#waiting for tdp s4

[m4rs-ex3]

well there was somebody...

[kanerallels]

I feel like we, as a fandom, don't talk about how incredible the soundtrack for The Dragon Prince is

[raayllum]

What's wrong? I've seen you do a lot of awful things, dark magic things, but I always believed in you because you had a reason. But what you did, the way you tricked that Moonshadow elf? It was just... cruel.

[dice-theartist]

Good morning the dragon prince fandom! I recently binged the whole show again and the hyperfixation hasn’t hit like this since 2018 when I first watched this show lmao

Here is a bunch of fanart!.. it’s literally just Rayla, Callum and stella..

1. Rayla and stella!!

2. Callum hugging Rayla with his mage wings :3

3. that one draw your otp like this meme (og meme under fanart)

4. Screenshot redraw from season four

[imminent-danger-came]

1x06 Through the Ice

1x09 Wonderstorm

2x05 Breaking the Seal

2x08 The Book of Destiny

3x08 Dragonguard

4x04 Through the Looking Glass

Hear me out: Callum shatter/crack motif

[themistdragon]

"Just because I willfully killed a man doesn't mean I can't feel sad about it :/"

[tenspontaneite]

It just occurred to me that I've been making a variety of fandragons in recent months and just like. Forgot to post about them.

So here's my Crow Master fandragon, complete with crows

[tubofbutter]

OUFHHDHS I’M GOING YO LOOSE IT WHEN SEASON 5 COMES OUT. IM 😭😭

Keep walking Callum.. keep walking

I think Nyx's probably saying something embarrassing. probably.

[forgotten-daydreamer]

I love how inclusivity is handled in The Dragon Prince, here's why.

In most shows, as much as it bothers me to admit so, some people are right, inclusivity does feel forced sometimes. But it's not the characters' fault, it's not because of them being part of the lgbtq+ community, or being disabled, or being POC, or being strong women who do not conform to patriarchal standards.

It's not that.

It's that the show they are part of is a straight, white, abled parade - and notice, most of said shows won't even pass the Bechdel test.

So yes, in a show written by and aimed to straight, white, abled people, even I, a gay, non-binary, chronically ill person feel weird seeing charcters that are there just for the sake of inclusivity, albeit 'inorganic'.

In a show with the premise of "straight, white, abled men are the indiscussed MCs", seeing that one side-character that stands out and is often ridiculed and/or reduced to a single trait of their 'personality', such as 'the gay one', 'the asian one', 'the disabled one' (etc) is upsetting and feels uncomfortable as hell.

But TDP is different.

They immediately introduced powerful women, people of color, characters that are openly part of the lgbtq+ community, disabled characters etc. And not one of them per 'category', no. For the lgbtq+ community we have Amaya, Janai, Runaan, Ethari, Terry, Kazi. For the disabled community, we have Amaya again, Villads, and even a disabled wolf Ava. For the POC community, we have literally half of the cast, starting from King Harrow, then Ezran, every sunfire elf, Terry as well, etc. Same goes for women, who take up on roles that are rarely considered 'for women', like Opeli being the main member of the High Council, Amaya being the General, Rayla being the main Dragon Guard, Claudia being one of the main antagonists, etc.

Both main and side-characters are part of the communities, everything is so much more organic, enjoyable, thrilling.

We do not come in 'minor quantity'.

We are everywhere, among others, living our lives, doing our best, existing, thriving, proud. It's not just one or two of us among thousands. Surprise, 'categories' can mix! Just like I, a real human being, can be gay, enby as well as chronically ill, we can have characters like that as well! Amaya being lesbian and disabled, Terry being black and trans, Janai being black and lesbian, etc. And, another surprise, 'categories' don't define us. We don't 'shove it' in anyone's face like they say we do, we're just being us and cishets are upset because we don't conform to their sick standards.

