LINKDING

Summary: <blockquote>I tell Mateo to meet me at a wine bar. It’s a quiet, low-key spot—ideal for first dates, because it’s easy to make a speedy exit in case the red flags start flying—or worse, if the men in blue come knocking. It’s been over an hour, and we’re on our second glass of wine when I realize there are no red flags. He’s not just monologuing, he’s asking me questions too. This is actually a good first date—and when was the last time that ever happened for me? But I can’t help but worry that the puddles from this afternoon’s shower may have dried up. Any time there’s a pause in the conversation, my head swivels to the exit to check for the men in blue.</blockquote> ➤ a beautiful story about fear and trauma and being an immigrant or from an immigrant family, and queer romance and the wisdom of the people who love you, and how something that can help save you and that can bring joy and fun in your life can also be an unhealthy coping mechanism if you take it too far. I loved reading about Javier and Mateo as they developed their relationship!

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

<blockquote>Thirty-five years ago, two rogue cultivators vanished, leaving their son to fend for himself on the streets. Five minutes ago, Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze tumbled out of a time distortion array with only one thought: What happened to Wei Ying?</blockquote> ➤ from wwx's parents' pov

<blockquote>Jonathan’s life was fine. He didn’t need other people. He studied them instead, like fire ants on the abandoned edge of the playground; carefully, with a stick and good shoes, watching their patterns and keeping his observations to himself, figuring out which ones to leave alone and which ones would make good surprises in bullies’ backpacks. Other people were tools, in the multiple definitions of the word. He used them. He didn’t like them. He didn’t need them. He was fine. All in all, it wasn’t difficult to stay a virgin until he turned thirty. A JGY-centric, Cherry Magic-inspired AU.</blockquote> ➤ (Jonathan is jgy's english name) ➤ I loved how so many of the characters in this fic have different relationships with sex (and intimacy and touch in general!) in ways that don't line up with societal expectations but are still all very different from each other ➤ series consists of: Point of Contact Cabin Pressure

<blockquote>Mianmian sets her drink down on the floor with a clink. “If she’s that perfect, it’s no wonder she can put up with you two.” The room goes silent. Across the room, Wen Qing’s expression has morphed from this might be a crisis to this is absolutely a crisis and we need damage control, stat. Jiang Wanyin bristles, opens his mouth to say something mean in response. Lan Wangji is more worried about Wei Ying, who has gone very, very still beside him. He knows that Wei Ying’s relationship with his adoptive family is complicated—a web of obligations and resentment that might never be untangled; he knows that Wei Ying constantly felt like a burden, and that Jiang Yanli was the only one who offered unconditional affection. / or, lan zhan reflects on sibling relationships while wei ying scrambles to get his jiejie the perfect birthday gift</blockquote> ➤ unfinished, possibly abandoned, but the one chapter stands alone just fine

<blockquote>When the former Madam Lan hears that the new Sect Leader Lan married a criminal who is kept in the same house where she once lived, she has only one choice. She has to return to Cloud Recesses to rescue Wei Wuxian!</blockquote> ➤ first chapter is what's in the summary, second is lxc's response to his mother's return

<blockquote>Lan Huan is ready to take his relationship with Jiang Cheng to the next level. Spending the weekend at Jiang Cheng's place is definitely going to achieve that, but not at all in the ways he expected. Lan Huan didn't know his brother was seeing someone. Wei Ying didn't know about Lan Huan's shitty ex. Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan just want their boyfriends to get through this weekend intact.</blockquote> ➤ I was sad to not see on-page the work towards repairing the relationship between lwj&lxc, but it's very good as what it is nonetheless

<blockquote>Sometimes Lan Zhan doesn’t work through lunch. Sometimes he makes conversation with coworkers in the halls. Sometimes he goes home instead of spending the last hour trawling through Grindr. But mostly, that’s exactly what he does. The sameness is comforting. His life spools out in easily measured increments: capsule collections, yards of hand dyed textiles, ninety day lead times, sell through figures, cost of goods sold. Every date in manufacturing can be calculated backwards and forward from a single horizon point: the date that the goods must arrive into the country where they'll be sold. Other than that, nothing else really matters.</blockquote> ➤ well this is devastatingly good

<blockquote>Wei Ying was pretty sure his next door neighbor Lan Qiren hated him until he adopted A-Yuan. Now he’s bringing by disgustingly healthy food, taking Wei Ying and A-Yuan to family dinners, and let’s not even mention the nephews he keeps hinting Wei Ying should meet. Is it possible Wei Ying, consummate orphan, has found a family in his grumpy old neighbor?</blockquote> ➤ series consists of: The stuffed bunny, the beautiful nephew, and other gifts from Lan Qiren The extravagant wedding, the gorgeous brother, and other reasons you should listen to your uncle

