#like rayla and ezran are SO GOOD

[tategaminu]

"Callum chose his girlfriend over family". Wrong‚ Callum chose family over family. 👍👍👍

[firefly-suite]

hi and welcome to tdp callbacks that would actually send me

"if i am the king then you have to let me go"

"i'm corvus, i was specifically requested"

"i don't believe in locks"

"haha nice one callum, he deserves it"

"lady justice came to me in a dream"

"don't get yourself killed."

"strength isn't always about weapons"

"shhh, nobody likes a noisy mage"

"tell me she wasn't your world"

"you're just like your grandmother"

"she’s not my friend, she is my prisoner"

"rickety snickers"

"wasn’t the horse~"

"i am a storm dragon. i certainly hope it's working."

"in the name of love, you may perform acts so unforgivable… you will never forgive yourself."

"we could travel the countryside and try the seven cakes of xadia!"

"i am prepared to do anything to protect the king. anything. i hope you will understand"

"i guess it wouldn't be the first time i accidentally on purpose ruined a super rare magical artifact."

"don't do this. i will kill you" "probably"

"anyone know any adventuring songs?"

"we can find more practical uses for this one"

"well, i think about it like this, why see myself as chained down, when i can be chained up?" "i admire your tenacity"

"just the three of us"

"watch, he'll come back reciting an epic poem about his adventuring. he's probably late because he's stuck thinking of a rhyme for 'legendary heroics.'"

"the world just isn't ready for what we have. "

"i have been doing research!" "yes, i can see that"

"i do not understand girls"

"i thought you disapproved" "i disagree. but i stand by you anyway"

"you know what? in a few years, when you’re older, buddy, we’ll sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk about sandwiches."

"i would rather die a king, than live as a coward."

"edge-frazzled"

"soren is a doof but he's my doof!"

"it doesn't matter what happens to me. live or die, this dragon goes home."

"the kingdom of duren has been suffering from a terrible famine for nearly seven years. "

"you big dumb human."

"even if you were wearing the rarest legendary armor, forged by sunfire elves... super dead."

"fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. fool me three times, back to you again." "that's not how it goes." "shame on you."

[ffreire-frogs]

I... Just finished The Dragon Prince, if anyone needs me I'll be over there in the corner crying for 3-5 work days.

[raayllum]

I always thought that it was interesting that the kids relinquished and then reclaimed their Gifts of Sacrifice / worthy Gifts to Rex Igneous in 4x08 for a few reasons. The fact that Ez and Rayla were both sacrificing something linked to their fathers, whereas Callum was sacrificing something linked to magic (he doesn't even refer to Ibis at all) made sense given the context, as well as Rayla being the one to step forward first to sacrifice.

I figured it would be set up at least in terms of relationships / character arc but now I'm wondering if the foreshadowing is going to be more than that.

Rayla sacrificing herself first in S7 in some manner would track, even if she's no longer sacrificing her family the way she did before (4x09, 5x01, 5x04, 6x01, 6x05). Callum sacrificing himself after she does, particularly if it's for her in some manner, would also track; his primal staff represents forgiveness and opportunity for magic "in spite of everything wrong humans have done with it". Presumably, he's going to sacrifice primal magic for himself in exchange for doing dark magic again. And Ezran, whose crown is made of his father's sword but reminds him that "strength isn't always about war and fighting" gives up his crown / that symbol and that lesson.

Rayla will have to give up being an assassin (her swords); Callum will have to relinquish primal magic, at least temporarily; Ezran will have to give up his anger over his father.

But then they all reclaim it, right? Rayla gets her swords and the fathers they represent back, and she'll use her swords to be a protector rather than an assassin. Callum gets his staff back and will usher in a new age of magic for humankind. Ezran takes his crown and his lesson back, the same way he'll get his love for Harrow and his family back in a way that lets him break the cycle.

Maybe it won't be in the direct order of 4x08 ("gifts of sacrifice... we offered gifts that meant a lot to us") in how/when they sacrifice things in S7, for ex I could see Ezran actually going first depending on how stuff with Runaan is paced, but I think we'll see something remiscient anyway.

