LINKDING

<blockquote>“How did you ever know?” Aziraphale asked Crowley. “How did you know when I was in trouble and could use a spot of, hmm, otherworldly intervention?” OR In the beginning, God gave the angel Aziraphale a flaming sword.</blockquote> ➤ oh I really like this one!

<blockquote>Leah Beecham is cast as Marguerite, and that's only the first surprise that the university Operatic Society production of Faust brings with it. And Ellie Everett should probably have kept out of OpSoc altogether if she wanted to avoid Music Department drama, but it's a bit late now, because she's got the part of Siebel...</blockquote> ➤ I really liked this! I loved how the themes of the personal lives of the characters ended up fitting into the themes of their final performance, and although the characters were relatively lightly sketched I still believed in their relationships

<blockquote>An accident involving a Kryptonian device meddled with by Lex Luthor sends Bruce forward, into a future that must not—cannot—be his own. Because sure, Clark's joined the Justice League. Clark's willing to work with Bruce to save the world. Clark's even forgiven him for what he once tried to do. But that doesn't mean they're going to—that doesn't make it plausible that they'd ever be—that they would get married.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It feels like ghost stories should mean something, but it’s not at all clear what. I managed to get about a hundred pages out of the question, “What do these mean, anyway?” when I wrote my doctoral dissertation to get my PhD in Folklore, all without reaching an actual conclusion. My mother helpfully pointed that out when she read the manuscript. “If I give them a real answer, they’ll just complain about it,” I said. “So just tell me, Leah,” she said. “What do you think ghost stories mean?” “I think they’re the manifestation of people’s desire for answers about death and eternity,” I said. “But I could be totally wrong, especially since there’s a whole category of ghost stories that don’t seem to have anything to do with identifiable dead people.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>"Ripley." She turned her head slightly. The voice, flat and synthesized, came from a small speaker set into the side of her pod. "Yes," she said, with some difficulty: her tongue felt strange and thick. "Yes, this is Ripley. Who is this?" There was a pause, followed by a click. "This is Bishop, but I'm speaking to you on behalf of the Sulaco. There's been an accident." Under normal circumstances, Ripley knew, this statement would have produced a series of emotional and physiological reactions: alarm, adrenaline, fear, galvanized limbs, dread. But the effects of the hypersleep were still gripping her body, keeping her numb and apathetic, and instead all she felt was a faint curiosity. "What kind of accident?" She sat up. The room seemed to spin. "A fire. I think. It's hard to tell." </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>What it says on the tin</blockquote>

<blockquote>Being an early history of Aragorn Elessar Telcontar, called Estel, Thorongil, 'Strider,' et cetera.</blockquote> ➤ very effective at setting a mood, not quite sure what mood to tag with tho

<blockquote>Post-BvS, pre-JL: Five conversations Diana and Lois could have had, and one time there wasn't all that much talking left to do.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The girl does not come to Mebuyen, so Mebuyen goes to the girl. She is standing ankle-deep in the river, looking down, her mouth open. Mebuyen notices, as she draws closer, that the child’s calves are skinny, her cheeks chubby, and her SpongeBob Squarepants sando has a bullet-sized hole above her ribs. Mebuyen frowns as she steps into the river, waiting for the girl to speak.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Fenella meets Queen Gold-tree on her wedding day, and meets the king at the same time. Gold-tree becomes a friend, and when she dies, Fenella and the king are left to pick up the pieces together.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Ah yes, the ill-fated expedition of 2031,” he said, shaking his head. I was delighted to recognize in his heavily accented English the speech mannerisms of Bihar, the state in India where I am from. Biharis are not very common on the moon. But before I could say anything about my origins, he launched into the story behind the space-suit.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Constable Kershaw has not uttered any overrides, nor issued a warrant to access her memory logs, but Celia understands nonetheless that she is expected to stay, to sit and answer his questions like a suspect. It surprises her, this treatment. Like she’s human.</blockquote>

