#rayllum you're doing amazing!!

[raayllum]

bc s7 might have cute rayllum boat date and i'm no one if not booboo the fool

Callum's big surprise involves a boat of all things.

Rayla isn't sure what she expected when her dorky handsome mage had excitedly taken her hand and tugged her out here to a more secluded part of the forest with a river and everything—a picnic or private place to make out, or both, maybe—but...

The boat itself was done up very nicely, with roses and Stella waddling over to plop the Baitlings over in their place. It must've taken time and magic, as she clambers in with only a slight queasiness and Callum's hand steady in hers. It feels nice that it's so easy and natural to accept his help, after so many walls and so many years apart. That he offers it as freely as he ever has, his eyes bright when he looks at her and they lean against one side.

The river is gentle, at least, the boat moored so she isn't really getting seasick. Stella juggles adoraburrs and the Baitlings sing a tune that's pretty on key for glow toads.

"All this for me?" she only half-teases, looking at him.

Callum grins back at her, rubbing the back of his neck a bit bashfully. "Yeah, well—I knew I had to do something pretty special to get you on a boat."

"Very true," she plays along, bumping his shoulder with hers.

They stare the calm green water, a few fish swimming by the riverbed. She can feel the moment his gaze turns to her, though she doesn't meet it—this is a new part of the forest, and she wants to look around a bit longer.

"Do you remember the first time we were on a boat together?" he begins, teasing and charming.

In spite of the water then and water now, she smiles. How can she not, when it was the first day she saw him in a new light? In his truest light—sweet, attentive, understanding. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Callum scoots closer and wraps his arm fully around her shoulders. "Oh come on," he trills. "it wasn't all bad. You liked the five questions game."

Rayla snorts. "I did." Then, more ruefully, "Can't believe you remember that." His memory is amazing, but it was close to two and a half years ago—a lifetime ago—and there are spells and runes has to look up on occasion. She gave him good reason to want to bury those memories too, deep inside if not burned to a crisp. He'd kept them all instead.

A soft sigh of contentment and just a tinge of melancholy escapes her, as Rayla leans further into him. His scarf is soft against her cheek.

"Well," Callum replies, his voice a tad shy, "I never did get to ask the other three questions."

She raises her head enough to look at him, close enough their noses are nearly touching. "Oh?" Her lips twitch.

Instead of leaning in for a kiss, though, or eagerly asking a question about Xadia she'll more than oblige him for, Callum pulls back from her. Takes something out of his pocket as he moves down from the wooden plank seat in the boat to the base.

"There's kind of only one that matters, though," he continues, smiling sweetly, his eyes shining. There's a horn cuff in his hand. Rayla's heart sticks in her throat. He can't be... "Marry me?"

Moon above, he is. She covers her mouth with her hands, staring at him. "I..."

Callum shifts, a tad uncertain. "I know we're young," he amends. "And the future is uncertain. But I also know you, and I love you. You're my truth, and my path and light, and I never want to be separated from you ever again, and—whoa!"

She almost sends them capsizing from the way she tackle hugs him and knocks them both down, laughing and crying all at once. Her arms wind around his neck as Callum catches her (because he always will) and keeps one around her waist, his other hand still holding onto the engagement horn cuff; the green gemstone embedded in it matches his eyes. It's perfect.

"Gods, yes, dummy," she laughs, tears spilling over. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so wide. "Of course I'll marry you."

[dragonblaggin]

Genuinely flummoxed how they handled this perfect Rayllum setup

I've loved these kids and the mature health of their dynamic in season 1-3. I've been frustrated seeing how they were portrayed in season 4 and 5, feeling like the mature communication that defined them and made me love them was forgotten. I just binged season 6 last night.

You're telling me they had Rayla crying over this diary for an entire scene with a story about a woman who left her love and all she wished for at the end of her adventures was that he was there for her to apologize to him....

Just for her to expectantly wait for Callum to be the one to say something when he came inside instead? What...?

Frustrating choice but I let it slide figuring they wanted to just draw out the drama a little longer. It wasn't exactly subtle narratively why the one wishing to apologize in the past was the woman of the pair. Surely this heartfelt, apologetic, regretful diary Rayla just read would come back around and steer her to properly apologizing for lying to Callum and abandoning him on his birthday for two years?

Well.... no, it was dropped and never brought up again. Moving on to episode 6.

Callum brings up the universal musing of what might be different if you had changed one thing in your life. Okay, I'm with you writers, the diary's effect on Rayla is gonna pay off! She's going to agree and tell him she wished she hadn't left him! How sorry she is! Right?

Uh. Did they just-

Did they really boil down Rayla's entire icky toxic behavior into a "Teehee oops sorry :)" line? Okay how will they salvage this…

This happened, and I'm still begging them to not minimize the pain Callum went through. He's always so quick to brush aside his needs and feelings. Please stop making him feel wrong for being conflicted over her waltzing back into his life pretending everything was fine.

Oh no, they really are still presenting the whole bump in the relationship as Callum's mess-up...

It was at this point I thought, oh! Brilliant actually! I see what they're doing! She's gonna walk in and instead of just the plain old "Hey," she's gonna launch into a heartfelt speech about her regrets and love like the monologue she gave to Sol Regem about him! This is gonna be amazing!

