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[1lovepeace]

S6 Will Be Absolutely Ravaged For The Moonfam And Rayla. This Reminds Me Of The TTM Artwork Of Rayla Holding The Lotus. With The Hands Of The Shadow Assassins And The Hands Of Her Family Reaching Out To Her. What If Something Is Gonna Happen Where Rayla Is Being Persuaded By Aaravos That Her Family Abandoned Her And Their Choices Made Her Feel Unloved, But Her Family Is Desperately Commited To Saving Her, Disgusted And Outraged That Aaravos Would Dare Manipulate Their Daughter, Humongously Pouring Out Their Hearts And Souls To Their Daughter, Apologizing To Her For Everything, Begging Her To Forgive Them For Having Failed And Disappointed Her, Pleading With Rayla To Know That She Means The Whole World To Them, That She So Precious And Important To Them And That They Truly And Sincerely Love Her So Very Much.

ohohoho because this is the moon fam season. this is the ruthari season. this is the luna tenebris season. this is kim'dael's season. this is the assassins' season. this is rayla's time to get absolutely ravaged.

and apart from that last one, count me excited.

[1lovepeace]

Let The Moonfam Rise. The Stars Are Ready To Cause Chaos. We're Not Prepared For What's About To Unfold. 😭😭😭😭💔💔😱😱👀👀

MOONFAM FANDOM WE HAVE FINALLY ARRIVEEDDDDDDD EEEYYYYYYYYY

[1lovepeace]

That phrase alone is about to shatter our hearts 💔💔😭😭. The Stars Are Ready To Unleash The Cosmos 🌌🌌🌌

"the moon shimmers as the stars align" like just kill me

[1lovepeace]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers ❤️

Aww, I'm genuinely humbled, and I appreciate the ask 🥹. Much love, fam ❤️💙. 5 things that make me happy:

1. Alone Time

2. Solving Wordsearch Puzzles

3. Reading

4. Dancing

5. Going For Long Walks

[1lovepeace]

@ididntknowwhattocallthis @self-spaghettification Fascinating yet heartbreaking theory. All of this makes me wonder exactly how Rayla will truly and honestly feel about and towards Ethari when they do reunite. Sometimes, I feel that a part of her would feel undeniable anger, resentment, and extreme bitterness towards him. There's no denying that Ethari would absolutely be overcome with such uncontrollable, unbearable guilt, regret, remorse, and heartbreak when he sees her. Fearing that Rayla will never have the heart to truly forgive him. Because seeing the sight of his daughter's broken heart, hurt, pain, and look of betrayal would leave him sincerely guilt-ridden, hurt, conscious-stricken, and incredibly heartbroken. Wooooh, these two will have so much to talk about. There is a lot for them to discuss, unpack, and process in regards to the ghosting, and so many apologies from Ethari. But one thing that's for certain is that these conversations/discussions will be filled with humongous, uncontrollable sobbing and emotional hugs 😭😭😭😭. Just let these two heal and reconcile their bond.

Ok I wanna talk about Ethari's clothing/design over all. His clothes and tattoos are different from every other Moonshadow elf we've seen, and he's one of the few that doesn't wear braids. Like:

The recurring elements are intricate patterning; over layers and under layers; multiple colors in the same garment (or at least same outfit); wraparound construction, color contrast between mediums, lights, and darks; and the dominant color is always the medium, never the lightest or darkest color (usually navy, true black is very rare outside of the assassins). Even arc 2 Rayla follows most of these rules and she's been away from her culture for two years!

But then we have Ethari:

He doesn't have an outer layer, he wears almost solid navy, none of those clothes are wraparound, he has no light color, there's not a lot of contrast, and his dark color is true black despite not being an assassin. He bends all the rules, though he only breaks one completely. He still has that patterning, but it's minimal compared to the others. He has plenty of accent colors, more than anyone else actually, but they show up on him far less. He does have light, medium, and dark colors, but his whole pallet is darker than everyone else's. The only rule he 100% breaks is the wraparound construction

A lot of this probably derives from the fact that he's a metalsmith:

For the most part his clothes quite are practical;

Black/navy hides coal dust/soot very well. It gets everywhere, on your pants and face especially, and is highly visible on just about every other color.