<blockquote>Wei Ying makes his voice bright and says, “Well, take this one!” and deposits A-Yuan into Mo Xuanyu’s arms, and this time the look on his face isn’t just an almost smile. A-Yuan fists a chubby hand in his hair and gazes that way babies do, open and amazed. “Gah!” he says. “Gah!” Mo Xuanyu says right back. / Or: Mo Xuanyu finds a home for himself.</blockquote> ➤ love wwx's voice in this fic

<blockquote>Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won't matter too much, right? One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out alright? A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.</blockquote> ➤ has that pacing problem that some long-long-longfics have where they feel the need to just include EVERYTHING onscreen, but still a very fun fic that I got very invested in

<blockquote>Seven Necessities. Seven Tenths Full. What makes a meal, and what makes a family.</blockquote> ➤ A story told through encounters with food. Suffused with deep feelings, both the pleasure and the pain and the longing (both for what cannot be and for what, in the end, can be). It's beautiful.

➤ Series starts from the premise of Wen Qing living, and then wanders through a whole bunch of different characters. I forgot to note down anything of note about this series when I read it, but I enjoyed it. ➤ Series consists of: cranes flying west amidst the storms emerging with an unbridled heart their eyes remain clear when autumn leaves fall teach these young ones life and death's joy and grief

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian has been wandering alone for six months when he suddenly stops writing. This is deeply concerning to at least a few people. Jiang Cheng is not among them. No, really, he's not. (Or, the one where Wei Wuxian vanishes and Lan Wangji, reluctantly, asks for Jiang Cheng's help tracking him down.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian prompted him as gently as possible. Really, he was dying to know. “Who, exactly, did the juniors think I had some fantastical romance with while out fighting a war?” Lan Sizhui opened his mouth, and then closed it. Wei Wuxian smiled at him encouragingly, ignoring the growing concern and trepidation in his ribcage. The resentful energy there didn’t ignore it, snapping at it in a way that didn’t make him calmer. Sizhui looked at the ground. “Hanguang-Jun,” he mumbled. Wei Wuxian choked. (OR: Wei Wuxian runs into his son, who has questions about romance that lead him to a realisation, and then, somehow, they end up back at Gusu)</blockquote>

<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>With Moff Gideon defeated and the Darksaber reclaimed, the rumours of newly named Mand'alor Din Djarin spread through the galaxy... along with the stories of the Child he carries with him. Determined to meet him, Luke Skywalker arrives on Mandalore -- but before he can get any closer, he has to prove himself worthy of Mandalorian standards.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.</blockquote> ➤ does an incredible job of evoking a tone and mood, and the quiet delicate complexities of emotions

<blockquote>“If you’re going to get married,” Jiang Cheng ground out, “then you’re going to damn well get married at Lotus Pier.” Wei Wuxian blinked once. Again. Then: “what?” Or: the one with sibling reconciliation, brother-in-laws from hell, and Jiang Cheng trying to sort through his feelings while acknowledging them as little as possible.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Just do what you can, Senior Wei!” Sizhui whispers. “We’ll be right here!” “Yeah!” Jingyi says. “And just remember: it’s going to be a disaster either way, so it’s not like there’s much you can do about it!” (Or: Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng plan a discussion conference together. It goes about as well as Wei Wuxian expects.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>His father in white plays the song late into the night, and when A-Yuan wakes up confused and afraid, the guqin lulls him back to sleep. Lan Sizhui hears his father play the same song every night for his whole life, and never, ever get an answer.</blockquote> ➤ this is incredible, I didn't expect to love it as much as I did but I really did!

<blockquote>It's the family's responsibility to comfort and care for their dying, not the slaves'.</blockquote>

<blockquote>"Oh my God," Rodney says, stricken. "This is—this is one of those British costume dramas Ronon always wants to watch and I'm the uncouth American!"</blockquote> ➤ I SERIOUSLY NEVER BOOKMARKED THIS??? what a travesty!

<blockquote>In which Cougar goes home, goes on a road trip, and learns to cook.</blockquote> ➤ (or, where Cougar takes his dying grandmother to mexico and learns how to EXPRESS FEELINGS THROUGH FOOD)

<blockquote>Dave Sheppard learns more about his brother and gets drawn into a tangle of secrets and truths.</blockquote>

➤ When Arthur comes out as gay to his father, Uther is horrified and doesn't understand anything but HE WILL NOT REJECT HIS SON so he determines to LEARN. And somehow Merlin ends up being the guy guiding Uther into a better understanding of gayness. ➤ Main focus is Uther-Merlin friendship ➤ originally on kinkmeme here: http://kinkme-merlin.livejournal.com/32553.html?thread=34760489

<blockquote>After his injury at Isca Dumnoniorum and subsequent discharge from the army, Marcus moves to Calleva, learns to live with himself again, and happens to fall in love with a young British man on the way. Also, Esca is a werewolf.</blockquote>