#tdp callum realistic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

raayllum · 1 year

Text

Trying to decide what meta I want to focus on next now that I’m done with my more myth / research focused ones and thought I might as well ask you guys, as I know sometimes I focus on metas that I think up on my own > the lovely asks you guys send in, sooo

Big Bois

“The Art of Deflection :: 4x03 Reunion Scene Analysis,” Rayllum focused

“The Cycle, Speculation” regarding the parallels between S1′s tracking spell with Rayla’s braid, the Magma Titan’s heart, the pull of the Cube / Aaravos’ missing chest piece

“Callum + Looking Away Motif” (S1-S4) with how it mirrors his arcs with Rayla and other characters (Harrow, Claudia) season by season

“How S4 is Emotionally Paced Similarly to S2,” basically exactly what it says on the tin, companion piece to how S4 mirrors S1 structurally

“Rayla’s Position In The Narrative as a Dual Antagonist,” S1-S3 Analysis with just a dash of how S4 follows up on this but also transforms this dual plot thread

“Plot, Theme, and Pacing :: 4x02 Fallen Stars,” an in-depth analysis of all aspects of 4x02 as part of my How S4 Establishes and Builds Upon Theme series

“Can You Let Go? :: A S4 Meta,” focused on Callum, Claudia, Viren, Terry, and Rayla

“Chains, Monsters, and Dehumanization in TDP,” started pre-S4, basically focusing on what makes a monster, mage fam, and most of the main cast

Mini Metas

Viren and Callum’s S4 intros with Aaravos Comparison

1x06 and 4x03 Ultimatum Comparisons, Rayllum focused

How Rayla sleeps in arc 1 vs arc 2

Rayllum and Conflict resolution framing parallels, feat. 2x03, 2x07, 3x08, and 4x03

Ones I have not yet started but would like to:

Possible symbolism / examination of Callum using a light spell in 4x01 vs grabbing a candle in 4x02 (mini meta)

Callum and the Perpetual Struggle for Agency (long boi, S1-S4)

Why my [redacted] crack theory about what happened to Rayla during the timeskip might have more grounding in the theme / S4′s setup than I initially thought

Vote away if you want to in the replies, tags, and/or my inbox!

#upcoming #tdp #realistically i'm thinking it'll be 4x02 meta first #bc i want to have that to harken back to before i write 'can you let go?'#i feel like maybe 'the cycle speculation' bc i'm been very theme theorizing lately #and then probably either callum looking away or reunion scene bc #they're so so good #aka was trying to figure out if i wanted to be salty bc i saw shit that actually made me double check my block list #and thought why not be productive and joyful instead lol #like if you barely post anything at all let alone little to no meta day to day #and then when you do post it's about me minding my own business? 'you are a strange sad little man'

13 notes · View notes

professionalwaterbender · 2 years

Text

callum meets aaravos

A mirror.

The hair on the back of his neck prickled with apprehension.

He wasn’t alone.

Staring intently into the reflective surface, Callum saw a glimpse of a cloaked figure placing a book onto a shelf. His arms were a dark violet, stars sparkling on the skin. A Startouch elf. The elf turned towards the mirror, eyes fixed on Callum. Can he see me? The mystical figure walked slowly to the mirror.

Callum stood frozen in place, transfixed by the elf’s violet eyes. A four-fingered hand reached out to touch the glass. As Callum's reflexes acted of their own accord, he stumbled back and tripped over a table, landing on his back with a hard thump. “Ow,” he muttered.

The elf in the mirror gave a small smirk, looking down at the younger boy.

“W-Who are you?” Callum asked, his voice shaking slightly. The elf quirked an eyebrow, tapping his ear. I can’t hear you.

Callum tilted his head, thinking. After a few moments of contemplation, he began to sign, slowly moving his fingers to spell the words.

W-H-O. A-R-E. Y-O-U.

The elf nodded appreciatively before replying haltingly. I. A-M. A-N. A-L-L-Y.

Callum shook his head. No. I M-E-A-N-T, W-H-A-T I-S. Your (he pointed at the elf) N-A-M-E.

The elf hesitated. Then, A-A-R-A-V-O-S.

Callum blinked. “You’re Aaravos?” His hand moved towards his bag, itching to take the cube out again. Wanting answers. Needing answers.

But a voice in the back of his head (it sounded a lot like his father) warned him not to. Not to show Aaravos something of his without knowing what it was for.

Callum had always listened to his father.

I S-E-E. I H-A-V-E T-O G-O. He finally signed, pointing at the staircase. G-O-O-D-B-Y-E.

Aaravos waved.

#yes ik its not realistic #cut me some slack #i didn’t want to keep it canon lmao #yes callum would be smart enough to find a way to communicate #unlike Mr. I’ve been dead for two years #tdp #mystery of aaravos #but fr who the frick is this sparkly twink #callum and rayla be careful

7 notes · View notes

sarasade · 3 months

Text

Claudia, Viren & The Very Real Parent-Child Dynamics of The Dragon Prince

Sometimes I wonder if I come across like I try to defend Claudia too much. That's not my intent at all. I just think she deserves more and better critique.

The Point I guess

Personally, I really connect with Claudia's brand of messy, unflattering and even pathetic rage and grief much more than the dignified and mature ways Callum and Ezran handle things (More on that later). Maybe this sounds unflattering but Claudia being also kind of an asshole really speaks to me. Like that's the kind of teenage girl I'm the most familiar with and we don't have enough media that has nuanced takes on this sort of troubled character. Exploring negative or even anti-social traits and impulses in fiction, especially in women, is kind of undervalued in my opinion. Those are part of humanity and therefore part of us and this impulse to completely reject them doesn't benefit anyone really.

Finally, some wholesome father-daughter relationship rep in media!

My way to view fantasy media is about how it can artistically portray something true to real life. That's why I'm the most invested in this kind of reading of the text. Fantasy media is often dismissed as mere escapism even by the fantasy fans themselves (*side eyes the dude bro Witcher fandom*) which ignores the emotional depths it can reach by approaching difficult subject matter more metaphorically.

