vaindreams

⠀canon & notes. taken from the terror television adaptation with very limited book canon. francis goes through a very dramatic arc throughout canon, so setting will heavily impact dynamics/threads. please note that this arc does canonically include depression, passive suicidal ideation, and alcohol use disorder. feel free to chat with me about timeline placement if you're looking for a specific dynamic!

⠀canonically, the franklin expedition fails, and all of francis's men die. he alone survives (with the help of silna, daugher of the shaman mentioned below), though he loses a hand in the process, and he lives out the rest of his life with inuit in the nunavut area. i am also happy to write in aus where the expedition does see some of its men back to london, with francis being either in london/europe or remaining in north america.

⠀the northwest passage, a navigable sea route connecting europe to asia by way of the arctic archipelago north of canada's land mass, was sought endlessly by european explorers.

⠀character portrait. a cut crystal glass of whiskey, full to the brim. cynicism, disillusionment, resentment. carefully mended clothing. long arctic nights. a ten-drawer dresser, eight drawers unused. a father figure. mis-matched articles of clothing from those you've lost. a handful of loose gold buttons. introverted, romantic, obsessive. unrealized longing. acceptance, atonement, peace.

⠀⠀⠀BASICS.

⠀name. francis rawdon moira crozier ⠀age. 40s - 50s ⠀gender. cis man, he/him ⠀sexuality. bi ⠀occupation. captain in the british navy's discovery service ⠀residence. england when on land

⠀⠀⠀OVERVIEW.

⠀ born in banbridge, francis was the eleventh of thirteen children born to solicitor george crozier, who by that time struggled heavily with alcohol use disorder. his upbringing was far from pleasant, and at age thirteen, he volunteered for the royal navy. eleven years later, he joined his first arctic expedition under captain william parry, where he found his niche. since then, he's almost exclusively operated within the discovery service, a specialized branch of the royal navy focused on polar exploration and scientific research.

⠀ francis meets fellow midshipman sir james clark ross during his early years in the discovery service, and they quickly become close friends. francis falls for ross over their years of friendship, though he never expects his feelings to be reciprocated. unlike francis, whose promotions come far between and hard won, ross rises quickly through the ranks and is knighted following his return to england from his 1893 antarctic expedition, for which francis was his second in command.

⠀ francis meets sophia cracroft during stopovers in van diemen's land throughout the ross antarctic expedition, with whom he is immediately enchanted. they enjoy a brief romance, which prompts francis to ask for her hand in marriage, but his suit is rejected. upon his and ross's return to england, he finds sophia cracroft and her guardians, the franklins, in london, and they renew their romance, leading to a second proposal that sophia rejects.

⠀ already brokenhearted by this second rejection, the admiralty's denial to offer francis command of the upcoming discovery service expedition in search of the northwest passage pushes him deeper into despair. instead, the expedition is to be headed by sophia's uncle, sir john franklin. at sophia's urging, francis agrees to join as second in command in order to ensure franklin's judgment.

⠀ the expedition proves disastrous. their two ships are frozen in somewhere north of canada, and no thaw comes. in addition to the elemental challenges, the crew finds themselves facing a creature they come to know as the tuunbaq—a monstrous spirit bear, whose shaman they accidentally kill. the tuunbaq kills franklin after their first winter in the pack, and francis finds himself leading the expedition along with commander james fitzjames, a man for whom he has little love.

⠀canon & notes. taken from outlander, mainly influenced by the television series with some book canon (to be reevaluated once i get to the lord john series). canon divergent toward the end of the series.

⠀character portrait. insatiable yearning, words you can never speak. utter devotion. an irregular bleed of the private persona through the public mask. loyalty, propriety, decorum. tokens of lost and impossible loves. bone-deep loneliness. shame, isolation, restraint. wittiness and humor. unmalicious disconnect from the middle and lower classes. a chess set. muted floral damask.

⠀⠀⠀BASICS.

⠀name. lord john william bertram armstrong grey ⠀age. verse-dependent. 20s - 40s ⠀gender. cis man, he/him ⠀sexuality. gay ⠀occupation. verse-dependent. english soldier, governor of ardsmuir prison, governor of jamaica, lord and landowner ⠀residence. verse-dependent. scotland, england, italy, france, america

⠀⠀⠀OVERVIEW.

⠀john was born to the duke and duchess of pardloe, but as the younger of two boys, his brother hal inherited the title. john is bought his first commission as a teenager and joins his brother's regiment in the british army during the 1745 jacobite uprising. it's during this time that he first meets jamie and claire, who spare john's life when he sneaks into their camp and attempts to kill jamie. in return, john swears jamie a debt of honor.

⠀the information jamie and claire get from john about the british army leads to a disastrous loss, and outside of his brother and his lover, hector, john becomes a pariah in his regiment. shortly after, hector dies in the battle of culloden. john is devastated by the loss.

