#like soren are you Okay

[luniviravosshipper]

Okay okay, just two more things I want to point out before I head off to bed.

Firstly, I’ve seen people point out how Soren was shown bleeding or that he had blood on him, but why?

And why does he suddenly shift moods in the same clip?

Also, it looks like he’s looking up more in the first image and with concern.

I mean, with the background and all, this looks like it might take place at Katolis. But why would he have blood on him there? Was he in a fight with someone? Is the person he’s fighting the one he’s looking at here?? I need answers!

Secondly,

Oh my gosh. Did anyone hear that insane screaming from Claudia??

Even with the sound of the music overlapping it, her screaming was so clear and loud in the background.

It sounds gut wrenching.

Racquel was not kidding when she said she was really pushed to her limits when it came to her voice acting this season. I hope her vocal cords aren’t totally fried now.

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

someone get soren to put karim in his place please. the man doesn't even realize he does it- he just calls things like they are and that asshat will have a SHITFIT

[unproduciblesmackdown]

shifted gears like alright after the [lucifer the mysteries please] centered approach that found mostly Other Stuff, centering [blade gunnblade please], and already have found something new but in the "possibly inaccurate & probably irrelevant even if otherwise" vein as a review read through the wayback machine says: "perhaps none moreso than the gun toting android Blade Gunblade, perfectly embodied by Asia Kate Dillon. They even get an awesome heart-wrenching backstory." which is so far the singular mention that blade gunnblade is an android, however, reviewers can Just Say Things, so. i believe the blade gunnblade full backstory clip that's available is from pre 2015's run at the pit, & rather a previous run as serials at the flea (and the prop & setpiece differences if it was simply an alex seife understudy performance from 2015 would be: inexplicable) but i have to imagine that blade's peak tragic backstory ft. murdered wife & child would be very similar, & i guess it would be funny if they were just out & about living their ordinary life with a family like that while also an android, but. however i'll also give them that: mentioned a bit more often is that at least at some point kapow-i Becomes part android / referred to as a cyborg, thanks to the same character as in 2015 & prior's tragic backstory. i don't think this fun fact is like super constantly relevant or obvious, so i Could imagine something along the lines of blade getting the same treatment & it also not being particularly more relevant. or else the proximity of such concepts like "kapow-i's a cyborg, the serials run clip seems to refer to like 'we need this specific rando who is now blade to be injected with Ultimate Fighter elixir (& have their family killed. because) & people's whose bodies couldn't handle it are now kind of like funny little robots (cybernetically automated but with some personality)" & like blade we need you to be a fighting machine was thus sort of conflated lol. but maybe they're a cyborg like i think it happens a lot anyways

[quodekash]

An Analysis of Soren (and maybe other stuff too)

(sorry for bad photo quality that will inevitably come up)

I feel like people have said/thought that it took his father betraying everything and all the stuff that happened to him in seasons 1-3 for soren to properly be a good person (if no one’s thought or said that ever… I’m here to prove it wrong anyway). But I would like to say that soren has always always ALWAYS been a good person. He just didn’t realise he was on the wrong team.

(ID: A photo of a paused moment in The Dragon Prince. Subtitles say “They’re here” (assassins are here to kill the king). Callum is in the middle of the image, and behind him is Soren, who is holding his shoulder defensively. End ID.)

Assassins came to kill the king, and his immediate reaction? Protect the only person in this room who can’t defend himself in a fight. And I know Soren’s a crownguard so it’s like part of his job, but Callum’s not blood royalty (as Soren often points out) and he still protects him. And I have a feeling he’d do that for anyone at all, he’d see danger, assess the people in the room, and immediately defend those who can’t defend themselves.

soren always felt like his dad didn’t treat him right (one day I’ll make an entire post on this alone cos there’s so much to talk about there), but he probably thought neglect was normal, or made excuses for V*ren.

