Plot help with a Vorkosigan AU concept?
Apr. 17th, 2019 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotesse(feel free to link to anyone who might have thoughts ect)
I've been kicking a Mirror Dance AU concept around, but I can't get the MilSF plot elements wrangled enough to begin. I want Cordelia to go with Mark; tweak Aral's health status a little and it's more than believable. That's not the problem. It's the Jackson's Whole plot that I can't get into focus.
My three drivers for the AU: First, getting Cordelia up and out of Barrayar is a thing I wish the canon had done, at least once. Reunite her with Arde Mayhew and let her kick ass and take names across the stars, now with her experience as Lady Vorkosigan and the backing of an Imperial force behind her. Let her out to play with Lily Durona. Second, I want poor Mark not to go through being raped and tortured again. It's not needed, it's redundant and OTT; it's something that upsets me a lot about MD, otherwise one of my favorites in the series. Let Cordelia save him, as she couldn't the first time. Third, I admit I want to play with woobie!amnesiac!Miles more; the depths of his self-doubt, when he doesn't have his name, is interesting, and I'd like to bounce that off of more of the long-term Saga characters.
But dealing with the Bharaputra plot! The kidnappers will still show up at the Durona Clinic; that's based on Miles escaping and having been seen, I think?? and wouldn't be impacted by changes in events on Barrayar. I have no idea how to manage the crisis at that point. I'd like Cordelia to refuse to chose between her children, and sacrifice neither -- she's a Kirk, let her win the Kobayashi Maru. If Mark is taken, I want him retrieved ASAP, happy and intact. I also need to figure out how to rescue Lily Jr, and I'd like to find a way to still trash House Bharaputra in the end. I like the idea of letting Taura commando her way through great achievements, given her backstory; I've also been thinking that the Arquas could be useful, as according to ImpSec their house was known for successful human subject retrievals.
MilSF isn't my forte as a reader/writer, but I know this fandom has a lot of active plot junkies. If anyone wants, it would be great to poke around the concept.
I've been kicking a Mirror Dance AU concept around, but I can't get the MilSF plot elements wrangled enough to begin. I want Cordelia to go with Mark; tweak Aral's health status a little and it's more than believable. That's not the problem. It's the Jackson's Whole plot that I can't get into focus.
My three drivers for the AU: First, getting Cordelia up and out of Barrayar is a thing I wish the canon had done, at least once. Reunite her with Arde Mayhew and let her kick ass and take names across the stars, now with her experience as Lady Vorkosigan and the backing of an Imperial force behind her. Let her out to play with Lily Durona. Second, I want poor Mark not to go through being raped and tortured again. It's not needed, it's redundant and OTT; it's something that upsets me a lot about MD, otherwise one of my favorites in the series. Let Cordelia save him, as she couldn't the first time. Third, I admit I want to play with woobie!amnesiac!Miles more; the depths of his self-doubt, when he doesn't have his name, is interesting, and I'd like to bounce that off of more of the long-term Saga characters.
But dealing with the Bharaputra plot! The kidnappers will still show up at the Durona Clinic; that's based on Miles escaping and having been seen, I think?? and wouldn't be impacted by changes in events on Barrayar. I have no idea how to manage the crisis at that point. I'd like Cordelia to refuse to chose between her children, and sacrifice neither -- she's a Kirk, let her win the Kobayashi Maru. If Mark is taken, I want him retrieved ASAP, happy and intact. I also need to figure out how to rescue Lily Jr, and I'd like to find a way to still trash House Bharaputra in the end. I like the idea of letting Taura commando her way through great achievements, given her backstory; I've also been thinking that the Arquas could be useful, as according to ImpSec their house was known for successful human subject retrievals.
MilSF isn't my forte as a reader/writer, but I know this fandom has a lot of active plot junkies. If anyone wants, it would be great to poke around the concept.