Inclusivity is organic in TDP because nobody in that universe questions anyone else's color, gender, orientation, etc. And it's organic because we didn't have to wait half a season to see a black character, or a disabled character, or a gay character.

The key to inclusivity is to realise that we aren't just 'bonuses'. Fill shows and comics with lgbtq+, POC, disabled, and female characters. Not just one every 15, 20 characters. Everywhere.

We are everywhere! We are proud! We deserve to be seen! We deserve to be depicted as the normal people we are, without diminishing our traits but without making them our whole personality either. Treat us like human beings, be considerate like you should be with everyone on the planet of course, but treat us like humans.

Antagonising people who are 'different' (in the mind of straight, white, abled people) will not suppress us. We will keep insisting until you hear us. It's literally one of the main messages, one of the main teachings of TDP and it's so damn important.

Every single person on Earth should watch it. Every single kid should be introduced to TDP at an early age. Every old bigot should watch it, as well. Everybody. Even if it's considered a y7 (y10 for s4 and s5 apparently) show, everyone, no matter their age, should give it a try and watch it thoroughly.

Lots of love to the creators and everyone, literelly everyone involved in the production of one the best, most entertaining, most exciting, most formative shows ever. Please, keep it up! And thank you so much!

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Wait you wrote some of the Dragon Prince's Reflections short stories? That's awesome, congratulations! What was that like and how much lore did the showrunners give you access to, or were you allowed to make your own additions to canon? 😃 Which ones did you work on if I can ask? Thanks!

Oop, this question came in while I was answering another one! I just went over which Reflections stories were my work here! tldr, most of the first volume and one in the second volume.

I worked with Devon on ideas to pitch, and then on crafting and polishing the ones that got approval. I only needed to know a little bit of lore from upcoming seasons in order to write the stories, but with the timeskip between S3 and S4, I necessarily had to know a few things, like "so it's been two years."

I did get a couple of references to look at, such as the design of the soul candle for "The Queen's Soul," since that was an asset they'd already created for the show. And I did get to watch an early version of the first episode of S4, for character/design/location/etc reasons. A picture is worth 1000 words, etc. But most of my stories were just little bubbles stuck on the side of the main plot bubble - as the Reflections series was originally pitched to be! It's full of treats and foreshadowy lil clues, but in the end it's just fun supplemental material for the extra nerdy to indulge in! So there was some freedom in pitching and writing, as long as it held to theme, and we had a lot of fun bringing these little moments to life.

Crackledrake is my favorite short story because I got to add the cute little ritual to Sunfire canon and created the lore behind it. It's inspired by the real-world tradition of snapdragon, so you can see I was super inventive with its TDP name there! I gave Janai and Amaya their own Xadian fruits and nuts, though, as they deserve. I can't say I did so with a straight face, though. My face was extremely gay about it, actually.

Rise Again was another of my pitches that got accepted, and writing it really helped me connect with Claudia in a way I hadn't before. I've felt differently about her ever since, and that wouldn't've happened if I hadn't gotten to spend time with her and give her Burnt Biscuit.

I think Changing of the Guard was already in the pitch lineup, but I was really excited to get to write for Soren and Corvus. I always enjoy when opposite personalities try to come together! I tried my best to add some angst into Corvus' backstory, but I had to trim it for length so he remains mysterious. But King Ezran's Belly Full of Jelly tart-eating contest is a thing I've put into the world, and I'm genuinely pleased with that. And then there's all the *waves Sorvus flag*. I just think they're neat! (and you're welcome)

[tategaminu]

12 Days of TDP #12

Fave season

Season 3 and 6 are my favourites (and well overall the fandom's favourites) but I have to go with season 6 for lots of reasons, S3 will always have an special place in my heart but S6 is something else, it was written for me.

