#and tharkay

[blueggrass]

(hey there, post-rant-clarity me here, this is super spoilers if you haven't gotten to the end of tem book 4 look away)

HELLO? HELLO I JUST FINISHED EMPIRE OF IVORY AND NO ONE WAS GOING TO TELL ME???? HELLO!??!??? IM- im.

the way Bonaparte was like "hey man :\ you're kind of our hero and i don't mind harboring u and your platonic soulmate dragon that we would otherwise do anything for to have in the war effort, do u want a house?" and Laurence is like "no i would like to go back to England to be hanged, thank you sir." LAURENCE WHEN I CATCH YOU- WHEN I CATCH YOU LAURENCE- WHEN I-

[kingoftheu]

William Laurence truly has one of the funniest character arcs of all time. He does a complete 360 over the course of the series. Totally turned around yet somehow exactly where he started. He completely changed his worldview while being absolutely steadfast about it. He undergoes impressive character development while his character does not change at all. He is so damn stubborn about his preconceived notions of honor that he is willing to abandon his preconceived notions of dragons, gender, and race. He transcends the regency society he lives in not by breaking the confines of rigid values but by expanding those confines to include everyone.

[argetcross]

Temeraire, Tharkay, and Laurence in the Alps

[elexuscal]

Ingredients of a Temeraire book

pick any 11 out of 16

Supply logistics

Someone tries to separate Laurence and Temeraire

Cross-cultural confusion

Napoleon deploys mad cap new strategy utilizing dragons

In-depth descriptions of meals

The Admiralty Commits A War Crime

Inter-species misunderstanding

3+ month long journey by ship

Alternate history worldbuilding

Iskierka Causes Problems (TM)

Laurence overcomplicates something due to propriety

horrifyingly frank description of violence

In depth description of fine clothes/jewels by Temeraire

egg hatching at inopportune times

Temeraire Radicalized Laurence

Tharkay Deus Ex Machina

[goddamnshinyrock]

a spy and a traitor (war heroes) share a drink and a laugh

[emily-e-draws]

thinking fond thoughts about Tenzing Tharkay

[sarcasticbeanie]

so it begins

[slimyshield]

bro. you're telling me that laurence had full on amnesia. like "weeks have passed and I still can't remember anything" amnesia. "the doctor thinks that if I haven't remembered anything by now I never will" amnesia. and the sight of his beloved dragon of eight years did not jog his memory, nor being told of various huge events in his life, including literal treason, which years after the fact still weighed heavily on him. none of that helped. I repeat: not even temeraire, the one living being above all others whose company he preferred. not seeing granby, who he knew almost as long as he knew temeraire, or berkeley or harcourt, or even emily roland, who looks a good deal like her mother, the woman laurence was lowkey dating for years. no, you're telling me that what jogged his memory at long last was seeing tharkay, who he had not known before temeraire; and he called him by his first name even as he remembered everything. and then he called in a favor to thee Napoleon Bonaparte, a favor earned when laurence committed treason, a favor that laurence practically vowed never to cash in on, in order to save tharkay's life even though he had also just realized tharkay was a spy, which laurence was super pissed about. and then later tharkay invited laurence and temeraire to live on his estate with him. as though this is all happening in a fucking romance novel instead of a nine-book series about the napoleonic wars. and I'm supposed to be normal about it??? I'm supposed to think that laurence and roland wound up together when tharkay is right there??? I Could Not Believe Mine Own Eyes reading the last two pages of league of dragons. oh my god

[andro-beaurepaire]

Kisses, then and now <3 (2025 aka the year I decide to make peace with my messy dirty please-clean-your-fucking-scanner sketches)

[syaal]

Let us grow old together

[istadris]

How the captains and their dragons show love to each other :

Laurence and Temeraire : cat-shaped affection

Harcourt and Lily : horse-shaped affection

Granby and Iskierka : bird-shaped affection (parrot edition)

Berkley and Maximus : big dog-shaped affection

Chenery and Dulcia : small dog-shaped affection

Little and Immortalis : lizard-shaped affection

Sutton and Messoria : goose-shaped affection

Warren and Nitidus : duck-shaped affection

Tharkay and the ferals : stray cat-shaped affection

Churki and Hammond : ape-shaped affection

Do you see my vision here

[pretendingday]

A Portrait of Two Gentlemen c. 1816

[heathcliffgirl1847]

insufferable man

[elexuscal]

Ranked purely and 100% objectively by how many words of the narrative we get from their POV, the main protagonists of the Temeraire series are:

Laurence

Temeraire

Hammond

I think you will find there are zero flaws in my methodology. As such, I expect all fanworks to be reflective of this reality moving forward. Thank you for your understanding.

[goddamnshinyrock]

Tenzing Tharkay when we first meet him (unimpressed by Laurence) and post-canon (impressing Laurence).

(yes I know he looks a little different in each one, I’m still trying to settle on a design for him. 🥲)

[sarcasticbeanie]

thank u @onawhimsicot for the vivid image. Cant believe I spent so long on a shitpost comic. Peace and love….

Original post here