[adashulaz]

So I'm so I'm looking at arc1 and I'm just wondering how tf does Soren have no scars?

Like he was shot in the shoulder in s1ep3, it looks like it actually hit him and not just his armor. And the assassins clearly don't seem to mind killing the guards as Callum stumbles upon(what I'm assuming to be) a dead body. So Soren easily could've received incredibly dangerous wounds at some point, like he should've received a scar or two from this fight.

In s2ep8, we see Soren shirtless and he has no scars. We know he's the youngest Crownguard in history, meaning he's probably been one since he was a teen like 14/15 based on the fact that he's in a position of power, so he definitely has been in fights before. Especially since Harrow says that they've dealt with assassination attempts before and if Soren was Crownguard during those attempts then he most likely would've been injured in some way from the fight.

Give my man some scars, he deserves em.

[heatwa-ves]

i willll get the ace attorney game(s) one day....... :') BUT ive been quite interested in tdp for a while now but somehow i never got to watch it. if you say the last season just aired maybe its a good time to do it then mmm actually what is the show abt i know nothing besides the title so. i assume theres a dragon prince in there but idk anything else. and there are doomed siblings too ???? 👀

Yesss the last season just came out!!! I really love it it starts off kinda fun adventure similar in vibe to atla but in the later seasons it gets a bit darker.. like it's still a show targeted at like. older kids/young teens but is that demographic while still telling a compelling story with heavy topics and good character arcs. the first few episodes of the final season really heavily focus on siblings there's not one not two but three main doomed siblings!!!! There is a dragon prince but he's kinda just chilling tbh. callum the main character is my best friend forever I love him sm sm I'm also really liking his character moments lately.. excited to watch the rest of the new season but also so sad for it to be over I've been watching since near the start of the show ...

[coconut530]

Gotta be one of the coolest Dragon Prince seasons ever, my god 🌊💔🧞📚🧜🏼‍♀️🎣🏴‍☠️🪵👶🏻

[comicaurora]

Hello! As a thorough enjoyer of Overly Sarcastic Productions and also a rabid fan of The Dragon Prince… was there anything that you did like about S7 or thought was especially well done? Obviously it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and there were certainly parts of the show that were disappointing, but I’m curious to see what you might have enjoyed. (If there’s not anything that’s fine too!)

I think the premise of Aaravos's zombie army, "any soul that died with unfinished business is fair game," was a brilliant way to constantly gutpunch the audience with surprise heartbreaking cameos from tragically dead loved ones. I was not expecting Zombie Avizandum, but it made perfect sense - he died in terror for his wife and son, desperately reaching for them! Of COURSE he got to be a rage zombie! Sir Sparklepuff, Betrayed Revenant? Poetic justice. It's just a shame Viren wasn't there to see it.

Ezran having complicated feelings about the guy who killed his dad? Good! Let the paragon process messy feelings like grief and rage! Even if I thought the execution was made awkward by looping it into the Magic Nuclear Deterrant arc, I thought letting Ezran confront Runaan directly in the end was excellent and well-earned.

Runaan's arc going from accepting his death to tearfully embracing his life? Excellent! Runaan immediately being ride or die for his daughter's cringefail human boyfriend? Hell yea! Runaan taking continuous L's all season? Honestly kind of hilarious jfc let my man live

Prince Karim is another very interesting villain whose death I think is cool but whose absence from the story I think will broadly strip it of much-needed depth. Karim thinking he's so profoundly important to the story, clearly convinced he's the tragically betrayed rightful heir, utterly nonplussed when reality fails to cooperate with his vision - fascinatingly narcissistic in the most classical sense. He's infatuated with his own story to the point that he doesn't realize he's not even a player.