Soren is kind to everyone, no matter their gender, race, age, social status, whatever. Yeah, he bullies Callum but, as he says, Callum had a good dad and Soren never did (again, I’ll talk about this another time), so Soren projected it on to Callum, which is no one’s fault (except for V*ren). Yeah, he hates Rayla and elves when they first meet, but that’s bc a) he’s been taught all his life that elves are the enemy, b) he thought rayla had kidnapped Ez and Callum, c) they killed his king, and d) he just didn’t know any better. And yeah he annoys his sister a lot but that’s his job and he shows how much he ultimately cares about her (he was ready to flipping k!ll Callum cos he thought he’d hurt Claudia)

he is kind, and good, and noble, and doesn’t get enough credit for it, isn’t appreciated for his pure and lovely heart.

That was the… “Soren is a good person” segment. Now we’re on to the “holy bajoolies Soren is impressive” segment.

and it’s something that I’ve never properly understood. He’s literally a crownguard at 18. He’s above all the guards in Katolis, yet he’s barely an adult. Everyone else would surely be like 25-40 (idk if that’s historically accurate, don’t quote me on that) with years more experience and stuff than Soren has, and he’s higher up than all of them (note: and he still treats them all the same way he treats everyone else: with kindness).

But why is he crownguard? Is it because his dad is influential to the king? Maybe, but he’s a very very skilled swordsman, and it seems like the other guards genuinely respect him. And I can’t see Harrow showing any kind of favouritism, (remember the Lady Justice dream). So that means he genuinely earned that place somehow, and there probably would’ve been more than physical tests but also mental tests to make sure he’s smart enough to like know who to trust and when to expect an attack at unexpected times and everything else being crownguard would entail. Which means Soren is not only more talented and brave and skilled than anyone gives him credit for, but he’s also so much smarter than anyone ever acknowledges.

(ID: Soren from The Dragon Prince. Text says “Soren” and underneath in smaller text, “youngest crownguard in history”. End ID.)

[galaxyspark-6e16]

i didn't say anything last it felt a little weak but damn season 5 really surpassed my expecation

and now im scared.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

if any of y'all think i will not go all in on stomping on my blorbo's haters for basically going out of their way to ignore his development, i am sorry, you are incorrect

[imissthefire]

the forging bonds supports omfg 🥺

[strifethedestroyer]

Hi Strife!! Good to see you back king I was lowkey getting a bit worried, but I hope you’re doing at least a bit better now! Honestly please don’t overwhelm yourself or anything, you’ll pull through! Idk if it’s weird but here are some pictures of the one and only

jesus christ soren HELLO!!

p.s. to anyone reading this, i mention suicide in the tags very briefly and only once but still thought i should put a disclaimer juuuuuuust in case.

[trivial-writing]

Ike is either gay or aroace I will not accept him as straight. Oh fuck no.

[fictionallyinparadise]

I need to watch a more playthroughs of St//ay Out Of The Ho//use bc I want to see my boyfriend. Oh and the story too. But also I want to see my giant sweetheart.

[vauxxy]

RIBBONS ⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚

luke castellan x reader

based on this request!!

★ “the way you touch me’s like a curse that can’t be broken” soren, beabadobee

ABOUT - luke’s girlfriend convinces luke to let her tie ribbons around his arm.

WARNINGS - none!!

“i just think it’ll be funny!”

luke lets out a soft giggle, shaking his head. he’s laying on your bed in the aphrodite cabin, his legs dangle off the mattress as he stares up at the ceiling.

“no, no, you keep your ribbons to yourself, y/n.” he says, cracking his knuckles. you finish tying a pink bow around your hair; a cute addition to your neat ponytail. you walk over to his place on your bed, before putting your hand mirror on your bedside table.

you stand in front of luke’s dangling legs, your hands on your hips as you pout at him. he slowly sit up, tilting his head up to look at your face.

“you look really pretty,” he says softly, reaching out to grab your waist. his thumb caresses the side of your torso, causing your cheeks to warm up.

“thanks, luke. maybe you’d look as pretty as i do if you let me tie a bow around you…” you sigh, releasing your hand from it’s place on your hips to gently hold the hand luke positioned on your waist.

luke rolls his eyes, standing up as he let out a hesitant laugh. he leans in, using his free hand to caress your face.

his face leans in even closer, seconds away from kissing you. at the last moment, you step back. you held a finger over his eager lips, shaking your head as you stifle a mischievous smile.

