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How's my driving?
Apr. 6th, 2016 10:25 pmWhat it says on the label! Please let me know how I'm doing.
IC Contact Post (MoM)
Apr. 6th, 2016 10:20 pmHello, you've reached Lieutenant Lord Ivan Xav Vorpatril. I'm sorry if my absence inconveniences you. Leave a message and I will return your call as soon as I can.
Unless you're Miles. Leave me alone, Miles.
Unless you're Miles. Leave me alone, Miles.
Application: Mask or Menace
Mar. 27th, 2016 11:20 pm〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Rae
AGE: 18+
JOURNAL: red_as_ever
IM / EMAIL: n1ghtrae (Skype)
PLURK: red_as_ever
RETURNING: Nope, I'm new!
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Ivan Xav Vorpatril
CHARACTER AGE: 22
SERIES: Vorkosigan Saga
CHRONOLOGY: through Cetaganda
CLASS: Reluctant hero
HOUSING: Please put Ivan in De Chima so that he can be with the rest of his cast
BACKGROUND:
Ivan is a citizen of Barrayar, a planet colonized by humanity but lost to the galactic nexus when its wormhole collapsed. Several hundred years before Ivan's canon point, the discovery of a new wormhole re-connected the planet with the rest of the galaxy. The Barrayarans, who developed their own feudal military city in order to survive, are considered backwater by the rest of galactic society. This label is perhaps not without reason: the link above explains the planet's thoroughly agrarian society, militaristic ways, proclivity toward civil war, and male-dominated power hierarchy.
Events before Ivan's birth largely shape the man he will become. Shortly before Ivan's birth, Emperor Ezar Vorbara arranged his own son and heir's death rather than allow him to come to power. (Granted, Prince Serg was a murderer, torturer, and rapist.) This means that, when the emperor dies, his heir is Serg's son, four-year-old Gregor Vorbarra. Aral Vorkosigan, one of the planet's favorite Counts, is appointed to be Gregor's regent until he is of age. He is opposed, however, by another count named Vidal Vordarian, who takes over the Imperial Palace, takes Gregor's mother Kareen hostage, and tries to usurp control of the city. One step to ensure his power is to remove all the Vor lords in the city who could oppose him; one of these is Aral Vorkosigan's cousin, Padma Xav Vorpatril, who has a direct claim to the throne should anything happen to Gregor. Padma and his pregnant wife, Alys, go into hiding while the city is under lockdown. Unfortunately, Alys goes into labor. Padma goes to retrieve a midwife and is shot in the street. Alys is rescued and survives to not only give birth to but raise her newborn son, Ivan.
Growing up, Ivan is surrounded by powerful men and their sons. His mother insists that he stay close to her cousin-in-law, Aral Vorkosigan. Not only is Aral installed as regent in charge of young Gregor, he and his wife have a child of their own named Miles who is Ivan's same age. Ivan is Miles's playmate; at age seventeen, they both enter the Imperial Academy together in order to become soldiers.
Ivan shows up a handful of times in the early stories of Miles's life. During Miles's younger life, Ivan serves as a foil of sorts to Miles, the handsome and flirtatious young man who is everything that his cousin is not. We first meet Ivan in Warrior's Apprentice during a party at Vorkosigan House, in which Miles sulks over his cousin's successful admission to the Academy. Yet Ivan isn't happy about the situation, either. He's upset that his mother is trying to force him to be a responsible young man. Ivan steals some wine and goes to Miles's room to hide. The cousins put aside their differences and get drunk together. At the end of the book, Ivan rescues Miles from his own plot: while Miles has been gathering a private army, a handful of lords back in Volbarr Sultana have been trying to convince Emperor Gregor that Miles is building the army to commit treason. Ivan's appearance prompts Miles to return home and defend himself.
After their Academy years, Ivan is stationed in Volbarr Sultana. Miles calls him for several operations-related favors throughout canon, which Ivan complains about but helps out with. For example, when Miles needs help accessing personnel files in The Vor Game, he calls Ivan. Considering these files are restricted access, he can't access them on his own. Ivan, however, is on his boss's computer, which means he has access. Ivan complains, but eventually, they concoct a means by which Miles can access the information and find the next clue in his mystery.
Until his appearance in Cetaganda, Ivan continues his desk work in Vorbarr Sultana.