Every time Aaravos does one of his Count of Monte Cristo style monologues where he reveals horrible secrets to an old enemy he's about to kill it's extremely fun and rad

Rayla being forced to confront the nameless cannon-fodder moonshadow elf assassins who died offscreen back in season 1 was a nice way to narratively reaffirm how difficult, painful and courageous it was for her to make the call to spare the princes and save the Dragon Prince. It cost real lives, and she's deeply regretful of that, but not of the choice she made which ultimately united the kingdoms and ended the war. Also I feel like Rayla didn't get much else to do this season so it was nice to let her actually confront some emotional stakes.

[theredhairedmonkey]

I feel like most people kinda get the point of the season, but it does seem that there are a handful of people that are either ideologically committed to either seeing dark magic as always evil or seeing Callum as morally corrupt or compromised in a way that Rayla and Ezran are not (not sure how the latter is even remotely possible at this point), so maybe it might be good to spell out season 7's theme for everyone's benefit:

This season's theme is first and foremost about the loss of childhood innocence, a necessary step to becoming a fully-rounded adult. When Aaravos talks about losing childhood innocence, he's referring to the moment when someone realizes the world isn't as simple as they once believed - that good and evil aren't always clear-cut, that sometimes difficult choices must be made. His perspective seems to be that losing this innocence inevitably leads to moral compromise, that understanding complexity means abandoning simple principles.

And he's...actually not wrong. Ezran wasn't pure because he was such a moral paragon, but because he was innocent. He was able to position himself around ethical lines (such as refraining from violence) because he was always protected from the consequences that moral complexity brings. But once that was taken away - Katolis destroyed, facing his father's killer, witnessing Callum's supposed betrayal - it forced Ez into a situation where he couldn't take the same morally rigid stances he once did. 

Complexity invites challenges. Challenges invites compromise. 

Much like Aaravos, Callum is a character who understands all too well what this means. He lost his innocence at a much younger age when both his biological parents had died and he was forced to grow up too fast. When Aaravos says that there is "great affinity" between them, he's right in a certain way - he's recognizing their shared ability to perceive moral complexity - to understand that situations aren't always simple black and white choices. Both characters demonstrate this understanding. Aaravos sees beyond simple good and evil, recognizing that sometimes difficult choices must be made. Similarly, Callum understands that situations can be "complicated," as he says about the Runaan situation, acknowledging that justice and mercy can conflict.

However, Aaravos is also very wrong about Callum because he fundamentally misunderstands what he does with this knowledge. 

When Aaravos talks about "compromise," he means compromising moral principles to achieve desired ends. His view is that since the world is morally complex, we're justified in doing whatever serves our purposes. This is where he's wrong about Callum.

Callum's recognition of moral complexity actually leads him to become more principled, not less. When he understands a situation is complicated, he doesn't use that as justification for moral compromise. Instead, he looks for solutions that acknowledge the complexity while maintaining clear principles about who should bear the costs of difficult choices. His final plan with Aaravos demonstrates this perfectly - he recognizes the need to use dark magic (showing he understands complexity) but ensures he bears the cost himself through sacrifice (maintaining his principles).

The situation with Runaan foreshadows how he handles Aaravos - Callum's recognition of complexity leads him to find more creative ways to do what's right, while maintaining principles about who should bear the costs. Whereas Viren/Claudia would sacrifice others (i.e. creatures, people, etc.) to achieve their ends, Callum's main sacrifice is himself - he will block Aanya's arrow with his body, or resign as High Mage the second he think it would be necessary to do the right thing.

This explains why Aaravos becomes so furious when Callum reveals his sacrifice plan. Aaravos believed their shared understanding of complexity meant Callum would eventually follow his path of moral compromise. Instead, Callum shows that understanding complexity just motivated him to find other ways to stay true to his principles, even at the cost of his own life. He proves that recognizing the world isn't black and white doesn't have to lead to corruption.

By the end, he demonstrates a simple truth that forms the core of this season - the loss of one's innocence is inevitable, but the loss of one's character is not.

