#but Rayllum is worth it

[konmaao3]

Callum painting Rayla's neck. 🥰

Slow motion:

Someone also had to draw the runes on Callum's neck ... however, I guess we will only see that in fanfiction.

(but of course it was Rayla, and because she doesn't have as much practice she needed several minutes, sitting very close to him the whole time ...)

[lovelysheree]

eternal imprisonment in a coin is suddenly looking really good

[rayllurn]

Callum's "down bad" face sure is something, huh?

[its-leethee]

Caught a Fallen Star

I am so excited to share this piece with y'all. I'm really proud of how it turned out. It's stupid detailed, so I implore you to open it in your browser to appreciate it properly.

I'm so ready for s6 to break my heart; how 'bout y'all?

[tategaminu]

they are the entire circus

[raayllum]

I value those close to me more than anyone or anything.

—Callum's Tales of Xadia biography

[amys-books27]

I was editing my first S6 edit, and why is Rayla so fucking gorgeous?

Every time I see her I melt from the inside out, I've no right to look at such a gorgeous person

[raylasgf]

[m4rs-ex3]

rayla + callum that one time when the other is gushing about them

[meganwasbored]

“You’re not actually gonna watch an entire show for one ship that you know little to nothing about, right?”

*makes a side blog for a show that I have not even watched one episode of yet*

[zenthejackal]

Dragon Prince: Book 5 Foresight

Okay, so I took a look at the interviews after Book 4′s premiere and from them, I’ve got some closure on some things I’ve been unsure about:

1) Book 4 really is a reset; they called it an Act 1 for the new saga (said saga might go through all remaining seasons or stop right after Book 6, not sure at this stage).

2) This new saga is going to get DARK! Losing Ibis is now considered the tip of the iceberg for me going forward...

3) Both Callum and Rayla have aged up their characters, and not so much in a good way.

3 i) Rayla is convinced that her mission to find Viren is the only “right” path for her to take to make things right. She’s seen self-sacrifice as a virtuous thing from both her birth and adopted parents, but she’s now taking it to a higher level because she feels like she has to. It took her 2 years going on this obsessive quest with no results to convince her to finally give up, and then try to come back to Callum by attempting to fix what she knew would hurt him. Now she has the cursed coins of her loved ones, 3 out of her 4 parents. Whose to say this will be her new obsession?

3 ii) Callum is heartbroken from Rayla’s leaving. As I’ve mentioned before, he’s had almost everyone he’s ever loved leave him: his mother, his step-father, now Rayla. All he has left is his Aunt Amaya (who unfortunately cannot always be there for him due to protecting the border, now enjoying her new life) and Ezran. (*I’m not counting close friends here; they’re important, but they don’t have that depth that these people do, sorry Soren...*) The only way for him to get rid of this pain is to focus on something else, and the bigger the pain, the harder the focus. For him: magic and Ezran. Magic is a powerful force and a great source of growth for Callum, but now when it becomes obsessive. While I feel like we don’t see an obsession very much in Book 4, we do know that those 2 things are both his highest priority. And we also now know that Aaravos preys on mages, specifically those fascinated and obsessed with magic.

4) Oh, almost forgot. Remaining seasons should be released at the same rate as the first saga! Assuming that Books 4-7 are used for this saga, our patience will no longer be tested in such a way ever again! HAHAHA!!

...So what now?

For Callum, “taking a different path” isn’t easy, and it probably feels impossible to him; “If I’m not a mage, what am I?” Magic is currently the one thing that completes him, as well as the thing that stops him from having all these painful emotions exploding out of him. And even if he’s able to handle them, he still needs to be willing to become vulnerable again in order to let new ones come in again. Being vulnerable once is one thing, returning to that state when you’ve felt excruciating pain from it, that’s very different.

For Rayla, she just let go of one mission and got another one. On top of that, she’s convinced that every “right” choice she has to make involves an extreme self-sacrifice (one that will hurt her and may even hurt others), and that it’s the only one she has. She also has her own type of obsessions involving protection. She now knows Viren is still alive, and she also has the “prison” holding her parents and Runaan. We don’t know what low she was at when she finally gave up searching for Viren the first time. Where will this new situation take her?

