#why isn't anyone talking about Rayla?

[moonshadow-assassins]

WHERE'S RAYLA? AND DID SHE REALLY LEAVE CALLUM FOR TWO YEARS??

#why isn't anyone talking about Rayla? #WHERE IS SHE #IS SHE SAFE #IS SHE ALRIGHT #??? #Callum's glowup is gr8 tho

[ididntknowwhattocallthis]

Ok I wanna talk about Ethari's clothing/design over all. His clothes and tattoos are different from every other Moonshadow elf we've seen, and he's one of the few that doesn't wear braids. Like:

The recurring elements are intricate patterning; over layers and under layers; multiple colors in the same garment (or at least same outfit); wraparound construction, color contrast between mediums, lights, and darks; and the dominant color is always the medium, never the lightest or darkest color (usually navy, true black is very rare outside of the assassins). Even arc 2 Rayla follows most of these rules and she's been away from her culture for two years!

But then we have Ethari:

He doesn't have an outer layer, he wears almost solid navy, none of those clothes are wraparound, he has no light color, there's not a lot of contrast, and his dark color is true black despite not being an assassin. He bends all the rules, though he only breaks one completely. He still has that patterning, but it's minimal compared to the others. He has plenty of accent colors, more than anyone else actually, but they show up on him far less. He does have light, medium, and dark colors, but his whole pallet is darker than everyone else's. The only rule he 100% breaks is the wraparound construction

A lot of this probably derives from the fact that he's a metalsmith:

For the most part his clothes quite are practical;

Black/navy hides coal dust/soot very well. It gets everywhere, on your pants and face especially, and is highly visible on just about every other color.

Forging is hot work & you do it next to a fire that needs to be at least 1000° celsius, I never wear more than one layer either.

those sleeves, while a bit looser than I'd be comfortable with, probably aren't going to get in the way. Plus I heard somewhere that they're spelled to repel heat (couldn't find if that's actually canon tho), so if that's true they're much better than my gloves.

The crop top isn't great but he's got that belt to stop most embers. Besides he's probably not the type to yelp every time one lands on him like I am.

if he pulls the scarf over his mouth & nose it'll help delay him getting lung cancer in the death trap of a smithy Wonderstorm designed for him (my problems with it are a post all on their own. I have nothing against the artists, its pretty, but by all rights he should be dead)

There might also be a cultural aspect to his clothing:

I think the navy blue, the arm bands, the boot decorations, and his belt & tabard could all be symbols that mean "I am a metalsmith" in Moonshadow culture. (Quick side note, he's not technically a blacksmith. historically blacksmith means specifically iron workers. If anything he's a whitesmith since he usually works with silver.) We see it with the assassins, why not metalsmiths too?

Plus if you take a look at his forge in the art book, there's a design carved on it that looks almost exactly like the one on his tabard. Elements of it also appear on other parts of his clothing:

I suspect that this is some sort of symbol for metal working or fire protection. If he's in a guild it could be their symbol, or it could just be a wider cultural symbol. Either way it has a meaning that relates to the forge specifically. I couldn't find it anywhere else in the room.

I just realized that I never even brought up the metal hems on his sleeves. Then again what is there to say? It's metal, he's a metalsmith. It's pretty, he likes pretty things.

But what about the rule he completely breaks?

As I said, every moonshadow garment has some sort of wrap-and-secure construction to it-- except Ethari's clothes. I seriously doubt this is a metalsmith thing. Basic garment construction isn't a sensible way to differentiate your group within one culture. I fully believe Ethari is doing this on purpose. But why? That why gets even bigger when you realize that no other moonshadow elves we've met have brown eyes or periwinkle blue tattoos.

Put a pin in all that, I need to explain my interpretation of Moonshadow culture for this to make sense.

"Moon Primal creatures can be private and secretive, and are keenly aware of the power of appearances." - from the official website

"Moonshadow Elves obey a rather rigid, honor-driven culture." - from the wiki

To me this paints a picture of a fairly collectivist culture. They place a heavy emphasis on community and duty, two things that are usually more peaceful/simpler when you have cohesion within the group. Cohesion creates less conflict, less conflict makes your community more peaceful and your duty to it easier to complete.

But they know that this cohesion is- to an extent- only an act, so each person has a sub community where they don't have to act. Your inner self is for family and friends close enough to be family. (I honestly think they might have some sort of ritual to formally adopt friends as family) To everyone else you're supposed to put up a front that makes you seem more like everyone else.

OK back to the pin

Even without his clothes, Ethari is already visually different from everyone else. No other Moonshadow elves we've seen have tattoos or eyes the same color as his. It's a subtle difference but it is noticeable, and in a culture so focused on appearances people would notice. Most people's instinct would be to try to hide or downplay it, to prop up that front as much as they can. Yet Ethari doesn't put up a front, not to the extent that most people seem to. He's even accentuating his differences by dressing in a different style than them- and he's respected.

In my comm class the other day we were talking about groups, and one of the things that came up was that cohesion fosters sameness and diversity fosters innovation. Ethari is an innovator, it's literally his job. He invents the wingalings in bloodmoon huntress, Runaan and Rayla's weapons, and probably a bunch more stuff we haven't seen. Maybe for all they value appearances and fitting in, moonshadow culture still recognizes that people like him are important and they aren't as effective when they have to fit in. They can't be too out there (remember, Ethari only bends the rules rather than breaking them) but as long as they stay within a certain radius of the norm they can gain a lot of respect. I think this is what Ethari has done. The fact that his family (Runaan, Tiadrin, Lain) are all pretty traditional probably helped a lot. They keep him from pushing too hard on the edge of the box and he keeps them flexible.

That they aren't there anymore has probably exacerbated the rift between him and the rest of the silvegrove caused by Rayla's ghosting and whatever news has reached them from the storm spire.

I am so excited to see him in S6. I thought about adding some speculation about what his new design might look like, but I honestly don't think he'll have changed that drastically aside from his hair. My biggest question is honestly whether or not he's still in The Silvergrove.

Bonus:

I bet that some of Ethari's relative weirdness rubbed off on Rayla. She didn't have many friends as a kid so, when she wasn't in school or with the assassins, it makes sense that hung out with Ethari a lot. Since he's less strict than Runaan she was probably only comfortable completely unmasking with him. He heard about all her crushes, fears, and insecurities that Runaan didn't. Which goes a long way to explaining why Ethari was the only one who could see she wouldn't be a good assassin; she was hiding those traits from everyone but him.

This also explains some of why he was so willing to believe that she ran away. Ethari saw all of her vulnerability, but he didn't see all of her strength. While she was out training and facing her fears with Runaan, Ethari was in the smithy and only heard about their exploits after the fact. Neither of them saw all of who Rayla is, but both of them thought they did and had to find out that they were wrong in just about the most heartbreaking way imaginable.

#this started as me going “how actually practical are Ethari's clothes?” while I was forging that touchmark stamp #and spiraled out of control from there #also we're ignoring Redfeather because a) she was ghosted b) I didn't remember she existed when I started this #ethari #tdp #the dragon prince #tdp ethari #tdp meta #character analysis #rayla #tdp rayla

[raayllum]

I know you love The dragon prince and that’s great. I binged the show after season three released. I listened to podcasts about the show . I listened to yours and felt really happy when I found people who also liked the show. Unfortunately I fell of during the hiatus between season three and four. I am patient person but three years was long. Also I watched the show for rallylum and through the moon just kind killed my love for them.Then I found your blog and was really happy. Then I saw how you felt about the owl house and it bothered me. As a neurodivergent person the show made me feel really seen. I know it’s stupid to be upset about an opinion. As a person who wants to be an English major how do find parallels between relationships and characters. You talk about certain ones and I don’t see them at all. Your probably more seasoned as a writer than I am so

Ps : sorry this is long and hope tdp ends well in your opinion

Few things:

1) I'm also neurodivergent (hi!) - specifically Autistic - and I have also largely wanted to be understood my whole life, much like Luz (according to S3). While a show making you feel seen can certainly be wonderful, meaningful, and sometimes even life changing, to me that's not enough to make it a Good (per my subjective tastes) Show. That's not to say TOH is a bad show - far from it - but it's one that didn't appeal to my particular tastes due to 1) too many characters and not enough screentime, 2) a lack of theme (which many kids shows don't have a ton of because they're, y'know, for kids), and 3) all of the characters have very black and white morality, and that's just less interesting to me.

Being upset about opinions is very natural, and it's not stupid, but it is also important to acknowledge that 1) you can't control how anyone else feels or interprets things and 2) no one else can control how you feel or interpret things.

2) I adored Through the Moon. Rayla's tendency to leave (and why) is always a hurdle I expected them to have to tackle at one point, and given that it's her main character flaw, I'm really excited and happy with the way it's been handled so far and how TTM kicked it off. The graphic novel also really resonated with me in Callum's place, as I too have loved many of my loved ones through incredibly difficult periods regarding their mental health, and the graphic novel felt very honest about the toll that can take on both parties in different ways, and how love/support can help, but ultimately isn't enough if the person isn't ready (or willing) to start trying to get better. It's not an easy pill to swallow, but it is a realistic and important one and I've enjoyed how the show has continued that storyline with Rayla (and Callum) into S4 and S5

3) Being an English major is not for everyone! I know many people who love to read and who are very good writers where an English degree would not suit them at all. It's a lot of reading (by my final year, there were some weeks where I was reading an entire 400 page book roughly every week, if not multiple at the same time). It is also a lot of writing (and my professors regularly chewed me out for my grammar). You also tend to kind of double being a history major as depending on what you're reading, you learn a lot of the religious/historical/cultural context in order to understand the language, references, and messaging intended by the author (and then whether or how much to disregard it, lmao). Being able to analyze — to see connections between characters and themes in particular, but other forms of symbolism and messaging — quickly is probably the main thing that saved my ass and let me stay on Honour Roll throughout my undergrad.

I have also been writing pretty seriously for a long time (I 'started' at age 10 but only really count age 12 onwards, cause that's when I first started writing 70k+ drafts every 1-2 years for original WIP stuff). A lot of what makes a good writer is being a good reader, taking your favourite stories (books or otherwise — movies, musicals, tv shows, etc can be gold mines) and figuring out what works in them and why, or why you like them (or don't like them), etc.