Ivan comes to his own in the novel Cetaganda when he and Miles are sent to a state funeral as Gregor's representatives. Though they're technically sent as couriers, the young men are diplomatic representatives who quickly get in over their heads. Toward the climax of the book, Ivan is kidnapped: due to Miles's deformities, the renegade Cetagandans assume that Ivan is the mastermind who undoes their plans, and they kidnap him instead of Miles. This incenses Miles but amuses Ivan immensely. (Ivan does continue to be more prominent in the series as it continues, and he eventually gets his own book, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance.)
After the events of Cetaganda, Ivan is a major player in several diplomatic plots on Barrayar (much to his dismay). In Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, Ivan works as the desk clerk for a local admiral; he spends much of his mornings "sorting snakes," or deciding which messages to the admiral are most urgent and which can be postponed. He has made a living out of helping great men to prioritize their schedules.
During A Civil Campaign, Ivan's insights and political savvy are a boon to Miles and his allies in the Council of Counts. Not that Ivan helps them intentionally: he starts off searching for a bride, but he is drawn into politics when the woman for whom he has intentions changes her gender and applies to become a Lord of the Council. From that point on, Miles drags Ivan into the mess, using him as a sounding board and political advisor for his (non-romantic) campaigns.
PERSONALITY:
To most people, Ivan seems merely average. Other, greater men do the work to keep Barrayar running; nobody ever thinks that Ivan will be one of them. He seems to have no ambitions, except maybe a love of women and of wine. Ivan is perfectly content with this reputation. This is, perhaps, his greatest flaw: Ivan's life goal is to avoid being noticed by anyone. Though he shows up for many pivotal events in the series, he avoids being drawn into the conflict, instead choosing to comment from the sidelines.
Ivan's greatest flaw is also his greatest motivation. He wants to live without being noticed so that he can live his life on his own terms. His love of sex and of alcohol is an escape from his rigidly-controlled life and one of the few ways that teenage Ivan can find to rebel against his mother. Later on in life, when Ivan does decide he wants to marry, his mother has pretty much given up nagging him. Staying out of politics (and out of his mother's way) whenever possible gives Ivan plenty of time to enjoy fine wines and fast driving in his light flyer. Ivan is very much motivated by freedom and the pursuit of it.
When Ivan absolutely has to work, he is an invaluable confidant and quite an asset to his friends' political lives. One advantage is that he's good at prioritizing: working in operations allows him to manage other people's lives from behind the scenes, especially in the case of "sorting the snakes." He has a strong sense of timing in political situations. Of course, this stems from his ability to understand people. He's very good at reading people and understanding their motivations. Though Ivan isn't likely to do much with that information, he's more than willing to share it with his friends for them to use.
Ivan is also tremendously loyal. Though he complains, he never turns down a request for help from the people he values.
Much of Ivan's motivations, aspirations, fears, and life in general are inspired by his mother. Alys never forgave her husband for dying and leaving her to give birth on her own. Her greatest fear is that Ivan would grow up, become politically involved, and die in the streets like his father. She has, therefore, imparted to her son a fear of greatness: Ivan is happy to be "just middling along" in life, not drawing attention to himself or excelling too much. Ivan has, therefore, become terribly good at reading political situations, understanding the information at hand, and avoiding as much work as possible. Though many of his relatives call him an "idiot," Ivan proves quite savvy when he actually wants to work).
Unfortunately, with a cousin like Miles, Ivan often gets dragged into the very trouble he tries to avoid. Growing up, he often complained that he was Miles's "donkey," doing all the hard work for his cousin the mastermind. At one point, this led to Ivan getting trapped when a tunnel he constructed for Miles caved in. Ivan is still sore about this and repeatedly complains to Miles and the way he is treated. Despite this, Ivan is tremendously loyal to his cousin. He proves very trustworthy and tempers his cousin's responses to political situations (though Miles is still likely to act as he pleases, dragging Ivan into messes with him).
Though Ivan is very respectful of his mother's wish that he not get involved in politics, there is one major matter of contention between them: Alys wants grandchildren, and Ivan doesn't want to be tied down by marriage. He wants nothing to do with the Vor ladies' daughters with whom his mother tries to set him up. Ivan isn't looking for commitment. By age seventeen, he already has a reputation for sleeping with servant girls. He considers himself very sexually competent and is always excited to seek new encounters. Ivan's most embarrassing moment to date comes on Cetaganda when he meets two beautiful women, seduces them, and takes them to bed, only to find that he's been slipped an anti-aphrodesiac. Ivan does everything he can to impress them, lull them, and escape. It works. From that point on, Ivan's office is flooded with invitations to parties of all kinds. Though he's very proud of his ability to please these women, Ivan is wary of getting into trouble (at least on Cetaganda).
