History YMMV / Temeraire

* FoeYayShipping: After Laurence and Temeraire [[spoiler:deliver the dragon-plague cure to France]], Napoleon consistently exerts extreme courtesy to the pair whenever available or whenever the two manage to get themselves [[GildedCage captured]]. Laurence refers to him several times as a seducer ([[AccidentalInnuendo to the French cause]], of course) and Napoleon makes no secret that he would love having Laurence on his side. After one capture, Napoleon writes to Laurence's "host" to ensure that Laurence and his companions are being treated well, stating in French that laurence is "worth more than pearls":
---> "''Tell me you have shown him every courtesy! Nothing is too good for such a man,'' adding the phrase, ''il a bien plus de valeur que les perles,'' a phrase which Laurence, half-amused despite every will to be otherwise, recognized as the description of the virtuous woman.

* GeniusBonus: In ''His Majesty's Dragon'', Temeraire particularly likes hearing the story of Raiden, the dragon (possibly a Siu-Riu, though implied later to have been a Celestial) who saved Japan from invading Mongol hordes by using the Divine Wind to sink their ships. In the real world, ancient Japan was threatened by Mongol invasion twice, in 1274 and 1281; the second was the largest attempted naval invasion in history until [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII D-Day]]. Both times, the Mongol ships were sank by freak monsoons. These storms were dubbed kamikazes, commonly translated as "divine wind", because the Japanese attributed the storms to their god of storms, Raiden. As well as an interesting reference to real-world events, this doubles as foreshadowing for [[spoiler:Lien sinking England's fleet]] in ''Victory of Eagles'' [[spoiler:with the Divine Wind]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** In ''Throne of Jade,'' there's an amusing little subplot where Laurence hears about a nasty cold going around the English dragons, and many jokes are made about how dragons are such big babies when they're sick. Temeraire comes down with the cold, and it's played largely for laughs. In ''Empire of Ivory,'' it turns out that [[spoiler:the "cold" is actually a form of dragon tuberculosis that's slowly and painfully killing every dragon in England, and if they hadn't stopped at exactly the right port in Africa and prepared exactly the right mushroom for Temeraire on a whim, he and every other English dragon would have died. And for that matter, since Temeraire was on his way to China, all of the Chinese dragons would probably have died, too.]] [[SarcasmMode What a fun, wacky subplot]]!
** Also in ''Throne of Jade'' Temeraire goes swimming, but due to an injury suffered earlier can't simply fly back onto the ''Allegiance''; for him to climb back up takes some ingenuity, and Riley complains to Laurence that "What the Admiralty would say to me if I managed to get a dragon transport sunk in harbor on a cloudless day, I should not like to think." Then ''Crucible of Gold'' happens, and [[spoiler: after a five-day storm, the ''Allegiance'' sinks due to rowdy convict sailors, and the dragons and a small number of people barely escape. Laurence mournfully realizes that Riley, who went down trying to save the ''Allegiance'', will be remembered as the captain who [[MeaningfulEcho got a ship sunk on a cloudless day.]]]]

* HarsherInHindsight:

* FoeYayShipping: After Laurence and Temeraire [[spoiler:deliver the dragon-plague cure to France]], Napoleon consistently exerts extreme courtesy to the pair whenever available or whenever the two manage to get themselves [[GildedCage captured]]. Laurence refers to him several times as a seducer ([[AccidentalInnuendo to the French cause]], of course) and Napoleon makes no secret that he would love having Laurence on his side. After one capture, Napoleon writes to Laurence's "host" to ensure that Laurence and his companions are being treated well, stating in French that laurence is "worth more than pearls":
---> "''Tell me you have shown him every courtesy! Nothing is too good for such a man,'' adding the phrase, ''il a bien plus de valeur que les perles,'' a phrase which Laurence, half-amused despite every will to be otherwise, recognized as the description of the virtuous woman.

* GeniusBonus: In ''His Majesty's Dragon'', Temeraire particularly likes hearing the story of Raiden, the dragon (possibly a Siu-Riu) who saved Japan from invading Mongol hordes by using the Divine Wind to sink their ships. In the real world, ancient Japan was threatened by Mongol invasion twice, in 1274 and 1281; the second was the largest attempted naval invasion in history until [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII D-Day]]. Both times, the Mongol ships were sank by freak monsoons. These storms were dubbed kamikazes, commonly translated as "divine wind", because the Japanese attributed the storms to their god of storms, Raiden. As well as an interesting reference to real-world events, this doubles as foreshadowing for [[spoiler:Lien sinking England's fleet]] in ''Victory of Eagles'' [[spoiler:with the Divine Wind]].

** In Crucible of Gold, Granby [[spoiler:is revealed to be gay during his protests over Iskeirka's and Hammond's plans to marry him to the Inca Empress. Look back on his and Laurence's interactions in this light...]]