Callum struggling with what he's willing to do under pressure to save those he loves, and how that's contrasted with Claudia, who's kind of a dark mirror for who he could become if he can't learn to let go of those he loves. Loved the reveal that he used dark magic to save Rayla in the Sea Legs episode. Also just really liked Finnegrin, he's a great character and I love his design. Love a ruthless evil pirate who wants revenge on the Archdragon of the Ocean for killing his beloved hermit crab, who keeps pet hermit crabs all over his office, and who has a neckline low enough to kill god. I also love Elmer! What the fuck is his deal though. Are there just plant trolls in Xadia now? Not opposed, just wanna know.

I also really loved Soren this season! I like how his kindness and unwavering faith in others is his greatest strength. Very sweet. That man is the One True Himbo. Dumb, strong, and most importantly, kind. Fucking LOVED seeing Tidebound elves this season. I've wanted to see ocean elves since season one! Fuck yeah! Janai and Amaya are so cute together. Same with Terry and Claudia, love a good fucked up couple. He's just like "I can fix her" and she's just like "No you can't but you CAN join me in my insanity." Callum and Rayla go back and forth for me; sometimes they're really sweet, but sometimes they seem almost forced and I'm just like... can't they be BFFs? Or in a QPR? I feel like it would fit better than a romance TBH. I also love how Villads was 1000% willing to get his hand chopped off for a few kids he met once three years ago. My kind of dude. Fuck that General lady, also. Like, how is Karim worth betraying your entire people and possibly ruining the future of your whole society?? Does he kiss you on the forehead sometimes? Please get better judgment you are literally a judge on the High Court. Also what is up with the Sunfire high priest? He's clearly hiding what's most likely a corrupted wound but why? And why side with Karim? I loved Kim'dael. Love an emo vampire lady with sapphic energy who could kill a man with her fingernails (literally). I like how she isn't strictly evil and has a clear goal that she acts toward with logic. She wants to be freed from her mercy debt so she can drink the blood of anyone she wants, and she acts with logic toward that goal. I still CANNOT wait for them to finally free Runaan from the coin. Honestly Rayla's parents come second for me because we just don't know them as people. But like. I wanna see the cut to Ethari standing over the pool and seeing Runaan's life lily rise to the surface again. I will cry and that is a promise.

Also, that bit where Janai has a nightmare where Aaravos tells her that her great-grandmother's fate was that Aaravos "swallowed her"??? Why are half the lines out of Aaravos's mouth innuendos. Is it the VA's voice? Does it just compel people to write his characters like that? Or is Aaravos just Like That as a person.

I mean like. Aarvos also flirts needlessly with Viren every chance he gets. Not even for manipulation because Viren is not into him, he's just incapable of not acting like that. Viren is definitely gay though. Like definitely. Even my cishet brother could tell in that scene where Viren is having a dark magic-induced fever dream about Harrow. Like oh you *liked him* liked him. Sure had a funny way of showing it, Mr. Kill The Princes. Anyway. Yeah that's my thoughts on The Dragon Prince season 5! Cannot wait for seasons six and seven, I'm sure they will be so cool.

#the dragon prince #the dragon prince season 5 #tdp spoilers

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kradogsrats · 1 year

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okay who’s ready for some real crazy-eyes red-string-and-pins-web shit about Soren and Viren’s upcoming arc

So when Aaravos taunts the gang via possessed Callum, he’s digging in on insecurities about roles that they have, for good or ill, made central to their identities. Ezran wishes to be the king his father wanted him to be, Rayla craves the assurance of a stable and valued place among her family and people that she thinks being a successful assassin would bring, Soren has chased his father’s love for his entire life, and of course Callum has based his identity on being a mage that is not a dark mage since season one, and already had a season-long journey about it.

Now, having set this up, and because they were pretty well-established character arc conflicts already, we are presumably going to get some payoff as each character wrestles with the questions it raises. You could phrase those a bunch of different ways depending on the individual character, but they all boil down to either being able to conquer the insecurity and make the role their own, or being able to let go of the role entirely and embark on a new path. So for example:

Ezran might conquer his insecurity in being king by facing challenges related to that and overcoming them, or he might release/redefine his idea of what kind of king he should be.

Rayla will probably have to work to release the expectations she holds for herself to conform perfectly to her society’s standards, but will hopefully also overcome her core insecurity with validation from her parents/Runaan.

Callum will have to deal with the vulnerability of being an avenue for Aaravos due to his single use of dark magic, and either find a way to nullify that or at least forgive himself for his perceived failure of unknowingly putting his loved ones in danger. Or he could go all-in on the dark magic, I’m not gonna judge.

BUT SOREN. Soren, Soren, Soren.

On the face of it, Soren’s path forward is obvious: accept that he will never have his father’s love or validation, and instead learn to love and validate himself. He was actually pretty much there when he thought Viren was dead, since that would mean changing their relationship is impossible. He’s gone, it’s over--focus on the living, i.e. Claudia. Now that Viren is alive again, Soren will have to re-confront a lot of stuff that he thought was settled, which is tough in its own right. It’s a straightforward (which is definitely not to say easy) journey of emotional growth that we have been rooting for Soren to have since the first season.

But look at Aaravos’s exact words regarding Soren. Aaravos ostensibly never lies, but that pronoun is doing some... presumptive lifting for the listeners. The interpretation we expect is “The failed son (Soren), whose father (Viren) wishes he (Soren) had never been born.” But there’s enough grammatical ambiguity there that you could also read it as “The failed son (Soren), whose father (Viren) wishes he (Viren) had never been born.”

Now, do I think Viren is self-loathing enough to wish he had never existed? Not really. Even in s4, he doesn’t really seem to regret anything in the sense of feeling it was wrong of him to do it. But a more nuanced question is whether he could perhaps wish that he had not been re-born. Does s4 Viren maybe wish Claudia had left well enough alone?

Honestly, I would probably say YEAH. At least a little bit. He’s traumatized, directionless, his daughter is on the way to destroying herself... things would be a lot less shitty if he simply hadn’t been born (again).

Notable also is that this scene is intercut with the emergence of Sir Sparklepuff, which is a scene where Viren is pretty dang low. It’s the scene where he’s most reluctant to accept the staff, refusing it several times until Claudia takes over in frustration... and then handily demonstrates that she definitely doesn’t need him anymore, and there’s objectively no reason for him to be there. He’s not hopeful about their chances of success in their mission, he’s more than a little reluctant about freeing the chrysalis being, and he essentially doesn’t have anything going for him re: “why bother” besides the fact that if he gives up, Claudia will have suffered for nothing. If there was a time to really wish none of this shit was happening... that would be it.

So basically, Aaravos’s taunt to Soren could actually not describe Viren’s feelings about Soren at all.

I don’t think that changes the anticipated emotional arc for Soren--he absolutely should grow and accept that how Viren treated him was shitty, and it’s okay to feel some kind or kinds of ways about it, and his value as a person isn’t determined by that. Maybe he’ll be able to save Claudia, maybe he’ll have to come to terms with being unable to. He has a found family that loves him. But it does change is leaving open the possibility that Soren could have that growth and ultimately receive the closure of, y’know... hearing his dad say that he’s proud of him once.

