#SO MUCH RAYLLUM CONTENT!

[tategaminu]

The teaser starting with this scene 🥺

[robo-drake09]

TDP Season 4 gave us the slowburn we didn't know we needed

[tiniestworms]

was not expecting this tdp season to be such a good post-breakup-split-whatever-its-complicated cope show but here we are

[drchee5e]

Stella and sneezles, the best wingmen.

I can’t even express in words how amazing this season was. Loved so much of it. FYI if you’re one of a few peeps that follow me, my blog is gonna be full of rayllum and tdp content in general so lots of spoilers :)

[oh-hootsifer]

hi haven’t made a post in a while. but just watched tdp season 6, and OH MY GOD I have things to talk about!!!

first, I can’t believe the ship didn’t burn!!! SO SO HAPPY that they’re back together and made up and Rayla is Callums literal light that fills his darkness

So my friends and I were mostly talking about the possibility of more than seven seasons (specifically 8, maybe more!).

One of the things that could prove it, besides this image with phase 3 is the pillars with the staves on top of the Starscraper (which as of now I haven’t seen any posts about it.

It seems to me that there is: purple, green, dark blue, red, yellow, empty (the one that K’ppar had and gave to Viren), green, and light-blue green.

Assuming that each represent an arcanum, it doesn’t totally make sense. These are just strange, and don’t match up. It might just be a perception or an angle error on my part, but to me it seems like some of them change. I already looked at the all the scenes with the pillars multiple times, but if anyone want to help me out I’d appreciate it!

But if I’m right about the colors, then the arcanum’s don’t correspond. If the empty is dark, the purple is stars, the dark blue is ocean, the red or yellow is sun, the light green-blue is moon (or sky I guess), and one of the green is earth… that’s still not eight pillars. And there is definitely eight.

And, there are too many green staves. Even if one of them is supposed to be bluer, there’s also the possibility that if sun is yellow, what is the red one? And vice versa.

Dunno if I’m totally off on a limb here, but it’s quite interesting. We also never get a shot with all the colors.

In conclusion, my friends and I think there’s going to be an eighth arcanum, and an eighth season (solely based off these pillars). It’s most likely green. But we thought the magic could be Time or Blood or something. Not sure. But this season was so good!!!

Glad Karims plan didn’t work, surprised about how Terry and Claudia’s relationship went, I thought Terry was going to actually leave her or betray her or something. Her haircut isn’t the greatest. They fixed the cello playing problem. Damian!!! JANAYAS WEDDING!! Loved Stella and Sneezles: the ultimate Rayllum shippers. The Lord of the Rings reference was funny The mushpals were super cute, we got SO much Rayllum content and that’s amazing. Virens sacrifice was a very good thing for him to do (was scared that he was going to use Soren’s heart)… And Leola and Aaravos’ story was a needed addition. We know why he’s fucked up now. So much love and family this season! I feel like I missed something, but oh well.

[raayllum]

25. a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces

I have two pieces of advice basically that loop back into each other honestly.

Don't ultimately care about what anyone else says or thinks

Not caring about or trying to manage what other people think of you or your thoughts ≠ being rude or disrespectful, that doesn't mean it never happen - tone and frustration are absolutely real and I express the latter occasionally,

Other people are gonna ship things you don't or ship the same thing but in a way you don't like or just have opinions that are coming from a fundamentally different perspective or reading of the text and... none of it really matters. You don't have to conform to popular fandom if it doesn't fit what you think (that's basically been me in every fandom But TDP, so it's quite refreshing, and even then I very much felt like a lil island in the immediate s4 aftermath), you can ship whatever you want and so can anyone else. I think the most important thing with this is being self aware, though... like yeah I could hypothetically get annoyed over characters in TDP being childish, but coming-of-age stories are about kids and maturation, so like. I can vent in the proper tags but it may just mean the show isn't ultimately for me, y'know? Or at least that it's something I gotta learn to live with if I wanna engage with the show in a way that balances the salt and the sweetness

Additionally, one of the side effects I've found of being '''popular''' within TDP fandom is that my opinion will be taken as gospel or made out to be more than what it is, which is just my subjective opinion / interpretations, the same as anyone else's. Obviously I think my opinions are Right / grounded in the text (as do many people about their own opinions, whether they align with mine or not), but that doesn't mean everyone else is wrong, like... it's a children's cartoon show, if you're getting regularly butt hurt about what other people think or if they do or don't agree with you or whether ur ideas are popular or not you're not gonna have a good time, and fandom is a hobby. It's supposed to be a good time

