History Fanfic / BlackWingsBlackSails

* HurtingHero: Temeraire is deeply unhappy without Laurence, dreaming most nights about flying with and generally being with him. He gains a stronger friendship with Levitas, united in their beloved captains having abandoned them, and is so enraged at Rankin upon Levitas's death that he very nearly kills the man outright. Dayes proves to be a paltry substitute for Laurence, as he doesn't read to Temeraire or spend much time with him -- despite the man's initial pride at Temeraire's talents -- and is generally sullen. Despite this neglect, Temeraire is intensely protective of Dayes, as he is his captain, and he can't bear to lose another one after losing Laurence.

* HopeSpot: In Chapter 4, Temeraire rescues Laurence and his boarding crew from arrest, and carries them back to their ships, moving Laurence to tears at finally being with Temeraire again. The two spend a few moments on one of Laurence's captured dragon-transports just saying hello to each other again, and Laurence marvels at how the dragonet he had to untangle from a hammock has grown into this beautiful glossy beast. But... he believes that if Temeraire joins him, Temeraire will almost certainly be executed alongside him, or at the very least have his potential as an intellectual, heavy-combat dragon wasted. So he urges Temeraire to return to Dayes, unable to watch the dragon leave his ship. The author even apologized at the end of the chapter.
* HurtingHero: Temeraire is deeply unhappy without Laurence, dreaming most nights about flying with and generally being with him. He gains a stronger friendship with Levitas, united in their beloved captains having abandoned them, and is so enraged at Rankin upon Levitas's death that he very nearly kills the man outright. Dayes proves to be a paltry substitute for Laurence, as he doesn't read to Temeraire or spend much time with him- despite the man's initial pride at Temeraire's talents -and is generally sullen. Despite this neglect, Temeraire is intensely protective of Dayes, as he is his captain, and he can't bear to lose another one after losing Laurence.
* TheInfiltration: When Laurence takes the crew of the ''Allegiance'' prisoner at the behest of the Tswana and presents the prisoners' options- prisoners of the Tswana to be used for an undecided fate, or a year of service in Laurence's pirate crew -Granby takes the latter option, hoping that he'll have an opportunity to get aboard Laurence's flagship and free Dayes from confinement. It's unclear if Laurence is aware of this possibility, but nonetheless, it doesn't seem to be working out for Granby, as he winds up holystoning the deck on a different ship and accompanying Laurence into Capetown for supplies.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A platonic, deconstructed example- Laurence and Temeraire's internal conflicts are driven by their adamant refusal to believe they have anything to offer each other, and will most definitely be happier with someone else. Laurence fully expects to be hanged for his crimes before long- he can't bear the thought of Temeraire wasting his potential with a non-Aviator-turned-pirate, and eventually either grieving over losing Laurence for real, or getting executed himself. Temeraire, on the other hand, is insecure about everything that sets him apart from his Western cohorts, believes Laurence must have left him because he's not a good enough dragon, and is overprotective of Dayes in Laurence's place.

* AffablyEvil: Laurence comes to be known as the "Gentleman Pirate", thanks to his respectable clothes and rumors that he's the son of some noble. He's also unfailingly polite at all times, even when he calmly slits a slaver's throat- the same slaver from ''Empire of Ivory'' who would have gone on to sue Laurence for £10,000 in canon for cutting his slaves loose -which serves only to make him all the more terrifying. Although precisely how "evil" this makes him is debatable, considering his targets are ''slavers''.

** Becoming a pirate hasn't dulled Laurence's FatherToHisMen tendences at all- he personally sees to it that all of his men are treated fairly, and early on becomes concerned for the safety of the alarming number of women joining his crew. This stands in contrast to Dayes, who has thus far proven to be a short-tempered, sullen captain with a budding obsession with stopping Laurence.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/5971342/chapters/13724050 Black Wings, Black Sails]]'' is a ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' fanfiction hosted on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn and written by the_glow_worm. It currently sits at 7 chapters and is incomplete, having last updated in November 2018.

It reimagines the events of the series under the premise of Lieutenant Dayes taking William Laurence's place as Temeraire's captain, and Laurence being unable to take Temeraire back and join the Aerial Corps. In the throes of despair over losing Temeraire and nearly being brought to partake in penal slavery by the admiralty, against his abolitionist sensibilities, Laurence winds up turning to piracy. The Gentleman Pirate, as he comes to be called, with his massive fleet and black sails, is whispered about in hushed, fearful tones in slaving ports across the Atlantic. When he inexplicably sets his sights on dragon transports, the ''Allegiance'' finds itself under attack, one moonless night.