Inject Viren & Claudia's Father-Daughter Dynamic Straight into My Veins

There is something viscerally real about Claudia and Viren's relationship. I've seen this kind of father-daughter dynamic play out in real life many times where the child gives and gives and gives yet the parent takes it all for granted until it's too late and the parent-child relationship is just a mangled corpse of its former self, way too damaged to ever be truly repaired.

Like if you've had a difficult relationship with your parents it can feel similar to how s4-5 Claudia struggles to keep Viren alive while Viren hesitates. The child is the one who tries to fix things in the relationship while the parent is in denial or completely oblivious. Viren doesn't really try to connect with Claudia further in s4-5. It almost seems like he's completely emotionally unprepared to have that conversation and oh boy if you know any boomer parents that's pretty damn realistic. He just sort of gives up and acts completely passive because he's so out of touch with his emotions.

There is also this aspect of your parent aging and then one day you realise that you, the child, are the one who has more power in the relationship. It's a universal experience. These are just some of the ways I can see Viren and Claudia's relationship in seasons 4 and 5 metaphorically portray real life parent-child dynamics. There is a lot of emotional truth to how TDP approaches these relationships even when the story itself is an over the top fantasy romp.

How much Viren relies on Claudia is revealed little by little: She got the unicorn horn for the spell that killed Avizandum, she got the dragon horn that helped them cross the lava to Xadia in s3. It's set up really subtly how there is almost this parentification of Claudia like she's the one who took her mother's place as the emotional center and caregiver of the family after Viren and Lissa divorced. It's a lot of pressure to put one a child to say the least. This extends to Soren and how he is treated as the scapegoat of the family when Claudia is the Golden Child. This sort of treatment of Claudia and Soren by Viren is probably the most common analysis of their family dynamic as far as I can tell.

You ever heard of the thing called "eldest daughter syndrome"?

Eventually Claudia's most admirable and positive traits get corrupted (insert here an analysis of the corruptive nature of the dark magic as a plot device). It's like this perversion of feminine nurturing instinct society values and enforces in girls. Claudia's love is not domesticated but something that's so all consuming it destroys everything in its way. In s 4 she insists Viren has to live. She does everything in her power to keep her family together even against the wishes of her loved ones; first it was healing Soren in and then it was bringing Viren back to life in s3. Claudia has fully internalised her role as the caregiver to the point of self-imposed victimhood.

All The Characters Have a Part to Play

Since TDP is meant for an all-age audience (And later for teens and up since they hiked up the age rating) all the younger characters Callum, Ezran, Rayla, Claudia and Soren collectively represent the kind of different and difficult feelings parental abandonment and neglect can cause. A real person most likely feels all of these emotions at some point of their life but in fiction they need to be spread out among different characters or the story wouldn't work as, well, a story.

"she was a mage girl committing warcrimes, he was an elf boy vibing in the woods, can I make it anymore obvious"

I'd gladly read some more critical takes on Claudia's character. There is something very interesting there about Claudia and Terry's relationship for example. Terry is clearly very enamored with Claudia whom he perceives as someone very vulnerable and in need of help. Terry isn't wrong exactly but it does get problematic when he goes to great lengths to protect Claudia to the detriment of his own wellbeing. While TDP itself doesn't draw attention to it there are also the racial and gendered elements, both implicit and explicit, because of Claudia's fantasy racism and because of Terry being a non-white trans boy character as well. Claudia is the most powerful dark mage in Xadia when Terry is just a normal guy. Given the context of the show there is a power imbalance there.

tHÖ END

Why I'm laying this all out is that I think the Internet would be a better place if people didn't try to constantly find an objective "right" way to view a piece of media but instead were somewhat transparent about what they personally got out of it. I think this Viravos meta is the most popular thing I've written so far and I tried to explain my approach in detail because I don't want people to go "look this person says Viravos is canon!". Jokes are fine of course but taking it too objectively ignores the fact that analysing subtext is valuable on its own.

Idk how to end this. Here, have this meme.

#help! I've gotten stuck in the hermeneutic circle and can't get out!#Viren & Claudia have the most interesting relationship in this show and it just keeps getting better and better #I think this is literally all that I've got to say about Claudia so far #the dragon prince meta #tdp meta #sarasade text

38 notes · View notes

mandaloriandragontrainer · 1 year

Note

Tumblr is definitely super weird about m/f ships. They never want the girl to be the more “traditonally for girl things” like shorter, little spoon or be saved/protected by the boy. I guess they believe it’s empowering but it’s just plain stupid (this is coming from a girl). So glad TDPo doesn’t falls into these and lets Rayla be all of that, she’s enjoying her strong boyfriend as she should.

You’re right and you should say it.

M/F pairings are only valid on here if they’re a “girlboss and her malewife” (as if being a wife is someone inferior?) A female character has to display traits traditionally considered to be masculine (never positively masculine traits of course—just being cold, angry, combative, and physically dominant) or else she’s a “bad character.” I remember seeing posts after s4 complaining that Rayla was now “too girly” and that it was stupid she’d adopt a pet. How is that not misogynistic?

Rayla is a strong character. A genuinely strong character. She’s a force to be reckoned with, especially with her blades, but her fights always feel realistic, if that’s the right word. She’s an elf, so her agility and speed are superhuman, and she relies on that as well as her wits to win a fight. But she’s not invulnerable. Amaya, who’s bigger and stronger and far more experienced, absolutely clobbered her in season one. She held her own against Corvus and Soren, but both times she outsmarted and outmaneuvered rather than physically overpowering them.

Rayla is deeply kind, sweet, nurturing, romantic person. And Callum lets her be her true self. And I say good for her. Good for her for finding a gentleman like him who makes her feel safe enough to be soft and vulnerable. And good for the TDP team for writing a female character who gets to be a warrior while still having a love interest.

But yeah. Rayla is shorter and smaller. She’s girly. She’s the little spoon. She loves cuddling her handsome, strong, dorky boyfriend who sometimes saves her life. So what? She also can and will kill you. #dealwithit

#the dragon prince #rayla #rayllum #answered asks #hello nonnie

166 notes · View notes

bronze-bits-babyyy · 4 months

Text

ultra realistic of the tdp crew making Callum spend his last moments making fun of Soren:

(Yes I’m aware that the photo sucks)

#bronze bits #humor #funny #the dragon prince

7 notes · View notes

katanasonata · 4 years

Photo

Aspiro

This one was a challenge to render but I liked how it turned out! I’ll keep working hard to perfect my art style.