Avoid taking things personally at all costs

In a similar vein to "don't care what anyone else thinks/says" that goes double for what they think or say about you / what you think. For me this means that unless I get 1) name dropped or 2) something that is so specific me it couldn't apply to someone else, I assume it's not about me. "Rayllum shippers / stans are so annoying"? Not about me and even if I am annoying - isn't everyone sometimes? Being annoying isn't a death sentence lol. "I hope the fandom takes this well"? Not about me. "People who defend S4 just can't admit TDP has flaws"? Not about me. "Snake boi Callum content is so dumb" is about a tag categorization I started for Callum's characterization, but has since more than taken on a life on its own... and isn't about me.

And even when it is personal, it says a lot more about what frustrates the OP or what they're trying to potentially wrangle than it does about me. Like someone disagrees with me or thinks I'm dumb, specifically? Okay, I know I've thought that about people on occasion, I try not to post it or make it obvious, but I can't control what you do. There were a couple of ZK bnf I thought were horrendously bad at meta that I knew by name bc they were everywhere, and it just meant forming my own atla communities/tags and/or stepping away from the fandom.

On a similar note, I'm still gonna keep doing my thing and I encourage people to block me and/or blacklist tags I use if they don't wanna see my stuff. I know how annoying it can be in fandom to feel like you still see stuff you don't want to if it's everywhere, which is also why I don't put all my stuff in the main tags either, but I'm not going to Stop Posting unless I... want to, which won't be happening.

I guess this all basically amounts to:

Focus on finding your people in fandom, cause they are out there

If you find yourself being annoyed by the fandom every day, or find yourself feeling like you have to rebut every little thing that annoys you (for ex, people saying they don't like Rayllum doesn't bother me, that's a neutral opinion. Ppl saying they shouldn't be in the show feels like more of a theme misread, however) work on stepping away and letting things go

Cultivate being fucking weird and unabashedly enthusiastic with self awareness. If you love a ship or headcanon or plot point that's fucking out there or clearly not happening, fucking go for it! Make or enjoy all the stuff for it you want. That said, maintaining awareness that the story doesn't need to go there in order to be good, or that there's not a lot of plausible grounding in canon, can be important especially if you want to connect with other fans.

Like CHET is my pet theory that has also been wildly fortunate enough to get a life of its own in the TDP / Rayllum fandom(s). I've been prepared to drop it three times. I think more than ever that's where the story is going in S7, and that there's a lot of continued setup for it / Something Like It, but I could be dead wrong, and I'm sure I will love if not prefer whatever route S7 would take instead. I love it, and I have a certain amount of attachment, but the story doesn't owe it to me, similarly to how I'm not owed in fandom to have people Like what I make or make what I like

Like respect should be given for sure unless I make a routine ass of myself, but again, I've been very fortunate that some stuff has caught on as much as it has because it clicked with other people who were already thinking the same thing, or found xyz idea made a lot of sense. And that's really nice! I think it's those things that help build a community. But in fandom you kind of have to be willing to be an Island first, and then if you get stuck being an island permanently, it may be worth reflecting on why sometimes — whether it's because of aggression, shyness, preference, or no real reason except your people haven't shown up yet

[thorne-antics]

THE DRAGON PRINCE SEASON 5 SPOILERS

So... my thoughts on season 5!!

Episode 1: Domina Profundis

- so I'm assuming Callum and Rayla talked after the events of Escape From Umber Tor because I expected them to be still a little awkward but they're not, it looks like they're friends again and that makes me so happy!!

- why does Rayla need to take off the nails on the painting in front of the secret passageway? Can't Stella just make a portal to the other side of it?

- okay I hate Karim but did the sunfire elf guard really have to take his ring? I think Janai would've let him keep it. And the guard was like "it belongs to Queen Janai now" and then proceeded to drop it on the ground. Wtf bro

- Opeli telling Callum why Rayla was arrested and Callum being like "okay, so what?" will never not be funny to me

- Callum really said "it's okay she just got too silly"

Episode 2: Old Wounds

- their little conversation about trust... they're healing their relationship YIPPEE

- domina profundis looks so fucking cool I wish we saw more of her

- I now expect to see Barius invent a new pastry every season from here on out.

