#tdp fic recs

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

Rayllum Month 2024! (9/13)

what a mesmerizing, paralyzing, messed-up little thrill

July 17th - A Prince and His Princess

Hey! Nine (9) days left to season 6 and nine (9) prompts into Rayllum Month (9 is my favorite number 😁). This one was somewhat inspired by the amazing @zuppizup / zuppi on ao3 and their fic, Rumour Has It. You by no means have to read it to understand this, but I totally recommend it; it's a perfect balance of hysterical and introspective and explorative and I crack up every time!

They hadn’t even made it a day back in Katolis before Opeli was pulling Callum and Rayla aside, into her office and closing the door at an ungodly hour of the morning.

“Why are we here?” Rayla groaned, rubbing her eyes and slumping into the chair Callum pulled out for her, keeping his hand on the small of her back as he seated himself in the one beside her.

Opeli slowly, meaningfully, drew open a desk drawer and dropped the paper she pulled out in front of them, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You two…” She paced with her hands behind her back and muttering something, likely a prayer for strength so she wouldn’t commit high treason. “Would you like to tell me why there is a newspaper from several weeks ago about the two of you sharing a room in Xadia? Unaccompanied?”

“We don’t need a chaperone,” Rayla scoffed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Lady Rayla, I understand and respect that Moonshadow hierarchies are not like ours, but it shouldn’t take a comprehensive knowledge of politics to understand why this is, in fact, a big deal,” Opeli sighed, slowly seating herself across from them. She didn’t say anything else, instead folding her hands in front of her expectantly.

“Maybe I just don’t care,” Rayla muttered, and jerked her head over to Callum. “Maybe he doesn’t care. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but you have to admit that the amount people care about it is a little crazy.”

Callum took the newspaper as an out so he wouldn’t have to be in the middle of the two bullheaded women. “What the hell is this? ‘Prince Callum of Katolis and…’ Excuse me, ‘an elf consort spotted escaping into Xadia for some alone time?’ What the actual fuck?”

“Language, Prince Callum,” she chided, almost mindlessly.

Rayla raised an eyebrow, and she was just a little too cocky, playing a little too much into the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude for her to actually not give even a little, itty-bitty fuck. “Ooh, do you hear that, Callum? We’re consorting. Forbidden and fancy. Absolutely scandalous.”

“It is a scandal,” Opeli snapped. “That we have to deal with. Just… Gods, please, if I have any new little members of the royal family to worry about, tell me now. I will handle it.”

Read more on AO3!

[ian-the-existential-crisis]

A while back I read a The Dragon Prince fan fiction where Callum was able to bring Ruunan and both of Rayla's parents back.

Here it is if you want to read a canon fix-it that came out way before season 6. And honestly, I'll just lament over what could have been.

[thatartiststudios]

Finally checking out And They Were Zoom-mates by @zuppizup while listening to Sacrifice Tomorrow by Alec Benjamin...

And it's fitting so well...

Try it, I recommend the experience

Especially chapters 14-16...

[raayllum]

25 for the fic ask? <3

25. a fic you read this year you would recommend to everyone

Ah okay I actually do have some recommendations!

Obviously I'm loving @jelzorz's sorpeli series of oneshots, the most recent foray featuring Viren coming back into Soren's life in his late 20s/early 30s and I cannot wait for the next chapter/installment. If you like Soren, Opeli, or rare pairs, I'd readily recommend

I also, finally, this year got around to reading @zuppizup's amazing Rayllum canon divergence Purgatory (by which I mean I binged like 30 chapters in 2 days and then have eagerly awaited the remaining ones) in which Rayla fails her assassination mission and is unknowingly a prisoner in the castle for a couple of years until Callum and Ezran discover and free her. For something much lighter, I also really enjoyed the oneshot Cold Feet in which Rayllum deal (or don't deal) with royal wedding expectations

I also made my way through all of, at long last, @numptypylon's canon compliant fics for arc 1 of TDP, AKA Upside Downtime (from Rayla's pov) and Downtime in Wartime (from Callum's POV, which just hit different lemme tell you)

I really enjoyed arms unfolding by @little-red-alchemist-of-doom for a 5x02 missing scene inn fic with all the sweetness and dorkiness and unspoken pining, and @blutopaz15 has put out some likewise excellent inn adjacent fluff that I'd recommend for anyone who wants something less SFW

