#LET EZRAN BE MESSY

[its-leethee]

Ever since we learned in the Season 4 Discord Q&A that Queen Aanya has an adopted older brother named Grark, I've been wondering, what is his role in the story? Why give Aanya an older brother at all?

As adopted-older-sibling-to-the-monarch, Grark and Aanya's relationship is an obvious parallel to Callum and Ezran's. What if Grark was present and supportive to Aanya, to serve as a contrast to Callum, a similarly protective and devoted older brother, but one who is repeatedly missing in action when his younger sibling needs him:

Shout out to Soren for stepping into Callum's place to support Ezran in both of these examples; but particularly Soren's exhortation to Ezran that "You deserve time to do kid stuff."

I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that Ezran would feel resentful toward Callum for his serial absences (and the implied emotional unavailability), or that he might perceive that his brother is indifferent to his struggles and has abandoned him, leaving Ezran to shoulder the burdens of ruling alone.

I'm having fun imagining Ezran and Aanya trading gripes about their overbearing older brothers who treat them like little kids... and then Ezran sadly, painfully realizing that his brother hasn't been there for him like he should be, while Aanya's brother is.

Broyals angst is delicious, of course, but why let Callum and Ezran have all the fun? Because this is where Aanya and Grark's relationship could get extra interesting:

--Tales of Xadia, p. 34

The two phrases in particular that caught my eye: internal treason and isn't old enough

So, hear me out: Grark will be the protective older sibling who steps up, but eventually oversteps, in a misguided attempt to relieve Aanya of the responsibilty of the throne.

Oh yeah, political intrigue plus broyals angst? It would be SO GOOD.

[raayllum]

I can't find a pulse My heart won't start anymore

[hermitmoss]

We all want peace and we all want love, but violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. So what do we do? How can we stop this cycle?

Ezran, The Archer

[kradogsrats]

Mercy and the Sunfire Monarchy

so I started this as just a short "Aditi or a direct ancestor was the originator of the Merciful Compromise, here's the evidence" but then it kind of turned into a general Sunfire meta on Janai and Aditi and I'm too lazy to extract it into two coherent parts

anyway I'm officially calling it now: either Aditi herself, or one of her close ancestors, was the one who proposed the "Merciful Compromise" of splitting the land between humans and elves

But at the last moment, a daughter of the elven leader proposed the Merciful Compromise. She asked that humans be allowed to move and settle the lands to the west.

— Book One: Moon, Prologue

Aditi, being queen of what is obviously a bloodline monarchy, would have been the daughter of a prior monarch.

— s4e4: Through the Looking Glass

Note the numerous types of elves pictured: Aditi was not considered queen/leader of only Sunfire elves, therefore it's a reasonable assumption that the elven leader mentioned was another Sunfire monarch.

— s5e5: Archmage Akiyu

Here's where things get a little messy: Aditi is Karim and Janai's great-grandmother. We still don't have a firm answer on elven lifespan, but it technically only has to be about 250-300 years to easily put Aditi's parent as Sunfire monarch 1000 years ago. Problem is, we know Aditi was queen as recently as 300 years ago, so she would have to have lived 700+ years to have been alive at the time of the expulsion of humans from Xadia.

Now, to be frank, this canon is not the best with timeline consistency, especially when it comes to reasonable length of time between events. Combined with the deliberate vagueness over elven lifespan (in that they clearly intended it to be significantly longer than a human's, but then probably realized that would make the two primary romantic relationships of the show sad and now don't seem to know what to do with it), it would not surprise me at all if they were just like, "yeah Aditi lived extra long because of... her exceptional connection to the Sun primal" or something. There does seem to be something special about Aditi, compared to Khessa and Janai—like, Janai's great, but I can't see her commanding the respect of archdragons (yet).

However, if we assume a 250-300 year lifespan, the originator of the Merciful Compromise could be Aditi's grandmother. If we continue to take Rayla's jab at humans' "sub-century" lifespan as a canon-establishing fact, with minimum expected elven lifespan at 100-200 years, you're looking at a distance more comparable to that between Aditi and Karim/Janai. If elven lifespan drops to "comparable to a human's, plus an extra decade or two so 100-120 is not abnormal," the distance becomes more like that between Ezran and the Orphan Queen. Even with the distance, those are considered significant connections—for Janai to Aditi, and for Ezran to the Orphan Queen. I don't think it's a stretch for Queen Aditi the Merciful to possibly have a connection drawn to a merciful ancestor.

— The Queen's Mercy

Queen Aditi the Merciful. The Merciful Compromise.

The concept of mercy in The Queen's Mercy is very complex, and if anything at all, I think it points to a continuing dichotomy of Sunfire elves and Sunfire elf culture—the Sun primal is explicitly known for its destructive power and connection with strong emotions, but also has a less-acknowledged potential for healing and truth when balanced (Tales of Xadia, 137). Janai is introduced to us as an aggressive warrior, having attacked the fort Amaya commands and attempting to trick her into an ambush. She's shown to have a stern and hot temper when interrogating Amaya.

However, because Amaya showed her mercy she didn't expect, she's clearly deeply uncomfortable with Khessa's initial decision to just have Amaya killed (due to her being "worthless") and then even with Khessa's clearly pointed use of "letting the Light decide her fate." Khessa is obviously expecting her little sister to learn a harsh lesson about mercy in that scene: Amaya will be revealed to be corrupted, as all humans are, and Janai will see that her soft heart allowed her to be tricked. She's visibly disappointed when Amaya passes the trial, but at least keeps to her word and lets her live... as an object that is Janai's problem, now. (Probably she still expects to be vindicated, in the end.)

