These Vandals

Thanks for stopping by. A SPOILER-filled blog for all TV and Books and social commentary. Occasionally NSFW

[winter-wise]

Aral was definitely upset when he found that Cordelia had escaped from the ship but, given that she did so by knocking out multiple hostile soldiers, using a stunner to go up against a nerve disruptor and win, and managing to sway someone to her cause... once he got over having to look disapproving over her escape in front of his men, and once he'd worked past the initial depression that he was probably never going to see her again, I do think he went back to his cabin so that he could swoon about it in private.

[elf-trash]

seriously though why isn't the Vorkosigan Saga more popular/well known in the sci fi canon?? it's shockingly ahead of its time, has brilliant world-building, some of the most compelling characters I've ever encountered in literature, and excellent top tier prose and plotting. it brilliantly tackles themes of gender, disability, politics, and family dynamics and has romance, action, mystery, intrigue, and did I mention incredible world-building??

it's like Game of Thrones meets Star Trek meets The Expanse meets Regency romance. it's incredible.

if you haven't heard of this AMAZING series by Lois McMaster Bujold, run don't walk and go read it immediately!!!!

also, fun fact, Lois Bujold got her start writing fanfic for Star Trek fanzines, which REALLY makes sense when you look at the content of her writing lol

the series wasn't written chronologically but it's definitely best to read it chronologically with one exception (which is to read Falling Free before Diplomatic Immunity).

here's my personal preferred reading order (with some notes):

Shards of Honor - 1986 start here! this book is about 33-year-old Cordelia, an astrocartographer from Beta Colony (Star Trek commie soyboy planet), and how she meets and falls in love with 44-year-old Aral Vorkosigan, a general from Barrayar (military aristocracy feudalism planet)

Barrayar - 1991 continues the story of Cordelia and Aral's romance, with many complications

The Warrior’s Apprentice - 1986 from this book onwards, the protagonist of the series shifts to Miles, Cordelia and Aral's disabled son. I was bracing myself for this switch because I was so attached to Cordelia, but 17-year-old Miles immediately jumps off the page here and quickly became one of my all time favorite literary characters. he's a disabled nepo baby from an extremely prejudiced and ableist society who may or may not have inspired Tyrion Lannister. he's incredible, character of all time, no notes

The Mountains of Mourning (novella) - 1989 this one is a novella that is part of The Borders of Infinity, which is a framing device for 3 novellas. the framing part of the book is set after Brothers in Arms, but I recommend reading each individual novella as it falls chronologically and then going back and reading the framing sections later

The Vor Game - 1990 Miles is 20 now

Cetaganda - 1995 a fun murder mystery starring 22-year-old Miles

Ethan of Athos - 1986 this book is somewhat of a detour because Miles isn't in it, but it heavily features a character who later becomes his girlfriend. it's set concurrently to Cetaganda

Labyrinth (novella) - 1989 another novella from Borders of Infinity which introduces Taura, a character who becomes very important to Miles

The Borders of Infinity (novella) - 1987 the final novella from the Borders of Infinity. it goes here chronologically. the framing device is technically set after Brothers in Arms, but it's fine to read here too if you want

Brothers in Arms - 1989 Miles goes to Earth in this one! kudos to Lois for pulling off one of my least favorite plot devices here (a secret clone) and making it an incredible and heart-breaking exploration of identity and character

Mirror Dance - 1994 this book is probably one of the best in the whole series. Lois was really cooking with this one! split POV between Miles and his clone brother, Mark

Memory - 1996 this book is a little quieter than the previous ones, but in a really good way

Komarr - 1998 introduces Miles primary love interest, Ekaterin, and splits POV between her and Miles. they're both 30 here

A Civil Campaign - 1999 this one is like, a classic Shakespearean comedy in terms of structure. apparently it was inspired by Regency romance. it's absolutely incredible and one of my favorites in the series

Winterfair Gifts (short story) - 2004 Miles and Ekaterin's wedding, told from the POV of one of their armsmen. sort of a Christmas special but in a good way!

Falling Free - 1988 another detour. this book is actually set 200 years before the events of the series, but it tells the origin story of the Quaddies and is relevant to Diplomatic Immunity, hence why I suggest reading it here

Diplomatic Immunity - 2002 32-year-old Miles and his wife untangle a diplomatic crisis with the Quaddies

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance - 2012 told from the POV of Miles' cousin Ivan

The Flowers of Vashnoi (novella) - 2018 a novella about Ekaterin, Miles' wife

Cryoburn - 2010 get ready to WEEP

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - 2016 we're back in Cordelia's POV for this one. lots of spicy revelations about her and Aral's marriage (including a space throuple)!!!! we love to see it!!!