Other notable oneshots for me were:

worth the fall for the son and perfect bound (both stand alone oneshots) by @kradogsrats because they contextualize Viren and incorporate worldbuilding details in wonderfully angsty, realistic ways and I always love a good Kpp'Ar fic

last but not least was familiar as a ghost's by @mahpotatoequeen for some great back end / post s5 Ezran centric angst and hurt/comfort, in which our favourite little guy both processes and doesn't process all his own big complicated feelings regarding all that's transpired, and the trio + Soren bond in it, especially the broyals', is so sweet. Give Ezran more hugs!!

send me a fanfic end of year ask! :)

[zuppizup]

Finally have time to breathe and catch up on fic. Been really enjoying @konmaao3 new fic, A Price Paid in Iron and was very inspired by Rayla’s hair in that fic.

Someone please hug her. 😭

[disregardcanon]

Teach Me How to Name the Bigger Light

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Author: wordswithdragons

Relationships: canon romantic, callum & rayla & ezran, ezran & soren

Summary:

"What does it mean?" Callum asked, willing his voice and hands not to shake. The quasar diamond felt hot to the touch. The celestial elf looked at him slowly. "It means that the stars are not yet finished with you, m'boy." Following their successful retrieval of the prison, Callum and Rayla embark on a quest to the Starscraper while Ezran deals with mounting political tensions in the Pentarchy due to Zubeia’s sudden disappearance. Claudia seeks a new but no less dangerous direction, and Aaravos waits for his pawns to come all into place.

Poster's Note: i'm not always into spec fic, but this one is VERY fun. the character voices are right on the money, the conflict between ezran and callum regarding de-coining runaan.... the way that this brings callum and rayla into a survival situation with terry and claudia while poor ezran is fielding his emotional turmoil and a political mine-field... UGGHHH IT'S GOOD

[lunanightriderofthecove]

Luna i just wanted to tell you that i got your sweet comment on @a-very-sparkly-nerd and I's fic and it made my whole week 💜💜💜, thank you for leaving that and I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it 😘

You're welcome. And now you're making me very happy telling me how much the comment means to you ❤

[svperluminous]

[Fic Rec] Callum angst feat. Finnegrin

Callum's Odyssey by chaos_nil

Category Gen fic

Fandom The Dragon Prince

Rating M

Status Ongoing

Word Count 7,627 (as of chapter 4)

Content warnings graphic depictions of violence, torture, threats, emotional manipulation

Themes feeling lost and helpless • doing whatever it takes for the one you love • standing up to your tormentor

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Finnegrin takes the deal. But will Callum survive the torture? Will he really kill Domina Profundis? Will Rayla and Ezran be able to find him before it's too late? Or will Callum pass the point of no return?

[joukirah]

Those few days after a major show release when you wanna just binge AO3 but the writers haven't yet made that tasty fanfic cocaine.

[thatartiststudios]

@konmaao3 It's up on AO3, with a few chapters already if you haven't checked it out yet! Same for you @ultear-tigra! And thanks to mando for leaving some comments for me on there!

*in best Aaravos impression* You want Callum kissing Rayla's scars and mage wing snuggles, both things I can provide

[marylily-my-beloved]

FATIMAH / FAY ♡ -

minor. she/they, muslim, arab, pansexual, infp, please ineract i need more friends, fatimah isn't my real name guys ♡

spotify - moodboards @aesthetic-crows - microfic blog @marylilymicrofic (with @icarus-last-fall) - ao3 - reading blog @fay-reads-and-cries

a bit abt me !! : my main fandoms are the dragon prince (tdp), marauders (fuck jkr) and she-ra !! I love basketball, writing fics, reading, being a big nerd 🤓, baking, listening to music, and doing aesthetic stuff !! my fav colour is purple, and pleaseeeee give me book and fic recs I'll love you forever ♡

DNI IF:

Rasict

Transphobic and/or homphobic

Islamaphobic

Zionist / supports israel

Sexist

Discriminate against people for any stupid reason

Fics <3

➥ Lily and the Princesses of Power (ongoing). She-ra au, marylily fic, background ships as well. Lily escapes from the Death Eaters leaving Mary behind. 6/? Chapters ♡ On haitus sorry guys but I might update soon! Just have big writers block for this and I feel super bad for not updating :(