— s3e3: Ghost

We don't see a lot of Khessa being queen, but that's not a very flattering scene for her. In The Queen's Soul, we see Karim and Janai remember her fondly... but there's also an interesting moment:

— The Queen's Soul

Karim expects Janai to be the kind of ruler Khessa was, calling on her to take the same path as Khessa's "wisdom." Janai rebuffs this line of thinking, partly because she's not super thrilled to be queen... but also because, as the next sentences show, she doesn't plan to be the kind of queen Khessa was. We see throughout s4 the tension between the future Janai wants for her people and Sunfire tradition: blood duels to the death, the death penalty for nonviolent infractions... the start of the s4 Sunfire arc is literally Amaya mistaking a Sunfire ritual of joy and love for an attack.

Completely unrelated side note: Karim already has Osato's red glove in The Queen's Soul, meaning the events of After Darkness are within weeks of the end of s3. Boy's been holding on to that shit for years, now.

Aditi is portrayed as a ruler, a warrior, a smith, and a mage—aspects that encompass different kinds of power, as well as both creation and destruction. She is characterized as wise, kind, and merciful, but that doesn't make her naive in the face of unrepentant evil. She spares Kim'dael's life, but locks her into a redemption that will take lifetimes—and also hinges on the mercy of her descendants. (A mercy that Janai is not willing to extend, though that's the kind of thing that could still come around.) Janai may not be a mage and we haven't seen how much of a smith she may be, but we are seeing that she's a visionary who cares deeply about the future of her people, even at the expense of her own life.

Janai can stand up and say "this human is guilty of her crime, but death is not justice," the way Aditi could stand up and say "this blood duel tradition is nonsense and detrimental to our people," and the way someone, centuries earlier, stood up and said "all humans don't deserve to die."

The Merciful Compromise was proposed by a Sunfire elf of the royal line, send tweet.

[tategaminu]

Seen some theories and fanfics touching the Rayllum possession plot so I'm gonna show my own thinking of what may happen. These are mixed with said fanfics‚ theories and my own thinking. I’m not a fanfic writer so this is just a messy self indulgent evil thing. They are obviously keeping the love confesion for a really important scene so I think the possession will be the one: Callum gets possessed‚ he goes cray-cray attacking people to the point Ezran and company have to flee‚ Rayla has to stop him from attacking them but she's also the only one who refuses to leave (or maybe they are both alone but her being the one refusing to leave him would be meaningful). Rayla avoids the attack and everything but freezes everytime shes about to hit him‚ she just can't bring herself to hurt him. A moment where her sword is too close to him‚ about to cut him‚ she gets another sepia montage flashback but this time with way more moments between them and tears up. She tosses her swords and decides to go with a different approach‚ once again not caring about what happens to her. She tries to talk to him but after not working and seeing an open spot she goes to hug him or pin him to the ground. We see Callum struggling inside but possessed Callum just PAM stabs her with one of her blades‚ slish takes a victim for the first time and It's her own owner :( She keeps hugging him (or pining him) and Callum eventually breaks free from possession‚ maybe by connecting to the moon or star or just by own will because she got hurt and he needs to help her. Rayla is happy but collapses cuz stabby stab wound. He tries to stop the bleeding with his scarf‚ without much success. She tries to tell him it’s fine even tho she’s bleeding a lot. He hugs her and cries, saying that he can’t lose her and tells her how much she loves her‚ and she says she loves him too before passing out, a kinda happy face because even tho she’s dying, she could save the guy she loves (oh my lord). Callum looks at the prison and talks with Aaravos‚ if Callum frees him‚ he will save her. And he does because he would do anything for her. He frees Aaravos, not because he’s possessed but to save the person he loves since she’s more important that whatever doom may Aaravos bring to the world.

(Option 2: Aaravos dips out and Rayla is saved by mushroom man who saved Zubeia but I'm not beting much in this one.)

Aravos lets them be and goes to do whatever fuckery he is up to, when Rayla wakes up a day later, Callum can’t even bring himself to look at her just like in s4, not out of anger this time but for shame and regret because “he” almost killer her. He’s kinda sadangry that she didn’t kill him and she got injured instead but she explains she could never hurt him and will always stay by his side, finally choosing him by staying instead leaving. They both fully reconcile because they express how important they are for each other, more than the world.

[zuppizup]

Hiiii I just finished the first two chapters of Fuel the Pyre! I'm super excited for it, it's very well done!

I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your writing process. How do you outline? What kinds of things need to be in an outline in order for you to visualize the story? Do you outline the entire story, one chapter, or just one scene at a time?

Thank you for your time!

Hello! Thanks so much for your kind words! I’m so happy you’re liking the fic so far.

This is a super fun ask. Not sure how coherent or helpful my response will be, but I’ll give it a try. 😆

So, stories like Purgatory, Fuel the Pyre or my WIP dark magic AU, always start out as a bunch of questions.

What if Ezran hadn’t interrupted Callum and Rayla in Viren’s study…

Could a human/elf halfling do primal magic? Can all of them or just a few? What would control that?

What would the world be like if dark magic actually was controlled and regulated.

I usually don’t start out planning a fic when I ponder questions like this, it’s usually just my mind wandering. For me, while I love big, wonderful, imaginative worlds (like the world of The Dragon Prince) what I’m really more interested in is how these things affect individuals. I actually tend to visualise the story before I outline. In fact, I often visualise far beyond where I think I’ll finish the story. (I say where I think I’ll finish because both my current long fics are now firmly in the “after the end of the planned fic” territory)

So, in Fuel the Pyre, for example, I imagine there’s a lot of unknowns for the people involved. Halflings would be pretty new on the scene, all things considered, so the characters themselves wouldn’t have the answer to these questions, which felt like a great excuse to add tension and drama.

