LINKDING

Summary: I don't know if this helps or hurts the current conspiracy theory, but Piotr Vorkosigan was involved in something similar. ➤ epistolary outside pov vorkosigan saga fic ➤ about someone from another planet who knew Piotr Vorkosigan solely in the context of his interest in horses ➤ very funny to see this pov, where everything Piotr is infamous for is simply irrelevant! ➤ technically a fic in a longer series (that's about Gregor being a fan of underground Komarran radio) but can be read without that knowledge ➤ 700 words in length

Summary: <blockquote>While Alanna is King's Champion, Jonathan forbids her to issue personal challenges--but what happens after she retires? (Alanna challenges Wyldon, that's what happens).</blockquote> ➤ fic for the Tortall books, in epistolary form ➤ Alanna was forbidden from challenging Wyldon to a duel because she was king's Champion, but obviously as soon as she's not anymore, she goes for it ➤ various people react ➤ it's perfect. it's delightful. it's everything. ➤ 2k words in length

<blockquote>All records of communication between Starfleet Cadet Therem Harth rem ir Estraven and Ashe Foreth rem ir Osboth are hereby sealed, by order of Argaven XV.</blockquote>

<blockquote>He never calls, he never writes -- as the years go by without word, the last Homeward Bounder's friends make their own attempts to reach him.</blockquote>

<blockquote>To Cang Qiong Sect, Whom It May Concern, Greetings, Please forgive this one for the audacity to get to the point straight away; I have written to inquire as to whether you have a male disciple named Yue Qi, age 14-16. The precise characters for the surname are not certain, but the personal name is confirmed to be written like the number. If this would be the case, please inform him that any correspondence can be sent to the address included in this letter, and shall be passed along to the intended recipient. With best regards, Qiu Haitang</blockquote>

<blockquote>While I realize driving that mech likely takes all of your limited resources, please take care not to step on the roses. what Don’t step on the roses. I don’t care if we’re under imminent attack. Your mech is standing so close to them I’m cringing. who is this? I can see you typing and then stopping don’t waste my time coming up with a lie, punk Who I am or how I got your number is irrelevant. no, it’s not and, fyi, we don’t drive them, we pilot gods, you’re probably chung sol trolling me</blockquote> ➤ lol I just realized after reading some fanfic that probably this story is intended to be canonically shipping the two leads; when I first read it I was like "awwww what a wonderful intense platonic friendship!" I am inescapably me, whoops, I never notice romance unless there're anvil-sized indications. anyway this is a really good story!

<blockquote>Dearest Stusan, Here I am, after all that—off the Mainland at last. We got in late last night and I came to the first inn I saw (appropriate name for me, ‘the Mainlander’!), so I didn’t see much of the island. Still exhausted from the travel. There’s no hiding that I’m a Mainlander. Apparently I’m overdressed—people see the longcoat and hat (the hat you gave me on my thirty-fifth birthday—finally it’s getting some use!) and just assume that I’m stiff and withdrawn. I suppose I am, compared to them. </blockquote>

<blockquote>R' Shaina Cohen (she/they) by-RadRadRabbi Hate to poop the party, but there is no evidence that Judah/Yudah/Yehuda Coen/Cohen/Cohn existed He's an archetype of Jewish folklore, like Shlemiel (the fool) or Hershele (the prankster) 1/2 4:10 PM · Oct 15, 2017· Twitter Web App</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shprintze, you nudnik, Before you ask again, I’ve gotten all your letters scolding me for not writing—and Esther and Sarah’s too. Well, I’m sorry about it, but with one thing and another, my cousin’s kid crying all the time on the one side of me and Gitl crying all the time on the other, I haven’t had two wits to rub together, let alone two words to put onto a page for you. Anyway, what’s the point of going on a visit only to spend all your time talking to the same people you’d talk to at home? But everything’s calm to the point of boredom now, so I can spare a little time to catch you up, and then you can share this letter around and catch up everybody else.</blockquote>

<blockquote>A subset of the letters Jiang Cheng never sent to Wei Wuxian.</blockquote>

<blockquote>"Perhaps most tragic of all is the absence of Andy Burgess outside of Scranton history. We know that she was brave and determined based on her actions during the Scranton Flood. We know that she loved and was loved in return, that her final thoughts on the day of her death were about Nile. But who she was outside of that has been lost to the pages of history. Though many people have shown up over the years claiming to be her family, there has been no actual proven familial link to this day. In many ways, Andy Burgess exists because of Nile's letters, her words doing more to immortalize the Hero of Scranton's human existence than any biographical text to date...And perhaps, at the end of the day, this was the greatest demonstration of Nile's love for Andy Burgess: to keep her alive long after she was gone." - Smith, A. (2079). The missing link: A study of the absence of women in early twenty-first century queer studies. Queer Studies, 2(22).</blockquote> ➤ the one where andy died

<blockquote> December 2, 1962 Dear Calvin, Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I hope that you and <del>Michelle</del></blockquote> ➤ told through a series of unsent letters, as the title implies. Between the unsent letters you can tell that there are sent ones, and phone calls, and in-person visits, and through what is and isn't said in these unsent fragments you can piece together what's going on in between, and it's lovely.