I read this series so insanely fast, like I was quite literally blasting through one book a day (each book is around 300 pages so it's not as crazy as it sounds), but that's honestly how good they are.

every single book has at least one moment that made me stop short and really think about my life. I would say the whole series is kind of a meditation on the concept of honor. and also gender issues and disability politics. some of the gender terminology is dated, but the sentiments are extremely forward-thinking, especially considering when these books were largely written. as I mentioned, the main character is disabled, and there are MANY queer and gender non-conforming characters throughout the series!

if you like Ursula LeGuin, you'll probably enjoy these! honestly surprised Bujold isn't as well-known/highly regarded as LeGuin, because imo they're very similar and very comparable!!!

again, run don't walk!!! these books need to be more popular so they get reprinted and I can buy a box set!!!! there should be an HBO show!!!!

[like-tears-in-rain-storms]

Today is a beautiful day to remember that Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan are #couple goals no. 1, awesome on their own right each, and alone make up 78% of positive adult partnership representation in modern fiction.

Art by Vincha

[steelart]

hfw-star wars crossover fan comic

just a little 18-pager romance fan comic for @i-lavabean and @han-ban-bam 's Star Wars-Horizon AU crossover

context: basic concept is Aloy is a force user/Jedi and Kotallo is a Children of the Watch Mandalorian for hire (importantly for the purposes of this little story: the Din Djarin kind that can't let "any living being" see his face and remain a part of the clan)

click the "read more" for the whole thing

with thanks to @quiche-draws for telling me to actually go post this somewhere

[pilgrimattinkercreek1974]

Oh ok so it turns out ive been borrowing grief from the future ! it turns out ive been preparing to lose the things i love rather than basking in the light of them while they last. Maybe i should nt do that

[szyszkasosnowa]

Andor + textposts

[daughter-of-sapph0]

i love how equally horrifying and challenging all four storylines in andor are.

cassian: youre working for the rebellion, but the plan goes wrong. you get caught in the middle of leftist infighting and chained up like a dog. you escape because the unorganized kids decided to solve their problems with space rock paper scissors. you then get stranded in space with no communications and make it to your location a week late

mon: your tradwife daughter is getting married to a friend of a friend because you needed money so the empire wouldn't arrest you. you find out your friend is going through a divorce and also likely knows too much, so your rebel ally suggests that he gets assassinated. your shitty husband accuses you of being unfaithful. you try to tell your daughter that she can call off the wedding if she wants, but she calls you embarrassing. your only option is to get shit faced drunk and dance at the reception

bix: you're with a group of refugees from a destabilized planet finding farm work, even though you're technically illegal and without visas. (im sure this has no real world parallels at all. after all, there's no politics in star wars). ice shows up and you have to try and avoid getting caught. you can't get in touch with your boyfriend. one of the ice agents tries raping you, so you kill him. the farmer protecting you ends up selling out your friend to save his own ass, and then your friend ends up dead. all this while you're dealing with trauma and ptsd from being tortured a year ago

dedra: you have to meet your shitty boyfriends even shittier mother

[niobiumao3]

I need you guys to know that what's super funny to me is that as someone who has taken security training on private and secure data what you're SUPPOSED to do when someone sends you private data by accident is delete it and you're supposed to cycle your private keys and passwords on a regular basis so Dedra getting data she's not supposed to see and being like 'oh HELL yes' and saving it out while Lonni is sitting here on her email password/SSH key he stole a fucking year ago and has been reading everything the WHOLE TIME is so real and relateable and just. Like. Everything about how the Death Star gets leaked is based on ACTUAL infosec problems and stuff you're trained to NOT do because THIS is what happens.

'I've had her credentials for a year'

I howled.

[thewistlingbadger]

I love Andor for giving their antagonists shitty endings. We follow Dedra and Syril for such a long time that there are moments where we kind of root for them or feel bad for them, even though we know they're terrible people. Andor creates situations to put ourselves in their shoes AND it treats these characters as they should be treated- as villains. There is no "she was just misunderstood" or "there was good in him." These bastards are straight up, unrelentlessly evil, and their endings reflect that. Syril's death is overshadowed by the cleansing of the ghors. He's filthy and at a low point and fighting a man who he's convinced is the enemy, even though the man has no idea who the fuck Syril even is. Dedra, who's whole character revolves around her ambition with her career, ends up being arrested for overreaching on her job. She ends up in a max security prison, not for the crimes she's genuinely committed, but because she disrespected the chain of command at work.

These are genuinely some fucked up endings for these two characters and I love it so much. These bitches got exactly what they deserved, I've never seen karma and justice work so swiftly.

