LINKDING

Summary: The Institute of Religious Studies was housed in one of the oldest structures at the university, an ornate hipped-roof building that overlooked the campus from the foot of the northern peaks. Aside from the narrow drive that wound up the rise from the other side of campus, the only access was via a steep staircase or a switchbacked path that took twenty minutes to ascend. Most people on campus called it the Mountain. ➤ songxuexiao t4t4t modern au where they're grad students in china ➤ I had the pleasure of getting to see this fic as it came together, and the thought and care verity puts into their writing is always so evident in their beautifully written and beautifully constructed stories! ➤ from song lan's pov as he watches creepy stalker xue yang entwine herself into his bff (and object of pining) xiao xingchen's life ➤ sl DOESN'T trust xy, he DOES find it super hot to put her in her place and have sex with her, he DOES struggle to be fully vulnerable with xxc despite everything she is to him ➤ the vibes are so good, I love how real and present each character and their complex emotions about each other are, and I love the way the theme of the weather runs through the whole fic holding things together ➤ highly recommend! ➤ 12k words in length

Summary: Shang Qinghua is dropped without warning into an archaic alternate universe, ie. the Oxford University collegiate system. And, okay, there would have been a warning if she read the college brochure properly before she applied… ➤ modern AU f/f moshang where they meet as college roommates ➤ I appreciate that it's set in a specific college and the details about it are made use of to build out the sense of setting ➤ I love sqh's narrative pov, she's so funny! ➤ I also love the glimpses we get into the cumplane friendship and into the whole....situation sqq has going on with the harem of young men who are in love with him while sqq is oblivious to how gay everything is. ➤ and the moshang is super cute. mbj and sqh are both bad at communicating, in very different ways, and mbj is doing her best! ➤ 9k words in length

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

<blockquote>When Cody was growing up, he thought his parents’ decision to move to the middle of nowhere to raise him was a good one. They sidestepped all the problems of a nosy school system by homeschooling him. They avoided crowded places because there was nowhere they went that ever got crowded. There weren’t any kids his age, or even close to his age, nearby, so they didn’t have to worry about friends finding out. They had phones, and tv, and internet, and had family over, or neighbors who were older, and Cody was friends with them. He never felt especially lonely. Kids who lived in the city didn’t get to explore wilderness, or help with farms, or go places with no trace that other kids had been there before.</blockquote> ➤ the one about the rural homeschooled adopted-kid incubus who goes to college for the first time and meets the magical community and learns more about himself ➤ I feel like overall it didn't do quite enough with the power imbalance stuff it brought up, but overall cute and fun. and the power dynamics weren't actually a problem for me, it's just that once the narrative brings it up, you kind of have to do something with it.

<blockquote>“Lan Zhan here really surprised me. When we first met, I thought ‘now here’s a guy who could probably bite my head off if I annoy him,’ but then he didn’t? You know, all of our friends in Seoul would say I’m the shameless one, but I have no idea what they’re talking about, like, have they met Lan Zhan? Gege, you’re kind of crazy.” “Mn,” says Wangji, sounding very pleased. “It’s okay though, I like crazy. Hey, Xichen-ge—can I call you Xichen-ge?—anyway, do you mind if I add a little something to my tea?” “We do not imbibe alcohol in this house,” Shufu seethes. “It’s not alcohol,” Wei Ying corrects like he expected to hear this at some point. Xichen glances at Wangji, who’s making an expression Xichen has never seen before: unbridled exasperation and fondness. Then Wei Ying pulls out a pack of what Xichen is pretty sure is chili powder. / Basically a modern AU where lwj and wwx both take a semester abroad while in college. They were originally in different colleges and never met before. They meet in this new college and being the weirdos they truly are, fall in love and get married within one semester.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Okay!” says Wei Ying, already taking another customer’s order. “I’ll find you later! Remember, though, you have to be nice about my act – I thrive on praise!” Wangji finds a table for three. He sits down, maintaining a white-knuckled grip on what remains of his virgin pina colada. He stares at it, morose and – for the first time in his life – unbearably horny. I am also a virgin, he thinks, as though a non-alcoholic beverage is in any way capable of reciprocating his sudden kinship with it, and tries not to think about other, considerably more naked contexts in which Wei Ying might be said to thrive on praise.</blockquote>

<blockquote>They did not want to accept me into their elite universities. It did not matter that I succeeded on every entrance exam I took; not only was I a woman, the first mark against me, but I also came from a nation that the fine people of New England regarded as “semi-barbaric,” to quote from one of the letters of rejection. But I persisted—more to the point, perhaps, my father’s connections and cheque book spoke eloquently on my behalf; and in the autumn of Meiji Year 41, or 1908 by European reckoning, I was invited to enroll at Norcross College.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Oh my god, you guys: a heartbroken Luo Binghe decides to follow his beloved undergraduate advisor to Harvard, by any means necessary. "Here's your chance to make it, / so take it like a man!"</blockquote> ➤ author's note: "I'm not even tagging this for crack, you have eyes, you know what you're getting into." It's a fusion with legally blonde, and it's perfect