For example: The Owl House is a primarily character driven > plot driven story. In book form, it'd likely be Middle Grade to early YA. It's interested in character relationships among the main cast (any of the more villainous characters like Belos are never given the same amount of development or screentime) and some mild worldbuilding. It has some social commentary (mostly on the school systems through Luz and mental health through Eda) and an overall theme of "being different is good," breaking away from abusive systems/dynamics, and the importance of solidarity.

If I compare and contrast this to TDP, The Dragon Prince is far driven in equal parts by the plot (because it's wholly serialized) and by character. It is also very thematically driven — most notably how to break intergenerational cycles of trauma and violence, but also self-destructive tendencies, abuse, responsibility, power, grief, and concepts of justice and punishment. This is also reflected in the fact numerous villainous characters (Viren, Claudia, etc.) share close to equal screentime with the 'good guy' protagonists and heavily explores morality across a decently wide spectrum. It thereby has a more mature tone in its subject matter and would easily be YA in book form.

Which is to say: the best way to get better at analyzing is to break characters down to their basic plot structures (Character A does this, they want that, Character B does this, they want that, etc.) and see what pops up (for example, in Avatar The Last Airbender, Aang and Zuko both cannot go home, and duel Ozai when they're 13 years old, ultimately refusing to be violent against their opponent). You can also look at similar personality traits (curiosity, selflessness, carelessness, etc). Practice looking at the stories you love and figuring out what works and doesn't work for you personally — and then go beyond relatability to look more at subtext and symbols. Some of the best things I've ever read were books that had nothing relatable to my personal experiences in them (like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini), and that was why I loved them because they got to broaden my horizons.

#thanks for asking #non tdp #forbidden op lore #long post #anonymous #requests

[convenient-plot-device]

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

[winterstorm032802]

Bloodmoon Huntress Rayla AU

Sometimes, she wakes up to feeling blood all around her, not in a good way. If there even is a good way to word it like that.

It's like a horrible stain on her, itching all around her whenever the mere thought of that night comes to play. She barely remembers that night. She just knows that there were beasts. Probably rabid Banthers, and she collapsed after fighting and covered in blood. That's the only answer... right? Yeah, only answer.

Rayla internally scolds herself, not knowing why the thought of that random night is coming back when they are facing a horrible threat.

"I recognize that bow. How interesting it's passed to you. How long has it been?"

Rayla grits her teeth as she holds the bow and its string, already nocked with an arrow and ready to fly. Callum, Soren, and Ezran look between the two Moonshadow elves in confusion. Kim'dael, the Bloodmoon Huntress, standing ever so poised ahead of them. Rayla glares at her, and the itch of blood is coming back.

"Hm... are you still a non-killer? It's disappointing, I thought you'd make a good Huntress."

Rayla furrows her brows, looking a bit confused. "How... do you know that?" "Should I be offended? You sound as if you don't remember me." Rayla scoffs. "Oh, I remember, I was there when you tried to kill me when I was just a kid."

Callum's soft, "What?" doesn't go unnoticed by the two elves, Rayla merely brushes his question off. She keeps looking at Kim'dael, eyes trained on her for any movements. "So you don't remember our other meeting." "What..?" "I tried to make you like me, imagine my utter devastation to know you've never killed. Yet you look like one, unfortunately, you weren't fit to be a Huntress like me."

The itching of blood is getting worse. She can taste blood on her lips. She isn't hurt. What is going on?

"What are you talking about?"

"You certainly remember the night, covered in blood. Seems you're failing to remember what led to it."

"Rabid banthers."

"That much blood for what, two banthers? Think on it."

The taste is getting stronger. It's not her blood...

An elf she never knew, on the ground, their throat cut with a slice. Their blood...

Rayla lowers the bow just slightly. "What did you do to me?"

"I tried to make you like me. I did not know you never killed anyone. Some assassin you are."

The sun is beating down on them, and everything in Rayla is on high. It doesn't feel like a sun. It's like a Sunforge blade or a dragon's fire beating down on her specifically.

"Rayla, what's wrong?"

Rayla, with a slight tremble, directs the arrow to Kim'dael. "..."

She merely grins and ends up to the side as the arrow whizzes past.

"Fulminis!"

Another dodge, this time nowhere in sight. Everyone moves, trying to gauge the Bloodmoon Huntress's next location. "Rayla, snap out of it." Before she can respond to Soren, the cold smell of blood is at her throat. Kim'dael, right behind her.

"I can smell it. You've shed someone's blood, maybe next time, try to finish the job assassin."

She's frozen in place as Kim'dael holds out that vial of blood for Rayla to see, only to take a drop and disappear once more. Rayla's mind is blank, her entire body still. Then she drops, hearing her friends calling to her in worry as the sun swells down.

~

Rayla sits up with a start. Someone grabs her arm and keeps her settled down. The taste of blood is still fresh in her mouth. "Hey, Rayla. Calm down, breathe. Stay with me." She looks, that familiar High Mage of hers. "I need you to focus."

Rayla merely shakes her head slowly and then covers her eyes with her hands, unable to bear whatever reality she has woken to. She remembers it now. The blood, Kim'dael's voice, all of it. Searing itself back into her mind. "There's something wrong with me..."

"Rayla, what do you mean?"

She can feel whatever is wrong with her. Festering around her. The mention of the blood she spilled when underwater that night, it makes the festering grows.

#rayla #kim'dael #callum #ezran #soren #tdp #the dragon prince #bloodmoon huntress #small rayllum #tdp s5 #tdp au #the dragon prince au #might not be clear but i have no idea how to write kim'dael #tw blood

[jelzorz]

124.

for @fixationally-consumed for letting me talk blood bank at them for 45 minutes while I was prepping for an interview aka I can't be blamed for this, they wanted something Dark

It's a stupid idea, but Callum's done stupider things. He can justify this to anyone who asks anyway, and as wrong as it is, it's better than doing nothing, isn't it? Dark Magic has never felt right but at this point, what has he got to lose? Rayla's gone.

It's been, what, a year and a half now? Since she ran off into danger again convinced she was the only one who had to suffer for it. Callum loves her still, and he will always love her, he thinks, but he hates her too, for choosing her vices over him. He'd wanted to help. He'd been ready to leave with her the moment the sun rose, and she'd—

She's convinced she's keeping him safe by staying away, but if anything, it's only made him reckless. How many trips into Xadia has he made? How many times had he disappeared to look for leads? And now...

The jar of fireflies winks at him in dusk. Dimly, he remembers Claudia telling him about a spell that could find anyone granted they were in a certain range, and Callum thinks this is the right one. He hopes it is, anyway because he'd gone to the trouble of rifling through the clothes she left for something to complete the spell, even if every memory of her felt like a shard of glass in his chest. He was lucky he'd found anything at all—a single strand of silver hair, caught in the fibres of his scarf, of all places—and gods, this feels so wrong but there's nothing else. He's tried all the primal magic he knows, scoured through every text on Sky Magic for something to help him find her, and he's found nothing.

Nothing. In a year and a half.

This is the only thing left.

It's for her, he convinces himself. It's to find her, to help her, to keep her safe. He's already done it for her once before, what's one more?

Callum strikes at the flint. The strand of Rayla's hair catches immediately, bright purple flames dancing in the dim light. He scoops it into his hands, warm but not comforting and touches it to the jar of fireflies.

"Fle wodahsnoom eht kees."

The flames burn brighter. They shoot upward out of the jar, and Callum waits, his vision clearing, his breath caught in his throat. And then—

The column of light dissipates, giving him no more of a lead than he had before. The answer is obvious: she's too far out of range, and of course she would be—Callum wonders why he'd hoped she'd be near enough for it to work at all.

He smashes the jar at his feet and flies home, leavinf his tears to dry in the bitter wind.

#rayllum #in anticipation #this was meant to have alcohol in it but it didnt feel right #i hope this is okay fix!!!

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

seduce me with your headcanons nerd (/lh /p)

Wait fuck why do I always forget my hcs when I get asked-

Elmax def kissed when Max was asking if Mike was a good kisser. That's canon, actually. I'm not t taking criticism.

Willel have talked about the Vegas Plan before, and got into a little fun trouble at school. (Everyone grafitties th-)

Jim Hopper is asexual biromantic.

Mikhail lived in the woods for a while in Hawkins, but before that he lived with Enzo's family and Enzo's 6yo kid loved having a brother.

I don't know why, but I feel like El listens to a lot of women rap artists once she starts cultivating a music taste.

Mike likes sharks. Dustin likes frogs. Lucas likes lizards. Will likes spiders.

Axel is aroace, Mick is panro ace, Funshine is queer, Kali is lesbian, Dottie is straight and maybe aro.

Robin really likes this song

Will knows alot about Greek Mythology.

Mikhail grows his hair out long and it's curly :)

Luz has wanted a pet snake since she was a little kid.

Willow hates pickles.

Gus is entranced that human realm schwarma/dunner/whichever one was on that skewer I couldn't really tell isn't filled with giant eyes

The Parks always have a bowl of fruit, and when they were kids and Amity was over, she and Willow would eat all the apples/ demon realm version of apples first way to quickly.

Gus really likes cashews.

Gus used to want a hamster as a pet.

Biana is gay and agender, Fitz is gay and aromantic, Dex and Keefe are bi, Sophie is straight (or maybe lesbian, I haven't read the books in a while)

Marella and Stina used to be best friends. When they started getting closer during I think book4/Neverseen, they may or may not have kissed. (I don't ship them though but this is 100% canon)

Iggy has thought of killing Forkle.

I once saw someone say t4t callum and rayla, so rayla is a trans girl and callum is nonbinary (but maybe still closeted rn)

Ezran has always been talking about talking to animals and whenever his dad or anyone responded they were like "oh isn't that nice" and he thought it was totally genuine. When he's like, 13, he wakes up in the middle of the night letting his thoughts wander and stays remembering what people have said and he realized they were just being nice but he gets really sad about it because he feels like they were just straight up lying to his face (which technically they were)

#headcanons #toh headcanon #kotlc headcanons #tdp headcanons #st headcanons #asks #mutuals #fandom

[jamieedlund]

Aaravos made Callum too hot for everyone but Rayla has to be like the "My boyfriend and his very tall and sparkly master" but Callum is holding the worm instead cause Aaravos lets him cling to it during the night.

