mydearcaptainlaurence

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

I’m so glad after re-reading the books and re-visiting the fandom (small, but grown so much since the books were being released), that there’s a general agreement:

Will Laurence unknowingly collects ride-or-dies. (Some literally lol)

Everyone wants him. Including Napoleon. And the Tsar of Russia.

Man’s been around the world and they follow (Granby, the-journey-tempts-me Tharkay, Roland, Ferris, Demane and Sipho, even Dyhern…)

Of course the most important relationship is his co-dependent giant cat dragon, who is also his child because William Laurence is absolutely a dad.

(and a girl dad. I love his relationship with Emily Roland so much.)

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

i see no reason why William Laurence can’t have a boyfriend AND a girlfriend/FWB AND a ridiculously co-dependent paternal/platonic bond with his giant needy dragon child

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

My hot take about John Granby and the Temeraire series is that Granby was in love with Laurence since the middle of Throne of Jade and never really got over it, and that all of the characters are at least a little bit in love with Laurence because well, who wouldn’t be

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Good a time as any to start Temeraire posting. Who wants to talk Temeraire w me Im about to finish Blood of Tyrants

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

The thing about the Temeraire series is that you are presented with a protagonist: Captain Will Laurence, until recently of His Majesty's Navy, third son of the Earl of Allendale, runs a tight ship but well-liked by his crew, very keen on respect and formality, loves his country and his duty. And you accept that protagonist and he has very different set of values than you, and he adheres to different social norms, and you don't quite understand him but he seems like a decent guy and you feel bad for him because he's just been thrust into a world that's alien to him. And then the whole point of the rest of the series is dismantling this dude's entire worldview, challenging his beliefs to and beyond the breaking point, forcing him to leave behind his systems of service and honour and manners and becoming a better, more thoughtful and more complicated person who values justice and equality and also his own life above duty to his country, and then

the Blood of Tyrants amnesia plot happens and you and he both are confronted with just how much he has changed. He's almost unrecognisable both to his friends and to you, the reader, and you realise that you almost hadn't noticed how stark the difference is between book 1 Will Laurence and book 8 Will Laurence. Yes the battles and the geopolitics are fun but to be honest to me these books are about Will Laurence's character arc and exploring how people can change and grow from how they were raised and how your view of the world shifts once you start seeing the cracks in the system.

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

very funny that the overarching plot of the Temeraire books is “closeted centrist bisexual is radicalized by his large cat, who is a dragon, and also napoleon is there”

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Temeraire illustration made for Laurence some months ago! 

Posted using PostyBirb

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Imagine fighting for your life with guns AND swords while strapped to a roller coaster that can do the full loops

AND also there are bombs that are dropping everywhere from above,

AND cannons aiming if you go too far below

AND also possible collisions with other similar roller coasters that have giant claws AND razor sharp teeth.

Oh AND sometimes there are flamethrowers AND the occasional spray of acid—

All while you hang on like a little beanie baby.

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Temeraire (the series) is fantastic so far because Naomi Novik innately understands what the funniest parts would be of having a gigantic dragon who is incredibly smart but also technically only a year old. And also can blast apart ships with his breath. Like yes we are on a very important diplomatic mission to China...but what if Temeraire had a cold and his sneezes all had divine wind energy LOL

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

UM NAOMI NOVIK I WOULD LIKE A HAND WRITTEN APOLOGY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO LEVITAS

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Coming to the Rankin part again is beautiful in all ways (except for poor Levitas). Especially the parts I didn’t catch before, where I realize that Laurence is pretty damn strong, besides having “broad shoulders” and a booming voice: 

Laurence took him by the scruff of his coat and dragged him up to his feet

holding Rankin up by the collar and the arm.

Judging by the astounded reactions of the aviators, and the way that: 

Rankin said nothing, only stared as if Laurence were a dangerous lunatic. Laurence shook him again.

my headcanon is that no, Laurence, they’re all staring at you because they’re all thinking mother of Jesus, I did not know he could pick up a grown man with one hand, holy shit, imagine what he could do with TWO hands on you

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Love what it says about the closeness of their relationship that Will Laurence, who feels embarrassed even telling anyone that Temeraire is an imperial because it feels like showing off, and later restrains from talking about Temeraire to his navy friends in case they find him annoying, is happy to brag to his mother about how amazing Temeraire is with 'unconcealed pride'.

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Temeraire Fanfic AU Ideas, featuring Lung Tien Lien

(Re-posting this on my own tumblr blog rather than a reblog addition bc I ended up having fanfic ideas. Feel free to use! )

1. What if Lien was born around same time as the twin eggs and she was also a sign they were unlucky then she gets sent away alongside Temeraire. And she's like Temeraire's protective older sister/guardian? So she's smaller, her growth stunted at the moment but she’s able to go on Amitie ship and protects Temeraire?

I dunno though lol she'd murder the entire crew of Reliant though maybe some crazy heroic Laurence stunt like saving the egg from rolling off to the sea or a crazed scared sailor (maybe French who thinks egg was unlucky or they didn’t want it in British hands) deciding to destroy egg, he gets spared (and advocates for rest of his crew) and becomes Temeraire’s companion.

Still named Temeraire cuz Laurence doesn’t understand Lien speaking Chinese or French and was saying Xiang was his name.

