#human aaravos was truly the way to go

[xxmychemicalmonsterzxx]

HUMAN AAROVOS IS SO FINE LIKE SCRUMMYDIDDILYUMPTIOUS

HUMAN AARAVOS MY LOVE ❤️

[sorinethemastermind]

"And I would say the third arc involves some new characters, some of the characters from the first seven, you know, the ones who survived season seven, but it's an evolution it's a next part of the story." - Aaron Ehasz on TDP Arc Three

Even before this quote I knew S7 would be heartbreaking. He already said that theme is "sacrifice" but I thought we would probably lose someone not someones. So let's break this down. Who is in the most danger?

Callum and Rayla

I think these two are in the most danger, honestly. It pains me to say it, but I think it's true. Not only did Season Six feature heavily around Callum asking Rayla to kill him and, on the other hand, Rayla asking him to sacrifice her if it came to it; we also now know that if Callum uses dark magic again he'll lose himself completely.

All of this leads me to think that either A. Rayla and Callum will be forced to keep their promises or B. they will be forced to break them. Either way, tragedy befalls our beloved Rayllum.

Soren

I have mixed feelings about how much danger Soren is in. On the one hand, he's the kind of person to use himself as a human shield, he's in charge of Ezran's protection, and I don't doubt that he would die for any of our characters or a stranger on the street. He's a true Crownguard. This makes me EXTREMELY worried.

On the other hand, we already had a moment in S6 where he had a chance to sacrifice himself, and they even made us think that he had for a moment. Which makes me think that maybe, because Viren died for his son and his kingdom, Soren will be allowed to live.

Amaya and Janai

I am so worried about our queens, because I think that if we lose one, we're going to lose both. I feel like there's a chance that the pair of them die for the future of Elves and Humanity. Alternatively, they could barely feature in the final season, offering shelter in the background of the story to the people of Katolis so that the Dragang can go off on their adventure without worry for their people back home. But I think that if it's a season where they feature heavily, we stand a good chance of losing them.

Claudia and Terry

Oh there are so many options for these two! I think there are two main possibilities, each with varying chances of survivability.

Option A. is Terry helping Claudia redeem herself. In this version of events, I think that Terry survives, but that there's an equal chance of Claudia sacrificing herself in her redemption and of her surviving.

Option B. is that while Aaravos is defeated in this final season, Claudia is not, and ends up being the final villain in Arc 3. In this universe, I think Terry dies in S7.

Either way, I think that both of them, but especially Claudia, is in grave danger in the coming season.

Ezran

The only character that I truly feel is safe is Ezran. I don't think he will escape this season unscathed, I don't think anyone will. But I think that Ezran represents a bright future and breaking the cycle, and I think for that reason he has to survive to champion that future.

[zuppizup]

Circumstance III

Circumstance II

Rayla pulled her hood low over her face, listening for the sounds of boots on flagstones. The moon was high and shifting into Moonshadow form barely required even conscious effort.

Sticking to the shadows, she crept along the hallway, making her way to the dungeon. The guard count was much more than normal, and she felt an extra twinge of guilt as she assessed how best to deal with them all. Had the others guessed she would try this? Or were they truly that afraid of Callum?

It didn’t matter and it didn’t change what she was here to do.

Taking a deep breath, Rayla snuck up on the first guard, slipping her arm around his neck and pulling tight before he could so much as react. He struggled for a moment, but Rayla’s aim was true, and he almost immediately slumped in her arms. As gently as possible she left him in the shadows, wincing just a little as his armour scraped on the stone. The other guards she dealt with in a similar fashion.

Quietly.

Confident she’d dealt with all the guards, she began to search their unconscious bodies, frantically looking for the key to Callum’s dungeon, but found them all lacking. They’d anticipated this too? No matter, Rayla didn’t need keys. Pulling a chunk of iron from her pocket, she approached Callum’s prison.

He seemed to be sleeping, curled up uncomfortably on his narrow bench. It took her only a few minutes to deal with the lock on his door, slipping inside the cell and reaching for the chains on Callum’s wrists.

He started, looking around blearily. “Wha?”

“Shush,” Rayla whispered, hands on his shackles. “I’m nearly done.”

“Rayla, what are you doing?” Callum squinted, clearly struggling to make her out in the darkness.

“I’ll explain once you’re out of here.” She breathed a sigh of relief as his second shackle clicked, hanging loose on his wrist. She got to her feet, gesturing for him to follow.

“I can’t run, Rayla.” He took her hand, unmoving, as he remained in the cell.

“Callum, they-” She bit her lip, blinking past tears. “The negotiations, they’re not going well. You can’t stay here.”

He took a shaky breath, eyes wide. “They’ve sentenced me to death.”

“No!” Rayla gasped, “Not yet- It’s- It’s not been decided. Ezran is still trying but- Callum, we can’t wait around any longer. It’s not just that. It’s not right for you to be locked up like this.”

“Rayla-” He reached for both her hands, shaking his head. “I know what I did. I know the danger we’re all in because of it. I can’t run from that.”

“I can’t leave you here!” She tried again to get him to leave. “You only did dark magic because you were trying to help people. All of this is because of that. It’s not fair-”

“I did it for you.” He smiled softly. “I did all of it for you. You know it and they know it.”

“No, it-” She bit her lip, trying desperately to think of a way to argue with him. “You’re the first human primal mage in centuries. Maybe ever. You’re smarter than all of them and stronger than anyone I know. If we’re going to stand a chance against Aaravos, we need you, Callum.” Her voice broke as she desperately willed for him to agree with her. “They can’t just- If they’re still angry after, then we’ll come back. Face them then, but we need you to help defeat Aaravos.”

I need you

He sighed and a desperate glimmer of hope blossomed in her chest. He wanted to rid the world of the threat Aaravos posed. He wanted to do good, he always had.

“Rayla, if we- there’s no going back if-” He shook his head as he reached out and cupped her cheek. “Xadia is part of the negotiations, right? If they know you-”

“I know,” she held his gaze, “I know, and I don’t care.” Reaching for his face, she kissed him hard, wanting him in no doubt this was what she wanted to do. “They can banish me from the entire continent or sentence me to death too, I don’t care.” She pressed her forehead against his, stroking his cheek. “I love you. I would do anything for you.”

Circumstance IV

[classicanalyzer]

Dragon Prince S6 Thoughts

"Sometimes the line between mercy and cruelty can be thin." Aaravos and Startouch Elves

Well holy shit, that opening really went from wholesome Viren (who is alive) hugging Terry and celebrating Aaravos’ supposed “lie” to OH GOD CLAUDIA KILLED A CHILD. God, it's really terrifying seeing Claudia give so much to save her father...it really hits home how Viren felt responsible for leading her down this route. The tragic thing is that I think Viren knows deep inside that as of now, he can't help her...but he hopes he can inspire her to turn back. Despite everything she did, Claudia's actions to save her father were all for nothing. She lost a leg and her soul (it is yet to be seen if her soul can be brought back) and yet by the time she reached home, her father died yet again...this time for good. Claudia's screams were really chilling and sad.

At least, Terry is always there for Claudia...though I'm worried about what will happen to him given Claudia's increasing mental dive into darkness and insanity. He rightfully points out how revenge is different from love and how it drove Aaravos to the deaths of God who knows.

I really love that Viren didn't choose to reveal what he did to heal Soren. It would've just caused Soren more grief and pain. That's one of the most best things Viren could have done before his sacrifice. He carries on the absolute shame (I felt chills when I heard how he obtained the last part of the spell) that he caused rather than “pass it on” so to say to Soren.

Viren’s true death feels fitting for him. All this time everyone close to him ask if he was willing to risk his life for another. Dark Magic has ruined so many lives and yet also saved so man in some cases. There is a price to be paid. But finally, he proved that he was willing to do that rather than find some other way to pay the price or back out. This time he paid the price and did a truly selfless action where nobody had to get hurt...other than him. He lived his whole life choosing what he felt was pragmatic and selfish with only a few moments of his good self showing...he chose to finally die a servant of his home. While Soren will understandably never forgive him for what he did to him and the world, he will remember him for his last act of unselfish genuine goodness and living up to his desires of atonement rather than going back. I also love how his last words are the last words spoken by Harrow to him.

"I am a servant. I am a...servant." Viren's last words

That entire ship episode is so hilarious with the meta-commentary. The Celestial Elves were a really cool sub-ect of Skywing Elves. I also love the parallels between dealing with Ice Behmeath in the present and the Magma Titan in the past. Instead of killing the beast which left people killed, they found what made it so sad and everyone lives.

Also Callum and Rayla are back together! So happy and I wished we didn't have the break-up personally but still finally.

I now understand the Soren and Corvus ship, and I approve.

I'm so happy that Amaya and Janai finally got married at last. Too bad Karim had to ruin all the vibes temporarily, thankfully, the two were able to salvage it. Amaya and Janai truly deserve the world.