Forging is hot work & you do it next to a fire that needs to be at least 1000° celsius, I never wear more than one layer either.

those sleeves, while a bit looser than I'd be comfortable with, probably aren't going to get in the way. Plus I heard somewhere that they're spelled to repel heat (couldn't find if that's actually canon tho), so if that's true they're much better than my gloves.

The crop top isn't great but he's got that belt to stop most embers. Besides he's probably not the type to yelp every time one lands on him like I am.

if he pulls the scarf over his mouth & nose it'll help delay him getting lung cancer in the death trap of a smithy Wonderstorm designed for him (my problems with it are a post all on their own. I have nothing against the artists, its pretty, but by all rights he should be dead)

There might also be a cultural aspect to his clothing:

I think the navy blue, the arm bands, the boot decorations, and his belt & tabard could all be symbols that mean "I am a metalsmith" in Moonshadow culture. (Quick side note, he's not technically a blacksmith. historically blacksmith means specifically iron workers. If anything he's a whitesmith since he usually works with silver.) We see it with the assassins, why not metalsmiths too?

Plus if you take a look at his forge in the art book, there's a design carved on it that looks almost exactly like the one on his tabard. Elements of it also appear on other parts of his clothing:

I suspect that this is some sort of symbol for metal working or fire protection. If he's in a guild it could be their symbol, or it could just be a wider cultural symbol. Either way it has a meaning that relates to the forge specifically. I couldn't find it anywhere else in the room.

I just realized that I never even brought up the metal hems on his sleeves. Then again what is there to say? It's metal, he's a metalsmith. It's pretty, he likes pretty things.

But what about the rule he completely breaks?

As I said, every moonshadow garment has some sort of wrap-and-secure construction to it-- except Ethari's clothes. I seriously doubt this is a metalsmith thing. Basic garment construction isn't a sensible way to differentiate your group within one culture. I fully believe Ethari is doing this on purpose. But why? That why gets even bigger when you realize that no other moonshadow elves we've met have brown eyes or periwinkle blue tattoos.

Put a pin in all that, I need to explain my interpretation of Moonshadow culture for this to make sense.

"Moon Primal creatures can be private and secretive, and are keenly aware of the power of appearances." - from the official website

"Moonshadow Elves obey a rather rigid, honor-driven culture." - from the wiki

To me this paints a picture of a fairly collectivist culture. They place a heavy emphasis on community and duty, two things that are usually more peaceful/simpler when you have cohesion within the group. Cohesion creates less conflict, less conflict makes your community more peaceful and your duty to it easier to complete.

But they know that this cohesion is- to an extent- only an act, so each person has a sub community where they don't have to act. Your inner self is for family and friends close enough to be family. (I honestly think they might have some sort of ritual to formally adopt friends as family) To everyone else you're supposed to put up a front that makes you seem more like everyone else.

OK back to the pin

Even without his clothes, Ethari is already visually different from everyone else. No other Moonshadow elves we've seen have tattoos or eyes the same color as his. It's a subtle difference but it is noticeable, and in a culture so focused on appearances people would notice. Most people's instinct would be to try to hide or downplay it, to prop up that front as much as they can. Yet Ethari doesn't put up a front, not to the extent that most people seem to. He's even accentuating his differences by dressing in a different style than them- and he's respected.

In my comm class the other day we were talking about groups, and one of the things that came up was that cohesion fosters sameness and diversity fosters innovation. Ethari is an innovator, it's literally his job. He invents the wingalings in bloodmoon huntress, Runaan and Rayla's weapons, and probably a bunch more stuff we haven't seen. Maybe for all they value appearances and fitting in, moonshadow culture still recognizes that people like him are important and they aren't as effective when they have to fit in. They can't be too out there (remember, Ethari only bends the rules rather than breaking them) but as long as they stay within a certain radius of the norm they can gain a lot of respect. I think this is what Ethari has done. The fact that his family (Runaan, Tiadrin, Lain) are all pretty traditional probably helped a lot. They keep him from pushing too hard on the edge of the box and he keeps them flexible.

