#the way I giffed this purely because of the ''Oh Naomi''

[hanemiso]

Operation: Dairy For Dazai

>>>a dazai osamu x reader<<<

request: "omg i love your post about Dazai and his possibility of having lactose intolerance hahaha, i wish you could do a fanfic out from that"

a/n: um this is such a great idea??? this was so much fun to write omg i hope y'all like it! also i know dazai doesn't necessarily drink coffee with milk and sugar/creamer, but for the sake of the story he does! also sorry if the gif looks weird, i couldn't find his weird little run anywhere else.

synopsis: no one has seen dazai drink milk or consume dairy of any kind...it's up to the agency to figure out if dazai is lactose intoleralnt or not!

warnings: one swear word, dazai not being able to handle dairy

"hey atsushi, you ever notice that dazai doesn't consume dairy?"

"what do you mean, y/n?" atsushi asks, glancing up at you from the computer.

"think about it. have you ever seen dazai drink milk? eat cheese? buy ice cream?" you press on, raising your brows.

atsushi takes a second to think before responding with, "now that you mention it, no i haven't...why are you asking anyway?"

"i think dazai is lactose intolerant."

you now have atsushi's full attention as he rolls closer to your desk and furrows his brows. he looks around the room for the brunette you're talking about before turning back to you, "you think so? i don't know...maybe it's like a dietary thing."

you deadpan, "you really think the man who goes out of his way to try new attempts at committing suicide--the one who came into the office with a hallucinogenic mushroom from a random mountain--is concerned with his own nutrition?"

atsushi goes silent and nods his head in agreement.

"come on, atsushi. i mean, why would that be the one thing out of his entire diet that he'd choose to cut out?"

"that's true, i've seen the kinds of things he eats...but why is this something you're interested in?"

"because, atsushi, the thought of THE dazai osamu even having one slight weakness--and the fact that it very well may be dairy, of all things-- is amusing. you don't find it interesting? that he can survive things like bullet wounds and getting kidnapped without any problem, but a glass of milk could completely ruin him?"

atsushi was beginning to take interest in what you were talking about. you had a point, he couldn't deny that. they don't know much about dazai and his life as it is. just as it began clicking in his brain, kunikida walks over to your desk to tell you both to get back to work. at the sound of his footsteps, you turn towards him and before he can say anything at all, you ask him the same question as atsushi. kunikida has a smiliar reaction and response to atsushi, which just adds to the curiosity of dazai's possible dairy problem.

"i don't pay attention to that idiot's diet anyway, nor do i care." he says matter-of-factly.

anyone could tell that kunikida was slightly interested, just by the way he was continuing to linger by your desk as you continued talking about it with atsushi. soon enough, tanizaki had joined the conversation; then ranpo and kenji, and soon everyone in the agency other than fukuzawa. everyone was huddled around your desk, sharing memories of dazai's lack of dairy consumption. it was then decided that this theory of dazai being lactose intolerant would be put to the test when dazai returned to the office.

ranpo had come up with the idea, it wasn't too elaborate but a simple plan that could trick even the likes of dazai into drinking a glass of milk. during the discussion of dazai's dietary habits, it was also brought to everyone's attention by kunikida that it seems dazai doesn't have a high spice tolerance either. with that in mind, the plan was for the agency to have a joint dinner tonight, with curry on the menu tonight; spicy curry to be exact. dazai always flirts with you in the office, so it was your job to distract him by indulging in his pick-up lines and such. once he takes a bite and realizes it's too spicy for him, he'd try to find water to alleviate the pain, but coincidentally there is no water in sight. because of this, he'd be forced to drink the glass of milk you hand him. of course, if this didn't work, for dessert you'd give him a cup of coffee with milk and sugar (he uses non-dairy creamer in his coffee anyway).

you and kyouka set up a table to put the bowls of curry on, while atsushi and kunikida began bringing in the curry. tanizaki, naomi, and ranpo were in charge of getting the desserts to really sell the image of a nice gathering. kenji and yosano were in charge of tinkering with the water pipes to close off any possibility of access to water. this task was treated with such care, as any mission brought into the agency would be. each and every one of you were interested in learning about this side of dazai; are you going the extra mile for such a minuscule detail of someone's life? yes, but will it be amusing to find out the truth? also yes.

soon enough, dazai is spotted out the window. the truth is about to be revealed, and you are all nervous but excited.

"remember guys, act natural! operation: dairy for dazai starts now!" you exclaim quietly.

you can hear everyone take a deep breath and begin "talking" amongst themselves as dazai walks in. he stops in his tracks as he eyes the table holding all the bowls of curry and widens his eyes in surprise.

"oh? what's this?" he asks, gesturing to the table.

"y/n suggested having dinner in the agency tonight, so we got some curry and desserts." atsushi explains.

"have a bowl, dazai-kun." you smile at him as you hand him the bowl of spicy curry.

"ah, you're too nice, my belladonna!" he exclaims and grabs the bowl.

so far so good, you think.

you can feel the tension in the room as everyone waits for dazai to take a bite. the conversations carry on amongst people, but no one was truly paying attention to what was being said. the gazes of each member of the agency shifted to dazai as he raised the spoon up to his mouth. you could hear the sound of everyone in the room holding their breaths, even kunikida was sweating.

once the spoon had been placed in his mouth, everyone froze in place. you and atsushi tried to pretend to not be paying much attention to dazai, but it was so hard not to when all of a sudden he stopped chewing. you both slowly turn your head towards him and see his eyes go wide once again. he hurries to the nearest trashcan and spits out the spoonful, quickly turning and looking for a cup of water on the table.

"w-what's wrong, dazai-san?" atsushi asks, also sweating.

"h-hot! spicy curry! atsushi-kun, i need water! please!" dazai exclaims.

you run to the table and pretend to look for a cup of water before grabbing the glass of milk and hurrying towards dazai.

"sorry dazai-kun, i couldn't find any water, but i heard milk helps with the pain!" you hold out the glass of milk.

it feels like time stops as dazai sits there, breathing shallows breaths in attempts to stop the fire in his mouth, and contemplating whether he wants to try his luck with continuing to gasp for air or drinking the milk. he hates suffering, after all. in his mind, all that matters at this moment is extinguishing the flames dancing on his tongue. he grabs the glass, just as planned, and drinks a couple big gulps. everyone is now turned to him, asking if he's okay.

"i'm...fine." he says between pants.

now it was only a matter of time. the dinner continued as normal, but dazai wasn't as social as usual. he sat down with you and atsushi as you continued to talk about different missions.

"oh yeah, dazai-kun, do you remember--" you turn to look at him but realize he's staring at the ground intently as sweat beads on his face, "dazai?"

he blinks once and tries regaining his composure as he looks up at you with his usual smile, "yes, belladonna?"

"are you feeling alright?" you ask with concern laced in your voice.

"of course i am!" dazai tries to reply cheerily, but his bright tone is cut off by a rumbling in his stomach that makes his face twist.

he tries replacing his expression with a smile again, but it looks more pained as another low rumble emits from his body. at this point, everyone in the office is stealing glances. he looks back at the ground as his eyes widen yet again, and only two words are uttered before he takes off running to the bathroom:

"oh shit."

everyone stares at the door, processing what just happened. it was so silent, the only sound you could hear was dazai's rapid footsteps echoing down the hall.