POWER:
Liege relationships (canon-based): Like the other Vor characters in the game, Ivan has the ability to bind others to him in an oath. Both Ivan and his liegesworn then gain a telepathic connection that allows them to transmit emotions, sensations, or thoughts across great distances. The connection can be "shut," dampening the effect, when one person doesn't want to communicate. Due to the personal nature of the oath, Ivan is unlikely to ask just anyone to swear themselves to him.
Ivan is, in turn, liegesworn to Gregor, which means that this bond will exist between them when Ivan first arrives in-game.
"Innocent bystander" (not canon): Invisibility. Ivan can turn completely invisible in the visual light spectrum (so, cameras and the naked eye). However, a psychic connection to him nullifies this power. For example, Gregor will be able to see Ivan when their link is open from either side.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[This strange new place has some truly wonderful opportunities: at the bar he visited last night, Ivan found a flyer for something called "speed dating." A bit of research shows that it's a delightfully fast, archaic form of courting in which you try to win over as many people as possible in the space of a night. This sounds like Ivan's kind of scene.
Unfortunately, a large number of those flyers seemed to end up in the garbage. Could people not come? Were they not interested? How is Ivan supposed to meet people if they don't show up?
Clearly he'll have to do his own marketing. He sits in front of his comconsole--errr, webcam--to record a message. Time for his most charming smile.]
Hello? Hello, everyone. I don't believe we've met. I'm new to De Chima, and I saw a flyer for something called speed dating? I'm interested in going, but I also thought I would introduce myself for those of you who aren't sure whether or not to come:
My name is Ivan Vorpatril, and I am your galactic dream come true. Meet me tomorrow night, or call me personally on this channel, and I can happily promise you a night that is truly out of this world.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
Ivan on the February TDM
NAME: Rae
AGE: 18+
JOURNAL: red_as_ever
IM / EMAIL: n1ghtrae (Skype)
PLURK: red_as_ever
RETURNING: Nope, I'm new!
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Ivan Xav Vorpatril
CHARACTER AGE: 22
SERIES: Vorkosigan Saga
CHRONOLOGY: through Cetaganda
CLASS: Reluctant hero
HOUSING: Please put Ivan in De Chima so that he can be with the rest of his cast
BACKGROUND:
Ivan is a citizen of Barrayar, a planet colonized by humanity but lost to the galactic nexus when its wormhole collapsed. Several hundred years before Ivan's canon point, the discovery of a new wormhole re-connected the planet with the rest of the galaxy. The Barrayarans, who developed their own feudal military city in order to survive, are considered backwater by the rest of galactic society. This label is perhaps not without reason: the link above explains the planet's thoroughly agrarian society, militaristic ways, proclivity toward civil war, and male-dominated power hierarchy.
Events before Ivan's birth largely shape the man he will become. Shortly before Ivan's birth, Emperor Ezar Vorbara arranged his own son and heir's death rather than allow him to come to power. (Granted, Prince Serg was a murderer, torturer, and rapist.) This means that, when the emperor dies, his heir is Serg's son, four-year-old Gregor Vorbarra. Aral Vorkosigan, one of the planet's favorite Counts, is appointed to be Gregor's regent until he is of age. He is opposed, however, by another count named Vidal Vordarian, who takes over the Imperial Palace, takes Gregor's mother Kareen hostage, and tries to usurp control of the city. One step to ensure his power is to remove all the Vor lords in the city who could oppose him; one of these is Aral Vorkosigan's cousin, Padma Xav Vorpatril, who has a direct claim to the throne should anything happen to Gregor. Padma and his pregnant wife, Alys, go into hiding while the city is under lockdown. Unfortunately, Alys goes into labor. Padma goes to retrieve a midwife and is shot in the street. Alys is rescued and survives to not only give birth to but raise her newborn son, Ivan.
Growing up, Ivan is surrounded by powerful men and their sons. His mother insists that he stay close to her cousin-in-law, Aral Vorkosigan. Not only is Aral installed as regent in charge of young Gregor, he and his wife have a child of their own named Miles who is Ivan's same age. Ivan is Miles's playmate; at age seventeen, they both enter the Imperial Academy together in order to become soldiers.
