#Ethan of athos

[cookie-nom-nom]

When I first read Ethan of Athos I was in middle school and had absolutely zero concept of queerness. It just sailed right over my head (as did most romance) (cough cough foreshadowing) and sure some of that was subtle ‘it’s the 20th century we don’t say that’, but I was particularly thick headed. I mean they basically secured their victory by holding Terrence C’s hand and thinking gay thoughts! Regardless, I got to the climax where Ethan and Eli are shoved in a cramped space, buck naked, left to die. And baby me rolled their eyes and was like ‘ugh now they’re going to kiss and somehow that means they save the day’. And Ethan of course is reacting reasonably to the situation and is scared and slightly disgusted. And then the book ends and they’re just friends and I was left reeling because I didn’t know that was an option. It was that baked in assumption that the boy and girl get together at the end that was truly my only understanding of romance. And for a baby aro/ace, realizing for the first time that romance isn’t just the Herero checkbox needed for the happy ending, well. It was kinda life changing. This seed got planted in my head, even if nothing would come of it for longer still. So, sure it took years and a lot more exposure to queer circles for me to take a double take and go oh my god they’re hom of sexuals, but obviously I was already dense enough to barely understand the hetero relationships shoved down my throat. I still found queerness through it even if it probably wasn’t the intended kind. And that was incredibly important for me.

#My queer mother handed me a queer novel and I just blinked and was like ‘neat! I don’t get it’ #It’s been a bit so my recollections of the book is fuzzy lol #vorkosigan saga #Ethan of athos #Ace #aroace #queer novel #Eli Quinn

[highladyluck]

🫢

#vorkosigan saga #Ethan of Athos #the ​Star Creche certainly thinks so

[cactusspatz]

February recs

Fandoms are all over the place this month since I finished my Yuletide trawl, so lots of small fandoms + Star Trek + Star Wars, sorted into thematic clusters for your reading pleasure.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE ADVENTURES

Another Life by @LullabyKnell (Star Trek AOS, gen)

In one moment, James T. Kirk is the acting captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, on his way home to Earth after stopping the Narada. In the next moment, without explanation, James T. Kirk is an Academy cadet on academic probation again, barely a day before Nero will destroy Vulcan.

He dares himself to do better. And with a planet on the line and no proof but his own memories, he knows that "better" means he'll need some help.

Classic time-travel fix-it elevated by a mid-story TOS-flavored twist! A wonderful adventure.

Commander Fox's Ultimate Bucket List by blackkat/ @blackkatmagic​ (Star Wars, Fox/Mace)

Fox has a second chance, a to-do list, a stolen lightsaber, and a complete willingness to give everyone around him grey hairs. Plus a Jedi Master to seduce. It's going to be a ride.

*cackles* Fox deserved this SO MUCH! Hilarious and satisfying.

Magic Casements by @edwardianspinsteraunt​ (A Little Princess, gen)

Becky is the one who rescues Mr Carrisford's monkey, and so the one whom the Magic happens to instead.

Captures the sweet magic and friendship of the original while making some sharp points about its class issues.

INVESTIGATIONS

The Striped Leg by wildwestwind (A Study in Emerald, gen)

The Adventure of The Speckled Band, set in the world of A Study In Emerald.

This author really knows their Lovecraft, which brings a rich and creepy new dimension to this very classic case. Mmm, pastiche perfection.

A Country Mile by @bropunzeling​ (Think of England, Fen/Pat)

“You want us to go to a house party? Really?”

“I hate to ask it of you,” Daniel said, voice muffled in that queer way one got with the telephone. "But I need someone I can trust to look after things there until then. Would you?”

Fen and Pat attend a house party and encounter: poison (pen letters); poison (literal); perilous dinner conversation; potential friendship; and physics.

Danger, espionage, female friendship, a lady scientist, general competence in the face of misogyny, Fen's self-esteem issues vs Pat's unswerving support, and a damn good read: what more could you want?