#the dragon prince #soren #viren #look i'm soft okay #i just want ONE time

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meganwasbored · 10 months

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The Dragon Prince Thoughts Season 3 Episodes 7 and 8

btw i just wanted to say that yes i am aware that if a character i even remotely dislike comes on screen i usually tell them to go die and put it in writing for all the internet to see and yes i’m aware that that’s very excessive but keep in mind i usually write these after 1 in the morning and you do not want to make me angry after 1 in the morning

Episode 7

-claudia already what the heck

-idc if he has the best and biggest redemption arc ever viren will always be dead to me just for treating soren like that like it’s not even funny

-“i wish for humanity to flourish” i’m still a little confused what his intentions actually are because that could be true but it doesn’t excuse the fact that he wanted to KILL ezran and callum just so he could be king, like he wants Katolis to thrive but only on his terms

-i have a feeling this is gonna go terribly wrong

-callum sweetie i love you but i think the last thing the dragon queen is concerned about is your relationship status

-“if you allow us to pass, we have no trouble with you” OR they can just burn you to a crisp right now and never have to deal with you again

-why can’t y’all just kill him and spare yourselves the trouble

-how does the 9 year old have the best stamina out of the three of them

-“it will only remove the parts of you that have been touched by dark magic” oh so he’s a goner

-WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK

-IF WE NEVER FIND OUT WHAT HE WHISPERED TO HER IM GONNA LOSE IT I ALREADY HAVE SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

-DRAGONDRAGONDRAGON

-oh this is THE dragon

-huh

-inoculate - immunize (someone) against a disease by introducing infective material, microorganisms, or vaccine into the body

the more you know

-OH OF COURSE SOREN IS YOUR LAB RAT

-SOREN IM SO PROUD OF YOU

-Kasef constantly trying to pull focus dude open your freaking eyes there is a ZOMBIE standing next to you have some common sense

-he turned into… the hulk??

-i almost hope he doesn’t turn back random grunts are a lot less annoying than what’s usually coming out of his mouth

-if you think that changed anyone’s minds you are very wrong i’m pretty sure that had the opposite effect

-NEW SPELL UNLOCKED LETS GOOOO

-“hey that isn’t part of the spell” ezran buddy they’ve been holding hands since you got here time to put two and two together

-yet again i want to make it clear that whatever terrible things claudia ends up doing i blame viren for 100% of it this angel is just a little lost

-dude literally just turned thousands of people into demons against their will

Episode 8

-“she is not dead. she lives and breathes, but she is not with us” is no one gonna question what the heck this is supposed to mean

-also this dude is completely unfazed seeing two humans and the living dragon prince standing in front of him

-can they please stop making zym whimper like a lost puppy my heart can only break so many times

-EZRAN IS GETTING HIS THOUSANDTH HTTYD MOMENT AND IM HERE FOR IT

-I don’t know whether to be happy or sad

-“is this… the afterlife?”

“no it’s still just… the life… still, you’re alive”

idk why but that sent me

-so you’re telling me that most skywing elves can’t fly??? literally what’s the point then???

-also this means nyx is super special and could be doing real important things but instead she chooses mischief

-he’s looking at him as if that is not an extremely reasonable doubt to have

-how does callum knowing magic put him in any more danger than they were already in, if anything it’s good that he has a way to defend himself

-how is leaving gonna fix anything is no one thinking this through you’d be just as bad a rayla’s parents there’s no way she’s gonna go for this

-told ya

-why does she have to face them by herself you’re telling me there are no armies in xadia that can help

-girl stop being dramatic you know there’s no way he’s leaving you here

-this fight just makes her leaving hurt so much more because it’s basically the same thing

-how many elves were there guarding the egg originally because all of them against one man seems like a fair shot, granted that man is an evil powerful mage, but still

-poor soren is banished to the corner just let him be part of meeting time

-not even gonna question how Amaya knew where they were or how ibis even found her i’m just gonna be grateful

-i’m lazy can someone please translate what amaya just signed

-CRYING

-hold up why is this dude not a demon, and again who even is this dude

#tdp #tdp thoughts #the dragon prince thoughts #the dragon prince thoughts season 3 #tdp thoughts season 3 #the dragon prince #tdp season 3 #the dragon prince season 3

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bycaprinae · 9 months

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Last year when s4 dropped, the fandom was confused whether Viren passed out bc he had a nightmare or bc the resurrection spell was failing and I even made a post about it saying why I believe it was a nightmare. After that I wrote a draft of how I thought it would play out, bc my plan was to make a comic of it.

It would have been funny if I'd have managed to do it bc I cut really close, but the final version was more light on the tone of what I wanted it to be! I always saw Viren as a character that was desperately searching for validation, ever since that scene where he looks into the mirror and shouts at it calling it useless and meaningless and being left to stare at his own reflection, and also in the books, when he's about to give his life for Harrow's, so In my drafts Viren would be back at the day Lissa left him, not what I thought was his first time dealing with rejection, as I always believed it was a trauma passed down by his parents but we didn't get to see his past too deep, but certainly the first one in the timeline series (unless we count kappar, which I tend to do but we don't know any details yet?). Then we'd see harrow and the scene that he rejects Viren and then Soren, when he decides to leave him in s3 when he does not accept the spell on him (Viren does not know that Soren killed his clones).

It's interesting that in a way the actual nightmare does go through the rejection theme, but more in the subtext, when in the scene with Harrow he actually accepts him, and says he's sorry. Also when baby Soren runs away. But overall I interpret his nightmares as him confronting his guilty and responsibilities, not exactly the root of what led him down his dark past. Which I don't know how to feel? Because there's no healing without recognizing, but it does makes sense that he's not going that deep and worrying more about the aftermath of his actions, the man is about to die, he doesn't have time to process his traumas 🤣

Anyways, the point of my drafts was that I thought Aaravos would feed him more clearly through his weakness, and I wanted to play with that scenario. It was always a thought in my mind that Aaravos somewhat had access to those nightmares, I think that is hinted on Callum's, right? He is able to detect which person in a room is tinted by dark magic, and control it like a puppet, so him being able to influence the nightmares is not Farfetched. But yeah, Aaravos was the only one in the narrative, aside from Claudia, that validated Viren's pursue of power and protection of his morals. I truly do not think Viren wanted to rule Xadia for the sake of ruling Xadia, or that he wanted to be king for the sake of being king. That man is one paranoic neurodivergent bitch that can only feel safe when doing things with his own hands and I relate so much ☝️😔

#viren #tdp spoilers #not a theory #viren tdp #caprinaetext

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bluebirdjay · 1 year

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sooooo, i finished dragon prince season 4. time to dump all my thoughts,

things i liked

ezran’s speech, it was made so well with him talking about pain and anger and how that need to stop and how that’s paralleled with claudia and ibis fight to show what happens when you don’t move on and try to do better because claudia literally brought her dad back to life because she couldn’t accept his death