Another thing I just thought of: Book 5 is Ocean. Rayla hates water. What if this is a foreshadowing to her upcoming emotional state?

The underlying theme in this analysis is: it’s the obsession that destroys you. Learning and understanding magic isn’t evil. Protecting your loved ones isn’t wrong, especially if it’s done in a selfless way. But when both of these things are taken to their extreme, both of our characters slowly destroying themselves and push each other away. Rayla left due to her obsession with finding Viren to protect Callum and the world, hurting both her and him in the process. Callum is emotionally shutting down to cope with the pain, inevitably pushing back and hurting Rayla when she comes back.

Alright, gloom and dread out of the way. Let’s wrap up by looking at hope.

These flaws are critical, but not set in stone. Remember, “destiny is a book you write yourself!”

Callum put up walls to handle Rayla lying and leaving him and reinforced it by focusing more intensely on magic. Now she’s back and willing to fix what she broke, even if it means bearing all of his long held-back anger. No, this won’t automatically stop him from wanting to learn more magic. But it will allow him to focus more on Rayla and restoring/strengthening their relationship rather than being deeply-focused on magic.

Rayla has the coins holding her parents and Runaan back. But she also still has Callum. Even if he’s been holding her at a distance, he’s slowly reopening himself up again. Most people are calling his hug at the end of Book 4 “his forgiveness”, but I see it more of his “opening up to forgive”. Rayla now has a chance to get Callum back, something she’s been working on this whole time! This isn’t an either-or situation, more like a balancing one: learn how to release the coins, work on her relationship with Callum, and figure out how to stop Claudia/Viren/Aaravos. That being said, having Callum back in her life more intimately gives her that pillar that not even her parents (blood or adopted) can give her. With him, she knows she is loved completely and unconditionally.

The creators/writers put an emphasis on their character above relationships. This may seem threatening to the wonderful pairing that we love so much, but I still stand by what I’ve said in a prior post: the best relationships make each other better than they would be on their own. I see Rayllum as this state of their highest strength; Rayla doesn’t feel like she has to prove herself, and Callum doesn’t feel weak or insignificant. Whatever weaknesses they have (and they will still have them), the other will be there to help them get through it.

[celestialowlryx]

Right now, go upstairs to the game room. There, I have hidden an unusual cube with rune symbols on each side. This cube is an ancient relic that has been passed down through the ages. It belonged to an elven wizard in Xadia, the Archmage Aaravos, a master of all six primal sources. It is hidden in a box of keys because it is known as the "Key of Aaravos", and legends say it unlocks something of great power in Xadia. Perhaps it will be you, Callum, who discovers the key's secrets.

bonus:

[rayllurn]

Rayllum Month Day 3: Hands/Touch-starved "We haven't seen each other in two years. Don't you think it's worth staying up a little past your bedtime?"

[halyasgirl]

Rayllum's problems are Moonshadow problems

(and Runaan needs to help fix them)

Callum and Rayla have officially reconciled as of season 6, and while many were happy, some still feel that Rayla hasn't properly earned Callum's forgiveness as she's never directly apologized for abandoning him. Personally, I don’t mind that Rayla hasn’t apologized yet. I think it makes sense that she still doesn’t quite understand how harmful it was, because her “leaving to keep a loved one safe” was perfectly consistent with the values she was raised with. Specifically, the values Runaan raised her with, and he's been Rayla's primary role model throughout her life.

Rayla putting her body between an innocent child and someone trying to kill them and refusing to back down no matter the odds? Runaan.

Unhesitatingly going to her almost-certain death in the name of duty? Runaan.

Leaving her loved ones on dubious intel to stalk someone across the world like a vengeful persistence predator? Runaan again.