Everyone knows Rayllum is my fav thing from the show, they were just *cheff kiss*

We got them almost kissing twice, sharing a bedroll, being down bad, trusting each other, Callum saying they never broke up and always loved her, KISSIES, Callum getting cured over his love for her, Rayla supportive af, Rayla crying over a diary, them making a murder pact etc etc like aah AAH aaAAH

We waited 4 years for them to get back together and they finally did! without disappointing, it meant everything.

perfect PERFECT, they were perfect, down to the last minute detail.

THIS IS INSANE

Another reason I enjoyed S6 more is because I got to fandom experience it, I started watching TDP before S3 was out but I didn't get into the fandom till S4.

Of course gotta mention other reasons why this season is my fav like Tiadrin and Lain getting closure (and breaking my heart), finally meeting Lissa, Viren's redemption, Leola's tragic story, Stella and Sneezles being shippers, Astrid being cute, did I already mention the rayllum kisses? the big animation improvement alfopaerpoajrpeoajreoaroe!!!

And ofc, my favourite dragomaniac being a POS

This shot is just amazing, look at him goo!! Stupid asshole.

I love this damn season

THIS IS A REAL SCENE

[raayllum]

You'll feel it all around I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere But you can't catch me now

[m4rs-ex3]

DREAMER'S NIGHTMARE! THOUGHTS!!!!!!

spoilers ahead obviously

callum. that's it. that's it that's the post. like this little fucking goober baby nerd freak pretty baby boy i would kill anything and everything in the world for this child

long haired gren i can't breathe

"GREAT STONY TOADSTOOLS"

"wait. that's a jelly tart and you're not destroying it. are you sure you're ezran?"

callum: magic is in the air? wrong. gas leak.

"a rogue elf. i wonder what would have to happen for an elf to go rogue..." wouldn't you like to know callum

bro thinks he's a diplomat

it kills me the way this kid is just a walking list of sarai quotes

i'm choosing to blame harrow for the way this stupidly dedicated boy turned out

"couldn't have anything happen to the future king" rip my heart out why don't you

all of the callum / harrow stuff oh my god it hurts so good i'm in tears like "your dad" AUUUAUGHHGHGHGH

"milords" fucking tears no they are not

*facepalms in the background*

"begone"

despite the fact that in present day he is plenty tall callum being referred to as "the taller one" does not sit right with me

"stronger together" // "safer together"

gren was family guy death posing idfc

i can't go to the club bc i'll start talking like kusa

THATS MY KING!!!!13131!@!@!#!!!

"my big brother is super smart" 😭🩷

half this book is just callum in 3x06 when he was mothering ez and i love it

"I THOUGHT MAYBE HE WOULD BE PROUD OF ME" FUCK

"i know you'll do everything you can to protect me" you don't, actually. you have no idea

"all right, clues. looking for clues. reading for clues."

moonshadow child jumpscare

NO NO NO NO NO NO ON O NO NO NO NO ON ONONONONOONONNOONN

NO

WHAT

HELLO

YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME

why do i kinda wanna see this depressive episode though

a) i hope this comes back for the possession arc b) this explains a lot about s4 don't worry i'll get to that

i love how they show harrow being the most amazing, sweetest, bestest dad ever while also showing his flaws in the form of his bias. also everyone else's casual racism. average tdp w

STOP HES SO SOKKA

im goanna throw up

maybe it's just my biases but why was this the book that fucking broke me. like bloodmoon huntress was a bit sad bc rayla is just like that. puzzle house was sad because motherless child behavior and also hindsight. this novel is just fucking depressing front to back because callum's entire life has been so fucked sometimes i forget this. also my biases

[thrandilf]

okay. for the first time in my life I'm using the #tdp critical tag because I have some things to get off my chest about s6 and I desperately need to focus on an exam for tomorrow and can't and idk I feel slightly out of my mind/wondering if this really is just a me problem but like

this season felt kind of sparse to me regarding character interactions outside of duos they wanted to focus on/letting characters present react to situations. stuff like Amaya not having a comment about Callum not being at her wedding or the Celestial Elves really not having much to say about Aaravos himself despite the Elder theoretically having been around in the days pre imprisonment like