TERRY, absolutely loved him, so bubbly and cute but still has his own demons that he deals with. just a nice introduction. also love claudia’s and terry’s dynamic, they are so 🥰, but also to show how claudia is able to live despite doing horrific things

rayllum dynamic, it feels how it should be after you know your girlfriend disappears for two years ON YOUR BIRTHDAY, comes back and tries to act as if that did not happen. and callum is trying to act cold cause he is hurt but rayla just wants to get things how they were before. also liked when rayla pursued viren a second time that callum understood it. honestly to show that if rayla actually discussed it with callum to do this he probably would have understood

janaya. they were just SO SOFT, AND CARING AND JUST EVERYTHING I NEED. i loved the communication with them. it’s still interesting that while janai is very good at understanding the sign she is not as well as in actually signing them which is interesting. to me suggests that janai put more effort in to understanding what amaya is trying to communicate than learning how to sign herself which makes sense since amaya can lip read. and also liked how they are basically demonstrating the problems and issues that would happen when elves and humans get reintroduced to each other after so many decades separated. like the conflict of cultures how one thing is insignificant to one has such importance and weight to the other. also the miscommunication with the soul fire makes so much sense since both of the characters considering one is grief stricken while one is panicking that the whole camp will set on fire. and also love the trial and amaya admitting that the architect literally trashed a funeral and janai giving such a fair punishment for the crime. like really liked that.

SOREN, MY SORBEAR. doing great. him just living his life, being a crownguard and a part time jester. also love his progression in the relation ship with dragons. how he is slowly understanding other beings that he tries to kill and instead befriend them. especially when he captured claudia and how gentle he is with the butterfly and the butterfly being comfortable with him that it kept coming back. where claudia or viren would not hesitate to kill it and have it in the emergency stash of magical beings.

i like the hair style changes. like i am trying to decide what it means for different characters as some grow their hair out while others cut them. like with soren i thing it’s him finally letting go and not needing to be under the pressure or control of his father and need his approval and him just doing what he wants. if you have thought on other characters would love to see

the different mature topics touched upon like panick attacks, viren having trauma from his death, aftermaths of war where both sides have been wronged, breaking the cycle of violence, reintroduction of different communities. i really enjoyed it

i liked the exploration of viren. him literally being like “oh i will die in 30 days, maybe i can finally just live and die peacefully”. like he was willing to accept dying. not pursue power, goals or even help aaravos. just to live. also his hesitance to do dark magic again. it’s interesting that he is reluctant to do it again, knowing once he walks that path again i don’t think he will be able to go of it again. also his relationship with claudia and terry, i think was very nice. also him just adopting kids left and right except his own son (´；ω；`)

Karim, like i hate him but he is a good character to introduce the conflict with is being and reflecting the people who are not so happy to reintroduce other communities

the things i did not like so much. most of it is criticism but some i feel weird about

the situation of the trial with janai and amaya. it felt really weird as in how amaya reacts. like how she is kind of making fun of the whole just punishing someone for blowing out a candle. like it felt weird how inconsiderate amaya was to janai’s culture. also shouldn’t amaya be kind of aware of the funeral rites of sunfire elves, ya know with janais sister being dead and then holding the soul fire. like i would assume amaya was present for such an important event.

the criticism i have is i think the show is too short. like i mean it’s everyone’s complain that we need MORE, which i agree but i think 9 episodes is no longer enough to tell such a story. like the story and character dynamics and stakes have become so much more complex that more time is needed to explore all the points. like the writing felt sometimes like season 1. like it’s good but is not deep. like the main cast felt a bit flat occasionally like ez. like it more visable when soren sees viren for the first time after his death. and we don’t actually see his proper reaction of realizing the father that has manipulated him, to the point of almost becoming a child murder, is back after finally living his life without his father presence outside of the scream, there wasn’t really anything.

NOT ENOUGH AARAVOS. I NEED MY STARTOUCHED ELF MORE IN MY LIFE. HIS PRESENCE, APPEREANCE, HIS DEEP ASS VOICE.

edit: completely forgot, i really liked the parallels of viren and callum. like both are high mages of katolis, have a strong relationship with the king, both interested in knowledge and specifically the mirror. a lot of shots parallel each other. like i really like how it’s was made but does not mean i like what they suggest

#the dragon prince #tdp #tdp season 4 #tdp s4 #tdp spoilers #the dragon prince spoilers #me thoughts #on the season cause there are many thing that i liked but some stuff just was not it

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heartscfvalor · 2 years

Text

Test Muse: Callum Grant

Keep the wolves from the door I hear them scratching like I don't know better Won't you keep the wolves from the door

In a world where magic is known and monsters skulk in the darkness, Callum Grant is the middle child of the family, with an elder brother and a younger sister, growing up in Middlesborough, England with his family. What many do not know is that the Grant family are werewolf shifters; the first full moon after puberty begins is when a shifter is first forced into the transformation, and every full moon thereafter they are forced into transforming, until they learn to control the wrath and their senses, after that the transformation is more voluntary. But it is known to allow the moon to control the shift at least twice a year, or else risk losing your control and slipping into madness.

As werewolves are often discriminated against, the Grants have done their best to ensure that their family is safe and their secret well hidden. Their children were educated in well maintained schools, and then universities, and Callum eventually joined law enforcement in order to make use of his abilities, becoming a licensed, freelance PI who specialized in missing persons cases.

Like many werewolves of his kind, Callum has the strength of five men, and unparalleled senses, including a sense of smell. He’s able to track a trail far longer than even the best bloodhound, giving everyone around him the idea that he might be vaguely psychic, or he has an uncanny ability to find people. His wolf form is three times as large as a normal wolf’s body, with dark brown fur edged with black, and his eyes glow yellow during and after transformation. His diet is mostly carnivorous, and he is immune to food poisoning.

There is no known weakness for the werewolves in this world, beyond starvation, and decapitation. They can be injured with weapons, but it takes much more force in order to render them too weak to fight back. Due to the rampages made by newly formed werewolves, they are thought of as savage and evil, lusting after blood for blood’s sake, and the stories made of them in the past making deals with the Devil have not done much to help their reputations. Transformation is also a vulnerable point, due to the pain of the action and their bodies changing; they are susceptible to attacks ten minutes before, and twenty minutes after the transformation from human to wolf, and then wolf back to human; it also heightens their metabolism to high levels, leaving them extremely hungry after turning back into a human.

Werewolves have elongated lifespans. Some, it’s rumored, have lived more than 200 years, but no one has come forward to confirm anything to the human world, and the current wolves try to live as human lives as possible, which means they can last maybe to see 110 years of age before dying, if they’re relatively healthy.

Callum tends to keep to himself, and he doesn’t regard himself as an overly friendly person. He’s polite when need be, but prefers to work alone, and he’s awkward with most socializing. His closest relationship is with his younger sister, Annie, while his older brother Richard has rejected human life and disappeared into the wilderness after dropping out of university, and thus they are estranged. He’s also a bit distanced from his parents, due to his father being rather abusive, and his mother complacent with the corporal punishments inflicted on the children. He would like a better relationship, but only if they seek therapy.

