#and it really reflects in rayla too

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

I really like the detail of Runaan not saying "we will return to my husband." No, he says, "The elf I love" because it's not their relationship that matters, whether they're boyfriends or life partners or engaged or married, it's the love that matters the most.

[oloner2307]

I was brainrotting reflecting on Rayllum last night, specifically their main differences in beliefs and how that impacts their relationship.

To Rayla, love is to leave. Is to carry the burden alone, so it doesn't weigh on the other. Her parents left to fullfill their duty as guards and never came back, and Runnaan is very loyal to his oaths, so how could she be any different? How could she not leave by herself to keep the promise of protecting him? To love is to honor your promises, even if you must sacrifice what you really want, which is to stay with them. Like the moon, she loves Callum even when she's not around.

To Callum, however, love is to stay. Is to carry the same burden so its lighter to them, even if he doesn't agree with that burden and even if it's too heavy for him. His mother died for a mission she didn't fully agree to go, but went anyway to be there for her husband, and eventually his stepfather met the same ending, so how could he not do the same? How could he not go against his values and use dark magic to save her? To love is to break yourself constantly, so the other stays intact.

Callum puts his loved ones on top of the greater good, while for Rayla the greater good is the only way to protect her loved ones. Two sides of the same coin.

But what's really interesting is that these views are so polar opposite that they end up coming full circle and end up looking the same. By Callum sacrificing his values and Rayla sacrificing her needs, they put both their lives, the people their truly are and the people they fell in love with, on the line.

[raayllum]

Key to His Heart Theory: Shot Through the Heart, and You're (S5) to Blame

Intro

So a little over a year ago (since usually I think about things meta wise for at least a good month before writing them down), I wrote a meta about why I thought the Key of Aaravos might hold a quasar diamond, specifically Aaravos' missing chest piece. His heart, if you will.

At the time, I thought it was a very strong contender for what the cube might be, even if it didn't necessarily give us a clear depiction on what it might be used for, and was again operating under the assumption the cube itself is something Aaravos even wants back or needs (which is assumption still, at this point).

It made sense loosely with some of the new information we'd gleaned about the cube from S4 (mostly the Callum pawn intro with its bright flashing light, the emphasis on hearts in the narrative with Ezran's speech, the 4x04 flashbacks) and was likewise built upon a previous meta regarding the series' use of Egyptian mythology (Thoth and Ibis being present somewhat in Callum's arc, the main trio's parallels to another Egyptian myth trio, Aaravos' mirror and mirrors as objects of divination, and potential matching symbolism with the ankh).

The Key to His Heart theory was also built on previous seasons — largely the Magma Titan plot line, and Avizandum being stabbed in the heart — in addition to Aaravos' chest piece, seemingly, being notably absent, which seemed indicative of certain lines from the short stories, particularly Rayla (S4's Dear Callum), but we'll talk more about these later:

Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.

If you're interested in this theory and want to know about it, I recommend reading the two metas I've linked above, as the rest of this won't really be delving too much into what I've already written about, and talking about how season five has given more potential evidence.

With that out of the way, let's get into it in rough order of "most to least" likely:

Season Five

TDP Reflections

Whereas hearts weren't mentioned too much in the short stories leading up to S4, they became a reoccurring motif every TDP reflection story going into S5.

Fools. They might as well have held their own hearts, beating and bloody, in the palms of their hands. Kim’dael knew that if she showed them her heart—or something convincingly like it—the Sunfire elves would do exactly what she wanted them to do.

“Rayla,” she said, meeting Redfeather’s gaze. “My name is Rayla. And I’m going home.” Redfeather sighed. “Oh, you bleeding heart.”

“They balk at shadows, then.” Aditi pulled a slip of white-hot metal from the forge and turned to place it upon a gilded anvil. “I see your heart—and I am not afraid.”

It stared up at him. Ezran felt a coldness twist its way around his heart. It took his lungs, too, and for a long moment he could not breathe, could not feel anything but an unfamiliar anger so potent it seized the whole of him, inside and out.

Viren staggers backwards, his last breath shuddering through the blade. His white robes turn red at his heart. Something in Soren’s own chest shatters along old cracks, but he cannot look away. 

“You are stronger than this. All storms end!” Rex rumbled a snort through flared nostrils. “What lies at its heart?” 

 He wept for his city, his people, and the darkness struck deep into their hearts.

While one may say it ends with a sunrise, another will insist it ends at nightfall. Yet at the heart of the story is a single, simple truth…A star fell from the sky.

From where Kim’dael stood, she could only see the brilliant aura of its magic. For a moment, it was as though the queen’s heart overflowed with light.

Now, some of this is undeniably because a heart is a short hand for emotion and one of our most useful metaphors for communicating a variety of emotion. However, I did think it was particularly interesting / eye catching that these lines tended to overlap with the series' growing light and darkness motif and emphasis on wounds/scars (to the point we have a 5x02 episode titled "Old Wounds" that refers to both Viren's past and Callum and Rayla's healing relationship).

But by far the one that struck me the most, and seemed the most reminiscent of how Aaravos's (literal?) wound manifests is this paragraph from Claudia's short story:

Lissa had left her years ago, but the space she had owned in Claudia’s heart remained. It was a dark place now, hard and hateful, its edges raw as a wound that had forgotten to heal.

Mountains had crumbled and left in their wake a vast new sea. It was as though the land had been dealt a great wound and bled a hundred years. Terror washed across the remnants of humanity like a wave: What power could fell mountains? Turn all the world dark, and bleed a sea from stones?

—Ripples (pre-S5)

As well as Aaravos' clear desire to have revenge over the Startouch elves for something that seems to go beyond the resentment over just being banished:

I have not seen the stars in centuries. But when I see them again—when the stars are forced to look upon me, their dark brother—they will know how I have waited. And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky. For I have been patient.

—Patience (pre-S4)

We don't know yet if we are going to get more TDP reflections going into S6 or S7, but given the way the previous stories emphasize the heart as both a symbolic idea (a darkened, hollowed out heart) and a literal entity you can hold in your hands... It's clear there's something going on symbolism else, otherwise why be so consistent? But enough of the reflections, for now.

Time to talk about S5 itself.

Laurelion

Previously, I thought the cube in the intro (a literal glow toy, as Rayla identified back in 1x05) already had similar properties to the star-glow effect in the title intro back at S4.

At the time, this was more of a guess. Most of the Star magic we'd seen at that point we weren't able to fully identify as such, it seemed a bit more magenta in colour, and while there was a parallel in the bright flash of light upon releasing Sir Sparklepuff, there's also a bright flash when the prison is actually made. It's just a good short hand for a crescendo of magical power, you know? We didn't know if quasar diamonds were even going to be white, besides the one presumably in Aaravos' chest concept art wise.

And yet — it still felt like something to me. Then S5 with Laurelion came along.

The Death of the Immortal

K: "And though undying, took last breath, immortal Laurelion was no more." C: That's good, right? I mean when someone "was no more," that's — that's dead, yeah? K: It's a bit confusing, but that is the clearest implication. Though it is somewhat odd they call them undying and immortal. C: Well, that doesn't sound so immortal? Laurelion "was no more". K: Right. C: But how? How did they...? K: Right here. "White as the star's heart it pierced, ivory draconic brought death's bite known ever forth as Novablade." C: It's a sword.

There's a few noteworthy things about this whole exchange:

The poem has to be relevant eventually, otherwise why include it at all when you easily could've just had Kazi and Callum stumble across the sword period?

It confirms that the heart of a star is something that can be pierced, presumably removed, and white, which I think is the biggest "hell yeah" to the 4x04 intro

There is no reason to point out the contradictions in the poem itself unless A) the sword doesn't work the way we think it does and/or B) we are going to find out why the "undying and immortal" thing matters — and they make sure to emphasize the contradictions quite a bit as well, so they definitely want us to notice

If Laurelion died, and Aaravos took his place, that would explain how Laurelion — identity wise — could die while the same person under a new name could also remain alive / immortal

We learn in Rayla's pre-S5 short story that Ghosts don't often keep their real names, and take a new one as the final severance of their bond with their old community. For all extents and purposes, Aaravos was Ghosted (banished) from his community as well. Taking a new name would make sense

"That must've been when [Harrow] fell." "Fell? Fell! He didn't fall, Rayla, he didn't trip and fall on the ground — he got killed!" (2x08)

There's more speculation here regarding the actual sword and draconic ivory, but that is another post for another day that other smart people have made if you are interested. For now let's just focus on the heart.

We know Laurelion had a heart; we know it got stabbed with the Novablade, leaving Laurelion both no more (i.e. dead) and yet immortal / undying. We know that Arc 2 in particular has had an emphasis on losing your sense of self and identity ("I was his puppet" / "We can't save everyone, Soren" / "But I'm not evil. It's me" / all of Viren's dream visions). We know that a Star's heart is white. We know that Aaravos seemingly used to have one, and now it's either missing or impermanent, only visible sometimes.

(Putting a pin in the second image cause we'll roll back around to it in the counter evidence section.)

We know his chest centrepiece glowed when he was imprisoned, and we know it was seemingly gone when he got banished. We know something about the Key of Aaravos was able to reveal his treachery.

I'm not saying any of this is for sure connected, but it does make you think, at least a little?

That, and it'd play into another bit of potential interesting foreshadowing / symbolism we got in s5 with

Viren Heart Theory

This is another theory I've discussed in more detail elsewhere, so I'm going to link to it here, but it wouldn't feel right to not talk about it at least a little here. Basically the theory is that Viren used his own blood / a piece of his heart, or possibly the whole thing, and the relic staff in order to save Soren when he was a young child.

This is largely due to Viren's spotlight turning red after he begs to be able to save Soren, and cinched by Kpp'Ar pointing specifically at Viren's heart only for Viren to deflect and start talking about Soren's case specifically. Whatever he did seemed to make him more 'powerful,' but at a great personal cost ("In the name of love you may perform acts that are so unforgivable, you will never forgive yourself") and something he finds the need to justify ("I had to do something! I had to save him! I had no choice!").

If Viren did this, it also adds another layer to Viren's sentiment of "Harrow's death breaks my heart" being well, half-hearted, in addition to Soren literally stabbing illusion Viren in the heart in 3x09. Viren mutilated his heart for his son's life, stopped being able to properly express love to said son, and then Soren stabbed his father right in the place that presumably saved him as a child. Ouch.

It seems likely that one of the reasons Aaravos was able to prey so aptly on Viren's desire for importance and attention — to Matter — was because Aaravos might've tried and failed earlier on to get the Startouch elves to listen to him pre-banishment. Being ignored, exiled, and disempowered is something he can relate to, and something he doesn't mind taking advantage of when it suits him.

However, if this combination could save someone Viren loved, it makes me wonder if Aaravos did something similar to likewise try (and fail?) to save someone he loved, too. It's either that or the Startouch elves just completely ripped it out, so... I guess we'll have to see?

But yeah — if Viren did it, then I'm expecting it's more likely that Aaravos did it, too. That is all.

The Pawn Intros

But Dragons, you say, didn't we already talk about the Callum pawn intro?

And to that I say yes, but — thanks to a promo S6 picture of Aaravos crying, we know something else very important about said intros that we didn't know before: they take place at the Sea of the Cast Out.

The sky, the mountains... the fact we know, thanks to the statues in 5x09, that this is likely where Aaravos' grief — his wound, if you will — began to bleed and take root, leading to his thousands of years of seeking vengeance and using just about anything or anyone he could. This is, presumably, where his chess game started... and where it is, symbolically at least, going to end.

Okay, so it's the Sea of the Cast Out — why does that matter?

Well, we know the Sea of the Cast Out is a site of literal trauma for Aaravos. We know, thanks to the statues of Aaravos and the Merciful One, that it plays into the same reaching motif we see Viren participate in quite a few times, both in his intro and in other places/relationships (most notably Sarai, Harrow, and Terry).

The Sea of the Cast Out is also, perhaps more importantly for this theory's purposes, near Elarion. What little we do know about the city beyond it being an important place for humans and dark magic ties it repeatedly to nature through The Midnight Star poem:

Elarion, trembling seed, lay down to earth in icy night, and in the cold her roots took hold defying winter’s deathly bite. Elarion, fading bloom, afraid to wilt and dim and die, [...] Elarion, dying husk, did wilt and whimper in the dark [...] Elarion, black-eyed child, her twisted roots spread deep and far,

as well as a tale about the Flowers of Elarion, precious blooms that could soothe the senses and turned to dust come morning—flowers that were left as "a fair exchange of beloved for beloved" (Tales of Xadia). Put a pin that Exchange idea because I swear we're gonna come back to it but not in the usual way you might be expecting, or at least not entirely.