I don't mind that Viren died but I do feel out of my MIND that he and Ezran didn't actually get a conversation, and beyond that that Viren didn't try to pass along any Aaravos information to anyone, and that even if Soren and Viren's relationship was just Maxed Out that we didn't get Opeli and Ezran talking about what to do with him (could've even had Soren walk in and do a Callum S4 moment of 'you ever walk into a room and everyone goes quiet and you know they were talking about you' moment), Opeli reacting/checking on Soren while Viren was imprisoned even if he didn't want to talk to her, there being any verdict about Viren at all and we're never getting anything else out of him again which is why no Ezran and by extension Callum/Rayla/ect feels sort of disappointing to me, as he hasn't interacted with Callum since S1

It's a really good moment, don't get me wrong, but we traded the suspense of thinking Viren had perhaps killed Soren for us getting any last words or gesture from him to Soren face to face

the Celestial Elves gave us info on Startouch Elves in general but not on Aaravos specifically even though the Elder I thought would know more? They aren't surprised at the idea of trying to kill a Great One/Aaravos but there wasn't even a word of warning about if he does get loose or anything Specific about the last time it happened or, if they didn't know anything, confusion about why a Great One is imprisoned like idk

no one had any concern either when getting access to the stars which again, idk, I thought Callum might've been more worried about Aaravos being at the Starscraper and the prison (when he thought he had it) being surrounded by Aaravos's main connection but idk, it didn't matter but I thought it could have

ALSO THE STAVES. HELLO. AT THE STARSCRAPER I JUST

No Aaravos and Callum interaction is also smth I've made my peace about but after the trailer, especially the choice to use that thumbnail for it/as a promo image, idk, I am kind of sad I have to wait until S7 for any of that and now I wonder how significant it can really be/why hes gonna need callum as a puppet now if he's Out and as powerful as he seems to be. we just raised the stakes but had three entire seasons of building towards it, so how can s7 handle getting callum to do dark magic again, theoretical possession/aaravos use, coming back from that, ect, all within 9 eps?

tbh no one really had grief about sir sparklepuff being gone which I guess he wasn't a full Person in anyone's eyes and the focus was all on Claudia/her state which was fine, like we did get some of that nonverbally with Terry at least but we kinda moved right past it. like even one line in ep 9 from terry like "look what he had you do to his most recent child" would have made me go yeah exactly that Mattered but it wasn't there

in addition to no Callum at the wedding Ezran also just sat on Viren being back like idk I guess I wish he'd talked to Amaya more. like I loved him and Aanya I just feel there was room for Both

Listen I'm not one of the people only watching the show for Aaravos and I am delighted with the two episodes we got of him but that he was in more episodes in S3 than in S6 does have me like. cries. really. s4 and s5 i didn't mind in part because I figured stars would be big and it Was but im like oh my god. i got to ep 7 and was like is he REALLY not gonna get out which thankfully he did but only at the end

and the end was like. the biggest cliffhanger we've ever had and i get going for the suspense but it's KILLING ME MAN

I know Aaravos's motivation/goal but not exactly how his actions are leading to that whatsoever as he seems to play every side and doesn't even favor humans if he's willing to torch katolis. unbridled chaos i guess? is that it? I don't even know what to be afraid of next season with him except I'd presume he's going to Xadia next and will Somehow be getting back at the Cosmic Order but idk what the past thousand years have truly been for unless it's waiting around for the stars to align and throwing a fit while doing so

Runaan is out and he and Callum didn't get so much as a sentence between them and that and the Aaravos out but also no conversation double whammy just has me like