“y/n…” he whines, his hand still grazing your waist, before it drops in defeat. you shrug your shoulders, taking another step back.

“sorry luke, i can’t kiss you anymore. we’re breaking up.” you say playfully, turning around dramatically.

“is this because i don’t want you to cover me in bows and ribbons or whatever?” he asks, holding back a coy smile.

you nod, crossing your arms. “mhm.”

luke rolls your eyes, walking closer to you. he rests his chin on top of your shoulder, wrapping his arms around you as he presses his chest around your back. his hair tickles your neck, making you giggle involuntarily.

“fine,” he whispers, pressing a gentle kiss on your neck. you smile widely, turning around to face him.

“really?!” you ask, your hands softly gripping his shoulders. he nods, sighing.

soon enough, he’s sat on your bed as you begin tying a ribbon around his toned arm. your thighs touch as your hands delicate tie the lacy pink ribbon into a bow, the feeling of your fingertips grazing his skin sending shivers down his spine.

he looks down at the bow, and then back up at you.

“happy?” he asks as you retract your hands, watching you as you smile at your hard work. you nod, caressing his arm with your fingers as you begin to attack him with dainty kisses all over his newly decorated arm.

you pull your phone out of your pocket, positioning yourself as you giggle softly.

“smile!” you coo at luke, watching him sigh dramatically before smiling for the camera.

“what a cutie,” you hum, taking the photo and putting your phone away. he stands up, wrapping his arms around you. “can you send that photo to me, actually?” he asks, his voice slightly muffled as he presses his face against the top of your head.

“mkay. why?” you say curtly, lifting your head to look up at him.

“cause it’s actually really cute.”

you purse your lips, smiling at him in victory. “told you. it’s all in the bows.”

he laughs dryly, leaning down until his lips are centimetres away from yours. your eyes flutter closed, giving him the signal it’s okay to continue. he quickly leans in, kissing you softly and his hand cups your cheek.

you wrap your arms around his neck, indulging him in his need for your attention and touch.

he finally pulls away, kissing your forehead before looking down at you. “i don’t have to wear this outside, do i?” he asks.

“yeah, you do.” you giggle, taking his hand and kissing his cheeks.

he rolls his eyes, pretending to be bothered as you drag him out of the aphrodite cabin.

honestly, he would do anything for you. he’d probably wear clown makeup and fortnite underwear for you.

he’s just grateful it’s just bows, and not minecraft hoodies and my little pony sweatpants.

A/N - i would kill for my little pony sweatpants. i want them on my body asap.

[sturnioloskyline]

flu season

pairing: matt sturniolo x fem!reader

warnings: illness, crying, language, sickening fluff(get it?)

summary: you get the flu and don’t tell matt, so he gets worried takes things into his own hands

being sick sucks. no one knew that bettter than y/n, who was currently buried under blankets on her couch in her apartment in la. this morning she woke up sweating with a pounding headache and an inability to breathe through the congestion in her nose.

she called in sick to work and stayed in bed until noon before mustering up enough strength to get up and make a cup of ramen noodles. she then settled to watch a movie on the couch, where she ended up falling asleep.

not far away, matt nervously chewed on the skin in his cheek as he stared at his phone. he had sent 5 texts to his girlfriend today, none of them having received a response.

matt knew this meant something was wrong, because usually y/n would text him a sweet “good morning” the second she started her day. they weren’t fighting, at least that matt knew of, so of course matt was sent into a anxious spiral over the lack of responses from his girlfriend.

finally, matt ripped his eyes away from the screen, walking over to the kitchen where his two brothers were standing, giggling to each other. matt ignored them and grabbed his car keys from the counter, immediately catching the other triplets’ attention.

“matt, where are you going?” chris whined.

“y/n’s.” matt quickly replied, stuffing the keys into his pocket and heading for the garage. chris and nick immediately looked to each other in worry at the expression on their brother’s face.

“is everything okay?” nick asked matt cautiously.

