LINKDING

Summary: Just months before the Immortal Alliance Conference, Luo Binghe discovers the cure to Without-a-Cure. With his own heritage still sealed and mostly unknown to him, there seems to be only one solution: Shen Qingqiu must receive the cure from the last known Heavenly Demon, Tianlang-Jun, even if it means that Luo Binghe has to grit his teeth and set his precious Shizun up with another man. Shen Qingqiu does not want to receive the cure from Tianlang-Jun. He doesn't particularly want to receive anything from Tianlang-Jun. Shen Qingqiu somehow ends up fake-dating Tianlang-Jun anyway, if only to swindle the System into delaying the Endless Abyss plot for as long as he can. ➜ svsss canon divergence au fic ➜ luo binghe, not yet aware he's a heavenly demon specifically, discovers the cure for Without-A-Cure....and is determined to get shen qingqiu the cure. from tianlang-jun. ➜ and goddamn this whole fic is SO much fun?! I adored ittttttt ➜ sqq awkwardly fake-dating a doesn't-trust-cultivators tlj while lbh resentfully but determinedly wingmans......along with the far less conflicted wingmanning of all the other peak lords ➜ teen binghe is so CUTE and sqq is the most sqq and I love them forever ➜ and wow I am genuinely so compelled by this understanding of tlj's character. he's a major character in this novel-length fic but I would happily read so much more about him! ➜ all the character dynamics in this fic are just. SO GOOD. ➜ 67k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>More than a decade before the Met Gala job, Lou Miller finds an interesting business opportunity and meets an even more interesting business partner.</blockquote> ➤ pre-canon story for Ocean's 8, telling the story of how Lou and Debbie met each other and the first con they worked together! ➤ a fun story with a con that does a good job of fulfilling the story's needs ➤ I really enjoyed the Debbie/Lou dynamics! ➤ 6k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>After being turned away by the nice Shizun of that other world, Luo Binghe finds himself in the modern world where he can find a new nice Shizun for himself. Instead, he finds Shen Yuan, who could not possibly be who he's searching for - he's crass, and inelegant, and looks only vaguely related to Shen Qingqiu. Luckily for both of them, Shen Yuan mistakes Luo Binghe as a cosplayer for hire, and asks to rent him out as his very normal new boyfriend.</blockquote> ➤ I feel sure I've talked about this fic on masto before but I can't find it in my tags?! I've been following it as a wip and it's now DONE! ➤ the premise: bing-ge transmigrates to our world, and shen yuan thinks he's an attractive but incompetent and down on his luck cosplay-boyfriend-for-rent and takes pity on him ➤ sy tries to reform lbh and turn him into someone who's not terrible at being a boyfriend. meanwhile lbh is slowly discovering that maybe.....it's possible.........for someone to care about him and be nice to him just because they like him?? sounds fake! but what if? ➤ every single aspect of their relationship (and everything else in the fic!!!) is a COMPLETE delight. I love to see how much sy's sharp-mouthed peerless cucumber side is out in full force, and how feral lbh is, and how the two of them play off each other ➤ 86k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>“She doesn’t like you like that,” comes Luo Binghe’s voice, so irritating that Liu Qingge’s face sours up like they’ve bitten a lemon. They direct a wintry glare at Luo Binghe, whose chair has been scooted as close to Shen Yuan’s empty one as possible in her momentary absence. Luo Binghe smiles beatifically at them, drawing her finger slowly in a circle around the rim of Shen Yuan’s finished drink- then raising it to her mouth and sucking the lingering wetness off her finger, pulling it out with a graphic pop.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>“Wow,” he says. “Well, in that case.” He leans against the counter and looks at his quiet apartment. The thing is: he was always going to say yes. He has no impulse control and he’s always good for a laugh and he’s kind of lonely. And since he knows Lan Zhan would never want to actually date him, he might as well take what he can get. “In that case,” he says a little more firmly, “I’m in.” So that’s how it starts. The worst, best thing to ever happen to Wei Ying.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>In which Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng are very much not married, but everyone thinks they are. Or: 5 times Jiang Cheng gets injured and 1 time Wen Qing does</blockquote> ➤ sort of pretend relationship

<blockquote>"No, it's fine," Julian said automatically. "But, Garak, is everything all right?" "Captain Sisko wanted to see me," Garak said—which was so conspicuous a refusal to answer the question Julian had asked that it almost didn't qualify as an evasion. He pulled out the chair opposite Julian, and sat. "Captain Sisko? Why?" "Well, apparently," Garak said, "Cardassia has lodged a formal request with the Federation for my extradition." (Or: Garak has a problem. Julian marries him to fix it. Except that means Julian also has a problem, albeit of a very different kind.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Of course, you should never pop the cork. If you do it right, the sound should be” –and there it was, that gentle exhale– “as soft as a lover’s sigh.” Two tables over, Avery was trying not to shred his cocktail napkin into too many small pieces. It wasn’t even the first time he’d heard Baldwin do this, or the tenth, or even likely the hundredth. It was his same song-and-dance every time patrons ordered a bottle of champagne: come over to the table, introduce himself as the proprietor of the establishment, chat with them about what special occasion had inspired such a purchase, and open it for them with gentle southern charm so thick it hung in the air long after he’d walked away again.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Hua Cheng never particularly cared for the palace intrigues of Yong’an, not until its distinguished State Preceptor came to visit with an unexpected, delicate proposal. Or, an illustrious cultivator comes to Hua Cheng for an audience in the Gambler’s Den.</blockquote> ➤ alternate third meeting