ALSO! My commissions website is now up HERE. I’ll be opening commissions up mid-august.

675 notes · View notes

anarmorofwords · 2 years

Note

I'm sorry but I can't- 😆

I'm on season 3 for TDP and the way Callum was just utterly confused and shocked after Rayla kissed him he didn't even know what to say and then after Rayla processed that that hadn't been what he was really aiming to have happen her horrified gasp and the "We will NEVER speak of this again" 🤣

These kiddos are so awkward I love it because the show still has the relationships be at least some what realistic and Rayllums first kiss not going perfectly was just pure gold like I appreciate this show maybe a little too much-

I AM SORRY I FORGOT TO ANSWER MY INBOX IS A MESS AHJDJDJJS

but yes yes yes, all of this!

i loooove that they're showing good communication and such a sweet, healthy relationship, while also making it realistically awkward. it's all the more adorable and heart-warming and I'm obsessed with this show o swear

#lola •#ask answered #dragon prince spoilers #the dragon prince

12 notes · View notes

forever-animated · 4 years

Text

TDP Season 4 Preliminary Predictions, Part One (1-12)

So with S4 in production, no trailer in sight, and a TBA release date, it looks like there’s still a wait before we get any news on the upcoming season.

That being said, we do have some information to go on regarding what might be in store for our favorite characters. (Previous SDCC interviews, the recent Instagram Live and Reddit AMA with the creators, Callum’s Spellbook, and of course, Through the Moon.)

So I decided to put together some preliminary predictions based on the info we have so far. My desire is to create a TDP S4 bingo board just before the season airs, so that gives me 24 guesses/predictions to come up with (not including the free space). I’ll probably tweak most of these once we get our trailer, since I’m sure it’ll provide more insight as to the direction of the show.

So without further ado, here are my first 12 TDP S4 preliminary predictions...

1. Spring 2021 Release

During the Reddit AMA at the beginning of October, the creators gave the following update:

Since it’s been over a month, we can safely assume they’re in production now.

From what I understand, pre-production is mostly writing and storyboarding, possibly voice recording as well. If they’re in the production phase, that means animation has begun.

Let’s consider the turnaround time for past seasons. S1′s airdate was September 14, 2018; S2′s was February 15, 2019; and S3′s was November 22, 2019. This means that there was only a five month gap between S1 and S2, and a nine month gap between S2 & S3.

The gap between S3 & S4 has been longer than both of those. But considering that we’ve had a global pandemic and that we’ve been waiting on Netflix to greenlight more seasons, this is to be expected. We only heard about the renewal back in July. Assuming the team started work around that time, they’ve already been working for about four months.

If we estimate that it’ll be another five months before we see S4, (nine months in total, same as the wait between S2 and S3), that means it will air around April 2021. Of course, it could air before or after - depending on how long production takes. But I believe it’s safe to say that we could be seeing TDP S4 air in spring 2021.

2. Timeskip < 6 Months

We know from interviews that there will be a timeskip between S3 & S4. If you’ve read Through the Moon, you know that there’s a few weeks in between the end of S3 and the beginning of the graphic novel, and that the events of the story happen in the span of about two weeks. So we can estimate that it’s been about a month between the end of S3 and the end of TTM.

We also know there will be a bit of a timeskip between TTM and the start of S4, per the Reddit AMA, but we’re not sure how long that will be.

My guess? The timeskip between S3 & S4 will be six months or less.

I was initially going to play it safe and say “less than three years,” because anything more than that would require a recast to account for teenage Ezran. (And given how much the creators and fans LOVE Sasha, I doubt a recast will ever happen in the show.)

But realistically, I don’t think the timeskip will be more than a half a year. The events of TTM imply that the story is very much moving forward, and anything too far in the future would give the audience too much to be caught up on. So it’ll likely be only a few months of a gap between seasons, and definitely less than six.

3. New Clothing & Hair for Characters

Many of the characters in ATLA received either new hairstyles or clothing between the seasons. So following that logic, and given that Ehasz is behind both shows, it stand to reason the same will hold true for TDP.

The creators have confirmed that Callum will be going “sun’s out, gun’s out” for S4. (Their words, not mine.) This makes sense since he now knows how to cast mage wings, and he wants them to be readily accessible at a moment’s notice.

We also see that Rayla’s sporting a new cloak when she leaves at the end of TTM, so she’ll likely have this for S4 as well.

Ezran may get new garb as well, as he settles into his new role as king.

I also think it’s possible that their hair could change as well. Rayla’s on her own now, so her hair will probably just get longer. Maybe she’ll braid it or wrap it up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. If Callum returns to Katolis, he might get a haircut in-between seasons. But if he goes straight out to search for Rayla, his hair might be even longer.

Either way, new hair and clothes seems like a given.

4. Older Zym

The creators have assured us in prior interviews that Zym is still very much a part of this story. It is called The Dragon Prince after all.

That being said, I think it’s possible we’ll see a slightly older Zym next season, especially due to the timeskip. I doubt he’ll get much bigger. He’ll probably go from being the size of a puppy to the size of a full-grown dog. And I don’t think he’ll talk yet. That seems like it won’t be for many years in the future.

Still, I think we can reasonably look forward to seeing an older Zym.

5. Mid Season Rayllum Reunion

I already have a post highlighting the reasons why I think Callum and Rayla will definitely reunite in S4, as I know many fans are wondering if they’ll spend the whole season apart.

But I think this reunion may happen sooner rather than later. By that, I’m guessing it’ll happen at the midway point - either episodes 4 or 5.

This gives us the chance to have three or four whole episodes with them apart, which seems like a reasonable amount. Then we get their reunion, which’ll likely be it’s own episode. Then we get four or five whole episodes with them together again, dealing with the fallout of Rayla’s decision, working together, and hopefully reconciling by the season’s end. This seems like it could be a nice, tidy arc for them to have for the season, so that’s what I’m going to guess will happen.

Plus, it’ll have us feeling all the feels.

6. Janai’s Brother Wants the Throne

It’s been confirmed that Janai and Khessa have a younger, unnamed brother. We know nothing about him, and the creators decided not to comment when asked about him during the AMA. This means that he’ll likely be an important player for S4.