The build-up to when Ezran and Corvus realizes the true plan of Karim is really chilling.

S6 really has me lowkey ship Ezran and Aanya haha. Two badass, wise, and compassionate young rulers who lost their parents...speaking off, I can't imagine seeing Ezran in S7 now that he knows his kingdom is destroyed.

Sol Regem really is responsible for the events of the show. While it is dark how he died and it's horrible how he was responsible for his soulmate's death, I can't say he didn't deserve his death at all. He was the one who laid the seeds for humanity's conflict with elves and utterly despises humanity. He literally choked and burned on his own element.

Katolis being destroyed made me sad since it was our primary setting in the human realm for 6 seasons.

The Startouch Elves gave me so many Collector vibes. Aaravos really is the Ardyn of Dragon Prince with a bit of Collector and I'm all here for it. Now all that is needed is for him to get a stylish hat and turn the sky into an eternal darkness. Also, Aaravos was really that big in his natural mortal form...which made S5's horrifying reveal of what he said make a lot of sense.

A major theme of S6 and the show is how revenge won't get you anywhere but further metaphorically drown yourself. Another major theme is love (platonically and romantically), whether familial, platonic, or romantic.

S6 really is an amazing return to form, and it felt like the quality of the first three seasons was consistent. I cannot wait for the final season of this saga. I did hear about them wanting to make three more books and I wonder how they can go from here...but I trust them to do right based on S6.

[salty-and-spiraling]

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THIS SCENE WAS LOWKEY TERRIFYING 😭

Aaravos’ disguises XD

[raayllum]

So what's the Mirrored Trio Theory?

The Mirrored Trio theory is, for lack of a better explanation, a two pronged theory regarding the way the main trio will parallel both the generation that led to / immediately received Aaravos upon his fall (himself, Leola, and a speculative human who may or may not have been a mage / helped to found Elarion) and how they may also parallel the Orphan Queen, Jailer, and Aaravos yet again. So put your tinfoil hats on and strap in because it's going to be a speculation heavy one, lads! We're going to get deep in the weeds.

Fallen Trio

So the first trio we want to talk about is what I'm going to, for lack of a better term / meta simplicity, refer to as the Fallen Trio, consisting of Aaravos, Leola, and 'Elarion' — our stand-in for a potential human Aaravos had a close dynamic with that may be intertwined with the human city of Elarion.

First, I want to talk about Aaravos and Leola. We get our first mention of Leola in S5, specifically with Leola's Last wish being a star for both Xadians and for humans, who use it to navigate and "to find their way in the endless darkness of the night." This is fitting given that what we know of unicorns from the book one novelization — that they gave primal magic and stones to humanity out of mercy and compassion — and that Tales of Xadia singles her out further as the specific unicorn to do so, although it omits primal stones from the equation:

This is, of course, a big parallel between Leola and some details we know from Aaravos as well, who also gave gifts to humanity: the relic staff that Ibis identifies as truly belonging to Aaravos ("It was a gift from one of the Great ones" / "If you seek to return that staff to its true owner...") and, as Claudia says, dark magic:

However, there's also been indications that Leola might've been a Startouch elf (tweet from Aaron Ehasz identifying her as the Startouch child + the star on the star chart map, although it's not entirely clear), that star magic can be reality altering, that Startouch elf designs had unicorn like horns protruding from their foreheads, and that history can change and shape things differently than they necessarily were.

Either way, unicorns are one of the few creatures we know to also possess the Star arcanum and, seemingly like the Startouch elves, are all but gone from Xadia (+ the Pentarchy)'s physical plain. And that she, like Aaravos, were two Star(touch) beings who both wanted to help humanity and help them develop magic, but did so in very different ways. Whether they are literally related or the same species, I think this parallel between them means they're set up to have an almost sibling-esque bond — one that existed, and one that accordingly fell apart under the brunt of dark magic and other disagreements, as TDP is prone to do.

(Put a pin in Callum and Ezran for now, cause we're going to circle back to them shortly.)

Bare minimum, Leola and Aaravos will have to be foils if not contemporaries of each other, given the closeness of their original goals in manifestation, regardless of motivation. This is particularly true given that Aaravos preys on mages in particular and that dark magic (plus a little Star magic, maybe?) allows him to literally possess people who have done dark magic, which can be no happy accident.

Given that Leola seemed dead set on giving humans primal magic, it seems unlikely she might've been too keen on a dark magic, alternative development either, which we know came after, thanks to Ripples.

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain. Humanity had been given something it was never meant to have.

So again, you have two characters with very similar goals/desires, but very different ideas of how to achieve said goals. This one of the reasons why, I think, that TDP loves to have siblings disagree, as it's an effective way of having more worldviews on display with some hope for reconciliation or the tragedy of deterioration, or both. Callum and Ezran stand alone as the one sibling pair that hasn't been terribly wrenched apart by political or ideological disagreements thus far, save for Sarai and Amaya, who were torn apart by Sarai's death.

Which brings me to my next point: if Aaravos and Leola had a sibling like bond, did he lose her to their potential ideological disagreements, or did those disagreements actually cost her life?

Whether Leola just walked away and likewise abandoned him (like Soren), became too distant in disagreement to continue having some sort of bond (like Harrow and Viren, and Janai and Karim), flat out died (like Khessa, Harrow, and Sarai), or all three, that could be one of the many cogs motivating Aaravos to keep turning the wheel of the cycle, as grief has often been the primary motivator throughout history, even amongst the 'villains'. A "song of love that loss" that Aaravos has chosen handpicked "instruments" for, after all (4x03, 4x04).

And like I said, Callum and Ezran are long over due to have a disagreement, given that they haven't had a substantial one since season one, and given that Ezran has grown to only be more assertive than he was since then, not less. This could easily be over Runaan (Callum, having already sworn himself to helping Rayla free her parents, and Ezran, understandably holding onto anger and grief concerning Harrow's death). I'm sure there are also plenty of other things they could heavily disagree over in the future, like military aid or action or how to approach trying to defeat Aaravos, etc.

The point to all of this is that I think Ezran could be a very good stand in for Leola — at least in terms of being selfless, deeply compassionate, uncomplicated, and adamant about giving people their freedom even at the cost of themselves and even if that gift can be misused or discarded (3x04) — which means Aaravos could offer a potential parallel to Callum in the sibling split. Aaravos, who turned to dark magic as an option regardless of or precisely because of the potential violence, and Callum, who argues for the Nova Blade whereas his brother still always champions a non-violent route thus far.

After all, TDP loves to have their "person A is estranged from their sibling and is determined not to lose their lover" parallel, given that it's happened four times (Harrow, Viren, Sarai; Viren, Harrow, Lissa; Claudia, Soren, Terry; Janai, Karim, Amaya) already.

Now, this could be wildly off base as we know very little about Leola and even less about her potential dynamic with Aaravos, but if we follow along with the idea that Ezran could parallel her and Callum could parallel Aaravos, I think now maybe we can talk about Elarion and Rayla.

Years ago we learned that there was a place on Xadia's map (both sides) that was named after someone who had a deep connection to him, and that many of his choices are based around this relationship. Given the Midnight Star poem, people defaulted to Elarion ("Elarion, black-eyed child / her twisted roots spread deep and far / The humans’ might sparked by the light / of Aaravos, her midnight star") although I've also considered Kalik.

And while I'm still not unconvinced that Elarion isn't just a name like Elara and Laurelion, before Aaravos changed his name, combined, I do think Elarion has to be important in Aaravos' backstory, and that it's more than likely that a founder of Elarion / a human involved with Elarion for a variety of reasons.

For starters, while we can be told that Aaravos had a soft spot for humans at one point, giving us a specific person or dynamic to think of is helpful in regards to emotional investment, and in helping to explain why he may have developed said soft spot. We also know, thanks to a birthday post years ago, that a human once gave him a gift:

He thinks that if he cared for the idea [of birthdays], he’d like to remember the taste of a smooth red fruit a human had plucked from a tree for him, once. It had been so crisp, and so sweet.

While this could've been the Orphan Queen (we do know, thanks to 1x01, that there's a tree planted in the castle courtyards 300 years ago, but we don't know it was an apple tree), an apple transfer like this one feels far more "Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and knowledge isn't always a Good thing" type schtick. Not only does it seem to indicate a more intimate bond, it also might foreshadow the reason Aaravos Fell.

One of the most interesting, but perhaps more discreet, reasons I think there's a connection between 'Elarion' as a person and Aaravos is because of the nature motif running between what little we know of Elarion and to do with Aaravos' mirror and appearance motifs. The Midnight Star is riddled with flower and nature symbolism, referring to it as a "trembling seed" and "fading bloom," that "her roots took hold" and later became "twisted," and that before the gift of Aaravos, she was "wilting" with "bone-white branches". And Aaravos' mirror and the box that held his matching key have blooming flowers on it.