"i knew it." you smirk a bit to yourself.

but your feeling of victory is brief as the horrid smell invades your nostrils. your poor co-workers get assaulted by the same stench, and you all are forced to evacuate.

operation: dairy for dazai was a success, but at what cost?

------------------------------------------

BONUS: how chuuya found out about dazai's lactose intolerance

chuuya was the only person who knew of dazai's problem with dairy, but the way he found out was purely accidental and scarred him.

the event took place when they were 17, and they were both stopping for a drink at a local cafe after a mission. the mission wasn't too bad, but it was early in the morning and chuuya wanted coffee. dazai told him it would stunt his already lacking growth, so chuuya wasn't in the greatest mood; he never was around dazai.

"i wanna sit down so you can order for me!" dazai claps his hands together.

"hey! i don't wan-" chuuya begins to protest but dazai cuts him off while walking away.

"you know what i like!"

chuuya grumbles in annoyance as he heads to the counter and orders two drinks. in his fit of anger, he accidentally ordered two coffees with milk and sugar, but failed to notice as he brought the cups to the table dazai sat at. he narrows his eyes as he sets the cup down in front of dazai and sits across from him. chuuya stares out the window to try and tune out dazai when he hears dazai ask him something quietly.

"is there...milk in this?"

chuuya scoffs and replies, "what's wrong, can't handle a bit of milk?"

he was obviously joking, but the sound that emits from dazai's body in response makes him realize it was no joke. dazai quickly stands and runs to the bathroom while chuuya sits there in disbelief, but with the hope that the rest of the day won't be ruined because of it.

that was wishful thinking though, as they frequently had to stop at public restrooms on their way home and chuuya had to deal with the rancid odor that followed dazai as closely as his own shadow.

taglist: @justmycupoftea93 @loveliestmolly @darlingimawitch @b-i-t-t-i-e-s @browneyespinkhair @silverstar22x @stupidfrogfreak @anotakugardener @jhopesstickeredcarrier @joyfulartisanstudentlamp @spacedoutcoffeebeans @puddingowo66 @kaeyapng @beomluvrr @imobsessedwithskkanditshows

[vaguely-concerned]

TEMERAIRE LET’S READ: BLOOD OF TYRANTS, THE WILLIAM LAURENCE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT NG+ SPEEDRUN

- oh NO LAURENCE D:D:D:

I do love that one of his first realizations is that he’s definitely not dutch tho lol this dumbass remembered that he was english before he remembered his own name

- caught between OH NO TEMERAIRE (and it’s only page 9 it’s going to be one of those books huh) and laughing my ass off at the thought of him swooping into notoriously isolationist japan and yelling ‘HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN MY DAD???’

- “Yes,” [Laurence] said, unyielding, as he could not be otherwise. ahahahahaha way to summarize the entirety of old school!laurence with one fucking sentence

(I am very much enjoying this uh. ‘setback’ of his character actually? novik really did just roll him back to factory settings and went ‘now... from the top again, let’s see if you’ve been paying attention these last seven books’ haha. no one told me there’d be a test!!!!!!!!!!)

- Kaneko really has the patience and graciousness of a saint, @ laurence please... please try to be marginally less sketchy hm? (I guess his sheer obliviousness to how direly he comes across here must be why kaneko hasn’t dismissed him out of hand)

- y’know... at least laurence is in no position to have to worry about all this shit temeraire and the others are pulling. when people start talking about black-scaled celestials shaking the country to its very foundations he’ll be blissfully, innocently unaware. that’s something, I suppose... well who am I kidding we’ll 100% get a couple of paragraphs of him convincing himself this is all his fault somehow anyway

- . . . and His Majesty’s Government does not behave in such an underhanded a manner as to attack another nation with no warning or quarrel. aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha oh what a strange beautiful fantasy land you’ve been residing in for most of your life william laurence, hang on tight for the opium wars

- hahaha oh my god this is like a platonic version of that text post

temeraire: have you guys seen my dad??!?!

them: what does he look like?

temeraire, crying: beautiful and human and has gold buttons

- I take it all back old school laurence is such a tremendous idiot. just PRETEND you’re willing to cooperate at least you huge fuckign dummy, all you’d have to do was say something vague about how the ship can’t get too close to shore; it won’t actually help them and they’ll know it but you won’t make yourself look so unspeakably willfully suspicious

-  :( making me read things where temeraire is just hurting should be ILLEGAL actually

- NO LAURENCE STOP TRYING TO KICK LITERALLY EVERY POLITICAL HORNET’S NEST WITHIN REACH BAD BOY he is... a disaster but I love him and fear for him as a son so here I am anyway

- hahahahaha yeah wow laurence it sure would suck if you ever had to commit treason huh death probably would be preferable indeed

b o i

- i like that it took him like a week to even give a single thought to edith lol at least he remains aggressively himself

- I think temeraire basically just invented dragon baby photos and I can’t even think for how darling it is

also every dragon physician is delightful; they fear neither god, man nor huge ass patients who could swallow them in a bite

aw man I love gong su

- ahahahahahahah kiyo is the actual best I can’t breathe

KANPAI INDEED, MY LADY, MY LIEGE, I DON’T CARE WHAT ELSE HAPPENS I WOULD FOLLOW YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

Laurence was forced to at least moisten his lips in a show of accompaniment, and hope that he had indeed buried Caesar and not praised him, or for that matter raised him from the dead one act too soon; he was not perfectly sure. He did not think he had been this appallingly drunk since he had been a boy of twelve, trying to make good on every toast at his captain’s table. I. am. dying

thank you thank you thank you for the mental image of laurence drunkenly trying to stumble through the ‘friends, romans, countrymen’ speech as well as the entire rest of the play in a one-man performance

- oh no... I would die for junichiro, baby boy who loves his teacher SO MUCH ;____________; aaaaand there are laurence’s adoption instincts, I see, right on time <3 I like how they have had one actual conversation now and laurence is like ‘ah well nothing for it then guess you’ll have to stay on my ship and I’ll have to be your dad now, brash 16 year old child’

junichiro is being Full Teenager about laurence not knowing ~*obvious*~ things and it’s a delight

- y’know this period of japanese history is always portrayed in the west as paranoia and it could probably only be done because the country was a strict military dictatorship at the time... but having read oh, any history book ever, deciding that nope nah don’t think so no europeans ever is the greatest ‘fair enough’ in human history.  (...I guess this series is sort of AU fix it fic of the period in the first place haha)

- seeing temeraire this level of straight out angry is very interesting and also very unsettling

- ooooof whenever laurence almost-remembers temeraire... stab me in the heart why don’t you

- man churki really is the mom friend of these dragons she’s the only one who has a lick of sense

- *laurence, upon clobbering several men with an oar* “Ma’am, I beg your pardon,” Laurence said to the old woman, who was still sitting ramrod-straight in the ferry over the side from him and regarding him with a flat expression of utter disapproval and not the least evidence of fear; he put out a boot over the side and shoved the ferry off with a heave

god this book is just a continual parade of glorious mental images, just this old woman glaring at him like ‘RUDE’ and “Ma’am, I beg your pardon” fdslfhsdlkjh

- I have a lot of sympathy for hammond. imagine having to navigate the extremely delicate diplomatic situation between europe and japan, with the real prospect of a war breaking out over it, while temeraire is looking over your shoulder... real dragon in the glassware shop vibe going on here, i’m sorry about your life hammond

- AUGH laurence just sort-of-remembered emily he just half-remembered he basically has a daughter someone hold me (...junichiro is so so sweet ;___;)

- bwahahaha yeah I’m sure the only reason this impressionable young kid who’s slowly becoming very impressed by you has for sneaking glances at your bare chest is manly appreciation of your battle scars laurence, well done (I mean a supremely understandable innocent teen crush to develop but stay safely out of that, kid; I trust tharkay to survive the sheer field of mayhem around this man only because he’s got like 20 years, extreme competency and a world of cynicism on you)

- aw junichiro :(:(:(

- ...laurence you need to stop making your dragon boi think you’re dead because this is hurting me. my heart lies in sad little pieces on the ground right now. you are stepping on them with tapdancing shoes.

