#moon opal foreshadowing i love you
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I thought I'd made a post about it in the past (and it's probably buried somewhere in a deeper meta) but the 4x07 foreshadowing already made me feel Fucking Insane because they really had a scene explicitly in dialogue to link/associate Rayla with the Moon opal ("Moon ones are the prettiest" + S6 affirming this further with Rayla's kindness emotionally and her moon opal literally healing Esmeray's broken heart) only to immediately afterwards have Callum lose the moon opal (Rayla) on the Bridge of Darkness ("what if I'm on a path of darkness?") and then him picking it up causes the goddamn Key to light up and put their lives in danger and it felt like both such tangible foreshadowing and simultaneously such a reach for the structure of
Callum (almost) loses Rayla amid darkness
Saving / reuniting her causes the Aaravos' key to come into play
This action puts everyone's lives in danger
and yet??
losing my mind truly
#rayllum#cube hostage exchange theory#light and darkness motif#moon opal foreshadowing i love you#s4#4x07#s4 is my best friend#tdp theory#s7 speculation#predictions#and if it's not true in the meantime i'm having fun
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SU Music Rankings
Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. Itās a long bitch. That said, Iām not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.
I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs donāt automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! Itās a strange little balance.
Special Note: I donāt dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.
1.) Change
Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not.Ā
IfĀ āBe Wherever You Areā is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Stevenās. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- itās just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.
2.) Change Your Mind
This song is only fifty five seconds and itās EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words Iād always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me.Ā
As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I wouldāve been perfectly okay with that.
3.) Drift Away
This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.
4.) Here We Are In The Future
THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WONāT BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems wonāt be safe with one epic battle. Theyāll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.
This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main characterās backstories.
5.) Letās Only Think About Love
Did yaāll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callisonās normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.
6.) Here Comes A Thought
This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. Iād have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldnāt function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.
And the episode! -chefās kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Stevenās trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnieās gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.
7.) Itās Over Isnāt It?
Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!
Thereās just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearlās voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. Iād recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or donāt know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.
8.) Stronger Than You
Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa
To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.
9.) Other Friends
Iām not the biggest musical person, so I hadnāt heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.
10.) IndependentĀ Together
This made the list entirely bc the crew was likeĀ āyouāre gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floatingā and I am forever thankful to them for it
11.) Who We Are
Bismuth deserved more songs.Ā āNuff said.
12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)
It Couldāve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridotās singing voice is really cute and squeaky.Ā
I know itās silly, but I wouldāve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!
13.) Something Entirely New
I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yiās voice so much yaāll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphireās deep soothing lull is great.
And to have Ruby and Sapphireās meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in herĀ ācasteā is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.
14.) Iām Just a Comet
The fact that Gregās music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharplingās voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up.Ā āThis life in the stars if all Iāve ever knownā is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.
15.) Do It For Her
This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. Iād just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You.Ā āOh,ā I thought to myself, foolishly,Ā āIāll probably just casually watch this from time to time.ā
Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearlās gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connieās accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.
Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think itās safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.
16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)
I debated putting this on the list because itās not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.
Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.
17.) Full Disclosure
This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now weāre in the thick of it, and itās not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal weād established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. Thereās this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster.Ā
The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Stevenās ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.
18.) Whatās the Use of Feeling Blue?
Iāmma admit it- Iām a Yellow Diamond stan. Iāve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against theĀ āYellow Shattered Pinkā theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. Itās easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Luponeās beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.
19.) Tower of Mistakes
This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didnāt want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And thatās still definitely a thing.
Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethystās perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam thatās just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.
20.) On the Run
Iāve said it once, Iāve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs!Ā
The dichotomy between Stevenās play and Amethystās honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethystās actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc itās my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to Whatās Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.
21.) Be Wherever You Are
This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and heās just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.
22.) Familiar
I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is toĀ āfixā a broken family. Itās a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.
23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart
Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose mustāve had at the lineĀ āAnd if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.ā like thereās a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one
24.) What Can I Do?
Iām kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Roseās flaws in thinking.
Also, Iām shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.
25.) Cookie Cat
I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. Itās been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but Iāll be damned if I donāt rememberĀ āAnimals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.ā
26.) Giant Woman
I am. NOT the biggest fan of Stevenās original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldnāt listen to this on the fly.Ā
The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. Itās a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.
27.) Strong in the Real Way
This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugiliteās problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearlās lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong.Ā
And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?
28.) That Distant Shore
I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but Iām just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.
But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know sheāll never talk to anyone about it, know sheāll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.
29.) Dear Old Dad
Iāve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. Thereās some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. Itās just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.
Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? Thereās no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharplingās best attempts didnāt save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isnāt, so it gets a spot on here.
#Steven Universe#Steven Universe Future#SU Analysis#(I guess????)#Music#Steven Quartz Universe#Amethyst#Garnet#Pearl#Yellow Diamond#Blue Diamond#Blue Pearl#Yellow Pearl#Greg Universe#Bismuth#Spinel#Lapis Lazuli#Steg#Opal#Rose Quartz#Lars Barriga#Sadie Miller#Sapphire#Ruby#Stevonnie#Falc talks
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OK because re: my CR feelings from my last post like I feel like itās still marinating but also. Iām gonna use the term Crisis On Infinite Exandrias because I think itās funny but itās not quite what I mean? Like, I donāt mean Calamity 2: Electric Boogaloo, not really.