See the flowers along the bottom on the actual frame of the mirror, then sculpted along the sides, and the top? Yeah. We also know that flowers themselves, thanks to Tales of Xadia, are featured in a story told both in Katolis and amongst the Moonshadow elves in particular, featuring an elven thief who steals what you value most, leaving only flowers in their wake. This is the only story in all of Tales of Xadia that we see two cultures share, even if they interpret it wildly differently.

Flowers that were always gone by morning, and gifts that couldn't be accepted or understood ("I’ve got one more gift for you, Callum: I'm going to keep you safe. I have to. I love you too much not too [...] Taking on hard choices and going to dark places is an act of love. It’s a gift. So, please let me give you this gift, Callum. Stay safe, and stay in the light").

We also know that whoever Aaravos loved, he inevitably lost whether due to time or tragedy. While this form of grief is one the show has explored, it was previously largely only through Harrow, who mourned Sarai for 9 years upon losing her, and who avenged her by slaying Avizandum, and more briefly through Ethari believing Runaan was dead.

That was, until season four, where Callum grieving Rayla and dealing with the fallout of that grief and distance turned it into more of an accentuated plot point, both before and even after her return.

Before, losing your partner in this manner would've been something Callum had witnessed, but not experienced. Now, whether the show wants Callum to sympathize with Aaravos or not, it is an experience that they could both understand, particularly if it is going to be one of Aaravos' main motivators.

Thus, we have a disagreement set up between 'siblings' (Leola, Aaravos; Ezran, Callum) as well as lost love (Elarion, Aaravos; Rayla, Callum) as a big motivator for choices, grief, and what possibly led to the fall. That Aaravos, at least in practice / thematic lineups, being a Callum who lost his Rayla and his Ezran*, and then lost himself.

Therefore:

Aaravos — Callum

Leola — Ezran

Elarion — Rayla

[ * This is not to say that Callum would pull an Aaravos and go on a hellbent 1000+ year revenge scheme, because he's not like that, but I do think it could be a very poignant and apt parallel of giving him and Aaravos more in common than they currently have, which is about nothing but magical curiosity and connection. ]

However, 90% of this is all speculation of things that have been kept supremely under wraps. For something a little more tangible simply because we have slightly more information, let's talk about the

Imprisonment Trio

The Imprisonment Trio, as the name implies, refers to the two humans who seemed to directly (the Jailer) and potentially indirectly (the Orphan Queen) be involved in imprisoning Aaravos (the third in this trio). This time, however, I'm going to argue that Aaravos — in terms of his imprisonment — is going to parallel someone other than Callum, but we shall see.

To start, I want to look at the Jailer and the Orphan Queen, since their parallels to Callum and Ezran respectively are the most obvious.

We don't know for sure whether the Jailer came from Katolis, but we know that the Orphan Queen did, eventually taking on the throne from the previous royal family and starting Harrow and Ezran's royal line, first hinted at in 3x05 with "Only orphans can ascend to the throne". Ezran has been directly compared to her in both role and appearance by the show's framing and by characters like Rex Igneous in 4x08: "I should have seen it before. Long ago, it was a human who saw through the Fallen Star's schemes and helped Xadia put an end to them. You look so much like her." This plays well into Ezran's tendency to discover or unearth long lost things, most notably Zym's egg, just as the Orphan Queen became the Truthteller of Aaravos' treachery.

Callum, for his part, is a human mage, just like the Jailer. He's clever, very talented with magic, and despite being Aaravos' preferred prey as a mage will ultimately — like the Jailer — play a role in his defeat. He will also work with and for the archdragons and their wills, but has no problem being disobedient either, in the name of concern or mercy, much like how the Jailer kept Akiyu alive rather than tell the archdragons the truth. And like the Jailer, he understands the potential danger of knowledge: "The entire world would be in danger if she let him live with this knowledge" / "I need you to kill me."

Like the brothers, they were a (future) royal and mage working together, starting off what perhaps was a long tradition of Katolian monarchs having high mages. If, as often theorized due to having an Aaravos-y twin box (S2 novelization) and his love of puzzles, Kpp'Ar is indeed descended from the Jailer, that adds another layer onto Kpp'Ar being one of Callum's predecessors as High Mage. While Ezran has the job and the bloodline of the Orphan Queen, Callum would've more directly inherited the position of (high) mage from the Jailer's thematic and occupational line.

Granted, there are differences. Most notably, the Key of Aaravos was given to Callum, not to Ezran, although there could be potential future parallels between the brothers and the Sunfire siblings, with Karim unable to undo Kim'Dael's chains because his sister is still queen, and the brothers needing to work together to fully use the cube. I wouldn't be surprised if Ezran learns more about the cube and the Orphan Queen in S6 while Callum still has some unknowns to its true meaning, leading to some delicious dread and dramatic irony. But I digress.

The point is that the Jailer and the Orphan Queen both had their roles to play in imprisoning Aaravos, and that Callum and Ezran, respectively, will both have their roles to play in trying to keep Aaravos contained, only to inevitably somehow fail in a way that allows him to escape, if by another's hand. We do know the brothers will be going to weird ruins in a future season thanks to some out-of-context spoilers that have yet to pass, and the Ruins of Elarion would certainly fit:

Which, just like the out-of-context spoiler card, you might've noticed that I haven't mentioned Rayla and who she's going to be paralleling yet. Well, that's because this time / generational pass around, I think she's going to be the primary foil to Aaravos.

Now, this train of thought isn't new by any means. I've thought Rayla paralleled Aaravos reasonably well since S3 aired largely due to their status as ghosted/banished elves, a compassion for humans (at least implied for Aaravos) that other elves disapproved of, and their dynamics with Callum and Viren, respectively.

Both Rayla and Aaravos have to work to earn their high mage's trust ("And should we trust you? Have you told us the truth about everything?" / "And why should I trust you?") over the course of season one for Rayla and season two for Aaravos, ending in promises of allegiance and togetherness: "You've got to stay with me" / "I will stay with you" (2x09). Aaravos leads Viren to his doom in being tackled off the Pinnacle, and Callum throws himself off the Pinnacle after Rayla.

You can imagine my delighted surprise, then, when S4 simply cranked it up even further: Rayla was hunting Aaravos' mage ("I spent two years hunting"), and Aaravos was hunting Rayla's mage ("Yes, mages were his prey"). Rayla wants to protect Callum and kill Viren, and Aaravos had promised to save Viren and use Callum. Even for Callum himself, 4x04 and 4x07 seemed like clear set up for Rayla symbolizing agency in Callum breaking free from Aaravos' control someday, putting the two in literal opposition to each other. Two potential paths (although picking Rayla, at least at first, may not be mutually exclusive from picking Aaravos).

Rayla, who was also harshly punished by Xadia with no trial.

This isn't to say that Aaravos didn't do anything wrong and is being unjustly punished — far from it — or that Aaravos' imprisonment and subsequent freedom won't have parallels to anyone else like say, Callum, who will likely be imprisoned by Aaravos through possession in S6 and ultimately freed by Rayla. More so that imprisonment of different sorts has been a running theme throughout Rayla's arc, and that Callum — who is primed to be Aaravos' chain breaker, whether through possession or not — could also be hers (if not just her parents') the way he has routinely been in the past, whether it was from instigating the events that eventually led to her binding (chain) coming off or saving her from being emotionally stuck (3x08) or from doing anything for her freedom (5x01, 5x08). He's primarily been someone who is tethered to freedom when it comes to recognizing and breaking cycles (chains of history) or literal restraints, and it's only in season four and season five that he's shifted to being both tied to freedom and having himself restrained.

I've speculated in the past this may result in Callum (and Ezran) leading to Aaravos' release in order to save/free Rayla; however, the show may not want as much of a repeat from 5x08, and freeing the Moon fam from the coins also resulting in Aaravos' freedom through an escalation of events would also keep that ironic thread, so it could really go anywhere.

Two humans, one elf, and endless tragedy, repeating and breaking cycles all at the same time. Ezran, discovering important info about his ancestor and possibly the Key; Callum, following in the Jailer's footsteps and unravelling the final puzzles of the prison and figuring out how to undo it; and Rayla, ghosted, banished, vying against Aaravos for the control and agency of his latest pawn who also happens to be the love of her life.

So for the Imprisonment Trio:

The Orphan Queen — Ezran

The Jailer — Callum

Aaravos — Rayla

In Conclusion

Is any of this something? I don't know, honestly. I think it's plausible, at least partially. I think it'd be neat. We know TDP likes varying intergenerational parallels and looking at how history repeats, whether that's directly through family (blood or not) lines, or by having repeating plot points (the dragon quartet, or Rayla being immobilized) and trials (Rayllum facing Sol Regem, much like Ziard, etc). We know there was someone Aaravos loved and lost, we know he's not above using what people want against them, and the connections between Ezran and the Orphan Queen are just Text at this point, although how they may manifest further, we don't know.