That they aren't there anymore has probably exacerbated the rift between him and the rest of the silvegrove caused by Rayla's ghosting and whatever news has reached them from the storm spire.

I am so excited to see him in S6. I thought about adding some speculation about what his new design might look like, but I honestly don't think he'll have changed that drastically aside from his hair. My biggest question is honestly whether or not he's still in The Silvergrove.

Bonus:

I bet that some of Ethari's relative weirdness rubbed off on Rayla. She didn't have many friends as a kid so, when she wasn't in school or with the assassins, it makes sense that hung out with Ethari a lot. Since he's less strict than Runaan she was probably only comfortable completely unmasking with him. He heard about all her crushes, fears, and insecurities that Runaan didn't. Which goes a long way to explaining why Ethari was the only one who could see she wouldn't be a good assassin; she was hiding those traits from everyone but him.

This also explains some of why he was so willing to believe that she ran away. Ethari saw all of her vulnerability, but he didn't see all of her strength. While she was out training and facing her fears with Runaan, Ethari was in the smithy and only heard about their exploits after the fact. Neither of them saw all of who Rayla is, but both of them thought they did and had to find out that they were wrong in just about the most heartbreaking way imaginable.

[1lovepeace]

@thrandilf Oh My Shadows. Can You Imagine?My Heart Will Break If That Happened To Our Starboy. 😱😱👀👀

OMG

[1lovepeace]

@thrandilf Oh My Shadows. Can You Imagine?My Heart Will Break If That Happened To Our Starboy. 😱😱👀👀

OMG

[1lovepeace]

Holy Shadows And Stars. It Has To Be Talking About Aaravos And His Long Lost Love: The Star Of His Life. The Chaos Of The Stars Is About Be Wild. 😱😱😭😭🌌🌌🌟🌟

OMG

[1lovepeace]

Seeing people crap on arc two Rayla genuinely makes me sad. I don't think many people truly realize the depth of Rayla's isolation. What happened to all the characters in arc one was horrible (I am not down playing that), Callum and Ezran lost their father, and Soren lost his family, but they all had Katolis to go back to. Their home. Rayla lost EVERYTHING. She lost the assassins who she grew up with and trained her, she lost her home, and worst of all she lost her parents. She lost Runaan and Ethari in one go, only months after her parents. And all she had to remember them by was what they taught her. And they taught her self sacrifice, they taught her to do questionable things in the name of protection and the greater good. Viren threatened everything she loved which WAS Callum and Ezran, and she thought he was still alive. She was stuck in fight or flight mode, she was bathed in trauma. And she had a point in TTM, everyone was just moving on, and didn't take or let her have anytime to truly grieve. She was in such a dark place in TTM and it influenced her decisions. She knows she did something wrong, she knows she hurt Callum. She hasn't brought herself to apologize yet, but why did we stop treating her as human? (Or elf, as it were)

Also hi, I've recently been liberated from TDP reddit

[1lovepeace]

I genuinely agree with your take. It's true that the trauma Rayla experienced doesn't excuse her actions, but it deeply explains the reasoning behind it. And in a way, you see Amaya soften up after seeing herself in Rayla in terms of being stoic, strong, and lonely in handing things alone. She's opened up more. Callum refuses to let Rayla push him away, that everything they do and face, they do it together, accepting his help and leaning on him for support. Little by little, she's growing and maturing, and I'm proud of her. There's still a long way to go for her, but she will get there.

