LINKDING

<blockquote>How was it that some people could be born into wealth, comfort, and luxury, while others had to suffer the burden of their existence? Why did Young Master Shen get the banquet halls, the expensive robes, the handsome Crown Prince fiance while Shen Jiu got beaten, used, and thrown away? / SY transmigrates into the body of Young Master Shen, a.k.a. fake white lotus!SJ's target for vengeance and justice.</blockquote> ➤ takes place in an au where young master shen is a high-class rich person who caused xiao jiu harm, and shen jiu wants vengeance. such a fun au!! only one chapter exists (it may or may not be continued in the future) but it's not a terrible stopping point and I love what there is

<blockquote>Wei Ying is running so late to his meeting with fellow grad student-slash-friend Lan Zhan. But in Wei Ying's defense, he has just learned that his grandmother is the Baoshan Sanren, zongshi of the extremely mysterious and highly scrutinized Celestial Mountain sect. Also, she wants to name him her heir?!</blockquote>

<blockquote>After almost a decade of separation, Prince Qingqiu is glad to see his little brother again. He just wishes Luo Binghe weren't probably here to kill him.</blockquote> ➤ pseudo-incest (they're both sons of the emperor but with no actual parents in common - sqq's adopted) ➤ love the way this story has translated the pushing into the endless abyss!

<blockquote>Peak lord Shen Qingqiu has been officially betrothed to the demonic prince Su Binghe via an intermediary. Prince Binghe's chamberlain is attentive, comely, and absolutely not the man Shen Qingqiu should be falling in love with.</blockquote>

<blockquote>No one in their right mind would ever seriously try to woo Lin Ronghu, the Emperor's infamously ruthless (if unofficial) spymaster. Not that that's stopped the local legend, a (self-described) beautiful detective with peerless martial arts. His crush is a major inconvenience - at least until there's a murder that puts Lin Ronghu's most hated political nemesis straight in the frame. Since Lin Ronghu can't believe that anyone would be that stupid, he decides that maybe having a private detective around might be good for something after all...</blockquote> ➤ original fic that rather reads as nif fanfic

<blockquote>Shen Yuan hijacks his brother's bridal sedan to marry Crown Prince Luo Binghe AKA future blackened protagonist and titular character of 'prolific' stallion novel, Proud Tyrannical Emperor Way.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Princess Ousmani had fallen asleep in her chains, from boredom. She woke to the weight of a dragon’s head resting uncomfortably on her stomach. One rough, scaly paw kneaded her left shoulder, pricking at her skin. Ousmani closed her eyes again. She did not believe in dragons, any more than in the afrits and djinns of her father’s homeland, or the water-demonesses of Mali, where her mother had been born. “It is a horse,” she told herself. “A large and very ugly horse.” Peering out under her long, dark lashes, she considered the dragon’s glittering snout, its gleaming, golden eyes. Its irises were formed like slits, as were the nostrils inches from her own, from which an occasional wisp of steam escaped.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Demon Emperor Luo Binghe marries not one but TWO beautiful, accomplished, powerful human peak lords. But with all of the harem intrigue that Shen Qingqiu definitely paid careful attention to while reading Way of the Proud Immortal Demon Tyrant, how will he fare in competition with the proud and beautiful Liu Qingge...?</blockquote>

<blockquote>The first thing Nicolò thought about Yusuf al-Kaysani, when they shook hands in front of three cameras, eight crew, and two members of his father’s PR team, was that he had an impressive amount of self-control.</blockquote>

<blockquote>To be fair, Joe did know there were some things Nicky wasn’t quite telling him. But it didn’t matter to him who Nicky’s ancestors had been. What mattered was Nicky, who was kind, and thoughtful, and relentlessly committed to doing the right thing, including his share of the dishes. Really, what else did you need to know that someone was a keeper?</blockquote> ➤ I enjoyed that the relationship arc wasn't "will they get together" but "how will their relationship handle this major stressor"; a fun switch-up from the usual sort of thing

<blockquote>Prince Nicolò is marrying Lady Nile for the good of the kingdom, and everybody has to make the best of it. Or: wlw/mlm solidarity is conspiring with your boyfriend’s wife’s girlfriend to help them produce a royal heir.</blockquote>

<blockquote>There can be no misinterpretation or confusion on Yusuf’s part when what Duke Nicolò says is “But I didn’t want a husband, what does my brother think he’s doing?”</blockquote>

How to seduce your brother’s fiancé when you’re Nicolò of Genoa (or Malta?) and you’re just too polite to do that (or: the arranged marriage fic where Yusuf is going to marry Nicolò’s brother).