This is just one particular stab at it, and an examination of three of the series' most interesting (potential) trios. We'll simply have to see if anything here hit the nail on the head.

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

—Dragons Out

[redr0sewrites]

Aaravos x reader Hcs

here r some aaravos hcs bc i am in pain i wrote this with killer cramps while running on 4 hrs of sleep and an energy bar so i cant promise this will be good.

🥀CW: fluffiness, teasing, smut, thigh riding, subby aaravos, oral (reader receiving), hair pulling?, wax play, overall filth

🥀minors dni with nsfw part

SFW:

after being trapped in the mirror for so long, aaravos is severely touch starved

whether u two are in a romantic or platonic relationship, your personal space is his personal space as well (unless u tell him to leave you alone, but even then he'll still probably tease)

He is the type to just walk up to you and rest his arm on your head

he is TALL

if you are short (like me) and you ever need to reach something up high, this man practically materializes behind you to grab it for you he will hold it above his head and giggle while you struggle but will eventually give it to you

i feel like hes the type of person to enjoy slow and "elegant" music he would love my way by frank sinatra you can not tell me im wrong bc im not

aaravos will pull you into a slow waltz at random times

he enjoys the arts, and i feel like he would enjoy painting and doing sketches of you

he LOVES it if you play with his hair, just run your hands through it and he will literally melt

if you can do pretty hairstyles or braids he will be very content in relaxing while you do his hair

aaravos definitely enjoys reading, and would totally read to you if you asked (he would tease u a little tho but thats ok)

"do you really enjoy my voice that much, little star?"

he has the most stunning laugh

normally he just lets out small chuckles or smirks but the first time you make him genuinely laugh you just sit there in awe

he is ✨fabulous✨and takes forever to get ready

the type to arrive fashionably late (he will make an effort to arrive on time for dates tho)

hes a total drama queen and will make a huge deal about kissing you

he acts all confident but in reality is ridiculously nervous when he first met you

you were the first person to truly capture his heart and he doesn't want to fuck it up

he knows he isnt the most easy person (elf??) to love but will make an effort to be better for you

he prefers to listen in conversation rather then talk alot, however if you ask him about something hes interested in or ask him a magic question or something he will gladly talk for hours

enjoys holding your hand, you two are practically linked at the waist

he worries more then he lets on and will enchant little objects and give them to you for protection when he isnt't around

NSFW

whether you are with him before or after his imprisonment, he is EXPERIENCED

he likes positions where he can be close to you such as missionary, but also likes you on top of him/riding him

SWITCH‼️

if you pull his hair or his horns he will immediately submit

he likes to use his size to his advantage and pin you down

really into biting and marking, esp after his imprisonment, he wants everyone to know your his

whether your human or an elf, he will overstimulate you

he can go for hours

i feel like he would prefer giving to receiving, he will eat you out or suck you off for HOURS until you are whimpering for him to slow down

if you have boobs, he will mark them and play with them there is no question

RIDE‼️‼️HIS‼️‼️‼️FACE‼️‼️‼️‼️

he is 1000% into wax play he can make his hands really hot or cold and the sight of u with wax slowly dripping down your chest makes him feral

wouldnt mind if you did the same to him 👀

i feel like he would be super into it if you rode his thigh, he would be mocking you the whole time but it would turn him on sm

"you couldn't wait at all, hmm? is your pretty little cunt/cock really so needy that you had to be this impatient? acting like a bitch in heat, covering my thigh with your slick. your going to have to clean up your mess dear~"

he gets pissed if he asks you a question and you dont respond

super into eye contact during sex, he thinks its very intimate and attractive

your pleasure ALWAYS comes first with him, he will make you come at least twice before coming on his own

i dont think he would be super into causing you a lot of pain, like i dont think he would want to hurt you alot but will pinch and occasionally slap if your into that

super into being in pain for himself though

edge him until hes sobbing, then overstim him until his thighs are shaking

GLORIOUS THIGH GAME BTW

cover them in marks, he will admire them later

overall a very attentive and sensual lover, but definitely has a dirty side<3

can you tell i have an obsession? lmao. i tried to make this super gender neutral, lmk if there are any mistakes! reqs are open, im considering getting into writing some more

[kradogsrats]

Where DO the fabled Great Ones hide?

So recently pulling together that in Xadia there were initially only the first elves, then there were primal elves, and then eventually there were no more first elves... we've been left with the question of how and why did primal elves come into being, and correspondingly, where did the first elves go?

To get a sense of timeline: if Aaravos is, as he claims in the Book One novelization prologue, one of the first elves, there were presumably still at least a few around as recently as 1000 years before series time—at least, if we're to believe that Ziard's "one of the great ones" answer for who gave him the staff is obfuscating that it was Aaravos for anyone other than the audience (which it may not be). The shift from "first elves" to "great ones" implies that they are, at the least, vastly inferior in population to the primal elves. Then by 300 years pre-series, all but Aaravos are gone—when push comes to shove, only the archdragons contend with him (there are none of his kind standing against him) and he has no allies (there are none of his kind standing with him).

The neatest, though by no means only, conclusion to draw is that the first elves somehow became the primal elves. But why would they do that? By all accounts, it's a definite step down—Aaravos can draw magic from any primal source, but we have yet to see a primal elf with magic beyond their own primal. Star, if it can truly be considered a primal source, is also implied to be stronger than the others, so cutting it off in order to dedicate yourself to another single primal isn't doing you any favors. And I mean, come on—primal elves are mortal, and we're given to believe the first elves were not. If some of the first elves became the initial primal elves, it seems like it would have to have been either a significant sacrifice on their part or something that was done unwillingly. Which means we're getting juicy.

Here's five far-fetched but 100% serious theories:

Theory 1: Primal elves for primal stones

This depends a bit on the exact relationship between the first elves and primal magic, which we don't know for certain—one possibility is that the first elves had equal access to all available primal sources as well as deep magic, but another is that primal magic was the sole domain of the dragons and other mortal creatures of Xadia. Aaravos has mastered magic of all primal sources, but I have to wonder if that was only because he was "fallen" and stripped of much of his natural power. Given that we see him cast primal magic with runes, it seems possible that primal magic is not native to the first elves the way it is to the dragons—Zubeia doesn't need a rune to cast Vocare Nimbum. If first elves had a similar natural ability with deep magic, that could put them on par with the archdragons in their power... and even if Aaravos was stripped of his deep magic ability, becoming an archmage of all primal sources would still make him a formidable opponent for Avizandum and Zubeia.

Anyway, if there were the first elves, with only/primarily deep magic, the dragons/creatures native to Xadia with only primal magic, and then humans with no magic, giving the suffering humans access to primal magic as a leg up makes sense in that it puts them on equal ground with their peers (the other mortals of Xadia) without elevating them too far. So what if, to craft the first primal stones and teach humans primal magic, Leola and her cohort had to become primal elves and bind themselves to a single primal source in order to understand it so thoroughly that they could trap it for use? I've theorized before that creating a primal stone requires star magic, but it definitely also requires magic of the primal that is being stored—if the first elves were not naturally primal mages, it may have been a necessary sacrifice. This would also complicate the "gift" of primal magic in that not only was it not intended for humans to receive, it wasn't Leola's to give in the first place.

Theory 2: Punishment that suits the crime

a.k.a. "well if you love primal magic and mortals so much, why don't you marry them"

Short and sweet counterpart to Theory 1: the punishment for Leola and her cohort after giving humans primal magic was to have most of their power and natures removed through becoming primal elves, mortal and chained to a single primal source.

Theory 3: Pacifier for the archdragons

At the time of the show, the primal elves don't seem to worship the archdragons, but they do serve and revere them. However, it's strongly implied that at least some primal elf cultures worshiped at least "their" archdragon—the specter of Sol Regem is basically inextricable from Sunfire elf rituals, and Rex Igneous demands extensive tribute essentially in sacrifice to him. Also, if there's one thing we know about archdragons, it's that they're proud to the point of arrogance. With the first elves as their peers, how would the dragons feel about humans directing their attention and worship to the stars? Probably not thrilled!

In that situation, it's possible that the first elves decided to create new elves in their own image, but bound to the primal sources and subservient to the archdragons, as a gesture of goodwill (possibly while rolling their eyes) to keep the peace (and stop their whining). Those primal elves then multiplied, formed their own societies, etc.

This one does leave the question of "... then what happened to the first elves?" but still. Though it could coexist nicely with the next...

Theory 4: Imitation is flattery

Honestly kind of stupid counterpart to Theory 3: it's the archdragons who decide to create their own primal servant copies of the first elves. Could they do that? Big shrug. Could they do it with the help of Someone(tm) among the first elves? ... slightly less big shrug.