PLEASE

at the end of this all this was a more dramatic/cinematic season but it didn't have a lot of the smaller character reaction moments/balance the prior seasons all seemed to give me tbh and it took all season to lead up to highly anticipated events aka letting Runaan and Aaravos out but I didn't get any of the Payoff of that characterwise except for Runaan and Rayla and idk I do feel both like S6 had some of the best moments of the show and also really disappointed in places where it feels like it could have been so easy to have had just a Bit more cohesion and characters plugged into their overarching circumstances/dynamics more

like I think we had the time for it

and going into this expecting a penultimate season and then learning theres a third arc planned, it makes the pacing and lack of aaravos sort of make sense but also has me like, we may not even get that and now I feel like s7 will make or break the Entire show for me which is terrifying

like we got a lot of new info but it was largely not what I was expecting without touching on a lot of stuff I was hoping for and I AGH. i didnt expect this season to continue the build up train and I'm having a hard time accepting that it's the first time tdp has ever like. idk. thrown me such a curveball that it's gotten me honest to god upset which is on me and not the show, and i keep hoping i feel better but so much rides on s7 now

[imminent-danger-came]

Between

2x08 S: "As long as I'm doing something to help out a friend, I don't mind what it is! I just want to be there for 'em when they need me. Because at the end of the day, helping my friends is more important than anything in the world!"

3x03 Mei: "So wait, how did you get your gold vision back again?" MK: "I don't know! The same way I got them in the first place I guess. Every time I learned a new ability, it was because there was something I NEEDED to do, when there was no other way. Against the gold fish guy I NEEDED to do something to save my friends!" P: "Yeah, friends that YOU put in danger on purpose!"

3x10 MK: "NO! Mei is my best friend, I’d never abandon her when she needs me. We’re heroes! It’s what we do!",

3x14 MK: "A perfect world is what you make it. So as long as I have my friends by my side...this world! Is! Perfect!”

4x01 MK: "Honestly? I’m kinda liking the world as it is, right now. So...if it could just stay like this, forever? That would be awesome." SWK: "Yeah well...forever’s a long time bud...trust me."

4x02 AL: "It’s too late to save them! We can’t risk unleashing the curse into the world." MK: “You don’t know! We’d risk it for sure! I won’t abandon them when they need us."

4x07 IMK: "You can see it, can't you? This is your fate. Your friends will turn on you, seeing you for the monster you will become. They will destroy you, harbinger of chaos."

4x11 MK: "We have to try, he'd do the same—for any of us." and

4x14 YT: "I know full well what would happen should Azure fail. But- but he is my brother. I owe him my life." S: "We get it! I'd do anything to help my friends. But at the cost of the world?" P: "I'm sorry pal, but NOTHING worth that price!"

I'm like, really worried scoob.

[darkmagicmirror]

I've been thinking about @spicyviren 's post about Claudia preventing the sun from rising (and they made a more in-depth post today as well, which is also very good!), so last night I got curious and Googled mythology and eclipses because what if the eclipse actually happens and it's not just Viren's dream? And we know TDP likes mythological references. So...

This is so fascinating because of the "I swallowed her" comment Aaravos makes in Janai's dream.

A demon (or dragon, or-- (etc)) is eating the sun?

(*Personally, I don't think Janai's dream is necessarily accurate for telling us what happened -- but Aditi getting "eaten" by someone especially a dragon wouldn't surprise me.)

And speaking of "swallowing"...

And some of the other mythological explanations mentioned in the article I linked are also really interesting:

(The highlighting was done by Google, so it's not necessarily more important.)

And canon material, especially the Ripples short specifically, reflects a few themes here:

Abandonment - the humans are essentially abandoned by the stars (and the sun is a star): "It cannot be, wept others. The stars would not betray us!" - after the "star" falls from the sky and changes the land.

Crisis/existential threat - "With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!" (Also bolded for emphasis because the sun hiding? The fact the moon does too is interesting, but the sun specifically is called out later: "And when the long, dark night had finally passed—for the sun must always rise, mustn’t it?" VERY interesting considering the sunrise mentions in S5.)

