tag yourself I’m Barrbarian

I made a quiz so you can find out which vorkosigan saga character you are. share your results! :D

i got Cordelia i’m so effin proud!!

@southern-continent-skies​ @philomytha​

I got Ekaterin, which, yeah. That fits pretty well.

Vorkosishow dream cast

So i’m rereading Shards of Honor and Barrayar and I BADLY want to adapt it for TV. It is time.

There’s some issues with the earlier books tho (too little female characters, POC representation? i don’t know her, and LGBT rep - REALLY BAD), but i would try to genderswitch here, decolonialize there and gayify everything, as far as canon will support it.

Without further ado! My dream cast for the first books:

1. Cordelia Naismith - Bridget Regan

Bit too pretty but she has that ‘calm but scary’ energy down. Also, correct age range! (late thirties)

2. Aral Vorkoisgan - Oscar Isaac

i wanted a Middle-Eastern actor but didn’t find any that’d fit well. Oscar Isaac is a bit too handsome but his jaw? Brow? Charisma? It checks out very well. Also, he’s short! Ideal.

3. Bothari - Adam Driver

Listen. Listen that weird face?? so tall and buff?? intense and scary?? it FITS man. If the make-up department makes his face a bit more asymmetrical. We have our haunted killer :D

4. Koudelka - Jing Boran

I don’t know much about Jing Boran except 1. tall 2. handsome 3. has that good puppy look i associate with Kou. So there!

5. Droushnakovi - Jennifer Lawrence

ok, she isn’t nearly tall and buff enough for our favorite judoka/bodyguard, but the face is perfect

6. Piotr Vorkosigan - Alan Wolf Arkin

it’s surprisingly hard to find pics of old actors but this one looked tough enough for the part

7. Ges Vorrutyer - Ben Barnes

He’s awesome in intense antipathetic roles - have you seen him in Westworld?? And also very good-looking.

8. Prince Serg - Martin Wallström

just saw a few episodes of Mr. Robot and Wallström is scarily intense. I can see him in the role of an horrifying sadistic pervert

9. Princess Kareen - Sibongile Mlambo

she looks so regal but in control - also i really want Gregor to be black

10. Negri - Ken Watanabe

bit of a throwaway role but he’d rule

11. Illyan - Logan Lerman

he has that very young face with old eyes. Can see him as the Emperor’s vid recorder

12. Alys Vorpatril - Shriya Saran

Sophisticated and bubbly and ferociously intelligent? there we goooo

13. Padma Vorpatril

he’s got that blinding friendly grin i want his son to have too

14. Vordarian - Cillian Murphy

he got that smarmy look about ‘im

15. Dr. Vaagen - Anya Chalotra

That ambitious, blunt doctor could and should be played by a fierce lady imo. Anya with nerdy glasses? here for it.

Thoughts on that? :D

One of my least favourite dialogue tropes is when a man tells a woman, “You can’t do that” or “I wouldn’t do that if I were you” and she says, “Why? Because I’m a woman and therefore too weak to handle this/can’t take care of myself?” or something to that effect and the guy replies with, “No, because everyone who tried that ended up with a bullet in their brain” or something equally reasonable and not gender-specific that paints him as the rational not sexist guy and the woman as an irrational paranoid feminist who searches for sexism in everything. This whole scenario is built on the idea that sexism is over and women’s fears and suspicions don’t have a leg to stand on. It’s also self-congratulatory pseudofeminism bc it’s supposed to make the viewer/reader/listener feel that in this specific work of fiction women are treated respectfully and as equal with men.

huh.. never thought of it like that

But, what if the male character isn’t sexist? I meam…their fictional sure but…I’m not sure how to phrase this

Its not a question of the character themselves- its how the writers are portraying them. The way this trope plays out, the whole moment revolves around the woman looking foolish for assuming that there is sexism happening. She is characterized as being irrational, jumping to conclusions, even insecure. While the dude is characterized as the calm, rational one.

It is a trope that specifically works by taking a woman standing up to sexism and saying “haha it wasnt actually sexist at all! Isnt calling out sexism foolish and silly. Thats what you get for assuming that men are sexist!”

I have the same reaction with homophobic jokes set up like this. Like the whole “you can’t marry a woman”, “why bc you think its wrong” “no we haven’t found you the right dress yet silly!” Or stuff along those lines.

It feels like someone setting up to punch you and then you duck and the person goes “haha, i wasn’t gonna punch you at all, why would you duck? You shouldnt just assume someone’s gonna deck you because they have their fists up.”

