#vorkosigan fandom

[vorkosigankinkmeme]

Welcome to the Vorkosigan Kink Meme!

This is a prompt meme being run hybrid on tumblr and ao3--there is also an ao3 collection where prompts can be both submitted and filled, but you are also free to submit prompts here on tumblr and they will be crossposted to the ao3 collection (and vice versa). Any fic or art that you want to post on tumblr to fill a prompt can also be sent to this blog.

ALL CURRENT PROMPTS ARE COLLECTED HERE

Send in an anonymous prompt here!

Prompt Guidelines:

Requests can be for anything Vorkosigan related. Kink of any kind, minor characters, rarepairs, wacky AUs, or more of the fandom's favorite tropes, whatever you want to see! Prompts can be very specific, almost a fic outline, or only a few words long. Lastly, don't forget to add any Do Not Wants (DNW) to your prompt if you have any. These are kinks that squick you out or story tropes that you don't want to see--anyone who claims the prompt agrees to avoid any stated DNWs.

If you have fic or art to fill a prompt, you can submit it on tumblr here or add it to the collection on ao3. I've put together more detailed instructions about that on the collection FAQ page.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out here or at my main, @curious-kat. I'm very excited to do this and I want to make it as smooth an experience as possible!

Have fun and go wild!

[curious-kat]

it's Vorkosigan kink meme time

hello fellow Vorkosigan fans! I know there are only about twelve of us active on here, but I think it would be fun to do a kink meme fanfic and art prompt challenge. Of course, we don't have an old LiveJournal style anonymous comment section to work with, but I have a way to do it using tumblr and ao3.

I will make a sideblog for the kink meme and use it to collect prompts--this will make it easy to collect prompts anonymously. I will collect them into an easy-to-find pinned post.

I will also make a collection on ao3, where responses to the prompts are submitted. This collection would be anonymous by default, but if you submit something and want your username attached to it, I will provide an email in the description so that you can notify me and I will de-anon it.

I just think it would be fun to collect a bunch of prompts--not necessarily only kink, there are many under-explored parts of canon--and see what fic and art result from them.

[starfieldcanvas]

So if it's not Paladin of Souls, which is the Lois McMaster Bujold book you talked about in your notes? I'm curious 😊

The Sharing Knife! It's a four-book fantasy series in a setting based on the Great Lakes region. I was clueless enough the first time around (and so heavily used to vague-medieval-renaissance-Europe-expy fantasy settings) I didn't realize it the first time I read the series, but it's very obvious once you think about it at all, and sometime in the last two years my library updated the audiobook covers from the original "beautiful high-effort romance novel painting where they're both white" style to the "expressionless racially ambiguous cutouts that make the setting explicit" style:

(These are the same book.)

It's a story about fantasy Native Americans ("Lakewalkers") and fantasy white settlers ("farmers"). The actual cosmology and history of the fantasy world is very different from our own—everyone is native to the same continent, and have been living in roughly the same area for at least a few hundred years—so the politics of settler vs. native don't actually apply in the same way. However, the tension of "people who share the land" vs "people who parcel off the land to sell" is still very present, as is the tension of quasi-nomadic groups with seasonal camp rotations vs. people who stay in place and build large towns with industrial capacity.

And then, of course, there's the magic. The Lakewalkers have limited hereditary magic powers, plus magic monsters they're sworn to fight; the farmers have no magic and no defense against it either. Farmers tend to mistrust Lakewalkers and misunderstand Lakewalker magic; Lakewalkers keep the secrets of their powers under wraps and often look down on farmers as a kind of invasive pest species. As I mentioned in my tags, Lakewalkers' most important magical tools involve someone choosing the time of their death—though typically only when already dying of terminal illness, old age, or a mortal wound.

If you love the movie Ever After like I do, you may remember the part where Danielle says to Leonardo, "A bird may love a fish, Signore, but where would they live?" The Sharing Knife is a series about a bird (Lakewalker) and a fish (farmer) that get engaged halfway through the first book and then spend the next three and a half books figuring out where the hell they're going to live...and slowly realizing they may have to remake society in order to find their place in it.