(Although if thereās going to be one Iām campaigning for Opal to start it bc come on; but also I donļæ½ļæ½t want that bc honestly my one personal takeaway from Calamity was ZERXUS DID NOTHING WRONG and alll of the post-series stuff has been like Calamity Was Zerxusā Fault For Being Dumb and it makes me want to fight clouds.
And the first person to come in here like ummmm actually someone on a six hour postmortem chat said that canonically they think Calamity was Zerxus fault like. a) iāll fight you and also Brennan Lee Mulligan, donāt think I wonāt, and b) the story has to stand alone to be a story and IN TEXT I think what weāve all learned is that Calamity was SOCIETYāS fault and I mean that in the most nuanced possible way; itās so much more complex than a whodunit. Itās a tragedy about how there isnāt ever just one thing, itās the death by a thousand cuts that builds and builds and itās a beautiful mini-arc but to boil it down to āIT WAS THIS ONE FUCKING GUY AND HIS HUBRISā is at best an oversimplification, stop distilling things into tweetable chunks I refuse to accept it.)
(Why have I soul-bonded to the Disaster Gay Dad Trying His Best honestly who knows at this point but he was WONDERFUL.)
(OK this is a lie, I know exactly why I have soul-bonded to him but anyway the Calamity arc in itself is a wonderful story about the complexity of tragedy and I didnāt love all of it but the bits I liked were great.)
But anyway. A N Y W A Y. The thing I mean is like.
If I was Matthew Mercer, sitting on a pile of endless lore that somehow weaves together threads that started in a D&D campaign I began filming in 2015 that has a current cumulative runtime of uhhhhh 905 hours (not including the currently-aired episodes of Campaign 3), and I was trying to figure out how to dump that lore in a way that allowed the current campaign to be accessible to new viewers, well. There are a few ways that could be done, but a really smart one would be to slot the lore into mini-campaigns.
(I think the airtime of the animated series was also Very Intentional given the really specific and detailed callbacks to Whitestone in the C3 lore, but I also donāt know enough about how that came about and maybe it was just a happy accident, whatever.)
And looking at the elements we have in play right now, we get:
EXU1/Kymal:
feywild gates/planar travel/alternate realities
betrayer gods, conceptually, and the notion of betrayer gods taking champions and connecting with the current realm
shadowy cabals of people doing crime
EXU Calamity:
apogee solstices, which - conceptually the idea that the planes can connect and become more porous at set, regular times and that those times are knowable and predictable
something something leylines something something planes
something something druid stuff something something planes (specifically the concept of the tree of names as a construct that guards against or prevents intra-planar movements)
a big ol betrayer god/regular gods lore refresher
a million bon mots about the raven queen ascending and something something names something something planes something something, you know?
the fey just kind of fucking off to the feywild post-calamity, and again the theme of mirror universes/parallel but different realities
And Iām not saying I know precisely how these things connect because a) Iām a million hours behind and b) who can say, but itās interesting and I canāt imagine the EXU campaigns wouldnāt be foreshadowing, you know? And also one of the NPCs is a magical astronomer who studies leylines and also the special once every 30 years moon and hmm. HMMM.
#i'm watching for the lore#but in that way where i'm annoyed#bc it is the world's slowest lore dump#like we get it we know fcg is gonna snap and be evil that's obviously the culmination of the year-long ted lasso bit#let's get this going#anyway the old man studies leylines to help with spell stuff and he's an expert on the special moon#that only moons every fixed number of years#and also people were hypothetically killed for knowlege based on research he contributed to#something something leylines something something planes#crisis on infinite exandrias#the matthew mercer dungeons and dragons twitch cinematic universe#exandria unlimited limited the tag#exandramity unlimited calamity unlimited#critical role spoilers#exandria unlimited spoilers
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Hi there, I've been following you for a while and I love your defending arguments against anti SS ones. Do you have a favorite Canon/non-canon pairing from ATLA and why the pairings? Asking this out of curiosity. Have a great day! :)
My OTP from ATLA was Zuko and Katara, which unfortunately didn't become canon. I just really liked their dynamics, the Fire/Water contrast, the Sun/Moon contrast, I think they were very aesthetically pleasing, the healing of scars motif, the forgiveness and redemption themes, their empathy regarding the Fire Nation taking something from them etc. I think there was a lot of potential there, but oh well. In terms of the canon pairings, Iāll restrict this list to strictly those who were canonised in the series (both TLA and LOK), so those who started offĀ as couples wonāt be included.
7. AangĀ and Katara - They just didnāt really do it for me,Ā and itās not because I think theyāre bad with each other, because theyāre fine and their canonisation was certainly expected. But I suppose I just never really saw a romantic spark there. Thereās just something about these two that didnāt click for me, so I was therefore just never invested in the romantic aspect of their relationship, at all.
6. BolinĀ and Opal - They wereĀ alright, but Opal kinda just got on my nerves sometimes. I mean sure Bolin made a mistake by working for Kuvira, but Opal often acted as if he had malicious intentions.
5. Zuko and Mai - They brought out sides of each other that we werenāt use to seeing, since Zuko was always brooding and Mai was always bored and unmotivated. When they were together though, their caring and emotional sides always surfaced, especially towards each other, and it was fun to witness.
4. KorraĀ and Asami - l would have loved themĀ a whole lot more if I had seen them coming, butĀ as far as I was concerned, they kinda just came out of nowhere; I saw no romance foreshadowed between them at all, but I loved the relationship that I did see from them.
