Vorkosigan Saga/Fridge


 * Cordelia's belief that a glass of champagne will harm the developing Miles in Barrayar is the result of superstitious fears due to her lack of familiarity with in vivo pregnancy.
 * Ivan's military career, which entirely avoided (officially) hazardous duty and had him almost entirely stuck in Vorbarr Sultana throughout except for one diplomatic posting to the Barrayaran embassy on what was supposed to have been the safest planet in the Nexus, is generally represented as an artifact of Ivan's lack of ambition and Brilliant But Lazy tendencies. Except that if you look more closely you realize that Ivan is not only in the direct Imperial line of succession, but while officially only fourth in line he is de facto first in line because the three claimants "officially" ahead of him have either made adamantly plain that they would not accept the crown under any circumstances (Aral) or would be rejected by a majority of the Council of Counts due to concerns over their irregular genetics (Miles and Mark). And Ivan's military career is also exactly what you'd expect for a Crown Prince who had no brothers or close cousins to act as spares to his heir; to be kept as close to the capital as possible and only deployed abroad for diplomatic duties in non-hostile zones.
 * It's instructive to note that as soon as Emperor Gregor actually marries and starts having children - i.e., as soon as Ivan is no longer the effective heir to the throne - Ivan's military career immediately shifts to more normal things such as fleet duty.