Theory 5: A Lost Midnight War

I fully admit that I'm going kind of insane, BUT hear me out. In Patience, Aaravos asserts that after the gift of primal magic:

Humans would come to build great cities and fell great foes. They would thrive.

"Build great cities?" Yeah yeah, Elarion, we've all seen it... but wait, what was that second part? Exactly what great foes were humans felling? That seems kinda important, given how the politics of the time are described, but Aaravos chooses not to elaborate.

Then in Midnight Star we have the story of a situation where Elarion, in her tenacity and kindled power, attracts the ire of the dragons and is abandoned by the stars that she thought were her benefactors—except for Aaravos, who gives the saving gift of dark magic. The poem has a kind of compressed and figurative timeline, in that (as known from Ripples) humans received primal magic before Elarion's rise, so the impending doom in Midnight Star can't be the calamity of Ripples. That was also a punishment meted out by the stars rather than the dragons. The threat in Midnight Star also can't be the implied razing of Elarion concurrent with or following the human expulsion, because the implication is also that this is when Aaravos offered dark magic—he can't be only just now offering the thing that was the cause of the dragon's wrath in the first place.

So here's a theory: sometime in the intervening however many thousand years between humans receiving primal magic and dark magic, some kind of conflict arose between the remaining first elves and the archdragons. Humans having been given primal magic by some faction of the first elves (whether or not they were punished for it) and their subsequent rise did not help matters, and could possibly even have been the cause of the conflict in the first place. The archdragons, for whatever reason, came out on top—maybe there was internal strife among the first elves, or maybe their numbers had already diminished. The remaining first elves are given the choice of submitting to the archdragons as primal elves ("donned their masks") or leaving Xadia forever ("turned their backs"). Either way, humans were abandoned to their fate, and Aaravos is the "last" star remaining on Xadia proper.

The poem is very figurative overall, but particularly in its final stanzas—Elarion is a "dying husk," but Aaravos's gift revitalizes her to be more powerful than ever. My interpretation is that for the entire poem, "Elarion" has been a stand-in for humanity in general, possibly without any relation to the city of Elarion at all, and what is being described by "dying husk" could be the period of human suffering that preceded dark magic. We know that Elarion had a prolonged rise and golden age of literally a thousand years before humans were expelled from Xadia, and yet we are told that before dark magic, humans were weak and starving—either that's a straight-up lie (entirely possible) or something happened to cause human fortunes to change from good to bad. Something like... a period of direct and brutal punishment and oppression from the archdragons and their servants. Maybe at the time the poem is describing, Elarion the city was destroyed or hadn't even been built yet, and the eventual flourishing city humans are exiled from is built on the strength of dark magic, after all. (As I mentioned elsewhere, it's getting more and more to a point where the timeline simply doesn't make sense if Ziard was truly the first dark mage ever, rather than just the first one Aaravos manipulated into causing problems on purpose.)

Anyway: the first elves, facing defeat, either assimilated as primal elves or left Xadia entirely. (Or a secret third thing, as with Aaravos, possibly related to his "fallen" status.)

Also "elves either depart the world forever or choose to become mortal" is another very Tolkien thing, like just saying.

Bonus cursed theory: primal elves are the extremely unlikely offspring of first elves breeding with humans. I'll actually be really mad if the real answer is something that garbage, but if I have to think about it then you do, too.

Double-bonus EXTRA-cursed theory: primal elves are the extremely unlikely offspring of first elves breeding with dragons. I'd still be mad about this one but also kind of impressed that they went there for real.

[requiem-rose]

So! Thoughts on season 6 (this will be out of order): 

Re: Rayla’s family: the fact Rayla could save two people but knew her mom and dad would rather pass on together than be without each other is both *chef’s kiss* and T.T Plus out of the three elves trapped, the one who was saved was the one who ‘deserves’ it the least…*double chef’s kiss* 

Claudia was so close to changing her ways, it was painful to watch. 

Glad Callum told Rayla about using dark magic again before they got back together. And Rayla is more concerned about how using it hurts him rather than it being the wrong thing to do <3 

Kosmo being able to see possible paths the future can take! That’s kinda linked to my whole ‘multiple realities’ theory! I’ll take it! Also, on that note, Kosmo, buddy, I get not telling Callum the truth before having him all fixed up, but after???? THAT’S KINDA CRUCIAL INFORMATION TO KEEP TO YOURSELF. 

CALLUM’S BIRTH FATHER LORE! A poet named Damian who was chronically ill but in Sarai’s words ‘the strongest man she ever knew.” 

Viren didn’t have to trap K’ppar in a coin to get the staff and save Soren, he only did it after K’ppar threatened his position as High Mage…

No offense, Lissa, but the spell wasn’t actually so horrific (not as horrific as I thought it was gonna be, anyway) If all he needed was your tears, why not just give them? I mean, I suppose she thought with what Viren looked like he did something truly vile and she didn’t want to be complicit, but…

Viren physically manhandled Lissa! And then she left! Can’t blame her, but WHY NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN WITH YOU?

I knew Viren blamed Soren for Lissa leaving. Jackass.

Feel like Callum and Rayla won’t be able to keep their promises to each other: Callum won’t be able to choose the ‘greater good’ over Rayla, and Rayla won’t be able to kill Callum if he ends up corrupted—which, let’s be real, he’s going to end up getting corrupted. They wouldn’t have Kosmo drop that warning if it wasn’t going to become relevant later on. 

Rayla is Callum’s deepest truth! Awwwwwww. Interesting how she is both the reason he started ‘walking the path of darkness’ and the reason he was able to get off of it (for now)! Which leads me to hope that if/when Callum becomes corrupted in S7, Rayla will be the one to save him. 

KATOLIS WAS DESTROYED! NOW THAT IS TRULY AN EXAMPLE OF A STORY’S DARKEST HOUR. 

Haha, Sol Regem abandoning his followers was NOT a surprise. Him aiming his ire at Katolis was, though. Was there something he had against that kingdom specifically or was that just the closest human kingdom he could get to before he succumbed to his injuries? 

The prejudice towards humans really irks me. From Karim to Sol Regem to the Startouch elves themselves…

Rayla and Sarai parallel with the behemoth and magma titan!

Rayla singing! RAYLA SINGING! 

Now we know what put Aaravos on his path to villainy but we still don’t know what his endgame is. Like, we get why he wanted Sol Regem to suffer, and why he hates his fellow Startouch Elves, but what does he hope to accomplish? 

Poor Leola…She was just a child and they sentenced her to death. And the way she died was just brutal. And for what? Because she helped out humanity? HOW DOES HUMANITY HAVING MAGIC CREATE CHAOS?  

Leola wasn’t an actual unicorn! It was just a nickname from her father cause of her horn! 

Aaravos truly does not give a shit about the collateral damage his revenge has. 

AARAVOS IS HUGE. Not surprising, in all honesty, but wow. 

The Merciful One wasn’t so merciful after all! Eh, kind of expected that. 

Claudia freed Aaravos! So…how is Callum going to play right into Aaravos’ hands, then? Is he part of Aaravos’ actual plans for the world, and not just for getting out of his prison? 

Season 7 cannot come quickly enough. I need answers, I need resolution, and I need them now! 

Viren cut out his own heart rather than take Soren’s. Good.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Multiple Choice - a Callum and Aaravos theory

Not to be all Han Solo or anything, but when it comes to Aaravos and magic in Xadia, I Have A Bad Feeling About This.

If there's one thing I love more than corrupt systems, it's breaking them, so let's get to it: please enjoy yet another way that Callum's pursuit of magic could potentially go very wrong for him - and how he can still fix it.

The system, in this case, isn't a monarchy (on either side of the border), wartime tensions reaching forward from the cycle, or a Xadia-wide racial hierarchy.

It's magic itself.

We don't know where it came from, magic. Was deep magic always here? Did one of the Star Touch elves create it, or perhaps choose to make it his bailiwick while others chose things like Justice and Mercy?

Aaravos, I mean Aaravos. If he's basically the god of magic (feel free to view him through a Loki-esque lens here, I am), then of course he's an archmage, and of course he's the only one among the Star Touch elves. Magic is His Thing.

And according to Zubeia, the Dragon Queen, its mages are his prey. We don't know yet what his full intent has been. We only have her millennia-long view from the surface of the planet. There's definitely more to the story, but which direction that story takes us is anyone's guess at this point. However, it seems clear that Aaravos's history during his time in Xadia does show a pattern of him targeting and influencing mages. He certainly has been during the years the show has covered.

What all he did with these mages, besides the manipulation, is also still unknown. But even if all he ever did was pull their strings, he's still choosing magic-imbued beings as his favorite puppets. The most likely explanation for this is that mages and Aaravos have something in common, making them easier for him to work with. Is it just magic? Does their ambition count too? Is there more to it?