Once an idea has got me and I can imagine how that conflict is going to affect the characters, the general outline tends to sort of write itself. I am a planner, so I by the time I start putting pen to paper (so to speak), I’ll usually have a beginning, a rough middle and an end. There will be plot points, tangents, twists and sometimes side stories that I haven’t figured out, but I’ll have a plan for the general flow of the story.

From there, I’ll come up with a pretty messy draft. So, I just sort of go wild in a document. Usually, when I’ve decided I want to write a longer fic, it’s because certain scenes just play on repeat in my head, so I’ll indulge myself and write those out. Then I’ll go back and make rough chapter/arc notes, which usually leads into some other fun scenes I get inspired to write, and slowly, piece by piece, I sort of string the fic together like that.

I used to outline more linearly, starting at the first chapter and working from there, but I found I’d get stuck on transition scenes (the bane of my writing life) and then avoid the fic. (If I put my fingers in my ears and sing very loudly, the transition scene can’t hurt me). I find letting myself write the scenes I’m excited for makes me much more productive. They usually give me ideas for other fun (I use the term loosely, I generally mean “angsty”) scenes and I essentially build my story like that. I do like adding foreshadowing and twists, which is made a lot easier by writing like this too.

In Purgatory, for example, I tried to drop a lot of subtle hints about Callum and his slowly building arcanum connection. It’s so fun when people pick up on that stuff, but I also don’t want it to look like I just pulled a twist or a revelation out of my rear. Nowadays, I do prefer to write the bulk of a story before posting, which this method obviously works better for.

Often, when I start a fic, the beginning and the ending are the most defined parts of the story and the middle is the area that requires the most work, but by stringing the various elements together, I sort of “discover” new conflicts and fun elements to explore, which (hopefully) makes for a richer, more entertaining story.

So, not sure if that was what you’re looking for, but if you could describe the stream of consciousness that is how I write, a process, this is mine. 😅

[theseasideskies]

My notes on The Dragon Prince S4 (spoiler bits will be beneath the cut if you just want a non-spoiler review)

In Summary: Returning to the world of Xadia after 3 years leaves me with the sense that I can no longer enjoy the show without also reading the books and comics. The gap between Season 3 and Season 4 leaves so much character development in the past that it feels like this is another Season 1 to a second half of the story. I can only hope Seasons 5-7 reach and surpass the heights of Seasons 2 and 3.

Let's open with the elephant in the room: The season that gets the special treatment of a subtitle, "Mystery of Aaravos", lore dumps his backstory by episode 4. While not necessarily a bad thing, there's still plenty of details we could learn about, a reveal like that really blunders the whole "Mystery" part of the title. And if the point of the story isn't learning about Aaravos and instead about how the protagonists deal with him, a title like "Aaravos' Gambit" would be a lot less disappointing after 3 years of build-up concludes a "mystery" like that.

As characters, our protagonists are little else but vessels to experience the story with. Ezran is seemingly over his anxieties as a child king and is always praised as wise beyond his years. Callum and Rayla are back to awkwardly walking around their feelings. An understandable development given Rayla's disappearance, but their troubles don't have enough depth and end up feeling like the same old same old. Ezran approaches an interesting arc, having to deal with integration of Katolis and Xadia while people are still rightfully angry, but is then literally told "but the world needs you" and puts that on pause.

Our antagonists end up even more disappointing in terms of character development. Viren opens the season with a potentially tragic story: a villain who's gone over the edge, died, and has come back disillusioned by glory and only sorry to spend time with a daughter who's been hurt too much and is now doomed to take his place. As the intro visualizes, his regret with his actions come only too late. He is now a frozen piece, moving Aaravos' great game along without concern for his feelings. But then he ends up as a mostly silent character for the bulk of the season and the moment he wields his staff by the end he literally reverts to the pale-skinned power-hungry folly he supposedly regretted.

Now I did actually like the B-plot with Amaya and Janai. Being predictable doesn't mean it's bad, and personally I think it was better paced than the main story. The Dragon Prince was promoted early on for its portrayal of messy race relations, and I felt Amaya and Janai's story took up that mantle while the main protagonists went on to have a pretty standard save-the-world adventure plot.

There were several points where the pacing felt especially stilted. The worst offenders all happen in the episode The Drakewood, funnily enough. Rayla declares "I have an idea", we cut to The Sunfire Elves for a bit, and return in the middle of the action without explanation for why Rayla has the Earthblood Elf's attention instead of him hunting for Zym. Soren desperately cries "oh no!" when he finally sees his dad is alive, only for him to appear next as completely ready lay his sword to fight for "the good guys". This is severely lacking the depth Soren had in previous seasons, where having to go against his family was especially painful despite knowing it's the right thing to do. And, I don't know, I'd have to imagine seeing your abusive father alive after 2 years would bring up some bad memories and potentially relapse his behavior (see: Zuko betraying the Gaang in ATLA at Ba Sing Se at the promise of his father's approval.) But we don't get to see if there was conversation, or Soren's internal dilemma, or even Viren berating Soren again and driving home that Viren is super ultra evil.

