All the Ships I've Loved Before 1

[thefourthvine]

So, uh. Mistakes were made. See, there was this neat meme going around on Twitter – one like equals one ship – and I was really enjoying seeing what everyone had stored deep in the depths of their pairing wardrobe. Except most people were tweeting pictures, and the last thing I want to do is google a whole bunch of names and spend time squinting at the screen going, "But is that the actual Jim and Blair from the Sentinel? ...What did they look like, even?" So instead I thought I'd do fic recs. I could easily come up with a dozen or so pairings and a dozen or so recs, and I didn't expect to get more likes than that.

Instead, I ended up with 66 likes.

So, over the next, uh, probably months, possibly years, I will be doing a very deep dive into my pairing wardrobe. (Yes, I do have 66 pairings. I counted. The sad truth is that even this will not empty my pockets of all pairings. I'm a ship magpie, apparently.) No particular order, because honestly this project is already ridiculous enough. I'll try not to use stories I've recommended before, but in some cases I'll do it anyway, because some pairings have to be mentioned, even if I've already recommended every story about them.

Are you ready for this? I am definitely not ready for this. There should be a special name for a meme that gets way out of hand. Memelanche? Whatever. Here comes my memelanche of pairings, one fic rec at a time.

Let's start with a classic.

The One That Made Me Realize the Horror of Having a Soulmate with a Really Long Name in a Wristname AU. (Like, Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla's Soulmate Presumably Has a Full Sleeve Wristname, So I Hope They Like Tattoos.) Gentle Antidote, by x_los. Harriet Vane/Peter Wimsey, Lord Peter Wimsey series.

Okay, so, if I'm doing an All the Ships I've Loved Before meme, let's start off with one of the ones that formatted my brain. I read the Peter Wimsey novels as an impressionable 12 year old, and I tell you what: that's the wrong damn time to read them. Developing brains and Dorothy Sayers are a potent, terrible mix; I will never stop expecting fictional het romances to require five years, five hundred pages of persiflage, and at minimum two dead bodies before any sort of consummation can be achieved. This is why I am terrible at reading published het romances. The characters meet and kiss and fall in love and bang in the space of like a week, and my hindbrain goes, "Nope. This is not how straight romance goes. I know this from my learnings. Where are the corpses? Where is the part where she refuses him fifty times and walks across England to avoid dealing with her feelings? Where's the banter and telegrams and Latin proposals?" My brain knows what it is due and just won't accept less. Sayers has a lot to answer for, basically.

But it turns out I do not require the years/persiflage/bodies in every single case, and, oddly, this pairing is one of the cases where I don't. At least in the hands of a writer as skilled as this, in a story as good as "Gentle Antidote." This is honestly everything I've ever wanted from a Harriet/Peter story – them, being so completely them, which will always be enough for me – and also everything I've ever wanted from a wristname AU – good worldbuilding, sensible reactions, total buy-in to the concept, wristnames that don't solve every problem and actually create a few, a happy ending.

This story makes me as happy as any two of the books it took Sayers to accomplish the feat of getting these extremely difficult people together. Partly that happiness comes from the sheer perfection of every word, and partly it's from my knowledge of everything the characters are going to avoid and accomplish, thanks to wristnames. (Hail, wristnames! I welcome our tropey overlord.) And while I think the former joy will be available to anyone who knows what a wristname is, the second pleasure is probably only for those who have read Sayers's Harriet Vane stories. (Which, I mean, is not time wasted or anything.)

But whether you've read Sayers or not, I recommend this story; it's the perfect story for the ur-ship. (Or one of them. But, well, we're going to get there. One pairing down, 65 to go.)

Comments

[isweedan]

Omg why did I not go check the ao3 for Harriet/Peter fic after I read the books last year. What a foooool!

Thank you for this rec and this writeup <3

[thefourthvine]

I just need to be sure you're aware that the fic quality in Sayers fandom is surprisingly high, bc it is. And also I need to make sure you've read To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. Because I care.

[isweedan]

I will be INVESTIGATING Sayers fandom tomorrow quite thoroughly. What a joy that fic was, what a joy!

And I have read To Say Nothing of the Dog! Though it might be time for a re-listen to the audiobook.

[abbylee]

oooh, thanks, I've just added that To Say Nothing of the Dog to my library ebook queue.

[out_there]

I'm looking forward to the next 65. Clearly, that memelanche did swallow you whole.

[thefourthvine]

*waves weakly from inside the memelanche*

[gool_duck]

I do like the wrist-name AU. And that is a partticularly lovely story.