And we have good reason to believe this nature motif is tied to Aaravos' current imprisonment as well, given how present flower imagery is for his mirror.

So the Sea of the Cast Out and Elarion seem to be the two places we know of thus far that are not only the most important to Aaravos, but the most instrumental to his banishment. It would not surprise me if either Aaravos got involved in what would become Elarion either because he was banished, or it was what he was banished over, or if discovering the truth of what happened there is likewise why the Archdragons were partially like "Yeah, we gotta lock this guy up" (now that they knew he posed a serious threat). The fact that Elarion is referred to as a child (everything with "blood of a child,"), black-eyed (which denotes dark magic), and winter's "deathly bite" ("White as the star's heart it pierced, / ivory draconic brought death's bite") just all ties together nicely in being related even if we're not totally sure how.

But Aaravos having his chest piece removed by force / as punishment in addition to being cast out by the Startouch elves, or him taking it out himself and giving it to someone who was lost... There's a lot of roads to get here as to why this stuff all seems connected if the Key is indeed his chest piece, which offers up both a power up, a sad tragic backstory, some baller symbolism, and some nice double meanings as to what it is key wise.

As the Key works in the moment, it doesn't seem like it's something that would be very useful to a primal mage, as other than pretty easily identifiable gemstones they wouldn't be using much the key identifies. However, the function of the Key being able to categorize and sort magical creatures and plants from each other is something that is very useful if you're a dark mage and need to shore up your ingredients list.

If the Key has Aaravos' chest piece in it, there are two main prongs this offers:

It may have been instrumental in helping humans discover dark magic, hence the "Elarion, searing white" and could also be the Gift the poem speaks of. Aaravos removed it himself (love makes you weak?), gave it to his chosen human, chosen human died, and he was locked out of Startouch realm as a combined result. This offers the clearest connection between why Aaravos' mirror has the nature motif and why Aaravos is crying in the beginning of 6x01.

It was removed by the Startouch elves and lost/hidden, forcing Aaravos to be away from his old home until he could find it again. This is the clearest explanation as to why the Key might be relevant on a plot level. It could give him the power up he needs to get out of his prison and barring that, it's what he needs to wreck havoc and gain access to the Startouch elves to get revenge on them

It also allows what we learn of the cube in 2x06 to have multiple meanings:

The Key is revealed in an episode called The Heart of a Titan. We're led to assume that this is just the Magma Titan, and you could perhaps make an argument the dual meaning (just like how Breaking the Seal refers to the letter and the titan's chest) refers to Harrow or Callum's capacity to love. But, given that one of Aaravos' most prominent mythic comparisons is to Prometheus, a literal Titan, well...

"It unlocks something of great power in Xadia" would work equally well if it's a Key literally made from Aaravos, not just to Aaravos. And the past 2 seasons in particular have emphasized over and over again just how powerful and dangerous he is

The salvation and destruction motif that is inherent in the key, ("I just have a feeling this key thing can help me" / "It's the key of Aaravos, no good will come of it") as keys are linked to chains and freedom with the ability to lock and unlock, is rampant in 2x06, as Viren states that Xadia and the Magma Titan "held both the promise of our salvation and threat of our destruction." This goes double for Sarai sacrificing her life to save Viren

And to round back to Viren and his intro, I don't think it's a coincidence that

is one of the first things Aaravos ever says to Viren, particularly when trying to earn Viren's trust. (Nor that Aaravos considers that Zubeia and co. "betrayed" him when "he would lower his guard," just before the imprisonment.) And while Aaravos gains Viren's trust as a political ally here first, it's also clear that he's actually primarily preying upon Viren's deepest emotional desires here as well: to be listened to. To matter.

Viren wasn't listened to by the monarchs around him (Harrow). He wanted to be important (to them). He wanted to matter.

"It is everything to me, to know that I matter. It's all I ever wanted."

Aaravos: Search your heart. There is something you want very badly. (2x09) Zubeia: He was able to give them something they wanted very badly. (4x04)

And that's what Aaravos offered him, with power and knowledge just being the bait. (If you're interested in more detailed thoughts on this aspect of Viren / their dynamic, check out this meta here.)

More to the point, I do lean towards the Key's plot purposes being 1) a power-up that may be needed for him to get out of his mirror and 2) something that likewise allows him to see the other Startouch elves again. After all, the Silvergrove gave each elf a similar kind of key:

But y'know what, let's talk about Rayla now, because

The Missing Piece of Your Heart

As stated earlier, Rayla's letter has a consistent metaphor when it comes to family and loss:

I remember how I felt when my parents left me to join the Dragonguard, like PART OF MY HEART WAS MISSING and I would never feel right again. I thought I hated them when they did that to me. In the beginning, it felt so big and terrible—like raging despair—but, overtime, it became a soft, sweet ache—a reminder of that missing part of my heart. [...] Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.

This struck me as interesting when the letter first came out, as it was a departure from most of Rayla's previous heart motif ("My heart for Xadia") and even the one attributed to her one half of her parents ("My heart goes out with this one"). Why have the motif suddenly switch up when it would've worked just as well, or been doubly romantic + a Ruthari parallel, to just have it be the whole heart?

Then season four came out, and I understood, because, well...

Upon her return, Rayla brings back that "missing piece" of "Callum's heart". It's a painful restoration and doesn't run entirely smooth, but in season five in particular we see him be much more like his older, happier self once he's let himself love her again, and how steadfast he is in said love ("To love is simply know this...").

But, in a moment that could've been exclusively about Rayla, nor did it need for Stella's connection to the Star arcanum to be this prominent in the same moment, they choose to likewise highlight Rayla 'bringing home' the missing piece of Aaravos' heart, too.

This symbolism is also consistent with how the key is introduced in the first place, i.e. first thought of because Rayla's drawing in Callum's sketchbook (another gift from Harrow) reminds Callum of it, and her ultimately being the one to retrieve it even once things at the Banther Lodge take a turn towards the south.

Furthermore, we do have reason to believe that Rayla is indeed the 'Key to Callum' in a sense, particularly after 5x08. Just like how a key can both lock and unlock — give freedom or entrapment — Rayla symbolizes a great deal of duality in Callum's life, including but not limited to:

Leading him to primal magic (1x03, 5x08) and dark magic (2x07, 5x08)

Light ("No one can control you or make your choices for you" / Ray of light) and dark ("But the second you see that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself" / "Stay safe, and stay in the light. Don't look for me")

Being routinely emphasized in Callum's arc with Aaravos, especially in S4

"Now you're back. That's kind of good, and it's kind of bad" / "You have to hold pain and love in your heart at the same time" / "And when she came back, I was so happy, and so mad at the same time"

Salvation ("Rayla saves people [...] that's what makes her a hero") and destruction (being willing to die / do dark magic for her)

The Ocean arcanum realization being both positive and negative, just as the poem itself takes on a different shape across the season in regards to how Callum views her and how he views himself while being motivated by his love for her / Ezran

“Wow. So [the berries] look identical, but they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said. “Exactly. Just like me…” Rayla smiled.

—Book One: Sky novelization

If you're interested in a more specific meta on this dichotomy, I recommend this meta written pre-s4 and this more recent one about 5x08 specifically.

I've written before about Rayla have a weird consistency with the cube as well, particularly in her being the primary carrier of its foreshadowing for most of arc 1, with Callum only really doing so in 1x04 and having Rayla pick up the slack the rest of the time:

"It's a toy, a piece from a children's game" (1x04) as well as "It's a glow toy" (1x05) are now literally true as the cube is 1) involved in Aaravos' game and 2) literally glows a bright flashing light circa the 4x04 intro.

"Are you practicing magic or are you losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?" (2x07 right after Callum calls it a key) came to pass, somewhat if not outright, it seems, in 5x08. Callum practices two different magics, Rayla is literal bait in exchange for the glow-toad, and the episode ends with Callum being worried he's potentially losing Aaravos' 'game' so to speak — that he's made himself more vulnerable to the Startouch elf's control.

Two lines of hers regarding the cube that have not yet come to pass are "This doesn't end well for you" (1x05) and "I hope it was worth it to you, putting everyone's lives in danger" (1x04) but I expect that we'll get them soon enough.

Rayla's 'tether' to a the cube does, of course, loop back into the Flowers of Elarion tale, in which there was a fair exchange of beloved for beloved. If the Key does indeed hold Aaravos' heart (and that is still a very big If), whether it would include an actual exchange is still debatable, but it seems inevitable that she would at least play a part. (If you're interested in more thoughts on Rayla + the cube, check out this meta pre-s4.)

Where the game motif gets the most interesting, I think, is where it intersects with the idea Aaravos mentions in 2x09 regarding, "Those who fail tests of love are simple animals," and one of the TDP short stories in particular having one very interesting tidbit:

“My behavior is—?” “—unusual,” Corvus repeated, nodding. “Very unusual. Ever since you started challenging me to all these little games.” Soren squirmed. His pauldrons clanked as his shoulders slumped. “They aren’t games. They’re tests. Ugh…I’m really messing this up.”

Since Rayla is going to have her "My heart for Xadia" undeniably tested, it would make sense if Callum and Aaravos' hearts came into play too, don't you think?

Other Misc Symbolism / Oddities

Last but not least, we have our odds and ends that didn't fit in the other sections, but I thought may be worthwhile to mention anyway.

For starters, we have screencaps (most notably in 3x06) where you can see a visible dip in Aaravos' tiddies chest that indicates something was removed, and it's not just an artificial darkness.

We have Aaravos touching a fist to his heart twice before he bows and indicates that Callum is going to "play" into his hands (remember that game motif?).

We have this shot, which is the exact kind of thing that "crew makes sure the Ocean and Moon runes are most prominently on display in Callum's dark magic dreams to foreshadow him doing dark magic in S5 Ocean for his Moonshadow gf 3 seasons later" would absolutely do and think they're So Funny about. "No gem for star magic" except the one you're unknowingly holding in your hand, am I right?

Finally, we have precedent that dark magic can 'darken' your heart both in show when Amaya passes the light trial ("A human that is pure of heart") and in the graphic novels with Claudia ("Your heart is not yet darkened") which allows her to see the map to a unicorn (The Puzzle House).

@self-spaghettification also noted that the bright white flash of the star in the 'o' of Aaravos' name in the Arc 2 intro momentarily looks like and makes the shape of the Nova Blade, which is also very cool.

Honourable mention to Rayla going "it's a piece from a children's game" and Ezran going "you said each of the archdragons had a piece of the puzzle" and the Orphan Queen and Jailer presumably working together to trap Aaravos. I think about that shit every day.

Evidence to the Contrary / Alternatives

But like I said at the start, there are plenty of alternatives or feasible pitfalls to consider. This theory resides on a few assumptions after all, that may not be true, such as Aaravos not actually needing the key for anything other than as a lure for Callum, it could purely have something to do with the Nova Blade and nothing to do with the prison, or even have something to do with the nature of magic itself, capable of great good as well as great evil.

His chest piece could've always been more immaterial and dark magic has just darkened it rather than it being removed. Aaravos may have stabbed Laurelion in order to use that heart diamond to partially make the Relic Staff he passed onto Ziard, or Aaravos' chest piece could be in the staff itself, and the cube is something else entirely.

Conclusion

In the end, as we go forward into S6 all the above is more less my personal bet as to where I think we really could go in terms of answering a lot of these questions we've had for a few seasons now. I hope you enjoyed reading the theory and considering (and possibly subscribing to) it, as well as getting your own thoughts stimulated. If any of the above happens I will cry for days and no matter what, I am deeply intrigued to see where S6 takes Aaravos' backstory and, of course, his cube. Luckily:

[moondustgleam]

Every Armor Description in TDP: Xadia

There will be no accompanying visuals on this post, the designs are already on my blog under the individual character's tags. This is a compilation of all of them for people who don't want to scroll through all the images to get to the juicy lore. I reccomend everyone read Rayla/Runaan's, Callum/Karim's, Claudia's, and Soren/Viren's if you care about the show's lore.