Zubeia, Queen of the Dragons, is honestly nothing more than a plot device that either explains things to our protagonists or saves them in the nick of time. She visits Katolis seemingly only so Zym and Ezran can reunite, laughs at people's antics, then carries the entire Katolis royal family away on a whim on an adventure only to be rendered useless for most of it and returns to the Storm Spire just to come and save the cast from Rex Igneous at the last minute.

I'm honestly at a loss as to how this season dropped the ball, especially when you can see hints of good storytelling and foreshadowing: That moment The Key of Aaravos shows Stella is connected to Startouch magic, and then later we see her randomly teleport a Moon Opal away somewhere? That was interesting! That had me instantly worried that Stella was actually a plant by Aaravos and Stella gave him access to a magic stone after so long in isolation.

And of course, none of this can be said without acknowledging the many books, comics, and other supplementary material released in the 3 years between Season 3 and Season 4. I did not have the energy to keep up with all those and I am aware some of those fill in gaps (especially the 2 year break between S3 and S4.) But honestly? I feel I shouldn't have to. The gap between ATLA and Korra is long and there are supplementary comics (and now a movie!) between the two time periods. But both work together even without reading the extended material, and Korra does not feel incomplete if one hasn't read the comics.

All in all, I feel disappointed. I have my hopes up, and of course there's seasons 5-7 to pick up the slack, but honestly why? In the end, Season 4 feels like another Season 1: a story just waiting for the gaps to be filled in to be truly appreciated. But why are we starting from scratch?

[blutopaz15]

For the hurt/comfort prompts, number 8 please!! :D

Took me a bit here because I couldn't for the life of me work out even these vague setting details...but have some Rayla POV but Callum-centric hurt/comfort!

@shiramoonshadow also requested this one and another! :)

"you don't have to pretend to be alright around me."

hurt/comfort prompts

More and more since they'd been back in Katolis, Rayla found herself alone in the evenings.

...which wasn't really that bad. Sometimes she'd visit with whoever wasn't stuck in the throne room with the boys, or see if the training grounds by the Crownguard barracks were empty, or just wait for Callum, especially if it was before moonrise. 

She couldn't deny, though, how she wished they could go back to how they'd spent their evenings those very first couple of weeks she'd lived here with them: playing rolly-cubes with Ez winning and Soren making a mess of keeping score and Callum drawing between turns while she looked for a chance to sneak a second with her head on his shoulder, or that night that Ez had gotten Barius to bake a dozen different kinds of jelly tarts for her to try, or those times that she and Callum had managed to slip away all alone before the sun had even set...

They'd been too young, then, for all the responsibilities they had now.

The more of those responsibilities—duties, really—that teenaged Ezran took on, the more obligations Callum ended up with too, which lately had meant evening meetings she seldom belonged at. All that responsibility was weighing on them, too, Rayla could tell. Callum kept coming back home to her so much sharper than usual—no doubt having spent the whole time advocating for Ez and mediating discontent—once he finally turned up back in their shared quarters an hour—or sometimes two—after dark.

He was never this late, though...and she hadn't even had to go all the way to the throne room to figure out why.

Even from across the courtyard, she could see how on edge he was—his jaw set and stiff, grumbling at a volume too low to hear, his eyebrows knit together across a tense forehead. Even the way Callum scratched away at his sketchbook was harsh, each line made with heavy, sudden pressure.

"Did something happen?" she asked, unsurprised that he hadn't noticed her approach in the dark with how preoccupied he was with the messy sketch.

Predictably—he'd startled. "Oh," he said, seeing her and immediately melting back down into that sulky, slack posture to continue drawing. "Uh...no. Well, yes, but...it's nothing new. I'm—I'll be fine."

He shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal either...which was a load of fart-flowers. 

She let her hip bump against his shoulder on her way down to the step beside him. 

"Then why are you sitting here trying to scribble a hole into your book?"

His sigh was short as he bookmarked his page with his charcoal.

"It's just...Ez is counting on me, and I'm hurting more than helping with these negotiations." Callum looked down—his cheeks highlighting red with distress—and fidgeted with the seam of his sketchbook. "We...we had a fight after the meeting tonight. I got upset—angry, really—and it was stupid. I'm just...overwhelmed, and I have been for a while. I've been trying to keep it together because I don't want him to feel like he can't ask me for help. I'm supposed to help him, and I want to help him. I just...don't know how."

She'd suspected the gist of those feelings—even though he'd been trying to keep them down—but fighting with Ez...

These were bigger than she'd thought—bigger than stress.

"Did you tell him that?" she asked, her arm slipping around his tense shoulders.

"I was trying to...but it came out all wrong." Callum winced, his mouth staying tilted into a half-hearted smile, his eyes misted over...so heartbreakingly handsome. "You know me."

She did, and she loved what she knew—overactive temper and all.

"I do," she nodded, leaning close to press her lips to his cheek, and she felt his smile widen just a bit as she lingered there, making her wish that he would've told her all this sooner, that she would've pushed him to talk about the pressure. "You don't have to pretend to be alright around me, you know. I get why you'd want to around Ez—he's your little brother—but...I can take it."

"I know," Callum said, tucking his head down against her shoulder. "I just...didn't want you to worry."

"Yeah, cause I've never made you worry before," she teased. Her lips brushed his forehead before she jostled him off her shoulder, squeezing him tight enough to be silly. "Now then, what do you need? More big feelings time? Real big fulminus out here? Tea? Jelly tart?"

Rayla stiffened, realizing that Callum had nuzzled his way against her neck rather than taking her up on any of her suggestions.

"I think I just need to blow off some steam, honestly," he said, adding a ticklish hum against her ear, then kissing the seam of her collar...