What It All Comes Down To by phnelt/ @phneltwrites​ (Think of England, canon pairings)

“Those blighters—” strong language from Fen there. Pat has been working on her in regards to fruity language but Fen hasn’t much taken to it. “ —won’t let women shoot at these newfangled Olympics games, despite England boasting some of the best women shooters in the world. Present company very much included.” Fen gets so heated when she advocates. It brings up a healthy colour to her cheeks. Pat smiles at her, helplessly. “So we simply must show them how good women can be by having Pat train you up from nothing so you can trounce them in the name of her club and in front of the eyes of God and the Olympic Committee.” If this wasn’t obviously one of Fen’s schemes it would be clear after her speech.

Charming friendship-centric story, with some light intrigue on the civilian side of things for once.

UNEXPECTED MEETINGS

Poiesis (Making) by ama (Queen's Thief, gen + Costis/Kamet)

Kamet is bewildered by a summons he receives to meet with the King of Sounis. After all, what could they possibly have to discuss?

Post-canon interlude where Kamet and Sophos bond over poetry, with great character writing.

Scene on a Balcony by Mary_West (Lord Peter, gen + Sylvia/Eiluned)

8th October 1935 and it's the wedding of the year - Lord Peter Wimsey and Miss Harriet Vane have finally tied the knot. But the wedding breakfast (served at the Dowager Duchess' London house) is getting a little heated. So the balcony is an excellent place to which to escape.

If anyone ever needed a sensible lesbian auntie, it's Jerry - but also this is sweet and funny and well-observed, from the wedding details to the practicalities of being queer at the time.

The Nuclear Option by Tangerine/ @atangeriner​ (From Eroica with Love, Klaus/Dorian)

When Klaus needs help with a family affair, Dorian is more than happy to offer his services.

Superb, satisfying, full of banter and yearning, and I love the slow reveal of wtf is going on with Klaus.

Time Enough by fresne/ @fresne999​ (Ethan of Athos, Ethan/Terrence)

Terrence Cee had spent most of his life feeling like a jumpship caught in the gravity well of a blackhole. Engines on full bore. Only able to keep out of the crushing center, but never able to escape. Now in his new life on Athos, he found himself unsure of how to find a new pace.

Ethan wondered if there was a way to get his love life gestating again. Not frozen like zygotes stored in a bio-freezer against some eventual future.

Sweet get-together for the boys that addresses Terrence's trauma and socially deficient upbringing, plus meet-the-family shenanigans and rich worldbuilding for Athos in all its problematic glory. I am retroactively very pleased with myself for nominating this fandom for Yuletide (even if it took me a few months to get around to this one)!

and remains quiet by marycrawford/ @mcvices​ (Nirvana in Fire, gen)

She picks up her cup and sips delicately of the chrysanthemum tea she brought. It is cooling and calming. She doesn’t need calming, but Mei Changsu might. She is about to administer a medicine that the patient will find disagreeable.

The patient looks fevered, at the moment. “What is wrong with Jingyan?”

The AU divergence point is a little oblique - if I'm reading correctly, the Emperor dies early during the war and Consort Jing takes advantage of her Dowager status to go north to see MCS - but honestly who cares about the premise, because holy SHIT this author writes Consort Jing to perfection, in all her ruthlessly compassionate (or compassionately ruthless?) complexity.

PORN WITH FEELINGS

No Pity, But a Little Love by beautifulduckweed (Will Darling Adventures, Will/Kim)

The author's summary is a mess so I'm leaving it out, but this is a great post-series look at their relationship that captures their banter and mutual delight, plus Will getting exposed to more queer spaces, all structured around Will attempting anal sex again under less fraught circumstances.

Privacy by Resonant (Due South, Fraser/RayK)

“Guess it’s a while since you had a door with a lock on it?”

“I’ve never had a door with a lock on it."