- “I am under an obligation to Junichiro,” [Laurence] said, quietly, “who you must know has aided me for love of you. If I surrender myself and am made prisoner in this way, will your honor be satisfied?”

fdsfhsdkfsdja  *ELMO SURROUNDED BY FLAMES GIF* this is all awful they’re all such good people why must this happen why this  

(what a way to remind me why I love this stupid wonderful man so much tho uuuuuugh)

- “He is a prince of China, and my captain.” “The devil I am,” said Laurence. This might be the funniest heartbreak I have ever experienced

- good job making me cry whenever I read the words ‘principia mathematica’ naomi novik that was real nice of you

- maximus is such a solid bro. not the brightest, but by god a good 80% of that boy’s gigantic body mass is pure heart

- I love the sheer trollishness of just dropping all these hints about whatever’s going on in the US and then moving on like nothing has happened lol at least it’s deeply implied that hamilton squandered his chances at the presidency by pulling his dumb hoe act in this universe too... constants and variables friends constants and variables

- bOY for a moment there I really did wonder if junichiro was going to die, thank god for a quick google to stop my heart from leaping up my throat and out into thin air to shatter yet again on the flagstones beneath

- in unrelated news I recently found out a bit more about the whole historical Situation in Australia at the beginning of Tongues of Serpents (incidentally, by reading Mark Forsyth’s ‘A Short History of Drunkenness’, which is very funny and quite interesting although I can personally testify that the chapter about vikings at least is completely riddled with misunderstandings or straight out factual errors about the mythology, the role of women in society and uh the entirety of how poetry worked so maybe take him with a pinch of salt lol), and now, in retrospect, I have to say Novik does a poor job conveying the sheer hilarity and madness going on at that time. Like. I was quite bored in those first few chapters, whenever Tharkay didn’t have page time. how could you make this incredible spectacular shitshow boring. it should have been easy comedy gold and not just like. misery. oh well great times, let’s return to the book at hand

- I remain utterly devoted to Lady Kiyo. livin’ life, drinking sake, giving no fucks, absentmindedly scoping out the western style ships and starting an entire modern navy for her country, getting some Theater up in here.... truly I would follow her into the jaws of hell itself, safely in the knowledge that she’d find some way to have a good time down there

- kaneko tearing up at laurence promising he’ll take care of junichiro 😭 this is so cruel to me, personally, specifically against my person, I am undone

- I like how the incan dragons are told like ‘don’t pick just one special person; you can love all your humans equally’ while the poor japanese ones are told ‘actually don’t love any of your humans very much at least not more than Honour’ lol they must have so many neurotic dragons running about b/c that when that attachment happens it seems extremely central to their psychology (and considering lady arikawa it’s not like they’re exempt from it, they’re just supposed to repress it to conform)

- laurence desperately trying to work out whether emily’s his daughter without actually asking anyone... delicious

the descriptions of roland’s letters: even more delicious

- temeraire sees the sad remnants of laurence’s robes and ‘hello darkness my old frieeeeend’ starts playing in his head... too bad laurence isn’t really in a position to experience the relief

- He is very much a one-note character, but O’Dea’s resolute dedicated fatalism is extremely funny

- hahaha poor temeraire... when you try to introduce bae to the family and they insist on being TOTALLY EMBARRASSING god

- The guilt of having caused pain to one deserving only consideration at his hand mingled with unanswered disquiet. I’m bawling laurence’s dad instincts are so pure and good even tho everything’s a bit messed up right now. like this whole paragraph is so powerful b/c you can see laurence’s natural loving impulse at war with his dad’s cold authoritarian parenting style and because his lived experience is removed he doesn’t know what is right.............. oh b o y

- oh okay I see my earlier comment about the opium wars proves unexpectedly prophetic

- it cannot be overstated how much I love junichiro or how happy I am that laurence is being so soft and patient with him. this kid has Been Through some shit

- emily roland shoulder to shoulder with laurence killing fools and he never doubts her for a moment... *chef kiss emoji*  

- the problem with these books is that there are just so many good characters and so many of them don’t get any real page time in any given one -- I’m sitting here plaintively like ‘I realize this is not the most pressing issue right now but how is demane and sipho doing. are they okay. does sipho have enough books’

- ouch memory loss isn’t stopping laurence from flashing back to victory of eagles :(

there’s something so disconcerting about knowing why laurence reacts to things the way he does when he doesn’t; novik is using that very efficiently, this is a very satisfying use of amnesia just from a writer’s POV haha

- I like how none of these suckers really have the tools (or in some cases even inclination) to understand how messed up junichiro’s political situation is in all this

they just expect him to come home to britain with them and meanwhile he’s just found out that The greatest threat to his nation (from his POV I mean china/japan relations irl seem uh complicated) has more dragons in one field than he’s ever seen in his life. it’s a rough and lonely deal being this kid in this book

- oh ouch yes hey there laurence there might have been... a little bit of treason. true. extremely justified treason tho. I mean. oh dear

we don’t have tharkay and his unique mix of deep cynicism, incisive sarcasm and surprising depth of concise moral clarity here to assist with the aftermath so this could get  u g l y

- listen what did I SAY about making me read about temeraire being miserable     :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

- SIPHO!! hey baby boy pls have some thought for your brother’s cardiac health tho

- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw the fact that laurence is getting out of this crisis so much quicker this time because of his bone-deep instinctual knowledge of how much he loves temeraire, which doesn’t need specific memories to be true and felt. god. jesus. stars above

- laurence: approaches little

little: gay panic

- [Laurence] groped after the truth of himself like a prisoner in Plato’s cave, watching shadows. *clenches fist with great emotion* fuck naomi novik why must you be such an excellent goddamn writer im in pain

- oh hay arkady

poor poor temeraire feeling like a failure in every way is so awful but also kind of funny. ‘oh shit arkady’s egg oh fuck oh crap’

- I LOVE that hammond is so clearly and repeatedly shown to be a very astute political thinker and working shit out before everyone else! he may be a dumbass and a bit of a weasel but by god he’s great at what he does!