"Blow off some steam, huh?" She lifted her chin, and Callum knew to continue. "And you need my help with that, mage?"

"Well, yeah." Callum's lips squished against her cheek as he chuckled in response, kissing his way closer to her lips. "You're the most important part."

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Isn’t Runaan still technically bound to kill Ezran? That might be enough for an, albeit temporary, reason for Callum and him to be on opposite sides.

As long as that binding is on, sure, he technically is. And that may come back around and become relevant, maybe even in a sudden and dangerous way.

See, Runaan figured he’d be dead by now. He did choose to let Ezran go, but he did so with the full expectation that he wouldn’t live to see the sunrise, so he could perish with his honor intact and no one the wiser for his soft and very quiet sidestep of his duty to kill the Prince of Katolis when he had the chance.

Maybe, either in the dungeon or in the coin, he rethought that soft decision. Maybe he thought that giving Rayla two good hands would give her a better shot at getting the egg back to Xadia, while removing the shortest and slowest member of her little squad and thus speeding their journey at the same time. Maybe he wondered if Rayla really could be hard enough to do whatever it takes--by carrying the egg to Xadia with a grieving and furious Callum at her side, after Runaan slew Ezran right in front of them.

Some fine angst there, yesno? But I’m not really feeling it. We’ve got several bits of lore orbiting Runaan which indicate he’s very quietly influenced to be softer by those he trusts, and that includes Rayla. Yes, their trust was definitely damaged when she lied to him, but he sees her as a child, not as an enemy. She’s still family, and he’s trying to protect her, in the end. Else he really would’ve killed her and taken the egg from her.

He may not agree with her mission, or her choice of companions, but when it came down to choosing whether to kill her or let her embark on that journey, Runaan chose life. It’s a messy complicated issue for everyone involved, and I bet he’s not okay with much of what Rayla has chosen. But she would stand between him and Ezran again, and they both know it. If Runaan ever did feel the urge to salvage his honor and take Ezran, he would have to contend with the permanent rift that would cause between him and Rayla.

And that’s probably a place where he’d draw the line and say No. Not because of Ezran, or his own honor, but because of Rayla.

If Ezran is present when Runaan is freed from his coin, and Runaan perceives that he’s there, there could be some tense moments, and those won’t be good. Runaan’s metaphorically in hell right now, and that’s going to have a negative impact on his outlook. If he’s feeling stabby when he is freed, he may try to share his pain without really thinking his actions through. He bound himself to take Ezran’s life, and then he didn’t, so he could have a weak and dangerous moment and try to rectify that decision, purely on instinct, and out of habit, as a veteran assassin with a lifetime of kills under his belt.

But the show wouldn’t be the same without Ezran, so any such impulse wouldn’t achieve completion. If Runaan gave into his darker instincts, someone would save Ezran, or stop Runaan, or both. I can see pretty much everyone stepping between Runaan and his target then, including Rayla and Callum of course, but I think the best person to make Runaan stand down would be Ethari. I just hope he doesn’t stab him before he realizes who he is.

oh did I spill some extra angst there, my bad

If more time passes than just that initial release window, I think the state of Runaan’s arm is going to be more of a pressing matter than the state of his honor. Callum wouldn’t need to defend his brother against an assassin who can’t stand up because he’s losing one quarter of his limbs to a binding ribbon. In fact, since we’re being angsty, Callum may appreciate that ribbon’s presence. Why fight an assassin when you can just sit back and wait for karma to take his arm for you?

How delightfully pragmatic.

[thefandomstorage]

Soren’s Hair

So you all may have noticed that when I draw Fire and Steel AU Soren, he has long hair. I know a lot of people headcanon older Soren with long hair but I wanted to explain mine for this AU.

During Iggy’s hatchling days, he gains a strong liking to Soren’s hair. It’s strange to him. After all, dragons don’t have hair. And it doesn’t smell or feel like fur. It’s soft, it’s warm, it looks like good nest material.

So that’s what it is in Iggy’s dragon mind. A nest! So Soren’s hair unofficially becomes’s Iggy’s nest. Despite the fact that Soren and Ezran went through a lot of trouble and effort to make an actual nest in the corner of Soren’s room. He likes the small one on his human’s head, thank you very much.

You probably already know where this is going. So when Soren first tries to cut his hair, Iggy showed him in VERY clear terms how much he does NOT appreciate that and defends his 2nd nest viciously. Anytime he tries to bring the scissors near his head, he gets a nice bite on the hand. Or a small threatening burst of fire. Many battles were fought and lost by Soren multiple days.

Eventually, Soren finally gets the message and gives up trying to cut it, letting it grow out, which made Iggy very happy. Oddly enough, Ignacio has no problem with Soren shaving his face. He likes rubbing his head, especially his chin, against Soren’s stubble whenever he gets it, but doesn’t get annoyed or defensive whenever Soren shaves it off. Just his hair.

By the time Iggy was big enough to be ridden, Soren’s hair was about down to the back of his shoulder blade (or scapula if you wanna be more specific) and was usually worn in a ponytail or a messy bun when fighting. One of the female Crownguard taught him how to braid it into a ponytail. With comes in handy when he has to fly during really windy days.

