HAHAHAA OK I WASN'T EXPECTING IT EITHER but i just knew kui would choose a vaguely horrifying but realistic way to answer "how do long-lived races deal with teeth inevitably wearing out" . one of my favorite things about dm worldbuilding is that the different races of tall-men, elves, dwarves , etc, they're all implied to have the same common ancestor, right? the ancient humans. and the way they split off into the present was bc of wishes granted by the demon, so i like thinking that elves in particular have biological quirks that aren't Perfect the way that like fantasy elves usually are Perfectly Designed In Every Way.

elf teeths......................................................................................

it's possible! this isn't a solid au, i'm just exploring the scenario of "delgal's execution" so there can be any number of paths. let's go through them:

the enemy captures the golden castle and condemns delgal to be executed. it's good sense to get rid of any remaining members of the previous royal line when you're trying to take their throne! so where's thistle in this?
-imprisoned. as delgal's court sorcerer and favourite, he's a valuable source of information. if we're feeling sadistic we can say they make thistle watch when delgal is executed.
-escaped. maybe he's hiding in the crowd, waiting for the right moment to disrupt delgal's execution!
-already dead :( thistle made a last stand to protect delgal and was overwhelmed and defeated.

if this is an internal coup though, it seems more likely that thistle would be subdued and imprisoned before they ever moved on delgal. they'd know exactly how loyal thistle was, they'd know he was a massive threat, they'd know he'd never cooperate with them. and they'd know how to capture him. thistle is kept out of the way until the new king is crowned and delgal is beheaded before witnesses, and like you said, with delgal gone, thistle has no allies left in that castle. this is actually a very fun start to a story...

oh man, and what if they keep delgal's execution from thistle? if he's imprisoned with no other source of information than his jailers, then thistle could be told anything to make him cooperate with them. delgal's life (which no longer exists) would become a more effective threat than torture

i haven't established much thats concrete about them because i wanted to keep things vague for rp purposes >_<!

with otto, cecil was more of a parent to him than in other aus. otto's mother has never been in his life, she carried him to term and then handed him off to adel and was like OK bye forever now, so he was raised by his father and his uncle. otto and cecil are close in the way that you'd be close with someone who raised you, but otto also resents how strange and restrictive and paranoid his family is and blames cecil for a lot of that.

because of the above, otto kept his partner maryam and yadhu away from his family, but well, things happened. and now cecil is taking care of yadhu by himself. he got yadhu a stuffed animal from build-a-bear recently, so that's good....?

i'm linking that one post i wrote that goes into more detail about my headcanons, but tl;dr he prefers men but blocks himself from feeling or acting on attraction because of past trauma.

i think in the faaaaar post-canon future it isn't impossible for him to find someone, but i feel like building friendships/other platonic relationships is going to be the largest hurdle in terms of like "having a normal relationship with people". i don't think having a partner would ever be important to him or something he can approach easily. i won't label it asexual/aromantic because i see it as closer to like, voluntary celibacy

every thistle i draw/write is nb transfem (in 21st century terms lol)! i like reading about any gender hc because it's interesting seeing ppls interpretations, but that is the one i like best and it works with how i explore his character in relation to his race and adopted family/culture.

i see his relationship with gender as both an intensely private thing that he doesn't want to share with others, and also a very public thing because of how he presents and how he's treated as a young elf by tall-men. in the society he grows up in, he doesn't connect with any idea of masculinity and feels more aligned with women because of that, but he doesn't feel 100% the same as these tall-man women either. examples though of how he feels like a woman are not just appearance, but in socially-constructed roles: mother, homemaker, nurturer.

there's an idea of "thistle is thistle" that he finds the most comfort in, and even though his differentness others him in the golden kingdom, it is also a source of pride connected to his pride in being an elf thinking...it's my hc that elves in dunmeshi don't have strict gender roles like other ppl and that gender isn't really like...a relevant cultural concept to them until they have to interact with other cultures. thistle, as an elf raised by tallmen, inhabited a role closer to "girl" or "ungendered child" than "boy/man".