LINKDING

Summary: Just months before the Immortal Alliance Conference, Luo Binghe discovers the cure to Without-a-Cure. With his own heritage still sealed and mostly unknown to him, there seems to be only one solution: Shen Qingqiu must receive the cure from the last known Heavenly Demon, Tianlang-Jun, even if it means that Luo Binghe has to grit his teeth and set his precious Shizun up with another man. Shen Qingqiu does not want to receive the cure from Tianlang-Jun. He doesn't particularly want to receive anything from Tianlang-Jun. Shen Qingqiu somehow ends up fake-dating Tianlang-Jun anyway, if only to swindle the System into delaying the Endless Abyss plot for as long as he can. ➜ svsss canon divergence au fic ➜ luo binghe, not yet aware he's a heavenly demon specifically, discovers the cure for Without-A-Cure....and is determined to get shen qingqiu the cure. from tianlang-jun. ➜ and goddamn this whole fic is SO much fun?! I adored ittttttt ➜ sqq awkwardly fake-dating a doesn't-trust-cultivators tlj while lbh resentfully but determinedly wingmans......along with the far less conflicted wingmanning of all the other peak lords ➜ teen binghe is so CUTE and sqq is the most sqq and I love them forever ➜ and wow I am genuinely so compelled by this understanding of tlj's character. he's a major character in this novel-length fic but I would happily read so much more about him! ➜ all the character dynamics in this fic are just. SO GOOD. ➜ 67k words in length

Summary: It holds its own hand in front of its face. Rotates it around. Examines through the darkness the sharp knuckles, the bony wrist, the unnatural pallor of its skin. This must be his body, it realizes. His body as it was before it was burned: starved, mad, and dead, but not rotten yet. / He Xuan is sent to prison. Later, he dies. He persists nonetheless. Over the centuries, two people are constants: one who knows nearly everything there is to know about him, and one who hardly knows him at all. ➤ the He Xuan magnum opus we don't deserve but are fortunate enough to get to read anyway ➤ following hx from the beginning until after the end, with theeeee most perfect narrative voice possible for hx ➤ I spent the entire fic internally shrieking with delight bc everything about it is so good!!! ➤ the hx characterisation, the beefleaf relationship complexities, the whatever it is they have of hx and hc....the tiny perfect xie lian cameos, even! it's all! so good!!!! ➤ READ IT READ IT READ IT ➤ 64k words in length

Summary: Lan Zhan is — a friend. A guy. That takes the pressure off, knowing they’re doing this as friends, that Wei Ying doesn’t have to perform. And, he’ll admit, it’s flattering that Lan Zhan wants him. The guy is gorgeous. And when he said "I know how to please a man," in that deep, silky voice of his — / Straight boy Wei Ying enters a friends with benefits arrangement with his gay roommate and best friend, Lan Zhan. It absolutely doesn't awaken anything in him. ➤ modern au wangxian fic where they're friends and roommates who start a friends-with-benefits arrangement ➤ a-spec wangxian! I liked how it was handled with wwx's difficulties in recognizing what he was feeling about lwj ➤ I read this fic as a wip and I have a bad memory so I don't recall everything I thought about it in the earlier chapters but it was good! ➤70k words in length

Summary: The summer before Viktor Nikiforov's senior debut, he met Katsuki Yuuri at a joint skating/ballet training camp. The two of them quickly became inseparable...until Viktor broke Yuuri's heart. Now, twelve years later, Yuuri is a rising Hollywood star, Viktor is contemplating retirement, and Yuri Plisetsky needs a ballet coach for his senior debut. Luckily, Lilia happens to know the perfect candidate. Based on Jane Austen's Persuasion ➤ a Viktor/Yuuri YoI fic that's retelling the story of Persuasion ➤ but, and this is key, with the genius idea of casting viktor in the role of anne, and yuuri in the role of capt wentworth ➤ and hot damn the fic takes this premise and runs with it beautifully ➤ I was kicking my feet with delight regularly as I read! ➤ excellent characterisation and fun alterations from canon ➤ 50k words