During Soren’s 3 year absence from Katolis, while he and Iggy (and then Rhaena) were flying around the world and living in the wild, Soren’s hair continued to grow longer and got fluffier, so he had to learn new braid hairstyles. And he has a daughter now, so he definitely had to learn new styles. So by the time he returns to Katolis, his hair (when loose) is similar to a lion’s mane. Just big and fluffy. While in Katolis, he would let Rayla braid his hair into some very complicated Moonshadow braid styles that he doesn’t know how to

When he gets with Amari, Amari becomes the only person (besides the kids) allowed to braid and brush Soren’s hair and vice versa. Soren really likes Amari’s hair. He likes touching it, running his fingers through the curls, the smell of it, braiding it, everything about it. Amari is very proud of it. And of the effect it has on his husband. Amari has four small braids, two on each side of his head, and they’re braided with colored beads. Each bead represents a child. And he has gold beads representing Soren. He’s very proud of his family.

When he adopts the rest of the Dragonborn (the group name I made for all of Soren’s kids), they all begin to wear their hair braided for practical reasons and because they wanna imitate their dads. 

Examples: 

Overall, hair becomes important to Soren and his family. And it’s all because of Iggy. 

[xadiasecrets]

Towards You - Chapter Fifteen

Summary:

Struggling to pick up the pieces of his heart after Rayla leaves him, Callum starts to unravel secrets of Xadia's past with the help from a new source

As Rayla is on her own journey across Xadia, she meets and creates an unlikely bond with someone she never would have met

Hearts and relationships left behind, they start their own journeys, hoping to solve questions and erase their demons. But that's never easy. Not when you can't let go of your past

Plot:

Callum’s heart rate didn’t slow down during the afternoon. They all had dinner a bit earlier and then go straight to bed. He was supposed to rest for the journey ahead of him, but it didn’t happen. The storm of thoughts inside his head wasn’t stopping.

He paced back and forth in his room, looking at the map of Xadia Lujanne had given him. Lorelei passed by earlier and indicated what was going to be their journey. The carbon lines on the paper made things way too real for him. And that wasn’t good for his anxiety.

In the end, he only got a maximum of five hours of sleep and he was sure that wasn’t enough for the first day on the road.

So he stayed the rest of the night up, looking at the map, at the moon, at the stars.

Time was messy in his head, but some time before they were supposed to be waking up, someone knocked on the door of his room.

Callum’s head was still running on less than 8 hours of sleep, but he eventually noticed the knocking after they tried three times.

“Come in.” the prince said, stifling a yawn. Slowly, the door opened, revealing Ezran with something under his arm. Some kind of package.

Read the rest over at AO3

[ladyandherbooks]

Runaan and Callum's relationship

Season 3, was very important for the future developments in Runaan and Callum's relationship. While Runaan was only in 1 flashback scene Callum learnt a great deal about him, his relationship with Rayla and just how much Rayla cares about him.

3x03

In this episode Callum first learns about how close Runaan and Rayla are and learns that he and Ethari stepped up and became her parents and guardians when her parents left for the Dragon Guard. Callum learns through Rayla's joy and excitement when she talks about her childhood that her life with Runaan and Ethari was a very happy one and that they must love her a great deal.

3x04

While Callum saw Rayla's initial reaction to Runaan's death in 3x03 he sees her truly mourning in this episode and again learns just how much her relationship with Runaan meant to her.

Rayla's devastated and this is important for Callum as it shows just how much Rayla loved Runaan and how much his death has broken her heart.

3x06 This is the most important moment regarding Callum's future interactions and relationship with Runaan.

In this moment Callum is coming to terms with just how confusing, messy and complicated this conflict has become. He's understanding that there are blurred lines and many different sides and perspectives that add to the complexity of their current situation.

When Runaan is freed from the coin this moment of understanding is going to be very important because while Callum's anger and hatred towards Runaan iscompletely understandable and justified it will be only temporary. He could very easily hate Runaan forever but he won't do that.

It will be temporary because he knows how complicated and messy their world is, because he knows that Runaan may have very good reasons for hating and distrusting humans, because he knows that Runaan has been through a great ordeal and is possibly still suffering and because he knows just how much Runaan and Rayla care about one another. He's spent months learning this and deep down Callum knows that Runaan isn't an evil, heartless assassin who killed his father. He's Rayla's family, someone who raised, protected and loved her and so he can't be a monster, he's flawed and complicated just like everyone else. Someone who has become a victim of their world's hatred and prejudice.

He'll also have learnt how much Runaan loves Rayla and in that he'll find some common ground with the assassin who killed his father.

Callum may be angry with Runaan but he knows that he'll have to let that anger and hatred go and forgive Runaan because it's the right and best thing to do for Xadia's future and for Rayla. Runaan, at some point will follow suit and try to make amends with Callum and Ezran in order to ensure peace and reconciliation.

Neither one of them will want to hurt Rayla or put her in a position where she's forced to choose between her family or her first love, two of the greatest loves of her life. So they'll let go of their anger and hatred for her because she means the world to them. For her they will do anything, even forgiving someone they could very easily hate or learning to trust someone who they could easily believe is a liar.

[raayllum]

insp by @jelzorz’s HC of ezran having a network of little spy animals in katolis and well, this drabble bunny of how it got started wouldn’t leave me alone

His brother has always been clever, able to look at things from a variety of angles, and while Callum’s ideas can sometimes be extreme or exasperating, they are almost always worth considering. But this...

“An animal spy network?” Ezran says, arching a brow. “Really?”

“You can never be too safe,” Rayla adds from her new seat on the council.

“And it would save the crownguard time on patrol,” Callum says, standing in front of his more familiar chair. “Our guards are good, but they’re not infallible.” 

“His Highness has a point, Your Majesty,” Marcos says quietly, shuffling uncertainly. He’s here at Callum’s request, but he’s always a little nervous when he’s around—“The castle would’ve never known of the oncoming attack if Princess—” Rayla clears her throat. “Lady Rayla hadn’t let me go.”

