Head canon time, runaan and ethari have a stock of mildly to extremely cringe nicknames, and like… three nicknames that can use in public
Runaans safe nicknames for ethari
Guiding moon, my heart, love
Ethari’s safe nicknames for runaan
Darling, love, dear
Runaans at home only nicknames for ethari
Sweetie, thari, mister E, riri, e-ri, thar-thar, and finally thari paw (like a shadow paw)
Ethari’s at home nicknames for runaan
Moonberry, ru, wuwu (said like he’s talking to a dog) big bad assassin man, naan (bread reference? Pun? intentional) my radient blushing bride, and finally because matching nicknames are funny, stride-y (like a moon strider)
Bittersweet (?) HC: During the seven years timeskip, Rayla starts to forget Tiadrin's face. But that memory is brought back when she sees Sarai's eyes for the first time. (yk cuz they hav the same eyecolor)
Sorvus is one of the ships with the most blatant "one fell first and the other fell harder" trope, and I think that's beautiful.
Soren having a crush on Corvus to the point of scarring his own eyebrow is hilarious, but not as much as letting Corvus escape kidnapping twice and almost a third time (it would have happened if Claudia hadn't intervened). Soren clearly thinks Corvus is the coolest and most handsome guy he knows (after himself). It might just be admiration, of course, to the less attentive eye..
BUT in the short story "Changing of the Guard" it's quite evident. The story is written in a way that almost seems like a confession, I mean, Soren seems too nervous to ask Corvus to join the Crown Guard, he tries to give a rehearsed speech to convince him, it's adorable. He says all that, explaining that it means a lot to Ezran, uhum.. to Ezran.
Now Corvus..
I'm absolutely certain Corvus knows about Soren's crush on him, he always notices everything, I like to believe he finds it cute. He doesn't do or say anything about it because: 1 - Corvus thinks Soren will get over this crush quickly. 2 - He doesn't want to hurt Soren.
Yes, it took Corvus two years to fall in love, slowburn indeed. Soren definitively won him over when he allowed himself to appear vulnerable to him. Corvus emanates a very demiromantic energy, where requires 100% mutual trust for a loving bond to form, so it's quite difficult for him to truly fall in love. And wow, when he realizes he's in love with Soren, he becomes more open, more smiling, more comfortable with displays of affection. And well, that fuels Soren to fall even more in love with him, if that's even possible.
Ship asks: Rayllum; 2, 18, 33 (I might have actually some of these before but idk 😭)
2. Who gets up to cook at 2am?
definitely callum. i feel like we've agreed that we've had to go from "neither of them can cook" to "well okay one of them has to be able to cook" and imh(correct)o that's callum, whose embroidering malewife formerly-pampered-now-a-strong-semidependent-prince ass has definitely taken that on. (rayla's had to roast a rat over an open fire she's had enough "cooking" for a lifetime). but also all of that's irrelevant because callum is the crown adhd prince of doing things in the middle of the night for no reason, so he'd be doing it anyway.
whenever she does decide to stay in bed, she eventually gets lonely and cold and gets up to follow him, sometimes making a cup of morning potion and getting in on the fun, sometimes with a blanket over around her shoulders where she's just wrapped around him from behind while he does his thing
18. What are they like when they're drunk? How do they act together? & when 1 is drunk, while the other one's sober?
i'm so glad you asked because i hate alcohol consumption but i love drunk rayllum. they are the only people ever allowed to drink actually sorry guys.
anyhow, the thing about them is that personally i'm of the opinion that moonshadows and their canon wine have an *insane* tolerance, so they can have the exact same number of drinks, and rayla will not be affected in the slightest and callum will be GONE. of course she knows exactly when to stop him like even when she gets drunk she continues to be the perfect moderator, she doesn't even mind babysitting him. but that's partly because alcohol heightens their disgustingness to otherwordly levels. one drink in and they immediately get touchy, a little tipsy and they're extra clingy, drunk and everyone must vacate the premises immediately because they are going to make it everyone's problem. literally opeli has to personally inform every server at formal events to cut them off - rayla included because he's too bad of an influence on her - after a certain point because they WILL start aggressively making out in the corner and as all their shame has been replaced with unbridled lust, nothing can stop them.
now i don't think they needed alcohol to make sarai but it's hardly a slim possibility.
Why I Unironically Think Zym Saving Claudia Would Be Awesome.