[chirrut-foreverinourdreams]

Imagine being Dedra Meero and being the most sane and normal person at the dinner table that shit was insane

[bobemajses]

Dura-Europos Synagogue from eastern Syria, ca. 244 CE. This three-quarter-sized reproduction is on permanent exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York City.

Dura-Europos is located on the west bank of the Euphrates River, close to the modern location of Qualat al Salihiya. It was a city populated by many different ethnicities at the “crossroads” of the ancient world: the border of the Roman Empire in the first centuries of the Common Era. For over 1,700 years, the site of the ancient synagogue was hidden by sand and embankments in the dry climate of the area, preserving it exceptionally well to enable posterity to study its art and history in depth. The archaeologist Clark Hopkins was greatly surprised when, in the fall of 1932, he saw for the first time the paintings of the synagogue after the dirt had been cleared: “It was a scene like a dream! In the infinite space of clear blue sky and bare gray desert, there was a miracle taking place, an oasis of painting springing up from the dull earth.”

[greatestlittlegiant]

always thinking of that “i couldn’t stop wasting time” quote

[greatestlittlegiant]

song of the summer!!

[bitin-and-barkin]

STRONG OLDER MEN. I want to see a man, so rough and tough in the streets actually be a big sweetheart and SO nervous in bed. All flustered and whiney, rutting against your thigh like a one dollar whore. I need to see them overstimulated and crying from pleasure while you suck them off or eat them out. I want to see them be so scared about hurting you while they fuck you oh so gently, SO horny, but so afraid of hurting you. I wanna see one cry and whimper into your neck while they ride you soo well like a good boy <3 you let them cum as much as they want because they're being soo good for you (and they NEED that privilege cause they are soo sensitive and will cum so much) and they eat ALL of your praise up

[thesevandals]

#sex

[lady-forest-1142]

hiii I'm reposting my review of cordelia's honor here from my goodreads bc I need more ppl to share in my obsession dammit! (also if I've misspelled any names have pity on me, I read this on audio)

an instant favorite? an instant favorite that I read on audiobook?? in this economy??? unequivocally, yes. holy fuck. this had everything. large cast of compelling characters, fast-paced plot, romance, explorations of war and violence and power and motherhood and disability and morality, tight writing, dry humor - the works. I wish Barrayar had been six hours longer. I need to start the next book immediately. I don't know that I can do it justice in a review.

Shards of Honor: okay, after all that gushing this was only ("only") a 4.5. we've got a survival story, a galactic war, a psychological thriller, and a romance all combined, and the plot shifted tones and focuses just a little too much for me (plus I'll admit the space battle parts lost me a bit). we're following cordelia naismith, a research officer on assignment on a (unbeknownst to her) politically-advantageous planet. cordelia's base is ambushed by a mutineering band of barrayaran soldiers, the enemies of her people of beta colony, and she finds herself stranded on the planet with the notorious barrayaran admiral aral vorkosigan. the plot escalates in leaps and bounds from there - to outline anything more would be a spoiler. needless to say, cordelia and aral fall in love, against a backdrop of the aforementioned mutiny, a war, a scheming emperor on his deathbed, and a masochistic officer. cordelia is a soldier, a captain, a captive, a prisoner of war, a psychic patient, and a lady in the course of 336 pages. and I love her. she's an absolute badass, she's deeply compassionate, she isn't afraid to call anyone (particularly aral) on their shit, she's reckless. she waterboards someone in a fish tank. she utters possible the most metal romantic line I've ever heard ("when he's cut, I bleed"). I want to be her when I grow up. aral falls sickeningly in love with her - he literally admits that he first got a crush on her upon seeing her throwing up in a creek and proposes marriage to her after less than two weeks. he's also a (CANONICAL) disaster bisexual whose idea of therapy is getting drunk in hideous hawaiian shirts with sentimental value and he has a sadistic murdering ex-boyfriend. actually this is a great book to read as a bisexual. I want to be their third so bad.