3. KaiĀ and Jinora - I honestly donāt know why this relationship appealed to me so much, but they just had this really youthful freedom to their relationship. Every other relationship in the series, canonised or not,Ā always hadĀ a load ofĀ angstĀ and emotional dramaĀ along with it (apart from my No.1 choice). But with KaiĀ and Jinora, they just had this exuberanceĀ about them; they were young, they had fun, and they just got each other.
2. VarrickĀ and Zhu Li - They madeĀ ādo the thingā one of the most memorable phrases in the whole of the Avatar series. Their dynamic was brilliant and they complimented oneĀ another justĀ as brilliantly, as Zhu Liās straight laced demeanour made an excellent and entertaining contrast to Varrickās perpetual charisma. Plus, we actually got to see their wedding, so bonus points there.
1. SokkaĀ and Suki - The best couple in my opinion, in every single possible aspect. Just like KaiĀ and Jinora, their relationship was free from the emotional drama which was present in the vast majority of the other relationships, leaving you with just a fully understanding and supportive relationship which was very entertaining too because of their quirkiness. They werenāt benders either, just like VarrickĀ and Zhu Li, but unlike those two, SokkaĀ and Suki were still warriors,Ā and were justĀ as crucial to Team AvatarĀ as the benders were.
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I like the idea of all of Rayla's parents acting the way they did because they have almost only their daughter's safety in mind.
Ok, I have a new headcanon now, about Raylaās parents, the four of them.
I still donāt have the book (pfff, itās been 2 monthsā¦) but I learned something in an interesting exchange on Reddit : Runaan and Rayla not only have a really good relationship, they have a really strong bond, heās one of the person she trust the most in this world.
I changed my mind a lot about Runaan when I discovered he wasnāt trying to kill her. And Iām even starting to think this bond is one of the (numerous) reasons he couldnāt kill her, never: because breaking that trust was impossible for him, itās too precious in his eyes.
But something bothered me (I hope you didnāt already make an analysis on this ā^^): why would Runaan would be so unnecessarily harsh with Rayla that night, in Katolis. Especially in the novel? Why hurting her so much, telling her sheās weak and all? And I think I got my answer (thanks to that exchange on reddit): he knows sheās not weak at all, and he knows they have a strong, really strong bond. If she were to learn heās about to die, she would follow him to try to save him and so would get killed too.Ā
Only solution : hurting her to makes sure she stick to her mission and never come back.Ā
And this led me to think about Lain and Tiadrin. Why didnāt they just run away with the egg? Itļæ½ļæ½ļæ½s not like it couldnāt have been moved, after all. Ok, they canāt fly, but they could have hid somewhere and escape, no? It would have been smart and Moonshadow elves are maybe all about honor and all, but theyāre not stupid. Plus, being stealthy, itās kinda their thing, no?
So, what if they stayed for their oath, yes, but most of all for Rayla? They know how running away is percieved by their people, they know it would bring shame to Rayla, put her in a difficult situation in their village. So they stay behind for herā¦ too bad Viren didnāt let anything behind to makes the others understand what happenedā¦Ā
As for Ethari, he was confused and overwhelmed with grief, he made a mistake. But he already proved he can break rules for her, and, another HC, the fact he lost almost everything about Runaan in the Silvergrove will help him to get out of here to go to Rayla when he will find his husbandās flower. I mean, the moonstrider, the moon opal, Runaan himself, Rayla who canāt go home. Thereās nothing much left (as far as we know) of Runaan, if not Rayla, no?
So yes, I think he willĀ going after his daughter and his husband, and he wonāt let anything stand in his way.
Conclusion: the four parents in the Moonfam really have their daughterās well being in mind, even if it means for them to die
_____________
Ohoho is this moonfam theories I see in my inbox, @lily-lilouā? *happy wiggles*Ā
First off, I hope your copy of the book arrives soon. Itās wild that itās taking so long for some people. :(
I donāt know how many TDP fans here are parents like me, but I definitely see that a lot of parental mindsets got worked into the show as bedrock motivation for the characters who have children in their lives. Viren, Harrow, Sarai, the Queens of Duren, Amaya, Gren by extension, and of course all the moonfam!Ā
I was a very different person before I had my kids. I think itās safe to say that I was objectively a worse person, if Iām honest. INTJās donāt always get the small picture until itās right there, every day, changing their world with its gooey smiles and unrelenting adoration. So, knowing that, Iām always interested in how the characters with kids act, and why, and maybe who they used to be beforehand. Because one thing is always the same among loving parents, no matter who they used to be: their children are always, always, on their mind on some level or another, no matter what choices must be made. And the number of cute, dumb, unnoticed, sweet, life-changing, utterly ordinary, and just-because choices we make for our kids literally cannot be tallied. Their smiles, their trust, their courage to head out into a wild and crazy world on their own... weād do anything for them. Anything. *flailing mom noises*
I totally concur on your view of Runaan. I did write up a post a long time back, with that exact perspective as my take, but Iām glad to see the theory hasnāt dimmed because of the book! To me, the book is just another interpretation of the same issue: Runaan must separate Rayla from the mission at (almost) any cost, even if it means hurting her feelings. At least sheāll still be alive to have them.