When it comes to shipping, Callum doesn’t define himself beyond “queer”, as he feels things are too complicated if he tries to label himself. He’s open to dating anyone of any gender identity, but only at his pace, and since he knows that most partners would be uncomfortable with dating a werewolf should he reveal himself, he only does one night stands if he feels particularly lonely. It would take someone with an open mind who might crack some of the shell around him.

#introducting;; callum #visage;; callum #regarding;; callum #test muse

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literaryaida · 3 years

Text

Review: The Atlas Six by Olivia Blake

Pages 380

Rating 4.5⭐️

Review (spoiler-free):

"The problem with knowledge is its inexhaustible craving. The more of it you have, the less you feel you know."

I feel like I always start my reviews with the same comment, but I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed it quite a lot, even though the plot is a bit messy, it's insane how much research and work she has put into this book. The writing is amazing, and the execution of the story and characters is impressive.

The Atlas Six goes around six magicians that are selected to be initiated in this secret society called ‘the Alexandrian Society’. Those five who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige. You heard me well, FIVE. One will be eliminated. These six candidates will have to fight to survive and prove themselves among their rivals.

There are six povs in this book, all of them the different initiates (magicians). Even though I was a bit afraid of it being too tiring, or skipping through my favorite character (lol), Olivia did an excellent job with all of them. They’re such well-written characters that you can clearly see the different personalities, ways of thinking, magic, struggles, relationships, deepest secrets, and dark side.

The chemistry between them is amazing. LISTEN: amazing. Their intense conversations, philosophical sessions, and sex. Just… wow.

Apart from getting a diverse cast of characters, they are all powerful, smart, sexy and queer!¡

“Libby was a hero. Parisa was a villain. Their goals were overarching, appositional. Nico and Reina were so impartial and self-interested as to be wholly negligible. Tristan was a soldier. He would follow wherever he was most persuasively led. It was Callum who was an assassin. It was the same as a soldier, but when he worked, he worked alone.”

The dark academy vibes are immaculate, now I get everyone’s obsession with the aesthetic.

Olivia’s writing is smart, witty, and beautiful. It’s been a while since I don’t have an absolutely well-written book in my hands. It might be possible that you get bored or tired with some of the characters, as the writing can be too philosophical/deep or have a different style, but personally, it was intriguing to understand their ways of thinking, their magic, thoughts, and actions. Honestly, the best part of the book.

Einstein himself (surprisingly not a median; almost certainly a witch, though) had said there was no reality at all except in the relations between systems. What everyone else was seeing –illusions, perceptions, interpretations– were not an objective form of reality at all, which meant that, conversely, what Tristan could see… was.

Although it felt refreshing and interesting to read this one, I decreased half star as sometimes Olivia’s writing style felt too much for me, but that might be because I’m not an English native. I will leave that up to you.

Reading this book was overwhelming and addicting. In the best way possible. Can’t wait to get my hands on the second one.

“Can’t you strike a deal with the devil if it means getting what you want?”

check trigger warnings here

#queer books #lgbtq books #book review #book recommendations #book reading #booklr #studylr #bookish #bookworm #book nerd #book recs #the atlas six #olivia blake #books #bookblr #read in 2021 #bibliophile

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raayllum · 3 months

Note

I don't know whether this is a well discussed bit in the fandom or not, but if I may humbly request your consideration — why was Finnegrin really so keen to see dark magic? It went way past his own draconicide motives; why the goading to turn chains to snakes when that wasn't the spell he was after? Was it simply the writers indulging the fans bc let's be real they probably know it's a scene straight outta whumper fanfic? Or does someone have an interest in corrupting Callum and hired Finnegrin to make it happen?

followup to previous finnegrin ask: forgot to mention but I mean how did he even know callum knew dark magic at all? it's just Suspicious is all

I've written about Finnegrin's actions / his dynamic with Callum a couple of times (1, 2), but I think it ultimately comes down to Finnegrin inherently thinking/assuming that Callum is a liar and not being honest with himself, and Finnegrin just having zero qualms about dark magic.

For Callum, being dishonest with Finnegrin/himself is both true and not true. On the one hand, Callum doesn't tend to be a very good liar (stammering over himself in 1x02 about Ezran; Amaya's assessment of him in 5x03: "Callum, you are a terrible liar") and is arguably more honest with Finnegrin than he needs to be (why fess up to doing dark magic or reading it all, for example?) because Callum is just very bad at not wearing his heart on his sleeve. Callum is being honest when he corrects Finnegrin, i.e:

F: Listen boy, it ain't that complicated. You're a dark mage. All I'm asking for is one spell. C: I'm not a dark mage. F: You take me for a fool? You stole the wind right out of my sails.

Finnegrin assumes that because Callum is 1) a human and 2) a mage he must be a dark mage. This might indicate that even though Callum has his Sky staff that the pirates would've confiscated that the wind stealing spell that Callum did was more advanced than what you'd see of typical sky magic, indicating something else. But even when Callum corrects him, Finnegrin doesn't believe him — because Callum is lying — and eventually gets the truth of out him.

C: That was primal magic. I don't do dark magic! F: Never? C: Never.

This is important since, as Callum said earlier, "I will never help you" is likewise something that is going to proven untrue before the episode is over.

Finnegrin is frustrated because he knows, despite Callum's aversion to it, that the kid has done dark magic ("I did one spell. One. I had to, to save my friends") and therefore if that's been a moral bent once, it can probably be bent again.

So then the goading and pressure starts. Finnegrin goes for the clear weakness — going after Callum's friends — with the hand-cutting deal, but the group thwarts it out of solidarity. (Who knows if that would've stuck if Finnegrin had barrelled forward with it, but that's what canon divergences are for.)

So Finnegrin switches tactics and goes directly after the "if he did dark magic for his friends once, he'll do it again" and dangles his friends' safety/freedom over Callum to try to coerce him. Finnegrin thinks if he can break Callum's spirit — if he can get him to do dark magic again — Callum will also spill the beans about the dark magic spell. If he can find the weakness and coerce Callum accordingly, he'll get everything that he wants.

Finnegrin almost gets there, since I do think Callum would've done dark magic for the good of the group to try and free them (you can tell by his expression he's at least seriously considering) although I don't think Just using dark magic again would've made Callum fold on giving the spell. Finnegrin understands Callum quite well ("Just one spell, and you never thought about dark magic again?" / "Look at you: slave to your loyalties, your friends, you pride"), but not well enough to anticipate Callum doing dark magic in the latter half of the episode or that he'd connect to the Ocean arcanum. Finnegrin does seem to goad Callum in regards to fears of being corrupted ("Is it such a big deal dirtying yourself with a bit of dark magic") but it's not the focus; Finnegrin talks a lot more about love and control/freedom than he does a tangible idea of clean vs uncleanliness.