(skip to TLDR if reading isn't your passion🙏🙏🙏)

I feel like I wouldn't touch on Callum and Rayla's relationship because I'm one of the people who strongly feel that there isn't any chemistry in their romance. I will say this though, because the way I'm writing this basically kicked off after season 3- The reason why Callum and Aaravos, in ANY POSSIBLE WAY can become close is because he did not find solace in the discrimination that the elven mages(and maybe most of the elves too tbh like c'mon do you really believe discrimination can be erased in a span of months??) treats him even after he helped protected the baby dragon;

Possibly also the fact that in the book Rayla left him to find her parents. Which he probably would not blame her, but that does contribute to the overwhelming possibility that after meeting Aaravos, Callum's opinion as well as his interest in the people he knew would change. (and not to mention the fact that because everyone hates Aaravos so much, they have to be on the run)

(sketch from a planned piece I wanted to post on valentine but never finished, Cally wanted to buy a thing for his master because they only have each other while the entire world is hunting them down)

And to be honest Aaravos is more interesting and beautiful than anyone he has ever met, not to mention all the preachy garbage people has been feeding him about how "dark magic" is bad and his master is somehow "a fate worse than death" but in reality it's more complicated than that. Would he not have loathed if not a little pissed that the world, especially i feel that Rayla will too, treated the man he adores like some sorta plague?

It should be noted that I intend their love for each other to be not quite friends but not quite family either, but non of them wants to force the other to do anything they don't want and I will leave it at that.

Callum was robbed of most of his personality in the show, I feel deeply that he would not be willing to continue a normal boring life as well as a relationship where his partner does NOT understand him, at ALL. When he talks about magic, she doesn't have a clue. She doesn't like his jokes (to be fair he doesn't find her joke funny either), she does not get him and always calls him weird, in a bad way. All of these are canon btw. TLDR In conclusion...Callum probably doesn't see himself as too hot or too attractive, but if he had acknowledged Aaravos as his master, he would have had a change of perspective, maybe SEVERAL CHANGES of perspectives... therefore a normal life and his teenage romantic relationship will probably seems unappealing to him.

You can disagree! This is just how I intended for their characters to turn out in the way I'm writing them. But in the end of the day, yes. he would hug the caterpillar to sleep...when he did not know that was also his master--- Callum is very aware of his master's beauty, yknow like a normal teenager... He's probably shy 👉👈

I actually did this concept a long time ago wheezes

laughs in he probably did the little pet talk with the caterpillar unknowingly before he sleeps---like you're so adowable! i wuv you so much etc--- and who's a good little squishy---- idek how do people talk to their cats....

#ask jamie #sorry for the long post #I have a lot of big feelings regarding to callum's romance #it's #it's not that great--- #but no hates if you like it! #it's just not for me #long post #rambling #tdp #aaravos #callum #my art #wip #sorry for the ugly doots #about their relationship #etc #the dragon prince

[beautifulterriblequeen]

B2:S - Chapter 5

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be lots of Viren deets, Best Boy Soren deets, some writing/continuity stuff, worldbuilding appreciation and half of a theory, Detective Rayla, Moon Temple geeking, Claudium and dark magic, and more!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

(I know for darn sure that I wrote up a post for chapter 4, but I can't find it anywhere so I guess Tumblr ate it and I'll have to redo it at some point, but today is not that day)

Viren, my evil dude, my bad guy, coming in clutch with the worldbuilding and backstory again! If you want to know decades of information, you gotta talk to Viren. Or read his scenes, at least. Here, he seems to not sleep much when he has a big problem to analyze his way through. Solutions trump pretty much everything else in this guy's life, and he's had a really hard week with a lot of new and complicated problems. Of course he's getting sleep-deprived trying to find his way through them all.

Harrow put so much trust in Viren when he made him High Mage! He just threw himself extra hard at that Lady Justice blindfold, didn't he? Didn't really want to see what Viren was doing in his magic study, so he left Viren to his devices. And Viren has a lot of devices.

Also, this is fascinating: Viren made the secret passage to his "less official study" in Katolis Castle! And he was inspired to do so by the way his own mentor kept the Puzzle House. What else could a Puzzle House be, except a place with secret passages? Yay! secret headcanon that "the Puzzle House" is just "Katolis Castle" from Kid Viren's perspective tho

So either Viren built all of those passageways, or at least the ones to his dungeon. Which means he has to have, or know where to get, a stash of those glowing blue Moonshadow crystals. Hmmm.

I can't wait to learn more about Kpp'Ar and young Viren, btw. From this description of Viren and all his literal secret ways, it feels like another parallel between Viren and Runaan, with the whole "secretive paths, members only, insider knowledge" type stuff. Only the really cool members of this cult club get to know the secrets, and guess what, kid, you're cool now but you can never tell anyone, okay? Our secret.

Yeahhh, that'll never backfire in any way for either of them.

Kpp'Ar calling puzzles and secrets "man-made magic," though. Yes sir, knowledge is indeed power.

This chapter mentions Runaan by name, from Viren's perspective. Generally that would imply that Viren knows his name, even though assassins do not share their names, and Runaan didn't seem to give his to Viren in the first book. However, there was a scene in book one where the last paragraph switched perspective from Viren to Runaan - a technique that's very common in visual media like movies and shows and gives you that "ohoho they left the room and didn't notice this, but you do!" vibe. Using Runaan's name there in book one, where Viren couldn't see it but readers could, helps them keep track of the assassin's story arc while maintaining Viren's racism.

So in book two, in which Runaan has no onscreen scenes (alas), using his name in a scene that calls back to the events in book one helps us remember what happened in that dungeon cell. It would be a bit muddier to recall the specifics if Viren kept thinking about Runaan as "Elf." So I'm cool with the perspective nudge because it serves a narrative purpose: clarity. But I'm also enjoying the angst of considering that, somehow, Viren learned Runaan's name either during or after the coining spell. Mwa ha ha haaa. (Obligatory "Keep my pretty name outta your mouth" goes here)

Okay, back to Viren's scheming! He took the mirror because it was human-sized in a dragon lair. He knew it didn't really fit there, and that made it interesting, so he stole it. But he realized it was really powerful when Runaan wouldn't tell him squat about it - the assassin's instinct to protect Xadian secrets from human hands meant that Viren was holding a very powerful Xadian secret. And that just made him want it all the more. Ah, Runaan, if only your relationship with lying was, like, the exact opposite of what it is. Nyx could've spun Viren a believable tale in 2 minutes flat.

Also of interest: Viren considers his cursed coins to be a final fate. He expects Runaan to remain in his coin forever. With the Chekhov's coins still extant in the storyline, we can assume that they'll come up again eventually, but Viren has no current plans to do anything with his elf money except carry it around.

It's worth noting that Viren admits that he got impatient when he trapped Runaan in the coin. Runaan's first fate in Katolis was supposed to be death at Soren's hands, but Claudia "saved" him from that. His next fate was to become spell components, but Viren's frustration with his stubbornness "saved" him from that fate, too. So now he's in a coin, where no one can chop him up at all. Yay? No, boo!

We get one last line about Runaan before Viren shifts gears: he makes a point of noting for us that Runaan's shackles are still locked shut. However much of Runaan made it into that coin - body, soul, hair care products - he was magicked there, pulled right out of his restraints.

The creepy black liquid that Viren pours right into his eyes is the last of a powerful potion he got from Kpp'Ar, and its recipe is ancient! Humans used it back in the age of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world. And we get a delightfully creepy bit of description about the preparation of this serum, which makes it abundantly clear that it's a Moon magic-based concoction, harvested from eyeless vipers on a moonless night, with the threat of irrevocable madness ("madness" by whose definition, though) if it's done wrong-

Hang on. Hold up. This is a Plato's Cave reference. OH MY GOD.

No no I'm fine, this is brilliant. Sorry, sorry, I couldn't figure why there was so much description for a potion prep that Viren didn't even have to perform himself. But now I get it. I see the light. HA. I should make a separate post for this, it's amazing.

Anyway, for reference, the humans who used this serum were called the Oracles of Ophidia, and Ophidia is a taxonomy group that includes all modern snakes. Can you say "creepy ancient snake rites"? I can! Woo!

Viren activates the serum with a spell, but apparently he's never done it before. He's not sure if it's supposed to be hot and bubbly, and he worries that it's been tainted by moonlight.

Oh, I do hope so.

The magic potion hurts, a lot. Viren will do just about anything, to himself or anyone, to do what he believes is necessary. He just risked madness and blindness to find out what this mirror does! Viren. Can you just. Take a nap or something. Have a Snickers.

This chapter gives us a fun clue that I don't remember from the show: when Viren's vision clears and he can see, his reflection has white pupils and the room reflected in the mirror has inverted colors. You know where else has inverted colors?

You know who else got white pupils for a hot second?

Okay, now it makes sense! Viren and Lujanne were both seeing into the realm beyond life and death. Him with his moon magic potion, and her with her moon powers on a full moon night at the Moon Nexus. Which is Very Interesting! Is it a direct hint about Aaravos's location, or just a separate cool detail? Orrr, does it look like a direct hint because Aaravos is actually trapped in the world beyond life and death, but it's actually separate and we'll see something about white pupils again later on?

Viren really does have self-esteem issues, we all picked up on it with his rant at his reflection. He throws a fit when he catches himself wondering if he's actually worthless. In the book version of his tantrum, he shoves the mirror and hurls a candelabra instead of flipping a table. He didn't need to shove the mirror to set the fire, but it's in here. Foreshadowing that perhaps, if push comes to shove, Viren will choose himself over Aaravos? Giving Aaravos time to peek through and see that the coast is clear?

Soren, my boyyyyy. He has a rough night at the Moon Nexus because two sides of him are fighting with each other. He struggles to understand Callum's friendship with Rayla, and he also fantasizes about chopping off Rayla's head. One of these is a pretty ordinary thing to do. The other is Soren's internalization of what he needs to do to gain his father's approval. If he brought his dad a chopped off elf head every week, he'd probably feel a lot more confident because Viren would praise him a lot more.