That said, heās a lot more gentle in the show than in the book. I donāt know if the assassinsā rather rabid calling for Raylaās head in the novel is just a tonal difference or if itās foreshadowing something sinister about Moonshadow culture which we been knew. It does set a starker difference between Runaan and his team, though. He does have that strong bond with Rayla, and because of it he wants to spare her so much, but he literally cannot say so in front of the others, so he uses his frustration and fear for her life to wordlessly drive her away to safety.Ā
Both versions work. Heās doing the same thing in each one. Heās still a soft dad in a tight spot, trying to save his precious child from death. And in both cases, he is hard enough to do whatever it takes--even making Rayla feel so bad that she runs off and leaves him to his deadly fate--which he was never going to abandon anyway.
Later in the book, thereās a scene where itās revealed what Runaan truly thinks about Lain and Tiadrin. In light of that information, itās pretty clear that all of his insults when he and Rayla were fighting on the castle roof were simply a harder version of his show plan to send her home to Ethari. Heās desperate to keep her out of the fighting, but sheās young and eager and they are bonded tightly, youāre right. So he thinks he has to be harsh in order to save her.
How much easier would it have been if he had felt he could just tell her the truth, I wonder. But thatās not the Moonshadow way, apparently. At least not when youāre layered up to protect your own feels because youāre on a mission of death.
Lain and Tiadrin know what itās like to love a little one. I think that made them excellent Dragonguards. I wonder, now, if any of the Skywings there had children. Or if their family ties are just looser because of their nomadic tendencies. But Moonshadows are very tightly knit to their families. There was no way in Xadia that Lain and Tiadrin would abandon a helpless child to a dark mage.Ā
Theyād left their own little child with a craftsman and an assassin who would definitely die to keep Rayla out of the reach of dark magic. And they werenāt wrong--Runaan did exactly that. If Rayla didnāt die in the fighting, sheād be captured right alongside him. So that mindset was something that all four parents definitely mustāve shared. Protect Rayla. At all costs.Ā
And Lain, Tiadrin, and later Rayla all extended that to Zym. Protect the Dragon Prince. At all costs. Because thatās what you do with those little ones you love, who cannot protect themselves yet.
I agree about Ethari, too. He has that protective spirit in his heart, but itās not nearly as battle-tested as it is for Runaan, Lain, and Tiadrin. He faltered because he lost Runaan, his strongest ally and the love of his life. But heās never going to make that mistake again. Heās already straight-up breaking the rules for Rayla, and that isnāt going to stop anytime soon.Ā
Heāll do whatever it takes to protect her. He gave her those awesome butterfly swords so she could make the most use of all the years of Runaanās training. But now, see... now he thinks heās the only parent she has left.
Ethari believes he is the last remaining member of the old guard, the phalanx that stood around Rayla to protect her. Itās all down to him now. And youāre right, heās lost connection after connection with the Silvergrove and his old life. Maybe heāll straight up head out to find himself a new one. And if he does, you gotta know that itāll all be in service to protecting his daughter the best way he knows how.
Appealing Raylaās ghosting to the Moonshadow ruler? Fixing the Moonhenge? Ending the war? Freeing the others from their coin prisons? Saving Callumās life? Adopting Soren and Claudia? Trapping Aaravos in a primal stone of his own making? I know I say Iād put nothing past Aaravos, but listen. There is nothing Ethari could do in service to Rayla that would surprise me. That is who he is. Heās a family man, and his heart is bigger than all of Xadia. He will find a way, or he will roll up his sleeves and craft one. Because Rayla is the daughter of his heart, too.
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Scattered Star Wars thoughts: - As Iām doing my rewatches of TCW and Rebels, Iām trying to watch the behind the scenes stuff to go along with them and it makes me wish a little that Disney+ would have them on their service, because itād be so much easier than switching over to YouTube when Iām watching them on my TV. It really makes me miss this kind of thing for the animated series--ResistanceĀ didnāt get any of the kind of in-depth stuff that the others did, and Iām not sure if they put any extras on the DVD/Blu-Ray releases?Ā That was my thought for what they were going to do when the first season was airing, but without having bought them myself, Iām not sure if they had anything like that?Ā Iām assuming they didnāt, since I never saw references to them, which is a shame, because theyāre very cool and fun! I wonder, if thereās another animated series coming up (and when/where it would be announced--Celebration seems an awful long ways away for that?), will they return to doing them?Ā Or were they too much effort/better lures for buying the Blu-Ray sets? - John Boyega plays Jedi: Fallen OrderĀ was an absolute delight to watch!Ā He really is delightfully charming and I love that he apparently plays as Anakin in the BF2 game sometimes (and Finn as well), and that Mace Windu is his all-time favorite Jedi (I FEEL U, JOHN), and just a lot of really cute stuff. - I finished The Raven KingĀ and have started on OpalĀ (and am about 2/3rds through it) and Iām going to be sad when I finish all of the books and have to actually waitĀ for more!Ā I found the four book The Raven CycleĀ series very satisfying, the charactersā resolutions were all good for me, I enjoyed that theyād gotten to better places, and I found Adamās epilogue especially poignant.Ā Not that heād forgiven his family so much as that heād let go of so much of what was poisoning him about it, that heĀ was in a better place, rather than being eaten by those feelings and pain. Iām enjoying OpalĀ a lot, one of the things I like about this world is how off the wall some of the dream logic/magic can be, but instead of feeling like it borders on twee or ~kooky~ worldbuilding, thereās something about it that is really pulled off with charm and something surprisingly earnest.