#Naismith

[usnatarchives]

Dr. James Naismith (middle, in suit), a Springfield College P.E. instructor, is credited with inventing the game of basketball in 1891. This is his first team.

Maybe the NBA will bring back long pants, side parts, and mustaches? 〰️🏀

[lindaseccaspina]

James Naismith 101 - Plaque 1965 -- Part 2 - Sarah More

James Naismith 101 – Plaque 1965 — Part 2 – Sarah More

Naismith Home outside of Almonte The Ottawa CitizenOttawa, Ontario, Canada11 Aug 2001, Sat  •  Page 31 Thanks to Sarah More Naismith Dr. James Naismith 101 —- Sarah More Unseen James Naismith Photos and his Real Birthplace The Naismith Home The 1968 Tribute to Naismith Sarah More The Toughest Pair —-Sarah More Henry & Nettie Barrie —Sarah More — Balderson Robert M. More — Reformed…

[minutia-r]

wait a minute

Alys Vorpatril is probably young enough to be Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan's daughter

[chell-sea-art]

It was not the dead Miles needed to talk to, in the dark, he realized. It was the living. Useless to confess to the dead; absolution was not in their power. But I'll trust your Speaking, Harra, as you once trusted mine.

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold. A book that will never fail to grab me by the heart and twist.

[unhelpfulfemme]

Okay, last headcanon and I'll stop harassing y'all after this.

So you know how Mark Vorkosigan has been trained to have the same body language as Miles Vorkosigan, whose body language is really a less effortless rendition of Aral's? And then Dono is told to just imitate Aral whenever he's scared he isn't passing well enough and, well, do you ever imagine these four men being somewhere together and just accidentally striking the exact same pose or making the exact same gesture at the same time?

Like someone is explaining something and they are listening attentively, brows elegantly furrowed, hands in their pockets and feet spread apart in a manly, assertive way, and when the particularly complicated part comes along they all rub their chins in contemplation and it goes from manly dignity to absolutely fucking ridiculous?

[call-me-rucy]

Small Vorkosigang

(I have probably messed up someone's uniform's colours but shhhhh)

[cookie-nom-nom]

Reading Barrayar I felt trapped in Cordelia’s head. It’s incredibly effective for the dread of war as a civilian. Plans and machinations happening beyond you, with no input. Hearing of things happening that seem far off and like yeah that’s awful but then suddenly it dominoes in a way that destroy your life and it’s not your fault and you could've done nothing at all to prevent it. Especially the tension of being hunted in the Dendarii mountains with no idea how the war is going, if they’ve already lost, if it is already too late. Cordelia is doing actively important things in service of the war by sheltering Gregor, yet there's this pervasive feeling of helpless lack of control. She spends most of the book with this dread of not knowing when the next threat to their family will come, and I don’t think it could’ve been done so effectively if we had access to the information Aral had. I found it frustrating at times, since it felt like Cordelia was swept up in events with little agency (at first; obviously our dear captain didn’t remain there). I wanted so badly to be with Aral seeing and knowing and making the decisions.

But that’s the point! Most people have absolutely zero agency in those situations and little information and it’s terrifying. Barrayar captures the feeling of being a civilian in war where so many narratives narrow in upon the heroes and 'men of history' that control conflicts. That's what readers expect. I think that’s why I loved the ending so much. After so long trapped with Cordelia, just trying to survive the larger machinations of Barrayar’s bloody politics, it felt so, so good to finally be on the offensive, to have information the opponents don’t, to finally have power and the means to control what happens. It's a relief to the constant tension of having no agency in a giant conflict that frankly Cordelia had no business being affect by, yet was swept up in because of her love of Aral.

Which is the second thing I deeply enjoyed in Barrayar. I love how the war is made so human. A messy tangle of human relationships control it. I can’t stop thinking about the hostages. There are just so many children being used because the war holds the future hostage. Tiny precious Miles utterly incapable of comprehending how large a pawn he is. Young grieving Gregor vital to the plans of both sides whether dead or alive. Elena, who should be of no importance but she is because that's the kid of an unimportant soldier, just like every other hostage is another piece in the web of the war. I keep thinking about the relatives of Aral’s men caught in the capital. The hostages that Aral refuses to take. Everyone just trying to take care of those they love, and the points where they must put other priorities over their relationships are heart wrenching.