“i don’t know, she isn’t responding to any of my texts,” matt rambled, putting on his shoes. “i’m just gonna go make sure she’s okay.”

matt rushed out the door before his brothers could say anything else. he got in his car and began driving over to y/n’s place. he chewed on his lip nervously as he drove, his anxiety only growing the longer he didn’t hear from y/n.

after what seemed like hours, matt parked outside y/n’s apartment building and made his way home to her front door. he rang the doorbell immediately and stepped back to wait for her.

inside the apartment, y/n jolted awake at the sound of her doorbell ringing. her head was throbbing in pain, her throat was scratchy, and the air in her living room felt ten times colder than it was when she fell asleep. she got up from her nest on the couch and shivered, grabbing one of the blankets and wrapping it around herself.

the doorbell rang again, creating a sense of urgency as y/n tried to compose herself somewhat for whoever could be ringing her doorbell and disrupting her afternoon. she struggled to the door, messing with the lock weakly before finally swinging the door open.

“y/n,” matt sighed in relief immediately as y/n opened the door.

“matt?” y/n croaked out in shock. heat rose to her cheeks. she hadn’t invited matt over, and was unprepared for him to see her. matt and y/n had only been dating for a while, and she had never been sick around her ever. “what are you doing here?”

“i needed to see if you were okay. are you okay?” matt asked, his face scrunching slightly with worry once again as his eyes scanned over y/n’s pale face.

y/n didn’t know if it was the shock of her boyfriend showing up to her apartment, the embarrassment she felt from her sickly look, or how miserably sick she felt, but suddenly her eyes watered and her lip trembled as she shook her head at matt.

“oh, baby,” matt whispered, stepping into the apartment and wrapping his arms around y/n.

she immediately melted into his arms, a weight on her shoulders lifted as matt locked the door behind him and held y/n in his arms in silence. tears streamed down her cheeks as she sniffled into his jacket. matt leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“wanna sit down?” matt asked as y/n’s cries softened. y/n simply nodded, letting matt lead her back to the couch. when the sat down, matt wrapped one arm around y/n frame, letting her lean into him. “what’s wrong?”

“i caught the flu.” y/n sniffed, rubbing her sore eyes. “i feel like shit.”

“i’m sorry baby,” matt whispered into y/n’s hair, letting his fingertips graze up and down her arm.

“i’m sorry you have to deal with this,” y/n mumbled, suddenly shy of matt seeing her with her messy hair and in t-shirt and sweats.

“you have nothing to be sorry about,” matt scoffed, bringing his hand to her cheek and tilting her head up to place a soft peck on her lips. as if sensing her insecurity, matt giggled “you look so pretty right now.”

y/n blushed and leaned impossibly further into matt’s arms. “can you stay here with me?”

“of course,” matt spoke softly, pulling y/n closer to his chest. a few minutes later, y/n’s breathing slowed, and matt looked down at her head buried in his chest.

“babe?” matt whispered. y/n didn’t respond. matt smiled at his girlfriend’s sleeping figure before reaching over to grab one of the blankets from the couch and draping it over both of their bodies. matt leaned his face down to kiss the top of y/n’s head, before letting his own eyes flutter shut.

…

author’s note: pls don’t bully me this is my first try! i literally have never written on tumblr before and i haven’t written in like 2 years anyways, so. but if u have any advice or want a part 2 pls let me know!!!!!! OK BYE

[kradogsrats]

Now we know What Viren Did(tm), and...

My personal side-eye aside, that denouement is actually an incredibly elegant application of the story's themes, within the scope of restrictions imposed by this particular medium (i.e. a cartoon targeted for pre-teens and younger). Like, I personally assumed for a long time that we would simply never find out the details, because it would be either too grim and/or violent for the story's intended rating or... kind of a let-down. On the surface, what we got seems like the second.

Most of us have looked at Claudia killing the baby deer to heal Soren's paralysis and went "well, it was obviously that, but y'know... worse, somehow," which is a completely reasonable assumption to make. It was definitely what was narratively implied, which makes the supposedly-damning ingredient being "your mother's tears" instead of like... idk, "your mother was pregnant again and I used the life of that unborn child to save you" or something kind of "... oh. Okay, then."

To be fair, that might also be why they went so hard in the IMO inadvisable male-dominated writer room direction of "so I held her down and took what I wanted" to convey the requisite "he's doing A Bad," which is what all my side-eye is toward. But here's the thing:

On some level, dark magic is about violation—of nature, of others, and of the self. Even violation by Aaravos, ultimately.