I have introduced this headcannon/Theory/hope to the TDP community a couple of times, and the reception has been mostly positive so far, which I'm happy about. There are, of course, a couple of people who were initially skeptical of the idea, and that's understandable because why wouldn't they be? At first glance, the idea seems kind of outlandish, but even they, after some further convincing and me breaking down my viewpoint, have warmed to it, which I find really awesome. I intend to use this Tumblr post as a thorough rundown of why I think this could work — and why I want it to happen —because Zym has so much potential as a character, and I think using him in this way could be a massive moment for both him and Claudia.
Here are the reasons why I think this could be a cool idea.
He's empathetic
We've seen this multiple times. He really feels for people when they're going through a hell hole, and I think as soon as Zym realizes what Claudia's been going through for 9 years, he really wouldn't have it in himself to fight her, capture her, or worse, kill her.
And if my other headcannon holds —that Zym is an actual empath, just like Ezran is, but with anthropomorphic creatures (elves, humans) instead of animals —it would help explain this even more. Zym is the only one who would truly understand Claudia's pain because he can FEEL it. Literally, the Zym empath headcannon kinda works too, because it would serve as an explanation for Ezran and Zym's telepathic connection —two empaths connecting.
2. He's not an enabler.
He's not Terry. Terry's biggest flaw was that, even though he was empathetic and caring, he enabled much of what Claudia did. And I'm not talking about dark magic either. I honestly hope Zym would be able to understand why Claudia uses dark magic and wouldn't really stop her from doing it (provided it doesn't harm anyone and provides little to no harm to herself). But even if you disagree that Claudia should still be allowed to use dark magic post-redemption, the factoid that he isn't an enabler still applies.
But what I mean is he's not gonna enable Claudia going after Aaravos and stuff. He understands Claudia's viewpoint and can appeal to it, but he also knows how dangerous Aaravos is to the world. So he'd try to pull her away from him. He might be successful in doing so by actually validating her feelings and showing her that she can have literally everything she's always wanted from the start without ending the world.
Terry also entered into the relationship with Claudia because he wanted one. Zym doesn't have this goal. While I'd imagine he'd be hopeful that they could become friends and would try to befriend her, priority #1 has always been— and will always be— to help her. And he's going to do that first and foremost.
3. What better guy?
Going back to Validating Claudia's concerns. Umm hello? He's the King of The Dragons. If he admits to Xadia's atrocities directly to her and tells her that it was all horrible and evil and that he's sorry it happened, but that he's going to make sure nothing like that ever happens again, it would mean a lot more coming from him than anyone else.
4. He's the only one left.
Not literally, of course, but the rest of the dragaang have all basically made attempts to either "help" her, which backfired in spectacular, obvious ways, or just downright kill her. Zym is the only one who hasn't been tainted by that yet. Claudia barely even knows him. And while there might be some initial hatred because of who he is and who he associated with, he's basically a blank slate.
5. It would give Zym something really cool to do
Zym's a character now, not a pet. That's clearly the direction Wonderstorm wants to take him, and I really like that idea. This could help show that by giving him something to do. Not only that, but maybe even disagreeing with the rest of the dragaang. Perhaps the others think Claudia's too far gone because they already "tried" to save her, and failed. Zym might believe there are still things that can be done, maybe even have criticisms of how the dragaang approached helping her in the past (I.e., by not even taking a moment to sit down and listen to her —really, truly listen to her). This may even cause some friction between him and the rest of the dragaang (because everyone loves some good angst), which will, of course, be resolved.
Or I'm just deluded about all this. Haha, either way, I've enjoyed sharing all this with you. I've written some fanfics that revolve around this exact premise, which I think are quite wholesome and show the kind of stuff I think would be nice. I've sent these to some people who were skeptical of the concept, and it actually partially swayed them after reading, which I'm proud of. I'll link them below; they're short reads. (Only around 2k-4k words each) So if you want to take a look at them and tell me what you think, either on Tumblr or in the AO3 comments, I'd be overjoyed! Of course, you don't have to, though :).
I guess you can say these all take place in the same universe. The fics don't need to be read in any particular order. The intent is that each of them can stand pretty well on their own, but if you want to read them in the order that they occur in-universe, I've detailed when each one takes place here. Basically, they take place in the order that they are listed, except for In Darkness There's Light Chapter 2, which takes place at the very end. So if you want to read these all in order (again you don't have to, they're all one-shots for a reason) just start with In Darkness There's Light chapter 1 and then read the other fics in the order that they are listed here before returning to "In Darkness There's Light" to read chapter 2.
Sorry if that order is a little confusing, I wrote these one-shots literally as I came up with them so. Again though, they can all stand on their own so you shouldn't have much issue understanding anything regardless of the order you read them in.
In Darkness there's light:
The first one in the "Zym saving Claudia" timeline, detailing her initial contact with Zym, and then some fluffy goodness afterwards in chapter 2 that happens at the very end of the timeline.