These are all some of the reasons that while Callum is undeniably concerned / disturbed by his decision to do dark magic again because he did so knowing it might make him more compromised to Aaravos in the future, I think giving up the spell also scares him — especially when doing the dark magic worked in its immediate goal (saving Rayla from Finnegrin) and giving up the spell didn't — because it makes it plain just how easily and effortlessly someone can use her to exploit him, and that's ofc scary as hell for a variety of reasons for him.

TLDR; Finnegrin was not hired by anyone (who would have the wherewithal or incentive to order him to do just about anything, never mind coerce an otherwise pretty random mage?) but he does exist from a story/narrative standpoint to challenge and push Callum further down his "path of darkness". Ergo, he's gotta be pushy and trying to break Callum into dark magic use. He doesn't necessarily succeed — he gets the spell irregardless of magic use, so Callum using dark magic becomes a further extension of the lengths he's willing to go to rather than outright coercion

#tdp callum #tdp finnegrin #5x08 #so i'll do you a favour and set you free #thanks for asking #anonymous #tdp #the dragon prince #analysis series #analysis #requests

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it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream · 3 years

Text

Silva Lining (Saul Silva x Reader) Chapter 13

Warnings: None

Word count: 1.6k

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It was quiet, too quiet. The voices of your friends and peers had almost disappeared, screams and shouting all but a whisper on the breeze through the spindly trees. You were alone now. At the same time, you weren’t. You could hear the crackling of skin, the rattle as they breathed. The screeches they made as they got close and closer to the opening where you were standing. You knew they could see you, it would only be a matter of time before you could see them too. The bright red core glistening and moving like a flame, inside of their charcoal bodies. Their claws slick with venom, their faces contorted and twisted in pain. You felt no fear. You were oddly calm, sensing that somehow, they couldn’t harm you…. wouldn’t harm you. They moved in closer, branches and dry debris cracking beneath their heavy steps. You could see them now. Shadowy figures creeping out of the darkness and stepping into light. They seemed to regard you with a title of their heads, a look of wonder perhaps? The tallest of them all stepped forward, they were different from the rest.

Taller, much taller, broader. The red core more fierce and prominent. The top of its head almost had horns, that curled round into a kind of crown like shape. It was in front of you now. So close you could feel it’s warm breath fan your face. Your heart stuttered as it screeched out a single word.

“Daughter.”

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You woke with a jolt, your heart pounding, eyes blurry, black swirls of magic surrounding the bed you shared with Saul. Your skin was slick with sweat, a scream escaping your chapped lips. Saul was hovering over you, his hands on either side of your arms, trying to shake you awake from the 3rd nightmare that week. You clung to him desperately as he incased you in his arms. It was still dark out. You’d had a nightmare every night this week so far but you did as you did the other two times, fell back to sleep in your mans arms and were going to ignore it when you woke up.

Morning seemed to come around faster than you wanted it to. You were always too cosy sleeping next to Saul. He was awake and up before you, his teacherly duties leading him away from the confines of your luxurious bed before you had the willpower to peak your eyes open just a fraction.

The morning was met with Bloom complaining again about the treatment of Beatrix. The killer fairy was still in her temporary jail cell, power restricting bracelets still very much around her wrists. You and Aisha shared a look, you rolled your eyes earning a snort from the water fairy and in return a glare from Bloom. She didn’t even know the girl! She thought she now had some sort of weird connection just because she might have been from the same place as her? She seemed to forget that Beatrix did in fact kill Callum to shimmy past Farah’s protective barrier. What she was protecting, you didn’t yet know. You had a feeling Bloom did though.

Stella had filled you in about what was going on back in your old Suit. Bloom was more on edge than ever and had been talking about ways to break the captive fairy free. Was she mad? It was lucky that Aisha and Terra had intervened, otherwise she would have been free by now. They didn’t need the added drama.

Your thoughts were pulled in a different direction as you sat with your friends in the outside courtyard. Aisha, Bloom, Terra and Musa were arguing about how Beatrix getting out would be a bad thing. You and Stella, well you were still just gossiping, catching up as always.

The whispers came all at once. You could see Stella’s mouth moving but you couldn’t actually hear her words, instead your ears were overcome by the whispers of the Burned ones that you knew were outside of the force field. Your eyes could see Specialists running back and forward, something was wrong, the school now seemed to be busy, people were worried and panicked. You noticed Saul off to one side with Farah, Ben and Marco, who…. had been attacked by a burned one by the looks of things. You don’t know what made you stand, but you did, it was like your legs were on autopilot, already aware of your destination even if your brain hadn’t decided yet. Stella kept asking where you were going but it was like you were in a trance. You ignored you friends pushing past them, walking at a steady pace across the grass and in the direction of the woods.

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-Stella’s POV-

Stella was happy to be back at Alfea, even more so now that she knew Y/N was in fact her long lost cousin. Since the beginning she knew she had a special connection with the dark powered fairy, she liked to joke that she was her Yin to her Yang, light and dark.

She’d noticed a difference in her cousins behaviour and well being over the last couple of days. Something that hadn’t gone un-noticed by Silva either, who had in private, asked Stella to keep an eye out for her. Obviously he didn’t have to ask her twice, she naturally felt the need to make sure her cousin was okay anyway. Y/N’s eyes looked heavy, like she hadn’t been sleeping well, it was most likely an effect of the nightmares she’d been having which she’d conveniently forgot to tell anyone she’d been having.

Stella and Y/N finally had some alone time while the other fairies bickered. She frowned as she looked at the girl in front of her, she was completely spaced out. Her eyes had gone black, no white showing at all.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Stella’s hand came to rest on her cousins shoulder and gave it a slight shake. Nothing. It was like she was in a trance. She was even more concerned when her pleas went ignored and Y/N stood up, walking through the girls and towards the edge of the woods. She panicked, she couldn’t go outside the barrier again, it was far too dangerous. Marco had just been attacked and who knew how many Burned Ones there actually were by now. Reports had been coming in that they travelled in groups, it was almost like they were searching for something and she wasn’t about to let her friend be the next victim.

Stella did the only thing she could think of and ran in the direction of Silva and Miss Dowling. Musa and the others ran to Y/N, hoping that someway they’d manage to get through to her before she did something reckless.

The teachers were talking quietly to a few senior Specialists. From what Stella could make out, Laura, Marcos partner, was still somewhere in the woods, fighting off Burned Ones with a broken leg. She had managed to seek shelter in an underground bunker, one like they had used in the woodland training, the only difference was this one wasn’t within the safety of the school and if someone didn’t do something quick, Laura would be dead in a matter of minutes.

“I hate to interrupt but something is really wrong with Y/N.” That got their attention. But then so did the screaming and shouting of Stella’s Suit mates. She looked towards where she had last saw you. But you weren’t there anymore, instead, you were on the other side of the glimmering shield that saved you from harm.