But it's also not just that.

Dark magic also sits at the center of one of the primary themes of the whole story, which is the evil of denying others' personhood. We see it again and again from the angle of the heroic cast: "You keep calling it a monster," "You knew he was a person, just like you," "She's not 'the elf.' She's Rayla." The evil they do not allow to take root is seeing people as things, the place where all other evils begin. (GNU Terry Pratchett, IYKYK.)

So Viren's damning crime, the crime that is dark magic, is this:

In that moment, he looks at his wife, and sees only a source of what he needs. One that he can take from as he wills. That's why Lissa leaves—Viren has pulled the circle he draws around "people" versus "abstractions, things to be used" in so tightly that she has found herself suddenly on the outside of it. That's not something you come back from, in a relationship.

As for it all being over something as innocent as Lissa's tears, as opposed to something like her blood, her unborn child, her heart, her last breath—that's also, I think, part of the point. It's a renewable resource, harvested without doing permanent physical harm, but it's still a violation of her. This is the ultimate refutation of the "but what if ethically-sourced phoenix feathers" argument as being, for the final time, bullshit.

When Viren bursts in looking like he walked straight out of hell and demands use of her tears, could Lissa have given them freely? Sure... but she didn't. Could he have talked her around, if he invested the time and respect for her that would require? Probably, but again, he didn't! He took what he'd decided was necessary, did what he decided he had to do, because he could.

And like, he knew, even then. Because while dark magic twists your perceptions and reasoning, dragging you deeper each time—it can't twist you so much that you no longer have a choice. It will do everything it can to make you rationalize making that choice, over and over, but it can't erase that it is a choice.

Like, I'm honestly kind of emotional about it because while the surface level watching experience is kind of hmmmmm, it delivers so well on a thematic and meta level that I'm just like idk. Fuck. It's good.

[emmettspeakz]

Okay but if Corvus and Soren aren’t going to be canon, you gotta stop animating and voice acting them both arguing like an old married couple

[raayllum]

She Must Pay the Price, or A Drop of Mercy :: A Rayla and Leola Meta

Quick:

You're a young elven girl, and you show mercy and compassion to a human that you definitely weren't supposed to. When it's found out, you're punished, with elves even calling for your execution (6x09, book 1 novelization). Your father does what he can, but there's only so much. You're put on trial. You're found guilty regardless of intent, and only by association. You die for this; you die for them. You're a star. A guiding light. There's even a Great Fall off a precipice (though only one of you hits the ground).

Your name is Leola, or Rayla.

You're the beginning and the end, respectively.

So let's talk about it.

Tests of Love

For years, I had wondered where Aaravos' assessment of "Those who fail tests of love are simple animals. They deserve to be motivated by fear" (2x09) came from, cause you don't drop in a line like that if it's not going somewhere. It's quite a statement and worldview, after all. Now, with Leola's trial, it seems we know.

We can see, then, perhaps that Leola's gift giving was the first test of love — are you willing to break the Natural Law, the Natural Order of things? — to help another? To show another a source of power in order to share, to be compassionate, and in Rayla's case, to be merciful (though we'll get more to that in a minute).

We also know that the love Leola had was powerful and all encompassing:

She didn't care to follow the order set in the stars. Though she was born an immortal being from the Heavens, she loved this world... and all its flaws. Her heart was warm and open.

And she befriended mortals. Animals, elves... and humans.

ETHARI: Who I love, where I love, what I love, are all specific. But to Runaan and those like your parents... love is rooted in all families, all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close. (Bloodmoon Huntress)

Okay, so Leola and Rayla both have big compassionate hearts and befriend creatures from all over the place. So what? So do Callum, Ezran, Soren, and most of our other main good guy characters. Even Claudia to a degree (though she could work on not using magical creatures for spell parts).

Well, specifically, it's because of how they intersect currently more with anyone else on the concept of

Mercy

KOSMO: Daughter of the Moon, yours is a wondrous heart. In a moment of mercy, you sent ripples out into the ocean of time. Ripples that have not yet stilled. (6x05)

Rayla sparing Marcos, as noted in multiple interviews by the creators and by myself in previous metas, is ultimately the inciting incident / lynchpin of the entire series. Without it, there would've been no soulfang proposal or Ez running away to find the egg or any of the number of other elements that had to come together to make achieving peace possible.