She walks in... looks contemplative.... here it comes! This is gonna be such good payoff after so many missed opportunities! She's gonna shock him with a big outpouring!

F U C K

I've never been so disappointed in a Rayllum kiss in my life. I feel gaslit. The diary... being invited to have a second chance on what she did when returning to Callum...?????? Are you kidding me?

This season was great over all, but I feel hollow that the main reason I loved the show in the past is making me feel so sad and angry. I'm extremely depressed how this played out and I'm shocked that more people aren't calling it out.

[ruii-cha]

rayllum + taylor swift

in honour of both speak now taylor's version and tdp s5 and that cute asf rayllum moment in the trailer, a list of lyrics from 4 speak now songs that match rayllum in my mind:

mine

made for them. the whole song. 'do you remember we were sitting there by the water / you put your arm around me for the first time' midnight oasis from season three. The Scene.

'i was a flight risk with a fear of falling / wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts' rayla. that's all. season four and also poor girl's family situation.

'you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter' runaan's not really careless but like i'm JUST SAYING

'you are the best thing that's ever been mine' speaks for itself. 'what we had was something special' 'you are the best thing i ever had' RAYLAAAAAA

ok i could do a whole essay on that song by itself but like

go listen it's Them

2. sparks fly

'drop everything now, keep me in the pouring rain / kiss me on the sidewalk, take away my pain' ahem. if this isn't rayla to callum. i don't know what is. he dropped everything to help her return zym to xadia, they had that heartfelt moment in the rain with the lightning strike-

'get me with those green eyes, baby, as the lights go down' self explanatory.

'gimme something that'll haunt me when you're not around' CALLUM. SEASON FOUR. NEED I SAY MORE?

'i'm on my guard with the rest of the world / but with you, i know it's no good' season four. callum asks /rayla/ for help with the whole 'if i'm possessed' thing and rayla lets down her guard to talk to him while he's asleep.

3. long live

'you held your head like a hero / on a history book page' 'it was the end of a decade / but the start of an age' end of season three. the way they hold hands and look so proud and zubeia looks at them like 'god damn how long was i asleep'

'long live the walls we crashed through / all the kingdom lights shine just for me and you' they crashed through the boundaries between humans and elves, katolis and xadia, and duren and katolis came through for them in the s3 battle.

'long live all the mountains we moved / i had the time of my life fighting dragons with you' not dragons, but like, they definitely had a very amazing journey and rAYLA SAYS HE WAS THE BEST THING IN HER LIFE OKAY I'M NOT OVER IT

'bring on all the pretenders, one day / we will be remembered' them against the world... they'll be remembered as the human mage and the last dragonguard... my heart...

4. back to december

or, rayla @ callum after season 4 i'm right and you know it. i don't even need to explain these lyrics.

'so this is me swallowing my pride / standing in front of you saying i'm sorry for that night' episode two.

'it turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you / wishing i'd realised what i had when you were mine'

'when your birthday passed and i didn't call' (eyes callum)

okay this one just makes me sad

i couldn't think of a 5th... if you can add it. pls. look i was listening to speak now taylor's version over and over again and then i realised it was Them

[tdp-fandom]

Shipping Poll Update

Click here if you haven't voted yet

Hello friends! As of the writing of this post, I've received 103 responses which is amazing! Thank you all so much! A special thank you goes to those who shared the poll - it is thanks to you guys that I got this many responses and I really appreciate it <3

I would like to share some general statistical data so far (the one that doesn't have an impact on the overall results) and address some feedback that I've received. Some graphs

I'm very happy to see that tumblr users have been the most active! You guys rock! Reddit has also been really active and I'm happy to see discord and twitter catching up!

I don't expect a lot of activity from dreamwidth as it's a different kind of website and I barely have any followers there but I'm curious to see how it goes. I ended up not posting anything on instagram because I would need to make images and I currently don't have the spoons for that :c

The age graph is also really cool! I'm very happy to see so many active 31+ people! Almost a quarter! And I'm very grateful to the young adults, who are the main bulk of the participants! I'm also happy to see teen participants express their votes as well c:

That's its for graphs for now - I can't share the rest just yet without the risk of getting the data skewed.

What I'd like to talk about next is your amazing feedback and how a few early participants saved this poll! Read under cut.

Feedback

People Who Have Saved the Poll

I posted the poll at 2 am my time (I had been working late nights on it the entire week because of real life responsibilities taking most of my free time) but decided to stick around for a bit to check if everything was going smoothly and to finish my conversations with friends on discord.

About 7 votes in, I decided to check on the poll and I saw this message in the feedback field:

"I didn`t see Rayla/Callum anywhere. Am I just blind or?"

This person was a life saver! Because although I know I added Rayllum originally, I must've accidentally deleted it and never noticed T-T it really is super easy to accidentally click on an X and delete a row from a multiple choice grid on google forms. Thanks to that person the crisis was averted. And it really would've been a crisis, because Rayllum is the flagship of TDP and getting lots of answers with no opinion on Rayllum would've really hurt the accuracy of the data.

I had also forgotten to add opinion options for some categories in the controversial ships section, which a friend as well as two poll takers notified me about!

