nanila | The Them

... which meant I thought it was very funny when later said afternoon I became aware that there's ongoing scrutiny of their operations from the Business and Trade Committee (first link I could find, it's bedtime). Also very funny that the time from name change to shed legacy of being Awful to Nah You're Still Awful was approximately -5, on a more national scale than I'd previously clocked...

Yuletide has revealed! (a bit more than intended, LOL, but everything appears to be back in order now, thanks to some swift manual workarounds by the mods! ♥)

I got two wonderful fics, which both really, really surprised me. I was convinced that I was getting a Rivers of London fic, because when my gift popped up, that was the only fandom I had requested with stories, and there was a RoL fic that fit what I had requested, which had recently appeared, so of course I figured it was mine. Then a treat popped up the night before reveals, and the fandoms were unchanged, so I figured it had to be another RoL fic… except Varvara wasn’t tagged in more than one fic, so I was very puzzled. Until I remembered/realized that Lady Eve’s Last Con would not have been wrangled yet, so, OK, my treat was probably that. But it never for a second occurred to me that my main gift could ALSO be Lady Eve’s Last Con, so I was completely blindsided by it:

Forgetting is Musical (1214 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lady Eve's Last Con - Rebecca Fraimow
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Esteben Mendez-Yuki & Sol Mendez-Yuki, Esteban Mendez-Yuki/Jules Johnson
Characters: Esteban Mendez-Yuki, Sol Mendez-Yuki, Ruthi Johnson
Summary:

Intimacy is a name given to an infinite distance.
Esteban has a few more things to learn.

It is a set of Esteban-centric vignettes, pre- and post-canon, and through this format it manages to fit pretty much ALL of my letter prompts into a single elegant package (all the more impressive because I know it was a late pinch hit). I loved getting a glimpse of the roots (heh) of Esteban’s interest in soil, the light humor, complicated family stuff, the abiding but very sibling-y love of his relationship with Sol, and a hopeful ending, the whole of it very poignant and warm.

I also absolutely loved my treat, which was indeed also Lady Eve’s Last Con, but still surprised me because it was for the crossover prompt I never expected to get, because I’ve been prompting crossovers since my very first Yuletide, in every fandom, and have never gotten any, until now! And not just a crossover between fandoms, but the specific crossover prompt that had greatly amused me when I was reflecting on the book:

Natural Habitats (2161 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lady Eve's Last Con - Rebecca Fraimow, Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Esteban Mendez-Yuki, Mark Vorkosigan
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Esteban escapes New Monte for an academic conference on Escobar, where he receives an intriguing business proposal.

This was such a fun fic! The crossover works perfectly, the universes blended seamlessly, the fun of the premise itself – but I’d posited it offhandedly, as a cracky plot idea, and my author took it deeper, into excellent character work where Mark and Esteban can relate to each other in interesting ways. And I love this Esteban’s POV, and his awkward flailing at an academic conference, and the uplifting win-win ending.

(It appears from the comments that it is entirely possible to enjoy this fic with only Vorkosigan Saga knowledge, so, y’all who are Vorkosiverse fans should go do that, and then you should read Lady Eve’s Last Con, and read the other fic too ;)

Anyway, so, both fics were a blast, in highly complementary ways. And I’m so pleased that Lady Eve fic now exists in the archive! :D

And I got a very nice comment from my recipient within an hour of the collection opening, so, Yuletide is being very good to me :D

Also, it’s nice to be able to read my gift(s) and comment immediately, instead of reading them either while falling asleep or still bleary pre-coffee, so I’m a fan of this new reveal time.

*

In non-Yuletide news – Merry Christmas to friends who celebrate! Or actually, Merry Krysa-mouse!

(Backstory is that B made a joke, pronouncing "Merry Christmas" as "Merry Krysa-mas" and then L took it a step further to "Merry Krysa-mouse" [krysa = rat, for the non-Russian-speakers]. Of course, I embraced this new holiday, and was even compelled to illustrate it. You are looking at the pinnacle of my artistic ability, y'all. Drawn from "life" -- i.e. a rubber Halloween rat (which is no more, as it melted/disintegrated several years ago -- horrifying pictures available upon request) and a box of mouse finger puppets.)

We are having a quiet day after a very active Tuesday and before B’s return tomorrow, so I’m going to enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit :)

tags:

fic rec,
yuletide

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 8 by SUOL

The story is approaching the conclusion. Spoilers ahead for the earlier volumes

( Read more... )

A walk by the river at sunset, in the hope of seeing a Starling murmuration over the reedbeds.

( Read more... )

tags:

river

Reading: Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader - I love the idea of this book - a collection of academic writing about Doctor Who that can stand as a starting point for scholars, but I knew when I bought it that I would find it quite hard going because I'm not a humanities scholar and I find their idiom somewhat hard-going.

Listening: The Radio Free Skaro and, this year, the Starship Alexandria Advent calendars. I am, as I always am, somewhat behind. But at least this year I'm up to day 18...

Watching: We watched The War Between the Land and the Sea and it was... fine? I don't quite feel it justified its existence. The ending was unsatisfactory - our heroes got to be in love, but everything else looks like a complete garbarge fire. It was very good in places, fine in others, kind of dull sometimes and events often felt like they were happening in order to get to the next plot beat rather than because they made internal sense. If it hadn't been Doctor Who adjacent, we wouldn't have watched.

tags:

reading listening watching

Yesterday, Noelle and I were chatting over the puzzle when John came out and asked me to come look at his computer - he couldn't get it to turn on. I told him no, that he needs to contact IT. He did not know what IT was. I told him, it's Brandon. Brandon has been to John's many times to help him. John said he didn't know a Brandon. It was pretty sad. But, no way would I touch his computer.