Barrayar looks dead on at how little people try to survive a civil war. From the mountains where the fighting seems so far, and information is slowed to a trickle of the singular mailman. The invasion of forces that disrupts people who may not even know there’s a war yet. The scientists and the genius lost in a single blast that goes unnoticed. The urban populations trying to sneak in food and people and keep their heads down. Random citizens debating who to sell out, weighing risks and bounties, if it will get them the favor with the occupiers that will help them survive. All so small in the grand scheme of things, and yet they are who Barrayar concerns itself with.

Cordelia’s uncertainty and fear would’ve been undermined if we were allowed to see in the heads of people driving the conflict, because Barrayar isn’t about those people. It is the desperation of two mothers, powerless and kept in the dark, that topples the regime.

Addendum: Cordelia’s relationship to Aral firmly places her in an upper class position that is important to note when discussing the role of civilians/‘little people’ within this analysis. But as a woman on Barrayar she is extremely limited in the power she is allocated, especially compared to someone like Aral, which would be the military leadership POV that novels more focused on the grander scope of war would utilize. Again not to say Cordelia has no agency or power, but it is not to the degree of the people in charge. Thus I place her alongside the average people swept up in a war outside their control. Still, her position as a Vor Lady gives her some access knowledge and connections that she turns into power, which while limited are far more than the average citizen. Her significance to Vordarrian is exclusively viewed as yet another hostage, an underestimation that Cordelia readily exploits, but still afforded only due to her status. Cordelia occupies a position of importance but not power beyond the scope of the people she’s formed direct relationships with, which only further ties into the essay's thesis.

[regallibellbright]

“It’s… not what Tante Cordelia is most famous for, on Barrayar,” Martya offered after a moment.

Cordelia: I’m a successful survey captain, but do they call me Captain Naismith, Betan explorer?

Cordelia: I was foster-mother to the Emperor and influenced his education, but do they call me Lady Vorkosigan, influencer of Barrayaran politics for a generation?

Cordelia: I was even a war hero, even though I didn’t do most of what I’m credited for.

Cordelia: But you bring home ONE SEVERED HEAD in a shopping bag -!

[sylvanmigdal]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58768081

Lunch at the Imperial Residence

[mouseinamushroomhouse]

Cordelia & her boys

[mizeliza]

I think a lot about how in one of the later books someone says something along the lines of really the only person who simon illyan is afraid of is cordelia, due to the lasting power of first impressions, and remember that when they met, cordelia was free aboard a barrayaran ship and covered in the blood of a dead admiral

[laryna6]

Can you tell me about Miles Vorkosigan? (And also which book to start with)

"Welcome to Barrayar, son. Here you go; have a world of wealth and poverty, wrenching change and rooted history. Have a birth; have two. Have a name. Miles means "soldier", but don't let the power of suggestion overwhelm you. Have a twisted form in a society that loathes and fears the mutations that have been its deepest agony. Have a title, wealth, power, and all the envy and hatred they will draw. Have your body ripped apart and rearranged. Inherit an array of friends and enemies you never made. Have a grandfather from hell. Endure pain, find joy, and make your own meaning, because the universe certainly isn't going to supply it. Always be a moving target. Live. Live. Live."

— Cordelia Vorkosigan to her newborn son Miles, Barrayar

Sci-fi series by Lois McMaster Bujold where the world of Barrayar was cut off from the rest of the galaxy for a long time and also the native plant life is mutagenic, so it became a mother's duty to kill her child at birth if it was a mutant. Also the tax collectors become a military aristocracy.

After recontact (and after a star empire tried to conquer Barrayar and threw a bunch of nukes around before getting finally kicked off the planet, not helping the local fear/hatred of mutations) is the first chronological book in the main series, Shards of Honor, about a survey (and later military) captain from the very liberal Beta Colony. Cordelia ends up marrying a Vor lord, but while she's pregnant there's an attempt to assassinate him with a chemical that as a side effect screws up fetal bone development that hits her too. She refuses to let her kid die and fucks shit up during a civil war to accomplish this in the second book where she's the viewpoint character, Barrayar.

"You're a Betan! You can't do—"

— Vidal Vordarian to Cordelia Vorkosigan, just before she does. Barrayar

However, Miles is still born very short with fragile bones, looking like a mutant despite not technically being one, as a member of a warrior-aristocratic caste, and becomes a master of the Indy Ploy/Xanatos Speed Chess ending up in crazy situations and trying to improv his way out of total disaster and among other things (non-late-arrival spoilers under cut)

takes over a mercenary fleet while pretending to be a clone of himself. The Warrior's Apprentice is the first book about him and the first book published. I love the Cordelia books so I'd start with them, but it's up to you.

