#what should i be doing? working on my snake boi callum oneshots

[raayllum]

Partially inspired by @numptypylon's lovely chart but also thoughts have been kicking around my head for a while so

Who's Hurting Who?: The Possession Plotline Avenues

If you want the more straightforward look at Rayla and Callum's paths in S6, check out this (spoiler free) post from a few months ago.

Assumptions We're Making:

Callum won't permanently, if at all, die, because he's a protagonist and this is still technically a children's show. Therefore, we won't be operating under the assumption of "literally dying" and I'm prepared to eat my words later (for a temporary death, anyway). Also arc and theme stuff, but yeah

The possession plot line is happening in S6. This makes sense as stars = destiny and some of the foreshadowing from 6x01 (Callum saying he wouldn't mind death by pillow from Rayla, less morbid than it sounds, etc, and being scared of being possessed)

The possession plot line is being wrapped up / resolved in S6. This means by the end of 6x09, Callum won't be possessed. This leaves him free to have an arc in S7, rather than only being saved/freed by the end of S7 and largely out of commission till then.

Aaravos is freed before the end of 6x09, if not by 6x05. AKA it's just not in the last like three minutes of the season

Callum won't play into Aaravos' hands solely in reference to possession and will have to make A Choice at one point, either pre or post-possession that leads to things happening, because character agency is fun and tragic and there's a decent amount of set up for it

With that out of the way, we gotta break down our own subsections for both Callum and Rayla.

For Callum:

Callum plays into Aaravos' hands and it leads to the possession (we'll call this "choice first, possession second")

Callum is more randomly possessed and plays into Aaravos' hands after being freed (we'll call this "possession first, choice second")

Callum takes a risk (makes a choice) that leads to the possession, is freed, and is then coerced into helping Aaravos anyway (we'll call this "cannot escape your destiny" lmao)

For Rayla, I'm less interested in what she will (or won't) bring herself to do as I am in her mindset going into the situation, and how I think that may cause things to respond accordingly from an arc / story standpoint, so that's going to be the focus here. I am also assuming that while neither of them will kill the other, they will both harm each other (some bruises, maybe some stabbing) because we love the Drama

Rayla refuses to kill him because she refuses to sacrifice something else she loves / him again, even if that means putting the world second (for once). This is Character Development for her and works particularly well for any of his above options. Has the most likely happy ending + works best with "choice first, possession second" as well as "cannot escape your destiny". It is also the likeliest to break him out of the possession in a Positive Way

Rayla refuses to kill him and takes everything on her chin, because it doesn't matter what happens to her / this is a sacrifice she's willing to make in order to save him. This is Classic Rayla Behaviour and is not character development. This works best with "possession first, choice second" (as well as "cannot escape your destiny") and is the likeliest to result in Callum harming Rayla

Rayla does harm him enough to incapacitate him in the moment, possibly because of a freed Runaan urging her to do her duty / make her heart hard enough. This works best with "choice first, possession second" but is, to me, the unlikeliest of the three options, as it doesn't really progress Rayla's arc and removes Callum's agency for everything regarding the possession the most as a result, as it would mean he also isn't breaking free of his own accord

So, best case scenerio:

Callum makes a choice before hand that leads to Aaravos' release (maybe for Rayla's safety or the moon fam coins). This also leads to him being possessed as an extra pawn for Aaravos. Rayla refuses to sacrifice him (1) and sets him free instead. His love for her destroys him first by saving her, and then their love for each other saves him.

Second best case scenario x2:

Callum is randomly possessed and Rayla refuses to sacrifice him (1 or 2). She saves him but is injured in the fight. Callum makes some kind of choice / deal to save her life, playing into Aaravos' hands.

Callum makes a choice to save her. Rayla refuses to sacrifice him (2) and is injured in the fight. Callum makes some kind of choice / deal to save her life, playing into Aaravos' hands. AKA the sole "cannot escape destiny" route & probably the unlikeliest of this 'Callum breaks free' route

The 'Bad Case' scenarios

#3 for Callum in general + #3 for Rayla, leaving to a very dejected and torn up / injured kiddos. Most unclear about where they would go from here as characters / a couple, but not necessarily a bad thing; just unexpected.

And just for posterity's sake:

Callum does play into Aaravos' hands purely by a random possession (thus stripping him of agency, which has its own tragic flair to it and is the Point, even if it is admittedly the least interesting to me) which I think would likely lead to #2 or #3 from Rayla because if they're gonna go tragic, they're gonna go wholly tragic.