Okay, okay, omg, is it just me, or does the "Moonshadow Madness" story, as it's told in the book, seem like Soren just doesn't know what a monsterfucker is? He thinks an elf bite puts humans under a spell. But vampires are sexy, and some people want them to do more to them than just bite them. A passionate kiss under the moonlight could look very bitey, especially if one of the participants has horns and you're already culturally trained to hate them. No yeah, I'm already headcanoning an actual human-elf kiss that got misunderstood by an observer long ago.

it's Lujanne isn't it, we all know, because what is a love spell but a sweet soft illusion, I mean how else does she get supplies for her Caldera, I ask you, and also Corvus was totally sent to investigate once and he told Soren at camp what he saw

And then back to magefam angst: Soren pretending that his sister's nose-tapping is stupid, even though he actually thinks it's cool, just because their dad thinks it's stupid. Viren, istg. Let your kids like harmless things. It's so cute that Soren taps his nose back at her, though! Like they have their own sibling code. I hope we get to see the nose tap again, especially now that they've chosen different sides. It could mean so much, that they're not too far apart yet.

Rayla knows what buttery pancakes smell like. I love this. Do Moonshadow elves have butter and pancakes, does Rayla eat a stack of eight giant pancakes in the morning? Orrrr it is just illusion food? I don't care, let Rayla have pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes. Pancakes will save the world. this message brought to you by the fact that I can't eat pancakes rn, send help

I love that Rayla is both sus of the pancakes and hungry, and that combines into a very motivated "I will get to the bottom of this" attitude. She kind of goes into Poirot Mode when she inserts herself into Soren and Ellis's conversation about Ava, explaining about the wolf's illusion leg and segueing into her claim that the pancakes taste sus. Claudia confirms she used dark magic, and Rayla is furious. It's different than the show's version in that it puts Rayla in detective mode, as the only Moonshadow elf in the scene, and boy does she take that role seriously. Also, she doesn't actually swallow the dark magic pancake bite. It ends up on the ground just like Lujanne's grubs from that earlier meal. These poor kids are so nutrient-starved. You guys gotta eat!!

Rayla's determination and prejudices and the fact that she super knows Harrow is dead all dovetail to make her try repeatedly to persuade Callum that Soren and Claudia are Not To Be Trusted. It's nice that the book keeps taking the time to point out that Rayla is Well Intentioned But Flawed, just like Callum and pretty much every other character in the show. No one is Right All The Time, no one Knows More Than Everyone Else.

Callum loving the sound of Claudia's unique voice is so wholesome. When you like someone, it only makes sense that you like all the things about them that they can't change - like the sound of Claudia's voice. Her choices with dark magic, not so much!

Claudia seems to have the same concerns Soren does about Callum's relationship with Rayla, but she comes out and asks him. The inherent possession implied in "your elf" is interesting, though. Elves are not people to Claudia. They're enemies who can be disassembled for the magic inside them. So maybe more like robots than living beings, if she knew what a robot was. Maybe she heard Soren's "Moonshadow Madness" story and realized he totally missed the kissing implications - but she didn't, and now she's genuinely worried that Rayla could kiss Callum under a full moon and enchant him to do her will. Good thing it's only a half moon, then!

Okay, Callum nervously making a puppet hand and then not knowing what to do with his hands and freaking out about itching and moving and pointy elbows is such a ND mood. The sudden stress of knowing that someone else is noticing your existence and maybe you're Not Existing Right, amirite? Ugh, poor Callum.

The Moon Temple! Omg it's so pretty in the description! Made to be beautiful and useful, full of knowledge but also allowing light and life inside (butterflies and vines). Lujanne, when can I move in, please? Also, it's all the more angsty because Lujanne is the only one who gets to see this beautiful place, but it has lots of chairs and shelves and tables, and it was meant to be used by lots of people. :(((

Claudia knows some of the runes on the walls. She isn't in a hurry to copy the rest of them down or anything, either. Her spellwriting is very precise, and she's a skilled mage. Her father would have made sure she was aware of the dangers of drawing sloppy runes, as much as he made her aware of the dangers of doing dark magic wrong. And the whole point of dark magic is that it's easier to learn than primal magic. Claudia supports her dad and their shared knowledge and life path. She's not gonna go nuts over an elf library she can't translate.

Side note: Between Claudia knowing some Moon runes and Viren building a secret passageway and a dungeon and lighting it with the same blue crystals that Lujanne and Ethari use for light--and Claudia exclaiming that she loves ruins--I wonder once more if there are really Moonshadow ruins somewhere in Katolis, which Viren has found and looted. Father-daughter relic hunting trip, maybe while Soren is away at camp? Omgsh that would be so wild!

Callum out here having a Viren moment with his "I feel powerless unless I've got magic that lets me help" vibes. God. I love their complicated mirroring. One of the hard differences between them is that Callum is very sure dark magic is bad because you have to kill stuff and take its power to cast spells, and he doesn't want to be a person who kills and takes like that. The line he walks to be nice to Claudia on their tour of the Cursed Caldera because he likes her, while telling her that he doesn't want to do her magic, like, ever, is so fine that it might as well be a shifting shadow on the ground. It's a very fitting conversation to be having during the half moon, with its tricks and little white lies.

Callum being out of the castle and his comfort zone, having to deal with the fact that the Claudia he loves is not quite the Claudia who's chasing him down across the kingdom, but of the two of them, he's the only one with a problem with this.

They say that if you really want to get to know someone, you should spend time with them outside their comfort zone - in heavy traffic, with a small baby, taking care of a new pet, trying a new skill, following unfamiliar directions, etc. While the castle is familiar territory for them both, Callum's never really found his comfort zone yet, while Claudia is pretty comfortable with her growing skill set. The creepy part starts to kick in when Callum begins to realize that Claudia's comfort zone encompasses a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it should make her uncomfortable... but it doesn't. But that'll be for a future chapter!

#book two: sky spoilers #book two: sky #b2:s #tdp spoilers #viren #harrow #rayla #runaan #callum #claudia #soren #lujanne #moonshadow elves #aaravos

[official-weasley]

Charlie's Helping Hand

A/N: For all who don't know @am-i-space and I are (healthily obsessed) with freckled gingers who steal your heart because they are adorable and pure! Two of those are the one and only Charlie Weasley and Commander Gren from The Dragon Prince.

We have made up quite a few stories about them (separate and together) and about a month ago we came up with Charlie being friends with Gren and Amaya. @am-i-space had the idea for a drawing of the 3 of them at once and without really knowing we were doing it, we started working together on this little project below my rambling!

After definitely not losing their mind about the eyes and Charlie's hair EVEN ONCE and me finally getting the inspiration for how to bring Charlie into a different universe, we are ready to post it!

As you might've figured by now the drawing below this author's note belongs to the beautiful, talented and amazing @am-i-space who pleasantly surprised me with every draft piece I received of this drawing and the story behind how this drawing "came to be" belongs to yours truly.

PS. Read to the end to find out how this beautiful piece of art came to existence in the story 💙🖤

“Charlie, you are going to love Katolis.” Gren grinned at his friend as they were walking up the path that will take them back to Gren's homeland.

“I love traveling so I think I will have no problem with it,” Charlie smiled back at him, “and besides you said that it's full of magic and dragons just roam free. It's like you are describing a dream.”

“It wasn't always like that. Dragons were feared and people and magic folk didn't know how to live together.” Gren sighed, remembering the days before their land became one.

“Right, king Ezran and his brother were running away from an elf assassin and they found an egg and joined forces to return it to its mother.” Charlie narrowed his eyes, trying to get the facts straight.

—

It's been almost two years since the great battle at the Storm Spire. The dragon queen has awakened and Zym was finally reunited with his mother. She took care of him, taught him how to fly better – even though Ez did an incredible job already. She also showed her son how to roar and how to use his electric breath.

Xadia was one land again and it thrived like never before. The magic spread to the Five Kingdoms and the people and the magic folk could move freely without sneaking around and fear each other.

Everything was perfect until one day when the dragon prince went flying and got caught up in a giant storm. Because he was still struggling to control his wing movement – when the winds were strong – he got caught up in a whirl and got smashed into a mountain.

Azymondias was found by his mother after she went looking for him as he didn't return home. At first, he appeared to be fine but when the queen wanted to take him flying she noticed that one of his wings was damaged. She sought help from the king of Katolis and his friends.

King Ezran's heart was broken when he found out and gathered a party to visit Zym at once. He couldn't believe it was even worse than he imagined it would be – all of Zym's bones in his left wing were broken and no matter how many elves and how many mages they gathered, nothing could mend his wing.

It seemed that all was lost and that the dragon prince will never be able to fly until one night when Commander Gren was finally ready to talk about his experience of being locked up in the castle dungeon by lord Viren.

He told his best friend general Amaya about everything he heard and seen happening. With his help, they were able to find the coins in which Viren stored souls and with the help of a high mage from the kingdom of Duren their lives were restored and Runaan was safely returned to his husband Ethari and his adopted niece Rayla.

Because Gren found it hard to talk about the whole situation and would gladly completely forget about the horrid experience, he decided to visit Runaan at his home in Silvergrove.

Every time Gren woke up in the middle of the night, having a nightmare that he was back in that dungeon, he felt like he was missing something. He knew that Viren was going down there for a reason and not just to interrogate Runaan. The thoughts kept him awake and he tried his hardest to remember where he was going and if he heard any noises that would help him figure it out.

As Gren expected, Runaan wasn't keen on talking about his experience in the castle of Katolis either but when Gren explained his feelings and the need to talk about it and to help him find out what was happening while they were there, Runaan put his feelings aside and decided to share his part of the story.

When Runaan told Gren about the weird questions Viren was asking him about a mirror and what does it do and how important it had to be for the lord because he seemed very frustrated when he didn't get his answers, Gren decided that it was time to put his fear aside and head down to the dungeons once more.

After telling Amaya everything and informing her of his plan to go and investigate – being so sure that the guards missed something when they rescued him – Amaya wanted to go with him.

She knew Gren more than anyone and it still pained her to this day that she was so far away when everything Viren was doing back at the castle went down that she simply couldn't allow him to relive that alone. She knew Gren was brave and just about the most optimistic and cheerful person she will ever have a chance to meet but she also knew that behind his bubbly personality Gren was hiding all the negative feelings and the trauma of what he went through in those few weeks while being down there.