Thank you all for the valuable feedback! I don't know what I would do without you.

Other Feedback

A few people mentioned that they weren't sure if it were ok not to tick every ship and I realized I hadn't been clear on that in my instructions. It is absolutely fine to skip whatever you feel like skipping. If there are ships you don't care about so much you don't even want to choose any option for - that is 100% valid and it tells me important information about the ship - you're not just neutral about it, you really do not care about a ship. And if I want to accurately evaluate our fandom's relationship with various ships, this information is also important.

People also commented that there have been too many ships to go through and that's definitely true. I tried to be as thorough as I could by including every possible ship people would have opinions on but the lists ended up being huge. I am planning to change a few things for the season 5 poll. I will probably exclude certain ships that won't do very well on this poll (unless the events in S5 warrant keeping them) and try to rearrange them in a way that can help people go through them faster.

There was a related comment where a person noted that it's not very convenient to scroll back and forth through the four opinion choices on mobile and suggested using just the numbers 1 to 4. That is a very good idea - I will implement this in the next poll.

One person was asking about Breakfast Guards being included in the canon ships. While I didn't get any official confirmations, they were shown almost kissing in the episode where Zubeia visits Katolis so I think that counts as them having some sort of onscreen not strictly platonic relationship.

While I explained the kinds of ships the poll was dealing with as well as the difference between active and passive shipping, I didn't actually explain what I mean by shipping, as one person rightfully pointed out! It's not an easy thing to define but I will try to come up with something for the season 5 poll! So far we can stick to romantic, queerplatonic or nonromantic sexual dynamics.

I used the wrong ship name for Rex Igneous x Avizandum. It should be Zanrex instead of Rexandum and the wonderful @cometchasr explained to why that particular shipname was chosen! He said that Zan was a nickname for Avizandum used a in few fics featuring the former dragon king and it fit very well with how the nickname Zym works. When I don't know a shipname I often just make one up on the spot as a placeholder but I am always happy to hear feedback from actual shippers and I switch to their preferred shipname.

I got so many nice compliments and words of encouragement too! Thank you guys! It means a lot ;__;

I will try to address feedback roughly once a week and keep you all updated on how things are going!

[aetheternity]

Omg this is so pure!! I'm in love!! Thank @methargicism for this prompt. I changed it a little tho..

"Rayla." Callum called as they walked but was ultimately ignored.

"Raylllaa." He tried again dragging her name with a sing songy voice. He noticed the slight change in her shoulder blades the way they flinched up and ultimately relaxed back in annoyance.

"Rayla!"

"What?!" She screamed back, clapping her hands over her mouth immediately after. "Will you stop calling me. What'd you want anyway?"

"You were ignoring me." Callum replied with a soft shrug, quickening his pace to be right beside Rayla.

"I'm not ignoring you. I was just... thinking.."

Callum raise an eyebrow. It wasn't uncommon for Rayla to get lost in her thoughts so much so that everything around her disappeared but today it seemed less like harmless daydreaming and more like concern over something.

"What's bothering you? If you don't mind me asking."

Rayla's shoulders hunched up again before falling as if she was forcing them down. Her back slouched and her eyes darted away from Callum.

"I wonder how long it's gonna take.." Rayla started, "I mean for humans and elves to actually make peace.. Runan's gonna hate me for running off like I did.. If he even survived.... And how's he gonna feel about... about you."

She really did have a lot on her mind.

Callum rested a hand on Rayla's shoulder stopping her stride and turning her to face him. "Stop worrying about what you can't control. You'll make yourself crazy. We've done what we can so far and we're gonna keep working hard until elves and humans can be friends and work together. You'll see, it's me and you."

Rayla's face warmed with the sweet words, blush deepening with the last sentence. You'll see, it's me and you.

Callum seemed to pick up on it too because he quickly backed up, hands flying to his pockets with a need to cover them. "And Ezran." He added quickly though it was a little late.

Rayla smirked a soft chuckle cresting off her lips. "Yes of course and Ezran.." She giggled.

Callum didn't know what it was maybe the atmosphere or Rayla's little giggles but he found himself staring at her horns when she leaned forward and stood back up straight. Eyes enamored with the pointy tips and smooth purple color of them.

"Hey Rayla?"

Rayla smirked, hands on her hips. "Please Don't tell me you're gonna start that again." She joked

"No no I'm done with that." He assured, eyes moving back up to her horns. "I was just intrested in your horns. Can I.. touch them?" Nervousness peaked throughout his whole body as the question exited his mouth. Though it was definitely having a worse effect on Rayla.

Her eyes widened like saucers and her face brightened to the color of a newly ripe tomato. Callum didn't have time to even retract his question before Rayla was racing off past him. Up into a tree.

"Rayla wait!" He knew he wasn't supposed to yell as that could draw attention they really didn't need but he couldn't help it.

What had he done wrong? Were elves horns super sensitive or something? He probably shouldn't have asked.

Even though Rayla had lectured him on staying together when they'd first entered Xadia she wasn't against it now. She'd jumped at least 15 feet away from him climbing the tallest tree Callum had ever seen in his life.

"Rayla please!" He called, worry filling his voice against his own will. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I take it back!"