Story Summary:
A few days after Aaravos' temporary defeat, Claudia is destroyed. Her entire world is gone, and she has been reduced to a shell of her former self, merely waiting in this awful lake for his return, the one elf who can bring her light. That is, of course, until she gets a very unexpected visitor.
Having witnessed his friends' failed attempts to bring Claudia back, Zym decides it's up to him to try something new... He's going to make this right... he has to.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Dark Memories:
Takes place in-between chapters 1-2 of "In Darkness There's Light"
Story Summary: Claudia has been slowly recovering for the past few days, traveling throughout Del Bar in search of her mother. However, occasionally, events from her past still return to haunt her, and one night, she is violently ripped into the waking world from a nightmare stemming from an old memory. Luckily, she's not alone. Azymondias, the sky-blue dragon who had managed to track her down a couple of days pull her out of the spiral she was in, is here to offer his assistance. And so, with some persuasion from Zym, Claudia finally opens up about a deep trauma in her past that she had been hiding from virtually everyone.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Rebirth:
Takes place still in-between chapters 1 and 2 of "In Darkness There's Light" but after "Dark Memories".
Story Summary:
Disgraced and cast out, Claudia has spent the past three years attempting to repair her life from the shambles she was left in after Aaravos. Her road was painful, challenging, and long, and filled with way... way too many tears. Luckily, she's had the support of a few friends along the way, one of those being none other than the Dragon King himself, Azymondias. Finally, after years of painstaking work and healing, she receives an invitation from the dark magic legion. They are prepared to hear her case for re-induction, one of the final pillars of her life that she still needs to restore. Azymondias is all too happy to help her, but as the appointment approaches, Claudia seems far more nervous than she should be for such a happy occasion, and Zym begins to get the sense that something is really, really wrong.
Perhaps him coming along might've been more necessary for Claudia's well-being than he first thought...
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Nyx did in fact see Claudia's magic flying ball and considered throwing it to the ground(just like Ethari's message), but given that last time she did something similar she ended up hurt, electrocuted, unable to fly and surrounded by soulfang serpents she decided against it.
Even now that Nyx is sailing around with Villads she often visits Daisy and brings her treats, because look at them
You think she would just abandon her forever?
Nyx likes sparkly things but so does Berto. So as you can imagine they constantly steal each other's shinies
Daisy sometimes pretends she doesn't understand what Nyx is asking her to do just to mess with her(you cannot convince me that she doesn't understand after all that time traveling together)
Daisy loves snout pets
Nyx has definitely painted/try to paint Daisy's toenails
Runaan: Runaan takes his tea weak, it’s canon, he also drinks it hot.
Ethari: Ethari likes his tea a little stronger than usual with two spoons of sugar, he drinks his tea hot.
Rayla: Rayla doesn’t really drink tea too much, when she does she usually makes it like how runaan does.
Callum: Callum likes his tea strong and freezing cold with an ungodly amount of sugar in order to stay awake while studying and replenish his energy from spell work.
Ezran: Ezran doesn’t drink tea often, but when he does, he likes it normal strength, 5 spoons of sugar and warm.
Anaya: Anaya likes her tea warm, rather strong, with a spoon of sugar.
Amaya: Amaya likes her tea hot, little stronger than normal, with two spoons of honey.
Janai: Janai likes her tea strong and hot, she either adds no honey, or five spoons of honey, no between.
Kazi: Kazi likes their tea strong and hot without sugar in order to stay awake while studying.
Gren: Gren likes his sugar with some warm, normal strength tea.
Soren: Soren only drinks tea if he’s sick, he just drinks it hot, normal strength, with a bit of honey.
Corvus: Corvus likes his tea normal strength, cold, and with four scoops of honey.
Kpp’Ar: Kpp’Ar will put two different flavors of tea in the same cup, he adds one spoon of sugar, he also always adds a splash of milk to his tea.
Viren: Viren likes his tea as dark, black, and bitter as his soul and magic.
Aaravos: Aaravos takes his tea with so much sugar that it’s surprising that it’s still liquid, he also likes his tea hot and aggressively strong.
Kim’dael: Kim’dael takes her tea a bit stronger than normal with no sugar, she also drinks her tea while it’s warm.
Claudia: Claudia drinks her tea like how the people she loves drink their tea.
Terry: Terry likes his honey with some hot, strong green tea.
Opeil: Opeil takes her tea strong, hot, and with two spoons of sugar.
Villads: Villads doesn’t really drink tea too often because he’s on the sea so much, on the rare occasion he drinks some, it’s warm, a bit weaker than normal with no sugar.