Even the book where they first get together is not really what you'd call a romance novel, but every book in the series is a lot more focused on a central romantic relationship than most fantasy adventure books, so it's interesting from a genre perspective. "Established relationship" is normally my second-least favorite AO3 (my least favorite being major character death) but the political and magical worldbuilding, and the family dynamics on both sides, kept me very invested even with the amount of meandering domesticity on display throughout the books.

There are some potential triggers to ask about if you have common trauma triggers, and the main romance has a pretty big age gap, which I know is a turn-off for some. But if you ever found yourself asking "why is the Wizarding World's excuse for keeping muggles in the dark so fucking flimsy?" or "how the hell does Wei Wuxian stand living in the Cloud Recesses when most of Lan Wangji's sect hates him?" or "why aren't more fantasy authors as obsessed with craft skills as Tamora Pierce" or "why aren't there more permanently disabled fantasy protagonists who actually have to cope with the limitations created by their disability?" or "why aren't there more fantasy protagonists who genuinely lack magical powers?" then this may be the book series for you.

[cookie-nom-nom]

[“But I’m not even human.” 

Miles shrugged. “Human is as human does.” He forced himself to reach out and touch her damp cheek. “Animals don’t weep, Nine.”

She jerked, as if from electric shock. “Animals don’t lie. Humans do. All the time.”

“Not all the time.”

“Prove it.” She tilted her head as she sat cross-legged, her pale gold eyes were suddenly burning. Speculative. 

“Uh, sure. How?”

“Take off your clothes.”

“Wot.”

“Take off your clothes and lay with me as humans do, men and women.” Her hand reached out to touch his throat. The pressing claws made little wells in his flesh.

“Urp?” choked Miles. His eyes felt wide as saucers. A little more pressure and those wells would spring out red fountains. I’m about to die. 

She stared into his face with a strange, frightening, bottomless hunger. Then, abruptly, she released him. He sprang up and cracked his head on the low ceiling and dropped back down, the stars in his eyes unrelated to love at first sight. Her lips wrinkled back on a fanged groan of despair. “Ugly,” she wailed, her clawed nails raked across her cheeks, leaving furrows. “Too ugly. Animal. You don’t think I’m human.” She seemed to swell with some destructive resolve. 

“No no no!” Gibbered Miles, lurching to his knees and grabbing her hands and pulling them down. “It’s not that, it’s just— how old are you, anyway?” 

“Sixteen.”]

——

Miles instantly recoiled, cracking his head on the ceiling again because those who didn’t learn history were doomed to repeat it, as Commodore Tung was fond of reminding him. Immediately her eyes narrowed, a snarl creeping over her sharp teeth. “You don’t think I’m human enough,” she accused, voice still husky from disuse. “I knew it.” Her claws slipped back up to the scratches on her damp face, and he jolted forward, batting them down again in a reckless manner. 

“No, it’s not that,” Miles insisted, eyeing the way her claws were curling into fists about the same size as his entire face. “You’re a child! I can’t do that.”

“My life expectancy was barely a few years. The rest of the projects have been long dead.”

“Well, it’s still wrong in human years, which is the point. There’s plenty of other tests for humanity, anyways.” Sex was by no means the epitome of human existence. “What about Socrates? Human choice motivated by the desire for happiness? Or, oh, what was that test for AI centuries ago? The Tuning Test? That would work too.” He didn’t remember what it actually entailed. “There’s many tests. You yourself said only humans lie. By your own logic, lie, ergo, human. Human is as human does.” That’s what he’d meant it to be applied to, anyway. 

Her eyes narrowed. “None of those prove your belief to me. I still like my test.” Well, naturally. [Sixteen. God. He remembered sixteen. Sex obsessed and dying every minute.] 

[“Aren’t you a little young for this?” he tried hopefully.] She started a protest, but he continued. “It’s illegal. There. I applied human laws to you.” Probably a first for Jackson’s Hole. “I also just offered you a job, and regulations ban interrank romantic interactions.” No matter how much he might want to with one particular Eli Quinn...

The power dynamic was entirely wrong, between his age and rank and the fact he was beginning to suspect he was about to rescue this girl. Or, hell, look at it the other way, at the underlying threat that he must prove he believed her human or die. It was a messed up power imbalance from nearly every angle. 