Climbing trees was no big deal for Callum when he was younger. Him and Ezran had begun a sort of competition between each other to climb to the highest branch they could. But the last time they'd done that he'd been at least 5 years younger and was in his city. Now he was in Xadia climbing a tree to get his moonshadow elf friend down after he'd accidentally hurt her feelings.

And nothing about that is normal in the slightest.

"Rayla!" He continued to call as he tossed his leg up to a branch near his shoulder. He was hoping for an angered response of lower your voice. Even maybe a Callum shut up if she really was pissed. But neither of that came as he climbed.

"Rayla.." He struggled, jacket getting caught on a branch. "I'm so sorry.." He whined unhooking himself and hoisting his arm up over a much smaller branch. "Please forgive me.. I take it back!"

Still no answer. All the leaves in the trees began to jumble, his breaths slipping out in heavy huffs. "Rayla.." He laid against the branch near his head all movements paused. His palms felt wet whether it was his own imagination or reality was unclear.

He shut his eyes, brain banging unsoothingly in his skull. The branch under his foot made a cracking noise, Callum felt his weight shift and bounce. He was gonna fall. The branch was gonna give way... But he couldn't bring himself to move. Couldn't even open his eyes.

When the branch broke he fell but not very far before a pair of arms were hoisting him up around the waist. A breathy groan sounded above him and his tired wet eyes opened to Rayla's frustrated face above him.

"You dumb human! What do you think you're doing? You could've died!" Callum grasped the branch Rayla was trying to pull him up to. Her hands were wrapped tightly around his waist in a way he found comforting on his hot skin. Once he was balanced and seated he shut his eyes again. Heart beat bouncing disturbingly fast.

"Are you ok?" Her breath tickled his cheek and his pulse flickered when he felt her soft fingers gently push his sweaty brown hair away from his face.

He sat still till his body cooled down before his eyes flickered open landing on the concerned girl in front of him. "Rayla I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

Rayla's fingers flinched on Callum's shoulder, but she didn't let go. "What're you talking about?"

"When I asked to touch your horns you ran away... I assumed I offended you or something."

Rayla's cheeks flushed again but she didn't run. Her eyes closed, quickly flicking open again but not looking at Callum. "Callum... You didn't offend me."

Her eyes stayed locked on the leaves below them, hands moving away from Callum's shoulders slowly like she was scared he'd fall.

"Callum.. When you touch an elf's horns... It's the equivalent of... Two humans kissing each other's foreheads.. Or Even cuddling..." Rayla informed.

Of course this information was a bit shocking but it didn't waver Callum's curiousity or make him uncomfortable.

"Is that bad?"

"Wh-what?!" If it were possible for Rayla to become more red then she already was it happened.

"Would it be bad.... If it was me?.."

"N-no! I mean! Callum!! Two elves rub each other's horns as a sign that they want to date!! It's before the first kiss! It's sacred!!" She squealed, arms cluched to her sides like she was her own lifeline.

"And You can't do it with a human.."

"Callum!"

"Rayla." He smiled all gooey in the face and warm in his eyes. "I won't force you. And if you say no I'll back off right now but.. Would it be that bad if it was me?.."

Rayla's face cooled from its bright red to a soft pink as she calmed. Her arms came down to grasp the branch in the space between them. She pushed up onto one knee other one balancing over the edge. Her fingers shook a little but Callum was there to catch her if she needed help.

Once she was less than 3 feet away, she bowed her head softly, pushing her head up close to Callum's. "Go.. Ahead.." Breath stuttering a bit where it left her mouth and bounced off the trees.

Now that she was this close Callum could feel his body warm and his fingers shook where he began to bring them up to the tip of Rayla's horn.

He started sweetly just gripping the hard apendage with two fingers at the tip before slowly petting her, running his fingers down the length of her whole horn. The branch they were sitting on shuttered with Rayla as she shivered almost purring a little.

Her hair fell back as she streched to look at Callum. "Sorry.. I've never had my horns touched like this before..." And Callum couldn't tell if it was his own imagination but Rayla definitely looked at his lips before her eyes flashed back up.

"It's ok. I think it's cute." Now it was Callum's turn to blush, Rayla joining him as she leaned back against the trees rough branch.

"Thanks.."

After a couple minutes of silence Callum smirked focusing on Rayla again. "So... I guess it's time for our first kiss."

"I will push you out of this tree."

I'm gonna fail math because I was writing this instead of doing my work.

[numptypylon]

If Rayla has rattled on and on to Stella all about Callum, and how amazing he is, do you think in the shot in the trailer of Stella looking at her, she full becomes one of Rayllum’s biggest fans…?

Could be two ways, assuming the evil lemur theory doesn't turn out to be true.

Stella is like jealous kitty, because her friend is all googly-eyed over some human now, or she looooves the human that's making her friend so happy.

Imagine if Rayla just blabbed all her sappy pining to Stella for 2 years, and then Ez has a 'talk' to Stella and is like... 'wow... you're both ridiculous.'

[yuriinadress]

(re: send me a character) bernard dowd and/or the lil tdp dude i keep seeing everywhere since the sdcc panel LMAO (i think his name is callum??? pls forgive if im wrong /o\)

Hi! Because I love these two so much. I'mma do both!