<blockquote>When Satan himself came to Lolly, she didn’t recognize him. She wasn’t on her guard—hadn’t been for years. Why should she be? Her immortal soul had long since drowned in rum and rotted under gobs of treacle toffee. If any scrap was left, it was too dry and leathery to tempt evil. But even the most pious of parsons wouldn’t have recognized the Devil in the guise of a dead woman floating face-down in the Mersey.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Two women who have been friends since they were children—one a recovering alcoholic brought up by parents who believe they’re alien abductees, the other an orphan with an eating disorder—contend with a secret that might doom their friendship.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Our job is to make people happy,” she purred, raising a playful eyebrow. “Fulfill their requests. Help them make connections.” “Connections with their fellow eniyans,” I shot back, pointing at the Iyami Aje mission statement on my cube wall, engraved on a glittering obsidian plaque. “With their own fragile kind. I don’t work like you, Bola.” I fiddled with the ergonomic levers of my swivel chair. “I don’t just ignore the hazards of getting entangled.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>Han and Lando keep running into each other. Sometimes it's even deliberate.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The five other fairies scowled at her. They too were all drunk and well fed, and the meal in their bellies was taking on the sour heaviness of an unpaid debt. They had all brought trinkets for the baby, of course, all the gifts that could formally be expected by a low nobleman—which was why six of them had been invited in hopes of getting at least one blessing—but the feast had also exceeded what could formally be expected for their having deigned to grace the occasion. They could hardly refuse the cake, either—and didn’t want to—and would have a lingering sense of a favor owed.</blockquote> ➤ eyyy I like this

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

<blockquote>“Do you still paint your nails at all?” Yuuri asks. “Yeah,” Victor says—and it’s a moment before he realizes this is a lie. He still intends to paint his nails. He still thinks of himself as the sort of person who paints his nails. But he hasn’t actually done it in years.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Whispers said this new girl was officially called Brenda, but that was just as stupid as all the other Agency names, and the girl wouldn’t remember it after Processing anyway. At first I said we should call her Dishrag or Milkbreath, but even Flash thought that was too mean, and Flash is as nasty as hot sauce and lye. She’s the one who named me Ghost, on account of I’m small and shadow-dark and she thinks I creep around too much in the night. She got her name ’cause that’s how fast fosters send her back after their cat turns up dead and they realize the devil has blond hair and dimples.</blockquote>

<blockquote>When Jupiter woke up, there was a small metal sphere on the pillow beside her. She blinked at it, because it certainly had not been there when she had gone to bed the night before. Then Aunt Nino began to stir and grumble as she too woke up and Jupiter snatched up the sphere, lobbing it hastily into her half-packed suitcase on her way to go and make the coffee.   In which Jupiter is propositioned by a space travel agency (but fancier!) and introduces Caine to her family.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Dilemmas are discussed, and solved (with the aid of some tea).</blockquote>

<blockquote>Millie considers her position at Chrestomanci Castle and assists in an investigation.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Pierre Vorrutyer leaves the countship to his cousin By -- if he can be persuaded to take it.</blockquote> ➤ Stands well on its own but I'd love to have more in this au!

<blockquote>Scarlett accidentally wakes the dead in the bottom of a coat closet, with a half-naked boy pressed against her and a bottle of tequila she’s too drunk to drink. That’s all it is, in the end: flesh against flesh, and a few whispered secrets. A ghost story she swore she would never, ever tell.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The revolutionary hides her face to conceal her identity. The princess silences her voice to preserve her purity. They know each other. And they don't...</blockquote>

<blockquote>Post-BvS, Diana and Lois start to develop a habit of protecting each other. But sometimes habits become ruts, and every now and then it's a good idea to break out of them. (Or: a whole bunch of times Diana and Lois looked out for each other, plus the time Lois ended up feeling like it might be worth it to be just a little less careful.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>On the first day of Sara's appointment as Magistra Descendant to the Assembly of Terravine, Public Works decided they needed grassroots support for the plant. "I mean, I agree in principle," Sara had tried telling him, as he gestured at his hand-annotated wallcharts. "But for one thing, I'm supposed to be neutral, and for another thing, people might be eating!"</blockquote> ➤ aww yeah sentient spaceships are the best

<blockquote>Living with Victor is like a dream, a hyper-realistic one that only seems logical as long as you don't wake up.</blockquote>