"A life in ruins with vomiting is still a life in ruins."
"Mm," said XXX in a judicious tone, "though it does make it easy to be a recluse. If you're repulsive enough, people spontaneously avoid you."
Still, a shy and hesitating attempt (to be read in a small font and with a squeaky voice):
Book --- Legacy (The Sharing Knife 2) .....When Dag was describing his misery just after the loss of both his first love and his hand.
XXX --- Fawn
Listener --- Dag
Method of making oneself repulsive --- drunkenness
Alas, no. This quotation is from a Vorkosigan book. It's a very major character who gets drunk, though we don't actually see the drunkenness—just this scene immediately afterward. I'll expand it some more. A lot more, I guess.
"A life in ruins with vomiting is still a life in ruins."
"Mm," said XXX in a judicious tone, "though it does make it easy to be a recluse. If you're repulsive enough, people spontaneously avoid you."
YYY twinkled at him. "Speaking from experience, love?"
"Naturally." His eyes grinned back at her.
More silence fell. XXX+YYY did not decamp. Obviously, ZZZ concluded, he wasn't repulsive enough. Perhaps he should emit a menacing belch.
There are three people present: ZZZ is the one who speaks first, and the one who was drunk.
Book?
XXX?
YYY?
ZZZ?
Why did ZZZ get drunk?
This scene may be my favorite in the whole Vorkosigan saga. Not this little bit by itself, but the whole conversation, and the part a few pages later. It's so awesome. But I can see how it wouldn't really stand out to other people.
orchestrali wrote:Alas, no. This quotation is from a Vorkosigan book. It's a very major character who gets drunk, though we don't actually see the drunkenness—just this scene immediately afterward. I'll expand it some more. A lot more, I guess.
"A life in ruins with vomiting is still a life in ruins."
"Mm," said XXX in a judicious tone, "though it does make it easy to be a recluse. If you're repulsive enough, people spontaneously avoid you."
YYY twinkled at him. "Speaking from experience, love?"
"Naturally." His eyes grinned back at her.
More silence fell. XXX+YYY did not decamp. Obviously, ZZZ concluded, he wasn't repulsive enough. Perhaps he should emit a menacing belch.
There are three people present: ZZZ is the one who speaks first, and the one who was drunk.
Book?
XXX?
YYY?
ZZZ?
Why did ZZZ get drunk?
This scene may be my favorite in the whole Vorkosigan saga. Not this little bit by itself, but the whole conversation, and the part a few pages later. It's so awesome. But I can see how it wouldn't really stand out to other people.
Is this scene your favorite one ? The few pages later?
My favorite scene, maybe not in the whole saga, but certainly in this book, is a few pages earlier, namely the reason why ZZZ got drunk !
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
orchestrali wrote:Alas, no. This quotation is from a Vorkosigan book. It's a very major character who gets drunk, though we don't actually see the drunkenness—just this scene immediately afterward. I'll expand it some more. A lot more, I guess.
"A life in ruins with vomiting is still a life in ruins."
"Mm," said XXX in a judicious tone, "though it does make it easy to be a recluse. If you're repulsive enough, people spontaneously avoid you."
YYY twinkled at him. "Speaking from experience, love?"
"Naturally." His eyes grinned back at her.
More silence fell. XXX+YYY did not decamp. Obviously, ZZZ concluded, he wasn't repulsive enough. Perhaps he should emit a menacing belch.
There are three people present: ZZZ is the one who speaks first, and the one who was drunk.
Book?
XXX?
YYY?
ZZZ?
Why did ZZZ get drunk?
Aha, the cat thickens.
orchestrali wrote:... the quotation is not from Barrayar. Getting drunk *is* the particular repulsive behavior here, so that scene—oh wait, it's not in Barrayar either!
I fell for this sly bit of misdirection. Only now did it dawn on me that orchestrali meant the *book*, not the planet. I must have read *on* instead of from/in, the first time I read that post.
Then it was like Martya hit me with a plot and let the brick out the bag.
Book? -- A Civil Campaign
XXX? -- Aral
YYY? -- Cordelia
ZZZ? -- Mark
Why did ZZZ get drunk? -- Because Mark drove a wedge between the Vorkosigans and the elder Koudelkas, causing Kareen to be off limits to him.
Another possible bonus: Didn't Aral suffer a period of excessive drinking after the death of his first wife?
@ Voralfred:
Was that a pun on the poisonously green Crème de Menthe? In my experience I couldn't get drunk on Crème de Menthe mixed with sparkling water, but it kept me wide awake, even hyperactive.
I certainly believe there is a pun on "Crème de Meth"/"Crème de Menthe"
The latter exists in our universe, but Arde was drinking the former, and of course if he could stay awake it was because of metamphetamine.