⠀over the next decade, he continues serve in the army and travels between england, scotland, italy, and france. throughout this period, john remains deep in his grief, and his behavior becomes at times self-destructive, reckless, and indiscreet. following a scandal related to one of john's lovers, hal secures him a position as governor of ardsmuir prison, a remote and isolated post to keep him out of trouble and out of the public eye.

⠀once there, john finds jamie among ardsmuir's prisoners, having been spared from execution after culloden by hal as a repayment of john's debt. he strikes up an unlikely friendship with him and eventually falls for him, and when ardsmuir is converted to a fortress, he uses his influence to arrange for jamie to serve as groom of helwater estate in england rather than be transported to america with the other prisoners.

⠀canon & notes. taken from outlander, mainly influenced by the television series with limited book canon.

⠀character portrait. loss. soft cardboard boxes of dusty archives. aristocratic, proper, well-dressed. struggles with emotional intelligence. fighting against the dormant coals of anger inside you. a well-appointed office. a love resurrected that comes back changed. genealogy, selfishness, desperation. an inability to let go.

⠀⠀⠀BASICS.

⠀name. franklin wolverton randall ⠀age. verse-dependent. late 20s - 50s ⠀gender. cis man, he/him ⠀sexuality. straight ⠀occupation. history professor. mi6 agent during wwii. ⠀residence. verse-dependent. england (1940s), , america (1940s - 60s)

⠀⠀⠀OVERVIEW.

⠀frank married claire randall in 1937, when he was 31. they lived a somewhat nomadic life until the outbreak of world war ii, when claire trained as an army nurse and frank served as an officer with mi6. during that time, he had a brief affair that shook his faith in himself and which he never disclosed to claire. after the war, in 1945, he took claire on a second honeymoon to scotland in hopes of rekindling their relationship and reestablishing their marriage. it's then that they first visit craigh na dun, the stone circle at which claire disappears.

⠀distraught, frank remains in inverness for some time, desperately searching for claire and pushing back against the police's perception that she's simply absconded with a secret lover. eventually, he loses hope and moves back to london, broken and grieving.

⠀in 1948, frank receives a call that claire has been found in inverness and taken to the local hospital. he goes to her immediately, and finds her shaken, malnourished, and with child. though frank doesn't fully believe her story of traveling through time, he's overcome with relief and joy at having her back, and he agrees to raise her child as his own. his only conditions are that they not tell the child of its true parentage, and that claire stop searching for james fraser, both of which claire agrees to.

⠀canon & notes. taken from outlander, mainly influenced by the television series with limited book canon. heavily headcanon-based and somewhat revisionist. i'm especially interested in the 20 difficult years claire spends with frank while raising brianna, the imperfection of her life and her family, and the grief she can't share.

⠀regarding time travel in outlander canon, the ability to time-travel is genetic, and one generally does so by touching a large stone (usually part of a henge) placed on a ley line. gemstones are recommended for safe travel, and time travel can only be accomplished at certain times of year. the process is painful and harrowing, and where you end up is guided by the traveler's thoughts and desires at the moment of travel.

⠀character portrait. the tension of being caught between worlds. unpretentious, stubborn, not easily cowed. destined to keep secrets, in her time and in the past. safety and familiarity pitted against passion and adventure. can't mask her feelings—emotion shows through on her face and in her body. blunt, loyal. lives by the hippocratic oath. forget-me-nots, sunshine on thick grass.

⠀⠀⠀BASICS.

⠀name. claire elizabeth beauchamp randall fraser ⠀age. verse-dependent. late 20s - 50s ⠀gender. cis woman, she/her ⠀sexuality. (mostly) straight ⠀occupation. none pre-wwii. army nurse during the war. "healer" in the 1700s. doctor in the 1960s ⠀residence. verse-dependent. england (1940s), scotland (1740s, 1760s), paris (1740s), america (1940s, 1760s on)

⠀⠀⠀OVERVIEW.

⠀claire married historian frank randall in 1937, when she was 19. they lived a somewhat nomadic life until the outbreak of world war ii, when claire trained as an army nurse and frank served as an officer with mi6. after the war, in 1945, they went on a second honeymoon to scotland in hopes of rekindling their relationship and reestablishing their marriage. it's then that they first visit craigh na dun, the stone circle by which claire unintentionally travels through time.

⠀claire is thrust back into 1743, where she meets james fraser, who she eventually marries in order to avoid being taken prisoner by british captain jonathan randall. over time, claire falls in love with jamie, and she ultimately decides to remain with him rather than attempt to return to her own time. but when she and jamie fail to stop the jacobite uprising and find themselves facing certain death in the battle of culloden, jamie sends her back through the stones so that she and their unborn child will be safe.

⠀now back in the 1940s, claire resurfaces in inverness, having been missing for three years. though frank doesn't fully believe her story, he agrees to raise the child as his own, and they move to america together for a fresh start. they remain there, in boston, for twenty years, and claire eventually attends medical school and becomes a doctor. after frank's death, claire and her daughter brianna take a trip to england and scotland. it's there that claire learns jamie did not die at culloden, and she makes the decision to go back through the stones.