Bernard Dowd

Favorite thing about them:

He's a superhero Conspiracy theorist and that is insane to me! Like, that is such a good idea for a character and should be used to its full potential.

Least favorite thing about them:

Surface-level, he is the embodiment of white bread, especially with his current characterization

Favorite line:

Oooo, this one's a no-brainer:

"It's perfect and I love it, flaws and all. It was definitely worth the wait." -- "Special Delivery" by Travis Moore, DC Pride 2022

(Like he's talking about the cake, but also he's not talking about the cake-)

brOTP:

Darla/Laura for the obvious besties in high school

Steph for besties that bully Tim (affectionately)

OTP:

Gee I don't know... TIMBER OF COURSE

(Although I do ship timberkon and konnard on the side 😏)

nOTP:

Darla/Bernard: I really think their strongest dynamic is their friendship.

Random headcanon:

He's friends with Jay Nakamura online. They met through a government conspiracy forum.

Unpopular opinion:

I'm not sure if this is unpopular or not but I think his characterization is weakest when he's written by Fitzmartin??? Sorry??? (I honestly think Travis Moore is his best writer yet)

Song I associate with them:

Yasutaka Nakata - Crazy Crazy (feat. Charli XCX and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu)

Favorite picture of them:

It's just so tender. He's so in love 🥺...

Callum

Favorite thing about them:

He's the biggest fucking dork and I love it.

Least favorite thing about them:

Don't really have anything for this one

Favorite line:

"You're smart, and fast, and beautiful. Rayla, you're the most amazing person I've ever met." -- 3x4 "The Midnight Desert"

He's such a romantic that he doesn't even know he's in love with her yet-

brOTP:

Callum and Ezran! I love their dynamic as brothers

Callum and Soren as frenemies to big brother figure that affectionately bullies the younger one

OTP:

RAYLLUM! RAYLLUM! RAYLLUM! (Rayla and Callum)

nOTP:

Claudia and Callum (but I'm fine with it as a crush)

Random headcanon:

When he gets really into something he gets into it. Like nose in a spell book and forgets to eat or sleep until someone makes him.

Unpopular opinion:

I don't think him learning every Arcanum will make the show too similar to ATLA.

Song I associate with them:

Simple Plan - I'm Just a Kid

(probably too on the nose but it's the first thing I thought of ahshsj-)

Favorite picture of them:

He is a serious artist 😤

<Send me a character and I'll list some things about them!>

[byghostface]

Omg both callum and rayla have blue nail polish in the christmaa comic??? That is so adorable, it suits them both💙 adorable comic, you're an amazing artist!!!! What was your favourite thing of season 3!?

Yeah, they did!! One of my hc in the sort of(?) modern AUs is that they would do their nails together, I just think it's cute^^💙✨Callum is a sappy dork and he would wants to match with Rayla in idk...anything(?) I guess lolol (kinda low key screaming they are indeed "A THING")

Plus Callum is an artist, I can imagine he worship Rayla as if she is a stunning painting or a pure canvas let him draw on, and she is truly all his.

And TY!!🙈💖💖💓🌟✨💙💜 I just rly happy ppl to notice the lil details I hope to convey!

I also talked about this one pattern on Callum sweater I gave him on insta story, why not share it here too??

Just thinking he definitely would do something like try to designed the symbol of them, and wearing it to walk around to show off their "thing" lmao

Rayla ofc is quite embarrassed by it... but COME ON he's just being a sweetheart like he always does💕💕

.

My fave things in tdp s3 properly are

1. RAYLLUM ofc

2. Get to meet all the Rayla's family members

3. Zym and ZUBEIA thank you very much

[raayllum]

Hi Rayllum. Hope you're doing well.

Just wanted to say I absolutely loved your "say the wind won't change on us" fic so much. I love seeing Callum still being angry for her with the way he litterally snapped at Ethari. It's really well written. I'm so ecstatic for what S5 has in store for Rayllum.

Keep up the amazing work.

Thank you!! @thosefiveadoraburrs and I had a fantastic time writing that fic even if it was also very emotional, with the Ethari-Callum scene being one of our favourites. One of our favourite facets of Rayllum's dynamic in general is the way they'll Angrily Care about each other (on Callum's end in particular) and it's always very cathartic!

Still needs surreal that S5 is gonna be here in less than 2 months!!

[raayllum]

Heya,

Hopefully im not imposing, but im trying to track down a rayllum fic. I think it was one of your recs. I was lits just reading it yesterday. I cant find it anywhere. Its driving me crazy. From what i recall it was like a collection of shorts, canon compliant, and it was about how Callum fell for rayla over time. Theres the part from the show where they just got washed up on shore and shes wringing her hair out—in the story Callum was admiring it. At the point where i stopped the canon compliant fic was at the point in s1 where the group is recovering from falling in the icy lake and callum PoV line reads “stories of their mother was all his baby brother had” or something along those lines. So do you know it? Or can you help me track it down?

Ah yes, so after a bit of searching it's actually from my twoshot (planned threeshot) Because She's Rayla, specifically chapter one I think! I'm so glad you're enjoying it

However in my search I was reminded of some truly also amazing canon compliant missing / or expanding on canon scenes fics such as @numptypylon's Downtime in Wartime (Callum POV) and Upside Downtime (Rayla POV) for s1-s3.