One of the writers (I believe it was Devon) also confirmed via Twitter that Janai is next in line for the throne after her sister’s death, calling her Queen Janai.

This raises a very interesting potential plotline for S4. What if Janai decides to ally with the humans that helped during the battle at the Storm Spire? What if her brother is not happy about this? Letting a human into Lux Area was the reason Khessa died, after all.

What if Janai’s brother decided to make a play for the throne - either by contesting Janai’s rule, threatening civil war, or by trying to usurp the thone?

The creator’s have mentioned that despite the Zym being returned to Xadia, there is still a long road to peace between the elves and humans. They alluded to an “event” that makes Ezran aware of this.

Unrest / war between the Sunfire elves could very easily be what they’re talking about. And Janai’s brother wanting the throne could very easily be the catalyst for that.

7. Aaravos in the Shadows

Many fans are speculating that our main characters may now finally become aware of Aaravos’s existence in the series. As for me? I’m not so sure.

Keep in mind, outside of Viren, Claudia, and perhaps a handful of Sunfire elves, no one else in the show knows of Aaravos’s existence. He’s been keeping to the shadows, pretty clearly using Viren as his puppet.

With the end of S3, he’s in the cocoon, leaving Viren and Claudia on their own. We don’t know how long it’ll take for him to emerge, or even what form he’ll take when that happens. But we do know that he’ll be back for S4, per Erik Todd Dellums. (And apparently, he’ll have an even sexier voice.)

I imagine he and the dark mage fam will have their own arc in S4, which may eventually intersect with whatever the main cast is up to, but not for awhile yet. As for Aaravos himself, I think he’s playing the long game. And I think part of that means staying in the shadows as much as he possible can, while he consolidates power. The goal it seems is to make his form stronger and stronger, and eventually finding a way to leave the mirror realm entirely. Why would he want to play his cards too early?

So with Viren and Aaravos out of the way for much of S4, who does this leave as the main antagonist?

8. Sol Regem, Main Antagonist

Enter Sol Regem. It’s been confirmed that we’ll see him again, after all. And we know just how much hatred he has for humans. He was hellbent on frying Callum to a crisp, even after he had agreed to return the human kingdoms.

It was revealed that Sol Regem was once revered by the Sunfire elves, before he became a symbol of rage and bitterness. Still, this reverence is an important part of Sunfire history.

This is something Janai’s brother could leverage if he’s looking to usurp the throne and pit the human-hating Sunfire elves against those that are loyal to Janai. With the literal Sun King on his side, he becomes a formidable foe.

This could be the event that leads Ezran to act. Will the humans who fought at the Storm Spire come to the aid of Janai and her people? Will the Dragon Queen weigh in on this matter? Will they need to gather the other elemental dragons together in hopes of defeating Sol Regem? (If so, this is a way we could bring Rex Igneous into the story.)

This might be a bit of a stretch, of course. But it does lead for an interesting direction for S4, and S5 as well, and would be a way to introduce more dragons and keep Zym and his mother in the story.

And, as I stated in my Rayllum S4 reunion post, this gives Rayla incentive to stop hunting Viren and shift gears to focus on the more emergent threat. Which in turn could reunite Team Zym once again.

9. Rex Igneous Eats a Jelly Tart

It’s pretty much a given that we will meet Rex Igneous (the Earth dragon) in this season. You can see a sneak peak of him in Callum’s Sketchbook, which has the following caption:

It was also revealed by the creators that some “very important figures” would be eating jelly tarts in upcoming seasons.

Given this information, it doesn’t seem farfetched to imagine that Rex Igneous will be one of those figures.

10. Soren & Ezran Adventure / Bonding

Soren used to share his screen time with Claudia, but now that she’s out on her own with her dad, he’ll need a new buddy to share screen time with.

I nominate Ezran, mostly because S3 dealt a lot with their relationship, and it just makes sense to continue to develop this in S4. Plus, Ezran’s the king and Soren’s the guard. Where he goes, Soren follows.

So it makes sense that they’ll have an adventure together in S4.

11. Dramatic Claudia Reveal / Confrontation

I had this on my list for awhile, but Ehasz tweeted this and nearly confirmed it:

I think we’re going to get either a really dramatic reveal or confrontation between Claudia and another character. Either Viren, Soren, or possibly Callum. (I don’t think it’ll be Rayla, since she has no real connection to Claudia.) Or perhaps it’ll simply be a dramatic reveal for us, the audience.

Either way, stuff’s going down.

12. Callum Learns Moon Arcanum

The creators have mentioned that Callum will be learning more of the primal sources in future seasons. I think it stands to reason that moon will be next for him.

S3 already showed him starting to grasp a lot of the fundamentals of the source - both in their evasion of Sol Regem and in casting the spell to see Rayla’s parents. Through the Moon builds on this even more, with him using moon opals to cast more moon magic, and learning even more from Lujanne regarding the nature of the primal.

Being separated from Rayla might be the push he needs to finally unlock the arcanum once in for all. Perhaps it’ll be key to tracking her down, if he goes after her.

If not, perhaps understanding Rayla’s past and the decision that she made, and their reconciliation is what will trigger it.

Hard to say for sure, but I feel like this will relate to Rayla in some way. And it will definitely happen in S4.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’ll do a part 2 eventually and go through my last 12 predictions.

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp season 4 #tdp speculation #tdp season 4 predictions #is it season 4 yet?#through the moon #through the moon spoilers #rayllum #ezran #rayla #callum #zym #soren #claudia #tdp fandom

29 notes · View notes

thcdragonprince · 4 years

Text

Through the Moon: Review

For those who may not know, Through the Moon is a graphic novel written by Peter Wartman & A*ron Ehasz with the lovely Xanthe Bouma as the artist. Their work is amazing on this book. It takes place a few weeks after seasons 3, leading up to season 4.

Will this book effect season four?

It definitely will! (I’ll get into why in my spoiler review in the next few slides.) But as the team has said, you DO NOT need to read through the moon to understand season 4. It is merely an explanation of a few things that happened.