“The animals of the kingdom already know you and love you,” Callum says pointedly. “We might as well use it.”

Ezran scowls. “And how exactly will they know how to identify ‘threats’? “Anyone whose an elf? Anyone who looks out of place or different?”

“Anyone travelling through the Dark Grove behind the castle at night with weapons,” Callum says flatly. “You’re making it more than it is, Ez.”

“And you’re being paranoid and wasting my time—”

Opeli slides in, voice soft. “King Ezran, with all due respect, you are being a tad unfair to Prince Callum. I understand that you are hesitant and worried about the possibility of using the animals in some manner, but all rulers must consider the benefits of espionage and security, no matter how underhanded it feels.”

The truth lurks underneath — that everyone is still scared from the latest assassination attempt a month ago, an extremist from Del Bar that had made it as far as the castle before getting apprehended thanks to the enchantments Callum had wrapped around their home. Callum had wanted the man executed, in his fury. 

Ezran had pointed out who he’d married, who he’d set free from coins despite Ezran’s misgivings years ago, and sent the man back to Del Bar begrudgingly in chains. 

“Yes well, Callum’s very good at being that,” he mutters.

Hurt flashes across his high mage’s face for a second, but Ezran doesn’t let it deter him. Callum says jerkface things all the time. Ezran can let something slip just once.

(Later, Rayla cajoles them into talking, and Callum admits he’s scared, and Ezran agrees they can consider a network for the animals intelligent and willing enough to participate.

“I just don’t want to lose you,” Callum says.

Ezran looks at his brother, and their portrait next to their father and Viren, lined up side by side. Sometimes, he wonders if Soren sees the shadow of his father in Callum’s face — in his posture, in his ways — too, or if it’s only Ezran’s imagined ghost. Only his tangible fear, too. 

Realistically, he knows that he needs this counter balance.

Someone has to be like Opeli, and consider the angles that Ezran cannot or doesn’t want to. Someone has to keep him and Rayla from constantly throwing themselves into the latest crisis. Someone has to watch their backs, keep a skeptic eye on the lookout, talk around double meanings, know what magic to use and when. 

Callum is a much better man than Viren, in every way imaginable — except for one — I will do anything to protect the king; I hope you will understand — and worst of all, Ezran doesn’t even think Callum knows it. 

Ezran hugs his brother. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”)

[bjorntheluckybastard]

Amnesiac chapter 2

on his way to find Kludd Callum felt the anxiety in his chest return, it was similar to the pain he had when rayla left and was presumed dead.

but now it's somehow worse, now that he knows that she's alive he should be ecstatic! well, he was until he found out she didn't remember a thing about him.

'stop being angry you asshole, she's alive why arent you happier!?' Callum's thoughts burn aggressively in his mind ' well she wouldn't have lost her memory if she hadn't left without me, UGH you prick it's not her fault she lost her memory stop blaming her!'.

Callum huffed as he walked toward the tent where kludd was.

the more he thought about rayla the more frustrated he became, with both her and himself.

he was so focused on his thoughts he walked straight into kludds back as he was discussing the treaty with Ezran.

Callum fell flat on his backside while Kludd was unfazed by the impact " you alright there lad?"

"uh what- yeah I'm fine I just well-" he began rambling as the stress continued to seep deeper into his chest, " Callum are you ok?"

the worry in his brother's tone snaps  Callum out of his anxious state momentarily.

" uh yeah- well I dunno actually" he gets back on his feet and pushes his messy hair back.

" ray- I well I guess I mean Randvi-" he begins to ramble again, after a few seconds of confusion Kludd gives him a soft whack on the shoulder to bring him back to his senses.

" you mentioned Randvi? why do you seem so stressed about her?" Callum takes a moment to think and make sure his thoughts actually come out of his mouth as understandable words.

" Kludd how long have you known her?" "she's been with my clan for about 3 years by now why?".

Callum nods and thinks of his next question, " ok where exactly did you find\ meet her?" Kludd raised an eyebrow, " oddly specific but ok, she was tied to a chair covered in blood in a tower east of here".

somehow this information just distressed Callum even more. the fact she was there, SHE WAS THERE! if they'd have gotten there sooner he could've helped her, he could've done something!.

Callum falls on his backside once more, Ezran, and Soren rush to his side seeing how he was having a breakdown.

" Callum, what are you talking about? Rayla she's gone"

Callum vigorously shook his head " no she's not I saw her but she didn't remember me at all" Callums demeanor deflated pathetically as he remembered how she didn't know who he was.

" hang on, so you knew Randvi before she lost her memory?" the trio looks at Kludd and nod.

he places his hand on his chin and thinks for a moment " wh tried to help her remember her life before we found her, and the Bacrauts that brought her there but nothing"

" Woah hang on, how the hell did you find her anyway," Soren asks, Kludd rubs his hand across his face " it's a complicated tale but an interesting one"

          3 YEARS PRIOR

" My Jarl I believe we've found where our captured soldiers are being held," the boy says short of breath, " well done Bragi, go tell the others to prepare for the raid, we'll strike at dawn"

3 days ago members of the clan had gone missing. at first, they were presumed to have deserted but it didn't make sense until Kludd sent his scout Bragi to trail a woman with half white half black hair and bloody hands to an abandoned fort that it was discovered they had been kidnaped by her.

the attack went swiftly without much resistance, it was strange there were a few wolves made of black dust but nothing else.

then they found the bodies all of those who went missing were spread out in a small room. each body had components missing eyes, hair, fingers, limbs it was disgusting, the room was coated with blood and stunk like shit.

seeing his comrade's bodies be defiled like this without honor made Kludd's blood boil.

