LINKDING

<blockquote>A drawn-out annexation, a hammered dulcimer, an old-fashioned entertainment titled Sovereign of Tavern Dancers and the story of how One Esk first found its voice.</blockquote>

<blockquote>One man can alter the course of history. A random encounter leads Duv Galeni to change his mind and return to Komarr.</blockquote> ➤ aaaaaa this is so great!! actually challenging the unchallenged imperialism of the original books!

<blockquote>“you have learned love but not self-consciousness, because love does not beget self. there’s no need for heart and body to love; no need for mind or soul though you have both, programmed for one and grew the other like a struggling sprout in a crack on the pavement, just for him, just like him. ” The Passenger and the Computer, in the midst of the all black everything. Time once more has meaning, and humanity must be redefined.</blockquote>

<blockquote>King's wives; king's sons.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Rey is XO of a piece of junk, her captain is a foul-mouthed Wookiee who doesn’t respect people who respect authority, and there are pictures of naked people glued to the ceiling of the Falcon. She honestly couldn't be more thrilled.</blockquote> ➤ soooo apparently this fic is EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I WANTED after the movie. goddamn.

<blockquote>“I’m not afraid of you,” Rey says. Her heart is pounding. “It’s everything else.” “I am afraid.” Luke does not look at her. “Of you.” She stares at him. She knows that he is not lying to her—he has not lied to her at all while she has been here, and she doesn’t expect him to start doing so. But she cannot fathom what he means—why Luke Skywalker would ever be frightened of her: of no one.   (Rey and Luke, immediately following the events of Episode VII.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Do you know what it is like, she would say, to be twenty-nine years old and trapped in your childhood room? No, the curse came before and after the dancing, not during. The curse was a locked door every night; the curse was a father who would sell his daughters for an answer; the curse was a choice between strange men’s lives and our own freedom. The curse was a soldier who would barter a stolen secret for a kingdom, for my body in his marriage-bed.</blockquote> ➤ the stories of each of the 12 dancing princesses. WHAT A GOOD

<blockquote>Sophos makes a fatal mistake and his alliance with Gen lies in ruins. He is determined to repair it at whatever cost, though reparations may mean his title, his freedom or his life. / Before, Sophos’ face would have flooded with mortification at being so slow of thought. Now, though, it was all he could do to keep his breathing under control and not let the pain overwhelm him. “Even if you sent him,” he said, “I still didn’t deserve healing.” “And if I ordered you?” Eugenides said mildly. “I was under the impression I was your King. Correct me if I have this wrong.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>Yegor Delacroix, growing up in the Imperial Service Orphanage, dreams of serving the Imperium like his father.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Dear Cordelia, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Miles is a charming and intelligent young man; I've been enjoying his company immensely. He's made plenty of friends, and taken to the social opportunities at school with a great deal of verve. (For more details, please see the attached disciplinary reports from Principal Hatter.)</blockquote> ➤ a series of letters from Cordelia's mother to Cordelia

<blockquote>“Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, but rather the hero's heart.” --- “I am fastest,” Volly said, and he knew this was true. The other dragons told him so; no one was faster than Volly, not in the entire Aerial Corps. “We will save friends.” -- Volly is a courier dragon, not a hero, until the day he's both. (Volly POV)</blockquote>

<blockquote>“I refuse to get married twice,” Sophie snapped.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It was midnight, and Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, was not comfortable on the Chalk.</blockquote> ➤ utterly perfect and delightful

<blockquote>He had always thought he would end up married to his work. He had studied hard, worked diligently, brought himself to the attention of the right people--and ended up with an appointment to the Chrestomanci’s personal staff, as high as one could rise in Flavian’s chosen profession if one hadn’t happened to be born with nine lives. And when he got there he’d found Mordecai waiting for him. Mordecai, who threw all his previous ideas into confusion.</blockquote> ➤ AUUUUUUGH OVERCOME WITH FEELINGS

<blockquote>After the excitement of navigating the Ulanga and plotting to blow up a boat, Rose discovers the prospect of going home to England sounds unbearably dull. Also, she misses Charlie.</blockquote> ➤ A PRESENT FOR MEEEEEE and what a great present!