- CALLUM DOING PUPPY DOG EYES AT RAYLA GAVE ME SO MUCH SEROTONIN

- watching Soren, Ezran and Corvus laughing about shit jokes did give me slight secondhand embarrassment but surprisingly it was kind of funny. Definitely an upgrade from the god-awful fart jokes in season 4

- THIS IS ONLY EPISODE 2 AND ALREADY THEY'RE GOING HAM WITH THE RAYLLUM CONTENT. THEY SPENT THE NIGHT AT A COZY INN TOGETHER. AND THE BANTER BETWEEN THEM AFTERWARDS IS SO CUTE. ugh yes s5ep2 "Old Wounds" my beloved (Actually I love the whole first 4 episodes but we'll get to that later)

- "I know dark magic created this place, but it's a bridge between our two worlds, and now here we are, crossing it together" I'm screaming.

- the banther chase was so cool! I love the battle duo dynamic Rayla and Callum have going on, and the way the banther was animated looked awesome. (Also I find it hilarious how when Rayla's arrow hit the Banther, it literally got right back up but it was like "actually, fuck this" and just dipped)

- Viren's dream sequence with baby Soren ripped my heart out

Episode 3: Nightmares And Revelations

- Ezran literally befriended the entire dragon population except Sol Regem, Rex Igneous, and the archdragon of stars (if there is one) (no moon archdragon I'm pretty sure? Because the last one was Luna Tenebris and she died) and I love that for him

- Callum's reaction to finding out Amaya and Janai are engaged was priceless. I was so excitedly waiting to see that and it was everything I'd hoped for.

- THIS WHOLE CONVERSATION

They really said "Wanna do something foolish?" "Do you even have to ask?"

Episode 4: The Great Bookery

- Kazi you nerd I love you

- Amaya being the best aunt!!

- UGH THE RAYLLUM MONTAGE

- MMM YES CALLUM AND KAZI THE BOOKWORM DUO

- "I would do anything for you" oh. my. god.

- THIS WAS SO FUNNY

- BANTHER FIGHT BANTHER FIGHT BANTHER FIGHT

"Rayla, I was wrong. I waited too long. I hope you know--" "I know." UHM, I DON'T? WHAT ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT? (I'm guessing this is them saying "I love you" without saying it but I NEED TO KNOW FOR CERTAIN)

- The only reason Amaya and Corvus survived is because they hid in the book drop and Amaya thought to do that because Kazi pointed it out earlier so basically Kazi saved their lives. Good job Kazi.

- question: how the fuck did a fall from that height NOT kill Corvus? I'm glad he's not dead but HOW?

Episode 5: Archmage Akiyu

- "Oh no... You're making me the deciding vote, aren't you" Imao 😭

- Terry is such a good boyfriend.

- everyone's faces when the giant birds swoop down at them

I AM CACKLING

- Callum fistbumping Rayla... I will cherish this forever.

- Rayla asking Callum to push her into the water because she doesn't have the courage to jump in herself, Callum holding her hand as they dive in together instead... oh I'm sick. He's so patient and sweet and gentle with her I'm gonna cry

- the sheer amount of rayllum hand touches we're getting this season is incredibly satisfying

- Tidebound Tina/Archmage Akiyu is so silly. I like her a normal amount

- IT'S KIM'DAEL!!

Episode 6: Bait And Switch

- let Soren have the best lavender essential oils in all of Scumport he deserves it

- when Ezran goes to see Finnegrin and Callum stays outside and he says "it's fine I'll just get to know my new friend here" and Elmer says they aren't friends, Callum lets out this little giggle and it's the cutest thing. FOR WHAT? LITERALLY FOR WHAT

- I'm conflicted about Claudia fighting the dragon. I mean, slay, but also... I'm scared 😃

- BABY GLOW TOADS!!

Episode 7: Sea Legs

- I need to know what Bait said when he grunted and Ezran said "that's not very nice, Bait"

- "baby mage" Nyx I'm gonna have to stop you right there because I will not tolerate this falsehood and this slander towards my boy Callum

- I love how when the baby glow toad fell overboard, Nyx was like "I'll get it" and Callum was like "no I'll get it" and then there's Soren, who hollers "SORENBALL!" and just yeets himself in.