Summary: At the end of the 5-year mission Spock is 'offered' a promotion. He resigns instead, and Kirk spends months regretting his insistence. Then Spock reappears on Earth. Everything improves... but oddly, some people in Starfleet Command take exception to Spock's changes. Hopefully talks with the Klingons go well – Spock has been very helpful. ➤ very funny star trek tos fic about admiral kirk, and spock deciding "fuck it all" and leaving starfleet to become kirk's secretary ➤ tbh I think these two tags on the fic capture everything you need to know: Kirk thinks Spock is having some sort of identity crisis, Spock already had the crisis and he's just embraced his slut phase ➤ kirk is so bewildered and spock is so serenely confident in everything he's doing and it's amazing to watch ➤ also there's a plot about ship sabotage and klingon ambassadors and stuff ➤ 50k words in length

Summary: After a miserable year in Seoul, Bong-hwan finds a way back to Joseon. When she returns everything is very different from how she left it. ➤ post-canon Mr Queen fanfic ➤ wherein Bong-hwan finds a way to return to Joseon, this time by swapping bodies with a maid ➤ just a bunch of charming fun as Bong-hwan navigates a better understanding of herself and her desires, in the context of a role with very little access to power ➤ I love how good-hearted Bong-hwan is, and how comfortably herself she is at all times! ➤ 41k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Lan Qiren was running to catch up, because he was always running to catch up. He was determined not to fall behind, but he was slow, as always, and tired more easily than the others, and then he got distracted and realized a considerable distance had opened up between him and the rest of the group. He ran to catch up – He tripped. He was going to fall flat on his face, he realized as he pitched forward, throwing his hands up in front of his face to try to blunt the pain since humiliation was already a given. He probably wasn’t far enough behind for them not to see this, and then his brother would turn his face away and sigh, aggravated, his shoulders slumping in disappointment at how Lan Qiren had lost him and their sect face all over again. Lan Qiren was so bound up in his gloomy thoughts that it took him a moment to realize that he had not, in fact, hit the ground. Someone had caught him. Lan Qiren straightened himself up immediately and dropped into a deep salute. “Thank you for your help –” He looked up. “…Sect Leader Wen,” he finished weakly.</blockquote> ➤ another lan qiren/wen ruohan canon divergence au! though also wen ruohan/nie dad at the same time ➤ this one follows lqr from when he's a young teen and it's very fun to see his changing perspectives on wrh over time ➤ I enjoyed it a great deal, and also it's fun to see what is and isn't the same between this fic and the others by the same author featuring these characters and ships ➤ and I just want MORE! ➤ 89k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>After being turned away by the nice Shizun of that other world, Luo Binghe finds himself in the modern world where he can find a new nice Shizun for himself. Instead, he finds Shen Yuan, who could not possibly be who he's searching for - he's crass, and inelegant, and looks only vaguely related to Shen Qingqiu. Luckily for both of them, Shen Yuan mistakes Luo Binghe as a cosplayer for hire, and asks to rent him out as his very normal new boyfriend.</blockquote> ➤ I feel sure I've talked about this fic on masto before but I can't find it in my tags?! I've been following it as a wip and it's now DONE! ➤ the premise: bing-ge transmigrates to our world, and shen yuan thinks he's an attractive but incompetent and down on his luck cosplay-boyfriend-for-rent and takes pity on him ➤ sy tries to reform lbh and turn him into someone who's not terrible at being a boyfriend. meanwhile lbh is slowly discovering that maybe.....it's possible.........for someone to care about him and be nice to him just because they like him?? sounds fake! but what if? ➤ every single aspect of their relationship (and everything else in the fic!!!) is a COMPLETE delight. I love to see how much sy's sharp-mouthed peerless cucumber side is out in full force, and how feral lbh is, and how the two of them play off each other ➤ 86k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>"Anne had thought herself quite finished with wanting, but this want, once stumbled upon, would not quietly lay itself down in the grave with the others." Eight years changes a person, but not beyond all recognition. Fred Wentworth and Anne Elliot, years after a final break, find that they are more alike, in some respects, than they thought before.</blockquote> ➤ a rewrite of Persuasion featuring butch 4 butch Anne/Frederick ➤ god it's so GOOD and I am so EMOTIONAL about it ➤ I love all the ways in which it is both the same and different, the ways their identities affect the things they do and the choices they make ➤ and I mentioned in an earlier post how meaningful it is to be able to see gender non-conforming people like me in historical fiction, living their lives, finding ways to be happy, finding their community. shaking hands with them across time. I see you and you see me. ➤ making Persuasion specifically be the story told is so perfect too because of how it's about getting to know yourself better when you've had time to grow up more ➤ also there's lots of excellently-researched historical content ➤ and lots of feels ➤ READ IT READ IT READ IT ➤ it's such a lovely ending and I nearly cried about it ➤ 47k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>No matter how she tries to word it, the question is going to sound terribly awkward. Even if San Niang is the most trustworthy person Xie Lian knows, she might decide to simply hang up and go back to sleep. “I wondered… I mean, since then I have been wondering if maybe what Shi Qingxuan was suggesting might not be entirely out of the realm of possibility,” she rushes through this as quickly as possible, squeezing her eyes closed as she speaks. “I don’t really know how to judge what I’m, um, supposed to feel.” “About… women?” San Niang says, posing the question tentatively. “Yes,” Xie Lian says, breathing it out. “Oh,” San Niang says, just as softly. “Okay. Um.”</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>There's a demonic cultivator in Lu'an. Jiang Cheng goes to investigate. So does Wei Wuxian.</blockquote> ➤ yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation plus good oc's