<blockquote>“She gave you weed?” She asks, and then, scowling, “you’re not suggesting we—” Feng Xin makes a face at her. “No, are you kidding? With my baby in the room? You really think a lot of my parenting skills, huh.” “Sorry,” Mu Qing mutters, because Feng Xin is a good dad, for the most part, once she stopped being stupid about leaving dangerous shit around her apartment. “I thought,” says Feng Xin slowly. “I thought you might want it?” “I don’t even drink,” Mu Qing says incredulously, “and you think I might want the shitty weed you got from the potential cannibal you went on a bad date with?” “Weed is different from booze,” Feng Xin argues. “Maybe it’ll help you, like. Relax, a little.” “Who the fuck says I need to relax,” Mu Qing snaps. “Fuck,” says Cuocuo, gummily but unmistakably. Mu Qing stares at Feng Xin, who stares right back. “Please tell me that wasn’t his first word.” </blockquote>

<blockquote>Sha Hualing considers that somehow, she might have been the only person on Luo Binghe's top ten contacts who hadn't figured out that he was gay before now. She throws her phone at the fridge so hard that the screen cracks.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“It is possible,” Hua Cheng began slowly, for once looking like a real person and not a god who had meticulously chosen a human suit in which to travel this petty and boring mortal world, “I may have lied a little, to my cohort. I may have told them, a few of them, not many, I was married.” “Okay,” Xie Lian said, assuming he was talking about his special someone. “To you.” “WHAT.” Or: After a meltdown goes viral and ruins his acting career, Xie Lian moves to LA. Unable to find work, he slips into a severe depression, until Shi Qingxuan hooks him up with a new roommate, an art student who has apparently been telling everyone they're married.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“The woman remarkable enough to capture the heart of the Qilin Scholar must be possessed of unparalleled beauty and refinement, a true pearl.”</blockquote> ➤ one of the tags is: pretending that you have a secret lover to cover up your political scheming ➤ series consists of: suffer the same condition half of yours is with me sleepless

<blockquote>“What’s going on in there?!” the raspy voice of a slightly inebriated ruffian comes from outside the thicket. Shen Jiu, one arm of the corpse slung around his shoulder and the other around Yue Qi’s, stares dead ahead into the shallow freshly dug grave, thinking furiously. “We’re not doing anything!” he gasps out performatively, trying to make his voice less snappish and more flustered. He fails, miserably, judging by the wide-eyed trapped look that Yue Qi fixes him with. “Quick,” he continues, pitching his voice quieter- but loud enough to carry to the man on the path- “quick, put your clothes on, ge!”</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Alright, fine,” said Andy, and Nile’s free-fall spiraling thoughts came to a halt, climbing back up to a bearable altitude. “Teach me then. Show me the ways of 21st century dating.” “What, me?” asked Nile. “There’s no one else here with that experience, is there?” When Andy has to go on a Tinder date to get intel from a mark, and proves to be shockingly bad at it, it's up to Nile to show her how it's done.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“I need you to do me a favor,” Johnny said. “No,” Peter said. “But you didn’t even hear what it is yet!” Johnny protested. “And somehow I already know it’s going to be stupid,” Peter said. “Okay, fine, shoot. Tell me what it is and then I’ll say no.” Johnny took a deep breath. “I need you to come with me on my family’s holiday trip and pretend to be my boyfriend,” Johnny said.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way,” Dorian said, “but I’ve been preparing for this role my entire life. You, on the other hand, seem far less capable of convincing anyone that you’re in love with anyone, much less me.” Klaus and Dorian have to pretend to be married for a case. It goes about as well as can be expected.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Perfect!” Wei Wuxian said. “I’ll need a disguise too. I doubt they’ll be eager to share any secrets with the Yiling Laozu.” Very few people he encountered knew what he really looked like -- though that was slowly changing the more he wandered around in his second life. But his black and red robe and Chenqing would have to go. A sneaky thought suddenly occurred to him, and he bit back a grin. “Aiya, Lan Zhan, what if we pretended to be married? Traditionalists that they are, they’ll be much more likely to talk to us then,” he teased.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In a universe with a different System, Shang Qinghua is offered a help option. One Shen Yuan is recruited to provide it. This leads to fake dating, real falling in love, and far too much planning to try to complete the System's mission: fix the plot. / Shang Qinghua wasn't supposed to be there. If he'd had a choice in the matter, he wouldn't have been there. On a good day, Shen Qingqiu was a particularly prickly feral cat prepared to unleash his claws on the unwary like a rain of knives. On a bad day, he was the rain of knives. It could only be worse when he was cornered in his own home. Sure, in this particular case, he was unconscious, but Shang Qinghua knew better than to let his guard down. Unfortunately, Shang Qinghua's System was insistent that he be present. If he'd known that saving all his B points to purchase the help option would require willingly putting himself in the same room as Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan, he'd—well, okay, he probably still would've chosen that option, because all of his attempts to fill his overarching quest to "fix the plot" had so far met with failure, but he would've been a lot less enthusiastic and optimistic.</blockquote> ➤ Ending is a little abrupt bit it's a fun read!