She knew there will be no way of stopping Gren from going because he has never been so sure that something Viren was hiding down there could help Zym so instead of arguing with her lieutenant she decided to go with him.

As always when they go on a mission they geared up – better be too safe than sorry – and headed to the dungeons.

Before they opened the door that led to the lower parts of the castle, Amaya turned to Gren one more time.

Are you really sure you want to do this? She signed.

I am. I have to see what is down there or I will never have a peaceful night's rest. Gren signed back, his brows furrowed in determination.

Amaya just nodded, admiring how brave her best friend was for facing his problem head-on, and opened the door.

They walked down the stairs and came to the place where Gren was cuffed.

Amaya gave him a worried look while Gren avoided looking at her and the wall he was chained to. Taking a deep breath he first headed to where he knew Runaan was kept. They only found an empty cell with a small window with bars on it so they headed in the other direction.

They have been looking around, opening doors to empty cells for about half an hour until Gren tried turning the knob of a wooden door and it didn't open.

He exchanged a look with Amaya who nodded to him that he should force-open it with his foot. Gren did as he was told but the door still didn't move.

Amaya frowned – not liking when something didn't go her way – so she stepped next to Gren and counting to 3 on her fingers they repeated the action together. The door gave way to their force and they stumbled inside.

The room was a bit bigger than the others they have found. It was windowless making it completely dark with only a small wooden table, a chair, and something covered with a cloth.

Is this it? Amaya signed at Gren who was observing the covered artifact with his mouth slightly opened.

Gren could only muster a small nod. Amaya knew that this was hard on Gren and even though her curiosity was growing she gave him the time to make the step toward it and uncover the object.

The commander shook his head to collect his thoughts and swallowed thickly before approaching it. He lifted his arm slowly, grabbed the cloth, and pulled it down. Amaya and Gren both gasped, not prepared to see a mirror in front of them.

At the first glance, it looked like any other mirror, but then something shone inside it and their reflections disappeared. They saw what looked like an empty office or a library. They knew at once that this was no ordinary mirror and that it would be best if they don't meddle with it but call in someone who might better know what this mirror is for or better yet what it does.

After a month of searching and inviting the best mages in the whole land, including elves from all parts of Xadia, they figured out that the mirror served as a prison in another realm for a startouch elf. They were able to find an elf that knew of startouch elves and who they were.

The only one of their kind the king of Katolis and his aunt Amaya knew was Aaravos who they had to fight to keep Zym alive at the battle that brought them peace. Since lord Viren was associated with Aaravos it was only reasonable that he was the one who was inside the mirror.

King Ezran wasn't delighted to find out that this wasn't the last they would hear of the elf and wanted to resolve the mystery behind the mirror at once.

“You mean the little bug that turned into an elf with a bigger bug around his shoulder?” Soren asked, perplexed when Ezran was telling him, Callum, Corvus, and Opeli what was going on.

“Do you know anything about him?” Ezran gasped, encouraging Soren to tell him more.

“Well, not really. Father was very secretive about him. I remember when we were marching to Lux Aurea he was talking to the little bug on his ear. If my memory isn't deceiving me, Viren was telling him about how he and your dad, Ezran, defeated the dragon king.” Soren said, rubbing his chin and trying to remember more.

“Why would Aaravos want to know about that?” Opeli failed to understand.

“Perhaps he was trapped in the mirror when that happened?” Corvus suggested.

“Viren sounded very proud of his accomplishment, speaking with the voice he uses when he brags about something to someone for who he thinks he did them a favor.” Soren continued.

“Why would killing Zym's dad be a favor to Aaravos?” Ezran thought out loud.

“No!” Callum gasped and stood up.

“What? What did you remember?” Ezran wanted to know.

“No, it's too farfetched.” Callum swung his hand for them to stop paying attention to him.

“No, no. Do tell,” Opeli encouraged him, “perhaps you are onto something.”

“Well,” Callum cleared his throat, “would it be possible that the dragon king had something to do with Aaravos' imprisonment inside the mirror?”

“Get aunt Amaya and gather the elves and the mages again! We have to discuss this!” Ezran stood up and gave the order to Soren and Corvus who nodded and rushed out of the throne room at once.

“It would be possible for the dragon king to entrap the elf inside a mirror.” The high mage of Bel Dur said after hearing the proposal from prince Callum.

“However,” a mage from Neolandia cut in, “in order to do that Thunder would need someone from the realm on the other side of the mirror to help him, making your idea invalid.”

“Why?” King Ezran wanted to know.

“Well, to do that sort of powerful magic, the dragon king would have to have a dragon on the other side of the mirror from which to draw that kind of power.” The mage explained.

“Why would that make my idea invalid?” Callum asked.

“Because there is no such thing as dragons in other realms,” the mage said confidently.

“An hour ago you didn't even know there were other realms and now you are trying to convince us that in those other places dragons can't exist?” Opeli raised her eyebrows.

“Alright,” the mage sighed, “let's say that a place where Aaravos was entrapped does have dragons, how exactly does this help us with the dragon prince's wing?”

“Don't you get it?” Ezran stood up. “Nobody in Xadia can help Zym and this other realm could be full of dragons. What if there is someone who could heal Zym? What if they possess just the magic we would need to help Zym fly again?”

“You do have a point, your majesty,” the high mage of Bel Dur bowed to the king, “however...”

“However, how do we know whoever lives on the other side isn't a threat to us? To the dragon prince, to our kingdoms? Who is to say that they would be willing to help us?” The mage interrupted him.

King Ezran decided to call a meeting with the dragon queen to ask her if she could confirm their speculations and wasn't all that surprised when she told him that it was the dragon king who imprisoned Aaravos in a realm called Earth where magic works differently than in Xadia and despite Aaravos being the strongest and the most ancient of elves, he wouldn't be able to use their type of magic.

After much deliberation, king Ezran has decided to take the risk and explore the realm on the other side of the mirror.

“We have to help Zym. No one in the whole Xadia could mend his wing and we have to try. We can't have the dragon prince not be able to fly. I know it's dangerous and a lot of you will think that I am making a rash decision based on my feelings and me being a kid, but this is how I decided and I am willing to take the risk for Xadia and our kingdom.” Ezran said, his brows together in determination. “We needed years of war and conflict to unite our lands together again and if we aren't willing to help and take the risks needed to move forward then we are back at the beginning and I will not allow that to happen.”

The crown guards and the king's advisors nodded, agreeing with him, while some of the mages from other kingdoms had their reservations.

In the end, it didn't matter as only a day later were they gathering a team courageous enough to walk through the mirror and seek help.

You want to do what? Amaya was signing as fast as her fingers allowed her, frowning at the idea Gren just proposed.

I need to go. I feel that I need to go. I had the feeling about the mirror and look where it brought us. Gren tried convincing her.

You did enough, Gren. Amaya pleaded.

It's been so nice to have him by her side again after being separated on so many occasions during the war and now it will happen again and Amaya wasn't sure she can let it happen.

Soren is going. I have to try. This could be my chance to prove that I am not only good at interpreting.

Nobody is saying that Gren, and you know it.

You never protested so much before, what has gotten into you? Gren wanted to frown but his expression softened instead, looking at his best friend.

I guess I got used to the fact of you being by my side again. Amaya moved her fingers slowly as if she was hesitant to admit this.

“Oh.” Gren breathed out loud before stepping closer to Amaya and pulling her into a hug.

I know. I feel the same but please give me a chance to do this. I will be back before you know it.

Gren bestowed Amaya with one of his warming smiles to which she never could stop her lips from curving too.

Alright, but promise me you'll be safe and cautious. She playfully nudged him in the ribs before hugging him again and saying goodbye.

The next day Gren, accompanied by 5 of Ezran's most trusted crown guards – including Soren – and a mage made their way down to the dungeons once again to walk through the mirror and seek help from the other side.

It took 7 mages to figure out how the mirror works and how to get the crew through it. They warned them they will have a small window to do this that's why they couldn't take more people.

Gren was standing in front of the mirror – the last one to be transported through it.

“Here we go,” he whispered to himself, took a deep breath, and without turning his head to see his best friend one more time, disappeared.

—

“And this is where I come in.” Charlie wiggled his nose, trying to hide that he was nervous as Gren told him the story for the fourth time.

“Look, I know it sounds insane.” Gren sighed. “We found a mirror who entrapped the most powerful elf that ever lived in Xadia and then we went through it, followed the roar of a dragon, found the Sanctuary, and for some reason you were mad enough to say yes to our proposal.”

“In my defense, you said that a baby dragon... No, no, let me correct myself – a storm baby dragon – which is a myth here on Earth, needed help and then you said that you are not from Earth at all but from another realm so you tricked me.” Charlie sniggered.

“Well, my hidden talent to know when someone cares for something deeply has finally come to use.” Gren smiled proudly.

“Just don't get your hopes up. I might be a dragonologist but you said that no wizard...”

“Mage.” Gren corrected him.

“That no mage could help Zym so I am not sure how much I can do.” Charlie bowed his head.

“I know, but it is admiring that you are willing to try and I believe that you will be able to do something, if nothing else advise us what we can do to help the dragon prince,” Gren said cheerfully, looking at his friend.

He and the guards have only been on Earth for a month and they are already going back – needing far less time than Gren or anybody expected them to need to figure out how the people on Earth could help Azymondias.

They were lucky enough that the late dragon king set Aaravos' prison near the Carpathians mountains which also happened to be the secret hideout of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.

They were walking for 2 days before they heard a dragon roar and followed the sound for another day before they arrived in front of what looked like an abandoned gate. The mage tore down the enchantments and without thinking twice about it, they entered.

To say that the people working in the Reserve were in shock and not really sure what they were looking at was an understatement. It doesn't happen every day that a group of people with armor and swords walk straight through the gate.

Luckily, dragonologists are very simple and open-minded people – Gren has noticed – so it was easy to explain what was going on.

The second they said that a dragon needed help, a bunch of them volunteered but Gren knew that they can only take one person back so he asked the kind people if they could stay for a few days to observe their work and then pick the one that seemed the best suited for the job.

Charlie stood out to Gren immediately, because he was one of the few that simply raised their hand to volunteer instead of being loud and jumping in the air. His calmness suited him and he intrigued Gren the second he followed him around the next morning and saw how he handled the dragons.