I also have a couple of other fics that cover S1 / arc 1 specifically with Pivot (alternating Callum and Rayla POV of 1x05 and 1x06) as well as 21 days, a series of drabbles that cover the 21 days between 1x02 to 3x05. There's also some goodies in my Canon Compliant collection on AO3 as well

[raayllum]

sometimes I can't believe rayllum hasn't been planned in season one. there are some pretty heavy implications ("actually i do like [your pointy ears]" "is it because you're with a girl?") and they have an amazing chemistry from the very begining. just a thought

we know that rayllum was only considered/planned after they were storyboarding in early s2, but we don’t know where that actually fell in the production timeline and how far removed from s1 that was. however, if everything in season one was truly done without any romantic intention, this live footage of the writers’ room is even more accurate

[purplerose244]

Rules: answer all 25 questions to the best of your ability, then tag 5 other blogs.

#1. Which Primal Source do you identity most with? Why?

I think stars? It's such a unique and mystic power that still needs more explainations, I'm really fascinated by it.

#2. Elves or Humans?

Elves are the coolest 😎

#3. If you had to choose, would you rather free Runaan from the coin or Aaravos from the mirror?

Mm... I think Runaan, mostly because I know that he is good at the end, while Aaravos is unpredictable and potentially evil (still crazy sexy, but evil nonetheless)

#4. Best animal companion?

Zym 💙💙💙 I love Bait, but I always pick the dragon. ALWAYS.

#5. Best humanoid companion?

Rayla, or if it's only about humans Callum. The former for attitude and strenght, the latter for plans and fun 😊👌

#6. You can revive one characters, who is it and why them?

If not both at least one of Aanya's parents, just so the kid won't be alone 😢

#7. Otp?

Rayllum 💚💜💚💜 And Runaan x Tinker

#8. Unpopular opinion?

Huh, idk...

#9. Favorite headcanon?

Tinker is indeed Runaan's boyfriend and he knows what's up and he's sad... BUT THEN THEY GET TOGETHER AGAIN

#10. Best sibling pair?

Without throwing away Soren and Claudia's amazing bond, I'm simply in love with Cal and Ez's dynamic 💙💚💙💚

#11. Who's your queen?

Officially, Sarai ❤💙❤💙 Non officially, RAYLA 💜💜💜

#12. Lujanne offers you ice cream, how do you respond?

"Girl, I love you, but DON'T"

#13. Be honest, do you have the guts to use dark magic?

Ahahahahabsolutely NO

#14. Who's best elf? Why?

Well Rayla, she's too amazing not to be 💜 Though I can't wait to know more elves next season 😍😍😍

#15. Hot brown morning potion or leaf flavored water?

Second one.

#16. Best use for magic?

To make the world a better place? 😅 Or simply to make life easier, for others and yourself

#17. Who wins the best hair award?

Aaravos of course 😎

#18. Viren; misguided, evil or actually the good guy?

Mm, hard one. I'd say misguided, even if it doesn't justify most of this actions. At the end he is a man looking for something that probably doesn't even exist

#19. Would you rather fly with Phoe-Phoe, hike with Corvus, sail with Villads or stay home with Opeli?

I wanna fly 🤩🤩🤩

#20. Who's your crush?

Mm, I think Sarai, but I prefer having my babies to look after 😍

#21. You're being chased by a cotton candy hyppo; reaction?

"Why is my snack chasing me? Isn't it supposed to be the other way arou- oh, it's a dream 😅"

#22. Choose a champion.

AMAYA 💙💙💙

#23. Favorite scene? Why?

Last episode of season 2, Callum e Sarai. It was such a sweet moment between them, mother and child, right when Cal needed her wisdom more than ever. Thinking that maybe that Sarai was how he sees her, full of compassion and kindness, makes it even a stronger scene: he is guided by his mother even when she's not here

#24. Should Soren be a poet?

Sure, why not 😂

#25. Soggy Socks.

... okay 🤷‍♀️

Tag: @dragonprinceofficial @rayllumbigbang @runaanofxadia

(Tagging random blogs I like)

That was fun 😊😊😊

Tag Game: “The Dragon Prince,” Edition

(Template)

Tagged by:

Rules: Answer all 25 questions to the best of your ability, then tag 5 other blogs.

#1. Which Primal Source Do you identify most with? Why?

#2. Elves or Humans?

#3. If you had to choose, would you rather free Runaan from the coin or Aaravos from the mirror?

#4. Best animal companion?

#5. Best humanoid companion?

#6. You can revive one character, who is it and why them?

#7. Otp?

#8. Unpopular opinion?

#9. Favorite headcanon?

#10. Best siblings pair?

#11. Who’s your Queen?

#12. Lujanne offers you ice cream, how do you respond?

#13. Be honest, do you have the guts to use dark magic?

#14. Who’s best elf? Why?

#15. Hot brown morning potion or leaf flavored water?

#16. Best use for magic?

#17. Who wins the best hair award?

#18. Viren; misguided, evil, or actually the good guy?