I don't know how long it's been since Resonant wrote new DS fic, but she always nails (heh) their weird and weird-about-each-other charm and this is no exception!

through the desert, repenting by beautifulduckweed (Think of England, Archie/Daniel)

Daniel da Silva comes face-to-face with the deadly consequences of making a mistake and turns to a bad childhood habit to cope—but it's not enough, and Archie Curtis doesn't know how to help.

AKA the one where Archie counters Daniel's self-harm with sex, or as the author's tags put it "In the absence of therapy banging it out will have to do".

#star trek #star wars #a little princess #a study in emerald #sherlock holmes #think of england #fen/pat #archie/daniel #kj charles #queen's thief #lord peter #from eroica with love #klaus/dorian #ethan of athos #terrence/ethan #vorkosigan #nirvana in fire #will darling adventures #will/kim #due south #fraser/rayk #monthly recs #fic rec #yuletide

[kissingdeadgirls]

The first CJB culture was brought by the Founding Fathers when Athos was first settled—it's almost two hundred years old. Two hundred years of excellent service. It's just—senescent. Old. Worn out. Used up. Reached the end of its life cycle, already dozens of times longer than it would have lived in a, ah,"—it wasn't an obscenity, he was a doctor and it was correct medical terminology—"woman."

i am going to kms!!!!!!!!

#real ‘you are gay because you like men; i am gay because i hate women’ energy #to a book series already in the nightmare zone of gay content #ethan of athos #reading vorkosigan

[regallibellbright]

I’ve finished The Vor Game (it was published in 1990, have mercy on the poor thing for its title,) meaning it’s now time for the chronologically-simultaneous Ethan of Athos and Cetaganda! I think I’m starting with Ethan this time.

AKA, proof that Miles Naismith Vorkosigan’s innate life-sounds-like-a-shitpost quality* can extend to those in his inner circle, even when he’s not around.

Commander Elli Quinn donated one of her ovaries after meeting a gay obstetrician who needed some for his home planet, and after adventuring together decided he wanted to have her babies (platonically.)

* Ie, I don’t have to be all that reductive to make it sound like a shitpost.

Yes, Miles Vorkosigan accidentally stole an entire mercenary fleet at age 17.

Yes, Miles Vorkosigan once had every superior officer he had reported to thusfar locked in adjacent cells in his ship’s brig.

Yes, Miles Vorkosigan has received the highest possible honors from the interplanetary empire he has spent much of his working life opposing in EXTREMELY high-profile ways. It was an accident.

#vorkosigan saga #ethan of athos #miles naismith vorkosigan #his life is just Like That TM. #and these are the EASY examples #also the home planet in question was founded by a cult so misogynistic it wrapped around to being gay #but the gay obstetrician meets women and is like ‘Cool! my religion was wrong about you all being devils! still gay though.’ #Elli Quinn #i guess this is a vorkosigan saga liveblog now

[vorkosigankinkmeme]

Ethan/Terrence

Telepathic sex

#ethan of athos #vkm prompts #from ao3

[shsenhaji]

📚 October Reading Round-Up 📚

I read some good books this month; definitely more than in September. I have a few I’m hoping to get through in November. Continuing my Vorkosigan Saga and Murderbot journeys (and loving it!).

- Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

- Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold (fun, entertaining, lots of action and humour)

- Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (amazing, entertaining, funny, emotional, great character development, that ending!!!!)

- Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold (cute and fun, a bit stressful and very fast-paced, great themes and ending)

- Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon (a re-read, entertaining, interesting themes, great relationship)

- Born of Vengeance by Sherrilyn Kenyon (re-read, more fun this time around, liked the pacing, plot, characters, and relationships, somewhat repetitive in terms of main theme)

- A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (story worked perfectly as an audiobook, great prose and worldbuilding and characters, almost made me cry, can’t wait to read the next book)

#mine #books #reading #reading round-up #muderbot diaries #rogue protocol #martha wells #ethan of athos #vorkosigan saga #lois mcmaster bujold #sherrilyn kenyon #dark-hunters #the league #penric and desdemona #masquerade in lodi #a natural history of dragons #marie brennan #memoirs of lady trent #ocean's echo #everina maxwell

[paradises-library]

Cee's recitation was cool and distant now, on track, as something practiced too many times and overtrained. Ethan was not sure if the previous breakdown or current excess of Cee's self-control was more unnerving.