➥ Back at that Party (finished). Canon AU, marylily fic, background dorlene. Mary & Lily have a disagreement at a party and forced to sort it out together. 1/1 Chapter ♡

➥ Good Luck Babe! (finished). Canon AU, Lily x Narcissa wedding fic, end game narcissa x lucuis. Lily gets invited to Narcissa's wedding, and warns her about what could happen to her, and then dies a couple of years later. Main Character Death, 1/1 Chapter (based on Good Luck Babe! by Chappell Roan) ♡ (tumblr link)

➥ Burning Stars (finished). Canon AU, Bellatrix x Alice fic talking about their relationship in Hogwarts and how it ended. very angsty, hurt no comfort. 1/1 chapter ♡ (tumblr link)

➥ Strawberry Mentos (finished). Modern AU, marylily fic based on 'strawberry mentos'. Short and pretty cute and sweet. Getting Together fic. 1/1 chapter ♡ (tumblr link)

➥ Letters to A Happier Life (finished). after war AU, marylily. Lily is already dead, and Mary discovers their old letters after she obvliated herself. 1/1 chapter ♡ (tumblr link)

luv u guys !! dividers are by @cafekitsune and images are from pinterest ♡

[self-spaghettification]

rawrrrr this fic….my fav version of what happened methinks <3

viren timeline thoughts

These all feel directly correlated to me- maybe k'ppar had the spells that stood in the way of viren reviving soren and he refused to let him cross that dark magic line but with that whatever he takes mindset he maybe stole his spellbook and k'ppar threatened his life or position when he found out and viren had to coin him because he wasn’t willing to kill him in case he was useful later - or it was the easiest short term solution .

also this- it seems like lissa left before sarai came, and that harrow, sarai, and viren were all close - from this & some of the dialogue viren has.

and that it wasn’t dark magic poisoning him as much as it was losing his close bond after sarai died and harrow blamed him, he threw himself into his work further coming up with stuff like killing avizandum because he thought that might prove himself & fix things with harrow, only making them worse though because he’s not that emotionally intelligent(?) but yeahh

like being real and looking at the net changes they’ve produced, viren is a bad dad (& bad person) but good leader (helped 1000 people, took down a dragon that killed a lot of humans, killed 4 leaders & other strategic decisions butttt for bright future for humanity/humbling xadia, lava monsters would cause less people to die & it was reversible) and harrow is a good dad but a bad leader (this post goes in depth on it)

[cometchasr]

fic recs from many fandoms (MILD SPOILERS)

these are based off my likes personally and are in no way any form of review i suck at reviews

WoF

the dragon and the scavenger by wobblywyvern. one of the first fics i ever read. unfortunately unupdated since sep 2020, and im still crying over it. cliffball best ship.

finding peace by warrior of spectra. another one of the first fics i ever read. finished, very good, raging over cliff/peacemaker not being real but thats me.

different threads by firehawk1100. darkstalker/indigo. i like it better than shadow of the mind (his other fic, winterwatcher). just. beautiful. i suck at reviewing but its good trust me

diamonds fall and fates change by fabokraken. our first ao3 fic, woo!! the others except finding peace are also on ao3, but i found them on ffn and thus that site goes first. its adorable. its fucking adorable. i love arctic and foeslayer so much. i love not-evil darkstalker. i love everything. darlie is my beloved.

wings of fire: changing seasons by fatespeaker. actually a whole series. winter, therefore automatic win. the characters and the plot just... interact so well. the intrigue. it all.

Warriors

tinystar's beginning by twilidramon. i havent read this one in forever but. scourge!! my beloved. its good, i remember.

second chances and a scourge upon fate by deerlyqueery. more scourge!! we love our edgy boi. and we love making him gay!!!!

a spark from starclan, rusty's skyclan and collars and claws by salmonfang. theyre completely separate, and you should read their other works too, but these are the ones i read (albeit in diminished form because. lazy ykyk). there is, something. about this writing. beloved

blackfire: book one by xenonex. theres art, its adorable and fluffy, its also filled with drama, rarepair, everything

exile by mallowstep, aerial-jace and kudossi. something that holds terrible and beautiful memories for me (personal reasons). but just, the whole idea. the emotion, the vibes. the it all. this is the one that spawned the way i style my works, because i fucking vibe with the vibe so much, and ive turned it into a very different beast, but here it is. the core, one great part of my writing story. read it its so good