…huh, wow. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender 1.05 | The King of Omashu

Wow those moves look like someone who’s childhood best friend was an airbender

…Shit, you’re right. 

That spin he does. That is an airbendery move. 

Literally the exact same move Aang pulls when he gets off his glider (cant find a gif but like… I promise)

This shows attention to detail was unreal.

Even the fall backwards! That looks like the exact kind of thing a fun loving Airbender kid would do while showing off gliders and airbending proficiency.

the best benders in this show tend to be the ones who adapt elements of other bending techniques. Bumi has some airbender-y movements, Zuko and Iroh use some Air and Water movements, even Katara tends to use some earthbender looking moves when bending ice

Meanwhile Toph just took earthbending and cranked it all the way up to 11.

Everyone else: The spice of variety! The four elements make mine stronger! Ballerina time!

Toph:….meTal….bendy bendy

take into account that Toph might not be able to take other bending styles into her own. Because those styles (especially fire and air) require you to lift your feet off the ground and for Toph she would lose her way of connecting to the world like he’s used too.

Toph took earthbending, made it her bitch, and made it adapt to her needs as a disabled person.

@randomishnickname

One of my favourite Vorkosigan Saga thing is every single occurence of Miles’ antagonists ranting and raving at him in a fit of impotent, grandiloquent, scooby doo-esque fury. They hate him so much. It’s hilarious

I took this costume I did a while ago and realized I could make a cover for Labyrinth!! I added stock backgrounds, some much needed arm hair, etc. HAPPY HALLOWEEN VORKOSIGAN FANDOM, I MISS YOU ALL!!!

ah. and here we come to the crux of it.

#man whose entire education and career and social standing#is based in bringing life into the world#in a society that desires it but most actively labour to bring it about#is confronted with the knowledge that for the majority of history#the miracles and labours of life have been twisted into shackles#an indentured servitude built on the myth of ‘the natural’#what happens if a society decides it wants children but does not want the pesky sin of the women who bore them?#when technology allows a society to separate the repoductive body from the sexual body#in the madonna-whore complex when you remove the madonna all that is left is the whore#and she is easily enough cut out#so there you have it#madonna ex machina and the excision of original sin from society#that was all there was wasn’t there?#and some insignificant labours we suppose#and yet the miracle runs out#and the labours add up#where did the math go wrong?#vorkosigan

jesus, go OFF 

the real tragedy of the vorkosigan saga, like, the real true actual tragedy of the vorkosigan saga, is that lois mcmaster bujold wasn’t able to Predict texting back when she started it in 1986

because like, we haven’t seen enough of gregor for me to have any real sense of the miles-gregor relationship, but if i was miles, and i was in the Imperial Service, and the Emperor, he in whose name all my actions and orders are carried out, was That Guy I Grew Up With, and i had his personal number (and idk what their relationship is like but miles would have his personal number), it would just be a constant stream of BarrayApp messages like 

“nearly suffocated in a tent buried under a meter of mud For You” [hypothermia selfie]

“found a corpse in the sewer For You” [selfie with pair of boots sticking out of sewage]

“stood naked in the snow at midnight For You” [hypothermia selfie #2]

“charged with high treason For You. again.” [handcuff selfie with middle finger salute]

#ivan made a group chat for the three of them#it’s called vorcousingans#they all block each other at least twice a week

Wishing a very good morning to no one except the person who wrote this particular description for Ivan Vorpatril on his literal Wikipedia page

Ah yes, we have achieved Peak Miles at last.

If the best thing happens–if Trump is impeached and removed from office, and we don’t end up having a civil war in the process–there’s something very important that we have to do in the aftermath.

Trump supporters and Trump voters cannot be allowed to distance themselves from Trump.  He is their albatross.  Do not allow them to do what fascist supporters do when their side loses: try to rewrite history to say that they were never his supporters.  That they didn’t eagerly excuse and vocally agree his rhetoric.  That they didn’t chant “Send Her Back!” and “Lock Her Up!” and cheer for children in cages and the like.  

They’re not allowed to try to shift the blame to “Trumpism” or anything of that nature.  

This was the Republican Party.  He was their candidate, supported by their voters, elected by their voters, enabled by their Congressmen (especially Moscow Mitch), and whose political apparatus was completely behind him, both officially and unofficially (I’m looking at you, Fox News).  They don’t get to try to pretend that he was a mistake that they didn’t support.  