Ā I guess I can really get invested in something so long as I feel like itās not necessarily trying to be the most clever ever (though, it was clever in the right moments, for me) but instead build something with heart and care. So when Opal gets her own POV for several chapters worth here, when sheās a bit of a wild and feral thing, but stuffed full of very earnest feelings, it just really works for me a lot. - Iām about 2/3rds of the way through RebelsĀ season 2 and I love that I continue to find stuff really works for me even more than it did the first time around, knowing where all of this is going to end up.Ā The journey to find Lira-San, the knowledge I have now of what happened to the Lasat people, that I suspect it was their use of the Force woven into their culture that got them on the Empireās radar, in addition to that theyāre incredible fighters (hence why the Wookiees were targetted as well, I think?), so it makes the wholeĀ āso HOW does all of this navigation stuff work???ā go smoother, now that I can just shrug and go,Ā āEh, Force Woo is gonna Force Woo.ā Also, the Kalluzeb stuck on the Geonoisian moon episode is JUST as much of a joy as ever.Ā That ending with Kallus going back to his ship, limping back to his quarters with no one saying much of anything to him even after all that, contrasted against Zebās friends greeting him so warmly, it was suchĀ good foreshadowing, now that I know for sure that itās going somewhere, instead of just highlighting the difference between them. (And, man, does David Oyelowo do an incredible job with his voice acting.) - I read Star Wars: Empire Ascendant #1 and I have to admit, I was pretty underwhelmed.Ā The Aphra epilogue and the Kes/Shara story were the highlights, otherwise Iām having trouble even remembering what happened.Ā Oh, right, the story about the death troopers and then the Valance story, neither of which managed to engage me much.Ā In theory, this could be an interesting collection of stories, whether theyāre serving as an epilogue to other series or launching points for new series, there are grains of interesting ideas--the death troopers story was about the mindset of the Empire, that victory at all costs was the most important thing, or the Valance story could have been an interesting look at an interesting character (except I just cannot bring myself to care about him), but the only times I felt engaged were in the character-driven moments of ones that I already cared about. Trying to sort out my thoughts, I think itās something that Iāve been bumping into for awhile, something that crystalized for me after watching a Jimquisition video about the wordĀ āconsumerā (which is an interesting video by itself!), at about the 13 and a half minute mark, thereās a tangent about how companiesā focus on the audience being consumersĀ pushes out any stories that can have an important message that should be discussed, because instead of giving time for any story, itās about getting consumers hyped for buying new products and then get excited for the next product. Which obviously hit a familiar note, as a Star WarsĀ fan, because thereās a constant stream of new content, you barely have time to digest one thing before GET HYPE FOR THE NEXT STAR WARS THING, like, GET HYPE FOR THE MANDALORIAN, but youāll only have limited time to really turn it over and discuss it because GET HYPE FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, but youāll only have a month or two to really turn it over and discuss it because GET HYPE FOR THE CLONE WARSĀ coming back, but youāll only have a month or two to turn it over and discuss it because GET HYPE FOR THE NEXT STAR WARSĀ THING.Ā In the meantime, thereās also about 50 other smaller things coming at you, so no one thing ever really has time to percolate with the fans before the hype train is coming for whatās next. Most of the time, I donāt mind this too much, because I take my time with what I want, I circle back to what I want, I feel satisfied by my explorations of them as far as I want, as well as Star WarsĀ is not exactly where I go for Deep Thought. But sometimes I run into a comic that just fails to engage me because it felt like a hype train for upcoming comics, rather than actually having a lot of story in and of itself. I can live with the hype train, Disney, but you gotta give me a story or a fun experience that isnāt just hype for hypeās sake.Ā And I feel like this comic was only halfway successful at that.Ā (Or maybe itās just me?Ā Iāve been feeling a little,Ā āWhatās the point of all this?ā about a lot of the SW stuff over the last year, and Iām hoping itās more because LF couldnāt really do much until TROS was nailed down, and maybe now weāll start seeing stories with more weight?) Anyway, navel gazing thoughts, there you go. - Annnnnd with having seen TROS I HAVE MET MY 2019 GOAL!Ā Iām not sure if Iāll do another one for 2020, a lot depends on how some RL stuff shakes out, but Iām glad that I got this one accomplished! - I HAVE SEEN TROS I DONāT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START. Scattered Star Wars Thoughts/2019 Resolutions Update: -Ā The Rise of Skywalker: The Galaxy Needs You - Star Wars: The Clone Wars s2e18-19 - Star Wars Rebels s02e16-18 - Rebels Recon 1.01-1.08 - The Rise of Kylo RenĀ #1 - Star Wars: Empire AscendantĀ #1 - Episode III: The Chosen One Featurette - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Current total: Ā 520/520
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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
āThere was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.ā
This one is just awesome. I adore some subtle humor in a book, and itās a great way to start out if youāre witty enough. This short and amusing opening line tells us a lot about the character in a very short time. His name also gives an indication that he is not from the land of Narnia, but is probably from England, if this book is to be similar to the ones prior to it in the series. We know something about his age in that he is referred to as āa boyā and we know that for some reason he almost deserves such a name. So there we go, Ā immediately introduced to a primary character of the story in an interesting way.
Pride and Prejudice
āIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.ā
In a refined witty style typical of Austen, she opens with a humorous and relatable statement. It may have been a more relatable sentiment at the time it was written, but it certainly still is. Moreover, itās a foreshadowing, letting the reader know that the book is likely to be at least somewhat about a womanās Ā obtainment of such a husband.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
"My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog."