The Dragon Prince

(only 2 because ive read about zero tdp fanfics, it doesnt actually have any dragons smh)

the devil you thought you knew by strangefake. aaravos. AARAVOS. MAGIC EXPOSITION. PHILOSOPHY. BLURRY GOOD AND EVIL. DELICIOUS. wonderful as hell holy shit

sun fueled rage by photoniccyclone. sol regem takes over the world and we have to stop him. ungodly long chapters, lots of scenes, angst, angst, angst, angst, angst.

thats it but i know newt wouldnt let this list go without me adding my zanrex fic, the stars were forever bright for us, which im actually somewhat proud of. the cracks are showing, but they always do. also, you, the reader of this post, make some tdp dragon-centric fanfic. we're fucking starving.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

the history of this fandom and its works is long and expansive and storied and i have so many recs i would never be able to fit them here (mostly because i havent read like all of them). needless to say, we've started making our own content in overdrive at the lack of new shit.

the entire pmd writer's union collection. im in this server. fics are top-notch, environment is top-notch, except when it isnt for me and me personally. if one wishes to join i may or may not be allowed to give you a link. anyways, the ones ive read are down below, and are all in the collection (duh!)

warped skies by team ion. linked is the arc 1 rewrite, the original is here. its beautiful. its a trainwreck of emotions, and i havent started on arc 3 yet (thats the good shit). the chapters are extremely long, the characters are extremely good, i shill it everywhere, i love this fic and i havent even gotten halfway through. its the other main influence on my writing, although more in ambition and inspiration than in actual style like exile. hell, i started DoP because of it. the post is out there somewhere. its just. it is. it is, it is. i think you can see a common theme with my ineptitude at describing fics, but. read it. read it. masterpiece

daily life in pokemon paradise by kitsu-19. gates slice of life. beautiful characters. the moguls and swift and it all. its. its so interesting, and full of life, and you fall in love with the characters. it feels so much more alive. i cannot describe shit. read it, youll get what i mean.

royal replacement by turkeyuwu. gay. politics. legal document(s?) (just the one so far). great masquerade. untrained alolan vulpix uses light that burns the sky. plot inspired by a chinese webnovel, so you just know its gonna be batshit insane and ridiculous. i find myself incapable of describing shit at the moment. read it

My Little Pony

fuck it, we're going all in.

equestria at war, by EaW dev team. unlike all the others, this one requires about $200 to fully unlock. its a hoi4 mod, and its beautiful. griffonian empire best.

changing expectations by kkslider. buggos!! buggos!!!!! more importantly, actual mlp fic with gay in it! long, so many plottwists, phasma is our beloved slightly traumatised changeling king, actual history and lore, alcoholic celestia, pictures!! READ

afraid of the light by binibean. celestia trauma from all that bullshit. angst. somethings not right. i love these stories.

night wing by gravity012. guy gets SIed into a big immortal magic birb. stuff falls apart, he goes on adventures with celestia and luna, changelings and thestrals are very cuddly. so fluffy. until it isnt.

then it becomes very sad.

(also he freezes the tree of harmony for making nightmare moon happen. badass)

this is a fucking long list.

UPDATE: I FORGOT TO GIVE A LINK TO BLACKFIRE @xenomane FORGIVE ME

[thrandilf]

I'm willing to read most shadowpeach fics even if they are pretty ooc (I have a limit of ooc, but it's pretty wide) but fics I can't read are ones where macaque is just now in modern times meeting wukong. Like I'm sorry, but macaque would be a completely different person if he never met wukong. So wildly different that a macaque acting like macaque breaks my suspension of belief, and a macaque acting like he should in that scenario isn't my macaque anymore by any metric (might as well be an OC)

I sat here for a bit wondering how to say that I haven't actually found any Shadowpeach fics I like that I haven't written myself without sounding horridly self absorbed/picky but it's where I'm at

To be clear, I've only been in fandom for a few months and I haven't looked all that hard, I'm sure out of the 8k or so on ao3 there are absolute gems, just haven't found em. I'm open to recs! but I'm in fandom for characterization and specific dynamics which drew me to the characters in the first place, so you've got the biggest lead on me for not being picky/coming off as judgy, anon hahaha

In that circumstance you laid out I'd also wonder who Wukong would even be. He's influenced by his past relationships just as much, even if he isn't as overt about it as Macaque/he's had a wider range of influence since Macaque is more Wukong centered than vice versa, it would still be Different.

