JeffEngel wrote:Sheesh. 57 pages. I got 26 in before giving up and going to the end to put in my two cents.
Eloise Pritchart/Tom Theisman
Sonja Hemphill/Michael Oversteegen (sorry, Rose!)
Shannon Foraker/Herlander Simoes
Scotty Tremaine/Naomi Kaplan
Dame Estelle Matsuo/Augustus Khumalo
Gwen Archer/Helga Boltitz
Albrecht Detweiler/rusty chainsaw
Eloise and Tom - they already mean that much to one another, maybe their treecat friends can point it out to them.
Hemphill/Oversteegen - It'd take a lot for anyone to put up with either of them. Here, they'd each find the rare combination of sufficient brains, sufficient spunk, and compatible politics and background to make it work.
Foraker/Simoes - Technological nerd singularity, just happens to be heterosexual this time. I think having someone to work with will be good for Herlander to establish a level of trust and rapport so he can get better, and their very different backgrounds but similar future trajectories can work out. Shannon's going to be able to treat him simply as a colleague, and not a traitor, basket-case, security risk, or intelligence asset, and she's going to be his chief immediate partner in making the Alignment pay for Francesca.
Tremaine/Kaplan - Comparable ages, similar careers, both feisty combatants but well aware of the costs. They may each have some wild oats to sow, but perhaps not so much that they can't begin shaping mutual approach vectors.
Dame Estelle and Khumalo - Very good working relationship and a comfortable, fond chemistry.
Gwen/Helga - sheesh, any time is about time, kids. And I cackle thinking of bringing Helga's accent back home to Gwen's mother.
Detweiler/chainsaw - Yes, I realize it's a horrible sacrifice to ask of a fine and noble power tool, but the job needs doing.
I'm amused at the Higgins/Chin ship, and I do wish them both the best - there's just not much reason it'd be one another. Could happen, I suppose.
EXCUSE ME WHILE I KIDNAP YOU FOREVER.
Let's get one thing out of the way first - I have been championing Augustus/Estelle
literally since I first joined this board and in fact for quite some time before that. Just look at that one exchange in SoF - the mere sight of his face on her comm can make her smile. DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THESE TWO OR I WILL NEVER STOP.
And that's just mean to the poor chainsaw. I hope you're planning to clean it up afterward.
Sonja/Oversteegen - now there is an interesting possibility. They're from two entirely different generations, but so are Hamish and Honor, so... As far as Oversteegen goes, my first (and still favorite) partner for him is Abi Hearns, but that may be because it would essentially be a Regency romance In SPACE! and. Uh. I am a female with all the typical weaknesses of the species. Including Regency romances. My other, later thought was Oversteegen/Michelle Henke, because let's face it, there's got to be at least a
bit of sexual frustration in all that bickering. (This is when I'm not 'shipping her with Tourville, of course.) Oversteegen and Sonja, though.... it would either go very, very well, or it would blow up in extremely spectacular fashion. They can both be quite irritating at times - and I say this with pure, unadulterated love - but they're also extremely smart, and they do come from similar backgrounds. (That said, I still champion Sonja/Shannon for three reasons: one, the Honorverse needs prominent lesbians, and these two are prime candidates; two, the sexiest thing to any geek is another geek's extremely clever brain; and three, they've practically been flirting with each other through technology upgrades since the Republic was restored and Shannon got put in charge of Bolthole.)
Tom/Eloise: this is another one I go back and forth on. I've speculated before that Eloise Pritchart may be the kind of person who can only love that way once in her life, and if that's true, she's never going to fall in love again, because she
can't. But if she
isn't that type of person, then in my mind the
only choice for her is Tom Theisman. I've suspected that Tom's been quietly in love with her at least since he took her hand while she agonized over whether or not to launch Beatrice, and I would not at all be surprised if he's been carrying a torch for her since he first offered her the Republic. And as for Eloise - well, he's already inside her shell. She can't close him out because she's terrified to lose him, because it would
already devastate her to lose him. And if, in fact, she does find love again, I think that one day she'll wake up and find that she's loved Thomas Theisman for a very long time, and that he's waited patiently for her until she'd grieved enough to become aware of it.
People have been postulating theoretical romantic counterparts for Scotty Tremaine on this board since long before I ever got here, and it's something I've rather stayed out of, because I honestly don't have that much of an opinion where he's concerned (except to 'ship him and Alice Truman). But I can't help but think that Naomi would eat poor Scotty alive.
(I've actually speculated that she'd do well with Jacob Zavala.)
Foraker/Simoes: This is another one people were tossing around before I even got here, and my opinion on this is simple - he's too broken. Sorry. I want to give him an enormous hug, but I don't think he's in any kind of shape to become emotionally involved with anything or anyone, ever, at least until the MAlign has been wiped from existence - and possibly the rest of his life. Some wounds are just too deep.
As for Gwen and Helga - well, they just need a good hard clobbering with a cluebat. Or several.