With all the time that all four of Rayla's parents have spent self-reflecting, whether in the coins or while being alone and self-isolated from the community over the last two years, I sincerely hope that it can transition to all five of them reconciling, healing and repairing their broken, fractured family. No doubt that all 4 of her parents are incredibly scarred, haunted, devastated, and extremely hurt by the failures and negligence committed. Imagine the uncontrollable, horrifying nightmares they must be having of Rayla, being tormented by her memory every night. Their hurt, pain, heartbreak, emotional/psychological torture, and suffering are perhaps far worse than we imagined. I wouldn't even know where to begin with addressing Moonfam's family issues. But they deserve to have their family again after all they've been through.

But Rayla also has a right to feel and express her anger, resentment, disdain, animosity, and even her rage towards all four of her parents for what they put her through. Let her say what she needs to say. Let Rayla be angry and messy.

Seeing people crap on arc two Rayla genuinely makes me sad. I don't think many people truly realize the depth of Rayla's isolation. What happened to all the characters in arc one was horrible (I am not down playing that), Callum and Ezran lost their father, and Soren lost his family, but they all had Katolis to go back to. Their home. Rayla lost EVERYTHING. She lost the assassins who she grew up with and trained her, she lost her home, and worst of all she lost her parents. She lost Runaan and Ethari in one go, only months after her parents. And all she had to remember them by was what they taught her. And they taught her self sacrifice, they taught her to do questionable things in the name of protection and the greater good. Viren threatened everything she loved which WAS Callum and Ezran, and she thought he was still alive. She was stuck in fight or flight mode, she was bathed in trauma. And she had a point in TTM, everyone was just moving on, and didn't take or let her have anytime to truly grieve. She was in such a dark place in TTM and it influenced her decisions. She knows she did something wrong, she knows she hurt Callum. She hasn't brought herself to apologize yet, but why did we stop treating her as human? (Or elf, as it were)

Also hi, I've recently been liberated from TDP reddit

[1lovepeace]

what’s this? You returned from the journey and now home has become unfamiliar? it feels like You’ve changed and they haven’t?

You’ve got a few options. You could torture yourself back into conformity and pretend that everything is fine. You could leave and abandon this false familiarity for good.

or You could make them change, too.

[1lovepeace]

Most guys just have to deal with the girlfriend's dad. Callum will have to deal with three‚ his poor soul

[1lovepeace]

IMHO, only Callum and Ezran fully comprehend the tremendous losses that Rayla has endured. I love Soren, but he and Amaya judged Rayla without seeking to know or understand why or think about the hurt and loss she went through. Which is not right. Even though I get what she did, it was wrong and they were calling her out because of how distraught and hurt Callum was. Even then, we've seen time and time again that Callum has and always will come to Rayla's defense. He has a right to be upset with what had happened, but he has never and will never hold it against her. He wants to show Rayla that he's completely different from her parents and wants to be her confidant, supporter, and devoted, loving ally. He's really the only one who has truly defended her.

Even though all 4 of her parents never, ever meant to cause Rayla any trauma or abandonment, even if they only had pure, good intentions, I know without a doubt that they're devastated, haunted and hurt by the painful reality of losing the bond and life they had with Rayla. Feeling unbearable guilt and regret for having failed and disappointed their beloved daughter. Yes, Rayla made a bad decision. But it came from a place of trauma. With Callum, Ezran, and Soren, they want to help, guide, and support Rayla by seeking understanding, showing compassion, and empathy for her situation. While giving her the confidence to truly grow, learn, and prosper in healthier, wiser ways.

I also truly believe the reason why Rayla's relationship with all four of her parents is severely stained and portrayed so negatively because there's no backstory, no development, no important flashbacks and no major focus/quality time spent with them. Like we got with Harrow and Viren. I hope that changes, even if it's a spinoff series about the Moonfam. Which I would personally love.