- laurence wouldn’t have changed anything if he could u guise. I . that. hm. oh

- thARKAY

.........arkady I am only a human and a small one at that but I will find some way to climb up there and wring your neck

(how cute is it that apparently jane roland realized she needed someone to find laurence and was like ‘well I need someone who can take care of themselves and knows the area and speaks dragon and Understands the chaotic ways of william laurence and also has looked uncharacteristically like a kicked puppy at the very mention of his name ever since being forced to leave him behind in australia.... hey tharkay you want a job’ fhkjshdfkalhsd)

- I’m very glad I googled ahead and spoiled myself a bit on this, because if I just read this part fresh I would have expired on the spot

- MISSION GET MY BOY BACK SAFE FOR GOD’S SAKE is a go

- general chu is pretty cool for an old dude you feel me

- . . . and Laurence knew him; knew him and knew himself.

ahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahaha

hahahahahahahhahahahaha

hahahahhha

haha

what... what pure undiluted soulmate nonsense is this. what. how. WHY would you do this

- I think I said something offhandedly in my victory of eagles reactions about how tharkay makes laurence remember who he is. I. thought I was exaggerating slightly for dramatic effect at the time. um wow

- I am having the sort of feelings about I need to write fiction about because my ability to express it any other way is failing me. That’s just about the highest praise I could give, really, Novik sure knows how to plant interesting seeds in her stories lol

- for the record this is not how I wanted him to end up in laurence’s bed

(im not thinking too much about how he got hurt b/c if I do I’ll start crying and that’ll just be embarrassing for everyone)

- “I hope you will forgive my mentioning it, Will,” Tharkay said, eventually, rousing Laurence from his reverie. “ -- I recognize there is a certain pot-calling quality to my doing so under the circumstances, but have you noticed that the top of your head appears likely to come off?”

a) my love for him is just. so pure. so complete. so deep b) consistent first name basis; the one sure way to make me swoon c) the implication that he’s just been quietly watching laurence while he was lost in thought... im so soft

- oh god laurence very gently helping out demane and roland because he remembers now....... i cry and my tears are blood welcome back buddy

- “I am of the opinion,” Tharkay said, “that you ought not assign to free will something more likely the consequence of a sharp blow to the skull.”

he truly is the gift that keeps giving. an endless cornucopia of sarcasm and delight. we do not deserve him.  

- [The man he was eight years ago] would not have valued his own feelings, on such a matter, higher than the law and the discipline of the service. *AIRHORN AIRHORN AIRHORN* there we have it folks that’s literally his character arc spelled out, he would have done SO MUCH BAD SHIT because he thought his own feelings didn’t matter and yet he chose another direction, stupendous, brilliant, revolutionary

also him trying to get his support across to both of them in as roundabout and discreet way as possible... laurence you beautiful disaster

- im just so happ. so happy. so happy temeraire has his dumb dad back

- oh so the russians think the BRITISH, of all people, are too soft on their dragons... ruh-roh

- sdfskadlfj yes good tharkay the ROBES (also the implied depth of fond schadenfreude-tinged amusement contained in that ‘those particularly magnificent robes’.... *prayer hands emoji*)

laurence is like ET TU BABE?????

I think this is very delicate gong su speak for ‘please do not be a dumb bitch your majesty’

hahaha chu knows what’s up -- I am growing desperately fond of him, please don’t have him suffer any cop-one-day-from-retirement style accident

- “If I may cut your Gordian knot,” Tharkay said, with a glint in his eye. fdsklfhsdkflhdsakjfhdskjh remember back in black powder war when he was all closed off and phlegmatic and purposefully distant... and here he is... with a glint in his eye and a crazy ass plan that requires other people and that he actually shares before pulling it off and calling laurence by first name in public......... we’ve come so far

- Also this means he’s close enough to Laurence’s height and build that he can wear his clothes without it looking weird, which is nice to know because Laurence is sometimes more preoccupied with describing what men are wearing than, y’know, what they look like lol. (probably not quite as broad in the shoulders, tho, since it’s pointed out every time laurence is described that he has shoulders like a linebacker)

- temeraire: eXCUSE me god didn’t do this the emperor of china did???!?! rude???

- pffffffffff tharkay and chu being jaded world-weary bros for a second there... this is what I read these books for folks

- NOOOOOOOOOOO chu this is the one thing I asked you NOT to do D: temeraire being sad and scared about it is slowly murdering me, thank god laurence is back online for him

- dunno this napoleon dude sounds pretty great and all but this also sounds suspiciously... like trying to invade russia in the winter time. immovable force and unstoppable object or something. I mean I don’t read history so I don’t know. might be a great idea. who’s to say.

- I see that tharkay and laurence have reached the ‘communicating complex information solely through eyebrow movements’ stage of their relationship. *drinks this excellent excellent OTP juice with both hands*

- god I love how cool temeraire!napoleon is, in a strangely believable way. he’s just so weirdly charismatic and novik is SO GOOD at setting up a situation so you understand just how brilliant a move he’s made whenever he seems to be backed into a corner and turns it all around. I kind of want him to win at this point (though tbf all of europe fucking sucked at this time so like he doesn’t have to doll it up TOO much to look better by comparison haha)

- boooyyyy Laurence is P I S S E D (also him being like ??? :D that the general basically agreed with him lol)

ALSO also the fact that laurence does not realize that he’s like the fucking horror story all the major authorities around the globe tell each other at night... fjksdfhsdkjlhf

ah russia. truly consistently one of the most shit places to be a peasant or apparently a dragon through so much of history.

- junichiro Y__________Y no wonder laurence is so protective of him, he’s finally met someone as stubbornly stupidly ~*honorable*~ as himself. godspeed bb boy I wish you only the best even though I know your story line is never properly brought up again

- I ship... roland and demane... so much. like with my heart. she’s so young and earnest and curious and misses him so much and casually scandalizes alice about it fsjdakfjhds

- well I mean. dragons eating people is clearly not  g r e a t  but also... karma. y’know?

- this is a lot of words to use to convey the sentiment ‘oh they are all so fuuuuuuuuuuuuucked’ naomi novik

(feels a little like she wrote herself into a corner here tho -- she’s set up such an impossible situation, in RUSSIA in the WINTERTIME, that I’d need a hell of a lot of convincing to believe they get out of it)

- aaaah okay I really enjoyed this one too, especially the first half! I feel like this series is often at its most inspired when it sticks to a tighter character focus (for example I still vividly recall the part in the first book where Laurence stays in his father’s house and it’s Bad. relatedly........ F U C K lord allendale), and this brought that in spades. I love this series so much, it’s shamefully underappreciated in the speculative fiction world.

also it brought *me* to my knees with a simple “Tenzing,” [Laurence] said, which... holy shit. fuck. damn. that’s my personal recommendation of this book, tbh, even beyond my wish for this series to be more appreciated within the genre: Tharkay was there and it was very gay and non-obnoxious soulmate vibes???? I never even thought it could be done but here we are

This is probably going to be my last reaction thingy for the foreseeable future, since my local library doesn’t have book 9 and honestly... having read a few summaries of what happens in it I’m not that keen on reading it? That’s not the ending to this story I want, so I’ll just live over here in denialville, I-realize-the-author-made-the-choice-to-not-make-further-use-of-Lien-AKA-THE-coolest-antagonist-in-this-series-and-indeed-did-not-wrap-up-numerous-character-arcs-or-plot-lines-but-I-don’t-like-this-choice-so-I’ll-ignore-it

(actually I do sort of appreciate the idea of not having one grand final duel or something, because that’s not how it usually works in real life, but that she’d just shrug and not mercilessly hunt for the revenge she’s so clearly motivated by when everything she loves is falling apart around her again... that’s too much of a letdown to bear, really)

let me just... live in willful ignorance and pretend anything could happen from this point onward haha.