They're organized by order they appear in the hero select menu in TDP: Xadia, region, and type of armor if you were wondering.

Rayla & Runaan’s Armor

Firebrand Wraps - Seize what is yours and burn away the rest.

Firebrand Waistcoat - Meant to keep the heat out!

Firebrand Runners - Let your colors shine in the light of the Sun.

Shadowblade Gloves - An assassin knows she holds fate in her hands.

Shadowblade Cover - An assassin knows she is already dead.

Shadowblade Footpads - An assassin knows we are all, in the end, alone.

Nightsky Grips - The Nightsky Bandit had no interest in the Great Climb, only in its climbers’ pockets.

Nightsky Vest - While the others sought a single treasure, he had his pick of plenty.

Nightsky Buckleboots - Only the Nightsky Bandit ever grew rich from the Great Climb - and his feet never left the ground.

Amaya & Zeph’s Armor

Katolian Gauntlets - “We are the hands of our kingdom…”

Katolian Surcoat -“...we raise blades, we bear shields, we carry the scars of the past…” 

Katolian Greaves - “...but we are the strongest when joined with others.” - Katolian Soldier’s Oath

Nightguard Gauntlets A relic of long-ago warriors who served the Dragon Queen, Luna Tenebris.

Nightguard Brestplate The Nightguard vanished with their Queen, but their spirits remained.

NIghtguard Sabatons Now they roam the Moonshadow Forest, searching for Luna’s heir.

Stormrunner Gauntlets - Maybe you could punch the Eternal Storm in the face!

Stormrunner Cuirass - Armor that really says, “Come at me, Eternal Storm! Bring it on!”

Stormrunner Sabatons - You know what? The Eternal Storm could use a good kick in the butt, too.

Callum and Karim’s Armor

Flamedance Tassels - Dance, little flame, dance to a silent song.

Flamedance Chemise - Warm our hearts and bodies, keep our spirits strong.

Flamedance Sandals - Dance, little flame, dance - for the night is very long.

Illusionist Handwraps - “Most people believe that reality is truth and appearances are deceiving…”

Illusionist Amice - “...but the Moon Arcanum tells us we can only truly know the appearance itself…”

Illusionist Treads - “You can never touch the so-called reality that lies just beyond the reach of your own perception.” -Lujanne

Feathered Wrists - Let nothing clip your wings.

Feathered Jerkin - Let nothing weigh you down.

Feathered Footwraps - Let nothing keep you from the sky.

Claudia’s Armor

Dawnheart Maniple - No shadows escape the wrath of the Sun at its zenith.

Dawnheart Amice - You buried your shadows deep - but the Light sees them still.

Dawnheart Slippers - When the darkness in you burns away, what remains?

Silvergrove Bracers - The traveler told a breathless tale: a village, there one moment and gone the next.

Silvergrove Vest - Impossible, they laughed at him: the forest’s magic has simply played a cruel trick.

Silvergrove Boots - But when the Moon is dark, is she not still there in the sky…?

Daybreak Reach - “I found my lover weeping, gazing up at the night skies…”

Daybreak Doublet - “... I took his hands in mine and said, my darling, dry your eyes…”

Daybreak Walkers - “...the dark is not forever, love! The sun must always rise.” -Skywing Song

Janai’s Armor

Golden Knight Vambraces - Gold, for the Sun’s light.

Golden Knight Hauberk - White, for her radiance.

Golden Knight Treads - Red, for her power.

Moonfire Grips - Some say the Moon is the Sun’s shadow, a pale imitator, a sad reflection.

Moonfire Tunic - Some say the Sun kills the Moon hen she dares grow bright enough to challenge her radiance.

Moonfire Greaves - The truth? The Moon and the Sun are sisters, a fire charred between them.

Empyrean Gloves Some - Great Climbers keep an open mind about strategy.

Empyrean Brigandine - One path to victory is to beat everyone else to the prize…

Empyrean Stompers -  …another path to victory is to beat everyone else with your fists.

Soren and Viren’s Armor

Blacksteel Grips - Something echoes in the metal.

Blacksteel Aegis - Does it sing, or does it scream?

Blacksteel Boots - What did they bury down there beneath the earth?

Ghostfeather bands - “Bit by bit the moon fades away, then bit by bit it will brighten again. That is our cycle.”

Ghostfeather Treads - “...for those who will come after you, think on all you will give them.” - Lujanne

Ghostfeather Tunic - “For those you have left behind, think on all they have given you…”

Skyblazer Vambraces - A group of elves called the Skyblazers were the first to ever attempt the Great Climb

Skyblazer Collar - Their ambition drove them higher, higher, and higher still…

Skyblazer Sandals - …but hubris brought them down again.

[fwitolei]

The Dragon Prince Thoughts 6x02 - Love, War, and Mushrooms

Previous Episode // Masterlist // Next Episode

Join the Taglist

Spoilers under the cut

CLAUDIA’S IN THE INTRO THIS TIME???

Omg wait what does that mean

AARAVOS GRABBED HER FIGURINE

Like he did in s4 when he was using viren

CORVUS WHOOOO

GAHH

They’re so gay for each other lmao

“Karim’s threats are no longer empty with General Miyana’s might behind them.”

Ok but did no one stop to think that miyana MIGHT be a little biased considering she’s karin’s literal girlfriend—

Like I would’ve kept a closer eye on her

“Based on these claw markings, she was unsteady…”

I forgot how good of a tracker Corvus is it’s nice to really see him in action

Soren grabbing Corvus’s shoulder lol

NOT THE WAY CORVUS FULL ON PULLED SOREN’S HAND OFF HIM LMAOOO—

Corvus being so done with Soren’s shit yet still humoring him is so cute

OOH you can see Karim in the reflection of the crown I love that

G U R L WHAT ARE YOU DOING—

I’m sorry the way Gren was waving that cape around trying to put out the fire is so funny—

“You think it’s edible?”

“No, and please don’t find out.”

Their banter ugh—

Soren is literally a golden retriever it’s so wild

“Why are we stopping? Do you not like my summer camp song?”

We NEED a short story of Soren at camp that would be soooo funny

I still love how Ezran and Zym can telepathically communicate it’s adorable

I hope they explain that later

Oop more mushrooms—

I swear Soren and Corvus argue like an old married couple lol

NOT THE PIGGYBACK RIDE LMAOOOOOOOO

“If I ever start to doubt you, I’ll know I am truly lost.”

See Amaya and Janai are such good examples of girlbosses who are still madly in love, want to get married, etc. it’s soooo cute

I’m not gonna get into it too much cuz i don’t like talking about politics on social media but you can still be a woman with a career and still want a to get married, still want a family and whatnot and even though amaya and janai aren’t a “traditional couple” it’s still a good example as far as feminism goes

Like this is how your portray a power couple this is the correct way right here

Notice the difference between the responses in Janai’s and Karim’s audiences. Janai’s people cheer for her because they see her as more than a queen. They see her as more than just a leader; they see her as a friend or even a sister. 

Karim’s people bow in respect, but they only acknowledge him as a commander. That kind of “respect” always fades.

“He’s got me. A good man with a big heart.”

They’re so just—

GAHH—

*dies of cuteness*

“Your brother Ezran needs you.”

Considering zubeia was the one  who ordered Harrow’s and Ezran’s deaths in s1, she prolly had the most development, except we as an audience see the least of it.

“It’s time to set a wedding.”

FINALLY WHOOO

We’re FINALLY doing this

Oh callum and rayla i forgot about them

WAIT WHAT—

WHY IS THERE AN X OVER DUREN???

Aaaaalllllright it’s really picking up now. It’s good to know zubeia’s alright, and i’m excited to see how this whole thing with janai and karim carries out. Soren and Corvus are SOOO CUTE they need to kiss already. ALSO how DARE they leave off on callum with his little key of aaravos or whatever it’s called and him MAPPING THE COORDINATES of the lines on the floor??? They better explain that i swear imma be mad if they don’t—

[black-dhalias]

Hi!! I absolutely love your writing✨✨

I was wondering if you’d write a Ethari x Reader (pronouns are she/her) x Runaan where it takes place in the time of the assassination of King Harrow.

Ethari and reader witnesses the assassins flowers sink one by one leading down to Rayla and Runaan.

Days later, it depends on how many days Runaan was in the dungeon before he got trapped in a coin. They witness Runaan’s flower sink and are of course struck by grief.

If it’s not a bother could you write days later after Runaan’s "death" the time where Callum and Rayla goes to their house.

Reader is reading a book while Ethari is crafting weapons and he witnesses Rayla from the reflection and you know what happens next.

If you don’t want to write this it’s completely fine! Once again, I love your writing!!✨🤍🌙

Floating Flowers

Poly!Runaan X Reader X Poly!Ethari

Warnings: angst, kinda sad ngl, mentions of death and some descriptions of violence

One does not love without sacrifice, and one does not truly want to take the risk unless they know it's worth it. With all that at stake, it does not make sense to ever really let someone in. To love, is to let your heart beat in time with another—with many, and in so few words, all of it can disappear.

In a blink.

In an instant.

Within a single breath.

All love causes is pain. You thought you knew the worst of it, felt the bitter edge of loss, but you were so wrong. You had it all figured out only a year ago. You had Runaan... A voice of reason and rock. You had Raela... In all her stubbornness and sweet personality. You have Ethari... As your warmth, and your light. You loved all three extensively, dove head first into the chasm of love—hopeful and invested. They gave you purpose and warmth, and that's all you ever wanted.

You thought the price of love was worth all the pain, but now as you fold your arms over your knotted up stomach. You could barely tear your eyes away from Runaan and Rayla prepare for the mission. The one to avenge all of Xadia, but it was not worth it to you. Nothing in all of the realms was worth the price of watching them walk out of this village.

Soon it would be just you and Ethari—you begged for a minute longer as Runaan's palm embraces your cheek, "Goodbye my love." The words taste acidic, another minute of him would never be enough. You'd plead for hour after hour, for every second was worth a thousand pleas.

While Runaan notes your rigid form, the distant look in your eyes—he knows that he cannot stay. "It is not good bye..." He whispers quietly, "I will always return to you both." Your lips press into that all too familiar line, shaking your head as you part from him completely.

Hating the distance, but knowing you must let him go.

"Do not make us promises you cannot keep." Your words are dark, striking cold fear into Ethari—the sensation of pain mirrors into him.

Hesitantly, Ethari embraces Runaan and Rayla throws herself into your arms. You told Runaan she was not ready, that you were not ready to let her go into a battle she may not return from.

She's the closest you ever came to a child, you are certain that she'll be the only child you ever have. All her life was spent under your careful gaze, and embraced tightly in your arms. Your cheek rests atop her hair, and even when your eyes mist over—you do not let yourself cry.

"I love you Rayla... All the way to the moon." You insisted she was more like you, more like Ethari, but Runaan was certain. And when he was certain, there was no reason to try to talk sense into him.

When you finally gather enough strength to look up at Runaan, Rayla at his side and Ethari's palm on the small of your back. Runaan gives a tight smile, one he only gives when he is not sure.

"I love you..." You don't know if you'd forgive yourself if he didn't hear it at least once more, you see the softness of his eyes. "Both of you, and we expect you home before 30 nights have passed."

Soon enough, they disappear and leave only floating flowers in their wake. No one moved from the fountain, too many souls rest upon the surface—hardly a ripple as the air catches deep in your throat.

When the day came to pass, the crowd was thick with anxiety without a word of comfort to be shared. No one could say anything at all. Ethari held you close, unable to stop the tightening of his grip as each flower sunk to rest on the bottom. The ripples were jarring, the water stirred with grief.

The cries were haunting, even when no one knew who would come next... The tears remained locked up. And with each sunken flower, you felt a wave of guilt and relief because you wished it to be anyone else. Until it was only them.

All you had was the hope that they had succeeded, and were already halfway home right now. It is all that you have left.

"Come to bed starlight." Ethari's sweet nickname sounded so soft, you could hardly enjoy the comfort, but it was there nonetheless. "I miss your warmth..." You tear your eyes rom the water, and stare into his. You wonder if he knows how much you adore him, how safe and welcoming his arms had become since they found you. "I miss sharing a bed..." You hardly slept since they left, leaving Ethari to an empty home most days. Ethari and Runaan had saved you all those years ago, brought you back from the edge of the universe—a startouch elf who could hardly bring themselves to love. To care.