<blockquote>This started off as a one-time shitpost I began writing while I waited for someone to get out of the bathroom. Before I realized what was happening, it had spiraled into an ongoing and deeply self-indulgent comedy gay romance novella. I'm having fun here. The space emperor is the tyrannical dictator of the observable universe, complacent on his palatial pleasure-planet. Little did he know that the power of gay love and an excess of pulpy sci-fi tropes would change the course of his life....... forever........</blockquote> ➤ this starts off silly and then very quickly becomes very serious about its silliness in a really delightful way. It's still a wip but ch14 convinced me I need to bookmark it now already -- that chapter is an incredible stand-alone story just on its own tbh and I had feelings ➤ (read through ch15 as of last checking)

<blockquote>When Sironn married the King of Kadar, he quickly grew to understand that the King had all the power, and Sironn had none at all. Which is why Sironn considers it nothing short of a miracle he outlived the abusive tyrant. He'll take solace in that, as his own end is no-doubt coming quickly now that his husband has been declared a traitor and executed for his crimes. After all, there's only one thing to do with a deposed king's spouse, and that's kill him as quickly as possible. One problem. The new king, Eshan, disagrees.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Hannah was born in the city of the Shrine of Asa, some two hours north of the capital by train. She had never seen Omri before her wedding; the country of Giveah had been occupied by the Asturian Empire for nearly thirty years, and all the rail systems had been seized and the roads closely monitored. But the Empire had grasped beyond its reach, and the king of Giveah negotiated a peaceful transfer of power back to his family barely two weeks after he relieved his mother of regency. He had been fifteen years old. He was seventeen now. Hannah's grandfather was Asa's high priest; the city and the shrine had both grown considerably while the occupation had restricted travel to the Central Temple in Omri. The young king sought to consolidate his power, and Hannah was betrothed to him not long after her own seventeenth birthday. She was studying law, and her mother told her that the University of Omri would have far better resources for her education than their own schools, and that a law scholar would make a very fitting wife for the king. Hannah supposed she wasn't unhappy with the arrangement. She accepted that it was her time to grow up.</blockquote>

<blockquote>As chief communications officer on board the Interstellar Alliance Fleet’s Star Ship Victory, Yuuri doesn’t have to think about who he actually is on his home planet. He just has to listen to his captain, do his job, and…not fall in love with his best friend, the ship’s science officer, Victor Nikiforov. Well. Two out of three’s not bad. Then his mother calls with the worst possible news: She, the Empress of New Nihon, has arranged Yuuri’s marriage. There’s only one thing Yuuri can do: Fake a boyfriend, and fake one fast. Who better/worse to play that role than the friend he wishes was more? What can go wrong? It’s not like Yuuri can fall more in love...</blockquote>

<blockquote>Daraya kept his breathing easy, measuring every inhale and exhale until they were evenly weighted so they would not betray the way his heart was pounding in his chest. Why had no one ever warned him that the king was as bound by the laws he made as everyone else was? But someone had warned him. Athiel had warned him. And Daraya had not listened, which meant Athiel would now pay the price.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The messenger arrives a few weeks after Crait, dressed in cloth of gold and piloting a ship that costs more than the entirety of the Fleet. (Not that that’s saying so very much these days). “On behalf of Her Royal Majesty Queen Hoyoan and her Consort the Princess Ji’ii of the system Reylouris, I humbly beg audience with the personage known as Rey,” he says. Possibly she, or some other pronoun; Leia literally can’t see more than a pair of eyes under all the cloth.</blockquote>

<blockquote>"No, see, we've all been trained a certain way. The training system is traditional; it's centuries old. Nobody taught you. You ballist like it's got nothing to do with war at all." A sleepy, extraordinary smile crawls over Victor's face. "Nobody else does it like that. That's why we're going to win."</blockquote> ➤ I don't know if it quite works for me as a YoI fic, but as an origfic it's GREAT, I adore the worldbuilding, I would read more set in this world! (and in fact can and have, the sequel is Gravity, ft. arranged marriage for Otabek and Yuri P.!)

<blockquote>Prince S'chn T'gai Spock of Vulcan, engaged to Prince James Tiberius Kirk of Earth through an arrangement made by their parents many years ago, writes to his intended on the day of his birth in the interest of diplomacy. Jim is not interested in diplomacy. Though there is no precedent set for the commencement of a written correspondence begun due to these specific parameters, I will strive to maintain, to the best of my abilities and with ample preparatory research previously conducted, the appropriate level of formality between us, based on a number of factors, primarily examples of a similar nature.</blockquote> ➤ particularly good characterization-wise. ➤ I liked the first part that was all epistolary the best.

<blockquote>Brad kills a dragon and woos a prince. Ray "helps".</blockquote>