- let me give a final shout out to my boy gong su, who’s been hanging around since book 2 (!) and yet we do not know One Single personal detail about him for certain except that he sure knows how to handle knives. that’s some good spy shit right there, he knows what he’s about

[tallulahchanel]

This is my submission for the With Love, From Wakanda Fic best hosted by @hoopshoney and @purple-apricots

Fandom: Black Panther

Pairing(s): Nakia & BabysisterReader; Nakia/Everett

Prompt: "You're part of the family, don't you know?"

Notes: Reader is black, but non-black readers are free to enjoy as well. Drew some inspiration from Over Time by bitofageek. The following gif was created by @bisexualcarol (please don’t sue me, I legit have nothing you would want). Also, please don’t kick me out of the fandom or revoke my black card for my pairing choice (LOL).

Warnings: Just pure shenanigans.

Words: 3.5k

Tags: @queen-of-the-jabari @zaddysqueen7

You rocked back and forth on your heels and toes, unable to contain your excitement.

Today you were going to see your big sister for the first time in weeks. Of course, there were the occasional kimoyo bead calls, but with her running the Outreach Center, your classes at the University, and the time difference, the calls were few and far between. Now, she was returning home, but only long enough to attend the wedding and go back to Oakland.

The Talon jet came into view and your face lit up with joy as it took its place on the landing pad. The ramp was barely opened before you sprinted towards the jet and engulfed Nakia in a hug, almost knocking her down in the process. Fortunately, she was able to catch herself before embracing you.

"Usisi omkhulu!"

"Omncinci," she addressed you by your special nickname before planting a kiss on your forehead. "I missed you too."

"So, how's the center? How's Oakland? Do you have time to go to the beach?" You bombarded her with questions after you pulled away and began exiting the jet.

She chuckled, basking in your curiosity. "We have plenty of time to talk about those things. As much as I missed you, I had a long trip and would like to rest and freshen up before the Rehearsal Feast tonight."

"Right," you responded with a nod.

Later on that night there was to be an exclusive feast in celebration of your baba, the River Tribe Elder, marrying the Mining Tribe Elder, Babalo. When the pair announced their engagement at one of the meetings, King T'Challa became ecstatic about the amount of good press and a possible merger this could result in. Unfortunately, both elders became the butt of a few bedroom jokes from the king's cousin, Erik, but your baba was happy, and that's all that mattered. It has been years since your umama died, and you thought it was time that baba moved on with another woman, especially one as beautiful, kind, and nurturing as Babalo.

"Where's my welcome wagon?" Nakia asked while you two made your way towards the palace doors.

You chuckled. "It's only just me."

"Really? Just you?"

"Yes," you answered with an eye-roll. "I mean, everyone has their hands full with this feast tonight. Besides, your returns to Wakanda are so frequent that they're not special anymore."

Nakia playfully swatted you on the behind while chuckling. "I still can't believe that T'Challa is making such a big deal out of this."

"You're surprised?" You questioned with a raised brow. "Two Tribal Elders are getting married, and you don't expect the king to make a big deal? And it's only an exclusive dinner with family and a few prominent members of each tribe. It's not like he's throwing a big parade in the streets."

Nakia sighed. "I suppose you're right."

"He's saving the parade for the wedding day."

"What?!" Nakia asked with widen eyes.

"I'm kidding," you said with a giggle.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

You two continued walking the long corridor in silence before you broke it, remembering something you needed to tell your sister.

"Agent Ross is here, by the way."

"He's is?!" Nakia questioned, causing both of you to stop in your tracks. "Why?"

"He was rushed to the hospital after a deadly injury during one of his missions. When he was allowed to be moved, T'Challa had him brought back here to recover. He's fine now, and Shuri kicked him out of the lab the other day. He’ll be staying in one of the guest suites while he recuperates."

"And why am I just now hearing about this?" Nakia had a look of grave concern on her face, one you've only seen twice in your life—the day you got the news of your umama's death, and the day you took three bullets to the chest while accompanying Nakia on a mission.

"I um….kind of forgot to tell you," you said, feeling your cheeks get hot with guilt and embarrassment.

"You what?!"

"It slipped my mind. In my defense, I'm taking fifteen hours worth of classes, and every time I turn around, a professor wants a five-hundred-word paper about something as ridiculous as air. Along with that, I just started a new job at the market's smoothie stand, all the while trying to help prepare for this wedding. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Nakia held an arm out and pulled you into a hug, placing a kiss on your forehead. "It's alright, omncinci. I understand that you're taking on a lot. I'm not mad, I promise."

You smiled and hugged her back before you two began walking again.

"So, besides all of those papers, how is school going?"

"Well....." You began, but you got distracted by a figure turning onto the same corridor you and Nakia were walking. "Agent Ross."

"Hello," he returned as he began walking towards the both of you with a friendly smile.

Nakia smiled upon seeing him, and she couldn't help, but notice how perfectly the dark grey robe swayed around him as he walked towards you two, complimenting his ivory skin—almost like it was tailor-made for him.

"Hello, Miss Nakia," he greeted her, and you noticed that his smile grew brighter upon seeing her.

You weren't surprised by this. You knew there was tension between your sister and Agent Ross since the UN Conference in Vienna, where you and Shuri sat next to him while he and your sister kept stealing glances at each other.

"Hi," Nakia returned. "I just heard you were here."

"Yeah," he replied as he began to rub the back of his neck. "I....uh.....there was an explosion."

"Ah!" Nakia nodded in understanding, sensing that he doesn't want to go into further detail. Knowing all too well about the effects that dangerous missions can have on the psyche, she decided not to press on.

"Agent Ross," you murmured under your breath. “Why don’t you come to the feast tonight?”

You hoped your sister would pick up the hint, but she continued to lock eyes with Everett as if the man would disappear if she were to take her eyes off him. Rolling your eyes, you spoke a little louder this time.

"Agent Ross," you got his attention. "There's a feast tonight to celebrate the engagement between my baba and the Mining Tribe elder. I....we," you corrected yourself as you wrapped an arm around Nakia's shoulders, "would love for you to come."

"I don't know," he responded sheepishly. "I heard it was a family thing."

"You're part of the family, don't you know?"

"I am?" Everett raised his brows curiously.

"Yes," you answered with a nod. "After all, you saved my sister's life. That makes you like a brother in my book." You resisted the urge to add -in-law. You didn't want to push that agenda.....not yet anyway.

"Well, if you insist...." he trailed off as his eyes moved from you to Nakia, seeing if she'll protest, but you interjected before she could get the chance.

"Oh, we do!"

"Omncinci," Nakia tried to get you to stop, but you purposefully ignored her and extended an arm towards Everett.

"Come on, Agent Ross. Why don't we get lunch while Nakia rests and gets ready for tonight? My treat."

"Alright," he said with a friendly smile and linked arms with you.