DiCamillo sure doesnāt waste any time, huh? I love that. She introduces the protagonist, sets the scene, and presents the catalyst all her opening sentence. Just one sentenceāand itās not even a run-on. What a marvel. The protagonistās name is very unique, which adds interest and makes the reader want to find out more, while the macaroni-and-cheese, white rice, and tomatoes add a comfortable familiarity and give us an idea of the setting. The fact that she comes back with a dog indicates that there is some type of story to be told. Because DiCamillo introduced the protagonist and the setting, it allows her to jump right into the action after the first sentence without the readers having to wonder what the heck is going on.
Chasing the Falconers by Gordon Korman
āIt wasn't a prison.
Ā Ā Not technically, anyway.
Ā Ā No bars, cells, electrified fencing, guard towers, or razor wire.
Ā Ā People who drove by probably never noticed the logo of the Department of Juvenile Corrections on the mailbox that stood at the end of the long lane leading to County Road 413. To them, this sprawling property was just another farm ā one of thousands of dusty puzzle pieces that covered this part of Nebraska.
Ā Ā Farm. Aiden Falconer winced. He hated that word. Sunnydale Farm, they called it ā a name so deliberately cheerful it turned his stomach.ā
I should admit that I kind of have a prisoner/kidnapping/spies/mystery fetish, but I think a lot of YA readers doāat least the boys and tomboys. Is this an artistic beauty of an opening? No. But is is a successful opening? Yes, Iād say so. Why? Because it got me to read the book, even though I knew nothing about the author at the time I picked it up. It was the opening sentence alone that caused me to read the book, because in those days I would usually just stop reading the book if I wasnāt entertained by the first few pages. After all, I was an action-loving YA fiction reader. Korman introduces the protagonist, Aiden, immediately after he sets the scene, and we already know more than we think about Aiden, even though all we were told was his name. We assume he is a prisoner in this non-prison place, and can even deduce something about his age by the fact it is a juvenile corrections facility.Saying āit wasnāt a prisonā causes the reader to want to ask āwhat is it then?ā and thus read further. We are curious as to why there are no bars or other types of security; there is some mystery aroused; some irony. Is it a perfect opening? No, but Korman wasnāt writing to win the Nobel prize, he was writing an action-adventure mystery book for tweens. The point is, Korman did his job: he grabbed the attention of his audience, set the scene, and introduced the protagonist without too much belaboring.
Holes by Louis Sachar
āThere is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas. That was over a hundred years ago. Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland.ā
I told you I had a prisoner fetish. It sure wasnāt the cover of the book that got me to read this, as I hated it, or the reputation of the author, as I had no idea who he was prior to reading the book. I believe this was a successful opening because it got me to read the book without any other sort of help, such as me already knowing about the book or the author, or loving the cover art. This is actually a lot like Kormanās opening lines. Thereās a contradiction; a description of an unusual setting. Korman opens with a prison with no bars, and Sachar opens with a place called Camp Green Lake with no lake. I should also note that the first few chapters moveĀ reallyĀ fast (only a few hundred words per chapter) and cover a lot of ground, while keeping the reader curious. This is the ADD generation, often youāve got to move fast and cut to the chase to keep the YA audienceās attention.Ā
Hoot
āRoy would not have noticed the strange boy if it werenāt for Dana Matherson, because Roy ordinarily didnāt look out the window of the school bus. He preferred to read comics and mystery books on the morning ride to Trace Middle.ā
Hiassen then goes on to tell of Royās struggles that morning with a bully, and his sighting of said strange boy. Obviously, what caught my attention here was not the bullying, but the strange boy. Because people get bullied all the time, thatās nothing new. But a strange boy? Hey, I want to hear more about that!From the opening lines protagonist seems to be a fairly typical boy of middle-school age who likes mysteries and comics. While this isnāt very thrilling, it is relatable and does the job of introducing the protagonist quickly. The protagonist himself does not need to be immediately very interesting if he serves as a window into a world where interesting things are happeningāthe strange boy in this case.
Half Moon Investigations
āMy name is Moon. Fletcher Moon. And I'm a private detective. In my twelve years on this spinning ball we call Earth, I've seen a lot of things normal people never see. I've seen lunch boxes stripped of everything except fruit. I've seen counterfeit homework networks that operated in five counties, and I've seen truckloads of candy taken from babies.
Ā Ā I thought I'd seen it all. I had paid so many visits to the gutter looking for lost valentines, that I thought nothing could shock me. After all, when you've come face-to-face with the dark side of the school yard, life doesn't hold many surprises.
Ā Ā Or so I believed. I was wrong. Very Wrong.ā
Oh yeah, this is a great one. Witty, satirical, humorous. This introduction has āengaging and funāĀ written all over it. With this introduction, I was SOLD. I didnāt read this book just because it was by Eoin Colfer, the author of the famous Artemis Fowl series, as at that point I hadnāt read any Artemis Fowl. The protagonist is introduced right off the bat, and he already has some very interesting things going on. A twelve year old detective named Moon? Sounds like it might be fun. And the following sentences are work of art; thoroughly engaging and entertaining. It reads as a humorous twist on a film noir private eye. Thereās a bit of irony here too. People expect school yards to be full of innocent kids playing around, not a shrewd detective investigating dark and shocking occurrences. Ā After Moon says he thought heād seen it all, he ends with an alluring foreshadowing, āOr so I believed. I was wrong. Very Wrong.ā
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
ā Look, I didnāt want to be a half-blood.
If youāre reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.
Being a half-blood is dangerous. Itās scary. Most if the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.