"Just tonight..." You take his outstretched hand, his hope brought you optimism. Gave you hope. That meant something to you.

"I miss you too."

In the quiet and dark, you lay entangled in your husband—embraced tightly in the linens and his arms. The shadows crest through the window, a moonlit night, but you struggle to see through the light. Almost certain that there is—not evil, but nothing good coming your way.

Ethari's arms tighten around and bring you closer than before, chin nuzzled into your neck. His hair is soft against your arm, there is so much on your mind and sleep seems distant.

The way his eyes are shut so lightly, lashes brushing his cheeks and while not a smile—his face is not contorted with nightmares. To be honest, this is the first time since Runaan left that you've seen Ethari sleep so peacefully. While you could not bring yourself to sleep, you were never too far away as to not soothe away the nightmares when they came to him. He truly is the last testament of your sanity. As light as you can manage, you brush your thumb along the highest point of his cheek.

"If you wanted me awake, you should have just asked." Sleep clouds his visit, but he sees you so clearly against the sharp contrast of night. A vision of pure, unscathed—starlight.

He tilts his head up so that he is looking at you, a look of pure admiration. "Have I told you how beautiful you are, starlight?" You find it in yourself to smile.

"More often with every passing day." He returns your smile, Ethari always was the one who stood in awe of you even when you doubted yourself. Your good nature seemed to move in step with his own, but something about the stars that danced in your eyes—you often seemed otherworldly to him.

"Good, I will never allow you to forget." And you know that he's telling the truth, you believe every word. "They'll come home to us. I know they will." Yet you are not as sure, humans are too unforgivable. Too dangerous and unpredictable. You hate them, and fear what else they are capable of taking away from you.

Neither of you say another word, finding comfort in each other. Letting the comfort exist in this singular moment, tomorrow you will face more fear and anxiety. Tonight, you find peace in Ethari's arms.

"Hope for the both of us, my love. I can only hope it's enough."

Only when you watched Runaan's flower sink so suddenly, when the ripples began to shatter the surface of the water. Your entire world seemed to shatter with your reflection. It felt like the world was on fire, and completely still; all at once, you had little left. Stones burn your knees in scrapes as you cry out for him, even the slam of the door is not enough to rouse you from your torture.

The way Ethari saw you and then saw the flower in the bottom of the pool. The heave as he sees the sunken hope. It was always a fool's mission, but the sensation of your crying form within his own arms is enough to send him into tears. The way your hands grip him without remorse—screaming at the universe that they can't have them.

Runaan is gone.

It hits Ethari like the whole of Xadia was put directly on his shoulders, their husband is dead.

He's gone, and he isn't coming back.

Ethari attempted to focus on the task at hand, the tools and weapons atop his desk never seemed so far from him. It felt as though he was staring at a puzzle he was no longer capable of understanding, but he did his best to keep himself occupied when the silence of the house threatened to consume.

Is this grief? Or is this the new normal?

Where you used to find comfort in Ethari, he could only ever reach you when the books were far from your grasp. A cycle of three titles, meticulously memorizing each page because it reminded you of Runaan. The nights when you would stay up with Runaan when the nightmares were too much, and you would read to him until he lulled off to sleep.

Neither really said a word, silent and long days until the time came to crawl into bed. Only then, arms around each other and duvets tightly enveloping both forms—did the tears freely flow. Did the pain finally mount and the length of the universe seemed to weigh heavy on you both.

However, by the time morning breaks, the silence returns and the image of a sunken flower haunts your vision. Ethari closes his eyes, adjusting himself and returns his gaze to his work. Only something catches his eye, a glimpse—nothing short of a miracle, one that causes his expression to falter.

Rayla...

Unable to turn for a moment, he pauses before walking out the door. Knowing that she would follow, unable to break your heart anymore than it has been already.

"Rayla. Before you left, I told Runaan that you were to goodhearted for the work of an assassin. Y/N told him too." He pauses, glancing into the reflection once more. "So I know you did not betray them out of malice. But that doesn't matter. They're gone. He's gone. Because you abandoned them." His words are harsh, not loud, but there is a sharpness as he recalls your cries from the night before.

Even when she disappeared from the reflection, Ethari was already back inside of the home. You had not moved from your position, and for a moment, Ethari wishes you could have seen her. Known she was alright, even if she cannot come home.

He exhales deeply, gathering what he needs before leaving once more to find her. "This will only break the spell for a moment, but I couldn't bear to let you leave without seeing you one last time." Ethari had to know, to hear her out, and find some comfort in her words. "But I don't understand, Rayla. How could you abandon them?"

She looked the same, different and more worn in others, but he saw her as she was. "I failed them. it was my fault we were discovered, btu I didn't run away." She pauses. "Ethari, we found something. Callum, show him."

"Oh uh..." Ethari turns his attention to the human, smiling a little. "I'm Rayla's earthblood elf friend. Trees to meet you."

"Trees to meet you, too."

"Don't humor him. We found the dragon prince."

"The egg wasn't destroyed."

"And I knew that if we could get him home to his mother, there could be peace."

"It's a miracle. I can't believe it." Ethari's eyes darken, recalling the letter he received from Ibis not too long ago. "But, Rayla, you need to know. The Dragon Queen is dying. Since the death of her mate, she's fallen very ill."

"We have to get to her. It's the only way." Ethari pauses, as he watches Rayla's eyes trail to the home. "Where is Y/N? Can I see them?" Looking through the window to spot you, to catch your gaze.

Rayla is struck by confusion at your still form—you were never that still. Never so quiet. Her eyes wander the way you seem awake, locked in on the book and every so often she’d catch Ethari glance over with concern.

Ethari watches Rayla, as she looks at you—“When we met Y/N, they were deeply wounded by abandonment. Alone and on the cusp of giving up.” His eyes are sad, she notes how he casts you loving glances in between the concern. “Runaan is dead. You exiled. Something in them finally snapped.”

“Will they ever be the same?”

“No Rayla. I don’t think that they will, they might recover, but Y/N has faced great losses…More than most, it’s why they loved you so dear. Because you’ve lost a lot too.”

Ethari whistles: "You can ride faster than you can walk. I'll see a message to the Dragon Queen. If she knows her little one still lives, perhaps she'll hold on."

"Ethari, can I ever come home again?"

"I don't know." His eyes are sad, he knows the devastation you felt when the rumors spread. When the word shifted to call Rayla a betrayer and to ghost her. You fought against it, but soon even you could not fight the thought. Consider the possibility that there might have been some truth to the village's words. "It's a real moon opal..." He holds it out to her. "When I gave its match to Runaan, I told him, "My love will be with you even when the moon is not."

Rayla looks through the window once more and then back at Ethari: "Good bye, Rayla."

Ethari came into the home with a purpose as he gathered another arrow, preparing it to be fired and for the first time since, you looked up at him. Eyes wandering to the message, to the way he seemed certain.

Something in the way he moved, it reminded you of who he once was. "What are you doing?" He meets your eyes, seeing the whole universe fall together in a dance as you rise to your feet.

"I have found us hope." Still, even now, he is holding onto the hope that he can somehow fix this. Change the way things are and you trust him.

"Runaan, the last time I made you one of these, it carried a message of death. but this arrow will carry a message of life. Regina Draconis!" While you do not understand completely, you understand enough to know that Ethari is still fighting for you. Still fighting for your future, the one you will share together. And you trust him.

Long before you loved Ethari and Runaan, before the turn of the century—eons before written history began. There was you and your brother, Aarravos. It was all you knew, and it was all you thought you needed. Masters of the primal energies—the epitome of Star Touch Elf perfection. There was no beauty like yours, and no power that tasted as sweet as the power you possessed.

However, it was never enough for Aarravos and soon enough, you had lost him completely. Your entire existence seemed to erase itself with his loss, the universe seemed so much smaller. It seemed so much more void. No longer did stars shine for you, and soon enough, you saw only the darkness. A never ending abyss of despair, and confusion. You no longer knew what your purpose was beyond the world you were building with your brother. It meant nothing without someone to share the success with.

You lean into the darkness, you found comfort in the silence—perhaps comfort is the wrong word. You found silence in the darkness, your bottomless pit of despair was less violent and loud. Your wandering felt less aimless when you accepted the loneliness. You were not at peace, but the numbness felt bitterly better than the pain of loss.

The greatest of your sins was never looking for him, for you assumed he had simply left you to your misery. Had finally had enough, and so you left him to his adventures—you imagined he must have left you willingly, no one could against the power you wielded.

Seven centuries, long and painful blistering years, in that time you only heard whispers of your brothers antics. Until you heard nothing at all.

Soon enough the sadness no longer touched you, or perhaps you wore it proudly—you rarely missed the brother that had left you alone. If he cared, he would have taken you with him.

A crest of moonlight breaks over the treetops and reflects off the waterfalls, the crisp blue hue brings a soft smile to your lip. Knelt before the basin, you submerge your palms into the clear water and bring it to your lips. The water is not bitter or heavy with minerals, you finish what is in your palm and remove the canteen from your hip. Using one hand, you pinch the lid and the other you submerge the object and wait for the bubbles to stop.

Crack!, you stiffen—eyes flickering to the left side, someone or something is near. The forest has gone quiet, and it leaves you to think that it is a someone. You hum, shifting your leg out from under you and leaning onto it—knife on your hip, another on your chest and ankle. You cap the canteen and tie it off to your belt, swallowing as you place the final knot. Only to hear the rustling once more.

Trying your best not to move, to hush your body and heighten your senses—your fingers curl tightly around the blade, clutching onto it just as the pair of elves break the clearing. You turn quickly, drawing your weapon and posing it high—“If you’re here to start something, it’s probably best you leave.” Before, with Aarravos, you were the voice of reason—diplomatic and poise, but now it is different. It is just you. Their eyes widen significantly, as startled by you as you are by them.

One is smaller physically, but his hair is much longer—he seems more muscular, less lean. While the other seems to be just as imposing, but not physically—there is knowledge behind those eyes. He is the first one to speak, “You’re a Startouch elf.” You nod, posing your weapon higher. “Fascinating.”

However, when your weapon does not drop it is the other who steps protectively in front of the scholar—his expression less than kind. “Startouch or not, please drop your knife. We never meant you any harm.

.

.

.

“We never looked back. It was just the three of us against all of Xadia.”

[sthormiiii]

aaravos headcanons !! (again)

i've put a little more thought into this ones~

General headcanons:

- hes so strong, or, well. he used to be. ofc he's naturally very strong, but ever since his imprisonment he has been sitting down a lot, he doesn't work out much in there (too busy being sad and plotting revenge) so, when he gets out and notices that he struggles to lift stuff up, that annoys him.

- he tried his best to stay away from humans at first, but it was so hard for him, he promised himself he would just take a look, just to see how they live from closer, nothing more!! we know how that went.

- him before the fall was such a nerd!! he still is ofc, but before all the trauma he used to be just a guy interested in humans! just picture him trying the human rayla thing the first time he went to humans.

- one of his favourite things was observing human couples togheter. yeah this might sound creepy i know, but he genuinely enjoyed watching two people just...being in love, and he always noticed the little gestures they did for each other- he would try to keep track of those, trying to understand what exactly being in love meant.

- that ties to the fact that startouch elves usually don't fall in love? because there isn't really a startouch elf society, they mostly live by themselves- that's another thing he loves about humans, the way they live togheter and create families.

- zones out a lot. he has so much stuff he wants to say, so many things in his head and he gets caught up in in his own thoughts so much

- he reads people very easily. notices the slightest things when talking to someone. especially looks at their hands and body language in general

- after he shattered the mirror in s4 he realized he couldn't look at himself anymore and went "-oh." so, NOW his hair is messier and he has to look at his reflection in vases or stuff like that. he's annoyed

- he sleeps in very specific ways with very specific kind of pillows and stuff. if he ever has to sleep somewhere else, his whole body hurts the next day

- he laughs loud af, can and will laugh like a maniac if he finds something THAT funny

- craves love and validation. wants to be praised and likes being at the center of attention

- he loves physical contact and tried to get it all the time, even small things like knees touching when sitting besides someone, or holding hands made him feel so happy

- his love language is quality time and physical contact

- hates getting sick, it makes him feel vulnerable and weak- it used to happen a lot because that man refuses to wear a shirt even in winter, and humans used to take care of him as much as they could! (he secretly liked it)

- first time he got sick he thought he was dying

- genuinely forgets how tall he is compared to other people, doesn't realize how menacing he can seem

- gets offended easily

- he!! likes!!!! bugs!!!!!!! I can't stress this enough

- he's ticklish. I won't elaborate.