[agentoffangirling]

I think something that's so interesting about The Dragon Prince is that none of the characters in the show are ever out-of-character

Like even in my favorite pieces of media with my favorite characters, I can easily admit there are plenty of moments where they are out-of-character to further the plot, to make a joke, to have meta commentary, etc, but that never seems to happen in TDP

Callum always acts like Callum, Rayla is always Rayla, Ezran is always Ezran, Viren is always Viren, Claudia is always Claudia; no matter how vile the actions might be, even though we're all screaming at the TV for them not to do it, we all know it makes sense for them to do it, and they know that it's awful as well, but they have no other choice

And it's like. They're all so complex. There are so many characters in The Dragon Prince yet they all act differently. They are all infinitely complex with their own drive and motivations, even if they only show up for two seconds. They're all so human

Aaron Ehasz and all other writers on the TDP team have mastered the art of characters. No one is perfectly good, no one is perfectly bad, they all make complicated choices that make sense for them in their respective journeys all without sacrificing the integrity of the story. It absolutely spectacular

In case you couldn't tell, I love TDP (and I need season 7 right now)

[zuppizup]

Not Quite Domestic Bliss

Opeli struggles not to let her irritation show as they continue to wait. Even King Ezran is looking anxious by the time Callum bursts through the door, looking flustered.

“Sorry I’m late!” He grimaces at everyone clearly waiting for him.

“No problem, Callum.” True to form, Ezran smiles brightly at him, seemingly holding no grudges for the fact they’ve been sitting waiting for over half an hour.

Opeli watches as Callum takes a seat, noting his dishevelled state. His hair is wilder than usual and he seems to be adopting more and more Moonshadow attire, dressed in a strange mismatched manner, dark leggings that look uncomfortably tight and a crumbled tunic she suspects might actually be a nightshirt.

In fact, if she didn’t know better, she would almost believe Callum slept in that shirt-

It’s morning, but it’s not particularly early.

He would never... would he?

Callum has never been the best time keeper, even back when things at the castle were more formal, but he’s become totally hopeless since moving permanently to Evrkynd. Opeli didn’t really consider his resignation from King Ezran’s council as much of a loss. He’s always been distracted and much of his actual “contributions” are in the form of random tangents or crude jokes.

At least Rayla isn’t with him today.

Opeli feels like a school mistress when they attend meetings together, constantly having to remind them to pay attention… struggling not to lose her temper at their whispering and giggling.

The crude jokes are even more frequent when they’re bouncing off each other.

“Where’s Rayla?” Soren asks, an eyebrow raised, seemingly at Callum’s appearance.

Opeli desperately hopes they don’t end up waiting for Rayla too.

“Em, she’s at home,” Callum winces, finally taking his seat. “She’s, eh, not well.”

“Oh no, is she okay?” Ezran asks, leaning forward in his seat.

“She’ll be fine,” Callum reassures them. “I’m still getting the hang of foraging and I kinda mixed up regularly moonberries with the moonberries you use to make moonberry surprise and well… she’s just lying down in the dark for a while.”

Opeli arches an eyebrow, knowing well by now what’s in moonberry surprise. “Is she safe alone?”

While she is concerned for Rayla, sending Callum to keep an eye on her would hardly be a loss for this meeting.

“Terry is keeping an eye on her,” Callum flushes bright red, avoiding eye contact as he drums his hands on the table. “So... where were we?”

After the meeting has concluded, Opeli overhears Corvus talking to Callum as she packs away her notes.

“Soooo, Callum, how’s life in Evrkynd?” Corvus looks and sounds awkward as he asks this, clearly trying not to look too intently at Callum’s mismatched clothing or ridiculous hair.

“Good!” Callum enthuses, “but busy,” he nods, wide eyed. “Lots to learn, you know? And not just magic either. Barius is coming over again tomorrow to help us with the bread stuff. I told him he doesn’t have to, but he got kinda mad when he saw what we baked the other day. He said we’re killing the dough or the yeast blob or something. You’re suppose to feed it… I don’t get it-”

“Uh huh,” Corvus nods kindly. “And how’s everything else? If you want help with anything-”

“Oh, we’re fine,” Callum waves him off, pulling awkwardly on his pants for what seems like the tenth time in so many minutes. “We’re figuring stuff out-”

“You’re obviously not,” Soren scoffs, folding his arms over his chest.