<blockquote>Wei Ying grabs a pen from Lan Zhan’s desk, curling his legs into a lotus pose under the arms of the chair so he can easily spread the journal out across his lap. Even upside down, Lan Zhan can read his large, messy characters scrawled across the top: Lan Zhan and Wei Ying’s Rules for Dating. Perhaps this was a bad idea.</blockquote>

<blockquote>"I don't want to really date anyone. It's so stupid, I just need to pretend date someone until Jiang Cheng gets his act together, then go back to my own life." He stares at his empty coffee cup. "Date me," Lan Zhan says. Then he looks at Wei Ying's empty cup. "Would you like another cup of coffee?" "Always," Wei Ying says automatically. "But wait, what." "I'll get you another cup." Lan Zhan rises smoothly from the table. "No, wait, hang on." Wei Ying grabs his wrist before he can take the cup and Lan Zhan freezes up, staring down at where Wei Ying is hanging on to him. "Fuck, sorry, I'll—" Wei Ying hastily lets go of his wrist. "Sorry, I—what did you mean?" "I can pretend to date you," Lan Zhan says. "You take it with cream and sugar, correct?"</blockquote>

<blockquote>When Jaskier finds out that his ex-boyfriend is getting married, he convinces Yennefer to help him stage a fake proposal so he can ruin the wedding. There's just one problem: it turns out they both know the caterer.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“That’s my supervisor,” said Nile, lowering her voice. “He told me he had a blind date. I don’t think it’s going too well.” “Well, if he needs to be rescued,” said Nicky, “let me know.”</blockquote> ➤ consists of: Holding Out For A Hero Academic Proposals

<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>Batman and Superman are fucking. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are a great cover for fighting crime, and also might be dating. Bruce and Clark have no idea what they're doing; but they definitely aren't going to be able to talk themselves into stopping.</blockquote>

<blockquote>General Wellington selects Colonel Fitzwilliam for a very singular honor during the Spanish Campaign: working with dragons-- and, in particular, with Captain Elizabeth Bennet, of His Majesty's Dragon, the Longwing Wollstonecraft. Temeraire/ Pride and Prejudice crossover entirely to have Elizabeth Bennet as a dragon captain during the Peninsular War, with Charlotte Lucas as her uber-capable first lieutenant.</blockquote> ➤ Series consists of: A Monstrous Regiment A Nobler Ambition Five Times Mary Crawford Kisses an Aviatrix (bookmarked separately) Five Times Frederick Wentworth Lied to a Superior Officer Epaulettes No Humor to Give Consequence First Meeting Lady Catherine de Bourgh has a pleasant fun-filled day The Reality of Promotion

<blockquote>It’s a really unfortunate thing, developing a crush on your husband. Wei Ying had assumed this would be easy. Lan Zhan had been so icy and unpleasant to him, it had never occurred to him that he might end up spending the next however many years with this dumb, burning feeling in his chest whenever he looks at him. “Okay,” says Wei Ying. “But tell me if I…if the pretending gets to be too hard, okay?” “It will not,” says Lan Zhan, quietly certain.</blockquote> ➤ hahhhhh I read this eons ago and just kept not bookmarking it, whoops

<blockquote>In which Lan Qiren and Jin Guangshao are conspicuously terrible, Lan Wangji decides to fake-date Wei Wuxian about it, and literally no braincells are consulted.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The hot springs were deep enough here that the water lapped at Lan Jingyi's thighs. He couldn't see much of the man in front of him except that his hair was tied up and he'd been taller than Lan Jingyi before he got on his knees. To suck Lan Jingyi's dick. Because Lan Jingyi was having anonymous sex in the gay hot springs in Qinghe and getting his dick sucked by a stranger.<blockquote>

<blockquote>Jingyan rolled his eyes a little. “I mean that there is no need to be secretive,” he said. He nodded at Meng, who was looking both confused and alarmed. “It is unkind of you, Sir Su, to force Commander Meng to tell lies; it makes him very uncomfortable.”</blockquote> ➤ pretend dating that's really truly only for pretend and doesn't go anywhere