#Because She's Rayla

[raayllum]

Carried away

[amber-in-the-rough]

been rewatching tdp seasons 4 to 5, I'm currently at s4 ep2 and there are 2 things I figured I should put down for myself:

just so you know, in any media the first thing I pay attention to is music. Like, half the reason I enjoy Star Rail is because of music. The same thing goes for the Dragon Prince. When I rewatch s1 to 3, every time I'm almost melting because of how beautiful the melodies are. They are generally both sad (the Last Sunset my beloved) and full of hope (the main theme), but they can also be ominous and insidious (hi Aaravos' theme) and also loving and tender (Because She's Rayla). But when I first watched s4 and then s5, I didn't notice music at all. Like, at most I made a mental note about two (2) melodies in s4 ep1. The rest went unnoticed :/ Which admittedly is uncharacteristic of tdp. But... Now that I'm watching s4 again, I'm so relieved to finally hear the beautiful music I had been expecting from tdp. It's there and it's been there this whole time. It's really the Mystery of Aara- Music haha.

what caused me to make this post is s4 ep2. A couple of minutes before Rayla's return we see Callum is done with the translation of the runes and he now has the full text of the riddle. "In Darkness, gaze upon the Fallen Star". Then we hear Aaravos' theme start playing (woahhh), the Star rune on the cube lights up and Callum walks around with the book. It's honestly terrifying to think that- it would have taken him only a tiny bit of time to figure out the meaning behind the riddle text (that he needs to put out all the light). And if he gave it a shot (which he would) and put out the candle and pulled the curtains (the moonlight was there), he would have met Aaravos. *curtain call* Oh god. And then the story would have gone an entirely different route. That is, if Rayla came just a tiny bit too late (god, I need a fic based on this au). But she comes just at the right time to mess things up and save Callum from the dangerous path and it's then that we hear Rayla's theme start playing (Silvergrove OST / Because She's Rayla). I love how the two melodies are interwoven. The ominous Aaravos' melody slowly gives way to the hopeful Rayla's tune. Perilous darkness gives way to the bright moonlight. And that is just so freaking beautiful.

P.S. I sometimes see in the fandom the thing about Callum having two paths before him. The one is Rayla (moonlight & love) and the other is Aaravos (darkness & also love?.. we don't know his pre-story but I think it all comes down to the same thing. to love). So what I want to say is- the music confirms it.

[tategaminu]

⭐PRINCESS RAYLA⭐

Playing around imagining what an older Rayla might look like (a total excuse to draw her in a dress).

I think she's between 25 and 30 here, got a bit to get used having the title as the first elven princess of The Pentarchy. The earrings are a reference to her Arc 2 concept art but for a lot of reasons it made sense they scrapped the idea so I HC that when the war is over and she doesn't have to fight anymore she will let her hair loose, wear jewerly and pretty dresses (ofc all gifted by Callum since we know how babygirl is).

Her back is open because Callum wants to enjoy the view

[0multifandomweirdo0]

'I wish we could have fallen in love without having to save the world'

[ruthariandbluecookies]

Baby Rayla: Mmmaaa

Tiadrin: That's right! You can do it!

Lain: C'mon, say "Dada"!

Baby Rayla: Daaaa

Lain: YES!

Tiadrin: No! Say "Mama"!

Rayla: F*ck yoU

*silence*

Tiadrin and Lain, turn to Runaan: *murder in their eyes*

Runaan: WaIt, NOO, iT wAsN't mE, I sWeAr!!! *turns and bolts*

Tiadrin and Lain: *runs after him*

Ethari, VERY sleep deprived, pops a moonberry into his mouth: Well, f*ck

Rayla, giggling and clapping her hands: F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!!!!

[that-disabled-princess]

Rayla has grown since the last time Runaan saw her.

[halyasgirl]

Something I can't put my finger on, and might be reading too much into, are (lack of) choices and the relationships between Rayla, Runaan, and Lain and Tiadrin.

A slight undercurrent of tension in Bloodmoon Huntress is Rayla feeling like Runaan doesn't really love or want her. While Ethari readily professes to love her and assures her Runaan does too, Rayla sometimes gets the impression Runaan's taken her in more as a favor to Lain and Tiadrin. He's defensive of them, and some of Rayla and Runaan's early clashes occur when Runaan puts down her resentment toward her parents and dismisses her feelings of abandonment. (Their relationship improves by the end of Bloodmoon Huntress though, and by Lunabloom Runaan’s become more patient, empathetic, and open with his affection, and we see how much they love each other).

While Rayla considers Runaan and Ethari to be her family, Tiadrin and Lain aren’t pushed aside in their roles as her parents. Bloodmoon Huntress and Rayla’s birthday profile show that Rayla was brought up to love and take pride in her parents, both because Moonshadow culture values duty and self-sacrifice, but also because Runaan and Ethari raised her that way.

Runaan, Ethari, Lain, and Tiadrin were very close; Rayla describes them as best friends, they spent major life events together, and Tridrin and Lain chose them to raise their daughter. Runaan is visibly shaken when he realizes what’s happened to them and his P.O.V. passage in the Book One novelization outright says he loves them.

But he Ghosted them. We don’t know what the exact circumstances were, what evidence was presented, or what Ethari and Runaan discussed behind closed doors, but they broke faith. This can be attributed to the Silvergrove’s pack mentality, but I also wonder if their decision had something to do with Rayla.

We know Moonshadow society subscribes to Sins of the Father, where children can be blamed for their parents' wrongdoing, because Ezran was targeted for assassination. We know they have an extreme form of shame/honor culture, and that Lain and Tiadrin’s (alleged) desertion of the Dragonguard brought so much shame on their people and their daughter that Rayla preferred to say they were dead. And we also know that Rayla’s Ghosting was biased by her parents’ reputation.