!This ''Temeraire'' fanfiction contains examples of:

* ForWantOfANail: This story diverges from the original series when Laurence is sent away early in ''His Majesty's Dragon'' to allow someone raised in the Aerial Corps to attempt to harness Temeraire. Rather than remaining in the pasture as he did in the books and forcing someone to go fetch Laurence in the middle of dinner with his Navy friends, Temeraire flies off to search for Laurence and finds him openly re-accepting his post in the Navy after having come to accept the loss of Temeraire over dinner. Temeraire becomes fully convinced that Laurence never wanted him in the first place and reluctantly accepts Dayes as captain. Laurence goes to bed on the ''Reliant'' for the night, only to realize the next morning that he's made a horrible mistake about twelve hours too late and is unable to take Temeraire back.

* HateSink: Dayes does pretty much nothing but be a sullen {{Jerkass}} and a piss-poor captain who snaps at his crew, including his little cadet [[TheSquadette Roland]]. It's very hard to ever feel any sympathy for him when Laurence punches Dayes out in his very first appearance in Chapter 1 and later captures him.

* AffablyEvil: Laurence comes to be known as the "Gentleman Pirate", thanks to his respectable clothes and rumors that he's the son of some noble. He's also unfailingly polite at all times, even when he calmly slits a slaver's throat- the same slaver from ''Empire of Ivory'' who would have gone on to sue Laurence for £10,000 in canon for cutting his slaves loose -which serves only to make him all the more terrifying. Although precisely how ''evil'' this makes him is debatable, considering his targets are ''slavers''.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: After Laurence disgraces himself with the Tswana, he goes to bed unhappy and distressed, dreaming of his mother and being carried in her arms when he was a little boy, who he was certain he would never see again.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: The aviators are likeable enough as individuals (well, except Dayes), but are acting to prop up a colonialist power and, more directly, the Atlantic slave trade. Laurence might be ruthless, but he's ruthless in the cause of destroying said slave-trade, and has a great many admirable personal qualities.
* HateSink: Dayes does pretty much nothing but be a sullen {{Jerkass}} and a poor captain to the intelligent Temeraire. It's very hard to feel any sympathy for him when Laurence punches Dayes out in his very first appearance in Chapter 1 and later captures him.

* StartOfDarkness: Prior to the start of the story, Laurence was just as he was in canon- an honorable naval captain with a strong moral compass in the service of king and country. But the loss of Temeraire and nearly being brought to partake in penal slavery, and being mutinied against over it, are what turn him over to fighting the slave trade through piracy.

* VillainProtagonist: Out of all of the characters, Laurence by far gets the most focus and is treated by the narrative as its protagonist, in light of all of the significant changes to his worldview and lot, while Temeraire and Granby wind up becoming deuteragonists.

* NecessarilyEvil: Laurence is fully aware that his violent methods of capturing ships, burning ports, and destroying livelihoods that benefit from the slave trade are not nice in the least, yet he continues because he feels he has nothing left to offer. There may also be some near-YourAreWhatYouHate-type sentiments in there, considering that he was nearly compelled to take part in penal slavery himself and was almost killed for trying to avoid it.

* HateSink: Dayes does pretty much nothing but be a sullen {{Jerkass}} and a poor captain to the intelligent Temeraire. It's very hard to feel any sympathy for him when Laurence punches him out as early as the very first chapter and later captures him.

* AffablyEvil: Laurence comes to be known as the "Gentleman Pirate", thanks to his respectable clothes and rumors that he's the son of some noble. He's also unfailingly polite at all times, even when he calmly slits a slaver's throat- the same slaver from ''Empire of Ivory'' who would have gone on to sue Laurence for £10,000 in canon for cutting his slaves loose -which serves only to make him all the more terrifying. Although precisely how ''evil'' this makes him is debateable.
** Although it is debateable just how 'evil' Laurence actually is, considering his main targets are ''slavers''.

* HeroAntagonist: The aviators and others who oppose Laurence and his black fleet just want to protect England, and that includes enabling the currently-legal and quite valuable slave trade to continue without him stealing their ships, cutting their slaves loose, and burning slave ports.
** Although how 'heroic' this makes them is deconstructed in later chapters, as Temeraire and Granby are forced to confront the horrors of the slave trade that they have been complicit in by doing so.