<blockquote>Flavia, brought up in the last lingering light of Roman Britain, was carried off from her burning home by a 'laughing giant' of a Saxon, in a raid during which her father and friends were brutally killed. Three years later, her brother found her again - married, and with a child by that same 'laughing giant'. Given the chance to escape back to the Roman British, with her brother and her child, she chose to stay with her husband rather than go with her brother. This story explores what those years were like for Flavia, and how she could come to make that choice.</blockquote> ➤ I am so so happy this fic exists. it's amazing

<blockquote>“Jane, you’re an astrophysicist, not a storm chaser,” said Erik Selvig, and he was wrong. She was just an astrophysicist too. (A Jane Foster character study)</blockquote> ➤ oh my god this is everything

<blockquote>Bucky becomes Natasha. Natasha becomes the Winter Soldier.</blockquote> ➤ I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. THIS IS SO GOOOOOOOOOD

<blockquote>"I have had my fill of Montague lies and found them not to my taste; may I not see if Capulet lies are the sweeter?"   Romeo's ex-girlfriend Rosa is pissed and heartbroken; Tybalt is convenient. (Based on the Hungarian musical production; Rosa's unique to it, I think.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>There is something captivating in their hatred. Years pass and time grows heavy yet, little changes in sweet Verona of the gardens. Only Mercutio and Tybalt are drawn ever closer to the flame of wicked rage, which they see mirrored in their fondest enemy's face. A story of two encounters between those born to share a fate of enmity and death.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In Japan, it is not too much to say that everything is about appearances.   It is a habit cultivated over a life-time, and not one easy to break.</blockquote> ➤ a Miko character study ➤ series consists of: Zoh-onna Omote Tadaima ➤ also at https://archiveofourown.org/works/1182813

<blockquote>Fantine lives after all. Not as much changes as you might think -- except for her.</blockquote> ➤wow so many feelings so much excellence, and it totally sounds like Hugo's narrative voice on top of it all

<blockquote>Fuyumi can read between the lines of Mako’s file. The justification for having Mako on the base is paper thin -- strings have been pulled and favours have been bartered, and somewhere along the line someone decided Fuyumi was the perfect combination of talent and expendability to be brought into this mess. It’s only slightly closer to a compliment than an insult -- the balance tipped by the child at the centre of this, nine years old and heart-breakingly brave.    -- Scenes from the year after Stacker and Mako first meet.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Carlos is absolutely objective. It’s just that it’s quite hard to stay objective when you’ve got Hooded Figures living in your kitchen, radio news reporters stalking you with somewhat dubious baked goods, and everything is so soaked with chemicals, radiation and dark magic that half the time your food disparages your cookery skills while you’re trying to make dinner.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Soon after Lucius arrives at Castellum, he and Hilarion are trapped away from the fort by a fog. They take the opportunity to take each other's measure. Or: how Lucius got his wolfskin.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In which Montparnasse finds that the perils of walking in the Rue de l'Homme Arme are twofold: first, that one might begin to think; and second, that one might come across a weak old man.</blockquote>

<blockquote>After WWI, Clive and Anne travel to Florence. It is the perfect setting for new and old romances to be understood.</blockquote> ➤ I read this just after finishing Maurice for the first time, and this fic gave me all the feels the book failed to. YES GOOD PERFECT ENDING TO THE BOOK

<blockquote>The thing about being young is that it happens to most everyone.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Geoffrey Tennant made a career out of not allowing magicians to interfere with his productions. Darren Nichols, on the other hand, once turned his audience into grains of sand for a production of Beckett. The disagreement accidentally shapes their lives.</blockquote>

<blockquote>We, the People: a thirty-year retrospective and an examination of the role of the Nation in world history, for Earth Atlantic, 7 December 2035, excerpt.</blockquote> ➤ this is one of those stories where I'm not quite sure I understand everything, but it's wonderful anyways