While we still have details to discover regarding Aaravos' Fall and development of dark magic, we know that a lack of mercy was ultimately what sent him on his path of vengeance. Leola was not shown mercy, and while it seems there were already "flaws" for an imperfect world, things were (probably) better than they currently are in Xadia in a variety of ways. Then, to kick off the entire Saga, we have Rayla sparing Marcos in a soundtrack literally titled "Mercy" and have Kosmo, seasons and seasons later, spell out directly what a big deal this was for well, the ocean of time.

None of this is to say Rayla can't act out of revenge — she did ("when I first came here, I was on a mission for revenge") and she has ("but I became so obsessed with revenge"), much like Aaravos ("he isn't doing anything out of love, he's doing it for revenge") — but that her general compassion and love for others has always been stronger than her grief or rage, and that even when she had every social and personal reason to, she was and is fundamentally unable to hurt someone innocent.

Even when she's shamed or punished for it by herself or by others. RAYLA: The human looked up at me, and I saw the fear in his eyes. RUNAAN: Of course he was afraid, but you a job to do! (1x01)

EZRAN: Yeah, but then you saw he was scared, and you knew he was a person, just like you. RAYLA: That shouldn't have mattered. I had a job to do. (1x08)

The Cosmic Council — and to a degree, the Silvergrove — say that the reasonings or motivations, the intentions, behind Leola and Rayla's actions do not and should not matter when it comes out to doling 'Justice'. So Leola faces her justice, being literally killed in the one manner that can kill a Startouch elf, and so does Rayla, being metaphorically Ghosted / 'murdered' by her community, regardless.

Neither are enough to ultimately quell their light or their love/power, however.

A Star

RAYLA: That beautiful shining star you just pointed out? We call it Leola's Last Wish. (5x02)

So both Leola and Rayla are stars in season 6, literally and metaphorically respectively. Leola's is more self-explanatory, whereas Rayla's is mostly about the role she has in Callum's life as a guiding light and star. I don't think it's a coincidence, though, that just as Rayla placed Callum on his path of being a primal mage, though, that Leola did the same for humanity. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Callum's love for Rayla restores Callum's own light and agency amid Leola giving humanity the same through light and fire.

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain. Humanity had been given something it was never meant to have. (TDP shorts, Ripples)

In this way, we see the manifestation of a repeating parallel of Rayla representing Leola, a gift giver of life, magic, light, unjustly punished/killed, and Callum representing humanity, looking to the kindest brightest star for guidance, magic, restoration, and salvation if he's just given the chance to grasp it. After all, presumably, Leola's last wish would have something to do with primal magic and humanity, and who represents that better than Callum, with two arcana under his belt and possibly more on the way? With that in mind, I want to return to another quote from earlier but with a different focus on

Ripples

Daughter of the Moon, yours is a wondrous heart. In a moment of mercy, you sent ripples out into the ocean of time. Ripples that have not yet stilled.

The wisest of the humans looked upon the water. His own reflection smiled back at him, and he dared to imagine what such power would feel like in his own hands, should he be allowed to hold it. Imagine, he thought, if I were more than what I am. With a trembling hand he touched the surface of the water. Ripples spread from his fingertips. [...] I hope the stars were watching. I hope they saw it: the moment their perfect reflections turned warped and ruined, churned to chaos by the touch of a single human hand. In this, the humans taught me another lesson. And so I touch the surface of the water. I watch the ripples spread.

Water in TDP is a strange beast, symbolically speaking. There are some more straight forward motifs (reflections, "don't try to control where the river [of life] goes, there's one thing you can know and control: yourself"). For Aaravos, it's connected to deep loss but also his own sense of patience in playing and winning his game, as illustrated above. For Rayla, it's linked to shame, self-reflection, bravery, and loss. Aaravos weeps and creates a sea upon losing Leola; Rayla says goodbye to her family by the lotus pond times three.