So watch out for their attempts to rewrite history and say that they didn’t actually support the Orange Autocrat, and force them to own up to it.  He’s their shame, and they need to face that consequence.  

remember when Jin’s understanding of Miles was that he was some kind of lunatic insurance agent with a boss named Gregor; that was honestly hysterical, and also only the “insurance” part was particularly wrong.

helping the Amazon

I’m donating to Amazon Conservation Team, an NGO with 4/4 stars on charitynavigator.org that works with indigenous people to protect the Amazon rainforest.

Donating $2 or $5 can feel discouraging when you are just doing it by yourself, wondering how much impact that can have. But if you know tons of other people are donating as well, it can really feel like you’re making a difference. If only half of my followers gave $2, we’d raise over $2000. That’s incredible!

I just donated $20. Why don’t we try to see if we can raise even just $100? If you donate, message me, send me an ask, or reply to this post, and I’ll track our progress.

Donate here. You do not have to donate a lot. Click “Other” and put in any amount you want. Every bit helps! Don’t feel bad if you can only give $2 or $5. Let’s come together and do something that has an impact. And if you can’t donate, feel free to share this post.

We’ve raised $30!

We’ve raised $50!!

helping the Amazon

I’m donating to Amazon Conservation Team, an NGO with 4/4 stars on charitynavigator.org that works with indigenous people to protect the Amazon rainforest.

Donating $2 or $5 can feel discouraging when you are just doing it by yourself, wondering how much impact that can have. But if you know tons of other people are donating as well, it can really feel like you’re making a difference. If only half of my followers gave $2, we’d raise over $2000. That’s incredible!

I just donated $20. Why don’t we try to see if we can raise even just $100? If you donate, message me, send me an ask, or reply to this post, and I’ll track our progress.

Donate here. You do not have to donate a lot. Click “Other” and put in any amount you want. Every bit helps! Don’t feel bad if you can only give $2 or $5. Let’s come together and do something that has an impact. And if you can’t donate, feel free to share this post.

some of the most extra things Miles Naismith Vorkosigan has ever done

- explain Vorloupulous’ law in detail and then break it like ONE SECOND LATER, because what’s the point of a vacation if it doesn’t involve some casual treason among friends - think unironically that maybe he can get over his thing for tall women by sleeping with an 8 foot tall supersoldier (spoiler: doesn’t work) - “Would you believe, I’m here by accident? Oser wouldn’t.” I WONDER WHY MILES! Maybe it’s because you just happened to turn up in the middle of an interplanetary arms race to steal his mercenary fleet for the SECOND TIME? - “Who are you?” “I don’t even want to talk about it.” - lost AN ENTIRE EMPEROR once - is a trained Imp Sec operative, but primary method of staying undercover is hoping no one looks him up on Wikipedia - memorized all of Richard III - only comes up with the cover story that he’s Miles Vorkosigan’s clone right before his actual clone tries to murder him - the dramatic farewell kiss with Bel in front of a room full of people - possibly the worst dinner party ever thrown in the history of the WORLD, so bad calling it a trainwreck is an insult to trainwrecks - after she proposes, immediately started doodling Ekaterin’s name in his notes like a lovestruck teenager while the Council of Counts was still in session - casual friendship with an enemy Cetagandan general who he can call in a pinch  - when someone asked if he was Tien’s murderer and he got so fed up that he was like bitch I might be

and one not so much extra as really petty thing he did:

- as a 5 year old only child, somehow “outnumbered” his parents - broke both his legs, then slid down the banister in Vorkosigan House anyway - went from thinking he was going to be eaten by a werewolf to falling in love with same werewolf in .1 seconds - managed to get lost WHILE DEAD - compared his future wife to a horse, unaware that she was also comparing him to a horse - thought he might be panicking prematurely when he was nearly assassinated

- what i did on my summer holiday by Miles Vorkosigan aged about eight: stole historic tank and took it for a joyride with the emperor, demolished barn and caused landslide

- what i did on my summer holiday by Miles Vorkosigan aged 22: accidentally saved wrong empire, quickly fudged it so also saved correct empire

- what i did on my honeymoon by Miles Vorkosigan aged 30: saved both empires from going to war against each other while investigating a shipping problem. also while in a coma

-Can work a lightswitch wITH HIS TONGUE

- Got awarded highest medals of honor from enemy empires.

- Solution to “we are outnumbered and outgunned by entire fleet of mercenaries” is “demand that they surrender immediately.” It worked.

- Adopted the clone raised to kill him and take over his planet. Convinced his parents, the clone, and his government that the clone is his brother. (I mean, without lying. They knew this was a clone raised to kill them all.)