Callum gapes at him, looking offended. “Yeah, we are-”

Soren rolls his eyes, his lip curled. “Callum, you’re clearly wearing Rayla’s pants.”

Callum’s mouth falls open and he blinks stupidly for a moment before responding. “We’re pretty much the same height!”

“Yeah, well, girls pants fit differently to guys pants.” Soren make a play of shielding his eyes.

Callum goes bright red, making a futile attempt to pull his shirt down. “We’re behind on laundry!”

“What you two need is a roster,” Soren throws his arm around Callum shoulder and starts dragging him towards the door. “I know I can’t rely on you to be disciplined, so that means I have to deal with Rayla.”

“Hey!” Callum protests, trying to extract himself from Soren’s grip. “I can be disciplined when I need to be-”

Corvus sighs, watching Soren herd Callum out the door.

Picking up her scrolls, Opeli joins him, vaguely amused as they continue to bicker down the street.

“It’s good someone is taking the lead with Prince Callum,” she smiles at Corvus. “I fear learning domestic duties has not been high on his or Rayla’s list of concerns.”

Corvus arches an eyebrow, his face sceptical. “You think they’ve been high on Soren’s list?”

Opeli winces, turning her eyes back to the two younger men. “Oh.”

Corvus sighs, beginning to walk after them. “It’s like the blind leading the blind.”

———

For @m4rs-ex3

Sorry I couldn’t find any fluff for you in my WIPs 😆

[stardustamaryllis78]

Hey, do you guys remember when these two were actually compelling characters?

Yeah, neither do I.

Bait is by far the most interesting character of these three and I'm not even joking.

But lets start at the beginning shall we?

Let's start off with Callum, the protagonist.

He is the son of Queen Sarai and step son of King Harrow 🐦 and the big brother of Prince or King Ezran, depends on which part of the show you're on. I guess spoiler if you haven't got past episode 3 where Pip dies and Harrow is forced to eat bird food for the rest of his life. (I have MASSIVE feelings about that "plot twist" but that's a potential post for another day.)

He struggles with the idea of being a prince because he believes he's not good at horse riding and sword fighting, things a prince should be good at.

Ignore the horse, Bait is the one clearly in charge, Callum doesn't know what he's doing.

All (kind of) jokes aside, he was dorky without being too annoying and him getting the Sky Primal Stone which in turn allowed him to use Sky magic which made him feel like he was for once good at something was interesting to watch, especially after he had to smash it to hatch a dying Zym and learn the Sky Arcanum through other means. A good well rounded character.

Then we have Rayla, who used to be one of my favourite characters.

Not anymore.

She was originally so snarky, sassy and feisty but in such a fascinating kind of way. She also had a kind and gentle heart and would do anything to help those in need. Plus, she had the inner struggle of being an assassin who cannot kill but that didn't really matter because she used her skills for the greater good anyway.

Its a shame her first and only kill in the show came in the form of herself.

Character assassination at its finest.

How did Rayla go from this:

To this:

Best Dragonguard of the century guys 👏

From a girl who would do anything to help others in need, even a dragon that would torch tons of innocent people to legit turning her back on a dragon in distress. This is not Rayla.

But how did it come to this you may ask? Well curious Tumblr reader, I have one simple answer. One simple answer that will burn so much of The Dragon Prince's fandom down and will cause an all out riot but let me just tell you, I'm speaking nothing but the truth.

The answer is:

Rayllum

Yep! Them becoming a duo literally murdered their characters and I still o7 them to this day 🫡

What was once two interesting characters who found solace in each other and set off together (and Ezran was there as the third wheel) to stop a war spanning centuries became a poorly written soap opera.

So where did it go wrong?

I'm gonna sound like a broken record in saying SEASON 4 📢 HAHA!

But no, not season 4, it was actually before that.

It starts with Rayla leaving Callum the nicest birthday present anyone could give someone - ghosting them.