Oh, is your question whether there is metamphetamine in the Crème de Menthe of our Universe? I doubt it very much, that would be highly illegal! Whether some substance from the herbs use to make it has a slightly exciting effect, like caffeine, is a possibility, but certainly not metamphetamine.
orchestrali has to confirm, of course, but I'd say you got the last bonus. But remember, to become repulsive, Mark eats, gorges himself, or rather allows Gorge to take over. Mark is not the one who drinks....
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
I always assumed it wasn't *actually* meth in the drink, but some Betan thing that had similar effects. Cordelia makes a few remarks that suggest Beta Colony produces a wide array of drugs that aren't actually harmful but simulate some effects of more traditional poisons.
As far as the quote, EPS, you're so close!! You've got the book, XXX, and YYY correct. As voralfred said, Mark doesn't get drunk, he gorges himself on bug butter. And yes, that bonus is the one voralfred was hinting at.
Voralfred, yes, THIS scene is my favorite. I find the one that ends in ZZZ going off to get drunk rather uncomfortable, though not as bad as some other scenes of mistakes. It's especially so because I only have A CIVIL CAMPAIGN on audio, so I get to listen to every word as it goes down. And it tends to color my perception of all the previous parts of this book, at least in my memory. THIS scene is such a relief after all that. It's also my favorite example of Cordelia being a bad-ass. Or as Scott Lynch put it, dividing truth from bullshit with the speed of a laser...
orchestrali wrote:...
As far as the quote, EPS, you're so close!! You've got the book, XXX, and YYY correct. ...
ARGH!
Book? -- A Civil Campaign
XXX? -- Aral
YYY? -- Cordelia
ZZZ? -- Miles himself !
Why did ZZZ get drunk? -- Because, blindsided by Simon, he totally botched his much too premature marriage proposal to Ekaterin, thereby apparently alienating her irredeemably.
P.S. One of my favourite scenes, besides the Ekaterin-Miles attic conversation and the romantic Taura-Miles and Taura-Roic anecdotes, is the private scene where Ekaterin for the first time reads Miles's abject apology letter.
Then there's Miles's stark naked speech before the assembled female prisoners-of-war. And I'm forgetting some, more more than less I'm afraid.
Waiting for orchestrali to confirm, I just want to tell you what my favorite scene of all the saga is. However much I appreciate all the scenes mentioned above, in addition to the dinner party in _CC_, the scene I have read and reread most often and does not fail to bring a lump in my throat (even now, just remembering it, not even actually reading it) is Miles soliloquy about Piotr in _MoM_, while waiting for all the principals about Raina's murder to arrive.
The actual beginning of the scene is :
"So, lord," Harra said. "You caught him." Her jaw was clenched in joyless triumph.
"Not exactly," said Miles. "He came here and turned himself in. He's made his statement under fast-penta, and cleared himself. Lem did not kill Raina."
Harra turned from side to side. "But I saw he'd been there! He'd left his jacket, and took his good saw and wood planer away with him. I knew he'd been back while I was out! There must be something wrong with your drug!"
Miles shook his head. "The drug worked fine. Your deduction was correct as far as it went. Lem did visit the cabin while you were out. But when he left, Raina was still alive, crying vigorously. It wasn't Lem."
She swayed. "Who, then?"
and the conclusion is :
Nobody had dared interrupt this lordly monologue, but it was clear from several expressions that the point of it was escaping them. Since half the point was to kill time, Miles was not greatly disturbed by their failure to track.
Well, the point of the monologue is just heartwrenching, I think....
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
YES! EPS, you get the next quote, and I will go post your Sherlock (and a half from that bonus).
Voralfred, it's funny you should use that metaphor because in real life I am an orchestra teacher. The school year is about to start, and it seems that days spent hauling instruments around really tire me out. I thought I was going to have a bit of trouble going to bed early again, but I keep falling asleep before 8pm!
Wait, my name's orchestrali! Heh. Well, when I made that username I was still an orchestra student, not a conductor.
I guess my favorite parts tend to be when people share some important wisdom. And that tends to be Cordelia. A CIVIL CAMPAIGN is so similar to other romances in some ways, and I think it's incredibly powerful to have Miles's mother explaining what he did wrong. And to see him get it. I find it very gratifying, and I hope that other people who read the book learn from it. I do love the attic scene, and the letter scene, and all of "The Mountains of Mourning"—Miles shares some of his own wisdom in that one. And MEMORY. There's a lot to love...
I posit that Miles has distinct sets of clothes for each of his personae.
1. Lord Miles: his Vorkosigan House uniform; Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
2. Admiral Naismith: his Dendarii uniforms; non-Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
3. Officer of the Imperial Service: several Barrayaran military officer's uniforms; Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
4. Lord Auditor: gray civilian clothes, somewhat reminiscent of his Dendarii uniforms without insignia
Which single set of clothes usually has a particular hidden characteristic making it quite distinct from all the others? To preclude gambling you also need to tell what characteristic it is.