I think there's more. I feel there is some deep dangerous secret Aaravos has managed to hide from everyone so far - including us. But just because it's dangerous doesn't mean it's evil, or even ill-intentioned. Do we consider the threat to anthills when we begin construction on a new apartment complex? Usually no. We're busy doing human-level tasks. The ants' welfare is truly not our concern. And most of them will probably be fine... right?

So. What's Aaravos really up to, and what does it have to do with Callum?

Something Rayla believes about Callum made me wonder: in the short story Chasing Shadows, she believes that he, and all humans, can change their destiny (and it's super annoying!). Why is that a human thing only, though?

Arcanums, perhaps. We've all seen the elven peoples get uptight about their own rules and the options they can choose for themselves. It's not just the Moonshadows. Sunfire elves can absolutely be sticklers for tradition - look at my disaster boy Karim over here, willing to go to war against his own people because his sister wants to marry a human.

Bruh.

So here's part one of the theory:

Having an arcanum in you forces your destiny into a certain path.

If you're born with it, you know the path of your whole life - and I don't just mean "serve your people" or "be a warrior" or "be one with nature." There is a very dark side to being locked into your destiny. It means you cannot escape it even if you desperately want to.

*wordlessly points to Runaan and his overly honorbound decisions*

*wordlessly points to Rayla and her overly sacrificial decisions*

*wordlessly points to Finnegrin and his overly fear-driven decisions*

*wordlessly points to Janai and her overly dutybound decisions*

*wordlessly points to Karim and his overly traditional decisions*

I don't need to say anything here, do I? Thought not.

But it's one thing to be born with an arcanum - maybe they know and accept this part of their destiny already. Maybe it's just a subconscious thing they... know.

It's another thing entirely to opt into an arcanum as a free choice. And here's where we get to part two:

Callum thinks he chose his destiny. He doesn't know he just gave it away.

If he just handed his fate to Aaravos by embracing an arcanum (and then one more), his destiny isn't currently in his hands at all. It's in Aaravos's. And the archmage has proven that he, at least, knows that, since he's been pulling at Callum's strings and toying with him for a while now. He wouldn't flex like that unless he was supremely confident - which he is, he always is - he wouldn't show that hand early on like this unless he knew Callum didn't understand what he'd done or how to reverse it.

This theory is about more than dark magic. It's about all magic. Even if Callum could cleanse himself from dark magic and never let Aaravos puppet him again, is he really free? He still has an arcanum. Where did that come from? He's walking around with a couple of magical bona fides stamped on his brain, and I just want to know...

Who crafted the stamps?

If all Xadian magic is some kind of... creation, or spill, or experiment... and Aaravos needs that power back for himself in order to be who he used to be and/or re-ascend to the stars, he's got more than one way to harness it again:

dark magic consumes primal magic - but matter and energy are never destroyed, so... where does that power go? Aaravos has a very convenient black hole symbol right on his chest. Maybe every spell dark mages have ever cast sends him some of his precious primal magic again. It would be a very convenient way of getting desperate humans to do his cleanup for him. And he has all the time in the world.

primal magic won't save anyone from his will - it just harnesses the elves to Aaravos's magic rules and binds their destiny to a predetermined outcome. They've become, in a word... predictable.

There's no way to beat a Star Touch Archmage at his own game. He literally wrote its rules. So what's a bright young kid like Callum to do?

To quote War Games, "the only way to win is not to play."

Callum's in a unique position, in that he knows who he was before he had an arcanum. Back when he could choose his destiny every day, without binding him to some powerful force he doesn't fully understand yet. This might lead him to a very difficult and dangerous choice, and it could break the game, and the world, wide open.

If Callum can choose to learn an arcanum, maybe he can choose to forget one.

If he can un-know the things that bound him to that magic destiny, he'd be free again, of Aaravos's reach and of his influence.

And that's just for him, but if everyone else is trapped too, how can he help them and hurt Aaravos's power grab at the same time? No idea, beyond "someone hand him a powerful magical artifact and wait," at this point, but I'm sure he'll find a way to break something important eventually! Something vital to the structure and distribution of magic itself, preferably.

If he manages to find a way to destroy magic itself, then everyone would be free. There would be no rules binding anyone to Aaravos. There would be no dark magic feeding off its fumes, either. It's theoretically possible that destroying primal magic would undo the taint of dark magic, all in one go.

And we all know how Callum loves to go around ruining ancient and powerful magical objects. Kid's got quite a track record by now!

Maybe he's not done yet. Maybe Callum's true destiny will be both Savior and Destroyer. But he'll have to play his own game to do it - he can't play Aaravos's game and win. He'll have to fight outside of magic itself. And if he's going to put down his most powerful weapon, forged by someone else - by the mastermind himself - and try without it, then he'll need help, just like always.

[idkjustletmescroll]

As a girl eagerly counting down the days until July 26th, I've made up a list of shit I want to see happen in season 6 of the dragon prince that I do in fact expect everyone to care about:

1: Janaya janaya janaya janaya I just love themmmm (buuuttt they both have to stay alive).

2: Speaking of janaya, i know there's a chance we get a wedding this season, which i wouldn't be opposed to. If we kept humans and elves as the main conflict like we did in the first three seasons, I'd say they should have it at the end of the show, but it feels more like aaravos vs the dragaang at this point, which...

3: More characters with more to do! In the first dragon prince, we had a bunch of minor characters (the other monarchs, prince kasef, opeli and corvus, nyx, ethari, a shit ton of soldiers, etc.), do things that affected our main characters in plenty of ways, which made it feel like there was a whole world out there being affected. Now, it's not that there are NO side characters affecting the main plot, it just feels so centered on the aaravos plot. I feel like they should have kept a bit more "elves and humans need to unite and move forward to defeat aaravos" but it's fine. I still like the show.

4: Rayllum making up. Not necessarily in a romantic relationship, though I would EAT THAT UP if it happened, but, if they haven't gotten back into their romantic relationship by the end of season 6, they should clearly be well on their way there, and we should know how they both feel about it.

5: De-coining. They've been trapped in there long enough.

6: I kind of want to see viren well and truly dead, just because of the downward SPIRAL it would send my girl claudia into. But I also feel like he has more to offer? I know we have a clip of him doing SOMETHING this season, but that could be a flashback. Idk. I feel like him voluntarily giving up power, and his own life, was a good ending for him, and the way claudia reacts in that first teaser we got definitely makes it seem like he's dead? But I also kind of want him to have a meaningful interaction with the other characters he's affected--rayla, callum, ezran, obviously; I kind of want to see what would happen if he realizes how far gone claudia is, joins the dragaang with the belief that he can save her from aaravos, and somehow meets janai? I feel like they've always had really strong writing for viren, though. So I'm trusting you, tdp writers.

7: Terry turn away from Claudia. This could turn into him trying to sabotage her, straight-up leaving, becoming a double agent, whatever. But he can only delude himself for so long.

8: I want the sunfire elf conflict to end and for them to help fight aaravos (he killed khessa and corrupted lux aurea, okay? They deserve to help beat him). I'd also be fine with them wrapping THAT conflict up somewhere around the middle of season 7, but I don't want them dragging it out all through to the end of it.

9: The key of aaravos should become more important. I get that it was essential to callum figuring out primal magic, but also, we've had it since s1 ep4, and it's still very distinctly in callum's possession. What else is up with this thing?

10: Janaya (again) being badass war generals. We all saw them in the first three seasons, right? Amaya was fully ready to kill a teenager (an elf, but still), in her first episode. And also kicked down a door and won my heart. She threw multiple elves into lava. Janai took over amaya's fortress thing and tried to kill her for a good bit of her screentime (I wish they would emphasize janai being strategic a little more. Like...she would've HAD that stronghold if that soldier didn't start using sign language). THEY led the defense of the storm spire!

11: ANDDD speaking of janaya, one last thing: I want the human soldiers respecting janai, and the sunfire elves recognizing Amaya as their queen. Even just a "your radianceS," plural, or something. She's going to be their queen--consort, i guess, technically, but still. I feel like we haven't gotten a big enough sense of that.

[adashulaz]

I have a bit of an AU, an AU I've been cooking for a while to the point it's probably burnt and for that I apologize. But anyways, I need to be heard out before I go crazy because it's taking over my mind and I'm trying to write a Sorvus fic.