Now you'd think that Rayla would at least wait a day or two after Callum's birthday so he can have an enjoyable day first but nope! She decides to dip on whats supposed to be a happy day for him and make it miserable. What a woman! 👏

Now you could be saying to me, "But she needed to go with full urgency!" To which, no she did not. She went because it was a mission of revenge, something she LITERALLY said herself so she could have waited a few days but she chose instead to make someone she's supposed to love miserable on a day of happiness.

But okay, she dips and leaves Callum sad and miserable on his birthday. Surely when she returns, she apologizes right?

...Right?

I don't think arc 2 Rayla would understand the word sorry if it bit her right up where the Moon don't shine.

Anyways, its two years later (Yes, you heard me, two years) and Rayla decides to finally unghost Callum.

Now, Callum is understandably upset with Rayla after taking off on his birthday and leaving without saying goodbye. So whats Rayla's stance on this? Is she understanding?

Of course not, this is arc 2 Rayla we're talking about.

Imagine letting the guy she let down have some room to sort things out in his head. Crazy right?

But anyway, he eventually relents to Rayla because she won't shut up in typical Rayla fashion and they both snooze on the couch.

This kind of soap opera drama goes on for THE ENTIRE SEASON while they just gradually "make up" and its just such contrived conflict. Especially as nothing came of Rayla leaving for those two years and it happened off screen.

Plus, her not taking accountability for her actions is a big deal.

Sadly the writers did it with this ship. ^

I love Red Herring story lines that are spent so much time on and are SUPER built up only to have literally no impact on the plot whatsoever. 🤗

Loved wasting my time on the Dark Magic Callum story line.

BUT HEY, he did get some great looking tooth-paste in his hair! 🪥 Looks great on you Callum. 🤥

Now however, I must talk about the most beloved of all seasons and no, I don't mean season 6 or 3.

Clearly I'm referring to season 7, aka, facing sucking the season.

Like seriously, if I ate a Moonberry Surprise every time Callum and Rayla snogged, I'd end up needing medical attention.

That's not the offender I'm talking about though. It's Rayla's super selfishness and Callum choosing her over his grieving brother.

Somehow, the writer's thought that was okay.

Remember, this is the same girl who left him for 2 whole years to put her need of revenge before his feelings.

Callum betrayed his brother for her.

But it's not even just that, it's just the selfish nature of Rayla in season 7. Ezran has just had Katolis burnt to a crisp, and all she can think about is herself and her own needs. Ezran's feelings? They don't matter. As long as she's happy, that's fine.

I don't even want to talk about them all buddying up in the Silvergrove happily while Ezran is still dealing with Katolis' fallout.

Plus remember, at this point, Callum still believes that Runaan killed Harrow. I get forgiving someone but bro is literally choosing the guy who assassinated the guy who raised him over his grieving brother. It's actual insanity to me.

There is much more I have missed but I have reached my Rayllum limit for the day. This ship is as fun as watching paint dry so I want to do something that is going to actually bring me joy.

Have a good day everyone! Peace! 🫡

[raayllum]

I think sometimes the way I approach fic / meta writing / analysis stems from how I character build and write my OG stuff as well, because while the classical writing advice is about asking "what does your character want?" I've always found it most useful to ask "What does your character want, and what are they willing to justify to get it?"

(Asking how they justify their actions is also incredibly useful but more on that later.)

For example, when ('good') characters are under stressful situations and respond well regardless, we take that as being indicative of who they Truly Are—heroic, helpful, selfless, often even compassionate, etc, and when antagonists behave that way, we dismiss it as just glory hounding or being selfish, when it can Be multiple things at once.

When ('bad') characters respond poorly to stressful situations—threatening harm, using dark magic to saved loved ones, being angry and cold hearted—we take that as who they are, and when it's the protags, we say they're stressed or coerced or any number of things... that are true for the antags often, too! And still true even if you don't like them or have as much compassion towards them.