I genuinely hope that we get some resolution and development with the moonfam in S6. Because they deserve to have their daughter back in their lives. As well as sharing so many moments of them crying, hugging, kissing, and apologizing to their daughter for so many things. It's not gonna be easy for them to heal and reconcile with each other, but I have strong faith that they will overcome these obstacles. They need and deserve this so much more than anything or anyone. 🥺🥺😭😭❤️💜💙🧡

Seeing people crap on arc two Rayla genuinely makes me sad. I don't think many people truly realize the depth of Rayla's isolation. What happened to all the characters in arc one was horrible (I am not down playing that), Callum and Ezran lost their father, and Soren lost his family, but they all had Katolis to go back to. Their home. Rayla lost EVERYTHING. She lost the assassins who she grew up with and trained her, she lost her home, and worst of all she lost her parents. She lost Runaan and Ethari in one go, only months after her parents. And all she had to remember them by was what they taught her. And they taught her self sacrifice, they taught her to do questionable things in the name of protection and the greater good. Viren threatened everything she loved which WAS Callum and Ezran, and she thought he was still alive. She was stuck in fight or flight mode, she was bathed in trauma. And she had a point in TTM, everyone was just moving on, and didn't take or let her have anytime to truly grieve. She was in such a dark place in TTM and it influenced her decisions. She knows she did something wrong, she knows she hurt Callum. She hasn't brought herself to apologize yet, but why did we stop treating her as human? (Or elf, as it were)

Also hi, I've recently been liberated from TDP reddit

[1lovepeace]

i'm taking maya fey away from people who say she hates the kurain channeling tradition and would want to "break free" from it

[1lovepeace]

Imagine how Runaan felt and thought when Viren dropped those coins in front of him. He saw 2 of his closest friends, the parents of his adopted daughter, who he Ghosted because he thought they'd abandoned the Dragon Guard. But no, they didn't. Turns out their souls were trapped in coins. By a dark mage. The same dark mage who has him chained to a wall. Like imagine all the emotions that were starting to come up in his head. And he didn't have time to process them all because he was coined too not long after. Not to mention the whole shock of him seeing the mirror (I'm guessing Zubeia told the assassins about the mirror if he knew about it, or maybe it was just something that was know about in relation to Aaravos).

Anyway, yeah. Runaan has a good poker face, because I don't doubt he had an array of emotions going through his head in that moment.

[1lovepeace]

On top of that, imagine the damaging hurt, pain, heartbreak, and devastation racing through Runaan's guilty consciousness at not only his friends being labeled as traitors and cowards because of Viren's actions, but the soul-crushing guilt of how he completely betrayed his friends having jeopardized and abandoned Rayla whom they entrusted in his care. Realizing that he took their daughter on this destructive, volatile mission for absolutely nothing. Thus betraying her. As well as him being mentally and emotionally scarred, haunted, and tormented by his last damaging interactions with Rayla. I believe there is no doubt that he feels unspeakable guilt and unbearable regret for how he treated Rayla as well as her not knowing the truth about what happened to her parents. Barely processing everything in those moments. I envision him constantly going through all of them while he's trapped in his coin.

I'd be feeling extremely guilt-ridden, conscious-stricken, and unimaginable heartbreak if I were in that situation.

Imagine how Runaan felt and thought when Viren dropped those coins in front of him. He saw 2 of his closest friends, the parents of his adopted daughter, who he Ghosted because he thought they'd abandoned the Dragon Guard. But no, they didn't. Turns out their souls were trapped in coins. By a dark mage. The same dark mage who has him chained to a wall. Like imagine all the emotions that were starting to come up in his head. And he didn't have time to process them all because he was coined too not long after. Not to mention the whole shock of him seeing the mirror (I'm guessing Zubeia told the assassins about the mirror if he knew about it, or maybe it was just something that was know about in relation to Aaravos).

Anyway, yeah. Runaan has a good poker face, because I don't doubt he had an array of emotions going through his head in that moment.

[1lovepeace]

No Way 😱😱. I Hope He Reunites With Rayla And Runaan In S6. They Need This So Much. 🥺🥺😭😭💜💙❤️

Out of Context Ruthari Spoiler:

Ethari has been growing his hair long 👀