Angsty ones:

- he hates himself,, he hates how he looks after his fall. he feels shame and guilt everytime he looks at himself

(s6 spoilers) him crying while looking at his reflection in the e1s6 made me think of this even more, he literally looks at his hands and see he's not glowing anymore and then. sobs.

- after losing so many people, he no longer grieves as much as he used to. if he stopped and really thought about it, he would cry, but he usually manages to block those thoughts out

- speaking of crying, once he starts he can't stop. he could cry for so many hours straight there's just so much stuff he went through and he needs to let all of that out...when he cries the stars on his cheeks shine more

- other than sadness he also has lots of anger inside. he sometimes snaps and throws punches against the walls of his prison, or he throws stuff around, making a mess. he then feels even worse

- he misses looking at the stars more than anything. yes, it's painful for him and he hates them. but he also just wish he could stargaze again.

- his nightmares manly consist in people he used to know, haunting him. he dreams of people who betrayed him, and he also dreams of being unable to move or do anything, being chained or just forced to stay still as people he used to know are there, watching, but don't help. sometimes they're happy dreams, of freedom and love, but even those leave him crying in the morning

- he is scared to love again

- as soon as he's out of that pearl he will sob. i know he will.

help its 2am does these make any sense...

[rayllurn]

What "The Dragon Prince" Means to Me

There's been a lot going on in my life recently, and I haven't had much time or energy to contribute to s7 hype, but on the eve of our final season, I do want to reflect on what The Dragon Prince means to me. (Cue long-winded personal essay no one cares about LOL).

Growing up, my parents always made me feel weird and ashamed about my interests, telling me the shows I watched were "dumb" or that I was "too old to watch that." When I was 14, I literally watched ATLA for the first time on our family computer on some random website when no one was home, and I would delete the browsing history so my family wouldn't see it and judge me (....some 14-year-olds were deleting porn history and I was out there deleting cartoon watching history LMAO).

Anyway, I decided at some point that no one could know what my interests were or that I watched cartoons/anime. I went to college and was absolutely terrified of not fitting in and being deemed "weird" by my roommate (she thought I was weird regardless lol). I actually had this belief that if I ever got married, I wouldn't even tell my spouse about watching cartoons or anime. Then, I met my college friends, who were into more niche stuff too, and my (now husband) who was really into Dragon Ball (which I learned after we'd been dating for a few weeks). I reluctantly opened up to him about the things I was interested in, and he thought it was all really cool and wanted to watch them with me (and enjoyed watching them with me!).

We've been together since 2015 and have been living together since 2017, so on September 14, 2018, when I was browsing Netflix and "The Dragon Prince" was recommended to me, I watched the trailer and was immediately hooked. And I called him into the living room and showed him the trailer and was like "wanna watch this with me?" And he was like "heck yeah!" And we've watched every season together since.

I think in a lot of ways, this was the first show where I've felt comfortable talking with others about my interest in it, largely thanks to personal growth and just finding my people. I've loved every bit of the show, supplementary material, memes, etc. that I've seen over the past six years, and this has been, hands down, the best fandom experience I've ever had. Apart from getting to enjoy the show with people I love, I've met so many amazing folks on tumblr whom I admire and really enjoy chatting with.

Some personal highlights for me over the years:

Learning how to make gifs

Going absolutely batshit crazy over rayllum in season 3

The 2020 virtual SDCC panel where they announced seasons 4-7

The time they randomly dropped season 5 like a week early

The official rayllum Valentine's Day art!!!

The Valentine's Day takeover earlier this year (where all of the tdp couples got Hozier songs lol)

The mustache wars

Screaming over 06x06

That time we all thought Rayla was fake

And much, much more!

Six years is a long time, and, while I was an adult when the show started, I've definitely grown up in this time period in a lot of ways, having experienced a lot of major life events:

I got engaged

I got married

I got promoted at work

We bought a house

We've adopted two dogs and a cat (one of my dogs is named Stella after tdp)

We've encountered some major losses and hardships, which have made us stronger individually and together

And, this June, we're expecting our first child (provided everything keeps going well!)

So to me, my Dragon Prince era has been about personal growth and learning to accept and love who I am. It's been about leaning into my interests and passions and learning new things (like making gifs!). Life is seriously too short to give a flying fuck what anyone else thinks. Be unapologetically you! <3

It's been an honor blogging with you all, and happy season 7 watching!

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

If you want an angstier prompt/don’t have too many others, how about Callum and Rayla comforting each other in the aftermath of their captivity aboard the Sea Legs?

Oh I am always up for some Finnegrin's Wake-related angst, thank you so much for the prompt!!

Rayla expected Callum to smile when she pulled back from their hug, to see the relief coursing through her body reflected on his face. Instead, his expression was… blank. It sent a jolt of confusion through her before her brain found the explanation. 

Shock. Of course he was in shock, he’d been beaten— and he must have been terrified—

Rayla stood. “I’m going below to get some medical supplies. Finnegrin must have a stash of something that can fix up your face. Not that it needs fixing, it’s still quite handsome, it’s just… well, it looks like it hurts.”

She glanced at Callum, her face hot, but his still countenance didn’t crack. He just nodded.

“…Okay then. I’ll be back in a jiff.”

Rayla squeezed his hands and stood, making her way to the stairs that led belowdecks. She had just reached the first step when Callum’s voice stopped her.

“Below? Wait, no— Rayla!”

She shook her head, continuing down the stairs. “It’s really no trouble,” she called back. “I’m sure I can find something.”

“No— wait!”

It was the desperation in his voice that stopped her, a tone far more agonized than that of someone who just wanted to spare her an inconvenience. Did Finnegrin have more crew members down here she wasn’t aware of? Was Callum afraid she’d see what he used to torture him?

A hiss echoed down the dark hall, and Rayla tensed, grabbing her blades. She squinted in the darkness, trying to make out the source of the noise. Had Finnegrin tortured Callum with some kind of electric eel?

“Rayla,” Callum hissed. “Just— come back up here. Please.”

She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of whatever he’s keeping down here, Callum. Whatever it is, it’s never going to hurt you again.”

Another hiss drew her attention back to the hall. Two slithering figures emerged— were they really eels? No… snakes. Snakes with glowing green eyes.

Familiar eyes.

Rayla cut both their heads off in a single motion and turned to Callum, stumbling back when she realized he’d reached the bottom step. He looked from the bodies to Rayla and opened his mouth, and she tensed instinctively, trying to figure out how to respond to whatever he could possibly say. 

But instead, he burst into tears.

Heaving, open-mouthed sobs wracked his entire body as he sank to the floor, crying in a way she hadn’t seen him cry since he had found out his stepfather was dead. The force of it reopened the cut on his lip, the tears coursing down his cheeks mixing with the blood and falling in pink drops to the floor.

“I— know— I— shouldn’t— have—" he gasped between sobs. “I knew the ocean arcanum, I understood that I— I shouldn’t try to control everything— but you were screaming, and screaming, and then you stopped— and I couldn’t— I couldn’t lose you— and that makes me as bad as them, as Claudia and Viren, I know it does, but I—"

Whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by a round of tears that left him no breath to talk.

Rayla expected to feel the insidious, bone-chilling horror she’d felt the last time she’d seen him do this: rip the life from a magical creature in order to give life to a set of chains. She expected the righteous fury of knowing he’d crossed a line he absolutely shouldn’t have. But none of it came. All she could feel was a heaviness settling over her shoulders, her chest, sinking her to the floor beside her mage with an overwhelming sadness— and gratitude.

I’d do anything for you, he’d told her, and he had proven it. This was a person who loved absolutely, who cared about her so profoundly he would carry a guilt this deep forever for her. And yet— the thought didn’t scare her. It wasn’t the same obsessive love that had consumed Claudia, and as she wrapped her arms around him, she desperately searched her mind for the words to make him believe that.

“Callum,” she murmured as she thought, “I just need you to breathe for me. Nice and slow. Can you do that?”

She felt his nod, and took a deep breath to demonstrate, setting a pointed rhythm until she felt Callum’s chest rise and fall to match it.

“Good. Now.” She let him go to place her hands on his shoulders. “How did Claudia react the first time she did dark magic? Do you remember?”

Callum furrowed his brow, clearly confused about why she was asking, but answered in a small voice. “Well, she was sick for a few days.”

“And then?”

“She was… giddy. I remember her dancing all through the halls of the castle, talking about it to anyone who would listen. She was so happy she could do magic, so proud.”

Rayla nodded. “I thought so. And Viren? Did he ever seem unhappy after doing magic?”

“Not that I can recall.”

Rayla squeezed his shoulders. “But you hate it. Yes, you did it, and it was bad— but there isn’t a single part of you that feels empowered by it. That’s what makes you different than them. All of you have done things for love that you regret— but you never once tried to justify it to me.”

Callum let out a long breath and nodded. His head slumped against his chest for a long moment before he raised it again, finally meeting her eyes.

“Can you forgive me?”

She let go of his shoulders to shove him lightly. “Well, let’s see. You just saved me and all our friends from an evil pirate. We’ve established that you regret using dark magic and never, ever want to use it if you can help it. Beyond that, you risked your life to find a spell to free my parents even though one of them killed your stepfather, you let me live in your castle for weeks, and you forgave me for being stupid enough to walk out of your life for two years.”

Callum managed a small smile, and Rayla cupped his chin in her hand, drawing his head close enough to rest her forehead on his. 

“We’re good, Callum. You’re good. I promise.”

He let out a long exhale, leaning into her touch. “Okay,” he whispered, his voice stronger.

“That being said,” Rayla said, drawing back, “if you want to make it up to me, you can let me patch up your face.”

“I thought you said it was handsome.”

“And imagine how handsome it’ll be when it isn’t covered in blood.” She stood and offered him her hand.

Callum took it without hesitation, allowing her to pull him to his feet, and finally, he gave her a full smile. 

[sorinethemastermind]

Fluffcember 2024: Carols | Rayllum & Sorvus & Clauderry Callum is determined to ask Rayla to be his girlfriend this Winter Break. But if he can't even start a fire, how is he supposed to create the perfect moment? Soren has decided to stay on campus this Christmas, but with Rayla and Callum as his only company, he's starting to feel like a third wheel. Except maybe it's not just the three of them left on campus after all. Meanwhile Claudia is trying to have a nice Christmas with her family, but maybe her family isn't at home...

 It was a family tradition.

 Well, it was Claudia’s family tradition. But his girlfriend had made it very clear that Terry was a part of that too. Which meant he had to go caroling with them.

 “You really don’t need to be nervous.” she’d told him. “No one’s any good at it, it’s just for fun. You should hear my Dad try and sing.” 

 She’d laughed, and he’d thought how the sound was prettier than any music he’d ever heard. So he’d agreed to give it a go, even if the idea of stomping through the snow and singing to strangers terrified him even before you added the fact that he’d been doing it with her parents who he had only just met.

 It at least seemed like he’d make a good impression. Viren had begrudgingly shaken his hand (which Claudia said was basically a rave review, coming from him) and her Mom had actually given him a hug when they arrived. She was very nice.

 Well, very nice to everyone but her ex-husband. 

 Terry hadn’t said anything, partially because it didn’t feel like his place to comment and partially because he had a feeling that Claudia already knew, but the pair of them seemed to be… not the closest. (That was putting it mildly.)

 They’d been cordial at best to each other since they arrived at the little snowy cabin that they rented every year for the holidays, and any time that Claudia mentioned her brother Lissa would glare daggers across the table at Viren.

 They were doing it right now, exchanging pointed glances from opposite sides of the living room as the group of them practiced the song they’d be singing when they went out on Christmas Eve. Attempting to practice. They’d actually spent most of the time debating which song to use until Lissa had finally just thrown her hands up and said’ “Fine, if you must control everything then have it your way.”

 Terry had cringed, Viren had glared, Claudia had turned the music up louder and mentioned that this one was one of Soren’s favorites. 

 Since then things had been… awkward. (That was also putting it mildly.)