If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.ā
Though I absolutely adored and obsessed over this series, I take issue with this opening nowadays. He does two things I would generally advice against: he addresses the readers directly, which puts up a barrier of self-awareness, and he claims the story to be true in a somewhat direct manner, which somewhat draws the readerās attention to the fact that it isnāt true. However, back when I first read the book I was totally sold. I believed everything Percy said as if the book really was written by him, barely aware Rick Riordan had anything to do with it. At that time, I believed the story as much as one could without being considered insane. (I canāt say the same for Narnia of course, I still believe it, enough to be considered slightly insane, to be honest.)I suppose this goes to show that what works for one audience doesnāt work for another. I was at the target audience age, 11 or 12 I believe. I was less cynical than I am now. Besides that, I wanted to believe it. I was almost looking for something to believe that was larger than my life. Percy Jackson was perfect for that. It was set in the modern world with normal kids who didnāt even know they were special. The opening lines not only gave me permission to fantasize that maybe I was one of those kids too, it encouraged it. Just a warning though, this type of opening might not have gone over so well for older readers.
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
āWhen the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it's never good news.ā
Itās often a good idea to open with the inciting incident of the story, as this line demonstrates. This opening line could be considered an understated foreshadowing. It tells the reader, āSomething is going to happen soon, the doorbell ringing is going to be a catalyst for something big!ā without sounding desperate for attention. And the author follows through after these opening lines, quickly moving to the catalyst of the story while introducing the protagonist.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
āThe Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.
When I began to ransack the archives of the National Academy of Music I was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the "ghost" and the most extraordinary and fantastic tragedy that ever excited the Paris upper classes; and I soon conceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phenomena in question. The events do not date more than thirty years back; and it would not be difficult to find at the present day, in the foyer of the ballet, old men of the highest respectability, men upon whose word one could absolutely rely, who would remember as though they happened yesterday the mysterious and dramatic conditions that attended the kidnapping of Christine Daae, the disappearance of the Vicomte de Chagny and the death of his elder brother, Count Philippe, whose body was found on the bank of the lake that exists in the lower cellars of the Opera on the Rue-Scribe side. But none of those witnesses had until that day thought that there was any reason for connecting the more or less legendary figure of the Opera ghost with that terrible story.ā
Alas, it opens with a prologue (though this prologue is more like a forward or an introduction than a part of the story)āa prologue in which the author claiming his fictional work to be fact at that, thus inadvertently arousing suspicion that it is not. Though who am I to criticize a classic? Especially since part of me actually believes him. Loroux claims his account to be based upon reality in such a way that causes me entertain the thought that maybe Leroux really DID somehow find out about true events and build a story around them. My conclusion? If you can be as convincing as Leroux, perhaps you should indeed have a go at claiming your novel is fact.
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
āIt was autumn in Venice when Victor first heard of Prosper and Bo. The canals, gleaming in the sun, dappled the ancient brickwork with gold. But the wind was blowing ice-cold air from the sea, reminding the Venetians that winter was approaching.ā
It is far too poetic. How many 12 year old kids (Iām assuming thatās somewhere near her target age) are going to say, āOh all that stuff about the autumn wind sounds like a fun read!ā But I think part of that is just Funkeās style. Iām pretty sure I only kept reading after that because the book jacket promised me I was going to meet a 13 year old boy called The Thief Lord. And man, I was all over that. Bring it. Luckily for me, after that flowery opening things got a little more interesting. And yes, I ended up loving her beautiful descriptions of Venice despite myself. It was just so well-done, I literally felt like I had been to Venice myself.So what is my final opinion on this sort of opening? It is this: donāt sacrifice who you are as a writer to fit the current market trends. Donāt sell your soul or strip down your writing just to do whatās popular. Just because a cheap vampire book might sell better than your classic tale of subtle beauty doesnāt mean you should throw out. Right now the popular thing to say is, āUse the simplest words possible! Make sure your reader never has to go to the dictionary!ā People in YA fiction tell you to open your story with a shocking hooker or an action scene. And that may very well be the preferred method of actually getting youth to read your book.But hereās an example of why you shouldnāt always do what people tell you: My mom is a poetry person. Sheās the type who writes in a flowery style, and uses words that she doesnāt even know the meaning of just because they sound nice. Itās just who she is. If she stopped doing that and started trying to write a bunch of cool Percy-Jackson style action scenes, she would just lose her style and the beauty of her writing. Again, know your purpose and know your audience. My mother doesnāt write for a YA audience, she has an educated adult audience in mindāthe kind of people who read Jane Austen. Conclusion to be drawn: If itās your style, if itās who you are, donāt substitute it for something you consider second-rate. Do what you want to do in the very best way you can.
Concluding ThoughtsI think what most of these opening lines have in common is that they spark curiosity. Of course, there is a difference between making a reader being curious, and making a reader having no idea what is going on. If you readers donāt understand a thing, it wonāt make them curiousāit will just send them away confused. They wonāt want to know more simply because of a lack of information,Ā they will want to know more because the information you have given them has peaked their interested while expressing that there is still more to be seen. The reader should be enticed to find out more about the character and the situation, and should be asking, āwhat will happen next?ā
A Few Types of Openings to Try
Irony
A contradiction or opposite of some kind, something unexpected. A restaurant with no food, a fashion model pigging out, a place where the good people are in a prison and the dangerous people are kept outside the fence. Things like that. Irony can be a hard concept to grasp, but it is very engaging when executed well.