Ethan of Athos, Lois McMaster Bujold

#ethan of athos #lois mcmaster bujold #the vorkosigan saga #quotes

[clonerightsagenda]

Bujold: In a few generations there will be an entire planet full of telepathic men who hate women religiously.

Me: Elaborate on that

Bujold: No

#kat reads the vorkosigan saga #Ethan closing the book out with malpractice on a planetary scale #yeah let's give everyone on the planet experimental telepathy for kicks! #though I suppose if they're not overdosing on that one chemical it doesn't matter #life on Athos is portrayed very chill and nice as long as you do not let any of these people interact with women ever #and YET I struggle to believe that a religious separatist group founded in misogyny and obsession with sin #does not have other fucked up elements #beyond the whole having to earn social credits to get kids thing but beta colony also does that so it's not unique to them #like. we can assume what kinds of people the founding fathers were. that's gotta leave a societal mark

[wolfcooked]

@ofwolfandmuses || we spoke about it!! for matai. cookingggggg!

"hey there, big guy. miss me?" ethan did this once a week, visiting his favorite ranchhand - partially to chat, but also to see behind the scenes for a little. he secretly enjoyed helping out, even if it was just by keeping matai company, or helping with carrying - or something. in exchange, he liked to thing he could stake his claim on meat for his shifts. if matai was the one to deliver, ethan could be sure it was great quality - no stray bones, it was the best.

"sure as hell missed you." he leaned against a fence, his arms & elbows on top. he could watch matai work for hours. "soooooo." deep breath, his lips & teeth making a little sucking sound. "anything new?"

#ofwolfandmuses #ofwolfandmuses \ 001 #ofwolfandmuses; matai #also hope it's ok i made this a regular thing? #they probs not like besties but i see them having chatted a bit when #ethan comes around? #he probs started with like #“care to give me a tour?” #back when he came to athos #and then he decided ok imma come back every week

[highladyluck]

Athos: when your misogyny goes so hard you lean into compulsory homosexuality and implement societal support for (male) caregivers

#vorkosigan saga #Ethan of Athos #I’ve seen the all-female version of this a bunch of times in fiction #but thanks to the artificial womb the menfolk can finally realize their most culty dreams too

[thesunlikehoney]

I've got my dad hooked on the Vorkosigan Saga, and it's been amazing. Fantastic. He stayed up til two in the morning sitting in the kitchen finishing Cetaganda. I mentioned hoping someday there would be an adaptation of Warrior's Apprentice and we had a whole discussion about the challenges of adapting Mile's character to a visual medium. He doesn't think it can be done well, because Miles just thinks to fast and too much to capture on film, and-- "a movie would never be better than the book, anyway."

He even read Ethan of Athos. Which is interesting, because my dad is a very conservative Christian of the "you damn well better be neighborly to your gay neighbors but never forget they're living in sin" variety. Honestly I was surprised when he didn't comment on Aral after reading Shards and Barrayar, but instead made a comment on how often Cordelia quotes directly from the Bible, so maybe?? We're making progress on the idea that queerness and religion can co-exist???

I'm just so happy. My dad and I have been trying to find something to talk about for the last ten years and now we finally have, and it's wonderful, and it's some of my favorite books, and it's about culture clash and disability rights and queerness and religion, with plenty of badass sci-fi space battles to keep both of us entertained.

