[LMB] Re: Mark fan art, and now Observations on Cordelia

[Jessy Brody]

> (Royce delurks)

> So at the moment I'm in the middle of writing a little crossover fic
between
> the Vorkosiverse and Terinu ( www.terinu.net) an Australian sci-fi
webcomic
> written and drawn by Peta Hewitt.  Peta has been enjoying the story so
much
> that she penned a little sketch of Mark looking at her character Terinu,
as
> our favorite clone assassin see his first alien.  As she notes: "I somehow
> picture Mark as having grown long hair and wearing the latest Betan
fashions
> to differentiate himself as much as possible from his brother."

> Enjoy.

> Link to latest story update and the picture:
> http://jeriendhal.livejournal.com/311567.html
<http://jeriendhal.livejournal.com/311567.html>

> -Royce in MD

Hmm, very interesting : ) I only read a little of Terinu, but enough, and I
only read the most recent update. I like the set-up, from what I've seen of
it, and I think it's interesting how Mark is acting *so* like Miles, all
knight errant - is the plot consciously based on 'Labyrinth'? You know, a
Vorkosigan stuck in a cell with a gengineered youth, not that I'm shipping
Miles/Terinu. No, *seriously*, I'm not. I'd be much more interested to see
Mark become a kind of older brother to Terinu.

Favorite line:
"Everybody's a fraggin' alien to me."

Oh, and I like the sketch! Long hair on a male *is* very not Barrayar, I can
see why Mark might go for that.

But 'wife'? I have a special affection for Kareen because she's the only
member of Team Koudelka who *doesn't* get married/engaged by the end of ACC,
which is a bit heavy on the matrimony IMO. I liked how she wanted to define
herself and her relationships in her own terms, not Barrayar's, not even
Beta's, and you can bet Beta has *plenty* of terms for different sorts of
relationships. Though she ended up using financial terms, didn't she? Hmm.
Females have been effectively capital in many times and places, but in this
case it goes two ways and it's between the Kareen and Mark, without the
intervention of any family members or public institutions. And speaking in
terms of making an investment in another person ... isn't so coldly
financial as it seems at first glance, I think. It's a very honest and
grounded way to speak of a long-term relationship.

See, part of why I enjoy these books is because not only do they stand up to
rereads, but I always come up with something new. And then I can come here
and talk about it. Which is why I'm going to see if I can't make time to
participate on the list again.

Because I was rereading _Cordelia's Honor_ and I must be growing up because
now I get why others on the list prefer her to Miles. Miles is just kind of
obnoxious sometimes, isn't he? And it now strikes me that Cordelia is in a
very difficult position, because she sees everything so *clearly*, on a
personal and on a global level, but that doesn't mean she can fix things.
Occasionally she can, like when Drou and Kou get all Old Barrayar about s*x
- but that was a failure to communicate, and the people in question already
loved each other (I originally was referring to ACC, though I think that
also goes for what happened between Kou and Drou in _Barrayar_). And I
didn't appreciate until this reread how horrible it must have been to spend
years and years watching her only son tear himself up mentally and
physically.

Now I want to reread them all, to take a closer look at Miles in the later
books, and I don't have time, aargh.

~Jessy
--
omnivorously at lj
[sig quote coming soon]