Catalyst
The catalyst is what sets your story in motion. A knock at the door, a phone call, a car crash, accidently bumping into a stranger at the grocery store, etc.
Question
This is pretty self-explanatory. The question could be rhetorical. It should be interesting and thought provoking. Like, āwhat would you do if you had one day to live?ā But not that, because itās overused. Something like, āIf you had to decide between marrying someone you didnāt truly love, or being forever single, what would you do? Because that was my choice.ā I know that one isnāt ever so original either, but you see where itās possible to provoke some interest here.
Comparison
A simile or metaphor. Make sure to avoid colloquialisms here, come up with your own ideas. āMe trying to convince my sister that Iām not a secret agent is as hard as Galileo trying to convince the Pope that the world was flat. Except Galileo had it easier, because the Pope was wrong.ā (I know that was bad grammar, and maybe not historically accurate, but you get the idea.)
Dilemma
State a problem, or show how the character is trying to overcome the problem. For example, the protagonist missed the boat and is trying to figure out another way of getting out off the island, as the next boat wonāt come for a month, and is climbing to the highest point on the island to get cell phone service.
Intriguing Character
This would preferably be your protagonist, but it could be someone else, as long as your readers donāt mistake the character you mention as the protagonist when heās not. A teenage girl who is an outcast at her school is old news. You could introduce the character by observing what they are doing, saying, or how they look. Preferably all three at once. Express what is unique about the character.
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Hello! Can I first just say that I absolutely love your work? Cuz I do!
Anyways I had a question/thought to share with you. Idk if itās been discussed before but why do you think it is that the cube will only glow for one arcanum at a time even if two separate ones are in the same proximity to it? For example when Rayla returns in s4 the cube glows for the star arcanum presumably for Stella but not the moon symbol for Rayla even tho she is actively using her moon shadow form. I know Stella was closer to it at first but it began to glow before she touched it and even after that while she was on Raylas shoulder the moon symbol never lit up. And why did the star arcanum win out at that point and not the moon arcanum?
Again sorry if this is a redundant question or is something already explained that I never saw!
Thank you!! Your kind words are very much appreciated <3
I've written about the cube (specifically onscreen rune placement) here, but I've never done a formal analysis about how and why the rune itself glows. This is largely because, while TDP is a detail oriented series, there is no definitive answer for how/when the key glows as opposed to any other time.
The most consistent glow we see is the rune glowing when it faces the arcanum-holder (plant, animal, person) most directly; if I had to say how it definitively glows, this is probably the one I'd default to.
However, we see exceptions to that 'rule' all the time, such as when it glows adjacently for Bait or for the moon squirrel (Callum is a dork loser and I love him so much).
The cube also glows just from having Stella hold it in 4x02/03 (but more on that in a second), even if it means the rune glowing that's Opposite from her, never mind adjacent or next to her.
Which indicates that presumably whoever holds it should be making it glow... but Callum never does even when he's routinely holding the cube (any of the times in 3x02, when he grabs it from Soren in 4x01 or from the table in 4x04 / 4x07, etc).
But okay, maybe just... loose proximity is enough? Whoever is Closest.
But we see that also not be true more than a few times as well. The fish is sensed a decent amount before it arrives on scene, Callum is a good deal away from the Key, and it ~ glows ~ to help hint that we're arriving at a special Moon place (the Moon Nexus) but never glows when we're actually at the Nexus, nor when we're at any other (the Storm Spire).
I also don't think it's summoned by whatever is 'the most powerful' source nearby, either, as that would routinely count Callum out pretty unfairly and like I said, it doesn't glow consistently at the Moon Nexus either, so it can't be that either. (Maybe it glows in 1x08 consistently because they're unknowingly surrounded by illusions, and those illusions grow more numerous the higher they get, but I do think they were leaning more towards foreshadowing the Moon Nexus being at the top > anything else.)
While there was enough consistency with how the runes were displayed on screen for me to hedge my bets foreshadowing wise ("You found it?" overlaid the ocean rune made me guess we'd find the prison in s5, routinely highlighting moon but particularly ocean in Callum's dark magic dreams made me think he'd do dark magic/something adjacent to Aaravos' bidding on Rayla's behalf in s5), I think when/why the rune cube glows is just... too much leeway to say anything definitive about an in-universe explanation.
Outside of in-universe laws, though... The cube glows whatever it needs to whenever the story needs it to, almost always tipping the audience off to something before the characters themselves know it (i.e. Callum's burgeoning sky arcanum, the Moon Nexus as previously mentioned), or to help guide Callum to an epiphany (the cube helps him remember the pendant is a moon opal, which he then uses to help Rayla). This is also true in the way information about the key is presented (i.e. we know who Aaravos is when we learn it's his Key almost 2 full seasons before Callum does).
One of the longest running theories regarding the cube is that it would open itself, or open something, if all six primal sources were there to make it glow. This is still pretty reasonable (Callum probably could've experimented with 5/6 primal collections in the timeskip without ever having Star, as it's so rare) but he doesn't express any excitement over Stella having it if that was the case, nor have we ever seen it glow more than one primal at a time even if there'd be good reason(s) for it to. While the "6 primals at once" could still be how the cube is Unlocked (whatever that means) of course, it seems it has to be under those ultra specific collection circumstances to have anything glow more than one at a time, so it sows seeds of doubt for me that that's how it works.
#the key of aaravos#requests#thanks for asking#tdp meta#tdp#the dragon prince#mini meta#analysis series#analysis
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