Rayla does know her leaving hurt Callum, but however bad she feels about leaving, she still thinks she's done the right thing, because Callum's safe. This attitude of leaving to keep others safe while striking out alone to deal with challenges is held up as an expression of selfless sacrifice in Moonshadow culture, and we see it play out for Rayla in her own family. Her parents leave her to protect the future of Xadia in the Dragonguard. Runaan leaves Ethari for his work as an assassin. Bluntly put, Bloodmoon Huntress is a story of Rayla being conditioned with these values, however loving her family is.

Rayla struggles with her resentment and feelings of abandonment when her parents leave, but starts to come around after seeing how Runaan and Ethari (happily married and deeply in love) rationalize this in their relationship. Rayla questions how Runaan could leave Ethari to do the things he does, how Ethari could accept it, and is told that bad things can be justified if you do them for the right reasons. This is clearest to her when Runaan and Ethari discuss this together, unknowingly overheard by Rayla.

Rayla emulates Runaan in her relationship with Callum, but Ethari understands why Runaan does the things he does, because he shares the same (questionable) cultural values, where Callum does not.*

I think the catch will be the entire moonfam grappling with where these values led them. Runaan has been described as the most Moonshadow of the Moonshadow elves, his particular brand of selfless ruthlessness is valued there. But he spent two years in a hell of his own making because he tried and failed to uphold Moonshadow society's impossible values. Was Runaan trekking across country to murder a 10 year old really doing anything to keep his people safe? Was it worth tearing their family apart?

I think seeing her family have to deal with the fallout of their actions may be the breaking point forcing Rayla to reevaluate her treatment of Callum. How do they move forward from this?

*This understanding is also built on the communication and trust Ethari and Runaan have built in their marriage, where Rayla broke her promise, lied to, and abandoned Callum. In Bloodmoon Huntress, Runaan trusts Ethari's judgement and respects his decision when he follows him into a dangerous situation, and they plan and work together to solve the problem. We know from "Ghost" they disagreed on Runaan's last mission and Rayla's role in it, but they discussed and came to an agreement, for better or worse. Runaan doesn't dismiss him and he certainly didn't lie and go behind his back. Rayla's dishonesty is definitely not something she gets from Moonshadow values or Runaan, but before we drag Rayla too much for this, recall that Runaan keeping his promises led him to try and murder a child, and Rayla's lies are usually a misguided attempt to protect others.

[parroset]

"elf sad" Clip Analysis!!!

(I don't know what else to call it, that is literally the caption for the video T_T)

TDP finally posted the clip from s6e1 where Aaravos sobs into the water, so let's analyze it!!

The first thing I want to point out is the reflection symbolism and ripples symbolism. In Ripples (the short story), we get the following line:

In other words, ripples ruin the reflection of the stars. (Tangentially related, but we have also seen many occasions of Aaravos himself ruining reflections, which I've written about here). However, in this scene, we first have view of the water, and the tears hitting the water. Aaravos then appears on the screen, first as a reflection that is blurred by the ripples created by his tears. The camera only pans up to the reflection's caster later in the scene.

AKA, the ripples are CREATING the reflection of a star.

I also love the way that he looks at his reflection, and then looks away towards the stars when he finds that he's not glowing. It appears to me to be a mix of guilt and anguish. The fact that he can't bear to look at his own reflection and looks to the stars instead is... interesting.

Another thing that I think is worth pointing out in this clip is the Rayllum parallels with Aaravos and the Merciful One. This scene is so similar to the scene in The Midnight Desert when Rayla was self deprecating and looking at the water, and Callum was telling her to shut up.

Rayla and Aaravos are both crying into their reflections, and Callum and The Merciful One are trying to pull them out of it. We don't have much info on what is going on in the new scene, but to me it seems to be around the time of the formation of the Sea of Castout/when Aaravos lost his powers. So, in this case, Rayla and Aaravos are both learning that they are "ghosted" or "cast out"--pretty much, exiled from their community. Callum and The Merciful One are both shocking them out of the tears. (I do think Callum was more effective than The Merciful One's weird cryptic words, though ;)).

I'm so excited for this season! The imagery and visual motifs are already excellent, can't wait to see what else season 6 brings!!

[raayllum]

In season seven we trust