Summary: <blockquote>Shen Jiu loses his memories while out on a mission, and gets himself adopted into a minor sect in some obscure countryside. Five years pass before his fellow Peak Lords find him again.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>In which Lan Wangji attempts to reconcile who he thought he would be with who he is.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>"My son is overwhelmed by such flattery," Jin Guangshan says from the table. The words are friendly but Jin Guangyao can hear the rebuke in his tone, the sharp anger promising consequences should Jin Guangyao refuse. For a moment, he longs to refuse. He could keep the secret and marry Qin Su, have his children recognised as Jin and make his mother proud. He could be part of his father's sect as she'd always dreamed for him. But his father has no intention of letting this possible alliance slip through his fingers and Jin Guangyao doesn't know if he could keep such a terrible secret; if he could bed Qin Su knowingly, if those children would ever be possible. Marrying into the Lan will please his father. Jin Guangyao will still be a member of the gentry as his mother wanted. If he has to leave the Jin and play the subservient furen, he could choose no one better than Lan Xichen.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>“Why are we even here?” Wen Xu groused. “Yeah! That’s right! Why are we here?” Wen Chao immediately chimed, very obviously taking his cues from his elder brother – much to the latter’s irritation, judging by his immediate scowl. Lan Qiren knew that he needed to pick his next words very carefully. With recalcitrant students, a teacher only had a few opportunities to really connect with them. If he allowed them to dismiss him or categorize him as an enemy at this early stage, it would be an incredibly uphill battle to gain enough respect in order to teach them anything, and in this case, given the strength of their background and the fact that this little teaching session was both likely to be short and definitely completely unauthorized, it would quite possibly make it completely impossible to ever get through to them. “You are here,” Lan Qiren said solemnly, each word slow and thoughtful, “because your father is an ass.” (a story of kidnapping and falling in love, reluctantly)</blockquote>

<blockquote>When Yue Qi rushes away to save her Xiao Jiu, it is not a cultivation sect that finds her, but rather a nun. Meanwhile, when Shen Jiu decides enough is enough and escapes the life of a slave, her skills enable her to work at the Warm Red Pavilion. Both think the other dead, but when their paths cross once more, they cannot help but be drawn to each other. Yue Qingyuan, wracked with guilt, offers herself in penance. Shen Qingqiu, she says, may punish and hurt her as she likes. And what is Shen Qingqiu going to do, except take the chance to corrupt that immaculate nun as best she can, and pull her away from the heavens, so that they might go to Hell together, hand in hand? In other words, a Tang Dynasty historical au, featuring far too many footnotes.</blockquote> ➤ author's tag: #meta-textually exploring the way fandom conceives of guilt and punishment