The fellow red-haired dragonologist reminded Gren very much of king Ezran and how he talks to animals. The second Gren decided that this business was too urgent for him to be shy and not talk to him, he approached the dragon tamer and asked him about his ability to talk to dragons.

Charlie cocked an eyebrow at him and laughed a little, thinking the commander was joking, only to compose himself a second later when he saw just how serious Gren was.

With observing his work and asking him all sorts of questions Gren deemed him perfect for the job.

He wasn't even that surprised that he got Charlie on board without any effort.

The second the sun rose the next morning and Charlie said goodbye to the dragons and his co-workers, they made their way back to the mirror.

—

Gren, you are back! Amaya was waiting next to the mirror for them to come back and hugged her friend the second he came out of it.

I'm alright. It went pretty smoothly. Gren smiled proudly.

Who is this? Amaya signed, nodding at Charlie and scanning him from head to toe.

This is Charlie Weasley, he's a dragon tamer back in the other realm and he is here to help Zym. Gren explained.

He's cute. Amaya winked at her friend.

I thought you were in a committed relationship with Janai? Gren giggled.

I meant for you. Amaya nudged him, making Gren's face as red as a strawberry.

Without replying, Gren rushed everyone out of the room, making the excuse to see Zym as fast as possible.

Amaya sent a squad to bring Zym to Katolis so that Charlie would have the time to settle in and get some rest and that he wouldn't get too overwhelmed by his surroundings.

The second he saw the dragon prince and heard his cheerful squeaks despite having an injured wing, Charlie's eyes glowed and he felt like all his dreams came true to see a dragon that not only doesn't breathe fire but can zap you with electricity.

Gren explained to him to the best of his abilities why they call Zym the dragon prince but when he bowed to the young dragon and heard the people behind him giggle, he knew he took it too far. With his cheeks turning scarlet, he cleared his throat and asked everybody to give him and Zym some space so he could do a proper check-up on him.

Amaya, Gren, Ezran, Callum, Soren, and Opeli all watched as Charlie sat down next to the dragon and started whispering something to him. It only took about a minute for Zym to trust him which – with everything Gren saw back in the Sanctuary – wasn't surprising at all.

Zym let Charlie position him in a way to have full access to the wing, while constantly murmuring something under his breath.

“So, did you manage to find out how to help him?” Ezran asked the second Charlie stood up and walked to them.

“I...uh...” Charlie stuttered not knowing how to begin.

“What? What's wrong?” Callum put his hand over his little brother's shoulder.

“I don't want to be rude so I don't know how to say it.” Charlie was embarrassed.

“Hey, we trust in your expertise so don't worry about it.” Gren encouraged Charlie to speak.

“Well, his wing is broken, you got that right but because dragons here and on Earth are magical creatures, magic can't help them much.” Charlie shook his head.

“So, there's nothing we can do?” Ezran was on the verge of tears.

“Quite the opposite, this is very good news. I thought that we would have to mend his broken bones with magic.” Charlie said in a cheerful voice to put Ezran in a better mood.

“And we won't need to use magic?” Soren got curious.

“No. Because Zym is still so young and will need years to grow fully, we would just have to immobilize his wing as much as possible until his bones mend themselves.” Charlie explained.

“It's that easy? ” Amaya signed, looking impressed and Gren interpreted.

“Yes. Zym is still growing and like with children it's easier to have a broken bone when you are young than when you're an adult. If Zym will be a good boy and obey when I put bandages on him, he should be better somewhere from around 6 months to a year if he is like the dragons we have back at home.” Charlie couldn't hide how proud he was of all the knowledge he had on dragons and healing.

“How are you going to wrap him up?” Ezran was beyond happy to know that his friend is going to be just fine.

“With magic, of course.” Charlie pulled out his wand.

“You made a mistake of trying to heal his wing with magic directly, that simply doesn't work with one of the most powerful beings in the world. In cases like this, you have to turn to the good old remedies.”

He walked back to Zym who extended his wing as much as he could for Charlie to do his magic.

Gren and his friends couldn't quite decipher what Charlie said for pieces of cloth to start flying out of his wand and bandage Zym's wing for him not to be able to move it.

“So our mission was all for nothing?” Gren bowed his head.

“On the contrary, commander,” Ezran grinned at him, “if you hadn't brought Charlie here, we would worry about Zym for years and his bones could regrow in a wrong way, and from what I can see, you wouldn't have made a friend.”

“True.” Gren gave the words of his king some thought.

“Also, I think that mister Weasley doesn't mind meeting another species of dragon.” Opeli giggled.

Gren turned around to where Charlie was trying to make Zym hold still so he could cast the spell with bandages on him a few more times and smiled to himself.

“Yeah, you're right. It was completely worth it.” He observed his friend doing his job for a few seconds more before the heat on his cheeks became too much and he turned to Amaya who winked at him with a smug expression on her face.

Gren playfully rolled his eyes and walked to Charlie.

“So, after you do this, how long is it going to last?” He wanted to know.

“Well, Zym is a very energetic and jumpy dragon and these bandages have to be tight for as long as possible so I would have to change them a few times per day.” Charlie chuckled when Zym let out a happy squeak.

“Meaning you will stay here?” Gren tried sounding normal but was bad at hiding his excitement.

“Would that be okay?” Charlie scratched the top of his head. “I mean I don't know how realms work or if this is even allowed?”

“We can ask the mages but since we stayed on Earth for a month, I think it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Well, I love traveling and would love to help Zym for as long as I can, so I wouldn't mind at all.” Charlie couldn't believe how lucky he was to embark on this amazing adventure.

“What about the people back at home? Won't they miss you?”

In the time Gren spent with Charlie, he had the opportunity to get to know him very well and it became evident early on that Charlie was a man who would do anything for his family and his loved ones.

“They will,” Charlie shrugged, “but they are used to seeing me only a few times per year and besides, it's work-related and they understand how much my job means to me.”

“In that case, I would...” Gren cleared his throat. “...I mean we would love to have you.”

“It's settled then. I am staying. I would just like to ask if there is a way for me to send a message home?”

“I am sure that can be arranged.”

Charlie and Gren turned around to the voice and saw king Ezran smiling at them.

“I would like to thank you personally, mister Weasley...”

“Please, king Ezran, call me Charlie.”

“Only if you stop calling me king,” Ezran giggled, “my friends call me Ez and I think it's safe to say that you are now a friend. Wouldn't you say so, Gren?”

“Exactly!” Gren exclaimed.

“As I was saying, I would like to thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much this means to the magic folk, to us people, and me personally.” Ezran walked to where Charlie was kneeling next to Zym and wrapped his arms around him.

Charlie let out a suppressed chuckle, not expecting a king to hug him, but then returned the embrace before standing up.

“I will need a place to stay.” Charlie giggled nervously as they were standing in front of the castle door, waiting for the guards to let them in.

“You can stay with us,” Gren said and pointed behind him.

Charlie turned around to see Amaya signing to Gren for him to interpret.

“I think you will fit in with us just nicely,” Gren translated while Amaya sent Charlie a wink.

No amount of freckles could hide the dragon tamer's burning cheeks as he couldn't believe just how nice everyone in Katolis was.

Gren and Amaya took him to the garden the second he came from the much-needed shower from all the kisses and licks Zym gave him. They were sitting on the bench and conversing – Charlie trying to take in as many signs as he could because he was determined to learn sign language.

“Charlie, I bring good news!” Prince Callum came out of nowhere. “Ez told me that you want to send a message home and asked me to talk to the mages. They can prepare the mirror for you tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Callum. That is indeed great news.” He grinned at the prince, relieved that he will have a chance to explain to his family where he has gone to.

“Now that it's official and you're staying I think we have to give you a rank.” Ezran appeared next to Callum.

“A rank?” Charlie tilted his head in confusion.

“And armor!” Callum exclaimed.

“What are you two talking about?” Gren chuckled at how excited they were and glanced at Amaya who just giggled as if she was hiding something.

Amaya, what did you do? Gren's curiosity got the better of him.

Well, since Brandon retired last year I am without my third in command so I am giving that position to Charlie. Amaya explained.

“To me?” Charlie jumped in his seat after Gren told him what was going on. “But I can't fight!”

“You are doing admirable work, worth of a title.” Gren interpreted.

“I-I don't know what to say.” Charlie was left speechless.

“Oh, I know what you could do!” Callum gasped loudly before running away from them.

Not even 5 minutes later, he came back with his sketchbook in his hands. Without saying anything he ordered Gren, Amaya, and Charlie – who were sitting on the bench – to stand up.

“We will celebrate with your official portrait,” Callum explained his actions.

The trio exchanged a look and then turned around when they heard someone clear their throat.

“Callum, you can't draw them without Charlie being in his new uniform.” Soren shook his head and handed Charlie a package.

The redhead was looking at it in awe before being rushed to the closest bathroom to try it on.

“Oh, look at you!” Soren and Ezran said together, admiring the scales on Charlie's chest.

“You look...” Gren's mouth fell open, lost for words.

Dashing. Amaya signed and winked at her best friend.

“Uhm, yeah.” Gren nodded.

Come on, Gren. Say it to him. She encouraged him.

“Dashing. Uhm, you...you look dashing.” Gren knew there was no way to hide his strawberry freckled face but seeing Charlie blush at his words too, he no longer cared.

The trio positioned themselves in front of Callum who drew them and as the crew watched him hard at work, sneaking looks at Charlie, they knew their group gained a new friend.

#tpd #the dragon prince #harry potter #charlie weasley #tpd gren #the dragon prince gren #tpd amaya #the dragon prince amaya #commander gren #general amaya

[blacklistedwriter]

So, I would just want to talk about my thoughts on TDP season 2 as a whole.

It's basically Voltron Season 3, which is basically means lots of potential, but not great delivery, and plenty of room to screw things over royally.

Now that the short version's out of the way, strap in because I'm about to turn on the grunt birthday party skull and explode.

