#the dragon is named justinian bc hornblower was like [sweats] how do i name things | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

johnbly · 9 months

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WIP game!

i was tagged by @tortoisesshells ✨

so i have two fics going one rn: 1) in the boat purgatory in at world's end, james comes across gov swann and the two have a final conversation together (not using that for this since i haven't done too much but something to look forward to i guess) and 2) bolt's "what if james had a dragon" fic and subsequent discussions and questions has me now doing a "what if hornblower had a dragon" fic so here is an excerpt from that:

“Who are you?” The dragonet is speaking French, and internally Hornblower swears. Is French the only language the creature knows? It’s no issue for him, of course, but how can it be expected to be a British dragon if it only knows French? “Captain Horatio Hornblower, most recently of the HMS Sutherland,” he replies, also in French – awkwardly so, because it’s a ridiculously formal introduction to make to a dragon, but in light of never having conversed with one before he’s fallen back on the old habit of saying more than is necessary. “That is not a French name,” the dragon says. In English. “Non – no, it is not. You speak English, then?” “I do.” Pause. “That was a long introduction. I hope you don’t want me to use it whenever I want to call on you?” The idea of a dragon wanting to call on him at all is no less ridiculous than having a conversation with one, but it – he? The voice is deep – has a point. “You can call me 'Hornblower',” he says.

i don't remember who all is writing things that hasn't already been tagged, so if you see this and are a writer, feel free to share!

#thanks tortie! glad i had something to share #further context: it's at the end of flying colours as you may have guessed from hornblower's intro #when he bush and brown go to steal the witch of endor they find the egg #bc originally the egg (maybe some others too?) was being sent by the navy somewhere but then as we know she was captured by the french #so now the french are getting ready to move the egg somewhere but surprise the escaped british prisoners are stealing your ship #the dragon is named justinian bc hornblower was like [sweats] how do i name things #and started thinking about the names of his ships but accidentally said them aloud and the dragon was like 'i like justinian thanks'#the fic just covers the finding/hatching/reuniting with the fleet #but i do intend to reread temeraire eventually so maybe more will come #...i hope there are no typos in these tags #also i hate posting long things on mobile but i refused to give in so here we are #also also justinian is going to be a good bean that will remind hornblower of kennedy sometimes #bc i think he needs someone like that in addition to bush. thank you show #and idk if the boat purgatory convo could happen in canon since their deaths were separated by a fair amount of time (?)#but i can do what i want #afraid of heights hornblower having a dragon is still funny to me. sorry buddy blame bolt #he's kind of a mashup of show!hornblower and book!hornblower #my writing #chilly chats #tortoisesshells

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