<blockquote>Sarah McBride Anderson is best known for her work as a suffragette and later as the Representative of Massachusetts' 5th Congressional District, where she served from 1925-1937 (the first woman to represent Massachusetts, and the seventh woman in the US House of Representatives). Less well known is her lifelong friendship with J.A. Pendleton, the celebrated novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner. The two women met at college, where they roomed together. Although the correspondence between the two women after their college years has been published, these letters (excerpted from Anderson's letters home to her family during their college years) have not, and provide a fascinating glimpse into their friendship.</blockquote>

<blockquote>[A Star Wars fusion, Original Trilogy era.] Imperial Cadet Tybalt Capulet has known since they were children that his cousin Julia carries the Jedi curse just as he does, a secret that would lead to the family's downfall and worse, her death, if the wrong person found out. Unfortunately, Julia has never taken his warnings as seriously as she should have. When lieutenant governor Count Paris visits and takes an interest in young Julia, Tybalt must resort to any distraction he can think of to keep Paris from noticing anything unusual.</blockquote> ➤ sequel: Signal Disruption

<blockquote>My dearest Pippa, Today I walked past the flat you lived in when I first knew you, on my way to the only glassmaker in the city still working. The earthworkers were having a protest outside in the street. One of them had the long, uneven haircut you wore then. I think I would have joined their march even without seeing that eager youth, but—really, what else could I do. So I went a mile out of my way to march outside the Directorate and sing angry songs, and I nearly missed picking up my flasks before the glassmaker closed, but I knew you would approve. I love you.</blockquote> ➤ I've tagged this $other because although it's clear one of the characters is trans it's never actually clear what gender either of them is? So I can't exactly tag the gender formation of this relationship.

<blockquote>Twelve excerpts from Teixcalaan and from Lsel Station.</blockquote> ➤ every time I read a fic like this, composed of excerpts from various documents, I think to myself that I really need a tag for that but can never come up with one I'm happy with or remember what I've used in the past. SIGH. Anyway this is a truly excellent specimen of the genre!

<blockquote>Tris at Lightsbridge.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Letters from a Wren at a post she can't talk about to a typist at the BBC, and who they might be thereafter.</blockquote>

<blockquote>After Aziraphale's video on crêpes makes it into Youtube recommendations through a little demonic intervention, he quickly goes viral. Cue college students just trying to make it work, a bunch of young queers who see A.Z. Fell and his husband Anthony as "goals," and quite a few comments from one Newton Pulsifer.</blockquote> ➤ absolutely no need to read the fic that inspired it, no matter what this author says, this fic can stand on its own fine

<blockquote>What are you supposed to do when you've been fired from your sweet job in Hell for thwarting the schemes of Satan, you've got a swanky flat in Mayfair, and you're looking for an excuse to spend all your time in someone else's bookshop? Obviously, you turn to the dubious world of short-term vacation rentals. The resulting Airbnb property has been variously described as "an instagram trap," "a vampire den but make it botanical," and "the weirdest bed and breakfast in the shared history of beds and breakfasting."</blockquote>

<blockquote>Cassian and K-2 left an intangible legacy behind. They also left a literal one.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Buzzfeed, July 2019, "Top Five Off-the-Wall Theories About the Scary Instagram Plant Man"</blockquote>

<blockquote>A rare book collector posting on a niche internet forum is dismayed to discover the last missing book is only available at the best worst bookshop in London.</blockquote>

<blockquote>I’m beginning to regret my life choices, Saul. Also, hello from the edge of the galaxy. Also, surprise! I know this isn’t what you had in mind when you said “Keep in touch, Hazel” but this planet doesn’t exactly invoke the muse of letter writing. The muse of extremely long voice messages however . . . So. Want to know what’s this world’s like? Rocky, empty, and bleak in all directions, except one. The sky’s so stormy and green it looks like I’m trudging through the bottom of an algae-infested pond. I’ve got this 85-million-dollar suit between me and the outside, but I swear, I’m suffocating on the atmosphere. Also, I’m 900 meters away from where I need to be with no vehicle to get me there except my own two legs. So here I am. Walking.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Margaret becomes a privateer.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Meriadoc the Magnificent is a popular figure of folklore, but how many of the stories are true? What, for example, is to be made of the claim that he regularly corresponded with a king? After centuries of bitter debate, at last these questions can be answered. Thanks to an extraordinary discovery, Meriadoc and his king can speak to us in their own voices, clear across the gulf of years.</blockquote>

<blockquote>An isolated farmer finds a badly wounded man in a ruined farm. Six hundred years later, a historian researching King Elessar comes across a sealed letter. What links these two events is a story long forgotten.</blockquote> ➤ Love the frame story, love the outside pov, love the assumptions on why it's unreasonable to believe that the letter is actually Aragorn's because of assumptions about kingliness!

<blockquote>Maia's aunts all take an interest in Vedero's passion for astronomy.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Extracts from the correspondence of Capt. Frederick Wentworth of the Royal Navy, written during the autumn and winter of 1814-15.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Dear Readers, When a scullery maid in the Tarleton household finds a charm bag under her mattress, it's certainly enough mystery to liven up our days -- especially since Cecy is expecting, and can't work magic until the child is born! Luckily, we adore a mystery. And our ladies' maids, Reardon and Walker, are no slouches themselves at helping us sort out pickles. Love, Kate and Cecy</blockquote>