First: Ezran. This kid has been to hell and back and still has the personality complex of a cardboard cutout of a smiley face. Kid, you were endearing for 2 minutes, now please do something an actual kid your age would do, or what anyone would do having been through anything remotely like you. Aaaannd now he's king. (#virenwasright which begs the question: why does Callum needed to be killed. The only reason he would need to go is if he had a claim as strong as Ezran.) But seriously, he has no important life outlook that adds to the story or affects the other characters, his involvement was only needed when the power of Macguffin was on his side (which it always is.) Seriously, regarding Harrow's death, it's out of his mind 10 minutes after it's entered.

Now, a good flat character is Harrow. Hot damn was he good this season. His world view is that regardless of anything, he is just as capable of doing bad this as his enemies, but the choice to do so or not is his own. This view has incredible influence on Callum, Viren, and even Sarai.

Now to one of the hotter topics of this season: Sarai. Honestly, she was a mixed bag. At first, she was doing nothing but saying reeeaaaallllyyy cliched lines and not much else. Her dynamic with Harrow did nothing...

...Until it came into conflict with Harrow.

That was her high point. When her husband was doing something she though was morally questionable, she challenged him on it, and he stood his ground. Heck, she walked away from the argument still not agreeing with him. But then she goes with him anyways. Why? Because he's her husband and it's their jobs to stand by one another even when they dont agree. This is a wonderful, healthy thing and I fully understand why people adore this character.

Onto Callum. Good start with Callum writing to Harrow (see what mean about him affecting other people?) I enjoyed the fact that he was in denial over his stepdad. It felt like something a real person would do. Hell, I've seen real people do it. And when he was reading his letter from his step-dad, I genuinely felt that this was based off an actual letter written by a real dad to his real step-son. (Much better than some other children in this show, but I have already made my thoughts on them clear)

By the way, while I'm on good stuff of Callum's, how bout these cute bundles of cute?

If I didn't ship Rayllum before, I sure as hell do now. (And so I must constantly ask myself why a fully grown adult man cares about 15 year olds' relationship @blacklistedwriter you're doing me a concern)

Now we get to my main problem with the Callum: He was able to cast magic without a Primal Stone.

If magic is something anyone (including humans) can learn, then there is no reason for Dark Magic to be a thing. Dark magic obviously comes at a cost to the user and would be forgone for safer, but just as effective primal magic. The only way this could work is if Callum can't really cast powerful sky magic like lightning without being in a storm or having some other source to draw from (keeping the spell sword dream alive), while sky creatures can cast it at will, but that doesn't seem to be the case with Viren and Aaravos.

Rayla....

...You good girl.

Keep to your weeby ways and all shall go smoothly between us. (Claudia, you're in this category too) Nothing big of note to say. They're just good.

Now, Viren still has the same problem as season 1:

He ded and Don Birb has been rockin his bod without a license.

But in all honesty, he is either skitsophrenic or there are two different writers with completely different ideas on who this guy is (which is basically the same thing but with shade). Does he care about Harrow and his family or does he not? Is he trying to save Katolis or is he trying to grab power? Simple yes or no will do. However, he's not all bad (writing). Soren suffers from the same problem, going from a jock with a heart of gold to a downright douche, but not to the extent as Viren. I prefer the Viren who believes he's doing the right thing, mainly because there is so much more depth there. However, his best moments of this are his interactions with Aaravos.

Ok, now on the best thing this show has given us:

Lotor 2.0 (Magic: The Gathering Edition) was done 100% right this season. From his introduction, to his design, to his mannerisms, to his voice, to his lines, to his delivery, to his theme, to the angles onscreen we see him from, (Dear God! THE ILLUSTRIOUS ANGLES!!!) to his mystery, to his foreboding sense of danger he gives off, this guy was on point. I can't wait to see what he'll do right next season. However, we all know what happened with Lotor 1.0 (the Voltron: Legendary Defender model), and, seeing the similarities between this show's writing and Voltron, I wouldn't put past them. Which leads into why I'm writing this:

This show has massive potential, really. I actually care about these characters and want to see then grow, face new challenges and change (Ezran, take notes here), and become better, wiser people. However, people can grow the wrong way (in a bad writing sense) and I, for one, am afraid DreamWorks isn't learning from their mistakes with any of their shows. Say what you want about Voltron, The Dragon Prince, Carmen Sandiego, or She-Ra, but they have a bunch of little flaws that keep holding them back in a big way. Voltron and Tbe Dragon Prince are the two shows that had their first seasons (and second season of Voltron) mostly free of these problems, but now Dargon Prince is starting to have them...

...and I don't want it to.

No, I shall not speak of the finale. It sucked.

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp spoilers #don birb is to blame #virendoesnotdeserveit #viren #lord viren #harrow #prince ezran #tdp ezran #callum #rayllum #tdp rayla #rayla #rayla x callum #aavaros #sarai #queen sarai #tdp sarai #harrow x sarai

[raayllum]

in honour of this post, tags on another of mine i cannot remember that talked briefly about Rayla's issues, and that I've talked about Claudia and Callum's moments of being hypocritical, now I want to actually talk about Rayla's hypocritical tendencies cause it's something S4 and S5 made a fun little consistency - let's dive in

Rayla can sometimes ignore (or react indignantly to) other people possibly having their own reasons/justifications because she's tunnel visioned into only thinking about her own justifications as uniquely warranted

Let me explain

The first time I noticed this was in 2x03, mostly because it was one of those moments that made me laugh even though it's not trying to be funny because

Cause Rayla, honey, you know you lied to them too ("lying and hiding the truth aren't that different") - and Callum forgave you for that and is still your friend. Why would Claudia and Soren be any different to him? (And they are, but not the point of this point).

Now, unlike Soren (who is the person they're primarily discussing), Rayla didn't lie outright, but she did lie by omission - much the same way Claudia did. And Rayla has known her own motivations all along - probably worried they might give up on their mission if they knew (especially at the start), and she doesn't want them to hate her, and most of all by this point in the show, she didn't want to hurt them ("I'm afraid of hurting him" / "when you care about someone, it's hard to hurt them").

This made sense to me in terms of Rayla being good at being initially (often times rightfully, sometimes not so) indignant on her own behalf. She is able to justify herself and does so often, both angrily - as the next examples will show - and more neutrally ("How could I take his life?"). She defends herself both physically and personally to Corvus ("I didn't kill anyone"), she smarts at Callum when he (rightfully) tries to push at her ("I don't have to explain anything to you"), and is mad at Ethari when they initially talk ("Yeah, it's me. Surprised to see my face?"). This initial defense of herself doesn't usually persist and typically gives way to self loathing ("I can fix this" / "I don't deserve your trust, not yet" / "They're right to reject me") but it is there at first and is usually her first reaction, which is very fun.

However, this coupled together with the other two instances arc 2 brings up in terms of her being kind of a hypocrite makes it a pattern, beginning in early season four. (Callum also isn't at his best in early season four, saying he doesn't want to talk about stuff and then bringing it up the next episode to take a jab at her - but he's still dealing with the fallout of the problems she caused, so he absolutely gets more of a pass. As always, see my In Defense of Callum's Narrative Lens from way back in the day if you're interested in more of how his perspectives are portrayed.)

Because gee, Rayla, I wonder whose fault that is? And again, it does make sense that she's angry - she's spent two years just wanting to be with him with none of the messy complex heartbreak he had to go through because she was the one who made the choice to leave. She expected him to at least shout at her, not ice her out completely. And again, we see that initial indignant streak fade when he reiterates he wants to go, and she looks down disappointed, but accepting of it (and puts whether she'll stay or not in his hands, too).

Since she had a good reason for leaving, and it's what her parents did, while she expected anger, she also wants affection and love. Isn't her justification enough, in some ways? Shouldn't it be? And while Rayla wrestled back and forth with this, it's clear she does think that it should be (even if both seasons show she's starting to realize just why she was wrong).

But we do see this hypocritical tendency of hers perhaps pop up most prominently in S5 with Nyx

Again, in Rayla's head, lying and stealing the key wasn't perhaps the right thing to do, but the better thing to do than burden Callum with what she was going through / to be open and vulnerable. It makes sense why she'd do so - and her shot at Nyx gets a tiny pass cause she's technically sticking up for Ezran - but it still falls back on Rayla leaning too heavily on her logic / independent streak to justify actions that are actually counterproductive to having healthy, wilfully open relationships.

And this is something I love about TDP. Even when the characters are genuinely making the worst possible fucking decisions they ever could (hi arc 1 Viren, Claudia and Karim constantly in particular) you completely understand how and why they're justifying those decisions, and Rayla is no different. Doesn't mean they're right, doesn't mean it's not logically stupid or fair or whatever, but it's emotionally consistent, and that's what matters most in the end. And now we have a fun little consistency to add to the pile

#in that vein of 'ezran can steamroll others bc the emotional solution is so obvious to him / #he suppresses the hell out of shit' spirit #tdp rayla #characterization #mini meta #analysis series #tdp #the dragon prince #like i love rayla but she's so full of shit sometimes lmao #analysis #like rayla really is a character where one of her core flaws is both #a lack of grounded self awareness amid too much self awareness #bc sometimes she's on the right path about her actual flaws (lying & leaving) #and other times she's so off base it's like girl what planet are you on this is Not one of your problems #steering her into the pile of actual flaws lmao #also why callum is good for her #'nah you're good. but that other dumb shit you did? jc"

[raayllum]

I wonder if the show will address Callum taking Viren’s personal path being somewhat of a result of the amount of loss he’s suffered. The poor kid has spent his childhood losing three parents, not to mention Viren and Claudia who he says were like a second family to him. He clings desperately to the loved ones he has left, particularly his two pillars (Rayla and Ezran), because he simply can’t lose anyone else.

Given that the Puzzle House talks about Viren's progressive losses in quick succession (Soren getting sick, Kpp'Ar 'disappearing' which must've been painful for Viren to do either way, and then Lissa leaving) I think we'll likely see something like that for Callum in the future. Since the star arcanum has to do with time/space I could see us getting a tiny flashback of him with his bio dad, maybe - a timeline moving through the different losses in his life, including when Rayla was gone.

And while some of it is undeniably a trauma response, though... I do think a lot of it just comes down to personality. Rayla puts off saving her parents for the good of the world, but Callum goes full throttle in trying to help her in 5x04 and isn't really willing to delay it for much. Ezran loves his family and friends dearly, but we haven't yet seen that protective edge come out much (although he does defend Bait in 1x06, bless his heart) so he can definitely have an indignant streak. He's very world and kingdom focused. All of the characters in the show have faced a ton of similar and interrelated losses (Claudia and Soren most blatantly with Lissa perhaps, but the way they reacted, and where their interests lay, very much pre-determined their paths, y'know?)