* AntiHero / AntiVillain: Ultimately, Laurence aims to free as many slaves as he can by capturing slaving ships and attacking slave ports. By Chapter 3, he winds up joining forces with the Tswana, after finding that many of the slaves he's been rescuing originate from their kingdom. Deplorable as the trade may be to us modern readers, it still supports a lot of livelihoods and all of the labor from the trade results in unprecedented agricultural productivity that drives the First Industrial Revolution. This contrast is underscored when Laurence slits a slaver's throat without remorse, prompting Granby's horrified reaction and remark that Laurence just killed a man in cold blood.

* AffablyEvil: Laurence comes to be known as the "Gentleman Pirate", thanks to his respectable clothes and rumors that he's the son of some noble. He's also unfailingly polite at all times, even when he calmly slits a slaver's throat- the same slaver from ''Empire of Ivory'' who would have gone on to sue Laurence for £10,000 in canon for cutting his slaves loose -which serves only to make him all the more terrifying.

* WickedCultured: As befitting a man known as the Gentleman Pirate, Laurence still does his best to dress respectably, down to wearing a neckcloth and coat at all times, and maintains the polite manner of speech befitting his noble birth. All while ruthlessly plundering and trying to destroy the Atlantic slave trade.

* AntiHero/AntiVillain: Ultimately, Laurence aims to free as many slaves as he can by capturing slaving ships and attacking slave ports. By Chapter 3, he winds up joining forces with the Tswana, after finding that many of the slaves he's been rescuing originate from their kingdom. Deplorable as the trade may be to us modern readers, it still supports a lot of livelihoods and all of the labor from the trade results in unprecedented agricultural productivity that drives the First Industrial Revolution. This contrast is underscored when Laurence slits a slaver's throat without remorse, prompting Granby's horrified reaction and remark that Laurence just killed a man in cold blood.

* AntiVillain: Ultimately, Laurence aims to free as many slaves as he can by capturing slaving ships and attacking slave ports. By Chapter 3, he winds up joining forces with the Tswana, after finding that many of the slaves he's been rescuing originate from their kingdom. Deplorable as the trade may be to us modern readers, it still supports a lot of livelihoods and all of the labor from the trade results in unprecedented agricultural productivity that drives the First Industrial Revolution. This contrast is underscored when Laurence slits a slaver's throat without remorse, prompting Granby's horrified reaction and remark that Laurence just killed a man in cold blood.

* HopeSpot: In Chapter 4, Temeraire rescues Laurence and his boarding crew from arrest, and carries them back to their ships, moving Laurence to tears at finally being with Temeraire again. The two spend a few moments on one of Laurence's captured dragon-transports just saying hello to each other again, and Laurence marvels at how the dragonet he had to untangle from a hammock has grown into this beautiful glossy beast. But... he believes that if Temeraire joins him, Temeraire will almost certainly be executed alongside him, or at the very least have his potential as an intellectual, heavy-combat dragon wasted. So he urges Temeraire to return to Dayes, unable to watch the dragon leave his ship.

* AntiVillain: Ultimately, Laurence aims to free as many slaves as he can by capturing slaving ships and attacking slave ports. By Chapter 3, he winds up joining forces with the Tswana, after finding that many slaves originate from their kingdom. Deplorable as the trade may be to us modern readers, it still supports a lot of livelihoods and all of the labor from the trade results in unprecedented agricultural productivity that drives the First Industrial Revolution. This contrast is underscored when Laurence slits a slaver's throat without remorse, prompting Granby's horrified reaction and remark that Laurence just killed a man in cold blood.

* ReplacementGoldfish: Played with; an American Indian dragon who was once with the Dakota people called Akecheta, identified as the TyphoidMary who carried the dragon plague to the Old World in canon, decides to flee the barge that was transporting him to the Halifax breeding grounds and join Laurence's cause so he can fight the British, who separated him from his captain. Laurence builds a minor rapport with the dragon where the two exchange names despite a language barrier, and he comforts the dragon, giving Akecheta what Laurence believes might be the first kind words in any language he's heard in a long while, as his fleet's dragon-surgeon mends his wounds. Laurence briefly reflects that this should have been a different dragon he was doing this for, thinking of Temeraire, but sadly forces the thought from his head.