 As they finished another go through of the song, Terry cleared his throat, getting up from his place on the couch beside Claudia.

 “I’m, uh, just going to go to the bathroom real quick.” he hurried from the room and down the hall, closing the door behind him with a sharp click. Claudia had talked about her family a lot. They were her favorite people in the whole wide world. And based on everything she’d said, Terry hadn’t been expecting this.

 He probably should have been. He was no stranger to complicated family dynamics. But he’d hoped that, for once, he might have an actually merry Christmas. Not whatever this was. An excuse to pay for therapy? 

 Maybe that was it. He leaned on the sink, staring at himself in the mirror as he racked his brain for advice that would apply to this situation. There was a lot of it, but most of it involved talking about your feelings, and he had a feeling that wouldn’t go over so well.

 What was the point of all those classes, of studying to become a therapist, if he couldn’t even apply it to his own life? He sighed. There was probably a reason doctors still had doctors.

 He ran the sink and flushed the toilet so it wouldn’t seem like he’d just been standing there staring at his own reflection, and wandered back out into the hall. He was hit almost immediately by a blast of shouting. He hadn’t realized the door was that thick. 

 “Oh, so I suppose everying is my fault.” Viren snapped, voice echoing from the living room.

 “Of course it’s your fault! It’s always your fault!” Terry cringed back as Lissa’s voice followed it, bouncing off the walls. “Because you have to have your claws in everything. You can’t just let people be themselves.”

 “I have only ever done what is best for this family-”

 “Bullshit! You have only ever done what’s best for you.”

 Viren laughed. A harsh, humorless sound. “That’s rich. You literally walked out on your own children-”

 “I did not!”

 Terry hovered in the hall, not sure what to do, what to say. And then Claudia nearly bowled him over as she ran by, slamming the door to their bedroom closed behind her. Once Terry had regained his balance he followed her, letting the echoing argument fade out behind him (as much as it could in a small cabin). 

 “Claudia?” he asked, knocking gently on the door. “Can I come in?”

 A muffled mhm answered him and he slipped inside, closing the door quickly behind him to allow as little of the argument as possible to seep inside. It was enough though.

 “-be here if it weren’t for you and your-”

 “He’d be here if he cared about our family!”

 Terry locked the door behind him. Claudia was huddled on the bed, a blanket pulled over her head, the light from her phone illuminating her face as she hunched over it.

 “Do you want to talk about it?” Terry asked, sitting beside her and wrapping a gentle arm around her. She leaned into him, dropping the phone to the mattress. He glanced at it and saw Soren’s contact information pulled up.

 “I just wish he was here.” she said plaintively.

 “Is… is this why he’s not?”

 “I don’t know why he’s not! He’s being so selfish.” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Then she shook her head. “No, he’s not. I didn’t mean that.”

 “I know.” Terry said, letting her lean back against him. “You just miss him.”

 “This is the one time we were really a family. And now even that is gone.”

 “I’m sorry.”

 “Why are you sorry?” she asked, glancing up at him. She tucked a strand of hair back behind his ear and squeezed his cheek. “You’re the one person who doesn’t need to be sorry about any of this. You’ve been great.”

 “What if just you and I went caroling?” Terry offered. “We won’t be any good, but it’s like you said; that’s the fun of it. Being really bad at something with the people that you love and laughing about it.”

 “I think I’d like that.” she smiled. “And I love you too, Terbear.”

 It was then that he realized they hadn’t technically said that before. He’d said he liked her. And that he loked her (she’d laughed, then it had become their thing). And she’d said she wanted him to meet her family. To be a part of it. But-

 “I- I’m sorry I just-”

 “Stop being sorry.” she clicked off her phone, setting it aside on the bedside table before pulling the blanket off her head and turning back to him. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. You’re literally the best and-” she took a deep breath “-I love you.”

 He smiled, unable to help it. “I love you too.”

 “Uh, yeah.” she grinned at him, winking. “You said.”

 He laughed, and even though the raised voices outside still drifted through the walls from time to time, it didn’t matter. They had their own little family right here. Because he loved Claudia, and she loved him. And that was a family in and of itself.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Does he still love me?

I’ve been feeling for a while that Runaan and Tinker argued before he and Rayla left on their mission. Argued hard, over him taking Rayla with him. Maybe over other things, too--the mission itself and some less-related issues. Behaviors. How, from Tinker’s perspective, Runaan always does what he’s told. Never thinks for himself. Refuses to accept responsibility for what he does, for the results of his own actions. (The Dragon Queen this, the Dragon Queen that) How he’s going to take Rayla, a fifteen-year-old unblooded assassin, on an assassination mission, because he can’t think his way out of it, and on some level doesn’t want to. How can he sit there and think that anything about that decision is okay? Because he’s not deciding. He’s abstaining. He’s dodging, using that DEX 18 for things it was never meant to be used on.

“Runaan, you can dodge swords and arrows all night long, but you can’t dodge this responsibility. You’ll get Rayla killed! You know she’s not ready!”

And Runaan just. Can’t. See. Where Tinker is coming from. He can’t. He’s trained himself too long to be hard enough to do whatever it takes, and that means shutting a lot of options out. He can be flexible as hell on missions, in every way possible. But he can’t think himself out of a wet paper bag when it comes to civilian decisions. Runaan’s honest-to-the-moon too hard. 

Runaan and Tinker have often understood each other on several levels at once, and even when they don’t really see where the other is coming from, they trust each other. Moonshadows earn trust slowly, but they keep it close to their hearts once they have it. These two have been through a lot together. But Runaan taking Rayla on this mission was just too much for Tinker. He couldn’t stretch his mind far enough to see what Runaan saw, and that scared him. Runaan had a place so quiet and deadly, so calculating, that Tinker couldn’t reach it. Couldn’t reach him when he went there. (this is where VIren lives, btw, that cold, calculating place--Runaan can absolutely go there too)  And Tinker had to decide: Do I turn cold and calculating in order to understand Runaan, or so I draw a line?

Tinker drew the line. Runaan’s the Slytherin, and Tinker’s the Ravenclaw. Only one of these will do whatever it takes, at any cost, and that’s the point where they found themselves. That’s the point where Tinker had to step back and say No. He wasn’t willing to risk Rayla’s life, even if Rayla was. That’s not how you treat your child. But in that moment, saying No to Rayla’s mission meant saying No to Runaan’s plan, and to Runaan. The plan to take Rayla was a reflection of who Runaan is. Runaan felt rejected along with his plan when Tinker objected. 

And so they argued. Maybe they separated. Do Moonshadows break up? Separate? Divorce? Somehow these words don’t seem nearly dramatic enough for the breaking of such a hard-won trust between two elves who love each other deeply, but who fundamentally disagree. What did they do?

*whispers* Runaan, Tinker, what did you do?

Does Rayla know? I guess we’ll find out. But at some point before Runaan’s lotus sank, Tinker lost a stripe on his right arm, a gem from his left horn, and the ringed horn tips he was wearing earlier. Did he set them aside with cool logic and hope that Runaan would come to his senses? Did he yank them off, pry that gem out with a screwdriver, and throw them all off a cliff into a raging river? Did he cry? Did he lock himself in his workshop and build things for a week straight? Did he protest the mission, yell at the Dragon Queen? 

A few lyrics selections from their songs:

(Tinker) [”I Am All That I Need,” Fleet Foxes] So it's true, I've gone too far to find you And the thumbprint scar I let define you Was a myth I made you measure up to It was all just water, winding by you 

(Runaan) [”Kiss From a Rose,” Seal] I've been kissed by a rose on the grey And if I should fall, will it all go away? 

(Tinker) [”Quelqu’un M’a Dit,” Carla Bruni] I am told that destiny is making fun of us It doesn't give us anything and it promise us everything It appears that happiness is within reach So we reach out and we find ourselves crazy However someone told me that you still love me It is someone that told me that you still love me Would it be possible then?

(Runaan)  [Full Moon,” The Black Ghosts] 'Cause all I want is here and now but it's already been and gone Our intentions always last that bit too long Far far away, no voices sounding No one around me and you're still there Far far away,

[unfinished tdp meta]

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

Rayllum Month 2024! (10/13)

i try to rationalize, “people are people,” but it’s like you’re made of angel dust

July 19th - Magic

This was another earlyyyy work for Rayllum Month! Gotta be one of my faves, regarding both the result and how much I loved writing it, (mostly/ish) slice-of-life Rayllum with just a dash of life-or-death kisses. As we do in the TDP fandom.

Rayla hated water, and she had good reasons, given that every experience with it had nearly resulted in her kicking the bucket. Of course, some of those fears were eased a little now that Callum was an Ocean mage, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her–and he’d proven it, time and time again–but that kind of trauma never truly went away.

Rain was part of that. Rain had been Callum going to get himself and Zym electrocuted, rain had been the snake’s rattle crushing in Callum's fingers, rain had been dooming her troupe, rain had been that night in the tavern with a big Drakerider, rain had been receiving the news her parents were deserters.

She wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she could control the weather and envious of Storm Dragons. She and Callum had been trekking through the woods for the better part of the day under cover of densely packed treetops, mostly shielded from the downpour. Now, though, the quickest way through this stretch of Xadia was straight through, instead of detouring through the forest and adding at least another day to the journey. Time they didn’t have, something she couldn’t ask Callum to do.

So Rayla rubbed her eyes and drew her hood up over her head, looking out at the open meadow with a wrinkled nose.

Callum set a hand on her shoulder, gazing at her worriedly with care coming from an endless well. “We can go around.”

She sighed. “No, we don’t have time to waste. I’ll be fine.”

He frowned a little, hooking his staff to his back and tracing a quick rune in the air. “Pluviam Praesidium.”

Rayla looked up to find a dome over their heads, shielding them from the whipping winds and likely the rain once they stepped out from under the cover of the trees.

She glanced up at him, at his bright, gorgeous emerald eyes reflecting the rain as he squinted out at the meadow, then back to her. The second they made eye contact, a soft smile stretched across his face, and he hooked their arms together. “Here we are.”

She swallowed. His arm would get tired, he’d get spent from the magic usage when he really should be saving as much energy as possible, but… she’d always been selfish. He’d always been selfless. He wanted to give, and she couldn’t seem to stop taking.

She looked down. “Thanks.”

He nodded, touching his forehead to hers. Almost as if he could read her mind, he assured her, “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Sky mages draw power from storms, right? Pretty sure rain counts.”

Especially because he was an Ocean mage now, too, Rayla reasoned, and let herself accept it. Let herself accept something sweet from him. Let herself close her hand over his upper arm and definitely not blush at the lean muscle under her fingertips. “I think it does.”

And for the first time in two years, Rayla wasn’t cold, wet, and miserable after stepping out into the elements. And she wasn’t alone, either.

Read more on AO3!

[theoakleafpancake]

Okay so I think I've had enough time to get my thoughts together, and after watching the new season twice back to back, here are my highlights for each episode (Basically me taking the thoughts I had written down and condensing them) (Do not keep reading if you haven't watched it yet :)) This is going to be a very long post

Chapter 1: Startouched

First of all, still can't get over Aaravos's crying. Pack it up, Santa Claus 🤚

The new Viren intro? Hello? Is he dead? He must be

Was very disappointed to realize that he was, in fact, not dead

Terry is still thriving. We stan him

Rest in peace, Sir Sparklepuff

Claudia was abandoned by her mother and her brother (in her eyes), and now her father, too, whom she sacrificed so much to save.

Her sobs are chilling

Soren is an icon, as usual, he and Opeli are the best duo

"Fellowship of the Pearl" ELROND??

Stella is the number one Rayllum stan

Seriously, why does everyone sleep in full uniform?? Except Rayla. She gets comfort

"What have I done" my poor boy is never going to sleep again

"He took our blankie" LMAOO

Barius could be an award-winning baker in our world

"I'll be fine. I have my blankie." I'm going to live by this phrase

Claudia, PLEASE get some therapy

Chapter 2: Love, War and Mushrooms

Ayo we get a Claudia intro now??? Leave my girl alone

SORUVS CRUMBS LET'S GOOO

"I'm happy to see you, too." Good. Now kiss

Karim's reflection in the crown :( poor Janai

"What am I not seeing?" Corvus, honey. There are weirdly-colored mushrooms. EVERYWHERE.