- Callum carrying the episode with his sky magic ugh yes (partially Soren too, for saving the baby glow toad, and Villads bc of course he's a great captain and the squad couldn't do this without him, but Callum is slaying I'm so proud of him)

- Amaya finding out Kim'Dael took Janai may have broken my heart just a little

Episode 8: Finnegrin's Wake

- IT'S CALLUM IN THE INTRO INSTEAD OF VIREN OH FUCK

- please excuse my excessive use of "fuck"

- they hurt my boy ☹️

- "I'm not gonna help you murder the archdragon of the ocean" "Murder? When you put it like that you make me sound like a bloodthirsty fiend" YOU LITERALLY ARE 💀

- Rayla screaming at Finnegrin to let Callum go when she sees that Callum got beat up... the pre-s5 speculation fanfic writers are probably losing their shit rn

- THIS IS MY FAVORITE SCENE IN THE WHOLE FUCKING SHOW. OH MY GOD.

I have never seen anyone more angry at any point in the entirety of this show than Callum is in this scene. He's been angry before, but rarely, and when he does, he remains level-headed. But then Finnegrin starts torturing Rayla, and that's what sets him off. And seeing a character like him, who's always been so sweet and gentle and kind, going absolutely fucking feral because someone hurt his loved one, is so satisfying to me. He loves her so much, the worst thing to him is seeing her suffering. I'm going insane over this.

- HE FUCKING UNLOCKED THE OCEAN ARCANUM. I'M SO PROUD OF HIM

- remember when he told Rayla "I'd do anything for you"? Yeah... (I'm totally writing a fanfic about this)

- if you couldn't tell, I fucking love Callum (this is probably the hundredth time I've said this)

Episode 9: Infantis Sanguine

- Callum looks so pretty here. He always looks pretty but MY GOD

- I'm gonna cry. The way he looks at Rayla like "Hey it's okay I'm right here with you :)" has me in a chokehold

- Rayla getting scared about being underwater and swimming back up to the surface and Callum immediately going after her to see if she was okay... no one fucking touch me

- I had no problem with Claudia at the start of the underwater fight but then she threatened Ezran and I was like "sweetie I can't defend you anymore"

- bruh they couldn't talk underwater anyway so what the fuck was the point of threatening Ezran to make him talk?

- I know it's a fantasy cartoon and the logic doesn't matter but RAYLA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SHOOT THOSE ARROWS SO PERFECTLY WHILE UNDERWATER.

- Aaravos has been in ONE EPISODE this season and nearly every speaking line he has is so sus

- I always hated Viren because him manipulating and gaslighting his kids reminded me of my dad who I haven't spoken to for 3 years now, and I've had to accept that he's never going to change, but I'm glad Viren has changed and I'm proud of him

- so... Viren dead? Viren not dead? Fuck if I know! Find out in 8 months!

okay, my final ranking of all the seasons so far: this one comes out on top, then below it is season 3, then season 2, and at the bottom, season 1 and 4 are tied. And I'm so excited for season 6. Thank you and goodnight.

[blutopaz15]

haven't been that active on here lately but have some nycc thoughts!!!!!

FIRST I stg, I'm going next year. new york is SO close to me and this time next year it'll def be S7 ramp up time....2024 nycc or bust!!

I am absolutely desperate to see loose ponytail rayla!!!!!!!

I know we already kinda knew this but...ANOTHER RAYLLUM ADVENTURE <3 Also, eternally appreciative of their ride-or-die-ness. Seem like from the episode summaries that have been going around that Rayla's just basically like "got u babe" with Callum's middle-of-the-night starscraper plans.

Thinking thoughts about Callum and getting possessed again and that being a new/bigger-than-before reason for him to hold back from Rayla :')

I CANNOT wait for the Ez and Callum graphic novel!!! More Katolis content?? yes please!!!!