(I exclude space suits, hazmat suits, battle armor, drain clearing clothes, underwear and such. Just think of clothes one wears in a non-hostile environment or company.)
I am not trying to answer. I consider that the 5-days "no-ping-pong" rule applies to me, in this round, so orchestrali, please feel free to answer as soon as you want.
I just would wish EPS to clarify the question: should the answer mention one of four above set (Lord Miles', Admiral Naismith's, the Service Officer's or the Auditor's) or be more precise?
And does mentioning the hidden characteristic represent an essential part of the question ? a bonus ?
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
voralfred wrote:I am not trying to answer. I consider that the 5-days "no-ping-pong" rule applies to me, in this round, so orchestrali, please feel free to answer as soon as you want.
I just would wish EPS to clarify the question: should the answer mention one of four above set (Lord Miles', Admiral Naismith's, the Service Officer's or the Auditor's) or be more precise?
And does mentioning the hidden characteristic represent an essential part of the question ? a bonus ?
I have just checked, it is 5 days plus one hour since EPS posted.
So here is my tentative answer.
In _Vor Game_ there is the following passage:
His uniforms were privately made to his own fit, at approximately four times the cost of Imperial issue. Part of that cost was for the effort of making them indistinguishable on the surface from the machine cut, while at the same time partially masking the oddities of his body through subtleties of hand-tailoring.
Thus is is clearly said that Miles' Barrayaran uniforms (class # 3) are very specially tailored.
However, I am sure that this is also the case of all his garderobe. Every effort is made to conceal his physical oddities as well as possible. As far as the first part, well, civilian clothes don't have to be "indistinguishable on the surface from the machine cut", but Dendarii uniforms, and even Vorkosigan House uniforms should not stand out from those of the other Dendarii officers/Barrayaran Counts' Heirs. So I am not at all sure this is the answer you wanted, EPS. Was it ?
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
voralfred wrote:I have just checked, it is 5 days plus one hour since EPS posted.
So here is my tentative answer.
In _Vor Game_ there is the following passage:
His uniforms were privately made to his own fit, at approximately four times the cost of Imperial issue. Part of that cost was for the effort of making them indistinguishable on the surface from the machine cut, while at the same time partially masking the oddities of his body through subtleties of hand-tailoring.
Thus is is clearly said that Miles' Barrayaran uniforms (class # 3) are very specially tailored.
However, I am sure that this is also the case of all his garderobe. Every effort is made to conceal his physical oddities as well as possible. As far as the first part, well, civilian clothes don't have to be "indistinguishable on the surface from the machine cut", but Dendarii uniforms, and even Vorkosigan House uniforms should not stand out from those of the other Dendarii officers/Barrayaran Counts' Heirs. So I am not at all sure this is the answer you wanted, EPS. Was it ?
No, that's not the answer.
Hint #1:
The salient point in question has nothing to do with fashion or with corrective tailoring. It is purely pragmatic.
I haven't said anything because I couldn't think of anything distinctive about any of Miles's clothing. I feel like I know very little about anyone's clothing in those books—Lois isn't one for describing that sort of stuff in detail.
The only thing that popped into my head in response to the word "hidden" is the concealed stunner holster—I think it's a stunner—that Ekaterin notices on her first tour of Vorkosigan House, when Miles is switching from gray civilian tunic to Dendarii jacket. But I can't imagine that the other three classes of clothes *wouldn't* allow or be explicitly meant to include a concealed weapon, even if they also include space for visible weapons.
I feel like all the categories overlap! They all include Barrayaran civilian clothes...except for the Dendarii, hmm. Something pragmatic...are all the Barrayaran uniform boots derived from whatever the horse cavalry wore? I remember like one line about the Dendarii boots being more specifically designed for foot soldiers. On spaceships.
Got it!
Class 1:
only the Vorkosigan House uniforms have decorations inspired by the wing carapaces of some disgusting creepy vomiting bugs...
Hmmmm..... maybe I got mixed up somehow...
and besides, this is not a HIDDEN aspect, it is altogether too visible...
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
voralfred wrote:Got it!
Class 1:
only the Vorkosigan House uniforms have decorations inspired by the wing carapaces of some disgusting creepy vomiting bugs...
Hmmmm..... maybe I got mixed up somehow...
and besides, this is not a HIDDEN aspect, it is altogether too visible...
Okay, okay. You're fishing for an additional hint, aren't you?
Hint #3:
Though animals play a part in it, it's not the butter bugs nor any other insects or creepy-crawlies.
To not lose sight of the target:
I posit that Miles has distinct sets of clothes for each of his personae.