Not him having to babysit Soren and Hat

"But I will do what I must" Karim stop trying to be Viren

Ezran and Zym being brothers <3

Soren's carrying the entire show with the modern references "Among Us"

"If I ever start to doubt you, I'll know I am truly lost" crying rn

I did not expect Soren to have beef with a mushroom

Hello?? The parallel scene with Janai and Karim's speeches?? I am speechless?? It's beautiful.

Fun sized Zym!

YES JANAYA IS GETTING MARRIED

Each group adopted a baitling and I'm here for it

Chapter 3: The Frozen Ship

AARAVOS FORCED HIM TO USE DARK MAGIC ON THE SHIP???? HE WAS POSSESSED AGAIN???

"Aww, look at that pair, Sneezles and Snoozles" as he's having a traumatic nightmare LMAO

Terry is still waiting for her...

SNEEZLES WHY'D YOU RUIN THE KISS (Very smooth, Callum)

I love Earthblood magic

"Evil black ice" preach, Rayla

They really put the ship monologue in, didn't they 😭

"I mean, you can sit here and draw pictures up the ship, but does that change anything?" hey, shut up <3

Y'know what, forget the plot twists and everything, I wanna know how Claudia's nails stay perfect

Rayla sobbing over a love tragedy while Callum's out in the freezing snow

"Rayla, I'm here!" *door slams in his face*

"Rayla..." *gives a super soft look* "all this time...you were READING?" Writers how dare you

WE GET DAD LORE, EVERYONE. HIS NAME IS DAMIEN. HE WAS A POET. AND HE HAD A BREATHING DISEASE. Maybe the same like Soren? Could he have been saved with Dark Magic????

Callum just share the blanket...YES

Stella the wingman

Callum nO—WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER ABOUT THE DARK MAGIC RIGHT WHEN YOU WERE ABOUT TO KISS?

Claudia is slaying with that new haircut

TERRY WAS COLLECTING THE STICKS TO MAKE HER A LEG HJLEFHKBEFAHKBEF "I did it for you!" kuhewfkhuefw "I would do anything for you." YES

Idk why but the animation during the argument was just *chef's kiss*

"I promise." Hey. No. Stop it.

"I am a humble servant!" How the turns have tabled

Aw, Viren's begging and sobbing on the ground like the pathetic man he is.

"Good. You don't deserve any." LET'S GO, EZRAN

Chapter 4: The Starscraper

I was expecting Callum to just be shot up in the sky like he was walking into a geyser, tbh

but the starscaper is giving minecraft beacons

I was kind of expecting a "BUT it's a living creature and deserves to not be used for parts" but ig we'll settle for a "BUT it's sooo cute"

"Hello, we need help." "Drop." Well alright then

Claudia, yes. Step away from Aaravos. No, he does not deserve your help. nO

"I need to see my dad, he can tell me the right path" Yeah, I don't think she's gonna see her dad again

"How do you all feel about spiders" haha nOPE I'm out

Oh, yay. Sol Regem.

"No" HA

"No horns! But greasy hair..." dang Astrid what did Callum do to you

THE STAFFS. AND VIREN'S SHOULD BE THERE

The novablade was given to a human girl?? The Orphan Queen, mayhaps?? 👀

AARAVOS CAN'T BE KILLED???

Thank you Terry, for saving Claudia from using that vial

ohhh, Soren's about to get severe whiplash

Chapter 5: Moonless Night

Soren's serious and I don't like it

LMAO not Stella trying to steal Callum's book

"Maybe I just want to see you suffer" As you should, Soren

"And I'm so proud of you" "Everything you're telling me is some kind of lie" OUCH

Viren being miserable brings me joy

Not the wet socks :(

Rayla girlbossing as usual

her seeing the good in the ones that everyone else thinks is a monster >>>>

I want to pet Esmeray

Moana who? I only know Rayla

"Luna's love is with you even if she's not" didn't Runaan say something similar to Ethari before he left??

What's the significance of the bells

THE QUASAR DIAMONDS

HE DID IT FOR HER. HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HER. SHE GETS TO SEE HER FAMILY AGAIN

Imagine the first thing you see in your life is the stars...I think I'd transcend, too

THEY'RE SEEING EACH OTHER FOR THE FIRST TIME

Kosmo's getting his magical girl transformation

"Your star is...darkness" That wasn't very nice >:(

Lain's face is full of defiance while Tiadrin and Runaan are terrified

Poor Callum

The scene with Viren shouting to Aaravos he can't control him, and then panning to the fly caught in a spiderweb is a nice touch

Chapter 6: Moment of Truth

I'm sorry, what happened to "Hello?" "How are you?" WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT THE REAL PEARL? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S THE DECOY? WHAT DO YOU MEAN AARAVOS CONTROLLED HIM AGAIN?

The parallels of both Viren and Harrow writing a letter to their son

Lissa is gorgeous

Nooo, writers, stop trying to make me feel sympathy for the rat man

Kpp'Ar?!? Isn't actually a bad guy?

Kosmo you broke Callum

"You might have all the power of the cosmos but you're still dumb" Astrid ily

Did he just?? Hit the restart button? I want that. Give me the power of the cosmos :(

HARROW CAMEO

Callum's stronger than I am cause I would have walked out as soon as she mentioned the spider was going to bite me

"Without magic, you're just a frail old man" who's talking now, Viren

Oh. "I watched it fill with her tears" my hatred of you has increased tenfold, Viren

RAYLA IS HIS TRUTH. HIS LIGHT. THE ONE WHO BRINGS HIM BACK FROM THE DARKNESS

That letter needs to go to Claudia instead of Soren

Stella bringing out the popcorn lmao

THEY KISSED. THIS ISN'T A DRILL, THEY KISSED

"I love you" IOUHEFIUHGIUEGFIUGHEFWIUHEWIO THEY FINALLY SAID IT

Chapter 7: The Red Wedding

The way he caresses her face adiwefiijefjioef

MOON NEXUS. HER PARENTS. RUNAAN.

Not Stella being mean to Sneezles for messing up another Raylum kiss

Ooh, they're getting married! But Karim has to be a little POS and ruin it with an army

Aanya, beloved

Hmm I saw you moving closer to Ezran there

Janaya for life

"Specifically, we tried to kill each other" true love at it's finest

They keep bringing attention to Pharos's wound and I don't like it

Get married, kill your traitorous brother, and eat cake, all in a day's work

THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER they're literally perfect

"Of course I love my sister! I still want to take everything she ever loved from her!" Brother of the year award

So many of my problems could be fixed with an exploding arrow

Ezran didn't reach them in time IS HE GONNA DIE WITH THEM

Wait

LMAO SOL REGEM DITCHED THEM THAT'S HILARIOUS

Oh no he's heading for Katolis oh NO

Chapter 8: We All Fall Down

I am...I have no words for this. (Seriously, I didn't have a lot of notes for this bit. Just seeing Katolis being burned to the ground, the townspeople about to die...the writers were brilliant at letting us feel their horror and fear)

AARAVOS.

Hat survived tho

"Take good care of Hat" you act like you're about to die??

There are a lot of names I'd like to call Aaravos, but I won't say them

"I can't" oh do something for ONCE

"Take my heart." I'm sorry??? No???

Viren. Why is there blood on the knife what did you DO

He carved his own heart. He CARVED his OWN HEART

Soren's alive tho

THE PICTURES OF THE FAMILY JLKBEFJBKLFES

Ladies and gentlemen, Viren is finally dead. And even though I still hate him, his death sequence was top tier

CLAUDIA

Ew, pathetic beast (Sol Regem)

Aaravos, I hope you choke on your own tears <3

Claudia, the tragedy that you are

She lost her father TWICE

Nooo the pearl GET AWAY FROM HER AARAVOS

HE DID ALL OF THIS. ALL OF THIS BECAUSE THE PEARL WAS STILL THERE. HE KNEW SHE WOULD COME BACK FOR HER FATHER. AND HE NEEDED VIREN DEAD TO GIVE HER THAT FINAL PUSH.

I forgot Lujanne had a husband. Or boyfriend. Did she and Allen get married? I don't remember

Thank you for being the ONLY reasonable one here, Terry

Claudia and Callum are after the same spell??

He needed Sol Regem's bones :o

IT ISN'T THE REAL QUASAR DIAMOND?

"Veritas" hello Deltora Quest what are you doing here

HE HAD THE THIRD QUASAR DIAMOND IN HIS STAFF THE WHOLE TIME?? RAYLA HAS TO CHOOSE? WHY CAN'T YOU LET HER BE HAPPY DANGIT

Ooh Claudia's spell didn't work?

Chapter 9: Stardust

"It needs love" That was...not what I expected from you

Leola, cutie. Her and Claudia would have gotten along well

Callum made her a bracelet to bring her back <3

Rayllum!

RUNAAN? it wasn't the behemoth, he's there but he's corrupted? What???

LAIN AND TIADRIN!! And they're...dancing?

Ohhh the key was for a book

They're at peace. Runaan's not. I'm going to die

Leola looks so small standing before them

I love how the cosmic order is just like "oh this is the beginning of chaos" you are quite literally about to kickstart that chaos

The og trio looks so small in the flashback

THE REFLECTION IN THE POND SHOWS LITTLE RAYLA HUGGING HER PARENTS. ILUHEFIUGLEFIUHL

And thus, Leola's Last Wish was born

Oh Santa's back

They put his prison in his daughter's grave 😟

"You taught me to never break my promises!" Hey, so. Can you break the promise you made in Chapter 3?

"No!" Runaan get back here right now.

So Lain and Tiadrin have been dancing this whole time while Runaan's been living in a nightmare. That checks out

Ruthari <3

OOh the Aaravos/Runaan spell is just like the Janai/Karim speech sequence

RUNAAN IS BACK. RUNAAN IS ALIVE

OH NO CALLUM CAUGHT SIGHT OF KATOLIS BURNING

The wedding was supposed to be happy >:(

Aanya got to try her cake tho

Ezran, my poor boy. He was just going away for his aunt's wedding. Nothing was supposed to go wrong. He's still a kid.

Aaravos also gets his magical girl transformation

Hello?? He's literally a giant? Ohhh the "I swallowed her" makes sense now

Terry knows this is a horrible idea. What if Aaravos makes her turn on Terry?????

Is this why is voice is so deep?

Overall, season 6 was a ROLLERCOASTER and probably my new favorite season. There was so much going on, and it did not disappoint. I can't wait to see the next season, AND for those of you who don't know, there has been a mention of a third arc which means possibily 10 seasons instead of 7!!!!! But in order for that to happen we need to show as much support as possible so yeah! If we do get those 3 extra seasons I will never shut up about this series

[raayllum]

Hello! One thing I’ve been excited about by Runaan’s return is that he clearly knows something of Aaravos- which may or may not mean Ethari does. It could due to a number of factors, so narrowing down a why is difficult: dragon guard friends; working as the assassin leader directly reporting to the dragon monarchs; some kind of work related he must have seen places when out killing people experience (dark mages having Aaravos links is rather established); or else Xadian specific trivia/cultural lore Rayla either hasn’t heard to to interest, obscurity or being somewhat othered over her parents post the dragon guard’s failure so tales about Aaravos were suddenly taboo with his artefacts possibly missing. But, irregardless of how to a degree, in consideration of texts blurring out Aaravos’ name in Katolis in earlier seasons I’m really hoping we get something more in expansion of how Xaadia tells what went down (hopefully paralleled with what Aaravos is saying to Claudia!) and think there’s a possibility to make Runaan’s revival pull extra narrative weight efficiently!

Also Runaan calls the mirror a fate worse than death before then sort of dying in season one and that’s sort of answered as it’s Aaravos’ way to access the living world from his prison a bit sure but that is still a thing that expansion on would be delightful to see.

But the reason I thought to use an ask format is your beloved cube- it was taken at the same time as the mirror and is a magical artefact. So, I must ask if your forensic following of it’s every screenshot has you thinking Runaan may give insight into the key in any way or at least recognise it too! There’s no pressure intended, of course, but I thought it may be up your alley oohing and aahing to at least read and it could do no harm to direct your way enthusiastically.

I think realistically Runaan didn't/doesn't know more than what Lain and Tiadrin presumably did (hence trying to get one of the Dragonguard to take the egg, but they were still going to stay behind; in my mind, this was because of the mirror). They knew the mirror held something dangerous and awful ('worse than death') and possibly that it was a Startouch elf, but I'm not banking on them knowing his name considering that even Janai—a queen and descendant of Aditi (which makes me think that Aaravos wasn't even suspect in her death at the time) with the resources of the Great Bookery—didn't know him by name.