My Spoiler Free Review

I enjoyed the book overall. I loved seeing a more realistic portrayal of their relationships and a more in depth look as to what Rayla is going through after she ��killed” Viren. Also it was just plain nice to get some new content after this looonnng hiatus. Soren I loved! He had such a good few moments in this book. My boy. I still can’t get over how adorable and cute the art is I mean. Look at it.

(Yes I know these are just Soren pictures, but that is besides the point.)

I really recommend this book to any TDP lover (if you’re able to get it) to get it. It feels short, but the plot is overall good. But again you don’t need it to understand season 4.

MY SPOILER REVIEW

Turn back now if you don’t want to be spoiled like- GO!

Rayla’s nightmares!!! I loved seeing those like finally it’s realistic she would be hanging onto the trauma from her past and trying to work through it the best she can. The moments between Rayla and Callum were cute, but I was mostly happy with the fact that they fought and then communicated and got over it like you should do in any healthy relationship.

I really enjoyed the Lujanne content. I forgot how much I adored her! Also seeing her new boyfriend be soft for her as an elf was so sweet.

New Soren content!!!!! That’s all I need to say about that. (He sWEPT the LEG!)

The whole realm between life and death was a really neat concept that they pulled into this novel and it was super creepy to see Viren there in the cocoon like what did Claudia do?! But also Rayla’s assassin group wanting revenge on her for failing them was peak 👌👌👌 angst.

Rayla leaving Callum (on his birthday no less) at the end in search of answers, just made sense to me. She’s used to doing things on her own and everyone she has ever loved “died” protecting her. She can’t risk Callum and I get that, but honestly Callum won’t and will be heartbroken but still- it’s her journey she has to at least start on her own.

I love Bait. That is my last note on the book.

And that’s pretty much all I have for that, so thanks for reading it all if you did I hope this helped some of y’all to make a decision on whether to get it or not!

#the dragon prince #tdp #tdp s2 #soren #thcdragonprince #aarvaos #callum #through the moon #tdp ttm #tdp through the moon #review #through the moon review #graphic novel

36 notes · View notes

arnieb95 · 3 years

Note

For the ABCD character headcannon ask, I'm gonna go with Callum from TDP 😁

Thank you! This is fun.

A (realistically): He came up with the jerkface dance to get baby Ez to stop crying after Callum accidentally did something that upset him. (Seems real to me, and super wholesome big brother vibes)

B (hilarious): Callum used to do a hilarious impression of Viren as a kid playing with Ez and Claudia, "Bright future for humanity" and all. Harrow and especially Sarai thought it was the funniest thing in the world making fun of Viren.

There also HAVE to be little sketches of Viren and Harrow's interactions from when Callum first got the sketchbook along with anything else funny happening at the castle.

C (heart-crushing): Despite Ez and occasionally Claudia, sometimes Soren too before he started picking on Callum more, Callum was a very lonely kid. He never felt like he fit in anywhere after Sarai died and especially after Soren started picking on him and Claudia couldn't spend as much time with him as she was studying dark magic. So, he used his awkwardness and quirky sense of humor ("Die marshmallow monster!" anyone?) as a facade with which to cover up his loneliness.

This also built his temper since nobody took him seriously even when he wanted to be so he began raising his voice and snapping at times, especially at little Ezran who just wanted to spend time with his big brother and enjoyed laughing at Callum's perceived antics.

D (non canon-compliant): This one is harder for me, as I stick to canon personalities so much. So, I'm gonna take the easy way out and just go to AU headcanons, since it technically doesn't work with canon.

Callum loves the macarena, YMCA, chicken dance, and any other silly dance you can think of. The mix of all of these became the jerkface dance.

I'm pretty sure some of these are more common hcs and that's where I got them from for the most part, but it is what it is. Let me know what you think!

#asks #tdp #callum #jedidragonwarriorqueen

4 notes · View notes

raayllum · 16 days

Note

im new to the fandom, so I miss a lot of the discourse (helped ofc by the fact you're kinda the only dp blog I follow), so everytime you mention the s4 backlash I'm like....how in the world could people hate that season or rayllum in it? It doesn't compute for me!

The last ship I was particularly engaged with, has a lot of similarities with rayllum. They were best friends, life partners before they were ever /romantic/ life partners. And they went through a /lot/ of trauma, miscommunication, and being on opposite sides of the same fight, etc etc.

the difference to rayllum was that they never rlly gave each other the grace they need. They also never talked on screen, but unlike rayllum it wasn't because it was the best option for them, it's just that the writers didn't want to include it ever - to the point that when they finally did an episode addressing it, it landed...very flat? Because it was about six seasons in, addressing things as far back as the second season, that they'd apparently never spoken to each other about before (they were tragically engaged when this happened).

Rayllum GENERALLY but especially in s4 have a really special place in my heart, because they feel very realistically messy - but it doesn't feel like it's there so there's some drama to keep audiences hooked. It feels authentic, and is one of those rare cases where it strengthens their relationship. I definitely could buy that rayllum would survive anything that hit their relationship by the end of s3, but getting to actually SEE that and see how much they're willing to work through out of love and respect for each other? Fantastic.

(also like it's such good character development....i am with u in the s4 defense squad. is there a squad? If there is I'm in it)

First off welcome to the fandom and I hope you're having a good time!!

The fact that my blog is mostly discourse free cause while I tag accordingly (fandom nonsense and dragons gets salty for potential blacklisting purposes) I always worry I can dip too far into that on occasion (I do my best not to unless being called out by name, and even then mostly do my best to ignore stuff), but there's not too much discourse within TDP in general — at least not in the Rayllum corner, luckily.

I think that's why the S4 backlash really surprised and threw me for a loop, because my partner and I finished the season at like 7AM on release day and while different than expected, we loved it and thought it was great from the start. Then we went online and people in the fandom who I'd largely always agreed with were having a really hard time with the season and it was disheartening at least to not have many people to talk to about why 1) S4 is TDP's thematically strongest season thus far and that's still true, 2) it's Ezran's best season imo, and 3) it does a lot of things really really well in really interesting ways.

I always try to never come down Too Hard on the s4 backlash just because people are of course entitled to their feelings/opinions then as well as now (even if some people's tunes have definitely changed), but a lot of it did feel sometimes short sighted if not immature.