A crumpled look crossed her wolfish features. Miles tried to console her. One for it being the Vorish, gentlemanly thing to do, and two because while he thought it unlikely she’d kill him at this point, he still didn’t want to increase his chances. “I’m probably the first nice face you’ve seen in a while. Don’t settle for me simply since I got here first. There are plenty of suitable partners once you get out of this basement. Which, reminder, we’re in a hostile environment surrounded by enemies. We still need to escape.” 

Moroseness slumped her features. “It’s impossible. I stopped trying years ago. And…” a shudder ran down her strong back, ears flattening. “...they don’t like it when you try,” she said lowly. “They wouldn’t do this to me if I was human.”

“Eh, actually they would. I mean, I’m human, and I’m down here, aren’t I? I’ve been deemed subhuman before. It hurts when they think it’d be a mercy to ‘put you out of your misery’.” He was going to strangle that scientist.

She gave him an odd look, scrutinizing him more thoroughly. “You don’t look like Jacksonian work. And you said you’re human. Why isn’t that enough for them?” 

Miles spread his hands wide, a wry expression crossing his features. “Ah, but I’m a mutant. A weakling. A curse from God upon my father’s house for every sin they can think to lay at his feet. They will find anything and everything they can to hold against you, Nine, no matter what it is that makes you different. Eight feet tall or four foot nine, unmatched strength or bones of glass; they will despise you either way. Well damn their notion of being born wrong because I intend to be ten times the man they ever could be.”

“Then it’s hopeless.” 

“If you want it to be handed to you, yes. You can’t rely on someone else to give you your humanity, because that implies they can revoke it at any time. It’s a value you have to find within yourself.” It sounded like some pithy Betan advice he would’ve picked up from his mother. “With your test, you wanted your body to feel human. But what about your soul, Nine?” He paused. “No, we need a name for you. I can’t be calling you a number like some type of lab rat.” Something strong and pretty, like her. He fell into that well of old earth philosophy he had initially fallen back on. Socrates, the Greeks, the like. When he finally found the name, it seemed perfect for the girl called a monster and trapped deep in the heart of a labyrinth of labs. Wasn’t Miles intended to be some blood sacrifice to her as well? And hadn’t the minotaur been a child when he was imprisoned for life? Punished for the crime of being born, just like them. “Taura,” he breathed. “I think I shall call you Taura.”

She went still, enraptured. “A name.” Tears welled in her golden eyes. “No one has ever given me a name.” 

“I’m not giving it to you. I’m letting you take it, to seize it, to make it your own. As much as I’d like to, I can’t give you your humanity either. That’s all up to you. Break free of every cruel moniker hurled at you. Monster, mutant– who cares what any of them think!? Prove them all wrong and never look back. That’s what I did. So here: I may reject your test, but I offer my own. I believe you’re ‘human enough’ because I believe you’re worthy of freedom, of a future, of a name. I certainly can’t give any of that to you, but I sure can help you try.” Something sparked in her gilded gaze, the tantalizing offer she’d likely never been given before. It was a hope doused quickly, but it had been there at all. Miles had a chance of relighting it, of fanning the flames. 

“You really think so?” Uncertain, her fangs twisted into a guarded frown. 

Miles batted aside a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t just because she was his only shot of escape, and it certainly wasn’t for a particular scientist whose neck he wanted to wring. This was because Taura didn’t deserve to be trapped in a basement eating rats for the rest of her tenuous life. He might have needed her, but she needed him, too, if only for a little while. 

“I don’t make offers I don’t intend to provide. So, care to escape with me?” He held out an arm, almost ridiculously formal, and she took it, choosing to trust him if only hesitantly, if only for that little spark of hope still in here somewhere.

[hufflehobbitmakes]

Some folks wanted to see my hobby work, and I didn’t have anywhere in particular to post it, so… might as well be here?

This is a collection of fandom shirts made with my laser-cutter and Siser’s wonderful laser-safe heat transfer vinyl. There are so many amazing special effects vinyls in the world and they’re so underutilized! All of these except for the two Yuri on Ice ones (Katsudamn and Victuuri) are other folks’ art, my own colors/lettering/layout.