Aaravos had a first love, he met them before he knew of the Orphan Queen and before he was trapped in the mirror prison

This love meant the world to Aaravos, his love made everything seem better and helped him forget all plans to ruin the human race with Dark Magic as a way to get revenge for Leola

It changed when his love eventually died due to a human kingdom thinking they were an enemy and turning them into a giant arrow holder, it was not a fun time for anyone involved

Aaravos ends up trapped a few months after that is now waiting for an opportunity to avenge both his daughter and lost love

When Viren takes the mirror and gets it working, Aaravos sees this as a that chance

But Aaravos hesitates when he sees Soren, Soren who looked exactly like his lost love and it doesn't help that Soren seems to behave almost exactly like his lost love

It drives Aaravos mad and he needs Viren to free him immediately, just to see if Soren is truly like his lost love

This sorta changes the time of events, Aaravos is freed much earlier and the battle at the storm spire doesn't really happen

Now instead of Aaravos working with Viren, he's trying to woo Soren

It's amuses everyone but Viren because this is not how it was supposed to go and Soren doesn't even seem to realize that Aaravo wants to hold hands romantically

Claudia is the one who takes the most joy from these events, mainly cause Aaravos goes to her for advice about Soren, she takes a great amount of glee of both messing with Aaravos by telling him a bunch of bs and giving him actual help

Aaravos only seems to continually go to her for help because she's the only one who knows Soren the best

It does not work out because Soren is not getting the hint of Aaravos wanting him

The rest of Katolis just watches as Aaravos looks like a rejected puppy everytime Soren doesn't seem to understand his advances

No one understands his pain but he makes it everyone's problem by bothering anyone who doesn't seem busy or he will start yapping if someone asks him about how it's going with Soren

[sorcerous-caress]

Hi hun I figured I'd send this over if you're not busy and see what you thought! I'm sure I'll post officially but I've still got a lot of works to transfer first and got too excited! 

I got inspired by your Human Kink stuff and Riff's request so this is super self-indulgent but I still hope you enjoy it!

I don't have a lot of experience so I thought you'd be the best person to go to if anything seemed off. I'm still figuring out genders, and classes but this was what I came up with. I'm bi with a male lean and I may go reverse harem style cause I'm weak for those in otome, but also female tieflings are really hot so we’ll see how the wind blows 🤣

My only experience atm is the little of BG3 I've played and Critical Role, where I'm currently up to Campaign 1, Episode 19 so I looked up a lot and hope it's accurate. Unrelated, but every time I think of Drow I can't help but picture Aaravos from The Dragon Prince. Not technically a Drow but he's that world's version of a kind of dark elf if I'm remembering right. His deep, sultry voice does not help. Come to think of it, he was probably the one who made me realize I had a thing for Elves even before BG3 came out. 😅

Tried to put a gif here but the ask broke both times I've tried to and this is now my 3rd time reformatting 😭 If you look him up you'll see what I mean and why he reminds me of the way you portray Drow- very smirky arrogant, similar appearance and such!

Human Kink DND Party

Human Bard

Nadton Aleanmtor(“Cunning/Darkness” Male Drow Rouge) 

Ivelran Galamaer (“Starwhispher” Eladrin) Wizard

Eya (“Pandaemonium” Tiefling) Fighter

Hookt(real Changeling name) Vesper (fake Human name) Artificer 

Valtir (Aasimar Cleric)

“You shouldn't have that; give it back!”

Your pulse rabbited against his hand and the Drow laughed, cooing into your ear, relishing the way you shivered. You looked so pretty like this. He had his hand around your fragile throat, holding you steady against the tree while he whispered into your ear from behind. 

“Shh shh shh, little Human. You don't want the rest of the camp to hear, now do you? Think of what would happen if they found out~”

You freeze, biting back a whimper.  

“You read it? That was private-”

“Should've done a better job of hiding it then. Under your mattress, little Human? You couldn't even string together a simple invisibility charm? Clearly it didn't matter much to you if I saw.”

He felt the way you swallowed and his grin turned to a knowing smirk. 

“Don't you worry. It'll be our little secret, for now. I rather like the idea of being able to make you whine and squeal for me and me alone with such a pathetic little weakness.”

He hissed on the word pathetic and chuckled at the way you twitched and squeaked at his breath on your ear. 

“What's wrong, Human? Too ticklish for your own good?”

You were already giggly from anticipation.

“Please dohohon't say it!”

He cooed in mock sympathy, and the fingers around your neck began to tap, making you try to pull his hand away. His grip held firm however and you gasped as his other hand pinched at your side, rushing to grab his other wrist for all the good it did you. 

“How precious you are like this. You whined and complained oh so often about wanting to be treated as an equal- but that was all a farce, wasn't it? You truly wanted to be here, to be teased and tormented into submission by someone greater than you.”

That annoyed you, and you opened your mouth to snap at him, swallowing back your giggles with difficulty in an attempt to be taken seriously. 

“You're wrong; you'll pay for-hnngh!”

You squealed as his left hand wrapped around your side, squeezing ticklishly. His right hand loosened, and he began tracing patterns into your neck. 

His voice was raspy with a dark warning. 

“Oh I really wouldn't talk back if you know what's good for you dearest. You can, I'd relish the excuse to put you in your place, but I'm afraid you're much too sensitive for such idle threats.”

“You don't have to do this. Please. Just pretend you never found it!”

You squirmed more vehemently and he finally released you, letting you stumble away to glare at him as he sauntered out from behind the tree, stopping momentarily to pick up your diary from the forest floor. 

“I could, but why would I? You're so much fun to toy with, and now? I have even more ammunition. I only read the first chapter so to speak, there's so much more fun to be had after all. Why spoil it for myself?  Let it never be said I don't even the playing field, even with a Human.”

He tosses your diary in the air and you fumble to catch it, hugging it to your chest as you manage to grasp it with a sigh of relief. When you look up you can't help the way you backup a step instinctually, but otherwise hold your ground, refusing to let your glare waver as he hovered over you.  

“Nadton. What do you want now?”

He smirks, crimson irises alight with amusement. 

“I just wanted to offer you a piece of advice. Get a stronger lock this time, yes? I do so relish a challenge. I'm looking forward to what other dirty little secrets you've written for me~” 

A flash of teeth and his laughter had your face burning in angry embarrassment as he left you, white hair swaying behind him as a breeze blew through. 

You didn't plan on giving him access again, perhaps Vesper could create a lock? He could be playful, but you didn't think he'd break your trust and his Artificer knowledge may prove beneficial. Ivelran too, was an option. Despite his currently quiet demeanor, given he was in his Winter season, you trusted him too. He'd never liked Nadton and had strongly disagreed on allowing him to join your party but you felt too bad for him not to- given the shape he'd been in at the time.  His pride hadn't allowed him to ask you for help, and he told you to fuck off when he’d caught the concern in your eyes, but you just couldn't leave well enough alone. He may be able to whip up a more magically based protection.  

Now? He didn't leave even when you asked him to. He followed you everywhere, and was a ruthless bully. Kept you all alive, though. He'd saved all of your lives on many an occasion. …Even if he only saved you so he could boast about his talents and how dead you'd all be without him there.  

You'd just have to prove him wrong, that's all. Let's see how weak he thought you were when he couldn't break the lock, or detect it in the first place! With a determined nod to yourself you headed back to camp for the night, trying to get what little sleep you could. 

Hope you've been well and are excited for the New Year! Still fighting off this sickness but I'm heading down to North Carolina to spend time with family early on Friday. Hope this wasn't too cringy, I know it's really self-indugent 🫣

-S

Good food good food

I like how you gave them distinct names and personality. It was really good to read! Thanks for sharing <3

I say go full self indulgence really. All art is cringy by nature. You are writing a story, you have characters, motives, a setting and an end goal. It's as real and as valid as any other story.

Because the self-indulgence part is subjective to the reader really. Someone like me would be over the moon for finding a story like that, i would happily stay up all night to read about the human and their companions.

To other people it depends on their tastes. Every jar has its lid and every story has its target audience, no one can really decide what counts as a story and what doesn't, only the author who wrote it.

People have a tendency to belittle smut writers, to overlook smut or kink based stories as just glorified porn. As if sex is something that lowers the value of art.

They're stuck in their worlds of sterile and sensitised arts, where everything has to be clean or only have majorly liked kinks but "oh never actually call them kinks because we are normal you see, unlike the other non-normal people with their weird niche interests."

Because even critically claimed stories do have hints of their creators' kinks or interest, it just flies over most people's heads. Or it's so widely spread that people forget it's even a kink anymore cough softcore-hetro bdsm cough.

On the opposite side, children media also gets belittled for not having things like kissing or cursing or sex, as if those things give meaning to art and without them the art is for babies and shouldn't be consumed since it has no mature themes.

It's really hypocritical, isn't it? They don't want too much sexual content or niche kinks because then it's a porno, but if there is none at all, then it's considered immature. It's completely subjective yet they think they get to decide what belongs in art and what doesn't. As if even the smallest of things can't be art like the way electrons orbit a nucleus isn't art.

Because smut and sex is just...sex. it doesn't have a higher or lower meaning. Your story doesn't benefit from having it, and it doesn't suffer from the lack of it.

It's a tool like any other you can use in your story.

Think of it as eating a cake, maybe some authors will use it as a metaphor for something else, a power play maybe.