We don't know what water represents for Leola. Not distinctly, anyway. The best we can figure though, is that by following the through line of the Rayla and Leola parallels, that the ripples Leola wanted to send out or did send out — not the distortions caused by her father and his grief — are ones that Rayla received, and then continued.

Rayla has always been a foil to Aaravos, and this hasn't changed. She is the one who set Callum on the path initially of being a mage, which put him in Aaravos' machinations as prey; she retrieved his Key; and she's the reason Callum's done dark magic, twice. At the same time, much like the moon, Rayla carries Leola's light as much as she shoulders Aaravos' dark. She literally represents light in Callum's life, helps lead him through the darkness, and him being a primal mage and it's possible growth to other humans is the best possible thing that could've ever happened to Xadia.

Sol Regem says that "no one can save" Xadia or fix what is deeply broken. The Cosmic Council said that Leola had broken the Cosmic order and had to pay the price. Rayla has repeatedly been willing to pay the price for both hers and other's actions in hopes of making things right, of sparing others' pain. Sometimes to her detriment, but—if Rayla as Callum's one Truth could fix the darkness within him, if she's the lynchpin for breaking the Cycle, for bringing back Runaan and fixing her family's souls, in opposing and presenting mercy amid the Council's lack of mercy, in the face of Xadia's violence—

Then Rayla's act of mercy in 1x01, and potentially beyond in S7 with Callum, will be what fixes Xadia.

Leola's gift of magic is what 'broke' Xadia, and her execution is what literally did so, leading to the division of the continent. She wrongly paid the price in the absence of mercy and love. Rayla is therefore her thematic successor — welcomed this time as Light and Truth — as the carrier of Mercy and Love, and she will 'fix' Xadia through her ripples and dynamics. She will mend them back together. There will, at last, be no price to pay.

Misc. Thoughts / Predictions

One thing I was always curious about going forward into future seasons was the prospect of a 'trial' or reunification of the Silvergrove. It felt like a no-brainer the Silvergrove would have to change in order to reflect Runaan's character arc, much the way we see Katolis and the Sunfire elves change to better accommodate the new, more compassionate world order. Pre-S4 a trial felt a little strange as an idea, though post-S4 the parallels it could provide to the Lucia tribunal made more sense about why include either (or both).

However, Leola's trial seemed to hammer home the almost necessity (as this is still a prediction, after all, that may not happen) of Rayla and/or Runaan saying their peace to the Silvergrove leaders. This would be a great opportunity to provide a contrast to the Cosmic Council, reaffirming that Xadia is ultimately better than them because the Moonshadow elves and everyone else can change, and the Cosmic Council seemingly cannot or will not. But I guess we'll have to wait for S7 or beyond (#GiveUsTheSaga) to find out if this'll come to fruition or not.

I also wanted to touch on what we see with Leola ("I'm so scared!") and the repeated emphasis on "recognizing fear as a moment of empathy and personhood" and the horror that can come if you don't have that moment of recognition. This is something I've touched on before most notably as a striking difference between S1 Rayla and S5 Claudia, but I thought it was worth mentioning as S6 added to it specifically with Viren towards Soren and Lissa. This is another point in the "Rayla is an inversion of the Council's lack of mercy" column, as Leola's — a child's fear, and Aaravos willing to pay the price and take her place — earns her no mercy. Rayla, meanwhile, sees someone innocent that she has 'every right' to execute is afraid of her, and that strays her hand; it steadies her sword, and she spares him. Because if someone is afraid of you, it's worth asking yourself why, and what you might want to do instead.

Last but not least I wanted to talk about Leola's parallels to Callum and Ezran as well, since they are very much there (though yet not perhaps to the same extent).