Saw the rayllum q&a response that was going around....honestly, I'm not worried. As much as I'd LOVE more smooches and silly/flirty/in love rayllum sooner rather than later, I'm also honestly very satisfied with current rayllum dynamic, even if they aren't ~together together~??? They so CLEARLY love each other to bits even if that answer said they aren't "in love" at the moment and to me...IN love is just a piece of it all, you know? Like, I know I write a lot of spicy spicy sandwiches and the rest is pretty fluffy ~together together~ rayllum but...that's not WHY I'm obsessed, if that makes sense. It's the besties-ness of it all, for me. <3

grateful for every little tidbit we've gotten and so excited for moreeeee <3

[zuppizup]

You’ve never shipped anything as much as Rayllum before

*Sees that I’ve published ~850k words of Rayllum fics with probably at least another 500k on my laptop*

*Remembers I’m trying to learn to draw so I can draw more Rayllum*

*Aware that the majority of my online time is spent engaged with Rayllum content*

Hmm… I don’t think so. 🤔

Ask Game

[qpjat076]

So I JUST finished TDP season 6. . .

spoilers under cut, unorganized long-ass essay because it do be 4am and i have many thoughts and no one awake to listen to them. brief content warning about abuse but no details, just mentioned:

ok season 5 was better but this wasn't terrible. I still have no idea how they pull the Y7 rating with all the blood. I'm both appalled and impressed. And also some of that other stuff too. . . with like the wash-down with Claudia and Terry. . . damn idk that seems a little over Y7 to me but go off I guess.

TERRY YOU DESERVE BETTER. That whole thing just gives me flashbacks to my buddy's abusive relationship (minus voodoo) and I just want to scream at him to GTFO before it's too late. is this gonna be some reverse joker thing? idk. bad vibes.

Why they brought Viren back just to kill him was dumb but damn it was fun to see Claudia go so unhinged in ep 1.

who tf wrote the Rayllum part of this season because HOLY FANFICTION BATMAN THERE WAS ONLY ONE BLANKET. ALSO WAS THAT ONE END CREDITS SKETCH AT THE END OF EP 9 AGED RAYLLUM WITH A KID?!?!??! WAS THAT REAL?!?!? DAMN. WOW. (Edit: while that shot in particular upon looking at it again is maybe Rayla and her parents because the dude has pointed ears. . . but then if that's the case. . . why doesn't he have horns? that shot is super weird i wonder if the art dept. made a mistake and if not I have a thousand questions.)

Regarding that, does that mean final season time skip? Uncertain. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I hope not. timeskip for JUST the final season when the problems are here and now makes no sense at all. (Edit: again, clearly no skip if that''s the parents but also WHERE ARE THE HORNS. HOW COULD YOU FORGET THE HORNS YOU HAD ONE JOB GUYS I'M PRETTY SURE THERE ARE NO HORNS ON THAT GUY).

regarding rayllum tho, this season, it felt too much like fan service honestly? especially that dumbass ship monologue it was so dumbbbbbbbbbbbbbb i hated that. I DID like that Callum finally confronted the whole dark magic thing with Rayla. Interesting to see where he goes from here. Aaravos doesn't need him as a vessel with claudia around but he might still try to mess with him now that he's free. I did like the resolution and where it eventually ended up but that part of the build up was just KILLER (derogatory)

Props to Rayla and her 3 dads I love it, I thought that resolution made sense. Her parents had each other but Runaan can't move on without Ethari and I respect being that down bad for a man. Regarding the rep. . . who else is seeing something with Soren and Corvis? I think they could be on to something there. or not. I wouldn't mind either way, we need more caring friendships shown between men in media. the show has plenty of rep without it, so to me I think it works either way. tho I will say that's my opinion as a straight person so maybe others feel differently?

Janaya wedding was lit, but I have thoughts on Amaya: namely, why have we stopped showing so much of her ASL? I think it's dope?!?! bring it back please I want to see the signs AND hear Gren, not just Gren. Amaya's face is very important to expressing her character, ESPECIALLY being a Deaf woman communicating in ASL!! I would like to see it when she is communicating, it's a part of the language!! So the rainbow rep was great, the Deaf rep needs a liiiiiiiittle more revising. Not that I'm Deaf. I've just worked in/with the community before. Maybe the Deaf have a different opinion.