Rayla’s standing in the Silvergrove was damaged, maybe even more than she realized. Once the Silvergrove had turned on Lain and Tiadrin, Runaan and Ethari may have felt they had no choice but to disavow their closest friends if they wanted to protect their daughter, to publicly draw her closer to them and away from her parents and their dishonor. (Of course, the hard truth is that they might have stopped the Ghosting had they spoken up, but they didn't).

And maybe this is why Runaan brought Rayla to Katolis that night, why Ethari agreed despite his misgivings. Rayla may have been a prodigy, but she shouldn't have been sent into the field so soon, and for such an important mission. But by putting Rayla on a mission that directly avenges the wrongdoing her parents (allegedly) committed, Runaan may have believed this to be Rayla's best and only chance to restore her honor. Given how harsh Moonshadow society can be, from this warped perspective Runaan may have considered this the best thing he could do for his daughter.

But it wasn’t. And after everything came crashing down, Runaan failed his mission, his child, and his dearest friends.

In Bloodmoon Huntress Runaan sees no conflict between duty and love, viewing the former as an expression of the latter. Rayla thought her parents chose duty over her, and thinks Runaan chose them, and duty, over her too.

By The Dragon Prince, Runaan chose Rayla over her parents, then realized he had to choose between Rayla and duty. He couldn’t, failed both, and spent the next two years in a hell of his own making because of it.

I don't see Runaan “I do what I must so those I love don’t have to” coping well knowing Rayla paid for his life with Lain and Tiadrin's— if he even knows. He’d betrayed his dearest friends by Ghosting them. Now he’s taken their chance at life and reuniting with their daughter, and he’ll never get to make amends.

[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.

[js589]

💛 + Rayla/Callum for the ask game pls :)

Your call on when this takes place, other than post-season-6. Hope you like! 😊

(ask game can be found here)

--------------

"Callum, what do you think you're doing?!"

Rayla watched in horror as the dumbest mage in existence—whom she happened to have the misfortune of loving—dangled from a tree branch by his knees.

"I think I've almost got it! The earth arcanum! It's got to be about symbiosis! Living together! Adaptability! Finding your spaaaaa—"

The branch that had been supporting him had finally snapped, and he was plummeting to the ground. His hands scrabbled for something to grab, but there was nothing.

(At least he couldn't hit branches on the way down, Rayla supposed...)

A whirl of air suddenly pulled past her as Callum spoke the words needed to summon a cushion of air. It caught him just long enough to slow his fall, but it quickly dissipated and he landed in a heap on the forest floor.

He didn't move.

"Callum!" Rayla hurried over. She should have tried to catch him—should have tried something! She kneeled next to him and brushed his hair back from his face. He was breathing evenly, and he didn't look to be in pain. Why wasn't he waking up?

Then, she saw it: it was just the faintest twitch, but she was certainly skilled at anticipating someone's next moves, and she knew well enough when Callum was looking for something. "You can open your eyes, Callum, or I can dump water on you, but you're not getting a kiss."

"Even if that's the only thing that will make me feel better?" Callum levered himself up to rest his head in Rayla's lap, still not opening his eyes.

Rayla rolled her eyes. "Especially if that's the only thing that'll make you feel better. You scared me! You couldn't have just... laid in a field of flowers? Surrounded yourself with shiny rocks? Taken a mud bath?!"

"I've never been able to make the connection when I'm just relaxing," Callum pointed out. "And anyway, at least this time I wasn't doing dark magic or getting beat up by a pirate." He sat up and wrapped an arm around Rayla's waist.

Rayla turned so her forehead rested against Callum's. "For someone who worries so much about others, you really don't see when other people worry about you, do you?"

"I'm gonna guess that you're looking for a 'no'," Callum replied. He sounded sheepish, almost nervous when he added, "You're right. I was... used to people not caring—or to thinking that they didn't care for so long."

"Well, I do care. And I'm glad you're okay." Despite her earlier threat, Rayla nudged Callum into a kiss.

If she'd intended for it to be quick, she'd forgotten who she was kissing. Callum was, it turned out, better at not letting go than he seemed.

Right now, she wasn't going to complain.

[virenkinnie]

heh…. happy birthday rayla……. heh…… i guess………

[raayllum]

It’ll I’ll never be the same.

[yuripira4e]

thinking about the family dynamic of

Rayla would pick Runaan and Ethari over herself

Runaan would rather die than have to choose between Ethari and Rayla

Ethari would choose Runaan without hesitation

[tategaminu]

Gotta love the bed distance development

amazing

[segisuo]

rayla using runaan's bow is so precious to me

[ruthariandbluecookies]

Ethari: I am a peaceful, nice elf, who would never resort to violence

Rayla and Runaan:👀👀👀

~Hours earlier~

Ethari, beating Viren with an enchanted chair

Viren: *shrinking and crouching, trying to get away* I'M SoRrY, I wOn'T dO dArK mAgIc eVeR aGaIn

Ethari: SHUT UP HUSBAND KILLER, FAMILY RUINER!!! DIEEEEE!!! BURRRRNNNN!!!!

~Present Time~

Ethari: *Side eyes them*

Runaan and Rayla sweating: Of course

[imminent-danger-came]

So, it's like this right. Callum would do anything for Rayla. And in Rayla's case, the one thing she refuses to sacrifice is Callum. Where is too far for those two. Or more aptly, how far past "too far" are they willing to go for each other. "I always knew you'd go far—but I didn't know how far you'd go to get there."