I wish for a story - no, multiple stories - set in and around a forger's tattoo-parlour , where lady Churchill gets a rosebud wristlet to cover the gardener's name, and where for a consideration people can get the right name onto their wrist.

A story with private investigators might fit it.

But frankly I'm hoping if I mention the idea here, lots of people might read it, and some of them will like it and take it and make use of it.

[jesse_the_k]

I live in hope!

[thefourthvine]

Oooo, that is an excellent idea and I am hoping your suggestion takes off.

[watersword]

....I'm adding that to my to-write list. I admit that is where ideas go to languish, but occasionally one makes it!

[marycontrary]

"it's the perfect story for the ur-ship. (Or one of them."

Wait, there's one for Bunter too? I mean, he's perfect, but I'm... damn, I think I'm just programmed for Harriet/Peter. If you rec one for Bunter/Peter, I will give it a fair try, this one was charming.

[thefourthvine]

Oh no, I meant my ur-ships! The other ones are in other fandoms. (But I have read a very good Peter/Bunter one. I will have to see if I can find the link.)

[mrkinch]

This is AMAZING! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[thefourthvine]

Is it not SINCERELY THE BEST? I love this story so, so much.

[st_aurafina]

Yay for more TFV recs! I am selfishly glad of your memelanche.

[thefourthvine]

I'm glad you're rejoicing! I'm more in trepidation mode, but it will be fun to get back to reccing.

[fjbryan]

Just polished off the story and enjoyed it enormously. Thanks for pointing it out!

[thefourthvine]

It is such a great story. I love it so much, and I'm glad I could point it out to you.

[shihadchick]

ooh what an excellent project! I mean, so sorry about the memelanche. :D

[thefourthvine]

Recommending again will be fun! I just...did not expect quite this many.

[maire]

This is indeed a lovely story. Thanks for the reminder!

[thefourthvine]

I love it so, so much. Honestly I should spend every day telling people about it.

[fox]

I ... don't have the faintest idea what a wristname is, but I do know and love me some Sayers (despite my ongoing slight discomfort with the fact that really Peter is the Great Hero of Not Taking No For An Answer, which is only really okay because Harriet mostly didn't mean it? but still, while the superego and id are adoring him for being all patient and stoic the ego is going but you know she did say no a lot of times - it's complicated). I am delighted to have a rec from a trusted source and glad there will be further tumblings from the memelanche! Even though I'm sorry that's probably more work than you were intending. :-)

[thefourthvine]

Wristnames! Your soulmate's name appears on your wrist, and your name appears on their wrist. There are many variations -- they appear when you're born, they appear at puberty, they appear in early adulthood. You get just a first name, or you get a full name, or you get their name in their handwriting. Complications ensue!

And, yeah, as an adult I have issues with Peter's persistence, but as a young teenager? I was ALL OVER THAT and ATE IT UP LIKE CANDY. Even now, I still mostly do; it's not at the Green Eggs and Ham level, where I'm just hissing, "BUT THEY SAID NO STOP THIS AT ONCE IS YOUR FULL NAME SAM-I-AM-A-MASSIVE-DICKBAG?" to a degree that makes enjoying it impossible. It's just -- as you said, complicated.

[travels_in_time]

I will never stop expecting fictional het romances to require five years, five hundred pages of persiflage, and at minimum two dead bodies before any sort of consummation can be achieved.

If this is not the truest thing I've ever read...and it's not just het. Any fic at all where two people get together without a whole lot of angst and literary references is just too easy. Now I know who to blame for that. :)

Thanks for the rec, and I look forward to future ones!

[thefourthvine]

Yep. When I thought back on my Formative Romantic Influences, it suddenly became very clear to me why I love slow burns and have the issues I have with zero-to-married-in-a-week stories.

[anatsuno]

ooooooh! I should be maybe be sorry for you buried under this memelanche, but the prospect of all these recs from you makes me SO, so happy! *g*

[thefourthvine]

I will be happy to accept BOTH your sympathy AND your joy! Memelanches are complicated things.

[everbright]

I feel so lucky I follow you on dreamwidth! This sounds like such an amazing and old-school meme enterprise. Thank you for doing so much work and letting us see some of the best bits of the Ships You've Loved.

[cadenzamuse]

I am sorry that your brain has taken you in this direction (I am looking at the so many tabs in "Check, Please!" fandom that are open in my browser that I cannot find anything balefully), but since you are pretty much my favorite reccer ever, I am super excited about the possibility of SO MANY RECS.