While other authors include it because they genuinely like cake and want to write a story about the different cakes their characters get to eat.

Some authors don't like cake at all themselves, but still write or read about their characters eating cake because they find it interesting or would like to explore it in a setting away from themselves.

Some do like cake but never put it in their works. Maybe they just rather their characters eat pizza or clean a kitchen or move the plot along rather than eat cake. Even if the author can be someone who is very open about their love for cake, doesn't mean their story has to have it.

And there are ones who don't like cake and don't write about it.

There are also ones who know cake is not appropriate for their demographic or customers. Maybe it's based on cultural differences or maybe because their demographic is too young and shouldn't be reading about eating it yet.

So, really, please don't think less of your story because it's based on a kink, so many works are, it's just not mentioned in public. If you don't want to tag it as such, then it's fine, but I think forcing people to acknowledge its true nature will make them have a new look on stories.

Also it filters out any reader who holds these ideas from reading your work. Even tho I mostly post light themed works, i still keep dark content in my bio because I don't want people who abhor or look down on these things to read my works.

[obsessedwiththedragonprince]

Se4 ep4 thoughts

First of all, i just realised Ibis's message reminds me very much of Kingsley's patronus in HP and the Deathly Hallows saying the ministry has fallen😂

Random but I don't really get why Ezran has a telephatic connection to Zym? Like okay he can talk to animals which includes Zym(which I too don't really know where it came from but ok) but does this connection add anything besides being an deus ex machina at the end of book 2? And then they couldn't just write it off so it just shows up randomly? Idk myb it leads somewhere and i hadn't gotten there yet.

Human-elf argument? Is it to show they aren't ready to truly accept one another? Where's this going?

Why does Ezran going with them solve anything? Like it's a gesture of good will but he can't really help them fight Viren. He can just die and then Katolis will be without a king. Myb just I dunno, send your High Mage with them? It's a gesture of good will and he can actually defend himself. And isn't an eleven y/o! Opeli get your head on straight!

I really like the cook but he comes in at most random moments? Like I think brown sludge tarts can wait my friend.

Oh so others are coming. Kinda makes sense.

Damn architect i get where ur coming from but have a heart! Why doesn't he take his mother's spirit flame out of the camp?

Love how much Callum cares about Bait. Even tho he's just endangering him.

Ohhh we're getting Aaravos backstory!!

Wait how long do elves live? Aditi is Janai's grandmother right? And this was hundreds of years ago. I love how they couldn't just talk about who'll ascend the throne. Do you even get that many benefits from it?

Young human girl? Looks like some ancestor of Katolis leaders. And was that before dark magic and banishment of humans? Cause otherwise why did she even know about this? The cube!! Thousand years??? Do all elves live this long or just Great Ones(who are they btw?)

What exactly was Aaravos's goal with causing all these crisises? Now ig it's getting free but what about before?

New transition i love: Aaravos still shown whispering when it switches to Claudia to show how he's manipulating her.

Omgg is this a Viren - Terry bonding moment is see in the near future??

Oh fuck off Viren. Just. Fuck off. Like I didn't think it would be all sweet and this but at least something? Get a grip?? Idk if u read my post for ep3 but i imagined Viren would myb find some new respect for Terry after learning what he did but no.

Shit shit shit stupid architect woman why would u do that!? I feel so bad for the elf i started crying😭 honestly his voice actor really convinced me of his anguish and it makes the whole scene(same with Janai when her sister died these actors are doing a fine job) did the whole bucket just turn to ash? Damn. Why doesn't it happen to humans tho? Bucket more flammable? I like that he immediately regrets burning her even if she was in the wrong, but honestly the animation doesn't sell it as much as the voice actor would i think. Why is there no gasp or sth?

Are they hinting Aaravos could turn his attention to Callum? I mean he'd certainly be interesting as a human who knows an arcanum.

Damn. I mean we knew Aaravos was powerful but a being from the heavens? Dragons combined couldn’t risk a confrontation?

Okay that scene talking about the magical prison has me more and more convinced that my far-fetched thought was right and the cube is the prison lmao. Like it looked like sth tiny? Idk.

They found Ibis's body! With blood mysteriously gone but ok. If we're being honest Zym should prolly be more attached to Ibis than Ez cause he spent way more time with him. But he wasn't a MC so tough luck. Where's Callum? Oh they're late. Idk why but in my mind Rayla was riding with Callum and Soren.

Viren's hesitating! I mean I get it if magic got me killed I wouldn't be so eager to pick it up again.

Dragons can do magic? Huh.

What the fuck is he doing to Callum? I mean possession was my first thought but. Couldn't he have done it before to anyone? I mean he prolly didn't want to reveal what he can do while still in prison before he was ready.

Damn for whatever reason I love him talking to Ezran. Ig it shows sth but i don't have the brains right now to figure out what.

Bait being moral support to Soren so cute!!

I love how he blew them a kiss and broke the mirror lmao. Drama queen.

[theredhairedmonkey]

I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT and, holy shit, this is going to be a ton of fun!

Like, really fun. For instance, I gave the chatbot the following prompt: “High Mage Viren from “The Dragon Prince” finally unlocks the mirror, but instead of finding Aaravos, he finds someone much more terrifying: Renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog. Please create the dialogue that ensues.”

I shit you not, here is what ensued:

Werner Herzog: "Viren, let me ask you this. What is the purpose of your quest to capture the dragon egg? Power? Control? Do you truly believe that these things will bring you true fulfillment?"

Viren: "I just know that it is what I must do to secure the future of my kingdom and humanity."

Werner Herzog: "But what is the point of a kingdom if its people are not truly happy? And what is the point of power and control if they bring nothing but emptiness and despair?"

Viren: "I...I never thought of it that way."

Werner Herzog: "That is the problem with society today. We are taught to chase after things that will never bring us true fulfillment. We should be striving for something greater, something that will truly make our lives meaningful."

Viren: "And what is that?"

Werner Herzog: "That, my friend, is the question that we must each answer for ourselves. But I can tell you this, it is not found in power or control."

Viren: "I...I don't know what to say. Your words have left me feeling quite depressed."

Werner Herzog: "That is the first step, my friend. To recognize that our current path is not leading us to true fulfillment. Now, we must search for something greater."

[blackdragon-selfships]

I saw this trend going around so did one too. Except for peace of mind and to start advertising it again, I did it for an AU version of Megavos (my selfship with Aaravos) a comic project titled The Fallen Star.

I interpreted the Trust, Clinginess, and Jealousy meters to be about the couple toward each other, not other people around them.

-

Templates found here.

More information on the AU below

First…

Aaravos is originally from a show called The Dragon Prince. He is one of the villains, and probably will be the final boss (how boringly predictable… :/) but I have interview evidence that he is not truly evil and is complicated. You can see that post here.

Because of this information from interviews and on the zodiac sign; Scorpio (which is relevant to Aaravos as TDP characters’ personalities are constructed with Zodiac signs involved) which claims they have a hard outer shell but when they lower it they are the most loving and loyal friend or partner you could ask for…I came to like him, because if it wasn’t for that information I would have written him off as a predictable pretty faced character that’s actually horrible and ugly inside, but fun to watch. I still have small hope that won’t be the case…but I’m not holding my breath on this one.

However…

I thought it would be fun to make an AU version of the show’s plot which I call The Fallen Star (and is a project I came up with and had been developing as of season 2 and 3, but before season 4 was even announced) but have Aaravos be the protagonist and have my self-insert be in it too as his first friend in the story. On top of that, to make it more interesting and unique, the elves in the show are dragons too and all dragons shapeshift into their ‘elf’ forms.

So the conflict isn’t dragons/elves vs humans, but only dragons vs humans. It’s also a situation of humans in the West forgetting magic exists after a while and instead moving into the industrial era with electricity and technology, while the East remains magical and medieval in style and way of life.

As the project went into development it ended up following the plot of the show, but with Aaravos and Meg in the mix it changed up quite a few things. I won’t say much more now, but I can guarantee Aaravos is a truly complicated and not-evil character, and not just because his backstory is tragic and explains why he became a villain like I fear the show will do… (Plus he isn’t even an antagonist in this AU, and I won’t be changing that whatever the show does with him.)

TL;DR: I made an AU for The Dragon Prince with Aaravos as the protagonist, my self-insert as his first friend in the story, and following the basic plot of the first three seasons of the show he’s from, but with tweaking due to making elves into dragons and having humans advance to the age of technology as well as Aaravos being the protagonist.

He is a complicated and not truly evil character here too, and the show’s progress will not change the direction I’m taking this AU.

-

Disclaimer: The profile photos where it talks about each person’s traits were traced and edited from screenshots from the show.

The rest of the art on the template (minus the aesthetic photos) was done by me, but the background of Magic Study was taken from the show Aaravos is from too.