2. Lien’s egg is hatching same time as the twin eggs. Lien's egg is already miscolored so Chinese think something wrong with her but don’t want to destroy an egg if twin eggs exist as that sounds like a bad omen. So they send her away with other twin.

She and Temeraire hatch same time and act like siblings and end up sticking to Laurence like glue, so they share to the dismay of Admiralty.

Note: need a plausible name for Lien. Maybe Temeraire was first so ahh Laurence names her after another ship? 😅 or he has time to think and names her after something light in nature/or i dunno something historical and graceful, serene looking. Or maybe a constellation he sees at night.

Oh what about Seraphim?

I mean could you imagine if Lien and Temeraire act in sync in aerial maneuvers?

Maybe many years later, Lien goes rogue and decides to attack China (for sending her away.) or attack Britain for whatever offensive thing or rebel or something that Temeraire and Laurence have to pull her back from.

3. Tharkay is present on Reliant too for some mysterious mission. He and Lien bond over being outcasts because of their looks. She goes with him and Tharkay names her in maybe a Nepalese word for eagle/bird/flying/freedom.

Hmmm maybe need pressed ganged Chinese sailor to explain things if need be (bc Europeans don’t actually realize Lien is considered unlucky color. Just general sailor superstition bad luck weather). Or Tharkay probably guessed/knew Chinese considered white color symbolism.

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Awww, Lenore means light!

I don’t think Lien and Laurence directly interact with each other that much hmmm.

Laurence would show mercy and kindness to any dragon out of the shell (Kulingile). He would feed Lien if noone wanted to approach her bc she was unlucky,

I would be sad if Laurence never gets closer to Temeraire, but if you ever read Golden Age and Other Stories by Naomi Novik, I think Laurence and Temeraire are fated to meet each other and form a strong bond.

Fic idea: What if Lien was born around same time as the twin eggs and she was also a sign they were unlucky then she gets sent away alongside Temeraire. And she’s like Temeraire’s protective older sister/guardian? So she’s smaller and protects Temeraire? I dunno though lol she’d murder the entire crew of Reliant though maybe some crazy Laurence stunt (like saving the egg), he gets spared,

Fic idea variation 2: Lien’s egg is already miscolored. She and Temeraire hatch same time and act like siblings and end up sticking to Laurence like glue, so they share to the dismay of Admiralty.

Fic idea variation 3: Tharkay is present on Reliant too for some mysterious mission. He and Lien bond over being outcasts bc of their coloring. He names her something that means flight or bird or eagle.

(I get why Lien probably saw a savior in Yongxing. Actually, I do think she found a worthy companion in Napoleon. )

Au where,,, au where Lien hatches for Laurence, an- and he calls her Lenore

And they make a little awning on the Reliant so she can keep mostly in the shade

And Laurence says that her white and red hide makes her look saintly

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

I'm sorry but the first act of His Majesty's Dragon is so funny if you take it from the average Reliant sailors' point of view.

Imagine doing your job, business as usual. High risk job sure, but the boss is pretty cool. Sure, he's an uptight square and is all about Duty but he's not a vicious basatard who takes delight in beating the shit out of everyone crossing his way, which puts him leagues above your average boss in their work field.

Then during a typical Thursday your coworkers suddenly come across a mix between a fighter jet and a demon, from what you understand, and boss is like "okay, let's get it back home" and the high ups draw lots to decide who gets to deal with the fighter jet and join the Demon Fighter Jet Sex-Crazed Cult. Luckily it's the intern who gets picked and maybe it's a bit too convenient but hey, at least it'll be out of everyone's hands.

Except next thing you know, the intern definitely doesn't cut it for the job.

So your boss then decides to become the demon fighter jet's adoptive dad and quits his job on the spot.

Now you have to endure several months at sea witnessing your now Former Boss coddling and fussing over the demon fighter jet, calling it pet names, reading it bedtime stories, having sleepovers on the deck, taking it fishing and generally being a better dad to that weird French (??? You guess??) Flying Creature than your own dad ever was.

It's a weird situation but hey, now that you reached land and your former boss takes his leave and goes to join the Demon Fighter Jet Sex-Crazed Cult, you won't have to deal with that weirdness anymore, right ?

(Some years later if you survive your job until then, your former boss will be your client, he'll get adopted by the emperor of China then fuck off in the desert, you'll meet him again when he needs to find meds to dragon tuberculosis, then you learn he committed treason, then you'll have to drive him to Bumfuck, Nowhere Prison, then you'll get shipwrecked, and somehow your former boss is the reason why fighter jets have legal rights, unions and get paid now)

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

For an antagonist, I could never fully hate Lien because of her loss end of Throne of Jade (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers).

And let’s be real, the Admiralty/British government was even worse later as far as villainy goes. (Temeraire even becomes enraged enough to make similar threats as Lien). Also, hello, opium trade so she had her reasons to dislike opening China to the world.

I recently read this wonderful character study/backstory on AO3! It’s so beautiful and made me weep in empathy. We read in the novels that she was considered unlucky when she was born, but we skip over it to present time in books in Laurence’s (and later Temeraire’s) POV so we are detached from Lien.

The given summary of this 💔😭

Here it is below! Dragons, no matter how smart from the egg, are still so vulnerable and innocent.

[mydearcaptainlaurence]

Every single time Laurence calls Temeraire “my dear” I get warm and fuzzy inside.