Aaravos and the unicorn being his kid was a twist. they got me and I'm IMPRESSED. also the thing with the diamond, now THAT was a good fake-out. wow. impressed over here. i knew it wasn't gonna be so easy for Rayla but also I didn't anticipate it going in that direction. props to them for that, though they did NOT get me with the prison swap. that was so telegraphed it might as well have had a sign saying SUSPICIOUS plastered over it.

big star man. big. was not expecting so large. wow. that's it that's the thought.

some of the line delivery was kinda bad, specifically that aaravos laughing. bro. who approved that goofy-ass depression laugh bc it clearly wasn't the same person who green-lit Claudia being so deranged. also idk why the animation felt so bad but wow i hated it this time around most of the time. backgrounds and lighting were excellent though.

The whole Sol Regam thing kicked ass tho he whooped him GOOD. I cannot take it fully seriously tho bc Aaravos's vessel is named Pharos, which I conveniently forgot and had to PAUSE THE SHOW bc there's a print software I work with at my job also called Pharos and I was laughing my ass off. that's not the showrunners' fault tho.

Ezran is good. even his rebuff of viren was good and in character for who he is I think. he's not about to execute him, but he isn't about to give him mercy or forgive him. I think that makes sense for a man in support of peace and love. letting him live in prison IS mercy in a way, but viren was a piece of crap to Ezran. he didn't have to be kind about showing his mercy. I think that's the right thing for him to do. I respect it. Overall I'm impressed about how true he remains to his ideals. Ezran for president.

the family talk was awesome. I loved that in ep 5. its hard to deal with family members who have supposedly "changed" after they've abused you. I felt Soren's pain fr. I did like that Viren finally did become a servant to Katolis one last time. . . ok maybe if they didn't do the death fakeout last season I would have been fine with him this season.

so, things I liked. things I didn't. I am curious how it will all resolve next year. (none of my edits reflect my ranking but damn. i can't believe they forgot the horns. damn. wow. they're not there right?!?! am I blind?!?!)

[konmaao3]

Do you have any post-war headcanons? Mainly Rayllum headcanons?

They live happily ever after with no problems whatsoever, the end. ❤️

I wish ... but things might be a bit more difficult.

I imagine that Rayllum will get married pretty quickly and will of course be super happy together, but that Rayla in particular will have some trouble adjusting. Her life so far has been very stressful (so much so that she already has white hair!), and a life of peace and quiet may leave her antsy and agitated (she can't be with Callum 24/7 ... though not for a lack of trying). She will need something to do and doesn't strike me as someone who would enjoy governing and attending council meetings. Additionally, she will want to see her parents (all 4 of them) from time to time (if they survive), so she and Callum could end up travelling a lot, exploring the whole continent (and its inns 🙃), learning magic, doing diplomacy stuff (Rayla might need a crash-course on how to talk to a queen) and trying to (re)build trust between humans and elves. And between humans and other humans, and elves and other elves. They are well-suited to the task because the Dragang is the perfect example that reconciliation is always possible, even if your parents were killing each other all the time. They can make a difference!

(Callum would also be content with just nerding around and learning magic for the rest of his life, but in the end he is down for anything that involves Rayla)

But pretty much all the protagonists of the show also had a lot of trauma thrown at them (and it won't get better in S6 and S7), so they might struggle with PTSD, survivor's guilt and other issues. They'll need time to work through that as well which Rayla might not immediately recognize (instead trying to suppress it and to "just be strong"). Callum and Ezran, who are more used to openly deal with their big feelings, will also try to help Rayla and Soren with that, but it won't always be easy. Of course Callum constantly showers his other half-moon with affection (and she has to stop him from making her birthday a national holiday), but she still has to learn the concept of "self-care" too, which might take some time ...

They have each other though and will get through all hardships together. 🙂

[queenofthearchipelago]

I think I've figured out why people can't get obsessed about the dragon prince as they used to. S1 left me intrigued, I thought about where the story was going all the time as I waited for s2. After s2, I couldn't wait for s3. I was constantly making theories and checking for the next release date. After s3, I was so obsessed with the story I basically spent an entire weekend screaming about it with the fandom. It was such a fun time to be in fandom.

And then the three year hiatus happened, and instead of a new season, we received books. Novelizations of the seasons, graphic novels of stories that are meant to happen between the seasons, short stories on their website. And I read none of them.

Then came season 4, which I KNOW was meant to function as foundation for this new arc the characters are going on, but that meant that it was slow compared to what came before. Which should have been fine, but I couldn't connect to the story anymore.

