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This year, for Yuletide, there were a couple of post-series stories (now that the series is complete) in which Tharkay and Lawrence get together as a couple. And I found, reading them, that after the last book I don't ship them anymore.
It's not that I don't think they'd work very well together, and it's certainly not that I don't think they have chemistry. But after being disappointed when they both swore off getting married, I felt I had to figure out why. After some rumination, I discarded the idea that reading so many Regency romances has primed me to be disappointed if there's no marriage (because if that were the case, it wouldn't be only popping up now). Here's what I came up with.
1) Temeraire. If Lawrence never marries, given his deep attention to the Proper Way of Doing Things, he probably won't ever have kids. And I know that Temeraire, given his work for the emancipation of dragons, doesn't need another captain, in the way British dragons to this point have been passed down in the family, but I still don't want him to be lonely, you know? There's this half-formed picture in my head of Temeraire surrounded by Lawrence's children and grandchildren, still hoarding them as "his" people, and having that family support even after Lawrence is dead and gone.
2) Tharkay. Tharkay now has an estate. Tharkay has now been wedged into the xenophobic snobbery of the British aristocracy, and it will do them good! If Tharkay never marries and dies without heir, the estate goes to some collateral branch or reverts to the crown, and everybody can then heave a sigh of relief that it's back in the hands of Good White British Men, just like it was supposed to be and Tharkay can get quietly forgotten. If, however, Tharkay marries and has kids ... then the British aristocracy has to deal with the reality of him for generations to come. And I think that would be good for them. (Hard as hell on the kids, but good for society as a whole, and I have never been of the opinion that "the world is cruel" is a particularly good reason not to have kids if you would otherwise want them.)
3) CROSSOVER POTENTIAL. They are now in the tail end of the regency! Think of all the Regency romances you could cross them with! Would Georgiana Darcy be a suitable wife for either of them? How about Mary Crawford? And, of course, you could cross them over without romance, but where's the fun in that?
Which leaves me with two options for satisfying my yen for post-canon Temeraire fic. Either they are together but married to highly accommodating wives, or they are not together and "just" very close friends.
It's not that I don't think they'd work very well together, and it's certainly not that I don't think they have chemistry. But after being disappointed when they both swore off getting married, I felt I had to figure out why. After some rumination, I discarded the idea that reading so many Regency romances has primed me to be disappointed if there's no marriage (because if that were the case, it wouldn't be only popping up now). Here's what I came up with.
1) Temeraire. If Lawrence never marries, given his deep attention to the Proper Way of Doing Things, he probably won't ever have kids. And I know that Temeraire, given his work for the emancipation of dragons, doesn't need another captain, in the way British dragons to this point have been passed down in the family, but I still don't want him to be lonely, you know? There's this half-formed picture in my head of Temeraire surrounded by Lawrence's children and grandchildren, still hoarding them as "his" people, and having that family support even after Lawrence is dead and gone.
2) Tharkay. Tharkay now has an estate. Tharkay has now been wedged into the xenophobic snobbery of the British aristocracy, and it will do them good! If Tharkay never marries and dies without heir, the estate goes to some collateral branch or reverts to the crown, and everybody can then heave a sigh of relief that it's back in the hands of Good White British Men, just like it was supposed to be and Tharkay can get quietly forgotten. If, however, Tharkay marries and has kids ... then the British aristocracy has to deal with the reality of him for generations to come. And I think that would be good for them. (Hard as hell on the kids, but good for society as a whole, and I have never been of the opinion that "the world is cruel" is a particularly good reason not to have kids if you would otherwise want them.)
3) CROSSOVER POTENTIAL. They are now in the tail end of the regency! Think of all the Regency romances you could cross them with! Would Georgiana Darcy be a suitable wife for either of them? How about Mary Crawford? And, of course, you could cross them over without romance, but where's the fun in that?
Which leaves me with two options for satisfying my yen for post-canon Temeraire fic. Either they are together but married to highly accommodating wives, or they are not together and "just" very close friends.