Eclipse as an act of creation - though much of the story talks about the calamity, there's also how "[the stars] had rejoiced to look down upon their newborn sea."

The Sun and Moon coupling and creating more stars - this is more of a stretch, but the Sun and Moon did get hidden together, and the Sea (of the Castout) serving as a mirror of the stars... like they're duplicating the stars, though only in image.

Mischievous acts - I personally think Aaravos is mischievous, so hmm.

One side note on the second-to-last point: if Viren learns the Star arcanum, which is very rarely understood, could that, too, be analogous to creating another star?

Anyway this all implies that perhaps a similar eclipse occurred before, when Aaravos had fallen and the Sea of the Castout was created? And we know how the Rise Again short story, which is about her pseudo-resurrection of her pet cat, correlated to S4 opening with Claudia having brought her father back to life, sort of in a repeating history sense. Aaravos's Patience story foreshadowed the fact that all he could do in S4 is wait and bide his time. Ripples could foreshadow S5 being that first "touch" that sets off greater change... and, like with the resurrection, perhaps history repeating itself, in a sense, with a potential upcoming eclipse?

And another interesting line: "The sky opened its maw and spat from its black jaws a tiny star."

It's not exactly black, but I know some people say the ridges here look like teeth...

Also, even though Sol is referring to his blindness, these lines about the Sun "never [rising] again" and an "eternal night" fit into similar themes to the eclipse and the Ripples short.

Also, just going back to the abandonment theme of the eclipse really quick--

The Midnight Star poem also talks about the stars abandoning humanity. "Elarion, unworthy whelp, / Wept as the stars turned black the sky, / They donned their masks / They turned their backs / And left Elarion to die."

(I have more to break down about that entire stanza in another post; I just want to point out the bolded parts for now.)

Now, most of these are references to the past... so what about now?

If I were to guess on how the same themes I compared to the Ripples story might apply to "current" series events...

Abandonment - Claudia feeling abandoned by Aaravos (as mentioned in the Lost Child short)? Or, alternately, Aaravos feeling abandoned (by either Claudia, after she had to flee from the battle, and/or Viren, after his rejection)?

Crisis/existential threat - IMO the biggest threat is Karim potentially joining up with Sol Regem right now. Though some would say Aaravos being close to being freed could be the threat/crisis here. But I'm an Aaravos apologist, so I am not part of that group LOL

Eclipse as an act of creation - Claudia regenerates her missing leg, perhaps?

The Sun and Moon coupling and creating more stars - Viren Star arcanum?

Mischievous acts - Aaravos again.

All of this to say-- I don't think the eclipse is just for show/because it looks cool, but if we consider the mythological beliefs surrounding eclipses, it ties in significantly to the story.

Also I leave you with a few last bits from the article that just remind me of TDP things:

"In many cultures, the darkening of the sun meant the gods were very, very angry with humanity, and about to inflict some punishment. Often, that meant that in order to appease them, you had to kill someone."

That reminds me of the stars seeming to punish humanity for daring to use magic... which is also when Aaravos gets cast down?

"The Greeks thought an eclipse meant that the gods were about to rain punishment down on a king, so in the days before an eclipse, they would choose prisoners or peasants to stand in as the king in the hopes that they’d get the eclipse punishment and the real king would be saved. Once the eclipse was over, the substitute king was executed."

This is so far off, but it reminds me of Harrow anyway? Mostly with the soulfang serpent idea of switching Harrow with someone else. Interesting.

"For the Inuits, the sun and moon weren’t a married couple but brother and sister. At the beginning of the world they quarreled, and the sun goddess Malina walked away from her brother, the moon god Anningan. Anningan continued to chase after her, and whenever he caught up to her, there was an eclipse."

Which reminds me of the line in Strangers, the short from Soren's perspective, where "Claudia had appeared and he’d done it again, a little boy chasing after his sister..."

A lot of it is probably coincidence, but it's still really interesting!