Before you managed to pull him away, he stole a glance at Nakia, who shook her head at your antics.

~~~

The day passed by faster than anticipated, and before you knew it, the night fell and you were at the feast, sipping cider—because you didn’t like the taste of champagne—and chatting it up with your soon-to-be brothers, Masamba and Khamisi.

The palace ballroom was filled to the brim with prominent members of each tribe and distant relatives you hadn't seen in months. The beautiful decorations consisted of clover and juniper green ceiling drapes, representing the River Tribe, and was complemented by the crimson and burgundy red wall drapes that represented the Mining tribe. The decorations were your idea, and you wondered if you should give up your dreams of becoming a doctor and go into interior design instead.

You glanced over at Everett, who was conversing with King T’Challa and Queen Naomi, and you noticed that he was trying to seem attentive, but he kept looking around—more like looking for someone in particular.

It was already thirty minutes into the feast and Nakia has yet to make an appearance, for reasons you will never understand. Then again, she was probably trying to make an entrance. Despite her controlled and collective demeanor, Nakia does occasionally have a flair for the dramatics.

You caught his eye and he gave you a friendly smile. You returned it and excused yourself from Masamba and Khamisi before going over to him. “Agent Ross,” you greeted him, then turned to T’Challa and Naomi and gave them a respectful curtsy. “Good evening, wam kumkani and ikumkani wam. I can’t thank you enough for organizing this wonderful feast.”

“You’re welcome,” Naomi replied with her charming smile. “We were honored to do it.”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to borrow Agent Ross. I’m sure my baba would like to meet him.”

Without giving them an opportunity to respond, you linked arms with Everett and guided him over to where your baba and Babalo were chatting with M’Baku and his companion, Lady JoAnna.

“Good evening,” you greeted the group before turning your attention to the River Tribe elder. “Baba, I have someone I’d like you to meet. This is Everett Kenneth Ross. He’s a friend of Nakia’s, and he saved her life.”

“I...um,” he stammered as a blush crept on his cheeks, “I was just doing my job.”

You chuckled. “Don’t be so modest. After all, who knows how that bullet could’ve hurt my sister if you hadn’t jumped in front of her.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” your baba said to Everett as he held his hand out for a shake. “Any friend of Nakia’s is a friend of mine.”

Everett returned the handshake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

“Speaking of Nakia,” your baba began as his eyes landed on you, “where is your sister?”

You opened your mouth to answer, but a figure on the balcony caught your attention. You smiled when you noticed that it was your sister making her way to the grand staircase, the lime green V-neck, Asymmetrical dress swaying perfectly with her fluid motions while her beautiful auburn curls were styled in a beautiful afro. She caught the attention of everyone in the ballroom, especially Everett, who followed her every move with his eyes.

You were the first to greet her once she descended the staircase. “You look beautiful, usisi omkhulu.” You gave her a hug before whispering in her ear. “And might I say that you caught the attention of a certain CIA Agent.”

“Omncinci,” she addressed you in a scandalized tone, but you could tell she was blushing even though her pigmentation didn’t show it.

You giggled and linked arms with her. “Come on, the food will be served soon.”

Everyone took seats at their assigned tables as you escorted your sister to the grand rectangular dining table. Being the lady you are, you pulled Nakia’s chair out for her and held it until she sat down and thanked you.

You gave her a smile in return just as you caught sight of Everett.

“Agent Ross,” you called him over while you held onto the chair next to Nakia, the seat that was assigned to you. “You can sit here.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, not wanting to overstep. He glanced over at your sister and baba for any signs of objection.

You could feel Nakia glaring at you for your shenanigans, but, as usual, you ignored her. “I insist.” You held out the chair for him, and once he sat, you went to the chair next to him. “Move,” you told Shuri, kindly gesturing for her to move over to the next chair while you took over that one.

Supper was going great as everyone fell into a series of conversations—updates on the programs King T’Challa has put in place, Shuri’s new inventions, and even things at the university.

"Nakia is doing very well at the Outreach Center," you said to Everett, causing groans and eye rolls at the table.

For the past hour or so, it's been "Nakia this. Nakia that." Even when someone tried to change the topic of conversation, such as the wedding or Shuri's work at the Science and Information Exchange, you still manage to interject something about your big sister.

"After all, she is such an inspiration to the people of Oakland, especially the little girls. In fact—OW!" You were cut off by a swift kick to your shins and you glared at the teenager beside you.

You glanced over to your sister, who mouthed a "Thank you" to Shuri, and back again.

"Well," you began with an offended tone and eye-roll, "I was just stating how proud I am of my big sister, but I can see that I managed to annoy everyone in the process."

At least you got a chuckle out of Everett, who found your shenanigans quite adorable.

~~~

Later on that night, after the feast, Nakia—still fashioning the dress—was in the garden gazebo, taking in the beautiful and rare flowers. Spending time in Oakland doesn’t allow her such luxuries. That’s not to say she doesn’t enjoy her work there. She gets to help people like she always wanted without having you worry about losing her.

The sounds of footsteps brought her out of her revelry, and she stood up from her seat, the matching lime green shoes in her hand, to see who it was. After all, who else, besides her, would be in the gardens at this hour?

“Agent Ross?” She addressed the man when he came into view.

“Oh,” he expressed his surprise at having seen her. “I didn’t know anyone was out here. And please, call me Everett.”

She nodded and took in his appearance. A black robe and black sandals adorned him, and she admitted, once again, to herself that he looked good. “What brings you here at this hour?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

She gave him an understanding nod. She remembers the sleepless nights from her days as a War Dog, too afraid to sleep because the events would replay in her dreams. It took three weeks before she was able to sleep after the plane crash.

“Do you want a snack? My omncinci and I keep a stash here in the gazebo.” Nakia walked over to the bench she had vacated and squatted to open a secret drawer that contained a jar of french onion dip, a family-sized bag of chips, snack cakes, and bottles of water.

While she did that, Everett couldn’t help but admire how the beautiful Wakandan moonlight illuminated Nakia’s luscious dark chocolate skin.

“Everett?” Nakia brought him out of his thoughts. “I asked if you wanted to share a snack with me.”

“Oh! I would like to.”

Nakia smiled and invitingly patted the seat next to her. She opened the jar of dip and handed him the bag of chips. “Would you like some dip? It’s the best Wakanda has to offer.”

“Sure,” he said with a nod before scooping some of the dip with the chip.

Nakia watched patiently for his response, and she smiled when she saw his eyes light up.

“It’s delicious."

“I told you.” She took a chip of her own and scooped it in the dip before handing him the jar.

The pair fell into a comfortable silence before Nakia decided to break it.

“About my omncinci….I just thought I should apologize for….” she trailed off, trying to figure out a way to word your earlier stunts.

Everett chuckled and shook his head. “There’s no need for that. She’s…..one-of-a-kind, I guess you could say.”

“That she is,” Nakia replied before eating another dip-covered chip. “She takes a lot after our umama.”

"Tell me about her."

"My umama?"

Everett nodded. "I would love to hear about her, but only if you want to tell me."

Nakia took a minute to chew on the snack cake she had just opened. "What can I say? She was strong, smart, beautiful, and she could kick butt like no ones business."

"Sounds like you have it honest."

Nakia’s cheeks began to heat up, and she was grateful that Everett wouldn’t be able to notice because of her skin tone and the darkness of the night. “She died honorably serving our country.”

Everett sighed sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay,” she said before taking another bite of her snack cake. “It was years ago. Of course, it’s not something that's easy to get over, but she wouldn’t want me to dwell on it for the rest of my life.”