Ivan shows up a handful of times in the early stories of Miles's life. During Miles's younger life, Ivan serves as a foil of sorts to Miles, the handsome and flirtatious young man who is everything that his cousin is not. We first meet Ivan in Warrior's Apprentice during a party at Vorkosigan House, in which Miles sulks over his cousin's successful admission to the Academy. Yet Ivan isn't happy about the situation, either. He's upset that his mother is trying to force him to be a responsible young man. Ivan steals some wine and goes to Miles's room to hide. The cousins put aside their differences and get drunk together. At the end of the book, Ivan rescues Miles from his own plot: while Miles has been gathering a private army, a handful of lords back in Volbarr Sultana have been trying to convince Emperor Gregor that Miles is building the army to commit treason. Ivan's appearance prompts Miles to return home and defend himself.
After their Academy years, Ivan is stationed in Volbarr Sultana. Miles calls him for several operations-related favors throughout canon, which Ivan complains about but helps out with. For example, when Miles needs help accessing personnel files in The Vor Game, he calls Ivan. Considering these files are restricted access, he can't access them on his own. Ivan, however, is on his boss's computer, which means he has access. Ivan complains, but eventually, they concoct a means by which Miles can access the information and find the next clue in his mystery.
Until his appearance in Cetaganda, Ivan continues his desk work in Vorbarr Sultana.
Ivan comes to his own in the novel Cetaganda when he and Miles are sent to a state funeral as Gregor's representatives. Though they're technically sent as couriers, the young men are diplomatic representatives who quickly get in over their heads. Toward the climax of the book, Ivan is kidnapped: due to Miles's deformities, the renegade Cetagandans assume that Ivan is the mastermind who undoes their plans, and they kidnap him instead of Miles. This incenses Miles but amuses Ivan immensely. (Ivan does continue to be more prominent in the series as it continues, and he eventually gets his own book, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance.)
After the events of Cetaganda, Ivan is a major player in several diplomatic plots on Barrayar (much to his dismay). In Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, Ivan works as the desk clerk for a local admiral; he spends much of his mornings "sorting snakes," or deciding which messages to the admiral are most urgent and which can be postponed. He has made a living out of helping great men to prioritize their schedules.
During A Civil Campaign, Ivan's insights and political savvy are a boon to Miles and his allies in the Council of Counts. Not that Ivan helps them intentionally: he starts off searching for a bride, but he is drawn into politics when the woman for whom he has intentions changes her gender and applies to become a Lord of the Council. From that point on, Miles drags Ivan into the mess, using him as a sounding board and political advisor for his (non-romantic) campaigns.
PERSONALITY:
To most people, Ivan seems merely average. Other, greater men do the work to keep Barrayar running; nobody ever thinks that Ivan will be one of them. He seems to have no ambitions, except maybe a love of women and of wine. Ivan is perfectly content with this reputation. This is, perhaps, his greatest flaw: Ivan's life goal is to avoid being noticed by anyone. Though he shows up for many pivotal events in the series, he avoids being drawn into the conflict, instead choosing to comment from the sidelines.
Ivan's greatest flaw is also his greatest motivation. He wants to live without being noticed so that he can live his life on his own terms. His love of sex and of alcohol is an escape from his rigidly-controlled life and one of the few ways that teenage Ivan can find to rebel against his mother. Later on in life, when Ivan does decide he wants to marry, his mother has pretty much given up nagging him. Staying out of politics (and out of his mother's way) whenever possible gives Ivan plenty of time to enjoy fine wines and fast driving in his light flyer. Ivan is very much motivated by freedom and the pursuit of it.
When Ivan absolutely has to work, he is an invaluable confidant and quite an asset to his friends' political lives. One advantage is that he's good at prioritizing: working in operations allows him to manage other people's lives from behind the scenes, especially in the case of "sorting the snakes." He has a strong sense of timing in political situations. Of course, this stems from his ability to understand people. He's very good at reading people and understanding their motivations. Though Ivan isn't likely to do much with that information, he's more than willing to share it with his friends for them to use.
Ivan is also tremendously loyal. Though he complains, he never turns down a request for help from the people he values.
Much of Ivan's motivations, aspirations, fears, and life in general are inspired by his mother. Alys never forgave her husband for dying and leaving her to give birth on her own. Her greatest fear is that Ivan would grow up, become politically involved, and die in the streets like his father. She has, therefore, imparted to her son a fear of greatness: Ivan is happy to be "just middling along" in life, not drawing attention to himself or excelling too much. Ivan has, therefore, become terribly good at reading political situations, understanding the information at hand, and avoiding as much work as possible. Though many of his relatives call him an "idiot," Ivan proves quite savvy when he actually wants to work).