#19. Would you rather fly with Phoe-Phoe, hike with Corvus, sail with Villads, or stay home with Opeli?

#20. Who’s your crush?

#21. You’re being chased by a cotton candy hippo; reaction?

#22. Choose a champion.

#23. Favorite scene? Why?

#24. Should Soren be a poet?

#25. Soggy Socks. (No more context)

I tag:

[raayllum]

you wrote somewhere that you're in the fandom from the very beggining (sorry if i'm wrong). was rayllum that popular since first season? did people really used to believe it will become canon back then?

i have been here since before the show came out when we were getting character names on twitter. my first post on this blog was july 17th, 2018 and i was very excited. the dragon prince was exactly the sort of show i had been waiting for basically since atla of high epic fantasy and with a more serious tone overall. while lots of cartoons touch on more serious topics, like gravity falls or steven universe or shera, i wouldn’t necessarily label them of having consistently serious tones the way tdp tends to. the dragon prince is always a fun show to watch and a good balance of comedy but even more the initial trailers it was clear the emphasis was on character and politics (war) and lore, which is not usually how cartoons tend to market themselves.

i didn’t really make content then as i wasn’t an artist and we didn’t have much to work with. i also didn’t interact with anyone else back then in the fandom so idk what the it was like, personally. part of this was because the early fandom was unfortunately decently populated with antis. i know that - interestingly/funnily enough - quite a few of the admittedly few people who were in the fandom at the very start didn’t stick with the show really post s2 or even s1. i’m sure they like enjoyed it but you never know what’s gonna grab your attention fandom wise and i have a lot of shows i adore that i don’t make content for at all

some of the more popular ships pre show was runaan/soren (before ages were posted), soren/marcos and rayla/claudia. this is where i stood, memeing it out back then. 

as i’ve said before m/m ships don’t tend to grab me as much bc i get bored if there’s no women, so i was actually very on board with rayla/claudia pre show. they were around the same age, basically any ship with rayla was gonna be enemies to friends to lovers a little, i thought they had nice character designs. i was mostly here though for found family, so i wasn’t expecting to have a ship either. i knew it could really go any way

however once i saw this still that was released on september 3rd, 2018

somehow i already knew rayla was gonna be my favourite, she was a main character (and i usually do tend to like the core protagonists or the Main Character the most, i’ve only really had one exception to that in the past) so i figured if i was gonna ship something it was probably gonna be her. so i was already primed for that. 

i think the main reason why this still piqued my interest the way that it did was like i said, any ship with rayla with be enemies to friends to lovers kinda by default with the possible options we had (claudia, soren, callum). but here, at one point in the season we have these two characters who meet on the worst possible personal foot because she was sent after his family specifically... and they’re sitting very relaxed and close together under a tree. and he’s clearly really interested in whatever he’s talking about, and although rayla is rolling her eyes, she’s clearly also fond with that little smile. this screencap to me indicated friendship and support between two characters who were also the likeliest pair (as two main characters travelling together alongside ezran) of having the screentime to really build a bond and help each other grow. i was immediately sold and they were quickly the faves

after binging s1 over the course of the day i immediately knew i had made the right choice. canon killed rayla/claudia for me and catapulted rayllum to a beautiful platonic richness that had a lot of great romantic potential, but was already an amazing bond regardless of what road it went down

post s1 ships were largely runaan/tinker (ethari but we didn’t know his name yet), rayla/callum, and rayla/claudia as the main ships. there was also some soren/marcos and opeli/amaya and gren/amaya. i feel like post s1 people were more focused on all the characters as individuals and a lot of worldbuilding, so shipping anything wasn’t Big yet. but i think rayla/callum was already the most popular ship (although rayla/claudia was decent sized too, way bigger than it is now) just by virtue of having the most like, screentime and therefore canon content

so there was a small to medium, dedicated community already pretty well balanced with artists and fic writers. we figured then that there would be six seasons (one for each primal source) and the general train of thought was that rayllum’s s1 dynamic of friends would be the norm for at least another two solid seasons. they’d get closer, callum would probably get over claudia, and there might be a lil hint here and there like with certain !!! moments in s1 of body language or ezran’s initial ship tease, but i did not expect any more overt hints of feelings until like, s4. i thought because they’d be an elf-human couple rayllum might get together in s5 (it’s not uncommon with netflix binge series for a ship to be confirmed and get together with a season long drop, after all) because then they could explore what that would be like, and have a motivation to make a world where a elf-human couple could exist/live happily one of the reasons why they were fighting against viren/the evil side into s6.

however, rayllum’s romantic chances were seen as far more 50/50. it really felt like it could go a romantic or continue on a platonic path in equal measure. if you want an example of the sort of thought process and speculation then, i have a meta here i wrote pre-s2 and just post s1 a little over a month after the show came out, about why i thought rayllum would/could be canon someday, lol. 

what s2 did was majorly tip the scales to “they are definitely going to take a romantic route” which is one of the reasons why i feel like the jump between rayllum in s1 and rayllum in s2, dynamic wise, is way bigger than the jump between s2 and s3 rayllum. increased focus on tender development also made rayllum rocket in popularity fanon wise and the community largely became the size you see now. i would say 25% were won over by s1, another 70% were won over by s2, and the remaining 5% won over by s3. 

anyway i hope you enjoyed the fandom history lesson lol

[aetheternity]

All the prompts I've written have been like after season 2 ends so I'm gonna make this one during season 2. @astraskylark I'm so happy you gave me this prompt!!

