The Dragon Prince franchise | Mostly Rayllum | Not a proshipper | Monoshipper | Sol Regem's simp | I don't hide my feelings or opinions | Icon by m4rs-ex3
Hello I'm Tate! or Iris or whatever you want to call me like. This blog is mostly focused on The Dragon Prince/The Dragon King franchise, 99% of it being Rayllum. Rayla and Arc 2 defender.
While this blog is mostly positive, I'm very vocal and unfiltered about ships I dislike (Claudium, Sorayla, Raydia and Raydiumā Sorayllum. Overall crackships with Rayla and Callum in particular) or fandom behavior/opinions I'm against of, if you don't like that kind of negativity please stay away from the blog. While I'm anti-harassment, this is not a proshipping account. These are tagged as #rant #tdp fandom critical or have an anti tag but I don't use the ship tags for vent posts.
For art #tategaminu art
Smut stuff (minimal) may be tagged as #sandwiches or #nsfw
I'm also a huge Sol Regem fan, I love that garbage can of a dragon.
Related blogs:
@dailyrayllum for daily rayllum content
@thedragonprince-perfectshots for cool screenshots
@tetagaminu parody account
@thedragonprince-amazing-details I don't even know man
@it-was-always-her-rayllumfanzine account for our rayllum fanzine
@liegau Scissor Seven stuff
@draconicarchive Dragons!!!
Feel free to send asks, or talk to me. I don't bite.
I sometimes post content from other franchises, it can be very random.
I love a lot that there's not homophobiaā transphobia or sexism in Xadia. I'm so tired of it in real life I don't need to see it on my comfort fantasy.
Callum stared up at the night sky and wondered, not for the first time, how many stars there were. He was sure that people had tried to count them before, or at least had come up with some mathematical formula to predict a probable number, but he didnāt think anyone knew for sure. The universe was so vast, how could anyone mortal even begin to fathom something like the number of stars?
The stars carried fond memories for Callum, of nighttimes spent with his first dad, and later with his mom, giggling around campfires and naming constellations. He had always loved stargazing. It was a fact that Rayla had discovered on their trip to the Starscraper. She had tried to exploit it tonight, to take his mind off of other worries by proposing a late picnic on a clear night.Ā
And it was helping, a little. Rayla was curled up next to him with her head on his chest, her breathing slow and steady but not quite asleep. Her warmth was a constant comfort, and he had to withhold himself from kissing her forehead every five seconds. He took a moment and let his eyes wander across the curve of her horns and the small braid that hadnāt quite been untangled from her hair. He smiled at her, rubbing his thumb gently across her back before returning his attention to the vastness of the cosmos. How many stars were there, anyway?
It wasnāt a question that pertained to Callum much. He was only really worried about eleven of those stars. He moved his eyes around and picked them out. He knew all of their names, of course, and he checked their positions every night before bed. They seemed to be especially bright tonight, as though they were taunting him. When his focus drifted away from them, he could swear he saw them moving out of the corner of his eye. Inching closer and closer together, like grains of sand spilling into the empty half of an hourglass, counting down the time he had left to live.Ā
He was being dramatic, of course. They still had 6 years, 11 months, and 24 days before the stars aligned. Before he returned. Callum did the math again in his head, although he had the numbers memorized by now. In just under seven years, he would be twenty-four. Rayla, twenty-five. Ezranā¦ nineteen.Ā
Nineteen. So old, relative to now, but so young in the grand scheme of life. Only two years older than Callum was now. Ezran didnāt deserve to have to count the days until his nineteenth year of life with apprehension rather than excitement. He deserved a life without fear, without constant fruitless planning, without the pressure of a throne, and a broken kingdom, and a new city underwayā¦ he deserved to just be a kid.Ā
But then, none of them had deserved any of what had happened to them at such young ages. Callum hadnāt deserved to lose his parents, nor Rayla hers. Soren hadnāt deserved the coldness of his father. That was the thing about the world, it didnāt tend to give you what you deserved.Ā
Rayla sighed contentedly and Callum brought himself back to the present. He checked the stars again. Was he up there right now, biding his time? Was he waiting as anxiously as the rest of them? Could he see what they were planning? Callum had never found anything to indicate that Startouch elves were omniscient, but it wasnāt the most thoroughly researched subject in Xadia. Maybe the scholars had missed something, maybe when Startouch elves were returned to the heavens they gained a sort of presence that couldnāt be accurately described in academia. Maybe their fruitless planning was utterly pointless anyway, because Aaravos already knew about all of it due to some special power he had as a star. Or worse, maybe he could see through Callumās corrupted eyes right now, andā
āCallum?āĀ
Raylaās whisper snapped him out of his spiral. He focused his eyes on her face, her concern visible even in the low light.Ā
āYeah?ā he replied softly, trying to sound calm.Ā
āAre you okay? Your heart started racing.āĀ
āOh, sorry. Did I disturb you?āĀ
āI wasnāt pointing it out because you ādisturbedā me, dummy, I was pointing it out because Iām worried about you.ā She sat up all the way and looked down at him, her hair falling around her face in a way that made her look angelic. āAre you okay?āĀ
He shrugged. āJust thinking.āĀ
āAbout?āĀ
āWhat am I ever thinking about?āĀ
āOh.ā She frowned. āI had hoped that stargazing would take your mind off of that, not bring it more into focus.āĀ
āSorry.ā
She smacked him lightly on the chest. āStop apologizing, or I swear Iāllāā
āOkay, okay,ā he laughed. āI guess I justā¦ feel bad for ruining tonight. It was supposed to be something peaceful, for just us, but, I donāt know, he just- he overshadows everything. He spoils everything good.āĀ
Rayla frowned, running her thumb across his forehead gently and brushing a white strand of hair to the side.Ā
āDonāt let him ruin stargazing for you, Callum. He doesnāt deserve to.āĀ
There was that word again. Callum sighed. āI wish it were that easy. I just donāt think I can look at the stars tonight without thinking about him.āĀ
Rayla smiled sweetly. āThen donāt look at the stars.āĀ
Callum cocked his head. āWhat? But the whole reason we came wasāā
āClose your eyes.āĀ
It was an order, not a suggestion, so Callum complied.Ā
āOpen your mouth.āĀ
He frowned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He trusted her, though, so he opened his jaw a little, and felt something small and cool drop into it. He pressed it against the roof of his mouth, covering his tastebuds with the distinctive tart juice of something he associated with Rayla.Ā
āYou brought moonberries?ā he mumbled, mouth still full.Ā
She giggled. āWhat sort of picnic would it be without any food?āĀ
Callum smiled, opening his eyes and propping himself up to see that she had pulled a small basket out of a nearby bush. She held up another one and he obliged, opening his mouth and letting her place it delicately inside. She grinned at him, and he grinned back.Ā
āWhen did you set this up?ā he asked.Ā
She shrugged nonchalantly, āA few days ago.āĀ
āA few days!? Rayla, thatāsāā
She shushed him, putting a finger to his lips. āCallum, people are sleeping.āĀ
He nodded and she removed her finger, allowing him to continue in a whisper. āRayla, thatās the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.āĀ
She gave him a playful scowl. āSweeter than when we held a forage feast in your honor?āĀ
āSorry, thatās not what I wasāā
āUp bup up, whatād I say about apologizing?āĀ
āIām not sure, actually, I kind of interrupted you earlier.āĀ
āWell what I meant to say,ā she scooted closer to him, until their legs brushed up against each other, āWas if you keep apologizing, I swear Iāll have to shut you up.āĀ
She gave him a sly smirk. The starlight illuminated her face with its soft glow, and Callum felt his insides flutter. He grinned.Ā
āI mean, if thatās what it takes, I guess Iā mmph.ā
She put her hands on either side of his face and pull him into a kiss. He melted against her lips, putting his arm around her waist and tugging her tunic to place her more on top of him. She pulled away after a moment and giggled into the air between them, their noses still touching.Ā
āYou taste like moonberries.ā
āI wonder why.ā He smiled against her lips, then pulled back a little further. He raised a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair back behind her ear, then stared into her beautiful lilac eyes.Ā
āThank you,ā he whispered, āfor tonight.āĀ
āOf course.ā She hummed contentedly and curled back down into his chest.Ā
Callum gave into the urge to kiss her on the forehead, then laid them both back down on the blanket. He looked at the sky for a moment before deciding it would be better to close his eyes and enjoy the present with the love of his life.Ā
He didnāt think he deserved her, but then that was the thing about the world: it didnāt tend to give you what you deserved.Ā
Callum leaned down and picked up a stick to test his hypothesis. It was something he had noticed pretty early on in their journey, and he had meant to ask about it, but then between Ezran falling through the ice, the dragon eggāZymā almost dying, and being betrayed by his two closest friends, he had sort of forgotten all about it. Until a minute ago when Rayla had jumped at something and unwittingly sparked his memory.Ā
Stick hidden behind his back, he waited for Rayla to let her guard down. It took a while, since she was always paranoid, but eventually her swords swung lower and her posture drooped. Callum smiled mischievously and quickly snapped the stick in half.Ā
Crack!
It was louder than he meant it to be, but that worked fine for his intents and purposes. Rayla immediately spun around, swords raised to their usual fighting position, and earsā¦ Callum grinned. Hypothesis proven correct.Ā
Rayla looked down at the two stick halves in his hand, then back up at his grinning face. She shot him a glare that wouldāve come in handy about a week ago. To melt the ice, that is.
āWhat was that for?!ā she demanded, pointing her blades angrily at the ground so she wouldnāt accidentally behead him.Ā
āJust testing something,ā Callum replied coyly, a smug smile lingering on his face.Ā
He dropped the broken sticks to the ground. Rayla scowled, turning to walk away. As she did, Callum pulled out his sketchbook and began doing some quick drawings to record his findings. He got halfway through the base shape of a second head when he ran smack into Rayla, who had spun around and stopped without him noticing.Ā
He yelped, fumbling his charcoal and dropping his sketchbook until it hung taut in front of him on its strap. He said a silent thank you to his stepdad for the ingenious design and reached down past Rayla to pick up his charcoal.Ā
āWhyād you stop?ā he asked, annoyed.Ā
āWhatāre you drawing?ā she shot back, scowl still fierce.Ā
He held up his sketchbook innocently. As she took it, Callum watched her visage transformed from anger to utter confusion. She squinted.Ā
āYouāreā¦ drawing my ears?āĀ
Callum grinned, nodding his head enthusiastically. He leaned in for emphasis before enunciating his wonderful discovery.
āThey move.ā
He leaned back self-satisfactorily, but Raylaās face retained a blank, befuddled expression.Ā
āWhat?āĀ
āYour ears!ā he reaffirmed enthusiastically, āThey move!āĀ
She blinked as if finally registering what he was saying, then glared at him even harder.Ā
āThey do not!āĀ
āYes, they do. See, look,ā he grabbed his sketchbook away from her and quickly finished his sketch. He pointed to each drawing in turn and explained.Ā
āWhen youāre relaxed, your ears look like this, like, pointing at a a light upwards angle towards the back of your head, but when you get scared, they lay flat, like a catās!āĀ
He grinned, hoping to see her expression brighten. It did not.Ā
āThatās a load of rubbish,ā Rayla asserted, āMy ears donāt move, and they definitely donāt move ālike a catās.ā āĀ
She made her fingers into quotation marks in the air around his words, further ridiculing his scientific breakthrough. He frowned, then brightened, tucking his charcoal into his sketchbook and letting them fall back to his side.
āIāll prove it to you, watch!āĀ
āIām not going to fall for the stick trick agaiā what are you doing?āĀ
He moved closer to her and held his hands up on either side of her face, but paused when she questioned his intent.Ā
āOh, right, sorry, um, is it okay if I touch you?āĀ
She gave him a horrified look for a split second, then cleared her throat and nodded. He gently placed his fingertips on the points of her ears.Ā
āSee, right now youāre relaxed, so your ears areā¦ well thatās odd.āĀ
Callum frowned as her ears dipped down below where his fingertips were touching, but not to a flat angle like he was used to. He glanced back at her face and found that her cheeks were bright red. Huh. Heād never seen that happen before. Had something scared her that his human ears couldnāt hear? Or was she sick, like on the boat in the river? He was about to voice his questions when Ezran piped up from a ways ahead of them.Ā
āCallum, Rayla, whatās taking you guys so long?ā the kid complained. Ā
Rayla immediately jumped backwards, turning away from him and hiding her face behind a hand. He noticed that the tips of her ears were also pink, and still pointed more downwards than was normal. What couldāve caused that?Ā
āComing!ā she called, racing to catch up.Ā
Callum pulled out his sketchbook and added the new observed phenomenon next to the other two. Satisfied with his rendering, he broke into a jog to reach the other two, continuing to muse about what couldāve happened to make Raylaās ears turn pink and drop. Whatever the case was, the ear thing was clearly more complicated than he had first assumed. It appeared his hypothesis needed some work.Ā
fandom about some mf (is a man): you might dislike this character but you have to admit he's very interesting. even if you don't like him, he's a very well-written character. he's very complex. so even if you dislike him you should maybe reconsider that. because he's complex and interesting. and i think deep down he cares so much. there's a lot to analyze about his decisions, which he was force to make due to the terrible position he was put in. and if you don't like him you don't really understand the show tbh.
same fandom about a woman who has done comparable or much tamer things, with a much smaller fraction of fans: this may be a hot take but no one else has said this and i have to get this off my chest. some of you might like her but she is a TERRIBLE PERSON! she didn't have to do any of those things she did. she put herself into a bad situation, inconveniencing everyone around her and showing no remorse for it whatsoever. you may like her but i just don't get it!! if you like her or defend any of her actions, you are probably a real life abuser and hate women. so even if you do like her, maybe think about that. you can like her but you have to admit her flaws. otherwise you are encouraging women in real life to murder others and commit crimes, which is ignorant and wrong. her sympathetic scenes are not even canon because they're so manipulative, performative, and trite. such a waste of screen time very obviously trying to get us to feel bad for a MONSTER! she clearly didn't actually mean any of the good things she's done. deep down she is just a rotten human being with no motive but to make other people's lives miserable. i'm sorry but that's the truth.
Day 22 of spinning this wheel and giving whatever tdp character it lands on a headcannon until thereās no more characters left!!!!!
Day 22 - Nyx
She was at Callum & Raylaās wedding . . . She wasnāt invited to the wedding and literally just appeared outta nowhere to give a speech about how sheās the reason Callum & Rayla are together
We have been focused in horn cuffs but what if these are the actual wedding engagement objects? I know horn cuffs seem to be the common thing with moonshadows but Callum isn't a moonshadow and Rayla doesn't need to follow the norm.
Both seem to be metalā moon shapedā same position and have the other's eye color (not exactly matching but still)