But unfortunately sometimes people are rarely inclined to do the opposite. They're rarely inclined to take antagonists' good moments as honest statements of their character because "well they're mean/evil" and often dismiss protagonists' complicated or less than stellar choices because "well they're good and they feel bad" (Viren saying he'll never forgive himself for the things he's done even when they saved his son, and Claudia crying over what she's done to save her father? yeah those scenes don't exist anymore sorry).

The fact of the matter is that, at least in TDP and in many other works (including my own), actual antagonists are not always evil and awful and morally bankrupt 100% of the time, and actual protagonists are not always perfect or good or making the right choice (because sometimes there isn't one, tbh).

Who your character is at their best and their worst, regardless of circumstance, is ALL of who they are. It all has to be taken into account. No cherry picking. Rayla can be selfish and dismissive and a liar who routinely fails at whatever she sets out to do and is awful at communicating, and Viren can love his kingdom and his family and genuinely believe that's what he's doing everything for, and neither encompasses their whole character. A perfect example is Claudia, who we cheer for when she chooses Soren over the world-saving mission of the egg in 2x07, and despair at when she chooses Viren over the world-saving mission of maybe not freeing the dangerous imprisoned Startouch elf in S4 and S5. Same principle, character, motivation, different circumstance, but we're happy about Soren (because he's not Viren) and bummed about Viren (because he's not Soren), and because character traits are consistent, and whether those traits are good or bad is inherently circumstantial. Claudia's loyalty can be great, and it can be a terrible, awful justification. Both of those things are true.

To be clear, this isn't to argue for false equivalency: Viren and Claudia and other antagonists are far more often Wrong than the protagonists are, and the protagonists are routinely more Right than our two favourite dark mages are. TDP likes its complications and circumstantial stuff, but there's still some things that are Bad No Matter What (like gaslighting your child, or routine dehumanization). And some of our associations are because antagonistic characters tend to be routinely cruel and mean, which are part of the horrible things they do, and protagonist characters are routinely kinder and more compassionate to the people around them, and protecting each other / innocent people is part of what makes them a good person, but... There's no inherent difference between a lot (not all, but some) of the actions the characters across the board take, particularly in arc 2, just their perspective and who we're personally more attached to and thereby more willing to justify their decisions surrounding.

Like idk my main WIP protag buries people alive en masse and tortures someone vindictively because they killed her friend and I'd still classify her as a Good Person (fictionally), and it's just always wild to me when people don't take All Parts and Choices and Relationships of a character into account especially because TDP spells it out for us over and over that we Should with quite literally every single character, whether those actions are good or bad:

Once again I am asking for encompassing wholes and character nuances where the only time a character should be like "well it's totally fine that you did a Thing actually" (Rayla towards Callum's dark magic use or Callum towards Rayla lying to/stealing from him) or "totally not okay that you did a thing" (Runaan about Rayla sparing Marcos, or Claudia doing dark magic) is taken as an aspect of Character Bias, not a definitive Narrative get off the hook slant or condemnation, because neither of those things Get us anywhere in a writing or analytical sense thank you

[fandom-susceptible]

I know people have already talked about this scene before but I wanted to break it down myself because I love it so much. Little Lira yells "Rayla! Callum wants to have ten babies with you!" and everyone's reactions just kill me

Poor Callum has been doing so well with these kids, he's gonna be such a good dad one day, and he knows EXACTLY where he went wrong that produced this result and he also knows there's NOTHING he can do to stop it

Ethari is clearly the first of the elves to start to process what she said. Rayla's so distracted. Runaan frankly just looks tired.

:3 Rayla doesn't look upset at the concept though, just surprised. And Stella is literally just the :o meme.

Lira looks so pleased with herself. This little girl lives for chaos. She has done this on purpose. The smallest child here is convinced they're about to die (figuratively). The middle child is just trying to figure out what the big deal is. Callum is going for damage control.

He also knows this little girl did this to him on purpose. Ezran has absolutely said shit like that out of context to get him in trouble.

Rayla's recovering, has to blink to process what just happened. Runaan is like I barely signed up for one child, I'm not babysitting grandchildren yet. He's reconsidering whether being alive is a good thing. Ethari is connecting the dots between Lira's mischievous nature and Callum's frantic reaction.