Because so much happened in the extra content that it feels impossible to create interesting theories that even might be correct unless you've read all the extra content. I don't feel equipped to theorize on where Callum and Rayla's relationship is going because I didn't read Through the Moon. It's lucky I have spoilers for that graphic novel because otherwise I wouldn't understand rayllum's relationship in the season at all without them.

And then there's Callum's spell book, which to my understanding lays out the different locations in Xadia, talks in depth about some characters in ways the show and novelizations don't, and talks about the different types of elves in ways that show is most likely never going to. For example, that the horn cuffs some elves wear most likely means they're married.

And so I see this show now, and I realize that unless I literally spend money on the 5+ books they've published so far, I cannot actually fully understand the story season by season as they're presented to me on Netflix anymore. I can't theorize about parallels in my own otp, I can't theorize about the world building, I can't even theorize about the literal Mystery of Aaravos.

And so I watch the show season 5, sure. But will I ever feel that deep obsession I feel towards my other fandoms again? No, probably not. Because in this fandom, the supporting material is essential to understanding the full arcs. And the show from season 4 on is less likely to be able to stand on its own.

[xynthia-x]

I absolutely adore these two dorks together.

[arcadialedger]

Why I should be excited for Through the Moon: More story, and character and plot development

Why I’m actually excited for Through the Moon: Graphic 👏Novel 👏 Rayllum 👏 Content 👏

[raayllum]

i’m sorry but how is the mystery of aaravos not about aaravos. :)

+ the dragon prince arc centered around zym so so fully he had so much screen time in every season even just as an egg. like that’s just not a fair comparison…

plus, zym Is a main character, (the five of us) the only thing making him not as key is that he is basically a dog. aaravos is definitely key too, and he has so much impact in the mystery of aaravos and he hasn’t even had his theatric entrance yet. how can you say he’s not a main character?

aaron even said in the Reel James interview that in s4 we could have gotten more aaravos content without it interfering with anything ToT like even just a small cut to whatever he’s doing in prison. It’s not asking for much at all. rayllum fans get SO much and always ask for more content and tie things back to rayllum all the time but get mad and salty when we do the same with aaravos? like ok. make it make sense.

rebuttal to the first half here (zym and aaravos are not main characters, they are currently by and large macguffins, it is a very very common story convention; arc 1 is about other characters trying to return/protect zym or stop him from going home; he is a motivation, that's not the same as him being a Main Character).

it also may surprise you but i've been in other fandoms before where my favourite characters were #1. completely side lined by their rightful narrative as a core co-protagonist (hi Finn from star wars), #2. minor side characters who didn't need to be more in the story more (hi Kai and Jinora from the legend of korra), #3. killed off or taken out of the show for seasons or both (hi Shiro from voltron) and I only bitched about 1 and 3 for 6ish months each at all because it overlapped with racist and ableist storytelling.

Wanting more of your fave character is understandable, but people don't complain or get up in arms that Gren isn't in every episode, meanwhile I've seen people routinely whine about how the Mystery of Aaravos doesn't have enough Aaravos in it because they ignored the Mystery part of the title. The post in particular, which I think was pretty clear, was about being annoyed that people thought Aaravos himself as a personality/character would be a central focus in s4/s5 and complaining that he isn't, when it's pretty clear in early S4 that well - it's going to be a Mystery, and we're mostly seeing how characters react to the missions or fears he (or others have) given them.

All fans ask for more stuff of their favourite characters (whenever there's a cast and crew Q&A, I always ask about Ezran) no matter how much canon material they already have — that's kind of the nature of fandom, even if people move from wanting more in fanon rather than from canon material cause sometimes things need to / should end.

The reason that so much gets tied back to Rayllum is because they are main characters, the show's main ship (and fandoms already tend to be more ship > solo or brotp heavy, though I'd appreciate more balance on the latter), and because they are thematically and literally connected to the entire cast of the show at least adjacently (largely through Callum as Amaya + Janai get looped in as his aunts) with a lot of parallels.

TDP is the first fandom I have ever been in, in 14+ years in fandom, where my favourite ship was the biggest in a fandom (or in the source material). I've been in your position 99/100, I have sympathy for it. I've just never shown my ass about it

[maybemochas]

And they were partners...