They followed me home, Dad. Can I keep them?

— Miles on his new Dendarii Mercenaries. Warrior's Apprentice

Someone actually clones Miles to use the clone to assassinate his dad: by Beta Colony rules on family this makes the clone his brother and Mark is eventually Assimilated. You WILL be unconditionally loved and trusted in this family~

"Miles, what have you done with your baby brother?!"

— What Miles imagines his mother will say about his clone. Brothers In Arms

Miles is kind of manic and it's a lot of fun to see what crazy ploy he's going to go with next. Cordelia sees herself as the Only Sane Woman but between her and Aral it's very obvious where Miles got it from ("Every Vor woman goes to the capital to shop" XD).

"Shopping? That's an offer seldom made to the son of my mother..."

— Miles responding to Ekaterin's invitation. Komarr

[sanguinarysanguinity]

Chapters: 12/12 Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan Additional Tags: Queer Themes, Worldbuilding, Museum Exhibit, POV Outsider, Time Period: Vorkosigan Regency, Time Period: Reign of Gregor Vorbarra, Post-Canon, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 30-45 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Download Available Summary:

During her decades of service to the Imperium, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan commanded a special place in the hearts of queer Barrayarans.

Explore their stories today at the Vorbarr Sultana Capitol Museum.

An imagined queer history for Barrayar, presented as a multimedia (text, art, and audio) exhibit about the queer community’s relationship with Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan. Made for @pod-together​ by myself and @phoenixfalls​.

Additional commentary here (sanguinity) and here (phoenixfalls). We’ve been working on this project all summer, and we’re so excited to finally get to share it!

[leojurand]

miles literally dying in mirror dance and memory dealing with the metaphorical death of his naismith persona, and focusing on miles trying to find a meaning to his life after he loses everything he thinks gave it meaning, is so good. lord vorkosigan has always felt less real to miles than admiral naismith, and this book forces miles to confront that. stops his forward momentum and asks him to simply live. not for glory or to prove anything to anyone or to win the game. you just go on

[unhelpfulfemme]

Okay, so you know how Barrayar is full of stories of evil mutants kidnapping innocent Vor maidens, just like we IRL have a bunch of story templates exploiting our societal fears of some exoticized evil Other stealing our women?

And you know how modern romance/erotica takes those stories and turns them into erotic fantasies? Like, women have been going mad over The Phantom of the Opera for centuries, we've had stories about innocent maidens being forced into arranged marriages with big dick sheikhs and Middle Eastern princes for decades, and in the past decade or so both monster romance and villain romance have become completely mainstream staples of the genre?

And you know how Miles allegedly killing Tien so he could court Ekaterin was Vorbarr Sultana's Scandal of the Year for a short while, before the whole affair was capped by Ekaterin's very memorable and very public proposal?

Now, imagine some repressed Vor housewives hearing about it and thinking, in a similar vein to what Mark thought, "NGL, that's kinda hot. I always did have those fantasies where I was ravished by the villain, and I really do sometimes wish my boring sexist husband were dead." Because now that they've caught up on galactic genetics the actual fear of mutant children is kinda low among the bored upper class housewives who can afford gene cleaning, so it's the perfectly zeitgeisty moment to exoticize and objectify the mutants instead.

So one of said bored housewives decides to anonymously write a pulpy gothic-esque dark romance/erotica novel about it. Except obviously the scrawny short guy doesn't make for an appealing romantic hero, so she makes him a Taura-esque tall, massively ripped fellow who growls all his lines a là ACOTAR's Rhysand and conveniently makes all his mutations sexy in the vein of, like, A/B/O novels or Ice Planet Barbarians.

Imagine "Ravished by the Billionaire Secret Agent Mutant Count" slowly becoming popular among the ladies and the main cast learning about it, Miles lamenting about it having come out now when he's happily married and not when he was fifteen and desperate to get laid, Ivan suddenly gaining a lot more traction with the girls because they've caught onto the real life inspiration for the novel and are wondering if the Big Dick Mutation comes from Ivan's side of the family, Cordelia shamelessly reading it at dinner (she's the only person who's read it without wrapping the cover) and annoyedly pointing out the biological inaccuracies as Aral begs her to stop, Mark seeing the opportunity for a cash grab and buying the holodrama rights...

[call-me-rucy]

"Kareen's face was terrible with hope."

To the fellows who followed me for the "The Vor Game" liveblog, please accept this sketch as a peace offering, I swear I will continue.