This was actually also prompted over on DW, but by a flister who hasn't finished the books yet. So here's the expanded answer as opposed to the non-spoilery one :)
* How I entered that fandom I'd been vaguely aware of the books since high school -- I distinctly remember picking up Ethan of Athos at the high school library and putting it back. For the longest time, the awful covers kept me from reading the books, but then I met enough LJ people who were massive fans, and their good taste in other things convinced me to give the Vorkosigan books a shot. This was shortly after L was born, so I had a bunch of time to read while she was napping outside (I guess I must've still been on MLOA at the time?) I picked up A Civil Campaign first, because the very shiny cover drew my eye, and I loved it, despite not knowing who any of these people were, and then went back and started properly with Shard of Honor.
* Favorite character Duv Galeni, but I love everybody in this bar. The rest of my top 5 is Mark, Aral, Gregor, and Cordelia, but I also love Count Piotr, Ivan, Simon, Lady Alys, and Kareen Koudelka, and am very fond of some very minor characters, like Enrique Borgos (even more so after Flowers of Vashnoi, actually) and Raven Durona (after CryoBurn).
* Least favorite character I don't find Elli Quinn very interesting, though I don't actually mind her.
* First character I fell in love with Aral ♥ (in 'Shards'. While I liked him and Gregor and Mark in A Civil Campaign, too, it wasn't until I read the books from the beginning that I properly appreciated all these characters).
* The character who is the most like me Actually, probably Ivan, except I have more of an ego and no megalomaniac cousin :P I didn't fully realize just how much until reading CVA, because Miles's POV is Ivan is really not very reliable. (Also, I need to get back to you on Ivan sorting thoughts!)
* OTP(s) Aral/Cordelia and Mark/Kareen, canonically; Miles/Gregor (when they are young), noncanonically; me/Galeni. I'm also very fond of Alys/Simon, but even more for how it breaks poor Ivan's brain than because I like both those characters an want them to be happy. (In fic, I'll also happily read the horrible trainwreck that is Aral/Ges.)
* Favorite friendship/family relationship I love the complicated family relationship between Miles and Count Piotr, and the relationship between Miles and Simon.
* Favorite quote *points to icon* But there are so many great quotes!
* Favorite location Definitely Barrayar. I feel like the books set there are the strongest ones.
* Favorite scene (or episode, or book) A Civil Campaign for favorite book, and probably the dinner scene in ACC for favorite scene. I know a number of people who have a hard time with that scene because of second-hand embarrassment, which is very fair, but Miles's brain going a mile a minute in awkward social situations ("Stop, stop, you're all eating hideous bug stuff!") is just super hilarious to me. In terms of powerful scenes, vs merely favorite ones, the scene where Simon dismisses Miles in Memory, because OUCH, even though obviously Miles had it coming and had plenty of opportunity to come clean.
* Favorite thing about the fandom There is an amazingly high percentage of absolutely STELLAR fic writers in this fandom. If you haven't read them all yet, I recommend pretty much anything by philomytha, whose fic I often have a hard time telling apart from canon.
* Unpopular opinion I dunno, maybe liking Mark more than Miles? Although I've recently been meeting more people who like Mark.
* Something I would change about the canon "It" as the pronoun of choice for Betan hermaphrodites. That hasn't aged well. It would also be nice to see the queer relationships that are clearly present in the universe given the same amount of screentime as the het ones (though I've heard that this is a publisher mandated thing, not by LMB's choice).
* Random thought about this canon I think getting into this fandom around the same time as you become a parent (or at least a mother; all my anecdata is from that side) seems to have some kind of synergy -- that's like just the right time for the fandom to hit both based on my own experience and that of several friends.
* How I entered that fandom
I'd been vaguely aware of the books since high school -- I distinctly remember picking up Ethan of Athos at the high school library and putting it back. For the longest time, the awful covers kept me from reading the books, but then I met enough LJ people who were massive fans, and their good taste in other things convinced me to give the Vorkosigan books a shot. This was shortly after L was born, so I had a bunch of time to read while she was napping outside (I guess I must've still been on MLOA at the time?) I picked up A Civil Campaign first, because the very shiny cover drew my eye, and I loved it, despite not knowing who any of these people were, and then went back and started properly with Shard of Honor.
* Favorite character
Duv Galeni, but I love everybody in this bar. The rest of my top 5 is Mark, Aral, Gregor, and Cordelia, but I also love Count Piotr, Ivan, Simon, Lady Alys, and Kareen Koudelka, and am very fond of some very minor characters, like Enrique Borgos (even more so after Flowers of Vashnoi, actually) and Raven Durona (after CryoBurn).
* Least favorite character
I don't find Elli Quinn very interesting, though I don't actually mind her.
* First character I fell in love with
Aral ♥ (in 'Shards'. While I liked him and Gregor and Mark in A Civil Campaign, too, it wasn't until I read the books from the beginning that I properly appreciated all these characters).
* The character who is the most like me
Actually, probably Ivan, except I have more of an ego and no megalomaniac cousin :P I didn't fully realize just how much until reading CVA, because Miles's POV is Ivan is really not very reliable. (Also, I need to get back to you on Ivan sorting thoughts!)
* OTP(s)
Aral/Cordelia and Mark/Kareen, canonically; Miles/Gregor (when they are young), noncanonically; me/Galeni. I'm also very fond of Alys/Simon, but even more for how it breaks poor Ivan's brain than because I like both those characters an want them to be happy. (In fic, I'll also happily read the horrible trainwreck that is Aral/Ges.)
* Favorite friendship/family relationship
I love the complicated family relationship between Miles and Count Piotr, and the relationship between Miles and Simon.
* Favorite quote
*points to icon* But there are so many great quotes!
* Favorite location
Definitely Barrayar. I feel like the books set there are the strongest ones.
* Favorite scene (or episode, or book)
A Civil Campaign for favorite book, and probably the dinner scene in ACC for favorite scene. I know a number of people who have a hard time with that scene because of second-hand embarrassment, which is very fair, but Miles's brain going a mile a minute in awkward social situations ("Stop, stop, you're all eating hideous bug stuff!") is just super hilarious to me. In terms of powerful scenes, vs merely favorite ones, the scene where Simon dismisses Miles in Memory, because OUCH, even though obviously Miles had it coming and had plenty of opportunity to come clean.
* Favorite thing about the fandom
There is an amazingly high percentage of absolutely STELLAR fic writers in this fandom. If you haven't read them all yet, I recommend pretty much anything by philomytha, whose fic I often have a hard time telling apart from canon.
* Unpopular opinion
I dunno, maybe liking Mark more than Miles? Although I've recently been meeting more people who like Mark.
* Something I would change about the canon
"It" as the pronoun of choice for Betan hermaphrodites. That hasn't aged well. It would also be nice to see the queer relationships that are clearly present in the universe given the same amount of screentime as the het ones (though I've heard that this is a publisher mandated thing, not by LMB's choice).
* Random thought about this canon
I think getting into this fandom around the same time as you become a parent (or at least a mother; all my anecdata is from that side) seems to have some kind of synergy -- that's like just the right time for the fandom to hit both based on my own experience and that of several friends.
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