-Your POV-

Somewhere in the back of your mind you could hear the screams and pleading voice of your friends and you were kicking yourself for being where you were, but that was way way in the back of your mind. At the moment, you felt like you didn’t have control at all. Your feet were guiding you. The crackled breath of the Burned Ones could be heard all around you. They were right there, but you couldn’t see them… just like your dream.

Maybe it hadn’t been a dream at all, more like a premonition, for the next thing that happened, basically knocked you out of your magical trance. The largest of them all, King of the Burned Ones, stepped forward, horns upon his head twisted into a crown like shape, red fire seemed to burn in his core. You knew it was your father, or at least a version of the man who helped bring you to life. Something told you deep down.. it was him.

“Daughter, at last we meet.” The giant Burned One came to stand in front of you, you were now surrounded by others.

“What do you want, why are you here?” You were cut off by a snarling sound as shouts from Saul and the others could be heard getting closer.

“We are in a deal with a she Devil called Rosalind, after the deal is complete, we will come for you, so you can fulfil your destiny and sit upon the throne which is rightfully yours.”

“What deal? I’m not going anywhere with you! Why do you keep killing people!” The questions were meant with a gruff laugh.

“Why, because they’ve kept you from me long enough child. Mark my words, once the deal is fulfilled, we will come for you.”

The voices of your loved ones were closer and closer, you turned you head back to see if you could see anyone through the foliage.

When you turned back, your father was right in front of you, his hot breath fanning your face, in seconds, the Burned ones jumped you all at once and you screamed as you felt their talons slice against your flesh.

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Hi please don't hate me lol. I've gone back to work so when I get home I'm always tired atm so trying my best to write and all that <3 It's a little shorter than usual but I hope you still enjoy. As always please let me know what you think in the comments and like/re-blog/commet/follow! xx <3

CHAPTER 14 ----- CLICK HERE

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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

Text

AMA reread headcanon #2

I’m having further thoughts about Moonshadow assassin capabilities after rereading this ama question, which basically asks, Why didn’t Viren hide Harrow in the dungeon or somewhere, away from the Moonshadow assassins?

The given answer says, “I think hiding him anywhere was never really an option. The Moonshadow assassins would have had ways of locating him and slipping in no matter where he was...”

My initial guess, last fall, was this: since there already seems to be some kind of internal life-force sensor that Moonshadows can use--the way Lujanne simply touches Zym’s egg and determines that his life is fading--perhaps that skill can be honed and shifted from merely sensing all life around you in a beautiful symphony, to seeking one life force in particular, no matter where it is, for the purposes of hunting it down and taking it. A sort of Moonshadow Cerebro, if you will, which probably takes a lot of practice to achieve, and maybe a lot of focus to hold onto during a mission. Perhaps this is what Runaan was meditating on, the morning of the full moon: Harrow’s and Ezran’s life forces, pinging softly in the distance, somewhere in the castle.

Yeah, creepy and dark, turning a Moonshadow connection to life into a tracking skill for death. *shudders* I love it.

But yesterday, I was staring at this line and wondering whether there was more. See, it’s one thing to sense your target no matter where they are. But it’s another to do that slipping-in thing that the creators mentioned.

Viren says in S1E2 that Moonshadow assassins can “penetrate any defense.” Any at all? How would that work if you put Harrow behind a slew of locked doors? Magical barriers? Defensive monsters? All of the above at once?

One of the other AMA answers, paraphrased on reddit, got me thinking:

"Moonshadow elves partially slip into a dimension of the moon granting them full stealth mode."

If a partial shift into the dimension of the moon grants invisibility yet leaves them present this dimension, what would a full shift grant?

Here’s my guess, then, for a second layer of Moonshadow assassin skills that can be put to use on a mission: an accomplished and practiced assassin can focus their life force during a full moon and project themselves fully into the dimension of the moon--the world that Rayla visited in TTM. Doing so is basically dying, and they have to be perfectly poised and precise in order to come back into the real world exactly where they mean to--and not inside a wall or something--within a probably-short time limit like the 7 minutes it takes your brain to die if you lose access to oxygen or something. It’s a very risky move! But if anyone is going to push themselves to the limit of death--and beyond--to accomplish a mission, it’s a Moonshadow assassin.

The implications of such a skill are fabulous. Only the best assassins can probably do this, and they'll probably need a completely full moon to do it. But the effect would be terrifying. There you sit, surrounded by three dozen guards, behind eight magical wards, where not even a stray spider can sneak in, and suddenly there's a whisper of movement right behind you, and then you're dead. And not one of your guards sees a damn thing. They’d panic and bolt, and the word would get out: Moonshadow assassins are unstoppable.

The key here is what Viren believes the assassins are capable of. He knows better than to try to hide Harrow. His only suggestion was to try to mislead the assassins with a soul switcheroo, which could call back to the idea of Moonshadows being able to track a single life force. Whether Viren expected their tracking to follow Harrow’s body instead of his soul, or simply to be confused by two separate sources, I couldn’t say. But his soulfang solution seems like the TDP equivalent of trying to hide your heat signature from infrared scanners by hopping into a hot tub with a breathing straw.

So here I am with this really cool headcanon about a powerful and frankly dangerous Moonshadow ability, and I ask myself, Self, what kind of cool thing could this ability be used for?

I’m so predictable. You know where I’m headed, right?

I am super invested in Runaan's story arc, and in his character development. I'm eagerly awaiting S4 to see what happens next! We all want our favorite broody assassin set free so he can go be dramatic and stabby and also soft with his husband. It's basically a universal headcanon at this point that Runaan will be freed from his coin at some point, in some way.

You know which version of “Free Runaan” I'm not sure I've ever seen? Runaan rescuing himself. Considering his thematic elements and his coding, that's actually a really important idea. People in trauma aren't helpless damsels out of a fairy tale. They're people. And they deserve agency just like everyone else.

Within the plot of TDP, such a concept would need to be folded in with everything else that’s going on, though. Rayla still has to find her truth, and to deal with her motivations and choices. She deserves agency, too, as does Ethari, Callum, Claudia, Viren, Aaravos, Nyx, and anyone who might get included in the coin storyline.

It would be great to see Runaan use a Moonshadow dimension-slip to escape his coin to somewhere else. Where would he go? Well, there are a few possibilities, but “the real world” probably shouldn’t be one of them. If he can get out of hell on his own, and then need some guidance getting back to the real world--and to his family--from there, that lets multiple characters decide if and how much to lend a hand.

Trauma lies. It tells you that you’re alone, the only one who feels so horrible. But that’s not true. It’s never true. So the more characters who contribute to Runaan’s freedom, the better. Especially since it’ll be really good for him to experience, considering he’s spent his life holding everyone at arm’s length. It’ll be a good message of cooperation, and of forgiveness, and those are some of TDP’s strongest themes.

But so is agency! Having a voice, having a say in your own fate. I’m not sure how much of a say Runaan has really had in his own fate. That’s some information I’m also eagerly awaiting! Seeing him get to participate, even a little, in his own rescue from the hellcoin would be amazing, and maybe it could happen with a cool, scary, dramatic Moonshadow power like being able to walk in the land of the dead for a few minutes or something.