Ezran has Leola's friendliness to animals and soft heart. He too is a child whose death is called for as a means of Justice, and he is granted mercy through Rayla and the discovery of the egg, able to live and grow and help usher in peace. He is, I think, what Leola might've been allowed to be if she'd lived in different times. Callum, meanwhile, carries the gift giving motif through his cube, staff, and tokens he both gives to (moon-phoenix bracelet) and receives (the moon opal necklace) from Rayla, and previous 'human-Leola' magic dynamic. Callum being able to break free fully from Aaravos' and dark magic's control in S7 and turn his eye instead to primal magic will be what helps bring true justice to Leola and hope for humanity / Xadia in righting the Cosmic Council's fundamental wrongdoing. Hopefully, anyway.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into some parallels and potential narrative goings-on between Leola and Rayla as characters. TDP loves its historical and ironic layers in TDP (Ez and the Orphan Queen, Viren's arc from S1 to S6) and I think this layered thematic dynamic between the two merciful young girls was a good, brilliant choice by the creative team. I'm excited to see where this thematic thread goes in the future and how it may continue to be woven into the story. As always, thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the next one.

[beaupii]

minors dni 18+ / ageless will be blocked

content: aftercare, mentions of rough sex, nicknames, teasing (affectionate), alluding to cockwarming

pronouns: none; intended afab!reader

you let out a whine into felix's shoulder, your body settling after your lovely boyfriend sending orgasm after orgasm. your vision is still fuzzy, legs feeling like jelly, and your hands aching from holding onto felix. "you okay, angel?" he said softly, as if he didn't run a whole bullet train on you.

"mhm," you hummed. "felt good, bubba. 'm just tired."

"tired," he chuckles at you, sitting up whilst still inside you. "i did all the work."

"you wanna be the one getting railed for the next hour?" you raised your eyebrow, pinching at his forearms. he holds his hands up in defense, leaning down to press another kiss on your lips.

"i'm gonna pull out now," he states, his hands holding onto your hips as he does so. you whine at the empty feeling but feel the juices out of you leak. "good thing i put a towel down, i knew you'd make a mess."

"shuddup," you hide your face, embarrassed at how well he knows your body. he presses a kiss on your temple before taking the clean parts of the towel to help clean you up. you peek from behind your hands, watching as he makes his way off the bed. "i love you."

"i love you more angel," he says. you put your hands down to watch him move around the room. he digs in your drawers for some fresh panties and a new sleep shirt. he places the clothes on the end of the bed, close enough for you to reach over. your legs are still twitching from felix stretching them to push deeper inside you. "do you need water love?" he says getting dressed.

"please," you hum, getting dressed on the bed. your boyfriend disappears into your living room while you finally settle into your sheets. he reappears with a glass of water and a small plate with his brownies he made earlier in the day. "oh thank you bub."

you snack on the treat as felix pulls out his gaming chair from his desk. your head tilts as you watch him seat himself. now avoiding your eye contact, you glare at him for a moment when it clicks. "are you actually gonna play games after you just fucked the living hell out of me?" you questioned.

"no," he lied through his teeth. you could tell he was itching to play, his hands resting on the chair's arm rest. he finally makes eye contact with you. taking a deep sigh, before hanging his head down. "kinda wanted to do my commissions for genshin before it resets."

"you are one in a million, you know?" you place down the plate of brownies as you make your way off the bed. your legs hit the ground and sorenes is felt throughout. bearing the pain, you walked over to your adoring boyfriend who stared at you with puppy eyes. you make your way onto his lap, legs finding their right place on either side of him. luckily last christmas you had gotten him a bigger more comfier chair to sit in that could fit you both. "if you wanna play your game, i'm getting my cuddles either way."

he chuckled, adjusting your body to sit nicely on his. felix moved to grab a blanket beside the desk, one you kept next to him in case he got cold playing, and placed it over your body. finally tucked in, felix moved to face his desk to launch his game. "i would've cuddled you after angel, you do know that?" he reminds.

"yeah, but i'm impatient and needy so i win either way like this," you hum into his shoulder.

"needy?" he raised an eyebrow. "are you still horny babe?"

"if this is your way of asking me to cockwarm you," you glared.

"hey you said you were needy," he says in defense. "plus it'll keep you warm while i play."

"horny bastard," you huff.

"sooooo yes? or no?" he asks. "i need to know before i start the game, otherwise you have to wait til we're back in bed."

"this is manipulation," you accuse. he looks at you, knowing full well your answer. he taps your thighs with his fingers, indicating that he was being serious about waiting until later. "yes...but only because i want to. not because you asked."

"of course," felix smiles, helping you lift up your hips. "only because you wanted to."