yay, conversational meta! I could do this all day! please feel free to ramble as much as you like. =D
I mean, I totally agree that Laurence has changed a lot in the books. and very much for the better. and it is totally possible that in re-evaluating after VoE he will change again, and be capable of a relationship with an equal amount of give-and-take. I don't think he is right now. the last scene of VoE, where he's still being all broody rather than, as I think would be more sensible, ecstatic over not being dead, getting to keep Temeraire, and okay, yes, exiled, but not entirely alone and knowing that a lot of his friends still support him, points me towards thinking he's still a little too tied up in the vestigial beliefs that he's been shedding throughout the books.
here's my main thing, though, about Laurence and Temeraire: I always got the impression that their relationship is, even for a good aviator-dragon pair, atypical. Laurence gets all of his emotional needs fulfilled in Temeraire - best friend, unconditional love, intellectual exchange. the only thing he's not getting is laid, and I don't see that as really upsetting him all that much. I mean, he'd like to be getting laid (THIS IS WHY JANE IS BALLER) but he's not going out there and proactively looking for it, because he already has everything else you'd be looking for in a sexual and romantic relationship. Iskierka is not enough for Granby. not even remotely. and I think we can all agree that he really needs some help with her. (this is part of why I like Tharkay with Granby so much, actually; I think they'd make a really good parent team for Iskierka.) Laurence is pretty effectively married to Temeraire, yeah? whereas Iskierka is more like Granby's incredibly beloved and spoiled daughter. Tharkay I think is more likely than Granby to understand the difference between the two, if only because he's so used to being an outsider looking in on other people's relationships.
but, on the other hand, Laurence has always been described as a very social person whose need for other people has been derailed by his all-encompassing love for Temeraire, and I would totally buy him, as he gets more used to this idea that, hey, somebody loves me, maybe I deserve it, getting to be more involved in other people again.
you know you want the tennis slash! if you're considering dipping your toe in the water, I have some starter links here:
http://meretricula.livejournal.com/105785.html
so you can see the attractiveness of the people we're talking about. I didn't know anything about tennis either! I keep having to Wiki things and people. like "how to score in tennis." I still don't get that.
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branchandroot
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow!
Date: 2009-04-03 05:31 pm (UTC)I mean, I totally agree that Laurence has changed a lot in the books. and very much for the better. and it is totally possible that in re-evaluating after VoE he will change again, and be capable of a relationship with an equal amount of give-and-take. I don't think he is right now. the last scene of VoE, where he's still being all broody rather than, as I think would be more sensible, ecstatic over not being dead, getting to keep Temeraire, and okay, yes, exiled, but not entirely alone and knowing that a lot of his friends still support him, points me towards thinking he's still a little too tied up in the vestigial beliefs that he's been shedding throughout the books.
here's my main thing, though, about Laurence and Temeraire: I always got the impression that their relationship is, even for a good aviator-dragon pair, atypical. Laurence gets all of his emotional needs fulfilled in Temeraire - best friend, unconditional love, intellectual exchange. the only thing he's not getting is laid, and I don't see that as really upsetting him all that much. I mean, he'd like to be getting laid (THIS IS WHY JANE IS BALLER) but he's not going out there and proactively looking for it, because he already has everything else you'd be looking for in a sexual and romantic relationship. Iskierka is not enough for Granby. not even remotely. and I think we can all agree that he really needs some help with her. (this is part of why I like Tharkay with Granby so much, actually; I think they'd make a really good parent team for Iskierka.) Laurence is pretty effectively married to Temeraire, yeah? whereas Iskierka is more like Granby's incredibly beloved and spoiled daughter. Tharkay I think is more likely than Granby to understand the difference between the two, if only because he's so used to being an outsider looking in on other people's relationships.
but, on the other hand, Laurence has always been described as a very social person whose need for other people has been derailed by his all-encompassing love for Temeraire, and I would totally buy him, as he gets more used to this idea that, hey, somebody loves me, maybe I deserve it, getting to be more involved in other people again.
you know you want the tennis slash! if you're considering dipping your toe in the water, I have some starter links here:
http://meretricula.livejournal.com/105785.html
so you can see the attractiveness of the people we're talking about. I didn't know anything about tennis either! I keep having to Wiki things and people. like "how to score in tennis." I still don't get that.