Unfortunately, with a cousin like Miles, Ivan often gets dragged into the very trouble he tries to avoid. Growing up, he often complained that he was Miles's "donkey," doing all the hard work for his cousin the mastermind. At one point, this led to Ivan getting trapped when a tunnel he constructed for Miles caved in. Ivan is still sore about this and repeatedly complains to Miles and the way he is treated. Despite this, Ivan is tremendously loyal to his cousin. He proves very trustworthy and tempers his cousin's responses to political situations (though Miles is still likely to act as he pleases, dragging Ivan into messes with him).
Though Ivan is very respectful of his mother's wish that he not get involved in politics, there is one major matter of contention between them: Alys wants grandchildren, and Ivan doesn't want to be tied down by marriage. He wants nothing to do with the Vor ladies' daughters with whom his mother tries to set him up. Ivan isn't looking for commitment. By age seventeen, he already has a reputation for sleeping with servant girls. He considers himself very sexually competent and is always excited to seek new encounters. Ivan's most embarrassing moment to date comes on Cetaganda when he meets two beautiful women, seduces them, and takes them to bed, only to find that he's been slipped an anti-aphrodesiac. Ivan does everything he can to impress them, lull them, and escape. It works. From that point on, Ivan's office is flooded with invitations to parties of all kinds. Though he's very proud of his ability to please these women, Ivan is wary of getting into trouble (at least on Cetaganda).
(By the way, Ivan is eventually trapped into a marriage when he marries a young woman to save her from the law, isn't allowed to divorce her, and falls in love with her.)
In later books, Ivan credits his sexual prowess to one of his earlier lovers. Lady Donna Vorrutyer has been through several marriages and even more lovers, and Ivan caught her attention at a young age (presumably before his service on Cetaganda). In the future, this will cause a bit of a crisis to Ivan’s sexual identity: in order to keep power from passing to a cousin, Lady Donna undergoes a procedure to become Dono Vorrutyer and appeals to the Council of Counts to vote him in as Lord Vorrutyer. Ivan, who was seriously considering her as a marriage prospect, has to reevaluate his life plan. Matters between them are incredibly awkward for a time. When Dono’s cousin sends some thugs to castrate him and remove him as an eligible Lord, Ivan comes to Dono’s rescue. He soon not only overcomes his discomfort regarding this sex change but advocates for (and leads to the victory of) Lord Dono in the Council of Counts. This is just one example of his tremendous loyalty and his ability to work past his own misgivings for the good of his friends.
POWER:
Liege relationships (canon-based): Like the other Vor characters in the game, Ivan has the ability to bind others to him in an oath. Both Ivan and his liegesworn then gain a telepathic connection that allows them to transmit emotions, sensations, or thoughts across great distances. The connection can be "shut," dampening the effect, when one person doesn't want to communicate. Due to the personal nature of the oath, Ivan is unlikely to ask just anyone to swear themselves to him.
Ivan is, in turn, liegesworn to Gregor, which means that this bond will exist between them when Ivan first arrives in-game.
"Innocent bystander" (not canon): Invisibility. Ivan can turn completely invisible in the visual light spectrum (so, cameras and the naked eye). However, a psychic connection to him nullifies this power. For example, Gregor will be able to see Ivan when their link is open from either side.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[This strange new place has some truly wonderful opportunities: at the bar he visited last night, Ivan found a flyer for something called "speed dating." A bit of research shows that it's a delightfully fast, archaic form of courting in which you try to win over as many people as possible in the space of a night. This sounds like Ivan's kind of scene.
Unfortunately, a large number of those flyers seemed to end up in the garbage. Could people not come? Were they not interested? How is Ivan supposed to meet people if they don't show up?
Clearly he'll have to do his own marketing. He sits in front of his comconsole--errr, webcam--to record a message. Time for his most charming smile.]
Hello? Hello, everyone. I don't believe we've met. I'm new to De Chima, and I saw a flyer for something called speed dating? I'm interested in going, but I also thought I would introduce myself for those of you who aren't sure whether or not to come:
My name is Ivan Vorpatril, and I am your galactic dream come true. Meet me tomorrow night, or call me personally on this channel, and I can happily promise you a night that is truly out of this world.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
Ivan on the February TDM