<blockquote>Wei Ying thinks he’s going to meet a younger version of Professor Lan, since they’re brothers- gently smiling, a little sad way back somewhere, smart as a whip and just a touch gullible, but instead he meets a drop dead gorgeous sonovabitch who refuses to make more than cursory eye contact and has about as much empathy in him as a brick fucking wall. In which Wei Ying is forced to take AAS100: Intro to Asian American Studies to graduate. He has a cruelly strict grader, and his only hope of passing the class is attending extra credit movie nights in a ridiculous dorm with 3,000 rules. Or: I watched a Chinese piece of media, promptly had a whole pile of feelings about being Chinese-American, and dumped them into a fanfiction.</blockquote> ➤ Chinese American identity is important theme

<blockquote>"Pop some bread in the toaster for me?” Wei Ying asks. Lan Zhan has one, a chrome thing with dials and buttons. A pause. “This isn’t a relationship,” Lan Zhan says. Wei Ying blinks. It’s such an incongruous thing to say. At first his brain says, that must be code. It’s almost like listening to two spies talk in a drama. The handler would say something like ‘the duck swims at midnight,’ and the spy would say, ‘purple is the loveliest colour’ and they’d both nod to each other and know that the prime minister was about to be assassinated, or something. That’s all he can think of, at first. Because of course this isn’t a relationship? This was a fun night. So Lan Zhan must be saying this for a reason. There’s some response he’s supposed to make now, but he’s lost the script if he ever had it. “Okay…” he says. Then it clicks. Lan Zhan means: you should leave. / Maybe Wei Ying shouldn't have hooked up with his hot neighbour two days into his exchange semester, but everyone makes choices in life.</blockquote> ➤ I loved the way the friendships and family were integrated into this fic, and the beef been jyl & lxc over their brothers was perfect and beautiful, and the way wwx got hung up on toast as a metaphor is perfectly integrated

<blockquote>Lan Zhan, on the other hand, is a delicate flower from Shanghai, yet he wakes up every morning to go jogging around the campus in a tracksuit that Wei Ying is sure he would find sexy if he was ever awake to observe it. In contrast, while Wei Ying is technically the more winter-savvy, he beat Nie Huaisang at fourteen days without leaving the hodge-podge of tunnels and walkways connecting the university’s sprawl, even if it was only because Huaisang’s professor wouldn’t answer his email last week.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“You know how when you’re little, people make you feel like you’ve been chosen for something great? And then one day it’s like it all vanished when you weren’t looking. Like you’ve disappointed them, somehow.” Nine years after almost causing the end of the world, Adam is working backstage in university theatre when he meets a high-strung, melodramatic, manipulative American director who happens to share his birthday.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In her first year of university, Qi Qingqi embarks on a voyage of self-discovery. Shen Yuan embarks on whatever the exact opposite of that is.</blockquote>

<blockquote>If you can't find a boyfriend, home-summoned is fine. All Shang Qinghua needs to do is pass this last exam and he’ll be home free. No more sleepless nights in the library poring over spells he’ll never need again! No more burning his fingers when he reaches for the wrong reagents! He’ll be done! Except! He can’t! Fucking! Summon! </blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian didn’t eavesdrop on their conversation, but, well. Walls are thin, and all. “Xiongzhang!” Lan Wangji hissed. “I know you and Uncle believe this will be a good experience, but I cannot live with him. He is messy and undisciplined and -” Wei Wuxian hadn't thought he’d make his roommate hate him within an hour of their first meeting. There was one thing that would make him feel better. Wei Wuxian pulled out his laptop, booting it up and opening Cultivation Untamed. He then yanked his phone out of his tight jeans pocket, tapping Discord open. yilinglaozu: u up to play???? The response came through immediately, which sent a small jolt of joy through him. Even if he was basically alone at a college, he still had one one friend. Hanguang-Jun: Why? yilinglaozu: my new roommates a bastard n i need stresssss reliefffff Hanguang-Jun: I understand the feeling. Wei Wuxian frowned down at his phone. What? Did Hanguang-Jun also have a bad roommate? Wow, that sucked.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jin Ling resumes thumping on the door to room 721, and the small collection of freshmen starts chanting “Senior Wei! Senior Wei! Senior Wei!” with increasing volume until finally Wei Wuxian opens the door. “Yes?” he says with his widest, most innocent eyes. “Senior Wei!” demands Lan Jingyi, shoving himself to the front of the group. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re a contestant on this year’s season of The Great Gusu Bake Off?!?” -- Several months ago, college student Wei Wuxian secretly competed in the most popular reality show in the country. The show starts airing in the fall. The freshmen in his dorm collectively lose their minds.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Silas Octakiseron might be the only person that Gideon Nav hates more than she hates Harrowhark Nonagesimus. So when Harrow needs a scene partner to show him up, Gideon can hardly refuse, even if it means getting cozy with her two best nemeses: Harrow and iambic pentameter.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It takes Nile an embarrassingly long time to realize that her thesis advisor is, like, legitimately evil.</blockquote>