He ordered that the fort be searched from every corner of the fucking place to find some kind of clue to the location of the sadistic fucks.

Eventually one of his men Otta found a barely breathing body chained to a chair.

The body was drenched in blood, their white hair could've been mistaken for red due to the sheer amount of both fresh and dried blood.

" get a pale of water, quickly Otta!" Kludd unbound them from the chair, the body slumped down and fell into his arms, whimpering like a newborn pup.

" come on you're not dying here, friend" with all the strength left in their body they clutch Kludds sleeve, pulling themself up to look into his eyes, the deep violet hues were filled with pain and fear, there was no relief of being saved only the eyes of a prisoner that'd accepted death long ago.

he repositioned them in his grasp to give them more support " are you well enough to tell me your name?".

they blinked slowly, the only words that could escape their mouth was " Ra"

"it's okay" Kludd lifted them up in his arms and carried her out of the room " lets get you away from here".

                                                                        .......

" so we brought her back and healed her up, but she could remember nothing prior to her imprisonment, our Seer tried all sorts of concoctions but nothing, she could only remember the first two letters of her name so that's how she became Randvi the blood-soaked"

Kludds words struck Callum like a dagger across the throat, knowing that he was in the room that brought Rayla so much pain and all that blood was her's.

he began to hyperventilate and rocked back and forth slightly, Ezran and Soren tried to console him and prevent his panic attack.

Kludd grabbed an ox's horn and dunked it in a nearby, he knelt down in front of Callum urging him to drink from it.

Callum took the horn and took a large mouthful, he choked on the beverage not expecting it to be so salty or to be alcohol! of course, he'd drank before but not anything this strong.

" This should steady your nerves for now" Kludd's words were soft and reassuring, it felt strange that a man covered in battle wounds that has been shaped by battle and bloodshed could be so kind and caring.

Callum took a breath then took another sip from the horn, he waited a moment before he asked any more questions and mentally preparing himself for what responses he'll get.

" so that's why she's called 'Randvi' now" Soren decided to speak in Callum's stead to give him a moment to comprehend the information he'd just consumed.

but the silence remained whilst Soren and Ezran tried to think of questions that wouldn't trigger a panic attack in Callum or cause him to drink until he was intoxicated.

finally, Callum mucked up the courage to speak again " so what now" he held his head in his hands " I can't just leave knowing that she's alive now,i-i can't just" he started to hyperventilate again when Kludd put forward an idea " no one's stopping you from leaving really, you're welcome to come with us and see how you can help her".

the suggestion brought light into Callum's eyes, he looked to Ezran for his approval, of course, Ezran nodded, he would be a terrible brother not to let him stay.

" The treaty is signed and I and my clan will be returning home soon, you are welcome to join us"

Callum sat in thought for a moment and nodded " thank you, I will".

[thequeenoffranceandherempire]

Corvus x Opeli Headcanon

So, it is canon that Corvus is an amazing baker, which we know from an official post by the creators of tdp (Tumblr or twitter, I can’t remember, doesn’t really matter) about Aunt Amaya’s birthday about how he’s the only one with the skill and honour to bake for her. This gave me an idea.

Ezran is king, whether this is before he resigns or after the whole battle and the waking of the Dragon Queen it doesn’t matter, but he’s king. It’s around lunchtime and, of course, Ezran requests some jelly tarts with his lunch. Opeli leaves to go get them only to then remember that the baker had left that morning to go a few towns over to buy some more supplies and wouldn’t be back until the next morning, meaning that there is no source of jelly tarts for King Ezran. Now Opeli is a little panicked but she doesn’t let it show because she promises to get Ezran and god dammit is she will follow through with that promise even if she has to make them herself. So, that’s exactly what she does. Opeli really doesn’t know how to bake, but she’s still sticking with it and struggling through a recipe she found even though it’s not going the best.

Partway through the first, messy, misshapen jelly tarts Corvus walks into the kitchen after having tracked Opeli’s worried pacings there, and the sight is both endearing and a little hilarious to him. He’s not going to let Opeli struggle on her own though, especially not after the glare he received in response to his snickering before he shows her the ropes of baking jelly tarts (like, not to be cliche but there’s gotta be a moment where Corvus puts his hands over Opeli’s or something like that because I can’t resist), managing to Ezran his desired jelly tarts and making a date out of the afternoon as well.

[zuppizup]

Purgatory - News

Summary: Almost three years ago, assassins came for Harrow. Callum was cornered, at her mercy and then... she let him go.   The elf.

He never even knew her name.

She   might be long dead, but Callum was determined to do as Harrow     suggested. To reject the narrative of strength and instead embrace the    narrative of love. To make a better future for all, humans and elves    alike.

But when he and Ezran stumble upon something hidden in   Viren’s secret  chambers, Callum realises he might actually be able to   make up for the  mistakes of the past.

To make a real change, right here, right now.

To free them both from their haunted past.

Pairing: Rayla/Callum

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences  

AO3 Link: Purgatory

Callum looked at himself in the murky mirrored surface above his washbasin. Droplets of water clung to his messy auburn hair, still a little unkempt from sleep.

An image of Rayla, sitting on her bed, lips parted and eyes wide flashed into his head. With intense burning shame, he remembered the almost overwhelming urge to pull her close and kiss her...

He squeezed his eyes shut, as if that would banish the thoughts from his mind.

Read More on AO3 - Purgatory: News