1. Lord Miles: his Vorkosigan House uniform; Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
2. Admiral Naismith: his Dendarii uniforms; non-Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
3. Officer of the Imperial Service: several Barrayaran military officer's uniforms; Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
4. Lord Auditor: gray civilian clothes, somewhat reminiscent of his Dendarii uniforms without insignia
Which single set of clothes usually has a particular hidden characteristic making it quite distinct from all the others? To preclude gambling you also need to tell what characteristic it is.
(I exclude space suits, hazmat suits, battle armor, drain clearing clothes, underwear and such. Just think of clothes one wears in a non-hostile environment or company.)
Ok this is just a random guess, but I remember that Miles says he doesn't have to wear leg braces when he wears his Imperial Dress uniform? Because the boots are nice tall cavalry boots that are stiff enough to support his legs, and also the braces wouldn't fit under them? (Maybe?) But that would only be before his leg bones got replaced with synthetics... So I don't know.
Well, in _MoM_, Miles' House uniform was so clean that he could not provide even pocket lint to the funeral pyre Harra burned for her baby.
But then in _Cetaganda_ there was not much lint in his Imperial Officer's uniform either.
And I am sure his Dendarii batman would not leave any in his Admiral's uniform, nor the Vorkosigan House laundry in his civilian grey Auditor's suits, nor the remainder of his clothes fro that matter.
Only the clothes he wore when undercover as Dendarii has any chance to be dirty to start with.
I am at a loss....
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
... He made no move toward the mare, but instead stood still and made a great show of fishing in his pockets. Fat Ninny butted his head against Miles eagerly, and Miles cooed and fed him a bit of sugar. The mare cocked her ears with interest. Fat Ninny smacked his lips and nudged for more. The mare snuffled up for her share. She lipped a cube from Miles's palm as he slid his other arm quietly through the loop of her reins.
"Here you go, Dr. Dea. One horse. No running."
"No fair," wheezed Dea, trudging up. "You had sugar in your pockets."
"Of course I had sugar in my pockets. It's called foresight and planning. ..."
So to recap once more:
I posit that Miles has distinct sets of clothes for each of his personae.
1. Lord Miles: his Vorkosigan House uniform; Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
2. Admiral Naismith: his Dendarii uniforms; non-Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
3. Officer of the Imperial Service: several Barrayaran military officer's uniforms; Barrayaran-styled civilian clothes
4. Lord Auditor: gray civilian clothes, somewhat reminiscent of his Dendarii uniforms without insignia
Which single set of clothes usually has a particular hidden characteristic making it quite distinct from all the others? To preclude gambling you also need to tell what characteristic it is.
(I exclude space suits, hazmat suits, battle armor, drain clearing clothes, underwear and such. Just think of clothes one wears in a non-hostile environment or company.)
Okay, hint #6:
I guess Vorbar Sultana does have cavalry troops for parades and ceremonial escorts. But considering Miles's stature I doubt very much he would be accepted in a troop of impressively tall, broad-shouldered riders. Unless maybe as a mascot. But then I doubt anyone would dare ask a count's heir for that function.
Except as spectator, he would have nothing to do with horses while in Vorbar Sultana.
And he certainly would never interfere with Gregor managing to "cop a feel" while hoisting Laisa aboard.
Any of the planets Miles visits either have no horses except in zoos (Beta Colony, Komarr) or genetic laboratories (Cetaganda, Jackson's Whole) or, on those with regular steeds available (Earth, Escobar), Miles never has/had an opportunity to go visit stables or ranches, let alone ride.
That leaves only one place where he gets up close with/rides horses.
So, examine the composition of his (very little) pocket lint.
OK, let me see if I understand where you are leading: the only horse Miles is ever going to approach is Fat Ninny, or some of the other horses there, so the only time his pocket lint might contain horse hair is when he is in Vorkosigan Surleau.
But what clothes does he wear ? I'd say, for the most part, civilian clothes that are at Vorkosigan Surleau. But these don't belong specifically to any of your four categories. When relaxing in Vorkosigan Surleau, does he relax as a Count's Heir, as Imperial Service Officer, as Dendarii between missions, as Auditor between assignments? He might indeed even wear some off-planet (class 2) civvies, if the weather permits !
Now consider the quote you gave: the event was during the trip to Sylvy Dale, but not on the final approach on the third morning. No indication is given on the clothing he wore on that specific time but my guess is, old civvies. Obviously he was not going to get any uniform dirty during the approach.
And if you look at the third day, though Pym wore his Vorkosigan House Armsman uniform, Miles, though he acted as the Count's Voice, was wearing his Imperial dress greens to send the message :"I am not just here by nepotism, as my father's son, I did get into the Academy, I made myself an officer even though I am crippled.
So I still cannot answer your question in any of your four classes, except to say: not on the day of your quote, but on days that followed, he had horse hair lint on one specific uniform of class 3
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine
