leethee

Like, it's not an accident that arc 1 wraps up with Rayla being an assassin — killing a king of Katolis — and with Claudia being a dark mage — reviving her father-king of Katolis — and it's also not an accident that season 7 ends with Callum choosing to be a dark mage subsequently leading to Rayla choosing to fulfil her assassin pledge, precisely because his request for her to kill him (or be an assassin) in the first place was predicated precisely on his dark magic usage. Terry says "he saw a way with less darkness and sacrifice," because those things are about dark magic, yes, but also about being an assassin ("do the right thing: make the sacrifice" / "so I could carry out my dark work").

This is because the narrative tension in being an assassin is also the one that exists with being a dark mage. You dehumanize others, yes, the world around you — your targets, your spell parts — and yourself — "and you saw he was a person, just like you" "that shouldn't have mattered". To be an assassin, to be a dark mage, is to see yourself as already dead, to see whatever (or whoever) you kill as already dead, too. The loss is inevitable. This is for your, or others', protection. And in return, you lose everything: your family, your life, yourself.

Callum seeing his dark magic reflection in the assassin lotus pond.

Rayla + negatively exceptionalizing herself

It doesn't matter what happens to me.

Despite the elves' warning, the unicorns bestowed the ways of magic onto the humans. They gifted a few wise humans with powerful orbs called primal stones, which contained vast magical energy.

possible kh4 + new titles and collaborations schedule leak -> KH4 teaser-> Lego Sora Fortnite leak -> increase of KH merchandise in stores -> D23 KH panel announced -> Khml opening leak -> Tron Ares KH4 world rumor

Like, Ezran is effectively a character who has Zero explicit thoughts about either dark or primal magic beyond 1) it makes Callum happy, and 2) rejecting the dark magic pancakes in 2x02, until season 7, wherein he starts engaging with magic directly precisely after his High Mage brother has up and abandoned him and his post. In many ways, Aanya (and her mages by proxy) then shift to take on said high mage role, offering Ezran magical solutions to the "dragons are dangerous" problem, and even when that falls more to the background in 7x07, it just leads to Ezran seeking out an even more powerful, dangerous weapon: the Nova Blade.

This is, of course, to reaffirm just how much Ezran has changed... but Ezran seeking out weapons that can kill dragons, as Claudia becomes increasingly draconic and more allied with dragons (hi Luna Devorans), on top of Ezran's escalation of "weapons of mass destruction" going to "the weapon of mass destruction," a weapon that is also tied to a dragon, a weapon that is also tied to Claudia, who has the shield, an object of protection, to his sword, an object literally created only to kill

And on top of that, then in arc 3 you have Ezran continuing to grow in and power, just as Claudia has become more powerful as a mage (and remember, Ezran now relies on magic in ways he didn't before!!) AND in a political royal sense by allying herself with another King who would make her His Queen

But the middle can be whatever we want

If you care at all about people who have anxiety, autism, OCD, CPTSD, or any other number of "ruminating," "nervous," and "catastrophizing" conditions or dispositions, you need to abandon this phrase and others like it IMMEDIATELY:

"I need to talk, give me a call."

The PROBLEM isn't the request, it's ambiguity and unnecessary room to worry. Here's a little help, for the confused and ambiguous communicating types:

❌ "We need to talk."

✅ "Can we talk? I've been thinking about what you shared last night and I'd like to tell you more about my perspective."

❌ "Have you looked at your email yet?"

✅ "Did you see the email about the flight change? We'll need to update our plans."

❌ "Please come see me sometime today."

✅ "Do you have time to swing by my office and to go over the report? I have some feedback before it gets sent out."

❌ "Give me a call when you have a sec."

✅ "Can you call me so we can talk about when to meet to plan the presentation?"

❌ "When can we talk?"

✅ "When can we catch up? I miss you!"

GUESS WHAT???? Being kind not cryptic does mean saying/typing/sending MORE words vs. less. And that's fine--just say/type/send them. Your choice to take 2 minutes instead of 15 seconds will be a HUGE weight of mental load off your anxious receiver. You may save them hours or days of ruminating/worrying/obsessing.

This is especially important if you have power over them, aka, you are a boss/teacher/parent. Especially because some of these same folks won't feel comfortable saying back to you, "about what?" they'll just go on worrying until you say more. Even if they know they shouldn't. Even if they try their best to "assume positive intent." Even if they take anti anxiety or other mental health meds to help.

INTERESTINGLY, I have also heard people who say they cannot stand it when someone does this to them DO IT TO OTHERS because they forget that it sounds cryptic as fuck and they only remember their own firsthand experience. You may know that when you texted "When can we talk?" you are happily reaching out to chit chat, but they might hear it as "something's wrong in our relationship and it's so bad I'm not going to say it until we talk" and then they are wracking their brains to figure out "what they did wrong" when the answer is literally fucking nothing.

Clarity is kindness.