[highladyluck]

-Lois McMaster Bujold, coming down on the correct side of the drabble debate

[burinazar]

It's a bit funny that to parts of my circles I'm 'the fandom one'/'the fanfic one'/'the shipping one' as the person they know most prominently into such things

because as much as i love writing my fics and shipping my ships my interest in both of those things is, I think, very narrow and specific compared to most people who are into them? due to my habits being like. very particular

[tallangrycockatiel]

now you have met them: miles and mark vorkosigan for character bingo

Miles Vorkosigan (in his mid-20s hypercompetent disaster era):

I am using Miles's free space to declare that while he isn't Autism TM, he sure is ADHD TM. The keysmash is what the inside of his head looks like approximately 75% of the time.

Mark Vorkosigan:

Mark fails the vibe check on account of being a startup bro, which does me psychic damage whenever I think of his whole plotline in A Civil Campaign. A horrible little man who has so much compellingly wrong with him.

[kellylor]

A few weeks ago I was catching up on the vorkosigan saga tag and saw a fic request where the prompt was a sedoretu with Cordelia/Aral/Simon/Princess Kareen and I thought instantly, why have I not been constructing headcanon sedoretu for all my favorite fictional worlds this whole time?? I mean ok it's because I don't participate in fanfic and also I still don't want to, but I do love working out headcanon nonsense for myself, and also sedoretu.

And ever since then I have had an intrusive thought that will not go away until I write it down somewhere I guess, which is that the most obvious sedoretu in the history of fiction not written by Ursula K. Le Guin is, of course, the Queen's Thief royal couples. It's practically canon already. I mean we have Actual Canon that sleeping with each others' spouses is the primary winter entertainment in the Eddisian court (it also happens quite a bit in the Attolian court, but like 80% of it is just Relius sleeping with everyones' spouses at every opportunity). We have Gen's extremely chaotic bisexual energy. We have, well, everything going on in A Conspiracy of Kings, including Sophos and Gen acting toward each other nearly the same way Gen and Irene do during the marriage/treaty negotiations in the Queen of Attolia.

I also already love the evolution of Irene's relationship with Helen, and it's obvious by The Return of the Thief that they love and support each other. You know, because they are also married to each other.

Shit, out of curiousity I just searched AO3 and got zero results for Queen's Thief fic tagged sedoretu. This is bullshit. Is this going to be my fanfic writing origin story?

[curious-kat]

Happy Easter! In celebration of the holiday, I made a Vorkosigan-themed egg. Sketched in wax is my best attempt at a mountain-and-maple-leaf crest on one side, and the initials V.K. on the other, with the egg dyed brown for the family colors.

[polyamships]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ekaterin Vorsoisson Vorkosigan/Miles Vorkosigan/Bel Thorne Characters: Ekaterin Vorsoisson Vorkosigan, Bel Thorne, Miles Vorkosigan Additional Tags: Fanart, Art, NSFW Art, Holly Poly Treat, Smut, Nudity, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/Other, Scars Series: Part 2 of Vorkosigan Saga fanart Summary:

With Ekaterin’s encouragement, Miles does something he should have done this a long time ago.

[highladyluck]

…someone out there has written pwp where Ivan finally gets to go to the Dome, right? I like to read Ivan being tortured as much as anyone (like all my faves, he complains so amusingly) but I think he should also get to go to Betan Sex Disneyland, as a treat.

[burinazar]

my time hyperf—…..my time enjoying and creating fan art and fiction for MiA S2 has really made me appreciate the size and longevity of the fandom for, and amount of extant very high quality fic/meta/discussion of, Queen’s Thief and Vorkosigan Saga and LOGH. (the feel of these fandoms is similar to me, they’re like three of a kind in my head.) (EDIT: Temeraire too, a really great selection of fic for that and similar feel…!!! i blanked its existence out of my head for this post the first time around somehow)

Even though I think they’re considered small fandoms! And sure, in the grand scheme of things, I guess it’s the case; in numbers of works, they’re probably much smaller than given popular animes of the last year, for example. But I can’t even wrap my head around that being ‘too small’ because it feels like such a wealth of wonderful stuff is out there……I appreciate it so much even though I seek out and read works for them so inconsistently (partly because for all three of them backreading AO3 inevitably makes me go ‘I have to reread/rewatch to appreciate this fully’.)

[starfishlikestoread]

I've seen this poll type for a couple different fandoms now, so I figured someone had to do it for the Vorkosigan saga - if you've read it, consider reblogging to help this get to more people that aren't familiar with the fandom for better results!