Runaan’s a badass, okay, show it to me, give. But also, just imagine some wild twist like Rayla struggling for most of S4 to find him and her parents, fighting, making allies, learning secrets, doing stealth stuff, figuring out who to trust, all building up an absolutely stellar arc for her, and at last she somehow gets that coin pouch, and she dumps it out, and while she’s so relieved to finally have found her parents again... Runaan’s coin is blank. Dun Dun DUNNNNNN, cue the credits!

#tdp speculation #tdp theory #tdp meta #runaan #moonshadow elves #moonshadow assassins #tdp #tdp ama #tw trauma #haha but what clues would be in the credits sketches then #the animal doctor listening to the coin with a stethoscope #zym biting it #ethari holding like seven tools at once and wearing goggles as he studies it #janai using her sunforge blade on it while amaya gazes admiringly #claudia suddenly hearing a commotion inside her own belt pouch #help me i gotta stop thinking it's too much fun

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elliepassmore · 2 years

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The Atlas Six review

5/5 stars Recommended to people who like: dark academia, multiple POVs, magic, morally gray characters, competition, high stakes, mystery, LGBTQ+ characters, characters of color I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into with this book and I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. I was expecting something that was a bit more akin to a competition than to a scholarly fellowship, which was essentially what the Alexandrian Society is. I really liked the dark academia aspect of the book. It isn’t really a genre I’ve read much of, but I found it to be very enjoyable and I liked both the mystery of the society and the research that went on with the characters. I also liked that Blake made it obvious there were secrets, but kept most of the focus on what the characters were doing more so than the actual mystery aspect of it so that it (and some answers) slowly creep up on you as you read. There were a good number of twists in the book, some I was more easily able to figure out than others, and there was a pretty big twist at the end that I’m eager to see play out. For the characters themselves, I like pretty much all of them but Callum, but I think that might be by design. Callum is not someone anyone in the book seems to like either, so it’s not really a surprise that I didn’t like him either. At points I struggled to like Tristan as well, but overall I think he’s at least an interesting character, even if he’s somewhat lost and not always the best person. Libby is, I believe, the first POV we get in the book. I liked her from the beginning and it annoyed me what most of the other characters said and thought about her, though admittedly the more I thought about it the more I realized those traits would also annoy me, so it’s a fair characterization. Like the other characters, she’s ridiculously powerful, but she has had to fight for her place in the world a little more than some of the other characters, which has left its trace. She grows a lot over the course of the book and seems to come into herself a good deal by the end, though she’s definitely still a pretty anxious and self-conscious character. Nico is the next POV character we get and, from Libby’s eyes, he’s an obnoxious ass, but like most people, he has more going on than is initially assumed. Nico was a fun character. Despite a somewhat devil-may-care attitude, he does care about other people, particularly his roommate and best friend Gideon. In trying to protect his friend, he can sometimes be secretive and a bit mean, but he seems like a good character at heart. Nico is pretty easily able to ingratiate himself with the others, despite the older three not seeming to like him too much. Reina is the third character who works in the physical realm, but I believe she’s the character we also get the least narration from. I liked Reina and thought she had an interesting background and arc. She has a massive well of power that controls plants and lets them talk to her, but she’s not interested in growing that power or learning to do new things with it. Rather, she’s interested in the Alexandrian Society because it means she has access to rare and lost books and manuscripts. I thought Blake brought a nice balance into the story by having a character less concerned with her powers and more interested in other things the Society might be able to provide her. I’m hoping we’ll get to see more of Reina in the next book since I think she does have a pretty big role to play. These first three characters and the next three kind of come in groupings of people whose powers are physical vs. incorporeal. Likewise, they tend to stick in their groupings fairly well. Libby and Nico already knew one another from university. They have a natural rivalry, though they do decide to team up. I liked seeing the kinds of things they could do with their powers when they willingly worked together, and I enjoyed reading their budding friendship. While it was kind of annoying at first the ‘unwilling twins’ suits them. Reina and Nico also team up, and by default Reina and Libby, but they have a different relationship. While Nico and Libby focus on their powers together, Reina and Nico seem to focus on keeping in physical and mental shape, sparring and discussing philosophical or mysterious questions. This triad interests me a bit more than the other one, partially because the people in this one are more pleasant, but also because Libby, Nico, and Reina are younger and are still exploring their powers more so than I feel the other triad is. Of the group of people with incorporeal powers, Parisa is my favorite. She’s a mind-reader and extremely confident in and of herself. She’s a major schemer, which I like in a character, and I found it interesting to read how she was manipulating people and pieces on the board before her. Of the whole group of six, I think she’s the one who figures the most out about the Society and the things going on in the background. A lot of her time in this book was spent investigating what’s going on with the Society and so I’m curious to see if she’s going to continue that track in the next book or if we’ll see her playing around with her powers and researching a bit more. Tristan is the one I like second best of this second triad. He’s very apathetic about just about everything, but he has an interesting case. For one, even he isn’t entirely sure what his power is, which makes him both interesting and dangerous. While he can be needlessly cruel at times, he also is willing to experiment with his powers to cross new grounds and understand things about himself and the world around him. By the end of the book, perhaps even more so than at the beginning, Tristan is a wildcard and it’s hard to predict what he’s going to do. Callum is the final character and I like him the least. He’s a psychopathic empath, which is funny considering when I initially read the synopsis for this book I thought it said he was a sociopath, not an empath. Like Parisa, Callum is a schemer and manipulator. Unlike Parisa, he has none of the charm or subtlety. Callum is a dick to be a dick and he plays with people just to play with them. With Parisa I definitely feel like she at least has an end goal when she’s manipulating things, but with Callum I don’t get that impression at all. Sure, he wants to come out on top and not get eliminated from the Society, but I don’t think he ever truly doubts himself for more than five minutes and, thus, most of his manipulating is juts for fun. Of this triad, Tristan and Callum interact with one another the most, though not in good ways. It’s kind of hard to puzzle out their relationship with one another since Callum is definitely manipulating him. The lines are a bit blurry between what’s real and not, which does make for an interesting read. Parisa and Tristan, unlike Callum, also interact a good deal with the other triad (mostly with Libby, but also Nico to some extent). Tristan’s role in some of the other triad’s experiments was interesting and I’d like to see more of that kind of experimentation in the next book. I’m also interested to see where Parisa’s role and relationship in regards to the other triad and her own end up in the next book. The ending was definitely shocking but also not entirely unexpected. There’s not a lot that can be said about it without spoilers, but I’m absolutely dying to find out what happened and what’s going to happen. I have a sinking feeling about something, but I hope I’m wrong somehow. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one. Even though there were a lot of POVs, I think it was necessary in order to get the full picture. Each of the characters changed in some way during their time with the Society and I’m interested to see where they all go next.