Like soo many people are still mad that Rayla and Callum broke up in an offscreen graphic novel, when S4 would still be S4 regardless of whether TTM existed and like... if Rayla worrying that she failed (again) and went off on her own (again) to protect Callum was a big logical leap, then that person honestly just wasn't paying attention; there's not much else to say there. I also think it's just a strange choice to assume that Nothing Major would change the second you find out about a timeskip; like, almost everything else is status quo, Rayla being gone is the One Major Change and people couldn't handle that being a Surprise?

Like you said, conflict between a couple is not inherently a bad thing; it can be good and interesting, and this was always a relationship hurdle I think a lot of Rayllums (myself included) expected Rayla and Callum to have to tackle. Not liking how extreme or 'dramatic' it was (ie. season long arc > just a few episodes, or Rayla leaving > just trying to leave) is fair enough, but given that it's rooted in so much of Rayla's character, I'd much rather take a long way around approach that's in depth. I'm also just Glad and Grateful that the show is tackling it and treating it like the issue it is rather than sweeping things under the rug.

The fact that Callum's version of anger wasn't the one people wanted is another issue, but again — his anger went the way I'd always thought it might if he just went through enough trauma, and even if he had yelled at her, I don't think the season would've necessarily gone any different than it did other than them crying more early on. Which I've written and wouldn't have minded, but I also don't dislike the alternative route canon took — of course they were never going to get all variations out there, but Callum is cold as hell and being a bit of a jerk while also being valid and tempering himself because he doesn't want to hurt her anymore than she wants to hurt him (and Callum has always been very very bad at being/staying mad with Rayla or Ezran anyway).

I saw a lot of pushback against Rayllum being 'platonic' (which was annoying as an aromantic person lemme tell you, as though platonic is lesser), being "broken up for no reason" (Rayla being hyper-independent was not a secret and always going to be what threatened to rip them apart; they are also still Visibly and Repeatedly In Love with each other how is that broken up), or that they didn't get to have a Big Feelings Time in S4.

With that in mind, there's a lot that also matters in a relationship beyond just Open Communication, tbh. There's going to be times in life where you're not able to or unwilling to talk about certain things (given that S4 is maybe a week, I think that's reasonable; especially when Rayllum still haven't talked to each other about it as of s5 and no one I saw have an issue in S4 about it has complained about it there) and like... how do you treat each other when you're still mad or confused and haven't talked everything out? Do you still take care of each other, are you still doing your best to be considerate of each other (even if you're also not going to be perfect)? That shit matters just as much if not more as people able to sit down and hash things out.

I think the truth is a lot of the things that pissed people off about S4 would've been true even if the opposite things had happened:

N'than is flat and under developed unlike Ellis → N'than is more developed → why is N'than taking away from screentime for other characters?

The Sunfire plotline feels disconnected from the rest of the story (nvm that Viren's arc from 1x06 onwards doesn't affect any main character again until 3x04) → the Sunfire plot line has more connections to the main cast crammed in → more complaints about pacing and things feeling overly stuffed, as scenes already change from one to the next quite clearly

Callum and Rayla have a big talk sometime between 4x03-4x07 → this doesn't give Callum enough time to be angry / makes him seem unreasonable because he's admitted he was mostly worried but is still not fully letting her in despite her spilling her guts to him (and in what world would Rayla give excuses, again, when she knows he's the one hurting and taking priority in her mind)

S4's humor was bad because there were fart jokes (in one episode) → the crowlord's joke is so much worse than the fart jokes imo and is on par with the walnut joke in 1x06. also 1-2 scenes with jokes that didn't work for you out of 9 whole ass episodes is like. you're just a wuss i'm sorry

The Sunfire plot line is boring → will never not feel like "I just can't connect or be interested in politics and religious disagreements when it's mostly about Black people for Some Reason (racism)" to me tbh

There was no way to please everyone especially after a three year hiatus (because people think, For Some Reason, that how much time it takes for a story to come out should change how that story is written and it really, really doesn't) but yeah. The internet showed their asses and I was Not Impressed lmao

TLDR; a lot of the S4 backlash was "I'm mad this isn't happening now and I'm stressed out/worried that it won't be" as opposed to "this is only a problem if it never happens at all, but I have faith that it will," and I will love S4 forever. The Callum-Viren parallels being ramped up, the theme of duality and moving "doing terrible things for love" to the forefront with multiple characters (Rayla, Terry, Viren, Claudia), seeing Ezran step into his role as king, Callum's arc being shown > told, the set up for the possession plot line, Janaya's engagement and relationship development + Amaya and Janai's independent arcs? Chef's kiss. S4 is my best friend and its Rayllum dynamic is on par with S3 for me, and I am very grateful the fandom's attitude towards s4 and s4 Rayllum is a lot warmer / more reasonable now

When Callum says "unconditionally" in 5x01 and all their stuff in S5 we know and believe it because we've seen them fight and work so hard to come back from some pretty terrible brinks in imperfect ways, and I'll always love s4 for that. The most aspec Rayllum season by far

#thanks for asking #anonymous #also feel free to come off anon and message me if you'd like! i promise i don't bite and that i am a loser (affectionate)#long post #s4 is my best friend #s4 #arc 2 #which is saying something bc s2 and s1 rayllum is also SO GOOD #like it never has to be anyone's favourite by any measure. but it is just NOT a bad season or handling of the characters #it's just not

21 notes · View notes

arcadialedger · 4 years

Note

Top three favorite female characters from TDP, and why

Ohhh okay. I love this. These aren’t in order or in a rank.

1. Aunt Amaya— Amaya is very important to be as someone with signing family, and a sister with severe hearing loss. I love how the show uses fluent ASL, and characterizes Amaya as a noble, strong, capable warrior and general. She also has an incredible sense of humor.

2. Rayla— Like Amaya, Rayla challenges the conventions of the warrior female lead. Rayla is, yes, a capable warrior and fighter, but she also has a grace and elegance to her fighting, being an elf, which I adore. Not to mention her killer sarcasm and light spirit. What I love most about Rayla though is that she is emotionally complex and incredibly nuanced. Unlike most female leads, we get to delve into Rayla’s heart and mind, and explore her emotional turmoil and complexities. She has a big heart, insecurities, and is still strong, as Callum points out in s3.