John was dying quickly a few months ago and put into the nursing wing. He is better now and maybe not dying tomorrow (he is 89) but he's lost many of his marbles. He still sleeps in his room in the nursing wing but spends his days in his apartment with his wife, Hazel, who is blind and does not have all of her marbles either. They have a son, Keith, who lives nearby. Before, he got sick, I used to help him with his computer. But, when he got sick, his son stepped in and stepped up and took over their finances but even so Hazel tells me they have been scammed by BECU three times now. I am sure she's not got all the facts right but clearly there are some computer/financial issues there.

John was not happy that I would not help him and I'm sorry about that but no fucking way am I putting my fingerprints on that bed of quicksand!

After he left, Noelle and I discussed it and she asked me what I would have done differently with Myrna that would have saved me from the quagmire of her family. It's a great question and I did not have answer and still don't. BUT I am getting more and more clear on what I will never do again!

Then, yesterday evening, I ran into Joan who said "I was going to come find you to ask you to change my bandage." I do not know what the wound is or how she got it handled but I assured her that NFW was I going to even get close to that. "Well, Bonny does it sometimes but Bonny's not here" Wait til Bonny gets back or call a nurse or your children. I do not do wounds. Ewww.

I want to make a sign for my door - or maybe my forehead - that says help and has a red circle with a slash over the words.

But, after all that, I came back here to my own place with my own cats and watched some good TV and knitted and wallowed in the knowledge that I do not have to go anywhere or do anything or even talk to anyone for the next few days. It was a lovely evening. I finished the book I was reading and slept like a log.

I think I will probably go swim a few laps this morning. And then my dinner will be ready for pick up about 4. And that's it for plans.

I wrote and sent (luckily could retrieve in time!!) an email to them from my erik@ address, rather than the Gmail address I've had since 2004 and use for bank stuff and parent stuff and... that's about it now.

I have never even started to do such a thing before, I don't know what happened here! I'm feeling fine today, so for my brain to be so addled is very weird!

Luckily (??), emails sent from the erik@ account from my phone often bring up an error message that means I have to fiddle around a bit to get them sent, and when that happened this time my blood ran cold and I quickly deleted the email altogether. It never got from "outbox" to "sent" so that should be okay!

But sheesh what a near miss!

It was an email about my birthday present too so very obviously from me, I couldn't say it was just spam or something.

tags:

mutti & vati,
trans

What I read

Well, the Katherine Addison Cemeteries of Amalo re-read continued: I managed to access Lora Selezh and on to The Witness for the Dead, The Grief of Stones and The Tomb of Dragons (the latter was the one where I first began experiencing weird lagging effects on the ereader).

On the go

Seem to have several things currently on the go.

Still dipping in to Diary at the Centre of the Earth, which is becoming compelling, especially as so much of it is set not quite in my neighbourhood but very close and has allusions to things like busroutes familiar to me.

Started Ursula K Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven (1971), which have been meaning to do since discovering the movie is online available and wishing to refresh my memory. Do have a copy but it is a) somewhere inaccessible and b) 1970s paperback probably in disintegrating condition so shelled out for (v reasonable) ebook. Not very far in yet - wow it's a bit generic c. 1970 nearish future dystopia! - do we need so much futtock-shroudery from Haber about his dream-machine? (feel that this may have been editor thinking this was Necessary Exposition?).

Also have started Dorothy Richardson, Pointed Roofs (Pilgrimage #1) (1915), for online reading group, which after various struggles have given in and am reading via Kindle app on tablet because stutter mode is NOT what one wants with Richardson's prose. Do have 1970sish Virago edition somewhere in the book maelstrom but disinclined to the turmoil of trying to locate.

Up next

That seems like enough to be going on with but I am in expectation of Christmas books.

tags:

https://operaramblings.blog/2025/12/24/upcoming-in-the-new-year/

I already recced my fave Heated Rivalry fic on Day 5 when I focused on hockey romance more broadly, but since Heated Rivalry has taken over fandom by storm, I thought some more recs would go down well. Everything is Shane/Ilya because duh. Also, they were written before the show, but since the show is such a faithful adaptation of the book, it shouldn't be a problem.

Ilya Rozanov Gets Railed by GlitterCity 13K

“You didn’t like it the last time we tried it,” Shane said.

Ilya gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Was years ago. Maybe it is an acquired taste, like licorice.”

“You also don’t like licorice,” Shane pointed out.

“Yes, but I keep trying it because Luca likes it so much.”

“And then you make a face and tell him how awful it is.”

“When have I ever told you your dick is awful?” Ilya said, looking mildly offended. “I am its number one fan.” I kinda dislike the title because while there's of course quite a lot of smut in this, what makes this story is the amazing characterisation and the fantastic banter (see the quote). Podfic available!

you'd rather die than take your eyes off me by princebutt. 6K, Ilya is in a car accident. Shane hurries to be by his side, and outs them in the process. Set during the year Ilya is playing for Boston. AU.

there's no pretending by moonsock. 13 K. The term, he’s told, is temporary retrograde amnesia. Ilya doesn’t need the direct translation to understand: he forgot things. Ten years of things.

The Pitt

singing in unison by dotsayers. AU. Gen. Leah's sick the night before Pittfest. Robby gets his ticket back. I love a good ensemble piece. And an AU. Two of my fave things rolled in one.

tags:

Me hearties, yo ho.

today EVRi actually managed to deliver a parcel, not only on time but early

Yuletide! :DD

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 8

Sunset by the River

Reading, Listening, Watching

Christmas Eve

Today in "hilarious ways to come out to my parents"...

Wednesday has just put Angel Biscuit dough into the fridge

Coming up in the new year

Rec-cember Day 20: Heated Rivalry

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