"I'm just saying I don't find your human impression that funny." Callum stated with a tilt of his head, arms crossed with a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh really. Am I not human enough to ya? Should I grow an extra finger to make the impression more realistic?" Rayla retorted wiggling her four fingers in front of Callum's face.

Zym sighed next to them clearly exasperated and Ezran raised an eyebrow looking to Bait for some kind of understanding. The grumpy glow toad merely rolled his eyes, resting his chin on the wet wood of the boat.

"No it's just not funny in the slightest."

"Should I stop for good then? Maybe let myself be chased by some racist humans?"

They'd been arguing back and forth like this for what felt like an eternity. Not very loudly but still an exhaustingly long argument.

"No!" Callum answered, tone thick with agitation.

"So then I suppose you can do better. Maybe that's what you're getting at?" Callum suddenly grew silent, face brightening as he stared at Rayla's smug grin. "Do you wanna challenge me Callum? Wanna do a better elf impression then my human impression?"

She could clearly see the thoughts flying through Callum's head. He'd never done an impression of an elf before. How far was he willing to take this argument just to spite Rayla?

"That sounds like a good idea!" Ezran interjects enthusiastically, not understanding his brother's slightly pained expression. "Plus you're really good at impressions! Remember your impression of Soren?"

Rayla grunted irritated by the sudden mention of the Soren but quickly returned her attention back to Callum. "Yeah. Let's see the amazing impressions you can do."

Callum refused to back down. He lifted his chin and with a short "Fine." He was speeding away towards the bottom of the ship to grab supplies.

Callum had never thought of himself as a collector of any kind but he'd been taking little rocks sometimes sticks and on the rare occasion that one of Zym's scales just happened to fall off he'd keep that too. There was just a nice comfort to having all this stuff as a sort of souvenir to remember this trip.

He quickly grabbed the sticks that looked the most like horns and some yarn to wrap them around his head. The whole job was honestly messy and the horns kept flopping around precariously but it was decent enough. As a finishing touch Callum grabbed another pair of sticks (A little skinny but they would do) to act as blades.

"Alright! You've heard of human Rayla, well now there's the infinitely better Elf Callum!" The brown haired boy announced bouncing out onto the deck almost losing one of his "horns".

Rayla snickered and Ezran clapped excitedly.

Callum pulled the sticks out from where they were stashed in his belt buckle. He held them just like Rayla always did, spreading his feet apart to better impersonate her stance. "I'm an assassin elf. I like doing cool things with my blades and talkin like this." Callum remarked, poorly impersonating Rayla's accent. "Not to mention my other weapon of choice sarcasm!"

Ezran laughs, "You do stand like that!" He points first to Callum's wide stance and then at Rayla.

The young elf crossed her arms watching as Callum swung the sticks every which way making soft whooshing noises. "You should fear me humans because when the moons highest I could kill ya in an instant!" Callum continued accidentally flipping the stick up in the air.

He flew back as the object promptly hit him in the eye, one of his "horns" finally giving way to gravity and flopping onto the deck of the boat.

"Oh my gosh are you ok?" Ezran asked flying to help his brother.

"Yeah.. No.. I'm fine Ez.." Callum was barely up on his feet when Rayla began to laugh, holding onto her stomach and rolling around on the hard deck. Zym stared at her in confusion and Bait groaned waddling closer to Ezran.

Rayla laughed all the time with them but she was laughing so hard that her body shook. Her eyes filling with tears as she laid on the ground, breathless and wheezing like she was running out of air.

Ezran smiled as Rayla continued to cry out, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" Her fists meeting the deck over and over again.

Even Callum had to admit it was nice to see Rayla act this way. It was pretty uncharacteristic and yet still perfectly Rayla. "Are you done yet?" He asked as Rayla wiped away more oncoming tears.

Eventually she wasn't even making noise just kinda laying there with her mouth open chest heaving.

"That.... Was..... The worst.... Elf impression I've ever..... Seen." Rayla announced once she'd somewhat relaxed. Still a tiny bit breathless and hoarse.

Zym didn't really seem to understand what had happened with Rayla, and he strolled over giving her a soft nudge with his nose and a tiny lick to her hand.

"Well you sure seemed to get a kick out of it regardless." Callum countered.

Rayla just rolled her eyes, tipping her head at the sudden scream of, "Land Ho!"

"Wait what?! Land!" Rayla asked excitedly, sure enough when they peered off the boat they were fast approaching docks.

Callum smirked at Rayla's happy expression. "What if I told you my plan all along had been to get your mind off your sea sickness by doing a horrible elf impression for you?" Just as he'd finished his sentence his other "horn" fell off his head.

"I'd say your full of sh-"

"Rayla!" Ezran interjected, covering Zym's ears with both hands, while the baby dragon just smiled, tongue hanging out as he looked at the two teens.

"I was gonna say it!"

Finally Rayllum that could be taken platonically or romantically. I love this prompt so much more now that I have a complete story written out of it.