Everett nodded in understanding, knowing how it feels to lose a parent. He was eight years old when he lost his dad, an Air Force pilot, to a bombing. Even at his advance age, he still feels that twinge of pain in his heart for him.

"I'm retiring from the CIA," he said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that fell between them.

Nakia looked at him with furrowed brows. "Why?"

"Honestly, I'm getting too old to be dealing with explosions, car chases, and running after criminals."

Nakia chuckled, but she understood where he was coming from. Even though she was doing good for people as a War Dog, she knew that eventually she was going to get tired of the adrenaline-pumping work - especially after it has cost her so much already.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Everett shrugged. “I’m not sure just yet. Maybe I can start training the younger generation to take over.”

“I’m sure they can learn a lot from you,” Nakia said just before a yawn escaped her lips. “I’m sorry. I must be tired from today’s events.”

“It is late,” Everett agreed. “What time is it?”

Nakia tapped one of her kimoyo beads to check the time. “It is 2:48.”

“We should get some sleep.”

Nakia nodded agreeably before putting the snacks away and grabbing her shoes. “Are you going to be able to rest?”

“Yeah. I usually fall asleep easier after a walk.”

She linked arms with him. “I can escort you back to your quarters. I insist,” she added, noticing that he was going to protest.

He decided it was best to go with her instead of disputing.

The silent walk to his suite was shorter than Nakia would’ve liked, but there they were.

“Thank you,” Everett told her.

“It was no problem,” she said with a smile.

He turned the knob to go inside, but Nakia’s voice pulled him back.

“There’s….um...an annual ball in a couple of months, and I was wondering if I could save you a dance. Only if you’d want.”

He grabbed her hand and gave it a tender kiss. “I would love to.”

She smiled. “Well, have a good night, Everett.”

“You too, Miss Nakia.”

“Please. Only Nakia.”

“Nakia,” he said, and she kind of liked hearing her name on his lips.

After he went inside, she lingered there for a minute before turning towards the direction of her quarters.

“Not a word out of you,” she told you the minute she laid eyes on you at the end of the corridor.

Raising your free hand defensively while the other craddled a fudge pop, you released a small sigh. “Okay.”

Nakia furrowed her brows curriously. “Why are you roaming the halls this late? You should be resting for the wedding.”

“I should be asking you the same question.”

“None of your business,” she gently retorted before walking passed you.

Fashioning a smirk, you turned and followed her. “I can’t believe that you asked him to dance with you at the ball.” You released a squeal, but Nakia immediately shushed you, so you wouldn’t wake everyone in the palace.

“I did, and he said yes. End of discussion.” You recognized the finality in her voice, and decided not to press the issue. “Besides, we need to talk about your knack for meddling in my affairs.”

“Well, as much as we need to have that conversation, it’s getting late, and I really need to head to bed.” You emphasized your statement with a faux yawn that Nakia caught on to.

“Omncinci,” she addressed you with a firm tone, but, yet again, you purposefully ignored her.

“Goodnight, usisi omkhulu.”