He's the first elf adult to fully grasp what's just happened, and this is fucking hilarious. He brought this on the poor boy by unleashing Lira on him without warning him.

Runaan and Rayla have a strong like father like daughter moment as Ethari just loses it laughing. What was this household like when Rayla was growing up? How often did this happen? Ethari is the dad with all the puns that make them both groan and Runaan threaten his life, you can just tell

The laughter sinks in and Runaan visibly remembers why he likes being alive. Rayla is more concerned about how funny Ethari finds this than the statement itself. You can see her thinking Moon help me, Dad, please no.

Lira is so proud of herself. She made Pride Papa Ethari cackle. Callum isn't sure what to do but is fairly certain he's not in trouble. Runaan is vaguely amused at how much this hit his husband in the funny bone. We can no longer see Rayla's expression.

god I love the Moonfam parts of this episode. Runaan is so fucking done with having guests, Callum is a good partner and is gonna be such a great dad one day, and Ethari and Rayla are both just so happy to be home and together again

[tategaminu]

Yes that's the way I see it too. Coworkers.

So much disrespect for Lyrennus because why on earth would someone create an illusion of their own dead son in which he's bloody, scary, and not...him in order to terrorize an 18 year old girl who he was (presumably) friends with

[tategaminu]

These kind of comments on Twitter from people that are ok with harassing others are the absolute worst because:

-You probably have piss poor reading comprehension if you believe that was just a throw away joke. We get Callum being completely calm about picturing his kids with Rayla and not even denying he wants babies with her. It's foreshadowing and a way to confirm something we knew (Callum wants to be a dad).

-Rayla is uncomfortable in the scene because a kid just said in front of her parents that Callum wants to have lots of freaky times with her. If they were alone she would have acted differently. How would you act in this situation? I would have died on the spot. If you want to interpret Rayla is uncomfortable at the idea thats fine but don't act like everyone should think the same.

-Dear‚ pregnancy fics have existed way before S4. The concept of Rayllum starting a family is something a lot of people are interested in. S7 and this joke in particular led to more people exploring this because their relationship is more solid and as I said‚ the joke can serve as foreshadowing/character desire.

-Why are you acting like people exploring pregnancy in particular is wrong? "Wtf is wrong with this fandom?" Whats wrong with this fandom is the hate campaigns you agree with‚ not people writing pregnancy. There's nothing wrong with pregnancy and sex. If you consider pregnancy and sex to be gross and morally wrong you need to revaluate yourself.

-If you are grossed out by sex and pregnancy you can always filter tags and mute stuff you don't like in Ao3. It's your fault you are finding these kind of fics in the first place. I'm someone who gets irked easily and I have found fics that disgusted me. What to do then? Ignore the fic and continue with my day‚ filter the tags and mute the author.

-TDP is about love. Rayllum would have babies because they love each other. Can someone explain me what's wrong with that? With a series that is about love and breaking the cycle of violence‚ why are you mad at pregnancy of all things being explored in fics?

-Rayla and Callum have been through a lot of hardships‚ almost dying a lot of times. It would be beautiful to see them starting a family and having a quiet life. They are both very paternal characters. Deny it all you want but Rayla is very mama. (Ex: the way she treats Ezran and Zym‚ considering Stella a daughter instead a pet‚ overall being good with kids).

-A female character having babies won't ruin her‚ doodoo head.

-If we have seen pregnant characters in canon why does it bother you people exploring it on fic?

-You follow people who have fankids. Having a fankid is ok‚ pregnancy is not. Brother how do you think these fankids are "born"? Pottery?

-Hating pregnancy because it "sexualizes" minors. 1- most people who explore this give them babies when they are over 20. 2- they are fictional characters.

-"The ten babies scene was a joke". If it was a joke then why are you all whining so much about it?

-The world does not revolve about what you think.

The antis from Twitter seem to be between 13 and 22. I think some of these ages are enough for them not to act like absolute pricks. Idiots. Absolute idiots‚ there's no other word to describe it.