Fic of them in early or pre brotherhood would be really interesting! Or in this AU- a Macaque full out reincarnation would be fascinating if LBD hadn't brought him back. Like, that could be interesting, but their history is such a core part, even as obscured as some of it is to us right now, that I'd have a hard time trying to untangle it and make it feel like them. It would still have to be History on Wukong's end for me or too many pieces are gone from the jenga tower yfm

I'm also someone who writes canon compliant or adjacent stuff Most of the time, where I like to extrapolate and kind of take the edges of the picture and expand, like a degree removed from canon/plausible, but not putting people in totally different worlds or altering major canon events. Hell, I don't even make OCs for fics unless my arm is twisted by necessity (my novel length tdp fic has some OCs because I needed more characters for the mains to meet in the world/filling in vacuums left by foreign leaders being killed, said OCs are still as minor as I can make them while being hopefully interesting and serving their purpose)

However, I know that a majority of fandom really loves totally new AUs in other worlds/making OCs (LMK fandom is especially OC heavy which was a surprise to me) and that's its own writing exercise/source of fun, it's just one I've never had a desire to read or write. Canon for me is fun to explore more of canon potential, not to fuel something seemingly unrelated

As I said, I'm picky. I typically don't even read modern AUs for fantasy characters, it just so happens that LMK works so well that I love the futuristic world and get my magic meets technology kicks in canon, otherwise I wouldn't have anything written in remotely modern day within the past few years. LMK got me back into it

So I hear you about characterization/I probably sound like I live a stifled existence but I just thrive by being as close to canon as I can while playing with it, my most fun is different from others on the fan spectrum

And all this isn't to say that I feel like an expert in characterizing Macaque and Wukong- they're tough cases to crack. They're challenging. They both have their facades and levels of jadedness and sincerity. LMK requires flat out studying to really nail anyone I've found, even characters I feel more confident in writing- and that challenge is part of the draw for me too!

[the-one-and-only-aroace]

Anyone have well written “reading the books” toa fic recs cuz I’m pretty sure I’ve read them all on ao3

Links to all the ones I know of:

Secrets of the sun by @/sierice (also sierice on ao3)

Hidden oracle by @/nicos7 (kaeyuh on ao3)

Obligatory gods’ eye view both tho and tdp (tdp is currently in progress) by @/flightfoot (Keyseeker on ao3)

[lunanightriderofthecove]

It's here 😍

Chapter length: 8.1k=k Summary: Callum undergoes his trial amid finding a solution for their missing diamond. Ezran makes a decision on who to trust.

CHAPTER 13: The Stars Are Not Yet Finished With Us

Elara had been unwell for some time before he did it. 

Laurelion — Aaravos, Callum’s mind broke in, struggling to hold it in this in-between place, because Laurelion wasn’t Aaravos yet, now was he?—watched the humans struggle and starve while his sister tried to concoct Earth primal stones, while he assisted. It took the two of them together to seal one properly, and longer still to teach humans the right words. 

It did not come in time for the first harvest, or the next.

“We’ll be alright,” Elara determined, leaning more weight on her good leg. She’d tied her hair back into a tighter braid, her face grim, eyes bright. “We’ve survived worse before.” 

The humans had to eat and sleep. Their days were short yet long, Laurelion growing accustomed to the way she slept, the hour she rose at. She was one of the leaders of their growing settlement, a warrior who regularly went out on patrol, but not before teasing him over his books and magic. 

Today, though, he took her by the wrist and guided her into his study with a giddy grin. Elara peered over his shoulder, her shorter stature no advantage to seeing what he was grabbing—but Callum recognized as his starry hands picked it up, an object he had held in the real world numerous times—before Laurelion tossed it over to her.

Elara’s excited grin faded as she studied it. “It’s… a cube. You wanted to show me a toy?”

“Appearances can be deceiving, dear,” Laurelion assured her, cupping her hands in his and folding them over the small box. The runes were etched onto each side. “Once I’m done with it, it’ll be a great source of power for you and the other humans.”

“Like—a primal stone?” 

“Something better.”