<blockquote>They have just made it through the syllabus and started on actual instruction when, with twenty-five minutes left, the fire alarm goes off. “Probably a drill,” says Mercedes. “Not on the first day,” Vidal counters. “Some clown pulled the alarm.” “Or some clown set a fire,” Mercedes says, cheerfully. Nile sighs before she can stop herself. “I wasn’t planning on dying today, and I’d rather not,” she mutters in English. Isidra snorts, packing away her things. “You millennials and your gallows humor.” Nile lets herself laugh at that, but not as long as she’d like to. </blockquote>

<blockquoteA new plan hatches in Wei Wuxian’s head. If this nocturnal, bottom-feeding, slimy, invasive mudcat posing as a beautiful actor thinks he can sway Wei Wuxian with animal pictures and a sob story and an unbelievably stilted way of texting with still no dick pictures in the first five minutes of conversation, he has another thing coming. Wei Wuxian’s got it, alright, he has this in the fucking bag. / Wei Wuxian plots to expose a catfish using strategic memes and turtle pictures while wiggling his way out of family dinner. Lan Wangji just wants companions. </blockquote> ➤ I loved how the resolution was about more than just the lwj/wwx but was about wwx's relationships with all the important people in his life. Also the sudden outside pov with the internet talking about lwj's mystery friend after so much time in wwx's head gave me LIFE.

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian plays the flute. Someone in Wei Wuxian's apartment complex plays violin. Sometimes, they play the flute and the violin together, and it's... nice. It's really nice. It's sort of the nicest thing going on in his life right now, honestly. It's like the poets say: Music is love in search of a word.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian wants nothing more than to be a good friend to Lan Wangji. A great friend. His best friend. What more is there for Wei Wuxian to want?</blockquote>

<blockquote>In 1988, Crowley met his freshman roommate at the University of Saskatchewan and accidentally fell in love. Over the years, he and Aziraphale have settled into their roles as a director of stodgy classics and big-budget musicals respectively. But now Crowley has been tasked with finding a student at their alma mater who the Festival's Marketing department are sure will put the final nail in the coffin of the classical drama side of the Festival with his new play, a theatrical retelling of Paradise Lost. Crowley has been instructed to guide the student—whose name his boss has inconveniently forgotten—towards their goal, but Crowley's not going undercover alone. He's bringing Aziraphale with him, hoping that they'll bring enough balance to young Warlock's life that he won't bring about the end of the Stratford Festival with his play. Meanwhile, Adam Young becomes thoroughly distracted from writing his play by the pining professors who seem to be teaching all of his friend Warlock's classes.</blockquote> ➤ I love everything this chooses to be

<blockquote>A fic based lightly on a reddit post— "I (21f) have a crush on my roommate (20f). I can't figure out if she actually likes me back or not or is just being friendly. She cooks for me and knows all my favorite foods, and brings me lunch. She buys me anything I want, and her family all joke about our wedding. I once fell asleep on her lap and when I woke up she was stroking my hair and I almost had a stroke. I can't figure out if she's flirting with me or not. Help!"</blockquote> ➤ do I know anything about any of these characters? No. Was I charmed anyway? absolutely

<blockquote>My take on South Downs: Aziraphale and Crowley decide to become professors. This is inspired by the headcanon that Crowley has 20 different degrees. He is the Serpent of the Tree of Knowledge after all.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Luke Skywalker's parents are never going to be able to afford the college of his dreams. Luke resigns himself to community college. His best friend, Wedge, has a different idea. / Mind still scrambling for some sort of solution, Wedge asked, "Marriage? It's legal for you to get married." "And thank God for that." Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't know if you've noticed, buddy, but supreme court decision aside, there's not a lot of options for gay guys around here. Besides, how does that pitch go, marry me for the student loan debt?" "Okay," Wedge responded. </blockquote>

<blockquote>“Well,” Rudy drawled. “Mike Webster. It seems that, once again, we find ourselves as lone islands of sanity amidst a sea of clones.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>a novel about Ray inheriting a cat and going to live at Brad's house and ending up being grossly domestic</blockquote>

<blockquote>There are a few things which Sara Crispino remembers about Orientation Week. The first is that, despite the best and most serious efforts of the nuns, quite a lot of off-site drinking, dancing and general disreputability is involved. Instead of individuals, she remembers crowds and atmospheres. ... The third thing Sara remembers from Orientation Week, although she doesn’t think about it much until later, is the red-headed Women’s girl.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Howie is a directionless sophomore slacking his way through classes. Arthur is a long-suffering RA who's not having the finest of years. The more things change, the more they stay the same.</blockquote> ➤ I'm charmed by this random college au for a fandom I don't know, idek