Barrayar: yeah this is the book that sealed the brainrot for me. political intrigue, a fancy-dress ball, assassination attempts, high emotional stakes, cordelia being the only rational person in the room 80% of the time, the BEST side characters, all escalating to a civil war that, naturally, involves cordelia beheading people? sign me the fuck up. I'm not gonna talk about cordelia and aral again save that I love them even when aral is being a moron with a horrible father. he doesn't rly deserve cordelia and he knows it. ok. now. koudelka is my babygirl and can literally do no wrong, okay? even though he is a moron of the absolute highest order who needs to be slapped approximately every 50 pages (cordelia usually takes care of it). (actually all the men in this book are morons and the women are perfect. no wonder I like it!) hottest man to carry a walking stick / sword since jem carstairs. droushnakovi my QUEEN, idolizes cordelia (as she should) bc barrayaran society is stupid and misogynist and she's never seen a female soldier before, deserves every good thing in the world (first and foremost a briefing on feminism). bothari....I am clenching my fist in emotion. when we are talking of COMPLEX MORALLY GRAY MEN....look no further. when he calls himself cordelia's pet dog???? gnawing at the bars of my enclosure. he is FAR from perfect and I'd probably want to be at least 500 meters away from him irl but GOD does he get in my FEELINGS. plus also girl dad, so we have to cheer. ohhh my god and I haven't even gotten into the politics and social structure of barrayar and how it is so similar to our own and how cordelia is in the perfect position to critique it bc beta colony is suuuper different and way more advanced, and critique it she does. the conversations about motherhood and the expectation that mothers carry their children to term biologically even when technology exists elsewhere in the galaxy to literally replace and replicate a uterus? actually every single discussion about motherhood and social expectations on barrayar vs beta colony. frighteningly prescient for a book published in 1991!! ALSO the conversations on disability and the validity of disabled life that I am sure will only continue?? (count piotr can go kick rocks btw). can you tell this is my favorite book of the year yet?? jesus christ. I need the next one immediately.

[thesevandals]

I wanted like 5 more Cordelia and Aral books. I’m obsessed with them. Middle aged couple deeply in love who respect each other, with insane chemistry??? Like

[specificpollsaboutbooks]

F/M Couples S2

Round 2

Cordelia Naismith/Aral Vorkosigan (The Vorkosigan Saga) VS Commander Sir Samuel Vimes/Lady Sybil Ramkin (Discworld series)

Cordelia/Aral

Vimes/Sybil

Show results

Voting ended onMar 5, 2025

Cordelia and Aral :

"I love a married couple who love and support each other!"

Vimes and Sybil :

"She raises dragons; he sets traps for assassins and always arrives home in time to read to his son. What's not to love?"

[maykendehoutman]

@alcnolien you cannot just leave things like this in the tags!

#look I love vimes and Sybil so much#but consider that cordelia naismith and aral Vorkosigan Discovered and Invented Love#love is recognizing and understanding the pain no one else does#love is seeing her throw up in a ditch andeciding to marry her#love is ‘when he’s cut I bleed’#love is overcoming obstacle after obstacle to be together and putting in the work to stay together#love is a mirror dance#sorry gang I have not been normal about these books since 2020

And then this! @queenofzan

#cordelia and aral have it because of aral's textual bisexuality#and their canonical threesomes with aral's boyfriend#sorry sam and sybil get a canonical boyfriend and we'll talk

[thesevandals]

Canonical threesome?? I need to read more of these

[specificpollsaboutbooks]

F/M Couples S2

Round 2

Cordelia Naismith/Aral Vorkosigan (The Vorkosigan Saga) VS Commander Sir Samuel Vimes/Lady Sybil Ramkin (Discworld series)

Cordelia/Aral

Vimes/Sybil

Show results

Voting ended onMar 5, 2025

Cordelia and Aral :

"I love a married couple who love and support each other!"

Vimes and Sybil :

"She raises dragons; he sets traps for assassins and always arrives home in time to read to his son. What's not to love?"

[maykendehoutman]

@alcnolien you cannot just leave things like this in the tags!

#look I love vimes and Sybil so much#but consider that cordelia naismith and aral Vorkosigan Discovered and Invented Love#love is recognizing and understanding the pain no one else does#love is seeing her throw up in a ditch andeciding to marry her#love is ‘when he’s cut I bleed’#love is overcoming obstacle after obstacle to be together and putting in the work to stay together#love is a mirror dance#sorry gang I have not been normal about these books since 2020

And then this! @queenofzan

#cordelia and aral have it because of aral's textual bisexuality#and their canonical threesomes with aral's boyfriend#sorry sam and sybil get a canonical boyfriend and we'll talk

[thesevandals]

Canonical threesome??? I have to read more of these

[outshinethestars]

Mountain Roots (Vorkosigan Saga)

Cordelia could have forgiven him, Piotr thinks, for having tried to kill her son.  She’s odd that way, Betan.  It’s for how he’s taught him to live afterwards that she hates him.

Cordelia has been arguing with Miles again about school, about his future, about being a soldier.  Miles thinks his mother has no faith in him, somewhere beneath all that Betan kindness.  It’s not that.  It’s just that Cordelia thinks that if she argues hard enough, logically enough, Miles will stop being Vor.

It won’t work of course.  

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