<blockquote>Some scholars of resentment believed that strong enough resentment could bind souls together, both before and after death. Some further believed that, were this resentment to be tempered with some other powerful emotional energy, it could become magnified to the point that it could bend the laws of the natural world, even those governing space and time. Or, Jin Guangyao and Nie Huaisang find themselves thrown back in time to the end of the Sunshot Campaign, each determined to outmaneuver and destroy the other. Their schemes don't quite have the effects they anticipated.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shang Qinghua accidentally brings Luo Binghe in as a disciple of An Ding Peak instead of Qing Jing Peak. Thankfully, there don't seem to be any requirements that he step up and become the new villainous mentor figure, so he decides to ignore the problem until further notice. Luo Binghe looking up to him is a dangerous sign. But as long as he keeps young Luo Binghe and Mobei-Jun away from each other, everything should be fine, right?</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shen Yuan is ten when he transmigrates onto Qing Jing Peak. He makes it his goals to prevent his favorite character from suffering at the hands of Shen Qingqiu, resulting in Luo Binghe living on Bai Zhan Peak, Shen Yuan being the focus of Shen Qingqiu's ire, and Shen Yuan writing instructional letter to Luo Binghe on Shen Qingqiu's behalf. But Luo Binghe can't help but feel a growing fondness for the author of these letters, and Shen Yuan is barely keeping the whole thing together.</blockquote>

<blockquote>When Shen Qingqiu drew Shen Yuan’s soul sword, it felt like being burned from the inside out. The fire wasn’t cruel, but it was still fire—hot and destructive, searing the softest pieces of him. When Binghe’s fingers touch the hilt, he is ready for pain. Transmigrated into a version of Proud Immortal Demon Way where cultivators manifest their own souls into spiritual weapons, Shen Yuan finds himself sort of kind of…accidentally blackmailing Shen Qingqiu into taking him on as a disciple before Luo Binghe joins the sect. / That should give Shen Yuan plenty of opportunities to make sure nothing goes wrong for his favorite protagonist, right? RIGHT!? A story of twists, turns, hope, despair, and soul swords.</blockquote> ➤ interesting worldbuilding!

<blockquote>In which Wei Ying plans his return to the theater world (again) and a-Yuan moves in.</blockquote> ➤ I adore everyone in this fic, I love that everyone gets arcs, either relational or professional, and half the relationship arcs are platonic; and I love how much they all care about each other and support each other in their various ways! (and I love that nhs's arc is about his relationship with himself and his identity?)

<blockquote>"Gege," San Lang calls, his voice oddly strained. He isn't looking at Xie Lian's face, his eyes instead fixed pointedly over his shoulder. "You remember me?" Xie Lian takes a few tentative steps closer. "Of course," he says cautiously. "How could I forget San Lang so easily?" "But you said," he croaks, and then stops to clear his throat. He shakes his head, and then quickly walks over to meet Xie Lian halfway. "Gege," he whispers. "You said it wasn't happening to you." "I said what wasn't happening?" he asks, matching San Lang's volume. "Today," San Lang says, finally meeting his eyes. "Haven't you lived it before?" Featuring: a thrice-sealed coffin, an extravagant parade, and too many osmanthus cakes.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“I’m not here to help you with your work,” said Lan Zhan, injecting frost into his voice to deter any further attempts at charm. “I’ll be focusing on my research.” Wei Ying cocked his head. “Research?” he said. “Mm. I’m a cultivation researcher, not a department employee. I’m reconstructing the ancient musical cultivation techniques of the Lan clan.” / Lan Zhan’s new liaison at the Caiyi Municipal Cultivation Department is an enigma – ridiculously talented, yet somehow content with mopping up spiritual pests for barely above minimum wage. Wei Ying is slapdash and irresponsible, and Lan Zhan doesn’t like him at all… but then he meets A-Yuan, who loves music and longs for a piano his father can’t afford. Forced into cautious friendship by a four-year-old's music lessons, Lan Zhan soon realises Wei Ying is more than he seems. The single father is a man of many secrets – including, perhaps, the key to Lan Zhan's life's work. And in the meantime, the background resentment in Caiyi Town is rising to dangerous levels…</blockquote> ➤ fascinating au in which lwj is trying to revive the techniques for musical cultivation which were lost long ago ➤ I loved the worldbuilding, the character work, and the plot! Good sibling content, good lwj student oc's, good a-yuan and wwx, good many things

