Captain Dragon (CD) was the 15th literary work published by Coeur Al'Aran. It is his second work to focus primarily on a non-Jaune Arc perspective from Yang Xiao Long as she leads a group consisting of Mercury Black, Hei Xiong, Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan, Miltiades and Melanie Malachite against the White Fang led by Emerald Sustrai. The work was syndicated between 2017 August 15 to 2018 August 28.
Prelude
Early Preparation
According to Coeur, the work was published on the premise of what happened if Cinder Fall died during the Battle of Beacon, indicating Coeur may have had the idea around early-2016, but waited until Volume 4 was underway to get a better idea of Yang's trauma from her injury and her team temporarily dissolving. According to Coeur in the Author Note for chapter 2, he states that Yang's squad originally had a list of original characters, but decided they would work better with a list of criminals.[1] He also mentions being inspired by the 2016 superhero film Suicide Squad, but did not see the film in theatres.[2][3][4] Coeur's original ideas included having either Beacon fall and teams taking the job of dealing with the White Fang or an alternate reality set in a police-state, but was not content with this idea.[5]
Hints of Publication
The first indication that Coeur would pursue CD appeared on 2016 August 15 in Coeur's list of prospective stories with "Captain One-arm." This work was the lowest one on Coeur's list, though he states it is not an exact order of when they would be published. Coeur describes Yang as having lost her arm in her one-sided fight with Adam Taurus, but still wanted to engage in active combat roles despite her disability, but realizes the game was rigged against her since she was leading a ragtag team of criminals with conflicting interests against the White Fang. Coeur describes the work as a "comedy" and "adventure" work, where the White Fang gains power despite Cinder's defeat. Sometime between March and July 2017, Coeur decides to change the name from "Captain One-arm" to "Captain Dragon." According to blaiseingfire on 2017 August 15, Coeur's profile stated Yang's team looked to "earn freedom through service" and that Yang's role as captain was to get her to relax from huntress work. As the March 2017 archive of Coeur's profile does not show this detail, this suggests that Coeur may have changed the profile details between March and August of that year to reflect the plot change.[6][7]
Coeur speculated early on that people would not like the work since it is different from the typical focus from Jaune as a main character.[8][9]
Publication
Following the completion of The Entertainer on 2017 July 25, Coeur would publish CD on August 15, explaining the work would run in parallel with Service with a Smile. Coeur describes the work as focusing on a character other than Jaune, with discretions of language and violence warranting the work a T rating. He elaborates in the Author Notes that because Beacon never fell, Yang would not have as present trauma like in Volume 4 of RWBY. He describes that Yang's character as a mix between Volumes 3 and 4, suggesting Yang has decreased levels of optimism and cynicism.
The work was met with approval from the Professor Arc Forum and reviewers, garnering 95 reviews after the first two days of publication.
Reflection
While Coeur was writing the work, he stated that he "enjoyed writing Captain Dragon" to work with different characters.[10][11] He has established that his favorite characters are different from ones he finds useful, such as Jaune or Blake. He instead prefers characters like Roman, Neo, Sun Wukong, and Yang according to his profile.[12] In the chapter 27 author note, Coeur commented that while CD garnered less attention that juggernaughts like Professor Arc, Forged Destiny, or Not this Time, Fate, that it was still a fun creative exercise.[13]
References
- ↑ Originally, this fic was planned as having OC's, but I kept trying to think of ways around it.
- ↑ To note a few questions, yeah, this was kind of inspired a little by suicide squad. I've never actually seen it, and the inspiration was more in the fact that this originally had an OC cast of officers, but then I thought the idea of criminals would work better.
- ↑ For those who asked, I've not actually seen Suicide Squad, so while I'd normally say "don't worry" about me following its storyline, I suppose there is an accidental chance.
- ↑ In the end, Suicide Squad just provided the idea of criminals being recruited to serve. That was all.
- ↑ I considered having Beacon fall, and the remaining teams taking this job as all that was left, but that didn't feel right. Nor did re-writing it all as a police AU where Beacon was a police academy.
- ↑ So on Coeur's profile it says that Yang's team will consist of criminals "each desiring to earn their freedom through service".
- ↑ Maybe, but the description on Coeur's profile says that assigning her captain was an attempt to get her to rest from huntress work.
- ↑ There's nothing wrong with disliking the fic, and an actual reason might simply be because it's different to what I usually offer.
- ↑ That's one of the main reasons I only added one fic which derails from having Jaune as a main character.
- ↑ You know, despite it not being as mainstream as some of my other stories, I do actually enjoy writing Captain Dragon. It's refreshing to have different characters and relationships to work with.
- ↑ Having a break like this and just writing about Yang for a chance – even if she isn't as popular – is just a breath of fresh air. It's good for the crooks too, since even with them it's not me re-hashing the same relationships I've written time and time before.
- ↑ If I based the answer on which characters I liked to see, watch or would like to be friends with, it would be Roman, Neo, Sun and Yang.
- ↑ Captain Dragon has been fun, even if it's probably one of my least followed and favourited stories. It was nice to have one focused on Yang for a change.