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austennerdita2533 · 3 years

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Hey! Hope all is well!! First of all, thank you for all the links to save money on books. I checked them out and plan to use some with buying books!! And don’t worry I have other self-restraint issues-mine come more from the fact that I get bored easily so I have about 4-5 books going at the same time. That way I can switch up genres when I need it (for instance I always have a fantasy, a romance, and a dark romance all available to me at the same time because those are my favorites) but sometimes more than one of the genres too. I also am terrible at following a tbr for instance I have been wanting to read Ugly Love for months now but then as I get closer to finishing a book a different book grabs my attention and must be read asap. But to prevent money spending I just browse through kindle and download a free sample of books I want to try instead of buying them right away. Plus I have a rule with myself that I have to read the first 10% of the book that the free sample gives me before I buy anything because at that point I can tell if I like the writing style, the potential story, etc. Just because I don’t want to buy a book and not finish it so I don’t want to waste my money and time. It has worked well so far! I mean there really has only been one book (well series) that I did not buy because I could not even get through a chapter (unfortunately that was the from blood and ash series which I know is a big hit but personally the writing style just was not for me)but it still saved me money!!

I heard about the Book of Night by Holly Black I am really looking forward to it!! I have other friends who adore Jurdan so we are all pumped to see her take on an adult romance and the summary sounded really cool!!

I will have to check out Anxious People for sure!!

But anyway I finally finished The Atlas Six!! Honestly I would have finished it sooner but I got into a romance mood so I went and read both Birthday Girl, Punk 57, and Credence by Penelope Douglas. Definitely recommend Birthday Girl if you like age gap relationships-it is a big one though so if those are not for you I do not recommend it. Punk 57 was okay, I was expecting a little more out of it than I got and I only read it since they were pen pals and I love letter writing but there was not a whole lot of that. And Credence well Credence is what it is LOL it is SUPER taboo and not for everyone and I feel slightly ashamed to say I enjoyed it, but I do not know you well enough on a personal basis to say read it or not read it because well it is wild and it is really a book that I think you love or you epically hate and think people are insane for liking. So look up at your own risk.

But did you end up finishing atlas six?? I do not want to talk about it unless you finished it!! What were your thoughts on the characters/plot/ships?? I am super excited about the future of it!! Olivie confirmed it will be a trilogy recently. I think the next book comes out next year. I also want to start some of her other books like Alone With You in the Ether. I just really enjoyed her writing style and the way she develops characters.

Can’t wait to talk about it with you once you get through it!!

-ACOTAR anon

Hello, hello! I'm embarrassed it's taken me so long to get back to you, I apologize! I haven't had access to WiFi the last week and a half so I haven't been on here much. I went away with two of my closest girlfriends and we were busy laughing, chatting, and goofing the time away--pretty standard with us, tbh. We're a bunch of Chatty Kathy's whenever we're around each other. 😄

But yayyy! I'm so happy you might be able to use some of those money saving book sites. They've been a godsend for me, truly. I mean, I still spend double what I ought on books but at least I can rationalize it because I know I'm saving some money lol. That's smart of you to have established that rule where you read 10% of the sample first before you buy the book. I might have to try that. I hate when I buy a book only to find myself disappointed because I don't enjoy the writing style or the story. I do usually read excerpts, but they're not always long enough for me to tell if I might like something or not.

I'm sorry you didn't care for the From Blood and Ash series. That seems to be hit or miss for a lot people. I believe I have the first two books on my Kindle (which I scored cheaply from Kindle Daily Deals lol) so I will get into it at some point. I'm curious which way I will land.

I don't know how people only read one book at a time. (No hate, just amazed lol.) Like you, I usually have at least 2, sometimes 3 or 4, books in rotation because I want to slip into different genres depending on my mood. And also depending on the time of day. Sometimes I prefer to read fantasies or thrillers during the day because they're exciting. I don't want to stop reading. Now, romances and non-fiction I will read at night, before bed. They're good genres to lull me to sleep with their facts and/or fluffiness.

I'm gonna have to check out Penelope Douglas. I'm not that familiar with her writing, but I'm always looking for new romance authors. You seemed so shy/embarrassed about liking Credence that I HAD to go and look up the summary lolol. You can't say "taboo" and then have me not investigate. My interest is piqued! The polyamory angle sounds fun. I've only read it in fic for the most part so this one's going on the tbr. As is Birthday Girl with the age gap. They both sound deliciously promising!

Something to know about me when it comes to books, to reading: I'm a daredevil. There's literally nothing I won't try at least once. There are times I balk AT MYSELF for the things I pick up knowingly, willingly, but I never regret it. Not even when I read something disturbing enough to give me nightmares. Which has definitely happened. 😂

And yes, I have finished The Atlas Six. I tore through that book so fast! I kept sneaking reading it when I was supposed to be doing other things. I loved that it was a character-driven fantasy because those are my favorite. And the magical system is so cool! It's such a creative blend of science and magic--like, the way she embedded particle physics and the multiverse into everything set my nerd flag flying like you wouldn't believe haha. The characters all have that morally gray Six of Crows vibe to them, too. They're enigmatic. Hard to pin down. They're all thrown together out of necessity not because they like each other, and it was fun to see how attachments did or did not form. I liked Callum the least. However, he's also one of the characters who intrigues me the most because I have no idea wtf he wants. There's no way to parse what his endgame is right now besides self-preservation. Nico is a conceited wise ass, so naturally I love him. Parisa and Reina both terrify me for different reasons. Parisa screams I AM A SIREN so I don't want to tread too close to her. Reina, I think, is going to just, like, detonate the whole planet at some point. She has so much untapped power. Tristan grew on me the most. I didn't care for him much in the beginning because he was an asshole, but then little by little, his layers start to peel back and you see how much he cares. How much he feels. Libby I related to a lot because I've spent most of my life feeling like an outcast like her. And the fact that she's constantly battling inadequacy--oof! That hit me.

As far as ships go, sheesh, I gotta say I'm conflicted! I feel like there are so many different directions the author could go??? It's rare for me not to know where the romance is headed, even this early on in the series, but I really don't.

Parisa and Dalton seem to be the most obvious ship right now. Even so, there's something dark, something dangerous and unknown lurking there so I don't know if that'll work out. Nico and Libby have the enemies-to-lovers type banter and dynamic that I love to gobble up. They're a lot of fun. I enjoy their scenes a lot. It's interesting that they're bound/connected in their powers, too. I can't wait to learn more about that. I'd be totally fine if they went romantic...but then I'm also picking up a vibe between him and his roommate. So I don't know what to think? I could get behind Libby and Tristan as well. Their unresolved tension leaps - literally LEAPS - off the page and I like how their dynamic progressed from dislike (on his end) to respect to something more...well, undefinable as of yet. There's palpable sexual/emotional energy between them, though, for sure. Callum seems to genuinely care about Tristan but he's been so damn manipulative! He'd have to jump through some hoops for me to get on board.

As you can see I babble a LOT when I get excited haha.

Anyway, what about you? Do you have any favorite characters or ships so far? That twist at the end was pretty good, don't you think? It blew the whole story wide open. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts! xx

#anonyous #darling acotar anon #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks books

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