3. Aanya— I haven’t talked about this enough on this blog, but I FREAKING LOVE AANYA WITH ALL MY HEART. She is an incredibly gifted ruler and speaker, yet the way she words things is still realistic for her age. She has an incredible mind which is able to see the truth and past convention when it’s merits are false, and she isn’t afraid to go against the grain. She’s also a warrior, archer queen who JOINS HER PEOPLE IN BATTLE.

#the dragon prince #dragon prince #tdp #netflix #netflix series

14 notes · View notes

uneryx · 4 years

Text

Renee Gets Salty About Dark Magic

This post got long, and got away from me, so I’ll tl;dr it

1. dark magic is a metaphor for consumption and materialism and is ultimately bad because it harms others unnecessarily and is not a sustainable resource

2. the elves were dicks for banishing humans but (especially if humans sucked all the magic out of the land themselves) they were kind of justified, even if it was an extreme measure

3. Eating meat is not the same as dark magic if you’re looking at things from an animistic point of view, which the elves likely do

4. it’s okay to like problematic characters and you don’t have to portray Ezran as a monstrous enfant terrible to feel okay about thinking Viren is justified in what he does. In fact, pretty please stop doing this, everyone in all fandoms. It’s fine if you don’t like the protags but that doesn’t mean you get to say Ezran or Rayla or whoever is EVIL. It’s called Ron the Death Eater and it’s a fandom trope that has pissed me off for going on fifteen years. Deliberately misreading the text isn’t cute. Stop doing it.

5. The show isn’t over, be patient, you’ll probably get to see some comeuppance for stuff anyway. And if you don’t, there’s always fanfiction.

6. For the love of baby adoraburrs please tag posts that go in the vein of “the writing is bad because Viren is portrayed as a classic villain/elves good humans bad/the protags aren’t held accountalbe” with “TDP CRITICAL” I would greatly appreciate it because I’m getting super annoyed with posts that deliberately misrepresent canon to uphold a favored side and it’s affecting my enjoyment of the show. Now! Actual long and discourse-heavy post under the cut!

Ugh I don’t want to start a big ol’ argument with people because I’m still on vacation and don’t want to spend the rest of today arguing about cartoons on the internet, but this has been on the kettle for a while and I feel QUITE STRONGLY about some of these things, so just... let me express my views here and don’t come for me because I’m about to talk about religion and sociology.

Dark Magic is a metaphor for unchecked consumption and capitalism. 1. The theory i’m seeing floating around that got my dander up is that the elves and dragons drained the western half of the continent of magic to keep magic away from humans. I think that, based on what we’ve learned from canon, this is highly unlikely and would be weaker writing than what I think actually happened. Instead, Dark magic was going on for a good solid 800 years (Rise of Elarion is 2000 years before canon) before Sol Regem faced off with Viard (1200 years before canon). The division of Xadia was another 200 years after that. Humans had a solid honking millennium of unchecked dark magic. It is quite likely that the reason the west is entirely devoid of magic, and that humans were banished there, is because they sucked all the magic out of that half themselves. Poor innocent baby humans nothing. They got a taste of power and progress and, like real world humans, let that get WAY out of control.

2. “But Lujanne eats bugs, she’s a hypocrite for saying Claudia can’t squish bugs for pancakes” I want you to go down to your local new-age/witchy bookstore and find yourself an animist that eats meat. You are going to get glared at SO HARD if you whip out the “you think animals have souls but you eat meat!” chestnut. Because here’s the thing.

Eating meat/animal products is an act of life, necessary to sustain the life of someone else. We don’t vilify wolves for eating deer. You gotta eat to live your life, and the human (or, we can assume, bipedal humanoid) diet includes a need for complex protein chains, quite often found in animal meat.

But the reason that we find cannibalism repulsive in western society is because it’s eating another human, despite the fact that humans are made of meat. It’s eating something that we consider sentient, dignified and possessed of a soul. Of course, the taboo also derives from the fact that you can contract prion disease from consuming human meat, but people in 11th century Normandy didn’t know that. It is quite likely, especially given what we’ve seen of magical creatures and Ezran’s ability to talk to animals, that elves view non-human/elf creatures as sentient and possessed of a soul. If that’s the case, then OF COURSE they would see dark magic as horrific.

But eating meat is not on the same level because, as we see from the assassins, death is a part of life, and sometimes necessary. I imagine that hunting and taking a creature’s life for food is an act that is done with respect. The creatures are honored or thanked before they’re eaten or turned into leather. Highly ritualized to dignify that creature’s life. Dark magic doesn’t do that. Dark magic sucks the whole life out, without so much of a how do you do. It’s treating a person like a thing. It’s sucking all the life and essence out of someone so you can shoot fireballs or make fluffy pancakes. Lets be real - you don’t need to do either of those things, so the creature thus died in vain. 3. “The elves are selfish bastards for hogging all the magic.” I agree. Granted, their attitudes may have cooled in the ensuing centuries. It’s a new dawn, the era of Zubeia. We might see elves getting over their uppity selves and working to help teach humans magic. We might also see the show explore that kind of prejudice as Callum learns more magic. In fact, I hope we do. However, two wrongs dont make a right. If Japan bombs the absolute fuckshit out of Hawaii, that does not make it okay to flash-fry Nagasaki with a weapon that blights the land and its people for years and years afterward.

To the elves (who are magical creatures and therefore totally usable as spell components), that’s what dark magic is. Suddenly, haha oh fuck, the humans have a fucking NUKE that every elf and dragon in Xadia is vulnerable to. If a weapon was devised that ONLY a certain portion of the population was affected by, you better bet your sweet bippy that people would panic and make it forbidden and illegal, and severely punish the people who created it. ESPECIALLY if those people were already marginalized. Sucks, don’t it? Doesn’t mean the writing is bad for portraying people having a realistic reaction to something that is harmful to them. The elves aren’t justified in hogging the magic, and I hope future chapters will explore that. But the elves ARE a liiiiiittle bit justified in freaking out. I hold they could’ve come up with a better solution than BANISH HUMANS, but they didn’t. Makes for interesting story conflict, doesn’t it? 4. “Humans NEED dark magic!” / “Calling dark magic a shortcut is dumb” Did they tho? Did they really? Really really? We, modern day humans, don’t NEED smart phones (which rely on several rare earth minerals and are causing untold ecological disaster in areas where they’re miend). We, modern day humans, don’t NEED coal power (which is controlled by coal companies, who keep telling us that we totally do, despite many scientists saying that renewable energy is ready to go whenever). We don’t NEED blackberries from Mexico year-round, or a whole hell of a lot of the things we have come to rely on and consider part of our every day lives. All of these things are unnecessary and shortcuts to progress.