Before she had a chance to stop you, you quickened your pace to head towards your room for the night, leaving Nakia to wonder what she was going to do with you.

~~~

Translations

Usisi omkhulu – big sister

Omncinci – little one

[vaguely-concerned]

Let’s Read Victory of Eagles; the Prepare to Cry About William Laurence Edition

earlier temeraire let’s reads (yes I’m sticking with it)

- oh man starting with temeraire’s pov is such a good call, I don’t know if I could take getting plunged straight into laurence’s misery without some (very slight) levity first 

- lol and also crey @ laurence gently reminding these young guys how to keep him prisoner 

- temeraire on his way to revolutionize dragon politics after one damn month... I’m so proud ;___; on the other hand him thinking laurence is dead is... nope not processing this laurence is fine let’s not worry about it

- SURPRISE THARKAY! BEST KIND OF SURPRISE 

looool he just keeps coming to get laurence and finding him embroiled in some fresh catastrophe... I’m sorry ur bro is in another castle/war camp/ship wreck/prison tharkay you’re a champ for tracking him down again and again

- He has a new birb!!! good stuff. this part of them walking through the quiet ruined town is really striking too

- laurence feels like he can be just himself for the first time in months huh... cool cool cool

- “You and Temeraire would be welcome in other parts of the world. You may recall there is some semblance of civilization,” he added dryly, “in a few places, beyond the borders of England.”

fsdakhfdasdfsaflj a) I love him so much b) I  g u e s s  Tharkay kind of just asked Laurence to run away with him in his low-key sardonic way... super triple extra cool cool cool extremely admirable even if he and everyone else in the world knows it to be doomed 

resting his hand on his shoulder because he knows Laurence is gonna be Laurence about this... yeah okay just punch me in the heart

- tfw the guy you sort of have a thing for is determined to get himself killed for a government you feel exactly zero personal loyalty to and now you have to watch his back 🙄

- lol laurence is like ‘I’m not gonna start a fistfight’ 

five minutes later: granby pulls laurence out of a fistfight he started because someone talked shit about his dragon

- aw demane and sipho! good boys bein’ good boys 

- temeraire reciting principia mathematica to himself and changing his voice so he can pretend it’s laurence reading to him... that is under the belt naomi novik that is just mean

(all the funnier/more heartbreaking for knowing laurence has no fucking idea what he’s reading out loud when it comes to that book and would never have touched it if temeraire didn’t love it so much)

- “Oh,” Temeraire said, and sat back on his haunches. He was not quite sure what to say. “I am very sorry?” he offered, uncertainly. He supposed it must be very unpleasant to be a coward.

fjfjghfgj how is he so darling

- tbh perscitia is very much me when it comes to fighting; I too am small and slow and cripplingly overly aware of all the ways things can go wrong which everyone seems happy to overlook

- as a professional tharkay spotter: he is in fact present in the proceedings right now, he arrived at the same time as granby and had one (1) line of dialogue! I am not sure why everyone’s talking about this napoleon fella instead of specifying to me what precise dragon he hitched a ride with or what kind of babysitter arrangement he has put in place for his birb but y’know I’ll take what I can get

(there is a peculiar sort of satisfaction in getting reeeeaaal attached to a side character; this reminds me a lot of being nine and scrupulously scanning every page of a harry potter book for mentions of sirius, no matter how peripheral or inconsequential) 

- all of temeraire’s dragons are pure gold tbh, I especially like majestatis and his laconic competency (I may have a type)

- temeraire not getting why laurence isn’t responding to him quite as he should and laurence basically getting his affairs in order... William Laurence if you break both our hearts I will never fucking forgive you this is my stern voice

- adding a second (and tonally very different) pov is such a genius move at this point in the story; it really breathes new life into everything. 

- lady allendale is the real mvp, you can really see a lot of laurence’s good sides in a straight line from her to him

- oooooooooooooooooooooh roland dropping some truth bombs on laurence for being so very very honorable and so very very dumb

thank you jane I guess at least he’s pretty

- having to read laurence trying to convince all the people who love him to basically let him kill himself is extremely upsetting and I Do Not Care for it

- temeraire absent-mindedly putting ‘coming up with some way to let laurence live as long as me’ on his ‘to do’ list is Everything

but also he doesn’t even realize how wrong things are with his captain and I want to curl up in a ball. no bb no one is going to take him but he’s halfway through taking himself out :(

(I will say that there’s something about laurence’s incredible inflexibility and self loathing that is very relatable, which is probably why I’m so mad at him and also so scared for him. incidentally one of hanzo’s traits I really identify with. anyway onwards)

- ah of course granby was kidnapped I was wondering when something bad would happen to him in this book

- “You are not obliged -- ” Laurence began.

“No,” Tharkay agreed civilly, with one raised brow, and Laurence bowed and left it there. 

fdsfdklsalkjhfkjasdhfjkadshdsfhksdfjakh how... how can anyone be so impossibly lovely and so sarcastic in one word... my heart feels so full

but also ow b/c I think tharkay does see the state laurence is in and it must be extremely stressful to look out for all the swords your bro is determined to throw himself on 

- oF ALL THE DOORSTEPS IN ALL OF LONDON THEY HAD TO END UP AT LAURENCE’S EX’S how many mirrors has this poor man broken to end up here 

- oh uh wow I think I just murdered woolvey’s shitty racist ass with my mind I never even knew I had the power

- Tharkay seeming to suss out the whole Situation here at a glance... *prayer hands emoji*

-  Tharkay shook his head, and when Laurence looked at him said quietly: “It must be difficult to follow an officer of public repute, in the affections of a woman who loves courage.”

...

“My reputation is hardly one any sensible man would covet.”

“It does not name you a coward,” Tharkay said. “Whatever has Bertram Woolvey done?”

as observed completely impartially except for that one awful enormous crush he is developing lol

- oh no... woolvey died... this is... terrible.... *insert ‘shocked’ captain kirk reaction image here*

okay it does put edith in a genuinely awful situation, which super sucks. everything around her is like the one part of laurence’s self loathing that is sort of justified: he’s been making her life so much harder for so long. first she had to worry about her not-even-husband-yet getting lost at sea and he seems pretty emotionally distant, for all that he can be sweet, then he adopts a dragon and she is SUCH AN AFTERTHOUGHT to him in that process (because, as I have discussed earlier, william laurence should just not ask people to marry him b/c he never. actually. means. it. he just thinks he should I think)

and then, after finally disentangling herself emotionally from that she manages to marry a dude who’s a twit, but a twit who by all appearances treats her well and she’s happy -- and then Laurence shows up for three fucking hours and her HUSBAND IS SHOT DEAD 

most of laurence’s guilt is the useless self-flagellation of depression, but in this one case I’m a bit more ‘yeah okay valid bro’

- Laurence’s tendency to describe, in minute detail, what some dude is wearing even under the most dire of circumstances is so endearing. (also he barely ever does it with women; usually it’s like ‘and she was wearing idk a dress?’ lol)

- laurence’s superpower is inspiring people’s affection and loyalty and then wondering why they’re all not cool with him throwing himself off a cliff

- is tharkay like basically a scottish lord on his dad’s side and has been fucked over by either the system or the rest of his family. are you fucking kidding me jfksadflsadfj

- oh. oh okay that’s the king that’s super extra salt in the wound for our golden boy :I

- NOOOOOOOOOOO TEMERAIRE THINKS LAURENCE MIGHT BE ANGRY WITH HIM!!!!!! LAURENCE YOU BEAUTIFUL USELESS DUMBASS PLEASE SNAP OUT OF YOUR DEPRESSION LONG ENOUGH TO TELL YOUR DRAGON SON YOU’RE NOT ANGRY WITH HIM OR SO HELP ME I’LL... CRY AT YOU I GUESS

- okay so this is all very bleak and... borderline war crime-y and laurence is clearly In A Bad Way but also demane has just put every scrap of clothing he could find on his little brother, who now can barely walk for all the layers but is presumably nice and warm, and my heart is doing strange things in my chest

- “Laurence, what are you doing?” 

*ELMO SURROUNDED IN FLAMES GIF* MY BOY THARKAY BEING THE REAL MVP ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS

this whole scene is so brief but so good fkdslahfaklsdhfaskld laurence literally slipping back out of dissociation and noticing the smells and sounds around him again... this is So Much, tharkay you fucking miracle of a man  

- there is something incredibly interesting about how laurence is just viscerally terrified by the things tharkay seems to represent to him -- that’s at least twice now that he’s thought straight out, in pretty much the same words, that tharkay’s way of living seems achingly lonely and untethered and frightening to him. (the first time is in black powder war, just as he’s about to give the offer of friendship that tharkay seems equal parts confused and touched by lol) laurence has this intense need to be part of something bigger than himself and doesn’t trust himself to know what’s right (...even tho he’ll historically still occasionally go off and do The Right Thing despite orders anyway because he’s a beautiful idiot), while tharkay obviously puts freedom and autonomy faaaar above any of that (understandably, from his background lol) 

and still it’s exactly this dude who woke laurence up to himself again and reminded him who he really is. this is the man he knew he’d be ‘sorrier to lose than yet I know’ and gooooddamn if he wasn’t right about that. I’m not ready to be coherent about it yet but uh wow this is A Lot

- the way novik writes laurence dissociating is. a bit too close to home, I’m not thrilled about this haha 

- LAURENCE IS TALKING TO HIS DRAGON SON AGAIN AND I CAN FINALLY BREATHE THANK YOU THARKAY

- also let me specify that tharkay coming in and ending laurence’s breakdown by just showing him that he, y’know. doesn’t have to commit borderline war crimes if he doesn’t want to is... yeah. when he’s like ‘yeah no bro I like you and all but this is fucked up I’m out’ and Laurence slowly puts the pieces together and goes ‘...that... is an option? F U C K’  is the Good Stuff (I’m being flippant about it but also I really mean it lol)  

- temeraire is giving the french uniforms the side eye for being boring and admiring the kilts... god bless him, focusing on the real things on the eve of battle

- gOD lien is so fucking COOL, celestial who actually knows wtf she’s doing OP pls nerf

ETA: also I’ve looked up some spoilers for the rest of this series (b/c there’s a couple of characters now who I’m so attached to that if they die I don’t even fucking care anymore lol), and apparently they never get to fight lien/meet her for too long again and can I just say... What The Fuck, why would you come up with such a compelling antagonist and not use her???  

- Tharkay, straight(hah)-faced: yeah I’m coming with you to australia on this prison ship nbd just curious about it that’s all 

Laurence, blinking back tears, barely getting the words out: cool bro 

(I think laurence has been like. crying or on the verge of crying in every single scene he and tharkay have been alone in this entire book. tharkay saw laurence through an ugly ugly divorce (with the government of england if not the land) and is still going with him to fucking australia. that’s how you know it’s love tbh, he’s done for)

also for the meme: AND THEY WERE SHIPMATES! OH MY GOD THEY WERE SHIPMATES!

ALSO also: tharkay getting granby a drink fdsafjsalkdjfh best boy, best friend 

- not connected to anything but I do appreciate that laurence is a rare extremely extroverted protagonist. he just really needs people around him and sort of wilts when he’s isolated, whether by circumstance or his own Stuff.  

- Oh man I really liked this one! the pacing worked better than the last one, the dual pov really shook things up, the new dragon characters were cool and Laurence had a lot of character development that has been in the cards since book 1, even if it was really upsetting while it happened. and Tharkay was there a lot, which is the surest way to my heart at this point, to be fair.