#vorkosigan saga #my family once again brought together by our love of the same books #honestly my family does not talk about much besides books #and occasionally movies and tv and comics #but mostly books #and this is the first time my dad and i have found books we both like #he tried to get me into louis l'amour #i tried to get him into ray bradbury #neither really stuck #but! we have found a happy medium!!!

[cactusspatz]

Yuletide recs, Pt 1

MY GIFTS

An embarrassment of riches this year!

step by step (planet by planet) [Ethan of Athos] - a Yuletide Madness treat! Charming little bit of pining with Ethan being oblivious, set in the gap between Kline Station and returning to Athos. (Ethan/Terrence)

On the Threshold [Biggles] - delightful AU where an injured von Stalhein shows up on Biggles’s doorstep, and Biggles is very Biggles about it. I am extremely for the ‘bad guy goes to his honorable enemy for help (and is not disappointed)’ trope, and this one was executed perfectly. (Biggles/von Stalhein)

The Arrangement [Biggles] - in which von Stalhein ventures out into a storm to get Biggles medicine. Lovely h/c. (Biggles/von Stalhein)

RECS

I tend to go by fandoms when I binge Yuletide, and also I slept until 1 (I think I’m still run down from my horrible cold last week), so it’s just The Goblin Emperor/Witness for the Dead fic today.

it gets okay to praise the day - beautiful tag to The Grief of Stones, with some much-needed comfort and healing for Thara, and some clever resolution of a few plot threads, and a brief and lovely appearance by Maia. (Thara/Iana)

dear fellow traveler - nifty story that starts with an academic piece about a tradition of the emperor crossing the Wisdom Bridge, and then increasingly closer POVs peeling back to the truth of how it started. A great look at the future of Maia’s reign from several vantages. (mostly gen, background Csethiro/Maia)

Need To Know - in which Csethiro tracks down Maia after the assassination attempt, with all of her fierce cleverness at work. Great POV for her. (Csethiro/Maia)

COMMENTS

And finally, my comment total for @justleaveacommentfest was 11.

#yuletide #fic rec #biggles #ethan of athos #bujold #goblin emperor #the goblin emperor #witness for the dead #justleaveacomment #just leave a comment fest

[agardenandlibrary]

I got tired of looking up the suggested reading order so I finally wrote it down in my notebook. I think I got it right...

(not me forgetting Ethan of Athos 😅)

Edited to add: btw for ideal chronological order Mountains of Mourning goes between Warrior's Apprentice & the Vor Game, unless you're a heathen like me and procrastinate on reading it 👍

#cara reads the vorkosigan saga

[mvimes]

Most gender fuckery in sci fi books ever:

1. Ethan of athos, Lois McMaster Bujold

2. Left hand of darkness, Ursula K. Leguin

#please add if you have more i want a collection #left hand of darkness #vorkosigan saga

[profiterole-reads]

13 Books!

Taken from @godzilla-reads!

1.) The Last Book I Read

Dark Heir by CS Pacat

2.) A Book I Recommend

Let's go with Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans, which is currently at the (physical) top of my rec list tag

3.) A Book That I Couldn't Put Down

All for the Game by Nora Sakavic <3 <3 <3

4.) A Book I've Read Twice (Or More)

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold

5.) A Book on my TBR

Recent release: The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan Backlist: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

6.) A Book I've Put Down

Technically, I read everything in several times (I'm not much of a binge reader), and I haven't DNFed anything in a while

7.) A Book on my Wish List

I don't have a wish list

8.) A Favorite Book From Childhood

The Famous Five by Enid Blyton

9.) A Book You Would Give to a Friend

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

10.) A Book of Poetry or Lyrics You Own

Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Beaudelaire

11.) A Nonfiction Book You Own

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

12.) What Are You Currently Reading

A Grimm and Sunken Vow by Ashley Shuttleworth Tres (no) son multitud by Myriam M. Lejardi

13.) What Are You Planning on Reading Next

Overkill by Lou Wilham

Tagging anyone who wants to do it.