The only - ONLY! - good, necessary thing we’ve seen in canon that dark magic was required for was using the magma titan’s heart for saving people from famine.

A lot of the complaints about sustainable energy and efforts to heal the planet as climate change become increasingly a crisis stem from the fact that doing things RIGHT, in a way that is sustainable and doesn’t strip every last resource out of our home, is that it takes time. It takes SO MUCH TIME to do things properly. Yeah, we can keep going with our coal and our gas-guzzler cars and our fracking and our rare-earth metals... but we ARE going to run out. And then what? Dark magic is the same principle. Eventually, you’re going to run out of resources.

5. Where I think the show is going My main beef with those (and there’s a lot of ya, so I’m not intending to single anyone out) who say that the writing is lazy for dark magic bad elfs good is that the show is not over. Wonderstorm is doing their damndest to give us the saga. And they’ve said, out right, that there WILL be books, if nothing else.

You can’t judge a story’s merits when it’s only been half told. Right now, what the show has done is it has shown us the worst and best of the elves (for example, Khessa’s purity test vs Rayla refusing to kill Ez so she doesn’t perpetuate a cycle of violence) and the worst and best of the humans (ex: Viren forcibly turning thousands of people into monsters against their will vs Viren risking his life in order to save thousands of people from famine). The show has done well to demonstrate that there is good and bad in everyone, and it’s the choices you make and the respect you show others’ autonomy that makes you a good or bad person. The dominoes are in place. The saga has only begun. Being mad that Ezran burned an army (that he likely knew from Soren was invulnerable to fire) or that Aanya shot Kasef in the face (when Opeli would have told her that Kasef conspired behind Ezran’s back to usurp the throne, which is AN ACT OF WAR btw) means you aren’t looking at the big picture. There WILL be consequences for those actions in later seasons, mark my words.

I’m sorry if you’re a Viren or Claudia stan, but they have made choices that hurt other people, and it is in no way shape or form Ezran or Callum or Rayla or ANYONE ELSE’S fault that they made the choices they did. Instead of being mad at the show for not portraying your fav as an innocent victim, be glad that you got such a wonderfully complex set of villains who, quite likely, will get a bomb-ass redemption arc. In fact, I’ll bet you anything that Viren’s walk back from the edge has already begun. The dude fucking DIED, and he’s not going to be eager to get in there and get all grabby with the power any time soon.

That’s what good writing IS - conflict. Tension. People making morally questionable choices. We like it because every day people are hypocrites and morally questionable. You, and I, and everyone we know. Nobody’s perfect and getting cranky and painting the protagonists with the broad villain brush so you can feel good about liking a problematic fave is... some peak tumblr bullshit, tbh. It’s okay to like characters who aren’t perfect. How fucking boring fiction would be if everyone was perfect.

Now if I can ask my mutuals to please tag their criticisms of the show that go in the vein of “the writing is bad because dark magic is portrayed so negatively/they don’t hold the protags accountable/elves good humans bad” with “TDP critical” I would greatly appreciate it. It’s getting to the degree where things are becoming very not fun and making me cranky. Thank you, Renee out.

#tdp discourse #ftr I feel VERY STRONGLY about point 2 #meat-eating is NOT the same as hunting for sport #and if you disagree with me on an ethical level about this stuff then do me a favor and tag your shit #so that we can coexist in our lanes without getting mad at each other over a damn cartoon

10 notes · View notes

inflammatoryfandomblog · 5 years

Text

season 3, episode 7... will watch until my hands go numb i guess:

-> claudia to all these magic beings is the definition of the “it’s free real estate” guy.

-> you know what, i’m scared at the prospect that soren is somehow smarter than everyone else around him. new theory: soren is the all-seeing god of the tdp universe, and we were all too dumb to figure it out.

-> “which is... to conquer xadia?” i mean... you can just... kill the dragons... then demand to be treated as equals. you don’t need to conquer xadia. there’s... a middle ground... between lying down and agreeing to have elves kick you down and literally losing your mind.

-> the worst part of all this is that i still mostly agree with viren’s end goal, and i hope the queen of the sunfire elves gets what’s coming to her. realistically the zym-mom reunion would absolutely blow up in ezran and callum’s faces... but that’s probably not gonna happen in this show.

-> viren’s tactic of telling people about their parents is hilariously consistent.

-> the season’s waifu returns! love her

-> well i guess the sunfire elves really fucked up then, haven’t they. if they were less racist... and just elected to kill viren instead of doing the whole purification ritual to watch him be ripped molecule by molecule... this wouldn’t have happened to them. i don’t feel bad.

-> aaravos is... really... creepy. what a gross guy. but the queen is indeed dead, which is only objectively a good thing.

-> amaya is the bestest, maybe she and janai will become gorlfriends in either sense of the term.

-> dragon friend returns! will cast wind magic! dragon friend! dragon friend! he will teach them super duper aspiro.

-> soren is smart enough to say that he doesn’t want to be doused in magic that will probably turn him into the next case of benjamin button. kasef, however, is not as smart, gets turned into a giant magma golem.

-> super duper aspiro is indeed ventus spiralus!

-> “don’t make me choose... not again.” aw man... that line hit me hard. because when they were younger, soren chose, and he kind of chose wrong by picking viren. so he backs off and understands, goes his separate way. claudia will likely end up following soren’s choice just like she had in the past.

-> claudia, internally: “ah shit soren was right.” she really should have listened to the person who stuck by her through thick and thin.

-> rip dragon queen dead, i guess the humans didn’t really need to all be turned into evil magma golems after all.

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp spoilers #the dragon prince spoilers #tdp s3 spoilers #me.txt #reactions

18 notes · View notes