In my mind we've largely gotten Xadia's take on things (Zubeia) from someone who would have context. I think if we're going to get another lore drop that's not from Aaravos himself (as he'll have to explain some things to Claudia and Terry in S7), it'd reasonably be tied to Kpp'Ar given that he was participating in "ancient" magics / knows something about the Staff of Ziard (Aaravos' gift) that Viren never has. There's also other clues in supplementary material (book 2 novelization, Puzzle House graphic novel) that Kpp'Ar knows more about stuff related to Aaravos and deep magic than we've seen so far.

I think Runaan is out of the coin for 3 main reasons beyond just "Runaan gets to reunite and be happy with Ethari" (which is, to be fair, a decently good reason all on its own):

Xadia has to prove that it's not like the Cosmic Council. And they can do so, because Runaan changing will likely reflect the Silvergrove changing, and moving away from a place where they're willing to literally and/or metaphorically murder children (hi Ezran and Rayla respectively)

Runaan coming back is going to challenge Ezran and his efforts towards peace / breaking the cycle in a way that it is unlikely another character could.

Runaan is there to provide either a contrast or guidance to Rayla when it comes to love vs duty. He put duty above all else and seemingly regrets it, believing that it turned him into a monster, and this may help Rayla put love over duty next season (and thereby save Callum + humanity's hopes for primal magic by extension).

By being here he's absolutely going to further / already has furthered certain themes or ideas (father-daughter relationships, parent-child reconciliation, knowledge of the Moon arcanum and life/death which may be very important next season) but I don't think any of him as a character is particularly tied to knowledge about Aaravos more than what the main cast currently knows. I think Callum (and maybe Kpp'Ar) with help from Ezran (bc Orphan Queen royal lineage) or Zubeia could know or discover something about the cube going forward; I expect Callum to have fully solved That Mystery by the end of S7.

[fwitolei]

The Dragon Prince Thoughts 6x05 - Moonless Night

Previous Episode // Masterlist // Next Episode

Join the Taglist

Spoilers under the cut

“Oh, don’t worry about Viren, everything will be fine.”

Did you notice the way Soren hesitated when addressing Viren by his name? gahhh this poor man deserves happiness why can’t he get a breakkkk—

I wonder if they’re gonna pull some “Father-Lord” shit like Zuko and reference atla

THE WAY HIS FACE FALLS THE MOMENT HE LEAVES THE ROOM 😭😭😭😭

*crying noises*

“Oh, Soren, my son. Is that you?”

Woah Viren’s been in that cell for a while

There’s gonna be so much to unpack here watch

The way Soren absolutely refuses to look at Viren speaks volumes he’s so done taking Viren’s shit

And it’s the one time Viren isn’t giving Soren shit but he’s burned their bridge so badly Soren’s lost all faith and respect

Not to mention Viren took Claudia away from him too in a way

Lmao why was stella trying to steal callum’s book—

I wonder if Rayla learned that lullaby she’s singing from her parents

OOH or even runaan or Ethari—

Nah my bet is her parents

“Maybe I just want to see you suffering.”

Okay the repetition of the scene is totally intentional what are they trying to convey

Why does Soren keep going down there to see Viren when he knows all Viren has done is hurt him? What does he want?

“But with my eyes open, I also see… you.”

NO CUZ it’s the way Soren IMMEDIATELY starts crying when Viren says “you”

Like all he ever wanted was some form of acknowledgement from Viren his WHOLE LIFE but now that he’s got it it’s too late

Soren desperately wants to believe Viren but he’s been hurt so many times he doesn’t allow himself to

“Everything you’re telling me is… is some kind of lie!”

SEE THIS IS WHAT I MEAN

Viren has given Soren some serious trauma and self-worth issues, and even after two years of virtual peace, he’s still keeping it in

Everyone he trusted either didn’t care or isn’t even present in his life (lissa), so he always kept it in, using his “class clown himbo” facade as a coping mechanism

But now that his entire childhood trauma is literally sitting there staring at him he can’t take the idea of working through it all and that’s why he blew up

SEE NOW HE DOESN’T WANNA TALK ANYMORE

I wanna say he’s just not ready to face Viren but at the same time I don’t think he’s ever gonna be ready he just has to take the plunge

Wait is that Fen—

I thought he was with amaya in xadia

Did he get demoted lmao—

Wait does the standing battalion outrank the crownguard or the other way around

“On moonless nights you miss her the most.”

That is so sad omg—

Luna Tenebris disappeared centuries ago too so Esmeray’s been hurting for a really long time

Imagine that i could never 😭

“It’s the Corona of the Heavens.”

WAIT I THOUGHT VIREN’S STAFF HAD A QUASAR DIAMOND—

If all 3 are in the crown wtf is the stone in his staff

OH THE BLINDFOLD DESIGNS ARE LITTLE EYES I SEE IT NOW

OH WOW KOSMO’S CONNECTING TO THE STARS

Just like that huh

WOAH KOSMO PREDICTING FUTURES HERE

“But your path is… darkness.”

Does that mean callum is still on the dark path aaravos was talking about in s4? Or is kosmo just reflecting callum’s soul from his past usage of dark magic like how sol regem sensed it

Oh? Soren’s back

I wonder why he went back

“If you do not accept my words now, Soren, I want you to have them in the future… when you might need them.”

Okay nah this has got to be foreshadowing or something wtf is going to happen to soren—

Omg this was essentially a soren character study sorry lmaooo. I’m not too learned in trauma and all that stuff this is just my take on what’s going on with him I’m just really invested cuz he’s my bbg princess and i need him to be okay 💀

ANYWAYS considering that Rayla really connected with Esmeray in this season i wonder if she’s gonna have some plot relevance later on (i hope so esmeray is fuckin cool) especially cuz even kosmo commented on it and he can see the future. Soren BETTER BE OKAY by the end of this season i can’t take his pain 😭. And also i am SO EXCITED for rayla to see her parents again and for runaan to FINALLY go back to ethari like he DESERVES GAHH— 

But yeah good episode good episode 👍

[thatartiststudios]

Since it's been a while since I've updated on Let The Games Begin, here's an extra long snippet as a treat!

   The room fell into an uneasy silence, the weight of Callum and Rayla’s abrupt departure hanging in the air. Uncertain glances were exchanged between the remaining members, each one grappling with their thoughts, not knowing how to bridge the gap left by their absence. In that moment, the challenge ahead seemed even more daunting, the silence echoing the uncertainty they all felt. 

   Sadie, always sharp, spoke first. 

   “That was… interesting, huh? Callum really cares about Rayla.”

   Piper nodded, her strategic mind at work, “It’s more than caring. It’s clear through what they’ve told us that they’ve been through a lot together, you can see it. We can learn from that bond.”

   Carter chimed in, his voice steady. “We’ve all faced tough challenges, but there’s something unique about what they share. It’s kind of inspiring, really.”

   Leo, ever practical, added, “We’re in this together. Callum’s certainly not the only one with determination. We’ve got skills, and if we use them right, we can tackle whatever comes our way.”

   Piper, taking charge, said, “Let’s focus on our strengths. The Collector said these challenges are tailored to us, so we’ve got something special to offer. We just need to figure out what that is and use it.”

   Sadie agreed, “We can’t forget to watch each other’s backs. Unexpected things might happen, and we’ve got to be ready to adapt.”

   Carter remarked, “This is different from our usual battles. We need to be smart, use our heads. But we also need to trust our instincts.”

   Leo, with a smirk, said, “We’ve got brains and guts. That’s a powerful combo. And with Callum and Rayla’s bond as an example, we’ve got heart too.”

   And so, they continued talking, their words reflecting their individual strengths and perspectives. The conversation was more relaxed now, the initial tension dissipating. They might be facing challenges from a mysterious force, but together, they felt stronger, ready to face whatever lay ahead.

—

   In the days that followed, life aboard the Argo II settled into a routine. The first few days were indeed mundane, but they were far from uneventful. The heroes spent their time getting to know each other better, sharing stories of their worlds and adventures. Jason and Callum found common ground in their shared abilities over the skies and storms, their conversations often drifting into the intricacies of their powers.

   “Your father being the god of the sky must be incredible,” Callum remarked, his eyes filled with curiosity.

   Jason shrugged, a mix of emotions flickering across his face, “Well, not always. The gods aren’t always the best parents, but it does have its perks.” His tone carried a hint of both pride and resignation, a reflection of his complex feelings about his divine lineage.

   The camaraderie on the ship grew, weaving friendships among the diverse group of heroes. Piper’s charm eased the tension, her laughter becoming a beacon of positivity. Sadie and Carter, with their knowledge of ancient myths and magic, fascinated the others with tales of Egyptian gods and mysterious artifacts. Leo, the mechanic, found eager listeners in Callum and Carter, bonding over their shared fascination with technology.

   Amidst these interactions, Rayla found herself adapting to life aboard a flying ship. Surprisingly, her seasickness didn’t come into effect as the Argo II soared through the skies. Instead, she marveled at the vast expanse of clouds beneath them, feeling a strange mixture of awe and homesickness. Callum stood by her side during these moments, his presence a reassuring anchor in the midst of the unfamiliar.

   Navigating their course to Thebes, the heroes consulted maps and discussed strategies. They shared meals in the ship’s meeting room, their conversations ranging from battle plans to the quirks of their respective worlds. The ship became a hub of learning and collaboration, where each hero contributed their unique knowledge and skills.

   As the days passed, friendships deepened, and trust solidified. The challenges ahead seemed less daunting in the face of their shared strength. Unbeknownst to them, these moments of camaraderie would become the foundation upon which they would face The Collector’s trials, forging bonds that would prove crucial in the battles to come. And so, their journey continued, the Argo II carrying them steadily toward Thebes, each day bringing them closer to the unknown challenges awaiting them.

   The sun dipped low on the horizon, casting a warm golden glow across the deck of the Argo II. Leo, ever the instigator, clapped his hands together with a mischievous grin. 

   “Alright, folks, let’s see what you’ve got! We need to know each other’s abilities inside out to work as a team. So, who can fly?”

   Carter and Sadie exchanged amused glances before transforming into their bird forms, a graceful kite and a sleek hawk respectively. They took off, circling the ship effortlessly. Carter’s landing, however, was less than elegant, and he stumbled slightly, earning a teasing remark from his sister. 

   “Nice landing, brother dear.”

   “Very funny,” Carter retorted, regaining his composure with a mock glare.

   Next, Jason stepped forward, his eyes focused as he manipulated the winds around him. The air responded to his command, lifting him off the deck. 

   “I can control the winds. With Piper,” he glanced at his companion, “I can carry both of us.”

   Callum stroked his chin thoughtfully, a playful glint dancing in his emerald eyes. Leo, always eager for a story, couldn’t resist the temptation. 

   “What’s on your mind, Callum?” he inquired, his curiosity piqued.

   Callum cast a sidelong glance at Rayla, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. 

   “Just deciding if I want to go the easy way or the dramatic way,” he replied, his voice dripping with mischief.

   Rayla rolled her eyes, elbowing him slightly. “Just go for the dramatic, it’s what you normally do anyway.”

   Callum shoots back a look of fake annoyance before saying, “If you wish.”

   With a theatrical flourish, Callum walked over to the railing, feigning deep contemplation before leaping off the edge. Gasps of horror filled the air, except for Rayla, who merely crossed her arms, unimpressed.

   “Aren’t you worried?” Piper asked, her expression horrified.

   Rayla just shrugged nonchalantly, “Eh, he’s jumped off of higher places.”

   Moments later, Callum shot back into view, his mage wings propelling him upward with impressive speed. He landed on the deck, taking a mock bow with his wings still formed around his arms. Piper, her eyes wide with amazement, spoke up. 

   “I thought I saw you with wings when you arrived at Camp Half-Blood, but I didn’t realize what they were until now.”

   Callum walked over to Rayla, a triumphant grin on his face. He wrapped an arm around her, his wings dissolving as he did so, and she responded by playfully shoving him away, feigning annoyance.   

   “Show-off,” she teased.

   Callum winked at her, his eyes sparkling with playful affection. “Friendly reminder, you suggested it.”

Next Part