<blockquote>In the summer of 456, Maura of Dunlath takes up a post as Princess Kalasin's lady-in-waiting.</blockquote> ➤ I love the oc's, and the pragmatism of Kalasin and Maura about the end of their relationship because they love each other but they know they have other goals. Maura/Dunlath otp. ➤ also good political contextualization of dynamics between various characters

<blockquote>Lan Zhan stops in front of one of the bespoke duplicates— a male figure, small, creamy-skinned and lithe. The name on the plinth reads Mo Xuanyu. Lan Zhan tested it on his first pass through the room. The doll was empty. No signals bouncing around its artificial brain, no operating programs queued to autostart. Not even a blinking dormancy light. "Hey big guy," says Mo Xuanyu, chrome eyes sparkling with fun. "Who do I gotta fuck around here to get unplugged?" / Wei Ying is a rogue AI come to life. Lan Zhan is… handling it.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Lan Wangji hopes, somewhat frivolously, that his betrothed might find him an acceptable companion. Neither he nor Wei Wuxian are able to bear children, so there will be no need to share a marital bed; that should make it easier for the two of them to reach a natural, comfortable equilibrium. Two strings played in harmony: this is Lan Wangji’s quiet hope, as he arranges the Jingshi to accommodate a second inhabitant. Perhaps, he thinks, they might even become friends.</blockquote> ➤ really good evocative depiction of wwx being ground down by the expectations of cloud recesses, of the communication failures between two people who are trying hard to be good to each other, of the slow careful steps towards improvement. ➤ but the fic ends too abruptly after they are finally able to be clear to each other what their relationship means, and it doesn't guide the reader sufficiently out of the feelings of pain and despair

<blockquote>The original Shen Qingqiu suffers a severe deviation that unsettles his daemon, transforming them into a childish and inconstant creature, too curious and without any memories of the life that has made him so bitter. His soul is now unrecognizable to him and everyone can see his humiliation. Shen Yuan isn't exactly happy to have transmigrated into Proud Immortal Demon Way at all, much less as this doomed scum villain's daemon. A His Dark Materials Fusion AU. Knowledge of HDM not required.</blockquote> ➤ enjoyed this more than the average daemon au, I think because both the daemon and human are characters I care about, and so I cared about their relationship. genius idea to make sy sj's daemon!

<blockquote>Over a year after Shen Qingqiu's death, Luo Binghe consults his servant's servant, concurrently his disgraced martial uncle, for a way to bring the love of his life back. Shang Qinghua sends him in the direction of a certain time-traveling artifact, which supposedly brings one to the day they first met their soulmate. Odd, though, that the artifact ends up missing the destination by just a few years… A story in which post-Abyss Luo Binghe relives his disciple days, while juggling his secrets, traumas, and some unexpected revelations about the man he loves on top of that.</blockquote> ➤ they both keep on going over and over the same things, binghe trying to convince his shizun that he understands and will forgive him if sqq must push lbh into the abyss, and sqq trying to convince lbh to not torture and murder him after sqq's betrayal, because sqq is incapable of truly hearing and believing. And like. YEAH.

<blockquote>Xie Lian held up the flyer, and squinted at it through the eye-holes of his mask. Beneath the words ‘Join the Selection! Be the Ghost King’s Bride!’ the sweeping eaves rendered in wobbly black ink matched the silhouette of the building in the distance. Paradise Manor. The Ghost King’s home. - ...The Princess and the Pea retelling? Set before the events of the novel. The Ghost King of Paradise Manor is selecting a bride. Xie Lian doesn't really know what he's doing there.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shang Qinghua is miserable as an outer disciple of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, doubtful that the plot will ever begin, when he finally runs into his first character. Yue Qingyuan is only a boy in desperate need of a helpful friend. Well, why shouldn't Shang Qinghua be that friend? A little investment now when they're young and Shang Qinghua might just be able to survive this world with the support of a sect leader. It's definitely not because he's also in desperate need of a friend. (He's definitely not expecting love.)</blockquote> ➤ So charming! I love how much fun they have flirting with each other, both before and after they get together!