It's kinda like why aren't Ezran and Rayla mages, if they want to help people, and magic can do that, and they both have somewhat magical powers and both seem to be born with them? Well... Magic like that just isn't in their inclination. It's useful, and they'll use and rely on it, but it's not in their tendencies to chase it. It's not in their natures to be fascinated or lured in by it. Just like it's not in their natures to so certainly do some of the things that Callum has. Not that they wouldn't, but I've never felt entirely certain that they would, whereas for him it's always been extraordinarily clear that he would (and that he has, and will again).

Which ties back into mages, as Aaravos and Zubeia identify, just tend to gravitate and fall under certain personality types, the way most occupations do: curious, obsessive, intelligent, ambitious, and often times a certain amount of ruthlessness.

And I think it also comes back to how TDP at its absolute core, in a lot of ways, is just an exploration of how people respond to Loss in a variety of ways and patterns and choices. Some good, some bad, some entirely circumstantial or simultaneously both and neither, but... IDK. Selective loyalty can, from what I've seen, absolutely be heightened by loss, but isn't necessarily born from loss. It's just how some people are wired, including a couple of my closest loved ones (hence why I've seen it up close)! In a lot of ways, 1x03 was Callum choosing Ezran (and subsequently Rayla) above all else, including Harrow, and we've just... never seen him walk back that choice. I don't think he ever will.

#thanks for asking #tdp callum #characterization #snake boi callum #lawchan89 #like in terms of prioritizing loved ones above literally anything (even power) callum and claudia are #defs the most similar there #cause viren puts the 'plight of humanity' above his children in arc 1 and. callum would never lmao #i would do anything for you

[raayllum]

Why does Rayla hide the K'ppar coin from Callum?

I don't think she hides it so much from him as it was wanting to 1) focus on the well, crux of the reveal scene and 2) both their character arcs. (I'm sure Rayla didn't leave Kpp'Ar there, as anyone Viren coined she'd have reason to believe is a good person / not her enemy, even if 4x05 shows her "i must save everyone innocent" instinct is less absolute rn). It's similar to why Runaan is the coin held up in front of Rayla's face / receives the most focus, cause Callum has no reason to have reservations about Lain and Tiadrin, but he does about Runaan (which 5x01 also effectively reminds us of with "the weapon that killed the king") and yet Callum doesn't care. Unconditional compassionate love and all that, which is supposed to be the focus of their talk in 5x04 on both their sides - Rayla finally choosing to open up out of love and not guilt and Callum responding exactly the way she needed him to when she does despite it's something he easily could've taken badly

Kpp'Ar is one of the reasons I'm hoping that if/when Callum does free the coined people next season, he isn't possessed solely because of it and the two get a chance to talk for 1) developing Kpp'Ar as a character, 2) Callum's dark path arc since Kpp'Ar swore off dark magic and 3) those sweet Viren-Callum parallels

#thanks for asking #coin theory #s6 wishlist #kpp'ar

[raayllum]

I don’t know if you have already talked about this before but since you are the CHET theorist I wanted to ask because I have been thinking about it for a while: it’s the fact that we haven’t seen the cub react to Rayla? When she first gets it she literally holds it with her hands but it doesn’t glow, or when Stella has it in S4 (leading to the goofy theories of fake Rayla) it doesn’t glow either even tho it’s super close to her. Maybe my memory is falling but the only time we see it reacting to her is when Callum is playing with it. Why is the cub only reacting to her in that scene? A scene when HE specifically is holding it and she says “this doesn’t end well for you” like oh my god? The cub is not closer than her or Stealla holding it. Some people have pointed these as a animation mistakes but I doubt it, like it’s too on the nose. Maybe I'm overthinking but I needed to get it off of my chest.

Thank you in advance and have a nice week!

So when and why the cube glows is very inconsistent (after all, does the rune have to face what's making it glow, but then there are scenes where it's leagues away from pointing towards anything - 2x09's rune foreshadowing glow for Callum's sky arcanum) so I think that's mostly something operating on a "it works however we need it to work for said scene" on that level.

We don't see Rayla pick it up in 1x04 but when she holds and tosses it over to him in 1x04, it doesn't glow for her at all - so it doesn't glow at anything until Callum has touched and dropped it (which could be relevant, but we also see it glow for the Orphan Queen in 4x04's flashbacks, so it doesn't seem exclusive to him and can't be connected to blood line, at least, on that level either).

However I do actually have two analyses that may be interesting to you

1) The first is on Rayla's weird 'relationship' with the Key of Aaravos (being the character to find it, carry the game motif with it primarily in s1-s2 more than anyone else, the particularly ominous accompanying foreshadowing, and being the only character Callum discusses the cube with - other than Bait when Rayla isn't there - rather than his brother, even though Ezran is the Orphan Queen's direct descendant). It was written pre-S4 so it doesn't include arguably the most Important scene we have thus far with this connection (Rayla showing up with the cube on her shoulder) but I've waxed enough speculative poetics about that scene elsewhere that you can probably get the complete picture.

2) A decidedly more unhinged meta analyzing the rune placement in scenes with the cube (all current scenes since it was S1-S4) that also leaned into the prediction of Aaravos being freed (ergo his prison being found) / Callum doing dark magic in S5 precisely because of rune placement so like, there may be something to it?

Other meta that is less specific to Rayla's weirdness with the cube but still talks about foreshadowing / analysis regarding the Key (all of which were published before S5 so there might be some things that aren't talked about accordingly)

My Key of Aaravos tag in general

Why the Key Might Hold a Quasar Diamond: Egyptian Mythology Edition

The Technical Followup: Why the Key Might Hold Aaravos' Chest Piece

Aaravos' View of Children and What It Might Mean for the Key

2x08 or What the Fuck is Up with the Key's Opposing Symbolism (aka the weirdness of Harrow encouraging Callum to refuse a gift Harrow gave him like, 1.5 episodes prior)

Possibilities on the use/ownership of the Key being joined between Ezran and Callum for the Karim-Janai-Kim'Dael's debt freedom parallels

#the key of aaravos #haunts me it really does #thanks for asking #requests #tategaminu #compilation #tdp

[raayllum]

I’m not sure if you’ve seen anyone comment about how “similar” tdp is to ATLA or even people going far as to claim that tdp is a “ripoff” esp with the Soren, Claudia, Viren arcs in comparison to Zuko, Azula, Ozai. I personally find Soren more similar in characterization (though not entirely the same) to Steve Palchuck from the Trollhunters/Tales of Arcadia series (not sure if you watched or not) and if any character comes to mind about being similar to Zuko, it’s definitely Hunter from the Owl House in terms of characterization and arcs. Idk if you’ve done a meta about this before but I love reading your thoughts (if you’re interested ofc).

So I have done a couple of metas on ATLA x TDP, mostly noting the thematic similarities between them (bloodbending and dark magic, pre-S4's puppeteering too lol!) and between Rayllum and Kataang as developing relationships. Meta comparing "Thunderfall" and "The Southern Raiders" here, meta talking about Kataang and Rayllum (s1-s2 as it was written pre-s3) here.

Also a more opinion based piece on why I could get behind Rayllum but have never really been a romantic Zutara fan (I see them far more as narrative siblings, which is still one of my favourite metas I have ever done)

I am a big Trollhunters fan (reblog more about it on main @thethiefandtheairbender and various other cartoons like SU, HTTYD, OTGW, Infinity Train, etc) and I adore Steve, but I don't think I'd really compare Soren to him, simply because while I love Steve and his development, Soren's development is undeniably deeper and more pyschological, I think.

That said the ATLA character that reminds me the most of Soren is Sokka. Goofy, prone to joking regardless of if the situation calls for it ( "Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerk bending?") just to get a rise out of people, lmao, sometimes overly confident or reliant on their battle prowess, and desperate to prove themselves to their fathers. Sokka's attitude particularly in early book 1 reminds me of Soren's in s1, as well as their more skeptic attitude and relationships with their more magically inclined younger sisters

For Callum, he reminds me the most of Katara and Mai (again, true before S4, but interesting to see how much he shut down the way Mai largely did due to her family relationship, so again, kinda fun that worked out). Caring sibling, fast and harsh temper, strong in magic but untrained, artistic and precise (hi Mai), ride or die for their loved ones above all else, even above morals. For Rayla, she's basically running parallel arcs to Zuko and Aang in a lot of ways: grumpy, banished, immediately protects the sibling duo she encounters, facial markings, guilt complex galore (hi Aang). Rayllum is a good blend of all their personalities tbh

For Claudia, she reminds the most of Azula, and Katara, and Zuko, due to her loyalty to her father, willingness to do anything for her family, and being marked by the same sort of dual visual storytelling that Zuko's scar had.

And Hunter from the Owl House was definitely one of my faves! I think he falls into a category a lot of more modern day redemptions do, though, in terms of not letting their character actually be messy enough for long enough that it feels like maybe redemption isn't in the cards (hi Claudia my beloved, you excellent subversion sweetie). Or they go too far and don't give enough reason for a character to effectively redeem themselves (eyes SPOP with a long sigh). And just to clarify, I do think Claudia will have a redemption arc, but I appreciate how we're going about it thus far.

It's funny bc in some ways while Zuko has never been my favourite archetype (particularly for male characters), my protagonist in my og work is a bit like him: lost, angry, easily resentful, and she's my baby.

I think I'm just kinda over arcs of "Oh my father figure is Bad / imperialism is bad"? Because 1) Zuko did it so well and 2) I wanna see stories that go beyond those things or do new things with those concepts (please no more "rich white lesbian girl with a mean family" arcs I am. so tired). I think that's why I like TDP so much, because dark magic thematically and its explorations of self destructive behaviour add a lot of layers and interesting aspects to all the dynamics that I don't see most other media for this age demographic kinda taking advantage of, tbh

#thanks for asking #arcadianmoonshadowjedi #atla #child me saw aang went 'ok cool role model for life' and have never regretted it since #like he is My Boy. for 14+ years now. chugging that respect aang juice all day